The Box (Part 2): Three More Ways to Utilize this Simple Organizational Tool
February 14th, 2007 (Organization)
Below are additional items that you can put in “the box” to get your life organized and keep it that way:
Newspaper Clippings: The A-Z file can also take the place of a newspaper clippings pile. Suppose you have an interest in restaurants and your local paper carries regular reviews of restaurants. Instead of cutting out the article, transfer the information to a card and file it under R for restaurants.
If someone recommends a book to you, write it on a card and file it under B for book. You’ll have all the information summarized and at hand when you want it.
Monthly Activities: The monthly activities part of the Box is used to store reminders of activities that are done only seasonally or yearly. Check your monthly card at the beginning of each month. Let us say that you wish to turn your mattress four times a year. Behind January, April, July, and October put “Turn mattress in master bedroom.” You can put notices to remind you to clean the gutter, store seasonal clothes, wash living room drapes, and other seasonal or annual things on the list of activities.
You will also wish to list birthdays and anniversaries behind the month in which they occur so you can send a card or make a call for the special occasion. If the event is on November 1, put the notice in October. Once you start using the Box you’ll think of lots and lots of wonderful uses for it. If you have some short-term information you want to put in the file, put it on a piece of scrap paper and file it. Throw the paper away when you have finished
with it.
Special Interests: The special interests part of the Box is for keeping information that is unique to your home and family. There are four or five blank dividers for that purpose. I use mine for storage information, like where I stored the Christmas, Halloween, or seasonal things. I use it for notes on a real estate course I took. I use it for records of special days, things like who came to the house on Christmas last year, what we had for dinner, and what gifts were received. I am sentimental, I guess. It makes me feel good to know one card per holiday has those memories safely preserved.
One person I know has a divider labeled “Health”. In that section she has a separate card for each member of her family. She records the dates of immunizations, surgeries, and so on, and details information about allergies. In a section on Finances she keeps cards that contain all the insurance policy numbers for life, health, car, and fire insurance. She also records checking and savings account numbers and credit card information. Because her savings passbooks are exactly 3×5, she files them in this section. In the event of an emergency she has all her vital information at her fingertips.