On May 4, 2010 from Noon to 4:30pm the Sammamish Chamber of Commerce will be Celebrating Women in Business.  The keynote speaker, Liesbet Trappenburg will present “You are Not Your Job!  Creating Sustainable Work/Life Balance.” 

Debbie has been asked to be one of three break-out speakers for this exciting event.  Debbie will be teaching “Multitasking Makes you Stupid.”  Learn why multitasking is not an effective productivity strategy. More importantly, learn how to focus on one task at a time, working free of distraction, so you can consistently get more of the important things done in less time. You’ll be able to implement some new productive habits immediately so that you can work smarter, not harder and get results.

They are expecting 100 Sammamish businesswomen and entrepreneurs at this year’s event!  For more information or to register for this event, click here!

How many of you have a reference filing system in place at home and/or in your office that’s working well for you?  A reference filing system creates a home for those papers you already took action, or don’t need to act on, but need to keep for your records.  Are you able to find the papers you need quickly and when you need them?  Is your system user-friendly?  Does your system encourage you to purge your files on a regular basis? 

There are several elements of a filing system that can make it effective. We have come to love and highly recommend the FreedomFiler, a great filing system for your home or home-based business filing needs.  The FreedomFiler has many of the elements we consider key to filing system success. Consider these when setting up your system:

• Have color-coded files for different categories such as (red for permant files, orange for administrative files, blue for tax files and so forth).
• Make sure your file cabinet or drawer has enough space in it.  An over-crowded drawer will rarely get used.
• Use clear plastic tabs and try to organize your files alphabetically.
• Create interior or sub folders when appropriate (ie. under the main folder “Auto Records” you may have sub folders for each car you own).
• Try filing your non-tax related statements, invoices, receipts, etc. by month instead of by vendor.  This makes filing very quick and easy and it also allows you to purge your files every few years.
• Get into the habit of filing right then and there.  The longer you wait…the larger the pile of paper gets which often leads to feeling overwhelmed and then the filing never gets done.
• Try to have your filing drawer close to where you open the mail or pay the bills.  You are more likely to file if you don’t have to go all the way to the basement storage room to do so.

If this sounds like the perfect filing system for you, we would love for you to attend our “End the Paper Pain: File, Don’t Pile” workshop coming up this Wednesday, March 17th from 6:30pm to 9:00pm in Sammamish.  During this fun hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to create a new, virtually maintenance-free filing system for your home or home-based business.  You will walk away with the system in-tact ready to use. 

Can’t make this workshop fit into your schedule this week?  We also offer one-on-one FreedomFiler Consultations where we can come into your home and set-up the system with you and begin to transfer your piles into files.  Contact us if you are interested in learning more.

Want to make it easy to file instead of pile? Learn the stragegies and the system on Wednesday, March 17th.

Come join us for this fun, hands-on workshop where you will learn how to create a new, virtually maintenance-free filing system for your home or home-based business.  You’ll walk away with the system largely in-tact, ready to use for your home or home-based business filing needs.  When you leave class, you’ll be able to:

• Easily locate the papers you need by keeping out the ones you don’t need
• Finish routine filing in 5 seconds or less
• Reduce the time and energy required to file and retrieve papers
• Know when to toss paper – document retention made easy!

Presented by Certified Professional Organizer, Debbie Rosemont.  

Time: 6:30pm to 9:00pm                      

Location:  Beaver Lake Lodge 25101 SE 24th Street, Sammamish, WA 98075                                      

Investment: $149 (includes FreedomFiler kit and light refreshments)

For more information or to register click here!

Class Limit: 12 participants (to ensure individual attention)

Did we catch your attention? Are you under the impression that you have to multitask to “get it all done”? Well we’ve got news for you, it doesn’t work – not as well as you think it does.

Come learn more on February 23^rd, 2010 ,from 4:30 – 5:30 pm in our Open Enrollment class

Multitasking Makes You Stupid. We’ll meet at  

MetLife Home Loans: 1700 Westlake Ave N  #315, Seattle, WA 98109. Class investment is $45.  

Learn why multitasking is not an effective productivity strategy. More importantly, learn how to focus on one task at a time, working free of distraction, so you can consistently get more of the important things done in less time. You’ll be able to implement some new productive habits immediately so that you can work smarter, not harder and get results.

Offered in conjunction with Dani McDonough of MetLife Home Loans.

Register here today to reserve your spot. Class size is limited to 12.

There are just a few days left to register for our upcoming GO (Get Organized) System Seminar. This is one of our most popular classes and is a great comprehensive workshop for anyone in business looking to increase focus, organization and productivity.

Join us next Wednesday, January 27th from 9-12 at the Beaver Lake Lodge in Sammamish. You’ll learn simple, practical, easy to implement habits that allow you to get and stay organized, handle incoming items with ease, prioritize your workload, effectively manage your time, consistantly follow through, and stay focused on important activities that get results.

Have some new goals for this year? This class is a great kick-start so that you can work smarter, not harder and achieve your goals.

Don’t procrastinate! Register here today. Class investment includes over $65 worth of materials so that the learning continues, as well as morning refreshments.

Feel free to let me know if you have questions. I look forward to seeing you in class!

In career transition right now? Need some motivation and ideas to stay on track and stay organized with your job search? Come join a meeting of the Job Seeker’s Network (open to the public) and hear Debbie speak about conducting an Organized Career Search:  

JOB SEEKER NETWORK

December 7, 2009

Monday  evening  -  5:45 PM to ~8:30 PM

Mercer Island Library

Organize Your Career Search

Renew your job search effort for the New Year by getting organized!  Remember how good it feels to open a new notebook or scribble on a crisp new tablet? 

Getting and staying organized in times of transition saves time, money and relieves stress, helping you achieve your goals. Make the most of your time and resources during your career search by organizing your space, your paper and your schedule.

Debbie Rosemont, Certified Professional Organizer with Simply Placed will offer valuable tips on organizing your home office, or desk, your action and reference files, your networking, your email and your time.

Do you have paper pain? End it once and for all. If you’re in the greater Puget Sound area, come join us on 11/11/09 from 6:30 – 9:00 pm at the Beaver Lake Lodge in Sammamish and we’ll teach you a system that makes it easier to file, than it does to pile. We’ll get you set up with a filing system for your home or home based business that is virtually maintainence free. You’ll walk away with the system largely in tact, ready to put to work in your home office.

Never Reorganize Your Files Again!

The class will be limited to no more than 12 participants to ensure individual attention. Register here to secure your spot.

Investment $150 (includes FreedomFiler kit – a $50 value)

When you leave this fun, hands-on workshop, you’ll be able to: 

• Easily locate the papers you need by keeping out the ones you don’t. 
• Finish routine filing in 5 seconds or less.
• Reduce the time and energy required to file and retrieve papers.
• Reduce paper clutter. You’ll know when to toss paper – document retention made easy!
• Reduce stress by having a place for all of your important papers.

What to Bring:

• 100 Hanging file folders (legal or letter size depending on the size of your filing cabinet)
• Clear plastic 1/5 cut tabs (should come with the hanging file folders)
• Bankers box or plastic file container to carry your system home
• A pile of unfiled papers you currently have on your desk, kitchen counter or other “hot spot”

Let us know what questions you have and how we can help you end your paper pain, once and for all!

We have three exciting Fall workshops & classes coming up (all classes take place at the Beaver Lake Lodge in Sammamish –

9/23 GO System Seminar – 9:00am to Noon

It’s simple. “GO” stands for Getting Organized! The GO System is a proven, step-by-step process that can help you become more focused, organized and productive.

The GO System is a training course that includes extremely simple, powerful and practical tips to help people improve in the six areas that cause chaos and disorganization in an office environment.  

1. Handling Incoming Items (paper, voice mails, e-mails, etc.)
2. Prioritizing
3. Using Time Rationally
4. Managing Projects
5. Personality Issues
6. Psychological Issues

The system is easy to understand, easy to implement and easy to maintain.

Click here to Register by 9:00 tonight!

10/7 Organize for School Success – 7:00pm to 9:00pm

Tips and tricks to get, and keep, your budding Einsteins on track at school.

Debbie Rosemont and Kirsten O’Malley will be teaming up to present “Organize for School Success” on October 7th from 7:00 to 9:00pm in Sammamish.  This high-impact two hour seminar for parents (and students age middle school and beyond) will cover tips, tricks, and practical techniques to help students organize their study space, school work, paper, time and schedule.  Also covered will be alternative educational options for kids who need extra help in school, tips on how to communicate with teachers and keep on top of grades. 

Learn more about co-presenter Kirsten O’Malley and The Learning Curve here. Register for this class here.

11/11 End the Paper Pain: File, Don’t Pile – 6:30 – 9:00pm

End the paper pain in this fun, hands-on workshop where you will learn how to create a new, virtually maintenance-free filing system for your home or home-based business. You’ll walk away with the system in-tact, ready to use for your home or home-based business filing needs. 

Benefits:  

• Create a self-purging, virtually maintenance free filing system
• Easily locate the papers you need by keeping out the ones you don’t need
• Finish routine filing in 5 seconds or less
• Reduce the time and energy required to file and retrieve papers
• Know when to toss paper – document retention made easy

What to Bring:

• 100 Hanging file folders (legal or letter size, depending on the size of your filing cabinet)
• Clear plastic 1/5 cut tabs (should come with the hanging file folders)
• Bankers box or plastic file container to carry your system home
• A pile of unfiled papers you currently have on your desk, kitchen counter or other “hot spot”  

End your paper pain by registering here.

By now, if you have kids, they are undoubtedly back to school for the year. Even if they have been in for a week or two, many are still excited and feeling positive about the year ahead.

Remember how you felt the first day of school? Setting off to class with all your new school supplies, you felt confident you had all you needed to start the school year off right. Maybe it was your new Trapper Keeper with a velcro closure so all your papers would stay nice and neat even if you dropped it. Maybe it was knowing you had a dozen sharpened pencils and the erasers hadn’t been bitten off yet. Maybe it was knowing your assignments for classes were written down so you wouldn’t forget a due date. Maybe it was knowing you had a clean, organized book bag to hold all your supplies and the pens were in the special slots designed to hold pens. Maybe you recognized these things made you feel organized so you could start learning. 

It is important to have the right tools to help keep your kids organized & productive.  Here are a few of the basics we recommend:

A Planner

As soon as the student hears of an assignment, a deadline, a project, an appointment or an upcoming event, they should write it down.  This frees the mind. 

Time should be allocated each day for homework, studying, activities and for social engagements.  Teach your child to review the planner each night before giong to bed.  Preparing for the day ahead and packing up necessary homework, activity equipment, etc. can make mornings run much smoother.

Longer-term projects should be broken down into manageble pieces and plotted in the planner (working backwards from the due date of the report or project).

A Zippered 3-Ring Binder

If it’s dropped, things don’t spill out all over the place.  There should be subject dividers with a section for each class, a section for completed homework to turn in, and a section for blank notebook paper.

Take time each day to make sure paper gets put in the right place in the binder. Keep a three ring hole punch handy. Avoid just “shoving” paper anywhere in the binder.

Clean out this binder regularly, especially at the end of a unit in a particular class, to make space for new materials that will come in with the new unit.

A Filing Box or Drawer

File  papers here that you need to be kept as a reference at home (no longer in the binder). Once papers have been turned in, recorded by the teacher and returned, remove the papers from the binder and backpack and file them for reference, end-of-unit or end-of-term test study, and for safe keeping (just in case a teacher makes an error in their grade book – you have proof of the completed assignment and grade).

As a general rule, after end-of-year grades have been received, it is safe to toss most of the papers in these files and empty them for the new school year to come. Keep selected paper or school work for sentimental reasons (tucked away in a memory box), or to review key concepts before the following school year (ie: as a review before a continuation of the same subject; Spanish, Math, etc.).

If you know someone who wants to feel like every day is the first day of school, have them contact Simply Placed. Busy professionals can consider taking our upcoming GO System Seminar to increase focus, organization and productivity at work, and parents (and students grade middle school and above) can take our Organize for School Success class to learn more tips and tricks to putting their best foot forward all school year long.

Either way, we’ll help turn the chaos and clutter of  summer vacation into action, productivity and possibility for the coming year.

How would you like to improve focus, organization and productivity in the workplace?  Join us on September 23rd for a dynamic half-day GO System Seminar and learn how to do just that!

It’s simple.  “GO” stands for Getting Organized!  The GO System Seminar teaches busy professionals simple, everyday habits that allow them to get organized, handle incoming items, easily prioritize their workload, stay focused on important activities that drive their business forward, consistently follow up and follow through, and effectively manage their time.

The GO System is easy to understand, easy to implement and easy to maintain.

For information or to register, click here, email info@itssimplyplaced.com or call 206-579-5743. 

The workshop fee is $179 per person for early registration if received 10 days before session or $199 per person if received within 10 days of session. Included in the workshop is an implementation kit valued at $65 (workbook, book, “follow up forms”, CD of materials, labels, implementation “step by step” guide, and a few other visual aids).

Please spread the word to your friends, family, or business associates that might be interested in this high impact workshop.  We hope you can join us!