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Too Many Good Articles

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on February 15, 2020 No Comments

I love looking through magazines and pulling out those great articles full of useful information and resources. I even kept them organized in an accordion file by subject like Travel and Fitness so I could quickly grab an article when I needed it. The only problem is, it’s been over 10 years- and I have never once gone into this nicely organized resource file- for anything. This file has been tucked away under my desk for 10 years, but based on an article from 2001- I started this reference file 19 years ago. What?! When I opened it, it still looked so useful. Real Simple magazine was obviously my favorite resource. I couldn’t possibly just throw it all away- but who I am I kidding? If I ever want to know something- I ask Google or Alexa. I don’t go looking through articles I pulled long ago that are now outdated. Time to admit reality- and recycle it all. If I start going through them, it will turn into hours down a rabbit hole of information that I haven’t looked for in years. Time to trust that I have never needed it before and I don’t need to waste the time on it now.

Whether you like to cut out articles, recipes, or save the whole magazine- there comes a time to let it all go if you aren’t using it. Keeping a big pile of things to read creates another task. If the pile only grows and doesn’t dwindle, it is time to be honest about how much you really do or don’t want to read it. The last few years I cut the habit of pulling articles and instead snap a photo to put it in Evernote, or I go directly to a link and save that if I truly think I’ll want the info later. Most times though, I just read and enjoy articles without feeling a need to come back to it. There will be more coming my way and I have to keep moving along. I don’t need to be the keeper of useful information. Google and Alexa have that job now.

Categories : Office, Paper

Organizing Instruction Manuals

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on September 22, 2015 No Comments

Instruction manuals are a necessary evil. We need them to put an item together or figure out how to operate something- but then what do we do with the bulky booklets? Stick them in a file, a box, throw them away? All of the above actually. Just keep these things in mind:

Instruction manuals in magazine holders by broad categories

If a manual is in multiple languages- tear out the languages you can’t read and you will be left with a booklet about 50-75% smaller than you started with which is already a huge help. Just staple the pages you are keeping together.
Tape the receipt of big ticket items right on the cover or inside cover. If you ever need to call customer service about a warranty you will have the information right there.
Consider how you would find a manual if you were looking for it. Do you want to go to a file or a binder and find a neatly labeled “Warranty/ Instructions- Fridge” file or plastic sleeve? Or is an upright magazine rack or box labeled “Kitchen Manuals” enough and you’ll just dig for it when and if you ever need it? You have to weigh the time it takes to set up your system versus how much you think you will actually reference it. If you rarely go and look at a manual, there is not much sense in spending a lot of time to organize them.
Why keep the manuals at all? If you never look at them and never have, what is the point in keeping them? There are some online sites like Manuals Online and ManualsLib that have hundreds of thousands of manuals online should you need them. If you have an issue, you can also do a quick search online. Anytime I have a technical problem, I search for an answer online- not in the instruction manual.

Whether you decide to organize your manuals in a neat system, put them in broad categories, or get rid of them all together- just do something with them. They come into our lives on a frequent basis and it is having a plan that makes all the difference.

Categories : Kitchen, Office, Paper

Don’t Lose Your Rewards and Miles

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on July 1, 2015 No Comments

We all have credit cards with some sort of reward points and frequent flyer accounts where the mileage accrues. The problem is that you might lose all these points and miles if you aren’t careful and keep an eye on them. Most people don’t look at their statements that carefully and can easily miss the warnings and depletion of points. I saw someone lose 80,000 airline miles due to inactivity. The airline had no sympathy. All gone. I recently noticed reward points expiring on someone’s credit card statement. We logged in to redeem them- and got a $1,500 statement credit! That would have been a terrible thing to lose. Here are a few ways to keep a handle on your rewards.

If you have a lot of miles and allegiance to one airline, get their credit card and use it. You’ll never have to worry about losing a lot of hard earned miles if you are constantly adding to it with a credit card.
Make your birthday month the month that you sit down and go through all of your reward programs and frequent flyer accounts. Treat yourself to some reward gift cards, cash back, or statement credits. Make a quick purchase through your airline’s web mall to reset the expiration date if you have had no activity. If you are doing this at least once a year, you’ll know where your points stand and be able to cash them in or keep them safe another year.
Keep a simple spreadsheet that lists the Airline/Hotel/Car Rental Company, your account numbers for all members of your family, the current mileage or rewards, and expiration date. This will help you see at a glance where you stand. Or if you like apps, try AwardWallet. You’ll have to enter all your account log ins, but then you will see all your balances and expiration dates on one screen.

A little organization and planning can ensure that you never lose a reward or mile again! Use and enjoy the rewards you spent a lot time, effort, and money accumulating. Happy saving or redeeming =)

Categories : My Blog, Paper, Travel

Stop the Junk Mail

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on October 2, 2014 No Comments

I overheard someone in the post office ask the clerk how they could stop getting mail for someone who had died years before. The clerk told them to just throw it away. I cringed. That would never solve the problem- and it would waste resources, time, and trees! If you get things in the mail that you don’t want- STOP THEM! Don’t ever think they will eventually tire of sending things to an unresponsive house because they won’t. It is never the last time they will offer you some special deal even if they say it is the last time. And don’t think they won’t share your name with other companies or charities because they might. With junk mail, you have to play some offense and not just muster a little defense by throwing them into the recycling bin. According to 41 Pounds.org, “An average of 41 pounds of junk mail is sent to every adult citizen each year. Approximately 44% of this mail goes into a landfill unopened.” Not only is junk mail incredibly wasteful to the environment, but it wastes a lot of our time and effort to deal with something on a daily basis that we never asked for.

Have you ever made a contribution to a wonderful charity only to find that you now get requests from 83 other wonderful charities who think you have money to share with all of them? Are you drowning in mailing labels, notepads, and calendars that you could never use up in your lifetime? Do you get credit card offers on a daily basis? Do you get magazines you never read and don’t even remember ordering? Do you still get catalogs even though you do all your shopping on-line now? You have to do something about it!

I made up some address labels that say in large letters “Please Remove Me From Mailing List”. When I get something in the mail I don’t want to get again, I tear off their return form, place my sticker above my name (being careful not to cover any codes or info they need to identify me), circle the sticker and my name with a big Sharpie and mail it back to them. Sometimes the envelopes are postage paid, sometimes you need a stamp- but it is worth it! I keep a simple tracking list of the places I have asked to be removed from. It works really well for me and the mail stops coming!

If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this yourself, there are companies that can do it for you:

41 Pounds– for $35 they will contact 20 to 30 direct mail companies on your behalf to stop the majority of bulk mail that comes to your home for the next 5 years.
To reduce unwanted catalogs and phone books, try Catalog Choice for free.
DMA Choice and Opt Out Prescreen also offer ways to remove yourself from mailing lists.

Throwing away junk mail is not a solution. All that does is leave the door open for more. Be proactive about getting yourself off mailing lists so you can shut the door and windows on the junk mail that takes over our houses! Not only will you reduce waste and help the environment- but you will save time and frustration when you check you newly thinned out mailbox. Enjoy!

Categories : My Blog, Paper, Simple and Organized

School Year Paper Purge

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on June 16, 2014 No Comments

My first year with a child in elementary school is over and all I can say is- what a lot of paper!! My memories of kindergarten include learning to spell “cat” and nap time. Things have really changed since then. I was surprised by the sheer volume of paper that came home. My daughter had a lot of homework which she thankfully enjoys. (Sure hope that lasts for the next 16 years!) And there were tons of flyers for activities and fundraisers all year long. So that you don’t drown in a sea of papers by the time your child reaches third grade, you need to purge. And right after school gets out is a great time to do it!

I purged the school flyers during the year as the activities passed, but stored all her school work in a drawer in my office. We pulled the tower of papers out and set up some sorting space in the living room. We decided on 3 piles: To Keep, Send to Grandma, and Recycle. We talked about how to decide what went where. She liked Presidents and wanted to keep all papers on them. I suggested we keep any home work where she was writing her own sentences. We decided together that we didn’t need to keep basic worksheets or projects that weren’t special. Then the sorting began!

Half way though the pile, after learning what things she liked to keep and didn’t like to keep, I asked her if she wanted me to help her and she did. I pulled out all the homework and scanned them for the pages wher After e she wrote sentences and we let the rest go. She focused on the art work and what she wanted to send to grandma. She even said that this was fun. (She is an organizer’s daughter after all =) The sort pile dwindled and we were done in 45 minutes. We ended up with a small envelope of memories, an envelope to mail to grandma, and a big pile of paper to recycle.

You could certainly purge your child’s homework yourself, but then you miss the opportunity to teach a very valuable life skill and learn what is important to them. The ability to sort through your papers and belongings and decide what is important to you and what you can let go of is a skill that helps people through all stages of life.

Categories : Before & After Photos, Kids, Paper

Archive Old Paperwork

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on March 10, 2014 No Comments

My cat Jojo helped me archive-
when he wasn’t napping.

Paper multiplies. The piles get bigger. The file drawers get full. And people forget or don’t want to archive their old papers. But archiving paperwork is an important part of the flow of paper. Don’t let the term archive scare you away. Archiving papers is simply relocating papers that you need to keep for legal, tax, or personal reasons but no longer have to keep in the coveted access of your current file system. Tax time is the perfect time to archive since you are already gathering papers for your tax returns and going through your files- or piles.

With an increasing amount of electronic communication, there is less and less physical paperwork, but there still remains some to archive. I leave my hanging files and folders in the drawer. I use binder clips to group together my archive papers and put them in a file box. It is unlikely I will ever need anything I have archived anyway, so I might as well save room and supplies.

Here are some things to consider archiving yearly if you have them in paper format. Last years:

Tax return paperwork (keep the actual return handy for reference)
Credit card statements
Bank statements
Investment statements
Utility bills
Medical Explanation of Benefits and receipts
Any insurance policies that are outdated, but you are not ready to part with
Any old files that you still have in your file drawer and never access, but are not ready to part with

How long you archive them for depends on your tax situation, legal requirements, and personal comfort level. Some people toss EOBs as soon as they get them. Other people like to file them away and keep them for a few years. It is whatever makes you comfortable. Just remember to label the archive box contents before storing them. After a few years have passed, you can revisit what still needs to be kept and what can finally be shredded or disposed off.

Now you have a little- or a lot more space in your file drawers for the current year ahead. Happy archiving!

Categories : Paper

Tags : Archive, Paper

Arrange Those Papers

By Tanya Whitford, CPO® on October 7, 2013 No Comments

One of my favorite products to handle papers are paperwork arrangers. I have been using them daily since before I was an organizer and couldn’t imagine not using them. Paperwork arrangers are basically 2 pieces of plastic sealed on 2 sides that allow you to hold papers in them and see the top page. It is a simple concept that makes a big difference. I use them for everything from client files to current projects to manage things like “Bills to Pay” and “To Do’s”. They don’t replace file folders in my file cabinet, but rather are the way I manage my active papers and the things that I need to carry around a lot. Any papers on my desk are in paperwork arrangers with a handy post it note to specify what it is from “Calls To Make” to “Review Insurance Policy”. Having no loose papers makes things easier. And paperwork arrangers simply feel organized!

Paperwork arrangers come in many different styles, colors, weights and prices. You can get them at any office supply store. Here are a few of my favorite ones and why:

1. Century-Safe Paperwork Arrangers from Century Business Solution– These are my main paperwork arrangers because they are very strong and last for years. I use both the 1/3 cut version and the regular straight edge. I like the clear ones and the colored ones- especially when I can get a whole pack of purple ones. These are on the expensive side, but they will last you a very long time.

2. The Pendaflex PileSmart QuickView Jackets with Write-On Tabs– What is unique about these paperwork arrangers is that they have a long colored edge along the bottom to write on and make these folders stand out when piled up. If you are a piler not a filer- these may be for you.

3. Avery Plastic Sleeves– These are very thin and not good to carry around papers, but they are perfect to be used inside file folders as a way to separate a small subgroup within a folder that does not warrant an entire folder to itself. They fit easily into file folders and make separating and grabbing small sections very simple.

If you already use paperwork arrangers then I am preaching to the choir here. What is your favorite kind? If you have never used them, it is time to give them a try. You will wonder how you lived without them!

Categories : Helpful Products, Paper