Stress Free Travel Series: How to Travel with Less Stress, Part 1. Travel Light – Best Packing Tips and Checklists for Stress Free Vacation Travel

Stress Free Travel Series: How to Travel with Less Stress, Part 1. Travel Light – Best Packing Tips and Checklists for Stress Free Vacation Travel

Spring Cleaning!

Ah, the cold in Central Florida and Tampa is slowly leaving and we are on our way into Spring. What does that mean? Spring cleaning, of course! And Organizing your home. Although many of us dread it, the welcoming of Spring is a great time to take inventory of what we have an what we can let go of. Starting off fresh for the rest of the year is a great feeling!
Not sure how to begin? Here are some tips to help you out along the way (of course, hiring a Professional Organizer from A Space That Works Organizing is also a great way to make the most of your time and effort!)

- Now is a great time to organize and weed out the closet. Go through your winter clothes as you pack them away. If you didn’t wear it, you don’t need it (no matter how cute it is, there was something cuter you passed it up for.) This is the perfect winter to do this because it got so cold you know what you really needed.
- Next, turn all of your hangers in your closet around backwards. This way as you wear something and put it away you can replace it the right way and see at the end of the season what you never even wore (the hanger will still be backwards.) This is a very easy way to trick yourself into organizing.
- Take advantage of the final cool Central Florida days to organize your garage! Weed out all of the old toys, equipment and unpacked boxes from your move 5 years ago. If you didn’t remember it was there you probably won’t miss it.
- Do a toy purge. Now that you have all of the Christmas toys in addition to the rest of the mess it is time to pare down. The fewer toys a child has the more they can find and play with the toys they really love. Organize toys with your child into ones they love, ones they like and ones they no longer play with. It is also a great learning time and a chance to give to Central Florida children who don’t have as much. Make it a fun time for the kids – have them make a card for the child they will be giving their toys to (even if it doesn’t make it to the child it is a great way for your kids to feel like they are connecting.)

Keep watching our organizing newsletters for more tips each month. If you know a friend who would enjoy our organizing newsletters please forward this to them as well. To sign up for our newsletter write to Suzanna@aspacethatworks.com and write newsletter in the subject line.

Suzanna Letchford
Professional Organizer
A Space That Works Organizing
Central Florida, Tampa
407-416-6118
www.ASpaceThatWorks.com

Tax time - again!

It's tax time - again. Didn't we just do this last year? I need a Daily Money Manager. Oh - wait. I AM a Daily Money Manager!

I don't know about you, but I hate tax time. Thankfully it is a little easier with a little organization. Especially as a business-owner the paperwork can be overwhelming even for the most organized of people.

In order to make my tax season as stress-free as possible (do those words go together? Tax and stress-free?) I attempt simple organization throughout the year.

For one, since receipts can overwhelm me with the business I keep a box on my desk that any business-related receipts can just be thrown into (I can be lazy sometimes) and at the end of the month I scan them and enter them into my tax spreadsheet. That way I can double-check my accounting program (I just use Mint.com - it is online and easy) against the spreadsheet so I make sure I have all of my receipts and don't miss anything. The IRS accepts scanned receipts now, so this is an easy way to store them for the end of the season as well.

I also have my tax files set up by category -
Scanned receipts (in envelopes by month after they are scanned)
Advertising
Utilities
Travel
Health
Donations
Tax paperwork
Other

This way, as I enter everything into TurboTax each file goes in order with the categories they will ask me about.

I store my personal information in the same way - organized by category in the order TurboTax asks for it.

The last helpful thing I use is Itsdeductible.com
This website is where I list all of my donations and it lets me know the value of each item. The great thing - it also imports directly into Turbotax!

Tax season can be a breeze if everything is kept organized throughout the year - and it doesn't have to be time-consuming if you keep it simple.

Organizing Central Florida (Orlando, Tampa and palm coast)

A Space That Works’ Professional Organizers offer an array of services from advice to one- on-one organizing. Servicing homes, business and training in time management we remove the stress and frustration of disorganization leaving peace and time to do what you love.

Practical gifts

Looking for a great gift idea for teachers or the person who has everything? Don’t want to add to their clutter? Want something they will remember? Event tickets or service gift certificates for a service will be remembered and appreciated (and won’t take up any space in their closets!)

Phone Time

For those of us who have to be on the phone uninterrupted but have small kids this can sometimes be a big challenge! One idea is to have a phone toy box. Put a few fun toys into a box and put it away where the kids can't get it (on top of the fridge or near the phone are two good places.) When you need to talk on the phone uninterrupted you can pull out this box and let the kids play with a toy from inside until you are done, then the toy goes back into the box.

Kids look forward to your phone conversations now and feel like they get a treat when you are on the phone. This also keeps the toys seeming fresh and new to them, ensuring they do not lose interest as quickly!

For more tips and tricks watch my blog at: http://aspacethatworks.blogspot.com/

Or, visit the free organization discussion groups - more info can be found at: http://messies.meetup.com/65/


Suzanna Letchford
Professional Organizer/Owner
A Space That Works
407-416-6118
www.aspacethatworks.com

"There are two ways of spreading light; to be the candle or the mirror
that reflects it." --Edith Wharton

Organizing Incoming Mail

Hello, all!
I just wanted to share a quick tip with all of you for organizing - I have found it to be EXTREMELY valuable!

To handle incoming mail at the office or at home, create a file box (one that will hold either a few hanging folders or manilla folders - not too large.) This box can sit on the counter or desk and should be located closest to the door and garbage can.

Create files with the following titles:
To Pay
To Act (or To Do)
Pending
To Enter
To Attend
To File
To Read

Then, use the files as follows:

To Pay - all bills and items requiring payment
To Act - Anything that you have to take action on
Pending - anything you are waiting on someone else for (catalog orders waiting to come in, anything you are waiting to talk to someone else about, etc.)
To Enter - anything that needs to be entered (or scanned) into the computer
To Attend - party invitations, meeting announcements, theme park tickets, airline tickets (anything you have to attend - make sure to RSVP and to write it in your calendar before putting it in here)
To File - papers that need to be filed in the filing cabinet (clean this out and file all of them when it gets full)
To Read - magazine articles (rip them out of the magazine,) informational papers, etc.

Also put a bag with your:
checkbook
envelopes
pen
stamps
check register
return address labels calculator

in the front, you can then carry this box to wherever is convenient to pay your bills - and you can always find your things when you need them!


For more information about this system and others feel free to join me for my free discussion groups:
May 1, 5:30pm and May 8, 11:00am at Barnie's Coffee in Lake Mary, FL. For More info go to: http://messies.meetup.com/65

I would love to hear any questions or ideas you all have about organizing as well!
_________________
Suzanna Letchford
Professional Organizer
www.ASpaceThatWorks.com
407-416-6118