So, what’s new with you?

Do you have a new healthcare insurance provider?  Did you make a switch on your auto or homeowner insurance recently?  For most of us, making changes is common but updating our records and filing is not.  Creating an effective filing system for your Working Documents is critical – see more on this topic here – but you also need to maintain and update that system.  When working with clients, I urge them to cull old files and create new ones that meet present needs.  Don’t rely on your memory to remember that your current auto policy is housed in a file with the name of the previous insurance company.  Create a new, updated file.  On average, you spend 40 minutes a day looking for something you cannot locate.  What could you do with those 5+ hours a week?  Take the two minutes NOW to create and update your file so that you don’t take 20 minutes the next time looking for a misfiled item.  Now that you have updated your files, what other items need attention?

What should I be updating?

I recommend to clients that when new paperwork or updated items are received, immediately replace the old, outdated items.  Insurance is a great example of this.  Replace membership cards, policies, physical forms, and other important documents as soon as you receive them.  If you process your important paperwork immediately, there’s no searching for missing/current items.  Do you keep a binder of your child’s current school information?  Is your child heading to high school and you still have the 4th-grade information in the book?  Purge, purge, purge.  Replace the old, outdated information with the new current content.   Is your child a practiced driver and you still have the driver’s ed material on your counter?  Throw it out.

Review and update your files and information and only keep what is new and current.   Also, I recommend a Kitchen Folio or binder with current content for every household.  Put current physical forms and medication instructions, work and school information, new and updated phone numbers in a binder for easy access for the entire family.