Conquering the Influx of Mail – Paper

Mail seems to be one thing all my clients have in common. In fact, countless times, I’ve actually found checks hidden in unopened envelopes that have ranged from $1.00 to several thousand dollars. That’s money my clients didn’t know they had! Usually they like me a whole lot after that.

One of the reasons mail has become a hindrance is because there is simply too much of it. How much of your incoming paper mail is simply junk mail? Are you constantly getting mail from your financial institutions with blank checks or credit card offers? These are great if you need them, but could also be a huge liability. If your mail is stolen, you could very easily have your identity stolen. In a quick moment, you all of a sudden owe thousands of dollars that someone else spent. It’s also a great way to stop yourself from being tempted to spend money you don’t have. To easily opt out of these credit card offers once and for all visit this site to learn how: http://creditcards.lovetoknow.com/Request_Stopping_Offer_Credit_Card

Magazines are also a huge source of incoming mail. How many magazines can you truly read in 1 month? Do you find you are constantly behind on reading? Do you keep them thinking, “one day I’ll get to this?” I have one client who kept thinking he was going to get through a pile of dental magazines…. From 1985! Keep a strict limit on how many magazines you receive monthly, I limit myself to 8 for both personal and professional because I know that’s how many I can handle per month without feeling overwhelmed or getting behind. I also promptly move my magazine to the recycle bin after I receive the latest issue. If I see an article I want to keep, I tear out the article and toss the rest of the magazine, which saves a ton of space. Contact magazines you no longer read and ask them to remove you from their list. Contact companies who send you their catalogues and ask them to remove you from their list. You can almost always find their catalogue online.

Keep your shredder near the front door. If you keep the shredder far from where you place your mail, it becomes more difficult to shred unwanted mail as easily. Go through your mail immediately! Most people don’t deal with the mail right away and it grows into a large and often unmanageable pile. If you sort immediately and place all items you wish to keep in a basket, then you can immediately shred anything you know is waste. If you receive a ton of unwanted mail and wish to cut down on it, send a postcard or letter to Mail Preference Service, Direct Marketing Association, PO Box 643, Carmel, NY 15012-0643 Include your complete name, address, zip code and a request to "activate the preference service". For up to five years, this will stop mail from all member organizations that you have not specifically ordered products from.

If you are comfortable, have your financial companies send you their invoices, bills and other information via e-mail. You can then easily create a folder for that mail, set payments up automatically and quickly lower the amount of time you spend paying bills and collecting paper.

Figuring out what papers are actually important and which ones can be tossed can be stressful. What if you toss something you actually needed? What do I need and what can I part with? The easiest way to figure this out is to turn to this site: http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/bank/19990714a.asp which will tell you exactly what you need to keep and toss.

Once a year, at minimum all your paper items should be weeded through and anything that is no longer needed should be tossed or shredded. You can always create different filing systems if the one you currently have in place isn’t working for you. Do colors help you remember which files are kept where? Use colors! Does the name of a file throw you? Change it to something that works better.

Constantly assess what paper is coming into your home and whether or not you truly need it. After awhile, it becomes easier to figure out what you truly need and want to look at versus what can be dropped from your list of important mail. If you place limits on yourself for what you truly need and want to read, what charities you truly want to give to (versus those who guilted you into donating money) and learn to use the word, “no”, these processes become easier and more manageable for the busy life you lead.

If you have become overwhelmed with the amount of paper you currently have in your home and have no idea on how to start, please contact Alison Kero at 646-831-9625 or info@gothamconcierge.com. You can either schedule an at-home or in-office appointment in the NYC metro area or schedule a consultation via telephone to get your time, space and life organized.

Save Time & Lower Stress by Walking Away from a Frustrating Situation

Here’s yet another time saving tip I’ve learned through experience: if you’re trying to accomplish something and it’s not working, WALK AWAY FROM IT for the time being.

I spent the better part of the day with a client last week trying to simply copy a file from NeatWorks and transfer it to another computer so I could share those files with Quickbooks. It should have been easy. “Should” being the operative word. It wasn’t.

The file was too large and would have taken 9 hours to copy and e-mail through yousenditnow.com so we decided to burn a copy to a disk and transfer it that way. This should have been even easier, but for whatever reason, after spending 20 minutes watching the disk slowly burn the information, it did not have the latest updates. Since I am trying to share the receipts I have spent hours scanning so that my client can track her expenses through Quickbooks, I was looking forward to the end result and seeing how well those two products worked together.

It didn’t work. We could not transfer that file without a tremendous amount of time being taken up. Our decision in the end was to walk away from it and try another time. In this case we were lucky since there isn’t a deadline until April 15, 2010 but even if you are on a deadline, sometimes the best thing for you to do is to walk away, even for a brief time.

Continuing to try to solve a problem may not always be the best solution. You get tired, frustrated, cranky and sometimes fidgety. Sometimes you unconsciously keep trying the same process despite the fact that it hasn’t worked. Walking away lowers your stress levels and allows you some time to process what you have done, think about why it isn’t working correctly and to maybe figure out a way to solve the issue. Either way, coming back after even a 5 minute break can be tremendously helpful. You’re eliminating the old adage of, “beating the dead horse”. I hate to think how that saying came about.

Case-in-point: yesterday I was going through a huge file folder crammed with 6 months worth of receipts for a client. I spent 1 hour going through this and organizing them into 6 different categories. After an hour I thought I was going to go nuts. First, off, it’s not like you’re busting your brain, but it is mind numbing and tedious work. Secondly, sitting and organizing receipts for an hour gets uncomfortable. You need to take small breaks in order to continue the job. I decided to simply come back next week when my mind was fresh and finish the job. However, had I needed to finish then, I would have simply taken a 5 minute break, walked around the block and then would have been able to return feeling at least slightly more refreshed.

The moral is that walking away can lower your stress levels and help you think more clearly. In the end, I find that not concentrating so hard on solving something allows your brain time to process it and in the end, can actually save you time. And it’s always all about saving time and making your life easier.

If you have a tedious project you never quite get to, try doing them in smaller increments. Set aside 10 minutes and then walk away for awhile. You do not have to get any project done in one sitting, and frankly, I find doing jobs in smaller increments much easier and less stressful. If you can’t seem to get past the mental block of the project you need to accomplish or need help getting motivated, contact me at: info@gothamconcierge.com or call on my cell at: 646-831-9625. I provide phone consultations and at-home or in-office consultations as well. Good luck with your task!

How to Overcome Being a Slob

Have you ever been called a slob? Do people cringe at your office space or decline invitations to your home because of the absolute mess? Have you ever wondered why you can’t seem to create a more organized environment?

I have a client I have worked with periodically over the years whom I consider to be a slob. I have found countless change, cigarette butts, dirt, hair, kitchen ware (like knives) and pieces of paper strewn about her floor. I have been unable to take even a step inside her large walk-in closet because of the many piles of things she has thrown in there which blocked the entryway. I have found birthday gifts still in their bags from her birthday that had passed a year and a half ago. I have found the mates to shoes, clothing she had been looking for, and a bathing suit inside a shoebox.

Being called a slob isn’t something anyone wants to hear about themselves. It isn’t as though you don’t care or aren’t trying, you just haven’t come up with solutions to help create a more organized and clean apartment. I want to share some tips with you today which I have suggested to my client on how to get more organized and save yourself some time.

There are usually two reasons someone becomes a slob. First, your parents were also slobs and you grew up in that environment. You may not have noticed anything was wrong until later when you realized you had never been taught any organizational skills. In this case, my client had parents who were not considered well organized and she may have learned that from them.

Second, there are underlying psychological reasons why you are living in a chaotic and often unclean mess. Since I am not a licensed psychologist, I won’t give out advice except to say perhaps talking to someone to help you feel better about yourself will help you feel you deserve to live in a clean organized environment. I wish you the best of luck. I will say that in the case of my client, who is obese, a smoker and rarely exercises but has a job where she takes care of everyone else’s needs (and I see her caretaking her friends and family constantly), this is a woman who can help everyone but herself and nothing will change until she recognizes that and slowly starts making a change to start treating herself with respect and takes care of her needs.

However, there are still tricks of the trade to help you keep your home or work place in better condition. The first is to hire a cleaning company or person to come in and clean for you! Quite obviously this is either something you do not enjoy or may not be good at. That’s okay – not everyone enjoys cleaning, but thankfully cleaning services can be pretty reasonable and you may find yourself keeping your place cleaner.

I also witnessed another client who finally had her home cleaned and it completely unnerved her and set her off. She couldn’t handle cleaning people coming in and touching anything and within a day, the home had become filthy again. Disorganization and dirt actually made this woman feel safer for whatever reason. If this is you, discovering what is inside you that won’t allow you to live in a clean, healthy environment is necessary before you can make positive changes.

My second suggestion is to use shelves and baskets to place things in. Have them near your door along with a coat rack or hooks. This makes it much easier to find items and you’re more likely to remain a bit more organized if you don’t have to walk far to place items away. Throw your shoes in a basket – at least you know where to find them. Throw your extra change into a glass jar placed on that shelf. Stick your purse on a hook or the shelf. Just make sure you periodically go through the baskets to keep them organize and free of overflow. Also, do not buy huge baskets – they aren’t useful if they are so large you can keep your entire wardrobe in them.

Respect yourself and put in a little time on your home. I’m not saying a lot of time, you are a busy person. I am asking to commit to 15 minutes a day and center on just one corner or one drawer or one cabinet to keep organized. If 15 minutes aren’t working – try 5. At least you know you have done 5 minutes. Clean an area during commercials when watching tv. That way you know you only have to for a few minutes but you’re getting stuff done. I vacuum during commercials, dust, do a few dishes. It makes the process a lot easier and kind of fun! How much can I get done during a 2 minute break?

Buy a shredder! Mail seems to be most of my client’s biggest challenge. Have a shredder near your door and as you go through your mail, toss them in the shredder if they are junk mail. Or place it in your living room and shred during a commercial break.

Set up automatic payment for your bills. Have those bills e-mailed to you instead of creating more paper. You can just keep them in your inbox, or choose to file them in a separate folder, but clicking a mouse is easier than physically pulling out a folder. Go electronic, save a tree and save yourself some time!

Make sure you take the time to reward yourself for taking the time to get yourself organized. Treat yourself even if you’ve taken 5 minutes to organize that day! Learn to respect yourself and treat yourself well. Rewarding yourself may seem foreign at first, but you deserve to treat yourself to something you like because you tried.

I wish you the best of luck on getting a bit organized and saving time. Trust me, with just these few ideas, they’ll help you to figure out where things are and will save you a ton of time when locating your items. Should you require additional organization help, I am available for phone consultations or, if you live in the NYC area, will come to your home and work with you to create a more organized, peaceful environment which you deserve to live in. Contact Alison Kero at: info@gothamconcierge.com or on her cell at: 646-831-9625. I do not judge your home or you, I am only pleased you have the courage to ask for help and take the first steps towards a more organized, harmonious life.

Getting Things Done When Your Mind Wanders

There are many people who tend to start 6 projects at once because their mind tends to wander off. There are many reasons why this happens which I won't go into because I am not a psychiatrist and it really doesn't matter for this blog to be effective.

First, it's important to recognize this may be a habit you have. I know I can do this if I'm not paying attention to the task at hand. Once I got so excited after a feng shui for the bedroom course I took, I managed to start changing 4 different areas in my bedroom and hallway and managed to block the entryway. That was when I realized I had to stick to one corner/one task and then continue on to the next one or I would continue to get in my own way. Having a glass of wine while working on this project may have contributed to my blocking my entryway and starting too many projects at once, but it was a nice glass of wine and I don't regret it.

Many people find it difficult to concentrate on one task for a long period of time. Again, there are various reasons I won't get into, but to make sure you actually do get your work done and accomplish the goals you have set for yourself, there are tricks to help you stay on task.

1. Use a timer. Set it for 15 minutes or 30 minutes and do only one thing for that time period. You may not finish your task, but you will have a least gotten some of it done. Then you can start on something else or choose to continue with the task you started.

2. If even 15 minutes is too hard at first, try 5 minutes. The whole point is to start to work on something - even if it's 5 minutes of research for a paper or 5 minutes of sorting your mail, you've done at least 5 minutes!

3. Take baby steps - no one is expecting perfection right from the start and neither should you. If we all did things perfectly the first time out it would be boring and who likes boring?

4. Put it on your calendar! Make a date with yourself. If you put it on your calendar for a scheduled time you are making a promise to yourself you will do it. To do lists are great, but only if you actually do them. If you are one of those people who put things on to do lists thinking, "One day..." STOP using to do lists! They don't work for you. They probably just represent a lot of stuff you feel you failed at accomplishing and it's counterproductive. Use your calendar and make a date with yourself.

5. Always remember you can do anything, but you can't do everything. Have realistic goals, create a plan of action and then do it!

And if you're reading this and think: "I should totally try this" actually do try it. I have so many clients and friends who ask for advice and then don't actually take it. If you really want to make a positive change in your life you have to actually start making the change. Change isn't always comfortable at first, but believe me, the outcome is always worth it.

Good luck! Contact me at: 646-831-9625 if you'd like to schedule a one-on-one private professional organizing or time management session by phone. You can make a difference in the way you're living your life by getting organized! If you live in the NYC area, you can schedule an at-home session with me. Good luck either way!

Suitcase Packing for Summer Months

Headed on a vacation? Good for you! So many Americans don't take their vacation times and get away. I happen to be one of them. I thought owning my own business would mean more vacation time and it so hasn't happened that way. It's terrible. So I applaud those who do take their allotted vacation times.

However, traveling has not become as enjoyable as it used to be. At least not for me. The last time I traveled it was to ski in Utah and I had to pay to check my regular luggage AND my skis. On the way back they tried to charge me extra because the bag was too heavy- (ski boots) so I ended up packing my ski boots in my carry-on and then literally put on every shirt and sweater I owned until my luggage weight 50 pounds or less. It was the principle of the moment - Delta airlines had royally screwed up my flight and the woman "helping me" was being as unhelpful as she possibly could be.

Luckily summer months are upon us, which means a lot less stuff we have to bring with us. This is great news for us! Some friends are on their way to Italy and I was suggesting a few ideas for them to maximize their trip without taking everything with them. I thought I'd share those tips with all of you.

#1 - If you can avoid checking your luggage - do so! It saves money and you won't be worried the airlines will lose your luggage - since clothing is much less bulky in the summer time, there's a good chance if you pack wisely you can just use your carry-on. This also saves a ton of time checking in at the airport and then you don't have to wait at baggage claim either. Trust me, I did this when I traveled to Berlin, Germany for a wedding last year and it was fabulous.

#2 - Roll your clothing. This takes up much less room than simply folding your clothing. If you are worried about wrinkles, check to make sure your hotel room has an iron prior to leaving or pack a small one. Or bring stuff that de-wrinkles easily or doesn't wrinkle at all. I avoid linen for this very reason.

#3 - Shoes. Unless you travel like Paris Hilton 3 pairs of shoes should be fine. One pair for walking, one pair casual pair and one dressy pair.

#4 - You don't need a whole new outfit every day. Bring clothing that you can mix and match.

#5 - Wear your clothing more than once. If you are going for a week bring 2 pair of jeans, 2-3 pair of shorts, 2 skirts, 4 shirts and a light jacket and possibly a bathing suit. If you run out of room - wear your jacket on the plane. It gets cold on those flights and you may want it anyway. If not, you can take it off and store it above you. Wear your bulkiest shoes for travel as well. You can always take them off on the flight.

#6 - Exercise your right to have a carry-on AND a purse by bringing another bag with you. I use a knapsack as my "purse" and that way I can pack much more stuff.

#7 - Buy travel sized toiletries. This helps you get through security with the 3 ounce rule plus it's much easier to carry. You can always refill the bottle with your favorite shampoo which means you can help save the environment!

#8 - If possible, buy certain things you need there. If you are going to the beach - wait until you go to buy your sunscreen. If you apply correctly and are there for a week - chances are you'll actually go through the whole bottle anyway- but you didn't need to carry it with you on the plane.

I hope these 8 tips will help everyone have an enjoyable flight this summer wherever you are traveling. To learn more about my business, Gotham Concierge, visit my website at: http://www.gothamconcierge.com or ask to be added on to my monthly newsletter which shares more information on how to organize your time, space and life. Or become a client - we handle everything you don't want to from errand running, bill payment, personal assistance, professional organizing and time management. To learn more about our Time Management seminar, contact Alison Kero at: 646-831-9625 or e-mail me at: info@gothamconcierge.com.

Saving Time Through Intuition

My week has been not so fun. Thanks to a variety of clients blaming me because they moved their own belongings around and then couldn't find their stuff, me explaining a situation to an employee at a furniture store who acted like he knew what I was talking about and then blamed me when it was apparent he didn't, another client getting angry because I asked her to confirm our appointment and she didn't feel she had to respond if she didn't want the time, I could not be happier it's Friday.

Had I listened to my intuition in many of those situations, I could have saved myself some time. I knew when I faxed some pages to the furniture store that some might not have made it through. I believed that since I called while faxing, that the employee would then call back and alert me the first page had not gone through. I should have followed my intuition and followed up with him right after the fax went through. Instead I waited and wasted time re-sending it using a scanner and an online fax machine rather than the regular fax machine I had use of prior to making the last call.

I should also have followed my intuition about a new client. Yes, she is sweet and yes, could most definitely benefit from Gotham Concierge's services, but I knew from our initial meeting she had no regard for anyone's time but her own. Instead I decided to go against my gut feeling and am left with time spent trying to get her to commit to a time to meet and her canceling at the last minute both times. When a 30 minute free consultation turns into over 2 hours and they don't notice or care, it's time to realize they don't care about wasting your time.

Intuition can save a tremendous amount of time. If your gut is telling you to do something, listen to it. Every time I have not paid attention to my gut, I've spent more time cleaning up messes and then berating myself for not listening to myself. Every time I have listened to my intuition, I've had less stress and the knowledge I did what I knew was right the first time.

Intuition is a great time saver.

Sucking It Up- When Time Management Has Reached Its Limit

Today I was presenting my time management seminar to a group of members at NAWBO-NYC (National Association of Women Business Owners- NYC chapter) and afterwards one of them asked me a very important question. She told me that once a month, she and her assistant would spend 5 hours or more working on invoicing. She said she had felt they had developed a system that worked for them, but it was time consuming and unpleasant. She wondered if I could come up with an alternative solution.

I offered 2 solutions.

Solution number one would be to outsource invoicing which may or may not lead to less time because her clients changed their scheduled time so frequently.

Solution number two was to recognize that she was invoicing her clients. Meaning she was making money! Perhaps the process was not as fun as her other duties, but invoicing helps provide information on the health of the company. I told her the best solution was to realize it was going to be a lengthy process no matter what, allocate enough time for the process to be handled and the only thing she could change about the situation was her outlook.

Often, changing how you think or feel about certain duties you dislike can make a huge difference in how long something takes! If you look at the project more positively, it is easier to start the project, stay on task and finish earlier.

So good luck tackling that project or task you hate but remember, how you view it can make a huge difference.