simply-org.com Blog

The following tips for filing apply to both electronic and paper systems.

So many people lose their information because they make lots of dupliate files which just causes a mess.  “Where’s the car insurance poilcy?  I think I have a file for that, but I don’t know where it is.  I’ll just make another one for this new policy.”  Ugh it is a mess.

• Consistency is the key.

Here is a reminder about naming files.

• The name of the folder is the headline. Think of the way you will look for the item later…that is the headline.
• Use as few words as possible:  Simple is better.
• Nouns are best
• Words are better than numbers (unless you have an elaborate numbering system)

Now you need a plan to store the files.  Again the point of filing is to put away information so that you can find it later.

Using either a filing cabinet or an electronic filing system….start with the big headlines.  Common items in a household would include:
Banks
Credit Cards
Monthly Bills or Utilities
Insurance
Health
Autos

We were told that computers would eliminate paper from our lives.  HA!  That’s not true.  We are all still swimming in paper….BUT it is possible now more than ever to reduce the amount of paper we have by using the electronic world more efficiently.  Now, let me preface this:  I am not a super computer user.  However, I use my computer effectively as a filing cabinet for more of what used to be in paper than ever…and I add more and more to this paperless system every year.  Here are a few ideas you can incorporate into your filing systems.

With the goal to reduce paper, consider what paper you can eliminate up front.

• Contact banks and other financial institutions to send statements electronically.
• Contact investing institutions to send statements, prospectuses, and other required information electronically.
• Change as many regular bills to electronic statements including utilities, credit cards and more.  (You many already be doing this if you pay bills on-line).

That is a huge chunk of paper you just eliminated.

On your computer or in your email program set up folders for each of the items that will now come to you electronically.  When the email comes in DON”T PRINT IT!  Instead, open it, read it, close it, and drag it the folder you made for it.

As you add more items to electronic statements each month you are going to dramatically reduce the amount of paper coming into your home/office.  With simple folders on your computer you will be able to find anything you need, or trace the information back to the institutions website.

Are you drowning in magazines?  Piles everywhere? stacks on tables and the floor?  Maybe many are categorized by date or content, but still there are a lot.  Here are a few ideas to get control over your magazines.

First, let’s remember the real point of magazines from the publishers point of view.  These are printed and sold to consumers to make a profit.  They sell advertising to increase their profits.  Many feature products and services offered by their advertisers.  So while some of the content is truly informational, most is just plain old advertising which is enticing you to part with more of your money.

OK, confession.  I like magazines.  My favorites are home, cooking and fashion.  But I read them with an awareness that they really are marketing vehicles.  So, enjoy, but be aware of what you are reading.  Just set some limits.
How many magazines should you receive?

• Decide how many magazines you truly want to receive each month and start to either cancel or let subscriptions run out of the ones that you are willing to give up.
• Just say “no” to friends and kids who are selling magazines to raise money for some organization.  (Hey that includes my kid).  Just write a check if you want to contribute.

What to do with the stacks you already own?

• Based on the type of the magazine, get a really clear perspective of the content.  Is it current? Relevant to your life today?  Lots of ads? or Lots of interesting and useful informational articles? It is time to make the hard decision to let go of those that don’t fit your life anymore.
• If there are articles you like, tear them out and toss the rest of the book.
• If the publication is useful for long periods of time check and see if there are master indexes for a year or more.
• Set a time limit for certain titles so that you only keep the current month or at most three issues at a time.  Even if you haven’t read it it goes out at the end of that time.

What to do with articles you tear out?

• If you are keeping articles to refer to later, develop a filing system for them.  Hanging files and binders are both useful tools for this.
• If you tear something out because you want to look into it further, put it at your computer to do the follow up and toss when you are done.

What to do with the discard magazines?

• Recycle.
• Ask a pre-school, senior home or Doctor’s office if they want them.
• Recycle.
• Did I mention recycle?

Enjoy your magazines, but don’t let them take over your life and your space.  You decide what stays…not the magazines!

How is 2011 going so far? Are you making some headway with your organizing goals? I hope so, but if not, don’t fret. Maybe you are zigging and zagging too much.

A definite hazard of getting things done, be they cleaning out the linen closet or a major project at work is the zig zag. You know what I mean. Instead to pursuing a project in a methodical, straight forward manner you meander. This can be physical or mental (or a little bit of both).

Let’s take the linen closet as an example. You begin the project by pulling things out of the closet. Some of the items should go to the laundry which is in another room. You wander over there and get distracted by the pile on the floor, turn the washer knob, fill the soap, load the machine, and then notice a clean towel folded on top of the dryer which leads you to walk to the bathroom to hang it up…and there the blow dryer is sitting on the counter, so you put it away under the sink where you see the silver cleaner which would be useful to shine up the bracelet you are wearing tonight, which reminds you to confirm the reservation. Now you are at your desk…EMAIL. Need I say more.

Yup, that is the zig zag. Once you are caught up in it it is really hard to get focused back to the original project. The linen closet is torn up and mess and you are frustrated.

How do you avoid the zig zag? Try this.

* Prepare for your organizing task by bringing supplies to the area where you are going to work. (bags, paper for lists and other notes, markers to write on the bags, etc).
* Bring bags or totes to fill for items that will move to other areas of the house.
* DON’T LEAVE THE AREA OF THE PROJECT.

By physically staying at the place you are cleaning (in this case the linen closet) you are staying clear of all the other distractions that will pull you away.

* Fill a bag with items for other rooms. Don’t go the other room while you are working. Instead, do a sweep of room to room later.

Have bags for donations, recycling, and trash all nearby. That will keep you in one place so you can focus on the task at hand.

What is Visual Clutter?
Stuff that is in plain view that over stimulates your eyes and your brain to the point where you don’t even see it, but it still agitates your brain.

Examples:

Piles of magazines all over the living room.

A refrigerator that is covered with photos, calendars, newsletters and more.

A mantel that has lots of photos in frames, trinkets and candles.
A wall with tons of photos that in a wide variety of frames.

You get the picture. There is so much stuff in plain view that is screaming at you. You generally look past it and don’t see any of the individual items. It over stimulates to the point where you don’t see the loved ones in the photos.

What can you do about Visual Clutter?

If one of your goals is to have space that is more calm and peaceful, be prepared to make some changes to your visual clutter. Reduce is the key word.

First strip the area with the visual clutter totally clean. That means completely clear it. Remove everything off the refrigerator, or clean everything off the mantel. Strip the wall of photos. In this process you will likely find things you didn’t see before, forgot about, or maybe don’t even like and you are not sure how they got there.

Second, decide to put back no more than three things. Just try it….On the refrigerator that might be one calendar, and two photos. On the mantel that might be one candle, one framed photo and one trinket. One the wall re-frame three large photos in a similar frame (all black or gold frames for example).

Three is not the magic number, but it is a great starting place to show that less is more. That you will actually see those few things clearly and enjoy them more. You may settle on five things at the end, but either way it needs to be greatly reduced from where it was when you started.

Third, what do you do with everything else? Put it away. It might be a photo album or box. It might be a place where all the newsletters go together. It might be the trash or recycling (you don’t need the newsletter from 9/10).

Have a look at your space. It is already calmer without all that visual stimulation attacking you. Give it a try.

I like this idea…that you can make an impact on your space quickly. Try some of these ideas this week.

Recycle some third class mail that is lying on your dining room table.
Pick up 5 items and put them away.
Remove all the empty hangers from a clothes closet.
Unpack the non-perishable groceries and put them away (because all the perishable are already in the refrigerator).
Put a “to donate” bag in your closet.
Recycle all the magazines and catalogs from last fall.
Toss out 3 items from your refrigerator.

You get the idea. Little actions that take a little time will add up in the course of a week and give you results. Give it a try this week.

Are you thinking I am nuts? Does this sound like an oxymoron?

Here’s the deal. If you are not a neat and tidy person and this is holding you back from making progress in getting organized, stop and read this.

As I have said before being organized means having the right amount of stuff put away in a manner that you can find it later. (Memorize this and make it your mantra). No one said it has to be neat. Here is an example to make my point clear.

Before there were clean socks all over the bedroom: in three different drawers, under the bed, on the floor of the closet, etc. This is highly disorganized.

After all the socks are in one drawer. Maybe they are just thrown in there, but they are in one place and they fit in that one container (the drawer). This is organized.

The personalization of this for the person who is naturally neat is the socks are all set up in pairs and color coded. The messy person has them all in one drawer, but just dumped in. In both cases the socks are in one place and easier to find than when they were all over the room. Both scenarios work.

Another example is tax receipts and other papers. As long as they are stored all together for one tax year, you are way ahead of the game when it comes time to work on your taxes. The neat person might go to the step of pre-sorting receipts. The messy person is glad to have them all together.

Think of it this way…When you are organized you can find things quickly because they are in a designated place. You can clean up quickly because everything has a designated place. Having like with like and not too much of it is a core point of organizing. Yes, even my desk can be a mess while I am working on projects, but I can clean it up quickly because everything has a place.

I was looking at a Storage magazine last week with its beautiful photos of nearly perfect rooms, drawers and shelves. The “organizing ideas” weren’t terribly brilliant or innovative which is fine. Many of the best ideas are the simplest. But here is what really caught my eye. The photos are so attractive because there is no clutter, no excess. The rooms had the right amount of stuff.

So my tip this week is to focus your goals not so much on “getting organized”, but on CLEARING THE CLUTTER. That is the root of getting organized.

Ask yourself these questions:

* Do you really need so much stuff to live a happy and fulfilling life?
* Do these things really make you happy or do they hold you back?

Prepare yourself to shift your point of view and get ready to clear some clutter.

If this is really difficult (and it can be) consider getting an organizing buddy who can help you see what is going on.

“I want to get Organized” is too broad and unachievable. Here’s what I suggest if you really want to make a change.

I start every new client meeting with two very important steps. We review the current state of things for what is working and what is not, which then leads us to DEFINE THE GOALS. The goals are very clear, measurable, straight forward, and have an end date. We write them down and post them where they can be seen: the refrigerator, bulletin board, computer notes….

Here are some examples to help you plan your own personal goals:

* I want to be able to find the insurance paperwork quickly and without stress by February.
* I want to be able to see my clothes clearly so that I can get dressed more quickly in the morning before my big vacation in March.
* I want to set up my pantry and kitchen this weekend so ingredients and tools are easily available to make nutritious meals for my family.
* I want to clear the dining room table and have a system in place so the clutter (mail) does not come back. We will eat our meals at that table starting next month.
Go ahead and set your own goals.

Service Provider of the Week
Scott Halbrook, Agent, Farmers Insurance

* When is the last time you did a thorough review of your home, life and auto insurance?
* Do you know, like and trust your insurance agent such that you actually look forward to seeing him/her?

I want to introduce you to Scott Halbrook of Farmer’s Insurance. Scott is local to Montclair. He’s your neighbor and friend who wants to do the best for you. If it has been a long time since you had a review or you barely even know your agent, take the pain out of the process and give Scott a call. He will come to your home or office and take good care of you. And you will make a new friend. I constantly recommend Scott to my clients and he is my agent too.

scott@halbrookinsuranceagency.com

510-531-1432