Episodes
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There are times when getting organized is going to be easier. I call these Golden Windows.
Some Golden Windows are given to all of us - like January (new year), spring, and fall. The new year is all about starting the year off with a fresh start and achieving new goals. Spring and fall are both times of the year when there are big season shifts and you get a burst of energy. The spring energy lends itself well to planning and the fall energy lends itself well to productivity.
Common Golden Windows include:
Expecting a child
Moving or selling your home
When your youngest child starts school
When your youngest child starts middle school
When your youngest child starts driving
Milestone birthdays
If you want to hear a more in-depth definition of Golden Windows, listen to this podcast.
Today’s episode is going to focus on a question I get a lot - how long do Golden Windows last?
This depends on the type of Golden Window you’re experiencing. There are long and short Golden Windows. A long Golden Window is something you can anticipate. A short Golden Window is one where you don’t realize you’re in a Golden Window until you’re already in it. In a short Golden Window, you don’t get to plan so the energy fizzles out fast.
An example of a long Golden Window could be pregnancy. You know you are going to have a baby so you have months and months to plan, re-organize, nest, and prepare.
An example of a short Golden Window could be adoption. When we adopted Joey, we got a call at 5 pm, and by 7 pm we had a baby!
Each Golden Window, no matter whether it is short or long, is an opportunity not to be overlooked! And while the length of time that Golden Window will be open for you depends on a lot of factors (outside of your control) there are certain things you can do to get the most out of it.
Here are my three recommendations for making the most of a Golden Window:
Anticipate
Optimize
Extend
Understanding your Golden Windows allows you to get so much more out of these amazing bursts of energy. Listen in to find out how to anticipate, optimize and extend your Golden Windows for maximum impact.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Golden Windows Podcast
The Sunday Basket®
The Productive Home Solution®
Organize 365® Home Planning Day
The Paper Solution®
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Truly productive people are always producing due to systems and routines they have established; I call these trains. They have their trains humming along which allows work-life balance. And balance means motion. If you are riding your bike, you are in motion while balancing. But when you slow down, you may lean to one side taking you out of balance. The same is true in life. But truly productive people can spot that imbalance and pivot and iterate to get back to balanced.
It’s a lot harder to start a stopped train…
It’s a lot easier on your balance if you iterate, opposed to stopping and then trying to get the trains up and running again. Let me refresh your memory of March 2020 when all of our trains stopped. It took almost three years to get all the trains running again. Do you remember how much energy it took? Some trains slowed down too much and had to permanently pull into the station, going out of business.
And recently with CrowdStrike going down for the airlines. It’s just not easy to get the planes back up in the air. There is a trickle down stacking effect. The earlier flights didn’t go out so they needed to get those people on their way before they could accommodate current time flights. It took a lot of manpower to get those planes back in the air and caught up on their scheduled flight times.
And the next likely time we can anticipate our trains stopping is the election…EEK! You can choose to get tunnel vision and focus solely on the election and possible outcomes. And then get emotional for the few days that follow. You know what productive people will be doing? They will produce until election day, go vote, and go back to producing. Truly productive people recognize what is worth the investment of their time and money. They want to effectively and productively use their time.
What took me out of balance
There I was chugging along with my trains. I survived Greg’s surgery in December, the quest to solve Grayson’s eczema for a while now, and other family needs for my time. I prepared the trains for the time I’d be gone in England. We had a fabulous trip and I jumped right into work when I got back. But something funny happened. You know I have told you your house will feel off and that is when it’s time to iterate or reset, because organization and balance is a feeling? Well, I didn’t do my normal summer reset. By the end of August, I had to take time off just to get the house back to normal. Why had my systems failed me?
They did not fail me but I wasn’t accounting for how much my family had needed me, not to mention all the time I gave to the remodels of Joey’s condo and Abby’s downstairs apartment. I realized I was completely over committed. Productive people can look at their systems and routines and pivot due to recognizing something like being over committed. I started to lean towards home and needed to get back in balance. I made three big decisions to put me back in balance. I have altered some plans at work to allow more home time. I have decided to take one less class to again free up more time to give to my family who have been in a season of needing more of me. This will lighten my load and allow me to stay in balance. You have to know when to take some cars off the train and send them to the yard until you can maintain them again.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Episodes manquant?
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Golden Windows are periods of opportunity that are compounded with energy and free time that, if seized, can propel you into organization and productivity. They’re as divine as they sound! If you’re looking for them, or know when they are coming, you can empower yourself with the resources and community you need (like in The Productive Home Solution®!) and capitalize on the opportunity to organize your home and make it a true haven for your family and your life’s unique purpose.
I will say, however, there are times in life when this is nearly impossible. New babies. Depression or other illness. Temporary crises. Short-term monopolies of one role or the other. During these times, you need to snap into survival mode, control disorganization, and just do what you can to ensure everyone is fed and treading water until the chaos clears a bit and you can come up for air.
There are also times when organization (and the energy to do it) just comes naturally. It becomes easy, almost effortless, and you seem to make progress quickly. I call these times Golden Windows. There are three types of Golden Windows: Chronological, Situational, and Seasonal.
Chronological
These Golden Windows are based on your chronological age. When we are younger it’s on the 5’s and 10’s birthdays and, as we get older, it seems to be the beginning of the new decades. The most prominent and productive one happens around the age of 40. I’m not sure why, but turning 40 brings with it a sense of peace and confidence in women’s sense of self and place in the world. Around 40, women stop worrying so much about what everyone else wants them to be and start thinking about what they want to do.
How do I want to spend my time? What am I really meant for? How do I want to spend the second half (or more) of my life? It’s a general trend, of course, but I’ve seen it happen with women who are married, single women, women with kids, and women without kids
Situational
These will naturally vary based on your life and your different roles, but many women see at least a few of these Golden Windows in their lifetime. Some are full of joy and satisfaction, others are heartbreaking and burdensome. A few examples that I detail in this episode are: moving, new babies, children going to school, children moving out, graduations, weddings, divorce, and remarriage.
Oftentimes, when the youngest child goes to all-day school, a woman who has previously been a stay-at-home mom decides to rejoin the workforce. I say, if you can, wait! This Golden Window is prime time for home organization, re-prioritization, and productivity. It’s a huge family transition and a great time to capitalize on the little extra freedom. Getting your home organized during this time will set you up for this new phase of life.
Seasonal
Every one of us gets three Golden Windows a year. Each season of the year brings with it a new energy that we can funnel into organizing our homes if we choose. Now is the time, from August to September, that we get the most intense organizational energy. For the next 10 weeks in America, we have that back to school, huge transition, productivity energy. End of December into the new year and as school gets ready to let out for summer break, you’ll experience 2 more approximately 6-week chunks of a Golden Window.
Understanding your Golden Windows allows you to get so much more out of these amazing bursts of energy. I hope you seize your next Golden Window and take small steps to true organization and productivity!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Productive Home Solution®
Organize 365® Home Planning Day
The Paper Solution®
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Welcome to the 10 most productive weeks of the year! About 4-5 years ago, I was able to identify this natural productivity energy cadence in America due to the years of routine from school. Summer is relaxed but when we head back to school, September to December is fast and furious! And once we get into business, it’s the same because businesses are ready to get out of the red and into the black regarding profits, hence Black Friday.
Mindset
My family and other people have always given me a hard time about how productive I strive to be. I am happy when I am producing. I can’t stop and I don’t want to stop. I am where work comes from in Organize 365® and my home runs off my productivity. I do sleep and make time for my family, but my “normal” is being productive. And I have recently decided I am no longer apologetic for being productive. In fact, I’ve gone pro.
Going pro means being a truly productive person that is always effortlessly producing. It’s not that you are just going to run a marathon, but that you are going to finish that marathon. And when you go pro as the home manager, you and your family benefit. What is there to apologize for? I mean, if you hired an actual home manager, would you want them to sit around or would you be thinking, “The house isn’t going to take care of itself!” As a professional home manager, you give 100% effort and produce as a person striving for excellence not this pie in the sky idea or aesthetics of perfection.
Be A Scientist Observing Yourself
You can learn so much if you just track where you spend your time. If you are running your marathon and feel the need for more time on a specific project, I encourage you to be a scientist of your own life. In my observation, I have decided I will not be getting extra productivity time by staying up late or getting up early. So where else could I gain time? I realized the other day how much time I could save if I didn’t do my hair everyday. Bun hair days mean I get almost an extra hour each day. That’s an extra hour to be more productive. At the same time, I felt something was off. After observing where my time was going, it became apparent that I was spending too much time in CFO tasks. I decided to knock them out in one Saturday to stop taking time away from my weekly objectives. That is what truly productive people do! Observe and iterate.
Marathon Energy
I am a big fan of Jesse Itzler. Jesse does all kinds of crazy athletic challenges. When I know Jesse is trying to complete one of these challenges, man, I watch him like it’s my job. I am so impressed with his mindset. It’s not a matter of if he’ll finish, just how. Athletes are such a good example of someone who has observed their performance and constantly makes slight improvements. They account for all variables like the best weather conditions, energy they need to be in, court or track or pool conditions to result in their best performance. We applaud it in athletics and we should applaud it in our work and homes. We are in the thick of marathon energy right now. Capitalize on it! Get your Sunday Basket® in order so you can be present because you know every thought or idea is accounted for and planned. Now own that you want to be a truly productive person and focus on your marathon.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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How do we move from being a productive person who can get a lot done in a day to someone who can really set and achieve bigger goals that are going to make a marked difference in the world? The way to become more impactful doesn't come from productivity, it doesn't come from apps, and it doesn't come from digitizing things. It comes from increasing your organization.
In order to build the tracks for your work train, you have to establish work systems, processes and habits. In Workbox Planning Day, we talk about having a beginning of the day routine, a midday routine, and an end of the day routine. Then you can add in Friday Workbox® coworking time each Friday, and Planning Day every quarter. Now there will be the new Workbox Planning Day Implementation event that will kick off next week, and will continually happen every quarter. You have to build these tracks first so that you can move forward faster. Having these three routines each day gives you guardrails and allows you to task stack different things at different times of the day so that you have more capacity and more time to work on your purple projects and move new initiatives forward through the company.
Now you're moving faster because these habits and routines have reduced your decision making fatigue. You've task stacked as many of your green tasks into these bucketed times each day and week so that you have more free time to work on the other colors - pink, purple and blue. Now it's time to build the train cars. How you build your work train cars is very customized. What your train looks like throughout your career is also very customized. Interestingly, you can get your work train up and running faster than your home train. Typically it only takes a year - if you're an employee. If you're a business owner, it's a lifetime pursuit. You're never going to be done because you're always reorganizing the train tracks, moving around the cars or adding and subtracting them. It's basically one big game.
The first work train car will be the Business Friday Workbox®. This will teach you there are four different kinds of work; four different roles you play in your job. Everyone has four: pink, purple, blue and green. Once you figure out what those are, we're going to optimize those four kinds of work over the course of one year. The second train car are the Workbox Planning Days. Until you learn how to plan, how to use your Friday Workbox®, it's really just a pretty way of organizing your to do list. Until you learn to plan the work that's within the workbox, it's very reactive. You might speed up a little, but you will not have the impact that you want to have. How do you take the green work (administrative) and task stack it in as small amount of time as possible at regular intervals throughout the day so that you can increase the capacity you have for the pink, purple and blue work?
Once you start going through the Planning Days, you start to proactively and purposefully plan out what your initiatives are going to be in the next 90 days. You start doing less, but getting more in depth. You delete or delegate projects, you streamline your goals and stop overcommitting. You realize how cyclical work is and how much it's related to home.
There are other things that are going to slow down your train - like losing a team member, adding a team member, a new product, losing a product, and so on. Every time you pull into the station, you will go through every single train car. Every 90 days, every quarter. I would love for you to join me for the Workbox Planning Day Implementation event next week. It will be the 13th week of every quarter from now on, so you can add this into your coaching package in order to keep your train running. My job is to get you more productive and profitable so that you can avail yourself of all of those great coaches thereafter.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Business Friday Workbox®
Workbox Planning Day
Workbox Implementation Day
Sign up for the Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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TEN YEARS! You have been able to catch this multi-weekly, ad free podcast for 10 years. I am not so good at reflecting and patting myself on the back. But the team insisted because it’s not just my podcast journey or their podcast journey, but it’s been yours too. Cheers to 10 years! Thank YOU!
How did the podcast start?
You know the planner that I am, so how do you think the Organize 365® Podcast came to be? I was in direct sales before I started this company, right? So I thought I’d start a podcast and kind of feel out the process. I got to use my teacher skills to teach other direct sales consultants how to grow their businesses. Once I identified as a podcaster, I knew I wanted to start one for Organize 365®. When I start something new, I always ask myself, “On what level can I do this consistently for the rest of my life?” Yes, I am that intense. Consistency is important. So I made an intentional one year plan of episodes. Fast forward 10 years and here we are! I get so much joy from talking to you. It’s fun to look back at how my life was 10 years ago. We all change so much. Some listeners say they resonate more with the old Lisa because of the phase of life I was in then.
I was sitting in church one Sunday thinking about the number of people in attendance. After some rough math, I realized that most of the episodes get more downloads than people that were in attendance that day. It’s really incredible! I just kept taking the next step with the podcast over the years. Now there are 23 million overall downloads and we are in the top 5% of all podcasts! This podcast has enabled me to make such a large impact. You start something, keep improving your skills, you collaborate with others and before you know it, you get to do something bigger because others in that same space come alongside you and help you make that impact. That’s what we continue to do at Organize 365®. Thank YOU!!
We continue to iterate
Do you remember the SMARTIE goals? Well the I is for iterate. And at Organize 365® there have been many iterations due to the phase of business we have been in. We have produced series and some stay, some get put into private playlists for some of our courses, and some get retired. We currently have three kinds of podcast episodes.
Coffee Chats: This information is usually time sensitive, like an alert. Some of these episodes expire so we pull them when the content is no longer relevant.
Wednesday Transformation with YOU!: These episodes are members from our community who come on the podcast to share the transformation they have experienced by implementing some of the Organize 365® systems. **Please apply!! Please!!
Friday: I try to pack these episodes full of useful information. These episodes usually pertain to the energy for the time of year
Ways to win:
Take a few minutes to figure out in your podcast player, how to leave a review and rate the Organize 365® Podcast. Note: Written reviews can only be left in Apple.
Post one of your favorite episodes on Facebook or Instagram and tag Organize 365®. You can do this weekly!
Post one of your favorite episodes on LinkedIn and tag Lisa Woodruff. You can do this weekly!
What you’ll win:
Organize 365® Tote Bag
Sunday Basket® Bookmark
Bumper Sticker
Organize 365® Colored Pencils
Good Luck!!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
SMARTIES Goal Printable
Wednesday Podcast Guest Application
Tag us on Facebook @organize365
Tag us on Instagram @organize365
Tag Lisa on LinkedIn @LisaWoodruff
10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Entry Form
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
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How do you remember what you need to do for the people you need to do it for, I mean really? Information management is the organization that will allow you to make informed decisions for the people, appointments, and processes in your life. The Sunday Basket® takes care of active papers, but some papers you need to hang on to. There are no more actions to do with this type of paper, but they are critical for future reference. I have a binder system, within The Paper Solution, to help you manage all the informational papers.
Medical Binder
The Medical Binder has allowed me to have many informed conversations with doctors that have led to not needing tests they may have required otherwise or access to medications the doctor may not have considered. I wanted to try to go on Clonidine to help with my hot flashes due to a hunch I had. I had my medical history with me in my Medical Binder. You know why I had it with me? My doctor does not digitize my records. So there aren’t multiple medical records “talking to each other” or being updated. Being prepared for conversations with your doctor can elevate your conversations and the consideration your doctor gives to your concerns or desires. This worked to my advantage many times with my children as well while we tried to get them on a diet and medication that helped them to function their best. With the Medical Binder in hand, you can make critical decisions before you leave the hospital allowing you the best treatment. Let me tell you, you leave the hospital and change your mind? Your options are drastically different with higher price tags. This binder is a life saver!
Household Reference Binder
When we went to Europe, our smoke detectors went off. And Abby was going crazy so she called grandma, who called Joey. Joey really didn’t want to call us. But it ended up being an easy fix due to the Household Reference Binder. Had I not filled it out, there would have been a couple of annoying days or some expensive invoice from ADT to come out and change the batteries. The Household Reference Binder can also remind you when routine maintenance is due and where you can keep appliance user manuals. This binder can also work to your benefit in selling your house - interested buyers will have peace of mind investing in your home when they know you took care of it and that there’s a binder to help them take care of their new home.
Financial Binder
We just talked about being the CFO of your home. The Financial Binder helps to organize all the financial aspects of your household economy. You can file away all your insurance documents as well as taxes in this binder for quick future reference. I have shared before that I file taxes for Abby and Joey. So this is where I store their license numbers, issue date, and expiration date to save me time when filing their taxes. I don’t need it any other time of the year so it goes in this binder. This becomes a valuable binder when it comes to settling an owner’s estate. This shaves so many billable hours off an attorney and saves you time, too!
Household Operations Binder
How does your home function on a yearly cadence? The Household Operations Binder is like your family’s standard operating procedures (SOP’s.) You may find papers from this binder go into “active status” in the Sunday Basket® for a season and back to the Household Operations Binder until the next time. These papers remind us of facts about holidays or annual events. This binder is also where your family could find information and complete tasks normally they could not because it would all be in your brain. But because of the Household Operations Binder, you have externalized the process thus lowering your cognitive load and sharing those tasks.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Are you driving a car, or conducting a train? Today's episode is about your home organizing train.
It takes a lot of effort to stop a train. When you are productive, have a lot of impact, and your life is up and running - you get a couple of unexpected events coming at you but can take the first few of them in stride.
When you are driving a car, there's only so much you can handle. You only have so much capacity, although that car moves fast and is nimble. You can stop it easily, pivot or turn around. The size of your car, how fast it is, how much gas you can keep in the tank has a limit. A train doesn't start or stop very fast - but once you lay those tracks and build those train cars, you can go really far really fast without a lot of effort.
How do you lay the tracks and build the cars? Organizing. Creating and maintaining systems, habits, and productivity at home and work. Once you have those established - which is going to take a while - the only thing that will derail you are really big life events. These can be catastrophic: like a medical diagnosis, a divorce, or someone passes away. Or they can be happy events: getting pregnant, getting married, moving to a new home. Your train will also slow down and speed up during the Golden Windows of a calendar year. You will need to slow down and "come into the station" at the end of each quarter at work and each trimester at home. This is the piece I was missing that I am going to share with you.
You have to establish your systems, routines, and habits that your train will run on; otherwise you can't have the train. You must establish these first, so your train has something to run on. If not, then you're stuck in the car. When you're driving a car, you're just on roads that have been established by other people and you decide in which order you want to take those roads that somebody else created. You have to stop at every red light, decide whether to turn right or left, take the highway or the back roads. Constantly making all these decisions unnecessarily.
Now that you have the engine, it's time to build those train cars. Your first one is the Sunday Basket®. You must become a master at delaying your decision making. You plan your week and stop being pulled by every single decision that comes at you. The next train cars are personal, storage, family, and paper organization - which happens within The Productive Home Solution®. Remember, each of these train cars are going to take a couple of months to build. They will need regular maintenance. This takes discipline and the right mindset. Every car needs to be decluttered and organized every trimester at home. At first, it's going to take more time.
To establish the train tracks, move from a car to a locomotive, put the cars on the track, and get the train up to speed takes at least three years. This realization is such a buzzkill, I know. Don't get discouraged though, it's not like it takes this long to see any positive changes. You can run that train at 50% after a year and it's still going to be better than what you had before! But to make the impact you want and need, those train cars need to be running at 80-90% organized so they are running strictly on maintenance.
A train that is running on maintenance pulls into the depot and you go through it car by car - this is what happens during Planning Days, and now during the new Prep Event I've created. You will revisit each of your train cars - the Sunday Basket®, your personal, storage, family, and paper. If you are this far in organizing, this will feel weird. You will think that you need to tear it apart and start all over each time. But you know the math: you've subtracted by decluttering, added in what you need, multiplied for productivity and now you're in division. You don't have to start all over again. Even if you have a major event, you can go through it all again - but it will go so much faster.
Moving to a train is a purposeful, disciplined act that requires you to grow organizing muscles, to think long-term instead of short-term, to think strategically instead of giving into immediate gratification. Once you learn this, you will have the skill set with you for the rest of your life.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Organize 365® Home Planning Day Sign up for the NewsletterDid you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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It recently dawned on me that what takes most of my time when processing the Sunday Basket® is the CFO tasks. I used to spend time reconciling the checkbook, now paying bills that can’t be automated, and discussing with Greg what we’d like to do with any extra money. But also as the CFO, I considered the amount of time I think about our money, insurance, wills/trusts, and taxes. And you probably do too! This is a very important role in the part your small business (your home) plays in the nation’s economy.
You Must Prioritize Your CFO Role
You need to have life insurance, a will, and I talk about your taxes; all CFO responsibilities. What happens to your money in the event something happens to you or your spouse? I remember when I earned a cruise out of the country and we were discussing it with friends. It was brought to our attention that we should have a will and life insurance. When we really thought about how life would continue in the event Greg or I weren’t here, we realized this was a wise investment. And let me tell you that $32 to insure me for $100,000 almost killed us every month because we were down to the penny. And every December when we’d get the invoice for Greg’s much larger policy…ugh, I mean I still dread it!! But I understood the financial peace of mind it provided. Years later, I learned about trusts. And by that time we had a little money and some assets and that triggered me wanting a trust to explain our wishes of how the money would be dispersed to our children in the event it was necessary to access the trust.
As the CEO of Organize 365® and my home, I am always thinking about how I can make us stronger and more resilient. And when I have asked that question in the past for Organize 365®, it has gotten the employees life insurance, Q-SEHRA health insurance, 401K, vision/dental, short term disability, and this year…long term disability for me. There are about 7 steps you need to take to get these safeguards in place for you and your family as the CFO.
The Breakdown of Getting Financial Plans in Place
The Trigger - Maybe a friend goes through an unexpected event, you get advice, or you go on a trip and you realize it’s necessary.
Research - Decide what you need and then when you find the right person, they can put all the paperwork in place.
Contact Agent - Usually by the time I’m reaching out to someone, I’m ready to buy.
Fill Out Paperwork - They will give you the paperwork to get the information necessary to provide what you are hiring them for.
Meet With and Pay The Agent - Bring the homework back to them and, of course, they want money for services rendered - this stuff ain’t free!
Complete Actions - Once you get the final paperwork back, review it; update it when needed.
File It - File it for safekeeping and know where it is for quick access.
Knowing where you filed stuff brings me to the next topic of taxes. You all know I take care of a lot for Joey and Abby, including but not limited to their taxes. I have taught my children Organize 365® systems and we all use the same system of the Sunday Basket® and The Paper Solution® Binders. And I have organized my mother in law the same way. This makes it really easy for me to serve as everyone’s CFO. Multiple users, but one system. I look the same place for each person, just a different binder or Sunday Basket®. Now when it comes to Organize 365®’s taxes, things have gotten more complicated over the years and I have hired someone to help and provide advice on tax benefits I could take advantage of. Know when to consult the professional to protect your family’s financial health.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In this episode, I introduce you to Betsy B. who lives in Portland, OR with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs, and one snake. Betsy has listened to the podcast for 10 years. She was inspired over the years as I grew Organize 365® that she too could start a business. Betsy is a deep thinker and loved the long episodes that lasted as long as her housework. And she loved that they were chock-full of insights. Betsy is an interior designer so she really took to a recent episode (#601) about how homes used to be constructed and how they supported the style of life then. Betsy gets paid to repurpose those designs to support phases of life her clients are experiencing.
The homes in Betsy’s area usually do not have access to the backyard because people used to hang their laundry in their backyards. But now, we like to have get togethers in our backyards. Betsy joked about how the things she’s learned are “baked into Betsy” and her saying to herself “that’s because of Lisa.” I’ve talked in the podcast about iterating your spaces for the phase of life you are in. Betsy iterates the structure and I help you to iterate your spaces. For example, Betsy’s cabinet in her dining room has served as a place for her china, then as a craft station for her daughter, and now it’s where Betsy likes to work and “that’s because of Lisa.” She iterated her space.
We got into a discussion about remodeling spaces versus moving. It’s a lot cheaper to remodel. Prices have gone up since the pandemic and we aren’t returning to pre-2020 pricing. And still remodeling is cheaper than moving. Make your spaces work for you. I’m putting a second chandelier over my table and I’m not worried about resale. You know why? Because we aren’t moving! We have made our house work for the phase of life we are in over the years.
And then we hit the highlight of our conversation about checklists. Betsy struggles with adrenal fatigue. She has used the Organize 365® systems to efficiently use her energy. For their groceries, she simply wrote out a list of staple items, copied it, and there’s a stack she pulls from before each trip to the grocery store and marks off the items they need. Betsy shared that she has more fun in her life now and added “obviously more time, peace, and space too.” She can take part in the fun stuff because of her checklists. She externalized the executive functions to lower her cognitive load, thus making the fun seem possible. AND due to the lists she has created as she packs, her family can now help also lighten Betsy’s cognitive load and energy required to do something like camping. The fun things don’t seem so overwhelming. She’s made it easy on herself with simple lists in page protectors and dry erase markers so they can reuse the lists.
Betsy’s advice is, “Start slow and keep it simple; just do that one thing. Go slowly if it’s overwhelming. You don’t need to make it complicated.”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Productive Home Solution®
Home Planning Day
The Paper Solution®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Operational efficiency is where you get your time back. The Productive Home Solution® is a 52 week cadence to organize your home. I like to help change the thinking of our spaces about how we use them for our current phases of life. And with that in mind, some spaces can stay organized forever! I shared a few spaces that I want you to start thinking about differently and answered questions from you at the end.
Can a Space Stay Organized Forever?
Do you believe once you organize a space it could stay that way forever? Back in the day, Carol and I could walk into a storage space and reduce the amount of items by 50% in 90 minutes. How, you ask? We’d get rid of all those empty boxes for their tv, computers, phones, whatever. You will never need those boxes again. Then we’d toss broken items like furniture and electronics. Next, we’d install the HDX ventilated storage shelving with bins. We knew this worked, but why? Then it dawned on me, our storage spaces are like prepaid stores. You buy Christmas decorations once and get them out of your prepaid store each winter. Speaking of winter, we organize storage spaces in the winter because half of the stuff is out of the storage space at this time. This is also the time to toss things you no longer wish to use during the holidays. Once you tackle the storage space, it can stay organized forever with very little maintenance.
The Largest Space
The kitchen is one of the most used spaces in the home and efficiency is the name of the game for profitability and productivity. In The Productive Home Solution®, I challenge you to think about 21 specific areas within your kitchen. We set up stations like drink, baking, and lunch, as well as many others. And you will think about how your kitchen is being used for the phase of life your family is currently in. You will consider the staple items for your family. Remember, our homes are small businesses. And how do you stock this supply chain? This takes time! Three weeks at least, and then you will revisit it at least two more times as you go through The Productive Home Solution® again. Sadly, the first time you just won’t get “done” organizing; I never want to be misleading about that. Give yourself time and grace. Remember, you are striving for excellence not perfection.
The Order In Which You Organize Matters
There is a rhythm and reason as to the 52 week cadence of The Productive Home Solution®. After organizing many homes, being in the education world, and running a business, there are certain energies I have observed that coincide with that 52 week cadence. You all want to do the instant gratification areas of organizing, but then get discouraged because they’re lots of times communal spaces that don’t stay organized. Or it’s July and you are trying to organize your storage spaces; wrong energy. I call this Swiss Cheese Organizing. There’s a link below to watch the webinar to better understand why your organizing probably isn’t working. The Productive Home Solution® sets you up for success by following the natural energy we all feel at different times of the year.
Lisa’s Secret Sauce
I believe my secret sauce is articulating what a functional home feels like, functions like, and looks like. That articulation comes in the form of all of the material in The Productive Home Solution®, a private podcast, planning days, your fellow classmates inside the program, and the Organize 365® community. Time capacity comes from planning. Space capacity comes from storage. And production capacity comes from knowing what’s coming up around the corner. Join The Productive Home Solution® and experience Home Planning Day for the upcoming most productive 10 weeks of the year to have more time for you to do what you were uniquely created to do!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Swiss Cheese Webinar
The Productive Home Solution®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In case you missed it, today I am sharing this audio replay of my recent Stay at Home Parent webinar.
I mentioned a previous webinar, Swiss Cheese Organizing. In this webinar, I share how the order in which you get organized makes a difference. I know it is hard to prioritize your limited time and resources, but you are worth it! AND your organization will help everyone around you!
Now is the perfect time to join the Organize 365® community in the Complete Home Organization Bundle. This bundle includes all the essential tools for organizing, planning, and managing all the roles you play, as well as a FREE Complete Sunday Basket® System and The Paper Solution® book!
Sign up TODAY so we can ship out all your school supplies next week in time for Home Planning Day on August 24th!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Swiss Cheese Organizing Webinar
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In case you missed it, today I am sharing this audio replay of my recent Female Employee webinar.
I mentioned a previous webinar, Swiss Cheese Organizing. In this webinar, I share how the order in which you get organized makes a difference. I know it is hard to prioritize your limited time and resources, but you are worth it! AND your organization will help everyone around you!
Now is the perfect time to join the Organize 365® community in the Complete Home Organization Bundle. This bundle includes all the essential tools for organizing, planning, and managing all the roles you play, as well as a FREE Complete Sunday Basket® System and The Paper Solution® book!
Sign up TODAY so we can ship out all your school supplies next week in time for Home Planning Day on August 24th!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Swiss Cheese Organizing Webinar
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In case you missed it, today I am sharing this audio replay of my recent Entrepreneur webinar.
I mentioned a previous webinar, Swiss Cheese Organizing. In this webinar, I share how the order in which you get organized makes a difference. I know it is hard to prioritize your limited time and resources, but you are worth it! AND your organization will help everyone around you!
Now is the perfect time to join the Organize 365® community in the Complete Home Organization Bundle. This bundle includes all the essential tools for organizing, planning, and managing all the roles you play, as well as a FREE Complete Sunday Basket® System and The Paper Solution® book!
Sign up TODAY so we can ship out all your school supplies next week in time for Home Planning Day on August 24th!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Swiss Cheese Organizing Webinar
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Planning, planning, planning. Always planning, that’s me. Greg asks if you can over plan and I just don’t think so. As working women with children (or not), there is so much to consider and plan. That is what the Sunday Basket® does for you! Do you need to plan this much and have everything planned? No. But it will increase your intentionality and output. I talked about the idea of a train (momentum of productivity) that you can get moving; one for home and one for work. The idea is we can have it all, we can win at home and work through planning. Listen to episodes 570 and 571 to get the full explanation.
How You Gain Time
In my active parenting years while growing Organize 365®, I was driving kids, helping with homework, did 100% of the house duties, had my direct sales business, my parents got divorced, my dad passed and I helped settle his estate, and I was just plain out of time. I wanted to share some ways I looked at my time and realized how to reclaim it. After about three years growing Organize 365®, I just came home and abruptly announced, “I am no longer cooking or going to the grocery store.” I gained time and we saved money. It didn’t take long before Greg assumed those duties.
About 3-6 years after that, I had learned CFO and COO skills and started to apply them at home. I became more efficient with my time and resources. I think my family assumed a magic fairy came in and cleaned the house. I’d clean while they were away and then I’d work at night, but then my family thought all I did was work. So I flipped the script. I worked during the day while they were at school/work and cleaned while they were home. But I realized I could get those cleaning hours to work on growing Organize 365®, so I hired out my cleaning. And sometimes you just delay a task and see how long you can go without doing it to understand a better cadence for completing those tasks. Maybe it doesn’t need to be done as often as you thought. We are not going for perfection; the goal is excellence. I use my time very purposefully through lots and lots of planning. I eventually abdicated all of my responsibilities at work and home and that freed me up to complete my very own book tour in 2021. Organize 365® ran smoothly and so did my home. My trains were fueled up and knew the directions to go.
Trimester Home Planning
The Sunday Basket® Home Planning Day is to help you plan, abdicate, and be intentional with your time to get your home train running smoothly. It’s trimester planning, which is what I realized we need to do for homes because quarterly planning never made sense to me. I have found that it is most natural to plan in January, Summer, and Fall for our homes. And that is due to all the school years where we start school at the end of summer, we have a winter break, and then a summer break. There is a certain energy that flows with those breaks and time of year. And I found I really like to sink my teeth into some sort of meaty project that could potentially take up the whole trimester. I broke down my planning and execution process of these meaty projects and the S.M.A.R.T.I.E.S. goal planning I use in episodes 596-599. I schedule our planning days due to that natural cadence I learned in my school years that continued into my teaching years. For Planning Days, we really take a look at your current phase of life. We are getting down to the details so when life tries to derail us, we have accounted for that and we just keep chugging along. Planning Day is the way to make goals realistic and possible. I strongly recommend Planning Day Prep. In Planning Day Prep, you will fill in holidays, birthdays, and other important dates in the planner. You will update your Sunday Basket® and update labels for your Sunday Basket®. You can move archive papers from your Sunday Basket® to your binders. Then on Planning Day, you aren’t distracted by trying to do those things while the webinar is in progress and you are all set up to execute the planning that comes from Planning Day.
8/24 Sunday Basket® Home Planning Day - 9 Steps (10-2pm EST live webinar)
1. Where are you in your current phase of life?
2. Time - 5 different ways you will look at it
3. Habits/Routines - AM, afternoon, and PM routines
4. Housework - Ideal cadence for laundry, cleaning, and meal planning
5. House Administration - Your Sunday Basket®
6. Plan - 3 years, 1 year, a project, 4 months
7. Detailed Week by Week Plan - To complete your meaty project
8. Detailed Weekly Agenda - Daily plan
9. Look at your time additional ways
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Sunday Basket® Home Planning Day with Lisa
Home Planning Day Prep
The Sunday Basket® Home Planning Day with Lisa + Planning Day Prep
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In this episode, I introduce you to Kailley S. who is a busy mom of 6 with number 7 on the way. Kailley has a dog, she’s married and her dad recently moved in with them. In 2021, Kailley was looking for an organization podcast. We actually met at a homeschool convention in Cincinnati. At the time, Kailley was expecting the twins (who are now 10 months); now she’s expecting again! Kailley is in the accumulation phase of life and discovered she actually is organized. She knows where things are but that’s just it, there are so many things with 6 kids. She’s learned she’s functionally organized. She gave the example of moving cups lower so the kids could get their own cups (which she wanted) and they didn’t have to climb on the countertops (which her husband wanted). She continues to iterate their spaces as their kids’ needs as they change and grow (SMART-I-ES).
Kailley used to go to her husband’s business every Friday to watch the replay and process her Sunday Basket® while her mom would watch the kids. Sometimes Kailley and her husband even got to go out for a lunch date. But Kailley’s mom’s health worsened and she couldn’t help on Fridays anymore. Unfortunately, her mother passed about 5 weeks before her twins were born. Kailley no longer took the time to process her Sunday Basket®, but she was still placing things in it for safekeeping.
We pointed out at this point how important it is to know the phase of life you are in. Really busy phases of life may only allow for once a month processing. I know with the PhD right now, I am having to do my Sunday Basket® once a month. But organization is like riding a bike; the skill of organizing doesn’t leave you. When you have small children under the age of 5, life is just chaotic. It’s like once you get on a schedule, the kids change and the schedule is out the window! It’s a time of life to give yourself grace. Speaking of grace, that’s what Kailley wishes she would have known sooner. She was organized despite her spaces not being Pinterest perfect. We all need to give ourselves grace and not compare to others or what they are doing. This is something Kailley had struggled with in the past and the podcast reminded her of this lesson.
Kailley homeschools her children, hosts a monthly co-op, and runs one of the ministries at church. Then Kailley added the twins as the holidays were approaching, her mother’s passing, going through her parent’s house, selling their house, and having her dad move in with them. Kailley’s siblings were very helpful in going through and selling her parent’s home. She purchased the Friday Workbox® for church and the Holiday Sunday Basket® Bundle too. Even with the addition of more Sunday Basket®s, she noticed all of them plus a laundry basket were overflowing. She’s been able to declutter all the baskets and is ready to start a routine with the Sunday Basket® again. After all of that, she claims she feels like she is starting to catch her breath. It’s the beginning of a new school year and she’s got a plan in place for Fridays, with her older two going into work with her husband and her dad as the “manny” with the next three; she’ll keep the baby.
Kailley’s advice is, “Don’t let a perfect finish deter you from getting started. Start with just one small thing and often that leads to one more small thing. Before you know it, it’s one big thing. Just do it!”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Productive Home Solution®
Friday Workbox®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face, the Sunday Basket® is an essential operating system. Period. We are going to pull up our bootstraps and get prepared for the 10 most productive weeks of the year. We need to get home in order so we can get work in order. How do we do that? The Sunday Basket®. You had the summer to let your brain ooze and be relaxed on tasks, but now is the time to get back to organization and order. We are going to reset or start the Sunday Basket®, a system like no other. I have not found another system that can do what the Sunday Basket® can. Might I add, the Sunday Basket® is available for $179 right now! This is an easy and consistent way to keep overwhelm at bay. And when we are taking care of life, we have less negative self talk and more confidence.
A Safe Place to Delay Decisions
We delay decisions for many reasons. We get requests and ideas from ourselves, texts, DM’s, emails, communication from our kids’ schools and activities, friends, spouses, and work. They want answers but what if we say, “I’ll get back to you on Sunday.” One of the best reasons is that I find by the time Sunday comes, some of the decisions have been made or are no longer needing my attention. Also, when we see all the “demands for our time” at one time, we can prioritize and decide to commit or decline and pay or delay. It is a capacity creation machine!
Holding Ideas and Projects
Pink slash pockets are our friends. We have so many ideas and little time to do them, but we also don’t want to forget. The biggest thing for me is scrolling through social media and seeing a cute idea or recipe for a holiday that has just passed or is too far away to get supplies and implement. Or when you see the perfect gift for someone’s birthday or other holiday, you place the gift idea in their blue slash pocket!
A Financial System for Your Family
We just got done talking about how our homes are small businesses fueling the American economy. The Sunday Basket® acts as a financial system for your home. You need a place to keep track of monthly bills (some are autopay and some need manual paying), your budget, and of course, all things taxes. It’s a great place to keep medical bills if you will be using them for your taxes, as well as investment documentation, and insurance.
Two New Videos
I have added two new videos to the Sunday Basket® Set Up in Organize 365®.
The first video is paper organizing. I recorded a guest at one of my paper organizing retreats. We sorted all of her paper into active or archive papers - for your The Paper Solution® Binders. Turns out some archive papers were in her Sunday Basket® and that was slowing her down each week when she reviewed the slash pockets. Then, with her active paper, we turned it into her improved Sunday Basket®. We did it in 90 minutes, but I broke these down into smaller videos. And we reviewed the rule - If it can wait until Sunday, it must wait.
The second video that is new is processing the Sunday Basket® start to finish. You see me do everything - print to do’s, sort all the paper, label slash pockets, fill/review slash pockets in the Sunday Basket®, decide if projects and things for people can still wait, complete the tasks that must get done that week that aren’t errands, plan the week on paper like meals, when I’ll do my errands, and if I have any time to add a special project. There is a co-working time on Sundays at 5pm Eastern. The community is such an important aspect. You can process your Sunday Basket® while others do, too. You can ask questions, celebrate wins, and offer advice.
Invest in the Sunday Basket® and gain thinking capacity and 5 hours of time each week through planning, delaying decisions, and peace of mind.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In this episode, Jennifer H. has returned with an update. The last time I talked to Jennifer in 2019, she was living with her husband in their home and she was excited that her home was to an organizational level that if she needed to have company, she could be ready in a short amount of time; she just needed to tidy up a little. Jennifer was on her 9th round of the 100 Days Program (now known as The Productive Home Solution®).
Jennifer shared that the next thing that happened was downsizing her home and her mother-in-law’s things so she, her husband, and her mother-in-law could all live in her mother-in-law’s 3-bedroom ranch. Due to Jennifer’s faith, empathetic conversations, and negotiations with her mother-in-law, the transition was pretty smooth.
In April 2020, due to the pandemic, her mother-in-law went to live with her sister in Wichita, Kansas so they could go through all her things and get situated in her mother-in law’s home. They wanted to make sure she was somewhere safe in the event the world shut down. In May, they moved in. Unfortunately, in June her mother-in-law suffered a stroke. And after care didn’t go according to Jennifer’s wishes. Jennifer appreciates that while the siblings don’t always agree, they all keep saying yes to caring for their mom and moving forward together, having tough authentic conversations. We had such a great in depth conversation about how all of our families responded in different ways to the pandemic, the vaccines, and integrating into life again. And now that her brother has retired, he has moved in too! And Jennifer has acknowledged the season of life that she is in and she is the CEO of their home. And that has started a conversation between Jennifer and her husband about their next chapter and if it’s time for them to move out.
It’s so important to keep asking “What do I want?” As life and roles change, the answer to that question will change. And the answer to that question will dictate your reaction. And Jennifer says when she asks herself this question, she just takes the next right step towards what she wants. We can’t control others, we can only control ourselves.
Reliving those experiences really had us looking at tough authentic conversations those events force us to have. Often if we are open to listening to the other person, we find we are saying the same thing, just using different language. Just because you ask a question does not mean you are judging. Not all those events went the way Jennifer would have liked and that brought us to intuition. It seems as though there are shifts in life that force us to look for new solutions. We use reflective learning to aid our intuition to guide us towards a solution and what we are going to do next. When we resonate with an idea, that is a green light to explore the opportunities in that solution. Now that Jennifer feels organized, she can explore her next steps. She is still teaching part time, but also practices Reiki in an office setting. She’s following her intuition.
Jennifer’s advice is, “If you have been listening to the podcast and you are still struggling, hire one of the organizers on the app to help you. They are worth every dime. And putting yourself on your calendar is the only thing to help you reach your full potential.”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Productive Home Solution®
The Paper Solution®
The Paper Solution® Certified Organizer Directory
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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Last week I talked about these large Presidential homes and why they were so big. But it also got me thinking about how they were run. Some had staff or slaves to help them, but some like John and Abigail Adams did not. Houses now aren’t built or run like they used to be.
Think About This
Our homes are small businesses. By that I mean we, our homes, contribute to 68% of the economy. We buy food, clothes, and products to run and repair/improve our homes and function of daily life. Why don’t we run our homes with strategic focus on our priorities instead of trying to equal out daily tasks that will never be done anyway? AI is coming for the house last. We need to be empowered by objectively looking at our homes as an economic unit; a small business. When we have that perspective, we will make better choices. We are managing our work life and our small business (our homes) and the cognitive load is too great. You need to learn to defer tasks so you are working on the most important task. Think, what needs to get done? By when? In what order? And what things, if they don’t get done, are not going to be a big deal?
The Household Manager Room
I have always said the only reason I would consider building a new house would be to put the master bedroom on the main level and to finally get the household manager office I have dreamed about. We used to have this planning desk, but as I’m sure many of you have also experienced, it’s not big enough. I want a whole room. So as I started to explain out loud all my organization and reasoning for where I have different papers for taxes, my project closets, Greg’s memorabilia, Warrior MAMA Binders, my Sunday Basket®s, picture frames, and some of Grayson’s stuff, it started to sound like a hot mess. I laughed, but in my head and on paper it’s very organized. The only way I would improve their locations is to have this one room that the primary focus is to efficiently run my home. We should all be so lucky to have one space dedicated to the running of our homes.
You Are the American Economy
Our homes are like startups. Very little money in the beginning, but the systems help us to focus and eventually turn a profit. The less goals at one time that we are focused on, the more productive and profitable our economic unit will be. We need to have managerial mindsets. In our homes, we have finances and operations. No matter if it’s just you, you are married, with kids, or even a multigenerational home. The focus is no longer divvying up tasks, it’s productivity. You take a leadership stance. You can only control and change you and your mindset. Decide what you want to do and lead by example. Oddly enough, others usually follow suit and fill in the gaps. When I decided I was no longer grocery shopping and cooking, Greg stepped in and our “food life” is even better now. And keep in mind as our family’s grow, our roles will change too. As your kids grow, instill chores or hire help. Just like in business, people quit and systems change; so will your small business. It’s good to do an audit of your home every couple of years. And as a leader with goals in mind, decide how to move forward effectively, productively, and profitably.
Going into the next 5 episodes, I want you to think about the systems you have in place and how they can make you productive from a leadership standpoint. And how to run your home through strategic planning instead of a reactive mode of just trying to even out the workload.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
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In this episode, I introduce you to Julie C., mom of three boys and two dogs and a wife. In December 2019, Julie was starting to organize her office and thought, “There’s no TV in this room, maybe I’ll find a podcast to listen to.” She was really drawn to the messages along with the teaching of the Organize 365® Podcast. Julie had previously tried the Freedom Filer® Filing System, but ended up confusing herself with it. That’s when she implemented the Sunday Basket® and got her paper under control.
Then when the unexpected event of a cancer diagnosis was received, Julie was able to lean on her Sunday Basket®. Julie’s oldest son was a senior and she wanted to make sure his graduation celebration was perfect. Her family and friends were able to help her plans play out due to the organization of actionable items in the Sunday Basket®.
I have noticed in my 50’s, some of my friends have experienced a cancer diagnosis or a heart attack. These unexpected events throw life off kilter. This is usually when we realize we need to get all the info out of our heads and onto paper in the event people need to access accounts and such and we are not in a capacity to do so. Our team had a crazy fall last year and I did a 6- part series of the different events and how my staff was handling them; check out episodes 555 through 560 to hear all about them.
We can’t control much in these events, but the Sunday Basket® gives us peace of mind. And I mention that Julie being able to have peace of mind gave her the ability to rest, which is when our bodies repair and heal. Julie was also encouraged by the Organize 365® community, realizing others had been in her shoes and learning what they did.
Once Julie was back to work, she attended the Friday Workbox® Planning Day sans the Friday Workbox®. I laughed, but Julie explained all the benefits she gained from simply planning. Like scheduling a workout, actually putting it on the schedule in her day. Julie has also acknowledged with her kids getting older, she has more time. Due to the podcast, she was inspired with all her extra time to go for her Doctorate in Education for Leadership and Healthcare.
Now that she’s planning to go back to school, she’s also been evaluating cleaning in her house. We talked about how you can clean your house OR you can hire that out and use that time towards a project or something like going back to school. We also talked about the stigma that comes with hiring someone to clean your house. You could feel “holier than thou” OR you may consider how grateful that person is to work, which could be what they really enjoy, and the ability to make money for their family.
Julie recently became a member of The Productive Home Solution® and appreciates The Paper Solution® Binders. It’s so important to have the information documented and now in her Medical Binder for the future. And speaking of the future, she wants to get the Launch Binders for her boys. We talked about learning the skills of cleaning your home or other home management tasks. We often learn them in the dorms at college. But what if you don’t attend college, then how do you learn? In either setting, we agreed the Launch Binder is the way to go to share common knowledge with your children as they embark on their independent adult journey.
Julie’s advice is, “Just get started. Lean on the system, it doesn’t have to be ‘done.’ It’s a journey, not an end product.”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Friday Workbox®
Friday Workbox® Planning Day
The Productive Home Solution®
The Paper Solution®
Launch Binder
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On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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