#1 Begin at the Beginning
From the first moment you get your pet, you need to document what shots it has had and what it will need in the future. Make notes about your conversations with the doctor. And pay attention to your animal’s behavior and document any major changes in that behavior. Remember that your animal cannot tell you if he/she feels bad. You will need to learn the clues, such as a drop in intake or output, and then be able to tell the veterinarian exactly what has been going on.

#2 Easy Access for All
Make sure you are prepared for the unexpected emergency trips. Research pet sitters and/or kennels and note their numbers for easy access. Keeping this information in your Pet Doc will not only make it easier, faster and less stressful in a time of emergency but will also allow you to hand off this one file to your sitter or kennel keeper. This way, if there is a problem with your little friend, all the information needed to handle it—other sitters or kennels as well as medical information—will be at their disposal.

#3 Better Safe than Sorry
Make note of any food brands that have been proven to be unsafe. I know it seems that when you hear it in the news, you will never forget. But what happens in six months or two years from now when your preferred food goes off the market? You are going to want to be sure that you are getting something safe and the only way to do that is to be able to look over your notes.

·         Go through your mail and sort and purge any you may not have gotten to this week.

·         Dust your tables and clear them off.  Use a laundry basket to place items that belong in another room.  Once you have the tables cleared and dusted – put the items in the laundry basket away.

·         Load or unload the dishwasher and wipe down appliances and counters.

·         Make any short calls you need to make (re: questions on bills, returns, repairs).

·         Schedule repairs or needed maintenance around the house.

·         Complete any thank you cards/Birthday cards/Thinking of you Cards – address and stamp them

·         Organize your home office drawer – the one you keep pens, pencils, scissors, etc.

·         Organize a shelf of a small bookcase – purge books you may have already read.

·         Sort your laundry and throw in a load

·         Take an inventory of your freezer and frig so you know what you need

·         Do a quick search online for some new and different recipes from a country other than yours!

·         Organize your bills

We know some people who take the games apart and put them in a big resealable baggie so all the pieces are in one place.  You can take this suggestion and modify it so that the parts of puzzles and games are kept in one sandwich size bag, but still kept in the original box. 

Or you can pull all the pieces and toys together and put them in clear plastic shoe boxes (which are wonderful for so many things!).  This way you child can see what toys or game pieces are in the box!  Have your kids make pictures of the items that go in the box and tape it to the end so when they are finished playing they know what bin to use to put away their toys.

Mail is the most annoying yet necessary part of our daily lives.  The first rule of thumb is to do the mail everyday!  Yes, everyday if you want to keep on top of it. 

If there is anyway you can put a trash can by your mailbox, do so.  Go through the mail before you even go in your house and toss what you don’t need.  You know, those sales flyers to the stores you never shop at, promos you will never be interested in, the covers and inserts to your magazines that once opened seem to migrate all over the house.  Just toss them all before you come in!

Bathrooms can be a bear to keep organized no matter if you share them or not.  The easiest solution is to pull out everything you use when you get up and ready!  See how many items you have, determine what order they are used, and purchase small storage bins to fit under your sink for those items. 

Place the items in the bins in the order you use them – so if you do makeup before you do your hair, put all your makeup in one bin.  Pull out only that bin when you do your makeup and put it back when you are done.  Pull out the bin with your hair supplies when you are ready to do your hair and put it away when you are done. You can do this with everything in your bathroom – imagine how nice it would be to pull out the cold and flu medicines, or pain relievers all at once in one bin!

The key is to only have on hand what you will be using NOW and put it away IMMEDIATELY after you are done with it.  Then you will know where the items are at any time.  Give it a try with one or two categories to see if that will work for you.  If you share a bathroom, you can also do a bin for each person for their personal items, and more general bins for shared items (toothpaste, aspirin, bandages, etc.)