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Organizing Habits

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writing-habitCreating habits is a great way to help yourself stay organized. Once something becomes habitual it takes less thought and effort. Here are a few good organizing habits to establish in 2014.

  • Label where items belong and repeatedly put them back in the same spot.
  • Spend 5 minutes a day per room removing items from floors, desktops, counter tops, table tops, and other horizontal surfaces.
  • Toss junk mail immediately.
  • Don’t print emails, recipes, or other information from your computer. Instead create folders and file the information on your computer.
  • Stop stockpiling groceries, cleaning supplies, and toiletries. Establish a maximum number to have on hand that allows breathing room in your cupboards.
  • Share household responsibilities with everyone who lives under one roof. Teamwork is the best approach to chores.
  • Go paperless with monthly bills and statements, and don’t print out payment receipts. Set up a folder and store on your computer.
  • Allow only one opened bottle of dish detergent, laundry detergent, soap, lotion, etc. at any given time.bin
  • Immediately get rid of junk (old, broken, or damaged items) once the replacement has been acquired. Don’t fill up your basement, attic or garage with junk.
  •   Set up a clothing donation bin by your clothes dryer and fill with clothing you want to get rid of, as soon as they come out of the dryer. Drop them off or have them picked up at your house every 3 months.

© January 2014 Janine Cavanaugh, CPO® All Rights Reserved

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Saving Time

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Tip:  Time yourself when doing simple tasks, like emptying the dish washer, scrubbing the bathroom, or folding laundry.  This will let you know exactly how long it takes to do those tasks.  Then you can squeeze them into your day when you have 10 or 15 minutes to complete them.

Taxes & Paper Management

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Helpful Organizer Newsletter – April 2014
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Side Notes:

***    I’m currently reading a book about Feng Shui.  Did you know that a dirty stove can make you tired and depressed?  It can even make it harder for you to earn money.  So, please clean your stove, and visualize improved income.  I did and booked two clients!

***   Spring Organizing

Spring tends to be a busy month for homeowners.  They spruce up, clean out, lighten up, and prepare for a summer of fun and sun.  What do you do?  Please share your spring organizing tips with me.
Join Our Mailing ListPS:  What do you think of my caricature?
Hi,
Happy spring!  Do you associate spring with tax time?  I apologize if I just put that in your head.  Would it help if I provided you with a tax preparation list?  

The “T” word

What are you doing April 14th?  Do you find yourself hunting and scrambling to find all the documents you may need to file your taxes?  I created a list of all the documents my husband and I need to prepare our tax forms, which has made that process much easier.  We file jointly and very simply, but I thought our list may be helpful to you.

Here it is:
W2 forms
Mortgage documents – form 1098
Investment documents – form 1099
Excise tax yearly bills
Real estate tax yearly bills
IRA documents – form 5498
Interest from bank account – form 1099
Medical documents
Proof of health care insurance (MA residents)
Value of donations made throughout the year

Below are the additional documents I need to include from my business:
Estimated tax payments for the year – form 1040
Income total
Expenses total – including the following category totals: donations, electric, food, Internet, marketing/advertising, membership dues, mileage, networking, office supplies, phone, postage, training, and travel

Please note:  The above list is just a memory jogger.  If you have questions or concerns consult a tax specialist or CPA.  Janine Cavanaugh, CPO© can not be held accountable for any improper tax filing.

Never Ending TaskDid you know the one category that most of my clients want to address, even if it’s not the focus of our appointment?  Organizing paper!  Paper management is like dishes and laundry, a never ending task.  Paper can accumulate and pile up so quickly that it leaves you scratching your head, wondering where it all came from.  It helps if you create guidelines for yourself on what to keep, and for how long.  If you’d like a list of my paper retention guidelines, please email me.  I’d be happy to share my guidelines with you.
From,

Janine Cavanaugh, CPO®
(508)-699-6652

    If you’d like to share this email message with someone, please click on the Forward email button below.  Thank you and happy organizing in the spring of 2014!

Start Organizing

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Tip: Start any organizing project with sorting items or paper into general, borad categories.

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Memory Value

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Organizing tip When downsizing or reducing, and making decisions on what to keep or not keep, take into consideration the real value of an item as well as the memory value.  Memory value is the sentimental value we personally place on belongings, either those owned by us, or by someone we know or knew.  The more personally significant an object is, the more valuable it appears to us.  Therefore, an item that may have a realistic value of $25.00 can be perceived as having a memory value of $125.00.  Come up with a maximum number for the quantity of high memory value items you can realistically hold on to.