Podcasts about day home organization program

In this episode, I introduce you to Beatrix S. who lives alone after her husband was transferred to a nursing home where he could get care and supervision for dementia. Beatrix found Organize 365® years ago when Gretchen Rubin interviewed me about the book “The Paper Solution.” Her first thought was, “What, filing cabinets to binders? Prove it!” Beatrix had always struggled with paper. So she got the book, read it in a couple of days, and found herself joining the 100 Day Home Organization Program (which became The Productive Home Solution®) and getting a Sunday Basket®. Now she says she's hooked. In 2003, Beatrix reflected on her study and how cluttered it had become again. Please, you need to listen to this insightful poem she shares. She was a minister and has a great way of storytelling. You can hear it in this poem. It was clear imagery of the disarray her study was in.  It took awhile for Beatrix to wrap her brain around the Sunday Basket® System. She'd not been a part of Organize 365® long when she attended her first Home Planning Day. She also had a couple of unexpected life events, including her husband having a stroke and moving to a nursing home. Beatrix also thought maybe she didn't have anything left to declutter. It'd been a couple of years since she'd followed Marie Kondo's way of decluttering her closet. I pointed out that Marie Kondo is great for decluttering and Organize 365® offers great organizational systems. Beatrix had plenty to declutter and organize. Beatrix was most shocked with her bathroom and how much she'd crammed in there!  Through the years with Organize 365®, Beatrix has formed a support system of friends. They meet every month and she has found them invaluable with the tough season she is in. Life is good, she acknowledged, but she's deeply sad and fatigued with loving and caring for her husband. Her advice for others in a similar situation is to surround yourself with as many support systems as you can. Beatrix has more time now; time for friends, beautification, exercise, and planning. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and it explains so much. Beatrix really wishes she'd had the Friday Workbox® when she was in ministry; she always struggled to finish projects. And she wishes she'd known how to organize paper. She's appreciative of the replays so she can get additional takeaways and the “teacher's approach” I take with the systems Organize 365® provides. We had a nice conversation about the evolution of school and how they support the ADHD brain/learning style.  Beatrix's advice is, “Start with the Sunday Basket®. If that doesn't work then just start with one drawer.”  EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Home Planning Day The Paper 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Summer K who lives with her son, husband, and dog. Summer originally found Organize 365® in the summer of 2020 through an ad on Instagram. She made the “mistake” of clicking on it and then it “followed” her. Eventually she visited the website and put a Sunday Basket® in the cart for her mom…annnnd one for herself! She knows the systems now and doesn't fret if a system “breaks” because she can easily get it back up and running. Summer now lives in Minnesota, but there were a few moves before now and when she found Organize 365®. Instead of decluttering and organizing along the way, she chose to put items in storage units. With the Sunday Basket®, Summer had moved away from filing cabinets. The transformation in her thinking, through implementing the Organize 365® systems, also helped her trim down to one storage unit that she left behind when she moved to Minnesota. After about a year, her brother loaded it up and delivered it to her. Summer had the whole basement set up ready to process that unit in hopes of getting rid of 50% of it…and she did! The systems help you to keep the stuff you want and use versus a filing cabinet or storage unit that allows you to store it and forget it long after it is still relevant.  Summer is a self proclaimed binder snot. She appreciates a durable functioning binder as much as me! We laughed about how the manufacturers can't figure out how to use quality products and allow all the products inside to function simultaneously. These are the school supplies we need for our life's work. She pointed out that they are a fraction of the price of a filing cabinet and do not allow you to keep outdated papers. And as I shared, I even created a binder for Grayson because while he doesn't have an IEP, he does have OT and other paperwork that is no longer relevant in Abby's binder or the household binder. So where do you put it? You make that person their own binder. We also discussed different binders for different properties. The binders are there, make them work for you so you don't have to think of all the filters you need to go through to get to important paperwork you need. Reduce your cognitive load.  The Productive Home Solution® (then the 100 Day Home Organization Program) was so helpful for Summer because in the midst of her busy life, when she knew she'd have a 15 minute chunk of time, she'd just look at what she needed to complete next. She'd do it and go back to her busy life. The Productive Home Solution® has evolved over the years to be universal so any person gets the benefits of functional organization. One of the many improvements we have made is a 120 day checklist so you can check off tasks in any order for the amount of time you have. Summer loves this aspect as well as videos that show real life applications. How are real people actually completing the checklists?  Summer finds so much value in the Sunday Basket® that she gets her assistant's a Sunday Basket® and even has them complete a Friday Workbox® Planning Day. It is important to her that they are talking the same language. In planning, she wants them to know she's talking pink or connections have been made and it's now turning into purple work. Summer also realized she used to keep a very long to-do list until she started putting ideas only on one side and project tasks on the other side. Then she learned she'd separated her pink and purple work. Summer has been in the business of pink work so it was an “aha” moment when she learned about the color coding of the slash pockets. She shared at first she kept thinking her cobbled systems were better. Then she tried the suggested way and liked it better! She has found all of the systems to be very effective in work and home. Summer's advice is, “Do 6 weeks in a row to build the muscle to see the real value.”  EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® The Paper Solution® Friday Workbox Planning Day 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!

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! This week I am sharing my conversation with Lauren S. She lives with her husband and 4 kids. She has a daughter who is non-verbal and wheelchair-bound from a genetic condition. Lauren shares the chaos of the last couple of years from two job changes for her husband to issues with access to services and changes to special ed teachers for her daughter during the pandemic. She decided that she could not continue to live in survival mode permanently! She joined The Productive Home Solution™ and jumped in with both feet. This self-proclaimed creative who struggled with organization decided that organization is a learnable skill. She made organizing her part-time job and plowed through the 100 Day Home Organization Program and more in less than 100 Days! Lauren pushed past grief and faced the emotional paperwork for her daughter to create her Warrior Mama Binder in time for an IEP meeting as well as boxing up belongings of her late brother for safekeeping that had been taking up space in her home office. The community app and the Sunday Basket® Club were essential to her success especially when she struggled with figuring out what her next step should be. Can you relate to Lauren's story? Do you have a special needs family member for whom you are the primary caregiver? Are you tired of living in the chaos of survival mode? Regain control of your home and paper with The Productive Home Solution™ and the Sunday Basket® System like Lauren did! I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links: Organize 365® The Sunday Basket® System The Productive Home Solution™ The Paper Solution® Warrior MAMA Binder I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

I have recently been enjoying parable based books to learn new things and to gain confidence that my own analysis and plans are “right” in the world of business. Reading a fictionalized version of important information helps me to apply learning and see nuances rather than just read dry facts. Recently, I listened to The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and learned how they describe four different kinds of work.  In this podcast, I will introduce you to the first two kinds of work. I then also share my thinking about how these kinds of work are also present in our home and household lives. By thinking about these kinds of work, we can get better work patterns and be more effective in the work we do.  Constraints - constraints are limits that are difficult or impossible to change - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. When we do not have enough of these things, it can be a limit on our organization and productivity, and changing our situation can require a major effort. Bottlenecks - are problems that can be analyzed and solved - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. I explain how we are not using what we have effectively. It is vital to discern whether you are facing a constraint or a bottleneck - many times there are effective changes you can make. Work: Firefighting - reactive work that has deadlines, stress, or feels like a crisis. This work shows up unexpectedly and causes us to pivot, iterate, and adapt rapidly. In the home, the Sunday Basket® contains and then puts out fires. Firefighting is reactive by its very nature. Work: Planned Work - Planned work is proactive. When you plan your work, you use your time, money, and space more effectively. Organize 365 members accomplish large goals without stress, overwork, or being hurried. The 100 Day Home Organization Program focuses on planned work. Each day is planned out for you and you make progress in 15 minute chunks. Try it! For the next 10 days, every evening I want you to write out your plan for the next day in the order you will accomplish your tasks on a notecard. Write down your appointments, any household tasks you need to accomplish (pick up a prescription or clean the oven or do laundry). When you write out a plan for your day in order, you can see if you days are smoother. Bonus: the evening before, also add to the index card what clothing you will wear and write down what you will eat. Spoiler alert - there are no perfect days and no perfect plans! The goal is to move from reactive to proactive. You can learn more about using notecards in Episode 310: Ditch Your To Do List with Notecards. Listen in next week for the other two kinds of work!   Books mentioned in this episode (affiliate links): Traction - Gino Wickman  Lisa's YouTube Review Get a Grip - Gino Wickman and Mike Paton  The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt

I'm changing and iterating again! I'm a teacher and a life-long learner and it's time to pass new knowledge on to you. We are finally ready to release to you the changes to The Productive Home Solution™ that I've been talking about in some of the recent podcasts.  Over the last 18 months, our Organize 365® Research has revealed that 87% of you believe that organization is a learnable skill, but only 13-18% of you feel organized in any of the four essential areas of organization. So, a large percentage of us feel like horrific failures when it comes to organization! It's time for that to change! It's now time for The Productive Home Solution™ to be re-organized to reflect these four essential areas of organization. Beginning today, The Productive Home Solution™ Dashboard will have the content and videos from the 100 Day Home Organization Program split into Slash Pockets for the four essential areas of organization. Now you get to decide which area you want to organize first and declare that you are organized in that space. You'll also find four new corresponding groups in our community app where you can share and chat with others who are working on that same essential organizational space with you. In this episode, I give you more background and information about these changes. I also give you some advice and considerations for which space to tackle first. If you've not yet taken the leap to join The Productive Home Solution™, now is the perfect time! No more waiting for the next session to start. You can begin with any of the 4 organizational spaces starting today! Learn more here. Which area will you choose to get fully organized first this fall? Your personal spaces? Your family & communal spaces? Your storage spaces? Your paper management? Read the full show notes with links here: https://organize365.com/podcast/bite-size-organizing-how-to-declare-you-are-organized-

Today, I want to encourage you to embrace organizational math. With organization, you can move your life from reactive to proactive, but doing so takes focus and determination. First, we change your mental model, and then you layer on the practical and physical skills.  I was a middle school math teacher, and I share how I apply the same benefits of basic math skills to your transformational journey into organization. For any of you who are math phobic, I promise we will only talk about addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.    Addition When you decide to get organized, the first thing you will want to do is to add a new habit into your life routine. Habits require focused efforts to ensure their successful adoption. When we want to improve our lives, we often try to add many new habits all at one. However, being able to cement a new habit into your routine usually requires about 120 days, but if you tackle fewer goals more effectively you will ensure achieving a lasting change. Spoiler alert: the first habit to addwhen working towards organization is the Sunday Basket®.   Subtraction When you think about applying subtraction to organization, it is the first step we take in the 100 Day Home Organization Program - decluttering. Decluttering naturally starts with removing excess physical objects from your home - things you no longer need, want, use, or have space for. After that, you can gain further space from subtracting obligations, negative people, negative thoughts, and inefficiencies from your life.   Multiplication This is where organizational math begins to gain major power. Organization always gives you more time. When you start with gaining extra time planning your week and task stacking by using your Sunday Basket® each week, you will gain time to work through the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Then, as you gain control of your home and paper, you can tackle your paper binders, kids rooms, and photos. Moving through decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity helps you to make space for what you are uniquely created to do.    Division This is the most powerful part of organizational math. With your increased ability to focus as the result of your organizing, you can now divide time into fewer but more powerful roles in your life. When you get to this stage of yourtransformational journey - you will divide your time into three major baskets: your Friday Workbox for the work you are uniquely created to do, your Sunday Basket® to manage all of your household obligations and to-dos, and your passion projects (hobbies and personal satisfaction). This is when Planning Day and time blocking your calendar powers up your life and your capacity. As you move along Maslow's Hierarchy, keep working on learning your organizational math skills and adding on new ones as you continue along your transformational journey!

I am super excited to welcome you to the next Organize 365® Podcast series. I am sharing my conversations with members of the Dream Team while we are in the messy middle of some of our current transitions. In this 4 part series we will be unpacking the most commonly asked FAQs for different parts of the Organize 365® transformational journey. I want to keep you updated on changes and improvements as we declutter and organize before our 10th Anniversary in January 2022. We are not eliminating anything, or raising our prices on any existing products. We are simply doing some decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity. This podcast is all treats --  no tricks! This week, Emily Kelly and I go back to the foundation of home organization and talk about the Sunday Basket®. Emily is our Director of Customer Success and my sister. Emily has been making phone calls to  many of you and has gotten to connect with you on a personal level, just like I did during the summer book tour. We are hearing about how you found Organize 365®, where you live, and what your transformational journey looks like so far. We are taking what we learn in those conversations to make our programs even better! During our opportunity to interact with all the members of this community, the same questions came up over and over. Change is nerve-wracking, especially after the out of control experiences so many of us faced during the pandemic. As your organizing teacher, I want to give you the lesson plan for how to get started and make progress getting your home and paper organized.  Today, Emily and I share the top ten questions we have been getting about the Complete Sunday Basket® System. Listen in and let me know what you learn from our discussion! Top 10 Sunday Basket® FAQ: 1. What is the Sunday Basket®?  At the most basic level, it is a box that sits on your counter and acts as a place to hold all your ideas, actionable to-dos, kitchen counter papers, and mail. It is also a cadence to check those items and prioritize them for maximum efficiency throughout the week. It is your brain in a box! This clears up your brain for higher level thinking, problem solving, or even to rest. Although the “brain in a box” started as a joke, the Sunday Basket® actually does externalize your executive functioning part of your brain. Anyone can find success using this system, but it is especially effective for people diagnosed with ADHD.  2. What does the Complete Sunday Basket® System include? As a teacher, I wanted to ensure that any kind of learner could use and be successful with this system. For that reason, thetraining materials and support cover a variety of learning styles. The physical products include all the supplies you will need to use your Sunday Basket®: a collapsible box in your choice of color, 25 slash pockets to organize your actionable paper, and a training booklet. There is an online dashboard with training videos. And, every purchase includes access to the online community with a weekly Sunday Basket® Club - an online co-working and accountability session. As withall Organize 365® products, this includes lifetime access. 3. How long does it take to know if this system will work for me?  Some people catch on quickly, and have it down in two weeks. For the majority of people, it takes four to six weeks to develop the Sunday Basket® habit. It takes some time for you to change your habits, and learn a new way of keeping track of your to-dos and making good decisions about how and when to do them. You are moving from living in a reactivemode to a proactive mode.  The to-do list isn't going away; finishing your to-do list faster is not the answer. It takes your brain at least a month to trust yourself and the new system. Initially, your brain will pester you, but if you consistently use the Sunday Basket® your brain will learn to calm down and trust that the Sunday Basket® works! 4. What if Sunday at 5 pm doesn't work for me to do the Sunday Basket® Club live? Do it every week when it works for you. Watch the Sunday Basket® replay! The day and time you do your Sunday Basket® does not matter as long as you are consistent and develop the habit. Make a rule for yourself, and stick to the time that works in your life 5. I don't have enough paper to do my Sunday Basket® every week. What should I do? It's ok to adjust to what you need. If you are just getting started, still develop a routine habit of working in your Sunday Basket®. You can start with once a month or every two weeks to get in the habit, and then increase to every week. If you have been doing your Sunday Basket® for a long time, you may be more proactive and you likely have cleared out a lot of your previous backlog. It's ok to do it less frequently just don't stop entirely! You can try every other week, or the first two weeks of each month, or a different cadence. Whenever you feel stressed or anxious, consider going through your Sunday Basket® to get back on track. Chaotic times of year like May, August, and the last six weeks of the year benefit from weekly attention. 6. I have the opposite problem. I can't wait a whole week without going into my Sunday Basket® again, there's too much going on. Can I do it twice in the same week? This situation is more typical, especially as people are learning the skills of organization or in a transition time of life. When going through my Sunday Basket®, I (Lisa) typically only plan through Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are too far away to plan effectively. I front load my week to get as much as I can done on Monday and Tuesday, and then I adjust as the week goes on. Of course, if needed, you can do your Sunday Basket® twice!  7. You say to do the Sunday Basket® first when getting organized. Can I do the Sunday Basket® and the 100 Day Home Organization Program at the same time? If so, how would you recommend I do them together? Yes! Emily recommends picking one day to do your Sunday Basket® and make that your only organizing task that day. Then, the rest of the week, do as much of the 100 Days as you reasonably can - focusing on progress over perfection and giving yourself grace for what is not done. Lisa recommends - reframe your sense of time. “Most people underestimate what taking a full 365 days to focus on getting organized will do to transform the next ten years of your life” ~ Lisa Woodruff. Take a deep breath. You are on a journey moving toward proactivity and organization. You have everything that you need. What do you want to do first? Start with your most pressing need or what you are most excited to do. Make it work for you. You have made an investment, so keep working towards your goals.  8. I am drowning!! What if I don't have the time to dedicate to my Sunday Basket® in order to get my five hours a week back? Is there a way to “start smaller” on the Sunday Basket® concept? If you literally have no time or energy to get started, this can feel overwhelming. We know that spending about 90 minutes per week going through your Sunday Basket® gives you five hours of free time later in the week once you establish the habit. The Sunday Basket® moves you into proactive anticipation, and that results in more efficiency and effectiveness. The net result is you have more free time. If you are listening to the podcast, you are taking the first step. You are mentally becoming a more organized and proactive person. It can take 9-18 months for your mindset to change enough that you are ready to take physical action. You are doing it right, and you are already saving yourself time just by the learning you do when listening to the podcast! Unfortunately, there is ultimately no smaller step to getting organized than the Sunday Basket®. In order to pivot from reactive to proactive living, you need a system. The Sunday Basket® is the system you need to create change. You need to refocus your time and priorities to make changes in your life. Find one whole day before the end of the year and use it to stop and completely change direction. Set up your Sunday Basket® and see how your life changes.   9. Talk to me about the lifetime access part of Organize 365® programs. I have purchased programs from other companies and I haven't done them. I don't trust myself to follow through with this either. Can you convince me? I don't follow the most common online selling practices. I don't want people to feel pressured or anxious about purchasing or participating. I want to offer a transformational experience that I know is going to work and will be available for you as you go through life. Financial situations change. Emotional and physical demands change. Unexpected events are part of every single life. Organize 365® is here for you when you are making progress, and when you step away and come back. Making a purchase can take things to the next level. It tells your brain you are serious and that you are investing in making a change. The membership aspect to our paid programs also helps to build community, gives you support, and strengthens your commitment. When you are in the Sunday Basket® Club, you have a membership in a group of people who focus on prioritizing what they are accomplishing for the upcoming week. With lifetime access, you can start today. Some progress is always better than NO progress. Start now and take the first step. Join and start making progress. And, with the Sunday Basket® Club, you have weekly educational courses from certified organizers. Slowly improving over time can lead to big changes. 10. Does the Sunday Basket® organize ALL my papers? No! The Sunday Basket® is only for your actionable to-do related papers. When you start your Sunday Basket® we have you collect the loose papers from everywhere in your home. You then divide them into actionable and reference/archive. Any papers that do not require action should live outside of your Sunday Basket®. Organize 365® recommends storing your archival papers in portable, space-limited binders. Listen to podcast 456 next week for more information about that.  BONUS: OK I think it might work, Is there a way for me to try it out before I buy it?  We have a seven day mini course where you get more information on the Sunday Basket® delivered by email. Sign up atorganize365.com/minicourse

A few weeks ago in my regular Facebook LIVE on Tuesday mornings for the women in the 100 Day Home Organization Program, I started to expound on and articulate how I have moved into a new level of using my Sunday Basket. The first thing you need to know about Sunday Basket 3.0 is that it is not a physical product. Lisa, what do you mean it's not an actual product? You got me pumped up for nothing! Hold on! I say it's not a physical product because it's an evolution of the original Sunday Basket System you already have. If you're not familiar with the Sunday Basket Club or the Sunday Basket System, let me explain real quick… A Mini Lesson On Sunday Baskets The Sunday Basket is a system for processing ongoing household projects and developing a weekly routine of collecting, processing, and maintaining it all in one place. You start with a basket. Well, it's more of a box but kind of looks and operates like a basket, hence the name. You can buy the Complete Sunday Basket System for $97.00 and receive all the necessary workshop materials you need. This includes two sets of slash pockets called the 1.0 and 2.0 slash pockets. With the 1.0 slash pockets, you get red, orange, yellow, green, and blue slash pockets. Everything you put into these slash pockets are things that need to get done this week. So, any errands, events or bills, etc. that need to be completed this week will go inside the 1.0 slash pockets. The 2.0 slash pockets are monochromatic and include five pink, five blue, five green, and five purple slash pockets. With the 2.0 slash pockets, each color represents a category. So, purple is for anything household related, blue is for family members, green is for financial, and pink is for your own hopes, dreams, projects, and goals. When Sunday rolls around, you take everything out of the basket and sort through what you'll do this Sunday and what can wait until next Sunday. Eliminating Things From Your Sunday Basket When your home is organized, you'll generally have a lot less to do in terms of organizing. Another gift that leading a more organized life will give you is TIME. Time to do a puzzle in the evening, give the dog a second walk around the block, and time for yourself. But, when you have all this free time, many of you talk about feeling guilty. It's like if you're not doing something "proactive" and productive, you're lazy or even selfish (which is crazy!). One rule of the Sunday Basket System is if it can wait until next Sunday, it must wait until next Sunday. But, what if something in the basket can always wait until next Sunday? Do you keep it moving onto the following week for months or even years? Well… you can if you want to. But if you want to get it out of the way, I suggest picking a time during the day or week to work on it and do it then. The more you live an organized life, the fewer things you'll have in your Sunday Basket. If you become a seasoned pro like me, you might not even need all the slash pockets in the Sunday Basket anymore. But getting to that stage of eliminating things from your basket will take time. And, as each task is completed and each week you're organizing more and more, you'll receive an extra gift of time each week. So, what does all of this have to do with the Sunday Basket 3.0? The Sunday Basket 3.0 is about eliminating things out of your Sunday Basket that are no longer serving you or that you just don't want to do anymore (or ever). Deciding What To Do With Your Free Time When you are in the process of eliminating your to-do list and moving to the Sunday Basket, you develop the habit of writing down every idea that you have in your head onto index cards. You're also continuing to defer those things until the following Sunday when you can. This process helps you to make the decision if you're going to do it at all, and if so, when. For the most part though, you can knock out a lot of your index cards on Sunday. You may have to set time aside to do some of the things during the week and then anything that can be put off until later goes into your 2.0 slash pockets, which are for projects. If you're in a stage similar to me where your kids are grown up and everything's pretty much taken care of, you'll have all this time you don't know what to do with. Can you relate? If so, here's a little challenge for you… Think back to when you were a teenager. What did you like doing? How did you spend your free time? I hope you can come up with something because let me tell you, I can't. I always wanted to be a mom. I got a teaching degree because I knew it would help me when I did have kids. But, after I got married, we realized we couldn't have kids. So, we adopted. My entire life has been about wanting kids and being a mom. And, I did it all. But now the kids are grown up and my "mommying" is kind of over. So, now what should I do with my free time? I have no idea. Well, that's not totally true. I like doing puzzles. Yes, I'm like a retired old lady, but you know what? Those guys in the retirement homes are up to their eyeballs in puzzles. They have a library, and they get their dinner made for them each day. Plus, they're surrounded by their friends, and they don't even have to go outside if they don't want to. To me (a.k.a someone that doesn't like nature all that much), that sounds like a dream. So, yeah… I guess when “I grow up,” I want to be retired and doing all the puzzles in the world. The Sunday Basket 3.0 So, when you reach the stage where your house is organized, and you've entered the Sunday Basket 3.0 era, it's okay to have projects in there that you have no intention of doing. Just get rid of them. You don't have to stick to the same projects you wanted to do before you got organized. Heck, you don't have to pick up the same projects you wanted to do yesterday! It's OKAY. Just because you had a passion for something before, it doesn't mean it has to be your passion for the rest of your life. Passions aren't always forever. Sometimes, a passion hangs around for a season and then it transitions into something new. And, that's okay! So, the next time you go through your Sunday Basket, and you sort through your 2.0 slash pockets, ask yourself if you still have the passion and desire to do that thing at all. If not, it's time to say goodbye and move on! No guilt necessary! Are you in the Sunday Basket 3.0 stage yet? Let me know over on Instagram or Facebook and tell me, what are some of the things you like to do just for the fun of it? Any puzzle fans out there? View the full post here: https://organize365.com/sunday-basket-3-0/

What does it mean to be organized? How do you know when you're done organizing? No one has ever officially defined "organized." I decided I would define it. We started by conducting academic-level research using our surveys. You can read more about Organize 365® Research and the finding on our Research page. For most Americans, organization happens as Swiss cheese organizing. You're a little organized here and a little organized there. You can't confidently say, “I AM organized,” because you think that being organized means perfection while not being organized is hoarding. You don't have language for what happens in the middle of these two! We need to consider the idea of done rather than perfect. In this episode, I share many statistics and findings from our research, which is all leading us to change the way we present and teach the material in The Productive Home Solution™.  If you just get through the first 42 days of the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will have 80% of the spaces you use on a daily basis organized. You CAN call yourself organized. But many of you don't FEEL organized. It doesn't fully check off any single category of organizing as complete for you. It just marks a couple more spaces in your Swiss cheese organizing. I want to see you get to the point where you can say that you are personally organized or storage organized or paper organized, etc. You get to pick and choose which areas you want to tackle and master and declare organized in your life. Coming in the fall in The Productive Home Solution™, you will be able to pick an area, focus on it for 5 or 6 weeks, and then declare that area of your life organized. You'll work in baby steps to mark a full area as done so you can move on to the next area you want to organize.  But what does it mean to be organized? Both men and women declare their home organized when… You'll have to listen in to find out the answer! Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here.

I'll be honest: Organization is optional. While cleaning and tasks of daily living are not optional, you CAN survive without organizing. Even though this next-level step of organization is optional, when you do choose to do it, it is a current investment of time today for a future exponential return on time later. Organization always pays you back in time and sometimes money. You can't make anyone else be organized, so you have to start with yourself and your personal spaces. Organization must become a habit starting with these personal spaces. It needs to be something that you do regularly, spending 15 minutes a day or an hour once a week working on building your organizational muscles. The best place to begin? Your closet! You are 100% in control of your clothing. After that, you can move on to your portion of the bathroom space and bedroom space, your wallet or purse, and your transportation. Remember: This is NOT about perfection. Organized means that everything has a place and everything is in its place. When it comes to organizing these spaces, there are no rules. I'm not going to come judge you and your space. Make it how you want it to be! In our research study, "Organization is Not an Optional Hobby for Women," we found that 62% of women reported that anxiety prevents them from organizing their personal spaces. I just want to hug you and tell you that this doesn't have to be stressful. In this episode, I share more about what personal spaces are and some encouragement and instruction for building your habit of organizing in these spaces. There are also some changes coming to the 100 Day Home Organization Program in the fall based on this research that I share too. Are you ready to get your personal space organized? Read more about our research studies here. Ready to start organizing? Read more about The Productive Home Solution™ here. Want more inspiration? Listen to my morning, afternoon, and evening routines episodes to hear more about how I use and organize my personal spaces.

I'll be honest: Organization is optional. While cleaning and tasks of daily living are not optional, you CAN survive without organizing. Even though this next-level step of organization is optional, when you do choose to do it, it is a current investment of time today for a future exponential return on time later. Organization always pays you back in time and sometimes money. You can't make anyone else be organized, so you have to start with yourself and your personal spaces. Organization must become a habit starting with these personal spaces. It needs to be something that you do regularly, spending 15 minutes a day or an hour once a week working on building your organizational muscles. The best place to begin? Your closet! You are 100% in control of your clothing. After that, you can move on to your portion of the bathroom space and bedroom space, your wallet or purse, and your transportation. Remember: This is NOT about perfection. Organized means that everything has a place and everything is in its place. When it comes to organizing these spaces, there are no rules. I'm not going to come judge you and your space. Make it how you want it to be! In our research study, "Organization is Not an Optional Hobby for Women," we found that 62% of women reported that anxiety prevents them from organizing their personal spaces. I just want to hug you and tell you that this doesn't have to be stressful. In this episode, I share more about what personal spaces are and some encouragement and instruction for building your habit of organizing in these spaces. There are also some changes coming to the 100 Day Home Organization Program in the fall based on this research that I share too. Are you ready to get personal space organized? Read more about our research studies here. Ready to start organizing? Read more about The Productive Home Solution™ here. Want more inspiration? Listen to my morning, afternoon, and evening routines episodes to hear more about how I use and organize my personal spaces.

What does it mean to be organized? How do you know when you're done organizing? No one has ever officially defined "organized." I decided I would define it. We started by conducting academic-level research using our surveys. You can read more about Organize 365® Research and the finding on our Research page. For most Americans, organization happens as Swiss cheese organizing. You're a little organized here and a little organized there. You can't confidently say, “I AM organized,” because you think that being organized means perfection while not being organized is hoarding. You don't have language for what happens in the middle of these two! We need to consider the idea of done rather than perfect. In this episode, I share many statistics and findings from our research, which is all leading us to change the way we present and teach the material in The Productive Home Solution™.  If you just get through the first 42 days of the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will have 80% of the spaces you use on a daily basis organized. You CAN call yourself organized. But many of you don't FEEL organized. It doesn't fully check off any single category of organizing as complete for you. It just marks a couple more spaces in your Swiss cheese organizing. I want to see you get to the point where you can say that you are personally organized or storage organized or paper organized, etc. You get to pick and choose which areas you want to tackle and master and declare organized in your life. Coming in the fall in The Productive Home Solution™, you will be able to pick an area, focus on it for 5 or 6 weeks, and then declare that area of your life organized. You'll work in baby steps to mark a full area as done so you can move on to the next area you want to organize.  But what does it mean to be organized? Both men and women declare their home organized when… You'll have to listen in to find out the answer! Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here.

What does it mean to be organized? How do you know when you're done organizing? No one has ever officially defined "organized." I decided I would define it. We started by conducting academic-level research using our surveys. You can read more about Organize 365® Research and the finding on our Research page. For most Americans, organization happens as Swiss cheese organizing. You're a little organized here and a little organized there. You can't confidently say, “I AM organized,” because you think that being organized means perfection while not being organized is hoarding. You don't have language for what happens in the middle of these two! We need to consider the idea of done rather than perfect. In this episode, I share many statistics and findings from our research, which is all leading us to change the way we present and teach the material in The Productive Home Solution™.  If you just get through the first 42 days of the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will have 80% of the spaces you use on a daily basis organized. You CAN call yourself organized. But many of you don't FEEL organized. It doesn't fully check off any single category of organizing as complete for you. It just marks a couple more spaces in your Swiss cheese organizing. I want to see you get to the point where you can say that you are personally organized or storage organized or paper organized, etc. You get to pick and choose which areas you want to tackle and master and declare organized in your life. Coming in the fall in The Productive Home Solution™, you will be able to pick an area, focus on it for 5 or 6 weeks, and then declare that area of your life organized. You'll work in baby steps to mark a full area as done so you can move on to the next area you want to organize.  But what does it mean to be organized? Both men and women declare their home organized when… You'll have to listen in to find out the answer! Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here.

It's time for a little Organize 365® history lesson! Let's retrace the 10-year journey of Organize 365® and the various iterations of the 100 Day Home Organization Program. I was a very organized child. My mom used to take me shopping with a bag of buttons in hand. While she tried on clothes, I'd sit on the floor and sort the buttons. I love sorting things and I love finding new ways to organize things. Over the course of my lifetime, I've had seasons where I was extremely organized, such as when I was a teacher. At other times, I was completely unorganized, like when we adopted our babies or when my father passed away and I was managing his estate.  I found that when I was disorganized, I felt so out of control. Listen in to hear more about how the 100 Day Home Organization Program was born and continued to change over the years. We're making changes to the program again now that it is a part of The Productive Home Solution™ (formerly called All Access). Based on our research, I'm excited to reveal the new choose your own adventure format that will enable you to make progress on what you need to organize in your current season of life.  Note: If you're a current member of The Productive Home Solution™ you will continue to have legacy access to anything you have access to now.  Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here.

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! This week I am sharing my conversation with Jullia R. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, and their pet cat. Jullia shares how the Sunday Basket® tamed her mail and papers. She loves that system creates vertical, color-coded piles that do NOT take over her counters. She also tells how a simple change she made while going through the 100 Day Home Organization Program made a world of difference in the functionality of her kitchen. In between the extra trips to the donation center and the dumps, she's found more control. What resonates with YOU about Jullia's story? I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links: Organize 365 The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution (formerly All Access) I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

For our final podcast in the Friday Workbox series, I want to teach you how I am able to get so much done, so that you can use the same tools to transform your life. I am a naturally productive person. My productivity is the result of my ability to plan. One of my gifts is my orientation to time. I have always been good at assigning an accurate amount of time to a task. As I moved from my to-do list to mySunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™, I began to schedule time to complete tasks directly on my calendar. Every week, I take time to work through my Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™. As I do so, I pull out the tasks thatmust be done in the upcoming week, determine how long it will take, and schedule when I will do them. I can immediately see if there are conflicts between what I need to do and the time available so that I can prioritize and make decisions proactively.    Every seven days, I make new decisions about what I will take action on. The reason a Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™ are so effective is because all of my dreams, ideas, research materials and goals are safely captured in my boxes. I may not get to those dreams as soon as I would like, but nothing is ever forgotten.  My secret sauce to productivity and success is the act of planning. I want to share with you how I use Planning Day andWorkbox Planning Day with every new season as the ultimate task stacking habit.  Home At home, Planning Day occurs just prior to the new cycle of the 100 Day Home Organization Program. During that week, I look at how I will use my time in the upcoming 17 weeks, set new goals, and deep review through any 2.0 slash pockets that have been on hold.   Work At the end of each calendar quarter, I deep dive into my plan for my business. On the 13th week of the quarter, just before my new quarter starts, I use the last week to reconcile expenses, set new goals, update the social media agenda, and do a deep review of every business slash pocket I have created. Then, I execute that plan for the next 12 weeks. Win By being realistic about what I can complete in the upcoming quarter, I am able to actually achieve my goals and finish my projects. Anything that I will not have the time, money, motivation, or energy to address goes back into holding. Those ideas and projects are ready and waiting for their right time to shine. I know all of those slash pockets will be reviewed at the next planning day, and I can take action on them then if the time is right.  The better you get at planning and improving your productivity, the more capacity and impact you will create. You will win at home, work, relationships, and in your community. You will learn to live with excellence, ease, and enjoyment. Planning is the key to unlocking your ability to achieve your goals!

Get your FREE printable of the 3 stages of decluttering here! FINALLY! Don't you just want to jump right to the step where you get to go buy cute matching containers when you are organizing a space? ME TOO! BUT every time I do that... it influences what I keep and how I store things instead of my THINGS influencing those decisions. (In the podcast I share how I figured that out as a professional organizer.) First, let's talk about what being organized means. For me it means: Everything has a place. I know where to find things. I do not spend time LOOKING for things.  I FEEL organized and put together. I can have friends over and feel great. My house looks good - not perfect - but good. I feel confident in my abilities. I don't have too little or too much. I have choices of how to spend my time. I am able to make forward progress on my goals and projects. Before I dive into the 5 steps to organizing I want to give you one caution... You will not get it 100% right the first time.  Yep, no matter what you are organizing, your goal is to get 80-90% better. The last 10% comes in step 3. Which I will cover next week. Ok, so you know how you will feel and are not going for perfection, let's dive in! 5 Steps to Organizing Get a big picture plan for the space. Combine like items. Match your items to the space. Buy organizers. Clean and finish. Organizing feels amazing! But after a while... you realize something is missing. The last 10% is Step 3 of organizing — Increased Productivity. Links to things mentioned in the podcast: Try one FREE week of the 100 Day Home Organization Program - now available inside The Productive Home Solution.

Monique Horb is back, and today is the day!!! Our community app is now live and available for download!!! Our old app with access to some of your dashboard has been removed from the App Store and Google Play Store, but we have a brand new online community ready for you.  Today, we are launching our Organize  365® online community app. This will function similarly to Facebook, but it is private and less distracting. We have simplified everything to make this app more productive. There is nothing there to take you away from your organizational interactions. When you are in the app, you can enjoy the other members and a supportive community, but the distractions have been eliminated. You will have as much community as you desire, but you will also be able to stay focused on your own transformation and make progress along your own organizational journey. The app is directly connected to our website, so all of your specialized online communities will open automatically when you log in. We have been working behind the scenes for months to get ready to host this community. We built this specifically for you. We want to have one place where it is easy for you to find what you need, and where it is easier for us to get you news, information, updates, and encouragement. This new community will save you time, help you be more productive, and give you encouragement.  We have organized the community app to match your organizational journey. There are only six groups in the app. News & Updates - will have all the current news about Blitzes, Masterclasses, and whatever Lisa dreams up The Sunday Basket® Club - everything from the Facebook group has moved here including the weekly Sunday Basket® Club live and the replays 100 Day Program - motivation, encouragement, and interaction for completing the 100 Day Home Organization Program tasks All Access Program - content related to the extra step of All Access including the Tuesday Binder tips, photos, planning day, and the new All Access Podcast by Lisa Friday Workbox™ Club - all the support and encouragement you need for maximizing your Friday Workbox™ including the Friday Workbox™ sessions and replays Certified Organizer Group - community support and interaction for all of our Sunday Basket® Certified Organizers, our The Paper Solution® Certified Organizers, and Friday Workbox™ Certified Organizers We hope that you jump in, make connections with the rest of the Organize 365® community, and continue to move along your journey! We are still learning about the amazing ways we can support and encourage you using this technology - please give us grace as we continue to increase the value for you. Things we do know the new app offers - badges to show what groups people belong to (including the Dream Team and Certified Organizers), direct messaging capabilities, and direct access to many of the printables.  We are so excited about having a new community app. We would love for you to download it and come check it out! Please download the official mobile app through the iOS App Store  or Google Play Store. You can also access the community on your desktop.  When you create your account, please use the email address that is associated with your Organize 365® dashboard access. Once logged in, check out “Start Here" to learn about this new platform. Have questions? Please click here for app FAQs

I am super excited to welcome you to the next Organize 365® Podcast series. I am sharing my conversations with members of the Dream Team while we are in the messy middle of some of our current transitions. In this 4 part series we will be unpacking the most commonly asked FAQs for different parts of the Organize 365® transformational journey. I want to keep you updated on changes and improvements as we declutter and organize before our 10th Anniversary in January 2022. We are not eliminating anything, or raising our prices on any existing products. We are simply doing some decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity. This podcast is all treats --  no tricks! This week, Emily Kelly and I go back to the foundation of home organization and talk about the Sunday Basket®. Emily is our Director of Customer Success and my sister. Emily has been making phone calls to  many of you and has gotten to connect with you on a personal level, just like I did during the summer book tour. We are hearing about how you found Organize 365®, where you live, and what your transformational journey looks like so far. We are taking what we learn in those conversations to make our programs even better! During our opportunity to interact with all the members of this community, the same questions came up over and over. Change is nerve-wracking, especially after the out of control experiences so many of us faced during the pandemic. As your organizing teacher, I want to give you the lesson plan for how to get started and make progress getting your home and paper organized.  Today, Emily and I share the top ten questions we have been getting about the Complete Sunday Basket® System. Listen in and let me know what you learn from our discussion! Top 10 Sunday Basket® FAQ: 1. What is the Sunday Basket®?  At the most basic level, it is a box that sits on your counter and acts as a place to hold all your ideas, actionable to-dos, kitchen counter papers, and mail. It is also a cadence to check those items and prioritize them for maximum efficiency throughout the week. It is your brain in a box! This clears up your brain for higher level thinking, problem solving, or even to rest. Although the “brain in a box” started as a joke, the Sunday Basket® actually does externalize your executive functioning part of your brain. Anyone can find success using this system, but it is especially effective for people diagnosed with ADHD.  2. What does the Complete Sunday Basket® System include? As a teacher, I wanted to ensure that any kind of learner could use and be successful with this system. For that reason, the training materials and support cover a variety of learning styles. The physical products include all the supplies you will need to use your Sunday Basket®: a collapsible box in your choice of color, 25 slash pockets to organize your actionable paper, and a training booklet. There is an online dashboard with training videos. And, every purchase includes access to the online community with a weekly Sunday Basket® Club - an online co-working and accountability session. As with all Organize 365® products, this includes lifetime access. 3. How long does it take to know if this system will work for me?  Some people catch on quickly, and have it down in two weeks. For the majority of people, it takes four to six weeks to develop the Sunday Basket® habit. It takes some time for you to change your habits, and learn a new way of keeping track of your to-dos and making good decisions about how and when to do them. You are moving from living in a reactive mode to a proactive mode.  The to-do list isn't going away; finishing your to-do list faster is not the answer. It takes your brain at least a month to trust yourself and the new system. Initially, your brain will pester you, but if you consistently use the Sunday Basket® your brain will learn to calm down and trust that the Sunday Basket® works! 4. What if Sunday at 5 pm doesn't work for me to do the Sunday Basket® Club live? Do it every week when it works for you. Watch the Sunday Basket® replay! The day and time you do your Sunday Basket® does not matter as long as you are consistent and develop the habit. Make a rule for yourself, and stick to the time that works in your life 5. I don't have enough paper to do my Sunday Basket® every week. What should I do? It's ok to adjust to what you need. If you are just getting started, still develop a routine habit of working in your Sunday Basket®. You can start with once a month or every two weeks to get in the habit, and then increase to every week. If you have been doing your Sunday Basket® for a long time, you may be more proactive and you likely have cleared out a lot of your previous backlog. It's ok to do it less frequently just don't stop entirely! You can try every other week, or the first two weeks of each month, or a different cadence. Whenever you feel stressed or anxious, consider going through your Sunday Basket® to get back on track. Chaotic times of year like May, August, and the last six weeks of the year benefit from weekly attention. 6. I have the opposite problem. I can't wait a whole week without going into my Sunday Basket® again, there's too much going on. Can I do it twice in the same week? This situation is more typical, especially as people are learning the skills of organization or in a transition time of life. When going through my Sunday Basket®, I (Lisa) typically only plan through Thursday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday are too far away to plan effectively. I front load my week to get as much as I can done on Monday and Tuesday, and then I adjust as the week goes on. Of course, if needed, you can do your Sunday Basket® twice!  7. You say to do the Sunday Basket® first when getting organized. Can I do the Sunday Basket® and the 100 Day Home Organization Program at the same time? If so, how would you recommend I do them together? Yes! Emily recommends picking one day to do your Sunday Basket® and make that your only organizing task that day. Then, the rest of the week, do as much of the 100 Days as you reasonably can - focusing on progress over perfection and giving yourself grace for what is not done. Lisa recommends - reframe your sense of time. “Most people underestimate what taking a full 365 days to focus on getting organized will do to transform the next ten years of your life” ~ Lisa Woodruff. Take a deep breath. You are on a journey moving toward proactivity and organization. You have everything that you need. What do you want to do first?Start with your most pressing need or what you are most excited to do. Make it work for you. You have made an investment, so keep working towards your goals.  8. I am drowning!! What if I don't have the time to dedicate to my Sunday Basket® in order to get my five hours a week back? Is there a way to “start smaller” on the Sunday Basket® concept? If you literally have no time or energy to get started, this can feel overwhelming. We know that spending about 90 minutes per week going through your Sunday Basket® gives you five hours of free time later in the week once you establish the habit. The Sunday Basket® moves you into proactive anticipation, and that results in more efficiency and effectiveness. The net result is you have more free time.If you are listening to the podcast, you are taking the first step. You are mentally becoming a more organized and proactive person. It can take 9-18 months for your mindset to change enough that you are ready to take physical action. You are doing it right, and you are already saving yourself time just by the learning you do when listening to the podcast!Unfortunately, there is ultimately no smaller step to getting organized than the Sunday Basket®. In order to pivot from reactive to proactive living, you need a system. The Sunday Basket® is the system you need to create change. You need to refocus your time and priorities to make changes in your life. Find one whole day before the end of the year and use it to stop and completely change direction. Set up your Sunday Basket® and see how your life changes.   9. Talk to me about the lifetime access part of Organize 365® programs. I have purchased programs from other companies and I haven't done them. I don't trust myself to follow through with this either. Can you convince me? I don't follow the most common online selling practices. I don't want people to feel pressured or anxious about purchasing or participating. I want to offer a transformational experience that I know is going to work and will be available for you as you go through life. Financial situations change. Emotional and physical demands change. Unexpected events are part of every single life. Organize 365® is here for you when you are making progress, and when you step away and come back. Making a purchase can take things to the next level. It tells your brain you are serious and that you are investing in making a change. The membership aspect to our paid programs also helps to build community, gives you support, and strengthens your commitment. When you are in the Sunday Basket® Club, you have a membership in a group of people who focus on prioritizing what they are accomplishing for the upcoming week. With lifetime access, you can start today. Some progress is always better than NO progress. Start now and take the first step. Join and start making progress. And, with the Sunday Basket® Club, you have weekly educational courses from certified organizers. Slowly improving over time can lead to big changes. 10. Does the Sunday Basket® organize ALL my papers? No! The Sunday Basket® is only for your actionable to-do related papers. When you start your Sunday Basket® we have you collect the loose papers from everywhere in your home. You then divide them into actionable and reference/archive. Any papers that do not require action should live outside of your Sunday Basket®. Organize 365® recommends storing your archival papers in portable, space-limited binders. Listen to podcast 456 next week for more information about that.  BONUS: OK I think it might work, Is there a way for me to try it out before I buy it?  We have a seven day mini course where you get more information on the Sunday Basket® delivered by email. Sign up at organize365.com/minicourse

For our final podcast in the Friday Workbox series, I want to teach you how I am able to get so much done, so that you can use the same tools to transform your life. I am a naturally productive person. My productivity is the result of my ability to plan. One of my gifts is my orientation to time. I have always been good at assigning an accurate amount of time to a task. As I moved from my to-do list to my Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™, I began to schedule time to complete tasks directly on my calendar. Every week, I take time to work through my Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™. As I do so, I pull out the tasks that must be done in the upcoming week, determine how long it will take, and schedule when I will do them. I can immediately see if there are conflicts between what I need to do and the time available so that I can prioritize and make decisions proactively.    Every seven days, I make new decisions about what I will take action on. The reason a Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox™ are so effective is because all of my dreams, ideas, research materials and goals are safely captured in my boxes. I may not get to those dreams as soon as I would like, but nothing is ever forgotten.  My secret sauce to productivity and success is the act of planning. I want to share with you how I use Planning Day and Workbox Planning Day with every new season as the ultimate task stacking habit.  Home At home, Planning Day occurs just prior to the new cycle of the 100 Day Home Organization Program. During that week, I look at how I will use my time in the upcoming 17 weeks, set new goals, and deep review through any 2.0 slash pockets that have been on hold.   Work At the end of each calendar quarter, I deep dive into my plan for my business. On the 13th week of the quarter, just before my new quarter starts, I use the last week to reconcile expenses, set new goals, update the social media agenda, and do a deep review of every business slash pocket I have created. Then, I execute that plan for the next 12 weeks. Win By being realistic about what I can complete in the upcoming quarter, I am able to actually achieve my goals and finish my projects. Anything that I will not have the time, money, motivation, or energy to address goes back into holding. Those ideas and projects are ready and waiting for their right time to shine. I know all of those slash pockets will be reviewed at the next planning day, and I can take action on them then if the time is right.  The better you get at planning and improving your productivity, the more capacity and impact you will create. You will win at home, work, relationships, and in your community. You will learn to live with excellence, ease, and enjoyment. Planning is the key to unlocking your ability to achieve your goals!

Purchase of the 100 Day Home Organization as a free-standing program is ending September 30 at midnight EST. As of October 1, 2021 you will be able to get access to the 100 Days only through All Access. In today's podcast, I answer questions that many of you have been asking about this transition. Listen in!

I made a really big decision last week, and announced it on Saturday 8/28 during Planning Day. Then, I became a grandma the next day. So, I didn't get to share it in the way I was hoping. But, I want you to have this information now, so we are releasing this super special Coffee Chat with this big news. As of October 1, 2021, the 100 Day Home Organization Program will no longer be available for purchase as a stand alone product. We will only be offering this program inside of All Access going forward. If you already have purchased the 100 Day Program, you will continue to have all of your lifetime access, and nothing will change! Why are we making this change? Organize 365® is committed to providing you with lifetime access to the courses you buy. I am committed to never putting our products on sale. Our pricing is stable. We do not have expiring bonuses with purchase.  We want to improve your experience and your success. Making this change will allow us to better serve you. If you want to start with us on Day 1 (September 6 - Labor Day), now is your last chance to join us for just the 100 Day Home Organization Program. We have some really big surprise bonuses coming in the next few months, so we want to invite you to join us!!! Get started with one payment here. Get started with the payment plan here. 

In August, I start planning and thinking about the next mini new year - the school year. During July, I like to reflect and review the past year and begin to dream and plan for the future. No matter the season, I spent a lot of time thinking about and pondering how I invest the minutes of my life. I have always valued every minute and think through how to optimize, prioritize, and maximize each one.  Time management is the process of evaluating where you are in all the areas of your life, determining your priorities, allocating the resources available to you, and making a plan to achieve your goals.  In this podcast, I recap some podcasts on time management. In episode 134, I share how I plan my life in mini years (trimesters). In episode 426, I share how organizing is an optional investment of time today for a potential increase in your time in the future. The Sunday Basket® is an organizational system that will take 60-90 minutes of planning time to free up an extra 5 hours of time each week. More importantly, when you are organized, your brain is free to think and dream, instead of just trying to keep track of to-dos.  Episode 366 is about organizational math. I share how I apply the same benefits of basic math skills to your transformational journey into organization. For any of you who are math phobic, I promise we only talk about addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In episode 269 I discuss how we make decisions to prioritize either time, money, or motivation. Understanding what is most important in our current situation helps us to decide what approach will result in the most effective outcomes.  I no longer measure value strictly in terms of time or money. Instead, I look for the tangible outcomes of my daily actions. The 100 Day Home Organization Program is priced at 10% of the cost of in-home professional organizers helping to declutter and organize an entire home. However, most of us do not value our time as much as we do our money. Committing financial resources to getting organized helps to motivate people to engage in the 15 minute a day tasks of the 100 Day Program, and actually achieve a transformation of their homes and lives.  Which of your goals are worth an investment of your time, money, and motivation in the next four months?

How to Multiply Time with Rory Vaden I love the way Rory Vaden looks at time and prioritization. I first learned about him when I was getting started in multiple direct sales companies. He is an expert in the principles of success - time management, goals, and positive attitudes. I reviewed two of his books - Take the Stairs and Procrastinate on Purpose on the Organize 365 YouTube channel in 2020. I even have an older podcast about what I learned from his books - Episode 152.  I am delighted to share our conversation about time with you today. We talk about leadership, motivating others, achieving goals, and multiplying time. Rory shares some amazing thoughts about how to achieve your dreams - he says:   It’s not that people struggle from a lack of discipline, as they do from a lack of vision.  The amount of our endurance is directly proportionate to the clarity of our vision. The number one cause of all procrastination is self-criticism [perfectionism].    We also talk about how to make steady, consistent progress towards any kind of goals (work, home organization, or anything else). He explains how he makes decisions about prioritizing his to do items. And, then he drops his bomb, he teaches me how to multiply time by changing how I think about the items on my list. You multiply time by giving yourself the emotional permission to spend time on things today that create more time tomorrow.  As Rory talks about how getting organized is a way you can multiply time, we share how my own lessons for you are helping you to multiply time in your own lives. Things like the Sunday Basket® and the 100 Day Home Organization Program can lead you to freeing up ten to fifteen hours a week once you set up the systems. Automation of your organizing can lead to exponentially more time as you continue to build and refine systems. Any time you create a process today, it saves you time tomorrow, and then saves you time every day moving forward. Invest in good habits, invest in your self-discipline, and invest in how you think about and use your time - you will get exponential rewards in the future. If you want to systematize and grow your business, I recommend you consider working with Rory Vaden and Brand Builders. We help people monetize and build their personal brand. Organize 365 is partnering with them and you can get a free call at freebrandcall.com/organize365

Listen to all of our Wednesday Podcasts at organize365.com/wednesday-podcasts This week, on the Transformational Podcast for Wednesday, I am sharing how we are transforming the 100 Day Home Organization Program with a brand new smart phone app designed specifically for Organize 365! Emily Kelly - our Director of Marketing - and I speak about the new FREE smartphone app coming soon for Organize 365. The app will give you access to the FREE trial week of the 100 Day Home Organization Program and a FREE mini-course that will help you get started setting up your Sunday Basket®. For those of you who are already enrolled in paid programs for Organize 365, you will find bonus content in the app and it will be an easy to use, portable way to access the 100 Day Program. The app is now available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.  Search for "Organize365" - no space!

Blog post available at organize365.com/word-of-the-year-2021 Last week, I reviewed my 2021 first quarter pink slash pocket projects with you. I shared what has been going well, and what projects I have deferred (or even abandoned without guilt!). The one project I did not deep dive into with you yet is my health slash pocket. In 2021, I am focusing on my health. I started out by using my 100 Day Home Organization Program planner to track habits and metrics. Knowing where I start means I can see how I am changing inside of my life.  Transformational Freedom: As you let go of one thing, you are open to receiving the next. We strive to unlock your life’s purpose through the process of decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity.  I am tracking and analyzing multiple aspects of my health including sleep, food, steps, and supplements. For 2021, my word of the year is health. I am focusing on my physical, emotional, spiritual, relationship health, and the health of Organize 365.  In the podcast, I also talk about the Organize 365 focus word for 2021: impact. We are working to make our mission, vision, and values come to life for the growing team.  If you don’t already have a word for 2021, take some time and reflect on what your word might be. You are not bound to your choice - but let it serve as a reminder of the goals we have for ourselves and our intentions for who we want to become.  I hope you choose a word you can grow into and want to be reminded of this year. I hope to see you progress on your transformational journey and unlock the potential you have inside of yourself. 

As we head into 2021, I want to talk with you about moving from a reactive life to a proactive one by resetting your daily routines. In 2020, many of us picked up some bad habits and time wasting activities that snuck into our schedules. I am working on recapturing my time for purposeful activity, and I want to share my thoughts and strategies with you. When I consider daily routines, I look at the morning, afternoon, and evening time periods. I am going to discuss each of these and share what I was doing pre-pandemic, how 2020 dramatically changed these times of day, and what I want these routines to look like in 2021.  I actually think afternoon routines are one of the most important and often overlooked transition periods, especially for women. I first introduced my 2017 afternoon routine in Podcast Episode 193. You can listen to that if you want more information about my morning routine before the pandemic of 2020. As you adjust and adapt your routines, I really recommend small changes. Small changes over time are more successful and create more lasting change than big sweeping changes that are difficult to sustain. Afternoon routines are the transition from work or school back to home and family time. It is the bridge from your daytime activity to the dinner hour. The afternoon routine is one you have to be conscious about setting up, especially if you want to be deliberate about what you do during this time.  Depending on your phase of life, the afternoon routine can include dinner preparation, cleaning up the house, checking kids homework, and sometimes driving to and from activities. But, it is the change over from work to house life.  For many years, I did not actually stop working at a typical time, so my afternoon routine was a pause to just get my family on track. However, as Organize 365 has grown, I worked to develop the habit of stopping work at a reasonable time to give my family my full attention. I delighted in my habit of spending time with Greg every day.  During the Pandemic, Greg and I both began to work later everyday. We both worked a lot more and did not end at our normal times anymore. I did run to Culvers almost every day to give myself a commute and some alone time. Over the summer, I began to spend more time at the warehouse and continued to work more than my basic 40 hours a week. In the Fall, I began to work more at the warehouse and office. I still need a transition from work to home and some private, quiet, alone time for my thoughts. I want to keep the transition, but I no longer enjoy eating all this fast food.  Updating my pink slash pockets has already given me more motivation and desire to work on my own projects after my work hours. This is a more desirable way to use my time than driving to get fast food. And, we are spending more time sharing meals together as a family. Of the three routines, this one is the most nebulous for me, and the one that is still in process. I am not fully sure how I am going to achieve these changes to my routine, but I am giving myself grace as I figure this out.  So, as you figure out what you want to adjust in your afternoon routine, be patient and observe what is working and not working right now. Do you want to spend time with family? Is this a helpful time to tackle your 100 Day Home Organization Program task of the day? Do you need to focus on your food and nutrition? Do you have hobbies or personal projects you will focus on?  I would love if you can share your afternoon routine ideas in the Facebook group or on Instagram and tag me!

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I normally get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! This week, I share my conversation with Melinda K. She lives with her retired husband, college age step-daughter, and 2 dogs. In our conversation, Melinda shares how she was inspired to clean up her office (and how she started her 100 Day Home Organization Program doing double time and following her energy. She’s also a bit of rebel, so she can encourage others who don’t want to be told what to do, even by me! I hope you find this conversation as inspiring as I do!  I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365 community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links: Organize 365 The Sunday Basket® 100 Day Home Organization Program ALL ACCESS Workboxes Paper Organizing Retreats I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!  

In today's episode Nicky P and Lizzie ask each other the question we are all asking. Are you over 2020? It often feels like we want to ask 2020 that same question. Has it had its fill torment? Is it gonna move on in January? I suppose the answer isn't terribly relevant because no matter what it throws at us we owe it to Erma to take it head on and reach the next little island of accomplishment for her. As we talk through our goals for 2021 and review our performance in 2020 we see piles of progress (more like filled in holes) we have to take stock of what was good decisions paying off or luck. As we've been harping on understanding what we can take credit for in our lives will serve us better than self esteem ever could. Personally I think peace is all about keeping your outer and inner perceptions congruous or at least explainable.     Links https://organize365.com/100-Day-Home-Organization-Program   Featured Music 1st Song: Pleased To Meet You - The Satellite Era 2nd Song: On My Way - Craig Conley

Today, I want to encourage you to embrace organizational math. With organization, you can move your life from reactive to proactive, but doing so takes focus and determination. First, we change your mental model, and then you layer on the practical and physical skills.  I was a middle school math teacher, and I share how I apply the same benefits of basic math skills to your transformational journey into organization. For any of you who are math phobic, I promise we will only talk about addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.    Addition When you decide to get organized, the first thing you will want to do is to add a new habit into your life routine. Habits require focused efforts to ensure their successful adoption. When we want to improve our lives, we often try to add many new habits all at one. However, being able to cement a new habit into your routine usually requires about 120 days, but if you tackle fewer goals more effectively you will ensure achieving a lasting change. Spoiler alert: the first habit to add when working towards organization is the Sunday Basket®.   Subtraction When you think about applying subtraction to organization, it is the first step we take in the 100 Day Home Organization Program - decluttering. Decluttering naturally starts with removing excess physical objects from your home - things you no longer need, want, use, or have space for. After that, you can gain further space from subtracting obligations, negative people, negative thoughts, and inefficiencies from your life.   Multiplication This is where organizational math begins to gain major power. Organization always gives you more time. When you start with gaining extra time planning your week and task stacking by using your Sunday Basket® each week, you will gain time to work through the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Then, as you gain control of your home and paper, you can tackle your paper binders, kids rooms, and photos. Moving through decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity helps you to make space for what you are uniquely created to do.    Division This is the most powerful part of organizational math. With your increased ability to focus as the result of your organizing, you can now divide time into fewer but more powerful roles in your life. When you get to this stage of your transformational journey - you will divide your time into three major baskets: your Friday Workbox for the work you are uniquely created to do, your Sunday Basket® to manage all of your household obligations and to-dos, and your passion projects (hobbies and personal satisfaction). This is when Planning Day and time blocking your calendar powers up your life and your capacity. As you move along Maslow’s Hierarchy, keep working on learning your organizational math skills and adding on new ones as you continue along your transformational journey!

The Organize 365 #ThrowbackThursday episode this week is # 298 - Going PRO: Productive, Proactive, Profitable!   Regardless of the number or kinds of tasks you are juggling, I can help you optimize the effort you put into your home. Professionals practice and that is how they get better. Practice will help you to learn new skills, hone your craft, condition your mind to stay on task, and to do more faster and with less effort.   Going PRO allows you to optimize the time, effort, and resources you spend in your life to complete the projects in your life and home. Listen in and see how you can gain productivity in your life in any role right now.   PS - I would love to guide you as you go PRO in your house this fall in the next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program. We start on Monday January 4th, 2021. 

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized! This week, I am answering a listener request to do a virtual organizing session on the podcast. Betsy reached out and requested my assistance to help her tackle the 100 Day Home Organization Program. She had already purchased a membership, but is trying to balance kids at home, multiple part time jobs, and ADHD in the midst of our current global pandemic. Together, we rethink how she can participate in the 100 Days in this challenging season.  I hope you find this conversation as inspiring as I do!  I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365 community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links: Organize 365 The Sunday Basket ® 100 Day Home Organization Program ALL ACCESS Workboxes Paper Organizing Retreats

I have recently been enjoying parable based books to learn new things and to gain confidence that my own analysis and plans are “right” in the world of business.Reading a fictionalized version of important information helps me to apply learning and see nuances rather than just read dry facts. Recently, I listened to The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and learned how they describe four different kinds of work.  In this podcast, I will introduce you to the first two kinds of work. I then also share my thinking about how these kinds of work are also present in our home and household lives. By thinking about these kinds of work, we can get better work patterns and be more effective in the work we do.  Constraints - constraints are limits that are difficult or impossible to change - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. When we do not have enough of these things, it can be a limit on our organization and productivity, and changing our situation can require a major effort. Bottlenecks - are problems that can be analyzed and solved - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. I explain how we are not using what we have effectively. It is vital to discern whether you are facing a constraint or a bottleneck - many times there are effective changes you can make. Work: Firefighting - reactive work that has deadlines, stress, or feels like a crisis. This work shows up unexpectedly and causes us to pivot, iterate, and adapt rapidly. In the home, the Sunday Basket® contains and then puts out fires. Firefighting is reactive by its very nature. Work: Planned Work - Planned work is proactive. When you plan your work, you use your time, money, and space more effectively. Organize 365 members accomplish large goals without stress, overwork, or being hurried. The 100 Day Home Organization Program focuses on planned work. Each day is planned out for you and you make progress in 15 minute chunks. Try it! For the next 10 days, every evening I want you to write out your plan for the next day in the order you will accomplish your tasks on a notecard. Write down your appointments, any household tasks you need to accomplish (pick up a prescription or clean the oven or do laundry). When you write out a plan for your day in order, you can see if you days are smoother. Bonus: the evening before, also add to the index card what clothing you will wear and write down what you will eat. Spoiler alert - there are no perfect days and no perfect plans! The goal is to move from reactive to proactive. You can learn more about using notecards in Episode 310: Ditch Your To Do List with Notecards. Listen in next week for the other two kinds of work!   Books mentioned in this episode (affiliate links): Traction - Gino Wickman  Lisa’s YouTube Review Get a Grip - Gino Wickman and Mike Paton  The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt

Today, I want to announce and introduce some brand new Organize 365 products to increase your working from home productivity.  Organize 365 believes and teaches that organization is about changing your mindset, decluttering, and focusing on what’s functional. I am announcing some new products today, but they are not needed to get your home and paper organized. You need a Sunday Basket®, the 100 Day Home Organization Program, and the four basic binders to establish your foundation of organization. We have had those products for almost 3 years now. We continue to make improvements and add value to your purchases, but these core pieces have not changed..  I have promised you for years that once you get organized, you will have more free time, and many of you are finding that to be true! And, now, you are asking, what do we do with all of this time? Today - I have answers for you! All of the products I am sharing with you today are specifically designed to equip you to do the work  you were uniquely created to do.  I have been able to adapt the Sunday Basket® into various Friday Workboxes to empower me to have a multi-passionate life - I homeschool my daughter, run a corporation (Organize 365), volunteer, and pursue my other hobbies and passions without dropping anything. Organize 365 App - I appreciate your patience in getting this app out there in the world. There are no organizing emergencies, so we continue to work on this so it is 110% ready for you. It will be completely integrated with the Organize 365 website, and once it’s ready, we will be sure to let you know. Winter 2021 Planner for the 100 Day Home Organization Program - changed out the beginning pages of the planner to better focus on setting goals, figuring out your time, and establishing your morning, afternoon, and evening routines. I haven’t removed any of the pages, but I want to continue to add value and support your success. (If you have already ordered this planner, we are mailing you the updated pages as our gift!) Friday Workbox Planner - This is designed to be used with any Friday Workbox you use to earn an income. (It is not designed to be used with the Teacher, Homeschooling, or Volunteer Workboxes at this time). The planner will walk you through taking all of your ideas and to do items, organizing them, and then doing the work to make progress and achieve your goals. This is an undated, quarterly (3 month) planner. Workbox Planning Day - Our first ever Workbox Planning Day will be Saturday December 5, 2020 from 10am-3pm EST. For work related planning, I always spend the month before the next business quarter setting goals, prioritizing my projects, and making my plan. This gives me enough time to really think, analyze, and plan so I can hit the ground running and start making progress as soon as the new quarter starts. This will be a guided time to deep dive through your whole Friday Workbox and to set up your planner along with me.  Colored Lattice Binders - At times, you will find that you have slash pocket information that need to be held for reference or as archive information. We now have colored lattice binders to match the 2.0 slash pockets - pink, purple, blue, and green are now available. Since you can order them individually, you could also order them for your kid’s Lisa Binder for school. Income and Expense Binder - Organize 365 now has a complete and ready to use binder to track your income and expenses. Every year I have been in business (23 years and counting), I make a binder like this for my own business finances. It is a game changer and a life saver! This keeps my business expenses separate from my personal (home) expenses. Every year, I can send my accountant my paperwork in early February and have my taxes done. This binder has 3 sets (15 individual) green slash pockets and specialized printables for each month. This binder will hold your expense receipts, your income trackers, and has a mileage log. Using this, you will be able to keep a running profit and loss statement so you can keep a close eye on your profits.   Single Color 2.0 Slash Pockets - By popular request, we are now able to offer a single set of 5 slash pockets in one of the 2.0 colors - pink, purple, blue, or green. While you can still buy additional sets of the whole 2.0 set, you can also purchase colors individually. Organize 365 Notepads - Available in single pads or sets of 3, we now have branded notepads of 100 sheets of paper in the size of index cards. These are super fun and easy to keep stashed in places where you have great ideas (home, car, bedroom, work desk, etc.) to jot down your ideas to toss in your Sunday Basket® or Friday Workbox. These are the sheets I use when writing out my schedule and project list for the next day.  Embrace 2021 - Please save June 26 and 27th of 2021 for a combined virtual and live, in-person Embrace experience. We are in the process of securing a hotel location, and we will be selling tickets in early 2021. New Sunday Basket® Colors - We have four new colors to add to the Sunday Basket® selections. Now available in - Basic Black, Champagne, Trendy Teal, and Sapphire Blue.  I hope that you are as excited as we are about these new products to help you apply your organizing skills to your work and figure out how to adapt to continue to be safe in this pandemic. I want to continue to be an inspiring, encouraging, and positive voice in your life right now. We are here with you!

These weeks between October 1st and Thanksgiving are typically the most productive weeks of the year. I want to help you make October super productive by helping you declutter. I want to give you tasks you can complete in 15 minutes a day so you can declutter some different areas of your life. I am focusing on decluttering only, not on organizing or productivity. Today, I want to talk with you about decluttering your hot mess room. A hot mess room (HMR) is where we lovingly place (shove?) things we don’t know what to do with, can’t part with right now, are not sure about, or want to keep “just in case.” Depending on your home, a HMR can be a garage, shed, storage room, basement, attic, shed, or sometimes even a whole house. If you are working through the rest of your home (like with the 100 Day Home Organization Program or All Access Membership), you declutter your main living areas, and end up dumping your extra stuff into an area that becomes a HMR. This area becomes overwhelmed as you put things into the space “for now” while you delay making a decision to actually get rid of the stuff. This is perfectly normal - it’s a rest stop for your clutter on the way out the door. All Access members have a deep dive course to help clear out a HMR, but for today, I want to help you to make progress simply decluttering this space. Unlike a kitchen or a living room, HMR can be hard to clear out because they accumulate stuff from everywhere in the house. Today, I want to help you make progress decluttering this area so that it is more useful to you. First - be realistic about any item you are considering continuing to keep just in case you need it. Remember that you have just lived through the ultimate just in case scenario - you were safe at home (sometimes for months) during a global pandemic. If you didn’t use the item (food, clothing, or hobby) during that time, you probably never will. Let it go. If you do keep just in case items, you should know what you have and how to find it when you need it. Second - clear out the things you don’t need that will make the biggest difference in the space - empty boxes, broken items, orphan pieces of furniture, and household items you no longer want or do not use (vases & holiday decorations that do not fit your taste or style anymore). See if you can reduce the stuff by 25-30%. Send things to trash, recycling, or donation centers and reclaim your storage space for the things you do want to keep in storage. 

The Organize 365 #ThrowbackThursday Podcast this week is Episode # 246 - Maximizing Your Time: Dividing Your Week in Half.   I designed the 100 Day Home Organization Program's Productive Home CEO Planner to have Monday through Thursday on the first page, and Friday through Sunday on the facing page of each week. I’m trying not to work at all on Fridays so that Thursday night through Sunday is for “home.” That doesn’t mean I’m kicking up my feet and relaxing all that time, but it means that I am trying to leave my CEO hat off starting on Thursday afternoon, and tackling all the roles and responsibilities I have on Friday through Sunday.   Because I shoulder a lot of the homemaking responsibilities by choice, but I don’t want to give up my job, dividing my week is helping me do one thing at a time, and do it well.

Listen here: https://organize365.com/wednesday-podcasts   This week, I want to welcome all of you who are new to Organize 365, especially if you have found me through my new book, The Paper Solution! I am so glad you are here, and I just want to share a brief introduction to Organize 365.   First, you are NEVER behind when getting organized. Just give yourself grace for what's in the past, and join us in celebrating progress over perfection!   If you are new, please make sure you are subscribed to the Organize 365 Podcast in your favorite podcast player. We have 2-3 podcasts a week all designed to help you get your home, paper, and life organized. Organization is a learnable skill, and I want to be your teacher along your organizational journey.   You can find out more about The Sunday Basket®, the 100 Day Home Organization Program, and All Access programs at organize365.com

This week our #ThrowbackThursday Podcast is Episode 221 - How the 100 Day Program is like Montessori Learning. On the podcast, I share an email that I received from Marcy who likened my methods to the classical model for education (the grammar, dialectic and rhetoric stage). Marcy made so many great points and this intrigued me as it’s not something I was aware I was doing. This got me thinking about Montessori teaching methods, something that I’m very familiar with having worked as a Montessori teacher. In a Montessori classroom, students are grouped by age groupings, the curriculum is repeated at different levels, and the learning is applicable to the real world. This is very similar to how I teach in the podcast. I am very thoughtful about what I teach and when. I want to meet you where you are. In the 100 Day Home Organization Program, I take you through your home in repeated cycles and you work through the steps of declutter, organize, and increase productivity. Listen in to hear all of the details!

I know some of you missed our regular Friday podcast this week. But, because Embrace sold out, and we are making several exciting announcements during our time together, I want you to get the same information in real time. Listen in for all of the details, but here are the major highlights: -We have a NEW physical Sunday Basket® available NOW in the shop! -We have a brand new #SundayBasketClub mug that you can earn by sharing your Sunday Basket® on Facebook or Instagram. Check out the rules and get more information at organize365.com/contest -Starting July 17th, 2020, we will be hosting a Workbox Club on Fridays from 4-5:30 pm EST in the Workbox Facebook Group. -Finally, the 100 Day Home Organization Program is getting an app to help you get your home organized. The next round starts September 7th, 2020. There will be NO additional charge - it will be included with your purchase of the 100 Day Program. Sign up and get started today!

The #ThrowbackThursday Podcast this week is Episode 198 - Good, Better, and Best Goals. Today, I introduce you to one of my favorite methods of goal setting and one of the reasons that I have been able to make so much progress in my business and in my life. In this podcast, I share some of my goals, and the different ways I have been able to meet them. I also encourage you to set your own goals. This is a perfect refresher before we start the next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program on May 11th.

When you are first getting organized, I teach you that there are actually 3 steps you need to take to get your schedule, your home, and your papers in order. First, you declutter. Second, you organize. Third, you improve your productivity. I teach you how to start getting organized each week by using a Sunday Basket® . I help you to get your home organized in the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Once you have these areas under control, you will be amazed at how you get more done in less time than you ever have before. Women tell me all the time in the Wednesday Transformational Podcasts how much more free time they have.  Today on the podcast, I want to share with you how I use these very same organizational skills to tackle other problem areas in my life. I wanted to solve several problems for good. I was tired of the time and mental energy I was spending on each of these areas of my life. To be honest, I could not have solved these problems prior to getting my home and paper organized first, but I have now permanently fixed these life issues. Listen in today to hear how I solved several of the issues in my life for good. I will tell you about my hair, my makeup, my schedule, my food, and my clothing. I also teach you the skills, the thinking, and the steps to finding the same solutions in your own life.  Share with me on Instagram or Facebook and tell me what problem you are able to solve for good! PS - If you want to have me visit your city in person during the book tour for The Paper Solution: What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop It From Taking Over Your Life launching August 4, 2020, please fill out your information and connections here.

Today on the podcast, I want to help you with the skills it takes to change your thinking. In the eight years of Organize 365, I have learned so much about the MINDSET of organization. The transformation from disorganization to organization happens first in your mind. The way you actually become organized is to change your thoughts.  First, you have to believe you are capable of becoming organized. Spoiler: organization is a learnable skill, and anyone can learn to become organized (it just takes longer for some of us!). Every single person listening to this podcast is capable of having an organized life. But, the skills needed can be different depending on your phase of life and generation. I want you to have new thoughts and see just how capable of being organized you truly are.  Second, you need confidence in your skills and your organizational journey. This podcast is designed to give you confidence each and every week. I am a motivational teacher, I want to inspire you to action. From listening to the podcast, your thoughts become organized and your physical reality follows - you will see the changes in your home and that will build your confidence. Finally - action is the outcome. Once you have the capability and confidence to pursue organization, you will take the action necessary to manifest an organized life. In the podcast today, I explain all of this in more detail, and then give you several examples of how you develop capability and grow your confidence and move into action in all different kinds of life experiences. I hope this podcast continues to provide the instruction you need to keep moving along your transformational journey.  PS - Are you ready to take the first step? Everyone needs to start with the Sunday Basket ®. That will give you the foundation you need to manage your most basic organization needs and starts your mind on learning the skills of being organized.  If you have your Sunday Basket ® system in place (and you are using it!), join us for the next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program. We begin again on Monday January 6th. It’s not too late and we’d love to have you join us in this lifetime membership program!

Today on the podcast, I want to talk to you about why you are not as disorganized as you think you are. There are three things going on: You are overwhelmed. You don’t know where to start.  You don’t recognize the progress you are making. I break down each of these and help you analyze them. I walk you through your thoughts and to find solutions for these issues. I want you to see where you are having success being organized, and I give you ways to get better at the other parts. Listen in to see how you can keep working on your organizational journey. PS - If you want to try the 100 Day Home Organization Program before you buy, we have a FREE WEEK you can do as a trial. We give you access to the Laundry Room week videos, website pages, and printables from the planner.

This week on our #ThrowbackThursday Podcast episode, I talk about how I divide my year into thirds. I start with a fresh "new year" each trimester because the energy, tasks, and focus of each part of the year are different. I will walk you through how I organize my calendar three times a year, and how each time block starts out structured and organized and ends up chaotic and unstructured. I set goals during each of my three new years. If you are part of the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will begin to understand why in different times of the year, you will have success in different areas.

On the podcast today, I have the most interesting conversation with Eve Rodsky. We talk about the different tasks involved in running a home and keeping a family functioning. Eve spent several months capturing many of the tasks that people (women especially) take on in their families, and she focused on the ones that are especially invisible or “unnecessary.” Eve Rodsky has recently written a book (with a card game) that captures 100 tasks involved in running a home. Her book is called Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live). She helps the adults in the house identify their values and to make sure that the division of labor works for them (and EVERY family needs to find their unique balance). When dividing up the tasks, Eve explains the different parts of “owning” the task from start to finish: conception, planning, and execution. Spoiler: this explains why your husband brings home the “wrong” mustard and feels like he “can’t get anything right.” There is a system to help build trust and skills to support the home and family. As part of these concepts, Eve also explains different models that women use to understand their roles and which tasks they should have ownership of in order to have a fair division of labor at home, especially when considering gender. Women can be Intentional Traditionalists, New Superwoman, Accidental Traditionalist, and The Collaborator. Make sure you listen in so you can evaluate where you are today, and where you would like to go. We also get to talk about how getting your home organized gives you more time, and how you then need to figure out what to do with your time. Having a disorganized home can really function as a buffer or form of procrastination to avoid facing the hard questions about what you are called to do in life. Eve talks about how our culture shows us how to get to and through our first child’s baby shower, but then leaves us to figure out the rest of life without signposts or milestones. We talk about how to stay interested in our own lives. We share our perspective to figure out how to still have a passion and choose things that interest us and are interesting. I cannot do the work for you in understanding all the tasks of your home, or in having the difficult conversations with the people you love. However, I do want you to know that you have choices about how to divide the labor of your home. I want you to figure out your unique gift and contribution to the world. For extra fun, make sure you stick around to the end to hear about Eve’s thinking on unicorn space and how to find it with the help of their spiritual friends. I hope you can join us for the next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program so you can find time for your own unicorn space. To get started, try the free week and get your laundry room organized!

Last week, we talked about the ways in which you need to take care of your physical and safety needs before you can get organized. Today on the podcast, we will talk about how you actually learn the skills of organization.  Edgar Dale was an educator who studied the different methods teachers used to deliver a lesson, and he quantified how much a student could be expected to recall based on the approach the teacher used. The way you get information directly affects how much you retain. The retention does vary by individual learner as well, so it is helpful to learn how YOU best learn.  Lessons can be delivered as reading, hearing, seeing, video (hearing and seeing), saying (teaching back), and saying while doing (experiential learning). I share with you how I analyzed this information and applied it to different places I have taught - as a classroom teacher, as the Sunday Basket ® instructor, and as the owner of Organize 365 while onboarding new staff members. Organization is a learnable skill. The only way you cannot get organized, is if I fail to teach you. My job is to figure out how to correctly teach the skills of organization. I am continually working to learn better ways to teach, motivate, inspire, and help you meet your goal of getting organized.    I offer 3 different levels of courses in getting organized. You can start with the Sunday Basket ®. Then you can join the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Finally, you can get your whole life organized in All Access.  I continue to make improvements, enhancements, and additions to help you get organized. These programs work because we have included every single learning strategy that Edgar Dale recommended. And, if you need even more personalized help, you can find a Sunday Basket ® Certified Workshop Organizer near you.

As you go deeper into your organizing journey, you will find that things are empty. You may find empty shelves, empty cabinets, and empty space on your calendar. As you look for something to fill these spaces, you should consider the different kinds of human needs that benefit from being addressed. Maslow’s theory looks at these different kinds of needs as a pyramid, and I have found benefit from spending extra time and energy on each level at different times.  I love to learn new things and apply them to the process of getting organized. Today, I want to introduce you to Abraham Maslow and his theory about the hierarchy of needs. In the podcast, I explain and apply the 5 levels of human needs to different phases of the year and unexpected events. I explain how these different kinds of needs change as our lives cycle through different seasons. I want to help you spend more time in the highest levels so that you can live out your unique gift and share it with the world.    Finally, I share how Planning Day before each new round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program helps you to review and revise how you will meet each level of need during the upcoming trimester. I want to help you move to a mindset where you can pursue your personal esteem and self-actualization needs without guilt.    Understanding where you are in your organizational journey will help you take the next right step for you. Tag me in your Instagram post and tell me what your next step is!

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast!   Today, Michele V shares her journey of getting organized. She is a high school teacher in Wisconsin. She lives alone in a house, and has customized the 100 Day Home Organization Program to her life and schedule. I am humbled and honored to have been part of her journey. I hope you enjoy her story and find her as inspiring as I do!   On Wednesdays, I will be sharing the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumph of women just like you who are progressing along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!   I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365 community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at organize365.com/wednesday.   For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links: Organize 365 The Sunday Basket 100 Day Home Organization Program ALL ACCESS Workboxes Paper Organizing Retreats I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

It’s time to FINISH! This week, I want to talk about FINISHING. In our current, crazy lives, we often struggle to accomplish the things we start. Having so many open projects increases the clutter in our homes and our brains. As we head towards the end of the calendar year, I want you to direct your effort into finishing what you have started.  In order to finish, I want to encourage you to keep working on your current organizing project until it is done. This is not a chance to beat yourself up for failing at perfection, but I do want you to feel like your project or area is finished. I definitely do want you to feel like you have accomplished your task with a sense of excellence.  I want to give you permission to take the time you need to follow all the way through and complete your project. I want you to keep working and do the things that make your house into a home for you and your family. You do not need to keep up with anyone else’s timeline. Just keep working on YOUR area. Small, consistent steps will add up over time. As long as you keep moving towards your vision, you are making progress, and that is enough to celebrate. If you want to work on your laundry room organization for this, we offer a FREE trial week of the 100 Day Home Organization Program.  As you have the tools to get organized and actually see your progress, you will get more motivated. This will lead to a desire to spend more time getting your home organized. I recommend that you follow your organization energy and keep working on your selected area to finish your decluttering and organizing. The 100 Day Program is a lifetime membership and will be available as you can work on it. You cannot be behind when you are organizing!  I also include important information about identifying your own organizing energy and preferred style for approaching organizing. I help you figure out how to make bigger time blocks to spend getting organized if that is something you desire. And, I give you blatant permission to plan to neglect some of the tasks that are currently filling up your schedule. Finally, I help you to see how finishing one project can lead to getting your next thing done faster, and how the final result is growing your productivity for your whole life. Episode 243 - How to Get Organized Faster Episode 244 - How to Get Organized with a Chronic Illness: The Spoon Theory (How to Get Organized Slower) Episode 277 - Decluttering Jobs & Obligations What is ONE project you could FINISH this week?

A digital society with no mail and no clutter may be the stuff millennials dream of. But the reality for many unmillennials is we're still drowning in a sea of our own stuff. Having spent years accumulating the day-to-day goods that make up a 40- to 50-something life, GenXers now find themselves at a crossroads of wanting more order while living an otherwise unordered life. Today's podcast features a leading expert on all things organizational, Lisa Woodruff. Lisa is a home organization expert, productivity specialist, and author of The Mindset of Organization, Take Back Your House One Phase at a Time, and How ADHD Affects Home Organization. She believes organization is not a skill you are born with, but rather is something that is developed over time and changes with each season of life. Lisa has helped thousands of women reclaim their homes and finally get organized with her practical tips, encouragement, and humor through her blog and podcast at Organize365.com. On the show we discuss:  The phases of getting organized and how the calendar plays into getting started What makes unmillennials unique in their challenges to get organized How a simple box can be a game changer in managing mail and papers in your life Why organizing rooms by function is the key to staying organized How Lisa's 100 Day Home Organization Program (