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Life Events Q&A

• Q: I am a former spiritual director with a Masters degree in theology. Over the years of working as a spiritual director and providing pastoral care and religious education, I have noticed that a serious lack of organization goes hand-in-hand with certain forms of spiritual malaise. It’s as if the state of one’s home or office offers a window to one’s soul or psyche. Because of that, and probably because I was raised in an uptight German immigrant community–I have for some time considered becoming a professional organizer. How does one go about achieving such a goal?

  — Sandra, Shawnee, OK on Jan 11, 2010

  

  Anne Marie said:

  The first step we would suggest is to contact the National Association of Professional Organizers.  They have a program to become certified and offer classes throughout the year.  They cover everything you will need to know to start a professional organizing business from business strategy to marketing to resources and networking.  Got to http://www.napo.net/ to learn more about the profession and get started. Please let us know how it goes and if you found what you needed at NAPO.

• Q: I’m lazy and a procrastinator. I’m taking an important volunteer job. It will mean I’m taking on enormous computer responsibilities (newsletter, letters, reports, name tags, photos) that take computer organization along with physical organization like file cabinets, books and albums. My office is filled already. The job is a two year commitment. Basically I’m just overwhelmed and do nothing instead of prepare for this job that starts soon. Please help.

  — Ginny, Bloomfield Hills, MI on Mar 17, 2009

  

  Nancy said:

  Hello Ginny!

  As a Pile Person and an avid United Way Volunteer, I know EXACTLY how you feel. Here are a few ways to get started on getting organized:

  First of all, and this part is the annoying, tedius and painful part, take on your current office clutter and have a pitching party. Set aside 2 back-to-back hours for your physical files on one day and 1 hour for your computer files on another day. You in no means have to be perfect, but if you can get rid of any old catalogs, receipts and bills over 7 years old, any other trash, you may find you have much more space for the new volunteer work.

  On your computer, is your desktop a mess or your storage low from too many files? Get a back-up external Hard drive and put all of your family photos and other rarely used files onto the external hard drive. It’s also a good idea to back-up all of the new volunteer files onto the external hard drive for safe keeping.

  Next, designate ONE area in your home office to be just for your volunteer stuff complete with its own portable or stationary filing cabinet (ask the organization if they will supply one for you). If you know you’ll end up keep a lot of items on your desk, get a stacking paper sorter labeled “To Read, To Deal With, To File”. If the sorter gets starts to overflow, you know it’s time to clean it out (probably once a week).

  As for photos, get them printed and placed into an Album as SOON as you take them. Buy a couple albums right now, set up an online photo account asap just for the organization, and as soon as you get home from taking any pictures, upload them and have them shipped. Then right when they arrive, place them in the album and you’re done! Trust me, 15 minutes at once is a heck of a lot easier than 3 hours of sorting uploading, etc when you need an album for a gala and you haven’t developed any pictures.

  For the newsletter & reports, make your templates now, before the position starts so you can just fill in the blanks when you take over. Designate files for each area on the computer, and as I said, back-up the files onto an external hard drive in case the unthinkable happens and your computer crashes.

  I know that going through your current files is probably going to be boring and frustrating, but you save yourself time and energy in the long run. In addition. Pick one time to go through all of your volunteer to do’s and looming piles weekly to keep the clutter down and your aggravation to a minimum.

  Kicking procrastination in the tail is NOT an easy, overnight transformation and don’t try to be perfect. Just keep your organizing at a level where you have the least anxiety and stress about it.

  I hope this helps and thanks again for your question!

  Kind Regards,
  Nancy

• Q: Do you have any tricks on how to keep track of everyone’s birthdays and anniversaries?

  — Jess, Fall River, MA on Feb 28, 2009

  

  Alicia said:

  I keep track of all important birthdays and anniversaries in my Birthday Book. Each month I look through it and get cards and, if applicable, presents for everyone who has a special day in the upcoming month. If you’re more of a digital person, there are a number of internet sites that will email you reminders of people’s birthdays and anniversaries. Visit neverforget.com, birthdayalarm.com, or bigdates.com, enter as many people and dates as you want, and get emails the day of or day before a birthday/anniversary, and stay out of the doghouse!

  -Alicia

• Q: Company’s coming unexpectedly! What can I do in 10 minutes to make my house look noticeably cleaner?

  — Alison, Cambridge, MA on Feb 28, 2009

  

  Susan said:

  First, make sure the guest bathroom has toilet paper, soap, and a clean hand towel. Then, close the doors to messy bedrooms, grab a storage bin (or trash bag), throw in wayward toys and stash it in the hall closet. Finally, gather magazines, mail and papers from different rooms and arrange them in neat stacks on a desk or table.

  -Susan

• Q: “Tax season is SO confusing for me.. can you give me the short and sweet 1-2-3 of preparing?”

  — Bonnie, Newton, MA on Feb 28, 2009

  

  Sarah said:

  We recommend, first, that you give everything a home. Set aside 15 file folders to get everything organized, and then take those folders and label them for each of the critical tax categories:

  - Bank Statements
  - House Bills (mortgage, property tax)
  - Investments
  - Medical/Insurance
  - Charitable Donations
  - Last Year’s Return
  - Work Expenses
  - Credit Card Statements
  - Other Income
  - Other Expenses
  - Other Deductions
  - Work Compensation
  - Retirement
  - Dependents”

  This should help you button up your taxes and be prepared to head to any of the numerous Tax Preparers in your local area!

  -Sarah