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.

I was hired last year by a Doctor who lives in the Provo / Orem area and needed professional organizer help with garage organization. He realized that clutter is a stress creator and the condition of his garage was affecting the quality of his life. At our first meeting I asked him what pushed him to call me and he said, “I feel real frustration when I drive into my garage every day.” He realized that letting go of the excess and organizing what was left would allow him to feel more positive about his daily return home.

Because the garage is one of a few home spaces where we place our “I might need this someday” stuff, garage organization is quite easy to achieve. When I work with clients I bring with me a list of all the possible garage organizing categories and we start sorting their items into categories purging and deleting as we go. You can organize your garage by looking at your gathered items and decide on these main categories.

Realize, that when I refer to your garage, anything that I share with you can be applied to any home storage area including your attic, basement or outdoor shed. To hear my podcast show dealing with garage organizing AND to learn my SPARK formula for organizing ANY home storage area, visit www.TheOrganizedWomanShow.com and look for show number 029 . In that show I promise you some photos of a few of my favorite garage organization products. I am always good on my promises. Here you go:

Schulte’s freedomrail line makes a complete garage storage solution which includes:  rail hardware, cabinetry, shelving, wire grids, hooks, metal and mesh baskets, activity organizers for sporting goods, garden items, tools, etc.

Ceiling Shelves for storage of Yard Furniture or Holiday Decor:   – Tuffrax, Totetrac, or Heavy Lift Garage Elevator (pulley driven baskets to raise and lower ceiling stored items)

Tool Rack – OR LOW BUDGET:  Heavy duty garbage cans to hold rakes, shovels, etc. AND Wall Pegboard and hooks.

Sporting Goods - Winter Ski’s & Tennis Rackets – Two 1” dowel pieces cut 12 to 24” long and then anchored to a 2 X 4 wood piece and attached to the garage wall.   You slide your skis in with the curved tips out and the tennis racket with the webbed net up.  For Bicycles:  2 bike gravity stand $70    Bike Hoist Pulley System    $25    LOW BUDET:  2 Large ceiling Cup Hooks per bike

Through garage organization you can turn that space into the garage of your dreams. Realize that even your home storage areas require monthly and yearly upkeep. I recommend to my clients that they get the whole family involved and plan to spend 3 hours yearly doing a purge and clean. Who knows, after YOUR garage organizing session, you may even be able to easily get your car inside. Now, wouldn’t that be delightful?

If you are tired of your garage disorder and would like some professional organizing help, contact us today. We offer a FREE 20 minute phone analysis.

As part of January 2010 National Get Organized Month I am pleased to offer you this FREE downloadable form focusing on balancing work and family life. By investing 10 minutes each week YOU will become a life balance for women pro. Click here to download your quick and easy Life Balance Worksheet.

Please share with other visitors your favorite life balance tip(s) by leaving a comment. You can do this by clicking on the green numeral next to the word “comments” above.

Home Organizing Workshops

Join Vicki for any or all of the 3 classes she will be teaching during the month of January 2010 in conjunction with National Get Organized Month. The class information is listed below. If you have any questions about the Utah professional orgainzer, Vicki Winterton, and her organizing classes please contact us.

“I just wanted to say thank you for your time in teaching me about time management. As you promised, the “Action File” has changed my life. I’m able to stay on top of the paper mess that comes into my home. I knew the importance of daily maintenance prior to your class (I only learned this in the last year!), but you’ve taught me how to perform daily maintenance on the paper mess, not just tidying the house. Wow! What a great thing!” –Diane, 2009 UVUcommunity education class

For many years, I stored my own Christmas decorations in any one of  the 14 holiday boxes lining my garage shelves.  I often felt overwhelmed at the prospect of getting all those Christmas Storage boxes emptied before Christmas and restocked after the holidays. Then I developed a better system that now makes holiday decorating and take-down much simpler. My Christmas storage has become manageable.

I was an invited guest writer for my local newspaper, The Daily Herald, last year and wrote a full article containing my formula for boxing up ANY holiday.  Click here to read the full details of the article dated 12/2008 and titled, Packing up the Holidays OR listen to my online talk show number 024 titled Christmas Storage by clicking this link.

You can do this…It takes just a little longer as you pack up your holiday decor, but saves you lots of stress and time each year from here on in. Organizing your Christmas storage is worth your time and effort this year…YOU CAN DO THIS!

Please leave a comment sharing a tip on how you have simplified your holiday storage. We love to hear from you!

You control Christmas OR Christmas controls you. By learning to simplify Christmas through Holiday Planning this holiday season can be both peaceful and joyful.

I was invited again to do a Studio 5 TV segment titled “Overcome the Overwhelm: Tips to Simplify Christmas”. I shared some great tips for Holiday Planning including some clutter-free gift ideas to make this holiday season easy to manage.

The three tips I shared for better holiday planning were:

1. Make a list of ALL your holiday plans, activities and events, THEN PRIORITIZE your list.
2. Schedule your “Must Do’s” on your December Calendar. Then add in pencil your “Might Do’s”. (see below to print your own Calendar pages)
3. Simplify EVERYTHING you’ve kept on your calendar.

To receive a FREE copy of your very own Christmas Holiday Planner pages, click any of the page links below you would like to have. These are PDF pages and will print just as they are shown. Please leave a comment telling us what you have found to be a “must do” holiday tradition for you or your family.

1. Christmas Holiday Planner (cover page)
2. Holiday VALUES Analyzer
3. Holiday Priorities List
4. December 2009 Calendar
5. Holiday Family Traditions
6. Holiday Decor Inventory
7. Gift List Planner
8. Gift Closet Inventory
9. Holiday Meal Planner
10. AFTER the Holidays Analyzer

We had 75 entires in our drawing and I am pleased to announce that Heather McDonald of Pleasant Grove is the LUCKY WINNER of the Smith’s Food Stores gift card center $100 certificate. She will be able to choose any combination of gift cards from the more than 300 retail stores sponsored and stocked through Smith’s Food & Drug Stores. To enter, Heather subscribed to The Organized Woman Show by email. YOU can subscribe too, right below the show summary (scroll down one or two inches to find it on the left hand side). Click on the link and fill in your email address. You will then be asked to go to your email inbox and finalize the request. It is very easy; 1,2,3 and you are signed up. Once signed up you will be entered in the Smith’s gift card drawing AND will receive weekly updates of new shows with easy tips to help you better plan and organize yourself, your home, your workplace, your family and/or your career.

My online radio show, The Organized Woman Show has many new shows to help you maneuver the holidays easily and with greater finesse. Click on the link above to listen and learn. Some of the shows my co-host and I have recorded this month include:

• 025  Goal Setting including Resolution tips
• 024  Organize your Christmas Decor Storage
• 023 Blended Family Holiday Tips with special guest Janet Peterson
• 022 Organizing a last minute Party
• 021 Winter’s Fun Family Traditions with special guest Cindi Barton
• 020 Clutter Free Gift Ideas
• 019 Preparing a Holiday Meal
• 016 Preparing For House Guests

Are you interested in finally getting yourself organized but are unable to find just the right organizing products? I am happy to share with you a Container Store coupon that will allow you to find and buy organizing products that are a real help in setting up an organizing system that works for you today and for many years of tomorrows. This store is SO fun to walk through and almost as much fun to surf. 20% Container Store coupon for the purchase of organizing products The coupon is good from now through November 1, 2009.  Decide on the room that needs your attention most, go shopping online, and when your products arrive, shout “HOORAY!” and begin my steps to organize any space formula. If you can’t find what you need in the container store, I have compiled some additional links for unique and hard to find organizing products.  Who knows; one of these products may be just what you have searched for for years and never been able to find.

I was interviewed on the WIN Show (The Womens Information Network) this month because I am a show host with The Organized Woman Show. In the interview, we talked about how my FREE WIN online radio show, The Organized Woman Show, can benefit listeners in their lives. We touched on systems for organizing your shoes, systems for organizing your papers, systems for organizing your time, and how to organize any portion of your life.  To watch the interview, click the title here: The Organized Woman Show with Vicki Winterton.

My show co-host, Laura, and I record and upload 8 new shows a month. Our shows talk you through the steps to plan and organize your spaces, your papers, your office, your family, your personal time, etc.  If you would like to be notified by email each time a new organizing show is available to our listeners, subscribe to The Organized Woman Show through RSS or Itunes feeds by clicking on this link and then click on  the or logos on the right side of the web page to subscribe yourself through your email account. You can then pick and choose which shows interest you.

I’d love to have you join me to win online at The Organized Woman Show for ANY of the many 12 minute shows that meet your needs or may be the answer to an organizing question you need answered. If you have an organizing concern that a new show could answer for you, just email me at vicki.theorganizedwomanshow@gmail.com and recommend a show topic. Be sure to include your specific question or concern.

My goal and the goal of The Organized Woman Show is to allow you to live a better life by learning a new way to accomplish your life goals. I want to help you live your best life!

Are you tired of feeling overworked and unable to maintain control of your life?  I offer you options to organize your life and bring relief to life’s obvious pitfalls! After participating in any of these three options you will feel you are better able to take control of your time, spaces, family, etc. Click on the photos or green links below to gain further information.

1. Please join me as I conduct a Utah Valley University community education workshop, Organize your Office (I teach this 2 hour class each January and October) which will focus on helping you better organize your life by implementing the following:

• Balance – Time management for busy people in 3 easy steps
• Five steps to organize your home and/or business office
• How to organize your inbox with my 6 D’s and
• Three systems for managing your incoming papers AND file cabinets

Now, if that is not enough, here is help #2 for organizing your life a little better.

2. The Organized Woman Show has added 4 NEW shows including:

• Fun Fall Family Traditions
• Perfectionism – Is it worth it?
• Setting up a Family Management Center
• Setting up Family Rules

We are now recording eight new shows each month to help you better organize your life. Click on the or feeds in the middle right of the show page to be automatically notified through email of new shows as they are loaded. If you subscribe, you get to pick and choose the shows that interest you most.

3.  I was invited for the 5th time to be the organizing expert on a KSL TV’s Studio 5 segment “How to Prepare for Murphy’s Law”. I shared the trick to preparing for Murphy’s “drop in” visits. Click here to learn which time management options help most.

Kitchen Organizing Tips are often the focus of my free seminars. Our kitchens are the most used room in our homes. Kitchens are called the heart of the home for a reason. We love to gather there to:

• Enjoy our family’s conversation
• Eat
• Entertain