Best Results Organizing

“I have a theory about the human mind. A brain is a lot like a computer. It will only take so many facts, and then it will go on overload and blow up.”

If you’ve been reading along, you know I feel strongly about offering no-tech, low-tech and high-tech options as often as possible. For example, sometimes the best option for dealing with paper is to file it, but other times, the option is to scan it or to eliminate it altogether by using a computerized alternative (like online billpay). Select what works best for you.

But I’m also a belt-and-suspenders kind of gal, believing in having all bases covered. This is a good thing, because last week, my new computer blew up. And then Paper Doll blew up.

I love my (newish) iMac. It’s sleek, easy to use and pretty to look at. Software updates are practically automatic, requiring only the click of a button. And though I’ve not yet upgraded to Mac OS X Leopard, whose Time Machine allows one to automatically back up EVERYTHING and search all old records (and not merely the most recent), I do a good job of backing up. And yes, even Paper Doll has been known to keep printed copies of special documents as emergency backups…”just in case”.

But last week, a confluence of events made me realize (and led me to remind you) that sometimes, all the organization in the world only helps you cope with catastrophes more easily; it doesn’t help prevent them.

In my case, on Saturday night, I was playing a video podcast of an old joke over the phone, for my hip-but-computerless mom. Just as it got to the punchline, my computer unceremoniously turned off, and would not, under any circumstances, turn back on. For the next few days, I had a very expensive doorstop.

Luckily, prior to that night, I did everything right.  I had a manila folder in my file system (under the Household section, in the Electronics sub-section) for the new iMac.  In the folder, I had the required documentation that would be required:

• Apple’s troubleshooting instructions in the mini-manual included with the computer
• Apple’s Technical Support phone number
• My iMac’s registration number
• My AppleCare registration number

[AppleCare is a special kind of extended warranty. While I generally don’t advise purchasing extended warranties, they are very helpful in terms of computer ownership.]

After many hours on the phone with tech support, it was determined that I and all my computer-nerd friends were probably right – the culprit was likely the power supply (and possibly, but less likely, the logic board.  All agreed my data was safe. (Note: Paper Doll is not a computer expert and moreover, I am not YOUR computer expert. If you are not a certified computer technician, get an expert’s advice and don’t try poking around in the electrical innards of your PC. Electrocution is bad for your hair and voided warranties are bad for your sanity.)

While I would have been willing to drive the computer two hours to the nearest Apple Store, AppleCare delivered a field technician to my door (alas, a few days later due to the darned New Year’s holiday). Having the essential papers with all the reference information handy (instead of buried in my dead-to-the-world computer) was a big help, but I had some other advantages that helped me (barely) keep my sanity in the intervening time:

While I use my computer’s Outlook Express Task List as a back-up, I generally keep my running to-do list in my daily planner.

As noted last week, I keep my client schedule and personal appointments in my paper planner, too. (Even if you’re bound and determined to live by your Blackberry or MS Outlook, printing one week’s schedules and To-Dos at a time couldn’t hurt.)

I keep a low-tech, old-fashioned address book with phone numbers in case my computer or cell phone decides to rebel. Instead of maintaining a pile of loose business cards and scribbled napkins, once a week while listening to one of two snooty game shows on NPR, I record the important contacts in the computer, and also in a business card file.

I have a file folder for computer alternatives (to my own) with the telephone numbers and hours of operation of local public libraries, Kinko’s and Internet caf’s. That way, my copious back-ups on flash drives can actually be put to use on other computers. (And, of course, I have an up-to-date library card.)

What about you?

Does your paper filing system support you in case of a computer emergency, or are your computer references buried under the bed (or worse, were they tossed out with the wrapping paper)?

Do you have the manual(s) and emergency information for your computer handy, filed with your household files or near your computer?

If both your computer and Internet connection are working, you can use online resources like:

Tech Support Forum
The Help Site
Computer Training Manual
Tech 24

If the computer is dead, do you have the resources to research your computer’s technical support team? Take a moment to be sure you have the technical support phone toll-free number; for example:


Apple……………800-275-2273
Dell…………….800-915-3355
Gateway………….800-846-2301
HP/Compaq………..800-474-6836
Sony…………….888-476-6972
Toshiba………….800-457-7777


Do you have a home for your yellow page (business) directory so that you can always find it when necessary (and when Googling isn’t an option)?

If your computer crashed, could you access your online bill pay, credit card companies and utility services? Do you have the URLs (and requisite user names and passwords) and/or phone numbers, in case your city is paralyzed by a weather-related situation that prevents you from getting to alternative computers?

Computers are wonderful, and Paper Doll is an admitted geek. But I’m also a pragmatist, and there may well be days when all your efforts to coddle your computer, vanquish viruses and back-up your baby won’t be enough. Please make sure your offline (i.e., paper) life supports you when your computer can’t.

And spring for the technical support package. You’ll sleep better.

 

Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.

I love calendars. In my geeky esteem, the start of the new year conjures Paper Doll memories about the wonderful potential that every new year brings. In my last two years of high school and first year of college, a friend’s Italian aunt shipped us each a medium-sized hard-bound calendar. Emblazoned on the cover was Diario Agenda, which I mistook as a brand, rather than the Italian for “calendar”.

Faux-leather bound, each page bore the name of the month and day of the week in English, French and Italian, as well as the numerical date. The blank, creamy pages could be used as an appointment calendar (agenda) or journal (diario) or doodle book, but to me it represented all the possibilities and dreams I had for the burgeoning future.

What does your calendar mean to you?

• Do you carefully keep one calendar (or PDA program) to keep you from missing all the important dates in your life?
• Are you juggling one calendar at work, another for personal activities and a life-sized calendar for your family in the kitchen…one where nobody seems to remember to write “Cupcakes for PTA bake sale”?
• Are you still using a 2006 (or earlier) calendar adorned with Post-Its to try to keep up with all the demands of modern life?
• Do you have salon and healthcare appointment cards taped to your fridge, blocked by birthday party invitations and months-old reminders?
• Is there any room in your calendar system for your dreams?

Clients sometimes ask whether they are hopelessly out of date using a paper calendar instead of Blackberry or PDA synced to their PCs. The truth is, the type of calendar system you use is far less important than your level of commitment to whatever system you pick.

If you tend to be a linear thinking, enjoy reading gadget manuals, and will remember to write every appointment, click every tick-box, sync and back-up every single day and keep your gadget charged and close at hand, the technical route may work for you!

If you’d rather keep a paper calendar that lets you color-code your appointments and obligations by life category or family member, or the thought of using one more beeping device gives you a headache, paper calendaring may be your best bet.

Commitment to the process, rather than the format of your system is key! (Paper Doll is already committed to her Franklin Covey classic-size daily calendar pages with the New Yorker Cartoon theme. If I weren’t so loyal, I’d be using another well-respected paper system.) With that in mind, if you don’t already have your 2008 calendar, consider the following issues:

• Pick a calendar that lets you see a month at a glance as well ample space for writing notes for each individual day.
• Select a planner that has enough space for you to write. If you have sprawling and not-so-neat penmanship (like Paper Doll), a pocket-sized planner may cramp your style, literally and figuratively.
• Use only one planner for your business and personal appointments. If you keep one calendar for your doctors’ appointments and schedule for your kids, and another for work, you’ll never know if your child’s recital conflicts with a major client presentation, or if you’ve scheduled yourself to attend a work conference the week your children have school vacations.
• Schedule everything you can up front. Once you buy your calendar for 2008, go through your 2007 pages day by day to mark all the recurring events (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) Then, record all the 2008 medical and dental appointments you’ve already scheduled. Haven’t scheduled your well-care or well-child visits for 2008? Call this week to make appointments and put them in place!

Finally, if you’re the type who forgets to check your calendar, use a few technology and accountability tips:

1. Set an alarm on your cell phone to ring at the end of every day, around 6 p.m., to remind you to check your calendar for the next day and/or the coming week.
2. Ask loved ones to prompt you:  “What’s on your schedule for tomorrow?” at dinnertime.
3. When you leave any location you visit intermittently (doctor, dentist, massage therapist, salon, etc.) schedule your next appointment if you have your calendar with you.  If you aren’t traveling with your calendar (tsk, tsk), ask them to call you the next day (at a time you know you will be available) to set up your next appointment.

Happy New Year! Paper Doll hopes your 2008 will be happy, healthy and clutter-free!

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And finally:

What do you get when you cross a kangaroo with a calendar?

A leap year!

A reader inquires:

I was wondering what should I do with my Christmas Cards. I really appreciate people remembering me and sending me cards but what do I do with them now?

The U. S. Postal Service delivered an estimated 20 billion cards, letters and packages this December — do you feel like most of them are on your kitchen table? Depending on how sentimental you are about cards vs. how ruthlessly you want to eliminate clutter, you have a few options:

1) Throw the cards out!!!
A holiday card is like a phone message or an actual conversation you might have by telephone or in person. If someone wishes you “Merry Christmas” or “Good Kwanzaa” or “Happy Hanukkah”, do you transcribe the conversation and keep the notes indefinitely?  Of course not — toss!

2) Toss most cards, but retain a few for sentimental and practical reasons.

Sentimentality
Pour a cup of cocoa and reread your cards with an analytical eye. Was the message written by an employee of Hallmark? Did the sender write only a few words or merely scribble his name? Check the sender’s current address against your address book and then toss it out.

Next, read through those annual newsletters. If you are close with the sender, nothing should actually be “news” to you; if it’s genuinely newsworthy, you’ll remember it and won’t need the written record. If the sender is not really close, knowing little Jimmy struggled with potty training won’t factor into your continued enjoyment of life. Toss!

Now, with only the most memorable and meaningful cards, think deeply about why you want to keep them:

• Do you feel guilty discarding the cards? Recognize that the vast majority of people do, indeed, just toss out all cards after January 1st. You have Paper Doll‘s permission.
• Do you fear you might be tested the next time you speak with the sender? As long as you don’t forget your friend’s children’s name (make a note in your address book), you’ll be fine. (With grandchildren, you’ll get away with saying “…and how’s the baby?” without specifying anything further.)
• Does the message make you laugh or fill you with joy, love and peace? That’s a keeper!

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With sentimental correspondence, I suggest keeping love letters, special letters from parents or grandparents, and cards related to truly momentous events, like 21st birthdays. As Christmas comes every year, even most hand-written messages would need to be pretty impressive to be worth keeping beyond January. 🙂

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Practicality — A pile of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Christmas or New Year’s cards can yield practical information: WHO sent you a card and FROM WHERE did they send it?

Compare the return address with the address you have for the person in your address book or PDA. If the address is the same and the message is not deeply personal or meaningful, the card can be tossed immediately. If the address is different, update your data and then toss the non-essential cards and envelopes. Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you “appreciate people remembering you”, show your appreciation in one of three ways:

• Call long-distance senders to let them know you appreciated being remembered. Saving a card does nothing for the sender and clutters up your space. A 20-minute phone call costs less than a First Class stamp. Schedule one name on each Saturday of the new year to give an unexpected, cheery “hello” to those you really care about.

• Send a chatty email. Comment on something in the sender’s annual holiday newsletter — show you care without keeping the clutter.

• Add the senders’ names to your own holiday card list, if you intend to send holiday cards next year.

Just because someone sends you a card, it doesn’t mean you have to send one to them. The dealership that sold me my car in 1998 regularly sends me a birthday card. A dear friend gave up sending cards after her third child. I’m neither flattered by receiving a card nor offended if one does not arrive.  Adopt that same “nice but not necessary” attitude towards cards.

3) Note changed addresses, toss the envelopes and then sort cards into categories like:

• Inspirational printed quotations–copy moving quotations into a Word file or individual signature files in your email software. Save the quote, not the clutter!
• Personal messages — Depending on your personal style, either put the remaining cards in a “Christmas Card” album, as one might do for family photos, or store them standing vertically, in a photo box organizer (the kind that look like shoe boxes, also as one might do for photos) or flat in a keepsake box.
• Cover art that you love — Truly artistic people with (I fear) too much time on their hands like to decoupage or gloss the cards and make ornaments out of them, storing the finished items with other ornaments. Recycle artistically!
• Nothing special–If neither the message nor the artwork/design is particularly meaningful, toss it away.

What does Paper Doll do? Mostly, I toss. I have one small keepsake box in which I keep special cards and letters, tied by a ribbon, so I can reread them on special occasions.  

Just as you can appreciate someone calling you without keeping a tangible record of them having done so, you can appreciate holiday cards without keeping them. Feel the freedom, release the card clutter! Happy Holidays!

 

Over the past weeks, our discussion of the five essential filing categories for reference papers has dealt with the practical elements of life. Organized financial and legal records allow us to protect ourselves and our possessions. Well-maintained medical records keep us and our loved ones healthy. And the household papers we discussed last week allow us to live with ease and convenience. But what of our personal papers?

So often, we live our lives and maintain our personal papers as if we were hoarding our personal history. Are we so sure that someday, in some way, we will be famous and revered, so much so that we need to build up our memoirs? Or, rather than living under the grand illusion that some day our personal histories will be sought by one and all, are we afraid that our identities, or our memory of who we are (or once were) will fade away if we don’t maintain the proof?

As with the medical paperwork we discussed a few weeks ago, we break down the sub-categories of PERSONAL paperwork by individual.

A. PERSONAL HISTORY
This is where you keep the papers that represent who you are (or have been). There are the building blocks of the archive of YOU; the less likely you will be to have a Presidential Library or have your children write a nasty tell-all, the less you need to save. You may have files related to your:

1. Educational history – These would include files for:

• School transcripts
• SAT/GRE/LSAT/MCAT/GMAT scores
• Letters of recommendations from professors or academic mentors
• Select papers bearing particularly heartwarming comments or grades (Toss freshman biology labs, assorted blue books and the test graded by that snarky teaching assistant. You have the diploma; you don’t need every paper and test to prove you were there!)
• Continuing education credits or certificates
• Your senior or graduate thesis (However, if it is bound as a published thesis, shelve it with your books or in a framed, decorative case).

2. Professional history
The longer you have been in your profession, and particularly the longer you have been out of a former profession, the fewer old papers you’ll need for reference. Of course, if these materials, like your educational records, bolster your self-esteem and you have adequate space, keeping a representative portion is fine. Current and archival files for your professional history may include:

• Licenses and/or certification – file by issuing organization, or, if applicable, by state.
• Resumes – keep one manila folder with copies of your current resume; if you keep old resumes, pick one copy of each, reflecting major revisions.
• Professional letters of recommendation
• Citations regarding your professional success and/or letters of gratitude from superiors, vendors or clients
• Newspaper clippings (but not the entire newspaper) noting your professional successes and/or acumen

3. Military History
If your career, or part of it, has been in the military, you will want to keep a copy of the records. Your basic military service records go in the VIP section of your legal paperwork; those are the official records that allow you to collect your benefits and otherwise prove your service record.

However, your military history also includes the more personal records of your time serving your nation, so this is where you would maintain:

• Awards/Decorations/Citations and/or written references to them
• Letters of commendation
• Correspondence regarding replacement of medals
• Enlistment records
• Copies of military separation papers (the originals should be in your safe deposit box or fireproof safe)
• Training and qualification records

4. Public Service History—If you played a role in local or national politics or other kinds of public service (The Peace Corps, Teach For America, Americorps, etc.) create a hanging folder, or even a series of them, with the major records from each experience.

B. PERSONAL INTERESTS
Generally, anything that brings you joy, delights your intellect or warms your heart or soul would likely fall under personal interest. This includes activities and areas of intellectual/emotional interest, which can be further broken down into the appropriate categories, like:

• Hobbies—depending on how many hobbies you actively pursue and how zealously you pursue them, you might have one manila folder or many hanging folders. Keep only the reference material that provides information you don’t already know or can’t access quickly via the web.
• Volunteer activities—Are you a Big Brother or Big Sister? Do you hammer for Habitat for Humanity? Here’s where you might keep copies of registration materials and instructions.
• Memberships—Keep track of ID numbers and renewal information for every professional and personal group to which you belong. Are you a member of the National Parks Service? Were you (or are you) a Girl Scout or Camp Fire kid? Are you in Rotary or a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union? (I won’t ask if you’re in any secret societies; if you’re a Freemason, you’re not likely to tell Paper Doll.)
• Issues/Interests – If you have pet topics (Social Security reform, Lost, local zoning laws, wrinkle removal, George Clooney), you may clip articles for later review. While it’s better to read, purge and move on, corralling clippings in one place is better than letting clutter flutter.
• Travel—Do you find stories of distance lands (or even distant restaurants) enticing? Here’s where to keep those clippings–in a travel subcategory. If, however, you start planning for a particular trip, say to Ireland or the Grand Canyon, create a folder especially for that dream journey to help you iron out the details. If you plan many years in advance, be sure to prune out the outdated articles annually, like the ones that refer to “the 48 states”.
• Books/videos/music/gifts you want to experience or acquire – if you like to clip reviews of potential purchases, create a folder to hold them all. If you’re a serious shopper, a hanging folder with categorized, labeled manila folders may help you keep it all straight. However, creating a wish list at Amazon.com or your favorite e-store would allow you to note that you wanted to acquire things while keeping all this information digitally.

C. SUCCESS FILES
Keep track of personal successes. These can be letters of gratitude for a job well done, benchmark chips (30 days, 1 year, etc.) from 12-step programs, or anything that reminds you of achievements or challenges surmounted. We all have rough periods, and a success file can help us through them.

D. PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE
If you’re lucky enough to have a pen pal in the age of cyberspace, here’s the perfect place to maintain meaningful letters. But don’t be lulled into thinking having filing space means you can save all your postcards, birthday cards, dental appointment notices, etc. Save correspondence that contains original sentiment; part with emotions penned by Hallmark containing only a signature.

E. INSPIRATIONAL FILES
Do you clip O Magazine‘s monthly spread called Breathing Space. What about adorable babies (or pets), black & white glamour shots, quirky headlines, or motivational anecdotes from newspapers and magazines. Instead of keeping such items stuck on your refrigerator (only to find, within months, they are dusty or jam-covered), create a folder for the items that stir you to think, write, create, or dream.

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Each member of your family can have his or her own section of personal files. However, if you have specific FAMILY activities that you do together (like attending your house of worship or planning an annual family reunion), create a family section, as if the collective family were an individual person.

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Over the last six weeks, we’ve discussed the essentials for building a personal reference file system, reviewed how all the reference papers in our lives can fit neatly into one of five categories, and discussed how to turn fluttering paper clutter into a streamlined and usable system.

Reference papers are only one element of the papers that come into our lives.  Next year, we’ll be talking about all the other papers that make up our lives, including action items like permission slips, bills, and coupons, helpful papers like Mapquest directions and shopping lists, and memoirs and memories, like photographs and personal journals. And we’ll talk about what to do with the sneaky papers masquerading as “important” that fill up our purses and briefcases, message pads and Post-It notes.  We’ll have a new slate in ’08!

 

Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,
Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.

Do you speak Japanese? Then why are there foreign-language instruction manuals for your toaster in the kitchen junk drawer? (And do you really need help making toast?)

If you were robbed, could you prove your losses to the insurance company?

Continuing our discussion of the family/personal filing and how everything can fit into one of five reference categories, we’ve reached:

Financial
Legal
Medical
Household
Personal

HOUSEHOLD paperwork is the most straightforward cateogry – it encompasses anything that keeps your home (be it ever so humble) and all the stuff in it running smoothly. Create hanging folders for sub-categories like:

A. Household Services – Maintain individual folders for each ongoing service for which you’ve arranged regularly scheduled household care, like Terminex or lawncare. (Monthly or periodic invoices belong in the financial section, but the “terms of service” paperwork belong here.)

B. Home Maintenance Records:

• Escape routes / plans in case of fire
• Schedule of seasonal household maintenance
• List/description of non-standard replacement light bulbs for ceiling, garage and outdoor lights.
• Battery record – it helps to keep a running list of what size batteries (AA, AAA, C, D, 9-volt, etc.) each item in your home requires. When you buy something that requires batteries to operate it (or its remote control), jot down the battery size here.

C. Household Inventory
Include a written, photographic and/or audiovisual household maintenance of all of your rooms, including furniture, electronics, silver, crystal, jewelry and anything for which you might make an insurance claim if stolen or damaged. Note the item’s name (and brand name), date of purchase, where it was purchased and the price you paid.

Create written inventory files in the computer and just print a new one to replace the old when once you’ve acquired more goodies. Maintain a copy on disc for the written and audiovisual inventories in your safe deposit box and/or fire-proof safe, and keep an updatable copy in your home files. Also, keep inventories for:

• Second homes
• Time-share properties
• Off-site storage facilities
• College dormitory summer storage

D. Auto Maintenance Records
Even if your mechanic keeps computerized records of all maintenance to your car, keeping accurate records will help you financially. If your automaker issues a recall or technical service bulletin, you may be able to recoup money you’ve paid for repairs. If you sell your car privately, prospective owners may be more inclined to purchase a car with a carefully maintained service history. Keep a file folder for:

• Service records — Each time you get an oil change or have a car repair, the mechanic should provide you with printout of what was done, on what date, at what mileage.
• Purchases – Include records of all purchases for your car, such as tires, batteries and windshield wipers.
• Mileage records – While not essential, if you do maintain mileage records for purposes other than tax deductions, keep these here.

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Heavy-duty drivers may find it more convenient to keep auto maintenance records in reverse chronological order, in a flexible three-ring binder under the driver’s seat, rather than in the file systems.

Ease of access is an advantage, but Paper Doll worries about what happens to these records in case of a serious accident or car theft. Instead, keep a photocopy of major purchase records (tires and batteries) in your glove compartment in case you need to replace the warranteed item while traveling?

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E. Gardening Records
If you have a black thumb (like Paper Doll) or own nothing larger than a window box, skip this category. However, if your property includes plants, shrubbery, or heirloom flowers or you have a vegetable garden for which you need to maintain adequate rotation records, create a sub-section for your garden journal.

F. Decorating/Remodeling Plans – Keep items such as:

• Project notes and plans for decorating and/or remodeling jobs
• Project budgets
• Photos of projects as they progress
• Receipts* related to the project – *Note: this is one of the few times I recommend keeping receipts outside of the Financial section. However, when you’ve had work done that improves the ongoing value of your home, keeping the receipts and photographic records will be helpful for personal planning and long-term tax planning.

G. Warranties — Divide these by category:

• Major appliances
• Kitchen appliances
• Computers
• Entertainment/electronics
• Gadgets
• Furniture/carpets
• Miscellaneous items

H. Instruction/Maintainance Manuals
Only keep the manual as long as you own the item. Seriously! If you give something to charity or sell it in a yard sale, provide the instruction manual; if you throw the item away, toss the manual! As with warranties, this category breaks down into:

Major appliance warranties and manuals for large items like your furnace, refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc.

Small household or personal appliance manuals (for items like toasters and hair dryers) –before you save the manual, consider whether there’s any information you would actually need. It’s rare to find adults who don’t know how to make toast or dry their hair.

Electronic toys and gadgets, as well as computer hardware and software, often have complex and detailed manuals which require a PhD to understand. Unlike the investment prospectus material I advised you to toss when we discussed financial paperwork, keep the electronics manuals even if you can’t make heads or tails out of them. Qualified repair technicians and ridiculously adept 12-year-olds seem to have no trouble with these manuals.

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Instruction manuals don’t have to live in your file system. Depending on the number and nature of the appliances in your home, it may make sense to keep a three-ring binder with all of the kitchen appliance manuals right in your kitchen. (Just don’t waste valuable counter space; instead, tuck the folder in a seldom-used drawer or cabinet, such as the rarely-used space above your oven fan bonnet.) You can keep hardware and software manuals in a few magazine holders on the bookshelf nearest your computer.

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It’s easy to be tempted to keep any paper related to your home “just in case”, but remember, clutter comes from deferring decision-making. Ask yourself:

Why/when would I need this paper?
If you know how to use hair dryer or grown your mini-Chia Pet, there’s little sense in keeping the manual. If you aren’t fluent in the language in which the manual is written, say hasta la vista!

What’s the worst that could happen if I tossed it out?
With many items, you can call the manufacturer’s customer service line to get help. Plus, there are a variety of web sites offering online manuals:

Next week: PERSONAL PAPERS