Archive for the ‘Organized Holidays’ Category:
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Stress-proof yourself for the holidays with Simply Placed!
To help better prepare you and your family for the busy holiday season, we’re offering our Simply Organized: Holidays eBook and Workbook free with the purchase of a 24 hour hands-on organizing package!
How can Simply Placed help you during the holidays? Do you have a dining room table that needs clearing off before you can host your family for a festive meal? Is there a guest room in your home that needs organizing before your out-of-town family or friends arrive? Want to finally organize your kitchen and pantry so that holiday meal planning and entertaining is that much easier?
Or maybe you need some assistance with all that decorating and gift wrapping in the next month? Save yourself the stress, book a 24 hour organizing package and get a great holiday organizational guide free!
Book your 24 hour hands-on organizing package anytime during November or December to get your free Simply Organized: Holidays package.
Do you have guests over during this season? How do you prepare? We’d love to hear about it!
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This time of year, the key to holiday shopping success is to spread it out. You can save yourself a lot of time and stress by making your shopping list now and carrying it with you! Once you’re out and about you can easily stop into a retail store nearby and cross a few things off your list. Maybe you find yourself to be early for a meeting? Pop into places as your happen to be there anyway!
It’s not too early to start crossing gifts off your list! Come by tonight for the 5th Annual Pre-Holiday Happy Hour Shopping Event! Great local retailers like Gold Canyon Candles, Cookie Lee Jewelry, Mary Kay, Willow House and of course, Simply Placed will all be together in one location! Find something for everyone on your list tonight from 4:30-8:30 at Simply Placed!
Need some ideas before you begin your list? Check out one of our previous posts The Art of Holiday Gift Giving or maybe you want to give something that isn’t a retail item, look for great ideas in this post Clutter-Free Gift Ideas. Another great way to plan your holiday gift-giving is to block out some time to browse online retailers like Amazon.com for gift ideas.
Need some more holiday season planning help? Take a look at our Simply Organized: Holidays Workbook and eBook! Simply Placed has designed a plan, checklists and forms that you can use to make this the smoothest, most joyful season yet. With this action guide you will find all the necessary tools to execute a well-planned and enjoyable holiday season.
This year, save yourself the sudden hit to your pocketbook and the time-suck of driving around town all day by spreading it out and shopping little by little while you’re taking care of your other errands.
How do you make your holiday gift list? We’d love to hear your ideas!
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For many businesses the summer season brings a different pace to the office. Anxious to get out and enjoy the nice weather, spend time with kids out of school on summer break, and take a vacation, we seek ways to get our work done faster. For some companies, the summer months also bring a slow down of business. This can be an optimal time to employ some strategies that will both help you get out of the office earlier to enjoy those nice summer days, as well as put you in a position to be even more effective and efficient for when business picks up again. Here are a few tips that can help you leave the office earlier today, while still getting the important things done.
1. Clear the clutter – you know it should be done periodically, but do you know the benefits? You’ll eliminate distraction (those papers in front of you that you don’t really need) and make it easier to find what you need, when you need it (saving time every single day). Go ahead and take one of those slower summer days in your office to get rid of anything that’s getting in the way of your optimal productivity. Clean out old files, toss papers you no longer need, unearth your desk so you have space to work, take out trinkets you’ve collected over time that are crowding your work space. Breathe deeply and enjoy the space!
2. Christmas in July – it may sound like a crazy idea, but what if you took care of the task of ordering and preparing your business holiday cards this month? You certainly can wait to send them until early December, but why not take the time now to do the legwork while you have it, and save the time for a busier season when there’s other demands on your time. Not thrilled about the idea of doing this task so early? If you really want to stand out from your competition (who also send out holiday cards in December), send “Happy Summer” cards or “Thank You for Your Business” cards to show appreciation and recognition right now. Consider printing address labels and postage with one of Dymo’s printers to save even more time on the job.
3. Review and revise your plan – If you have an annual business plan, marketing plan, or set New Year’s resolutions, the summer months are a great time to take a look, assess where you are, adjust your sails (if needed) and create a fresh action plan that will help you accomplish your goals for the second half of the year.
4. Eat a Frog for Breakfast – you’ve heard me preach this one before … if you really want to get out of the office earlier while still getting the important things done, then do the important things first.
5. Design a new system – have a process that you do repeatedly? Now might be a good time to see if you can train someone else to do it (helpful for vacation coverage or for ongoing delegation to free up your time for things that only you can do), find a way to automate it or simplify it, or create a system to support it. This might be a new filing system, documenting a process for a policy and procedure manual, or brainstorming with a team that all performs similar tasks on best practices or time-saving ideas to streamline the process. Slower times are perfect for tackling these types of projects that will save you time immediately, and most importantly, when business picks up again.
What do you do when business slows a bit to develop new business and/or to prepare you for the busier times that are right around the corner? What strategies do you count on that help you get out of the office a little earlier or take a break to play, vacation or get some R&R? We’d love to hear from you. Comment away!
Enjoy the lazy hazy days of summer!
Disclosure: This is sponsored content and we have been given nominal gift in recognition of our time to do this post. That being said, we do not blog about anything we do not believe in and Dymo did not edit our post or direct our content in any way.
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Can you believe that summer is just a few months away? I know if you’re in the Puget Sound area it is hard to imagine with all this rain, but the countdown for summer has definitely begun. It may seem crazy, but if you haven’t already, it is time to start making your summer plans. Minimally, this will give you something to look forward to as we get through our (ahem) “Spring”.
Will you go on any vacations? Will your kids go to camp? Will you plan any day trips in the area? What activities will you and your family do this summer? If you are planning to sign your kids up for summer camp, now is the perfect time to start this process! Registration for a lot of camps has already begun and some registrations are already closed. If you aren’t on top of it, your kids may miss the camp they have been looking forward to all year. We would love to help ensure that this doesn’t happen to you by providing you with a few tips on how to start planning for your summer now:
1. Create a “Family Activity Calendar” where you can record where you will be each week this summer. You can use a different color pen or highlighter for each family member. (ie. Suzy at waterski camp in pink and Jordan at soccer camp in yellow). This way you can take a quick peek at the calendar and know who will be doing what. Be sure to include dates, times and locations.
2. Keep your “Family Activity Calendar” in a central area like your kitchen. This way everyone is able to see the calendar and Mom or Dad can add/make changes to it. If you prefer to go digital, be sure to sync calendars so everyone knows what’s going on.
3. Create a file for “Summer Activities” now that you can be placing notes, registration forms, packing lists, etc. in so you have it all organized and in one place. This way you won’t spend time searching for your packing list the night before camp.
4. Create a reference file for “Future Vacations,” “Future Activities,” “Summer Camps,” etc. This will provide you with a home for papers you get throughout the year that are of interest to you. Again this will save you time in the end so you aren’t searching for that Football Camp Registration form that your son brought home from school last month. Instead you can go straight to your “Summer Camp” file and pull out the form. How great would that be?
5. Need ideas for what to do with your kids this summer? Check out Extraordinary Mama - a great new subscription service that for pennies a day will deliver customized, targeted emails to you each week with specific, age appropriate ideas and links to great activities and summer camp alternatives in your geographic area.
We hope these 5 simple tips will help you and your family get more organized for the summer. If you would like ideas for a reference filing system for your family, please let us know. We would be happy to make a recommendation.
Do you have any great tips for summer planning? We’d love to hear your ideas! Feel free to share them with us.
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We have so many clients who use the FreedomFiler, virtually maintainence-free filing system, we thought we’d pass on this reminder we received from the FreedomFiler company …
Its time to swap your EVEN & ODD year files… no annual purge! (This takes seconds – no need for a big “clean out the files, create new files, set aside the whole day” effort)
You may now swap the position of all your EVEN and ODD year files (simply grab the folders with black-top labels and switch places with the folders having white-top labels in your filing drawers—you can leave the papers inside the folders alone). If you use a binder clip to mark your current month file, move the clip to the “JANUARY ODD YEAR” file and discard automatically the documents left over from two years ago.* You may empty out just the January file and leave the rest of the month files with the papers inside. Then as you progress through the year, continue purging the rest of the month files one month at a time. That’s all you need to do with your FreedomFiler each year! No more file clean out day and no more setting up new folders each year. We want you to enjoy your life and spend less time fussing with papers!
Q: Is it safe to throw away old bills and account statements in Monthly folders after two years?*
A: Because these items were not needed for your taxes and since you will have already filed your tax return for that year, it is generally safe to discard these papers automatically.* Two years allows more than adequate time to resolve any vendor disputes; however, if you would like to keep items longer than two years, use additional labels to create a new set of folders for each added year. The actual legal time limit for lawsuits will vary somewhat from state to state but usually ranges between 2-3 years for nearly all types of claims. Keep in mind that most banks and service providers preserve your statements on file for seven years or more (also according to state laws). If you are concerned about keeping documentation beyond two years for the purpose of applying for future loans, you may use a Permanent folder titled Loan Payment History for keeping a record of regular payments to a creditor (see label sheet 4A in your Deluxe Kit). Refer to your Label Index for a full discussion of issues and available options.
Happy New Year from Simply Placed and the FreedomFiler!
P.S. If you’re having to do more than this to update your filing system for the New Year, and are interested in the ease and effectiveness of the FreedomFiler system, contact us and we’ll fill you in on how to get your own system, how we can help you set it up if you chose, or get you more information about our next End the Paper Pain class, where you set up the system in class and learn about paper management to set you free.
* While FreedomFiler® provides a method of automatic purging which eliminates the need to review files, you must ultimately decide which documents are kept two years, ten years, or indefinitely. FreedomFiler® is not liable under any circumstances for claims of loss or damage arising from suggested document retention guidelines. Consult a professional advisor to determine your specific document retention needs and adapt your system accordingly.
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I’ve been asked recently about my personal philosophies on setting New Year’s Resolutions. While I don’t think they’re for everyone, I DO think goal setting is. Anyone can set a goal. Everyone can be successful in achieving SMART goals if they follow some simple tips. Since tip # 6 is all about sharing your goal with others, I encourage you to do so. What do you want to accomplish in 2011? A networking colleague asked specifically what goals members of his network were setting for a healthier 2011. I thought I’d share mine in the spirit of tip #6, so here they are:
For my personal health I’m resolving to stay hydrated by drinking at least 64 ounces of water each day. I’m also going to continue my committment to exercising for 30-60 minutes 5-6 days a week. (3 days cardio, 2 strenth training and 1 yoga/pilates) My energy level and productivity both benefit in huge ways when I do these things (plus I’m a lot more fun to be around – and this benefits the health of my relationships).
For the health of my business, Simply Placed, I resolve to “Eat a Frog” each day before I get on (or lost) in email, and “reactive mode”. I will do 1 high priority task first thing that will make the biggest difference to our clients, or to business development, before any lower value tasks. (“Eat a Frog” is a term coined by author/speaker Brian Tracy, and something I’ve talked about during presentations and written about on our blog – such a great, productive concept!).
OK, so I’ve shown you mine, will you show me yours? Let us know how we can support you in achieving your goals in the New Year.
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That is the question. What’s your take?
I know some people that have made their last resolution ever … the have resolved not to make any more resolutions. Are you in this camp?
For others, this time of year is a popular and optimal time to set goals, to look ahead, to create an action plan. There are several things I’ve seen people do that increase their chance of success in accomplishing their goals.
- Be clear and specific about what you want and what “success” looks like.
- Set a deadline or target date for completion
- Write it down.
- Post it where you will see it often (this could be a written or pictoral vision for the end result, or a simple statement of the goal).
- Create an action plan – breaking down the steps needed to accomplish the goal and scheduling tasks into the days, weeks and months ahead. Set mini-deadlines for the different tasks or components associated with the action plan.
- Share the goal and action plan with others. Declare your intentions, discuss your plan, seek support, request accountability.
- Review the goals and action plan regularly. Note progress, make any necessary adjustments to the plan, decide when to review next.
- Celebrate the small and the big. Reward yourself for significant progress made, for mini-goals accomplished along the way to the end result, and of course, for your ultimate accomplishment. Establishing small and big rewards that are motivating and really wanted, can help fuel the fire and keep you going when the going seems tough.
- Ask for help. Figure out where you’d save time, money or stress in accomplishing your goal by asking for and accepting help.
So, if you decide to set goals or resolutions for 2011, we hope you find these tips helpful. We’d love to hear about your goals, progress, and accomplishments. Please let us know how we can support you along the way.
Here’s to your success in 2011!
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Does decorating for the holidays seem like a huge chore some years? Would it be helpful to have a system in place to make decorating less stressful and more enjoyable? We think so!!! Here are 5 simple tips on how to organize your holiday decor to make it easier to decorate with year after year:
1.) Designate a storage area for holiday decorations. Be sure to group all like items together & label, label, label. We recommend clear plastic bins opposed to colored ones, so you are able to take a quick inventory of the contents of each bin . Be sure to store your decorations in a closet or storage room that isn’t damp or too warm. If you have to stack bins because of limited space, be sure to think about the order of the holidays coming up, so you don’t have to dig out the very bottom bin for the next holiday.
2.) Schedule time on your calendar to decorate. It is crucial to set aside an ample amount of time to decorate! The goal is to get everything done in the same day so you don’t end up pulling everything out and leaving a big mess because you ran out of time to finish. If you have kids, try to get them involved. It can be a great holiday tradition to decorate as a family. Try assigning each family member a different task, turn on some holiday music and have some fun!
3.) Toss and/or donate broken or unused decorations. Each year when you pull out your decorations, be sure to toss any broken items and to donate any items that you no longer use or love. Remember, it is okay to let some decorations go, especially those that aren’t your favorites and that don’t have any sentimental value. Whenever you purchase a new decoration, try to eliminate an old one…this way you won’t collect too much stuff.
4.) Set limits for yourself. Once your bins are full, it is time to purge! Only keep a realistic amount of decorations. This step is crucial in staying organized long-term!
5.) After the holiday has passed, mark off time in your calendar to put things away. This step is also really important! Be sure to set aside enough time to put things away in an organized fashion. Don’t just throw stuff into the closet. Group like items together, contain & label. You will be so glad you did when you go to decorate the next year.
By just keeping these 5 simple tips in mind, we hope you are able to enjoy decorating for the holidays year after year.
We hope you and your family are enjoying this holiday season!
If we can be a resource to you now or in the future, please don’t hesitate to let us know.
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Hosting a holiday party or having friends and family over for dinner seems like a fun and exciting idea, until, that is, you begin the frantic hostess entertaining dance. “I need to clean my house. What should I do about decor? How am I going to seat all these people? What will I prepare? Do I need to send an invite? How will I get it all done?” These questions and more fly through your heads as you set out to host a flawless party.
But wouldn’t it be more fun if you could have a stress-free process and actually sit down and enjoy the time with your guests? We think so, and here are some ways you can achieve it.
One Month Before: Make a “Who’s Attending” list. Find out how many people you will be hosting. Once you have your list, figure out what kind of gathering it will be. Is this a cookie exchange? Casual brunch?Sit down dinner?
Next, decide if you want your guests to contribute anything (we suggest “yes” – share the work, take people up on their offer to bring something). Write down who is responsible for bringing what. This will allow you to quickly get an idea of what your menu will look like. Now that all the details above have been sorted out, it’s time for logistics. Set a date and time and decide how you want to send out invitations. By phone? Maybe email?
2 Weeks Before: Finalize your menu. What type of meal will this be? Is it appetizers only? Sit down dining? Write down specifically which recipes you are going to make. Prepare two grocery lists, one fornon- perishables (shop 2 weeks in advance) and one for perishables (shop about 2 days in advance). Plot out on your calendar when you will make which dish, take care of which task, and see that you can get it all done.
1 Week Before: Either bring out the vacuum yourself or, if you can, hire the help of a cleaning service. Make sure you enlist your families help to keep in clean between this point and the party. Now that your home is spick and span, decide what décor you would like. Flowers? Candles?
2 Days Before: Purchase those perishables. Tidy up the house if need be. After all, life happens and a home does not always stay as clean as it was last week you or a service gave it a Pine-sol makeover. This is also the chance to prepare any dishes you can make ahead of time.
The Day Of: Finish any meal preparation. Tidy your home up again if necessary. Hopefully this is simply wiping down a countertop here and there. Hop in the shower and get ready for your guests. Light those candles and turn up those holiday favorites!
Lastly, don’t forget to be a guest at your own party! After all the effort you went through to host a truly fabulous holiday get-together, you deserve to sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Your guests will be glad you can join them.
Happy Holiday Entertaining!
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Does the thought of meal planning, grocery shopping, and cooking stress you out? If so, you are not alone. There are several helpful tips we have for you to help put those comforting holiday meals on the table with minimal effort required.
Plan Ahead: What sounds good on the menu this week? Write down each dish, the ingredients you need, and the date it needs to be prepared by. Does your family want to switch up the meal lineup on you at the last minute after you have already gotten everything you need? Tell them you will add it to the menu for next week or suggest they help you out and run to the store themselves.
Consider Local Services: There are grocery delivery services or even meal preparation services in many areas now. In this busy time of the year, is this something you can take advantage of to lessen your stress and save some time?
Make it Ahead of Time: There are a wide variety of dishes that can be prepared and stored away several days before they make it to the dinner table. If you know you are going to have a busy week next week, make a meal or two ahead of time. Then, all you have to do is pull it out of your fridge or freezer, heat it up, and presto, instant deliciousness. If you’re planning for a big event or will be entertaining, see which items you can do ahead and spread the work out over several days to ensure it all gets done.
Take the Easy Way Out: Use one of the afore-mentioned services, give in to take-out for a night or two, say “yes” to a guest who offers to bring something when they RSVP to your gathering, induldge the kids (and the kid in you) with breakfast for dinner one night (usually a simpler meal than dinner), open a can of soup and make a simple salad and call that good. You get the idea. Keep it simple, ask for help, relax your standards, if not forever, at least during this busy time of the year.
We wish you a belly full of great meals this holiday season without the hassle!
P.S. Looking for a year-round system for simplifying meal planning? Check out our Meal Planning Made Easy system - for less than the cost of ordering pizza, you can have downloadable templates to help you with your weekly meal planning and grocery shopping.
