I've always liked to work to music.  The right music can help me focus.  It brings me to that state of receptiveness and keen alertness that I find crucial to getting my work done more effectively.

At the office, I work in an open space and can hear everything that is going on around me.  It can be very distracting.  I sometimes find myself jumping into conversations just because I overheard something plus we're all friendly like that.

As fun as it can be, it's not very efficient to work like that.  I have headphones that I keep at my desk and today I wanted to listen to music that would help me focus and get my work done.  The local radio stations play online but I don't want sing-along songs and talk radio that engages me.  Not now anyway.

I searched online and found a great site.  It's Groovera.com  Right now I am listening to their Jet City Lounge channel.  I'm the worst person to put into words what I am hearing.  It's some wort of techno, jazzy, bluesy thingiwhatsit.  The bottom line is that it is super mellow and lays in the background as I do my work.  It acts as a sort of white noise to cancel out the goings on around me and keeps me focused on the task at hand.  And I can still hear my phone when it rings. Try it!

The sunshine was streaming through the many windows as he made his way to the piano.  When he sat down and set his fingers to the keys I stopped what I was doing and looked his way.  He smiled at those of us there and asked if anyone had a favorite song. 

My cousin translated and asked my aunt in Spanish for a favorite tune.  She responded in her sometimes nonsensical way since early Alzheimer’s set in.  We told the Piano Man she didn’t have a favorite and anything he played would be fine.  He smiled again and started off with the classic “It’s Impossible.” 

We had been the only ones in the sunroom until his music started.  The song, expertly played, let the regulars know it was time.  Slowly the room filled.  Some were pushed in on their wheelchairs.  Others walked in assisted by their walkers.  They all came in with a purpose: to sit and enjoy what was a regular part of their routine at the facility.

My cousin pointed folks out to me as the beautiful music continued.  There was the woman who hung her head low and never looked up.  At first I thought she was sleeping but when she reached up to scratch her chin it became evident to me that she wasn’t.  Did she no longer care what went on around her?  Her aide sat beside her protectively, like a guardian angel.

Then my cousin pointed out the elderly man making his way to the front seat right next to the piano.  He wasn’t the patient.  His daughter whom he pushed in a wheelchair was.  The irony tugged at my heart.  My cousin explained that he would soon start singing along to all the tunes Piano Man was playing.  Sure enough, in no time they both were.

When “New York, New York,” started we all sang along.  There were at least seven of us there who considered ourselves New Yorkers, even though fate had led us south many years ago.

For over an hour he kept us enthralled with his music.  When he started playing some classic Cuban ballads almost all of us joined in, my Dad surprising my cousin with his quite melodious voice.  There were a few I had assumed were anglos who joyfully sang “Cielito Lindo,” and proved me wrong.

Even my teenagers, whom had asked how long we were going to stay, didn’t seem to mind that our planned hour had passed long ago.  The camaraderie continued along with singing, sometimes off key, laughing, clapping and an occasional tear.

It occurred to me that the man playing the piano wasn’t paid.  He did this because he enjoyed it.  He actually lived in the facility.  It wasn’t just an “old folk’s home.”  There were some who were terminally ill in one wing.  Others, like my aunt, were just there for rehab therapy after surgery.  And others, like Piano Man, could take care of themselves but preferred to do it in a place like this and lived in their own little apartments upstairs.

I looked around and saw the many residents who were accompanied by their loved ones.  It was heartwarming to see.  A room full of strangers brought together for 90 minutes by someone who used his special gift to bring joy to people.  We figured he must have been a professional in his day.  He was that good.

As dinner trays started rolling by, guests started leaving.  Piano Man wasn’t offended.  He did this every day and expected it.  We chatted with him for a bit and then went to say our goodbyes to my aunt in her room.  As we were leaving the girls let me know that they were disappointed that I had never pushed them to learn the piano.

We have a saying in Spanish.  “Nunca es tarde, cuando la dicha es buena.”  It boils down to “it’s never too late.”  I guess I better start looking for a music teacher.

I have a Google alert set up for both “Dokic” and “Maggie Dokic.”  It’s a great way of knowing where my name is showing up in the web.  That’s just one of the things I learned on Active Rain. =)

For the two years that I’ve had these alerts set up, the one for “Dokic” only gave me results for the tennis player, Jelena Dokic.  Not once did Google consider Maggie Dokic worthy of picking up for a search for “Dokic” by itself.  I thought it was interesting, since the name is unusual enough that it should have been. 

Well, this morning my “Dokic” alert turned up Maggie Dokic.  It picked up a post on my Miami Real Estate blog. It’s kinda silly for me to be excited about that.  But I think it’s telling me something about Google.  I’m not sure what it is just yet, and may never know.  But something’s changed and I can’t help think it’s a benefit to me.  I’m hoping it’s higher search rankings based on continued blogging.  Yay.

Whether you're swamped with work or looking for things to do as your market picks up, efficient time management is important.

DayTimers is sponsoring a FREE webinar hosted by Laura Stack, a personal productivity expert. Laura is an author and professional speaker who helps busy workers Leave the Office Earlier® with Maximum Results in Minimum Time™

If you've got the laptop and the PDA/smartphone and even a paper system thrown in and have yet to figure out how to integrate it all then this webinar may be just the thing you need.

Time:  April 7, 2009 8am PST/ 11am EDT

Location:  A computer near you.  Click here to go to the DayTimer homepage.  There's a link on the right hand side for the FREE webinar.

A tip for those of you who use Outlook in your day-to-day. 

My system's been running really sluggishly and I know Outlook had a lot to do with it.  It hogs a lot of memory and the .pst data file can get to be really big, which makes things worse.  Of course, the fact that I hate archiving doesn't help either.  I need to get over my dislike for the Archive function.  It's there to help me.

Yesterday I ended up calling a help desk and the tech helped me remove unnecessary items from my start-up (all those little icons at the bottom of the screen are programs which are running automatically each time you boot up).

When he saw the size of my Outlook .pst file he said it was super important that I start deleting things.  My file was 2,216,145 KB, or over 2 GBs! 

I spent a good portion of my day yesterday moving, copying, archiving but mostly deleting.  I got rid of a ton of stuff.  When I went back to the .pst file I had barely made a dent in it!  Something wasn't right.  For the amount of data I had deleted, the size of my file should have been considerably smaller, yet it wasn't.  It was maybe 5% smaller.  Not enough to make a difference in performance.

So I did a little research and discovered that all the deleting in the world isn't going to help Outlook run faster.  In addition, you need to compact the file when you're done with the deleting.

This was easy to do.  I went to Tools/Account Settings clicked on the Data Files tab, highlighted the file, clicked settings and then compact now.  That was it! 

It took about 15 minutes to finish compacting but it was worth the wait.  When I checked the size of the file after compacting, it was down to 242,065 KB, about 90% smaller.

It's not slow as molasses any more.

I love trying new things.  When they're familiar, that is. =)

I wasn't able to take part in the popular Growth Leader trial runs. =(  But why should that stop me from running a trial of my own on something else altogether?  This has nothing to do with a website generating leads, by the way.  I just like the way people are reporting on their experiences so I am going to do the same with this product I decided to try for my contact management, or CRM. 

I plan on providing weekly updates on how it's going.  Or maybe a little more often, since I am on a 30-day free trial.  I am going to give it 100% and give it an honest-to-goodness try.  No sense in taking my 30 free days if I'm going to goof off for 25 days.

The product is EurekaWare and it is an overlay for Outlook.  For you Outlook lovers out there without a separate CRM venue that is real estate specific, this may be good news.  I happen to adore my Outlook and am sure that I only use about 2% of what it is capable of doing.  It is truly a powerful program.  So if I already have that, use it daily and know how to use it, why not try something that will just be added to that and avoid a little of the learning curve?

I've actually been looking into Top Producer and even asked buddy Janie Coffey (who loves it) to send me an invitation if they give her a month or any sort of benefit for inviting me.  But then I did a little more research and decided to try EurekaWare before taking the TP plunge.  I promise to use your invite if I sign up eventually Janie!

Please keep in mind that I am not comparing EurekaWare to Top Producer.  I have never used Top Producer but I know a few agents who swear by it.  I will, however, point out that there is a marked difference in cost.  Top Producer costs about $40/month plus extra for other bundled features and EurekaWare costs a flat $99 for the software.  Again, not comparing apples to apples as they don't have the same functionalities, but for someone like me who wants a real estate-specific contact manager with the capability to also run action plans, keep buyer and seller needs, as well as listing information for starters, I figured I should take the path of least resistance (to my bank account) first.

EurekaWare gives a 30 day free trial.  No credit card needed.  Just download the software and start using it. I downloaded it in just a couple of minutes and started Outlook after installation.  They warned me that Outlook would be a little slow the first time after installation.  They were right.  It took about 2 minutes to finish doing whatever it is computer programs do behind the scenes after we ask them to start changing things around.

I immediately went to a contact screen so I could see the difference between the new fields and the old Outlook fields.  Ooooh, there are a ton of them!  You can add a spouse, children, etc.  And the ribbons in Outlook 2007 are different too.  The new icons include action plans and more.  See the picture below.

I am going to work on some of those action plans and report separately on that but for now it's important to note that:

1. It was easy to install.
2. It was quick.
3. It didn't crash.
4. It was FREE - to try anyway.  I will gladly pay for something that works the way I want it to.

For a complete list of features, check out the EurekaWare site.  I am impressed that it even has web lead import.  Yes, folks, you can use a bit of code on your website and any leads you get from there will automatically be converted to a contact in your Outlook.  How cool is that?!  Of course, I will test this out and report on it later. =)

If this interests you at all, feel free to download and take the journey with me.  If you prefer to wait the 30 days and see whether my laptop explodes (or maybe I do!) then read along and learn from my mistakes =)

I'm so excited that I am taking a big step to become more productive.  I can talk and talk, but when push comes to shove, you have to just do it.  I have been swamped with work and definitely need a better way of keeping up with it all.

I'm so tired of the greed. Everyone needs to make a living. But charging fees to a client that isn't your own because your client is not paying it, is WRONG.

I have a buyer who's been looking at foreclosures. Today we found one he'd like to make an offer on. When I saw who the listing agent is, I cringed. I've dealt with them before. They're the kind that stipulate in the Broker's Remarks : DO NOT CALL OUR OFFICE TO FIND OUT IF YOUR OFFER WAS RECEIVED. Gee, I thought that's what offices, phones and staff were for; to provide customer service.

Anyway, that's not my beef with them today. When I looked further in the remarks it states that the buyer "must pay a $325 compliance fee for maintaining records and files." The only reason they are charging my buyer this is because their seller won't pay it to them!

My buyer is already agreeing to pay my brokerage firm our administrative charge. Why should he get hit with a double whammy and have to pay the seller's side of the listing office fee because the seller refuses to pay it?

By the way, we've been on the other side of this as well and we do NOT charge buyers of our REO listings our administrative fee even though the seller (bank) is not paying us. We waive it because it's the right thing to do. The seller is sending many listings our way, and we are going to show them our appreciation for those listings by charging our administrative fee to the buyer?! No. That would be wrong.

Maggie Dokic is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines and the Redland.

For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

Have you been looking at foreclosures in Palmetto Bay? Here's the latest home listings in the foreclosure sector.

Palmetto Bay foreclosures are a great way to get a good deal on a home in the area. Of course, inspections are in order, as in any home purchase. Just because you're buying AS IS, as most foreclosures are sold, doesn't mean you can't perform an inspection.

As of today there are 228 single family homes for sale in Palmetto Bay. Of those, 21 are foreclosures. Of those 21, I am providing a link to the 16 that I feel represent the best value. Click on the picture below for more details.

This is a live link, which means that as soon as information is updated on the multiple listing service, you will see the updates here also. That includes the addition of pictures if there are none now.

Maggie Dokic is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines and the Redland.

For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.

The city of Coral Gables is hosting it's 9th annual "jazztronomical arts festival" this weekend. If you've never experienced it, you're missing out!

The Carnaval on the Mile is well regarded as a fun time for all and a premiere showcase of Latin Jazz. The event takes place on the famed Miracle Mile in Coral Gables the first weekend in March. Miracle Mile is the mile from LeJeune Road to Douglas Road on what would otherwise be Coral Way. It's a mile long walk of exclusive shops, restaurants, cafes, the Miracle Mile Theater and more.

There's plenty for the family to do starting Friday, March 6th and the activities continue on Saturday and Sunday. Art displays, sculptures, crafts, lots of food and drinks and lots of live performances all weekend long.

The event is free as are all the performances.

Wear comfy shoes and get ready to shake el eskeleto!

Maggie Dokic is a licensed real estate broker in the state of Florida selling residential real estate in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables, Gables by the Sea, High Pines and the Redland.

For more information on our local real estate market, or to see or sell a home in Miami, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, Coral Gables or the Redland, visit my Miami Real Estate blog or contact me at Maggie (at) TheBlogThatAteMiami (dot) com.

The opinions expressed herein, are those of the author, and not necessarily of EWM Realtors.