Sell Your Life.
The San Francisco Chronicle reviewed a book recently called "All My Life for Sale" by John Freyer. In a nutshell, upon returning from a New York trip, he decided to sell everything he owned on Ebay. The aim here wasn't to make money but to get rid of all his stuff and to create an art project from the experience. After several months away he suddenly saw all his stuff as a useless burden and an obstacle to moving to New York.

A lot of buyers were friends, but many were not. It's certainly true that we invest our possessions with value irrespective of their actual monetary worth, but to do that with the possessions of a stranger seems, well, strange. Especially since he sold items like a box of taco shells and ice cube trays. Why would people buy them? Is it just kitsch, so the buyer can tell his friends, look at this crazy thing I bought on Ebay? Is it a way of participating in the virtual community the Internet is supposed to bring us, by connecting us to others we wouldn't ordinarily meet?

Freyer not only followed up with his buyers by requesting email reports and photos of their purchases, but he went to visit many of them, all over the country. Virtual community becomes real. Or was he making a comment about how people will buy virtually anything on Ebay? He seemed genuinely perplexed by how satisfied his buyers were with such things as a opened 5 lb. bag of sugar or a polyester shirt with a hole in the seam.

At the end of the book, Freyer discovers that he doesn't want to run away to New York anymore, he'd rather stay in Iowa and finish his studies. His possessions had been holding him back, he thought, but they'd merely been holding him back from making a decision and committing to it. Is your stuff holding you back?

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Email Inbox Influx.
How do you use your email inbox? If the number of emails in there is getting into the hundreds, think about filing some of it. Your computer can get as cluttered as your desk can. Most email programs will let you create subfolders for your mail, and some will put your mail directly into them for you. Categorize your emails the way you do paper: things to read, information you need to hang onto but not use regularly, things you need to take action on, and offers and information you're interested in but not sure you'll act on.

If an email has served its purpose, say, a quick confirmation of a meeting time or a short thank you, delete it once you've read it. This alone will keep your email from growing out of control.

As with the physical kind, email clutter is the result of delayed decision making. Get into the habit of assessing the importance of each email.

• A relative sends you family photos with a short note. File the photos and delete the note.



• An organization you've joined sends you a welcome email you're supposed to keep. You probably don't need to; you can find out how to unsubscribe from their mailings elsewhere and they'll help you get a new password if you need one. This is usually easier than trying to find the original email down the road.



• A colleagues asks you a question and you reply. Delete both emails; you already know this information.

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A Word on Computer Passwords.
It's tempting to use the same password over and over and to make it simple and easy, but of course, this also makes it simple and easy to crack. It's a good idea to use letters and numbers in your password, but not those based on personal or immediate family information. Instead of choosing your birth date, use your childhood house number, or the last four digits of a friend's phone number. For the letter part, choose a former teacher's name or childhood street name and not a word found in the dictionary.

Don't note your passwords directly, but write down hints about them such as "6th grade teacher" and "Doug's (no last name) house number."

Take Care,
Claire