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Paring Down: Realistic minimalism to live more intentionally
If you feel overwhelmed by paper clutter, today's episode is for you! Lisa Woodruff, the author of The Paper Solution and founder Organize 365, joins me to share her practical approach to managing paper, from taxes to random notes to medical documents. In this episode, you'll learn: • The six categories for sorting household paper, plus Lisa's Sunday Basket strategy • How to build reference binders for medical, legal, and other important documents so information is easy to find and portable • The shredding guidelines and practical habits that make paper management feel less overwhelming Lisa's realistic, progress-over-perfection approach makes it easy to start implementing these strategies right away! LISA WOODRUFF New Book: Escaping Quicksand First book: The Paper Solution Website: https://organize365.com/ Organize 365 Podcast Instagram: @organize365 PARING DOWN (SHANNON LEYKO): Sign up for my newsletter! The L.E.S.S. Express Website: www.shannonleyko.com Instagram: @shannonleyko TikTok: @shannon_leyko Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@shannonleyko Facebook: www.facebook.com/shannonleyko.paringdown Substack: Blog & Additional Support (free trial!) TAKE THE QUIZ!! "What's Your Decluttering Type?" & receive a customized playlist with 10 episodes of Paring Down for your exact needs. PARING DOWN RESOURCES: CLICK HERE for free checklist, hacks, worksheet, & more! SPONSORS: 20% OFF any AquaTru water purifier when you go to AquaTru.com and use promo code PARING Get 10% off your first order of OSEA skincare (sitewide) with code PARING at OSEAMalibu.com $250 off Air Doctor Pro air purifier: https://airdoctorpro.com/ - Use code PARING Ethical, luxury women's clothing at Quince.com/paring for 365-day returns, plus free shipping on your order! Go to BornShoes.com today for a 15% discount plus free ground shipping on all full-price shoes when you use my promo code, PARING 10 Free Meals from Hello Fresh + Free Breakfast For Life: www.hellofresh.com/paring10fm Only $2.99 per meal from Every Plate + 10% off for a month: www.everyplate.com/podcast - CODE: paring299 Find furniture, decor, and essentials that fit your unique style and budget. https://www.wayfair.com/ 15% off oneskin.co/PARING with code PARING Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
I learned so very much from this week’s guest and her organizational genius! Welcome Lisa Woodruff PhD, CEO and founder of Organize365, podcast host, and author (and a fellow Cincinnatian!). Please join us as we discuss: what she means by organizing being a 401K for your time her book Escaping Quicksand the inspiration behind her company Organize365 an explanation of The Sunday Basket an explanation of The Paper Solution an explanation of Swiss Cheese Organizing the power of mindset shifts and what she means by “you are a person of excellence” and so much more! Welcome to The Healing Place Podcast! I am your host, Teri Wellbrock. You can listen in on Pandora, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Amazon Music, and more, or directly on my website at www.teriwellbrock.com/podcasts/. You can also catch our insightful interview on YouTube. Bio: Lisa Woodruff PhD Lisa Woodruff is the founder & CEO of Organize 365®. As the host of the top-rated Organize 365 Podcast for more than 11 years, with 25 million downloads & counting, Lisa shares strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter, and living a productive and organized life. Her sensible and doable organizing tasks appeal to multiple generations and her candor and relatable style make you feel as though she is right there beside you, helping you get organized as you laugh and cry together. Under Lisa's direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research establishing the definitions of housework, home organization and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all so we can eliminate it and free people from the monotonous tasks of daily living and unlock their time for what they are uniquely created to bring forth in the world. She is the author of four books including, How ADHD Affects Home Organization and The Paper Solution and was named the Cincinnati Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024. Lisa's understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to create products & courses like the Sunday Basket® that externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains, freeing us up to think and create again, saving owners more than 13 million hours in the last 7 years! Website: https://organize365.com/ Teri’s Amazon Storefront can be found here. Teri’s #1 best-selling books and #1 new-release book can be found here. Teri’s inspirational audiobook productions can be found here. Teri’s monthly newsletter can be found here. Teri’s book launch team can be found here. AMAZON AFFILIATE Teri Wellbrock and Unicorn Shadows are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. In other words, I make commission off of purchases made using any affiliate links on my site.
Lisa Woodruff is the founder and CEO of Organize 365 and host of the Organize 365 podcast (24M+ downloads). A former teacher with a PhD in applied psychology, she's the author of six books, including her newest release, Escaping Quicksand. Key Discussion Themes Why cleaning up isn't the same as organizing — and what "Swiss cheese organizing" quietly costs you The declutter → organize → productivity cycle, and why analog comes before digital Perfectionism vs. excellence, grace, and the internal shifts behind staying organized Self-funding a PhD to research whether organizing systems improve executive function Listener Takeaway Organization is a learnable skill, and the most durable changes are internal. Aim for excellence instead of perfection, focus on the spaces that stay organized, and just start. Guest Website organize365.com Connect with Lisa Instagram: instagram.com/organize365 Book (Escaping Quicksand): escapingquicksand.com
We don't parent in a vacuum, my friend. Midlife and the teen years pile on the paperwork, the appointments, the mental load—and so many of us are drowning in reactive mode. In this episode, I sit down with organization expert Lisa Woodruff to talk about the invisible work of running a home, moving from reactive to proactive, and her game-changing Sunday Basket system. If you're a parent of teens craving calm and grounded systems, this conversation is for you.
Ever felt like your home—and your mind—are trapped in a never-ending cycle of overwhelm? On this episode of The Quiet And Strong Podcast, host David Hall sits down with Lisa Woodruff, founder of Organize 365 and expert in the art and science of home organization. Together, they explore not just how to clear the clutter but also how to create routines, systems, and mindsets that support a healthy, productive, and personalized life—no matter your personality type.Listeners will learn:Why organization is a learnable skill and the surprising results of Lisa Woodruff's research into household managementThe psychological impact of clutter and why simply “decluttering” isn't enough to create lasting changeHow routines, habits, and tools like the “Sunday Basket” can transform the way you manage your home and free up mental spaceThe unique needs of introverts and extroverts in the home, and how understanding these can lead to a more harmonious and supportive environmentPractical tips for escaping feelings of overwhelm and reclaiming your time and energyTune in to discover real-life strategies and encouragement, whether you're looking to bring peace to your physical space or seeking systems that let your strengths shine. Organize your world, honor your needs—and be strong.Episode Link: QuietandStrong.com/278- - -Lisa Woodruff is the founder & CEO of Organize 365. Lisa and 87% of Americans believe organization is a learnable skill. Yet less than 18% of those same Americans feel they are organized. As the host of the top-rated Organize 365 Podcast, with 24 million downloads & counting, Lisa shares strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter, and living a productive and organized life.Get Lisa's Book: Escaping Quicksand: 10 Steps to Overcome the Overwhelm of Modern HomelifeConnect with Lisa: Website | Podcast | InstagramSend us Fan MailSupport the show- - -Contact the Host of the Quiet and Strong Podcast:David HallAuthor, Speaker, Educator, Podcasterquietandstrong.comGobio.link/quietandstrongdavid [at] quietandstrong.comNOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. I may earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no extra cost to you.Take the FREE Personality Assessment: Typefinder Personality AssessmentFollow David on your favorite social platform:Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Youtube Get David's book:Minding Your Time: Time Management, Productivity, and Success, Especially for IntrovertsGet Quiet & Strong Merchandise
This week on Your Best Day Yet, Chief Victory Officer Eric Guy sits down with Lisa Woodruff, founder of Organize 365 and creator of the Sunday Basket system, for a powerful conversation on organization, mental clutter, and the invisible work people carry every day. Together, Eric and Lisa explore how modern life overwhelms our attention, why organization is about more than just cleaning up physical spaces, and how simple systems can create greater peace, clarity, and productivity. Check out our website: https://www.centerforvictory.com/
Does everything feel a little chaotic kinda like it feels around the holidays? That's because it's Maycember! It's that time of year when there is a lot to do and no days off to do it! I've got some hacks to productively get through it! Why does it happen? Here we just thought we were heading into summer. Nope, first, you gotta get your lawn in order. And you probably notice you are back to mowing the lawn more frequently. Oh the joys of home ownership! Did you document all the things last year you did during Maycember? Like how much mulch you needed and other supplies to get your house summer ready? Don't forget all of the graduations, weddings, and end of the school year events there are. As the school year wraps up and the weather changes to warm summer days there are more things than ever vying for your attention. The biggest difference is, no days off for the holidays but we're trying to get just as much stuff accomplished as we do during the holidays. 7 Hacks to Combat Maycember Ok, so now you know we call this Maycember. What can you do about it? Recognize the phenomenon and do not add anything to May. Use all the pent up spring energy. Get out of the house, say hi to your neighbors, see people again! Also if you are feeling the nudge to organize, do it, use that spring energy Be choosy on what you commit to and defer the rest. Just like planned neglect, some things will take care of themselves and others can be taken care of in July. Plan what you are comfortable neglecting for a period of time. Use a new rule or change a habit like using paper plates, utilizing a laundry service, or deciding on the 5 meals you will rotate all month, so you can spend more time outside. Plan, use the tools you already have from Organize 365®. Make a weekly plan with your weekly tear sheets that you do at the end of your Sunday Basket® time. Use those slash pockets in your Sunday Basket®. Maybe you have one for teacher gifts, fieldtrips, destinations for summer, and probably more! AND if you are having that organizing energy decide what lessons you'll attack and when on the weekly planner. You have the Binders? Document. Your future self will thank you next Maycember. Write down all the annual house related maintenance you do each year in your Home Reference Binder. That way next year, you'll know when to order the mulch and how much. Pack your car closet. You know, where you have a few snacks, change of clothes because you never know where the spontaneous summer energy will take you, and a back up battery to charge your phone is a great idea too. Nothing is worse than rushing between events and realizing your phone is about to die and you have no way to charge it. We can control some stressors. Block off time to organize. When our homes are a mess it creates mental stress. When you look ahead on your calendar, if you see a block of time, mark it off. This time is for you to reset the house. Get your laundry done, really go through your Sunday Basket® & plan (you need time to plan to think things through), clean a little, or organize a space. I tend to focus on paper during the summer. And speaking of The Paper Solution and the binders, I have a webinar in the app coming up. It will be on May 29th @ 1:30 EST and I will show you how I go through and update my Home Reference Binder. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
If anyone listened to episode 704 about the 10 filters I use to plan my week but you are currently in Quicksand, I'm sorry. I decided to dial it back to this 15 minute hack to help you win the day. Just one day at a time. Print the Worksheet (Knives Not Included) Download and print this worksheet. There are two worksheets per sheet of paper. I want you to have a daily action plan because a week at a time may be too much. I know when I was in the pits of despair, I would have thought "Yeah someday!" I'll learn how to time stack and take advantage of pockets of time, that mind you I didn't even know I had because I was in such a reactive state of mind. Do the Planning Each night take just 15 minutes to do these 10 things: Transfer items from your planner and calendar to this worksheet. These are appointments or events you have committed to. Proactively think about tomorrow in regards to weather, what you want to wear, and what you want to do with your hair based on weather and activities you'll attend. Go pick out the clothes you will wear tomorrow. Place items you will need for the activities for tomorrow or the people you will see, in your car. Maybe you need to hand in a form, return a shirt to someone, or have work out clothes. Plan your meals and snacks. Replenish your "adult diaper bag" if need be and think through what you will be eating and when due to lunch dates or anything else. Fill in drive time to all your events. And block off time for both driving and then the actual event. Look for pockets of time and plan to check things off you to do list during that time. The reality is that for most of us Mon- Fri time is spoken for. If you have a couple of things that have to get done during the week THIS is your opportune time to do them. Plug in your housework and routines on this worksheet. Highlight your top 1 to three things you have to get done tomorrow. If your day falls apart what do you have to accomplish to feel like you won the day? Now cut that sheet in half and carry it around with you all day tomorrow. Because on the back is where you can write down all those things your brain is reminding you to do. At the end of the day look at it. Things that cannot wait till Sunday get planned for in the week. The rest of the list, the whole list, just goes in the Sunday Basket. No need to transfer to individual cards. Make life easy on yourself and just toss it in your Sunday Basket®. You must win the day, so you can win the week, in order to win the war! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Download Daily Worksheet Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Running your household is a full-time job. And most of us are winging it. This week, Mike welcomes Lisa Woodruff, founder and CEO of Organize 365 and host of the top-rated podcast Organized 365 with over 24 million downloads. Here's the scoop: 87% of Americans believe organization is a learnable skill, yet fewer than 18% actually feel organized. Lisa is here to fix that, breaking down why the household is a real business and why so many of us feel buried by it. Lisa shares her rock bottom story of being told she wasn't a good teacher, quitting the next day, and accidentally building a company that has helped thousands reclaim their time. She walks through the early years of in-home organizing, the iterations that led to her courses, the patented Sunday Basket system, and why she stopped doing the boots-on-the-ground work to scale her impact. The conversation also gets practical. Lisa hands listeners two exercises anyone can start tonight: the index card brain dump that frees up working memory, and the 10-minute next-day plan that turns a reactive life into a proactive one. She digs into how a disorganized home tanks business performance, why creativity requires a clear canvas, and why getting organized is an 18-month to 3-year journey, not a weekend project. Resources Mentioned in This Episode: Organize 365 Website The Sunday Basket Organized 365 Podcast Connect with Lisa: Instagram Connect with Mike: LinkTree SPONSORS: Social Chameleon | Transform Your Podcast Want to become a show sponsor or affiliate? Email mike@socialchameleon.us Copyright © 2026 Mike'D Up! with Mike DiCioccio | For permission to use this content in any way, please email mike@socialchameleon.us
Here's the truth coated in encouragement…Organization takes time but with intentionality you can cut the time to 14 months. No one goes from being in debt to out of debt in weeks. Stop it! Yes, it's going to take time. Things that are worthwhile take time. Getting out of your car and into a train is worth it for your mental health and productivity of your home so that you have more capacity and time to wrestle with what you are uniquely created to do. Your Engine The Sunday Basket® represents the engine to your train. Weekly you are chugging along and making sure your priorities are taken care of while still safely gathering information to address on Sunday. Once you get this system in place you will protect your plan - this is how productive people act. You have a system in place and your brain trusts that things will not fall through the cracks because of this system. It lightens your cognitive load so you can focus on your plan and priorities. Planning Day, you took the time to identify what you would focus on and the routines you want for the next 120 days. I gave an example of getting the mail and how you process it. If you process it daily, you take your eyes off the goal and distract yourself. If you process it on Sundays, you stay focused on your plan. Listen to this episode for the full explanation. The Sunday Basket® puts you in the drivers seat. Let the Sunday Basket® transform you to become where the flow comes from, you are the driver, the leader. Train Cars What is a train without cars on it? The four main cars are your green car that is your Paper Solution program, personal organization car, family/communal organization car, and your storage car. The Complete Home Organization Bundle supplies you with everything you will need for that first round of getting your cars organized. From there each time you round the tracks you are iterating and personalizing the system for you and your current phase of life. The train stops you from being reactive. A train can't make a u turn to go home to grab your purse. A train can't stop on a dime to answer an email quickly. You'll find when you don't stop to do all the little 5 or 10 minute tasks, it'll add up to about 5 extra hours a week to run your plan. Plus you won't be up against the time it takes to switch tasks back and forth. The train is your system to get planned, purposeful, and proactive. Train Tracks Every train needs tracks and The Productive Home Solution provides those tracks. It's a 365 day plan that helps you to maintain your train engine, cars, and calculate the speed you want to operate at. You pull into the train station three times a year for maintenance, called Planning Day. You take a pit stop at the retreat station to work on personal development known as Embrace or this year the Self Care Retreat. But you must invest the time to get the tracks in place and your train running smoothly. And when you understand how to do this for your household, you can plug and play for any family member you need to step in and help. Then if the situation arises, you can take their binders to the right people to more easily settle their estate. THIS, this well maintained train and well oiled track, is the biggest and best gift you can give your future self. EPISODE RESOURCES: 570 - Creating a HOME Organizing Train The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution The Complete Home Organization Bundle Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Lisa Woodruff is the founder & CEO of Organize 365®.As the host of the top-rated Organize 365 Podcast for more than 11 years, with 25 million downloads & counting, Lisa shares strategies for reducing the overwhelm, clearing the mental clutter, and living a productive and organized life. Her sensible and doable organizing tasks appeal to multiple generations and her candor and relatable style make you feel as though she is right there beside you, helping you get organized as you laugh and cry together.Under Lisa's direction, Organize 365 has conducted academic research establishing the definitions of housework, home organization and the weight of paper in the American home. This ongoing research is making the invisible work at home visible to all so we can eliminate it and free people from the monotonous tasks of daily living and unlock their time for what they are uniquely created to bring forth in the world. She is the author of four books including, How ADHD Affects Home Organization and The Paper Solution and was named the Cincinnati Woman Entrepreneur of the Year in 2024. Lisa's understanding of the lived female American experience has helped her to create products & courses like the Sunday Basket® that externalize the routine tasks that take up the executive functioning capacity of our brains, freeing us up to think and create again, saving owners more than 13 million hours in the last 7 years!Website: https://organize365.com/Connect and tag me at:https://www.instagram.com/realangelabradford/You can subscribe to my YouTube Channel herehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDU9L55higX03TQgq1IT_qQFeel free to leave a review on all major platforms to help get the word out and change more lives!
It's not normal to plan in your home the way we do in business. But if you are part of the Organize 365® community, we do! So as the natural energy of summer ushers in another planning time, I wanted to give you food for thought so you can decide a few things before planning day. Summer Energy There are certain energies for different times of the year. Three that specifically encourage planning and that's when Organize 365® offers Planning Days. In America, you know you all feel it after you open presents and take part in all the festivities you wanna organize and plan the next year. But that's where I'll stop you. At Organize 35® we plan in trimesters. A lot can happen in 120 days. So we plan 120 days at a time and reevaluate what worked and what we want to tweak. Right now we are all anticipating summer. So we plan from May to August. Then in August we anticipate the kids going back to school and we get the urge to plan for September through December. Regardless if you have kids or not, the sales we see, traffic, travel, a lot of the things around us end up following the school year. We are facing uncertain times right now so you may be distracted about what you would like to focus on this summer. I have found that when the world seems uncertain I know I am for the most part in control of my house and my self care. If you feel like you are in quicksand, I want you to think about how you could best support yourself in the next 120 days. I offer two options because I find when I focus on one goal, I can set a bigger goal and I usually accomplish it. So the top two things I want to encourage you to consider for your focus this summer are your paper and self care. Paper Paper seems so easy to suggest this time of year. You can load up a couple of folders or a banker's box and sort it at the pool or during your child's sports practice like I used to do. I had a great friend that would meet me at the pool and we'd sort while the kids swam. And you will see in The Productive Home Solution this is the time of year we encourage you to focus on your information management, like taking important papers from the Sunday Basket® that are no longer actionable and placing them in your binders. Self Care This is not a bubble bath or getting your nails done. This is caring for your whole self. This time of year I tend to focus on professional development. Is there a class you have wanted to take, wanna become a worker outer, or something else to support your faith, mental health, education, physical health, personal organization or passions? Or have you stopped dreaming and you don't even know what your passions are anymore? There are two ways you can dig deeper into those aspects. One is Embrace which I like to revisit every year because it's a lifetime purchase. Discover what you were uniquely created to do. And two, you can attend our first Self Care Retreat in Nashville in person or online. In this episode I broke down what to expect from the retreat and I can't wait to see you on June 26th to focus on you this summer. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for Planning Day Sign Up for Self Care Retreat Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Are you ready to plan your next 120 days with me on Planning Day? It's time to dream about what is possible, not for the whole year! That is overwhelming and you never know how life is going to change. Don't miss the seminar on the 24th where I am going to share my thoughts on things like the food chain and oil prices because these things can affect your next 120 days. My hope is that it helps you to better prepare for Planning Day and all the projects you are considering. And what Golden windows are coming up for you? Are you going to have a window of time where you could conquer a meaty goal? I want you to already be thinking about this. Do you have a milestone birthday or maybe a big anniversary for you or your parents? By planning, these important events get the time and attention they deserve. You get to celebrate them as you want instead of throwing something together when you are surprised by it. I want you to start thinking and dreaming now. You prep for the cleaning lady and you need to prep for Planning Day. Prep will be April 30th. If this is your first time hearing about Planning Day, then I want to encourage you to get a system in place for planning. You have the Sunday Basket for weekly planning and Planning Day is the system for trimester planning. So to prep, you can start filling in holidays and things that happen routinely during summer in your workbook. You will bring all of this to Prep Day for Planning Day. Prep day is two hours for you to move paper to your binders, think ahead to what awaits in the next 120 days, work on your calendar box, and your tear sheets. Then we dive in on May 1st for four glorious hours to evaluate your time, establish routines you'd like to try, and get a plan in place for the next 120 days. I find when I set my sights on one goal I accomplish it and it allows me to focus on a bigger goal, a more impactful goal. In this episode, I went through page by page of how I guide you through the workbook. This episode is all about what to expect during Planning Day and food for thought now about what you will write in your workbook on May 1st. Your weekday time is very different than your Saturday time and Sunday time. You may think you have no time for project, personal development, or organizing but Planning Day will reveal pockets of time where you get to choose what you will do with that time. We look at your available time in about 4 different ways. And I get you thinking about summer food, cleaning, and laundry. You may have never thought about it before but summer energy and activities change up our food, cleaning and laundry. I will talk a little but then you have time to think and then take action. Fill in your workbook with what you think you want to try this next 120 days and plan for upcoming events. Welcome to the productive people club because this is how productive people think and accomplish their goals. See you on April 30th!! EPISODE RESOURCES: CustomerService@organize365.com Sign Up for Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
Feeling overwhelmed, stretched, and constantly thinking about everything you haven't done yet?You're not alone, and a lot of it comes down to the invisible mental load we carry every day.In this episode, I'm joined by productivity and organisation expert Lisa Woodruff to talk about how to move from overwhelm to clarity, reduce mental clutter, and build systems that genuinely make life easier.Lisa's journey is just as inspiring as her work. After starting her career in teaching and spending years as a stay-at-home mum, turning 40 prompted her to reassess what she wanted next. Inspired by generations of women in her family who had built their own businesses, she started with a simple blog in 2012, which has since grown into courses, products, and a podcast helping thousands of people get organised.In our conversation, we talk about the real reason so many people feel overwhelmed. The invisible labour that sits behind running a household, alongside careers, families, and often caring responsibilities.Lisa shares practical, realistic strategies to help you regain control, including:• How to think about your household like a CEO would run a business• Why systems (not willpower) are the key to staying organised• Where to start when everything feels messy or out of control• Simple ways to organise your time, tasks, and mental load• Why aiming for excellence is far more helpful than chasing perfection• And her popular Sunday Basket method for managing your week with more clarityThis episode is a mix of personal story, practical advice, and simple mindset shifts that can make a real difference, whether you're juggling a career, family life, or just feeling overwhelmed by everything on your plate.If you're looking for ways to feel more organised, reduce stress, and create systems that actually stick, this one is full of actionable ideas.To connect with Lisa:Website: organize365.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lisawoodruffCan you also find episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaGrahamCareerCoach/videosYour host, Emma Graham, Career Coach and ex-recruiter, is here to help you with:
After conducting the webinars in January, it became clear that people are not seeing the full value of the Sunday Basket® because they aren't getting to the planning step. My dear listeners, I am here to stress the importance of the planning step and the 10 filters that I use to plan my week. You Tricked Me I cannot stress the importance of the planning step. You hear me say processing the Sunday Basket® will take about 90 min. However, it may take longer. You may be thinking "You tricked me!" No. If you are in the setting up process and getting in the routine of processing the Sunday Basket® on Sundays then it will take longer. When you start something new it takes time to get into a rhythm. So do not set a timer for 90 minutes and when the alarm goes off you quit. No keep going till you have your week planned! It's a game changer! I promise! 10 Filters SO, I'm sharing the 10 filters I use to fill in my weekly planning sheet. This is the last step in processing your Sunday Basket. I start with looking at what my overall life priority is - my big personal goal in life. I plug that into the week first. Right now, that is getting to the gym. Then I look for self care pockets of time. Like, when will I get my nails done or what days do I need to wash my hair? Then I move on to extras I want to do for work. For instance if I will be traveling or need to record some podcasts. Then I see what caregiving needs to be planned for with my mother in law and then supporting Abby with Garyson. So up to this point it's been "out of the ordinary tasks" because they aren't routine things. And as I have plugged things into the paper weekly planner I too have been adding events to my google calendar. I have to ask, up to this point is this how you thought I planned my weeks? Now we get into the routine filters that I consider when planning my week. NOW, I am finally fully consulting my 2 google calendars. I am taking items from the google calendar and putting those events on the weekly paper planner. I use that weekly planner sheet a little differently so I explained that in this episode. It's flexible like functional organizing. Make that weekly planner work for you and the phase of life you are in. Next, food. I don't take a ton of time on this because I pretty much eat the same thing all the time. But I need to place the Travola order and make sure my foods are stocked at home and the office. Then I fill in 1 or 2 things usually in the "Top Three" space. This signals to me that if the whole day melts down - this is the one (or up to three) thing that will get done. And lastly I fill in the Organize 365 slot. This is for The Productive Home tasks or I use it for ideas that I want to post on social media. Pro Tip: Plan for drive time, unless you have a teleporter that gets you to the next location in your day. The Order Matters I feel strongly that the order in which you fill in your week matters. If I didn't start in this specific order do you think I would end up on the calendar? No. My goals and self care would get slim picking because all the time would be accounted for! This will take time in the beginning as you set it up and adjust to your planning needs. The planning portion of the Sunday Basket® is what reduces decision fatigue throughout the week giving you more and more capacity. Next week we diving into how I found HOURS to go to the gym using these filters during my Sunday Basket® planning time. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Preorder your hard copy of Escaping Quicksand The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
I am focused on explaining, in detail, the set up of the Sunday Basket®. Just wait till you complete this step - all the paper organized and no more trying to remember everything by cognitive power alone. The Course When you purchase the Sunday Basket®, you get access to the in app community and the online course. Once you make your purchase you start getting a string of emails to read then go complete. Now if you've had your Sunday Basket® for a minute, you may or may not remember getting those emails. Not sure you understand the "assignment"? You also get corresponding videos to show what to do. There's good news, last year I revamped all the videos and emails. New to or familiar with the Sunday Basket®, you can go into the course and click on Lisa's emails if you need a refresher and then watch the videos. And just so you know, this podcast series is going faster than the course. You can of course always do the course slower too. The Paper Piles Remember there were piles that got recycled, shredded, and archived. Now you are sorting your actionable papers and all those index cards. This is why I say one item per index card, that interrupts you whatever you were doing when that idea came to you, so you can touch it, manipulate it, and move it. Dump all those papers on the floor and begin to sort around yourself. I find that I run out of room if I try to use the kitchen counter. It is important that you sort based on activity like phone calls you need to make, or plans you have for traveling, or items you need to add to your calendar, and piles for individual people. The Slash Pockets Each of those piles will go into it's own slash pocket. You will see the slash pockets have two sides. If you need to use both sides temporarily, that fine till you can order more. I will be sharing the reason why I do one idea per slash pocket later. And if you run out feel free to use a paper clip. It's because of the slash pocket we can play the delayed decision making game. Get in the practice for 4-6 solid weeks of writing everything down on index cards and pop them in your Sunday Basket®. Each Sunday you will review, take action, or place in a slash pocket for safe keeping until it demands to be taken care of or you have time. Back in the day there was more paper which was easier to keep track of all the things. Digital subscriptions, bill pay, and newsletter were physical. I encourage you to print those things out and review during your Sunday Basket® time. Right now sorting and placing in the Slash Pockets is the name of the game. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Preorder your hard copy of Escaping Quicksand The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Step number one of setting up the Sunday Basket® is always the Big Sort. For the first time, I'm going into a detailed explanation of how to complete your big sort. After the big sort and decision making, you will feel empowered. It's time to dust off your Sunday Basket® if you have one because the next few episodes are all about setting up your Sunday Basket® and managing your cognitive load to be productive! If you are getting ready to purchase your Sunday Basket® please note there is a Classic Sunday Basket® and the Complete Sunday Basket®, when ordering. I explained the difference in this episode. The Big Sort Ok, so to start, you need a couple laundry baskets. You need to gather all the paper in your house. Yes, even your hiding places. Remember when company was on their way over and you shoved the paper pile somewhere? I've seen it all and I know all about the laundry room, your garage, backpacks, and lots of other places because I saw it in all my organizing client's homes. I'm guilty too! Here's the caveat: If you have newspapers, magazines, or catalogs, place them where you've been collecting paper, otherwise those laundry baskets are going to get really heavy. However, we are not collecting filing cabinet paper or paper nex to the filing cabinet that is waiting to be filed. We'll address them in May. First, we're going to address newspapers, magazines, and catalogs. If they are a passion of yours, keep them. If you can come up with a plan to read them if that is important to you then set up an area maybe next to your chair, so you will actually look at them but then recycle them once you have read them. And last I grant you an amnesty day. Recycle all of them. If it's the news, it's old anyway. And you likely have a subscription so the new ones are on their way. Also, create a rule on when you will read them and how soon after you will recycle them. I have a routine where I read a newsletter and look through a catalog when I process my Sunday Basket®. Laundry Baskets It's time to sort the, what 2 or 3 laundry baskets you filled? I like to sort in the kitchen because I like the height of the counter. You need to set up 4 laundry baskets or banker's boxes with labels: Recycle, Shred, Archive, Active. They are pretty self explanatory except "Active". The active papers are going to end up in the Sunday Basket®. These steps can take weeks. It may be to overwhelming to do all of this in one pass. Remember I say, unapologetically, it's going to take time to get organized. And there's still one more thing you need to do to conclude the big sort. You Are Already Managing It All You need to empty your brain. Get a couple packs of index cards. You are going to sit down and just write down all the things your brain is thinking of. You will end up with a pile of thoughts. I know it looks overwhelming but the truth is, this is everything you are trying to manage without help. It can be things you need to remember for that day, something you need to renew or pay, something that you want to do for the next holiday, birthdays, whatever comes to mind! BUT, one thought per card. There is a method to my madness. Now you have active and archive papers and allllllll these index cards. Fear not! In the next episode, we are going to talk about the slash pockets that came with your Sunday Basket®. We are going to organize all that paper and you index cards and remove the overwhelm. In the meantime, If you see any task or item that cannot wait till the next episode, you must complete them. Put them on the list for a day this week and get them done! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Preorder your hard copy of Escaping Quicksand The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Happy 8th Birthday to the physical Sunday Basket®! The Sunday Basket® is your Golden Ticket to relieve household manager overwhelm. Life is changing rapidly, thank you very much AI, and increasing your capacity is paramount for your new way of living. Now is your chance to get your train car all set up so you can start adding other train cars (Sunday Baskets®) and be efficient like Rockafeller. Change Why like Rockafeller? This man from PA, refined oil. After refining the oil he had to transport the oil. He placed the oil in barrels. In order to be more efficient, he asked his workers to see how little material they could used to "seal" the metal bands around the barrels. Once he was efficient in that he questioned how could be be more efficient in transportation. Initially the barrels were transported on train cars but they were heavy and lost some oil along the way. So he came up with an oil tanker. The tanker carried a lot more oil without leaking. Curiosity How can you too be curious about everything you do in your homes to increase efficiency? What are your current systems and expectations and are they set for efficiency? I think about my robot vacuum. Grayson's new school has them play outside daily which means dirty shoes so I run it a little more often. But once the baby starts crawling, I plan to run it nightly. I adjust my cleaning standards based on my comfort level of cleanliness and the current phase of my family. I want you to always be asking yourself "Why am I doing this?" "Can someone else do it?" Or "Can I do this less frequently?" How little can you do each week? Time to Get Your Golden Ticket A great way to see how little you can do each week is, yes be curious, and get really good at your Sunday Basket®. The Sunday Basket helps you to proactively procrastinate. Your Sunday Basket is your train car. If you are lost as to what I am talking about please revisit ep. 570 (linked below.) Our train cars are each Sunday Basket we have for each project we are executing like a side hustle, someone else's home, work, or planning a big event. It's a safe place for actionable paperwork so that you can take ownership of our household manager role and create systems to be proactive planned. As a present to you on this special birthday, the Sunday Basket will be on sale and you can get it all set up before Maycember!! What is Maycember? It's a chaotic time of year, like Christmas, but it doesn't affect the majority of the general public so you feel a little crazy. There are 4 main things that can derail your system and Maycember is part of the annual seasonality of life; the energy and load each season has. THern there's if something happens to you personally like you get sick or decide to get your PhD, life stages, and caregiving. When you have your Sunday Basket® routine down it's ike you are on autopilot and have capacity to make decisions in reaction to what the latest unexpected event life has thrown your way! Not only is it on sale but I'll be diving into the Sunday Basket® more detailed in the next few episodes. Plus there will be two seminars coming up. Live in the Sunday Basket Club, in the app, on March 20th at 1:30pm ET I'm going to explain all about the taxes basket. And on Friday March 27th I'm going to explain how to set up a calendar box. This Calendar box will play a role in Planning Day too. So now from the Holiday Blitz Bundle, I'll be explaining how the Sapphire Sunday Basket will be transformed into an Anything That Can Wait basket. Get your Sunday Basket® to get efficient so that you can have a productive train! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sunday Basket Birthday Flyer Ep. 570 - Creating a HOME Organizing Train The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Join us in community: Women Connected in Wisdom Community Listen to past episodes: https://womenconnectedinwisdompodcast.com/ Glo from head to toe by joining the shealo glo glo club at www.shealoglo.com ! Stillpoint: A Self-Care Playbook for Caregivers Join Christine at an event! Like & Subscribe to get notifications of when we are live: Women Connected in Wisdom Instagram Women Connected in Wisdom on Facebook **Women Connected in Wisdom on YouTube** Resources & What we are up to If your home feels overwhelming…you're not alone. This week, we welcome Lisa Woodruff, Founder & CEO of Organize 365 and host of the top-rated Organize 365 Podcast with over 24 million downloads. Lisa believes organization is not a personality trait; it's a learnable skill. And yet while 87% of Americans believe organization is learnable, fewer than 18% feel organized. In this powerful Environmental Wellness conversation, Lisa will share insights from her new book, Escaping Quicksand: 10 Steps to Overcome the Overwhelm of Modern Homelife, where she will reveal: • Why modern women feel buried in invisible work • The truth about "adult self-care" (it's NOT bubble baths) • How systems reduce mental clutter • Why "Swiss Cheese Organizing" doesn't work • How the Sunday Basket system pulls you out of overwhelm • Why organizing your personal spaces first changes everything As Lisa says in Escaping Quicksand, "Organization is an outward manifestation of the inner organization of a person." Environmental wellness isn't just about nature - it's about the environment you live in every day. When your home supports you, your mind can breathe.
Ok, the line leader for executive functions is working memory. Remember? At the end of the line is the higher level executive function of planning. Planning is the ultimate self care because it ensures high priority tasks will get completed and gives you peace. I'm explaining how getting your working memory and prospective memory to play nice, will allow Planning to have a chance to play a role in your life and finally free up your full cognitive bandwidth! TMP Time management planning; plan for the day, prioritize, and set deadlines. You wrote your brian down on paper and you decided if it could wait. The items that could not wait need to be plugged into a time block in your week. This is Time management planning. The key to this is leaving a little white space for when life's inevitable interruptions pop up. Contingency Planning You uplevel your planning when you have a contingent plan. Choose which items, if need be, for tomorrow's plan can be pushed to the next day or put back in the Sunday Basket®. We all know we will be interrupted but have you made a contingency plan, a back up plan, for the day you are planning? Studies show that people who have contingency plans get more done than those who do not. Those same studies show, mind you this is in the workplace, that even with support staff and a cleaning crew, they still only complete their to-do list, 80% of the time. At least one day a week they are not completing their tasks. Now I ask you, do you think we are interrupted more at home or at work? At home we are definitely interrupted more and we are the support staff and the cleaning crew. I hope this is giving you insight as to why you are not completing your to do list. There is a lot demanding our time. The Sunday Basket® shines at contingent planning. On Sunday when you are making the week's plan, you can think through your meals, what if there is a snow day, what if a college doesn't meet their deadline. But you must plan at the end. We realized, in looking over the 80 questions submitted for the Sunday Basket® webinar in late December, that most of you aren't getting to the planning step. You should start with sorting index cards and going through slash pockets, then you do random tasks and managerial tasks, for me it's CFO stuff. Lastly, PLAN! I say it takes me 90 min to 3 hours because it depends on how much I do between sorting and planning. Pro tip: I plan Friday "in pencil." I take all the tasks I need to complete and fill them into time blocks based on importance of completion. I know though, that by Friday, some tasks will have overflowed to Friday. Life happened all week. Some items will have to go back to the Sunday Basket® and some items will be pushed to Friday. There has to be white space for flexibility. That's why we have to honestly answer, "Can it wait till Sunday?" This question may free up time that was already given to something you wanted to do not had to do. There just isn't enough time to get it all done but there is enough time, if you plan, to get all the important stuff done through planning. Strategic Planning Strategic planning is the long term planning, like what we do on Planning Day, in the Productive Home Solution™. When planning, it is best to have uninterrupted time because it requires our working memory. We cannot change people so we modify the environment. We cannot eliminate distractions so we must have daily/weekly plans. Planning will never become a habit. But you can use things like the beginning of the school week to plan your weeks and the school year as a reminder to get some long term planning done. Strategic planning is how we get a grounding system in place to tackle the three types of planning; TMP, contingency, and strategic. Planning is the ultimate self care. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Register for Webinar Replays Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
Can goal attainment really be effortless? Yes! How? I'm sharing a science backed and real life proven strategy to, yes, attain your goals effortlessly with environment modification. Last week I told you to write everything down. Now what? Your Brain On Paper If you were a good lil student, you have started to write down all of your interruptive thoughts. Stop trying to remember everything, just write it down! Now you have all of these thoughts on paper, your brain on paper and you may be overwhelmed. The next step, is to decide can it wait till Sunday? If so, pop that baby into the Sunday Basket® for safe keeping until it can't wait. If not, add it to your to do list for the day. If you find you are always saying yes it can wait, but you don't have a lot of motivation to get it accomplished, it's ok to toss it. Our goals, energy, money, where we live, stage of family life, our house, and other factors change projects we want to do. You aren't going to get it all done because you aren't getting it all done now. Let yourself off the hook for projects you are not longer interested in finishing. Evolution of Systems Our families are ever changing and I was reminded of this during my grand-turnity. Abby had her baby and I am home more helping to take care of her and my grandsons. I don't cook. But I do make Thanksgiving dinner. I thought it would be nice to make until Greg pointed out that had I just asked Greg to do it, he would have. I abdicated cooking many years ago. Greg is used to cooking and didn't appreciate me taking up space in the fridge while the turkey defrosted. You see, back in the day saving money was the goal. My cooking and grocery shopping "reality" is from those days but our family has changed. I picked up a couple of turkeys while they were cheap around Thanksgiving knowing I'd be home after Abby had the baby. But I don't grocery shop or cook anymore. I could have saved a lot of my time and money had I just let Greg do it if I had just thought about today's reality of my family dynamics and roles. Ok the next thing to consider is your environment. First, do you still need the blender on the counter? You know it's not about the actual blender, it's just an appliance or thing you may have on the counter that you are no longer using. Smoothies may have been an everyday thing that is no longer. I moved ours to the basement, sometimes I forget, I should just pop a lil note inside the cupboard to remind me. I mean, no one is looking in my cupboards. Is your environment supporting your current goals? Could you modify your environment to better support your goals? Decluttering and Organizing Surfaces Thoughts I realized when I wanted to start adding collagen to my coffee that my environment was not set up to support my goals. I had about 9 steps to make my coffee, I'd get to my car and realize I had forgotten the collagen. If you are trying to lose weight, remove the cookies and put fruit in that same place. You can't eat what is not in your house. And you can't rely solely on willpower. AND it signals cues to your brain about your new goals. Science shows that when your environment is modified you can attain your goals effortlessly. As you realize what you want to modify you will need to declutter and organize that space. The Productive Home Solution may bring light to spaces you want to modify and it will walk you through the decluttering and functionality of that space. There is a caveat here. You will have more success if you have the foundation of the Sunday Basket® established because you will already be in the habit of writing down interruptive thoughts. I went through the thought process of setting up a coffee station. In moving things around, it brought to light the cup/bottle situation for my grandsons. I wrote things down and will take action on a Sunday. The time you spend modifying your spaces to match your goals will give back time to your future self. Then the systems you put in place will simply need to be maintained. The synergy between The Sunday Basket and The Productive Home Solution will have you saving time, cognitively offloading, gaining support for your goals and making better choices too! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
I left you hangin' in the last episode as to what the mindset shift is that you must have so that you can be a productive person. It's Discipline. And discipline is my word for this year. "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment" - Jim Rohn What is the definition? -Some of you may have a negative knee jerk reaction to the word discipline. Ready for me to reframe discipline in you mind? It is… -The act of gaining control with obedience and order (like holding yourself accountable to picking up after yourself.) -Having behavior in accordance with rules (like the Sunday Basket®) -Self Control - you can struggle or you can remove items from your environment that have you have effortless self control can't eat a cookie you didn't buy and bring home. -An activity you engage in regularly to train or inspire ones self. -A subject taught or field of study (like the study of home management.) -An institution If you are listening to the podcast, odds are that you are learning discipline in the area of home management. But you do not get the results from the work you do not do. You must do the work. What Does Discipline Look Like? Setting and achieving goals is changing your own actions and disciplining yourself to being the person who has already achieved what you want to achieve. So I gave the example of me working out. I used to want our whole family to get healthy and work out together. Not gonna happen. So I have decided to do it for myself to achieve the goals I have for myself. And along with working out, I have changed the way I eat. My husband would prefer a meal that "makes sense and 'matches.'" A lady at work introduced us all to ingredient eating. Basically you cook the protein, pull out all kinds of things from the fridge like fruits and veggies to compliment the protein and eat what you like. This would be my preference! So I workout and eat like the person who has already accomplished my goal and support my family in other areas rather than meal preparation and working out with them. And the more you do those things, the easier that discipline is. If you ask a productive person how they became that way, they may not be able to tell you. Because they disciplined themselves in one area till it got easier and then moved on to another area. And know, once you get a system in place, it will change. It will change with your family and phase of life you are in. Time Blocks = Confidence So you see why you need to be disciplined in the time blocks if you want to be a productive person. Time blocks are just these guard rails to keep you on track and systematize your time and responsibilities. Discipline yourself to do the work and it will become easier. I shared some stats to help you see this is not a "you thing." This is a field of study, a discipline, to learn how to train ourselves, bring control to, and impose order in our housework and home management. Discipline yourself to process your Sunday Basket® so that you gain confidence in this area. Discipline yourself to start watching the videos to the programs you have purchased. Do you know people who are organized are perceived as more confident? And you know what else? People feel more confident when they are organized! Dave Ramsey said "You can wander into debt but you can't wander out of it." And the same is for disorganization you can wander into but you can't wander out of it…you must discipline yourself. You must have a mindset shift. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Ok, it's another peek into my brain. I'm sharing the things I want to follow me into the new year and things that I'm leaving in 2025. I thought it would be beneficial for you to hear my thoughts behind these decisions and get you thinking about how you want 2026 to look for you. Planning provides a lens of calm. Somehow when a plan is in place, even if it changes, it is not as jarring as when you have to react to change with "emergency energy." What will be joining me As I think about 2026 approaching, there are some significant changes happening in my life. Abby will have baby number two soon and the PhD is not consuming as much of my time. So, I am looking at the extra time. I want to be intentional with showing up for Abby, taking care of my body, and due to circumstances not yet resolved, looks like I will be doing a lot more housework. This next 120 days I'm viewing as my "grand(ma)turnity leave." I am excited for Planning Day, where I take the time to really look at my time and plug in my priorities of being a grandma and think about how I want to use all this time I am getting back. When it comes to my housework I plan to run the vacuum robot more frequently after getting some listener feedback and tips. And I will run the dishwasher daily which is more frequent than we currently do. I am looking at the time I used to give to the PhD and filling it with my new goals. I am keeping the Tovola that is in alignment with eating healthy. But will likely add in a little meal prepping to accommodate how I want to eat and Grayson's egg allergy eating regimen. So, on Thursdays, I'll be doing mid week laundry and some housekeeping. And on Saturdays you will find me at the gym with Grayson. You will find me with Grayson a lot in the next 120 days "sucking up all my time." And I wouldn't have it any other way. What will get left behind Sit down. I'm leaving Culver's in 2025!! Never did I think this day would come but I want to build a healthy body, I still have 46 years to live and I'm really looking at my food right now. Doggy Daycare is closing and the house keeper won't clean with Hunter home, so no housekeeper. I will be home longer in the mornings so no more coffee and breakfast at the office. And I'm ditching ithe Oura ring. That thing was frustrating me. I disagreed with it too much. And I want to wear my nice jewlery! I'm ditching my gardening shorts and Organize 365® v-necks for clothes for workout clothes that better match how I identify; as a person who works out. Late night bedtimes are going away too because I want to have plenty of energy for the Abby, Grayson, and working out. My Golden Window is Ending I have been spoiled getting to take two luxurious hours each Sunday morning to process my Sunday Basket® upstairs and with little Grayson in tow pretty soon, I will not be able to. I have my Sunday Basket® upstairs and another in my kitchen which is basically Abby's Sunday Basket®. I plan to break my normal processing time into two different 1 hour chunks. I think I'll read all the things while Grayson is bathing which will account for about 1 hour or a little less. And I'm auditioning other time blocks for the remaining hour I will need for thinking, planning, and billpay. I will solidify this likely in Planning Day. Now is the time to go into your 2026 Sunday Basket® and grab all those ideas you wrote down and bring them to Planning Day. Those are the ideas and intentions you wanted to consider for the new year. Yes, this community is planning 2026 already. This community does not think you are weird. When you plan now, you get to execute on Jan 1. But if you want till the dust settles in the new year, it'll be the 5th - the 9th before you start planning let alone executing. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media
Happy New Year! Which resolution did you choose; to lose weight, get outta debt, or get organized? Those are the three most common resolutions. But with any good goal you must have a way to execute an action plan otherwise you will have the same environment just different desires. Tame the Toddler Sometimes it feels like there is a toddler running around in our brain, right? It is constantly reminding us of future things you need to do. You are just trying to do a task like write an email but your brain is constantly bombarded with things you want to do as you look around your office or wherever you are. I got so tired of that, that I started to write everything down. Your Sunday Basket® comes with index cards for this purpose. I quiet my brain so I can be productive. As long as I follow through on Sundays, my brain will trust me that it's written down and it will get addressed. If not, it throws a tantrum and says "Since you lied, and didn't do it when you said you would, I'm going to bug you more often so you don't forget." Don't let that toddler control the narrative in your brain as you try to work through and complete tasks - just write it down. Write It Down I was talking to someone about mindfulness. To be clear I asked him how he defined mindfulness. It's basically being present with a person or activity. I thought, well I'm like 100% mindful. I know it sounds unrealistic but the theory goes that a person has a task thought and then makes a decision about it. But I have a thought, write it down, and carry on with what I was doing. When I get free time throughout the day, I decide if it can wait till Sunday. If it can wait it goes in the Basket for review on Sunday. And if not I place it in front of the Sunday Basket to address when I have time that day. This is where time and capacity come from! I offload my thoughts into my environment. Study after study confirms this is the most effective strategy to remember what you want to remember to do in the future - prospective memory. If your goal is to change up the spaces in your home, you need a Sunday Basket® to hold all of the ideas you have for that project. How you intend to use the drawers, cabinets, or spaces. It's 10x's harder to try to complete that task on memory alone because your brain is trying to remember all the normal stuff and all the ideas you have for that space. I don't know about you but my brain is the worst note taker! The Sunday Basket® is a great keeper of the notes about the things I want to do, have, and be! The Sunday Basket® is Spanx for Your Kitchen Counter Clutter Let's talk about all the boxes or catch all containers you have in your house. At some point you got a call that company was coming to your house. In one swoop, you gathered everything from your kitchen counter, but did you go through it after your company left? This is why the Sunday Basket® is the solution for normal people trying to do #allthethings. If your goal this year is to get organized, get out of debt, or lose weight, the system, the essential "office supply" you need is the Sunday Basket®. You shove all your kitchen counter clutter in it, you feel more organized already(get your environment to match your intention), and it looks good on your kitchen counter just like Spanx for our bodies. The Sunday Basket® is an organized way and holding all of your ideas on how you want to accomplish getting organized, getting out of debt, losing weight, or any other resolution you set for yourself this year. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
You made it! All the holiday stuff is done. It's the day after Christmas and you are finally coming up for air. You finally have a minute to think about what you need on this bonus day as your family is entertained with their new stuff. Well I have a couple of treats for you. I know on Black Friday, you were shopping for others. But now, now that you can think about what you'd like…You'd like to upgrade your DIY Sunday Basket®. You are in luck because when you get the Sunday Basket®, now till the end of the year, you will also get a portable Sunday Basket®! That's a $75 value just for getting a system that will keep your actionable papers safe. We are in this never ending rat race and now that we made it through the holidays, it's almost the new year and another thing after that. You need a system to keep everything straight and in a place you can find them. And if you already have the Sunday Basket® and value the system, you may be ready to commit to implementing a system in your house to optimize the people in it and the phase of life you are in. And right now, you'll get Planning Day added on for free. You won't get the workbook in time but good news…the replay is available for 6 weeks. You may be on the fence about joining because of the price or the time commitment. But think about if your spouse wanted to get in shape. Would you find room in your budget to pay for a gym membership or improve their work out clothes? If they wanted to further their education would you find funds to pay for it and allow them time for their studies? You would do it fo them, now it's time to do it for you! I know sometimes we feel like we should inherently know how to organize a home but we just don't. The course will support you in learning this system and you will be even more supported by the community inside the app. I know, you just want your home to run effortlessly. You just want to know where the stuff is when you need it. Join the Productive Home Solution and set your intention for 2026. And then I want to invite you to join me on Monday December 29th for a webinar where I will be sharing the science behind why the Sunday Basket® and The Productive Home Solution works. What is going on in our brains as we get organized? Tune in as I explain the science! Option 1: Free Portable Sunday Basket® when you purchase the Complete Sunday Basket® Option 2: Free Planning Day when you join The Productive Home Solution Option 3: Treat yourself to both foundational systems! EPISODE RESOURCES: CustomerService@organize365.com New Year New You Enrollment Guide Join the Webinar: 3 science packed habits for effortless self-control and goal attainment in 2026 Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
We are in it! There's no time left to plan anything so how can you still be proactive and ahead of things? I'm sharing my sanity saving tips to meet you and your family's needs and still show up as your best self in these last couple of weeks in December. We are in those flexible strange last weeks of the year so what can you do to save your sanity? Event Go Bags If you only have time to implement one thing - this is it! Event go bags are like the go back you should have packed to grab at a moment's notice so you have the things you need while you are away from home for an unknown amount of time. In this instance, you will look at the calendar and place a bag, in an out of the way area, for each event. Then you're going to put some kind of clip on it to attach any notes you make to yourself about the event like grab the appetizer from the refrigerator or return the book to Aunt Betty that you want to remember as you go out the door for the event. As the date approaches, you can add items to the bag too that you want to remember to bring…maybe Aunt Betty's book. And I strongly recommend a donation area. I know I talked about it recently that you may be getting the bug to declutter. We have January energy creeping up on us and we want things to be clean before company comes. A great free activity is decluttering with your kids. Because they are home and they are bored! But you definitely don't have time to pack everything up and head to a donation center. No problem. Create a designated area for items you may want to donate. And while decluttering you may find Aunt Betty's book which then you can place in that bag which is likely near the donation area. See how that just works out? This is the beauty of the Sunday Basket® that we all appreciate. It's one designated place for safe keeping actionable items until the time we intend to address them. I know these two spaces may create a little clutter but let's be honest most of our homes look like it's the day before laundry day right now anyway! Let's stay sane. Two Week Big Haul I realize this next suggestion you may have to play with your paycheck schedule now but utilize it this year and plan for it next year in your operations binder. I want you to make a grocery haul for the next two weeks. We talked about a version of this before Thanksgiving. You need snacks, meals, and more snacks. The kids are off school and people are snacking like it's their job. Think about all the appetizers or items you need to bring to any parties. Consider paper plates this year in between the meals or even for the meals too depending on your phase of life. Just decide what is right for your family. Then do it. Consider your finances and then decide what all you can do and get it done to save your sanity! You don't have time for multiple trips to the store in addition to everything else. Final Suggestions Gas up the car so you can get to where you need to go without having to make yourself late stopping to get gas. Make sure you have enough stamps for thank you letters or Christmas cards. And if you are stuck in the stone age with me using cash, get some cash. You never know when you'll need to pay someone back for your half of the meal or something they picked up for you. Or you could just send it on Zelle or Venmo like the cool kids. Take advantage of these tips because these last few weeks are going to be amazing! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
I feel it and I know you do too. That decluttering and planning energy is starting to bubble up but who has time to deal with that? No one. We're all stuck in this purgatory of sorts where Thanksgiving is done but there's a lul until the December holiday that you celebrate. So I'm sharing best practices to harness that energy, use it for good, but all delay doing anything about it, for just a little bit. Decluttering You are waiting for all your purchases to arrive. You know what people are getting or even yourself and you want to purge the old. But wait! If you purge toys now, what will they play with until Christmas (this will be my example because that's the holiday I celebrate)? I recommend starting a slash pocket for decluttering alone. This way in the future you will remember what you brain told you to declutter. You have too much going on right now and there will be time for decluttering in the last week of the year. However around the 22nd or 23rd you may wanna get a little head start. It would be fun to reward your kids for their efforts too. If you are in the Productive Home Solution, you can find certificates for the kids and it's just a fun spin on the tasks. They want to make room for the things they asked for too. Planning You already are experiencing that dreaming energy of what could be for 2026. Your brain is begging for a new planner and expressing dreams for 2026. In episode 681, I shared the 4 ways I will plan from now to the end of the year, and that first step is dreaming. So go ahead, make a slash pocket just for goals, then write down what comes to mind on index cards, place in your Sunday Basket for safe keeping till you have the time and energy. The time will be Planning Day because they match up to when planning energy is high for most people. Power of the Sunday Basket@ The Sunday Basket in general is for capturing ideas when your brain has them so when you have time and energy you can do what your brain wanted you to do. In the Holiday Blitz Planning Day we divided the Sunday Basket into three Sunday Baskets®. We we delaying some ideas into the New Year Basket®, we had holiday ideas, and then one remained our weekly use Sunday Basket®. You always get a workbook that has some planner components and gets you in the planning mindset. Finally, you get to do the planning that was brewing in early December. On December 29th at noon (CST), you will once again reorganize your Sunday Baskets® for new purposes. Planning Day Prep is first and you will clean out your weekly Sunday Basket® for a fresh start for the new year. This is when you take notes and "guides" about your family holidays and file that slash pocket back into the Household Operations Binder. This day is for filling in the workbook with the "ground work" information that will support you completing the workbook during Planning Day, go through that planning slash pocket you created, relabeling your slash pockets, and labeling your tear pads. Now you are prepped and ready for Planning Day on December 31st at 10 am (CST). You will spend 4 hours planning the next 4 months. It's time, you have the time and the energy has been bubbling this whole time, go nuts, plan away. Remember that planning slash pocket? Now you get to decide what you take action on that your brain wanted you to remember. You will plug in your goals, play with routines you want to establish to support your goals, as well as plan around your family and work responsibilities. My childhood ritual was to get a new planner in December, May and August. I just loved leaving old objectives in the past, dreaming of what I could be, I could do, and what did I want? And now I get to teach you how to do the same for you and your house. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Planning Day The Productive Home Solution 681 - 4 Ways I Will Plan From Now to the End of the Year. Holiday Blitz, Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day, Seasonal Sanity Savers and New Year Planning Days. Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
I am so excited to share with you that site wide you can grab products 20% off this Black Friday, and free shipping for orders $300 or more. This episode is a compilation of three webinars I recorded to explain all the goodies in all the bundles and products. What products have you had your eye on to help get your home organized? Now is your chance to gift or treat yourself at the best price of the year. Don't worry, we have created a shopping catalog for you to thumb through leading up to Black Friday. The first thing I went over this episode is the Complete Home Organization Bundle. This is everything you would need for the 52 week course to get your home organized and not have to return to the Organize 365® shop. It includes the 4 essential building blocks to get organized and productive. The first block is the Productive Home Solution™ to get a plan in place to organize your physical spaces. Then the Paper Solution® to replace those filing cabinets and manage all your paper/information. This is where you get all the binders for information management. Next is the Sunday Basket® as a weekly dumping station to then productively plan all those actionable items weekly - on Sunday. It is the number one product to start with to become a peacefully productive woman! Pay special attention to why you may want to purchase through Amazon if you plan to give the Sunday Basket® as a gift this year. And how do you ensure you will have time to implement the systems from Organize 365®? Planning Day. One Planning Day is included where you will look at how you are currently spending time and how you would like to more productively spend your time while also freeing up time as a result of planning and delayed procrastination. I went through all the pricing and what all is included so you know what to expect. You can get the bundles on sale, stand alone products on sale, even Planning Day is on sale!! I explained the Holiday Blitz Bundle because right about now, your new part time job (planning the holidays) may make your house feel like it's going to explode. All of the sudden you are doing more shopping, mailing, planning, traveling, baking, cleaning, merriment…all the things. The Holiday Blitz Bundle will keep current priorities in front of you with a safe place for all the things that need to wait till after your holiday of choice. You get two extra Sunday Baskets® and there will be instructions for how to continue use throughout the year, not just November and December. These extra Sunday Baskets will give you back your brain, lighten your cognitive load, and reduce your stress. And of course the already discounted Friday Workbox and Teacher Workbox products and courses are additionally discounted for Black Friday too! And while I will forever use a Friday Workbox for my businesses, I stand by my decision to put more focus on helping people to get their homes organized. You'll still get all of the products and courses, although color choices are starting to get limited on the Workboxes. You'll simply be put into legacy status as of March 2026. If you have been following Organize 365® for a while and have been wanting to implement systems for work too, now is your time!! What are you waiting for? Download the guide now and get shopping…the sale actually starts on Wednesday!! EPISODE RESOURCES: 2025 Black Friday Sale Catalog Watch The Black Friday Complete Home Organization Bundle Watch The Black Friday Sunday Basket® Watch The Black Friday Friday Workbox Farewell Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
Sometimes I get wary of sharing how much I plan. But because I plan I get to be more purposeful and present in my life which gives me peace. I‘m sharing the 3 phases I go through to plan. I dream. I contemplate allllllllll the possibilities. Then I choose what I want to do from all dreams I came up with. And then I plan it and confidently run that plan knowing I thought of everything. Holiday Blitz so you can leave the Witches in Oct. Halloween has passed, you are in the thick of the holidays but you still feel like a witch. Why? Because you are trying to meet everyone's expectations but no one is aware of all you are doing nor do they care. We are putting all this pressure and these expectations on ourselves!! I'm here to share how to shed those witchy feelings with the Holiday Blitz. In the holiday blitz there are 5 videos and printables. After the videos, you will “interview your family” about what makes the holidays special for them BEFORE the holidays. You will dream about what you want the holidays to look like this year. And after talking to your family it'll be easy to choose what you want to execute. Holiday Mini Planning Day The Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day is a taste of what home planning day is like. This is when we take the one Sunday Basket® and divide it into three Sunday Baskets®. You will have a Holiday Sunday Basket® for the meaty experience you want to plan, recipes, gift ideas, and all the holiday cheer you want to provide this year. There will be a “next year” Sunday Basket® where you can safely place paper that doesn't need your attention until next year. You place this Sunday Basket® in another room. And of course, your regular weekly Sunday Basket® for your “new part time job” of being the memory maker; with the additional shopping, decorating, traveling, and so forth. We'll take a look at the week of Thanksgiving and the last two weeks of December and plan in time blocks. And I share tips on how to strategically shop Black Friday to save money all year. I know not everyone has the capacity or time to plan luxuriously like this. So…I am offering a 30 mini workshop where you can take just a few minutes to plan. I know everyone is really busy but I really want you to enjoy the holidays this year! Stay tuned for more details so you stay sane and present for the holidays. Home Prep & Planning Day And we end the year with more planning. Yes I really do all of this planning. But you will see as the year comes to an end you will be already dreaming of what this 2026 year can bring. It's still full of so much potential. Prep day is Monday. You will reset your Sunday Baskets® and update slash pocket labels and contents. Some paper may need to go in your operations binder. And you will have a Taxes Sunday Basket® for a landing place when all the documents start coming in the mail. You'll have one extra Sunday Basket® which will be for your first project in the new year. And then you choose what projects and ideas you will be actually planning for on Wed. And On Wednesday we'll start getting a plan on paper in the workbook. What will the first 120 days/ 4 months of 2026 look like? In each of these planning phases I dream. How could it look? And then I choose. I make an actionable plan to execute the choices I made. And lastly, run that plan with confidence. Because you take the time to plan, you can peacefully be present. Once you have experienced the peace of planning, you will find the time to plan. I promise! And the more you plan, you'll want to plan even more! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Holiday Blitz 2025 (Oct. 27th) Holiday Blitz Bundle Holiday Mini Planning Day (Nov. 14th) 30 Min. Holiday Sanity Saver Workshop (Dec. 5th) Home Prep and Planning Day (Dec. 29 - Dec. 31) Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Trish K. who lives with her adult daughter and grandson. On long car drive home, Trish was listening to her older sister tell her about this thing called the Sunday Basket®. When Trish got home, she hopped on the website and got a Sunday Basket®. It just made sense to her, one place for all the paper and a system to process it? Sold! Trish enjoys the Sunday Basket®, the Productive Home Solution™, and the binders. But the biggest benefit she has gotten from Organize 365® was when she spoke outloud, her dream to walk the Camino Trail. Many years prior in night school another student shared she was taking 2 weeks to go walk the Camino Trail. Trish was in throws of active parenting and knew realistically she did not have 5 or even 2 weeks to go walk any portion of the trail. When Trish went through embrace and then attended the workshop with Rhonda afterwards, she remembered how to dream. And a long time dream resurfaced, walking the Camino Trail. She's not one to share dreams unless she's prepared to take steps towards it. But in the safe space with no friends or family, she confessed she dreamed to walk the Camino trail without intent to do something about it yet. She got so much positive feedback from everyone in the group that she decided to go for it! She trained for a couple of weeks before she told her family and friends what she was going to do. She walked the Camino Trail and documented it all through a blog. It was a spiritual journey that she suspected may break her emotionally but it didn't. She had a spiritual journey and learned a lot long the way, those 34 days and 500 miles. She got to walk through the country not buzz by in a car but really take in the beauty of Spain. She shared a few accounts with us in this interview. The blog started out just as a way to let “her community” know that she was ok and share updates. A common thread in Organize 365® is “What's next?” It's funny you complete one room in your house and it's so rewarding that you think “What's next?” And Trish has realized to do the same with dreaming. So what's next on the dream list for Trish? To write a book. She got such great feedback from her blog that she wasn't intending to do anything with. Now she's gonna write a book! She's dreaming now! It's no longer a mental barrier, she knows how to pursue a dream. She feels permission to think about what she wants, to use her resources on herself. She's bumped herself to the top of the list. Community, we agreed, is the other theme that runs deep in Organize 365®. The community where everyone is so supportive and inspiring. Trish first got to try out her idea in this non judgmental community that offered nothing but support to her. Her now friends. They cheered her on along her journey, read the blog, and commented. That community kept her going. Dreams flourish in community! When you are in community, people like Trish are an example of what is possible. And in community, you can lean on others' strengths. What you don't understand or see how to accomplish, someone in the group has been there, done that, and eager to help! This community is so eager to help we talked a little bit about the Disaster Relief Resources where we can help people in need and ask for things we need. No one needs to go through things alone! We are a community! Trish's advice is, “If you have internal messages questioning what you want to do come talk to someone in the Organize 365® community. Because they will give you the support and say ‘Do it!' ‘What do you need to do it?' What can I do to help you do it?' And to me, that's they same thing as ‘Gee, I have 18 boxes of paper or I have this whole house to organize.' It's all about starting…just starting. Get the Sunday Basket® and just start. And if that's too much, start listening to the podcast.” EPISODE RESOURCES: Trish's Blog: Listen and Bloom The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution® Embrace - Self Guided Retreat Blitzes and Bootcamp Disaster Relief Resources 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!
October is awareness month for Breast Cancer and ADHD. Ok yes the blush pink Sunday Basket® color is back in stock (while supplies last). BUT, I want to suggest that you use this Sunday Basket® as a way to remind you of people in your community that have lost someone to breast cancer, are facing a breast cancer diagnosis, are supporting someone in their breast cancer journey, or who have survived breast cancer! It is so important that we continue to take care of ourselves too. Let this Sunday Basket® remind you of your health goals and routine doctor visits to prevent or get early detection of disease. I also want to inspire community and support for the breast cancer awareness community. Be aware of someone who could use your support. And speaking of support, the Sunday Basket® supports those who have ADHD. ADHD is so cool because of the ability to think differently but it really becomes a struggle in organization. We have all these modifications for kids in school but where is it in the real world once they've graduated? As someone with ADHD, you learn “work arounds” so survive school due to compromised executive functioning skills. And so then in the real world, let the Sunday Basket® be your work around to actually succeeding in organization. In my book, written in 2016, “How ADHD affects Home Organization”, I explain exactly how to do this. And that is why from 10/1-10/5 this book is completely free on Kindle. And if you have enjoyed and learned from this book before will you do me a small favor? Would you re-download it and leave a review? Pretty please? I love helping and supporting my community! EPISODE RESOURCES: Sunday Basket® How ADHD affects Home Organization Kindle: How ADHD affects Home Organization Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
In this episode, I introduce you to Lynette M. who has 7 adults living in their house. She's married, has a son and his wife, 2 other sons, and a daughter all under one roof. Lynette had so much paper she didn't know how to deal with it after she'd “decluttered” it. She found Organize 365® as a paper organizing expert when searching for solutions. Lynette had success with Marie Kondo in decluttering from 27 sweaters, 11 pairs of gloves (did I mention she lives in central FL?), multiple pairs of jeans, and 3,000 books. But when she got to the 5 filing cabinets of paper she knew she needed help! Once she found Organize 365® and heard me talking about my son having and IEP and the Warrior Mama binder, Lynette thought to herself “she gets me!” She also loves the way realistic expectations are talked about. If your child has an IEP in school, those “limitations” don't go away after they graduate. Some kids may not go on to college. There's a message of acceptance of alternative paths after secondary education from Organize 365® that resonates with Lynette. Lynette had children move back home after medical setbacks. She decided to do a financial reset for them and financial education for her other children. She got them all Launch Binders and holds a Tuesday night budget meeting to teach them the basics so when they go out on their own again (prospective deadlines have been set) that they will be successful. I could not believe what I was hearing as Lynette explained her situation. This theme is becoming familiar; children back home for financial reset for various reasons. In 2000's only 10-20% of students needed an IEP. In 2012, it had risen to 30-50% of students needing an IEP, I mean do you think a magic wand is waved when they graduate high school and all of the sudden they are ready for higher education and the careers that follow? When you have a learning disability, you find work arounds to learn. Organization is a learnable skill and it is the executive function work around for things like ADHD that Lynette was diagnosed with in her adulthood. We know a lot of families are dealing with these obstacles but no one is talking about it. Lynette and I had a great conversation about what a “nutjob” I was back in the day causing commotion over vaccines and red dye. But funny now, studies are coming out and proving legitimacy over the concerns I had way back when. Lynette experienced some similar situations as myself. As the household managers we know our families the best and are best equipped to advocate for our families. We know what is going on better than the doctors offices, schools, and the government. This is not isolated to just the two of us, it's happening in 1,000's of homes. Lynette has used the binders to teach her kids about finances, to have awkward conversations about she and her husband's modest estate, and about assigning power of health care now that they are older than 18. In an “instant world” it was helpful to have conversations about not getting paid out daily from work and when to actually take advantage of Door Dash. The binders offer a way to teach without insulting their knowledge. It has also been a way to share differing viewpoints in a respectful way. Lynette runs three businesses and could not do so without Planning day and the Sunday Baskets®, let's not worry about how many she has. She stated if she's not intentionally planning, she's the one that gets ran over. She's still learning and trying to perfect her Sunday Basket® routine as she helps others learn how to live healthy, to play piano, and organize their paper as the Clutter Coach. And preemptive planning that she does gives her the decision bandwidth that in a crisis she would lack. Lynette shared recently hearing “Everyday you are preparing or repairing.” And amidst it all, in her menopausal journey, it's the organizing that has helped her to get the angst out of her body! Lynette's Advise: “Don't wait till it's perfect to start your business.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution® Home 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!
Guess What? You can now get the Sunday Basket® through Amazon for only $179! Ditch your DIY Sunday Basket® and get the correct school supplies for your job as the household manager. This deal won't last forever so don't put it in “save for later” in your amazon account! You will get the Sunday Basket®, there are 8 awesome colors to choose from, along with the rainbow slash pockets, project slash pockets, tear pads for weekly and monthly planning, Organize 365® tabs, and the Sunday Basket® bookmark to remind you of all the tasks you should have completed each Sunday. Once you have your supplies in hand, you will get a QR code in the box to access the community and the Sunday Basket® course. Intrigued but not ready to hit “go to checkout”? Join me on Friday Sept. 26th at 11AM EST where I'll be explaining how the routine of the Sunday Basket® will take you from piles of paper and overwhelm to a well oiled productivity machine. The Sunday Basket® will help you to establish a Sunday routine. Routines turn a task into something you do on autopilot like fill up your car with gas for the week, respond to any outstanding text messages, or plan when you will run errands, pay bills, or make appointments. I hope you'll join me and then make this investment in yourself as the household manager. EPISODE RESOURCES: Sunday Basket® Sunday Basket® on Amazon Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
In this episode, I introduce you to Ambreen B. who lives in Jerusalem with her husband and 2 daughters, and her cat. Ambreen loves productivity and finds it interesting when people are more organized than her. She heard an interview on another podcast and loved hearing how kids get organized and the structure. As her life became more complex by getting a home to manage, getting married, and having children, she knew “Ok, I don't have to reinvent the wheel.” The boxes acted as a landing place for all of the things she was trying to remember. Then she decided to get her PhD. Our Sunday Baskets® is where we can cognitively offload to afford the capacity to deal with the unexpectedness of life. They take the worry piece and put an intervention in place therefore reducing worry from the event. That's what the Sunday Basket® does, it reduces stress in the form of a system. As an organizational sociologist and institutional complexity analyst, Ambreen understands that concept more than most. And she appreciates that it's a tried and true system, not just one she pieced together. Ambreen was great to share how her Sunday Baskets® have helped her through the PhD process. Some people have a team to delegate to, Ambreen had her Sunday Baskets® to delegate to. She shared how she used the colored slash pockets and kept her focused. It allowed for a deeper level of focus. She knew that after planning day and she had a plan in place all she had to do was run that plan. She had peace of mind that she could focus on that day's plan and completely ignore all other responsibilities. I added the importance of being able to have focused work time and mind wandering time. She tried to DIY at first but in the end it was way more economical to go all in and buy the actual Sunday Basket® and all. Three days after getting the Sunday Basket® in hand, her mother in law passed away. It was time to put into action what she'd seen in The Productive Home Solution™ videos. Ambreen's husband has 4 brothers but you know who combed through that home and settled the estate? The two daughter-in-laws. It was a crash course in grief and organization. While everyone else was in shock and overwhelmed, the system gave her tasks to be productive. But having a system gave her some sense of control in a situation she had very little control over. We talked about the 7 days of mourning and people wanting to drop off food. This was during “covid times” so she explained how she safely divided up the food for later consumption. We talked about the decluttering process. Ambreen loves the decluttering questions. And she really leaned into Do, Defer, Delegate, and Delete. That experience made her think about her parents and all of their stuff. She called her mom to talk about all their stuff and planning for the future. She feels like the title Household Manager elevates the role and gives it the perceived importance it actually holds. She values this system so much. Ambreen has more mental peace. And she just wishes she'd known about Organize 365® earlier. Ambreen's advice is, “Buy the Sunday Basket®, don't DIY- it's not worth it.” She appreciates all the advice, grace that is provided, and no pressure to buy anything. She encourages people to just buy when they are ready. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 Lea N. who is married and has her mother living with them. Lea is a lifelong learner and had been watching some organization shows. Lea came across a few guest spots of mine on those shows. Lea really resonated with what I said and got the Sunday Basket® right away. When she had been listening to those interviews, she found herself thinking “Oh I get it and I get Lisa!” She was always organized but this gave Lea a system. Lea's parents are divorced. Her mom moved in and soon after got really sick with Endocarditis, which ended up being a four and a half month stay at the hospital. Lea has a successful restaurant in the L.A. area. As an entrepreneur, you wear a lot of hats. Lea would work and then head to the hospital. She runs her business off the Friday Workbox®, the two and half year planner, and rainbow tear pad. She just makes her “lesson plan” for the week and runs it without really referencing it again. Right after her mom returned home to finish her recovery, her dad's girlfriend passed away from the same thing her mom was recovering from. But now, she was helping her dad to sell his girlfriend's house and get settled into a long term care facility where they could care for him and his dementia. Unfortunately he fell about a year later, broke his hip, and ultimately passed away. That is a lot for one person to manage. That is a lot of emotion for one person to process. She's thankful she had the podcast in her ear to receive permission to feel how she felt. She was thankful for Michelle, from the Sunday Basket® club, (her other Organize 365® bestie ) for the continued guidance on the systems to maintain her organization. The color coding was a game changer for Lea. She was proud of herself when she brought one of the binders to a Lawyer and he complimented how helpful and thorough it was. Lea credits getting those binders done to the professional paper organizers from Organize 365® because she's an “obliger” and doesn't want to let others down. She sees the “trickle down,” that this will happen to her boys as well and she wants to be organized for them, when the time comes. We talk about child care. We talk about self care. But we don't talk about menopause or the period of life when you get the responsibility of your parents - eldercare. It takes a lot of time, money, and responsibility. She states it's not easy to get organized but once you do at least you aren't looking for “that paper.” She feels great about all of the organizing she has done and with all of the unexpected life events that have come her way, she doesn't know how she could have made it through without them. She's anticipating a time when she can focus on their home with The Productive Home Solution™ program. Lea was in the middle of a home renovation and opening a second restaurant when her husband lost his job. And speaking of more unexpected life events she joked about the toll of menopause. We talked about her desires to be even more profitable and productive with the coming of her second restaurant. And we discussed that for “busy bees”, we don't want a vacation on the beach, we wanna be producing! I explained Dan Sullivan's idea of “free days” where you are still productive. She's empowered to do more because she knows she'll never be “done”. She has peace of mind that all responsibilities are taken care of. And she's constantly evolving. Lea's advice is, “Just get the Sunday Basket®. It just gets you on the right path.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution™ Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 Mercedes who is married with two young children and a one eyed siamese cat. When she was expecting her first baby, she knew she needed to get some systems in place to get organized and stay organized once she had the baby. Her husband listened to a lot of podcasts at the time so she decided to find one about organizing. Two popped up but she ultimately chose Organize 365® because Abby had just found out she was pregnant with Grayson so she related the episodes. Mercedes started with the overflow boxes for the clothes for the baby. Then she did her personal spaces, because that's what was taught to do first. Mercedes saw that it worked so she fully trusted the systems and implemented as instructed. Full trust. But it was great that she did her personal spaces because then we talked about how moms don't get on the to do list. We do the children's clothes and personal spaces but when does mom's get done. Do your personal spaces first women! Then all you have to do is maintain like Mercedes explained. In 2023, Mercedes got one of the Teacher workboxes to teach home school. She has two neurodivergent children and wants to support them the best she can. Throughout the interview we discussed the life of being a stay at home mom. And what it is like to have children with disabilities. It's very isolating because social media has a narrative of what it should be like to be a stay at home mom but they leave out the part about if have disabled children. Mercedes wishes she'd realized earlier that her life didn't have to meet the social media narrative. Mercedes had tried tips and tricks from books and social media but they were one off suggestions. They were like a one time task. What we identified about what makes Organize 365® so much more beneficial is that it's a whole system. Mercedes loves the way the podcast and system makes her think about the functionality of the organizing she's doing. It's about applying the learned information from the programs. She first realized she was an organized person when her friends hadn't planned anything for summer coming up and she already had the water table and sand box at her house ready to put together when it got warm enough. She attributes Organize 365® to her parenting journey being “easy.” Mercedes was always a somewhat organized person. But what Organize 365® did for her was to organize her mindset to match her actions. She got the Sunday Basket® in December of 2024 and the Friday Workbox® in February of 2025. She uses them in combination with an app Finch for self care. It reminds her of her cleaning tasks so she can focus on all the crafts. Mercedes has her days planned out so she can get 2 creativity hours in. Mercedes values her new found clarity of what is going on in her life, the capacity she's gained to do more, and time for creativity. She wrote a novel and that's what spurred on the Friday Workbox® purchase so she could organize self publishing. She's started novel number two…watch out world this organized mama is on a roll. Mercedes's advice is, “Do things as you need to. It's your journey. You're the one in charge of it. Don't listen to social media. Listen to Lisa, she knows what she is talking about.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Teacher Friday Workbox® 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!
It's another Q&A episode and we're diving into Sunday Baskets® and Friday Workboxes® and how to make it all flow together because it was asked in many different ways. The Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox® can support a lot of operations, this episode was so great for exploring multiple ways to run your home or business. As a Household Manager As a household manager it is easy to get multiple Sunday Baskets® going. Multiple people asked how to manage them all and make them work together. Honestly once Planning Day focuses on both home and work at the same time this will be more seamless. You need to take roughly 90 min to three hours to fully process your Sunday Basket®, ideally on Sunday afternoon. This opens the opportunity to go through other Sunday Baskets®. I have some that I process monthly and there maybe some actionable papers that move to my weekly Sunday Basket®. I have active papers in Sunday Baskets® for trips I'm planning, Abby's wedding, and whatever else. The final thing that pulls all the Sunday Baskets® and Friday Workboxes® is the weekly tear sheet where it all comes together, it's one plan for the week, including home, work, and sometimes homeschooling priorities. There was also a nurse who wrote in about how to best utilize the Friday Workbox for a service line she's in charge of. She's a blue slashpocket person; a worker. She doesn't own the business but there's still a lot of responsibility. I offered ideas on how to involve the rest of her team, establish checklists to keep them on track and understand the time it takes for that checklist. I offered color coding ideas to best communicate with her team and have information at her team's fingertips. I offered similar ideas to a mama who homeschools. As a “CEO” role There was a minister and a direct sales audience member that asked about how to best use the Friday Workboxes® because they don't see themselves as running a business or a CEO. If you are in direct sales or in charge of an organization, it's like you are the CEO. As a CEO you need lead generation that produces purple work with deadlines and such. Once you complete those deadlines, you get paid which is your admin/green work. And in that mix is the people who make it happen wish is your blue slash pocket work. There are all kinds of practical applications for whatever line of work you do! This episode was chalked full!! For the minister we talked about two Friday Workboxes®. Once for her and one for the church. For the church workbox, pink can be upcoming projects in the works like a new addition to the building that hasn't been finalized or ideas for outreach during Christmas or Easter. The purple work is the projects that are set in motion and repeat events like how Organize 365® does the planning days routinely. And then of course staff is blue and a church is a business so green is admin, payroll, and any other financial responsibilities. Her personal workbox could have pink work that is all about her sermons or pink work could be future plans she's exploring, and purple work can be things she's personally responsible for, blue the people or organizations she'll need to accomplish the project or idea, and of course green for money. You get the idea. The Entrepreneurship Journey Got junk? We had a great conversation about the mindset of the guys who opened 1-800-GOT-JUNK. And I was able to offer some advice to someone looking to open a special needs daycare. We talked about a few books and what I learned from them as far as my skill sets, who I should hire, and how a visionary and implementor work together to run a company. Organize 365® is what it is today because of what I've learned along the way…I want to always be learning. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Verna R. and her husband are empty nesters. You may remember Verna and her daughters coming on the podcast in 2020. It was the first timeI got to talk to a whole family who was using the Organize 36® systems. And the second time just Verna and I talked about her organization journey. Verna was referred to Organize 365® by her daughters to get organized since it didn't come naturally to her. Her mother and mother in law were natural organizers so Verna appreciated systems and organization but none of the systems she tried stuck until she tried Organize 365®. In 2002-2004, Verna had cancer. Once she finished treatment she decided it was time to hire an organizer because she needed help due to low energy from recovery. Yes, I pointed out that the organizer can help with all the visible work. And the second thing I pointed out was that over the span of you get a home, then probably add a spouse, maybe some kids. As we get older, the complexities of daily life build on each other and there is no break time to reset for middle school years, Sports years, or heaven forbid a time with an illness. Everything still had to get done. But Verna had been sick. A professional organizer help in the short term but Verna desired a system for a lifetime. The last point I made was that the organizer cannot deal with the invisible work. Verna agreed with me and we talked about offloading to the external brain, the Sunday Basket®. I added that as our executive functions decline, starting as early as your 30's or 40's, the calendar with the external brain and planning helped to prolong the speed of decline. How can we do that? Have a system like the Productive Home Solution™ that provides training!! And we all want to be independent as long as we can! Verna shared her three purple slash pockets are for making gifts, her house, and volunteer work. She uses planning day to process those activities. She also credited her husband, Bruce, to being a good partner and sharing the daily tasks. We had a little side discussion about retirement and how much work the wife gains once her husband retires. I'm making Greg think about what he's gonna do with all his time once he retires. Bruce kept himself busy for a couple more years after he retired. Now they are teaching together in Nepal from time to time and even have started to bring their grandchildren. Verna has more calmness and purpose. She took the time to really observe herself. She paid attention to what she was saying yes to and directly then what that meant she was saying no to. She extends herself a lof grace knowing she can't change the past and really loves who she is today. She's looking forward to setting a S.M.A.R.T.I.E. goal for her storage and getting her grown kids stuff out of her storage. That will free up some of her cognitive load to think about what their future living situation may look like. Verna's advice is, “Notice what you do. Pay attention. It will show you what you value and what you prioritize.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Home 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!
“I am more interested, as a fellow sister and teacher, in the student learning the skill, more than I am in having a recurring membership program.” I knew 10 years ago that I wanted to offer lifetime access to this system so women everywhere could get bored, bored enough that she has to wrestle with what she is uniquely created to do. This was a webinar we did as a one off to talk about the Completed Home Organization Bundle. The feedback from viewers was that this webinar, with myself, Virginia, and Tanya, helped them the most to understand what is in the bundles, how much time it will take, and the results to expect during the process. Big News Well we kicked off the webinar letting our international followers know that they can now purchase the Productive Home Solution because the workbook is going digital! The Productive Home Solution™ is your 52 week road map on how to get organized. The introductory pricing for lifetime access to The Complete Home Organization Bundle will not last forever so take advantage of the deal we are offering. As one person commented it was a little out of her price range but it was worth it for her sanity! And thanks to PayPal, when you check out there is a way to break it down into a payment plan. How is this different from all the other organizational offerings? The biggest difference most people notice is that this is an all encompassing system from organizing to planning to the invisible work we are all doing. It's a plan. You can have a gym membership but if no one shows you how to use the equipment than what good is the access to the gym? A couple things that I am really proud of is that I teach these systems from a woman's point of view. I have been there. Done that. And I have been in a plethora of homes to see all different family dynamics. And of course there's the fact that I was a teacher. I understand that everyone learns differently and I try to cater to all learning styles in each system. And the best part of the system? It follows the energies of the year. And we reset every 120 days with Planning Day. This is a system that will teach you how to organize your space your way! What is the worst that could happen? You could get stuck. You likely will but Tanya runs a live club every Thursday that you can always attend. It's a welcoming space to ask questions or share where you are getting stuck. And each system comes with community access through the app. It's great to connect with other people in the same phase as you. People share tips all the time and talk about how they solved an issue they were having. And if you do get stuck, we encourage everyone to push through. When you make this kind of investment, you will get the work done because you have really thought about this purchase! I paid for a spendy weight loss program and you better believe I started making better food choices. And even though my family may not be on board with trying to get healthier, they are watching. And the woman usually sets the tone for the house. So like me with better food choices (which then my family is also benefitting) you too with getting your home organized. And at the end of the day it's for you! As women, our houses are holding us back. The clutter gives us anxiety. I truly believe the Sunday Basket® is the solution to women's mental health to lighten the cognitive load of all of our invisible work. Organization solves the root problem for women's mental health, their homes. Virginia shared she now has to hide how productive she really is from her friends and Tanya shared that she no longer feels behind on everything. Organization has always been a part of my life and it has opened doors for me and my family from consistent babysitting gigs, to making friends, to growing Organize 365®. Each time I have gained time and capacity, I have leveled up and I want the same for you. I want you to get more time back so you can wrestle with what you are uniquely created to do. This is the time to figure out who you are and who you are becoming! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution The Complete Home Organization Bundle Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Devin R. who is married with three children; two are bonus kids that came with marrying her husband. They have 2 dogs and two cats. In 2018, Devin was looking for help to get organized. She was mowing her lawn when I caught her ear mentioning that I lived in the Cincinnati area. Then Devin's life hit rock bottom with her work insinuating that she was not a good teacher and then she and her husband decided to separate. She could resonate with my story from 2012. Devin looked at her life and decided she needed to get control of her life. Once she grabbed a bag and gathered all the papers she felt better. It was like since her physical chaos was getting under control her mental chaos could be addressed. We had a great discussion that all marriages go through rough patches and Devin was vulnerable to share a little bit about her marriage and how they are reconciling after about three years of separation. She shared how her mindset has shifted about organization. She looks around and asks what do I have? Why is it here? And do we even need it? She remembers making her daughter's lunch recently and didn't have to trip over the cat to get the things for the lunch. It was all in the lunch making station. Devin had tried other systems but they never felt like life long solutions to her. The podcast and videos work as reminders to keep up with the systems. They are like a life partner to the systems. And they help with the cognitive load. We talked about the Sunday Basket® and how when you have Prospective Memory and you write something down it's cognitive off loading to free up your working memory. This is something Devins struggles with because of MS but lets her neurologist know at each visit how much the Sunday Basket® helps and how it could help others with her diagnosis. And then we got into the weeds a little bit about qualitative studies that I want to do based off the information from my (unbeknownst to myself when I started) unofficial quantitative or phenomenological study AKA the Wednesday Transformation episodes. Devin has been on her organizational journey for about three years now. She's coped with her MS diagnosis, separated from her husband, and is entering the coaching years of parenting. Because of all her systems, she has more time to really invest in her daughter and being present. She really wishes she knew someone taught organization sooner and found Organize 365® sooner. It takes time to get organized. Devin pointed out that she values the Power of Positivity episode. “Life is not happening to you, it's happening for you.” With the right attitude you can apply positivity to all journeys, not just organization journeys, no matter how insurmountable they seem. Devin started working upholstering for her sister after she left teaching. She shared how she got the Friday Workbox®, worked on it with Monique at a paper retreat and how it helps her to stay organized on customers' jobs. I got to offer a little advice on how she could slowly incorporate a part time worker for her to get back some CEO time. A good balance of responsibilities is to spend 80% on production and 20% on admin and lead generation. With the addition of a part time worker, she could add another client and make money to cover the hours of that part time worker. Devin's advice is, “Jump in one step at a time. Listen to all the podcast episodes and then the videos from The Productive Home Solution™” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ Home Planning Day The 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!
The world is getting ready for back to school and then we find ourselves in the 10 most productive weeks of the year. Since you will naturally be in high productivity energy, it makes sense to walk you through what to expect in The Productive Home Solution™. Are you ready to have your home organized in 52 weeks? Most people believe organization is a learnable skill and yet aren't organized. Why? They need a plan and here it is from my last webinar. Fall We kick off fall with Planning Day at the end of August. That sets us up for tackling your personal spaces for 5 weeks. Once you get your closet, bathroom, and bedroom organized you will feel the decision fatigue lessen and that will be by the beginning of Oct. Then you'll move onto your spaces you use for your household administration. And you'll tackle some of the more invisible spaces like your phone, email, computer, passwords, and etc. I'll invite you to do the Holiday Blitz and new to The Productive Home Solution™ is a couple weeks devoted to all things holiday like wrapping paper, gifts, and cards. You'll end the year in your storage areas. Winter Now that almost 120 days have passed, it's time to have Planning Day again at the end of December. This 120 days focus around communal spaces because you will have the highest amount of organization energy during this time of the year. You roll into the kitchen for three weeks. Now each section has a way to fast track. If you find it's a section you don't want to do or don't need as much time allotted, there are fast track tasks so you can possibly get organized in 9 months instead of a year. I've added a week to do family memories. And you all get to do taxes with me in February during the Superbowl. Come on, just try it with me!! Next you'll think about and organize your spaces that guests would be, like, your spare bedroom or bathroom or your family/living room. We finish this section with information about having a garage sale, spring break (breaking down a meaty project) and your on the go spaces like your car or travel strategies. Summer It starts with another Planning Day on Mother's Day weekend. Then we focus on outside spaces. There's a Memorial Day Blitz and then we spend 2 weeks on each of the areas of the four binders from The Paper Solution®. Now even if you don't have the resource binders, there are still activities to complete. You can expect the Back to School Blitz and that is not just for school aged children. Then there's a deep dive into the Sunday Basket®-the foundation for you as the household manager. You end it all with Embrace On Demand. I recently heard in two podcasts that these women had “free time” and you know what they did? They took care of their homes, they nested. In the 50's the marketing firms started to put these lies in our heads of what our homes should look like. And if they looked like that, it meant that the homemaker was organized. LIES! Like I have said for years, our homes are holding us back. The two women in the podcasts one got their homes organized and then decided what to do next in life and the other lady did it so she could get focused on being productive. This is your time to get your home in order so you can focus on what you are uniquely created to do. Don't know what that is? With all your extra time you can take yourself through Embrace and figure that out! It's time for self care, caring for yourself. “First things first, I'm first.” You must align your home environment for the phase of life you are in for the goals you have for yourself and family. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution The Complete Home Organization Bundle Rewatch Webinar Webinar Worksheet Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Janet B. She's married with one son, a rescue dog, and 5 chickens. Janet found Organize 365® when she was looking for podcasts about organization. Janet has always been fairly organized but is always looking to learn any new nugget about organization and had her sights set on productivity now! Janet listened to the podcast for five years before she made her first purchase. Janet tried to DIY a few products like other listeners have shared. And that's ok. It's like you are almost trying before making the investment and I totally understand that. She finally made the purchase and then really understood how to better utilize her Sunday Basket®. The purchase wasn't just the Sunday Basket®. She dove into The Complete Home Organization Bundle!! She just loves that everything has a place now! There have been a few moments when Janet realized the impact of The Complete Home Organizing Bundle. Her husband was looking for a title and needed it quickly! Easy! Janet decided to figure out how to use her self-cleaning oven feature. Easy! And when her clothes washer had an issue she got out the manual and discovered there was an app that could diagnose what was wrong with it, and she got it working! Easy! All the information was at her fingertips because she took the time to fill out the binders from The Paper Solution. Janet is a CPA and loves numbers!! Janet is currently a full time blogger explaining taxes in a way everyday people can understand. I love this because we start doing something we like, we get good at it, and then the complexities of business taxes enter and that is just not easily understood! We had a good conversation about AI and what is it's place in the world. AI may be able to suggest a system but there is no person involved to support you on your journey or be able to suggest tweaks for your individual situation. Janet started another business where she is acting as a Daily Money Manager. And that led to her becoming a certified organizer to help her clients even more with superior products at their fingertips and organization of all their important paperwork by her! And then we had a really great discussion about natural disasters and being ready. Janet admitted she used to have filing cabinets and paper was her weak area. Now her paper is organized and she loves getting people prepared within their binders to be able to grab them quickly when needed. When natural disasters happen, and you are not a part of them, that should be your heads up to check your information organization. I want you to ask yourself “If that was me, am I ready?” At Organize 365®, when a natural disaster happens, and a person purchases The Paper Solution®, we will be making a donation to the Red Cross. Because we want people to be prepared or use that event as a reminder to keep working towards completing your binders. Janet now has the Friday Workbox® too and said she is more productive because she's learned how to manage her mail and email better so she's not constantly breaking her focus. We had a great email/productivity chat. And now she has more time and space to grow her Daily Money Manager business and network. Productivity doesn't mean everything is done 100% at all times. Janet's advice is, “Go all in because if you start thinking you just want a little piece here and there, you're gonna want it all! You will realize all of the pieces work together.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Complete Home Organization Bundle Home 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!
Is there anything I love more than planning? No! This was a fun set of questions to ask about planning, breaking down and attacking goals, and how to practice discipline that leads to organization getting completed so you can move on to productivity! Integrating Home and Work Planning When I started Organize 365® I was focused on the energy of the home and trimesters made the most sense. When I started organization for work it made the most sense to plan quarterly since all businesses run quarterly to accommodate the tax schedule. But in true Lisa fashion, I have listened to the masses and I agree, let's do all the planning at once. In December, Home and Work Planning Days will occur at the same time over a three day span. I suggested that you consider populating your slash pockets of focus, from both categories and include a few from home school if it applies. What do I mean? It will make more sense if you listen to the full episode. We are all trying to get #allthethings done and feeling like we are failing. I walked through a couple of solutions that could alleviate that feeling. At the end of the day make sure you are only focusing on those things that need to get done this week. Be Portable As we are all trying to get it all done, consider these few things. What is the task and can it be portable? Is it in a bin? Throw it in the car. When you have idol time in your car, you can be productive. One favorite hack I shared was the Chromebook. There is a keyboard which I love and no need for wifi. It's always ready for you to check numbers, work on your side hustle, make updates on accounts, or pay some bills. One person who wrote in is just in a “weird phase” as she put it and I reminded her of the go bag. Make sure you are ready to be caught off guard. And in that bag you could have snacks and water for the unexpected event or the hunger you work up from working out of your car. Good news, you can learn discipline too? It's time for me to offer some tough love, “How bad do you want it?” Multiple people wrote in about “what if you aren't in the right energy”, “what if you plan but then you don't follow through”, and “unexpected events that throw you off.” Active parenting young kids is a whole other chapter to which I offered 6 valuable tips to you parents. You have to do the work to get the results. You can't lose weight if you don't change anything and so you too can't get organized if you don't make a plan and then run that plan. The Sunday Basket® will provide a plan for the week and Planning Day will provide a plan for the next 120 days. And The Productive Home Solution ™ makes your personal spaces work for you! Most of Planning Day is not about goal setting. Planning day is about looking at your time, how you are currently using it, and what do you want to accomplish? When you look at all aspects of your life you can see where you have time to get organized or complete a project. Remember to treat your spouse as a “nice to have.” I like being in charge and I like being “the flow.” I plan as though I have no one to help me. But when the opportunity presents itself for me to have help, I take it and delegate. I plan everything like it depends on me, but I pray like everything depends on God. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution (where you will find the Spring Break Blitz Week) Ep. 595 - Pick Your Meaty Summer Project (How to break down big projects) Home Planning Day Work Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Lisa P. who lives in Australia with one of her three daughters, her husband, 24 mini goats, 20 ducks, 20 chickens, 2 dogs, and 2 guinea fowl. Lisa P. lives on a farm (could you tell) and has a cottage that she rents out like an Air BNB. Lisa P. heard an interview with me and was attracted to my passion for systems and organization. When I started talking about jigsaw puzzles and then the Sunday Basket® Lisa P. thought, “You got me!” Lisa started binging the podcast last year like 2 hours a day! Lisa had always been an organized person and had systems in place but she felt like they weren't working with each other. As a trailblazer among her peers starting a family first, she felt like she was always advising them. Now for the first time Lisa P had someone to look up to that had been down the road ahead of her and she could learn from the podcast, systems, and products. We agreed that even though kids grow up and move out…the complexities of life don't go away. It's like there's this significance of our active parenting years. So when her first flew out of the nest and the next followed very soon, she didn't know how to feel. But then, she claimed this next phase of life for herself! She got excited about making the spare room for her and her hobbies, she accepted cleaning isn't the most important thing, and she set a regular guilt free tea time to relax before the evening routine begins. Lisa P. uses her daily routines like a flow chart. She has a list of priorities. When one gets by passed because maybe the cottage doesn't have guests checking in or it's a rainy day, she just continues down the list of daily responsibilities to be completed. She explained her life as romantically chasing the energy of her year, her almanac. Lisa P. has always had a passion for the seasons. After completing the Productive Home Solution™ she found the energies to match that of the Northern Hemisphere even though their seasons and school year is different. She loves how one energy pushes you into the next. It was so interesting to hear how the Australian year unfolds. Lisa P. loves the Sunday Basket® because all the actionable papers don't go away each week. Sometimes you need to hold on to actionable paper for a month or two while it goes through whatever process. But it's nice to have the paper piles gone and a safe place that she knows where the papers are now. She also loves home Planning Day to figure out what projects will be top priority for her house in her flow chart. She has a Sunday Basket® for her “All Seasons Project” and a Friday Workbox® for the farm. She's learned the difference between clearing and organizing and that has quieted the negative self talk about her home management skills. Lisa P.'s advice is, “The game changer is identifying what stage of life you are in, then start feeling ok about it.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution® Home 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!
In this episode, I introduce you to Lindsey G. who has a blended family with three children with her current husband and 5 cats. Lindsey found Organize 365® when she was searching for organizational podcasts. The Organize 365® message resonated with Lindsey so she started to binge the podcast. After being a single mom for over a decade, it was a lot to all of the sudden have extra people in the house as their families came together. In Dec. of ‘23 Lindsey had decided to leave her job as a band teacher at a charter school and open her own music school. She also thought to herself “I don't have to be this busy. I want a new normal.” And that's when she went searching for podcasts to support her getting organized. Lindsey shared how much empowerment she feels from doing the Sunday Basket®. I was curious how she thought single parent life would have been if she had known about the Sunday Basket® then. That led to a more in depth conversation about single women who are the parent, provider, and house manager. I let out a little secret about a project we are working on in this vein, gotta listen to get the scoop! She wishes she'd learned then that she was worth the money and time investment. She also initially squirmed at the idea of routine structure. Now that she's made the investment, she has since realized routinely doing her Sunday Basket® frees up time and helps her to plan for creative time. She wishes she'd found the Sunday Basket® because as a single mom so she could have been much more efficient with her time. Lindsey was vulnerable enough to share that she has bipolar. It is managed but she still has the high and low energy swings. The Sunday Basket® helps her to take care of necessary tasks during low energy and do extra tasks when she has extra energy. Lindsey got the Launch Program to send her son off to college, and the Holiday Blitz to better plan November and December which she now sees as “one month.” She plans for the things that happen each season, they aren't new things and they aren't surprising Lindsey anymore. It wasn't so much that she had an ah hah moment that something was organized as much as she notices her ability to maximize time. She has maxed out efficiency when running errands, planning her week, and even looking at her time in the pie wheels during Planning Day. Now instead of thinking “maybe I can make it all work” on a weekly basis, she plans her time, Mon- Fri and then Sat separately from Sunday, in Planning Day. With her understanding of the invisible load she can be much more intentional. She's thankful that she has ditched the “you gotta be busy to be important” belief. Lindsey has more peace, confidence, and surety that tasks will get done. Lindsey's advice is, “Binge the podcast. Find the ones that resonate with you. Then get the Sunday Basket® and when you feel ready add on other products and systems.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Launch Program Home 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!
Happy Monday! I am constantly asking myself “Knowing what I know now, if I had to start all over again from scratch, would I still design these programs, products, and services the same way? Or would I do them differently? This summer I answered this question by saying yes I would do something different and the Organize 365® team confirmed my ideas. Changes with the Sunday Basket® The Sunday Basket® is a combination of your gifts, strengths, and orientation coupled with your life experiences and the people with which you do that. I have decided to add the weekly tear pad that you see me use to organize my week in the videos. The monthly tear pad will also be included. How inconvenient it is to get the Sunday Basket® but realize you need to go back into the shop to grab a few add on items. Now you don't. You will also get the pink, purple, green, blue tabs and the Sunday Basket® Bookmark. Those are the product changes but I also decided to shift your mindset on the amount of time you will need to set aside each week for the Sunday Basket® which is 3 hours each week for roughly the first six weeks. You are learning a new skill set and watching the videos. You are no longer alone in this organizational fight and you have the Organize 365® community to help you iterate and improve the systems you are establishing. Changes with the Complete Home Organization Bundle This 52 week course now includes The Productive Home Solution™, The Paper Solution, 4 Binders, 3 Planning Days, 2 year planner, Holiday Blitz Bundle, Embrace, Paper Solution Book, and Organization is a Learnable Skill book. It is a complete turbo charged bundle to again include everything you need to get your home 80% organized in a year without having to revisit the shop. (I explained why only 80% in this episode.) It is designed to help you eliminate the mental and physical clutter and get systems in place. And again I decided to shift the mindset about how much time this is actually going to take you. I have been on a health journey and shared about how I have added practices into my week, devoting more time, but now getting the results I desire. And it's the same with this system. Ask yourself, “Are you willing to put the time in now, to live a completely different life a year from now? And for one year, you will now look at sections of your home and watch the videos that apply to your and your current phase of life. Might be the same house but you may need to start using it differently. Week one starts after Planning Day in August. The holidays are a big deal that require a lot of time and planning. For two months, I want you to utilize the Sunday Baskets® from the Holiday Blitz Bundle. One is for the holidays and one is for taxes. You will delay everything else in your regular Sunday Basket® till January. These additional baskets will give you a place to cognitively offload so you can be present in and enjoy the holidays. And I felt it necessary to include Embrace. Embrace is designed to help you reflect on how you formed the idea of what a household manager came to be, decide what you want to keep of that description, and then uncover what are you uniquely created to do with all of the extra time now that your life is organized. EPISODE RESOURCES: Sunday Basket® The Complete Home Organization Bundle Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.
I've answered questions about the invisible work we are all doing and today I am answering questions about the visible work we do. A good example of visible work is everything you would do inside of The Productive Home Solution™. I explained the evolution of the program from it's inception as 40 weeks One Home to the “exhausting” 100 day program where I realized not everyone has kids, to today The Productive Home Solution™. I have been refining this program for 10 years to help anyone be able to organize any home. It's a 52 week cycle of organizing spaces that matches the energy of the year. Yes, the energy changes throughout the year. Remodeling Elizabeth is getting ready to remodel her kitchen and wanted to know the best way to leverage The Productive Home Solution™. I answered saying as items are boxed up, label where those items will go once the remodel is done. One box per cabinet. I also found it useful to set up card tables with laundry baskets as cabinets during the remodel. Pro tip: ask for extra shelves for your cabinets! Another person asked for an alternative to the shoe organizers during the remodeling because her husband doesn't like the look. “The organizers stay!” The alternative is more expensive and cumbersome. Plus, if it was all tucked away her family would constantly be asking where things were because it's all out of place to begin with. You can see through the organizers and it's for a short amount of time. “The organizers stay!” Email! You guys, we are all in trouble with AI. It is making email more and more difficult to maintain. In The Productive Home Solution™ there are TEN lessons on email alone! If you are “email upside down”, archive all you have now and slowly go through them. It once took me 8 weeks to go through a client's email inbox! A few additional quick tips that I was able to offer was use your email like a Sunday Basket®, delay replying, delete spam, print actionable emails or emails you have replied to, and hire an executive assistant if you can. At some point, you may even think about a Chief of Staff to help. We are doing all of this invisible/ visible work for our families on top of our paid work. Email is the easiest to step out of. But only you can comfort your child in the middle of the night. What can you outsource? What Can You Outsource As women we are wearing the hats of wife, mom, home school teacher (in this case from the question), and household manager. She wanted to know if she should focus on The Productive Home Solution™ or the Teacher Friday Workbox™ because she homeschools. There is a great compromise to be made here. Do both. Do the teacher planning and incorporate an hour of home school to The Productive Home Solution™ and while you are at that they could be working on some of the Kids Program. Also, to lighten the load get a housekeeper. Again, where are you needed and what can you outsource? A housekeeper was suggested for another person asking about how to best prepare for going back to school for her CPA exam. I replied to delegate and elevate your family members. She had a college aged child that could help with housekeeping or hire it out. Also stock up on everything you can before classes start. Take care of things like dr. appointments and upcoming maintenance on cars or anything else. Those are things you can do early because school has hard deadlines that aren't flexible! Lower your standards of clean and communicate with your family about what to expect and things you will need help with because you no longer will have the bandwidth to do them. You guys submitted such great questions. Catch the full episode to hear the more questions and solutions I provided. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!
In this episode, I introduce you to Lauren H. who is married and has a blended family with three kids and two dogs. Her mother actually lives on her property too in a separate dwelling. Lauren has been listening to the podcast for past 9 or 10 years. Only in the last 5 has she officially started her organization journey when she had her son, her mom came to live “with them”, remodeling their home, a booming business, her daughter starting Kindergarten, and oh yeah covid for the perfect storm to make someone need to get organized. Paper had always been a problem for her and the other systems didn't address paper. She was no longer in control of the paper and she needed a system to get things in order. We had a great conversation about multigenerational housing, which was one element adding paper to her life. Lauren's mom has lived on their property for awhile now. It's cheaper and she's very able to live in her own place with Lauren close by instead of an assisted living facility she doesn't want to be at anyway. That being said we talked about the peace of mind the medical binder provided for Lauren during Covid. No one could go to the doctor with their loved ones, this was a way to make sure the medical team knew about her severe corn allergy. Once Lauren got all of the medical binders filled out for her family, she moved on to the financial binder. Lauren and her husband run a modular home business. The financial binders help them to keep track of all the business accounts. It felt so great when her husband needed a title for a trailer he sold and he knew exactly where to look for it. Lauren is thankful for her helpful and supportive husband. She thanked me for the message that yes women are doing more because actually they want to be running the show! They want to do all the household things but also be supported. Even in business it's easier when there is one person in charge. And because lifestyles are so varied, at Organize 365® we try really hard to have the conversation be dynamic to support all the ways we are running our households. When life grows, so does your paper and that's why Lauren finally gave into putting systems in place because life kept growing and her paper was overwhelming. She loves that the Sunday Basket® is like her external brain. She has so much more space in her brain now. She had very nice things to say about me, her “Organizing Big Sister”, as far as my teaching style. And then she got very excited about planning. Planning provides her the opportunity to look at her life and her business. Lauren agrees that it's critical to take time to plan. Take yourself out of the daily activities of home and the tasks at work and plan. She feels like when she's planned out the next quarter, she can be more present during the days of that planned quarter. And she loves that with planning nothing sneaks up on her like November that is clustered with birthdays then followed by the gift purchasing holidays. She can plan for it. She can budget for it. She only wishes she knew how to be organized and plan sooner! Lauren's advice is, “Start with the Sunday Basket®. Get everything out of your brain. For 6-8 weeks get your mind and body in a rhythm of sitting down every Sunday and processing your Sunday Basket®. Then start one of the binders.” EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® 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!
We are moving on to the questions about paper management. You become responsible for more paper as you get older. It starts with car titles, insurance, and institution degrees. Then you graduate to information about your health, your home, and your growing family. Before you know it you may be caring for a parent or settling an estate. How do you control all the paper? Financial Binder The Paper Solution has two steps to it. There is the great sort. You may need Sunday Baskets® to initially sort paper into according to which binder you will be placing it in. You will feel more confident knowing what paperwork you have, even though it's not in binders yet. And then there's placing all those papers in the appropriate binder. The first question was a little bit of a heavy one asking about filing personal papers for the event of your passing. It was easy to answer though, make sure you have a financial binder filled out. I created the Financial Binder after settling my dad's estate. There were so many things I didn't know I needed and I wanted others to know when it is time for them to settle an estate. I was stumped when asked about a loved one's social media. Anna mentioned she discovered that you can designate someone as your custodian upon death. And she's seen accounts that indicate the person has passed. Check your social media settings. Completing the binders can be a huge gift to your future self but can feel overwhelming today. Just set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day or extend your Sunday Basket® processing time. You probably need roughly 120 hours to get through all of the paper and set up your binders. A good cheat is to attend a paper retreat here at Organize 365® or at any of our certified paper organizers retreats. You can get roughly 40 hours of work completed by attending. You may find your to-do list growing as you fill in the binders. So set yourself up to complete tasks from anywhere. That's why I set it up in a basket, so it was portable. Switch your mindset to think of what you can do in the places you go so you can be the most productive in completing this gift to your future self. This could be your plan B too for days you need to pivot. If you normally care for your child or parent and a doctor visit gets changed or your loved one is not feeling well, you could paper sort in place of those activities or at those activities. You never know how the day is going to go when caring for others. You could also be enjoying these summer days and paper sorting could be saved for rainy days. It's a small shift in mindset of when and how you can get this paper under control. Medical Binder “How much detail should go into the medical binder?” I have found it useful to have past blood work, tests, and any letter from a doctor regarding special permissions for a prescription or procedure. I gave three situations where without my medical binder, the course of treatment would have included medicine but due to paperwork I had, the course of treatment changed. The Value of a Checklist One person wrote in saying she spends a few weeks in Mexico every summer and how could she better plan for it. Good ole checklists. You create a checklist and each summer just update the list according to any changes in growth or what you need when away from home. You can store it in the Household Operations binder until you need it, update it, and place it back in the binder till next time. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!