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Everyday Life Q&A

• Q: Ask Your Guru: Need Information On The Life.doc!

  — Cindy J on Jun 17, 2011

  

  Anne Marie said:

  We received this inquiry from Cindy:

  I am interested in purchasing the Life.doc Kit. For the information listing for the product, the only information I can find is that it is 82 pages and 8 sections. I am unable to locate a list of what the sections are or what type of forms are included. I do not have a store close where I could see the product in person. Can you offer me some information?

  Thank you,
  Cindy

  Dear Cindy:
  Great question! To make sure you know what you are getting, and for anyone wondering what we put in the Life.doc, below please find a general summary of what is in each section. We have included space for most section-related information. We tried to do the thinking for you up front – all you have to do is go through the forms and fill in the information that applies to you and your family.

  Know that the forms have more detail, but the outline below will give you an idea of what you are getting. Also, if you have more than 4 family members, you can download more forms on our site (http://getbuttonedup.com/tools/) – just keep the very first page of the Life.doc so you can get the requested password!

  1. Emergency Plan

  This emergency plan includes important information that you will need in cases of emergency such as where to meet, who your out of state contact is, emergency phone numbers, what to grab and where it’s located, where your home shut off valves are and much more.

  2. Family Basics

  This section provides form for 4 family members and includes where they live, school/work info, work-related info (boss’s Name, Work ID, etc.) and general information you may need.

  3. In Sickness & In Health

  You guessed it! This section outlines health and medical info like primary physician contact information, any medical procedures, allergies, medications, Specialists, etc. for four members of your family.

  4. Insurance

  This section is for listing all your insurance contacts and includes medical, homeowners and even Pet Insurance! If you have insurance for it, there is a place to enter your information!

  5. Dollars & Sense

  If we want to contact our Financial Advisor or Mortgage Company, we usually can get that info pretty quickly – and this section makes is even easier. Anything to do with your finances from your bank to your credit cards, to real estate, can be listed here. BUT, no account numbers are listed, only the establishment and contact info! This way your personal information is safe from identity theft.

  6. Legal Ease

  Where is the will? Where is the trust? Is there a living will? This section lets you know where these items are kept – both the original and copies. If you need to know where any legal document can be found, it will be listed in this section. It is very comprehensive and includes lawyer contact, divorce, military, adoption papers and so much more!

  7. Caregiver Information

  This section includes everything a caretaker would need to know – including a house sitter! AND it’s not just for children, but for eldercare too. It includes Emergency Authorization Form to complete for those times you are not available to handle an emergency for your child.

  8. Home Sweet Home

  This section has space to list everyone involved in the care and maintenance of your home from the housekeeper, to the dog walker and everyone in between! Simply list their name, home phone and cell phone and you are set for your entire home repair and upkeep needs.

  That’s a short summary of our Life.doc. It’s VERY comprehensive and comes with a CD ROM so you can type in the information, and print out on the pages provided. We suggest you start with the section that is most important to you – and complete it first, then tackle another section.

  Let us know if you have any additional questions!

• Q: Ask Your Guru: The 2011 Weekly.agenda

  — Jennifer of St. Joseph, MI on Oct 22, 2010

  

  Anne Marie said:

  yourquestion: What happened to the buttoned up weekly agenda. I have loved having it an using it this year – but cant find one for 2011. I am distressed!

  Jennifer:
  We should have the Weekly.agenda for 2011 before January 1st. Please make sure you are signed up for our newslett as that is the first place we wil announce availability!
  Thanks for your interest!
  Anne Marie
  Chief Juggler

• Q: Ask Your Guru: Newsletter Signup?

  — Colleen Smart of West Vancouver, B.C. on Oct 08, 2010

  

  Sarah said:

  Your Question:

  I can’t figure out how to sign up for your newsletter or blog?

  Guru Reply:

  Thank for your email, we think it may help others who are confused as well! Usually folks look along the sides of a site for a sign up or at the bottom. We’re a little different, we have a note at the top of our site: “5 great reasons to SIGN UP for our newsletter” – this links to the sign up page. Please go to this site to sign up for our newsletter: http://getbuttonedup.com/email-signup/.

  Sorry you had a problem finding it, but we’re sure glad you want to sign up to get all the heads up on Buttoned Up!

  Thanks for your question!
  Anne Marie Furie
  Chief Juggler

• Q: Ask Your Guru: How to Set Up Digital Files

  — Babs, Brunswick/St. Simons Island, Georgia on Sep 16, 2010

  

  Anne Marie said:

  Your Question:

  You sound busy…good! Ok, since you have the tech background…I , too like IPhone. I have an insatiable drive to get REALLY organized so I have adopted Evernote as my can’t live without. Have been using it for about a year or so with good results. I have recently added as Scan Snap scanner and want to set up an EFFECTIVE DIGITAL file for all of the stuff currently living in my hard copy files. I’m having trouble setting up the digital files in a way that I can just GO TO quickly and find what I need. I can’t seem to set up an orgazinational tree…if the file is labeled Home Essentials…I don’t seem to be able to ad sub categories. How do I do that. I’m tired of searching through the hard copy stuff, I just need the basics. What do you do with things like warranties, etc.

  Take a look at Evernote. You might find it will work hand in hand with Button Up. Also I use an integrated note called Awsome Note which works well with Evernote. But I just can’t figure out a workable Digital File System. Ideas?

  I like the Buttoned Up site, have just discovered it and think it will help me consolidate some “stuff” . Have signed up for the Newsletter. Used the ICE tip for the IPhone and forwarded it to friends. As a former ER/Critical Care Nurse, I would have found this invaluable. Just look under Contacts for ICE and get the emergency info you need. Great Tip!
  Babs

  Dear Babs:

  Thank you for your Guru question! We Love Evernote as well – check out our Tools & Giveaway page on our site (http://getbuttonedup.com/tools/) you will see an entire section devoted to Evernote and its many uses!

  I am not sure if you are asking us about Scan Snap, or setting up general digital files. So we’ll assume you mean setting up digital files.

  So how do you begin? Draft a list of all possible files based on what you have on your hard drive. Look closely at them and group similar files together (on your list). Now what general categories pop out at you (work, family, house essentials, photos, bills, etc.)? Those are your main file folders, and the specific documents and files go under the general categories you choose.

  Naming your files: In this case, it’s the key to the contents. Nobody is judging your file names so make it something you’ll know and understand. Try employing a system that you use across all platforms, so your Excel files and Word documents are all saved as “date created, file name.” It doesn’t matter what your system is as long as you do it consistently.

  Clear out your files weekly and discard ones that you really don’t need. Then BACK UP! It doesn’t matter what tool you use to back up (thumb drive, CDs, etc.), but DO IT. If you get in the habit of weekly clearing out your files and backing up your hard drive, you are way ahead of the game – AND you will quickly realize if the system you set up still works for you. Just because you set it up one way, doesn’t mean you can’t tweak down the line.

  Afraid you will forget where a file is located? You can do a search on your hard drive to find a file. If you follow the system for naming your files, they should be very easy to find.

  We hope this helps you get your digital files set up! Let us know how it worked out!
  -Anne Marie

• Q: 46 YO SAHM Needs Organizational Help

  — Janet of Carmel, IN on Feb 09, 2010

  

  Nancy said:

  Q: Hi, I am a 46 yo SAHM – mostly. I teach college one night a week. I have young children – aged 4 and 7. I find the combination of their age and mine to be a factor in my not being able to organize – I am exhausted! I can appreciate the results of organization – my mom is a neat freak. However, I become frozen when faced with tasks that seem overwhelming. Do you have any suggestions for making a messy house seem less out of control and manageable? I know, baby steps and small successes but I still feel out of control.

  A: We’ve all been at the ‘so overwhelmed you get frozen’ stage.

  That is organizational inertia. You need to look at those baby steps and small successes as real successes toward a more organized home, don’t denigrate your progress no matter how small in your eyes! Progress is progress! Especially with two little kids!

  I know this may sound basic, but the best thing you can do is establish routines. Easier said than done, I know. But here are the steps you can take to get to that point. The first week will be rough on you and everyone else, but stick with it, it will be worth it.

  1. MAKE A LIST:

  Stop and really think about what you would like to get done versus what NEEDs to get done. Make a list. For you to feel in control, it may be better to start with the most used rooms in the house and write them down first – family room, kitchen, bathroom – and focus on those until those routines are set, then move on to other rooms/areas.

  2. Now, really look at your schedule.

  Just what commitments do you have. Which ones can you give up that are not rewarding to you? Which ones would you like to keep because you get something out of them? How busy really are you with the kids, parents, spouse, job, and house? Be really honest. If your husband travels and you are responsible for all the household chores, inside and out, then put that down. If you handle an elderly parent’s medical issues, include that. It is amazing all we really have to handle! Make sure these responsibilities are listed too.

  3. Now take a really, really good look at your list.

  What can you remove yourself from doing? What can you pare down? What do you LIKE to do (that stays on the list – heaven knows we do so many things we don’t necessarily LIKE to do, so keep those!). What can you delegate to others? Your kids are still little and probably full of energy – but they aren’t so little that they can’t help around the house. I’m not suggesting they cut the lawn, but I am suggesting that if they are old enough to pull out the toys, they are old enough to put them back. Determine what is really important on your list and what is not. If you focus on the most imporant 20% the other 80% usually takes care of itself.

  4. Now, start to build routines around the items on your list.

  How? Well, here are some simple routines that may help you get started:

  • Start with the toy issues: establish a firm bedtime and before bed the toys must be put away – by the kids, not you. Consequences will be that they don’t get to play with any toys left out. And follow through. I know you are beat at the end of the day, but won’t it be nice not to have to look at the toys all over the place when the kids are in bed? It will be worth it! And you will be teaching your kids to be responsible for their belongings. Make it a fun end of the day – make a race who can pick up the most toys, etc. End the day with toys picked up and smiles on the kids’ faces.

  • Bathroom Routine – after bath all towels go to the laundry area; all clothes too! You can help the 7 year old clean up the counters after brushing is done. Let them know what a huge help they are to you by doing this small task! If that is just too much for them, invest in a hamper and make them put the towels and clothes in the hamper – then the mess is contained for when you are ready to deal with the laundry!

  • Dinner Routine – Start a routine that dinner dishes are done right after dinner (and your kids can help by setting and clearing the table and putting the dished in the kitchen if not the dishwasher). You can finish up when they put their toys away if you like, or enlist their help wiping down tables, counters, etc. Sometimes if you also add no TV or games until the work is done, it helps get little butts in gear.

  • Establish a morning routine; everyone up, eaten, teeth brushed and ready to seize the day by 7:30AM (or whatever you decide is a good time). If you find yourself being a chef in the morning, this routine will stop that and give you more free time for other things. Let everyone know you will stop serving breakfast/cereal at that time and you expect them to be up and ready to go. If you like beds made, add that in too – but let them know they won’t have to make them on the weekend!

  • Family Room – we have something we call the Commercial Clean – that is whenever a commercial comes on, the family tackles cleaning one room during that time. Each commercial during a Sitcom can get tables cleared off, toys away, and the room picked up. AND you still have family time together.

  • Nap Time – if your 4 year old takes naps, you can either join them or use that time for you. Take one drawer in the kitchen to reorganize; pay bills; file; go through the mail; run the dishwasher; run a load of laundry; read a book; reconnect with a friend. Remember, free time doesn’t necessarily mean clean time.

  Remember that if you make the kids’ routines fun, and let the kids know it is really a HUGE help to you, and your expectations of them are high, they will not only cooperate, they will rise above your expectations. If you have them set the table and clear it, maybe you play their favorite music while they do it. If they bathe together, have a race to see who can get clean the fastest, or make the funniest beards, etc. Or perhaps you let them choose something special for you all to do at the end of the week. If this seems overwhelming, then start with just one of the routines and test it out, make it your own. Once it is up and running well, start another one.

  I hope this helps get you unfrozen. I was frozen the last couple of weeks with my home office and one day I just dove in and didn’t stop until it was done. But I also don’t have a 4 year old or a 7 year old! Good luck, don’t be so hard on yourself and let us know how you are doing.

• Q: I just took the quiz and my guru is you. Such as yourself I have been able to be successful in my life, both personally and professionally with my organizational style. I do have a question for you: I am also very creative and spontaneous about many things in my life one of them is being organized…when I get a home or work project I am very organized. I think its the day to day. Any insight or tips you can provide would be much appreciated!

  — Mona on Jan 11, 2010

  

  Sarah said:

  I find that I keep up with the day to day by writing it down – usually in my planner as a to do. This way it’s not ‘out of sight out of mind.’ I also have tried to set up routines – so when X TV show is on, I can listen to it while I do something that has to be done, but is rather mindless, like load the dishwasher, or empty it, or dust, or sort the laundry. I even do this when I’m on the phone at home! This way I can listen to something I like and don’t necessarily have to watch, and still get something done that HAS to be done. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you.

• Q: Does anybody have a great way of organizing and hanging a scarf collection that doesn\’t involve folding?

  — on Oct 28, 2009

  

  Anne Marie said:

  Absolutely! I take my scarves – and I have plenty! – and I drape over a hangar, much like you would a pair of pants. I may have to fold once, but not all the time! Another thing I found was a hangar that had 3 inch hoops attached in a type of macrame (check out Ikea). The scarves go through the hoops, but you will still have to fold them or pull them through loosely. This may wrinkle them still, but not always.
  You could invest in a quilt stand and use that to drape your scarves over – it is large enough to handle even your widest scarves! I would suggest you organize them by how you wear them – least used on the bottom, most used on the top.
  I hope these are useful to you!