Organize 365 Podcast

You are in stage one but you have decreased your expenses as much as possible and still there's too much month left at the end of the money. What do you do? Hello Stage2. You start to look for small pockets of time when you can make random amounts of money. You want to increase your income but you are not yet ready to commit to a part time job of sorts. Profit and Loss In business, you do a monthly check of profit and loss. How much did your business make, how much did your business spend, and are you in the green still? You do not have a budget because business fluctuates month to month. After you have been a business owner for some time you may see patterns when your business brings in more and when your business is not profitable. And we need to be doing this in our homes too. Remember the most powerful small business is our homes. If you are anything like our house, we have a lot of fun in November and December and then spend Q1 paying it all off. And you may just find you need to find extra sources of income to plug that hole of expense. You may have already had the experience but it's an expense because the money needs to get paid back. But you don't have enough. Random Amounts of Money I remember the first time I learned about random money that I could get, being a full time stay at home mom with no desire to have an official job, was when a friend recommended for me to take part in diaper studies. I don't think I ever paid for diapers. I didn't always make money but I also was not spending money on diapers. I also made random money doing surveys in persona and online. And retail arbitrage. I'd shop the garage sales and in a few months I'd resell the items I'd bought because my kids were ready for the next stage of toys. It was income neutral but again I wasn't spending money. I made money selling things on Ebay and Craigslist and eventually in direct sales. Stage 2 is all about finding little pockets of time to make random amounts of money. It's things that need to get done but also ok if they don't. These tasks are 100% flexible. How can you make a little extra income to get P&L neutral? It's a mindset shift on how to add income instead of reducing expenses. And for whatever reason stage 1 is no longer where you want to be. 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!

Is color coding just busy work? We were curious if there were any studies to back up our stance that color coding helps with learning. Anna found a few and she's here discussing them with me. Do you think in color? Anna and I do! We did a quick response activity where Anna said a color and I responded what I associate with that color. The Organize 365® products are colorful but not without intentionality. Color Coding Helps with Recall Teachers often color code subjects. When you are looking for supplies for their class you know to look for the designated color of items like a folder. When I was in school I used white index cards and then wrote in different colors to remember what I needed. I had to remember because this brain I have, it's dyslexic and doesn't understand phoenix. I had to remember for sake of the test! I had a student that was really struggling to pass his spelling tests. Once we color coded the syllables, he started to pass his spelling tests. Again, color coding helps a person to recall what they have learned. This is the example I really think of when I think of the significance of color coding. I was blown aware at the effectiveness of color coding for that student. And when adults are students, your work is self paced. Color coding your work can help you stay organized and retrieve what you have learned when you need to use that information. When Joey and Abby were little I would color code all their things. Having one boy and one girl made that pretty easy. If you had two boys one could be blue and the other boy could be orange. Reduce your cognitive load! When things are color coded it reduces the cognitive load. Imagine a bin dedicated to toy cars. When you go to the toy organizer you look for that bin and then look for the specific car you want. The same is true with the Sunday Basket®. You are going to retrieve something related to a person in your family so instantly you know to look at the blue slash pockets, thus reducing the cognitive load to find what you need. The Evolution of Color Within Organize 365® When I first started to ship out slash pockets I was getting them at Walmart, taking out the company's information and passing them off as my own.One day it dawned on me that Walmart could change what they sold and I'd be up a creek. So I got to work. I took a bet on myself and ordered a huge pallet of 1.0 slash pockets. Would you believe the day they arrived is the day Walmart changed what they were selling? This order was so large I couldn't fit it all in the garage with my car. So I got an office space. I had no idea what I was doing, I was learning. That's when the Sunday Baskets® arrived and we had to move to a warehouse. The last thing I ordered was the 2.0 Slash Pockets. Green for money and admin tasks that move the money. I have always thought blue was for people. And Pink was for me. Pink and blue make purple, right? Purple was for the home the people and I, my family, lived in and the projects I would need to do in and on that house. It was then that I understood the house to be a separate entity from my family. When you get a system from Organize 365®, you get the whole kit. You can mix and match the systems too because the colors translate across all the systems. All the Organize 365® colors have been intentionally selected. Color aids in organization being a learnable skill! EPISODE RESOURCES: APA citation: Lamberski, R. J. & Dwyer, F. M. (1983). The instructional effect of coding (color and black and white) on information acquisition and retrieval. ECTJ. 31(1): 9-21. 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 Tami T. who is married with two children at home. A few years before the pre-pandemic, Tami was doing a lot of driving for her work teaching private (band) lessons in schools. It took Tami about a year to listen to all of the Organize 365® episodes. Tami invested in the Whole Home program that we now know as The Productive Home Solution. Tami would watch the videos beforehand and listen to episodes, while driving, about the specific space that was next in the program. By the time she got home she knew exactly what she wanted to do in that space. It dawned on Tami that she kept doing the kitchen. By the third time she started the program, she focused on all the other spaces. She's tackled all of her spaces and even gotten rid of her filing cabinets. Tami attended a paper retreat and organized all her paper but one bin. She's since tackled that too with the help of a virtual organizer that she found in the Organize 365® directory. She found with getting organized it freed up capacity to be able to mentally process that one last bin. When the pandemic hit, her organization was really challenged. She had to teach her band classes AND she had two young children at home trying to attend school too. What did she do? She got a Sunday Basket® for each of them so Tami could keep everyone and all the assignments organized. Tami shared that now instead of just being a day or two ahead, she's now months ahead. Again with more capacity and being planned a few months out, it has given her the time and energy to do some small tasks she's always wanted to do. For example with all the planning completed she was able to make a program for the band concerts that she can repurpose in the future. And she could schedule refreshments and treats. She's been able to make a little flyer to promote the performance to faculty. She can make the event better and be more present. Tami did the kids program with her kids too. They have been able to learn the life skill of going through their closets and organization. The first attempt was a garage sale that didn't go so well. Now they donate. If they have an item(s) it gets donated on Tuesdays when Tami is driving by Goodwill. Tami, as most moms do, has always had so much on her plate. By the kids learning those skills it actually reduces tasks from her plate. And this she wished she'd known sooner. Put those kids to work learning skills they will need in the future. They took a family trip to Egypt and then Switzerland this past summer. Tami was able to pre plan all their summer activities. They took their trip and when they came home Tami had time to follow up on documentaries about Egypt because the summer was planned. She's even been able to complete two scrapbooks from their trip. She finds she has more capacity and down time due to her Sunday Basket® and Education Workbox®. Tami's advice is, "Do the Sunday Basket® first, then the binders and sheet protectors." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Teacher Friday Workbox® Kids Program The Paper Solution® 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!

Last year, two of our key leaders and I attended a Dave Ramsey Summit. This is how I have gotten some of my best CEO training. I really think about the topics the speaker is bringing up and think of Organize 365® and have I implemented something similar? Have I done that thing? Or maybe is that idea an improvement we should consider? It was great for us to be hearing the same information at the same time and be able to discuss. We even changed our Monday morning meeting a little to catch our staff at a better time of day. And then I thought "Is there anything I need to add to our values?" What is Busy Work? When I thought about staffing and when someone leaves Organize 354®, is there a way to eliminate busy work. Do their job tasks still need to be done or were they busy work? Is there someone else on the team that can do those tasks? It got me thinking of all the busy work teachers do. It's cute to put the little bubbles at the "end" of each stroke of the letters but is it necessary? I'd do it once, then copy the paper the rest of the year, otherwise it would become busy work. Revisiting a closet you've done recently thinking you'll get the same high will let you down because the transformation is not nearly as dramatic. Busy work is that unnecessary re-working of tasks. As long as your work is not done, even if it's busy work, you won't have the excess time, capacity, and boredom to seek out what you are uniquely gifted and created to do. Operationalizing The flip side of busy work that can appear as busy work is operationalizing your tasks. I started out organizing my sister and I's rooms. Then I graduated to organizing the homes I babysat in. I have always loved gifting an act of service. I organized the "craft area" by the fire place at my house and my mom loved it. So I did it annually around Christmas for her. But then my parents expanded the house and she got a larger space. My mom is an artists and that was definitely a challenge to understand what was valuable and not. I asked a lot of questions!! I would help other teachers to organize their classrooms. And eventually organized my clients. But in each of those instances I was growing my skill set. I was learning how the spaces were used and why the items were in there. I was operationalizing how I helped other get organized. You can do the same with repeated tasks. That's why on Planning Day I tell you to stock up your storage for the trimester. Don't order one of the same thing each month, operationalize it. The Sunday Basket Replaces Your Checklists First of all, there is a time and place for checklists. Checklists can be useful if you are trying to establish a new routine. Be careful not to let it become a crutch. Don't be so stuck on the list that it supersedes your role in the company. And not everything needs to go on the list, just big things you can't forget. And checklists are good for something you don't do often. My best example I shared was our packing list for Florida each year. As we grow and change the list does too. We edit when necessary so we don't forget for the next time we need to use the checklist. I can remember the last time I used a master to do list. In 2014, I wrote 10 legal pad pages of all my to do's. I organized them by family member or entity and then prioritized them. I transferred each item to an index card. And I filed them away to deal with on Sunday. It is nice to look at all tasks individually and decide on importance, my time, and my money. I may write down the same task multiple times and that's ok because I got it out of my head and who cares if I wrote it multiple times. I place them in the appropriate slash pock. I take action on the actionable items. Then once I complete the task I get to toss it in the recycling. Lists never go away, with index cards you can complete them and toss them. The Sunday Basket is safe keeping till you can take action. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® 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!

As many of you know, following one organizer will bring you to another. In fact, that's how some of you ended up in my community. So many of you reached out suggesting Kendra Adachi with The Lazy Genius podcast for an interview for the Monday Connections episodes. Thank you so much for the recommendation and we had an insightful conversation. Lazy Genius Kendra Adachi was a perfectionist to the extreme. She was teacher's pet, valedictorian, and voted most dependable by her peers. In 2015, she started a lifestyle blog. The podcast, The Lazy Genius, followed not even a full year later. She teaches women to "Be a genius about the things that matter, and and lazy about the things that don't." Once she became a parent she learned that rule. She was so used to doing everything perfectly but once her second child came along she realized you can't be perfect at everything. And that's how she got to pointing out to women how to find a happy medium between Boss Babe and Hot Mess. We agreed how nice it is to come on an episode with an idea and through the recording think out loud. Inevitably we end up with feedback from the community that results in solutions or next steps. When I asked her if she worries about running out of episode topics. She replied with the fact that the perspective on laundry changes with your lifestyle. For example, she may be talking about endless stained laundry from toddlers and grow to sharing about how she is teaching her teenagers how to do laundry. We commented on the value our listeners get from hearing how a female is doing things. Kendra shared that 93% of time management books are from male authors. It's time for women to learn from each other. And Kendra shared about "Big Black Trash Bag Energy". You know when you're just over it and so you get out the big trash bag with the internet to toss everything and just start over? No need. Just start small. Work on one thing. Women Have Always Ran the World Kendra shared the point of view that maybe there's a stigma to the importance of the female role and how much men value what women do. And I agreed through the lens that women have always ran the world but now that women are in the workforce, it's coming to light how much women are really doing. And sorry guys, it's more than you. Men get to watch a football game but women feel like they need to be productive making the meal plan or planning car pool while watching that same football game. We have been the CEO's of the households but now all that invisible work is being identified. We have these never ending tasks that replenish themselves and leads to weary spirits. Planning is essential for women to manage the household and take care of everyone. Kendra pointed out you are inherently a preparer, an adjuster, or a notice-er. And then we talked about the mindsets and lifestyles of being 30, 40, and in your 50's. And the two scenarios determine how you got about what you gotta get done. You Only Know What You Know I find it so difficult to find other women CEO's to learn from. We joked those women are too busy to sit down to write a book or record a podcast. My hope is for all women in the 20's and 30's to find a community to show them systems on how to be a household manager. You get a new job, you get training. You buy your first house and you're responsible for the payments but no guidelines on how to care for it. Up to you to hopefully stumble across the Household Operations Binder. Don't get intimidated by the CEO role. It's not meant to be this manly corporate role. You only know what you have been taught. Women need to be in community with each other, doing life together. We are the experts in this role! EPISODE RESOURCES: 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.

It's 2017, I'm on the plane home from California. I just attended a conference, a mastermind with a virtual friend of mine, Chris Ducker, and I'm writing down the 5th value that I want for Organize 365®. The Power of Community: In community, everyone can learn to be organized, action is easier, and happens exponentially. Organize 365® believes organization is a learnable skill. I'm a CEO After the investment I had made in that 6 days in California, it sunk in, I'm a real CEO. I was making money and needed to structure my company to be able to purchase inventory. After considering our current phase of life and how I envisioned Organize 365® would grow, I was advised to structure it as a C-Corp. All the details and thought process I shared in this episode. I also decided on the way home that I was going to need to hire 7 contractors for areas that were not my strength. In community with these contractors I grew Organize 365® Virtual Friends I had a really hard time in the friends category really my whole life. I shared a really vulnerable time in my life in Catholic school where the girls weren't so nice to me. Maybe it was me? I was used to talking to adults. The place in my family where I was born had me surrounded by adults all the time. I had my successful female lineage, my father who owned his own business, and then the smart men on my dad's side of the family. I was so mature in conversation but naive in interacting with kids my same age. I finally had a pretty solid friend once I was married. Around 2012, my pit of despair, I was back to no community. My parents divorced and it kind of blew up the whole family, I ditched my friends so I would not be around negativity, we were in a tough parenting season so church had become less, and I wasn't teaching anymore. I didn't even have my Creative Memory parties anymore, the women I had scrapbook with once a month for years. So I turned to authors. I listened to their audio books. I gleaned all they were talking about and trying to apply it to my business. And then I found podcasts. Like, what? It was an endless supply of basically audiobooks. They were my virtual friends, Pat Flynn with Smart Passive Income, John Lee Dumas with Entrepreneur on Fire, Chris Ducker with Youpreneur, to name a few. I would mull over the questions Chris Ducker would ask his guests and then I would practice answering them. But then I got to thinking how the female lived experience is so much different than a male's. So I searched out women to follow and listen to. Life is so flat when you don't have friends. I couldn't seem to make any friends so this was what I had. I was always talking with them, they just couldn't hear my side of the conversation. Organize 365® Community Being such a fan of community and understanding community helps others to learn, I knew it had to be a core value of my company. I also knew that the growth I was expecting and the experience I wanted for my customers, I would not be able to hold the community together alone. I'm still very much involved with the Planning Days, Embrace, and other webinars n such. But you see team members running some of the clubs and other things. Life is better in community, connecting with other humans. 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Sharon T. who is married and at the time of this interview was caring for her special needs sister, full time. Sharon has always been organized but was looking to "up her game." Fun fact; Sharon lives in Singapore, joined me at night for this episode, and there they spell organization with an "s." She was looking for help with both spellings. She found the Organize 365® podcast and felt like language was being given to what she was going through. She and I talked about how women in general try to straddle home and work life balance. But to what degree is it talked about? There are subcultures with in races, right? I talked about being White Irish, wonder where my sarcasm comes from, and White English, who tend to be more reserved. We felt it important not to generalize cultures. But it did bring up the fact that some cultures talk about the struggle of doing it all as a women and others "suffer in quiet." This is the language that was speaking to Sharon so much. Sharon watched her cousin take his last breath in 2019. The doctor said his diet was in part due to his passing. That really forced Sharon to take a look at her life and listen to what she felt she was being called to do and that was to help the special needs community. Diet can affect people positively that have special needs. And diet can support those care givers to take care of themselves. To combat the "Woe is me" mentality. Sharon thought about this as she considered her mom's caregiving life to her sister. She and her sister started their business, Possible Nutrition. In 2022, Sharon looked at the pile of papers and decided to finally systematize them with the Friday Workbox® she had treated herself to for her birthday the year before. Sharon loves to write things down and reflect on them. Is it possible? Is it needed? Does it make sense? Then she can share it with her sister or whoever. She finds it very cathartic to seasonally review the business and plan for what is coming up. And it's so important to document care. As we change so too will our care. If I was going to babysit, I'd have the parents fill out a little form such as nap time, foods, pacifier or not? If it had been 6 months or more, a lot could have changed! It was a dentist's findings that really got Sharon thinking about how our diet really affects our bodies. We need to eat for nutrition and in a manner that facilitates absorption. With the right diet she's seen symptoms subside quite easily. Well this opened a big can of worms and I started picking her brain about macros and what she considers a nutrient rich diet. Then I asked a burning question about protein. We talked about the order in which to consume your meal. And it's pretty cool how the order alone can affect your glucose, if it spikes or not and how quickly you resume your baseline glucose level. There is no universal diet or organizational system because we are not all the same. And life changes which means the way we eat and organize will too! We shouldn't view our health as our idol rather to be good stewards of our bodies so we can do what we were uniquely created to do. Sharon's advice is, " I think that if you're just starting out maybe say establishing a home or, just getting a first job, start with Sunday Basket®. We need to get our own personal lives in order before we can look at managing a home, before we can go out there and do anything else." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® 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!

There are two ways you can proactively anticipate. You can act like it's Y2K again. When the 1000's place in computers was switching to 2 at the end of 1999, Greg and I proactively anticipated from the stance of lack. We stocked up on water and toilet paper in the event the world ran out. OR you can proactively anticipate with a positive mindset and life in abundance. You know where you are going and what you want and plan how to get there. Get What You Want I love holding babies! So when I was younger I thought how can I get to be the one to hold the babies because others in my family too like to hold the babies. I anticipated no one wanted to change the stinky diaper, so I did. Then after I took them to the bedroom or somewhere away from everyone, I'd change the diaper and then steal my cuddles. "Lisa, are you bringing back the baby?" they'd ask. I also anticipated that people like to sleep. So when my aunts started having babies, I'd offer to stay over to take care of the baby during the night. I knew they baby would be up in the middle of the night and my aunts wanted to sleep. What do you want and how can you be helpful? Maybe by giving an act of service that fills your cup too. If you remember last week's episode, I did this with babysitting too. I wanted to be the babysitter of their choice each summer. I made sure I lined it up in plenty of time for the parents to be able to line up summer camps or whatever on the days I would be watching their children so they could rely on me for transportation and care of their children. What Can You Do In 20 Minutes? Thank God Abby was a sleeper but my lil Joey only took 20 minute naps. I had so many plates in the air and without a sufficient nap time to address anything, lots of things were falling through the cracks. I had, literally, a foot of paper piled at the end of my kitchen counter. One night I decided to tackle it by sorting it in to 40 categories. By the time I was done, it was late, I needed to pick up my mess but also have it accessible. I threw the sorted and paper clipped papers into a Lonaberger basket till the next day at nap time. I knew I was going to have a small window to accomplish something. I was proactively anticipating this nap and I was ready. Slowly over the next six weeks I was able to get caught up one paper packet per nap time. Having my paper organized I was able to get systems in place so I could keep growing Organize 365® because I realized that is what I was uniquely created to do. Proactive Anticipation Go Hand in Hand with Planning I have always had the ability to look into the future and anticipate what is coming for the female American Household Manager. I have been in many homes, of all types. I know things like the energy during different times of the year, how supply chain works, and kids! The Sunday Basket helps you to proactively anticipate the next week. Planning days help you to proactively plan for the next 120 days. I found these systems to be effective for my house and then created ways to teach them to others in the Organize 365® Community. Once you find what you are uniquely created to do you need the systems more than ever. At first they give you time to find out what you are created to do. You could dive into the fulfillment of what you discover but then you may have your train go off the rails. The systems continue to provide time to keep doing what you are uniquely created to do, in combination with everything else a Household Manager must do. 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!

Anna, our lead researcher is back and we are talking about the American Household and looking at the data from the Census of the past. We came across this info graphic that is interactive. You can slide the dial to see stats based on where you have placed the pointer. We were entertained with the results we were seeing and we wanted to talk about what we found on the podcast. How much has the American household changed over time? What continues to blow my mind is 2 things. These studies keep being conducted proving what we already know while no studies are being done to support a solution. There is only about ¼ of the population that is even being addressed because the focus for solutions and the conversation is for houses with married couples and children. Children are usually identified as being under the age of 18 and living at home. Our best guess says that this data is based on people 18-55 years old. I guess that's one more thing that blows my mind, "adulthood" ends at 55. And "old age" starts at 65. So from 55-65 there is a dearth (using my big PhD words), as in not very much, of information for people 55-65. But as you will hear in the episode people are getting married and having babies later, so some 65 year olds could still have children under 18 at home. So many numbers So when we look at this information, the breakdown was in 1960 30% of the population was married without children and today about the same at 29.4% of the population. We talked about a lot of demographics, "other household" types. We looked at the 50 's and 60's vs. 2023. The biggest change we noticed was in the age men and women are getting married. Women in the 50's were getting married at age 20 but today they are waiting till around age 28. And it's the same for men. In the 50's, men used to get married around age 24 but are now waiting till around 30. People are waiting longer to get married which means they are having children at a later age, if they are having children at all - DINKs. Anna reminded me of that acronym DINK, that stands for dual income-no kids. And we discussed possible reasons for this. Who is going to take care of these people as they age? I'm going to be a doctor! It recently dawned on me that people will call me doctor after I get this PhD. I didn't realize how science-y it was going to be, but I will know the brain when all is said and done. I lost sight of that because my goal in all of this was to have a seat at the table and do research to come up with solutions. My studies will include people 18 - 85 year olds so that I can get the full picture of how our houses are operating and who is in them. I want to change the conversation to include all household types. Our housework will never be done but I do want to be able to offer solutions how to plan for success that anyone can apply. I'm turning academia on it's head with everything from funding, maybe finding where planning is in the brain, to coming up with solutions to problems that have redundantly been proven. EPISODE RESOURCES: 559 - What Do You Mean I May Settle 7 Estates?! - Organize 365 Team Unexpected Events - Virginia https://usafacts.org/articles/how-has-the-structure-of-american-households-changed-over-time/ https://www.americansurveycenter.org/research/emerging-trends-and-enduring-patterns-in-american-family-life/ https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/09/14/the-modern-american-family/ https://www.parents.com/parenting/dynamics/the-changing-face-of-the-american-family/ https://www.nbcnews.com/health/parenting/how-modern-us-family-size-changing-charts-map-rcna65421 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 have a hard time just wanting what we want." Transformational Freedom is my driving force through personal development and unapologetic gumption to pursue the things I want. Our houses are holding us back. When we feel like we are taking care of our primary role of household manager, spouse, and parent, then we feel free to pursue what we want. 4 Generations of Ambitious Women When you have a great grandmother who gets her teaching degree because it's the only degree a woman can get, you learn to succeed despite limitations. She went on to run a floral shop, a restaurant, and a gift shop which is definitely not what other women were doing those days. AND she divorced her husband! And then you have a grandmother who gets her Home Economics degree because again, limitations. And see her and her husband start a student loan - ish business, you see an example of a woman not waiting for permission. But then goes on to set an even greater example when she remarries and starts up a home economic kit mail order business of sorts out of her home. Like how did people order? She figured it out because it's what she wanted to do. And a mother like mine. She was so focused on business. She started The Fine Line out of our basement and created cases of clothes she bought one weekend in NYC. She did that for 6 years and then sold it for a profit. Didn't Get Permission, I Went After What I Wanted Which gave me the gumption to start my own babysitting business. The examples of women in my life I saw growing up didn't wait for permission to pursue what they were uniquely created to do. I didn't wait for permission or see someone else doing it. No, I paved my own path to filling up my summer calendar with baby sitting positions. I saw a need and solved a problem for moms who needed to get tasks done and take care of themselves per my suggestion. I used my unique skills of loving children to make money on my terms. Transformational Freedom At Organize 365® we say "As you let go of one thing, you are open to receiving the next. We strive to unlock your life's purpose through the process of decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity." You also don't know what you haven't experienced. I acknowledge that if you haven't seen, for example, a healthy marriage then you don't believe they exist and don't know what they look like. I love the Organize 365® community for this reason. Hopefully you are hearing healthy examples on the podcast and then being exposed to more in the community. Community opens our eyes to possibilities. And because we don't believe in those possibilities, we cling to what we currently have. That's why it's so important to acknowledge letting go of one thing, only to experience something even better. Remember this life is not happening to us, it's happening for us. Permission Granted Greg didn't flinch when I told him I was going to quit because he knew I would make money still. I had replaced my teaching salary with Creative Memories and planned to grow my organizing business to contribute to the family finances. In my organizing experiences, one client broke down when the last area was done, saying she could finally go back to work. What? The emotional weight of our homes on us women is great. Ladies, our houses hold us back because whether or not you work, you view your household manager role as primary. Organize 365® is here to get you decluttered and organized so you can be productive. Here is your permission to explore what you want and to pursue it. Fly out of your golden cage. Return as much as you want but you are free. Permission granted. 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Nita M. who is married and employed as a stay at home mom by her two young daughters. Nita first found Organize 365® through the podcast. Nita had just turned 40 in February of 2024, after having a baby in November 2020. There was just an energy that she wanted to get back on track. Postpartum had derailed her normally organized life. She'd been watching another organization show when she saw me being interviewed. Nita has her MBA and she connected with the language we use at work being applied to the home. It also clicked that our kitchens are like restaurants and our storage is like a prepaid store. The analogy of the work and home train resonated with Nita, too. The way you think of your home changes the way you operate. Profitable businesses are always planning, iterating, and looking at the target market they serve; our homes are no different. With these two schools of thought in mind, Nita adopted what her supply chain looks like and is now more prepared. She realized she had to buy toilet paper no matter what so what was the difference of doing it over 120 days or just purchasing it all up front, or set up a subscription through Amazon? When supplies came in, she used to just have them throughout the house, until she realized her guest bedroom closet was being underutilized. Now it's storage (AKA Nita's prepaid store) for each 120 days. I brought up the study by Wayne et al that speaks to the "Invisible Family Load." Household managers seem to have a positive disposition to the cognitive and management of the invisible load, but a negative disposition to the emotional cost of the invisible load. Nita shared the story of going to an amusement park with her daughters and getting rained out. Her oldest daughter complimented her when she realized how organized Nita was with her car closet. She was prepared with towels and snacks. With systems in place, Nita feels positive towards the emotional cost of "getting" to do all the invisible tasks for her family. In an effort to learn it all and understand my brain, Nita has invested in all the products. She agrees that for a stay at home mom, The Productive Home Solution® would be a natural place to start. Nita liked that she was able to get her foundation settled, then move on to the Sunday Basket®. Some nights as she and her daughter drift off to sleep, they listen to the podcast, per her daughter's request. Nita cleans on Saturdays, plans on Sundays, and processes her basket on Mondays. She has two portable Sunday Basket®s that travel with her in her second home, her car. She loves knowing how to create the flow, the manipulation of time that makes her life more smooth. She even gave me an idea to check out the delay start feature on my washing machine. Get those machines working before you even wake up! Nita's advice is, "Trust the process. Lisa knows!" She's constantly quoting Lisa and this is what she says to her friends. EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Podcast Resources The Sunday Basket® 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 Organize 365® we say "Resources are not limited, they are limitless. Through collaboration, Organize 365® connects the right people and resources for maximum benefit and sustainability." We know there is enough for everyone and growing up that is what I saw. I guess it's true when it comes to our kids, more is caught than what is taught. Abundance through the eyes of a child Knowing what I know now I could have probably figured out that our family was not rich. But I never felt it as a child. We had what we needed and we got to participate in extra-curricular activities. I watched my mother work her business. I watched my dad "get recruited" by his friends to be a sales person for them. And when they sold the company to their sons, the sons added my dad as one of their partners because they knew he was valuable and consistently brought in a lot of new sales. It was then we had extra money. But my dad was good at managing the money so that our family and the company had enough money even in times of lack. As a kid I always felt that we had enough resiliency and ability to overcome lack. Abundant Energy Our desires and plans don't always play out the way we want or think, but with an Abundance Mindset, they will come to be. I wanted to be a mother so bad. I had an abundant mindset and had to embrace the opportunity that adoption would provide, which was me becoming a mother. We had situations come our way through the adoption process. I could have clung to each one and thought this is my one opportunity I have to take it! But, I knew that I would be a mother, I just didn't know how. I was open minded. What is going to be will be and I knew at the end of all of it, I would be a mother! An abundance frequency attracts abundance. Everything is just energy. I gave multiple examples of it in this episode because I see so much abundance in my life. I'm not trying to brag, I want you to see it's there for you too. The Pie Factory You are only in competition with yourself. There is only one you with your unique skill set. Imagine a pie factory and they are just spitting out pies regularly. You don't get just one slice. You don't have to share a pie with anyone. You can have as much pie as you want. 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!

Happy Monday! Introducing the Connections Episodes from Organize 365®. Every other Monday I will be talking to people and the Organize 365® research staff about topics, books, studies, and other valuable materials that are connected to our goals at Organize 365®. Today I picked Anna, our education and research lead. When she first brought up this topic I wasn't super jazzed, but after learning about the history of new year's resolutions and why people started setting them…well it led to a great conversation. When and why did people start setting new year's resolutions? The Babylonians were the first we see making new year's resolutions to their gods. They'd set the intention to return farm equipment or pay off their debts in hopes of a profitable crop that year. It was after harvest time that they'd do this as they prepared their field for new crops. And then we see the Romans setting intentions to their god, Janus, who had two faces. One face looked towards the past and encouraged reflection of the past year. And one face facing forward to plan ahead. They'd do this March 15th when, maybe due to their climate, they were preparing for a new crop. And then in 1582, Pope Gregory the 8th developed the Gregorian calendar we use today and he set the new year for January 1st. Yesteryear's common new year's resolutions versus today When I look at the top 10 goals from 1947, I like to think about life then. They were coming out of World War II, they had food being rationed, and manual housework. So it's no surprise that last on the list was to lose weight. It was a stressful time and people wanted to break bad habits, such as smoking and drinking, which was first on the list. Nowadays life is easier. We have machines that do a lot for us, ability to live in the suburbs (off laborious farms), less generational living, cars, school buses, and catering to our children more so they are doing less, although we noted this is likely cultural. And we are addicted to our food. So it's no surprise that top of the list now is to lose weight. Followed by organization because our children are involved in more activities, women now work, social media shows a standard that is not realistic but we are striving for it, and life is just faster paced. Need to be organized to stay on top of it all! One category, besides the ones I always notice like weight loss, money, and organization/productivity, is intrinsic/personal development. This is the introspective type of new year's resolutions that was on the list. People want to help others and grow in their faith. I will start including this fourth category. Organize 365® is there for you for your new year's resolutions Planning day sets you up for almost 3 mini years. The human brain doesn't like to think past about 100 days. It's easier to set one new, new year's resolution each time. You can set up actionable steps to accomplish that goal, too. You can try out new tasks or routines that become habits, stacking small steps that in the end accomplish a big goal. Anna's New Year's Resolution: Drink more water Lisa's New Year's Resolution: Continue to implement more habits to support my health EPISODE RESOURCES: Outlived by Peter Attia MD 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 was on a plane in 2017 for a 5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Cincinnati when I committed to 5 values that I wanted to have within Organize 365®. This will be a 6-part series to share why I chose those 5 values plus one extra value that I felt needed to be added. I can trace my positivity back to 6th grade at church camp when I accepted Christ as my savior. But when my dad picked me up he said "No you didn't, now get in the car." I was always a positive child so I wasn't mad or hurt, I knew it was just this special relationship I had with God. Sharing my dad's belief in me "Dad, I'd like to run daycare centers in corporate buildings." I explained as dad had asked me what I wanted to go to college for. My dad had so much belief in me at just 17. He proposed that I take the money they were going to spend on college, which was about $100,000, and invest it in me and this business idea. I ran into the kitchen to pitch the idea to my mom, but she stood her ground. My mother was hell bent on me being the 4th generation of female college graduates in our family. The decline As a little kid I was so positive, there was so much natural optimism. Even at 17 I had so much faith in myself, plus my dad's belief in me. But then life…I was so excited for the MRS (Mrs. Woodruff) degree and was ready to start our life. But children didn't come despite our desperate desire and so we adopted. But then more life was handed to me when my parents decided to get divorced, then my dad passed away, and I had to settle his estate. I did inherit a little bit of money where we were able to remodel the kitchen and afford some more medical testing. I was always fighting a battle with people. They thought I was crazy because of everything I was doing for my kids and their health. Which got me thinking, "Am I the problem here?" (Funny how today's society supports all the measures I took so many years ago.) I went from positive Lisa to cynical! Another blow was when my supervisor informed me that I wasn't a good teacher. I made up my mind that I was going to quit. I wasn't doing good at anything. I had become so negative and not fun to be around. Greg supported me quitting even though we had the most debt we have ever had. I turned in my resignation the next day. It's not happening to you it's happening for you The final straw was that first Monday while the kids were at school. I looked around and thought, whose house is this? I was so disconnected from my life. I realized that I, and my attitude, was the problem. Then and there I decided to take my life back and to be positive. I changed all the inputs, like the friends I kept, the shows I watched, the things I read. I knew I wanted to stay Greg's wife and the mother to my children. I ended up writing my book "Organization Is A Learnable Skill" to document how I took my life back. I now know that life is not happening to me, it's happening for me. I sat down and wrote down 40 areas I was going to address. I remembered that belief my dad had in me to start a business and I was now going to do just that. And from that list one of my first programs was born, the 40 Weeks One Whole House Challenge (now incorporated into The Productive Home Solution®). Being positive is a core value for Organize 365®. It's funny how fast a negative person can infiltrate the staff in a matter of days. I can't have that and I don't want to turn that ship around. My experience has been that positivity leads to success. So we are positive at Organize 365®. 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Allison G. who lives with her husband, daughter, son, and a furry kid. Allison found the Organize 365® Podcast after hearing my name a few times in two other organization/productivity podcasts. Allison felt organized at work but didn't realize she wasn't at home. She kept her calendar full and leaned on being busy if she forgot anything. In January 2022, Allison fell while skiing. That really slowed her down and plopped her on her couch for some time. She noticed all of the physical chaos in her home. Allison has been a teacher for 21 years. Listening to the other two podcasts, she understood the big picture of organization and productivity. But by listening to Organize 365®, she's been able to figure out how to apply those principles specifically to her life. Allison also turned 40 in 2022, which is one of those pivotal times in a woman's life when I tend to see them want to declutter, get organized, and be productive. Allison got the Sunday Basket®, quickly followed by the entire system. In March of 2022, Allison was very diligent and kept up on homework and training. She started with the 1.0 slash pockets for the first 6-8 months. Then she added in the 2.0 slash pockets. Allison says she passively went through The Productive Home Solution® the first time and has started her second round. She feels the reason for her organizational success is she gave herself time and took it slow. We make all these plans and framework for work, but not usually for home. Why? The Sunday Basket® and The Productive Home Solution® gives you a framework to get systems in place at home. After seeing results at home, of course she had to get the Teacher Friday Workbox®. She loves using the rainbow tear pad and planner for her classes. As a teacher, you could see all the paper work and books for all classes as overwhelming. You could look at your lesson plan and just see a lot of text. But when you color code them, now it's 7 categories or 7 classes. Allison raved over the layout of the products and the quality of the paper. And she can match the slash pockets to the colors on the tear pad. Allison is no longer faking being organized, she IS organized! She has systems in place at home to find important paperwork, like the insurance policy for earrings she lost. She's been able to free up time to dream which led to her learning mahjong this past fall. Her family knows all about the Sunday Basket® even though they always call them buckets. She only wishes she'd known sooner it didn't have to be the way it was before. And she's gained so much confidence by knowing she'll finish what she starts and not using her cognitive "power" to hopefully remember things that need to get done! Allison's advice is, "If you are motivated and excited, get going! But if you think you need time, give yourself time. " EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Teacher 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!

I look into my crystal ball and let me tell you what I see. Ok, no crystal ball but I have always kind of had my finger on the pulse of the future. I have a knack for seeing what is happening and how the economy will be impacted. And of course when the economy is impacted, so is the household manager. So what do I predict? AI is not coming for your home in 2025 Changes happen in houses last! There's a reason all of the literature I find about housework is so old. No one is studying the home and how to improve it. AI is not going to be sorting your paper or organizing your storage rooms in 2025. Analog is the answer for information Do you remember when the elderly had to register to get some of the first vaccines? The problem was most of them didn't know how to access the technology to set up the appointments to get the vaccine. Technology is not always best. And in an emergency situation, it's critical to have paper to back up what you know to be true so the medical community can trust what you say is true. Paper is here to stay, analog is paper and it's still the answer. Home is where you are the safest Disclaimer, I know this is not true for everyone. But for the most part, your home is where you decide what you want to do. Just because we can know everything instantly all the time does not mean you have to "subscribe" to it all. You get to create your own reality You don't have to be inundated with the news or negative messages. You can choose what feeds into your family in your home. You can switch up the algorithms on YouTube or completely get off of social media. You can choose what you eat and your routines, what you feel is right and safe for your family. It's what we can control because we can't control other people and their actions. You also get to choose where you interact with people. Maybe you attend a virtual meeting, go to yoga, date online, or you are a part of the Organize 365® community. But that's just it, we all need connection and to belong to a community of like minded people. Changes are going to keep coming faster and faster We can set our own pace at home, but the speed of information at our fingertips is just going to keep coming faster and faster. Originally I was going to say this means we need to make decisions faster, but do you know where decisions come from? They come from knowing what you want. When you know what you want, you can make a decision about something that is in line with making that thing you want to happen! Slow down and understand what you want. Bonus: All homes will have a side hustle What do you think? It will be interesting to see if I was right on any of these at the end of 2025. 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 Carrie T. who is married with two children. She has a daughter away at college and her son is still at home. Carrie travels a lot to see her daughter compete and listens to the podcast during those long drives. Carrie actually found the podcast many years ago when she was looking for organization podcasts. She loved the advice that "Your brain is working while you are listening and the solution will come to you." She valued other organizational programs, but gravitated towards Organize 365® because of The Paper Solution®. Carrie started with a DIY Sunday Basket®. It was fine, but she couldn't find the right colored folders so she had to create labels in the color instead. She realized she was doing a lot of work for something that she could just purchase. She asked for the official Sunday Basket® one year for Christmas and dove into setting it up on Christmas day. She valued that everything was in one place. She wasn't looking for papers. She could almost always find whatever she was looking for in her Sunday Basket®. She admitted she may have over slash pocketed, but she's definitely got the hang of it now. She's looking forward to the tax write off of getting a Friday Workbox® next. Another reason Carrie asked for the official Sunday Basket® was for the community that she desired. She loves attending the Sunday Basket® Club. She likes to attend live, but also uses the replay to pause the recording and finish each task in her time. Then she hits play and continues on. We talked a little bit about how each week you go through all of the rainbow slash pockets, but the 2.0 slash pockets don't need weekly attention. We agreed on average it takes about 90 minutes to process each Sunday. And I know about every 4-6 weeks I thoroughly go through my Sunday Basket® and that can take me about 3 hours. She also values the division of workboxes in quarter 4 for the holidays, the next year, and taxes. It's like 3 external brains for the different hats you wear as a household manager. Carrie wishes she'd just gotten the official Sunday Basket® sooner. She has so much more peace of mind now because she knows "It's in the Sunday Basket®." With her extra pockets of time and her children getting older, she's playing with the idea of getting her pilots license. She wants to be able to fly to see her children and attend their sporting events. Carrie's advice is, "Keep listening, and if you feel like the Sunday Basket® is the right thing to do, just do it! Do it now." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In business, this was the year in neutral! Try as I might to move forward with initiative, the universe wouldn't allow it. But I had great success in other areas! "Lovie, Are You?" You may be wondering how the PhD is going. Let me tell ya. I was warned that the second year is tough and it really was because the time I was giving to the PhD had to come from somewhere, right? I shared how I was dividing my time in previous episodes. But also, I traveled. Because I traveled, I didn't do my normal home reset during my break from school and it was so bothersome, I did a whole episode about it. Baby Grayson got smarter this year, too. He now knows if my car is home, I, Lovie is home. He's no longer fooled by "outta sight, outta mind." So I moved all my stuff to the office for school, too. You may have thought in the past, "How does Lisa do it all?" I humbly explained how this year, I didn't. Purple Work That Didn't Work All of Organize 365® worked on two purple projects for a whole 10 months, that took lots of time and money, only to have neither get fully completed. So for years I've been told I need to go to an ERP system. This was the year. We worked with an accounting firm to get things and policies in place only to have the ERP team tell us that our bank and the system don't play well together. So, I started thinking and came up with an idea. Once proposed, they said yes, I think we can use that solution to make Quickbooks work for you since we know Quickbooks plays nice with your bank. And we got to keep our super secure website. All was not lost because the company is better having gone through all of that. And then there was our lease that was expiring. It got me looking at other spaces. I practiced driving to them like it was our new location. Kind of tried it on for size. I started dreaming of additional live events I'd like to host. They were ok, but then the cost of moving was setting in. Would our landlord extend the lease, just increase the price? They said yes, but to different terms of course. So here we are in the same building for the next four years, not moving. Again, all was not lost because we upgraded our current space and made it more functional for us for the season we are in. And stay tuned to attend some of the live events I dreamed up, like the Small Business Planning Mastermind on March 5th & 6th. Milestones Hit in This Neutral Year I am so excited with the milestones the company hit this year in quarter four, despite the purple projects failing. Such HUGE things!!! The podcast turned 10! The podcast is often about the Sunday Basket® in one way or another. And we say the Sunday Basket® saves people 260 hours annually. We also know that we have sold 12,000 Complete Sunday Basket®s, equating to saving "officially documented purchasers" 10 MILLION HOURS!! That is so amazing!! That's what I want, to give women back their time by delaying decision making so they don't derail themselves. And since we were going to have a party to celebrate the podcast, we decided to celebrate my award, too! I saw Miami University was awarding Cincinnati Female Entrepreneur of the Year. With a short deadline to submit an application and three references, I didn't know if I'd have everything in time. But my instagram followers are amazing and I actually received SIX overnight! I was so surprised to be in the top 3 being considered for the award, and even more shocked to be awarded the first ever Cincinnati Female Entrepreneur of the Year! I had all female entrepreneurs stand and I accepted the award on behalf of all of us. It wasn't about who won, it was about all the women in that room being acknowledged for what they are doing and how they are growing Cincinnati. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Small Business Planning Mastermind 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 April R. She is a single mom of 5 children with a cat and dog to love on, too. April was watching someone on social media talking about the habits of people with ADHD and April identified with many. Then she came across the episodes about ADHD and naturally listened to the ones that followed. She used to think organization meant cleaning. She now knows organization means productivity. April's proudest accomplishment as a result of learning from Organize 365® is her beloved drink station! She has a tiny kitchen and there are lots of people in the house. But April took it a step further by placing it in another room. I pointed out that also takes it away from the triangle of cooking. April repurposed a hutch she got off Facebook Marketplace. She was able to accommodate all of her children and their drink preferences. She has gotten a lot of compliments from friends, but now with her sister (who had handyman skills) she wants to take it up a notch with cabinets instead, floating shelves, and a mini fridge. April shared a lot of lessons she's learned. Or is it one lesson applied in multiple locations? She's improved her flexible thinking executive function. She's applied the drink station organization to her work and other spaces in her home. After her success with the drink station, she invested in the Sunday Basket®. And even though she didn't use it effectively in the beginning, she was collecting in it the way she was supposed to. Then she would go through it every so often. Would you believe she found thousands of dollars just waiting in there for her? You've got to hear the episode to understand or maybe you have too! It dawned on her how her oldest daughter had a bigger bedroom than the two that shared. So she swapped them. That also gave the older daughter, who goes to school online, a better connection to their wi-fi and more privacy. April and the girls got the benefit of sharing a bathroom space instead of just April using it, as well as the connections she's building with her two youngest as they get ready for their day together. April also shared about how she touches base with all her kids on Sunday to plan ahead. And how she developed an A/B meal plan (with a little help from Chat GPT) for when her kids are with her and when they are at their dads. But she knew what to ask for due to what she has learned through Organize 365®. She's been prepared for the unexpected. When hurricane Beryl was coming their way, she was able to plan ahead and be prepared to ride it out. I told her about the snow day box I developed when my kids were younger to make it exciting to have the kids home. She's realized that just because she's organized it doesn't mean it'll keep things from happening. She has so much more joy and awareness now. She feels confident when one of the kids needs something from her and she can go get it from her Sunday Basket®. She has so much joy with the intentionality of how she's spending her time with her kids and she's so excited about the future. April's advice is, "If you don't know if you should get the Sunday Basket®, do the drink station or just try one thing." It's true in the midst of your overwhelm of thinking you need all the systems. Just start with one thing or it seems too overwhelming to even start. All the systems are independent of each other. And as April added, then it just gets easier to add another system. 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!

I love when the podcasters I follow do a year in review and so I thought I'd try my hand at it this year. This year was the year of renovations, like I have mentioned a few times. But when I look back collectively on all that was done in addition to the renovations, I realize how blessed I am. I had been warned the second year of the PhD was going to be hard and it was. And just for funzies, we threw in some travel and medical events too! New Bathrooms… We were all wide awake by the time Joey called, told us about a fizzy sound behind his toilet, but not to worry. He was going to go back to bed and would call us when he got back up. Oh no ya don't! Joey is on the third floor and we don't need a trickle down effect, pun intended. I had always had the dream to set our kids up with their first places, not knowing how but just that I'd like to. It was my dream. After considering rent, it was still the better financial decision to get Joey a condo at the height of the market. We were fortunate enough to get him one of the biggest units with a garage for his precious car. We knew there may be some renovations down the line, but they happened this year because as it turns out, there was sprinkler plumbing instead of the good stuff. It needed to be replaced. New Living Spaces It wasn't too long there after that I got to noticing that Grayson, while he technically fit in his converted-from-the-crib toddler bed, he didn't fit. And Grayson is of the large variety. He was 4 weeks early being delivered and came in at 8lbs. This is a large child. But do I just put in a twin sized bed? I mean, it could fit in the cubby we'd had him in. No, I decided in the long run we needed to get him a twin XL to continue to suit him for many years. But that bed wouldn't fit and at the end of the day he needed his own room. Well this scenario turned into the Money Pit; you know the movie? One thing led to another which in the end was a bedroom big enough for two twin beds, a new kitchen, gas fireplace and gas line removed, new fridge, washer, dryer, and dishwasher. More appliances meant that if we were going to already be making a mess, we might as well make the biggest mess by adding more power to our electrical box! And now it is so nice and safe for them down there with more smoke detectors and a carbon monoxide detector. Abby said "You may not like this, but this is so nice I may never leave." That was the point. I figured after 12 months we'd be revenue neutral versus moving her to a place of her own. Money well invested. But once Abby's kitchen was done, Greg and I really wanted a nice beautiful fridge like Abby had bought herself. So we refaced the cabinets in the kitchen and got our new fridge, only to find this one couldn't open just like our old one. So why not start another small renovation to adjust the wall to accommodate our new fridge? And Life, Oh My! But if your grandchild isn't moving for a while, you get them a playset for the backyard. Which of course meant a new fence! Got to keep the coyotes out and Grayson in. We managed to squeeze in a trip to England and a few other travel adventures. And then little baby Grayson had a few allergic reactions. That meant a few hospital visits and red allergy stickers all over the house to avoid more trips to the hospital. But that's all. LOL We had a full and busy year, can't wait to see how we will thrive in 2025! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, we're catching up with Monique H. who was a long standing Organize 365® member who went to work for that same community and has run the Sunday Basket Club for the last 7 years. Monique has so many fun projects in the works and we really wanted to talk about exploring new opportunities and reinventing yourself…what's holding you back? Monique and I connected on a trip to a conference. Being in the car for a while gave us the opportunity to dive deep into each other's lives and realize we were going through a lot of the same things. It's funny how due to life circumstances you can be in a room full of people and still feel lonely. And we agree that's what the Organize 365® communities offer, the opportunity to connect and know you aren't alone in your "hard." The opportunity to connect with other people experiencing your same struggles and find solutions. There is something about a face-to-face conversation and I desperately wanted that for Organize 365®, but I also knew what you do for one you have to do for all. In anticipation of Organize 365® growing, I knew not to offer that. I find myself having more authentic conversations when I know I'm not being recorded for, I don't know…a podcast. My biggest struggle with offering face-to-face services was that my family needed me frequently. So when Covid made us all go virtual, it opened the door to explore the effectiveness of online offerings; it started with Monique leading a paper organizing retreat. What we found was some people didn't have the ability to travel and they felt thankful and included by being able to attend virtually. We have been fortunate enough to fully develop each product line through online offerings. Monique has gone through many iterations during her career as an organizer. When she moved to Nashville, she decided to stop offering in-home organization. We talked about how different phases of life can change your bandwidth and with growth our desires of what we want to do for work changes. And as you are coming up with new services or products, it is so important we all remember our value. Like every time you leave your house, you are trading money for time with your family. Make sure it's worth your family's time for you to be gone. And over the years you have gained skills that are valuable. Monique gave permission to us all to pull out skills from our toolboxes that we have used and offered in the past. And that's exactly what she's up to now! She's offering organization as a certified paper organizer. No shame in her game and no explanation needed. If it has made you money in the past and people still need or want it, pick it back up! Don't let the things we have to maintain like our houses be a barrier to following your dreams. Monique stressed the importance of building the plane while you are flying it. Create, get feedback, iterate, repeat. It doesn't have to be perfect! She's helping other women to realize this through her coaching services. She's helping women to see success with consistency in their actions in business and life. Get organized with Monique or any of the other certified organizers in the Organize 365® directory. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Paper Solution® Certified Organizer Directory Organizing Your Chaos with Monique Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

This time of year we have a lot on our plates and a new perspective can always be helpful. I recorded this episode to give examples of what I presume is happening in all households, but in our minds we conjure up a totally different scenario. In this episode, I am talking about the homes with a married couple with children, which I realize is a small population, with lessons that anyone can apply to life. Failed Delegation I think it's fair to say that no one is doing nothing in the house. Some people do less, like in my family, but my little Lisa heart is happy doing all the things, even at home. But when I do feel my capacity waning, I decide to delegate or delete since I know I can't get it done. The other day Greg said, "You do a lot, let me do something for you. How can I help?" So I gave him a couple of small tasks and he asked for more. I thought I was giving him the task of getting the fence installed, but Greg thought it would be a collaborative effort. Then things were lost in communication or lack there of. The fresh perspective here is, if you delegate, delegate the whole task otherwise you end up micromanaging to ensure the task was completed! Motivational Shift In my studies I have come across this Self Determination Theory by Ryan and Deci. It explains the 6 levels of motivation. I chose Sunday dinner at our house to show the shift from Amotivation (total lack of motivation) up 4 levels to Integration Motivation (meaning in congruence of goals.) When we started family dinner at our house, Greg was the cook and I felt obligated to help with some aspect of the meal (AKA Introjection Motivation - do it for approval of clothes-guilt). I would help with the salad and rolls thinking about how much the meal cost us and do the dishes because that's how it was when I was a kid. Whoever didn't cook, cleaned up. Over time, it has become something that is a part of our family. It's weird if due to a trip or another reason, we don't have Sunday dinner. It's like something is missing. At Sunday dinner I take care of the salad and rolls. I then clean up the dishes and get dessert ready. Identification Motivation - I do the salad, rolls, and dishes because you identify as the person in the family that does those things. My motivation changed. Not too long ago, I was blissfully washing dishes after Sunday dinner. My heart was so content with gratitude. It wasn't because I got to wash dishes. It was because Sunday dinner started earlier due to a football game. We had appetizers on all the fun dishes we've collected over the past couple years. Grayson and our dog get so excited when Nana, Greg's mom, comes over. I was washing the dishes we used to dish out the meal that Greg had cooked and it made him so happy. It's great to have our children join us and sometimes their friends will join us, too. We all look forward to it and it's rewarding to everyone. I now experience Integration Motivation, meaning it's in congruence with our family's (or a group's) goal. Our family's goal is Sunday dinner. As the household CEO, there's always something to do. You need to decide to do it, delegate it or delete it. I'm always trying to gain perspective on why I do the things I do. I'm a fan of longevity and significance. I ask myself what is the significance of this task? How does it help others? Is it necessary? When I consider these questions I can make the decision on what to do about the task at hand, like going to the grocery store, delegating new tasks to a family member, or helping with Sunday dinner. It'll give you a new perspective on that task! EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Podcast Resources The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, we're back with part two of the conversation with my sister, Emily Kelly. The Kelly girls were known for providing good service. We knew good etiquette from all the parties mom threw and the ones we attended with mom and dad. I wanted to babysit for all the party going parents and Emily wanted to execute the parties they were attending. We didn't have a lot of toys. Our mom paid us for 50 cent words (IYKYK, otherwise listen to the full episode) and took us on a lot of learning experiences. We weren't your average kids. We were pretty mature. We learned from an early age about entrepreneurship and business. It's really no surprise that today we are entrepreneurs. As we mentioned in part one, EMK Incorporated has been reignited and provides household managerial support. To get started again, Emily shared that she made flyers for her condo complex and advertised in their newsletter what services she could offer. Then she worked on contacting her networking list. You could hold workshops at the library or speaking opportunities for people to get a quick win, like get some paper organized. Then you can explain that you do more. People know who you are and are more comfortable continuing to do business with you. Emily didn't promote her services on social media and you don't have to either. She pointed out to let people know what you have to offer, have conversations about how you could help them, and let them know you will be there to help them when they are ready. She recognizes the emotional component to paper organizing and wants them to be ready. And due to her empathy and excellent results, she continues to get referrals and calls from people who are ready. It was funny when Emily started to tell me everything she's been doing, I said "That's The Paper Solution® Certification!" And as we think about that certification, I want you to think, are you short on time or money? If you say time, then think about what you could hire out to give yourself back some time. You can check the Certified Organizers on the Organize 365® website. If you say money, what tasks as a home manager are you already doing that you enjoy, that you could offer to do for someone else? That's what Emily did when she offered to organize people, when she offered to watch their dogs, when she offered to make their scrapbooks. Eventually, you could get certified and listed on the Organize 365® directory to get more clients. And as I pointed out, the Baby Boomer generation will be needing help with their paper as they age. And Gen X with fewer siblings and it being a small population compared to the generation before and after, will need help too. I'd love for the people who need help to easily access help through the directory. And people who need to make money, to help them get their paper organized. Click on the link below to check out the Professional Organizer's Think Tank Podcast (now located in POTT Start) to learn how I started my in-home organizing business so you can get started, too. I just have this vision, wouldn't it be cool if it was common to have paper organizing workshops or retreats going on all over the nation all the time? It's your time to get certified and use your skills to do what you are uniquely created to do. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Certification Certified Organizer Directory POTT Start EMK Incorporated Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Lucky! That's all I have to say about all the gaps in insurance I found out about recently. You see, when your insurance guy retires it forces you to look at your policies. I had an eye opening little string of insurance mishaps that will have me thoroughly going through our binders and policies this winter. These are my cautionary tales so you don't find yourself over or underinsured. The Retirement Party So our State Farm agent tells us he's retiring and invites us to his party to celebrate. When I asked him what was going to happen to my 11 policies, he suggested I meet all the other agents that were there. I was bamboozled into attending so I could find a new agent. Oh no, no! I asked people that I trust who they use and found my own new State Farm agent. I had all my policies transferred over to him and asked to review the policies and make sure we were all set. Paper Validates What You Say You know how I always say that physical paper validates what you say when you are in the doctor's office? Well now I can share how it works with the Financial Binder, too! I actually have a business binder. So when said new agent came, he discovered I didn't have business insurance. But I could have sworn I already had it. Once he asked me the questions to set up a new policy, I KNEW I already had it! Once I finally remembered to check the business binder at home, I found it. I showed it to the new agent. And putting two and two together, we discovered the first policy was in the business name and I had only transferred my personal policies. Now to find that missing bond. The paper validated what I said. I was able to void the second policy and that saved me $2700! Poor Abby I don't know how, but in all of this reviewing of policies it was revealed that I had not added Abby as a driver to our policy. So in the event there had been an accident, the car would have been covered, but not her medical expenses. FIVE YEARS! For five years, Abby has been driving around completely uninsured! I added Joey, but total household manager fail, I did not add Abby. As the COO of this house, I missed crossing this "t." 2024: The Year of Overcommitting You know we have remodeled and upgraded things around the house so much this year. Which also means we opened a few lines of credit and that led to the question, how much is our mortgage? Greg had one number and I had one $200 less! How could that be? The bank statements showed we were both right, but that made me have a lot of questions. The State Farm agent was able to explain that, ever since we purchased Joey's condo (which was underinsured), we've been paying escrow but we have never escrowed! So we had to get that all straightened out, too. Even the Best Fall Down Sometimes I discovered incorrect beneficiaries. We added Greg to all the Organize 365® accounts because I was the only signer on those accounts. I mean, I had my eyes opened to so much; you've got to listen to the full episode to hear all the things. As much as you may feel you are set for today, are you "set" for the future? It just goes to show no one has it all together. With that being said, at the end of the day it's up to you as the household manager to dot all the "i's" and cross the "t's" because no one cares what you intended to do. It's up to you to make sure the paperwork is correct. Do you know that song "Collide" by Howie Day? All I can think of is the line in that song that says "Even the best fall down sometimes." Did you sing it? LOL Yes, even Lisa with Organize 365® can fall sometimes. But I am back up and ready to take on whatever "blessings" life gives me. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, the Emily Kelly, my sister, is back! It's been a minute since her raving Organize 365® fans have been caught up on what Emily Kelly is up to these days. Put your surprised faces on when I tell you she's back to being an entrepreneur. BUT she has not settled on just one and I think that is so important to spotlight. Many Americans have a 9 to 5 and a side hustle. Or many people like Emily find purpose and passion and excel in multiple areas. "A man of many talents rarely goes hungry." Such a valid point in today's economy. Emily was ready to be done at her previous employer and they were ready to part ways, too. She brought up a good point; based on my past experience, America is set up for married people. When you are single, it's scary to leave a steady position. There is no one else to fill in any financial gaps. I had the opportunity to explore what I was uniquely created to do because I had Greg, my husband, supporting our family. We discussed how, just because inflation goes crazy, doesn't mean your salary goes up with it. I shared the gas stipend I gave to full time Organize 365® employees when gas prices went so crazy in 2022. For some people, just coming to work was a huge inconvenience due to gas prices. So she has officially fired up EMK Incorporated which is business-to-client relationships. She takes care of anything within your home. People have commented to her that it's good to see her working for herself again and I agree. Emily has a natural skill to build relationships in person. It's a dying art. Relationships are built on trust. Trust will never be replaced with a higher commodity. Relationships are free and your long term investment of time and effort will last a lot longer than ads. And with all the relationships she's built and maintained, she was able to get clients started and start a few businesses on the right path, too. Cue Emily's other company Rainmaker, a marketing agency and fractional CMO services, which is business-to-business relationships. She enjoys teaching business owners to fish rather than just giving them the fish. There are so many nuances to marketing and Emily is happy to do the work for them. But she's just as happy to show her clients the ropes and understand how to focus on what makes their business unique and who they are targeting those messages to. She's helping them to look at what they have to offer in print, person, on land, and online to see what marketing makes sense for their business. And she's launched Rainmaker Academy! It's a 6-week comprehensive program to really learn the ins and outs of marketing. She'll be offering each week individually so business owners don't have to commit to 6 weeks and they can learn the skills they are looking for. It is a well rounded explanation of all things marketing for a business owner. She and her panel of experts are explaining things like identifying your vision, SEO, successful sales strategy, promotional items, merchandise to sell, and it all ends with a celebration! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Certification Course EMK Incorporated Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

By the end of this summer, I knew my trains were not running at full speed. But what had happened? How did I get off course? Even ultra productive people can have seasons that get the better of them. I can't believe how much I accomplished in spite of feeling less productive. It was one of those seasons where one project led to another and no other area of life helped the situation. 2024: The Year of Overcommitting It all started in February with Joey's condo needing new plumbing, which led to the perfect time to redo his shower. Then Abby's shower was suspected to have mold and that meant another bathroom remodel. And if we were opening that can of worms, then we wanted to add on an official bedroom for our giant toddler grandchild, Grayson. This kid needed a bigger bed and his own little apartment within his mom's apartment. And while we were doing all of that, it just made sense to give Abby a proper kitchen, minus an oven. Which meant we needed to upgrade our electrical panel for the house. All these projects were supposed to be completed in time for Greg and I's trip to Europe. But you know, permits and whatever, it kept getting delayed. So we decided to take care of all of Abby's stuff when we got back. Who wants to be in contact with a contractor while on vacation? Not me! And then there was school demanding more of my time. And a little extra pressure from my family. I had started to do school work at the office because "little baby Grayson" now knows that if my car is home, Lovie is home. And normally Greg wouldn't care if I was not home because he'd be golfing. But due to shoulder surgery in December, he wasn't playing golf. Needless to say, everyone was verbal about noticing I wasn't home as much. I also may have had 3 classes this summer instead of 2 like I'd done in the past; I want to get through this PhD already! I like when my time is at my discretion. I had this productivity debt starting to accumulate and no time to make any of it up, even at work. I could not catch a break! And believe it or not, we decided to do a little something to our own kitchen, treat Grayson to a playground set for his birthday, which obviously meant a fence, but first we had to take down a shed and a tree. And I was so excited when WOW Window Boxes were at Homearama, we got one of those, too! Like, who am I coordinating all of these projects that normally would have taken me 4 years? It felt good to take some things off the "some day list." What I Did I give myself credit for prioritizing tasks this whole time and knowing what can wait. And nightly planning of the most important tasks that need to be accomplished the next day. I exercised planned neglect, like eating out during the kitchen "remodeling" in my kitchen. And ruthlessly going through my calendar. And once you have survived one of these challenging seasons, the trick is to reflect and realize how much stronger you are because of it. Realize the lessons. Blessings Upon reflection of this season, I was overwhelmed with the amount of blessings this season provided. I'm very blessed in my life and that is not lost on me. These were all blessings slowing me down and it's a season I'm happy to be coming out of so I can get back to being ultra productive. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Christine F. who lives with her daughter and their dog. Christine was listening to "The Art of Decluttering" in May 2023 and heard me speaking about ADHD. Her daughter had just been diagnosed so Christine's ears perked up. Christine, in education for the past 26 years but currently a counselor for seniors, just kept listening, thinking "Wow, that's a lot!" But January 2024 was a turning point for Christine when suddenly she couldn't get enough of the podcast because there was an episode about The Paper Solution® Binders. She had been watching her stepmother settle her father's estate and realized the value of the binders and how these systems helped life. How valuable it could have been if her father had the Financial Binder. In March 2024, it really clicked as the school pilot programs were being discussed on the podcast about the Education Workboxes. She took the plunge and ordered the Sunday Basket® and Teacher Friday Workbox®. Being a counselor of seniors (who were preparing to graduate and it was nearing the end of the school year) and getting ready to transition to a different teaching position, this gave her order and a system. In her desperation to survive and function, she saw the light of what the Teacher Friday Workbox® could do and that provided motivation to get so much completed so quickly. No one could see how frazzled she was on the inside, but now she had found internal organization. Shortly thereafter, she purchased everything. She'd always been fairly organized, but she realized she'd been missing systems. Christine is visual so it's best if things are left out so she can see them to remember to take care of them. A friend of hers even noticed a difference in Christine. She no longer had a messy desk. All of her paper had a home and it was accounted for weekly. She loves that she can grab and go. If she has an IEP meeting, she can bring just the slash pocket. And the "Waiting For" slash pocket has been a game changer for her! Since the other systems were proven, she decided to go to a Home Planning Day. The biggest take away for her was the number of different ways you look at your time in Home Planning Day. It was clear to her why she could never get all the Sunday tasks done. She changed the timing of some tasks and switched others to different days. Now she gets to enjoy Sunday. It's a resetting of your time and expectations every 120 days, not the rest of your life. There are different energies at different times of the year. Christine knows she'll accomplish nothing in August and now she won't even try after knowing that and planning accordingly. Now she has more time and bandwidth. Christine's advice is, "Trust the system and just get all of it. If you can only start small, start with the Sunday Basket®. But really, if you get the whole system it can literally organize your entire life." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Teacher Friday Workbox® Organize 365® Home Planning Day The Productive Home Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 time for the last three planning days Organize 365® will offer this year. You are probably thinking "Oh, come on! How much more could we plan the holidays?" So much more! So many layers to planning!! Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day Think of the Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day like a taste of what we do in the Planning Days for Home and the Friday Workbox®. You will download the workbook and join the webinar. I start with having you think, what do you want the holidays to look like for YOU? Why are you doing what you are doing? Do you like the things you are doing for the holidays? Are there traditions or tasks others enjoy doing that you don't? Could they take them over? You are going to decide if you can adjust expectations, do housework less frequently during this time, how you want to spend this time during the holidays. Where do you have room to accomplish all your goals for the holidays and have fun? My words for the Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day are Projects and Play!! And how can you monopolize on Black Friday to keep your supply chain stocked while saving money? The Sunday Basket® is a system that hopefully you have used and have seen the time savings on a weekly basis. And you know it's a replicable system to run your home and delay decision making. But by this time, your Sunday Basket® is bursting at the seams so it's time to get the Holiday Blitz Bundle, a Hunter Green Sunday Basket® and Sapphire Blue Sunday Basket® and a set of Rainbow 1.0 Slash Pockets, to set aside paperwork for 2025 and keep holiday actionable papers at the forefront to execute the holidays the way you want to. Friday Workbox® Planning Day With the year winding down, all critical work should be done by November 21st because people are going to start mentally checking out. So with that in mind, no meetings are going to be terribly productive so take the time to plan 2025…the first quarter, anyway. Scratch the itch to plan by attending Friday Workbox® Planning Day on December 6th. I have recorded new videos that you can start watching as soon as you get signed up to prepare for this planning day. Prep your calendars, revisit all your administration work in the green slash pockets, update any systems to start 2025 feeling prepared to be ultra productive. Home Planning Day Prep & Home Planning Day We will have Home Planning Day Prep on December 27th. The first hour you will process through your holiday basket which we will transition to a tax basket. And you will combine the sapphire basket back to your regular Sunday Basket®. And all the archive papers will go into your The Paper Solution® Binders, keeping them up to date. The 4 hour live webinar for Home Planning Day is on Saturday, December 28th. We will be planning the next 120 days, 4 months of your household manager responsibilities, your small business. Lots of new videos for this planning day, too! Joey even put together a playlist so you can get started watching videos and listening to the podcast just as soon as you are registered. I try to be your economic forecaster, giving awareness to upcoming events that may catch you off guard otherwise. Each 120 days that we plan for in Home Planning Day have different energies. Think of any Golden Windows you may have coming up. Is this the time to plan on a meaty project? You will ask yourself, what are the advantages and limitations of the current season of life that you are in? We spend a lot of time analyzing your time! Breaking it down and looking at multiple ways you could be using it. You will create routines for morning, afternoon and evening for Monday through Friday and for the weekend. Our Saturday and Sunday energy is different, too! Won't you join me in my maze of planning days? EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day Holiday Blitz Bundle Friday Workbox® Planning Day Organize 365 Home Planning Day Prep & Home Planning Day 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!

In this episode, I reintroduce you to Lorie G. Lorie lives with her dad but still has her own place, too. I hope you remember previous episodes with Lorie. There were some fun things going on in her and her dad's life that I thought would be fun to share with you! Lorie and her 95 year old dad decided to take a trip from southern California to Dallas to see family. Lorie was so prepared. She created a whole binder for the trip complete with daily itineraries, pre-selected outfits, and medical information about her father. Lorie had created a little to-go packet (small version of the The Paper Solution® Medical Binder) that was more convenient to travel with. Lorie noted that all this planning allowed her to be present on the trip. But nothing could have prepared them for all the car troubles they encountered. She was thankful they traveled with cash because that was the only way to pay the tow truck out in the middle of the desert. In the Medical Binder, Lorie keeps a vitals check tracker sheet she made. We both agreed it's important to know what is normal for the person you help care for. Let's say she brings her dad in and his blood pressure is high. It might be high for the average person, but she has physical evidence showing a history of this being his normal. Lorie knew something was off with her dad one morning before one of his appointments. She called ahead to tell the doctor, they called ahead to the hospital, and Lorie brought his Medical Binder. Her dad asked why and she said just because she wanted to. If they needed paperwork, she'd have it. In the past they have not been able to access test results, but Lorie has had the physical copy. And there's something to be said for a doctor to look at the paperwork and be able to carry on a conversation with you, too. But sure enough, unbeknownst to him, he needed to go to the hospital and they were already expecting him. It was a smooth transfer all because Lorie knew what was normal for her dad. Lorie loves her dad dearly and keeping him in top shape is what she's doing. She took a room that wasn't being utilized well and turned it into a "fun zone" with wellness stations to encourage him to move. Lorie put a tv in so they could do workouts together; he's got a recumbent bike, tension bands, and room to stretch. Along with movement, Lorie makes sure she and her dad eat well. Back when she was a teacher and had an hour commute, she'd be too tired to cook when she got home. This birthed "Crazy Cooking Day." Much like how I like to get all my machines working for me at one time, Lorie gets her crock pot, insta-pot, stove top, and oven all working at the same time. In 4 hours, she can prep up to 60 meals for them to eat well for awhile. She makes individual servings. And she saves money by bulking up on sale items that go into those dishes. She's mentioned it many times in the Organize 365® community app - go look for the directions. And if it's a going out night, they just scratch off a circle from the sheet Lorie made to see what restaurant they are going to! Lorie created one for field trips too so they can get movement somewhere other than just the fun zone. Lorie's advice is, "The Medical Binder is critical for everyone in your family." And I added that it may just be you who needs one. If something happens to you, then your family has all the pertinent information. If you are adopted like Lorie, it's even more valuable. It's so important for us to know our own medical data to be more participatory with our wellness/illnesses course of action. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

I've stopped apologizing for my natural energy that drives me to want to be productive. And I want the same for you. Ultra productive people are so proactive that they have a plan B, C, D, and so on. They are prepared to zig, zag, and pivot at a moment's notice whenever plans change. What Do You Do Now? Ultra productive people capture all their ideas for a rainy day (eh hum, pink work). For me, that "rainy day" came this year when I was supposed to have jury duty. I went through my slash pockets and planned all those tasks for the week(s) I knew I was going to have jury duty. If I didn't get summoned, I had work to do but it didn't need to get done. When I arrived at the courthouse, they announced there would be no case and we were absolved from the remaining two days that week. If this happened to you, what would you do? I think a lot of people sit in "I don't know what to do" and the day gets wasted. I however, thought through my options and decided going into work and finishing some important administrative tasks was the most beneficial use of my time. When I was still doing in home organization. I developed an A/B schedule. It never failed that a client would cancel. I wouldn't know what to do because I had planned on working. So my day would go to waste. That is, until I came up with what I needed to do on the days I wasn't scheduled for out of the house work and days I worked from home. If an out of the house day became a work from home day, I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was like my plan B. Time for Everyone Including Me Seems like the mom is always offering to help and pour into their family, but does the family ask the same to the mom? No. It's just facts, I think. So go ahead and pour into yourself too! I am pouring into me the same way I pour into them. I think about my time A LOT! I think about tomorrow, the week, the month, the next 6 months. I look at my color coded calendar and make sure everyone I love is getting time, that I have set aside enough time for the PhD and work, and now I include ME! Sunday Basket®/Friday Workbox® Love I have bountiful pink slash pockets. I have a lot of house projects, trips I want to take, and things I want to try/do. They are in a safe place, the Sunday Basket® for my house and the Friday Workbox® for work ideas. Greg and I went to Home-A-Rama and there we saw Wow Window Boxes. I knew all about Wow Window Boxes because it's been tucked away in my Sunday Basket® since 2017 when I had received an estimate. I spilled the beans that I was going to ask for it for Christmas. Much to my surprise, Greg said we could do it now. So we did it in time for Thanksgiving!! You know when you have a plan for your day and then something takes it off track? I always struggle with how annoying it is. But then, I dig into my Sunday Basket® or the Friday Workbox® and there are all my ideas and slash pockets waiting to be executed. They turn into my plan B, C, or sometimes D. I have proactively filed them away in the correct slash pocket, then I can decide how much time I have and what kind of energy I am feeling. These are just a few ways I am unapologetically proactive so I can be ultra productive. For my family and Organize 365®, I am where work comes from. I love it. I am uniquely created to help others become ultra productive, too! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Friday Workbox® Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Mary H. who is married with two sons and a dog. Mary has always been a fairly organized person, but she was looking for productivity tips. She listened to "Best of Both Worlds" and heard about the Sunday Basket®, but first invested in The Productive Home Solution®. On her 40th birthday, she was ready to burn it all down. There was a lot of change from switching up her position at work, to the world coming out of Covid, to retiring from a side business. She decided to revisit old podcast episodes. She was looking for new ways to do things. Before, when Mary had heard about the Sunday Basket®, she questioned, "Why would you delay what you can do today?" But after revisiting the podcast and trying new ways, she experienced the benefits. When her husband mentioned taking the boys mini golfing, she was able to help him locate the free round of golf she knew she had. It was a win-win. She could easily tell him where it was and they got to use the coupon. When we started recording, Mary shared she was packing for a Make-A-Wish trip granted to her son. Her son has recently recovered from cancer. But we talked about that unsure time and the systems Mary had in place to keep her son comfortable and her family going. When her son was diagnosed they gave her a binder, but Mary added useful things like checklists and it took the place of a would be Medical Binder. I just had to reference one of mine the other day. How cool is it that information from 20 years ago can help us make informed decisions for today and the future? Mary also invested in the Kids Program. She admits her kids haven't participated so much in learning, but it has helped her understand how to facilitate them decluttering and organizing. She used the system 1) to keep the item and keep it in his room, 2) to say the child wants to keep it but not in their room, and 3) to toss or donate. Mary and her son were surprised with how much he got rid of. They were able to donate those toys to another child. Mary is thankful for the voice of reason through the podcast to focus on the important stuff and continually be thinking of how to always be improving. Mary has always been good to take time for herself, but she can enjoy it now without guilt knowing all the things will get done. She wishes she'd valued trying things in different ways. Just because one way works doesn't mean another way could be even better and more efficient. While she admits she hasn't used all of the products to their fullest potential, she's found immense benefit from the items she's purchased and all of the free content constantly offered from Organize 365®. Mary's advice is, "Don't be afraid to invest in all of the Organize 365® stuff." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® The Paper Solution® Organize 365® Kids Program 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 recently hosted this webinar for those of you who have been displaced by a direct sales company closing their doors or anyone else looking for a new opportunity. In my years of being a household manager, a profitable direct sales team leader, and now running Organize 365®, I realized how similar running a house and running a business are when it comes to the significance of systems. I know recently some direct sales companies have closed their doors or have announced they will soon. There are three ways I shop and I'm sure you do, too ... Amazon, an ad on social media recommends something, or a friend mentions a product and you order it. After Covid, we never really went back to shopping at the in-home parties. People seem to purchase directly from the company and it's collapsing the direct sales model. Revenue I started in Mary Kay and then tried my hand, successfully I might add, in many other direct sales companies; twenty three to be exact! In talking to my teams, it became clear they weren't making much money and some weren't making any. You see, you are the direct sales company customer and your customers are your customers. They market to you the consultant with all the latest and greatest products. You stock up in hopes of sales that lots of times never happen. Then you are left with last season's products. I started teaching my teams how to be profitable. Profitability gets your spouse's "buy-in" and you get to keep doing the thing. I've explained a lot of Lisa Math or Economics to my teams, which I did in this episode too. Too much to fit in here; definitely give this a listen. You have to be profitable to call it work or a business. Not how much have you sold or what work activities you have completed. In whatever company has recently made announcements about closing their doors, were you profitable? This coffee chat is for the consultant that is displaced and wondering what's next? I want to say from the bottom of my heart, you are amazing. This is happening for you not to you! Second, get all the emails you can from your current clients. Get the last orders you can and continue to grow those relationships and your unique personal brand. We buy from people we like. Yes, they like the product, but they are buying from you because they like you. After the final days, just enjoy the holidays. Enjoy your family. You are going to be ok! I wanted to get this information out to help you understand the market shifts and how to make an informed decision on your next move. I'd love for you to consider gaining certification to be an organizer through Organize 365®. What do you want? End of the year may be the perfect time to attend a planning day and get a plan in action for 2025. If you were making money in the previous company, what were those funds going to? What are you willing to do to replace that income? Clean houses? Tutor? Think of what services you could offer for $40/hour. Once you know how much you need weekly or monthly, you can figure out how many hours or services you need to complete. And then you can start to focus on what you are uniquely created to do which may not be the products you were previously selling. You can explore all of that in Planning Day. Community People feel lonely and isolated. We all want community and connection. This is something Organize 365® can readily provide. If you know you were uniquely created to help others get organized, please consider getting certified. This is not direct sales or multi-level marketing. It's a license you receive with affiliate commissions. We offer community through the app, others who are certified and our retreats. I loved the retreats and the women I was doing business alongside and I want that for people in Organize 365®, too. In my opinion, hands down, community is the most difficult to grow or replace. Like minded people who resonate around one product and where you can authentically be yourself. You can grow your community in groups of people with the same interest as yourself, church, or maybe the parents of the kids on your child's sports team. I can't wait to hear what everyone does who is facing a new opportunity! EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Home Planning Day The Paper Solution® Certification [email protected] 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.

Ultra productive people think about time differently and likely have kids that are older and are not totally dependent on them. When you are aware of HOW time passes, you can be very intentional and that results in productivity on a whole other level. I wanted to share how a normal person, a productive person, and an ultra productive person sees time. 42% of our lives are lived habitually. Ultra productive people audit their habits to support their goals to accomplish them faster. One Day A normal person has a general idea of how their day will go and they'll try to check everything off the to-do list that never gets done. A productive person usually has a morning and night time routine that is habitual - they're on autopilot. They have all of their work on their calendar, too. However, an ultra productive person will have reviewed the plans the night before and have overarching goals for each day. I shared that mine are Monday/Thursday/Saturday; I am focused on the PhD. If a little free time comes my way on one of those days, I will do something to move my studies forward. Tuesday and Wednesday are for Organize 365®. Fridays are catch all to take care of loose ends or finish a task that kept getting pushed off earlier in the week. And Sundays are for family. However, if football is on I know I am off the hook and I can do something I'd like to do, like a puzzle or whatever. One Week Now let's look at the differences when it comes to one week. Normal people are looking for anything out of the ordinary that may be coming up. Productive people know how to accurately anticipate how long tasks will take them and schedule the work accordingly. But next level, ultra productive people have everything on their calendars. They have reviewed the week and are prepped and ready. They know drive time, how long breakfast takes, if they have time to start a new task, where they can squeeze in a bathroom break, when they are paying bills, and things like how much time they spend with their families. This also allows flexibility because they know how long things take and what they can squeeze into small pockets of time that become available, possibly something from next week to get further faster. One Month Again, a normal person is going to look for anything special, out of the ordinary that they will need to plan, like birthdays, holidays, or meetings. This person also has a monthly grocery list and to-do list and chores. An ultra productive person is aware of the energy of that time of year. Summer may not be the best time for a remodel with the kids home. Or maybe it is because you can play outside. They think ahead of ways to reduce anxiety. Are trips scheduled too close? Do you have the right balance of activities to keep your kids happy? Before amazon, I'd buy the kids things from their wish lists to avoid the stress of trying to find it at a good price during Black Friday or, heaven forbid, telling the kids the store sold out. Two Months/Quarterly Some months lump together. A great example is November and December. Just look at those two months like an 8-week month. Which leads me to the planning days that we do three times a year. That's the cycle because that's how the energy is broken up. Three mini years, LOL. We plan for the most productive weeks and the holidays/winter being September to December, then January to April where you may plan a spring break trip or a house project, and then May to August, when the kids are out of school and it's summer. Tag you're it, the camp counselor; hope you planned on it! But you also consider time. Does Monday to Friday look different than Saturday or Sunday? Do you need to change chores to a different day? Will you be experiencing a Golden Window? When we understand time, we can better plan to get ultra productive. And that's why we prep planning day and have planning day. Food for thought until next week - I got called into jury duty. Right before we were to be seated, we were notified the parties had reached a settlement and we were done for the day and actually the next two days; so basically three days. What would you do if you got all that time back? EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sunday Basket® Weekly Planning Sheet Rainbow Weekly Planning Sheet Rainbow 52 Week Planner The Productive Home Solution® Monthly Planning Sheet 2 Year Dated Planning Calendar (through 2026) Organize 365® Home Planning Day Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Ashley M. who is married and has two little boys running around the house. Ashley, an executive director of a Montessori teacher education program, has always been a fairly organized person and interested in efficiency. But when she stumbled upon Organize 365® in the fall of 2022, she was interested in productivity. She'd been listening to the Best Laid Plans Podcast and had read The Paper Solution book, both of which mention the Sunday Basket®. Ashley loves to read and one Organize 365® product led to another; she enjoys the podcast, too! Ashley found peace in letting the Sunday Basket® be her external brain. She noted as moms, there's constantly a lot coming at you because you are caring for a lot of heartbeats. She also has The Paper Solution® Binders which is what Ashley valued the most because again as moms, there is a lot of paperwork. She likes that with the Sunday Basket® she is only dealing with actionable paperwork. She knows all of her ideas have been captured and can be revisited later. Ashley also pointed out that the Sunday Basket® helps her to execute big plans as well as daily life tasks; and the fact that it grows with your family. In 2021, they bought a larger home and then she had her second son. With the Sunday Basket®, you just add a slash pocket for a new child or sport. And in the binders, you add traditions or health progress as the children grow. I also pointed out that you can do the same if you start caring for a family member. It's customizable for the phase of life you are in. Again, that's why we do Home Planning Day, to adjust. And the same thing holds true for The Productive Home Solution®. Ashley has established a lunch/treat station so she doesn't have to think so much about it when preparing lunches. With Ashley's husband being taller, she's placed the items he uses in the higher cabinets. And for her one year old, his sippy cups are lower, which adds to efficiency in their kitchen. Efficiency is a muscle Ashley has been growing as she has become aware of patterns and cycles. She loves that all the products together remind her when to think about what; like reminders about dentist visit times, household chores, traditions for holidays, and even a special birthday treat that she'd probably otherwise forget about. Ashley said that if she feels at peace, then she knows she can do something for herself with any extra time. But if she's feeling chaos creep in, she knows she can easily get back on track with a little tidying or planning. Or she can look at her calendar and decide what she wants to "put back" and tackle another time. She has so much more calm and confidence that she's keeping track of things. There's more space for dreaming now that she's out of survival mode. She's thankful the system just works and there's no need for rewriting it, no improvements needed. Ashley's advice is, "You can get on the other side outside of anxiety, chaos, and overwhelm with Organize 365®" EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Organize 365® Home Planning Day The Productive Home Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Ultra productive people act in real life how normal people act before they go on vacation. Before you go on vacation, you think about your paid work and how to set your business up for success in your absence. I know before we go on vacation, we have checklists for packing. It's this constant anticipation of roadblocks. I shared some examples to give real life instances when anticipating roadblocks has come into play. Roadblocks One roadblock I have gotten used to encountering is jury duty; I have been summoned like 8-10 times. Tip: This last time I was summoned for the dates while we were supposed to be in London, but then I saw a "pick your dates" button. Once I knew the dates, I started to delay administrative tasks in anticipation of jury duty. I am careful to still fill up my calendar during jury duty possible dates, but I have the mindset that, if they get done, it's a bonus and if not, that's ok too. I schedule things like cleaning up my inbox and admin tasks; it's kind of fun because I don't normally have time to do those kinds of things. Moving Without Moving I've not moved from my physical address for decades, but in that time I have moved a lot. 2024 has become the year of remodeling. When your kid calls at 6:30am and says a pipe is making a hissing sound but he's going to go back to sleep, you say no! It was simply time to replace the pipes. And while we were at it, the bathroom makeover I wanted to do one day became now. I anticipated the hardwood floors getting ruined so I threw out a crazy solution and the plumber was able to execute it. I also knew it was going to take longer than quoted because it just usually does. Then baby Grayson grew and grew and grew and now he can no longer use a toddler bed/mattress. He's going to keep growing so we looked at our basement and reimagined the space to include a room for Grayson. The way the floor plan worked out, it lends itself to a galley kitchen. It was kind of like that movie "The Money Pit" where one repair led to another. Next, we upgraded our electrical panel to accommodate all the new appliances. It was originally scheduled to happen before and during our trip to London; I said no way. I anticipated that if the contractor needed me, how it could cut into our vacation. Also by delaying it, Abby would be out for summer from work and we'd have better weather for Grayson to play outside while their home was torn up. Now it's beautiful and will suit Abby and Grayson for years. When you remodel, you move everything out and come back to an upgraded space. It's like you moved, but really didn't. Past Informs the Present We all remember the toilet paper "shortage" during Covid. It was really just the size of the roll. And everyone panicked with the shoremen going on strike. If you understand the supply chain, you can understand when and what to panic about. I knew after everything came to a halt with Covid, that it would be 18 months to three years before we were back to "normal", before the backlog would be cleared. You can be concerned for stuff from China when the western ports are experiencing delays. You can be concerned for medicine, wine, sugar, and other things from Europe when the eastern ports are experiencing delays. And those products are usually here 2-3 months before we are anticipated to purchase them. But toilet paper? That's made right here in the US of A, baby!! No.Need.To.Panic. Sickness Playbook The minute I or someone in my family gets sick, I look 7-10 days out to see what needs to get accomplished. Another type of roadblock similar to this is if my mother in law would fall or if someone goes to the ER. My laundry may get a little backed up or meetings may get canceled, but I work ahead at Organize 365® in anticipation of roadblocks so the necessary work is always done. Our house is fully stocked with medicine, food, and nowadays home delivery services make it even easier to get what you need. I have these wellness pills I pop the minute I think I'm getting sick. Also, my family has bought into the fact that you can talk yourself out of sickness. It's very inconvenient for everyone; don't be sick! LOL Anticipating roadblocks is only possible if you understand how time passes which we'll talk about in the next episode. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Products For Getting Organized - Source Naturals Wellness Formula Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Trisha D. who sometimes has a very full house of 8 and sometimes just 4 due to her step children and when they have dad time. Trisha was a follower of Cass with Clutterbug and she'd been talking about the Sunday Basket®. The way Lisa teaches and Lisa's story resonated so strongly with Trisha. With 6 kids to keep track of, the Sunday Basket® really made sense to Trisha and helped with the overwhelm. Previously Trisha had been in an abusive relationship. In Organize 365® and Lisa, she found grace, encouragement, to be brave, to be transparent, progress over perfection, and to put herself first to get out of codependency. Trisha pointed out that if you have never been in a healthy organized environment, then you don't know what that looks like. She learned what it looks like and how to accomplish it for herself through the Organize 365® products. Despite the differences in functionality of households, the Sunday Basket® can help anyone really, no matter what your situation. Trisha gained so much confidence from organizing and getting control of her life. In her recovery from her past relationship, she appreciates how the systems from Organize 365® can aid in a Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). Which brought up the question, does the change in environment change emotion or vice versa? And is it easier to change your environment or emotions? Trisha experienced that once she started organizing, it gave her more bandwidth to focus on redefining reality and healing emotionally. Trisha was so impressed with Lisa, this woman who was once depressed and life was a "mess," she started a business, went back to school, and vulnerably shared it all with her listeners. Trisha's big take away from Embrace was when Lisa said, "If you doubt that anyone believes in you, I believe in you!" So Trisha started a Friday Workbox®. It became apparent that her employer didn't appreciate the effectiveness of her using it. So she started her own business! Trisha believes Organize 365® is changing one person at a time, empowering them to follow their dreams. She's been using the Friday Workbox® and it has helped her organize and prioritize the systems of a business. Listen to hear all she has accomplished in three short years. Trisha now has more hope, faith, time, capacity, a more full life. She truly learned how to create something from nothing. She values the Organize 365® products as roadmaps to life, like the Warrior MAMA Binder, the Friday Workbox®, and Sunday Basket®. Trish's advice is, "Go for it, whatever way makes sense." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Embrace Self-Guided Retreat Friday Workbox® The Paper Solution® Warrior MAMA Binder 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!

Once you are habitually scheduling tasks that lead to consistency with the ability to adapt and be flexible, you may start looking at how to optimize your systems. And once you optimize one system, it becomes a little addictive. I actually became a happier person with optimization. It's like I was competing with myself and I kept winning! I kept asking, "Can I do it faster? Make it easier? Do it on a different day?" This is what truly productive people do, they optimize. Reward of Optimizing Remember the literature I shared about the Invisible Family Load? It noted three aspects: cognitive, emotional, and managerial. The emotional aspect was negative because of the stress or worry you carry by taking care of your family, but the other two were positive. There's a confidence that comes from being able to depend on yourself from planning, a happiness that things are getting produced, happiness from finding "me time," and when you are the one managing it all effectively, that is so rewarding. You Can Make New Rules I remember when I was trying to optimize my laundry. I tried one load a day, which wasn't right for me. I tried to get it all done over the weekend, but then I was thinking about laundry for three whole days. THEN, I tried to get all the laundry done in one day and that was it for me! I would do laundry on Saturdays while the kids were cleaning their rooms. This worked for a long time. Then when Abby and I were sharing the machines, we worked out a schedule. Now my laundry is optimized on Saturdays again for this phase of life I am in. This is the beauty of Home Planning Day. It's the time to look at your current phase and optimize your systems and make new rules. Greg and I are traveling more frequently; that may push me to consider a different laundry day. I will re-evaluate this during the next Home Planning Day. Kids sports, holidays, work, or summer, all these seasons of life can affect the optimization of systems. I realized as summer was approaching this year, that Abby would be home on my normal work from home days because she works for the school system and has summers off. This is not really a problem except for the PhD and recording podcasts. I like to be home alone. This forced me to look at my systems and consider what I needed to do to keep my studying and recording optimized. I decided on a few new rules…Mondays and Thursdays I wear ponytails and that shaves a few minutes off of getting ready in the morning. I ended up moving all my PhD stuff to the office and I decided to study there. All of my supplies are in one space now and all work is done at the office. That way "little baby" Grayson can't distract me either. And I will batch record episodes when possible to be 2-4 weeks ahead. I found that when I try to record any further, the energy is off. If it's January and I'm trying to record episodes about March energy and tasks, my energy is off. I'm more passionate about the message when I am in the same energy, too. I played with trying to record first thing in the morning, but that didn't work because that's "Lisa time." I'm not in the right energy yet. I also found by batch recording episodes, it takes less time each episode. I am more efficient when I sit down and crank them out. I can also reference "previous" episodes because I just recorded them! These are just a few examples of what I have done to optimize my systems. Decide what needs to be in balance and what can be out of balance in this phase of your life to be truly productive. EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Podcast Resources The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Organize 365® Home Planning Day Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Beatrix S. who lives alone after her husband was transferred to a nursing home where he could get care and supervision for dementia. Beatrix found Organize 365® years ago when Gretchen Rubin interviewed me about the book "The Paper Solution." Her first thought was, "What, filing cabinets to binders? Prove it!" Beatrix had always struggled with paper. So she got the book, read it in a couple of days, and found herself joining the 100 Day Home Organization Program (which became The Productive Home Solution®) and getting a Sunday Basket®. Now she says she's hooked. In 2003, Beatrix reflected on her study and how cluttered it had become again. Please, you need to listen to this insightful poem she shares. She was a minister and has a great way of storytelling. You can hear it in this poem. It was clear imagery of the disarray her study was in. It took awhile for Beatrix to wrap her brain around the Sunday Basket® System. She'd not been a part of Organize 365® long when she attended her first Home Planning Day. She also had a couple of unexpected life events, including her husband having a stroke and moving to a nursing home. Beatrix also thought maybe she didn't have anything left to declutter. It'd been a couple of years since she'd followed Marie Kondo's way of decluttering her closet. I pointed out that Marie Kondo is great for decluttering and Organize 365® offers great organizational systems. Beatrix had plenty to declutter and organize. Beatrix was most shocked with her bathroom and how much she'd crammed in there! Through the years with Organize 365®, Beatrix has formed a support system of friends. They meet every month and she has found them invaluable with the tough season she is in. Life is good, she acknowledged, but she's deeply sad and fatigued with loving and caring for her husband. Her advice for others in a similar situation is to surround yourself with as many support systems as you can. Beatrix has more time now; time for friends, beautification, exercise, and planning. She was recently diagnosed with ADHD and it explains so much. Beatrix really wishes she'd had the Friday Workbox® when she was in ministry; she always struggled to finish projects. And she wishes she'd known how to organize paper. She's appreciative of the replays so she can get additional takeaways and the "teacher's approach" I take with the systems Organize 365® provides. We had a nice conversation about the evolution of school and how they support the ADHD brain/learning style. Beatrix's advice is, "Start with the Sunday Basket®. If that doesn't work then just start with one drawer." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Home Planning Day The Paper Solution® Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

You are scheduled and consistent, but can you be flexible? I am not talking about all of the stuff others want you to squeeze into your week, but you.The things you deemed important to get done and you scheduled, do you have the ability to be flexible in how and where in your day they can get completed? Flexibility in the Name of Productivity Life is chaotic and throws lots of unexpected things at us, throwing a wrench in our perfect little plans. Are you able to overcome these obstacles or do they turn your day into a wasted day? A few ways I am flexible to still accomplish the goals of the day are ways I choose to be flexible. These unexpected changes keep me on my toes and force me to be disciplined to keep my eyes on my priorities. You can be flexible in when. I wanted to record 4 episodes the other day until Abby needed me. Grayson came with me to the office where I knew I wasn't going to record, but I could still be productive with a different goal of the day. Once Grayson was picked up, I could choose to count it as time with him and use my later in the day "Grayson time" to record. I also use "wasted days" to be productive. If I'm out of the office and have a technician coming for one item, why not schedule a few more? The other day I had a technician come for the furnace, A/C, and a person to finish where we modified the wall by the fridge. I did stuff around the house while all these technicians were at my house. Another example I'd like to share is if someone in our house gets sick. I'm the mom and it's nice to have mom when you are sick. And I want to be there for my family. So then I look at what's coming up in the week. It's all about the flexible thinking of pivoting. What has to get done, moved to next week, go back in the Sunday Basket®, or scratched off the list forever? Pat jokes that at Organize 365®, we pivot so much it's like we're dancing. It's not so much when in the day or how it gets done, it's more about THAT it gets done! Productive people are about completing tasks thus being productive. The To-Do List Will Never Be Done Your Sunday Basket® is the keeper of the master to-do list items, right? You go through your basket and determine what must get done in the upcoming week. We like to load up our to-do list but we are frustrated it never seems to get done. Could you be the problem? The trick is to see what can wait, must wait. Let's say you are left with three things that must get done, which is ok. Schedule those, be flexible to ensure they get completed and then…it's up to you! Yes, you could say there's more in the Sunday Basket® and you want to do more. But alternatively, what if you used that time for a hobby, relaxing, catching up with friends or family? And I have found the items I delay completing, end up getting done by someone else, are no longer relevant, or don't need to be completed anymore. Also, I want you to think about the last time you completed the items on your to-do list. How did you feel? Like superwoman? Yes! Don't you want that feeling more often? Take care of what must get done and the rest leave so you too have discretionary leisure time. Being flexible in the name of productivity is a skill of truly productive people. Truly productive people are also always optimizing. Join me next week as I explain how you too can always be optimizing to be truly productive. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Summer K who lives with her son, husband, and dog. Summer originally found Organize 365® in the summer of 2020 through an ad on Instagram. She made the "mistake" of clicking on it and then it "followed" her. Eventually she visited the website and put a Sunday Basket® in the cart for her mom…annnnd one for herself! She knows the systems now and doesn't fret if a system "breaks" because she can easily get it back up and running. Summer now lives in Minnesota, but there were a few moves before now and when she found Organize 365®. Instead of decluttering and organizing along the way, she chose to put items in storage units. With the Sunday Basket®, Summer had moved away from filing cabinets. The transformation in her thinking, through implementing the Organize 365® systems, also helped her trim down to one storage unit that she left behind when she moved to Minnesota. After about a year, her brother loaded it up and delivered it to her. Summer had the whole basement set up ready to process that unit in hopes of getting rid of 50% of it…and she did! The systems help you to keep the stuff you want and use versus a filing cabinet or storage unit that allows you to store it and forget it long after it is still relevant. Summer is a self proclaimed binder snot. She appreciates a durable functioning binder as much as me! We laughed about how the manufacturers can't figure out how to use quality products and allow all the products inside to function simultaneously. These are the school supplies we need for our life's work. She pointed out that they are a fraction of the price of a filing cabinet and do not allow you to keep outdated papers. And as I shared, I even created a binder for Grayson because while he doesn't have an IEP, he does have OT and other paperwork that is no longer relevant in Abby's binder or the household binder. So where do you put it? You make that person their own binder. We also discussed different binders for different properties. The binders are there, make them work for you so you don't have to think of all the filters you need to go through to get to important paperwork you need. Reduce your cognitive load. The Productive Home Solution® (then the 100 Day Home Organization Program) was so helpful for Summer because in the midst of her busy life, when she knew she'd have a 15 minute chunk of time, she'd just look at what she needed to complete next. She'd do it and go back to her busy life. The Productive Home Solution® has evolved over the years to be universal so any person gets the benefits of functional organization. One of the many improvements we have made is a 120 day checklist so you can check off tasks in any order for the amount of time you have. Summer loves this aspect as well as videos that show real life applications. How are real people actually completing the checklists? Summer finds so much value in the Sunday Basket® that she gets her assistant's a Sunday Basket® and even has them complete a Friday Workbox® Planning Day. It is important to her that they are talking the same language. In planning, she wants them to know she's talking pink or connections have been made and it's now turning into purple work. Summer also realized she used to keep a very long to-do list until she started putting ideas only on one side and project tasks on the other side. Then she learned she'd separated her pink and purple work. Summer has been in the business of pink work so it was an "aha" moment when she learned about the color coding of the slash pockets. She shared at first she kept thinking her cobbled systems were better. Then she tried the suggested way and liked it better! She has found all of the systems to be very effective in work and home. Summer's advice is, "Do 6 weeks in a row to build the muscle to see the real value." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® The Paper Solution® Friday Workbox Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Building block #2 is consistency. I liken consistent people to dependable people. They keep a schedule and plug in things that they've said yes to into their current scaffolding which is their calendar, their current plan for the week, month, or year. They say yes, they do what they commit to, and you can count on them. Building block #1 gave you that solid plan, your schedule. Now how do you stay consistent when the unexpected requests come up? Consistent People Can Adapt There was a time when I traded services with a friend. I did her laundry, she made my family meals. I love laundry and by trading for this "service," I got to drop the cognitive load of prepping and cooking meals. However, I had to adjust my personal laundry schedule to accommodate what I agreed to do for her. Another example I shared was when the kids were at preschool I did errands. I would do my Sunday Basket® on Sunday. I would pay the bills, plan out meals, and "grant" the family's wishes. Tuesdays, I would drop the kids off and that was my time to zip around town and get all my errands done. My family knew this was the cadence and to get all requests in by Monday at the very latest. Knowing Tuesday was errand day gave me the option to say yes to anyone that needed an errand that I was willing to do for them as well as my own. I knew how much time I had and if I could say yes to additional requests. Consistent People Can Say No When you know where your time is going, you know when you can say yes or no. You know if you will have the capacity. Joey came to me this summer and requested my services (LOL). I looked and knew between trips that were scheduled, PhD assignments, work responsibilities, and managing the remodel of Abby's "apartment," I could not say yes for 6 weeks. I had to tell my own child no. I didn't like doing that and it was a heads up to me to adjust the allocation of my time. On the other hand, because I know where my time goes and that I am very intentional to spend time with my family, I can say yes guilt free to something I want to do for myself. It is better for my family for me to be consistent rather than make a commitment every other week. I have a commitment that keeps me late one night every other week. But in the name of consistency for my family, the off weeks I stay at work and take a call with my colleagues. It fills my cup and keeps me consistent with my family. Stay Consistent Even When Your Energy is Low Consistent people stay consistent even when their energy is low because they realize that their future time is as limited as their current time. One glance at your schedule and you can see that project you want to push off to next week, but then oops, you don't have time to complete it next week. This mindset is that of maturity and self discipline. When I had low energy about recording some videos, I knew I'd feel better once I had them completed. And as I have said many times, I am where work comes from. My team could not start working on them until I had recorded them. I didn't not want to put my team behind. And when I looked ahead there was no other time I could record them. You will feel so much better the next day knowing you did what you planned to do and knowing there really wasn't any other time you could have "caught up" later. Just like at the house, I'll see a few quick things I could do quickly. Your future self will thank you when you run that thing upstairs or put something away. I have had such a full calendar for a while now. I always think, "What will I do if I or an employee gets sick?" I know my priorities and I know what I will delete or delay in the event it cannot be done. Consistency doesn't mean you are consistent in every area, totally regimented. It means you are consistent in the areas of priority. Up next? How to be flexible within your schedule. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Michelle P. (the voice of the mailbags that you hear every Wednesday), one of our most veteran employees. Michelle was recently sharing how planning has changed her life. You see, Michelle works at Boston University by day and at Organize 365® at night and on the weekends. On her commute to work, she was listening to the episode about your trains and she had an "aha" moment thinking, "That's me, both my trains are running at maximum productivity." Even in academia, they support the idea that physical organization of your spaces superchargers your planning. This is where Michelle found herself when listening to that episode. Recently, Michelle has even planned to be debt free in 2025! But she had time to plan that because she's freed up so much cognitive load and established routines. When she gets ready in the morning, she can think about whatever she wants because she's laid out her clothes for the week. There are no decisions to be made, she's on autopilot. After covid, she knew she was headed back to the commute and back to the office. She uses the Sunday Basket® Weekly Planning Sheets to make sure she's covered all the bases for her BU and Organize 365® responsibilities. She's planned the days she needs to wash her hair, if she needs to accomplish anything during her lunches, and of course, what's for dinner. Michelle has her organization in order, allowing room for her to plan. We do not apply the same planning importance or practices in the home that we do at work. And that is what I am working on, shining a light on the lack of planning at home and offering a system for it. When you plan, we know it gives you time. As women, once we have fulfilled our responsibilities, we should absolutely do something enjoyable with the extra time. You can set the example now for your children so they don't grow up thinking you can never stop and just enjoy. Once you get organized, you can look at your time. Once you get your time planned, you can give attention to your health. Mental health like doing something you enjoy, and physical health like planning a walk, and your grocery list to make more healthy meals according to your family's phase of life. And I encourage you to be an observer of yourself. If you want to make a change, plan for it. Michelle knew she wanted to go back to the office for the early shift, so she planned accordingly and now she's a morning person. And she likes it! I know in my planning, I am generous with the time I allow for tasks because inevitably something will pop up. I like to look at my time like lego blocks that I can move around. I can go with the energy. Michelle admitted she had a lazy Saturday, but she wasn't stressed because she knew some things could get bumped to Sunday. She was able to allow for a lazy day because she planned. Because everything is planned, I too know that everything will get taken care of, it just may need to be rearranged, tweaked, or sandwiched somewhere else. Just when we thought we were done talking, we got on the subject of the holidays coming up. She is so excited this year. Michelle really benefited from the Mini Planning Day and the Holiday Blitz. She gathered information from her family to help her do less and yet meet everyone's expectations and honor traditions that were important. I cannot stress enough how little time there is between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Planning will be crucial to a smooth holiday/winter season. Wait until you hear when Michelle puts her tree up and why this year may be a challenge. Do you have a plan in place? EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sunday Basket® Weekly Planning Sheet Organize 365® Home Planning Day Holiday Blitz - Registration Coming Soon! Holiday Blitz Mini Planning Day Holiday Blitz Bundle + Holiday Blitz Mini 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!

The first building block to becoming a truly productive person is scheduling. Gretchen Rubin's personality test shows me as a questioner leaning towards a rebel. I love reinventing the wheel. As you know, I have been doing this through my PhD. And I recently came across a study that I have now read many times called "Who's Remembering to Buy The Eggs?" by Julie Holliday Wayne et al. It uses the term Invisible Family Load. Invisible Family Load I just loved the intentionality and thoroughness of the words she selected to sum up the invisible work of household managers. She started with invisible instead of mental which would imply mental only, but what about scheduling? Planning or worrying? Invisible is inclusive and encompassing. And then she used the word family to include people outside the structure of the home that a household manager would be caring for, like a college student or elderly family member. And lastly, she selected load instead of labor. Labor you get paid to do. Load was explained as being put on, burdensome, or weighing down a mind, thus requiring cognitive load and not getting paid for it. Do you know the top two tasks people marked the most as invisible in a study? Planning (#1) and Scheduling (#2); I think I'm onto something!! Schedules Sunday Basket® I explained a few times that I created different types of schedules I have had in this episode. When I was still in-home organizing, I developed two types of schedules. I had one for working outside my home and one for working from home. I found that when a client canceled at the last minute, I would get frustrated and I was stumped on how to move forward with my day. Once I developed schedules, or scaffolding, for outside or inside work, I would just move to my working from home schedule when clients canceled. For my family, we had a weekend schedule and weekday schedule. Schedules simply keep you on task and eliminate decision making. Every Sunday, I go through my Sunday Basket®. Depending on things that need to get done that week, I can fill in my schedule, keeping in mind the routines I have established. It's a general guide or, as I mentioned, scaffolding. Scaffolding Planning Days Schedules give you structure but keep in mind, they can be reevaluated. Planning Days give you an opportunity to tweak your schedules. The Sunday Basket® is weekly and Planning Days offer the scaffolding, zooming out a little. Maybe you notice you want to change activities on different days due to a sports schedule change or getting your PhD. In Home Planning Day, we develop routines for morning, afternoon, and evening. In Workbox Planning Day, we develop routines for starting your work day, mid day, and ending your work day. Those six routines reduce your cognitive load. You made a plan proactively, now all you have to do is run it, go on autopilot. Level Up Scheduling Wanna take scheduling to the Nth degree? Schedule the people coming to your home. I mean, book them out far enough that you can get a complete list of all tasks before they come for the appointment. Once you know they are coming, you may find more tasks for them to complete. And schedule meetings with people. I used to want to connect with people but felt rude telling them it would have to wait two weeks, so I just wouldn't reach out or reply. I found over time that people don't mind at all. Book the meeting and connect. It may seem weird to book out two months, but the day will be there before you know it and you'll be connecting like you desired. Truly productive people are always looking at their schedules and realize they support them through scaffolding. Schedules do not limit them. Up next? Consistency! EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Podcast Resources The Sunday Basket® Organize 365® Home Planning Day Friday Workbox® Planning Day Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In this episode, I introduce you to Lori R. who loves having her two adult children live with her. Lori learned her peers were really into podcasts. Lori was trying to keep a lot of balls in the air due to work, her children, and her husband was sick. She searched podcasts for productivity and found the Organize 365® Podcast. She listened repeatedly to the Sunday Basket® episodes and made a makeshift one of her own. Her biggest lesson? Think differently which goes against her engineering brain. Lori has learned a lot like DIY, hire it out, or delegate tasks. Like how she hired cleaners for her son far away at college. And you can just stop. This is the permission Lori needed to just stop projects or roles she no longer wanted to be doing. Lori's daughter was in competitive cheer, on two teams. That meant a lot of time at the gym. To be more productive, she loaded up her paper and a camp chair and went through papers while her daughter practiced. When you are scheduling everything, be mindful of drive time and the best time to use the bathroom. And you don't need to watch every practice. Let's normalize getting ahead on house chores while kids are participating in afterschool activities. The podcast challenged her to think of other things she could accomplish during her daughter's hours at the gym, like the laundry that was bugging her and bringing a cooler to get groceries. As Lori told story after story of practical application of what she has learned, I realized she's been creating operational systems to help her home be functional. She finally invested in an official Sunday Basket® in 2021. Even her daughter learned if she needed an important paper, it was in her slash pocket. Lori initially invested in a Medical Binder for her husband. She was happily surprised to have her documentation pay off during covid. He had to go by ambulance a couple of times. She was unable to be with him. She had the peace of mind to take out his list of medications, photocopy it, and send it with the paramedics. Her husband passed away in December of 2022. Lori leaned on the Sunday Basket® to collect all the mail of her deceased husband for later processing. Unfortunately she lost her mother 10 months later. Her mom now has a slash pocket to aid Lori in settling her estate. And that made her a caregiver to her dad. He got his own Sunday Basket® to help Lori in the functionality of his life, too. The statistics say you could outlive your husband. And most women as the household managers end up settling their spouses affairs as well as parents or other loved ones. The Sunday Basket® and Financial Binder are gifts to yourself in these times. After talking to Lori, we identified that her daughter is fairly organized. Thinking differently, I proposed that her daughter help with her father's house and care. Lori's advice is, Just get started. Just do a little bit at a time. It adds up. And to get a Medical Binder. Sometimes the apps don't work at the medical facilities and it's great to have it on paper. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

In the mindset trilogy of this series, "prepared" is the last part of mindset. We discussed going pro, being balanced, and now truly productive people are prepared, over prepared really. This level of being prepared can be weird to people or distance you from others, but you won't be the one scrambling when an unexpected life event rears its head. I'm going to give you some examples. Go Bag A friend of mine is in the caregiver role and I said what she needed is a go bag; think diaper bag for you as an adult. When my dad was sick and I needed to leave when I got the call, I had a go bag. And in fact, I'm going to put one together now and just hang it in the hall. What will I put in it? I'm glad you asked. I'll make sure there's my protein and fig bars so I can have healthy food if I am in a hospital or something. I like to have water bottles in there so I don't have to leave the person I am caring for, as well as a brush, hair clip, socks, sweatshirt or blanket (I'm always cold), battery to charge my phone and watch, and probably a notebook. You know, the things I like to have to keep me comfortable. It's a form of self care as you are pouring yourself into someone else. Being Overprepared Truly productive people like to have a month or better lead time in their supply chain. Greg and I recently got sick for 7-10 days. But our house was fine because it is always stocked for about a month. I replace the last one before it becomes the last one. At this point we'd be ok for about 2 weeks before we ran out of necessities.There's plenty of crackers, ice pops, and other foods in the event we are sick or can't get to the store; the staples. Snow storms or ice on the roads here in Cincinnati? No problem because we are stocked. There's no need for my family or I to panic. When snow days or storms hit, truly productive people are prepared. They have anticipated unexpected life events and prepared as best as one can. The more prepared you are, the higher level of problems you can handle. Because you are prepared, you can handle a level 5 issue. But be unprepared and most problems can feel pretty chaotic. And truly productive people know their obligations, have them on their calendar, and can manipulate time and obligations to fulfill new responsibilities due to an unexpected event. If you aren't running at this level, I suggest you participate in the 21 Day Household Manager Bootcamp next month. The Power of Paper I cannot share enough times when paper has come in to save the day. You cannot use your recollection as proof of what you are saying. Doctors, professors, and the general population want physical paper/literature to back up what you are saying. It's tricky because you know if you are out of milk or bread. But no one knows if your paper is not organized and prepared. You want to be at a point when important papers are required, you can grab them quickly. Recently, I needed OLD paperwork for one of the kids. The doctor was saying he didn't have documentation that far back. I was able to locate it and provide it. I thought for sure that such a big medical group would have had it, but no. Guess who did? Lisa. Me. I did. That's the power of paper. Truly productive people feel that whatever they are working on right now, their business, home, homeschool role, parenting, or their marriage, they decide to commit to it 100% for a productive outcome. Where is your focus? What is your mindset in these areas? Next? We're digging into a 4-part series on the building blocks of organization. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Truly productive people are always producing due to systems and routines they have established; I call these trains. They have their trains humming along which allows work-life balance. And balance means motion. If you are riding your bike, you are in motion while balancing. But when you slow down, you may lean to one side taking you out of balance. The same is true in life. But truly productive people can spot that imbalance and pivot and iterate to get back to balanced. It's a lot harder to start a stopped train… It's a lot easier on your balance if you iterate, opposed to stopping and then trying to get the trains up and running again. Let me refresh your memory of March 2020 when all of our trains stopped. It took almost three years to get all the trains running again. Do you remember how much energy it took? Some trains slowed down too much and had to permanently pull into the station, going out of business. And recently with CrowdStrike going down for the airlines. It's just not easy to get the planes back up in the air. There is a trickle down stacking effect. The earlier flights didn't go out so they needed to get those people on their way before they could accommodate current time flights. It took a lot of manpower to get those planes back in the air and caught up on their scheduled flight times. And the next likely time we can anticipate our trains stopping is the election…EEK! You can choose to get tunnel vision and focus solely on the election and possible outcomes. And then get emotional for the few days that follow. You know what productive people will be doing? They will produce until election day, go vote, and go back to producing. Truly productive people recognize what is worth the investment of their time and money. They want to effectively and productively use their time. What took me out of balance There I was chugging along with my trains. I survived Greg's surgery in December, the quest to solve Grayson's eczema for a while now, and other family needs for my time. I prepared the trains for the time I'd be gone in England. We had a fabulous trip and I jumped right into work when I got back. But something funny happened. You know I have told you your house will feel off and that is when it's time to iterate or reset, because organization and balance is a feeling? Well, I didn't do my normal summer reset. By the end of August, I had to take time off just to get the house back to normal. Why had my systems failed me? They did not fail me but I wasn't accounting for how much my family had needed me, not to mention all the time I gave to the remodels of Joey's condo and Abby's downstairs apartment. I realized I was completely over committed. Productive people can look at their systems and routines and pivot due to recognizing something like being over committed. I started to lean towards home and needed to get back in balance. I made three big decisions to put me back in balance. I have altered some plans at work to allow more home time. I have decided to take one less class to again free up more time to give to my family who have been in a season of needing more of me. This will lighten my load and allow me to stay in balance. You have to know when to take some cars off the train and send them to the yard until you can maintain them again. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Welcome to the 10 most productive weeks of the year! About 4-5 years ago, I was able to identify this natural productivity energy cadence in America due to the years of routine from school. Summer is relaxed but when we head back to school, September to December is fast and furious! And once we get into business, it's the same because businesses are ready to get out of the red and into the black regarding profits, hence Black Friday. Mindset My family and other people have always given me a hard time about how productive I strive to be. I am happy when I am producing. I can't stop and I don't want to stop. I am where work comes from in Organize 365® and my home runs off my productivity. I do sleep and make time for my family, but my "normal" is being productive. And I have recently decided I am no longer apologetic for being productive. In fact, I've gone pro. Going pro means being a truly productive person that is always effortlessly producing. It's not that you are just going to run a marathon, but that you are going to finish that marathon. And when you go pro as the home manager, you and your family benefit. What is there to apologize for? I mean, if you hired an actual home manager, would you want them to sit around or would you be thinking, "The house isn't going to take care of itself!" As a professional home manager, you give 100% effort and produce as a person striving for excellence not this pie in the sky idea or aesthetics of perfection. Be A Scientist Observing Yourself You can learn so much if you just track where you spend your time. If you are running your marathon and feel the need for more time on a specific project, I encourage you to be a scientist of your own life. In my observation, I have decided I will not be getting extra productivity time by staying up late or getting up early. So where else could I gain time? I realized the other day how much time I could save if I didn't do my hair everyday. Bun hair days mean I get almost an extra hour each day. That's an extra hour to be more productive. At the same time, I felt something was off. After observing where my time was going, it became apparent that I was spending too much time in CFO tasks. I decided to knock them out in one Saturday to stop taking time away from my weekly objectives. That is what truly productive people do! Observe and iterate. Marathon Energy I am a big fan of Jesse Itzler. Jesse does all kinds of crazy athletic challenges. When I know Jesse is trying to complete one of these challenges, man, I watch him like it's my job. I am so impressed with his mindset. It's not a matter of if he'll finish, just how. Athletes are such a good example of someone who has observed their performance and constantly makes slight improvements. They account for all variables like the best weather conditions, energy they need to be in, court or track or pool conditions to result in their best performance. We applaud it in athletics and we should applaud it in our work and homes. We are in the thick of marathon energy right now. Capitalize on it! Get your Sunday Basket® in order so you can be present because you know every thought or idea is accounted for and planned. Now own that you want to be a truly productive person and focus on your marathon. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

How do you remember what you need to do for the people you need to do it for, I mean really? Information management is the organization that will allow you to make informed decisions for the people, appointments, and processes in your life. The Sunday Basket® takes care of active papers, but some papers you need to hang on to. There are no more actions to do with this type of paper, but they are critical for future reference. I have a binder system, within The Paper Solution, to help you manage all the informational papers. Medical Binder The Medical Binder has allowed me to have many informed conversations with doctors that have led to not needing tests they may have required otherwise or access to medications the doctor may not have considered. I wanted to try to go on Clonidine to help with my hot flashes due to a hunch I had. I had my medical history with me in my Medical Binder. You know why I had it with me? My doctor does not digitize my records. So there aren't multiple medical records "talking to each other" or being updated. Being prepared for conversations with your doctor can elevate your conversations and the consideration your doctor gives to your concerns or desires. This worked to my advantage many times with my children as well while we tried to get them on a diet and medication that helped them to function their best. With the Medical Binder in hand, you can make critical decisions before you leave the hospital allowing you the best treatment. Let me tell you, you leave the hospital and change your mind? Your options are drastically different with higher price tags. This binder is a life saver! Household Reference Binder When we went to Europe, our smoke detectors went off. And Abby was going crazy so she called grandma, who called Joey. Joey really didn't want to call us. But it ended up being an easy fix due to the Household Reference Binder. Had I not filled it out, there would have been a couple of annoying days or some expensive invoice from ADT to come out and change the batteries. The Household Reference Binder can also remind you when routine maintenance is due and where you can keep appliance user manuals. This binder can also work to your benefit in selling your house - interested buyers will have peace of mind investing in your home when they know you took care of it and that there's a binder to help them take care of their new home. Financial Binder We just talked about being the CFO of your home. The Financial Binder helps to organize all the financial aspects of your household economy. You can file away all your insurance documents as well as taxes in this binder for quick future reference. I have shared before that I file taxes for Abby and Joey. So this is where I store their license numbers, issue date, and expiration date to save me time when filing their taxes. I don't need it any other time of the year so it goes in this binder. This becomes a valuable binder when it comes to settling an owner's estate. This shaves so many billable hours off an attorney and saves you time, too! Household Operations Binder How does your home function on a yearly cadence? The Household Operations Binder is like your family's standard operating procedures (SOP's.) You may find papers from this binder go into "active status" in the Sunday Basket® for a season and back to the Household Operations Binder until the next time. These papers remind us of facts about holidays or annual events. This binder is also where your family could find information and complete tasks normally they could not because it would all be in your brain. But because of the Household Operations Binder, you have externalized the process thus lowering your cognitive load and sharing those tasks. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

It recently dawned on me that what takes most of my time when processing the Sunday Basket® is the CFO tasks. I used to spend time reconciling the checkbook, now paying bills that can't be automated, and discussing with Greg what we'd like to do with any extra money. But also as the CFO, I considered the amount of time I think about our money, insurance, wills/trusts, and taxes. And you probably do too! This is a very important role in the part your small business (your home) plays in the nation's economy. You Must Prioritize Your CFO Role You need to have life insurance, a will, and I talk about your taxes; all CFO responsibilities. What happens to your money in the event something happens to you or your spouse? I remember when I earned a cruise out of the country and we were discussing it with friends. It was brought to our attention that we should have a will and life insurance. When we really thought about how life would continue in the event Greg or I weren't here, we realized this was a wise investment. And let me tell you that $32 to insure me for $100,000 almost killed us every month because we were down to the penny. And every December when we'd get the invoice for Greg's much larger policy…ugh, I mean I still dread it!! But I understood the financial peace of mind it provided. Years later, I learned about trusts. And by that time we had a little money and some assets and that triggered me wanting a trust to explain our wishes of how the money would be dispersed to our children in the event it was necessary to access the trust. As the CEO of Organize 365® and my home, I am always thinking about how I can make us stronger and more resilient. And when I have asked that question in the past for Organize 365®, it has gotten the employees life insurance, Q-SEHRA health insurance, 401K, vision/dental, short term disability, and this year…long term disability for me. There are about 7 steps you need to take to get these safeguards in place for you and your family as the CFO. The Breakdown of Getting Financial Plans in Place The Trigger - Maybe a friend goes through an unexpected event, you get advice, or you go on a trip and you realize it's necessary. Research - Decide what you need and then when you find the right person, they can put all the paperwork in place. Contact Agent - Usually by the time I'm reaching out to someone, I'm ready to buy. Fill Out Paperwork - They will give you the paperwork to get the information necessary to provide what you are hiring them for. Meet With and Pay The Agent - Bring the homework back to them and, of course, they want money for services rendered - this stuff ain't free! Complete Actions - Once you get the final paperwork back, review it; update it when needed. File It - File it for safekeeping and know where it is for quick access. Knowing where you filed stuff brings me to the next topic of taxes. You all know I take care of a lot for Joey and Abby, including but not limited to their taxes. I have taught my children Organize 365® systems and we all use the same system of the Sunday Basket® and The Paper Solution® Binders. And I have organized my mother in law the same way. This makes it really easy for me to serve as everyone's CFO. Multiple users, but one system. I look the same place for each person, just a different binder or Sunday Basket®. Now when it comes to Organize 365®'s taxes, things have gotten more complicated over the years and I have hired someone to help and provide advice on tax benefits I could take advantage of. Know when to consult the professional to protect your family's financial health. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® The Productive Home Solution Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!