It’s Coming – Tax Day

Last weekend my husband sat down to do our taxes. Yes, it’s that dreaded time of year. Some of you might have already filed them – I know many people who do it within in the first month or two of the year, eager for the refund. Then, others put it off, searching through mounds of random papers looking for all the receipts and other relevant information. From what I see, whether you’re relatively organized or not, it’s not something any of us look forward to. Despite this, if we can be organized, it can reduce the stress and anxiety associated with this process.

I’ve always been a big proponent of making a specific place to hold all the tax information – a place where you can put it over the course of the year – knowing where to get it when it’s that time to deal with taxes. This can be a file or a box, it doesn’t matter as long as you put the papers there consistently and avoid putting other papers in that same place. I’ve made files with upcoming years on them so I don’t even need to think about making another file and every time I get to filing papers, I put them in their correct spot.

There’s one exception to this for me – the medical expenses. In years past, I’ve had an envelope that lives by other frequently used papers in a desktop file sorter, where I can add to it easily. Then, before my husband does taxes I pull out all those receipts, divide them into categories, and add them up – giving my husband that grand total on what we spent on doctor visits and prescriptions. Because of the way I’d set it up, I’d need to add the numbers multiple times, making sure I’d not entered one (or more) of them incorrectly. Toward the end of this year, I decided to make a spreadsheet for medical expenses; columns for the categories and let the computer do my calculations. I still need to make sure the numbers are entered correctly, but I make a little effort throughout the year, and it’s that much easier when it’s time to do taxes.

Do you have papers that are important for taxes yet also relevant for other activities? Although not everyone has this to deal with, businesses and those who volunteer extensively are commonly faced with this. It might be “easiest” to make duplicates – then you can have one copy with tax information and the other copy with the other relevant papers. Even I cringe at that – who really wants MORE papers to deal with?

As with any organizing, the bottom line is being able to find it when you need it and having a system for tracking what you need. If you file those papers with the relevant papers and forget that at tax time, you’ll be unhappy. Also, as with most things, there’s multiple ways of dealing with these dual use papers.

When will you use those papers next? Are they something that you’ll need next in September? Put them with the relevant papers. Rather, will use them next for taxes? Put them with the taxes. After you’re finished using them for their next purpose, move them to the next place they’ll be used. Part of how this can work is to make a note for yourself and put in the opposite place from where they’re stored, telling you that these papers are important and then where to look to get them. Once taxes are completed, papers you’ll refer to for their other purpose can live with that related information. You’ll only need access to them from a tax standpoint in case you’re audited.

If you’re computer savvy, you can make a file – spreadsheet or document. If you just need the totals of your different receipts, it can be easy to enter that information and even track it from year to year. It’d be more concise and immediate to have just that information you need in a computer file. This does mean that you’d need to be consistent in adding the information into the file.

It’s not too late to decide on and create a system for handling all the tax documents you’ll need for next year. Think about where you struggle – what papers do you waste time searching for? Why those papers? Brainstorm ways to cope with how they interfere with your system. Let it evolve. My medical receipts lived in an envelope for years before I decided to add them to a spreadsheet throughout the year, making my life and the taxes easier.

Ziploc Big Bags

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Middle of 3 sizes

Pros:

Thick and sturdy plastic
Pleated bottom for standing & bulky items
Built-in handles
Easy closure
Flexible shape
See-through material

Cons:

Can tear from hard items inside
Only so useful for heavy items
Potential wasted storage space

Review

The local WI branch of NAPO was fortunate to have a couple people from SE Johnson present at one of meetings and the following month, they had an exhibitor’s booth the national NAPO conference. That is where I was able to get samples to try out – and this month is the Ziploc Big Bag. The truth is that I wasn’t sure what I’d use them for and I’m not convinced how useful they are for many people. Although there are certainly times when they are handy, and I found a couple of things to try mine out on.

My husband and I have been working on another room in the house. Most of the boxes and other containers were used to gather everything to pull it out of the room. I have a cherished stuffed turtle, and wanted him to be protected, so I grabbed one of the Ziploc Big Bags. It worked well. We painted the room and as we were moving the media cabinet back to the wall (which didn’t hold all the movies anyway), I questioned how many movies we needed. Between the DVDs and VHS, we had almost 350, and similarly to the CD collection, I needed to consider the movies by time as well space.

So, I grabbed the second Ziploc Big Bag, dropping each movie into it that could probably go away. I decided I wanted to watch most of the movies before getting them out of the house. I put them on periodically while doing other things and worked my way through that bag. I actually went through the movies in the cabinet again and added to the bag, and it slowly emptied. In the meantime, I needed to periodically move the bag around for vacuuming and whatnot.

The Ziploc Big Bag helped contain all those movies and the handles made it easy to move around when I needed. I did not stack movies in there nicely, they were jumbled up, and the bag did get some puck marks from the corners of the movies. It did end up tearing just a little, after several months, though I felt like I was rougher on it than I needed to be. Since it was most see-through, I could see movies closer to the bottom and dig for them when I wanted and see titles without sticking my head into the bag.

I find the idea of using bags, especially large bags, for storage to go against my inclinations, with the exception of for soft, squishy things. Then again, I don’t have kids and use the storage that we have without much need for more. I’m not crazy about the shape, great it’s got a pleated bottom, but the top is still going to have a different shape than the bottom. To me this means that there’ll be some wasted space.

I do like the idea that a Ziploc Big Bag is good for gift bags, and ours are currently not in the most convenient storage. In some ways, I admit I need to think outside the box a bit more to fully appreciate the diversity of how these can be used. I’m not sure whether I will ever be a bag person for storage overall, but I do think they can provide some benefits.

Overall, I’m quite impressed with Ziploc Big Bags and as long as they’d fulfill the storage (or transportation) needs, would suggest them. I’m even going to keep them in mind for future storage needs of my own.

Note: All my reviews are done without consideration for the company (sorry!) – as unbiased as possible! I don’t receive anything from any of them and most don’t know I’m even reviewing their products.

Work Smarter, Not Harder

Let me admit something – I frequently struggle with wearing myself out. I’ll wake up one morning with plans of all that I’ll get accomplished and it falls flat. I’ve exhausted myself in prior days and my body and mind demand a reprieve. Often I blame this on having a chronic disease and how it can be unpredictable. The truth is that although this might be part of the picture, I also have a tendency to overdo things. As a professional organizer, I feel like I should be better about this not happening, yet I’m human as well as I recognize it and am working on it.

Somehow, many of us strive to just work harder. As if that’s the answer – “If only I could work harder and faster, then I could manage…” This is not the answer. We only have a limited supply of energy, whether you have health issues or not. We all need a certain amount of sleep to re-energize ourselves. The truth is that we need to work smarter.

I was fortunate enough to get into the expo of ASTD (The American Society for Training and Development) last year and was intrigued with a booth there: The Energy Project. Although I found the people manning the booth to be rude, I was captivated by the ideas presented. Since a year ago on coming across them, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a few webinars they’ve put on. Eventually I buy his latest book and read that to get more in depth information.

One of the things Tony Schwartz, the CEO of The Energy Project, says is that we have 90 minutes maximum of focused attention before we lose that energy. After that, we need to take a break for renewal. He recommends doing this throughout the day, after 90 minutes of focused work to build in intermittent renewal breaks, as we have cycles like our sleep cycle. He says how long those breaks are depends on you and what will help you renew your energy although it can be as little as 5 minutes – it’s about the quality of the renewal, not how much time we spend. If we can implement those renewal breaks throughout our day, he says that we’ll be even more productive.

This makes sense to me. I also know that I’m notorious for getting so absorbed into something that before I know it hours have passed. This is not healthy – I want to be conscious about what I’m doing and how I’m spending my time. I found a Mac program that helps me address this issue for when I’m on the computer for long stretches, Dejal Time Out Free. It fades the screen for me at the intervals I’ve set – for resting my eyes and reminding me that 90 minutes have passed with the option of postponing the break or even skipping it altogether.

I’m still practicing applying this when I’m not at the computer. I know what I need to do; I just forget to set the timer! I’ve talked before about how using a timer (Time I & Time II) can help us get control of our time, and now we can use it for our energy too. I’ve my timer handy so that I can use it both for the focused attention as well as to track my breaks. It’s been amazing how refreshed I’ve felt at the end of the day when I’ve applied this process during the day.

As an entrepreneur, I could always be doing more work. That’s not including my other roles as wife, friend, daughter, or the various values I hold in my life and I want to spend time on. This is not any different from anyone else as we all have many roles and values that we need to attend to in order to feel we’re handling things well. If we can use this 90 minutes cycle to focus on those various aspects, we’ll find more balance without the exhaustion from overextending ourselves. It’s a process and we can train ourselves to stay focused and then enjoy the break before digging back in.

Simplifying Electronic Back Ups

Two years ago my husband’s computer crashed. Needless to say, he lost many files. Yet, this is not to say that he wasn’t backing up his files regularly. That’s the calamity of a computer crashing, you can be “good” and back-up regularly, yet if the computer crashes between those times, you’ll lose files –maybe not a lot, but it can still be an important one. This happens with any computer, since at the time, his computer was relatively new. This continues to stay with me, even fueling my concern about protecting my own data.

I use multiple tools for backing up my electronic data, at varying intervals – from the external hard drive that lives in the safe and I end up pulling it out a few times a year to the DVD+RW disks I aim to use once a month. Notice I said “aim” – I’m not always as consistent as I want to be since it’s time consuming. I talked about Dropbox last month and I do use that, but it only holds so much and I’m too frugal to pay for more!

That’s where Mozy comes in. Mozy is designed as a file back-up service where you can choose the specific files you want backed up as well as the frequency at which you want it to back those files up. I appreciate that there’s a free version for 2GB, though I do find their prices to be quite reasonable for more space. They work with Mac or PC and their website says they’ve got high-grade encryption.

I’ve been using Mozy long enough that I’m using the second version. I’m grateful that there’s been some improvements as I’d had some trouble with parts of Mozy before this. Despite how inevitable change is, I still sometimes resist that very change. There’s features I miss from the old version though too.

Choosing the files to have Mozy back up is easy. For me, the files I choose are the ones that change most frequently. Remember how if the computer crashes between back-ups, you’ve lost that information, well, I selected files that I would hate to lose and those I am modifying. One of those things is my e-mail.

Speaking of e-mail, last week I talked about dealing with e-mail and one of the first things that Mozy lists is how many e-mails it can back up: 250,000 text e-mails with the 2GB version and 6,250,000 with the regular MozyHome version.

It’s simple to choose when you want Mozy to back everything up. It’s also a fast process. In the first version, the speed could be a huge issue, but I’ve been thrilled with the speed now. I like that I set the interval, once a day, and can choose a time of day that it does the back up. It’s so automatic that I don’t need to think about it or set aside time to do something with.

I miss the ability to open a little window and see how much time is left before the back up is complete, though this is hardly ever long enough to warrant that feature. They still struggle with warnings. It was bad in the last version – to the extent that I had several days when it didn’t back up, and I didn’t know until I was looking into something else. I’ve only had one day with the latest version where I had a warning. It was obvious; I saw it on the day that it happened. Unfortunately, I’m not sure what the warning was for, though I think it was for the computer not backing up.

Although I’ve never had to use the feature, Mozy says that it’s easy to get the information from one computer to another. As I looked around to see what other people were saying, certainly some dissatisfied customers had problems with Mozy’s service and getting their lost files.

Mozy is also not the typical cloud computing that I talk about, although the information is not stored on your computer, it’s not accessible from all the devices that can access the Internet. Nevertheless it’s useful to have back ups in more than one place, and to have files automatically backed up so that you can reduce the amount you might lose in case calamity strikes and your computer crashes. I do appreciate having another set of back ups for my electronic information, especially one that I don’t need to think about much.

Set Times for Handling E-Mail

I’ve been reading how we should set aside specific times during the day to deal with e-mail. By only dealing with e-mail at those certain times, we’ll reduce distractions and improve our productivity. I’ve noticed how although I’ve turned the e-mail chime off, the number of unopened e-mails get my attention whenever it goes up. It turns out that I’m enticed to check my e-mail, even when I’m in the midst of working on something. I know better, yet it’s hard to resist.

Then something even more dramatic happened with my e-mail. I checked it one day before heading off to a client’s. I had an e-mail that I very quickly read and thought about it as I drove to my appointment. It was a late night and I went to bed after getting home. Several days later as I was driving to another appointment, I suddenly wondered if I’d responded to that e-mail. It turned out that I hadn’t. Yet, I’d thought about what I’d say and then forgot that I hadn’t gotten those words into an e-mail.

Truthfully, I’d already been thinking I needed a better way to handle e-mail. Everything I’d been reading was just reinforced by my experience. With all that technology offers us, it also is training us to ignore some basic principles. Technology does provide much faster ways to communicate with others, whether it’s e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter – no need to wait for that letter to be delivered by the Post Office and wait for the person to write back and get it into the mail. I do miss those days some!

Yet, I see how compulsively I check my e-mail after I see the number go up, and not unlike the mailbox most times, I’m disappointed. While the real crux of the matter is – I distracted myself from what I was working on. Tony Schwartz of The Energy Project says that tasks take 25% longer when we switch between them, than if we’d just focused on one at a time. Yikes!

It seems to me that most professionals already practice limiting when they deal with e-mail, and having embarrassingly forgotten I hadn’t responded, magnifies its importance for my life. Yet as I think about doing this, I realize there’s some reluctance, maybe even dread. E-mail is certainly not as instant as the social media tools, but it’s designed as this quick way to communicate. It almost seems contradictory to set aside chunks of time for dealing with it. Somehow, it seems like it’s not supposed to be time consuming.

Nevertheless, it’s important to take your time in dealing with it. There’s no question that some e-mails need our time and attention. Also, this is how we avoid letting e-mails get out of control. If we set aside time every day to handle our e-mail we not only respond when we need to, we can add things to our schedule, and archive those e-mails that are relevant enough to keep.

There’s no easy answer for how much time you need to handle your e-mail. If your work is largely via e-mail, you’ll likely need more time than others whose work is less e-mail dependent. From what I’ve read, a minimum of twice a day, so whether that’s 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes in the evening, or more will depend on your situation.

Most of know that we need to focus on what we’re doing and limit the number of distractions that come our way. Yet the technology encourages us to jump around – and we’re prone to avoid pain and drawn towards pleasure. We need to remember that although it might feel limiting to schedule specific times for e-mail, in the long run it will be more pleasurable!

Unikeep View Case Binders

View case binder from Unikeep

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pros:

sturdy
fully enclosed
stands upright evenly and stacks easily
customizable
eco-friendly, biodegradable
cost is reasonable

Cons

sometimes requires pieces from company to work best
somewhat limited sizes

Review

At the NAPO conference in 2010, I came across the Unikeep booth. Initially, the most notable thing was that their binders have a unique feature with the binder rings. The rings, just like the rest of the binder, are made of 100% polypropylene. As I was talking with them, I found out that they brought some free samples to share, so I looked through the various colors and sizes they had and picked one. I’m grateful they did, I now have a blue 1″ view case binder.

Although the case itself is interesting, the rings are odd. I was truly hesitant at first. It feels unnerving to pop them up. Since they’re made of polypropylene, you open each ring individually by putting your finger under the ring and pulling up. It often makes a snapping sound and I have visions of breaking it. Yet, I’ve never done any damage to the rings. Snapping them back into place is easy too.

Another feature of the rings is that the placement of where the rings separate means that you can have pages anywhere in the binder, all to the left, all to the right, or somewhere in the middle. This seems even truer with this product than even the typical 3-ring binders.

Their binders have a snapping closure to keep everything safe and secure inside. The binders are rectangular, and the marketing on the back talk about how easily they stack. Although this is certainly a nice feature, what I find more impressive is that they can stand on a shelf. They are balanced, so they stay upright. Yet, one thing I dislike about typical binders is that because of their shape, they don’t fill shelves evenly. This could never happen with Unikeep’s binders, they’d line a shelf with perfect symmetry.

The line of view binders has a full wrap overlay so you can create and insert pages of the information or design you want. Although I’ve not used it, they say they’re website has templates and tips for creating the insert. With this feature and the line of possible colors, you can customize this binders to fit your needs, whatever that might be.

Their website has many different kinds of pages you can insert into the binder, from basic tabbed dividers, to pockets (with or without tabs), business cards holder pages, disc holder pages, and on. The standard pockets pages with tabs do not fit in the binder, as the tabs are just a little too big unless you fold them. This means that it’ll make more sense to buy the accessories from Unikeep. I’m less annoyed by this than I might be since I find the standard tabbed pockets to be too big for binders too! I might even buy some supplies from them to use elsewhere since they’d appear to be more appropriately sized. I’m also intrigued by the “tear out” pages where you don’t need to open the rings – as I’ve been impressed with the material’s sturdiness, those “tear out” pages might be well done.

One of the first ideas for me was for my volunteering for the support group, I have this large binder that has articles and handouts for attendees. As I talked to them, they acknowledged that they did not have anything that was big enough for that purpose. Of course, I could carry multiple binders, or even consider the extreme case binder. The truth is that my standard binder for this is now falling apart; it’s probably too full. *grimace* I’m now seriously considering these binders.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to overfill standard 3-ring binders. It looks like there’s more room and I’m fighting that triangular shape. With Unikeep’s design, you don’t have the temptation to overfill them. The descriptions also clearly state the number of pages you can expect to get into their binders.

Under pros above, I listed cost as reasonable. I was working on a personal organizing project, and wanted to pick up some binders and was dismayed at the cost. So dismayed, that I bought some binders from dollar stores and whatnot to save money. Those binders are now falling apart. A perfect example of getting what you pay for, yet Unikeep’s prices are comparable in price to your standard binders with better features.

Now I love the idea of being environmentally responsible, though often put other factors higher on the priority list, like functionality. If something is not functional, it doesn’t inspire me to recommend it or buy it for myself, no matter how environmental. Yet this product is more than functional, and is 100% recyclable. It also uses fewer resources to make these products. So far, I’d even be tempted to say it’ll last longer and stand up to use better than your standard binders. Now that’s great environmentally, but also great for us, the one who’s going to use it.

I’m not always a fan of 3-ring binders in general. If you use them without accessories, you need to make sure to take time to punch holes in the papers. This becomes less of an issue if you use the accessories of course. I’m impressed with these binders, and even dropped a book into the case successfully one day when I was out and about. The quality and design of these are wonderful. I hope you’ll consider these for any potential need you have in the future (and I have no affiliation, they don’t even know I’m writing about them).

Do you have another binder that you really enjoy using?

We Must Always Change

One of the reasons I moved back to Wisconsin was the seasons. In southern California, I could appreciate the buds appearing in the spring, but I missed the bright fall colors in autumn and the snow in winter. If you were in one of the many states hit with the recent storm, you might be thinking I’m especially odd right now! Yet even with the blizzard we got locally, I appreciated the snow. As I walked around the next day, I was amazed by the textures and shapes created by the snow and wind. It was beautiful.

Drift of snow in our backyard

Beautiful texture in the snow

The evening when it all started my husband and I were sitting there listening to the wind howl and gust. We talked about being a little anxious about whether some damage might happen, yet we both knew there was nothing we could do at that moment, the storm was here and we just had to wait it out. As it turned out, there was no damage. We did have snow in places that went over his 6-foot head as well as a buried garage door.

Change is inevitable. One of the reasons that I adore the changing seasons is that it’s a constant reminder that things change. We might wish it and even try to minimize those changes. The truth is that there are transitions that we’ve adapted to already. If you’re a parent, as your child grows, there are more changes in a year than you’re counting. When you pause to think about it, you’re amazed by how big they’ve gotten – and not just their size. “Nothing is permanent except change” Heraclitus

Attempting to control change is useless. Change is about moving from a known place –where you are right now – to a place that is relatively unknown. If clearing the clutter is the change you want to make, you might have ideas of what that will look like, but the reality is likely to differ from your imaginings. The truth is that as you begin, your vision can change and better ideas will emerge, like the buds in spring.

Life happens in the meantime. You’ve created great plans, you know just how you’re going to handle your time and stuff. Then life happens. Someone else interferes with your schedule – those unforeseen things happen. It’s here that I personally struggle the most – not from other people changing things, but rather from expecting too much of myself! Except this is what life does, and finding a way to go with the flow minimizes our stress.

Embrace opportunity for change. It’s too easy to be hard on ourselves. We’re hyper-aware of how we’ve failed and ignore the opportunity to improve things. I’m always on the lookout for things that aren’t working the best. I’m even eager to find ways to simplify and improve the way we do things. It’s easy to put on the blinders and ignore things. It takes time and energy to figure out what needs to change and most importantly, in what ways it needs to change. Frequently only parts of the system aren’t working, so scrapping the whole system isn’t the answer. Yet, if we can be eager to change, we’re open to how to improve.

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.” Alexander Graham Bell

Change = Growth. Maybe not immediately, but eventually! Each time we make changes, we learn things – sometimes only what NOT to do, but nevertheless, we’re learning. Often it’s painful and the changes can be the opposite of what we want. Yet, it’s still movement. As frightening as change can be, stagnancy is terrifying. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want is to be stuck anywhere.

Before long, the snow will melt away and those buds will arrive. Change is all around us, whether we look for it or not. It happens whether we want it or we don’t. It is inevitable. Nevertheless, it can be something for the better and the more we can embrace what life brings our way, the happier we can be.

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden.” Goethe

Drop Files You Use – Here

A little less than a year ago, my husband found this file sharing service and persistently talked to me about it, as ‘we need this.’ Have I mentioned how resistant I can be about new technology? I didn’t mind the old school way of e-mailing each other attachments. Or worse case, I’d paste the information into Google Docs where he could log in and see it (minus formatting, of course). Yet, did you notice the phrase “didn’t mind”? If I were working with someone, that phrase alone would make me pause and ask some follow-up questions. Is it worth settling for a “don’t mind”? I’m on the lookout for ways that it can be simple and maybe even enjoyable.

Dropbox, this file sharing service my husband was so excited about is just that – simple and enjoyable to use. It’s also free, at least for anything under 2GB, which works for us without problems. You can also “earn” additional free space by having friends join.

One of the reasons it’s easy is that is puts a folder, appropriately called Dropbox, on your desktop if you use Windows, or under Places in the Finder on a Mac. You take any files you want and put them into the Dropbox folder.

What’s so special about that?

Well, first you can install Dropbox on any computer and it connects your files with each computer. This is not all though – it also works on most smart phones. There’s also the ability to access it on the web if you want. This also means that you can work on a file even when you don’t have an Internet connection, and it will sync when there’s a connection again and your work is then available everywhere again.

Second, you can share folders with anyone. If you’re going to be working with a group, you can create a folder that you all have access to. What this means, is that each person can work on any given file; you won’t need to track which version is the most recent. This was the important aspect for my husband so that we could coordinate various files. Although I’ve not tried to use it, Dropbox provides access to old versions of a file for 30 days with the free version, and longer for the paid versions. It also apparently will create two files if there is a conflict, like two people making modifications at the same time, so it works hard to protect the data.

It’s funny to me that many reviews of Dropbox group it with online back-up services like Mozy or Carbonite. Although it certainly offers that service, it functions uniquely as it offers a free file sharing service. Certainly at the free 2GB option, it’s not going to be superior for backing up most files on your computer.

Also, since you’re likely to put files in it that are in progress or important to you, it offers the security that they will be there when you need them. This is exactly where Dropbox excels in my opinion. I don’t want access to all my files from every device, yet there are many files I’m working with or want access to, and Dropbox gives me that access easily and simply. I don’t know about you, but I’m not backing up all my files each time I modify them, so Dropbox keeps them safe until I’m ready to back them up elsewhere. It also means that when I’m on the go, but have some time, I can open Dropbox and get things done. It allows my husband and I to make lists for shopping or financial things.

There are additional services that I’ve not used or explored much. You can e-mail a link to a file or folder to someone so they can access the files you want to share. The photo folder apparently creates a public gallery for slideshow sharing of your pictures.

I mentioned earlier that it would sync your files across devices. Sometimes this takes time. My mom was frustrated at one point when I uploaded a video we’d taken because it took a long time before it was available in our shared folder. It was a big file though and cannot imagine how long it would have taken to attach and mail only to need to be downloaded later. You need to be aware of the fact that it can take time for files to get synced to the cloud, and then synced to the various locations. I’ve found this to rarely be an issue, and I’ve been quite pleased with the speed of syncing.

This is a must have service if you use multiple devices or work with other people on files. Since my only minor struggle has been an occasional delay in syncing, I’ve found no other drawbacks to Dropbox. That alone seems extraordinary! Consider how you might improve your productivity by getting this.

Keeping Things Close to Where You Use Them is Not Always the Right Answer

You’ve probably heard that you should keep things close to where you use them. I’m even fond of this idea. It makes sense. Doesn’t it?

It only makes sense it some circumstances.

I was using this principle in one of our closets. I had my medications on a shelf. When I refilled my pill containers, I did it close to this closet, so they were handy. Recently we pulled everything out of the closet and as I handled all the various items, I started thinking. This closet actually held many different things, as closets are wont to do. There were movies, memorabilia, craft supplies, a handful of books, repair projects, and various other odds and ends. Of course, as time moved along, I started keeping other odds and ends in there too.

The thing was that I only accessed the medications periodically. The pill containers are refilled twice a month. This closet is almost prime real estate in our home. So many things could go somewhere else and be just as accessible. I’d set it all up when we moved in, approaching a decade ago, and it made sense. I was storing the items close to where I used them.

This is one case where keeping something close to where I used it was not the best use of the space as well as it was breaking one of the other guiding principles – keep like things together. It makes better use of our space and easier to find things by keeping like items together. We have a linen closet opposite the bathroom, where many items are kept since our bathroom is tiny. Now my medications have moved in there, on a higher shelf since I access them only periodically.

One of the reasons that organizing principles are only guidelines is that you cannot necessarily follow them all, they can contradict each other. Then you need to make a choice about which one makes more sense for you – the user. In this case, the idea of keeping things together now seems better, though it didn’t start out that way.

We need to consider the space too. In my case, the closet was so handy that I was keeping lots of different things there. They got crowded, yet I could still get what I needed when I needed it. It was convenient. I could argue that I started using it for so much just because it was handy. Yet, if it’s so convenient, then I wanted to use it for the things that really mattered. I don’t want filing cabinets in my living room even if I do handle all mail and even do my pre-filing sorting here. This becomes even more important the smaller the space you have (a post coming soon on small spaces).

Although keeping things close to where you do them makes sense, questions that often get forgotten are – how often are you doing it and how elaborate is it? If it’s something you can easily pick up in one hand, you can simply pick it up and move it to another space without difficulty. I would cringe at the idea of someone lugging load after load of supplies to do something in another room.

It deserves it’s own post, but also things change, so what worked at one point does not necessarily continue to work. We need to be able to look at things with fresh eyes and see where we can improve how we’re using things and where we keep them. Don’t be afraid to break those organizing principles, it’s probably inevitable anyway!

The InPlace System Organization Kit and Post It Note Wallet from Peter Walsh

Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Pros

sturdy materials
document sleeves actually hold items, even small ones, well
slightly see through materials
erasable materials, hence reusable
designed to mix and match, to suit the user’s needs

Cons

items in kit don’t work together well
document wallet uses bad closure, it falls out or cannot be used if full
clip tabs are bulky and fall off frequently, as well as don’t work with document wallet
a little expensive
erasable pen doesn’t write well
post-it notes in wallet fall out (of wallet, not once attached by themselves)

Included in the [In]Place System Organization Kit:

•    1 Erasable marker
•    5 Clip Tabs
•    Document Wallet
•    3 Poly File Folders
•    3×3 White Post-it Super Sticky notes – 50 sheets
•    1 Poly Document Envelope
•    3 Poly Document Sleeves

Review

I was curious from the start, I mean it’s Peter Walsh. I looked at it when I was in the store. Have I mentioned how cheap I can be? I could not bring myself to buy it. I was not sure if I thought it was that exceptional. The NAPO list serv had had mixed thoughts on it, which also gave me pause. Then I was happy I hadn’t spent money on it since at the national conference, we were all given the organization kit and the post-it wallet.

From the moment I opened the kit and pulled everything out, it seemed like an odd combination of items. They don’t work together the best although the kit does give you a variety of items to see what is available. The entire line is intended to be mixed and matched to suit the user’s needs. This is one of the strongest pros since we all have different needs and styles and I could never promote anything that tries to put people into a box – with a one size fits all approach!

I was impressed with the document sleeves, which just means that they have 1 ¾ openings and have a slight pocket like purpose. The description actually says they have a 3 sided closure, this is not completely accurate, yet describes how it functions. I was surprised at how open that 3rd side was, and unsure how well it would keep small papers from falling out. It did fabulously! I never lost a little note when I put it in there and this is no small feat when you think about how easily small papers fall out of file folders.

Peter Walsh [In]Place system document sleeves

These hold onto all sizes of paper amazingly well.

The clip tabs look neat, but their size gets in the way. They are meant to be used with both the hanging folders (which I haven’t used) and the file folders. When using them on the file folders, either as a way to hold the papers together or as a top label, the clips fell off frequently. It seemed like the slightest jostling and they’d pop off. They also do not fit on the file folders if you want to put those file folders into the document sleeve to carry them somewhere.

Neat idea to have erasable tabs, yet they're bulky and won't stay on.

I’ve used the pen only to mark the clip tabs, and I needed to go over my words at least twice to make the ink dark enough to read. I’ve not found any problems with erasing, and here is where the idea’s strong – the ease of relabeling something.

I like the idea of the document wallet, which is bigger than what I’d picture with the name wallet. It is a nice sized container to hold file folders, document sleeves, and document envelope. It’s easy to carry around, so not too big or too small. My only problem with it is the closure – it’s an elastic string with a ball that slips into a hole at the bottom of the wallet. If you have filled the wallet, the ball won’t fit into the hole, and it has a tendency to slip out if you haven’t wedged it in well.

Peter Walsh [In]Place system document wallet

I have mixed feelings about the document wallet.

The file folders are sturdy. Since they are made out of the poly material, they feel solid and they’re not going to get bent or crumpled. They are slightly see-through so you can see what’s inside. Since they are poly, the number of papers you can keep inside is limited, as you can’t resize them like typical file folders though I find this less important. (We can all use some reminders to not overstuff our files!)

The document envelope is fine. I’ve got some decorated ones from Divoga that I think I prefer since they are larger. Peter Walsh’s document envelopes are paper sized, so if you have any papers that are a little larger, they won’t fit (unlike the Divoga ones). Also, you are limited to how many papers you can fit inside. Since it is the same size as the rest of his products, these envelopes fit inside the document wallet (and any other of his products).

Finally, the post-it notes are the super sticky ones and come in a neat closing case. The problem arises that the post-its apparently don’t like sticking to themselves very well. Every one of the 5 pads (each a different color) have fallen out of the wallet, though leaving a single post-it hanging on to mark where they’re supposed to go! They do seem to attach to the poly material well, as none of those have fallen off. This leaves the wallet as a useless piece of poly that can serve no other function.

Peter Walsh [In]Place system post-it note wallet

I like the colors, yet they won't stay in their nifty packaging!

Although there are certainly aspects that I didn’t like, overall I find the products to be interesting and useful. I’m not convinced they are worth the price considering some of the problems.

Have you tried or do you use any of the Peter Walsh [In]Place products? Let me know what you think of them.