Step1: Get A Kit of emergency supplies.  Basic Kit:

• Water (one gallon per person per day)
• Non-perishable Food (at least a 3 day supply)
• Battery powered or hand cranked radio or NOAA weather radio w/tone alert and extra batteries
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• Whistle to signal for help
• Filter Mask or cotton t-shirt to help filter air
• Moist Towlettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for sanitation
• Wrench or Pliers to turn off utilities
• Manual Can Opener
• Plastic sheeting and Duct Tape
• Important Family Documents
• Items for unique family needs (medicines, baby formula, diapers, etc,)

Think about 2 kits: A big one for your home and smaller version for your vehicle

Step 2: Make a Plan:
Develop a family emergency plan and practice it.  Who is going to do what and where when disaster strikes.  If you have family or friends that live far away from you, consider using them as the contact person everyone needs to contact because it can be easier to contact them than within your own area.

Step 3: Be Informed about what might happen:
Make yourself aware of what can happen in the event of a natural or man made emergency

Businesses need to be prepared also.  If you own a business, you need to have an emergency plan for your employees.  Prepare a written plan, give them each a copy and personally go over it with them explaining to them that in the event of an emergency, who is in charge (chain of command), how do they communicate with you and what is their expectations in helping to get the business up and running again.  People often want to get back to work because getting back into the routine of work provides them some distraction from outside stressors and gives them the comfort of a paycheck to fix any problems they may have.

You can find tons of useful articles, tips and products at  www.ready.gov,  www.thereadystore.com and www.redcrossstore.org

Recommended products:

1. Family Life Organizer and Planner 2009
2. Organize for Disaster: Prepare Your Family and Your Home for Any Natural or Unnatural Disaster
3. Jakoter Medic Tag: Programable Flash Drive/Key Chain
4. Locket Personal Management Info System – a system that gives you control of your most private documents that is storable, compact and portable, all on a 1GB thumb drive.

Well, you are not alone!  It is a extremely common problem facing most
of us on a daily basis due to the fact the most people do not have a
clear reality of how long it actually takes to do a task.

For
example: I had a client who had a full time job from 8 a.m.-4 p.m .  She was
the stress-out mother of two elementary school aged children, a boy and a girl. When we met for her organization planning session, she described her weekday morning routine.

I get up at 6 a.m., go downstairs and turn the
coffee on. I turn around and go back upstairs so I can wake up my husband.  I go back downstairs again. Then I start making the kids lunches, straighten up the den, and grab my
coffee. Now I trudge back upstairs  and pick out clothes for my husband.  Did I mention that I am usually ironing his clothes at this point?  Now I can finally get ready for work from about 6:30-6:50 a.m.  Between
6:50 to 7:30 a.m. I focus on getting the kids up and dressed for school. After getting them downstairs, they get a bowl of cereal while I load their backpacks.  We head out the door at 7:30 a.m.  I’m exhausted every morning.  I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up without going bonkers.

“How would you like your mornings to run?” I ask.

She said that she would relish having 10 minutes of quiet time.  Enjoying a cup of coffee would be a luxury.  It would be a miracle not having to rush getting herself, husband, and children ready for the day.   Eating breakfast?  Now she eats a breakfast bar on the run.  Would it be possible to eat at the breakfast table every morning?

Your “In A Snap” Solution: Knowing how many tasks are in a project and how long each task takes.

Step One: I had her write down every single task that she did in the morning.  Beside each task, she had to write how long she thought it took to do it.  Next she added up the total time for all her morning tasks. Her first list did not include every single task because
she still kept lumping things together.  She combined her shower time with dressing, hair drying, and make-up time.  I had her break out her list in detail.  She added each individual task.

Step Two: I then asked her to write down a new list.  For the next 4 days she was to write down how long it actually
took her to do each task.  She quickly realized that she was trying to
do way too much in the time she allotted herself.

Step Three: I sat down with her.  It was time for making a few tough decisions. With gentle coaching, we walked through the
process of deciding
what she could do the night before : Straightening the den, packing the
kids lunches, preparing their backpacks and sitting them beside the
door, having the kids help her pick out their own clothes, and setting
the timer on the coffee maker.  Then I asked her what could she delegate to someone else (her husband).  He could wake himself up, pick out his own clothes, and make sure they were pressed.  This allowed her husband to lend a hand with the morning routine.

Step Four: After giving her new routine a test run for just one week, she was de-stressed! She was thrilled, her kids were less moody, and her husband was able to lend a helping hand.

The morale to our organization story: Are you setting the stage each morning for a positive day or a rushed, stressed out day?  Let Clutter Conversions in control..Organized Living in a Snap!

Disorganization can lead to:

Medical Mistakes and Errors such as grabbing the wrong chart or wrong medications, poor communication.

Physical stress on the body, Increased blood pressure and Heart rate, Decreased immune system (more colds and flu’s).  When you need something right away and you have to dig through the piles on your desk, floor or drawers to find it, physically your heart rate and blood pressure increases and you begin to panic.  Your body is in the “Fight or Flight” mode and if this happens frequently, your body stays in that mode and cannot relax.  Studies have shown that this leads to ulcers, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions.

Unprofessional =  Missed Appointments and Project Deadlines.

Clutter can lead to:

Depression and Isolation = Some people get so caught up in “their stuff” that it takes over their entire life.  The items that surround them become like a security wall in which they find comfort but at the same time they become isolated because they will not invite visitors into their home because they are ashamed and that can lead to loneliness and depression.

Increase in Weight =  When you walk into the kitchen and you have to move items off your counter to prepare the meal or the kitchen table is piled with mail, magazines and the kids book bags, it is easier to pick up the phone and call for food delivery.  Check out the book, “Does This Make My Butt Look Fat” by Peter Walsh.

Sickness and Disease = Most people do not pay attention to or know the expiration dates on many of the products they have in their homes.  For example, make-up and make-up brushes will begin to carry germs after 2 months.  Another item that most people frequently forget to check the expiration dates on is medications (headache powders, contact solutions, laxatives, antacids, creams, etc).

Allergies = Having a lot of clutter sitting around collects dusts and it is hard to clean all of it weekly.

Energy = Owning a lot of “stuff” demands your time and energy!!!  You spend a lot of money buying all of those items and now you have to spend a lot of time maintaining them and keeping them clean which also takes your energy!!!