Archive for ‘Office’ Category
Paper Doll’s Ultimate Guide to Getting a Document Notarized
When I was little, I thought a notary public was “Note of Republic.” After all, the concept of [“thing] of [location]” is a known form of expression. Consider Governor of Minnesota, Justice of [the] Peace, or Man of La Mancha. I figured “Note of Republic” meant that it was a document related to our country.
C’mon, it’s weird to hear “public” after a word. We have Certified Public Accountants, not Certified Accountants Public! We’re used to public school, public pool, public park, public relations. What the heck, I wondered when I first saw the expression properly written, was a notary?
Yes, I’m a grownup now, and (mostly) understand what notaries do, but unless you have used a notary’s services or are a notary yourself, you might wonder how it all ensures your legal documents are organized and squared away.
WHAT DOES A NOTARY DO?
Notary Stamp by Stephen Goldberg on Unsplash
According to the State of Tennessee (where Paper Doll resides), a notary public is:
a person of integrity who is appointed to act as an impartial witness to the signing of an important transaction and to perform a notarial act, which validates the transaction. A notary’s primary purpose is to prevent fraud and forgery by requiring the personal presence of the signer and satisfactorily identifying the signer.
Let’s look at how those elements come into play:
- a person of integrity — The rules vary by state, but generally, you have to be at least 18 years old, a citizen of the United States (though in some states, you need only be a permanent resident), either reside in the state or operate a business in that state, and be able to read and write in English.
You also have to submit an application and purchase a notary surety bond, which is like an insurance policy in that it protects the public in case a notary makes a grievous error.
As you might guess, people with felony records would not fall under the “person of integrity” definition and can’t become notaries. However, while we can all imagine various failures of integrity (bullying, gossiping, cheating at Scrabble), those don’t generally prevent someone from becoming a notary.
- act as an impartial witness — notaries can’t notarize their own signatures, transactions in which they are participants, or documents for their family members or friends.
- requiring the personal presence of the signer — until recently, “personal presence” was literal, but as we will see later, a virtual presence is sometimes an option.
- satisfactorily identifying the signer — this involves the signer being able to provide documents that prove identity.
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF NOTARIZATION?
If you’ve never had to get something notarized before, you may assume that there’s just one kind of notarization, where the notary says, “Yup, I’m acknowledging that I just saw you sign this thing.” But it’s more complicated than that.
There are main three types of notarizations:
1) Acknowledgements — The notary is saying, “OK, I just saw this person [verified as the lovely Ms. Nell Fenwick] sign this document willingly; there was no mustache-twirling Snidely Whiplash threatening to tie this person to the railroad tracks if they didn’t sign over the rights to their goldmine.” (What, don’t tell me you never watched Dudley Do-Right!)
There are some essential elements here:
- The signer (that’s Nell) has shown up in front of the notary.
- The notary has been able to positivity identify the person is actually Nell (according to the individual state’s regulations).
- The signer has either signed the document before showing up or must sign it in the notary’s presence.
- The signer has to be able to communicate directly to the notary that the signing is willingly done, at least in 49 states. However, in Arizona, the law allows signers to communicate their willingness to the notary through a translator.
(Also, for the purposes of this blog post, Nell and Snidely are in the United States, not Canada where the cartoon takes place. With apologies to my international readers, non-US notary regulations were far too complex to include in today’s post!)
The notary is required to make sure that the individual understands what the document is and what it means and what the consequences are, in addition to being willing to sign and not under any appearance of being coerced.
Obviously, notaries are not mind-readers; they can’t be certain a person isn’t in an emotionally abusive relationship or having their loved one held for ransom, but a notary can refuse to notarize a document if something seems seriously hinky. The notary can ask all sorts of questions, ranging from the kinds of questions first responders ask accident victims to those of a more legal nature. If the signer appears drunk or under the influence of dugs, or to be suffering from dementia or is otherwise seems cognitively, the notary can (and must) decline to notarize the document.
Acknowledgments are used when you’re getting any of a variety of documents signed, like a contract, a Power of Attorney, or a last will and testament.
2) Jurats — This old-timey, legalese expression (also known as “verification upon oath or affirmation” means that the signer is swearing (or affirming) to the notary that the contents of document they are signing are true.
- As a signer, you must show up and sign the document in front of the notary.
- In many (but, to Paper Doll‘s surprise, not all) states, the notary must verify the signer’s identity.
- The notary administer’s a verbal oath (or affirmation) and the signer must respond aloud* in such a away as to confirm mutual understanding. No nods or thumbs-up are allowed.
*I tried to find verification of what is required if the signer is deaf or is not able to speak, and while there don’t seem to be uniform answers, I was able to learn that communication through a translator or sign interpreter is not enough, though the notary and signer are allowed to communicate in sign language, via writing notes on paper, or typing on a computer, tablet, or cell phone, as long as they are in one another’s presence.
In theory, signers are supposed to raise their right hands while making the oath or affirming (just like in a courtroom), but it’s not required by law. (It’s just to make it obvious that this is more serious, legally speaking, than telling your college roommate’s mom that your roommate is in the shower she’s actually sleeping at her boyfriend’s dorm.)
The idea of an oath or affirmation may ring a bell if you’ve watched a lot of courtroom dramas and have heard, “Do you solemnly swear…”
In brief, an oath is a pledge before a religious entity. As some faiths do not allow oaths to be taken in civil settings, and as some people do not adhere to religious precepts, individuals get a choice. For more on the difference, the National Notary Association has made a short video to explain:
A jurat is used when you must notarize testimony. Imagine you are asked to notarize your statement that you witnessed Ms. Lucy Van Pelt promise not to pull the football away from Mr. Charlie Brown but then she pulled the football away, causing him to kick at the air, fall on his back, and complain of seeing stars.
There are different forms or certificates that notaries use for each notarization, whether acknowledgements or jurats. Generally, an acknowledgment certificate will say something like “acknowledged before me” (where “me” is the notary), while the jurat certificates will say something like, “subscribed and sworn to (or affirmed) before me.”
3) Copy certifications — This is when a notary confirms that the copy of a document is an exact match to the original version. Not all states allow this type of notarization.
Notaries can also provide other services. They can administer oaths, like those given to people deposed in legal depositions. (Notaries can’t administer oaths of office for government service or in a military setting, though.) In Maine, South Carolina, and Florida, they can also perform marriage ceremonies!
Pretty much any kind of document can be notarized except for government vital records documents, like birth and death certificates, or marriage certificates. Notaries aren’t allowed to notarize, make, or certify copies of these; instead, you have to go to the appropriate government agency to get certified copies. For more on that, see Paper Doll‘s post from last year, How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents.
HOW CAN YOU PREPARE TO GET SOMETHING NOTARIZED?
First, be sure you know exactly what you need to get notarized and fill in all of the blank spaces (except, as applicable, the signature line).
Next, make an appointment with a notary. While you can sometimes show up at a notary’s office, you wouldn’t want random people showing up to your place of work, unannounced, and have to squeeze them in. Be cool, dude.
Verify the fees you’ll be paying and ask how the notary accepts payment. Notary fees differ by state and notarization type, are set by law for most states, so you can check with your state’s Secretary of State’s office for the basic fees; however, notaries can charge separate fees for travel and for remote services.
Notaries at banks may not charge anything for the service, and notary at companies (like the UPS Store) may allow any of the payment methods the company already accepts for other services. But self-employed notaries are allowed to make up their own payment policies, and might require payment by cash or check; don’t assume they’ll take Venmo.
Bring your photo ID. Remember, the notary’s job is, in part, to verify that signers are who they claim to be, and that can’t be done if the signers do not present valid ID. Usually, a government-issued ID with a photo, like a driver’s license or password, is required.
If someone lacks legal identification, the situation isn’t impossible, but it’s fraught. For example, let’s say that Grandpa is in an assisted living facility, hasn’t driven in a decade, and doesn’t have a passport or a government issued photo ID. In many states, the signer can call upon “credible identifying witnesses,” people willing to swear to the notary that they know Grandpa and that he is who he says he is. But Grandpa’s witnesses are going to have those required forms of identification.
Speaking of ID, make sure the name on your ID matches the name you’re using on the documents you need to have notarized. If you’ve recently gotten divorced and have returned to your “maiden” name, or have married and taken your spouse’s name or hyphenated your names, you’ll need to show ID that reflects that change.
Make sure everyone who needs to sign is available for the appointment. (If someone in your family always shows up late, you might want to “accidentally” tell them a slightly earlier time — or drive them yourself!)
Know what the heck you’re going to be signing and what it means. The notary has to make sure that the signer is willing to sign and fully aware of what they’re signing. Paper Doll shouldn’t have to tell you this, but don’t show up at the notary’s office after a boozy brunch. (In the case of Grandpa, above, you might want to warn him that the notary might ask some questions to make sure he’s mentally alert and not signing under duress, so he’s not offended by the questions.)
Be prepared to sign the notary’s log book, which is also known as a public journal. Most states require that notaries keep a log book or journal of all the notary-related acts they perform. It covers all the nitty-gritty details of the transaction, so if a notarized document goes missing, gets stolen or altered, or anything becomes a matter of legal dispute, the record can be set straight. Plus, it keeps everything so nice and organized.
A few years ago, a friend contacted me and asked if I would serve as a witness so that her elderly mother could get some documents signed and notarized. In addition to having to sign my name on the various documents as a witness, I had to sign the notary’s log book/journal, provide my photo ID, write my driver’s license ID number, and provide my thumbprint (which was less messy than I expected, but made me feel like a character on Law & Order).
WHERE CAN YOU FIND A NOTARY?
Photo by Matthias Süßen, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
You may assume that because any notary can notarize your document that any notary will, but that’s not the case. For example, several years ago I needed to sign a document for Paper Mommy and have my signature witnessed and notarized.
Most banks provide notary services, and I was delighted to see that Bank of America provides fee-free notary services. So, I went to Bank of America, where I had both personal and business accounts, but once they saw that it was a Power of Attorney document, I was told that bank employees were not allowed to notarize it, as a matter of company policy.
In the end, I got my signature notarized at the UPS Store just up the block from the bank. It felt odd to be getting a legal document notarized next to people buying bubble wrap and making Amazon returns, but the process was quick and easy, and the fee was reasonable.
In addition to banks and credit unions, you may be able to find notary services at any of the following:
- Law firms — Sometimes paralegals and legal secretaries are notaries, and the process will be faster than trying to see an attorney-notary.
- Real Estate firms — Call your agent; if you’re a renter, ask your friends if any of them loved their real estate purchase experience and how they got documents notarized.
- Accountants — You may be out of luck if you file your taxes with H&R Block or TurboTax, but if you have a relationship with an accountant (and aren’t pestering her during tax season), you might get lucky.
- Package shipping stores like the UPS Store (hey, it worked for me) and FedEx Office (which they offer through a virtual service, of which there’s more below)
- AAA — Most regional AAA offices provide free notary services as part of membership. However, AAA can’t notarize business contracts, mortgages, or wills; if you’ve got to notarize an auto sale, Power of Attorney documents, trusts, or affidavits, though, you’ll be fine. You can’t always make appointments at AAA, so you may end up sitting in the lobby for a while until it’s your turn.
- Public libraries — Many library systems have notaries on staff; you may have to go to a branch that is not where you usually borrow, so call to verify which branches have notaries available. The notaries at your library may be limited as to which documents they can notarize; mine can notarize sworn statements, Power of Attorney documents, rental agreements, copy certifications, and more, but can’t notarize real estate transactions, wills, divorce papers, employment verification forms, Homeland Security I-9 Forms, or documents in languages other than English.
- Colleges — If a member of your family attends a college or university, call the bursar’s office. They’re likely to have someone on-staff with notary credentials or will know where to go.
You can also find notaries the old-fashioned way, by searching the Yellow Pages, using a search engine (e.g., type “notary services [your town]” into Google), or searching statewide notary databases.
Weirdly, there does not seem to be a database of notary databases (which feels awfully disorganized of them), so you’ll have to search for your state’s database through a search engine or by looking at your state’s Secretary of State website.
You don’t have to go to the notary; notaries will come to you!
Over the last few decades, mobile notaries have become a thing. The same notaries whom you can visit for services may provide mobile notary services for an additional fee. Type “mobile notary near me” into your favorite search engine.
As I mentioned earlier, when a friend needed to have her mother’s documents signed, witnessed and notarized, my experience as a professional organizer (and resource researcher) came in handy, and I was able to recommend a wonderful Chattanooga notary public. While there was an additional fee for him to travel to my friend’s location, it far outweighed the inconvenience (and likely impossibility) of getting her elderly and infirm mother to the notary’s office.
Thus, you’ll want to weigh the cost of us using a mobile notary against the convenience of having someone come to you.
WHAT IF YOU CAN’T GET TO A NOTARY (AND ONE CAN’T GET TO YOU)?
A notary can’t just notarize a person’s signature over the phone or Zoom. I know. Bummer.
That said, as a result of lessened bureaucracy due to the COVID pandemic, there’s Remote Online Notarization, or RON. (No, not Ron Weasley from Harry Potter, though it really does seem pretty magical.)
Remote online notarization companies connect a signer with commissioned notaries public (yes, that’s the official plural of notary public, like attorneys general or culs-de-sac) who are authorized to notarize documents remotely via a webcam.
When I originally started researching this post, 24 states allowed notaries to do RON; 24 had temporary regulations allowing it during COVID, and two had weird limits. Then Connecticut rescinded authorization but ten more states made it permanent. But last week, the House of Representatives passed the Remote Online Notarization Bill, which (assuming it passes the Senate) should make secure online remote notarization much easier to access.
Two of the best known remote online notarization service providers are Notarize and NotaryCam.
First up, Notarize.
Who knew notarization could be so funny?
Download the iOS or Android version of the Notarize app or use your computer’s browser. Then snap a photo of the document and upload it (or upload a PDF, or drag-and-drop the document onto the computer’s browser). Then provide your proof of identity, and connect to the notary via the platform’s webcame. Pricing for individuals starts at only $25.
NotaryCam is similarly priced at $25 (or $79 if you’re outside the US). Your document has to be a PDF, and while you can use a Mac or PC, if you don’t want to fiddle with plugins, use Chrome or Firefox. When mobile, iOS is fine but NotaryCam sounds pretty iffy about using Android.
Both platforms are secure, legal, and operate 24/7/365. For what it’s worth, NotaryCam seems oriented more toward real estate and other professionals than toward consumers; Notarize is a little more intuitive and aimed toward both a Regular Joe consumer audience as well as professional.
Have you ever had adventures in getting something notarized? Please feel free to share in the comments.
Finally, now that you’ve made it through this master class in notarization, you deserve a little fun. If you watch to the end, you’ll find that Inspector Fenwick of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police could have used the services of a notary to figure out who was whom!
Paper Doll Post:
Cool and Colorful Desktop Solutions to Organize Your Workspace
June is odd. In much of the county, school has let out (or soon will) and both kids and teachers have been set free. New graduates are gearing up to start their first jobs, while some workplaces have started to shift to summer hours or half-day Fridays. It’s already in the 90°s for many of us, and mojo is in short supply, but the bulk of us aren’t getting summer vacation.
I have a short series coming up soon about lack of motivation, burnout, toxic productivity, productivity dysmorphia, and ways to beat the psychological obstacles to getting organized and staying inspired. But today, we’re going to look at something a little more lighthearted. Sometimes, a little retail therapy (even just via window shopping) can improve our moods and make us a bit more motivated to tackle our stuff, tasks, and spaces.
So, here are a few of the products I’ve seen lately that made me pause and go, “Hmmm.” Be sure to jump into the comments and let me know what you think!
MOFT INVISIBLE LAPTOP STAND
Sometimes, minimalist products can maximize results.
Whether you’re working at your desk at HQ, from your home office or kitchen table, on an airplane, at a picnic table in the sunshine, or in the corner coffee shop, the ergonomics of your workspace setup is important. When you have a permanent desk, it’s easy to arrange for a monitor riser so that your screen is at the right height, but portable risers can be heavy and inconvenient, and working while mobile can bring unexpected miseries. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something lightweight and easy to maneuver?
Enter Moft, maker of device accessories. They state, “Most productivity accessories are rigid, bulky and heavy-eeping you tied to a specific location. We wanted to create something flexible, functional, and non-intrusive that goes everywhere we go, allowing us to be productive anywhere life’s adventures take us.”
MOFT’s Invisible Laptop Stand is hard to describe but quick to impress. When flat and not in use, it’s ridiculously thin at only 0.1″ thick. It’s constructed out of “vegan” leather (didn’t we used to call that vinyl?) and heavy-duty fiberglass.
When flat, you’d barely notice it, but once attached to the bottom of your laptop (with residue-free adhesive) and adjusted to either of the two possible angles, the 3-ounce stand supports up to 18 pounds of laptop weight.
With built-in magnets, you can easily raise your laptop to the right height in a snap. There are two elevation angles to maximize your comfort. Use the “high-lifting” mode when you are sitting, and raise your laptop 3 inches (at a 25° angle); if you’re using a standing desk or working at a counter, consider the “low-lifting” mode of 2 inches to raise your laptop to a 15° angle.
Since it’s lightweight, portable, and (usually) attached to your laptop, there’s no need to create other space in your bag to accommodate it and you won’t have to worry you’ll forget or misplace it.
The Invisible Laptop Stand comes in Silver, Space Grey, Jean Grey (like the character from X-Men), Wanderlust Blue, Sunset Orange, Cool Grey, and Jet Black. (And yes, if you click through the photos at the site, you can see that all those greys really are different.) There are also limited-edition versions, sold two-for-the-price-of-one, in Pink (shown below) and Gold, sold only in the US.
The adhesive is residue-free and can be removed and reapplied (or attached to different computers) up to half a dozen times.
The MOFT Invisible Laptop Stand can be used with laptops measuring between 11.6″ and 15.6″. However, they don’t recommend using it with laptops that have vents on the bottom surface, as the stand would block airflow. For users with laptops with bottom vents, they recommend their non-adhesive version (available only in Silver and Space Grey). Because it doesn’t stick to the back (bottom) of your computer, setup in a twinge slower, but still easy, and works with computers measuring 11.6″ to 16″ (with the exception of 14″ MacBooks, which have little rubber feet).
The adhesive versions of the MOFT Invisible Laptop Stand are $24.99; the non-adhesive versions are $29.99. They are sold directly at the MOFT site; Amazon sells them at the same price, but has a very limited availability of colors.
For those using a multiple-device workspace, note that MOFT also makes stands for tablets and phones.
SPECTRUM WALL HANGER
Are you at the point in your year where you really wish you’d invested in a full-sized wall calendar for planning big-picture projects, but you can’t justify the expense of wasting half a year of calendar pages? Or, if you know there are undated wall calendars, you may be uninspired by them.
Poketo’s Spectrum Wall Planner may be just what you need to brighten your office and your mood.
Each of the twelve pages in this poster-sized wall planner looks like it has made friends with the color schemes at Pantone. (Need a refresher? Read Ask Paper Doll: Should I Organize My Space and Time With Color?) The pages are undated, so you can start planning with your summer months and continue on through to next spring.
While I’d be inclined to post two months simultaneously (this month and next month), Poketo encourages users to decorate your walls with anywhere from 4-12 planner pages to make this a more powerful long-term planning tool. You can use any poster hangers or adhesives you have available, though they do sell an Acrylic Poster Hanger for $32. (At that price, obviously, hanging only one or two pages concurrently would make more sense that a 12-month set.)
The 12 monthly pages each measure 30.0″ x 20.6″ and are made of FSC-Certified tree-free paper to be gentler to the environment. (Unfortunately, the site does not reference whether the paper is made from stone or other materials.)
The Spectrum Wall Hanger is $48. (To be clear, this is not a reusable or dry-erase product; it’s one-and-done, so only invest if you’re craving bright colors to brighten your space.)
Poketo also carries a line of tree-free Geometric Sticky Notes in “Warm” and “Cool” tones for $8 per set to help theme or code your wall planner. The 5″ x 5″ notes sets come with 15 notes per shape and 60 notes per pad.
CABLE WRANGLER
Longtime readers of the Paper Doll blog know that I love magnetic things. Way back in 2014, I sang the praises of the MOS system in Paper Doll’s Cable Conundrums & the MOS: Magnetic Organization System.
I still use two, a silver aluminum version at my desk to match my Mac products (now silver and purple) and a white plastic version at my bedside, to ensure that when I unplug a lightning (or other) cable from a device, I don’t have to go searching for where it’s squiggled itself away. I loved that it worked horizontally or vertically, and that the price was reasonable.
Sadly, the MOS is no more. Sewell, the company that originally manufactured it no longer lists it, and Amazon, Apple, and all of the other stores that offered it as a solution to cables and cords running amok show it to be unavailable. Sigh. However, while I preferred the triangular, space-age version, I have found a potential replacement in a more parallelogramatic, domed form (3.24″ along each side of the square base).
Smartish offers four colorful versions of the Cable Wrangler magnetic cord organizer, and it operates pretty much in the same way as MOS, but more colorfully.
The squat magnetic base is stable and sits neatly on a desk, kitchen counter, bedside table, or gaming station. It comes in one of four cloth-covered designer versions: No. 2 Pencil Grey, Lightly Toasted Beige, Teal Me More, and I’m Blushing. The grey is perfect for that back-to-school collegiate look, while the beige says, “Nancy Meyer-directed movie starring Diane Keaton or Meryl Streep, set on a California or New England beach,” or what GenZ and the Millennials are calling the “Coastal Grandmother” aesthetic. Of course, the pink-toned I’m Blushing was designed specifically for Paper Doll.
Cables stay put due to magnets, but if your particular cable isn’t feeling very “attractive” (that’s Smartish’s joke, if you don’t like it), you can use one of the three (included) magnetic “collars” (similar to the ones MOS had) to help improve the magnetic attraction and keep the cable stuck to the Wrangler. See it in action, below.
The Smartish Cable Wrangler is available at the Smartish site for $19.99, or with a 6-foot lightning cable and two-port wall charger for $39.99. For those who prefer to shop via Amazon Prime, all versions are $24.99. (Amazon also sells the Cable Wrangler with a cable and wall charger for $39.99.)
MUTESYNC: A MUTE BUTTON FOR YOUR VIDEO CALLS
“Hey, whoever’s dog is barking, can you mute yourself?”
“You’re on mute!”
“You’re still muted!”
Thanks to the pandemic, we’ve been in a Brady Bunch-boxed video conferencing mode since 2020, but doesn’t seem like any of us are getting much better at remembering to mute and un-mute. What we all need is the equivalent of that old Staples’ “Easy Button.”
Well, the folks at MuteSync came up with exactly that, an Easy Button for muting/un-muting yourself and for prompting you to pay attention when you aren’t quick to do the right thing.
Instead of rushing your hand to the mouse or touch-screen to wake up the display, make your command icons visible, and click them to change your status, just tap the big, old button on your desk. BAM! MuteSync took their idea to Kickstarter, and it was a huge success! (I mean, of course it was. Seriously, how often do you say/hear “You’re on mute!” in a week?)
When you push the mute button (or even when you mute and unmute from your video meeting platform), the MuteSync mute button light changes! (And, duh, it mutes you.)
MuteSync buttons sync with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Whereby and (with some hiccups) Discord; as of yet, there’s no love for Butter (my favorite under-appreciated video conferencing app).
Both Mac (from MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite) upward) and Windows (7.7 and above) are supported. Note that if you are using one of the conferencing platforms in the browser, MuteSync only supports Chrome and Brave, not Safari. Also, it does not work with phones or tablets, at least not yet. (But, honestly, finding the mute button on a phone or tablet is even harder, so they need to get on that!)
MuteSync requires the installation of a free, downloadable app, and the button connects to your computer (or hub) via an included USB-C cable.
Tapping the button toggles your mute on and off, and changes color to alert you (and anyone in your workspace) that you are muted (or, yikes!, not muted).
MuteSync users get the “Easy Button,” but also get an extra bonus, a free virtual mute button that lives in the menu bar at the top of the Mac or in the Windows system tray. The virtual button stays in sync with whatever’s going on with your conferencing platform, so if you’ve hit the mute button in Zoom, or tapped the MuteSync mute button, or even if the host has muted you (don’t worry, I’m sure she muted everyone but the speaker, so don’t take it personally!), the virtual button will work in lockstep.
The durable plastic MuteSync mute button is 2.4″ square and 0.4″ high, taking up minimal desk space. The bottom has a rubber pad to ensure that it grips the desk tightly and doesn’t go sliding around.
Because different people have different ideas of which colors mean on and off, you can customize the colors and brightness levels of the button’s eight LED light options.
You’ll still have to train your kids, your spouse who acts like a kid, and your exuberant pets so they understand which colors mean they should “shush”. And, if you’re like my peeps on my Friday night professional organizers call (you know who you are!), you may have to train your kitties to avoid stepping on the buttons when they think they’re the stars of the show.
Take a peek at the MuteSync video, and surf around the website, which has a variety of support videos and is written by folks with a fun, goofy sense of humor.
The MuteSync button is $49 at their website, as well as at Amazon.
While this is great for conferencing, I periodically have to record videos on Zoom, and I’ve got a horrible habit of narrating to myself (not-quite under my breath) when I have to switch from video to screen sharing, and when I have to pause in between steps. Yes, editing would allow me to deal with all of that, but I’m not always so technologically savvy (or inclined) with video editing; being able to quickly hit “mute” before before doing any fancy clicks would save me quite a bit of frustration.
What do you think? Could you use a portable, practically invisible, laptop stand? An attention-getting calendar? A fashion-forward cable organizer? An Easy Button to mute and un-mute your video calls?
Please share in the comments and let me know what you think, and what features or colors you wish had been included?
Paper Doll Post:
On the Road Again: Organize Your Mobile Office
Road Warrior Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
During the last two years, the watchword has been “work from home.” In this recent WFH era, we’ve eschewed office buildings and turned snuggly corners of our bedrooms and dining rooms into home offices. Many companies have closed their local operations altogether, finally trusting that there’s no need to micromanage their knowledge-worker staffs. More and more, companies are OK with letting people work where and how they operate best.
Of course, this isn’t the case with everyone. Some employers are rushing at breakneck speed to return the North American workplace experience to “normal,” despite the distinct rise in European and Asian COVID cases of the Omicron BA.2 subvariant. Count me as one of those who is curmudgeonly aghast at the state-by-state dropping of precautions, as I noted in the following reply to a friend, which got a lot of Twitter love.
I am so tired of people saying it’s over because they want it to be over. It’s not a relationship, it’s a virus.
— Julie Bestry, CPO® (@ProfOrganizer) March 23, 2022
Obviously, though, there are some people who can’t work from home. Your favorite restaurant can’t let the sous-chef work from his back deck. An OB-GYN is the perfect example of how you can’t phone in every kind of delivery!
And people who travel about for work, whose very career depends on them physically arriving at different locations, whether locally, regionally, nationally, or internationally, need to get on the road (or the tarmac), however ambivalent they might feel about the prospect. And, of course, they need to be organized.
HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR MOBILE OFFICE
From smart phones to Zoom to cloud computing, modern technology has made road warriors a little less embattled, but keeping your mobile office from looking like an outtake from Game of Thrones battle requires some special equipment and finesse.
Over twenty years as a professional organizer, I have worked with a wide variety of clients who work, at least some of the time, from the road.
There have been numerous pharmaceutical sales representatives who needed to organize medical literature, promotional materials, medication samples, durable medical goods, and anatomical models and schlep them from medical offices and hospitals in their assigned local or regional areas. I’ve worked with a few mobile pharmacists serving as pharmacy supervisors, traveling each week to different outlets, and working both as members of their profession and in consultant/supervisory capacities on behalf of their companies.
I had one client who traveled her “territories” in various parts of the country for a restaurant chain, training franchisees and their staff on everything from computer systems to how to prepare and garnish certain delicious foodstuffs. And one client shared memorable tales of his experiences as a high-level insurance executive assigned to travel and review high profile claims.
What all of these hearty folks had in common is that they needed to have all of their necessary office supplies, documents, and resources available to them with the same ease of accessibility as when they were comfortably seated in actual offices. While each had unique needs, their were a wide number of commonalities.
In the Car
Let’s focus on documents. Back at a decidedly stationary office, you’d have filing cabinets, hanging file drawers in a desk, and a variety of other options with the distinct advantage that you never need worry about jostling.
Cars, however, jostle. They are buffeted by the wind on the highway and hit unanticipated bumps from potholes and running over detritus that has fallen off of other vehicles.
If your mobile office requires bringing lots of glossy literature, forms, or other pre-printed material, you’ll want to approximate a standard filing system as much as possible.
Personally, I’m a fan of sturdy file crates. These crates, fashioned after old-school milk crates but with file rails on all four sides (to accommodate letter-sized or legal-sized files) take a licking and keep on ticking when you’ve got a heavy load of hanging files filled with file folders and lots of paper.
My favorite version is made by Sterilite and, like the very best versions of the TARDIS’s control room, has lots of “round things.” I own them in four different shades of pink/plum/mauve, plus blues and blacks. Another client swears by teal.
In most “big box” stores like Target or Walmart or office supply stores, you can usually fine single crates for $5-10. (Storex makes a very similar version, with weirder displays of “round things,” but usually only in packs of three or more for somewhat higher prices.)
A good alternative to file creates is to pick a few sturdy lidded totes equipped with hanging file rails. In this case, I’m not referencing portable file boxes (we’ll get to those), but larger file tubs requiring a two-handed grip. Bankers Box (yes, famous for their fold-into-place cardboard paper storage) has hearty one:
Office Depot and Staples have their own lines of dependable tubs. They key is that you want a heavy-duty file tote or tub with hanging rails, one that will withstand the test of time and changes in temperature and humidity. A warped tote is not a happy tote.
These crates or totes should generally stay in your trunk or the rear of your hatchback/SUV, removed rarely just for cleaning of the vehicle. In general, if you keep the contents organized and maintained, updating which folders (and which file contents) are stored within, they shouldn’t require much upkeep.
Aesthetics are less important than durability. However, if you’re eager to move your resources from your trunk to your a hotel room or event venue, there are other options, with functional and aesthetic appeal.
Last year, I guest-blogged for the great folks at meori, and wrote From Dad’s Study to the Modern Home Office, performing a deep dive into the essentials of a home office. One of my favorite products I got to know was meori’s Hanging Office Box.
It’s available in a few different colors, accommodates hanging files, and is collapsible.
Whichever you choose, use these kinds of file storage for stockpiling multiple copies of leave-behind resources: glossy one-sheets, brochures, catalogs, blank forms, and templates. To ensure that you’re always prepared for a surprise trip, restock your mobile file space weekly if you stay local, or upon each return from out of town.
On Client Calls
When you head into a client meeting while on the road, you’re not going to want to keep zipping back to your car for the documents you want to share or disburse. If you think of the trunk storage totes and crates as the big deep-freezer in your basement, these next options are more like your lunch box or picnic basket. You’ll use them for your laptop or tablet, essential files, and office supplies and related resources, like chargers. It’s the stuff you carry with you.
Recently, I shared with you my beloved ZÜCA Business Backpack.
For an even more refined look, the Samsonite Business Slim Backpack (in Cognac or Black) is a sleek option.
A full analysis of business backpacks is probably better left for a post on travel, but I can tell you that there’s enough of a variety of business backpacks that you can be assured they’ve come a long way from the backpacks of the days of pep rallies and bus rides. To find a professional backpack to your liking, consider these expert round-ups:
Specialist Satchels: The 19 Best Men’s Backpacks for Work from The Coolist
19 Best Laptop Backpacks the Provide Both Fashion and Function from Marie Claire
The 10 Best Business Travel Backpacks from the blog The Broke Backpacker
The Best Minimalist Laptop Backpacks from Proactive Creative
If you’re looking for something with a little more accent on fashion, primarily for hanging files, there are alternatives to the standard backpack or briefcase. Sadly, the long-beloved (by clients and professional organizers alike) leatherette file totes from Jamie Raquel exist no more, but Levenger’s LevTex Portable File Totes scratch a similar itch.
Available in Black, French Blue, Purple, Red, or Hickory, with a tan twill interior lining, the LevTex line runs $99.50 each (though I’m spotting it on sale for $69 at the time of publication of this post).
At a lower price point, Home District has a similar faux leather Chic File Folder Organizer Tote in Red, Brown, and Black for just $39.99 via Amazon:
If image is less important to your line of work than durability, and you’ve got a lot of paperwork to share in meetings or at events, consider a portable file box with hinged lids, sturdy handles, and hanging file rails. Search for “portable hanging file box” and you’ll come up with a wide variety of brand-name and generic versions like this:
These are practical for bringing in just what you need for a specific client call: notes, blank contracts, and a subset of literature from the mobile file space in the trunk.
If you carry blueprints or other large-format documents, carry both a standard portable file box for business papers and an art portfolio case. If you will be leaving designs behind, use inexpensive red rope portfolios; invest in a durable leather or nylon case if you will be using it long-term.
When you’re on the road, is your need to schlep a more heavy-duty experience? Expanding rolling crates are suitable when your display materials include heavy catalogs and sample products. They offer a robust upgrade from portable file boxes and won’t break the bank — or your back.
For a more elegant or refined look, try a rolling catalog case or a leather litigation briefcase like you see lawyers (or, more likely, their paralegals) using on TV.
And while you’re gathering all the resources to show off to your clientele or supervisees, make sure you don’t lose sight of all the chargers, cables, gadgets, tools, and small personal items that keep you efficient.
One favorite line of professional organizers everywhere is the Grid-It! from Cocoon Innovations. I am constantly amazed at how much I can pack into a small space with just a Grid-It! board covered in elasticized bands, but Grid-It! never fails to secure possessions, prevent tangles, and ensure that nothing falls into a black hole.
Cocoon also has an impressive array of slimline backpacks with Grid-It! stylings built in, for the road warrior who is living on the road, or in the air. Speaking of which…
On the Road…and On the Tarmac
Are you spending time in hotels, dropping in at co-working spaces, or hot-desking at divisions of your company as you jaunt around the country or around the world? When space is at a minimum but you want to feel like can keep your eye on all of your documents and resources, it can be helpful to adjust the vertical control. Look upward instead of outward!
For my clients who are always on the road, I suggest the Smead Cascading Wall Organizer. This snazzy revamp of the original can hang on the wall or anywhere from a nail, hook, or even a hotel hanger to reduce clutter in your workspace.
Made of durable, bright, and easy-to-clean polypropylene, the six colorful (yellow, orange, fuscia, green, blue, and purple) letter-size pockets can be removed to take to individual meetings. (Each folder holds up to 50 sheets.)
Use the clear front pocket to show the current month’s calendar, a project timeline or GANTT chart. (Fuzzy on that? Check out Checklists, Gantt Charts, and Kanban Boards – Organize Your Tasks from last year.) There’s a 3-part hanger (use one loop or all three), and an elastic cord closure for putting it all together and stowing it away.
The whole thing is PVC-free and acid-free, and measures 14 1/4″ wide by 24″ high (when fully expanded). Available directly from Smead for $19.03, or you can find it on Amazon for $15.28.
There are two variations on the theme. If the above brights are too vibrant for your super-stuffy colleagues, the clear version (with pastel pockets) of the Cascading Wall Organizer is also $19.03 at Smead or $11.10 at Amazon:
Conversely, there’s one with sumptuous jewel tones for $10.94.
The Container Store has a similar product, the Multi-Color Cascading 6-Pocket Letter File Wall Organizer Tote, for $16.99.
It measures 13 3/8″ wide by 10 1/2″ high, and when it’s not fully extended, it folds and collapses into a 1 1/2″ thick tote. Two snap closures open to reveal six cascading pockets (red, orange, yellow, green, teal, and dark blue) that hold letter-sized interior file folders (sold separately). You can label the tabbed pockets, and there’s both a handle for carrying the closed tote and a ring for hanging it for display.
At a similar price point of $16.95, the Pendaflex Hanging Organizer looks and works much like the others, with color-coded file pockets in an indestructible, poly carrying case.
Expand it like an accordion file, collapse it to store in a briefcase, or hang it with the files neatly cascading from a hotel doorknob or coffeehouse chair when you set up a temporary workspace.
And sometimes, you just need a space of your own when you’re away from your own space. For such occasions, the Plan Station Pro is kind of interesting. It reminds me of the graduate student study carrels in college libraries, but set up on an ad hoc basis.
This nifty workstation measures 24″D x 48″W x 24″H and lets you create a sitting or standing desk wherever you land, whether that’s a hotel or a job site, for just $40. You carry it like a large portfolio, then hang or use the included dowels so it will free-stand to create a mini office.
Finally, even if you have to work in a public space, avoid the temptation to invest in a wheel-mounted desk. If you must work from your car, it is roomier and more comfy (though admittedly more awkward-looking to ouotsiders) to sit in the center of the rear seat and balance your laptop on your knees.
Be Tactical With Your Tech
As Paper Doll, I’m always going to focus on your tangible, paper resources, but that doesn’t mean we’ll forget about the tech and other essentials. Your digital resources may live in the cloud, but you still need to reach them from down here on earth (and, OK, sometimes when you’re up in the clouds, too).
Generate a packing list to use with your backpack or satchel so that every night before you get on the road, you can make sure you’ve packed what’s necessary. Consider the following
- Phone (or a note to remind you to pack it in the morning once it’s charged)
- Laptop or tablet
- Mobile hot spot (you can tether your phone’s internet access, but you may want to buy a more powerful mobile router to make sure your computer, tablet, and any other Wi-Fi-able device gets the connection it needs)
- Bluetooth keyboard
- Bluetooth mouse (if you, like me, never got the hang of a trackpad)
- Bluetooth or wired number keypad (if you crunch a lot of numbers when working)
- Chargers and charging cables
- Adapters (because, between USB and USB-C, not to mention Lighting connections, nothing attaches to anything else these days without some fiddling)
- Headphones or ear buds (so that you can dial in to conference calls or Zooms with minimal distraction for yourself or other attendees)
- Flash drives (because you can never count on your laptop communicating nicely with the presentation set-up at any conference venue or work location)
- A legal pad or notebook (because sometimes, the internet or WiFi isn’t your friend)
- Post-It® Notes — always have a stack in your favorite color. Combine a sticky note and a Sharpie for everything from leaving a note on the bathroom mirror for hotel housekeeping to capturing an idea when the data on your phone peters out
- Your favorite pen, a colorful Sharpie (or several), highlighters (for calling someone’s attention to something in the analog/paper world)
- Headrest hangers, so you can keep your jacket or suit neatly hanging and wrinkle-free
Making Time for Putting it All Back Together
Block time every evening to review the list of people you will be seeing the next day. This is also a good time to check tomorrow’s slot in your tickler file. C’mon, you didn’t think I’d miss a chance to remind you about the value of tickler files, right? I’m always going to prompt you to tickle yourself organized, even when you’re on the road! (Especially when you’re on the road!)
Clarify the end goal of the meeting, so you know what you need to display or distribute. Verify that you have (or can acquire) enough copies of each. Make sure all essential items are in tomorrow’s tickler file slot.
After each appointment, before belting yourself into your car, ensure that any papers you acquired in the meeting are either filed for reference or added to your tickler file for prompt follow-up.
Laminate a checklist or create one in Evernote or your favorite digital system so that you can follow the same procedure every time you return from a client visit or sales trip.
Finally, taking a few moments to remove the pop cans, meal wrappers, and other schmutz of the day ensures that you will enter a fresh-smelling, chaos-free mobile office tomorrow.
Happy travels, and stay safe…and organized!
Paper Doll Post:
Ask Paper Doll: Should I Organize My Space and Time with Color?
This is part of a recurring series of Ask Paper Doll posts where you can get your burning organizing questions answered by Paper Doll, a 20-year veteran professional organizer and amateur goofball.
Dear Paper Doll:
It’s only January and I’m already at a loss for motivation. I’ve been thinking about using color to organize my office and maybe my calendar, but the more I look at my options, the more overwhelmed I get. How can I organize by color and not constantly be tinkering with my systems and remembering what color goes where?
Signed,
Feeling grey with a case of the blues
Grey sky, grey streets, grey mood? Even if we weren’t in the second winter of a pandemic, January is a tough month to feel sparkly. We’re still nine weeks away from Daylight Saving Time, so our late afternoons are dark and gloomy. Plus, after the ongoing glow of holidays from late November through New Year’s Day, of course you’re feeling a loss of spark.
And yes, color is a great way to pump up the mood. If color weren’t so vital, Pantone wouldn’t be known worldwide for coming up with its color of the year. By the way, Paper Doll is a huge fan of this year’s color, Very Peri.
But organizing by color and organizing with color can be very different things.
ORGANIZING BY COLOR
Some people are enthusiastic about using color to organize everything in their homes, offices, and lives. Maybe they have a signature color that serves as a personal brand; others believe in color-coding and sorting everything by hue. Paper Doll isn’t necessarily keen on that. Using color to decide where something goes and with which it is grouped depends on the situation.
Organizing clothing or shoes by color? Sure. Imagine you have all of your long-sleeved shirts hanging in the closet, in roughly ROY-G-BIV color order, or group all your black pumps together, then the blue, then the red, and so-on within your collection of heels.
This will make it easy to recognize you’ve tipped the scale toward full-on goth when you’ve got 17 black turtlenecks, or may be mistaken for Dorothy if most of your shoes are ruby red. Sorting and ordering your clothes and shoes by color makes sense, but probably as a secondary sorting characteristic within clothing/shoe types.
Organizing your calendar by color? Absolutely! Whether you grab a selection of pretty markers to fill in your paper planner (medical appointments in red, billing or tax dates in green, social events in purple) or use the settings in Outlook, Gmail, or any other digital calendar, you can color-code to your heart’s delight.
And the best thing? If you select the wrong color, you don’t need white-out or an eraser to fix it. One little click, and you’re back in business!
Organizing files by color? Mayyyyyyyybe. I hate to sound coy, but the effectiveness of a system based on color-coding files depends on the level of commitment of the user.
In the abstract, it can be great to organize your files (either tabbed folders or hanging folders) by color. Figure out what your overarching categories are, and assign colors to those categories, whether in your reference or action files. For example:
- Red folders — Urgent tasks or information you always need to get your hands on in a hurry
- Green folders — Financial information related to taxes, payable accounts, and investments
- Blue folders — Planning, like for vacations or work projects
- Yellow folders — Client information or class materials
- Purple folders — Creative tasks
and so on. Color (as we’ll see below) stirs emotions, creates enthusiasm and motivation, and triggers action. What could be better?
The problem isn’t with the system, per se, but with the users. If you let yourself run out of yellow folders just as you sign on a new client, what will you do? Are you likely to order new folders in that color scheme right away? If so, you’re set. If not, you may let a pile of papers related to that client languish in the corner of your desk, risking them getting mislaid or lost.
Plus, keeping many different boxes of colored tabbed folders can be expensive and get out of balance quickly. You may use three times as many purple folders as red ones and your red box may sit year after year, mostly untouched.
If you want to embrace color, there are a few other options beyond a full-on color-coding assault. You could:
- Pick your favorite color, and use those tabbed folders exclusively.
- Start with just two or three of your most used categories and pick colors to define each of those. You’ll still be using color as a sort of trigger or label, as above, but you won’t be going “whole hog,” at least not at the beginning.
- Use plain manilla tabbed folders, but pick a beloved color for hanging folders. (Because hanging folders hold tabbed folders, and can generally accommodate three-in-one, we don’t run out of them as quickly.) Traditional olive/army green hanging folders aren’t likely to cheer anyone up, and using a fun hanging folder uniformly through your filing system will brighten your mood without requiring you to keep up with a complex system.
(These purple Smead hanging folders are bright and bold, and are available in most Big Box stores and at Amazon for $17.89 for a box of 25.)
Organizing your spices by color? How experienced a chef are you that you could catch yourself before you added a visibly similar (but wrong) spice to a recipe? Ground nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon look alike; but would you want to risk grabbing the wrong one and making iced nutmeg rolls or clove-raisin coffee cake?
Are you willing to mistake similarly-red cayenne pepper for paprika? Perhaps it’s better to group spices by the categories of usage (baking tasks vs. preparing meat/vegetables, etc.). SpiceAdvice has a nice Quick Reference Spice Chart sorted by usage categories.
Organizing your books by color? Oh, gracious. This question has stirred quite a bit of controversy over the last few years. I mean, there’s this person:
I feel like coordinating books by color is one of those things you either love or are wrong about. pic.twitter.com/U6GfIZLgnQ
— Jennifer Wright (@JenAshleyWright) July 15, 2020
I’d take umbrage, but I’m too busy worried about how cold her legs must be.
And then there’s Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin from the Netflix program Get Organized with the Home Edit. They’re known for their passion for color-coding, and they did that with a few bookshelves on their show. But they were children’s books, and let’s face it, the way tiny humans pull books off shelves, it’s not like alphabetized books are going to stay that way. (Their background, at the above link, shows a full set of bookshelves for grownups arranged by color. I’m looking around for my fainting couch.)
Magazines have been rife with headlines in favor of organizing books by color. For example, Jezebel ran with a piece called Sorry, Color-Coded Bookshelves Look Good, while Slate stood up for the design-oriented folks with Arranging Your Books By Color Is Not a Moral Failure.
Of course, in this highly competitive media market, every online magazine’s job is to stir controversy and curry clicks. Thus, I suspect these headlines recognize that those of us who read may care more about the content of our books than using them as decor and are trying to drive some righteous indignation clicks to their sites.
But Paper Doll stands firmly in the NOPE category on organizing books by hue. The color of a book’s cover is about marketing; it was almost certainly chosen by a marketing team based on the designs in fashion for that genre during that season. The color may not even have been approved by the author or seem to make sense. I mean, even early versions of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple didn’t have a purple book cover or spine!
I’m a practical person. I believe that function should always come before form. A gorgeous outfit that doesn’t cover all your fleshy bits and gives you frostbite? Nuh-uh. A bookshelf that requires you to remember the color of the cover vs. letting you just walk over to peruse the category (fiction? organizing? recipes?) or authors? I can’t countenance that.
I’m not saying you can’t do it; I’m saying I can’t advise it.
And that’s because, as a professional organizer, my role is to help you live a more organized and productive life. Sure, I’ll leave your space looking better than it did before, but my reason for being in your space is to leave it working better than it did before.
ORGANIZING WITH COLOR
So, what’s the difference?
Organizing by color requires creating a system. With clothes or shoes, it might just be ROY-G-BIV and keeping things in order. When you put away your clothes, as you approach with a freshly-laundered shirts on hangers, you’ll be able to put away each item in the general color order. It’s your closet, so you don’t have to be too persnickety unless Vogue is coming to do a photo layout of your walk-in, in which case, good for you!
With file folders, as described above, organizing by color requires a stricter system. In effect, you’re deciding, up front, what all of your categories will be and assigning colors to those categories. You have to be willing to stop, each time you create a folder, to consider what category the contents of the folder belong to, and select that color every time. If you’re comfortable with that, then you have my blessing. I just don’t want to see you get stressed out.
You also have to be relatively sure that you’ll “feel” this association going forward (unless you’re just having fun and don’t care whether there’s a cognitive connection between your colors and your categories); if you soon realize that you hate the color orange but have assigned orange to your accounts payable, you might stop filing your paid bills or (eek!) avoid paying them altogether.
Organizing by color can be great, and I’m absolutely in favorite of it, as long as you, as an individual, feel comfortable sticking to a system. If not, that’s OK. There are still magnificent ways to organize your life with color, without adhering to strict or narrow categories.
Organizing with color lets you pick functional objects that add a pop of color but don’t require a lot of mental or physical effort to maintain.
It’s more thematic than systematic.
It’s sort of how we talked about about goals and resolutions vs. picking a word of the year. (If you haven’t read Review & Renew for 2022: Resolutions, Goals, and Words of the Year, this is a great time to help you get back on that motivation kick!) Goals — and the habits we embrace to achieve them — are like the systems for organizing by color; a word, mantra, or theme of the year, rather, provides a sense of focus, and color can do that for you.
Pantone does it with the color of the year; you can brand yourself, or your year, with color that’s meaningful to you! Think, “2022 in Royal Blue!” (Good luck rhyming a year with periwinkle or burnt sienna, though.)
Let’s get a sense of what color psychology tells us. Our friends at Quill created a nifty explanation to help explain some of the meanings of color in “Color Code Your Way to an Organized Workspace with Office Products.”
Do you have to use the specific colors that are associated with specific feelings? Of course not. I don’t particularly find the color yellow to be “associated with hope, happiness, and positivity.” I don’t even buy the original yellow Post-it® Notes because yellow just doesn’t do it for me. (I’m so into pinks and purples, as you might have guessed.)
But do experiment and take advantage of the aspects of the psychology of color to make your space your own.
A FEW FUN WAYS TO INTRODUCE COLOR INTO YOUR LIFE THIS SEASON
Our friends at Time Timer have come up with some gorgeous, new colorful timers.
First, they’ve released their original 8″ timers in Learning Center Classroom Sets (of 3) in two different color schemes. But you don’t need to be using them in a classroom to brighten up your office or workspace. There’s a primary color set:
and a secondary color set:
These sets are priced (for pre-order) at $104/set. Again, these are designed for learning activities, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t have one timer in your office, one in your kitchen, and one in your workout area.
Each set comes with three Original 8″ visual timers (for up to a 60-minute duration) with magnetic backs and fold-up feet, three dry erase cards for labeling the current activity (great for helping you focus during a 25-minute pomodoro task), and one free download of the Time Timer Desktop App.
They’re also selling a Time Timer MOD® – Special Edition Tie-Dye version (for pre-order) for $36.95. I’m a big fan of the little MODs, and this 3 1/2″ square MOD provides a tiny pop of color while helping you visualize time passing, and keep you motivated to accomplish your tasks.
For a burst of color for office supplies, consider Poppin desk, wall, and office accessories:
You can buy their products directly from the Poppin website, or at Staples, Quill, and The Container Store. Be sure to check out Poppin’s Work From Home section for more fun, motivating bursts of color.
Do you like to wrap yourself up in color or just use it for accents?
Are you comfortable with intricate color-coding systems, or do you just want to surround yourself with your favorite hues?
And what’s your favorite color?
Meet me in the comments and tell all!
Paper Doll Post:
Cross-Training for Families: Organize for All Eventualities
WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH CROSS-TRAINING?
The term cross-training appears to have originated in the fitness and athletic world. One’s usual sport strengthens certain muscle groups and develops a specific set of skills; training in different disciplines, allows you to address other muscle groups, gain and sharpen different skills, and create a more well-rounded overall performance.
Photo by Marta Wave from Pexels
Cross-training in business yields the same kinds of benefits. Let’s say you work for a widget-making company. (“Hi! I’m <insert you name here>. I work for a widget-making company!”) Your job might be to oversee the complicated machine that cuts out the widgets; your friend down the factory line has a complementary job, making sure that the widgets are quality-controlled to meet international widget-production specifications.
If your company is run smoothly, each employee must be crackerjack at his or her job. But what if there’s only one person who knows how to do a specific thing? What if that person wins the lottery and quits, or gets hired away by a competing widget maker? Sure, the company can hire and train a new widget quality-control specialist, but until that happens, a manager with prior experience might have to step in, reducing the time the manager can, well, manage.
But what if the staff were cross-trained so that in addition to knowing your own job up, down, and sideways, everyone had at least a little training at other people’s jobs? Wouldn’t that make things better?
When I worked in television, I was a program director at local network affiliates. My assistant and I each had our separate spheres of influence, but the truth was that on most days, I was handling managerial tasks (research, contract negotiation, meetings with syndicators, etc.) and my assistant was handling day-to-day operations (maintaining the film vault, overseeing satellite operations, quality-controlling programming tapes — because this was in ancient times, before programming all lived inside computers).
Ours was a two-person department; without cross-training on the intricacies of satellite operations and whatnot, my assistant would never have been able to call in sick, take a vacation, or move onward professionally without things grinding to a stand-still. Cross-training saves butts!
Photo by Christina Morillo from Pexels
Major advantages of cross-training in business include:
- Better efficiency, because the more people have a good handle on how to do any one thing, the better it will get done.
- Improved flexibility, because the organization as a whole can be nimble.
- Clarity for emergency response planning. Back-up plans can save companies and that can save lives.
- Better “coverage,” so that if there are greater needs in one area (like greater demand for boxing up widgets) employees from other departments can fill those roles.
- Better integration and institutional knowledge across the company. If you only know how your department works, and are fuzzy on the operations of the rest of the business, not only does it hold you back from spotting potential problems and making suggestions (for the company’s benefit), it keeps you from achieving personal growth by seeing what other possibilities exist for you.
- Better morale. The more you know how to do, and the better you are at it, the more self-confidence you’re going to have.
- More satisfied customers. If you are involved in client/customer-facing work, cross-training means you can respond wisely, deftly, and quickly to questions, yielding more confidence in the company and in you as an expert.
Cross-training in your family, especially with regard to essential paperwork, information, and rituals, has the same benefits. Think about what happens when one parent is the main caregiver for a child but has to leave for a business trip or to help an ailing grandparent. The other parent (or other adult in the household, if there is one) needs to step in and step up!
Cross-training in the family has the same benefits as with companies.
- Better efficiency, because the person who usually pays the electric bill, does the carpool drop-off, or renews the car insurance policies may not always be available without difficulty or overwhelm.
- Improved flexibility, because the family as a whole can be nimble.
- Clarity for emergency response planning. You back up your computer; shouldn’t you have backup for when you’re headed to give a career-defining speech and the school calls to say your child just threw up?
- Better “coverage,” so that when one adult in the family is overloaded, the other can pick up the slack without having to explain what to do, how to do it, what the pitfalls may be, and who may complain (about the color of the frosting or how the sandwich is cut).
- Better integration and “institutional” knowledge across the family. It’s not 1957; it’s unreasonable to expect that one member of the household is “in charge” of all things related to the kids or that one (other, or the same) person is “in charge” of all financial, legal, and organizational goings-on.*
*This is a really complex topic. Being a caregiver for children and running a household, even when one works outside the home for pay, involves not only the physical labor but the mental load and emotional labor of anticipating cognitive, emotional, and other needs of stakeholders (but instead of CEOs and shareholders, it’s tiny humans and life partners). I’m excited to note that my colleagues Regina Lark, PhD and Judith Kolberg have written Emotional Labor: Why A Woman’s Work Is Never Done. It was just released, and deals more specifically with this concept.
- Better morale. It’s a reality. The more active a part of your family you are (or your partner is), knowing everything from which lullaby scares away the monsters to which color notebook into which the teacher requires permission slips be inserted, the happier everyone will be.
- More satisfied “customers.” OK, your kids and your spouse/partner, and maybe even other members of your household (like aging parents) want to feel confident that you’re a full-fledged member of the family, that you know what you’re doing and that you want to be there doing it.
Cross-training rocks!
SO WHY DO PEOPLE AVOID CROSS-TRAINING?
If cross-training is so great, why do people groan and avoid it? (I’m so glad you asked!) The sticking points are the same at work as they are at home, though they are expressed differently.
Inertia
At work: businesses tend to focus on urgent priorities, so even if there are directives from on-high requiring quarterly cross-training sessions, management often finds a way to avoid taking time away from meeting deadlines to carve out slots in the schedule for cross-training.
At home: same deal. Your life is busy. Maybe you read a blog post like this, or your professional organizer calls your attention to a problem waiting to happen.
Baby & Teddy Bear Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Or you hear a horror story about spouse who went on a business trip and the at-home parent couldn’t find the right sleeping stuffie, and so the child cried for two days straight. Or you hear about a widowed friend of your parents who didn’t pay the insurance bill because they didn’t know it came to the deceased spouse’s email address, not via mail. These are cautionary tales.
Focusing on the benefits rather than the inconvenience will help everyone acclimate.
Learning curve on new material
At home and at work, nobody gets everything right on the first try. It’s human nature to avoid attempting something if you fear you won’t do it well. In the workplace, Impostor Syndrome may kick in, and an employee may fear attempting something outside the usual skill set, fearing the inability to get it right immediately might lead to firing. And at home, someone might feel nervous about being slow to succeed at a task one’s partner already does well.
When you invite your partner to join in household cross-training, acknowledge that you have different skill-sets and you may not be equally adept at everything. The point at home isn’t to be perfect, it’s to be perfectly satisfactory as a back-up.
Job security
At work: If you’re the only one who knows how to do something, you may feel like you have job security. (Of course, the flip-side of this is that management will tend not to promote you if you’ve convinced them nobody else can master your area.)
At home: While most people aren’t afraid that a spouse will divorce them if they don’t pick up right away on how to use the digital password manager, we all feel a little anxious about being seen without our halos.
Fear of higher expectations, higher workload, and being taken advantage of
At work: It’s a reasonable fear that if you know how to do more, you might be expected to do more. To some extent, this can be a positive thing, allowing you to do your own rendition of “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” This is your chance to step up!
But if your workplace tends to be firmly on one side of the continuum, anywhere from moderately dysfunctional to toxic, you’ll want to watch for signs that you’re being taken advantage of, and be prepared to negotiate for better pay and benefits (or depart for greener pastures with your newfound skills).
At home: Unlike in businesses, where capitalism is the basis of everything and mutual loyalty can be a dubious concept, families are based (or should be based) on love, mutual respect, and loyalty. The point of family cross-training is to strengthen the family, for the benefit of everyone!
Focus on how improving skill training and sharing knowledge will support the healthy growth of the partnership and create a financially and emotionally sound foundation for the kids, the parents, and everyone in the family.
AREAS FOR FAMILY CROSS-TRAINING
Your family is unique, so I won’t presume to know everything you should consider when cross-training. However, this list should get you started.
Organize financial paperwork together
Smead All-in-One Financial Planning Organizer
Get clarity on the status quo. Do both partners know the following:
- What household, credit card, and other bills does the family receive?
- What is the frequency of the billing? (Sure, most utility bills come monthly, but your water and sewer bills may be quarterly. Some insurance premiums are paid monthly, others quarterly; car insurance is often paid every six months.)
- When do the bills usually arrive? (The partner regularly paying the bills may have a gut sense of these dates and know there’s something wrong if the Capital One bill doesn’t arrive by the 10th; with the postal service continuing a massive slowdown, the other partner might be in for a shock if the bill arrived days or weeks late.)
- How do the bills arrive? Via U.S. mail on paper? Via email notifications prompting logging in? Are the bills auto-paid?
- How are the bills usually paid? If you were in the hospital and your partner sat down to pay the bills, not knowing that a particular bill is auto-paid could lead to an expensive double-payment.
- What’s the typical amount of each bill? If you don’t have a chat about these things periodically, you or your spouse might not notice an error in billing or a significant jump in costs.
This probably won’t be a one-time cross-training event. Discuss these issues, then consider spending one month with the partner who usually doesn’t handle the bills taking care of things and “reporting” back; alternatively, you can go through the process side-by-side. The key isn’t to micromanage, but to support one another for common financial goals.
Once your kids are tweens/teens, you might want to include them in some aspects of this cross-training so that they understand the complexities of household finance.
For more guidance on organizing financial paperwork, you might want to start with a classic Paper Doll post, Financial Filing—Scrapbooking snapshots of your money’s life.
Know your household computer set-up
Depending on your ages/generations, you and your partner might be a digital immigrant (a person born or brought up before the widespread use of digital technology) or a digital native. If one of you has discomfort with technology, you’ll need patience to approach these topics. If both of you are digital immigrants, consider hiring someone to help walk you through making sure you’re fully trained on how to achieve your computer-related goals.
Computer security image by TheDigitalWay from Pixabay
- How and where do you keep the essential passwords? It does no good for your partner to be willing to pay the bills if, in an emergency, they can’t log into the credit card or auto loan account.
- Are you happy with your password management system? (Do you HAVE a password management system?) Know where to find all the passwords that allow your household to run smoothly.
- Do you know (and know how to use) your computer backup system? From family photos to your browser’s bookmarks/favorites to all of your documents, everything needs a backup. I recommend a belt-and-suspenders approach, with local back-up to an external hard drive and cloud back-up via one of the popular backup companies. (I use Backblaze.) For more on backup, you might want to read a guest post I wrote for Alexa Bigwarfe’s WritePublishSell.com called 9 Ways to Keep Your Writing Safe.
- What about all your household tech? Do you know your DSL/Cable modem configuration URL (and the user name and password)? What about security settings for your internet router? If you (or your partner, or the internet tech) set up your Wi-Fi password eons ago, would you be able to find it to set up a new device?
Do you know the state of your estate?
From wills to beneficiary lists, from a Power of Attorney for financial decisions to your healthcare proxy, from your advanced care directives to how much (and what kind) of life insurance you have, chances are good that one person in your family took point and the other is only vaguely aware of what’s going on. Or, maybe you haven’t gotten around to squaring any of this away yet?
Either way, start with making sure you’ve both read up on the topics. You can begin with:
How to Replace and Organize 7 Essential Government Documents
How to Create, Organize, and Safeguard 5 Essential Legal and Estate Documents
The Professor and Mary Ann: 8 Other Essential Documents You Need To Create
Nobody ever likes talking about death. But talking about your estate documents, and maybe even working together to create them in the first place, is the first step to knowing that your family is safe and covered in case of the worst eventualities.
Other ways you can cross-train in the family
There’s obviously so much more than financial and legal paperwork and information to consider when cross-training. Your entire family might want to sit-down to brainstorm ideas. Some possibilities:
- Medical issues — Does everyone (or at least every adult) have a working knowledge of what to do in a medical emergency? My friend has Type 1 diabetes, and her 10-year-old has known, from an early age, how to help his mom by fetching a juice box to raise her blood glucose. Kids should know how to make a phone call to 9-1-1 and how to identify themselves, their address, and some basic information to relay about their parents.
- Medical care — Do you and your partner both know the pediatrician’s name and phone number? Where to find the First Aid kit? What medication you and your kids regularly take, so they can convey this in case of an emergency?
- Parenting essentials — This could be a blog post (or a book) all unto itself. From favorite sippy cup to which kids (and the kids’ best friends) have specific dietary requirements and preferences, from the name of the kids’ teachers to how to contact their friends’ parents (in case one of the tiny humans independently decides to get off the bus and go to a friend’s house without informing you), there’s a lot of essential information and skills that go into parenting. The grownups in the house need to share that wealth of information with one another!
- Laundry and household care — Are there sneaky tricks to getting household appliances to work properly? If something in the basement makes a weird, loud teapot-whistle sound, would you know that it was the sump pump having run out of distilled water? Does it do any good if your partner knows that and you don’t? (So much NOPE!)
- Auto care — Does one partner always handle the interactions with the mechanic? Maybe you need to share the knowledge so that you can speak authoritatively when you’re pressed to make a pricey decision.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION from Pexels
HOW TO PROPOSE FAMILY CROSS-TRAINING
You are the expert on how your family and household works. This post is just designed to give you an idea of how you can not merely share the load (and the information) but do it in a way that ensures your family’s immediate and long-term security. Whether the stakeholder is your toddler (who is sobbing that “that’s the wrong bedtime book”) or the finicky garden hose, the mortgage company or your partner’s grandmother, having a complete sense of what gets done — when, where, and most importantly, how — is essential.
I encourage you to share the concepts of this post with your partner. Talk about the benefits: efficiency, flexibility, clarity for emergency response, better coverage when one family member is overloaded, more integrated family “institutional” knowledge, greater morale, and a happier constituency of family members.
But don’t just talk about the benefits. Speak honestly about potential fears and reasons for avoidance (including inertia, worries about learning curves, the sense of “job security” and higher expectations). Ignoring them won’t make them go away, but talking may be just what you need to conquer those challenges and support your family team.
WHAT IF YOU’RE ON YOUR OWN?
I get it; not everyone has a partner. There are a lot of single parents, widows or widowers whose children are “grown and flown,” and just random singletons (like Paper Doll). That doesn’t mean that you’re completely on your own. Think about who you’d call in an emergency. To whom would you reach out if you needed someone to watch your tiny human? Who would you trust to log into your accounts and pay your bills for you?
These may not all be the same person. You may need to do cross-training with a number of someones: your ex, a sibling in another city, a best friend, a professional organizer trained in financial organizing (whom you can find through NAPO and AADMM), an accountant, an attorney, a hoc nanny, and others. The key is to start thinking now:
Who can be you when you can’t be you?
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