NOW is the time to take a look at your level of emergency preparedness for your company, be it large or small. If you feel that you have no time to organized an emergency plan, you may just have not been "scared enough" to make it a priority. Preparing for a natural disaster of any kind should be at the top of the list for any business.

Many resources are available to help you come up with a great plan of action that will include evaluating your current situation, creating a course of action, and following through on the steps to be prepared. Laura and Vicki have created a great summary of alot of information and provided some additional resources to help you get started for your own company.

Be sure to consider all the possibilities for the people, the processes and the products involved with your business. Putting some real effort into "worst case scenarios" can make a massive difference in how you are able to recover in the event of an emergency.

Listen in to Preparing Your Business for Natural Disasters  for great tips and steps to get you started. For even more information, you can stop by Laura's blog at www.HarmonyWithin.com.

If you have an idea or a suggsted plan that has worked well for you or your company, we would love to hear about it! You can contact Vicky at vicki.theorganizedwomanshow@gmail.com or Laura at laura.theorganizedwomanshow@gmail.com.

For many people, a visit to the doctor's office is a little overwhelming and sometimes even a little frightening. Whether you are seeing the doctor for routine physical exams or you are concerned with a symptom or illness, making the visit productive makes sense for you, your family and your doctor.

Before ever leaving for an appointment with your doctor, it is important that you spend a few minute of preparation. You need to know the answers to these questions:

·         Who is the doctor you are seeing?

·         Where is the office located? How long will the travel take? Where will you park? Will you need transportation? Will you ask someone to accompany you?

·         When is your appointment? Keeping an appointment is your responsibility--remembering it is also your job. If a doctor’s office calls to confirm the appointment, it is a courtesy—not an expectation.

·         Why are you seeing the doctor? Are you prepared with the information and questions you need for a productive visit?

For more great ideas on preparing for your visit and a list of specific things to know and do, please visit Laura's blog at her website www.harmonywithin.com.

And be sure to listen to our show: Tips for a Visit to the Doctor's Office!

They say that only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. I would like to suggest that there is at least one more. That would be that at the end of the day, people are going to come home hungry. Regardless of what they’ve eaten earlier in the week or day, what they’ve been doing during the day, or what you might have planned for your evening, they’re going to want to eat.

I am a person who eats to live, rather than one who lives to eat. A simple meal of a bowl of soup and grilled cheese sandwich fits the bill just fine for me. However, everybody else in my home doesn’t feel the same way. They’re ok with that occasionally—but I like to provide them with the variety and nutrition that keeps everyone happy. And, I believe mealtime is so important that I am willing to put more effort into the dinner fare.

Because life is busy, I have found that the only way for me to have the kind of meals for my family that I would like to have is to plan and prepare. Without the planning and preparation, mealtime can become a miserable, stressful 5 pm what’s-for-dinner chaos. That is not what I want for myself OR my family.

If you have experienced some of these feelings, or if you are simply looking for some new tips and ideas for making mealtime more successful and enjoyable, please tune in to listen to Simplifying Meal Time on The Organized Woman Show. Vicki and Laura have lots of great ideas to help you on your way. And for even more tips and ideas, please stop by Laura’s blog on her website at www.harmonywithin.com. More resources and helps to make your mealtime something special!

I recently organized a full kitchen area for my Utah based client. Suzy had NEVER BEFORE organized her upright freezer. After discussing freezer food storage possibilities for 20 minutes, we decided on:

1. categories for the foods she stored in her freezer
2. shelf  locations for those specific food categories and
3. freezer safe containers in which to store the foods she had accumulated.

Suzy then went about completing the project on her own. Four hours later she found that freezer organization opened the door to dinner possibilities she had forgotten about. She learned once again that living organized was a better life choice.

My show co-host and I just recorded a new audio show titled Organize your Freezer on The Organized Woman Show. In that show we shared our insights concerning freezer organization with freezing fundamentals including:

• WHAT to freeze - think of it as the north pole cousin to your pantry
• HOW to freeze - so you get the most bang for your buck &
• HOW to thaw - so the flavor and texture of your foods are retained.

After listening to our show, visit my website at www.organize-utah.com to learn best tips concerning:

1. Upright vs. chest freezers
2. Zoning your freezer
3. Internal freezer containers
4. Best labeling options and
5. Inventory methods for your stored frozen foods

My sister in law Mindy (far right in this photo) has the mind of a well trained interior designer. IF I wasn't happy being Vicki Winterton (I am) I would choose to be Mindy because:

1. She is as beautiful inside as she is out
2. She has designed and now markets a great line of table coverings AND
3. She has a wonderful room as you enter her home that has a LARGE wall of beautifully displayed family photos

This wall in her home is amazing! It is painted a deep navy blue (very dramatic) and has framed photos covering the wall. Each photo has similarities yet is quite different. The photos come in all sizes. She has 27 pictures that include her:

• children
• husband (my brother)
• extended family on her side and
• extended family on my side

My sister-in-law, Mindy, knows that a great picture is worth a thousand words and she has 27,000 beautifully displayed words for the world to see.  Click here to see a photo of Mindy's wall.

If you are finally ready to organize, store and display YOUR favorite family photos listen to show 058 Photo Organizing where show hosts Vicki Winterton and Laura Lawrence (both professional organizers) share their 5 step plan for photo organizing on The Organized Woman Show. 

How long would your family last if something happened to disrupt America's food supply? What if new shipments stopped coming in to your local grocery stores? How long could you continue to feed your family with what you now have inside your pantry cupboard?

There are many possible risks that could cause a disruption of your food supply. Some of them include:

• natural disasters
• crop failure
• economic depression OR
• disease outbreak

IF you have auto insurance and homeowners insurance to protect you financially, why not also preserve the lives of your family with a 3 month supply of #1) water and #2) food?

In show number 057 Organize your Emergency Food Storage, Vicki Winterton and Laura Lawrence of The Organized Woman Show share with you easy tips for pulling together a different type of emergency food supply. They share their three W's to make it easy:

1. What should be stored
2. When to begin the process AND
3. Where to store the food

After listening in, visit Vicki's website to learn more about the consumable 3 month food supply she puts in place for her clients using their family's favorite recipes. Those they already know and love! Read more ...

In spite of all the modern conveniences we have in this amazing world, a cell phone, satellite phone or global positioning system (GPS) may just not be enough to rescue you, should you become lost. Batteries may die, connections may not work and devices can misfunction. Although these tools can be wonderful and may make a big difference in many situations, when a person is lost, the area they are in may seem endless, so it is a great idea to have more information about how to survive being lost.

Before ever leaving on a journey of any kind, it is so important to do your homework about your destination. Learn about the proper way to dress, the type of equipment to carry, how to store and carry food and water, how to read the terrain and mark your path. Make sure you are knowledgeable about the possibilities for each area you visit and have adequately planned. Making sure you are prepared is a good part of the battle.

Also, before ever leaving, it is so important that you communicate your plans to someone NOT traveling with you. Besides the obvious piece about not going anywhere alone, this might be the most crucial. Should you not return when you are expected, it is the information you have previously given to someone else about where you'll be and when you plan to return that may save your life. Leave with them as much information as possible. Then--don't change your plans without letting them know. Read more ...

A number of years ago my show co-host on The Organized Woman Show waved goodbye to her family as they took off for an outing in the Rocky Mountains. When the time came for their return, they were no where to be found. Laura became very worried as time drug on!

After many hours of woeful waiting she called the police who, after searching many hours, found Laura's family walking out of the wooded mountain area.

Luckily, Laura's family survived this car break down. They learned some important insights by living through this frightening experience. In our newly recorded show #055, Survive a Car Break Down, Laura and I suggest you NOT plan on luck. Preparing THEN organizing is a much better choice! There ARE things you can do to prepare for an unforeseen car break down and listening to this show for 15 minutes will begin your preparations.

Preparing yourself mentally and physically is the best plan for survival. After listening to our show, visit Vicki's website to learn: Read more ...

September is National Preparedness Month--a great time to learn about how to prepare for disasters of any kind and to begin to prepare for them. It's important to know what disasters are most likely for your locale--AND to know how you can PREpare. Being prepared is the first step in reducing our fears about disasters. Whether your area is earthquake prone, experiences flooding or tends to occasionally be in the path of tornadoes, you will learn here with professional organizers Laura Lawrence and Vicki Winterton of The Organized Woman Show at www.thewinonline.com/episode/preparing-natural-disasters some of the most simple and basic ways to prepare your home and family or place of business. Learning is the first step in becoming prepared.

For more information on Preparing for Natural Disasters by visiting Laura's blog at her website www.harmonywithin.com. You will also find great information at www.napo.net/news/npm.aspx. Get a kit! Make a plan! Be informed!

Please don't panic and try not to be too concerned about preparing perfectly! It may keep you from getting started! Begin now to prepare! Anything you do will be better than doing nothing! Remember: Increasing preparedness decreases fear!

You may also enjoy other shows on The Organized Woman Show regarding creating a 72-hour kit, Creating an Emergency Plan, Surviving Being Lost and Surviving a Car Breakdown.

Did you know that 61% of women are worried about their finances? My brother-in-law is a bankruptcy attorney in Las Vegas, Nevada. We saw him 2 weeks ago and he shared with me that 1/3 of the homes in Las Vegas are in foreclosure. That was shocking to me!

September is National Preparedness Month in the USA. The easiest way to financial preparedness is to manage our money wisely. Laura and I just recorded our 53rd show titled Plan and Organize your Finances. We shared some great ideas dealing with how to boost your financial self confidence. A few of our tips focused on:

• getting paid what you are worth OR finding the time for job searching
• setting a budget and sticking with it by spending less than you make
• ways to pay off your credit card debt by consolidating AND
• setting up a savings, investment & retirement plan

A few more I would suggest include:

1. identifying your largest expenses and reducing them
2. keeping your car for 150,000 miles before replacing it &
3. taking a less expensive vacation closer to home for two of three years

Listen to our show, then visit Vicki's website to learn more great tips and gather the links we promised you dealing with financial preparedness and organizing your financial future.