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,

According to the P-Touch Means Business survey, 87% of office workers say when their workspace is disorganized they feel they are less productive than when their workspace is organized. Also, 86% agree that having a disorganized workspace is unprofessional.

To help clear off your desk, create and label a file folder with the title “Pending.” In this file folder place all papers that are waiting for another person’s response or action. Typically these are papers that you don’t want to forget about but you can’t file or toss until another person responds. For example, you may be waiting for an approval, an edit, or signature. Look in the folder periodically to make sure the action needed has taken place. Keep the papers in the pending folder until the response is received. If you find you are hanging onto emails for this same reason, you may want to duplicate this same idea by creating a “Pending” folder in your email inbox. Once you receive the needed response, delete the “pending” email.

Do you have piles of papers on your desk due to projects you’re working on? If so, you probably fear “out of sight, out of mind.” To keep those papers in sight but organized, first group together the papers by project name. Next, set up a file folder for each project. If there are too many papers to fit in a file, don’t worry. Place either the file folder or pile of papers for each project in a desk top file or bin. Label the bin or file folders with the name of the project. Standing the papers upright will take up less space and provide you easy access to each project.

Lastly but just as important, don’t wait until the last hour of the day to clear off your desk. Start to restore the order of your desk or workspace one hour before the end of your day. This way if you discover an item that needs to be dealt with the same day, you won’t need to stay past quitting time.

Happy clearing-off-your-desk!

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!

Have ever grown to know a number of people that you wanted to throw a party for to say thanks or it is great to have met you? We are so THANKFUL for the customers that come into our store; those of you who watch us on TV, or subscribe to our newsletter and blog; and the wonderful clients we work with as Professional Organizers. You have become our family and friends. You make are jobs so rewarding, that we sometimes forget that we ARE working. My associates and I have been hard at work planning a fun event to say “thank you.” We realize only those of you within in driving distance of Allentown, PA will be attending, but all of you will be in our hearts.

Come enjoy a fun evening on us – all FREE. Bring your friends, co-workers or someone in you family for hors d’ oeuvres, desserts, a chair massage, music and drawings for gift baskets – all FREE. The first 100 people to register will receive a free gift bag of goodies at the event. Click for your offical invitation and details.

I hope to see you there!