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Organizing Papers at Home

Monday, February 13th, 2012

There are three categories of papers to think about — and this is often the key to managing papers at home: (1) “Archives:”  Those you need to keep (tax records) (2) “Reference:” Keep – not using now – reference you want to save and  (3) most important – “current:” the files you  need access to often because they are about current activities – your life, today.

General tips & guidelines

  • One drawer should suffice for current records.
  • The more you keep, the more you have to file and weed out over time. Think green, time savings, and when you  need access.
  • Also consider if you love using the pc or you’re really more of a paper person.
  • Consider which groups of information you really need on paper and which could be pc.
  • The more you use your pc, the more you need to get  serious about having automatic backups of your files.
  • Past years’ files: for those you must  keep, put these in a box or another file cabinet, in a different part of the house. They should be accessible but not take up current office space.
  • Next time you add a paper to your files, take a minute and leaf through just one file, discarding old papers. You’ll keep up with filing painlessly.
    Organize your PC files similarly to your paper files so you have only one organizational system to remember.
  • Use file names – paper or pc – which are intuitive, which make sense to you. Think about when you would use this information again  — that’s a clue to how you’d name the file.

Desktop or counter top are folders are kept on your desk or in the message center/incoming mail organizer. These are used on a daily basis.

  • Bills to pay
  • Events, invitations
  • Lists (birthday, address) for easy access
  • Coupons for online use (store coupons and gift certificates go right in your wallet so you’ll be sure to use them. Wrap the coupon around the credit card you use.
  • One folder for each child (items they need to take to school that week)
  • One folder for each activity YOU are involved in
  •  “To be filed” – last week’s papers

 Reference: Key Files to Have in Your File Cabinet

  • Group like files together by using tabbed, hanging file folders. Within each hanging file, you’ll have multiple  folders. Example: a hanging file for “house” may include folders for insurance, mortgage, property taxes, other legal documents. Or, thinking of how you would use the documents, you may want a file called “all insurance.”
  • Some of these may be documents you’d prefer to keep in a safe deposit or fire-proof box.
  • Here are folder suggestions. How you order or group the folders in the drawer is up to you. Make sure you can easily find what you’re looking for.
  • Some people keep a list of files and general contents; they find an index easier to use.

Sample File Folders List

Health

Household bills

Mortgage, property taxes

Job/company-related

One folder per child (for school, sports, health records, art, awards). Some people keep a plastic bin separately for artwork and best homework papers.

One per pet (health records, licensing)

One per property you own

One per organization: church, newcomers, professional, charitable, museums – or group together if not a lot of paperwork

One per vehicle

Taxes: for this year, a folder to capture incoming receipts, 1099’s

Legal: wills, health care proxy, marriage and birth certificates

Vacation and travel: plans, passports

Insurance: keep all policies together, or keep the policy in the house or vehicle folder the policy belongs to

Investments: one per fund or investment firm

Bank statements: keep in a box, in a corner of the office (due to bulk). Elasticize by year. Pull out statements which have checks for key tax documents, such as property tax, and keep in the ‘taxes’ folder.

Warranties, appliance or equipment documents: Keep nearby to the item they belong to or all together in one home.

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Posted in Harmony at Home, Papers | No Comments »

Declutter Your Finances

Wednesday, February 1st, 2012

Thanks to my mom, I have a subscription to More magazine. There’s a wonderfully insightful article this month (Feb 2012). Titled “Declutter Your Finances and Save,” the author writes:”Financial clutter can reach far beyond  not knowing where you’ve stashed important documents. Rather than a messy pile of papers, it’s a mental state that stems from the panic we all feel when the complexity of the modern financial world intersects with the unknown, i.e., with risk.”

So – it’s really not about the papers, is it?

It’s about what you are thinking and feeling when you don’t attack the papers which relate to your financial life.

It’s about the attitudes you grew up with, the messages you heard – spenders, savers, dreamers, risk takers or conservatives, budgeters, or not.

It’s about how you’re feeling with today’s finances… which relates  to how you feel about your future, how you and the one you live manage your short term and long term finances.

It also can be about your confidence level or knowledge of your finances.

I’ve worked with – women mostly – who have shied away from organizing their financial documents and let the papers/online statements pile up. They’ll admit it’s because they really do not understand what the documents are telling them. This is another point the MORE magazine article author makes, that there is HAVING the papers, even organized ! – and there is the separate issue of UNDERSTANDING them.

Please make a point – no matter your age or stage of  life – to organize AND understand your financials and the associated paper and online trails they have.

“Fear always springs from ignorance.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Smead Product Review – Viewables

Friday, January 27th, 2012

Smead’s Viewables – I have wanted to  try these file tabs for a long time; they solve a file drawer problem I have. A nice surprise showed up recently – Viewables, from Smead - because Smead occasionally asks professional organizers to review their products. I like them and will stick with them. Here’s the problem I had with my files and how Viewables solves it.

The first picture shows how I see the files from where I sit, with Viewables now making it so much easier to see what I have.

I wanted a solution for this drawer, which holds current, non-client files: my workshops and presentations, two organizing associations, QuickBooks file of receipts, my book, CEU tracking, and in the back, my current personal files. I’m in this drawer a lot when I’m not on the phone with a client or at their home or  office.

The tabs are viewable from any angle, and in a font size larger than average, helpful because I’m not right in front of the files. I have a top-down view plus a front view.

Color code if you want; the software lets you choose font size and color. Very simple software. I didn’t color code for  organizational purposes, but I love having color around me, so each tab has a color.

Very sturdy tabs. The tabs stick up higher than a typical hanging  file tab, but they clear the desk drawer above.  I can’t imagine these wearing out. Plus, you receive a plastic sheet you cover each tab with, for more protection from wear and tear. And plenty of extra tabs and labels.

They’re not as easy to implement as a simple label maker, but that’s okay, for this small, often used set of files – and worth of it because of the angle I sit at, vis a vis the drawer. Otherwise, I’d  have them on a desk stand (visual clutter and distracting) or have  to kneel in front of the drawer each time to see and find my file. Protecting my knees is a good thing, as I get older.

 

View from the front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Side and top both say the file’s name.

LOVE the top view!

 

 

 

 

 

I’d definitely use these again; they solve the issue of the angle, are very sturdy and are more fun to  implement, too.

If you want to get some files into better shape, this might be a fun excuse to do so!

If you’re not sure how you want organize your files, and would like to collaborate on best ways for you to find what you need, when you need it, please reach out.

It feels good to know that your important  documents at home or your business  files are useful, and that your “paper life” (because we all have some) is in order.

And then, let’s talk about email and pc files…”Organized enough.”

 

Direct link for Smead Viewables: Click here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Posted in Financial, Home Office, Inside My World, Papers | 2 Comments »

Products: Uses for Smead’s 10 Slot Organizer

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Even in our virtual world, many of us use paper for certain kinds of activities, at home or at the office. Clients usually will tell me “I’m a paper person” or “I’m really more interested in getting more onto my computer.”

So like the right brain/left brain discussions, most of us have a dominant preference for paper vs. PC, but we still use the other for certain tasks.

So for our papers: Smead sent me this Project Organizer and asked me to write about it here. I’m happy to do that because I can see myriad uses for the product which I’ll share with you here. Smead is a Corporate Partner with the National Association of Professional Organizers.  I see them at our product expo;  for a long time I’ve been impressed with their product innovations and their interest in understanding our clients’ needs.

 

A short description first: My photo is of the organizer standing  upright on my office floor.

  • Inside front cover: a summary sheet. What needs to get done, by whom and when.
  • 10 slash pocket folders. I love slash pockets because you have a preview of the folder’s contents. 
  • Expandable bottom binder, so as you fill this with papers, the whole thing expands. I love that it’s vertical because access is easier.
  • Each slash pocket has space for papers, and the pocket itself has space right on top for “Notes.” A little bit of guidance is useful.

 

Uses at Home

Homework: One binder per child keeps track of ten subjects, ten days or ten weeks of homework you want to review together. Add a laminated pocket to the  front of the binder and slide in a photo of your child, to identify which child’s binder is which. 

Home schooling: The teacher’s binder: ten  subjects or ten weeks of your lesson plans.

Taxes: Each section for different sorts of receipts and documents, with the folder staying near where you open the mail, and throughout the year.

Committees/volunteer activities: One spot, for all committees; one notebook to grab as you leave the house.  Or use the divided slots one per week, or per project.

Downsizing for a move: Use two binders, one for the buying side and one for the selling side. Or use one binder for the entire process with sections: Realtor-related, moving-related, expenses, new home research, etc.  Use the product as a “countdown” binder to your move date, with each section as a week’s worth of things to do. An inspirational quote on the front about next chapters helps with motivation for decluttering when needed.

Holiday countdown: As a holiday binder, I could see this as a weekly countdown, covering Thanksgiving and December holidays. Or, each section as a different aspect of planning: meals, traditions, budget, cards, decor, gifts.

 

Uses at Work or In Your Own Business

Clients for the week: One binder for the week, with materials you need on the go, for your appointments. Swap out the contents each week. Keeps your focus just on this week, and it means you need to do that weekly review.

Key projects or committee meetings: Same idea, but for the project side of your work. Use this for focusing on this week’s work. So for me, I might have  the next few workshops I’m designing or for the organizers’ chapter I head up here in New Hampshire.

On the road – conferences:  Use the  binder to take work with you. We all have some work that  is easier to work on, when it’s printed out. The binder is one place for your regular work, while you’re out at conferences or traveling.

Same as the home uses for taxes or committees. But use another binder for your business to keep home and business papers separated.

 

Answer these questions for yourself before buying any organizational product:

  • How exactly will you use the product (e.g., so here, how  would you use ten folders?). You wouldn’t buy a piece of clothing without knowing what size, so are organizing products any different? 
  • How do you typically organize your papers; what’s worked before will work again. The product supports how you work, think and organize your thoughts.
  • Where  will you keep the organizer, so you remember to use it. How will you start this new habit?
  • Do you like the style enough to enjoy using this product?  (Visual folks will relate to this subconscious aspect of choosing just the right product.)
  • Do you need something more specific to the purpose, e.g., a taxes binder like this the one pictured below, also from Smead. Take a look around their site; click on the taxes binder to get there.

What works for you?

 

 

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Posted in Back to School, Downsizing Dilemmas- Solved, Financial, Holidays, Papers | 2 Comments »

Your Family Recipes – There’s an App for That

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

What do you think? In this New York Times article, “Are Cookbooks Obsolete?” we read that the new tablets have cooking applications on them – which may result in the demise of paper recipes and paper cookbooks.

I find myself more and more relying on my technology gadgets, even though I didn’t grow up with technology (I’m 52). What intrigues me about this?

Next chapters – A early inventor, Bob Huntley, designed his cooking application as he faced retirement!

Memories – Until 100% of us are using tablets (or their then-current incarnation), how do we pass on Meme’s handwritten recipe cards and the many, many family recipes and favorites. Always there’s that gap, but we figure it out. Nook and book. Movie and on-demand. And so forth.

The best part of this idea is that the recipe is presented in ways that make it easier for non-linear thinkers to use and follow the recipe.The example Mr. Huntley used about his own use of recipes is just what happens to me!

I quote the article:

“Mr. Huntley also developed CulinView, a nonverbal way for a more confident cook to follow a recipe. After ingredients are measured and the oven heated, the rest of the process is shown in a flow chart, illustrated with bright images of mixers, whisks, ovens and ingredients. With arrows and color-coding, it sketches out the process for the more confident cook who already knows how to cream butter and sugar, say, but needs to be reminded what to do with the chopped apple and grated fresh ginger. SpinView puts the whole recipe on one page, with the option of scrolling through the steps. Finally, for the traditionalists, there is the Cookbook view, formatted in the old-fashioned way. ”

So what do you think? Will our paper cookbooks and family recipes survive and if so, how? Comment here, or head on over to our Life in Context Facebook page – where we’ve been working on our Food Memories workbook!

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Posted in Interviews and Guest Posts, Papers | 2 Comments »

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