Vital Records
Organize your Vital Records
In a nutshell, your most important papers are called vital records. Organizing important papers is essential and your vital records need to be easily assessable for them to be any good to you. Vital Records are papers with information that is crucial about you, your family, your home, your finances, your health, and your history. (Think: marriage certificates, social security cards, military discharge papers, life insurance policies, etc.) Most of us have had occasion to need specific information and documents at a moment’s notice. Maybe you’ve already thought about gathering your vital records together, but have never gotten around to it. Or, maybe you’ve tried to gather and organize your most important papers, but have gotten stuck. Some of the “roadblocks” to accomplishing this task are:
•we don’t know where to start or what to look for
•we’re not sure what needs to be kept
•the prospect of collecting all the data is overwhelming OR
•there is just too much paper to go through
Well, now is the time to begin Organizing your Vital Records with my 3 Step ACT formula:
First, ASSESS by taking a look at where you are and asking yourself:
1. Why haven’t I done this before?
2. Why do I need to get going on this project?
3. Where am I stuck and why?
4. What is the most important 1st thing I can do today to get all my vital documents in place?
You may recognize some emotional and accountability issues as you begin gathering these important papers—but don’t let them discourage you.
Next, CREATE – Decide on a planning strategy. To begin the planning stage, I typically begin with six general document categories, then we sub-categorize those according to the needs of my client. Once you have decided on a plan, calendar the task. Begin with a beginning and completion date. Be realistic about the time you will need to invest in organizing your vital records. I would suggest you plan anywhere from 3 weeks to 3 months to complete this organizing task. Be sure to work on gathering the needed information each week. Consider options for storage of your vital records by making sure your items are secured.
Step 3 in my organizing formula is TACKLE. This is the step most people actually associate with the project: digging in to the paper, sorting, categorizing, etc.
Your vital records can be housed on-site or off-site. Choose a container that will protect them from damage. For me this includes archival plastic sheets and a waterproof, fireproof portable safe. The labeling is critical! You also need to decide on a location for final storage of these important papers. Some considerations include: a home safe, off-site storage, a safety deposit box, etc.
As circumstances change, so will some of your vital documents (examples: durable financial power of attorney, health care power of attorney, or living will). It’s a great idea to review your important documents ‘collection’ yearly. Be sure to let someone you trust know WHERE these important papers are kept, then review them together.
Often, we are left to deal with emergencies without the necessary knowledge and paperwork to make decisions and move forward. In times of tragedy, we find ourselves with mountains of important papers instead of being able to take the necessary time to reflect and mourn. Organizing your vital records is a MOST IMPORTANT organizing project. I am sure that the time and money you invest NOW in completing this project will offer you the security and calm of knowing where ALL your important papers are located. You don’t want to worry about retrieval of these important documents at a time when your emotions run high.
Peace of mind is worth a little time NOW, isn’t it? If you need my experience and help in Organizing YOUR Important Papers, please contact me. This project is one you want to make sure is done correctly.
Available for purchase in September 2010, my VITAL RECORDS ORGANIZER which can be purchased in the WIN store online. For further information listen now to my online show, The Organized Woman Show. Show number 031 deals with this very topic.
12 Responses to “Vital Records”
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February 27th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
I like the layout of your website.
May 11th, 2010 at 10:00 am
What I have is working for a few of my sites, but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?
May 25th, 2010 at 5:30 am
Hi. this is kind of an “unconventional” question , but have other visitors asked you how get the menu bar to look like you’ve got it? I also have a blog and am really looking to alter around the theme, however am scared to death to mess with it for fear of the search engines punishing me. I am very new to all of this …so i am just not positive exactly how to try to to it all yet. I’ll just keep working on it one day at a time.
May 25th, 2010 at 9:48 am
I am pleased you like it. I had someone design my menu bar. I added all the content, they did the designing.
July 20th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
[...] office organization should definately include organizing your MOST IMPORTANT papers – your vital [...]
July 28th, 2010 at 10:10 pm
I thought that I ran enough and ate well. I don’t really know that much about high blood pressure remedies or gentic risk so I appreciate this article being here! I better get my records in order.
August 4th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Good read. Needed more pictures though.
August 9th, 2010 at 4:06 am
I thought that I ran enough and ate well. I don’t really know that much about high blood pressure remedies or gentic risk so I appreciate this article being here!
August 11th, 2010 at 8:23 am
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August 17th, 2010 at 11:54 am
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August 17th, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Hello from an amazed reader! Well, there have been many entries that I have pondered over today but none of them comes close to this entry on how to organize my important papers. Congratulations! BYW: be aware that my comrades reckon I am intensely critical so that is high praise indeed!
August 21st, 2010 at 6:24 am
I like this post very much, Thanks for sharing with us!!!