The

Undeniable

Ruth

®

…and the Ruth shall set you free!

  • Minimalism Project Recap – Eliminate Paper Clutter

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    Ruth Carter

    I challenged myself last month to take steps to eliminate the paper clutter in my life. Before starting project, I would let papers that needed to be filed pile up on the kitchen counter. If people were coming over, I would move the pile from the kitchen to the bedroom, and about four months later I’d take an hour to sort and file the massive pile of papers.

    My project for May 2014 was to deal with every new piece of paper in my life within 24 hours, preferably before I went to bed that night. So here’s how it went.

    For the most part, the project was a success. The only papers that sat on my counter for a limited amount of time are bills (that get paid every Friday) and grocery store ads (that get recycled when the next ones arrive in the mail). Many times, the 24-hour rule forced me to file papers I keep within minutes of coming in the door. It was a great habit to solidify. Often times, it was faster to deal with papers right away than when I’d let them pile up.

    It wasn’t always easy or successful. Sometimes I go to networking events and I get back to the office with a stack of business cards. It’s time consuming to enter the data from each card into my contact database and there were a few nights I was up late, sometimes painfully tired, getting all the data in before I’d let myself go to bed.

    Working Through My Phoenix Business Journal Last Week
    Working Through My Phoenix Business Journal Last Week

    The hardest thing to deal with was newspapers and magazines. I get the Phoenix Business Journal (PBJ) every week and I get a few professional magazines every month as part of my memberships in professional organizations. It’s hard to go through each one within 24 hours of their arrival, and I can’t always predict when they will arrive so I can’t set aside time for them. And I think part of it is a fear that going through each one will take a lot of time – and that’s not necessarily true. Here’s a typical process I go through with each edition of the PBJ:

    • Flip through the paper – read the articles that are relevant to my work, skim the rest (or at least read the headlines).
    • Highlight the articles that require a follow-up – people I know or people I want to meet
    • Tear the pages with highlights out. Recycle the rest.
    • Take the highlighted pages to my laptop and send follow up emails. Note the interactions in my database.

    I only have to send a few emails per editions, and sometimes it’s zero. Take home lesson: Dealing with these publications (which are filled with ads I don’t read) takes a lot less time than I think. It’s usually less than an hour, significantly less.

    I wish I’d made it a bigger priority to clean out my existing files, in particular to take my receipts in Taxes 2014 folder and put them in the Taxes 2014 binder that has dividers to help me stay organized. I started the binder last month and every new receipt goes into it, but there’s a file folder of accumulated receipts that may not get sorted until 2015 when I’m working on next year’s taxes.

    So what’s next in my minimalism project? I think it’s my CDs. I have a CD binder full of albums I rarely look at. Some people would say just to chuck it out, because if it’s that important, I’ve already ripped it into my iTunes. I think I’ll go through it one more time, make sure everything’s ripped, keep a few albums I play in the car, and then get rid of the rest.

  • Frustrating Arizona Board of Governors Election Results

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    Ruth Carter

    Ugh – What were people thinking?

    Last week, the State Bar of Arizona announced the results of the Board of Governors election. This was a critical vote because the Board recently voted to increase our bar dues by $60/year despite receiving a report that this would result in the Bar having a cash surplus of $3.7 million by 2019. (This passed by one vote.) Prior to the vote on bar dues, Arizona already had one of the highest bar dues in the nation. (And we’re a mandatory bar, so you can’t be a licensed Arizona attorney unless you’re a member of the State Bar.)

    Thirty-three people ran for the nine slots on Board for Maricopa County – eight of which were incumbents. I thought it was awesome that so many people were interested in making a difference in how the State Bar operates. I made my list of candidates whose actions and profile were compatible with how I wanted my State Bar to govern me.

    Here are the nine people who won the election in Maricopa County:

    • Melissa Ho (Incumbent, Opposed the Increase)*
    • Lisa Loo (Incumbent, Voted For the Increase)
    • Geoffrey Trachtenberg (Incumbent, Opposed the Increase)*
    • Steven Hirsch
    • Samuel Saks (Incumbent, Opposed the Increase)*
    • David Derickson (Incumbent, Opposed the Increase)*
    • Diane Drain (Incumbent, Voted For the Increase)
    • Richard Coffinger (Incumbent, Opposed the Increase)
    • Jennifer Rebholz *

    * = On my short list of candidates

    "'nough said..." by Arnaud DG from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    “‘nough said…” by Arnaud DG from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    What is up with the power of the incumbency?! With thirty-three people running, I’m surprised that we’re only adding two new faces to the Board for Maricopa County. I seriously wonder how many people voted for people they liked vs people who supported their beliefs about how the State Bar should govern its members. Our Board has a history that lacks transparency and they voted to increase our dues that made no sense when they crunched the numbers.

    I was pleased to read that we had the highest voter turnout ever for a Board of Governors’ election, but that statement is pretty pathetic when the State Bar announced that only 35% of eligible voters participated in the election. With ~12,000 attorneys in Maricopa County, that means 7,800 people didn’t vote. 7,800 people forfeited their right to bitch about how the Board operates until the next election.

    This lack of participation suggests a lack of responsibility among our members, and that makes me sad and frustrating. We’re a self-regulating profession – why wouldn’t you vote when given a say in how we operate?

    These results help me understand why some of my fellow legal eagles say that nothing’s ever going to change with the Board. But I hope that in the increase in voter  participation and the fact that a significant number of people who were elected are dedicated to transparency and fiscal responsibility are signs that change is possible and coming in the State Bar. I hope the next Board will have the power and pull they need to fix some of the mistakes previous Boards made and to be more dedicated to providing value to the State Bar’s members.

     

  • Sleeping in Running Gear – Yeah It Works

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    Ruth Carter

    Now that The Night Run 10K is behind me, I’ve turned my running energy to building my strength, speed, and stamina as I head into starting marathon training in the fall. But here’s the downside of training in Phoenix in the summer – it’s freaking hot. And when I have to run and walk the dog before it gets too hot, my day begins early. It’s usually still dark outside when I start pounding pavement. By the way, running at first light is awesome. The sky is absolutely gorgeous as it shifts from black, to royal blue, to pink.

    Uphill - Explored by Don McCollough from Flickr (Creative Commons License)
    Uphill – Explored by Don McCollough from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Something got me thinking – Wouldn’t it be more efficient to sleep in running clothes? I sleep in shorts and t-shirt every night so changing it up for running gear is just adding a sports bra to the mix. I kicked the question out on Reddit, and I was surprised by the number of responses I got that were negative. I understand why someone who wears the same running gear multiple times might not want to sleep in in smelly clothes with dried sweat all over them, but I didn’t understand how it could be uncomfortable to sleep in a sports bra if it fits well. Maybe that’s an issue that only affects people with big boobs.

    I started sleeping in my workout gear when I’m going running the next morning about a week ago. I sleep in my shorts, sports bra, and shirt and near the bed are my socks, reflective belt, iPod, and shoes. It is a little weird to lie down in bed with the extra layer on top and shorts that have a liner, but I’m usually so tired that I fall asleep within minutes. And it’s comfortable enough to sleep through the night.

    Sleeping in my running clothes has definitely made a difference. When I wake up to my alarm clock at 0-dark-thirty, not only can I get dressed faster, I’m more motivated to get up and going. When I sleep in regular pajamas, there could be the thought of “five more minutes” or “I’m so tired.” When I sleep in my running gear, I wake up thinking, “Time to get up.” Not running is not an option. I’m keenly aware of this shift in my perspective and it’s very cool.

    The comments on Reddit evened out after the first set of responders were all negative, and several of them agreed that sleeping in running gear is more about motivation than saving time. Conversely, I had an overwhelming positive response when I posted this to my Facebook wall: “Yes, I sleep in my workout clothes when I’m planning to go jogging first thing in the morning. I know it’s weird, but it works.” These were some of the responses:

    • I have been doing the same thing for years now. One less step in the morning and motivation that I am technically ready to exercise and have no excuse.
    • One person’s weird is another person’s fucking brilliant.
    • That is just plain sexy.

    Yeah, my friends are awesome.