Whether it is your personal life, job, or most importantly finances; organization is a crucial element to ensure accuracy and efficiency of your daily tasks. With ever increasing responsibilities in today's world staying organized is a crucial component to ensure stability in all areas of your life.

01.  How to Stay Organized in the Workplace
02.  Consequences of not staying organized
03.  How to Stay Financially Organized & Important Documents to Keep
04.  Tips to Staying Organized

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1.How to Stay Organized in the Workplace

Use a calendar. As simple as it sounds you will be floored at how easy it makes things. Computers have become very popular for everything including calendars. However, the downside to computers is they are unpredictable. They can crash and lose data at any moment. Invest in a calendar with big blocks to write in. Keep track of important tasks, meetings and other projects.

Have emergency phone numbers handy. They should be in some type of order so you can find the numbers quickly. Always keep these numbers on hard copies as well, because your computer can get a virus and wipe all information out.

List your tasks for the day. As soon as you enter your workplace make a list. Jot down everything that must be completed for that day. Prioritize them based on the level of importance. This will also come in handy when an unexpected event arises. You will know right away where you left off and the duties you have completed.

Be considerate of other coworkers. If you need to plan a meeting give some notice so that other workers can plan accordingly.

Keep your desk or work area clean. Try not to have everything scattered. Make folders or files for important things you will need. Get rid of what you don't need. Keeping everything neat will make it easier when you are pressed for time and looking for a document.

Plan ahead. Always anticipate unexpected dilemmas. Put time aside so that when things occur you are not backed up.

Always have one attendee take meeting minutes to ensure that all attendees as well as absentees are kept abreast and refreshed the main points pressed upon. This will also make certain that all employees are properly informed of their upcoming obligations.

At all times maintain updated departmental rosters in order to establish all responsible parties required to fulfill their duties.

2.The consequences of not staying organized

Late fees and past due fees. Creditors are in the business of making money. If you are late on your payment they will hit you with fees. These fees often add up. Not to mention if you miss the payment all together they may report you to the creditor bureaus and in turn that will affect your credit score.

Budgeting. Believe it or not staying organized may help you save money. It is a lot easier to budget when you know what is going out and coming in. The majority of Americans are on a spending budget. With the economy the way it is today the vast majority of people try to cut corners anywhere possible. Pennies a day really add up over an extended period of time.

Just imagine you buy a pair of shoes and then decide that you did not really want them so you return them. The store informs you that they have credited your account. How often do you actually check to make sure that they did? The intentions are good, however you have a lot of inexperienced cashiers. Always make sure you are receiving what you are entitled to.

Where is your passport? How about your birth certificate? Ok your social security card. Let me give you a scenario. You get a phone call that your poor great Aunt has died in London and you have to be there in 2 days. Would you know where your important documents are? How much time would you have to spend looking for them? If you are organized it should only take 2 minutes.

The reality is that most of us have no idea how to retrieve our most important documents in a moments notice. If you were asked where your driver license was, you could probably get it in 20 seconds flat. However it is just as important to know where everything else is.

Missing significant appointments. If not properly documented you run the risk of missing essential engagements. For instance, you have a very critical presentation due tomorrow that was not properly planned for. The end result is you either miss it entirely or present inferior product.

3.How to stay organized

Look over your bank statements every month. People make mistakes and only you can dispute the mistakes. Be sure to check that your money was deposited into the correct account and that all charges and credits are valid. If they are not you usually have about 60 days to dispute it.

Balance your checkbook every month. Don't forget to include all checks written even if they have not appeared on your statement yet. A common mistake is to forget to deduct money that has not cleared. The problem with this is you end up spending more than you have and then bounce checks and they result with fees.

Envelope system. If you are like millions of people and just cannot seem to manage money correctly you may want to try the envelope system. The envelope system is cheap and really can prove to be an easy way to stay organized. The way it works is simple. Each month take a couple envelopes and label them with all your bills for example rent/mortgage, electric, water, groceries, etc. and also label an envelope with savings. When you get paid take the money that you will spend for each and put it in the envelope any extra money put into savings. The bills that are fixed will always be the same, however for groceries put how much you want to spend. You will notice by only taking that money to the grocery store you can not over spend and will most likely not spend it all.

Filing. It is a lot easier and cheaper than you are probably thinking. Do not run out to the store and buy a huge filing system. All you will need is a cardboard box with some folders. Label the folders and keep up with it. Each time you get something file it. If you wait until you get a huge pile it is much more work. Also try writing the due dates on the envelopes so that you know exactly how long you have. I would recommend writing the date that you have to mail it out by instead of the due date so that you give yourself that extra day or two.

4.Which documents should I keep?

Everyone is going to have their own personal documents that are important to them but below is a list of general documents that are important.:


• Will
• Utilities bills
• Birth certificates
• Debit cards
• Checking account statements
• Tax returns ( IRS recommends to keep them 7-10 years)
• Investment documents
• Social security cards
• Credit card bills
• Court papers
• Auto loans
• Mortgage papers
• Auto loan documents
• Rental agreements
• Notarized papers and documents
• Passports
• Immigration papers

Tips to Staying Organized

1. Store it in its "home" at all times.
All items have their "home" or place that you store them in. Try to keep them there. When an item strays from that place it is often misplaced.

2. Say no to some requests.
This tends to be very hard for some people. Everyone wants to help friends, but there is a limit. You have to have time for yourself also.

3. Open your mail immediately.
Many of us are guilty of putting our mail on the counter and saying "I will get to it later". The problem is later turns into next week or in severe case next month. The best technique is to open it immediately over the garbage can. Throw away what you don't need and pay your bills as you open them.

4. Get ready the night before.
Decide what you want to wear and lay out your clothes. Toss it. If you haven't used it or it is outdated throw it away. Stuff that you don't use is better off donated or in the garbage than taking up space.

5. Sentimental box.
This is mostly for the girls. This will consist of all the memories that you have to keep. They tend to get scattered in a million different places. The best thing to do is to put them into a Tupperware bin. That way you have them but they can be stored easily. Every time you add something look through and see if there is anything that you would be willing to part with.

6. Half everything for a trip.
Over packing is something that most of us are guilty of. Take 50% of everything you are thinking of bringing and put it back. Try to bring clothes that you can wear a couple of times. Try to match different shirts with the same pair of pants.

7. Call yourself.
Now you think I am crazy but I urge you to try it. Often times it is when we are out that we remember to do things. Call yourself and leave a message. With today's technology you could even text yourself. That way when you get home you will remember.

8. Don't overwhelm yourself.
Break your project into little pieces. Focus on one part each day. For instance painting a room. One day you can move the furniture, the next prepare to paint by taping and so on. Even if it takes a couple days you will be more likely to finish it.

9. Involve your friends.
Have some motivation. Tell your friends what your plans are and then you will be more enticed to finish.

10. Reward yourself.
Convince yourself if you do not finish this task then you will not go to the game on Saturday. This should motivate you to do it.

11. Keep all bills together.
It is easier to locate and pay them.

12. Color code everything.
For instance bills that must be paid within the week can go into a red folder, whereas bills that need to be paid in a month will go into a yellow folder. You can go further and put all warranties, titles and other documents into a blue folder.

We hope you enjoyed our March newsletter, if you have any suggestions or comments please let us know @ education@ufs-debtmanagement.com

Newsletter 11
Rev.1
November, 2007