Getting “The Stuff You Care About” Organized in 3 Steps: Step 1-Do a Yearly Brain Dump

I think it’s so natural to get into the momentum of life and not take a moment to look up.

I do it, you do it, we all do it.

And the problem is that all of the sudden you have constructed a life that is…complex.

• You have bank accounts at multiple banks.
• You have credit cards at multiple companies.
• You have travel points.
• You have life insurance.
• You own a car
• You own a house/apartment/etc.
• You have a pet
• You have kids

On paper, your life may not feel complex. But just think about this-

If you died tomorrow, would someone actually know where everything is?

Pick anyone- your spouse, parent, or adult child. Does this person actually know where you have bank accounts? Who your life insurance is with? How you pay for your electric bill? Where you keep the original copy of your will?

If you are married, what I have found in my own marriage and in working with clients, is that a lot of couples will divide and conquer a lot of the tasks that are required of daily living. For instance, one person will do the day-to-day managing of the home and booking appointments for lawn care/ pest control while the other is in charge of paying utility bills.

If you are single or your spouse has passed, what I have found is that since you are the sole person in charge of your household and life, you are not in the rhythm of sharing or needing to share any details of how you run your life, how you pay your bills, where you keep important documents, etc. You also may not have someone close enough to you to share these details of your life with.

The problem, however, is that if something happens to you, someone has to figure out all of the things you knew. Either your spouse or your parent or your child. And they will need to know where you bank so they can access cash to keep your house payments going, or pay your kid’s school tuition. They will need to know where your life insurance is because they will need to call them and start the claims process. They will need to know who prepared your taxes because they will need to contact that person and have them file your final tax return.

And starting from scratch to figure these things out takes a lot of time. And it’s why people hire Sunny because they don’t have the time to figure these things out and they don’t know how to figure these things out.

Make it easier on everyone and do a yearly brain dump.

Start by pulling everything out of your brain and put it on paper, put it in a system, record yourself saying it… whatever works for you.

And if you are not sure where to start and what to document, here are some questions to get you started on your brain dump journey

Want to know what I realized when I did my brain dump this year?

• I actually have no idea where my deed is to my home or the title to my car is
• I have no idea who our homeowners insurance is with or our car insurance (yikes! I know…in my defense my husband is in insurance and handles all this for me!)
• What is the safe word for my security system? The one they ask for when the alarm is going off to ensure you are not in danger. I don’t actually know!
• I know all of the credit cards I have in my name, but I don’t actually know all of the credit cards my husband has in his name

In Step 2 of Getting “The Stuff You Care About” Organized, we will talk about what to do with the questions that come up and holes you need to fill in now that you’ve done your brain dump.