Checklists for Life

2

Getting Organized

Let’s face it, life is easier, less frustrating, and, well, involves a lot less swearing when you can find what you’re looking for right when you need it. As my grandma (maybe yours, too) used to say, “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” Maybe that’s why she lived so long and swore so little.

 Records and Documents You Need at Home

The items on this checklist should be kept where they are easy for you—or anyone in your family—to locate without too much detective work. (See chapter 2, “Nine Steps to Organize Your File Cabinet.”)


1.

Will (original or a copy depending on your lawyer’s advice) and estate planning documents.

2.

Cemetery deeds and burial instructions (copies).

3.

Safe deposit box contents. Keep a list of the contents of your safe deposit box as well as copies of the original documents kept there on file: birth and death certificates, deeds to property, vehicle ownership titles, military records, citizenship papers, adoption, custody, divorce decrees, etc.

4.

Insurance policies.

5.

Household inventory (see chapter 15).

6.

Copies of receipts for major purchases (clip originals to the home inventory list stored in your safe deposit box).

7.

Appliance and equipment instructions and warranties with serial and model numbers.

8.

Credit card information. Keep a list of all cards, account numbers, PIN numbers, and phone numbers to call if the cards are lost or stolen.

9.

Medical/health records for each member of the family.

10.

Education records, diplomas, and transcripts. You may wish to keep originals in your safe deposit box.

11.

Passports. If you prefer, store them in your safe deposit box, and keep only passport numbers at home.

12.

Bank statements. Just to be safe, keep them for seven years.

13.

Credit card statements.

14.

Investment records.

15.

Tax records. The IRS has a three-year statute of limitations on auditing returns. But they can go back as far as six years if auditors suspect fraud. Check with your accountant to be sure you’re following the most up-to-date regulations on saving returns.

16.

Employment records.

 What to Keep in Your Safe Deposit Box

Here is the acid test for what you should store in your safe deposit box according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC): Would you be in deep trouble without this item? If the answer is yes, it goes in the box.

Staying out of “deep trouble” by storing your valuables at a bank is relatively affordable. Depending on the size of the safe deposit box, and on your bank, a year’s rental will cost from $25 to $90.

Put original documents in the box and keep photocopies at home so you’ll be able to get to them quickly if necessary.


1.

Estate planning documents: wills, trusts, powers of attorney. Talk to an attorney about whether the original or a copy of these documents should be kept in your safe deposit box. The answer will depend on what your state law says about who (if anyone) will have immediate access to your safe deposit box after your death.

2.

Deed to your house and any other property, including burial plot at cemetery.

3.

Vehicle titles.

4.

Birth, marriage, death certificates; military records, adoption, custody, divorce, legal change of name, and citizenship papers.

5.

Complete home inventory, including appraisals, receipts, and photographs or videos of all your insured items. (See chapter 15 for tips on creating a home inventory.)

6.

Stock certificates, savings bonds, and other securities.

7.

Diplomas and transcripts.

8.

Extremely precious jewelry, coins, stamps, or other valuable collections.

You can make sure your safe deposit box is not sealed and made inaccessible by the state or a probate court after your death by renting it jointly with a spouse, adult child, or other trusted person. Anyone whose name is on the rental contract will have uninterrupted access to the box.

 Nine Steps to Organize Your File Cabinet

Almost everybody hates to do filing. It’s not the sheer boredom of the task that makes it so awful, it’s the agony of facing all those pieces of paper that require your Solomon-like wisdom: Keep this or throw it away? If I keep it, where should I file it? If I file it, how will I know how to find it again?

Creating a well-organized place for your files will make the job more bearable, and may help establish a regular filing session before paperwork builds up to an overwhelming pile.


1.

Purchase a filing cabinet. Tucking bills, receipts, insurance policies, and other vital paperwork into a drawer here and a shoebox there leads from disorganization to chaos. Bite the bullet and buy a good-quality suspension file cabinet that allows drawers to be pulled out to their full length. This way you can see and reach every folder comfortably—no small thing when you’re trying to work quickly and efficiently.

2.

File alphabetically. The two most commonly used filing systems are organization by category (Financial, Legal, Personal, etc.) and organization by alphabetical listing. Professional organizer Barbara Hemphill, author of Taming the Paper Tiger, makes a very good case for the alphabetical system: “There are always gray areas when you begin categorizing. In filing everything strictly by the alphabet, there is no question of where to look.” File related documents under the letter of the “umbrella” subject—“T” for Travel, for example—so you’ll never have to wonder where to look for what you need. Here are a few examples of this method:

 

• File under “C” for Car: Maintenance records, owner’s manual, warranties, copies of registration documents.

 

• File under “I” for Insurance: Auto, home, health, life, and other policies, each with a separate folder naming the type of policy. (You won’t look for your car insurance policy in the “Car” file because you know all your policies are in the “Insurance” file.)

 

• File under “S” for Safe Deposit Box: A list of the box’s contents. You can also use this file as a storage area for documents you plan to take to the box the next time you go to the bank. You might even keep the key in this file.

 

• File under “R” for Restaurant: Any restaurant reviews you want to keep, plus a list of friends’ recommendations and restaurant phone numbers. This is just an illustration, of course. If restaurants aren’t your passion, maybe you’d create a file under “S” for software reviews, or under “G” for information on golf courses around the world, or articles about gardening. In any case, name the file according to the specific topic. A folder called “Hobbies” or “Special Interests” will quickly become crowded and disorganized.

3.

Create subfiles. Making separate files for categories within categories (Insurance, Auto; Taxes, 1999; Travel, Australia) will keep your file folders from becoming fat and unwieldy. It will also make it easier to keep the information within each folder organized and easy to get to.

4.

Block out an afternoon. Setting aside three or four hours will keep you from giving in to distractions and abandoning the job before you’ve made significant progress. It’s also good for morale when you know there’s an end in sight. If you aren’t able to finish the job in the first session (and few people will be), set another date with your files in the near future.

5.

Give yourself elbow room. Whether you’re starting from scratch or reorganizing an existing filing cabinet, do the sorting on a floor or large tabletop where you can spread out without crowding.

6.

Sort. This is the part most people dread. But when you’ve already determined that every item will be filed according to its individual name, deciding which paper goes where will be a less burdensome chore. Print the name of each file and its subcategories on separate index cards and tape them down to help you quickly spot the stack where each document belongs.

7.

Weed. You will be amazed at the amount of Jurassic paperwork you unearth: instructions and warranties for products you no longer own; expired grocery coupons, brochures for products that no longer interest you; business cards from . . . who was that guy?; multiple catalogs from the same company. Toss what you don’t need.

8.

Label. This is a no-brainer. Simply write a file folder label corresponding to those index cards you used for sorting (by this time you will have worked most of the kinks out of the system and decided exactly what you’ll call each file). Use your best printing and a sharp pen, so your labels will be easy to read and won’t smear or rub off.

9.

File! Transfer your piles of paper into the labeled folders and put them into the drawers in alphabetical order.

Use hanging file folders with plastic stand-up tabs rather than manila folders, which can slide down in the drawer and easily become dog-eared. If your filing cabinet doesn’t have metal frames for hanging folders, they are easy to find at most office supply stores.

 Nine Steps to Organize Your Workspace

The axiom that work expands to fill the time available can be applied equally well to storage: papers, files, and miscellaneous clutter expand to fill all available space. A messy desk and chaotic filing system waste time and siphon productivity—and sanity. Once you’ve worked your way through this checklist, you’ll have a workspace that makes you look forward to getting down to business every day, whether in your study at home or at the office.


1.

Take a deep breath. If you’re starting out with an intimidating pile of “stuff” on and around your desk, don’t despair. Take a deep breath and devote a small amount of time—half an hour—daily to sifting through it. If you do a little organizing each day, you will reach the bottom of the stack!

2.

Ask questions. As you go through your stacks of paper, piles of files, mountains of magazines, etc., ask yourself: Do I need this? Why? What happens to it next? Where will I look for it when I want it? Don’t ask “where should I put it?” Your organizing system is only as good as your ability to remember where you put things!

3.

Categorize paperwork. Organizing guru Barbara Hemphill advises separating the papers you keep into either “action” (you must do something about it) or “reference” (you’ll be consulting it for information from time to time).

4.

Use two trash cans. If you keep papers because you aren’t sure whether or not you’ll need them again, institute a two-step trash system. Use a small container for papers and other items that are clearly trash. Use a large wastebasket for anything you’re not entirely sure about tossing. Empty it only every few weeks so you can rescue papers you later decide you need.

5.

Clear your desktop. Reserve the surface of your desk for items you use daily. Your in-out box, Rolodex, computer, diskette file, calendar, message pad, and anything else that’s part of your daily routine belong there. Supplies you only reach for occasionally (stapler, extra pens, writing paper, file labels, etc.) should be stored in your desk drawer where they will be easy to reach, but not in the way.

6.

Purge desk drawers. Remove anything from your desk that you use less than once a week and put these items, along with spare supplies, in a cabinet, credenza, or storage closet.

7.

Put files away. Try to keep only one project at a time on your desk. When you finish with a file, put it away, even if you’ll need it later. This habit clears your workspace and your mind for the task ahead.

8.

Shelve reference material. Put a shelf over your desk for reference books and manuals you reach for frequently. This way they’re always at hand, but never in the way.

9.

Conduct regular cleansing rituals. The only way to maintain the organization you worked so hard to achieve is to turn your “sort and trash” exercise into a weekly ritual. Set aside time to do this regularly so you’ll never have to confront an overwhelming mess again.

 Say Cheese! How to Organize Your Photographs

Many of us “sort” our photographs by dumping them into shoeboxes or shopping bags anticipating the lazy, rainy afternoon we’ll spend leisurely catching up on our photo albums. The fact is, it would take a rain of biblical proportions—forty days and forty nights—to make the time for this project and the longer you await the perfect day, the more jumbled those boxes and bags become. Stop waiting: get those photos organized now and then go out and take some more—rain or shine!


1.

Weed ruthlessly. Wouldn’t it be nice if all your pictures turned out perfectly every time? You save yourself a lot of storage space by pretending they did, and getting rid of pictures you don’t like. If Uncle Charlie’s elbow covered the baby’s face, toss the picture! If the photo is nearly perfect, except that it’s overexposed, throw it away! If you hate that picture snapped while you were chewing steak, out it goes!

2.

Don’t save duplicates. If you order duplicates so you can send photos to grandparents, or to pass along to friends who are in the shot, by all means, share them. Then throw the rest away.

3.

Make your negatives positive. Throw away negatives except those for photos you may want to duplicate. Place them in a plain white envelope and write the date and a brief description on the outside. Attach the envelope to the inside of the album where the pictures are displayed or file it in the back of the appropriate photo storage box.

4.

Decide how to sort.

 

• Chronological order—This is the way most photo albums are organized. But if you’ve kept pictures in shopping bags or shoeboxes for any length of time, reconstructing a full chronology could scare you off forever.

 

• By occasion—Christmases, birthday celebrations, etc.

 

• By year—This is a broad category, but it begins to impose some order.

 

• By trip—Regardless of the system you use for the rest of your photos, you may find it rewarding to put major trips (for example, “France 1995,” “Costa Rica 1982”) in special albums.

5.

Album alternatives. Not every photo worth saving must be placed in an album. Consider purchasing photo filing boxes, which are less demanding of your arranging skills and deliver faster results. They’re sturdier and more attractive than shoeboxes and have tabbed dividers and plastic photo protection sleeves inside. Their most winning feature is that they don’t ask much of you and will enable you to find a particular photo whenever you’re looking for it.

 Nine Steps to Organize Your Clothes Closet

Raise your hand if you open your closet each morning and serenely retrieve the very garment you had in mind. (Martha Stewart, put your hand down.) For the rest of us, this doesn’t have to be a fantasy. An organized, user-friendly closet is well within reach—and your clothing will be too, when you’re finished with this checklist. All you’ll need to make this dream come true are a few uninterrupted hours and a supply of gritty determination. It may help to invite a friend in as referee.


1.

Shovel it out. Unless you’re lucky enough to own a cavernous walk-in closet, you need all the space you can get. Find another place for your tennis racquet, the ugly lamp, the rolls of wrapping paper, and anything else you were storing in your closet until you could figure out what to do with it. If you can’t find homes, or uses, for these articles, put them in a box to donate to charity.

2.

Be ruthless. Toss or donate anything you haven’t worn in two years. Wedding dresses are excepted. Salmon pink dyed-to-match bridesmaid shoes are not.

3.

Be brave. Try on the clothing you intend to keep. This is a tedious and occasionally depressing chore. But if you don’t like what you see in the mirror when you’re wearing those pants, why keep looking at them hanging in your closet? Ask a good friend to help you judge.

4.

Arrange by category. Group like items, hanging shirts with shirts, slacks and pants all together, and so on. If you have room, store your out-of-season clothes and rarely worn items like formal wear separately. If not, put them in the least accessible part of the closet.

5.

Sort by color. Now arrange the groups of similar items by color, from lightest to darkest shades. When one glance at your closet tells you what clothes go well together, you’ll dress with far more speed and style. You’ll also become aware of colors you’ve overstocked, those you may need to buy more of, and any colors that stand out like a sore thumb (usually a fashion error warning sign).

6.

Save steps. Store your socks right in the closet so you can see them as you select the slacks and shoes you’ll wear. Several rolled pairs fit nicely in a shoebox and the boxes can be stacked to accommodate an infinite number of socks (or stockings). Make selection quick and easy by labeling them (“Browns,” “Blacks,” “Blues,” etc.) or purchase acrylic boxes you can see through.

7.

Be nice to your sweaters. Store your sweaters gently in the folded position and they’ll repay you by looking splendid year after year. Suspend them cruelly from hangers and they’ll take revenge by developing funny-looking shoulders and drooping to outlandish lengths. If you have space, keep the folded sweaters in clear acrylic stacking boxes on the floor or on shelves in your closet. Protect them by tossing in moth-repellent herbal sachets.

8.

Discipline your shoes. A shoe rack or two will transform that unruly mob of footwear on your closet floor into ranks of neatly paired shoes.

9.

Accessorize decisively. Purchase an assortment of those inexpensive and convenient hangers designed especially for ties, belts, or scarves. When your ties are near your shirts, belts next to pants, and scarves right next to blouses, you’ll be perfectly coordinated before you even have your first cup of coffee.



Checklists for Life
Checklists for Life: 104 Lists to Help You Get Organized, Save Time, and Unclutter Your Life
ISBN: 0375707336
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 1998
Pages: 28

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