Today I read a report in the local edition of Sunday’s paper. It came from the Parade insert. It contained many ways to pass along good will through actions to those soldiers who have served or are currently serving. Choose one of their suggestions and show your gratitude to the brave men and women who have served in our behalf :

1. Donate equipment or help construct a home for our severely injured veterans. Info at www.homesforourtroops.org
2. Free transportation for our disabled veterans. Info at www.dav.org/volunteers
3. Mentor children of those serving through Big Brothers and Big Sisters. Info at www.bbbs.org
4. Share 1 hour of your time with a returned veteran. Listen, laugh and smile with them.
5. Send a personalized parcel through this organization. Info at www.soldierpackages.org
6. Contribute to a holiday package that will mailed to active service persons. Info at www.operationgratitude.com/volunteer
7. Save your expired coupons. Military families can use them for up to 6 months beyond the expiration date. www.coupsfortroops.com
8. Donate used DVD’s to your local VA facility. Info at www.dvds4vets.org
9. Ship your old but working cell phones to www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com For each donated this group will pay for one hour of talk time for troops oversees.
10. Request a field kit to record a war veterans war stories. Info at www.loc.gov/vets
11. Take in the pet of a deployed soldier or wounded veteran. Visit www.guardianangelsforsoldierspet.org

Organize your time so you too can lend a hand to one of our 23 million veterans OR those still serving.

   Personal productivity has a broader meaning than “just” time management. However, managing the time spent on specific projects is an important component of personal productivity. There are many pieces to the puzzle including: mental control, decision making, delegation, process management, etc. That said, personal productivity is all about getting more done with the same time and resources.

As a professional organizer / efficiency trainer I help my clients, both business and residential, get more done with the same time and resources.

I help them better organize their :

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At ORGANIZING Mind over Matter we believe that business productivity and office efficiency is essential for business growth. I am Vicki Winterton, a business productivity consultant and efficiency coach. I was recently invited to speak to a local Chamber of Commerce group. I shared with those in attendance a few of my  business client’s success stories in becoming more efficient and productive in their business environment. I promised meeting attendees some valuable downloads and office efficiency tips. Those helps are located below, but before you take a look ask yourself these 4 important questions:

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Does increasing personal efficiency really help with office productivity?  YES it does!

What good does this do?  It saves you BOTH time and money!

It is possible to find extra time in your day simply by re-organizing the way you approach the tasks that fall within your responsibility.  Take a look at each of the following areas of your work life and see where you can make improvements which will allow you to put more time into the things you really need to focus in on:

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This is a collection of productivity tools I’ve either become familiar with or developed myself since I began my business in 2006. You’ll find that they address a number of different needs. Pick the one that seems to best fit your needs and give it a try for a couple of weeks. Who knows, you may find just what you have been looking for:
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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!

    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?

I teach a business strategy class at my local Small Business Development Center. In that class we discuss the idea that the reason you are in business needs to be of value to yourself and your customers/clients. If what you do IS of value, then now is the time to optimize your space and time by organizing your home business office. My definition of living organized came from a mentor of mine Stephanie Calahan, “Easily finding WHAT you need WHEN you need it.”

Below are a few home business office organization ideas pulled from the NAPO website. I’ve added my own thoughts in red.

1. Organize your home business office with time management:

• Use a planner to track appointments and tasks. It can be a paper-based notebook, a computer software program, or an electronic handheld device.

• Create at least one hour of uninterrupted time each morning to tackle projects and action items.

• Allocate nearly 2 times the time for a task that you think it will take. This accommodates for interruptions, etc.

• Break large projects down into small, sequential steps. Schedule these steps into your week with your planner.

• Set priorities for tomorrow – The best way to determine priorities is to ask your self the following questions:

• “What is the best Income Generating Activity I could be doing right now?”
• “Who are the people or organizations that bring the most money into my business?”
• “Where could we cut costs in the business/organization that would allow us to yield more profits?”

2. Organize your home business office by organizing your desk

• Keep only the home business office supplies you need on a daily basis on your desktop or in your desk drawer.

• Create an Action File for your incoming papers and documents.

• Use your in box only for items that haven’t yet been reviewed. Once reviewed file them in your reference file or your action file.

3. Organize your home business office with a good paper file system. Contact me for my 10% discount code on any of the systems you see in the link listed above.

• Create a filing system for your electronic documents that mirrors the one you have for paper.

• Keep a file index (a master list of file names). Check the index before creating a new file to avoid making duplicates. Also use it when deciding where to put new documents.

• Refer to your company’s records retention plan for guidance on how long to keep documents. If you don’t have one in place, leave a comment by clicking here and I will email you the one I use with my clients. Be sure to check with your accountant for his ideas on my suggestions.

Listen to my online show dealing with this very topic. Read more about home business office organization here.

I specialize in home business office organizing and have learned through training and years of experience the strategies that make home business office organization easier to begin AND simpler to maintain. I organize in person for Utah located clients, and virtually with phone and photos for others throughout the USA. If you need help beginning this project, contact me for your FREE 20 minute phone analysis.

Home office organization is necessary in order for your mind to feel calm enough to function well in your home office.

“It was a pleasure working with Vicki. The most helpful thing I learned was organizing my home office paperwork. I can quickly file and find anything now. The ‘sticky notes’ and paper piles previously covering my desk have now been eliminated. The information she taught me has been very helpful.” –Linda in Highland, Utah

“Before I worked with Vicki it took me a great deal of time to find what I needed in my office. Now I know where everything is kept. I now have an attractive, organized space where I get many things accomplished. Order in my office has brought me peace and happiness. I’m now in control, not my things in control of me.” —Norma in Provo, Utah

For additional helps, here are some helpful links to pages and posts on my website and blog:

1. Home office productivity includes making sure your to-do list gets done
2. Home office organization should definately include organizing your MOST IMPORTANT papers – your vital documents
3. Home office organization includes organizing your desk
4. Home office organization includes organizing your paper clutter
5. Home office organization includes organizing the papers in your file cabinet

In the podcast, home office organizing,  which I recorded today. I talked you through the important parts of home office organization. Then in my show page blog I gave you some great information about how to fine tune those items I discussed generally in the podcast. Listen and look for even more great information.

Home office organization is key to peace and order in your life. Don’t give up if you have not yet succeeded! Click here to see before and after photos of home office spaces I have organized, click here. Contact me if you have tried and found you need professional organizing help. I organize by-your-side throughout Utah and by phone and transfered photos nationwide. Leave a comment at the top of this post and tell us your favorite home office organization tip!

All mothers are working mothers. ~Author Unknown

Childrens bedroom storage options is one of the most requested presentation topics I receive as a Utah located professional organizer. Young mothers throughout Utah have hired me to help them figure out how to improve their childrens bedroom storage systems. I am currently working alongside 3 young mothers on their childrens bedroom storage areas. Maria in Springville, Utah needs help with her family’s playroom and childrens bedroom storage areas. Jen in Cedar Hills, Utah needs ideas for her childrens bedroom storage and was even more concerned with her downstairs playroom. Mandi in Sandy, Utah needs help with laundry room workability and her 5 childrens bedroom storage areas.

Jen put it best when I asked her why she had contacted me. She stated that she had invested lots of money in her undergraduate and post graduate education. She was now a mother and homemaker and felt SHE was worth the little bit of money she would now invest (through me) in her current life’s work. I am grateful I get to help Jen, Maria and Mandi set up home systems that simplify their current lives. These systems allow them to free up more of their valuable time in the things they value most.

Today I  recorded show number 042 titled How to Organize your Kids Bedroom Storage. Read through my notes here and then click the link above to listen. My tips will help YOU with your childrens bedroom storage options by spelling out the step by step formula for childrens bedroom storage organization.

I promised my show listeners some favorite product ideas for children’s bedroom storage. I will list one idea for each of a few categories listed below. Please realize that there are many more options. You will need to look at your needs first and then find a product that will help fill those storage needs for your chilren’s bedroom. Storage preferences are very individual.  What works beautifully for one person may not work for another. Consider these product suggestions a starting point:

Childrens Bedroom Storage Toy Console much like is used in a Kindergarten classroom

Childrens Craft Tote = An electricians bag (be sure to remove the shoulder strap)

Childrens Bedroom Storage Hat Rack – Over the door help for caps, shoes and purses

Childrens Bedroom Storage Box4Blox

Lucky you, I have even more tips on organizing your childrens bedroom storage areas. Click this link to take a look.

Of all the rooms in your house your kid’s rooms are the ones that change the most over time.  Remember, your child’s room may be in your house…but IT IS your child’s room. Ask for their input and ideas. They will be much more willing to help maintain the space if THEY contributed to the rooms overall design and set up.

Because this article interested you, these might be just what you are looking for:

• Organizing Closets
• Summer Programs for your Kids
• Organizing a Blended Family

If you need help organizing childrens bedroom storage or any other home storage area, call me for a free 20 minute phone analysis at 801-623-8411. I service the Salt Lake and Utah Valley areas of Utah and anywhere in the nation virtually. Our rates are reasonable because we believe we win when you feel you have received a good value.