Organizing and productivity

Aug 07

Vacation Planning Made Easy! (Part 2)

By Sherry Borsheim Blog, Free Articles, Home Office Organization, Quick Organizing Tips, Resources No Comments

“Organizing is what you do before you do something,
so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.”
A.A. Milne

“Life is what happens to you while
you’re busy making other plans”
John Lennon

Did you forget something? You know the story…you all pile into the car, you’re trying to beat the rush hour traffic, you’re frantically making a list in your head and hoping you didn’t forget anything, you head out of town and suddenly you remember you forgot something. It’s too late to turn back, so you tell yourself you’ll just pick it up on the way or when you get to your destination. Who wants to be running around buying necessities and spending extra money when you could be having fun on your vacation?

Make your next vacation more enjoyable and relaxing so those obstacles don’t get in the way of you having fun! Here are a few simple vacation planning tips:

Create a Trip File

Keep all your trip related papers together in a file and when you return from the trip recycle or toss papers you don’t need and file receipts and travel expenses in your financial files. Move towards being paperless and create a document on your computer for each place you visit. List your favorite restaurants, accommodations, and points of interest. Years ago I created a “New York” document and it’s been updated and passed onto many friends over the years and I’ve completely eliminated all my travel reference files!

Create a Pre-Travel Action List

Make a list of all the tasks you want to accomplish prior to the trip either on paper or electronic. Every time you think of something capture it and get it out of your head otherwise it will keep coming up for you as a reminder to do something and increase your stress levels. Look at your list each day and schedule time to accomplish these tasks.

Packing Checklists Reduce Stress

For the past 10 years we vacation at this wonderful place with my family, and every year we pack the same things. Some years forgetting crucial items, while other years packing way too much. So, one day I sat down and wrote out everything we needed to take with us, clothing, food, sporting equipment, games and other necessities. I even made a simple meal plan with healthy meals with minimum effort to prepare. What a huge time-saver and stress reliever this has been over the past 15 years. A little pre-planning can go a long way towards a fun-filled vacation instead of disappointment and disaster.

Create different packing checklists for different types of trips or regular activities. You could have a packing checklist for summer and one for winter vacations. We have a family vacation that we take every summer and all I do is open up that file on my computer, print a copy and begin packing. I even have a small checklist in my gym bag so I don’t forget to pack a key piece of clothing! I’m sure you can relate!

Here are a couple of great resources I recommend for packing checklists if you don’t already have one. Frommer’s travel planner and Frommer’s Activity Planner are available for you to print and fill in your own packing items. Independent Traveler has a fun interactive packing checklist that you can customize for different types of trips.

Avoid Last Minute Packing

Whenever possible, pack 3-7 days prior to the trip to reduce last minute stress and a late night with little sleep. This is not a relaxing way to start a vacation. Get out your suite case and review your packing checklist and begin packing what you can. This is especially helpful if you have several family members to pack for plus yourself. You may also want to pack a separate overnight bag to carry on the plane for long flights just in case the airline misplaces your luggage you’ll have a change of clothes. Or if you spend a night at a hotel on the way to your destination you don’t have to haul in your entire luggage for one or two nights.

Savvy Travelers Packing Tips

Check the weather forecast at your destination before you begin to pack. Also, store all your travel items in a container, drawer or one location in your home. Passports, other currencies, shoe bags, luggage tags and any other travel items you use from time-to-time. This makes it easy to pack when all the items are together. Keep travel size items stocked and on-hand to avoid last minute trips to the store. Here are some other savvy packing tips:

Bring clothes in neutral colors and that you can mix and match for several outfits
Keep your travel gadgets to a minimum
Buy extra travel cords for electronics and keep them in a small travel case so you can grab and go at any time
Buy travel size containers and refill them after each trip
Use travel size containers and fill with your basic cosmetics. Make sure to label the containers!
Have two toiletry bags – one for short trips and one for longer trips. You use half the amount of product on a weekend trip and don’t need as many items
Use zip-topped plastic bags to store your toiletries. Bring a few extra’s in case products leak or bags tear
To minimize wrinkles you can roll items when you pack or use the plastic dry cleaning bags for shirts, skirts and dresses. Tissue papers works as well for delicate items.
Fold two more garments together. I often put outfits together this way so I know what to wear together
Use small cloth shoe bags to pack your shoes and under garments.
Keep jewelry to a minimum and if you travel overseas, carry it with you
Bring a small laundry bag for dirty clothes or use the plastic bag in the hotel
Refill containers of shampoo and other products when you return. Make a list of any items you need to replenish so you have it on hand for the next trip!

Have fun and enjoy the peace of mind a little pre-planning and preparation gives you when you are organized!

Aug 04

Love0

How to Get Organized at Work With a Tickler System

By Sherry Borsheim Business Organizing, Home Office Organization, Organizing Paper Files, Quick Organizing Tips No Comments

Are you looking for a tool that will show you how to get organized at work? The paperwork surrounding your day to day activities and follow ups can be a serious impediment to getting organized. A tickler system reminds you of your important follow-ups and other things that will require your attention at a future date. This is how you should use your tickler file system.

Set up Your Tickler System

Want to know how to get organized at work? Set up your tickler system. You will need to start by purchasing plastic tabs, hanging files and containers to store them in. Your tickler system should be set up in an accordion file. This file should have a tab for each day of the current month (1-31), and then tabs for each month of the year (January – December). The next part of the system is personalized to your specific needs. Your hanging files with tabs behind the accordion file can be tailored to the repetitive actions that best apply to your work. This could be calls to make, calls expected, bills to pay, data entry, expense reimbursement, read, to write, ect.

In my opinion there are two reasons that people stack up papers all around themselves instead of filing them in a system. The first is they are afraid they will never find them again. Customize a system just for you and you will never lose paperwork again. And second, they don’t want to act on the paperwork, they are avoiding it. A tickler system will make taking action simpler and easier. You will dread it less and have a clear idea what you need to accomplish each day.

It is important to get in the habit of checking your tickler file system every day. This is the only way it works! Here is what I recommend for developing a habit, make a daily appointment with yourself. Write it on your calendar, program an alert in your computer or phone. Just make sure you are reminded to check your tickler file daily, every day for a month. After that it will become an automatic habit. If you find yourself missing days put it back on your calendar. You’re making a commitment to get organized at work.

Choose a location for your tickler system that makes it easiest to check every day and to file things into it. This can be a desktop file frame or your desk drawer. Making your system easily accessible means no more papers stacking up all around you. You won’t put off the job of filing any longer. Now there will be a home for all the papers cluttering up your desk, even piled on the floor! A tickler file system will give you a home for phone messages, invitations, tickets, bill receipts, claim stubs, and anything that requires action by you in the future!

Want a plan for how to get organized a work? Start your plan with putting together a tickler file system. This will give you your daily to-dos right at your fingertips. A tickler system will give you a place to file those small slips of paper, phone messages to be returned, tickets for an event, ect. Don’t be afraid of losing a piece of paper again it will be filed on the exact day you need it again! Make it a daily habit to check this file system and you will be more organized at work.

Jul 29

Love0

Overcoming Work Filing Problems

By Sherry Borsheim Business Organizing, Home Office Organization, Organizing Paper Files, Quick Organizing Tips No Comments

Many people struggle with how to be organized at work. A great deal of frustration, stress, and lost time surrounds bad filing habits. Or for that matter no filing habits! Filing is a low priority for a lot of people. It is a common struggle that the papers piling up around you simply don’t have an assigned home. This can be a big problem at the end of the year when it comes time to condense and archive your work files or complete your shredding for the year. There are two main components to the filing problem.

The first is that people don’t know how to set up a system. When learning how to be organized at work it is important to know you need a filing system! But you don’t know where to begin. You don’t know how to put together a system that will be effective and work for you. So you do nothing. Your papers are not in their homes because you haven’t given them homes! You are not the only one.

Think about how you would like to both file and retrieve your information. What are your preferences? People are afraid if they file their paperwork they will forget where it is. Or forget it exists at all. These out of sight, out of mind fears stop people from filing paperwork at all! Use color to make your filings system easy and fun. People in general are very visual that is why I use orange or yellow hanging files for bill pay files. The moment you open your drawer these files will jump out at you. So put aside fears of losing bill pay files by using color!

So to solve your first problem on your path of learning how to be organized at work use color, keep it simple, spend time thinking about and deciding on your preferences about filing and retrieving information, and then customize a system just for you.

The second common filing issue, most people keep their bills in separate file folders. A file folder is created for each paid bill by supplier. This takes up so much of your time! You have to go through the process of setting up the files each year and then having to file one paid bill into the respective folder. If you are like most people you hate to file. So you will start collecting these single sheets of paper until you get around to it. Unfortunately most people don’t ever actually make time for it. Before you know it twelve months have passed. Your file cabinet is empty, but you have stacks and stacks of paper everywhere! Your desk, the top of your file cabinet, every surface in your office has a mountain of paper on it. There are receipts, statements, and paid bills scattered far and wide.

The solution? Simplify. Use an expanding plastic hanging file labeled for each month from January to December. This way when you pay your bill you can file all your paid bills for the month behind that months tab. At the end of the year it is a simple one step process. Pull out your plastic hanging file and put it in your archive box. Then restart by labeling a new plastic hanging file for the next year. This system is straightforward and easy to maintain for twelve months. Eliminate the unruly stacks of paper.

Many people struggle with how to be organized at work. Creating a simple functional filing system will help you immensely. Remember you are not alone in your struggles. Take the first steps in winning the paper battle today!

Want to learn more about how to create filing systems for work or home? Click here.