by Katherine Macey
How do you leave the house in the morning? Are you calm? Are you able to quickly pick up the things you need as you go out the door? Or do you run around, frantically trying to remember where you put your keys last night and forgetting your lunch on the kitchen counter?
If you have children, or need to coordinate with other people leaving the house, the difficulties are multiplied, sometimes exponentially!
So what can help you get out the door with the minimum of fuss and maximum of efficiency? I heard of one woman who was able to get her and her children out the door in 25 minutes in the morning – that’s efficiency. I confess, I like to have more time in the morning to do a few things around the house before I leave.
So what do you need to do to make your morning routine easier on yourself? Ask yourself what it would be like to leave calmly. What sorts of things would you do? What amount of time do you need to leave for various tasks? What things could you do ahead of time?
Here are some ideas if you are stuck.
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by Katherine Macey
Have you ever had a pile of papers that defied being labeled? Or perhaps you’re worried that if you do file that important piece of paper, you’ll never find it again in your cavernous filing system. Yet some people seem to be able to put their hands on any piece of paper they are looking for within seconds. So what are their secrets?
Tip #1: Create one overall system and stick to it. If you forget what categories you have in your filing system, create an index so you can scan the index to file and find items.
Tip #2: Create a hierachy of categories and file either alphabetically or chronologically within each main category. Main categories may be financial, clients, business entity, reference, and so on. You may choose to file the financial documents chronologically and clients alphabetically. There are no hard and fast rules – as long as you stick to your decision.
Tip #3: Make it easy to distinguish between main categories using location or color, or a combination of both. Your financial files could be in the top filing drawer in the green folders and your client files in the bottom drawer in the orange folders.
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by Katherine Macey
The time to go back to school is nearly on us again. This can be a stressful time, not only for the kids, especially if they are in a new school or changing classes, but also for you, the parents.
There are three common struggles that we find parents have to deal with: routine changes, necessary supplies and clothes that must be purchased and, once school starts, an inevitable paper deluge. Our advice is to prepare for what you can and forgive yourself for the rest.
How can you prepare for all the schedule changes?
• Find out ahead of time what the schedules for after-school classes will be. Co-ordinate between the kids, and, if possible, put all the kids activities on the same days. This may make those days a little more hectic, but it will also give you some “time off” during the week too when your kids can just be kids and you can spend some time with them too.
• Work out transport options for the days when you do have after school activities. No one I know loves driving in traffic day in and day out. Consider carpooling with other parents to save both the environment and your sanity. If you’re kids are older, consider the bus or walking.
• Plan slow cooker meals or easy-to-prepare meals on the days you know you will be late home.
How can you get all the supplies together?
• Remind yourself of the school’s dress code and check your budget before you go shopping for the new season.
• Some schools will give you a list of stationery, art and other supplies before school starts, so put a “supplies shopping” time into your schedule now. If you will not get the list until school has started, put the shopping time date into your schedule in the first week of school.
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![The Three Most Important Tips to Filing Your Paperwork]()
by Katherine Macey
Have you ever wondered why we get and keep all the paper that we do? I do all the time. What are we afraid of if we don’t have it? Are we missing out on something? Will something bad happen if we don’t have it? Will you be able to find it again if you file it?
There are three things to keep in mind when you need to file your paperwork. If you have piles and piles and you don’t know where anything is, consider these concepts.
Tip One: Identify why you need to keep your paperwork organized. What benefit will it bring you? Knowing the reason you do something can be a big motivator. Many people find that they save time by having a home for everything and everything in its place. If you know what to keep and what to let go of, you can have a certain peace of mind, you do not need to continue to ask yourself if you need something.
Tip Two: Pre-sort your paperwork using the FAR method. File, Action and Recycle. File the paperwork you need to archive or need to keep for reference – remember that much information can be found on the internet. Action items are those items you need to take action on. Keep these separate from your filing in a hot file. Reduce and recycle the rest – get off mailing lists of companies that you will never purchase from and recycle the rest.
Tip Three: Chose one way to organize your paperwork and stick to it! If you’re not sure which type of system to use, use your dominant Processing Style to your advantage. Your Processing Style, also called learning style, influences how you process information in the world. People are familiar with three main processing styles – visual, auditory and kinesthetic. But there are many different ways to process information, including emotional, intuitive, cognitive, verbal, and more. People do not usually process information only in one style, they usually use a combination of styles, but some will be more dominant than others. If you know your strengths, you can use organizing strategies that utilize that style. Some questions to ask yourself to find your preference:
- Are you a visual processor? Use color in your filing system, using one color for each major category.
- Are you an auditory processor? Talk out loud as you file – you’ll remember where you put things more effectively.
- Are you a kinesthetic processor? Place your main categories in different locations to help differentiate files.
- Are you an intuitive processor?
Trust your instincts – you’ll do what’s best for you.
by Katherine Macey
You are probably in one of three places regarding your taxes:
1) You have a system set up that you use and that works for you. Great! Keep reading and see if there are any tips that you can use to tweak your system and make it even more efficient and easy.
2) You have a “sort-of” system that still engenders a level of panic as tax day draws near. Stay calm, help is at hand.
3) You have the “ostrich head in the sand” approach and haven’t filed taxes for a number of years, or are consistently filing extensions, franticly searching for receipts, and always missing deductions. It could take some time to organize your records, but once you have a system set up, it will be easy to sort your records and make tax time a breeze next year.
Preparing for your taxes is a large job. And the best approach with large jobs is to break them down into manageable components and work steadily on them. Fortunately, with taxes, that’s easy to do.
There are three basic steps to organizing your taxes:
The first step is to decide which categories you need to track. This will depend on your situation and an accountant is the best person to advise you on your exact categories. Having said that, for individual taxes, it is usually not very complicated. Have a place for your income related tax information – W2’s and so on. If you only have a single stream on income and you claim the standard deduction at the end of the year, that’s all you need. If your income has multiple streams, create different categories for income, e.g. W2’s, rental income, dividends, etc. If you claim an itemized deduction, you may want to separate the deductions into different categories, e.g. charitable donations, home mortgage interest, medical, etc. Check IRS for categories that are likely to apply to you. The IRS has all of its forms and publications online so a little research yourself can produce the likely categories for you. Click for instructions for Schedule A on your 1040.
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by Katherine Macey
Do you have more paper clutter than you know what to do with? Can you find a specific piece of paper when you need it? How do you manage the information contained in all the paper you have?
Control your paper clutter – FAR your mail: File, Action, Recycle.
If you have piles of paper, try doing a pre-sort first. It’s easier to keep only a few categories in mind to start with. I use the FAR method, adapted from Julie Morgenstern’s FAT method. She uses File, Act, Trash. I take her trash and put it in the recycling. Now we’re going FAR with our mail! This initial pre-sort can be done very quickly into two piles and the recycling bin.
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