If you have ever had the misfortune to live through fire, flood, or other natural disaster in your home, you know the importance of having your belongings catalogued and inventoried for insurance claims. Docuhome.com is a service that will help you photograph, tag and plan for the worst, should it happen.

One question I get asked a lot, is “what do I need to shred, and do I really need to shred it?”  As identity theft is rampant, and people really do dumpster dive to get your personal information,  you should shred any documents that have account numbers, social security numbers, passwords, PINs, and date of birth.  You should also shred credit card applications, old credit card bills and utility bills, as well as any expired bank cards, credit cards, medical bills (but not medical records). Unclutter.com has a good blog post on this from a few years back, but I think it is still relevant today. As for what to shred all that paper with, it is important to get a cross-cut shredder that cuts the paper into little confetti like pieces that are virtually impossible to put back together. Fellowes makes a great mid-priced cross-cut shredder that can handle 11 sheets of paper at once, as well as credit cards and staples.

Losing your mind over figuring out which cable goes to which product? The easiest thing to do is to label it as soon as it comes in the door! There are some very inexpensive label ID tags out there, including this one. Taking a few minutes up front to identify your cords and cables will make a huge difference later on!

In Peter Walsh’s book “It’s All Too Much,” he shares his proven system for letting go of emotional and physical clutter to create a happier, stress-free home and life. Read his room-by-room tips to honestly assess what adds quality to your life and what’s holding you back. A must read!

Labeling shelves, drawers, and containers is a quick and easy way to ensure everyone in your home or office knows where things should go. Do it like a pro(fessional organizer) with a label maker! They come in a variety of styles – this is the one that accompanies me on all my client visits.

Resist the urge to continually check email or voicemail. Instead, set specific times — perhaps once in the morning, once after lunch, and once before you end the day — to do this. You can set the sender’s expectation in your signature line, saying, “I check email 3 times daily. I’ll respond to your request as soon as I am able.”

A colleague from NAPO (the National Association of Professional Organizers) just launched a great website called The Stuff Shop that aims to link people’s excess stuff with organizations and ministries who can use it as well as provide options for recycling, shredding or disposing of it in an environmentally friendly way.  Check it out!

Our local chapter has been talking quite a bit recently about ways to solve the age old problem of socks straying from one another in the laundry cycle, and these are some of the solutions that have been proposed.  The sock clip seems like a handy way to keep socks together.  It won’t harm fabric, is easy to use, comes in different colors for different family members, and  can be used for other things (like clipping chip bags).  The Container Store has its own version called The Sock Pro, which is more basic but does the more or less the same thing (without acting as a chip clip), and finally, there is the good old safety pin, which we all have plenty of already.  Just pin your socks together when you take them off at the end of the day, throw them in the laundry (they won’t rust), and find them at the end, all nicely matched!  The only hitch with this tip is that the sock wearers have to be trained to do this…but it will be worth it if you can!

Want to make sure you remember the all the product information that comes with your software CDs? Just use a permanent marker and write the serial number, product key, or any other vital information on the printed front of the disk.  Then, no matter what happens to the packaging, the important information will stay with the CD.

It’s a New Year, and many people’s resolutions include getting more exercise, enjoying more time with family, and often, getting organized.  While it’s all very well to say you want to “get organized”,  it’s also very important to know WHY you want to get organized if you want your resolution to stick.  Write down the top two or three reasons why being more organized would make your life easier; for instance, saving time looking for things, or saving money by not buying duplicates of things you already have but can’t find.  Once you have the reasons written down, you will be better inspired to keep your resolution!