Do you wish you had a magical Disney wand to wave and have your luggage packed with everything you need? While I can’t provide you that magical wand, I can help you to be more efficient at packing and take some stress out of the process.

Whether you are packing for a business trip or family vacation, remembering what you need to pack can be daunting.  If you forget to pack an essential item, a great summer vacation or superb business trip may turn into a trip with obstacles.

Whether you pack well in advance or are always up late the night before a trip packing, the key to packing quickly and efficiently is having a packing checklist to refer to. Relying on memory alone can be risky. A “what to pack list” will keep you focused and provide you with confidence during the packing process. 

You’ll want to create a packing list that can be used trip after trip. Start by creating a comprehensive list that includes all the items you’ll want for travel in the summer and non-summer months as well as items for business and non-business trips.

As I mentioned, I can’t provide you a magical Disney wand but I can provide you a comprehensive packing checklist so you won’t need to create one from scratch. Feel free to download Diane Albright’s Free Packing Checklist by going to www.DianeAlbright.com/free_packing_checklist.

The next time you are preparing for a trip, print a copy and cross-off the items you won’t need this time around. As you begin gathering items, keep the list at hand as you walk around your house or apartment. As you collect the items, place them along side of your luggage and check off the items on your list. Once you have all of your items collected as well as the clothing you need, you are ready to begin packing your suitcase.

If you want to fine tune your packing list a bit further, place your list in your suitcase on your next trip. If you find yourself in need of an item while you are away, add the item to your list. When you return home from your trip, update your comprehensive list with any added items. With this tweaked list, you’ll have the perfect packing checklist and be well prepared for upcoming travel.

Here are additional tips and tricks that may be helpful in planning your next trip:

Luggage to Love

Suitcase Packing Made Easy

How to Find Low Air Fare

Save Money on Hotel Stays

Car Rentals for Less

Preventing Travel Mishaps

Wishing you fabulous vacations and travel,

Eve Tannery, Matt Broderick, Diane Albright, Jaciel Cordoba

I recently was invited to join news anchor Eve Tannery on WFMZ-TV’s Sunrise Show to discuss the cost of disorganization in workplace. As always, Eve, Jaciel Cordoba, Matt Broderick, Rick Edwards and the entire Channel 69 news team were warm and welcoming. It is a delight to be among such wonderful professionals. I felt honored to be behind the news desk.

A recent survey completed by Brother International provided us much to talk about. The survey, on the cost of disorganization in the workplace, polled office workers.

I shared with TV viewers quick and simple tips on how to increase organization and productivity in the office. To learn about the cost of disorganization in the workplace as well as the tips I provided visit http://dianealbright.com/blog/2010/11/10/workplace_disorganization
To view the segments on the Sunrise Show go to http://wfmz.com/news/25755056/detail.html

If you or your team is struggling with disorganization or productivity in the workplace, consider applying my trademarked methodology, Work Piles Made Easy™. To learn about consultations or presentations, email or call us at 866.NEAT.911 and organize@DianeAlbright.com

I wish you organizing & productivity success!

Stressed and overwhelmed with a long “To Do” list? Then put that overwhelming “To Do” list aside and create a brand new one that only lists the three most important tasks to work on today. Now you will have a realistic “To Do” list and you will end the day with a feeling of accomplishment instead of a feeling of failure.

Cross-off each task as you accomplish it. Hopefully you will accomplish 100% of your list. If you don’t, save the unfinished task for the following day.

At the close of each day create a new 3-item task list for the next day. Never put more than three items on your list. If you accomplish all three tasks and have time for another, choose another task to work on.  Keep your long overwhelming “To Do” list off to the side as a resource to select tasks from.

Happy sense of accomplishment!

Time is valuable. The more time you have available, the more you can spend time on what is most important to you. If you would like to be a more productive with telephone calls, consider these recommendations.

1. Purchase a telephone message log. Use this book not only to jot down voicemail messages left for you but to write down notes during telephone conversations. This way you’ll have a record of all calls and conversations. Your notes will be in one organized place instead of small pieces of paper everywhere. When buying a telephone message book, select one that offers a duplicate page behind the original. This way you can tear off the top copy to take a message with you or handoff to another person.

2. Before placing a telephone call jot down what you would like to discuss or ask during the call. Studies show by doing this you will save 5 minutes per telephone call.

3, Avoid a game of telephone-tag. When leaving a voicemail message, leave enough information so the person you are calling can complete the call with a voicemail message if need be. For example, don’t leave a message, that states, “Hi Bob, this Mary, could you please return my call?” Instead state, “Hi Bob, this Mary, could you please provide me the date and time of our conference call with John Smith.” In the later case, the call can be finalized with one return call.

4. When leaving a voicemail message, speak slowly when stating your name and telephone number. Picture someone writing down the information as you are saying it. Repeat your name and number. This way if there was an interruption due to the beep of an incoming call or poor reception from a cellular phone, your name and number will still be audible.

5. Consider the time of day that you are placing the call. Are you calling the person when they most likely will be available? Is it too early or too late for them to be in their office? Keep in mind that if you reach the person instead of their voicemail there will be no game of telephone-tag and all information can be exchanged immediately. Perhaps a list of area codes with time zones would be helpful. You can keep the list as a document or link on our computer, or print out a list to keep at your desk. A time zone list is crucial if you are calling a customer at home. You’ll want to avoid calling before 9:00 AM and after 9:00 PM. If you’re dying to get the call of your task list but the time of day is not appropriate, consider sending an email if you have an email address available.

Happy calling!

As you leave from home for a trip to you ever have that sick feeling that you forgot to pack something? Instead, wouldn’t it be great to have the confidence that you are leaving home with everything you need?

Do you dread packing? Do you repeatedly go back and forth wasting time gathering items you need as they come to mind?

Our tips below should help cut down on your packing time and provide you with a stress-free vacation.

•  Create a packing checklist to use over and over again. Save the list in your computer. Each time it is time to pack, print out the list then cross of the items that don’t pertain to your upcoming and travel and jot down additional items you need. To help you get started, we’ll share our travel packing checklist with you.

•  Gather all the clothes that you would like to take and put half back. Keep the clothes that are in the same color families so you can mix and match. Don’t keep browns and blues for example.

•  Lay clothing as flat as possible and as full length as possible. Having clothing in dry cleaner bags in a suitcase is a great way to prevent clothes from wrinkling.

•  Place the clothing you will need first, on top.

•  Divide clothes and other items between different bags in case a piece of luggage gets lost en route.

•  Stuff shoes with sunglasses, other items you don’t want to break and electronic items such as cords.

•  To prevent shoes from getting other items dirty, place in Ziploc® gallon size bags - especially on the return trip.

•  Put items such as brushes that can snag or scratch things in a cloth or Ziploc® bag.

•  Put toiletries in Ziploc® bags. If your toiletries are going in a carry on for air travel, prevent getting tied up at security by following the TSA (Transportation Security Administrations) rule of 3-1-1*. Each liquid, gel and aerosol must be in a container of no more than THREE ounces. All liquids, gels and aerosols must be placed in ONE quart size ziptop, clear bag - which makes it easy to pull out and place in the bin to be x-rayed at the security checkpoint. Each passenger may carry on only ONE ziptop, clear bag of liquids, gels and aerosols. Consider putting this bag in an easy to reach part of your carry on such as a zippered pocket. Travel size containers can help with the packing of toiletries. Bed, Bath, and Beyond carries a nice selection of travel size items and containers.

*Medications, baby formula and food, and breast milk are exempt from the 3-1-1 carry on rule in reasonable quantities. You can check out the TSA’s website http://www.tsa.gov/311/index.shtm for the most up to date information.

•  Weigh your luggage at home. Don’t wait until you get to the airport, for you certainly don’t want to have to pay a fee or frantically try to move items from one suitcase to another to make the weight requirement. Check with your airline if you are concerned about their specific weight limits for luggage - typically for an economy ticket the weight limit for checked luggage is 50 pounds.

•  Before leaving for the airport tie a colored ribbon to your luggage handle or place a large unique sticker on the side(s) of your suitcase. This way as the luggage carousel goes around you’ll be able to easily identify your luggage. 

Wishing you packing success!

Tired of holding up the checkout line behind you while you look for your store membership card? The type of card I am referring to are the reward cards for the grocery store, pet store, office supply store, hotel, airline, etc. with the bar code on the back that provides you extra rewards as a frequent shopper. There are three quick and easy solutions to choose from so you never waste time again looking for a card.

1.  Gather all your store and travel membership cards and put them in alphabetical order. Next, either put a rubber band around the cards or place them in a business card holder/case. When you are at the grocery store next time pull out the card you need, hold the card’s place until it is scanned by the cashier, then put it back in place.

2.  If you prefer you can have 6 store membership bar codes along with the membership numbers printed on one card. When you go to www.keyringthing.com you can print out a wallet card for free or you can have it made into a key ring card that is plastic. There is a charge for the key ring card ($4.95 as of May 2010) which is double-sided, full-color, credit card-size, 100% biodegradable; and earth-friendly plastic.

3.  If you have a smart phone you can download an application from the same company above to store your card numbers and bar codes in the application on your phone. Typically the cashier will need to use the handheld bar code scanner to scan your card instead of the larger built in scanner on the checkout counter. To learn about the application go to www.MyCardStar.com. The application is available for the iPhone, Blackberry, and Droid.

Happy card organizing!