Christa Wagner

I love paper and love my files!!!   I am not afraid to say that out loud, but that’s because they are organized and I can find things easily. 

Over the years, I came to recognize two common issues with paper: it comes into our homes or offices in droves, and we have no idea what to do with it once it arrives.  Where do you put it?  How long do you keep it?   I get these questions daily.   And what about the computer, wasn’t that supposed to help with paper clutter?  Not really – the computer age has increased paper use by 60% over the last ten years.   

We will be tackling many of these common questions on our next teleclass on January 27, 2010, called Manage the Paper Crisis.  This teleclass is for both professional organizers and clients who struggle with paper organizing. 

But from now until then, I want to pose a challenge to you.  SORT and TOSS one small pile each night between now and January 27th.   The problem with paper is we don’t know where to start and so we never do.  Start small.  Look at the counter, the dining room table or your desktop.  SORT and TOSS one small pile from one location each night and you will be blown away at how much you can get done.   SORT like items together and let go of any paper you don’t need or plan to use.  If you don’t know what to toss, attend Manage the Paper Crisis. 

 If you want to learn more about how to Manage the Paper Crisis, attend our next teleclass on January 27th.  Register now! 

Teleclass provided by A Red Bench; Christa’s partnership with Angela Ploetz.

Get Connected Media contacted me again to do a product testimonial for the new HP Officejet Pro 8500 A909g Series printer.  Wow, this printer is amazing.  I have been using the HP Officejet 6300 series for many years now so I am quite familiar with the product .  I love the all-in-one printer because it takes up less space and I get everything I need in one. 

I am only a few days into my product review, but so far I am loving this product.

• Easy set-up
• Simple installation; it does the entire installation on its own
• Prints from anywhere in my home
• Fax works
• And best of all, no wires!!

As an organizer people are always asking me what they can do with their wires.  You can tuck and hide them, but they never really go away so this printer is going to provide a lot of solutions.  More to come on my product review, but the outlook is good!

Christa Wagner is a professional organizer in Vancouver, BC.

In September I had the opportunity to work with Blink Media on an organizing segment for their Get Connected Show.  The show a weeks ago during Small Business Week (the week of October 19) and I just recently got a copy of the link.  I’ve been on TV a few times on the news, but this was a new experience that I just loved.  I had so much fun and was thrilled to be apart of the event.   I was also so impressed with the crew at Blink Media; the quality of the work was exceptional and they were super to work with. 

On the show we work with a client who is struggling with some organizational issues.   Like many of my clients they had a home office space that had too many purpose, little storage space and just too much stuff.  We were able to help by letting go of some unneeded items, we created a home for things using some great office products, and since it was a Get Connected Segment, we incorporated some pretty cool and very functional computer tools.  The client was thrilled and overall it was a super day.

Click her to view the segment. 

Christa Wagner is a Professional Organizer located in Vancouver, BC.  I am hoping for many more opportunities like this one.  Here is what the producer said about working with me:  “I think I can speak on behalf of AJ, Clayton and the entire GC Crew, that you were an excellent co-host for our segment and the energy you brought to the set throughout the long day will translate well onto the screen.” 

If you know of any media opportunities, please pass them along and I will eagerly follow-up!   Contact me at 778.839.5792.

In September I had the opportunity to work with Blink Media on an organizing segment for their Get Connected Show.  The show is airing tomorrow during Small Business Week (the week of October 19).  I had so much fun and was thrilled to be apart of the event.   Thank you Blink TV. 

On the show we work with a client who is struggling with some organizational issues.   Our client was fantastic.  Like many of my clients they had a home office space that had too many purpose, little storage space and just too much stuff.  We were able to help by letting go of some unneeded items, we created a home for things using some great office products, and since it was a Get Connected Segment, we incorporated some pretty cool and very functional computer tools.  The client was thrilled and overall it was a super day.

The show will air on Thursday, October 22nd on BNN at 5:00 PM PST, and on City TV on Saturday October 24th at 9:30 AM PST.   Visit their website for exact viewing times.   I will also post to You Tube as soon as I receive my copy!

Christa Wagner is a Professional Organizer located in Vancouver, BC.

Tune into Shaw TV, Channel 4 in Vancouver to see professional organizer Christa Wagner in action with her local client Nicole Turcotte.  Christa and Nicole have been working on her home office for about 12 hours and we have made a huge dent in Nicole’s paper piles. 

As a new Mom and business owner, Nicole has a lot on her plate.  Not to mention, she had her beautiful baby girl six months ago and then moved into their new home one month later .  What do you often do in that situation?  You stuff things wherever there is space, right?  Well, now Nicole wants to find a practical, logical home for things and most importantly her home office which is piling up and only getting worse each day.

Nicole’s office is like many others with tons of paper on the desk, many boxes of old, outdated, paper, no file system in place and no motivation to get started.  That’s where a professional organizer comes and we have made amazing progress.

In the time we’ve been working together, we’ve set up a FreedomFiler for Nicole creating a home for paper she needs to reference again in the future.  We’ve created action files for Nicole’s desktop providing a home for all the paper she has to act upon in the future and we’ve discussed time management.  (Want to create your own action files, purchase our eBook Conquer Paper Clutter). 

You can see it all on Shaw TV (Channel 4, Vancouver) on the show called “The Express.”  Here are the times:

• September 22 at 3pm, 6pm, 10pm
• September 23 at 5:30am, 10am, 11:30am, 2pm

Check it out and contact us with any questions at 778.839.5792.

Last week my wallet was stolen.  Some sly person took it right out of my purse at a coffee shop.  I was sitting there with three other people and have no idea how I could not have seen them.  These people are good. 

Anyway, since then I have recently been dealing with the backlash of losing your wallet.  I’ve had to call every card in my wallet from bank cards, credit cards, health care cards, license, grocery card, etc.  This is especially painful since I live outside the country and have just about two of everything.  What a royal pain in the you know what.  I was really angry, but of course there must be a lesson here.  I am going to take this opportunity to slim down and carry less in my wallet (when I get around to buying a new one).

Here is what I suggest:

• Remove anything you don’t need.  There was no reason to be carrying extra credit cards, business cards, gift cards, etc.  And now they are gone.  Bummer, I had a nice amount of money on several gift cards. 
• Make a copy of your wallet content.  Since I tend to be pretty organized I did have a copy of both sides of my wallet contents and that was extremely helpful.  I was able to use this to contact all of the companies and had my original account numbers handy.  Made a huge difference and sped up the process.

It’s been a week now and I am over it, but its the little things like this that really throw a wrench in our day.  Take the time and prepare yourself in case this ever happens to you.

Make Life a little easier and organize your electronic files

Minimize this blog and take a look at your computer desktop.  What does it look like?  Are there are icons covering it?  Look at your “My Documents” folder?  What does it look like?  Are there random icons and folders in your documents?  If you answered yes, then keep reading.  

Information is only valuable is you can find it and although it is easier to find an electronic file than a paper file, the more organized the system the better.  I have an entire workshop on this topic, but in a nut shell and to get you started, here is a great suggestion.  Look at your documents again?  What do you see?   Here is an example of what I typically see: 

• Miscellaneous (my personal fave)
• Bank of America
• Receipts
• Cover Letters
• Ideas
• Client A
• Client B
• Client C
• Fluffy
• Transcripts
• McDonald’s Corporation
• Fax
• Goals
• Reference letter
• Certificate scans

And the list goes on and on and on.  This is a good list, but its difficult to find exactly what you’re looking quickly.  Let’s start over by naming the folders in your documents with a broad, generic name.  Then move relevant documents or sub-folders into that broad folder.  You can always get more specific later if needed.  Here is an example based on the list above:

• Finance:  For Bank of America Statement, Receipts, etc.
• Career:  For cover letters, reference letters, McDonald’’s Corp, etc.  Be sure to name these so you can find them easily.  For example Cover Letter_Fahlgren_Account Supervisor.
• Resources:  For Ideas and other things you reference from time to time.
• Education:  For transcript and certificate scans.
• Personal:  For goals
• Communication:  Fax
• Clients:  For clients A, B and C

The idea is to have less folders so you can find things more easily.  Instead of looking through and entire list for a clients file, place them all in one location called Clients.  Simple and easy and I would recommend no more than 8 – 10 folders.  Oh and you may have noticed the miscellaneous folder went away.  Move these contents into their appropriate location based on your new system.

Computer and email organizing has become a bit of a focus for me.  For other blog posts on email related topics, read One Step To Reducing Email Overload, Take Control Of Your Email Inbox, Reduce the Volume Of Email You Receive and Detox Your Inbox.   Consider hiring Savvy Solutions to help you or your employees Avoid Email Bankruptcy.

Attention Busy Moms and Families:   If Household Clutter is Driving You Crazy, Take Our Summer Organizing Challenge.   

Share Your Success: Week #2
 
We are week two of our Summer Organizing Challenge and we want to hear how things are going?    Your homework was to walk around your home or office and identify areas you want to organize or clutter clear  Then create a list and a timeline to complete the project(s).  How did you do?

So sometimes when we are organizing or working on any project, we can lose our steam.  One of the benefits of working with an organizer is that I am there to keep you going when you want to give up.  So how do you keep motivated and stay on track?  My advice is to look at your list and start working on the thing task or activity will make you feel the most amazing if it were completed.  Perhaps, it’s a clearing the dining room table, or creating a grocery list (we recommend using our Meal Planning Made Easy System to help), or maybe its getting all your kids toys off the floor.  What is going to make you feel great and motivate you to keep going.   Set the timer and start working on this task for activity.  You are going to feel like a rock start when its done!

Dont’ deal with the clutter for one more day – let us know how the organizing challenge is going and contact us with any questions at info@savvysolutionsorganizing.com.  Being organized gives you more time to do things you love  you can be outside enjoying the sunshine.  Get Organized and Get More Out Of Life!   Best of luck on your organizing project.  We look forward to hearing about your success!

Christa

p.s.  Tell friends about this post and invite others to join the Organizing Challenge - its for anyone you know who wants de-clutter and get organized.

p.p.s  Hiring an organizer will cut your organizing time in half and increase your likelihood of success.  We have organized hundreds of offices, files, kitchens, closets, bedrooms and kid’s rooms.   Bring it on!  If your in Vancouver, contact us today at 778.839.5792 to ensure you organizing success.  Outside of Vancouver, check out our organizing products to help you organize on your own.