When people learn about my business as a relocation specialist, they often respond by sharing how stressful and overwhelming they find the move process. One of the biggest sources of strain that accompanies a move or even just an effort to declutter a home is not being able to approach the task with an organized plan of attack. Here are some observations from my time in the cardboard boxed and bubble-wrapped trenches to help you approach your next attack on the clutter and prepare for a move.

1. Assemble your reinforcements!

A team of friends and family, or even a single one, can keep you on task and help you make the tough decisions about what can stay and what must go can really help you conquer your clutter and succeed in ordering your new environment.

2. The war is won one small battle at a time.

Taking in the entire process of sorting, packing, moving and organizing can overwhelm even the best of warriors. The key to victory is to break the whole down into manageable tasks. One room, one closet, even one dresser at a time, and you’ll see the wins pile up and find the encouragement to keep at it until you’re resting comfortably in an entirely organized and orderly new space!

3. The voice of denial: “oh, this is so small, it takes up no space.”

If it was only one item, that might be true, but by the 5^th, 6^th, or even 50^th of these, you’ve created quite a storage problem for yourself. Make sure that you’ve determined a specific place for each and every item, even that one item, in advance, or else you’ll wind up with five unpacked boxes holding these items and no place to put them.

4. All kitchen cabinets are not created equal.

It’s important to measure the new cabinets carefully and compare their capacity to your current kitchen cabinets. I’ve met cabinets that don’t even hold a standard dinner plate, and it’s no fun to realize this as you’re in the midst of unpacking the new kitchen! Also, this knowledge will help you make important decisions about what to bring with you to the new home. This rule applies to all built-in cabinets.

5. Don’t lock your memories in a box!

So many of us do this – we store our photos, ticket stubs and other mementos in a box …. And they stay there forever. Take some time to sort through these boxes of memories and create an album or scrapbook. You can even scan them and put them on one of those electronic picture frames or screensaver on your computer. That way they are a part of your regular life and not another box to sitting on a shelf or in closet never to be opened again.

6. The biggest denial of them all: “I will find the room for it”

This phrase is a guaranteed way to find you facing piles of boxes full of items you can’t store properly. It is definitely a struggle to force oneself to make a hard decision about getting rid of a treasured belonging, but there’s a cost to moving (and perhaps even having to store off-site) an item you have no place for in your new, ordered home. Take the time to make the tough decisions. The end result is a more manageable and less stressful unpacking process.

Marnie Dawson
Dawson Relocation Services

www.dawsonrelocation.com

Problem: One business database containing standard contact data as well as fields with custom client information (project notes and a way to track contact with clients and sub-contractors). Two business partners in different locations each need access to the database. They also need the ability to send e-mails to selected contacts (for example, to create a list of clients in a specific zip code or geographic area). They also want to produce reports from the data using certain criteria, such as sub-contractors by specialty.

 Options considered:

1. Client’s existing website. Host the database on the client’s website, allowing for login and query capabilities. The database would reside on the website’s server. The cost to set this up through their website host ranges from $200 to $850, depending on the number of controls put in place.
2. Googledocs. Host the database on Googledocs. The database would be available to both partners to access and edit, but there would be no check in place to prevent both partners from making changes at the same time. In order to send out e-mails to contacts, the list would have to be downloaded from Googledocs and uploaded to an e-mail program. There would be no cost involved in this option.
3. Vertical Response. Store the database on an e-mail distribution website such as VerticalResponse.com. In addition to being able to create sub-lists based on certain criteria, this option allows both partners full access to the database. There are no costs associated with storing the database. The only costs occur when e-mails are sent out, but these costs are nominal.

Solution: The VerticalResponse.com option is clearly the most appropriate and cost effective solution for this problem. Both partners can access and update the database independently as needed without creating a conflict. Each partner also has the ability to segment mailing lists (i.e. create a list of sub-contractors in a specific geographic location) and create custom e-mail distribution lists.

Vertical Response also allows for the distribution of newsletters. A newsletter sign-up box can be added to the client’s website so that website visitors may opt to receive newsletters, and this contact information goes directly into the contact database on Vertical Response. No re-keying of data is necessary saving time and money.

It is also possible to add a newsletter sign-up box to a Facebook fan page, thereby leveraging your social media presence and increasing your exposure to potential clients.

Sue Boedeker
Valley Virtual Assistance
www.valley-virtual-assistance.com

For me alot has changed since my last blog. My employer of one year, Plunkett Home Furnishings, has closed its doors which is quite stunning, considering they had been in business for 78 years. But being adaptable and resourceful I looked to my own network to find something quickly. This was not the right time to return to my own design business! Checking my LinkedIn contacts was one of my first actions and after a couple of calls and emails, I found myself happily ensconced doing high end interiors again. Working with the talented architects at Darcy Bonner and Associates is a joy. I don’t have pictures of completed interiors yet but here is a Metzler Hull house I worked on previously. http://trendsideas.com/ViewArticle.aspx?article=11880&region=4

Stiffness every morning, difficulty getting out of the car after a long drive or inflexibility getting out of the chair after working at the computer; these feelings are familiar to many of us. Low back pain, which affects nearly every one of us at some stage of our active adult life, is one of the most common ailments afflicting mankind. Research tells us that between 60% and 75% of the population who have back pain once will experience recurrence or take it to the chronic level. Some researchers state that over 50% of low back pain sufferers will receive inappropriate treatment.

Why does it hurt?

To most people low back pain remains a mystery. It is believed the most of common back pains are mechanical in nature, therefore mechanical strains of ligaments and surrounding soft tissues when stressed initially produce an ache; if overstretching continues it could potentially cause damage to this tissue.

What to do?

Time is your most valuable asset. 70 – 90% of patients with an acute episode will get some relief in 6 weeks. However 25-50% will experience recurrent symptoms over the next year. If you have suffered from back pain during the course of your life, you probably have heard so much advice covering all ends of the spectrum, from bed rest to spinal manipulation or exercises, heat or cold, medication or spinal injection to spinal surgery. While many doctors provide drugs to mask the symptoms of pain, they leave a patient debilitated and dependent upon said drugs for pain control. Studies have reported that rest and inactivity should be limited to two days at most. After that time, patients should be encouraged to start moving and return to normal activities.

Why Physical Therapy?

• Physical therapists are experts in how the musculoskeletal and neuromuscular systems function.
• Patients, and other health care professionals recognize physical therapists, as the practitioners of choice to whom patients have direct access for the diagnosis of, interventions for, and prevention of impairments, functional limitations, and disabilities related to their movement, function, and health.
• Physical therapist services are cost-effective. Early physical therapy intervention prevents more costly treatment later, can result in a faster recovery, and reduces lost work time.
• Physical therapists trained in MDT belive that exercises should be prescribed according to patient’s directional preference, so movement or activity that will decrease or abolish the pain therefore improving patient’s function.

Patients pay less when they have direct access to physical therapy services. A study conducted to determine whether direct access to physical therapy services was cost-effective found that patients who went directly to a physical therapist had fewer episodes of care, and services were ultimately less costly.

Why Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy?

Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT), also known as the McKenzie Approach, is the classification of spinal-related disorders based on recorded pain behavior as well as the pain response to repeated test movements or positions.

A mechanical evaluation is appropriate for any patient with musculoskeletal pain. The goal of the assessment is to identify if the patient’s complaints are reproducible and whether or not they respond to mechanical treatment. Patients that do not positively respond to mechanical treatment are identified early on during the patient’s program and are referred to other interventions that may be more appropriate.

Physical therapists properly trained in this method have proven reliability in their ability to group patients into diagnosis and treatment categories. This allows for a streamline treatment approach with better patient outcomes.

• A 1997 study has shown that McKenzie initial assessment procedures are proving to be as reliable as costly diagnostic imaging (i.e., x-rays, MRIs) to determine the source of the problem and quickly identify responders and non-responders to conservative treatment.
• In a 1987 study, 52% of a group of low back disc surgery candidates rapidly eliminated all their own symptoms and regained their full low back motion within five days, and avoided surgery.
• A 1992 study of patients with confirmed lumbar disc herniations that were successful with MDT, showed that 91% were able to avoid surgery in a 5 year follow-up.
• A study of low back fusion surgery candidates showed that 50% of them, when provided with individualized self-treatment were able to decrease and eliminate their own back and leg pain.
• “Does it matter which exercise?” This 2004 study proved that treatment must match the assessment findings or the results are inferior.

Numerous studies report that MDT of low back care, when introduced early in one’s LBP experience, help 70-80% of LBP patients recover. Learning to eliminate one’s own pain in turn eliminates any need for specialist referrals, medications, x-rays, advanced imaging studies, injections, and certainly surgery.

Unfortunately, only a small percentage of physicians, physical therapists, and chiropractors use these methods well and know the scientific studies, despite these methods being used and recommended by some of the world’s spine care experts.

Physical therapy services are covered by most insurance plans. Please be aware that even if your state requires a physician’s referral before you can see a physical therapist, you always have the right to see the physical therapist of your choice.

Ela Wierzchon-Mroz, PT, Dip MDT
Spinae Vitae Physical Therapy
spinaevitae@yahoo.com