One of my favorite holiday traditions is hosting a game night for my extended family. This night includes those that live locally and those that come to town for the holidays. Typically we have 30 attend.

I just watched a TV segment produced by Stephanie Bryson of Studio 5 titled Best Family Games 2011. (Stephanie produced a few of the segments in which I was invited to be the organizing expert.) Stephanie included some fun games in the segment. Her criteria for the games she chose to highlight:

• Easy to learn
• Wide age appeal
• Quick to play

Of those listed, my personal favorites are:

1. Joe Name It – Great for large group gatherings. Directions say ages 12 up will enjoy. Really fun! Can be purchased for $10 at www.amazon.com)
2. Jungle Speed – Teenagers love the fast paced action. Directions say ages 8 up will enjoy. Can be purchased for $20 at Target.

Both are fast paced and easy for large group play. A perfect fit for your family game night or a night spent with friends. Let the Games Begin…

This post will allow you to rethink HOW you will handle the organization and dispersal of the items necessary for kids lunches in your home. I recently presented a “Organize your Home Spaces” workshop. One of the class attendees, Brea Mefford of Highland UT, a sweet young mother of 6 (VERY IMPRESSIVE!) was motivated to fine-tune the system she used for kids lunches in her home. I asked her to email me the photos and information so you too can consider using the kids lunch system she has set in place. I found it to be very creative. Here are Brea’s suggestions:

Read more…

I know you have asked yourself, “Is organizing a yard sale worth the effort?” Listed here are the ’how to’s' of organizing a yard sale that IS worth your time and effort.  My 5 step SPARK formula is your secret to success. It walks you through the needed planning and progression of a yard sale worth holding. Read more…

I just left the home of Marian who hired me  to help her feel better prepared for life’s unexpected. I worked with her on her earthquake emergency preparation because she lives within the Rocky Mountain’s fault line in Provo, Utah. We finished up readying her 3 month consumable food supply and 72 hour emergency kits. We are now working on her ‘Vital Documents Grab & Go Binder’. She is already feeling much better prepared.

The following are recommendations made by FEMA – The USA’s Federal Emergency Management Agency which oversees accountability for emergency preparedness including earthquake emergency preparation in the USA. (The tips in paranthesis belong to me.) Read more…

Take Command!   Create a Paperwork Landing Pad

Do you need a go-to spot for paper  management of papers that are incoming? As a professional organizer servicing the Utah County area, I find the organizing service most often requested by my residential clients is a workable paper management center. A place for them to stay atop incoming and outgoing family centered information. Papers and memorabilia come into our homes daily and need a place to “land” so they can be easily retrieved and dealt with.

Here in Utah we have larger families with many of our children involved in after-school clubs, sports, and other activities. The amount of “stuff” brought home and needing an organized “rest stop” is often doubled.. If YOUR kitchen counter is cluttered with family schedules, school papers, mail, or invitations; I suggest you assign a small file box as the “family file” to help clean up that chaos. The family management center is a place for everything to “live” until completed. This works ideally for busy families needing to organize life’s activities. Here’s how to get started:

1st Divide and Conquer your Incoming Papers

Sort the paper that commonly clutters up your kitchen counter. Think of paper processing as a runway where there is room for landing and take-off but no room for parking! When I work with clients, I have a list of forty possible file categories (sorting options) of which they choose up to 12 that best fit their family’s paper needs. Without my master list, I would suggest you gather your stacks and sort with my RAFT formula. Paper management is easier if you will actually touch each paper in your current paper piles and decide what the next action is for the paper you are holding in your hand. The RAFT formula is:

Read

Act (this includes actions such as bills pay, errands, discuss, etc. but for now do not subdivide. That comes after the first sort.)

File

Toss (These go right into the shredder or trash.)

A supplemental paper collection option for families with school aged children includes capturing incoming paper in separate “in-box” trays OR a wall  system that has pockets labeled for each family member. This allows each child to oversee the management of their own incoming papers. This is a great way to initiate the habit of accountability in your children.

Paper Management includes Home Office Organization

Paper Management includes Organizing your MOST Important Papers

Desk Organization for Paper Management

Filing Cabinet Tips for Paper Management

Incoming Paper Management includes Family Management Centers

Family disorder costs us in terms of our time, energy, money, relationships, and effectiveness. Pay attention to the traffic patterns and current habits of your family members and find a place in YOUR home for a center that can truly be central to what is happening. In most homes this is the kitchen area or an entry space. Plan on half a day to get your family’s incoming papers requiring further action whipped into shape. Once you have completed the paper management part with a family management center, you will feel you are once again in command.

If you would like to talk with Vicki about her spending a few hours helping you set up the necessary systems for a Family Management Center, call the number below or click here.

Do you have an emergency food supply in your home for use “just in case”? In today’s world we have each become accostumed to having anything we want at our fingertips. Few of us have considered what would happen if we were not able to get to the corner market OR if the corner market did not have food on their shelves. With natural disasters this is a very real possibility.

Rising prices and unemployment can mean that you simply do not have the money you need to buy food. It makes good sense to store food in your home so that your family can endure emergencies more comfortably.

In years past it was common practice to store a one year emergency food supply of dehydrated foods that tasted like cardboard. No one can be happy eating something that tastes like cardboard. Instead, I suggest you build your 1 year emergency food supply around your family’s favorite recipes. I offer 2 options to my clients nationwide.

1. A six meal emergency food supply plan pulled from your family’s favorite recipes where you rotate through the meals so one of the recipes is prepared and served once every four days. Each of these 6 recipe options is served approximately once each month OR
2. A twelve meal plan pulled from your family’s favorite recipes where you will rotate through the meals in exactly the same way except each of the 12 recipes is served approximately once every other month. This emergency food supply meal plan offers greater variety.

The fine details for making this plan work include:

• keeping your supply stocked up!
• choosing recipes that are made with foods that   a) come canned or bottled   b) have a two year or greater shelf life, and   c) are easy to store

If you need some help, I have done this over and over with my clients who hire me to help them get their emergency food supply in order. I can make YOUR recipes work!

When your car breaks down, a little knowledge can go a long way. One of the best things you can do to ensure your safe return when you travel is to:

1. carry a car survival kit in your car
2. keep your gas tank 1/2 full AND
3. inform those close to you of your travel plans and route

This week on The Organized Woman Show, we recorded our 57th podcast show titled, Survive a Car Break Down. We shared some precautions you should take before you load up to travel across country. Listen by clicking the link above.

According to local outdoor survivalist, Greg Davenport, when you pack a car survival kit you should consider these key things:

1. Staying hydrated – maybe a purifying water bottle in your car
2. Signaling for help – road flares, a flag, or a mirror (Already included with the purchase of your car.)
3. Providing protection for you and those whom you TYPICALLY transport  (Your car comes with leather seats, floor mats, & seat cushions that can be cut out and used for warmth or shade if necessary.)

Because comfort is important to me, I would suggest your car survival kit include the following specific items:

• a map
• a compass
• a 1st aid kit
• a steel & flint kit
• a light colored cloth or flag
• duct tape
• jumper cables
• a flashlight
• a basic tool kit
• a tire inflater
• cat litter or sand
• a pen & paper
• a comforting book
• a box of tissue
• a garden trowel
• an ice scraper AND
• comfort food

I update my car’s survival kit every 5 years. It is always tethered inside the trunk of my car with a carabiner so it stays put.

Some additional helps dealing with survival and preparing a car survival kit can be found on these websites:

The 5 most common reasons a car breaks down

Washington State wintertime car survival kit

Home items for a car survival kit

Preparing a car survival kit and following the safety tips above will allow you greater peace of mind as you roam your city streets or tour the beautiful country roads of America. Prepare your car with the things you need to assure your safety. A simple car survival kit is key!

    A well balanced family schedule and life is hard to achieve. Many of my clients feel like they are juggling life with way to many balls in the air. Some questions each of us have asked include these:

1. How do I live a balanced life in this busy world?
2. Is time for myself selfish?

These are good questions. A few years back I asked myself these very questions. I needed techniques that worked! Luckily, you can benefit from my years of research and work to design the best tools and techniques for “finding” time.

I appreciate you visiting my website.  As a “thank you” you may download all 5 options below. In addition, I have compiled many great forms, tips and techniques in my Household Manager Binder Kit:

• Five pre-labeled binder category dividers to easily organize your binder.

• Instructions for putting together a small ”file box” for easy containing and follow up of those dreaded kitchen counter paper piles.

• 30 pages of forms and 10 instruction sheets for better management of your family, schedules, contacts, meals, time, and papers.

• Many of my “best tips & techniques” for organizing specific home trouble spots (this in-and-of-itself is a $60 value.)

This Binder Kit for YOUR household contains the best of what I offer my paying clients. Over 40 pages of forms, techniques and tips to better manage:

1. Your life

2. Your family

3. Your time

4. Your home and papers

Here are the Freebies I promised:

• My balanced family schedule worksheet to see how balanced you currently live.
• The Julie Beck family schedule prioritizer. (She is the current president of one of the largest women’s organizations in the world.)
• The family schedule weekly template I designed to implement President Julie Beck’s suggestions.

For more information on time management click the page links below:

Changing behavior the easy way.

Time management tips I shared with a TV audience last year.

Contact me by email or call 801-623-8411 to Order your own Family Manager Binder Kit so you can live a more relaxed life.  Aren’t YOU ready for a family schedule and personal life that allows you more time for yourself and the people and things that really matter to you?

School is in session once again. Statistics show that an organized student out-performs others with the same capabilities. Typically a student learns to live an organized life by watching the adults in his life.

As a former teacher and informed parent I did all I could to make sure my children were well rounded and enjoying their school experiences. I visited their classrooms often and let the teachers know I was watching & interested in what they were teaching my children. I valued those teachers who shared their best with my children (nearly all of them) and these good teachers KNEW they were valued!

My guest on The Organized Woman Show this week was RaDawn Pack. A master teacher of 24 years. Listen here to learn from RaDawn. Below are some valuable links and downloads for your child’s success in school. I have organized them with my 4 E’s:

1. Establish Family Rules to support your organized student
2. Exemplify Living Organized to motivate your organized student
3. Expound your Expectations to notify your organized student
4. Expect great things from your organized student

YOU are the driving factor in your child’s school success. The teacher shares important information, but YOU are the coach and umpire combined. Magnify your child’s capabilities by setting up organization systems in your home spaces that encourage your child to live an organized life. Enjoy this new school year and show that organized student of yours that strength is order, love, and discipline combined!