WELCOME
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Each month in this newsletter
I share organizing tips to use in your home and office. Try some
projects by yourself or ask for help from my friendly professional team.
We have great ideas for improving the use of all sizes of spaces and helping you become more productive.
Happy Organizing,
Pierrette Ashcroft
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| Celebrations This Month | Back To School
7th - Fight Procrastination Day
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Pierrette Ashcroft,
founder of getOrganizedDC, has more than 20 years of business experience
organizing events and providing innovative solutions in homes and
offices. She is committed to continuing her education and training to
best serve her client's organizing and productivity needs.
As
part of the inaugural class to receive credentials as a Certified
Professional Organizer, CPOŽ, Pierrette earned a top distinction in the
organizing industry.
In 2010 she completed her training to
become a Certified Productivity Coach. Through her Productivity Boot
Camp she is able to increase the productivity of busy professionals. Pierrette will clear your piles of paper, overloaded inbox and cluttered life so you can be more effective in your business and career.
To learn more, call or write for a free telephone consultation at: 202.537.9705 or Pierrette@getOrganizedDC.com. Or visit our Web site.
The
hardest part of organizing is developing an attractive plan. We are
happy to help you with any challenges, large or small. Expect efficient
and reliable service from our team, who promise to keep your personal
information confidential. Read what our clients are saying about us.
I
love what I do and my business thrives on referrals. Please keep me in
mind if you should hear of friends, family or colleagues who could
benefit from my organizational expertise or who would like to take their
productivity to a whole new level. I'm never too busy to help them get
organized. Thanks!
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COMPUTER BACK UP
| | You Need To Have A Plan In Place NOW!
 Lightening
your paper load is an admirable goal. As your piles and bulging files
get smaller and you store more information in a digital format, it is at
risk of loss without a good backup plan.
Don't
be lulled into thinking a hard drive crash is the only way you can loose
data. Files can be accidentally deleted, your computer can be stolen or
lost, a virus can wipe out everything and a fire or natural disaster
could take away more than your computer files.
There are a couple of basic ways to safeguard your records: online (the cloud) or through an external hard drive which stores your information locally.
Macs
and PCs back up to an external hard drive pretty easily. Buy a hard
drive that is at least twice as large as the drive on your computer. The
first time you'll need to back up the data with a cable. Subsequent
backups will be smaller and with the right equipment and a wifi network,
they can be done wirelessly.
External hard drives are great but
if you have a fire or a robbery there's a risk of loosing both the
computer and backup drive.
There are many online options.
A big advantage to this method is that your information is accessible
from any computer at work, home or on vacation - some even have apps for
your smart phone.
Carbonite
offers unlimited secure online backup of all your files for $55 a year.
If volume is a concern this may be a good option for you.
Mozy will back up 2 GB for free and charges a monthly fee to store more of your files and photos online.
Dropbox
can be used to back up files online as well as share files. They offer
2GB of storage for free and let you increase that to 7 GB by referring
friends. There is a paid plan that increases your storage to 50GB.
CrashPlan
automatically backs up to multiple destinations. They have a free plan
and paid version that offers additional features and increased capacity.
This is the belt and suspenders method.
The backup format you choose isn't as important as setting it up to be automatic. Redundancy is a good thing, so consider using a couple of different methods.
I have an external hard drive and use Dropbox and a service from Apple to duplicate my files in several places.
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Share this newsletter with friends and family who will find it useful.
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OFFICE MAKEOVER CONTINUED
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| Eliminating Wire Clutter
 I'm not a big fan of wires
- even when coiled neatly and labeled. My desk faces out into the room
so they still would be unsightly and not the look I'm going for.
The top of my desk isn't very large so a printer would take up too much precious real estate.
My solution was to convert the small closet, less than three feet wide into a printer station and supply storage.
The conversion was fairly easy but if you don't have some carpentry skills, you'll want to hire someone.
Additional shelves
made it possible to store reams of paper and other supplies. The rod
was no longer needed so removing it made it possible to take advantage
of the vertical space.
My laser printer had wireless capability so I could use what I already had without any additional cost. This feature is necessary if you are going wire free.
The closet didn't have an outlet or an internet connection.
I took the less expensive option of drilling a small hole just above
the baseboard to run what I needed to supply power and a cable for the
modem.
I ran the wires discretely along the baseboard
and tacked them in place with cable staples. Ideally, I would have
hired an electrician to run everything behind the wall but that would
have added time and expense to the project.
Not only did I hide the printer but also my modem and external hard drive that I use to back up my computer files wirelessly.
For the final touches I repurposed a canvas shoe bag. Hanging it inside the door provided 12 pockets to hold small office supplies like staples, sticky notes and tape.
Behind the printer I placed a bulletin board. Another simple solution to minimize the clutter in my office.
Now I can print not only in my office but in any room of the house where I'm using my laptop.
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COST OF DISORGANIZATION
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| How Much Is It Costing You?
 I'm
sure most of you realize that disorganization has a cost. Have you
quantitated what it means for you, both financially and emotionally?
FINANCIAL COSTS
ˇ Rebates that are not redeemed when you miss the deadline or can't find the receipt or forms.
ˇ Duplicate purchases as a result of not being able to find what you already have or forgetting what you own.
ˇ Late fees on bills that aren't paid on time.
ˇ Extra shipping charges incurred on gifts ordered late and have to be sent overnight.
ˇ Auto renewals that are billed to your credit card because you didn't cancel after the free trial period.
ˇ Storage unit rental fees can quickly add up to thousands of dollars which often is more than the value of the units contents.
ˇ Purchases that aren't returned when forgotten in a bag or the receipt is misplaced.
ˇ Tax deductions that are not taken.
ˇ Gift cards not redeemed. Between 6-10% of gift cards are never used.
PSYCHOLOGICAL TOLL
ˇ Stress
ˇ Embarrassment means you don't entertain friends and family in your home.
ˇ Frustration when you can't find things. |
ORGANIZING SOLUTION
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| Loyalty Card Apps
 Challenge:
Ever wish you didn't have to have a separate loyalty card for each store?
Solution:There are apps that eliminate the need to carry the cards. You can store the info on a smart phone using CardStar or Key Ring, both are free. Simply scan the cards with your smart phone to load them into the app. It's easy to sign up for new ones on the spot within the app. Some merchants offer coupons to those who use the apps. Result: In
a couple of minutes I scanned all my loyalty cards onto my iPhone. I
had mixed results scanning the bar code from my phone at the check out.
I use loyalty cards when I can save money, mostly at the grocery store. It's my experience that my telephone number works rather than carrying the card.
I love technology when there's a benefit like saving time or money. In this case, I don't see it yet and will stick with using my phone number until I do.
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