Organize 365 Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Let's revisit some characteristics of December energy because last week you were deep in Thanksgiving energy and you may have missed a few things I suggested planning. Do we all agree the energy has shifted? Even though the calendar still says November, we're all in December!

After the Big Meal

The dishes have been cleaned and the company has gone home. Now what? You have a couple of days before you return to your normal weekly routines. Now is the time to plan so you can be a proactive holiday person instead of reactive. This is the time to prevent stress and over spending. It's never about all the things we need to do. It's the order in which we do them, when we do them, and the energy we have when we do them. I want to start to focus on what needs to be done to set up this audience for success on Saturday and Sunday or these situations when we have unique pockets of time. Here's the plan to set you up for success as we go into December!

Before You Unpack the Holiday Decor

Let's plan decorating your home for December.  What does it look like, smell like, and taste like in your home during December? Remember how we asked our family what they'd like for Thanksgiving? Do the same for December.  My family told me it was all about lights for them. So a few years ago I just put up what I wanted and lots of lights.  I thought for sure they'd remember a certain item so I kept everything. But no. And the next year the same. But the dread I felt knowing I had tubs of decor I didn't want to use put a damper on wanting to decorate. After Christmas that second year of not putting out as much I convinced myself to donate all the extras…even childhood items. I felt an epic amount of guilt.  But that next year when I went to get out the decorations all I felt was relief!!  I went from trying to fulfill non-existent family expectations to minimally decorating to donating extras and decorating in record time. But now is the time or you'll blink and it'll be the Monday before Christmas! 

And now is the time to shop! I shop now because the lists are ever changing. This prevents me from spending in September and December thus going over budget.  Lots of time the prices go down or you get better deals like bundles.  It's less time that I have to hide what I bought although this year Organize 365® is the delivery address of choice so I (and all employees) don't have to hide anything.  And this is the shopping energy season. Everyone else is shopping and I love to shop so naturally I want to be shopping too! This is also the time to stock up on cards and gift cards for global gifts for people like your babysitter, teachers, amazon delivery people, your house keeper, trash collectors, and etc.

Winter Break

This is the time of year I normally plan one big outing and a couple of smaller outings. You'll all be home and the kids will be looking for something to do and you probably don't want to spend a bazillion dollars. You can still sleep in, I am just encouraging you to plan something each day. Usually the most fun times come from someone planning it. You can plan an activity or goal each day. I shared how I planned my extra time in episode 683. I want you to revisit it and think about how you could best provide some self care? When the break is over you will feel like you made memories, accomplished a few goals, and ready for January. 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Black Friday Sales Catalog

• Episode 683 - PTO Time Just for ME! Modern Self Care

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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!

Are you ready for the 6 busiest weeks of the year? Let's zoom out and look at our family, our houses, and events to orchestrate a place of planning, purpose, and memory making. I wanted to share the energy I feel this time of year and how I manage my expectations of myself and others during this busy season. 

Fed People are Happy People

When I think ahead and plan the food component of Thanksgiving I have much lower stress. Once you get the day before the holiday off of work/school, the day of Thanksgiving, and the next day, plus the weekend; you now need to plan food for 5-7 days. Think about your own weekend habits. You eat differently, you spend differently, and you have a different energy. In my experience when people are fed they are much happier people and then I get to enjoy the holiday too. Think ahead and plan a fun breakfast, have on hand some snacky/appetizer type treats, and what meals you'll have. 

Ok now, on the big day…this is a food holiday!  This is NOT the holiday to try a new recipe or a spin on a favorite dish!  Talk to your family and find out what foods are important to them. Do you need a whole dessert table maybe?  Make sure that "certain" dish is there for the ones you love. Now that could get pricey so here's a tip to cut the budget: Ask that guests to bring their special dish. I've noticed as my eating habits have changed so too must my plate at Thanksgiving. Now I just take a few bites of everything I like and leave it at that. No need to overstuff myself and feel miserable the rest of the day.

Family 

Once all the food is in place you get to catch up with all of your family. Please people manage your expectations. Lean into gratitude for the family you do have. I have lost loved ones, so I choose to be grateful for the family in the room on Thanksgiving. You may need to change a conversation or hop in a game that people are playing to avoid certain conversations. 

And permission to not kill yourself cleaning. Your family is not doing a white glove inspection and they aren't going past the common spaces and a bathroom. Speaking of the bathroom, make sure you have plenty of toilet paper!  You'll need lots of that and dish cloths to ensure others can help with all the dishes and cleaning up!

Fun to include everyone

I love a game being played to infuse fun into the room and include others or people who are joining your family for the first time. You may hear of someone who will be alone on Thanksgiving because loved ones have passed, or travel isn't possible, or other reasons - invite them to join you and your family!  It's that much easier to make memories when fun is in the air! Break out some fun board games and put the Thanksgiving Day Parade on followed by some football. 

And then it's like you have a 3 day weekend after the big day so here's what I do. I shop the Black Friday deals on my phone. Side note: I do want to thank everyone who will be working the Holidays like our first responders and retail personnel. Heads up Organize 365® will be starting our Black Friday sale on Wednesday so no one has to break from the festivities.  I'm also planning to do some holiday baking and normally this is when I decorate for my holiday of choice - Christmas. I hope this helps to reduce your stress this holiday season and let's you be more present in making holiday memories.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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!

I really love Lillian Gilbreth's focus on efficiency for the American home. I'd like to think I'm picking up where she left off. After the war, "men took back their jobs." But did it ever occur to you that women worked at these factories and there were dual income homes before the war? It had not occurred to me.  I wanted to be home but some women wanted to be at work, working in their uniqueness making a paycheck. Now that the soldiers had returned to work, more women were home, the big packaged food companies marketed to her about how to make her life easier.  

Past Mistakes

In the past science has just determined the definition of housework and completed their studies based on it. And human nature is to do the household tasks of your gender, as you saw displayed growing up.  But there's a new sheriff in town and I asked the public how they defined housework and I am so excited to publish my findings. In conducting studies in the past they also used a convenience sample group for their studies; like all college students.  This gave skewed results. 

In one study, they used married couples with children. This also resulted in what I call "He said, She said" about who is doing what housework. And who is doing more. That convenience sample was ok in the 80's because that was roughly 60% of the population; married with children. But now? Married with children only represents roughly 25% of the population. My sample groups will be large and mimic the US Census to accurately reflect the general public.  I want to be able to focus on teaching efficiency for all genders, all ethnicities, and all family compositions. Because I want a single mom, a multigenerational home, or a nuclear family to learn how to get organized, leading to productivity, that reduces household work.

1 Problem 1 Product

It's easy to want to solve one product for one problem but there's an underlying problem. This is how people try to start to organize often. I used a child getting ear infections as an example. The first infection, one product for one problem. But then too many infections and now we need to look at the underlying problem. When you look for one product for problem, you get in this cycle of decluttering to organization and back to decluttering but you never get to move on to productivity because the skill of organization has not yet been learned.  

But just like getting a celiac diagnosis, you must modify your environment to achieve your desired goal. The Productive Home Solution teaches you to declutter, organize, and modify your home. The Paper Solution® teaches best information management practices. The Sunday Baskset® provides a system to optimize all your household manager responsibilities.  The first time around decluttering and organizing can take some time but then it's just maintenance. New milestone, then you modify your environment again but you don't have to learn the skill all over. You just apply it to the new phase of life you are in like a new baby, home, job, or milestone birthday.

The Mission

By now you may have heard Organize 365® is decluttering all work related products and services as of December 31, 2025.  This will allow more time to focus on universal application of the systems Organize 365® offers. I want to answer what is essential housework? How can housework be most efficiently optimized and operationalized? How can we all do less housework? And I plan to focus on testing and disseminating results from studies about systems and methods in the marketplace and in academia. Here's to the next chapter of Organize 365®.

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!

In this episode, we're catching up with Monique H. who was a long standing Organize 365® member who went to work for that same community and has run the Sunday Basket Club for the last 7 years. Monique has so many fun projects in the works and we really wanted to talk about exploring new opportunities and reinventing yourself…what's holding you back? 

Monique and I connected on a trip to a conference. Being in the car for a while gave us the opportunity to dive deep into each other's lives and realize we were going through a lot of the same things. It's funny how due to life circumstances you can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. And we agree that's what the Organize 365® communities offer, the opportunity to connect and know you aren't alone in your "hard." The opportunity to connect with other people experiencing your same struggles and find solutions. 

There is something about a face-to-face conversation and I desperately wanted that for Organize 365®, but I also knew what you do for one you have to do for all. In anticipation of Organize 365® growing, I knew not to offer that. I find myself having more authentic conversations when I know I'm not being recorded for, I don't know…a podcast. My biggest struggle with offering face-to-face services was that my family needed me frequently. So when Covid made us all go virtual, it opened the door to explore the effectiveness of online offerings; it started with Monique leading a paper organizing retreat. What we found was some people didn't have the ability to travel and they felt thankful and included by being able to attend virtually. We have been fortunate enough to fully develop each product line through online offerings. 

Monique has gone through many iterations during her career as an organizer. When she moved to Nashville, she decided to stop offering in-home organization. We talked about how different phases of life can change your bandwidth and with growth our desires of what we want to do for work changes. And as you are coming up with new services or products, it is so important we all remember our value. Like every time you leave your house, you are trading money for time with your family. Make sure it's worth your family's time for you to be gone. And over the years you have gained skills that are valuable. Monique gave permission to us all to pull out skills from our toolboxes that we have used and offered in the past. And that's exactly what she's up to now! 

She's offering organization as a certified paper organizer. No shame in her game and no explanation needed. If it has made you money in the past and people still need or want it, pick it back up! Don't let the things we have to maintain like our houses be a barrier to following your dreams. Monique stressed the importance of building the plane while you are flying it. Create, get feedback, iterate, repeat. It doesn't have to be perfect! She's helping other women to realize this through her coaching services. She's helping women to see success with consistency in their actions in business and life. Get organized with Monique or any of the other certified organizers in the Organize 365® directory.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Paper Solution® Certified Organizer Directory

• Organizing Your Chaos with Monique

• 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!

This time of year we have a lot on our plates and a new perspective can always be helpful. I recorded this episode to give examples of what I presume is happening in all households, but in our minds we conjure up a totally different scenario. In this episode, I am talking about the homes with a married couple with children, which I realize is a small population, with lessons that anyone can apply to life.

Failed Delegation

I think it's fair to say that no one is doing nothing in the house. Some people do less, like in my family, but my little Lisa heart is happy doing all the things, even at home. But when I do feel my capacity waning, I decide to delegate or delete since I know I can't get it done. The other day Greg said, "You do a lot, let me do something for you. How can I help?" So I gave him a couple of small tasks and he asked for more. I thought I was giving him the task of getting the fence installed, but Greg thought it would be a collaborative effort. Then things were lost in communication or lack there of. The fresh perspective here is, if you delegate, delegate the whole task otherwise you end up micromanaging to ensure the task was completed!

Motivational Shift

In my studies I have come across this Self Determination Theory by Ryan and Deci. It explains the 6 levels of motivation. I chose Sunday dinner at our house to show the shift from Amotivation (total lack of motivation) up 4 levels to Integration Motivation (meaning in congruence of goals.)  When we started family dinner at our house, Greg was the cook and I felt obligated to help with some aspect of the meal (AKA Introjection Motivation - do it for approval of clothes-guilt). I would help with the salad and rolls thinking about how much the meal cost us and do the dishes because that's how it was when I was a kid. Whoever didn't cook, cleaned up.

Over time, it has become something that is a part of our family. It's weird if due to a trip or another reason, we don't have Sunday dinner. It's like something is missing. At Sunday dinner I take care of the salad and rolls. I then clean up the dishes and get dessert ready. Identification Motivation - I do the salad, rolls, and dishes because you identify as the person in the family that does those things. My motivation changed. 

Not too long ago, I was blissfully washing dishes after Sunday dinner. My heart was so content with gratitude. It wasn't because I got to wash dishes. It was because Sunday dinner started earlier due to a football game. We had appetizers on all the fun dishes we've collected over the past couple years. Grayson and our dog get so excited when Nana, Greg's mom, comes over. I was washing the dishes we used to dish out the meal that Greg had cooked and it made him so happy. It's great to have our children join us and sometimes their friends will join us, too. We all look forward to it and it's rewarding to everyone. I now experience Integration Motivation, meaning it's in congruence with our family's (or a group's) goal. Our family's goal is Sunday dinner.

As the household CEO, there's always something to do. You need to decide to do it, delegate it or delete it. I'm always trying to gain perspective on why I do the things I do. I'm a fan of longevity and significance. I ask myself what is the significance of this task? How does it help others? Is it necessary? When I consider these questions I can make the decision on what to do about the task at hand, like going to the grocery store, delegating new tasks to a family member, or helping with Sunday dinner. It'll give you a new perspective on that task! 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Organize 365® Podcast 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!

In this episode, we're back with part two of the conversation with my sister, Emily Kelly. The Kelly girls were known for providing good service. We knew good etiquette from all the parties mom threw and the ones we attended with mom and dad. I wanted to babysit for all the party going parents and Emily wanted to execute the parties they were attending. We didn't have a lot of toys. Our mom paid us for 50 cent words (IYKYK, otherwise listen to the full episode) and took us on a lot of learning experiences. We weren't your average kids. We were pretty mature. We learned from an early age about entrepreneurship and business. It's really no surprise that today we are entrepreneurs.

As we mentioned in part one, EMK Incorporated has been reignited and provides household managerial support. To get started again, Emily shared that she made flyers for her condo complex and advertised in their newsletter what services she could offer. Then she worked on contacting her networking list. You could hold workshops at the library or speaking opportunities for people to get a quick win, like get some paper organized. Then you can explain that you do more. People know who you are and are more comfortable continuing to do business with you.  Emily didn't promote her services on social media and you don't have to either. She pointed out to let people know what you have to offer, have conversations about how you could help them, and let them know you will be there to help them when they are ready. She recognizes the emotional component to paper organizing and wants them to be ready. And due to her empathy and excellent results, she continues to get referrals and calls from people who are ready. 

It was funny when Emily started to tell me everything she's been doing, I said "That's The Paper Solution® Certification!" And as we think about that certification, I want you to think, are you short on time or money? If you say time, then think about what you could hire out to give yourself back some time. You can check the Certified Organizers on the Organize 365® website. If you say money, what tasks as a home manager are you already doing that you enjoy, that you could offer to do for someone else? That's what Emily did when she offered to organize people, when she offered to watch their dogs, when she offered to make their scrapbooks. Eventually,  you could get certified and listed on the Organize 365® directory to get more clients. And as I pointed out, the Baby Boomer generation will be needing help with their paper as they age. And Gen X with fewer siblings and it being a small population compared to the generation before and after, will need help too. 

I'd love for the people who need help to easily access help through the directory. And people who need to make money, to help them get their paper organized. Click on the link below to check out the Professional Organizer's Think Tank Podcast (now located in POTT Start) to learn how I started my in-home organizing business so you can get started, too. I just have this vision, wouldn't it be cool if it was common to have paper organizing workshops or retreats going on all over the nation all the time? It's your time to get certified and use your skills to do what you are uniquely created to do.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution® Certification

• Certified Organizer Directory

• POTT Start

• EMK Incorporated

• 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!

Lucky! That's all I have to say about all the gaps in insurance I found out about recently. You see, when your insurance guy retires it forces you to look at your policies. I had an eye opening little string of insurance mishaps that will have me thoroughly going through our binders and policies this winter. These are my cautionary tales so you don't find yourself over or underinsured.

The Retirement Party

So our State Farm agent tells us he's retiring and invites us to his party to celebrate. When I asked him what was going to happen to my 11 policies, he suggested I meet all the other agents that were there. I was bamboozled into attending so I could find a new agent. Oh no, no! I asked people that I trust who they use and found my own new State Farm agent. I had all my policies transferred over to him and asked to review the policies and make sure we were all set. 

Paper Validates What You Say

You know how I always say that physical paper validates what you say when you are in the doctor's office? Well now I can share how it works with the Financial Binder, too! I actually have a business binder. So when said new agent came, he discovered I didn't have business insurance. But I could have sworn I already had it. Once he asked me the questions to set up a new policy, I KNEW I already had it! Once I finally remembered to check the business binder at home, I found it. I showed it to the new agent. And putting two and two together, we discovered the first policy was in the business name and I had only transferred my personal policies. Now to find that missing bond. The paper validated what I said. I was able to void the second policy and that saved me $2700!

Poor Abby

I don't know how, but in all of this reviewing of policies it was revealed that I had not added Abby as a driver to our policy. So in the event there had been an accident, the car would have been covered, but not her medical expenses. FIVE YEARS! For five years, Abby has been driving around completely uninsured! I added Joey, but total household manager fail, I did not add Abby. As the COO of this house, I missed crossing this "t."

2024: The Year of Overcommitting

You know we have remodeled and upgraded things around the house so much this year. Which also means we opened a few lines of credit and that led to the question, how much is our mortgage? Greg had one number and I had one $200 less! How could that be? The bank statements showed we were both right, but that made me have a lot of questions. The State Farm agent was able to explain that, ever since we purchased Joey's condo (which was underinsured), we've been paying escrow but we have never escrowed!  So we had to get that all straightened out, too. 

Even the Best Fall Down Sometimes

I discovered incorrect beneficiaries. We added Greg to all the Organize 365® accounts because I was the only signer on those accounts. I mean, I had my eyes opened to so much; you've got to listen to the full episode to hear all the things. As much as you may feel you are set for today, are you "set" for the future? It just goes to show no one has it all together. With that being said, at the end of the day it's up to you as the household manager to dot all the "i's" and cross the "t's" because no one cares what you intended to do. It's up to you to make sure the paperwork is correct. Do you know that song "Collide" by Howie Day? All I can think of is the line in that song that says "Even the best fall down sometimes." Did you sing it? LOL Yes, even Lisa with Organize 365® can fall sometimes. But I am back up and ready to take on whatever "blessings" life gives me.

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!

In this episode, the Emily Kelly, my sister, is back! It's been a minute since her raving Organize 365® fans have been caught up on what Emily Kelly is up to these days. Put your surprised faces on when I tell you she's back to being an entrepreneur. BUT she has not settled on just one and I think that is so important to spotlight. Many Americans have a 9 to 5 and a side hustle. Or many people like Emily find purpose and passion and excel in multiple areas. "A man of many talents rarely goes hungry." Such a valid point in today's economy.

Emily was ready to be done at her previous employer and they were ready to part ways, too. She brought up a good point; based on my past experience, America is set up for married people. When you are single, it's scary to leave a steady position. There is no one else to fill in any financial gaps. I had the opportunity to explore what I was uniquely created to do because I had Greg, my husband, supporting our family. We discussed how, just because inflation goes crazy, doesn't mean your salary goes up with it. I shared the gas stipend I gave to full time Organize 365® employees when gas prices went so crazy in 2022. For some people, just coming to work was a huge inconvenience due to gas prices. 

So she has officially fired up EMK Incorporated which is business-to-client relationships. She takes care of anything within your home. People have commented to her that it's good to see her working for herself again and I agree. Emily has a natural skill to build relationships in person. It's a dying art. Relationships are built on trust. Trust will never be replaced with a higher commodity. Relationships are free and your long term investment of time and effort will last a lot longer than ads. And with all the relationships she's built and maintained, she was able to get clients started and start a few businesses on the right path, too. 

Cue Emily's other company Rainmaker, a marketing agency and fractional CMO services, which is business-to-business relationships. She enjoys teaching business owners to fish rather than just giving them the fish. There are so many nuances to marketing and Emily is happy to do the work for them. But she's just as happy to show her clients the ropes and understand how to focus on what makes their business unique and who they are targeting those messages to. She's helping them to look at what they have to offer in print, person, on land, and online to see what marketing makes sense for their business. 

And she's launched Rainmaker Academy! It's a 6-week comprehensive program to really learn the ins and outs of marketing. She'll be offering each week individually so business owners don't have to commit to 6 weeks and they can learn the skills they are looking for. It is a well rounded explanation of all things marketing for a business owner. She and her panel of experts are explaining things like identifying your vision, SEO, successful sales strategy, promotional items, merchandise to sell, and it all ends with a celebration! 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution® Certification Course

• EMK Incorporated

• 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!

By the end of this summer, I knew my trains were not running at full speed. But what had happened? How did I get off course? Even ultra productive people can have seasons that get the better of them. I can't believe how much I accomplished in spite of feeling less productive.  It was one of those seasons where one project led to another and no other area of life helped the situation.

2024: The Year of Overcommitting

It all started in February with Joey's condo needing new plumbing, which led to the perfect time to redo his shower. Then Abby's shower was suspected to have mold and that meant another bathroom remodel. And if we were opening that can of worms, then we wanted to add on an official bedroom for our giant toddler grandchild, Grayson. This kid needed a bigger bed and his own little apartment within his mom's apartment. And while we were doing all of that, it just made sense to give Abby a proper kitchen, minus an oven. Which meant we needed to upgrade our electrical panel for the house. All these projects were supposed to be completed in time for Greg and I's trip to Europe. But you know, permits and whatever, it kept getting delayed. So we decided to take care of all of Abby's stuff when we got back. Who wants to be in contact with a contractor while on vacation? Not me! 

And then there was school demanding more of my time. And a little extra pressure from my family. I had started to do school work at the office because "little baby Grayson" now knows that if my car is home, Lovie is home. And normally Greg wouldn't care if I was not home because he'd be golfing. But due to shoulder surgery in December, he wasn't playing golf. Needless to say, everyone was verbal about noticing I wasn't home as much. I also may have had 3 classes this summer instead of 2 like I'd done in the past; I want to get through this PhD already! I like when my time is at my discretion. I had this productivity debt starting to accumulate and no time to make any of it up, even at work. I could not catch a break!  And believe it or not, we decided to do a little something to our own kitchen, treat Grayson to a playground set for his birthday, which obviously meant a fence, but first we had to take down a shed and a tree. And I was so excited when WOW Window Boxes were at Homearama, we got one of those, too! Like, who am I coordinating all of these projects that normally would have taken me 4 years? It felt good to take some things off the "some day list."

What I Did

I give myself credit for prioritizing tasks this whole time and knowing what can wait. And nightly planning of the most important tasks that need to be accomplished the next day. I exercised planned neglect, like eating out during the kitchen "remodeling" in my kitchen. And ruthlessly going through my calendar. And once you have survived one of these challenging seasons, the trick is to reflect and realize how much stronger you are because of it. Realize the lessons.

Blessings

Upon reflection of this season, I was overwhelmed with the amount of blessings this season provided. I'm very blessed in my life and that is not lost on me. These were all blessings slowing me down and it's a season I'm happy to be coming out of so I can get back to being ultra productive. 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Friday Workbox®

• 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Christine F. who lives with her daughter and their dog. Christine was listening to "The Art of Decluttering" in May 2023 and heard me speaking about ADHD. Her daughter had just been diagnosed so Christine's ears perked up. Christine, in education for the past 26 years but currently a counselor for seniors, just kept listening, thinking "Wow, that's a lot!" 

But January 2024 was a turning point for Christine when suddenly she couldn't get enough of the podcast because there was an episode about The Paper Solution® Binders. She had been watching her stepmother settle her father's estate and realized the value of the binders and how these systems helped life. How valuable it could have been if her father had the Financial Binder.

In March 2024, it really clicked as the school pilot programs were being discussed on the podcast about the Education Workboxes. She took the plunge and ordered the Sunday Basket® and Teacher Friday Workbox®. Being a counselor of seniors (who were preparing to graduate and it was nearing the end of the school year) and getting ready to transition to a different teaching position, this gave her order and a system. In her desperation to survive and function, she saw the light of what the Teacher Friday Workbox® could do and that provided motivation to get so much completed so quickly. No one could see how frazzled she was on the inside, but now she had found internal organization.

Shortly thereafter, she purchased everything. She'd always been fairly organized, but she realized she'd been missing systems. Christine is visual so it's best if things are left out so she can see them to remember to take care of them. A friend of hers even noticed a difference in Christine. She no longer had a messy desk. All of her paper had a home and it was accounted for weekly. She loves that she can grab and go. If she has an IEP meeting, she can bring just the slash pocket. And the "Waiting For" slash pocket has been a game changer for her! 

Since the other systems were proven, she decided to go to a Home Planning Day. The biggest take away for her was the number of different ways you look at your time in Home Planning Day. It was clear to her why she could never get all the Sunday tasks done. She changed the timing of some tasks and switched others to different days. Now she gets to enjoy Sunday. It's a resetting of your time and expectations every 120 days, not the rest of your life. There are different energies at different times of the year. Christine knows she'll accomplish nothing in August and now she won't even try after knowing that and planning accordingly. Now she has more time and bandwidth.

Christine's advice is, "Trust the system and just get all of it. If you can only start small, start with the Sunday Basket®. But really, if you get the whole system it can literally organize your entire life." 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Organize 365® Home Planning Day

• The Productive Home 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.

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