Document Management 101 - Organizing Your Documents

Ever wonder where to start as you stare across the room at the stacks of paper that continue to grow at home. Have you ever considered throwing out all those totes of papers but weren't sure what to keep and what to chuck? This blog is being written to provide you with some guidelines as you tackle all those piles of paper.


Documents to keep permanently:

• Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
• Divorce, Citizenship, Adoption and Custody documents
• Social Security Cards
• Military Documents
• Medical History
• Appraisals (i.e. on jewelry, artwork, and other collectibles)
• Real estate documents and corresponding insurance policies and claim info 
• Tax Returns
• Wills and Advanced Directives (Power of Attorney, Living Will)

Determining how long to keep other documents:

• Once your year-end financial statements come in, you can chuck your monthly statements
• Utility bills need not be kept for more than 6 months; anything older than that can be accessed online
• I keep my credit card statements for 6 months in case I have to dispute anything or have a problem with merchandise purchased with a credit card. Generally, items purchased with a credit card are covered for replacement under certain conditions.

Travel Documents:

• When traveling internationally, email your documents to yourself before leaving for your trip. Be sure to send them to an email address that you can access from any computer. Include scanned copies of your passport, airline tickets, drivers license and if applicable, your visa.

As you work through your documents, be sure that you shred any documents that you plan to discard that have personal information on them (i.e. credit card statements older than six months, any documents with your social security number on them, etc.).

Managing Your Time Effectively

We all wear many different hats, and struggle from time to time with coming up with the best way to manage all of our priorities...between home, work, family, leisure time...how do we balance it all? Here are a few tips to not only help you get through the day, but to help you get the most out of your day, and be more productive. These tips can be applied both at home and at the office.

• When you start your day, write up a list of all that you'd like to accomplish for that day. Identify the priorities on the list and be prepared to shift things around, even moving some of the items to the following day if necessary. One thing I've learned is that its nearly impossible to stick to such a list exactly as it is written, or as you have planned it. I've found that I am far more productive when I remain flexible enough to deviate from the list in order to put out fires and/or handle emergencies, returning to the list once the emergency situation is under control.

• Don't be afraid to delegate when you need to. Many times, we are hesitant to ask for help and feel like we must do everything ourselves. One of the true characteristics of effective time management is knowing when and how to delegate tasks to those who are available and willing to assist you.

• I always recommend to my clients that they keep one calendar. Having more than one calendar leaves plenty of room for error - there's always the possibility that you might forget to update one of them and double book..or even worse..forget about an engagement because its not on the calendar you checked that day.

• Lastly, use your time wisely....even small intervals of time. This one is my favorites. Sometimes I'm amazed at how many things I have accomplished before arriving at the office in the morning. For example: in my area, Sams Club opens to business members at 7:30am, I often run in there at 8am to pick up a few items before going to my office in the morning. It is almost empty in there at that time, absolutely no crowds or long lines. Additionally, I often run out for lunch a little later in the day when most other people have already taken their lunch. This way I can handle errands like running to the bank or post office, and the lines aren't as long as they are around noon when everyone else takes lunch.

Organizing a Move

One of the biggest undertakings in life is managing a move.  There's researching neighborhoods and school systems, figuring out what's important to you in a community, deciding on what to take..what not to take...what needs to be replaced, and then there's packing.  Over the years I have provided move-related services to several people, and wanted to share some valuable tips to help move those of you with this project at hand through to the other side.

Whether your move is work-related, for family reasons, or for a change in climate, you may have already chosen your new community.  But in case you haven't, the following is a great site to do some research on different communities.  The site provides demographics on the neighborhood such as the average family income, demographic make up of the town, school ratings and more: http://www.moving.com/real-estate/city-profile/index.asp. 

If you are using a mover, be sure to conduct a thorough comparison of moving companies before you choose one.  Also, once you select one, make sure you read the fine print in the agreements and other paperwork.

The area in which I can be most helpful is providing advice regarding packing for the move.  Packing can be an overwhelming task, but you want to be sure that you do as much as you can on the front end, so that you have less to do when you land in your new home.  Here is a quick guide to help you with this task:

- You may have to purchase larger boxes, in which case I recommend a visit to Walmart.  Their boxes are much cheaper than the boxes sold at moving companies, storage facilities and truck rental companies.

- For smaller boxes, visit your local supermarkets and liquor stores.  In my experience, the people working in these stores have been very willing and helpful, letting me know what time to come gather boxes before they are put into the incinerator (sometimes its early in the morning or late at night).  The liquor store boxes are particularly good for glass items like drinking glasses, etc, because they are compartmentalized from the wine bottles being shipped in them.  The supermarket boxes are great for books because they are smaller and books are heavy.  You would not want to pack a large box full of books unless you are a body builder, in which case it would still be very awkward to carry :)

- When you begin your strategy for packing, think categories, but also work to pack a room at a time.  For example: when you pack your bedroom, you want to pack in categories like toiletries, shoes, small clothing (underwear, scarves, hats), etc. 

- Be sure to label every box with not only what it contains, but also what room it belongs in.

- Make sure you have enough insulation for your dishes, wine glasses, etc.  You can buy bubble wrap very reasonably at Walmart as well, but you also want to use resources around your home to minimize the cost, i.e. small plastic grocery store bags, newspaper, even paper bags and gift/tissue paper.

- In the kitchen you want to pack all the dry goods and seasonings together, and if you have any coolers, use them for the items in your refrigerator and freezer.  Of course you'd want to pack these at the very last minute.

- Also, you absolutely want to keep all cords that are detached, with the appliance that they go with, i.e. printers, cordless phones, etc.  You can tape those cords to their corresponding appliance so that you are not searching for them when you get to your new living space.

For the most part, if you work your way from room to room, remembering to pack like items together, and keeping the items in each room together for the most part, and labeling every box, you should be in pretty good shape when you arrive at your destination.

And if you simply cannot manage packing, or just choose not to, you can always hire a service to do it for you.  My customers can't share enough about the difference we've made for them in their moving process.

Lastly, when you get to your new home, unpack one room or half of a room at a time.  Don't try to do it all at once.

Hopefully, these tips will help make your moving process a little less stressful.

Recommendations for Beach Vacations in 2014

One of my favorite things to do is to travel, so I thought I'd post some suggestions for this year based on my past travel experiences.  I also want to include some tips for the different destinations I've been to.


SAINT LUCIA: I'll start with my absolute favorite!  While traveling is one of my passions, I normal do not like to visit the same place twice.  I feel like it's a waste of travel resources...just my personal opinion.  There's so much to see, I just like to take the opportunity to venture out to see places that I've not seen before.  Even though I normally don't visit a place twice, I did visit Saint Lucia twice.  What a beautiful Island.  My recommendation for accommodations is the beautiful Bay Gardens Resort  Bay Gardens Resort.  It's located in Rodney Bay, right in the Tourist Village.  The resort is right on the beach, and you could literally walk to shopping, restaurants, night life, and just about anything else you might be looking for.  They even have a yoga studio there and quite a few salons for various beauty treatments.  I remember having my locks washed while I was there at a nearby salon.


ACAPULCO, MEXICO: Another one of my favorites, and I have many, is Acapulco, Mexico.  While I was in Acapulco, there was an earthquake that measured at 6.9 on the rector scale, and my cousin and I came out unscathed!  We stayed in the Fairmont Acapulco Princess.

 
This hotel/resort includes two towers that I'm pretty sure I heard were modeled after the pyramids in Mexico City.  One word of caution, this resort did not have coffee makers in the rooms :)  You had to actually go downstairs to the "cafe" to get coffee in the morning, or have some at the breakfast buffet.

If you play golf, there's actually a golf course directly across the street/road from the resort.  Also want to point out that these twin towers are built to withstand an earthquake of up to 9.0.


PUNTA CANA, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: If you are one of those people who could do without all of the hustle and bustle while on a vacation, and you'd rather relax and do things that are easily accessible, you would love Bahia Principe Resorts. 



This resort is an all inclusive resort that is like it's own magnificent city!  There was a train-style trolly car that you could take around the premises because the grounds were so huge. I had a couple of spa treatments that were excellent - they had more than one spa on the premises.  There's also more than one gym on the grounds, and about 5 or 6 different pools.  There was a choice of about 10+ different restaurants, and most of them were included in the all inclusive package.
You could make reservations at a different one each night.  And if you didn't feel like having dinner at a restaurant (there was a dress code at most of them), then there were round the clock buffets in several different locations.  In spite of my efforts not to gain any weight on the 5 day vacation I took to this destination (I worked out every single day first thing in the morning), I still gained 5 pounds.  I was pretty good with food and portions, but I think it was all the drinks :)




 SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC:  OK, when I visited Santo Domingo, I did so on a shoe string budget.  So the experience was a little different than when I went to Punta Cana.  Here, I stayed in a small resort in the inner city called the   Acuarium Resort , but it wasn't a bad experience. We actually stayed in a condo with a full kitchen, etc.  and the supermarket was right down the road.

Even though this resort is not right on the beach, they provided a daily shuttle free of charge that would take guests to Boca Chica, the local beach at about 10am, and then come back and pick them up for the return trip at about 5pm.   At this resort, you want to be careful walking around the area, and be sure to take taxis if you have to go to the supermarket or anywhere else.  Also, directly across the street was a house where the prostitutes worked, but we had already done our research in advance and we knew about that.  I traveled with other adults so it wasn't really an issue, as long as we knew to stay away lol.  There were really no disruptions or problems during our stay, and many others on Tripadvisor had reviewed it saying the same thing.  However, if you are traveling with children, this is probably not a good choice.


PROVIDENCIALES, TURKS AND CAICOS:  This was another trip on a shoe string budget, but it was a nice, relaxing trip.  I stayed in a small hotel called the Ports of Call Resort , but it actually used to be a Comfort Suites and was under the Choice Privileges Rewards Program.  Since I traveled there, they have now become independent and are no longer associated with the program.

This hotel, though not directly on the beach, is literally a 5 minute walk away from the beach, and they have the rights to beach access for their guests.  Something really great you want to keep in mind, they have a gourmet market right across the street that is very similar to a Whole Foods.  They even sell wine at this market....some good wines!!


 At the time I stayed there I had recently started my journey of eating well and working out so that market was a Godsend.  Also, there's a gym, The Athletic Club where you can purchase a day pass to do yoga, work out and enjoy all kinds of other classes and activities for the day.

So these are just a few of my favorite destinations, but I have many more in my travel portfolio...Freeport, Bahamas...Montego Bay, Jamaica....Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Please feel free to post comments or ask any questions that you may have about any of these destinations I've posted.

Setting the Table for Your Dining Experience

Often times, when I'm planning dinner parties, I am asked about how the table should be set for a semi-formal dinner. So this blog is dedicated to setting the table.

Here's how to set the table for a semi-formal event, and I'm saying semi-formal because this post will not include certain peices, such as the fruit fork, the fish knife, or the champagne and sherry glasses:

• The dinner plate (sometimes referred to as the service plate) should be placed directly in front of the guest
• The soup bowl is placed on top of the dinner plate
• The bread and butter plate is placed at the 10:00 position
• The butter knife is placed on top of the bread and butter plate, slightly diagnal at the 11:00 position
• The water glass should be located at the 1:00 position
• The wine goblet should be just below and to the right of the water glass
• The dessert fork is placed above the dinner plate in the horizontal position
• The dessert spoon is placed above the dessert fork in the opposite direction
• The dinner knife belongs to the right of the dinner plate, with the cutting edge toward the dinner plate
• The soup spoon belongs to the right of the dinner knife
• If serving shellfish, the oyster fork belongs to the right of the soup spoon
• The dinner fork is placed to the left of the dinner plate, and the salad fork to the left of the dinner fork
• The napkins should be ironed to ensure that there are no wrinkles in them, folded (see instructions below on how to fold), and placed inside the wine glass or on the dinner plate using a napkin ring.

 
Note: The attached photo inclcudes a few additional items that I have not used in this posting.

Folding the Napkin:
Goblet Fan (to be placed inside the wine goblet): Fold napkin in half. Pleat napkin from top to bottom. Fold the napkin back 1/3 of the way on right (folded) end and place into goblet. Spread the pleats out at the top.



Basic Napkin Ring (to be placed on the dinner plate: Lay the napkin flat on the table and pick it up at its center. Once you are holding the napkin at the center point, allow all points to fall into place naturally. Insert the tip of the napkin into a ring and adjust if necessary. Lay the napkin on a dinner plate.

A note about wine glasses
On ocassion, a client may ask me about the difference between a red wine glass and a white wine glass.

The white wine glass has a smaller opening (and has a longer slimmer look) because white wine is served chilled. The smaller opening is designed to keep the wine cool.

The red wine glass is round and full with a large opening, allowing the wine to breathe, in order to create a fuller taste.

I hope this post inspires you to start planning your next dinner party. Eat, drink, and be happy (-:

Getting Organized For 2014

One of the things that I love to do at the end of the year is clear out the old, in preparation for the new.  All year long, people ask me about ways they can stay organized both at home and at work.  This post is to provide you all with a structure for ongoing organization.  For me, these actions are prompted by the end of the year, and the excitement of the upcoming year.   However, they are practices that I actually schedule in my calendar on a quarterly basis to ensure that I keep my environment organized.

Basically, the key is to schedule certain "events" in your calendar...occasions on which you will work on certain things around the house.  The most critical ones that I recommend to my clients, and that I practice myself are as follows:


1. Wardrobe Day: On this day, my 13-yr-old daughter and I go through our dresser drawers and closets.  We weed out things that are too small, or that we haven't worn in the last 18 months.  For this, you must be strong, those pieces that are "kinda cute" but that you NEVER wear, go ahead and get rid of them...you're not going to wear them!  We use two garbage bags, one for donation to Salvation Army (or wherever you choose); and one for trash...for those items that you'd be embarrassed to give someone face-to-face.  If they are in such bad shape that you wouldn't hand them to someone, don't pass them off in a bag, just throw them out.

2. Junk Drawer Day:  On this day, go through all the junk drawers in your house.  Group like items from all the different junk drawers together.  Keep them together in an organized way...for example:  I always find tons of pens and pencils around, especially in junk drawers.  While I have two desks in my house, one in my bedroom and one in my office space, which both have a mug with pens, pencils, highlighters, etc. I still have had to create a shoebox (the plastic kind) for all the extras.  Also, keep small items together too, in ways that look presentable: I keep paper extra clips in a small jar (a baby food or mustard jar works); I keep safety pins in a small sandwich bag which I keep in the sewing kit.  If you have one-of-a-kind items for which it is hard to find a home, you can buy a drawer organizer like the one in this picture to keep in one of the junk drawers for those kinds of things. 



3. Book Day: Both my daughter and I love, love, love books.  I recently started downloading my books on Audible.com, but there are certain books that I consider treasures, and I have a hard copy either in my office space or on the book shelf in my bedroom.  Between the two of us, it
is very difficult for us to let go of books, but we make an effort, and we always get rid of a few when we go through this process.  So you might be saying "what do I do with them?"  Well, here are a few ideas:  http://www.booksforafrica.org/books-computers/donate-books.html;

You can also sell your books on Amazon.com.


4. Kitchen Day:  Go through your kitchen cabinets.  Do you have too many take-out food containers?  Do you have 10 plastic tops that don't go to any containers??  How many pots, pans and skillets do you have?  What kind of shape are they in?  Are there some that can be tossed?  How many do you need?  Are you fortunate in that you can donate some and still have plenty?  How many crockpots do you have?  Blenders?  Bullets?  Toasters?  This even applies to flatware, plates, tumblers, etc.  Get the picture?? 


5. Toy Day:  If you have a little one, when they are out at that birthday party next month, that will be the perfect time to go through their toys and get rid of the ones they don't even remember, but would have a fit if they ever witnessed you trying to throw them out.

And the big one...the one we all need to constantly work on is.......   

6. Paper Day:  At my house, I only allow three file drawers: one for business files, one for financial stuff and critical documents, and one for miscellaneous stuff like health, education, etc.  I don't save statements past 6 months (utility bill statements, credit card statements, bank statements).  If you need more than that, you can always get them from the bank or utility company.  As for my business files, when the drawer gets full, some get moved into storage, but I don't keep any business or client files older than 7 years.  My storage is very small, so small that it only costs about $55, and I refuse to get a bigger one, it would only be a magnet for more stuff.  After all, even though I'm an organizer and I live by my own rules, I'm still human :)



The bottom line is, this quarterly purge of paper prevents a situation where I have boxes and boxes of paper at home or in storage, it's just not practical and causes massive clutter over time.


Well I hope this post has motivated you to get your house in order for the New Year.  It is always my pleasure to share tips and tools with my readers and followers, that increase effectiveness, and improve quality of life overall.

Wishing all my readers, followers and clients a joyous, prosperous and abundant 2014.

Transform Your Environment - Transform Your Life!

Creating peace and productivity

Do you find that you are impacted by these hindering experiences below?
- Consuming energy looking for things in your home that you are unable to find because they aren't organized
- Paying bills late because your financial papers, etc. aren't organized, you can't find certain bills, and/or haven't even opened them yet to know that they are due
- Spending money on clothing, housewares and other items because you can't find the one you already have...somewhere in the house
- Walking into room after room and being reminded of the chaos...in lieu of experiencing your home as a peaceful abode
- Avoiding having people over because you are embarrassed about all the messy clutter
- The inability to generate your creative thinking - clutter interferes with creativity, preventing the mental space for it, and instead causing internal noise and confusion

Clutter impacts us in many ways, and most people are not even aware of it. According to a poll conducted by about.com, out of 12,600 people, 35% of the people surveyed said they need an intervention to take place in their home because of the clutter. The same 35% even said that they avoid going home because they can't relax there with all the clutter around. Additionally, another 37% admitted that their home is cluttered most of the time...and they don't event attempt to deal with it unless they have someone coming over.

It's a proven fact that people who suffer from clutter are often in denial and unable to recognize that they need a professional to intervene. Many of my clients tell me, when they finally call me in to intervene, that they have told themselves for 2 years or more that they can and will manage the clutter themselves. However, the more time that goes by, the more the clutter multiplies, and the harder it is to recover.

Investing in getting your environment in order is the most generous gift you can give yourself. In addition to solving all of the challenges listed above, calling in a professional to get you organized will support you in everything you are out to accomplish in your life and have you sleep peacefully at night, and happy to go home after work.

I invite you to visit us at www.concierge-4-hire.com to learn more about how we make the difference for hundreds of people every year. We won't judge you. In the process of getting you organized, everything we see and hear will be kept confidential, and if you don't see the amazing difference in your home once we have brought our God-given gifts and talents into the equation, we will give you your money back! That's our guarantee, and we stand behind it 100%!!