Hints for Maintaining an Organized Home Office

Whether your home office is your primary work site or an adjunct to your main office, here are a few tricks that will help you stay organized.

Define a space for your home and personal documents and a separate space for your work documents. It can be as simple as two separate drawers or ends of a shelf with a divider.

Create a filing system with titles that make sense to you and use colored folders for quick identification. For instance all your folders dealing with finance could be green; all folders dealing with warrantees could be purple, etc.

Create a folder for immediate response and handle it before the end of the day. Finish up by filing the documents in appropriate folders.

Keep a planning calendar handy either on your computer or PDA or in hardcopy close to your telephone and computer so it can be updated as your schedule changes.

Use ergonomics (the science of designing the job, equipment and workplace to fit the worker) to make sure your workstation is comfortable and allows you to do the job efficiently. The computer monitor should be directly in front of your face to put your body in a neutral position. The keyboard should be placed so the forearms are parallel to the thighs when your feet are flat on the floor. The chair should be adjusted to maintain appropriate alignment with the monitor and keyboard with feet flat on the floor. The mouse should be located on right side if you are right handed and on the left side if you are left handed. If you use a document holder, place it on the opposite side of the computer from the mouse.

Put items you use the most frequently near the workstation. These may include telephone, fax machine, printer, scanner, stapler, resource books, or editing tools.

If your equipment is placed to minimize physical strain and optimize convenient access to the things you use most often, you will be less likely to rearrange items and pull work to other areas of the house. Comfort and convenience will help you maintain an organized space.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

Organize Your Personal Medical Information

October is “Organize Your Medical Information Month”. This is the month folks are encouraged to gather their medical histories and pertinent medical information into one comprehensive record that provides a basis for decision making for themselves, their family and the medical professionals who deliver care to them.

Years ago, the family doctor knew your medical history and the medicine you were taking because he (or she) had often treated your family members and certainly was aware of your care through his own practice or his careful coordination with specialists to whom he referred his patients.

Things have changed. A variety of medications are available over the counter, many people take dietary supplements and access specialty and preventive care without referral. Screenings offered in the community, flu shots offered at pharmacies and grocery stores sometimes do not make it to central medical files. Care gets further fragmented if hospital care or rehabilitation is required.

So, in October, the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) suggests you pull all that information together. This non-profit group has a website at http://www.myphr.com/ that has a listing of common information and reports contained in a health record and step-by-step instructions for organizing your health information.

Having your information organized allows you to make better decisions about your continuing healthcare, avoid duplicate tests and get faster, more effective care in an emergency.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

ORGANIZE VIDEO GAME HARDWARE

Video game playing takes up a lot of space. The console, peripherals and accessories pose storage problems for most systems, but when you get into large accessories like band instruments and sports equipment; it gets even more problematic. An additional consideration is adequate ventilation if the console is going to stay in the storage unit while the players are engaged in the game. If not well ventilated, the heat generated can shorten the life of the system.

I recently saw a colorful, easy-to-access system that can sit on a table or can hang on the wall and store the console and peripherals as well as a limited number of games. It is called the GameOn Video Gaming Storage System and Stash Box. It comes in black and bright colors and holds up to 50 pounds. The vertical footprint makes it handy for smaller spaces. It is available at www.amazon.com

There are some other alternatives that fill the bill if you have more space available. On the higher-priced end of the scale is the Media Gaming Console at Pottery Barn Teens (www.pbw.com). It has shelves to accommodate consoles of most types, a sliding tray, cord cutouts and pocket doors. It is a nice piece of furniture and costs about a thousand dollars. Less expensive are the Quest TV and Video Game Table at Target for around $320 and the Kangaroom Game Console Unit and Stash Box at www.organize.com for about $120. At www.allmultimediastorage you can find the Gaming Center on Wheels for $90 and the five tier Wire Gaming Tower for $50.

All of these storage alternatives provide a way to keep the all the game stuff together in one place and protect the accessories from accidental damage.

Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net