So, when I opened my Christmas present from my oldest daughter, I know my face showed exactly what I was thinking. “You’ve got to be kidding! My daughter just gave me a trash can for a present!”

Sarah was quick to say, “I know it’s a trash can, Mom, but I know you of all people will appreciate how it works.”

Once I saw how the molded plastic arms easily store and use plastic grocery bags for quick disposal, I was thrilled and want to share the website where you can get one (or more) for yourself.

This Urban Eco Trash Can comes in either black or lime green.

To store the bags, place handles over the side arms. Then pull up and hook the handles over the inner tab to form a new liner. I love both ease of use and the excellent way to reuse those grocery bags.

Sad to be excited about a trash can, isn’t it? I do love my present, Sarah!

Hope you had a joyous holiday!

Product Review: Urban Eco Trash Can is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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Most small businesses and family units use the calendar year as their fiscal year for tax purposes. That makes December the wrap-it-up month (no pun intended) of the fiscal year.
Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas or another holy day, the pace at the office and at home slows that last week of December.  Perhaps it is because your colleagues take vacation, school activities are on hold, and the kids are busy playing with new toys. As of this writing that week will be here in 8 days!
Take advantage of the slow down to shake out files from 2011. Here are a few ideas to get your reduction juices going.

1. Weed out articles you thought you would read, but never got around to.
2. Finish recording new addresses and recycle the holiday cards.
3. Enter automobile expenses into a spreadsheet and ditch the gas receipts and repair bills.
4. Make files for your hobbies and fill with those good ideas that you have floating around.
5. Donate any magazines you have not read to a doctor, dentist, or senior center.
6. Take all newspaper piles to your nearest animal shelter.
7. Print out record retention guidelinesand write in bold letters next to each category the earliest month and year that should be kept.   (Ex.  Pay stubs -  JANUARY 2011, until verified with W-2,  Auto records – AS LONG AS OWN).  See:
   • The ABC’s of Important Papers – Julie Morgenstern
   • What Financial Records to Keep and How Long to Keep Them – Bankrate.com
8. Shred documents in each category that are have dates prior to your cut off.
9. Get a head start on tax preparation by pulling together all your charitable receipts and business expenses.  A couple hours of work now can mean a speedy refund by March.  Be aware that your accountant has the last word on which documents you need to complete tax forms. When in doubt, do NOT throw it out!

Have your paper shredder handy for sensitive documents, along with a box for papers you can recycle.
Paper purging is best done with a refreshing drink in front of those Bowl games, while watching the kids play on the floor, or with soothing music in the background. Think of it as a “paper purging party!”  You will be that much ahead going into the New Year!

Drowning in Paper? Do the Perennial Paper Purge! is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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Recently I met with two ladies who are on a mission. Mary Greenlee and Lorie Copeland have just put the finishing touches on their Life Facts Book. Their mission:

To inspire you to organize and make accessible the facts of your life!

Mary’s husband, an attorney, passed away within a week of being diagnosed with a fatal condition.  His legal affairs were in order, however, Mary did not know where to find all of the financial accounts, passwords, and business records she needed to process her husband’s estate. That experience gave rise to Mary’s desire to develop an easy-to-follow outline that others could use to avoid the kind of challenges she faced in the unexpected transition time!

This notebook is for you if you have needed information in times of crisis or emergency and thought “Why didn’t I prepare earlier so I can easily find the important papers I need?”

I love that Mary and Lorie have divided the Life Facts Book into bite-sized chunks of vital information that you can gather one piece at a time. The 100+ page notebook includes helpful hints for finding and recording personal, medical, financial, and end of life information.

There are over 40 master pages that you can duplicate as needed for each household member such as: medication/supplement chart, surgical history, pet history, advanced health directives, investment portfolio, and household inventory.

Can you imagine having all of your vital information identified in one place, ready to reference when moving, being in a weather crisis, retiring, divorcing, or experiencing major illness? Priceless!  This product is definitely worth the asking price of $40.

Order a Life Facts Book online for you and one for a friend today!

Feel free to contact Mary or Lori through their website LifeFactsBook.com.

Product Review: Life Facts Book is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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I have helped quite a few clients set up this system in their home to corral paper so they can find what they are looking for in 10 seconds or less. It’s kind of a “no brainer”. You purchase, set it up like in the picture, and it is so easy to use you don’t have to think. Love saving those little grey cells…

The best part is the “maintenance free” or as I like to call it “self-purging” aspect of this system. The color-coded categories not only tell you when to purge, but practically force you to do it!

What I usually do with clients is have them purchase the system online. I put the basic system together, then show up ready to customize and train on how to best use all the additional features. The client hands me the copy he/she ordered and pays only for materials and the training time.

The benefit of ordering directly from Freedom Filer is that the company will then email you reminders on when to update and purge. Love it!

Make the decision today to break free!

Product Review: My Favorite Weapon is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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The ethics of my profession require that I keep all client identities and foibles confidential. If that were not so, I would be able to describe the clients I have worked with who match these descriptions. I am not making this stuff up!

Perhaps you have already said to yourself, “How did Martha know to describe me so well?” The reason I can do that is you are not alone in your struggle with paper, or the underlying causes. If you haven’t recognized yourself, you may be one of the remaining 4 personalities.

4. The Go Getter has many projects going on simultaneously. He doesn’t want to put away the projects he is working on because he “will just have to drag it all out again anyway!” Supporting documents become lost in the shuffle. Many times work is delayed because a vital piece has gone missing. Duplicated effort is required to get the project back on track.
   Remedy: First, ask the question – are you able to do an excellent job on all the projects, or are some slipping through the cracks? Which projects are you the best at and will generate the most value? Keep those, delegate others to the person who is better suited, and let the rest go entirely.Second, to keep current projects separated [a project is an activity that has a definite beginning, middle, and en end] use colorful, distinctive and roomy file jackets. Scoop all supporting documents for each project into its file each time you take a break for more than 20 minutes. Use an incline sorter on your desktop so you can find any project file at one glance.
5. Scarlet O’Hara says “Tomorrow is another day.” She puts off deciding what to do with mail offers, when to pay the bills, what to do with important papers. Because she has no system, there are no homes for paper to land, and she can never find what she needs when she needs it.
   Remedy:A paper management system is simply making decisions ahead of time about homes for the three categories of paper that arrive in your mail/inbox:
   • Action – you have to do something with the information.
   • Finished – all action is done and you NEED this info in the future, so is reference material to be filed.
   • Shred/Toss – done, don’t need it, get rid of it.

When you don’t have a system for paper flow in place, you will essentially be asking yourself this same question over and over, “Where should I put this so I will know where it is?

6. The Seeker wants to keep on top of the latest breaking news. He has too many subscriptions, no time to read all of the information that pours in, so it piles up. He intends to read each magazines, newspaper, or professional journal, but finds himself 2-4 months behind (or more!)
   Remedy:For non-professional material, decide on a set number of months of magazines, days of newspapers you may keep. I suggest two months per magazine and no more than a week of newspapers. On the first of every month go through your stash and recycle old periodicals. Better yet, if you never get around to reading that magazine, cancel the subscription.Professional material is a must-read, but contains advertising and reiteration. Scan each periodical when it arrives, remove the articles (with small exacto knife) that are key to keeping current. Make a “To Read” folder that you can put in a briefcase, or grab on your way out the door on a slow day.
7. The Bottom Line Watcher refuses to take the time to deal with paper since there is no money or distinct benefit attached.
   Remedy:Take the time to calculate how much time you waste daily looking for papers you can’t find. (In a survey, executives admitted to wasting 6 weeks per year looking for documents.) Now multiply the time you waste by your hourly rate. Does that make solving your paper clutter problem a higher priority?If you can afford it, hire someone else to set up the system and come in regularly do the filing/follow-up. If you are IT, schedule appointments with yourself to do 30 minutes of filing 3x/week. Start with the current piles – on desk or counter – until they are gone. You can be much more productive on other tasks when that visual clutter no longer effects your concentration!

Paper is ubiquitous – it’s everywhere! You can win, with the right tools and mindset.

Drop me an email to let me know what your paper personality is and how you have cut your piles down to size. I love hearing the success stories!

7 Mistakes that Lead to Paper Clutter, Part 2 is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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• If the entire surface of your desk, kitchen counter, or dining room table is covered…
  you just might be a paper piler!
• If you have magazines you haven’t read from a year ago…
  you just might be a paper piler.
• If your filing system consists of “more recent” and “older stuff”…
  you just might be a Paper Piler!
• If you put the event tickets in plain sight see so you won’t lose them, but now you can’t find them because they are totally covered…
  you just might be a paper piler.

Piles of paper are the symptom, not the underlying cause of this frequent clutter problem.

We can try to blame the information explosion or the 49,060 pieces of mail we will receive in our lifetime.  To find a lasting cure, however, we must look closer to home.

What is your personal relationship with paper?

This is Part I of 7 Mistakes That Lead to Paper Clutter. See which one(s) best describes the way you relate to paper. Use the tips below to find a solution that works for you.

1. The Visualizer is afraid that out of sight will mean out of mind.
   Bills to pay, party invites are left where you can see them and not forget to take action. Soon the “important” is covered by “everyday” and gets lost.
   Remedy:Visual/tactile people need to find a filing solution that is in plain sight, yet keeps paper contained. Two options are:
   • Pendaflex PileSmart products
   • Peter Walsh’s INPlace line
2. The Librarian feels compelled to store valuable information.
   This person prints online research as well as emails to answer later, and has a hard time parting with newspaper articles and magazines.
   Remedy:Save only the information that is imperative to your job or that you think will be hard to replace. Think about scanning hard copies, bookmarking email sites on your browser, or noting the article URL on a resource list.Sally McGhee, author of Take Back Your Life, says we only use 15% of what we file. We never retrieve the other 85% – a waste of filing time and of valuable space.
3. The Generous Shopper gives to charities and orders gifts from catalogs. Her name has been sold repeatedly so she now receives dozens of gift requests and catalogs.
   Remedy:One of the best ways to reduce paper in your home is to reduce the amount coming in. At home, the #1 paper dropper is the mailman. Always open your mail the day you receive it. Return unsolicited charitable requests to sender. Shred unwanted credit offers.Use these sites to opt out of catalogs and credit offers:
   • Reduce unwanted mail – www.reduce.org  (junk mail tab)
   • Reduce unwanted catalogs – http://www.catalogchoice.org/
   • Stop unwanted credit offers – www.optoutprescreen.com

Four more common errors are yet to come in Part 2. Did you see yourself yet? Don’t worry, you will…

“Ask the Expert” Event Tomorrow: Register Now!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM (ET) in Columbus, OH

Click here to register.

Stop the paper piles from multiplying with a proven self-purging paper management system, the FREEDOM FILER. Professional Organizer, Martha Clouse, has successfully implemented this system with dozens of clients. YOU bring your banker box full of paper piles to train and begin your personal FF system.

Learn ways to reduce incoming paper and practice your paper tossing technique!!

Materials FEE: $52 paid at time of class – this purchases your Freedom Filer which has a retail value of $99.

Class is also scheduled to be held on 9/29 from 9:30am – 11am. Tickets purchased above will be honored at all event times.

7 Mistakes that Lead to Paper Piles, Part 1 is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.

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When I started listing the life-changing results I see as an organizer, I couldn’t stop at an even 10 as I had planned, so you get a baker’s dozen.

Clearing the clutter and organizing those things you need/use or love/find beautiful will…

1. Give you hope for the future; you don’t have to stay stuck in chaos and defeat.
2. Set you free from the burden of clutter (of things, their past, negative emotions) so you are able to move on.
3. Let you know you are capable of maintaining order with the system that matches your personal bent.
4. Give you a safe and healthy environment so you can thrive.
5. Allow you to pass on a legacy of order to your children.
6. Affirm your competence on the job when you can find info quickly, get started on today’s projects, and reach for tomorrow’s opportunities.
7. Empower you to take back control of life and your environment, one area at a time.
8. Make you feel valued for the unique individual you are, not based on some preconceived notion of what you should be or do.
9. Boost your self confidence knowing you will remember appointments, be on time, and have what is needed at that moment.
10. Allow you to experience a calm retreat at the end of a fast-paced day.
11. Enable you to accept less than perfection, while striving for “good enough.”
12. Free up time for you to fulfill your dreams.
13. Underline the truth that we each fail at times, but that each mistake is a new chance to start over.

The great thing about organizing is, when you clear a path in one area of your life, the positive feelings ripple outward and you are energized to repeat the process for even greater success.   That is what my clients see and experience.  Love it!

Benefits of Organizing: A Baker’s Dozen is a post from Organized for Life - . Copyright © Organized For Life, LLC, 2010. All Rights Reserved.