CHORES FOR CHILDREN

An organized home doesn’t miraculously happen. It takes everyone in the home to create an environment that is organized and functions smoothly. Having kids doesn’t mean that your home has to be disorganized or a cluttered mess. Children learn from their parents. If you start expecting things from your children at a young age and teach them responsibility you can have a home that is neat and organized.

Following is a list of chores for children. This is just a basic list of some things that children should be able to help with. Remember, each child is different and they all have different capabilities. For the younger children “helping” with some of these chores will probably take more time than if you did them yourself. But that is not the point. The point is to teach your child some valuable tools for the future. It is really important to give them encouragement and let them know that they did a good job.

2 – 4 year olds

Put away toys
Pick up clothes off of the floor

4 – 6 year olds

Clean up spills
Wipe kitchen table
Learn to make bed
Learn to set the table
Match socks

6– 8 year olds

Make the bed
Put dishes away
Sweep the floors
Put clothes into the hamper
Set the table
Clear the table
Learn to separate clothes for the laundry
Dust

8 – 12 year olds

Put their own laundry away
Help make dinner
Make their own lunches
Rake leaves
Help wash the car
Empty garbage
Clean the bathroom
Help with actually doing the laundry
Weed the garden

13 – 15 year olds

Clean the entire house
Learn to manage their schedule
Mow the lawn
Yard work
Wash the car on their own
Babysit

16 – 18 year olds

Get an after school job
Go to the grocery store
Run errands as needed
Learn how to make a resume
Learn how to manage money


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DIFFERENT WAYS TO USE A PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZER

A professional organizer isn’t just great for helping you organize your closet.

They can help you in many ways that you probably never thought of.

They can help you with space management, showing you how to use your space more efficiently.

They can be a life coach, guiding you through the clutter of your life.

They can be a business coach, helping you organize your procedures and workflow.

They can help you with time management, showing you how to make better use of your time.

They can help you with paper management, dealing with all of the incoming paper and creating a filing system.

They can help you with project management, defining your goals and coming up with a game plan.

They can help you with organizing and planning meetings and events.


By becoming more "organized" you will also become "less stressed", "more efficient" and will "save time and money" .


Less Clutter = Less Stress ….. in your home, your business and your life.


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DOCTORS VISIT – WHAT TO BRING

Going to the doctors, no matter if it's just a routine visit or if you are sick, seems to make most people very nervous. They feel intimidated because, well, they are a doctor after all.

So you get to the visit, the nurse comes in and asks you a few questions. Then the doctor comes in and before you even have time to ask your questions, he’s gone. And you are left wondering “what just happened?”.

It’s a typical scenario. And even the most educated and professional people seem to be intimidated by doctors. And they shouldn’t be.

A doctor works for you. Not the other way around. But with the constraints made on doctors to see as many patients as possible and the very limited time they are allowed per patient….it’s crucial that you come prepared to your visit. Don’t think that you will remember all of your questions during your visit, because you won’t.

Before your visit you will want to make a list of all of your symptoms and/or concerns.

Then, make a list of all of the medications that you are currently taking, including dosage. Don’t forget to include a list of all of the OTC (over the counter) medications, vitamins and supplements that you are taking. Some of these can interfere with your medications and your doctor needs to see a complete picture of what you are taking.

Bring a copy of your health history (include your history plus any relatives that you know of). This is especially important if you are seeing a doctor for the first time and have to fill out paperwork. Do not rely on your memory. This is too important.

In your families health history, be sure to include the dates of diagnosis and also what your relatives died from. Sounds morbid, but health history is very important and could be an indicator of what you have to look forward to.

If you are going to the doctor for a particular ailment that you have had in the past be sure to include information on medications that you took and if they worked for you or not. If they didn’t work or you had problems with the medication be sure to tell your doctor about it. A lot of people just stop taking the medication and don’t bother to tell the doctor and he never knows it didn’t agree with them. Then he will prescribe it again. And you’ve created a cycle.

Take a notepad and a pen with you and write down any information that the doctor gives you. If you get a diagnosis write it down. If you don’t understand it make him explain it to you. Don’t pretend that you know what it means if you don’t. You didn’t go to medical school. There is no need to be embarrassed that you don’t understand all of the medical terminology. If you write it down you can look it up later when you don’t feel rushed.

Make the doctor explain any treatment options and medications. Ask him about any side effects that you might experience.

If you forget any questions while you are at the doctors be sure to call the office back and ask your questions! Your health is too important to ignore. Don’t ever be embarrassed to ask your doctor anything. Don’t ever thing that you are wasting his time. It could be a matter of life and death.

Take control of your health. Take control of your life.


Organizational Consulting Services

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HOME INVENTORY ORGANIZING

Tragedy strikes – usually with no warning. Are you prepared? If a fire swept through your home would you be able to give your insurance company a complete and accurate listing of the contents of your home? And if so, does your homeowner’s policy cover all of the items listed?

Having a complete and accurate list, with all of the necessary information before you actually need it is crucial. Unfortunately, most people aren’t prepared (and don’t get prepared) until it’s too late.

A home inventory should be compromised of such things as:

Item Description, Brand Name, Model #, Original Cost, Serial # (if it has one), Where purchased, Date Purchased

The easiest and most efficient way to compile a household inventory is to simply go room by room. Make a complete list of all of the contents of each room. Don’t forget to go through all of the drawers and inside any cabinets. Each item needs to be logged.

If you can, take pictures of each item (or a grouping of items). Also, be sure to take a picture of the room itself. If you have a video camera it would also be helpful to take a video of the entire house.

Don’t forget the closets, laundry room, pantry, garage and all outside areas, such as the patio or a shed.

Once your have your list, review your home owners policy to be sure that you are covered for all of your items. This might also be a good time to sit down and review your policy with your agent to be sure that you are satisfactorily protected. You don’t want to be surprised that something you though was covered really wasn’t.

Another important point to remember is that you need to put a copy of your home inventory list in a safe spot outside of your home. This can be in a safety deposit box at a bank or you can give a copy to a relative to hold for safe keeping.

Making a home inventory list is very time consuming. But it is something that is definitely worth the investment of your time. Once you have made the initial list you should update it at least once a year. The yearly updating should only take a fraction of the time it took to create the original list.

Invest in yourself…… protect your home.



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A NEW YEARS RESOLUTION

January is winding down and everyone is starting to collect all of their financial papers and documents for our favorite time of year. Yes, I’m talking about “tax time”.

January is “get organized” month. And most people don’t even bother to make New Years resolutions anymore. And W4’s and financial papers are showing up in everyone’s mailbox.

What does any of this have to do with anything?

Well… it seems that a lot of people are feeling a bit stressed right now. They are trying to gather all of their papers and get everything organized to take to their accountants. And some people are feeling a bit cranky. Because they don’t know where anything is or they haven’t documented anything or it’s in piles everywhere.

So what’s the answer….. “make a resolution to get more organized this year”.

New Years resolutions on New Years day.... well... no one takes them seriously anyway. But a resolution at the end of the month... well... you’ve had plenty to time to think about it... so it must be a “serious resolution”.

Get your files in order. If you don’t have a filing system, create one. Put your bills and receipts into the proper files as they come in. Keep accurate records. Have a plan in place to work on your bills and financials at a specific time (every week, every other week... whatever works for you).

Decide now that you don’t want to feel stressed and cranky this time next year….by making a resolution to become more organized now.

And then….. do it !

Happy Organizing !

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WORKING AT HOME

A lot of people are working out of an office at home these days. For a variety of reasons.

* They are self-employed and don’t need an office outside of the home
* They work in sales and don’t need a desk at their companies office
* Their company is letting them “telecommute” from home so that they can save money on
office space
* The company doesn’t want to lose a valuable employee who has children and wants to be at
home

The list goes on and on….

Working from home also saves you money (on gas, wear and tear on the car, clothes, lunches….). And it also cuts down on pollution from your car.

But working from home also brings about some challenges. There are a lot of distractions.

You might have a tendency to throw in a few loads of laundry while you are downloading some software or waiting for an important phone call. Or you might want to run the vacuum cleaner and dust while you are waiting for a fax to go through.

In order to work at home you must be very disciplined. You have to act in a professional manner just as if you were in an office outside of the home. That also means getting dressed and not working in your pajamas (who knows if your boss might stop over?).

My old accountants had an office at home in their basement. They had remodeled it with state of the art computer equipment and if you didn’t know you were in the basement you would have thought you were in a first class office building! Every morning they put on their business suits and worked from 9 am till 5 pm. They were always ready for a client to stop by or to go off to a business meeting. They ran their home office like a real business. They saved a lot of money by not paying for additional office space and therefore they were able to keep their overhead down.

On the other hand, some people never get out of their pajamas when they work and the clients on the other end of the phone don’t know the difference.

Being professional when you are talking to a client on the phone, no matter what you are wearing, is crucial in having a home office.

Working at home if you have small children brings on a whole new set of “challenges”. Having a child screaming in the background when you are trying to talk to a client is not very professional. By scheduling your calls to clients while the children are sleeping or while they are busy with a project of their own is one way around that problem.

Having a “dedicated” work space is very important. If you treat your “at home” business like a real business you will be much more successful. By having a desk or workspace set up with all of the essentials and having a filing system in place you will be much more organized and efficient.

Working at home should not be an excuse for “slacking off”. You should have the same dedication and drive as if you worked in a “real office”. And you definitely have to be the type of person that can work by youself…without having someone standing over you telling you that you have a deadline to meet.

It’s not for everyone. Some people need the interaction that an outside office brings.

But if working from home is something that you want or have to do (maybe because you live in a remote area), then treat your office at home as if you worked in an office building.

Have the proper tools and the proper attitude. And you too can be successful and happy “at home”.


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ORGANIZING YOUR CHILD’S ROOM

An organized adult usually starts out learning to be organized as a young child. Chances are that if you aren’t taught organizational skills as a child you will probably not be an organized adult. By starting when your child is young you can teach them skills that will be useful to them for their entire life.

Having an organized room lets you find things easily. It helps reduce your stress because you aren’t constantly searching for things. Organizing a child’s room is a little different than organizing an adult’s room in that you will need to use more “visual” aides and labels.

For toys: use plastic bins (clear works best because they can also see through them). Label each bin with what’s inside. For example: Cars/trucks, building blocks, games, puzzles, books…

For toys and things that have a lot of parts, get smaller containers to house those parts so that they have a place to go after they are done playing with them.

If you child is not old enough to read or if your child is more of a “visual” thinker….you can cut out pictures of whatever is in the bin and tape it to the outside.

The same idea can be applied to their clothes. Put a picture of “pants” or “shirts” or “socks” on the outside of where you want those clothes to go.

Get down to the child’s level! If a child can’t reach the hangers or the bins to put their things away…the clothes and toys will just end up on the floor.

For a child’s closet you need to hang things at their level (and as they grow you should be able to adjust their shelves to a higher level….which will also give you more room on the bottom). If you keep a child’s closet at the standard “adult” height and they can’t reach it….they won’t be able to put their things away themselves….and they will always expect you to put everything away for them. And you just set yourself up to be their maid.

Under bed storage. There are a variety of great under the bed storage bins (some come with wheels) that can take advantage of the room under their beds. Toys or extra clothes (not in season) or extra blankets….can all take advantage of the wasted space under the bed.

For school age children have a place set aside in their room for their books and homework. When they are done with their homework have them put it into their “school spot” so that they are ready for school the next morning.

Start the teaching process for good organizational skills when the kids are young. Very young. As soon as they can start walking…they can be taught to put their things away. By having a place for everything and having pictures or labels on it so that they know exactly where things should go…they will get into the habit of putting things into the correct spot. And before you know it, their rooms will be “organized” and clean.


Remember, Mom is spelled “ M – O – M “ …. Not “ M – A – I – D “ !



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