My Blog

Disorganization and Clutter effects you mentally, physically, and emotionally.

05/22/2012 22:48:00

I was reading an article about Feng Shui. Feng shui is the energy of a space and the way it makes you feel. This article talked about Feng shui and Clutter and how Clutter affects all areas of your life more than anything else. Clutter affects the way you feel, function and react. The article spoke more specifically about the clutter in the bedroom, where we spend at least 1/3 of our life, and that the Clutter there will affect your health, your prosperity, and existing and potential relationships.
One of the points made was that clearing of your closet can give your an immediate increase in energy and improved feelings about yourself. I have personnally seen that with my clients. Once we have cleared and organized a space they fill a load has been lifted and they feel motivated and productive. So give away anything that doesn’t make you feel your best. THere is no reason to keep things or clothes that don't give you joy and pleasure.

Remember Clutter is anything unfinished, unused, unresolved, tolerated, or disorganized. So, this could be physical clutter, electronic clutter, mental clutter or unresolved issues that clutter your life. Clutter does affect you physically , mentally and emotionally.

Make a decision to clear your clutter and be healthy, productive, happy and at ease in your own space. Have a question about your space or how to get rid of your clutter? face book me or e-mail me.

Everyone has clutter: when do you make up your mind to get rid of the excess.

05/03/2012 21:29:00

Every one has clutter this writer decided enough was enough and challenged herself to rid her home of excess clutter. The feeling after you make that decision and move ahead with ridding your home of excess clutter is exhilerating. Gayle Jacobs

Making Progress Against Clutter

| y JANE E. BRODY

| April 30, 2012, 12:01 am

In a column last fall, I announced my intention to rid my home and myself of a half-century of accumulated “stuff” — everything from papers, books, clothing and shoes to packaging material and shopping bags. I’m happy to report significant progress.

Scores of old files, letters and mementos have been recycled. Bags of books, clothes, coats, shoes and linens have been donated to charities. New and hardly used kitchen equipment has been given to those who need it more than I do.

A decision to re-carpet three of the most cluttered rooms in my house forced me to move — and remove — hundreds of long-unused items. I replaced oversized and impractical furniture and containers with smaller, more useful items less likely to become reservoirs of dust and clutter.

My formidable yarn collection, which had been stowed in five large opaque bins, is now housed in four all-glass cabinets, easy to see and easy to access. They occupy the space once held by the many file cabinets I’ve emptied, which were picked up by scrap metal collectors almost as soon as they hit the street.

Progress indeed. The task of decluttering has been helped greatly by “The Hoarder in You,” a very practical book by Dr. Robin Zasio, but it is far from over. I still have too many clothes and shoes and face what another author, Barry Dennis, calls “The Chotchky Challenge.”

Mr. Dennis, a motivational speaker, relies on an expanded definition (and Anglicized spelling) of the Yiddish word “tchotchke,” which refers to a trinket or knickknack; he uses it to mean “stuff that gets out of control.” In his view, a tchotchke can be almost anything that takes up space, both mental and physical, that might better be occupied by something else or nothing at all.

Accumulated tchotchkes, in the broadest sense, waste time and energy and cause stress and irritability. Just the other day, I couldn’t put my hands on my favorite jeans, which were hanging right there in my closet, hidden under a dozen others. Recently I spent 20 minutes trying on one pair of shoes after another, unable to decide which to wear. I wasted an hour a few weeks ago looking for a report that was hiding in a pile of documents waiting to be filed.

Redefining Clutter

Most of us have little idea how many things in our lives keep us from enjoying life more. But one’s life can be cluttered by more than household objects. The irritating extras can include activities that are no longer rewarding but are continued out of habit or guilt. Perhaps it’s time for a more extended kind of housecleaning.

Mr. Dennis cites several “tchotchkes” I might never have thought of: electronic equipment that keeps us from living in the moment; people who are an emotional drain instead of a joy; piles of CDs and DVDs that are never watched or listened to; food that gets stuffed into an already satiated body; and unwanted or unloved gifts from people you nonetheless care about.

Helpful Hints

Lightening one’s physical load can brighten the mind and lift the spirit.

Mr. Dennis urges people to think twice before buying anything. “Everything we bring into our lives, we will eventually have to get rid of,” he writes. “And that is much, much harder to do than bringing it in.”

He maintains that a clothes closet should never exceed 80 percent capacity. Gather “everything you haven’t worn more than once in the last 12 months and give it away,” he says. “There are people who actually need those clothes.” (I would make an exception for dressy clothes worn only on special occasions.)

Once this goal is achieved, for every new garment or pair of shoes you buy, an old one must go.

To people who insist on offering gifts that you neither want nor are likely to use, you might explain your desire to declutter and suggest alternatives that take up no space, like a movie pass, dinner out, a yoga class or a service like baby-sitting or help bagging books to give away.

Organizing your home to energize your space

03/30/2012 15:20:00

IT IS SPRING......ALREADY.....with blooming flowers and budding trees we feel natures BURST of energy. So lets align ourselves with NATURE and have an energy burst of our own. Getting energized by organizing. It is the right time to get your home, that closet, those cabinets the garage, the play room ORGANIZED. You don't have to do it all at once. Pick a project, one area, one problem zone that needs your attention and schedule some time to begin the decluttering, and organizing process.

Getting Organized can be such an energizing experience. Clearing clutter, organizing, and creating more, open space, will cleqar the way for increased flow of energy.

Do you have a challenge? You know you need to get this one area organized but you just don't know how to do it. Contact me and let me get you started, how to begin, where to begin and when to begin.

Lets get organized and energized together!

Paper: guide for a small business: What to keep and What to Toss

02/03/2012 14:57:00

Record Retention Guide for Small Business – What to Keep and What to Toss

by Linda Siniscal

It’s tax time and you have piles of receipts, bank statements, tax forms scattered all about. If you work from a home office, filing space is definitely at a premium so here is a guide of what records you need to keep, what you can save electronically and what records you are safe to shred and destroy.

Federal law requires you to maintain copies of your business tax returns as well as your personal tax returns for three years including all the supporting documentation for those returns. The IRS calls this the “three-year law.” However, if the IRS believes you have consistently under reported your income by 25% or more or believes fraud may be involved, they may go back six years for an audit but the requirement to maintain your records is indefinite. It is recommended that you keep copies of all your business and personal tax returns indefinitely. It is also important to note that the statute of limitation does not begin until the tax return has been filed and if the return is considered fraudulent there is no limitation on when the records can be requested.

Listed below is a breakdown of the records you need to save and for how long based on current IRS guidelines. Again, please use common sense to make the right decision between keeping too much or not keeping records long enough. If you have a question about a specific document, please consult with either your accountant or attorney prior to destroying. You certainly do not want to be caught without the requested paperwork if contacted by the IRS.

Business documents to keep for three years:

· Bank deposit slips

· Cancelled checks

· Correspondence with customers and vendors

· Credit card statements

· Employee personnel records (after termination)

· Employment applications

· Expense reports

· Expired Insurance policies

· Petty cash vouchers

· Physical inventory tags and records

· Purchase orders and receiving sheets

· Requisition orders

· Time cards for hourly employees

Business documents to keep for six years:

· Accident reports and claims

· Accounts payable ledgers

· Accounts receivable ledgers

· Bank statements and reconciliation reports

· Cancelled stock and bond certificates

· Employment tax records

· Expense analysis and expense distribution schedules

· Expired contracts, leases

· Inventories of products, materials, supplies

· Invoices to customers

· Notes receivable ledgers and schedules

· Payroll records and summaries, including payment to pensioners

· Plant cost ledgers

· Purchasing department copies of purchase orders

· Sales records

· Subsidiary ledgers

· Time books

· Travel and entertainment records

· Utility records (if tax related)

· Voucher register, schedules

· Vouchers for payments to vendors, employees, etc.

Business records to keep forever:

· Audit reports from CPAs and/or accountants

· Cancelled checks for important payments, especially tax payments

· Cash books, chart of accounts

· Contracts, leases currently in effect

· Corporate documents (incorporation, charter, by-laws, etc.)

· Deeds

· Depreciation schedules

· Documents of fixed asset additions

· Financial statements, year-end

· General and private ledgers, year-end trial balances

· Insurance records, including current accident reports, claims and policies

· Investment trade confirmations and statements

· IRS revenue agents reports

· Journals

· Legal records, correspondence and other important matters

· Minute books of directors and stockholders

· Mortgages, bill of sale

· Property appraisal prepared by outside appraisers

· Property records

· Retirement and pension records

· Tax returns, worksheets and payment checks

· Trademark and patent registrations

Personal documents: For one year:

· You don’t need to save monthly and quarterly mutual fund and IRS contribution statements. You need to keep the year-end statements

For three years:

· Credit card statements

· Expired insurance policies

· Medical bills

· Utility records

For six years:

· Accident reports and claims

· Medical bills (if tax related)

· Other tax related bills

· Property records and improvement receipts

· Real estate – sold property records, contracts, receipts

· Sales receipts

· Supporting documents for tax returns

· Wage garnishments

To keep forever:

· CPA audit reports

· Important correspondence

· Income tax payment checks

· Income tax returns and payment checks

· Investment trade confirmations and statements

· Legal records

· Retirement and pension records

Special circumstances:

· Car records (keep until the car is sold)

· Depreciation schedules and other capital asset records (keep for 3 years after the tax life of the asset)

· Insurance policies (keep for the life of the policy)

· Mortgages, deeds, leases (keep 6 years beyond the agreement)

· Pay stubs (keep until reconciled with your W2)

· Property records, improvement receipts (keep until property is sold)

· Sales receipts (keep for the life of the product warranty)

· Stock and bond records (keep for 6 years beyond selling)

· Warranties and instructions (keep for the life of the product)

Scan Receipts

So now you know what you need to keep and toss, can you scan those receipts and will an electronic copy be acceptable? The answer is yes. The IRS has accepted scanned receipts since 1997. The rule is Rev. Proc. 97-22 and states that your scanned or electronic records must be as accurate as your paper records. The IRS also states that you must be able to index, store, preserve, retrieve and reproduce the records – in so many words, they require you to have your records organized and be able to produce them in hard copy format if needed. So before you start scanning receipts, make sure you have a system in place and you back up your electronic records especially if you shred and destroy any original files or receipts.

Available Resources:

· 1. IRS.gov

· 2. IRS Publication 583 – Starting a Business and Keeping Records

· 3. IRS Bulletin Rev. Proc. 97-22

Most states with an income tax withholding requirement require employers to maintain employee records and have their own minimum retention period. Check with your state’s treasury department for their required retention period for employee related files.

Linda Siniscal, is the owner of Third Hand Secretarial Service, LLC which she started in 1994. Linda is a certified bookkeeper with the AIPB, licensed and certified professional bookkeeper with the National Association of Certified Professional Bookkeepers and a Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor. She is the former Treasurer for the International Virtual Assistants Association and served on their Board of Directors for the term 2005-2008. She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Delaware Virtual Assistants Association as their Treasurer for the term 2009-2011. Linda can be reached at yourextrahand@gmail.com or at 732-899-0810 Website: www.yourextrahand.com.

Out with the old in with the new

01/02/2012 22:18:00

jesGORDON/properFUN : event DESIGN , PLANNING, PRODUCTION

www.jesgordon.comOut with the old, in with the new – For the items that are too good to let go, keen organization skills will come in handy after the holidays. You now have more “stuff” in your house or apartment than you did before the holidays, but most likely the amount of space you have to store it in has not changed. So you are left with an organizing project on your plate.

Gayle Jacobs has turned organizing into her career with her company Actually Organized (www.actuallyorganized.net) and offers readers the following advice:

· Think of your closet like real estate and weed out the items that no longer serve you.

· Hold to the ‘1 item in, 1 item out’ rule

· Make sure to DONATE the unwanted items

· Get “cubic” and look at the actual dimension of your storage spaces and the items you need to store. The height of a particular space is often overlooked, so don't forget to measure all the way up.

· Extra space can be created by adding a shelf, or stacking shelves, adding over-the-door hooks or by stacking in a way that used the space more efficiently.

· Group like items together in the same container (i.e. scarves and gloves). Use containers that fit well the particular shelf or storage area.

Oh those twinkling holiday lights

12/19/2011 19:57:00

Now that everyone's holiday decorations are out and we are all enjoying the beautiful lights that twinkle everywhere we go, I want you to think about how those precious holiday decorations will again be stored for next year. I don't want to spoil the fun.....do enjoy your holiday decorations for a while longer. But when you are ready to take down all those lights, make sure everything is put away in labeled boxes, get rid of anything that is broken, or damaged, or has seen better days. Make sure the containers you are storing them in are in good condition and cleaned out. Keep ONLY what you love, what makes you feel good, and what you enjoy. If you have excess or not enough storage room, now is the time to eliminate or limit what you will pack away for next year. Remember if you take the time now to sort and group, containerize, and label your holiday decorations it will make it that much easier for you next year when you have to find all of the decorations and put them up. Oh another tip. If you love how your decorations look this year, if your tree was particularly beautiful, take a picture and keep the picture with the stored decorations for next year, it will be easier for you to replicate what you loved most about last years decor. Happy Holidays to everyone!

Weather is cooler, perfect time to organize your garage

10/27/2011 02:25:00

Garages seemto be the thing to organize this month. I have just finished the fourth client's garage clean out and organization. It has cooled down and it ismuch easier clearing our and organizing your garage in this beautifulweather. Some tips when you want to getyour garage organized. Before youbegin to organize your garage, think about what things you store there andbegin to categorize each area. Think interms of categorizing and grouping like items in the same area so that they areeasier to find and not spread all over the place. One area could be designated for sportsequipment, gardening tools, household tools, lawn equipment -tools- products,holidays -Christmas - Thanksgiving - Halloween, outdoor equipment, paints,paper products, party products, etc. Make signs to lay out on the driveway, use the driveway as your area tosort all the things in the driveway. Under each sign place items from the garage that can be grouped undereach category you have chosen. Also, open one of those 6 foot folding tables onyour driveway, use it to pile some smaller things that you need to sort. Onceall of the sorting is done and you have decided what is trash, what is to bedonated and what you are going to keep, you can start putting everything backinto the specific areas you have designated. Remember group like items together and before you buy any storage containersmeasure your existing shelving to make sure the containers you buy fit thespace you have. Good Luck, put somemusic on, it makes the time go faster and keeps you moving. Gayle Jacobs AcTuaLLy ORGANIZED www.actuallyorganized.net

Moving? Let a professional Organizer get your new home set up.

10/07/2011 22:55:00

What better time to get organized then when you have just moved into a new home. Imagine having everything put away in its best place, organized, contained, easy to find and easy to access. Moving is a big job getting some help to bring clarity and proficiency into getting organized can make the difference between chaos and calm.

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09/26/2011 11:43:00

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