Power is everything in the digital age. You quickly acquire a whole morass of cords to keep everything running.
Ever loose one? Ever wonder which is which? Or what you use this one for?
Does this sound familiar? "Hey did I leave the charger for my cellphone over there?
"What does it look like?"
"Well it's black and it has a little black box on one end of it."
"Which one, how would I know?"
Or, "Honey, would you bring the power cord for my lap top with you when you come"
"Where is it?"
"It's probably plugged into the surge protector by my desk."
" Which cord?"
"It's the one that doesn't have anything plugged into it. Oh, they are all that way? Can you bring them all?"
Whoa!!! There's a much easier, simpler, safer way.
Label your power cords as soon as you take them out of the box. Simply write your telephone number on an address label and stick it on.
Write the name of the device the cable connects to on a lable and cut it to size. Protect it all with a piece of clear plastic tape. That way you always know who the cord belongs to and what it is used for.
At the same time, wrap a piece of black electrical tape around any stress points to help prolong the cable's life.
Some people color code their cables with bright colored dots or colored strips of tape to make them easy to identify.
This way you can just ask, hey, is my power cord over there? It has my name and number on it.
Whenever you buy a new electrical device, make a point of putting all the directions, extra pieces, user instructions, manuals, CDs, etc. in a file, notebook or a large zip lock bag and store them in a safe place where they are easy to find. That way you'll know exactly where to look when you need them.
Did you have to call technical support to get help with the product? Take notes about what they told you and keep them in that file. That way if the same question comes up again or if you have to remember what you did many months in the past, the notes are there to remind you.
If you had to do something special to get software to work, document it carefully! That way you can reconstruct your changes if you have to reformat your hard drive.
It's also a good idea to document any changes, helpful telephone numbers, explanations, etc. for future use and reference.
Personalizing your power cords makes it a whole lot easier to find them when you need them!
Copyright 2008 by Michele Moore, All Rights Reserved. Comment below!
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