Posts Tagged ‘passwords’

Organizing information Organizing information is as important as organizing the items in your home and office. You need to be able to access information on any given day for a variety of reasons. This requires that you have information systems. Organized systems aren’t random lists and notes with pieces of information. Systems are structured, readable, and categorical. As  Professional Organizer consider questions such as: What types information do you need? What is the best way for you to store it, paper and/or digital? Do you have the information backed up? How often do you update the information? Recently I’ve been blogging about organizing before surgery because in that particular circumstance you and your support team will need to have access to current and important information. The types of information that you want to include are: important documents, contact information, and medical information. Organizing information | Important documents Organizing information such as important documents will be invaluable. It will enable you to share the information with a friend, family member, and your medical providers. Let a friend or family member know where your Will, Advanced Care Directive, passwords and account information are kept. Ideally, give them a copy of each of these documents if you are going to have surgery, traveling for an extended period of time, or live in an area that may be prone to natural disasters (assuming they don’t live in the same area).   Organizing information | Contact information Organizing information also includes your contact information. Likely you have all or most of it on your smartphone. It’s helpful to create a separate list of the names, emails and/or phone numbers of your family members and close friends. Share this list, with permission, with everyone on it. After organizing contact information I set up a phone tree.… read more →

What you need to organize What you need to organize before an event or crisis is critical to ensuring that you will be better prepared and feel more in control of the circumstances. What you need to organize before is a “hot topic” for me having prepared for, and successfully going through surgery not too long ago. Yes, I am a Personal Professional Organizer but I had little experience preparing to organize for my own surgery and recovery! That said, I am now offering specific professional organizing services designed to help you or someone you know to get organized for a similar situation. In my recent blog posts, “Organizing before surgery” and “Organizing Medical History” I describe the what, why and how to: Be prepared before the surgery. What you need to bring with you to the hospital. How to organize the information you and others need to be able to access, including a medical history binder. How to prepare your home for your return and recovery. What you need to organize | Passwords What you need to organize must include passwords because so much of what we do and store is online. I am NOT recommending a notebook or folder that is labeled “passwords”. Instead, find a way to label a digital document or paper file that says something else that only you would understand. Be sure that a trusted friend or family member has access to your passwords in the event that your circumstances such as travel or recovery from surgery take longer than anticipated. The benefits of organizing information such as passwords is that you can avoid or minimize missed deadlines or late payments. You might also consider using a security-based platform that stores all of your passwords in one account so that you only need to… read more →

Organizing before surgery Organizing before surgery was always something that someone else needed until…it was something that I needed! As a Personal Professional Organizer I discovered that there were at least 4 different aspects of organizing: What you need to do to be prepared. What you need to bring to the hospital. What information or items others need to have access to during your recovery. How to prepare your home for when you return. You can print out this post or get out your pad or tablet and start listing these organizing tips. The importance of having information in writing for yourself, your medical team, and your support team cannot be emphasized enough. Disclosure is also important. By that I mean share the written information with your surgeon and medical staff as well as with key family members and friends. It takes a team to support you and these people are your team. Let them help because they want to do so.I usually preach “less is more” however in this case the more the details that are specified the better. Sometimes it is difficult to remember details when the anticipation of surgery is looming so start organizing as early as possible before your surgery. Organizing before surgery Organizing tips for things to do before your surgery are listed below. Make sure that you click on the RSS feature of my website in order to receive the upcoming detailed versions of this list directly into your inbox (it will be the icon at the top that looks like sound waves). Organizing the following information and to-do’s will help you feel more in control and hopefully reduce your stress. Create/update your medical history binder. List current medications and supplements. Organize your passwords. Organize your account information. Notify the post office, credit card… read more →