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 DOCUMENTS FOR TAX PREPARATION

Tax documents have begun t o arrive in the mail and soon that April fifteenth deadline for filing will be here. Do you have all your documents organized and ready to fill out your forms? Don’t despair if the answer is “no”. You can start right now to set up a simple system that will allow you to do your taxes quickly.

If you do not itemize, you will need one folder in which to put all your forms and documents as they arrive. After you have used the information to fill out your forms, make a copy of your tax documents and all attachments to retain for your personal files. Even if you file electronically, it is good practice to retain a hard copy of your final tax form and attachments. Put those documents in a folder marked with the year for which the taxes are filed and the date of filing. Keep the files in reverse chronological order in a file box that you can access if needed.

If you itemize your tax deductions, you can use a section of a standing file, a portable file or an accordion file with enough sections for the various categories of documents you need to save throughout the year. Some categories you might consider are income, alimony, child support, medical expense, childcare expense, and charitable deductions. Use an additional folder marked “other deductions” to get started. As you separate you receipts you will become aware of other categories you need to create.

After you (or a tax preparer) complete your tax return make sure you retain a copy of the forms and all attachments. I like to keep the finished documents in an accordion file separated into categories that coincide with the tax form deduction lines. That way, if I am ever audited, I have back up for each income and deduction entry. It is sufficient just to keep the hard copies in a folder marked with the year for which the taxes are filed and the date of filing. File the accordion files or final folders in reverse chronological order in a place that is easily accessible in case you need the information. Use the folders you prepared to sort your documents and receipts to collect and file pertinent information throughout the year.

Next year everything will be ready to prepare and file as soon as your last document arrives in the mail.

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

AVOID HOME OFFICE CLUTTER

A home office has become standard for most residences. In addition to the usual bookkeeping and filing tasks that come with running a home, many workers now do almost as many work related tasks at home as they do during their regular work day. The latest statistics available from the Bureau of Labor indicated that 20.7 million workers bring work home on a regular basis. With home and work related projects crowding the limited space, it is no wonder we sometimes end up with a less than orderly office.

Here are a few tips for avoiding clutter and making it easier to get the work done.

Create separate filing systems and storage areas for home and work files. If you do not have two filing drawers available use a portable box or rolling file that can be kept in a space way from children and pets.

Place only frequently used items on the desk. Store everything else on shelves, in drawers or in stackable filing bins.

Place the things you use most often on your “handed” side of the desk. If you are right handed they go on the right side. For left handed folks they go on the left.

Put the most urgent projects where you cannot forget them. Desk trays and desktop filing systems are some tools that can neatly keep these items in sight.

File frequently used resources on nearby shelves in coordinated binders to create a neat appearance

Use magazine folders to corral professional journals and resource articles

Hang a bulletin board or magnetic board within easy reach for posting notes and reminders

You can find inspiration for organizing your home office at the following web sites:
www.officemax.com
www.target.com
www.potterybarn.com
www.getorganized.com
www.levemgers.com

Beverly & Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

Emergency Preparedness

Hurricane season is here. The newscasters keep reminding us, the internet blasts out headlines every time we open the web and newspapers print articles on what to gather in case of emergency. A couple of weeks ago, our local department of transportation initiated traffic snarls in an effort to practice reversing traffic direction on the interstate in case of an emergency requiring evacuation. I have decided that if that happens around here I will just put on my running shoes and travel on top of the cars that will surely be bumper to bumper on every available exit route. In the meantime, we should all heed the warnings and get our stuff ready to evacuate or sit tight and endure the aftermath of high winds and pounding rains. Andrew, Katrina and lesser storms should have jolted us all out of any complacency we might have felt about these powerful forces of nature.

The American Red Cross has a very good website at redcross.com/services that lists the various supplies that should be gathered for evacuation and disaster.

For evacuation they suggest:
Medicines and medical supplies
Bedding and clothing to include sleeping bags and pillows
Bottles water
Battery Operated Radio and extra batteries
First Aide kit
Flashlight
Car keys and maps
Documents including driver’s license, social security card, proof of residence, insurance policies, wills, deeds, birth and marriage certificates and tax records.

If you are driving, we also suggest a car emergency kit that includes emergency tire propellant and flares with the usual equipment to change tires and perform minor repairs. It is also a good idea to include rain gear in the clothing that you take along and some insect repellent.

When I read this list I had two thoughts. The first was “Can everyone put their hand on the documents suggested?” The second was, “When you put all this stuff in the car or other transport, will there be room for the folks you are trying to evacuate?” The answer to those questions are “probably not” and “there is room if you organize.”

The first step to getting ready is to gather all the important documents into one place. We suggest a watertight portable safe. If that is not a plausible solution, place the documents in leak proof plastic bags and put them in a sealed plastic container or tote box. A small tool box or cooler chest may serve the purpose. If there are just a few documents to transport, a document portfolio will work.

The second step is to organize the other supplies so that they can be easily carried. You could of course pack a suitcase, back pack or duffle bag for each family member and put it away until emergency travel was imminent. A more practical solution is to store the necessary supplies in the giant zipped seal bag available at discount stores and super markets. When time comes to take a trip just grab the bag for each family member. It has the added benefit of protecting the items from dampness. Bulky items like linens and sleeping gear can be stored in the plastic pouches that allow you to expel the air and compress the contents. That will save a lot of packing space. Also remember to place medicines and medical supplies in protective bags to prevent spillage and wetness.

Packing flashlights, radio, batteries and water in a small insulated cooler will allow you to keep cold and hot items that may be available at the evacuation sites. Taking these steps now will help you to be prepared if evacuation becomes necessary.

Next time we will explore how to organize materials and supplies for waiting out the hurricane at home. Stay safe and get organized so you will have worked out all the bugs just in case you have to bug out.

Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net

Paper

I am experiencing a little mental whiplash. Just as we are dealing with a client with a mountain of paper to organize and reviewing invoices for our business tax filing, my brain got jostled by an article in a technical journal that touted the “paperless” society we are rapidly becoming. The techno-savvy probably have a leg up on the rest of society in finding ways to minimize hardcopy, but most of us are still drowning in paper. The major reasons for paper accumulation according to our clients are:
1. I hold on to things longer than necessary for fear I will need information and not have it.
2. I don’t have time to take care of mail and other papers when I get it so it gets lost in a pile.
3. I have no idea what to keep so I keep everything
4. I have a lot of interests, so articles and resources about projects pile up

These are all valid problems but can be handled with a little knowledge and planning. Here are a few suggestions for getting your papers organized.

Today:
Designate a landing spot to put the mail you receive today. Put it in three piles: bills, correspondence and junk mail. Discard the junk mail immediately, shredding any items containing personal information.

Create a file for correspondence and place your correspondence in the folder.

Leave your bills where you can see them until they are paid or until you are able to make a file with payment dates that you can maintain. One idea is using an expanding folder with pay dates 1-15 and 16-31 and a place for stamps, envelopes and address labels or, if you pay online, a list of addresses and passwords

Then:
Maintain the landing spot on a daily basis, filing and discarding as you receive documents.

Create file folders for broad categories. For example you might use Financial, Medical, Household, Personal, Current bills and Miscellaneous. After you have done the initial sorting you can refine the categories so items can be more easily found. Starting with narrowly defined files can waste time and supplies.

Start with the most current pile first and put into the file folders. As you go through your papers you can discard the older documents as long as the information is reflected on the more current documents. For instance a more current credit card bill may reflect a payment on a previous statement.
If there is not any order to your current paper storage, pick a spot to start and work your way around the space counter clockwise. When going through a filing cabinet mark where you stopped with a sticky note and jot down any thoughts or questions you had up to that point.

Set aside time to tackle the papers each day until you have completed the project. If your paper dilemma is overwhelming, consult a professional organizer who can help you develop a plan or assist you with hands on organization of your files and a strategy for managing paper. She can also assist you in determining retention timelines for your important documents.

Beverly and Kristen
www.KeyTransitions.net