Month 1 – Day 2 – Resolution: Operation Organization

Month 1 – Day 2 – Resolution: Operation Organization

Goal of the Day (GOTD): important papers

 

I'm taking my list and starting at square one. This is possibly the most important one of all. If, god forbid, something were to happen, I'd need to be able to find some of this stuff quickly, and with as little stress as possible.

Step 1: Collect all papers to be sorted through.

Step 2: Collect all materials needed to sort and store items.

ü  Recycling bag

ü  Shredder

ü  Self-closing file folder with built-in dividers

Step 3: The grueling task of sorting through the mountain of STUFF. Here's how I divided my documents:

o   Documents to be shredded – old bills, statements, etc. DO NOT THROW THEM AWAY INTACT. Protect yourself from identity theft. It only takes a few extra minutes, and if you're weird like me, you'll find the shredder to be rather fun to use.

o   One pile for each family member – their pile should include birth certificates, social security cards, medical/shot records, resume, educational records, life insurance documents, etc.

o   One stack for each of the following categories:

o   Automobile – insurance papers, titles, loan documents, etc. for each vehicle

o   Health insurance – all documents related to health insurance (enrollment forms, paid bills, etc.) – subdivide into Vision, Dental, etc.

o   Bank information – 12 months worth of bank statements, as well as deposit slips from the last month (until they show up on your account statement, then you can shred them), extra checks, filled check registers, etc.

o   Loans – Original loan agreement, account information, recent statements, payment coupon book, etc 

o   Tax records – my annual tax documents are stored together in a manila envelope for each year. I find that this works well, considering that every document involved seems to be a different size. (What is UP With that? Isn't it completely inefficient to have to produce 7,000 different sized pieces of paper?)

o   General accounts – I keep two months worth of bills from each utility company, as well as a list of account numbers and contact numbers for each company. If my power goes out in a storm, I want to know exactly where to find the number to contact the power company and get it fixed ASAP.

***If you have credit cards create a file for each account. Include in the file your account number, contact numbers for the company, a photocopy of the front and back of your actual credit card, and the six month's worth of statements.

Step 4: Label files in accordion file folders. Since I don't have all that much I need to keep track of, all of my stuff fits into two file folders. I use these. I went with the plastic because I expect it would protect my files from any liquid that they might accidentally come into contact with. (If you have children, you come to expect these things.) I've also put all of the General Account information into one file folder, and the more sensitive documents into the other file folder. The folder with the more sensitive documents will be stored in the safe, so no one can access it accidentally. The utility stuff can be kept out, though, because it doesn't contain any important information. In order to tamper with the utilities or whatnot, you'd have to know  passwords (which NO ONE should be dumb enough to store with their papers). Therefore, it can be in a more easily accessible location, so I can get to it quick if I just want to change my phone service or something. :)

When all is said and done, I've got my non-sensitive documents in a filing cabinet, and my other stuff in a safe. I've shredded anything I determined I didn't need. The only thing I will need to do in the future is sort any incoming documents/bills into what needs to be stored, and then put it into the correct folder. Shouldn't be all that difficult now that I've gotten it done.

VERDICT: This whole project really only took me about three hours from start to finish. The total cost was only about $12, since all I needed to get were two accordion file folders.  It would cost a bit more if you don't already own a shredder. I am of the opinion that everyone should own a shredder. 1) They are great for protecting your personal information from would-be thieves, and 2) they're kind of fun to use, Make sure you get one with a decent page capacity, cross-cutting capabilities, and the ability to shred credit cards and CDs . 

I really should have sucked it up and done this a long, long time ago. 

 

Month 1 – Day 1 – Resolution: Operation Organization

Month 1 – Day 1 – Resolution: Operation Organization

 

My best friend has organizing in her blood. She can take three tons of random papers shoved into the bottom of a closet, and in a matter of hours, have divided things into a recycling pile, and two very neat, easily understandable files of important documents. Personally, I'm more inclined to sit there and attempt to make sense of things for about an hour, sort some of the stuff and then get tired of it and  burst into tears out of frustration, shove it all back in the closet, go eat a cookie, and finally, cave in and call her for help. Sometimes I wonder if I am her favorite or most-hated work-in-progress.

 

Either way, she has never failed to come through when I've had an organizing/cleaning crisis. She's helped me move twice (once when I was on pregnancy-induced bed rest, and a complete emotional basket case – her nomination for sainthood has already been submitted), and saved my butt before numerous MIL visits/ birthday parties/graduation parties/etc.

 

This month, though, I am striving to get my life better organized without relying on Kristin. That's not to say I won't call her for advice every now and then (that's what experts are for, right?), but I won't ask her to come help me do it – or even accept that help if it's offered, as she is apt to do – unless I absolutely, positively need it.

 

In any matter, today's efforts are seemingly unproductive, but it's all a part of the larger picture. Goal #1 is to make a list of all the different areas/things that need organizing, in order to tackle each one. Here's what I came up with:

1)                     1.) Important papers – right now, they're all scrambled, jumbled mess. They're in one place, but if I needed to find something in an emergency, I'd be screwed.

2)                     2.) Magazines. I admit it. I have a magazine addiction. And then I have a hard time getting rid of them, because there's always at least one thing I intend to do or try, or I just love the picture. Surely I can't be the only one with this problem, since they sell a year's worth of magazine storage bags .

3)                    3.) Work stuff. I'm a teacher. I collect "stuff". Papers, books, materials, books, artifacts, books. Did I say books? Since I could, at any given point, be assigned to any grade level ranging from Pre-K to 4^th grade, it's hard to weed through my "stuff", but it really NEEDS to be done, before it takes over my house again this summer.

a.     Must do: Locate all boxes/cabinets, and get stuff together in one place. (Easier said than done.) Determine what is so old-school as to no longer be useful, what I will probably never use (toss or give away), and what needs to be kept. Divide things by grade level applicable, then sub-divide by subject matter. Determine storage method most appropriate (clearly labeled storage boxes for artifacts, clearly labeled bags for books sorted by theme/subject, and files for papers/lesson plans).

4)                    4.) My children's things. My children are the most lovable children in the world. Or at least, that's what the number of gifts they've received from every person they've ever met seems to indicate. We really have way too much, and need to find a way to weed it/organize it/store it.

a.     Must do: make everyone contribute to the weeding of the crap. Find an aesthetically pleasing method to store it, since it's currently being housed in a variety of laundry baskets.

5)                    5.) General storage/organization at my house. I live in a 100 –year-old house in the country. Built before people had closets as a part of the house. We have a SERIOUS storage problem. Serious. Organization will be crucial to make our belongings fit in a manner conducive to, well, sanity.

6)                    6.)  My books. And books. And books. I'm a bit of a book junkie. I freely admit I have a problem, but I have no desire to be cured of my addiction. Rather, I'd like to limit myself to the high quality drug of choice. ;)

a.     Must do: Determine what is keep, donate to library, or return to people I borrowed them from. Find storage for everything I'm keeping and then actually bring the other stuff to the library or post office.

7)                   7.) My kitchen. Auuuuuugggh! It's probably a surprise to most people that I love to cook. I really, truly enjoy it. You would never know it, though, because I hate the current organization system in my kitchen (or lack thereof) so much, that I rarely cook. We eat out a lot. Fixing this would probably help with resolution #6 (health/fitness). Must: Weed, sort, store.

8)                    8.) Tools / equipment. This is more my husband's fault, but I'll have to be the one to suck it up and fix it in order to create a system we can all use. Before my children choke on a coat hook. 

va                    a.   Must do: Sort, and determine proper storage system to keep each item functioning, and safely away from the children.

2)                    9.) Cleaning products. I hate cleaning. (Another reason Kristin is up for sainthood – she helps me clean, when it gets to the point where I'm standing in the room with a rag mumbling "I have no idea where to start…" over and over again). And yet, I keep buying cleaning products, as if they will magically apply themselves and clean things on their own.

a.     Must do: weed,organize, and store safely.

 

I'm limiting myself to nine items, or I'll be so overwhelmed I may never want to begin.

 

*Looking over this, it probably seems like my house is filled with junk you have to sift through in order to walk. While I have been to those homes, mine isn't one of them. We do a pretty decent job of getting things put up and away, it's just that you can't always find things when you need them because there's no clearly defined system.  There is a method to the madness, with hidden pockets of organization here and there, but the goal is to get away from ANY hint of madness, and move closer to clear-cut organization J

What's this all about?

I recently read an article about the top 10 resolutions that people make every year. Apparently many people make the same resolutions every year, and few, if any of them, are ever achieved.

I've been there. We make the grand, large scale resolutions, setting ourselves up for failure long before the calendar year ends. It stinks.

So this year, instead of expecting to disappoint myself, I've developed a new approach. I've been referring to it as my "Year of Resolutions" (hence the name of this blog). The plan is to pick out my Top 12 resolutions, and then devote myself to one each month. I'll journal my efforts as I go, and attempt to document it with photos as well. (I can't promise that there will be photos with every post, though. I live in the boonies with no DSL - photo hosting sites aren't always cooperative.)

I know that I'm not so great at long-term resolutions, generally speaking. Apparently a lot of other people also have the same problem, or else we wouldn't be making the same resolutions every year, right? BUT, I can agree to do almost anything for 28-31 days in a row. They say it takes doing something every day for 21 straight days in order to make it a habit. If I set small goals of doing AT LEAST one thing to contribute towards each resolution, then I'll get the instant gratification of completing that task as well as working towards fulfilling a long-term goal. And maybe somewhere in there I'll teach myself some positive new habits. :) 

It should be a win-win situation.

(P.S. I started this as a hand-written journal on December 31st, 2008 - but I've gotten a callus on my finger from my pen, and the beginnings of what I'm convinced is carpal tunnel syndrome from all the handwriting. So I'm giving in and putting it on electronic format - in which case, you might as well make it a public blog and maybe help a fellow soul out, right? So, enjoy. I'll try to catch it up to speed fairly quickly, posting about two days at a time until we're up to speed. :) )