Organize 365 Podcast

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Natasha B., the daughter of immigrant parents. Oh how covid changed so many things for so many of us. Natasha had her own business and lived with her mom. Natasha was ecstatic to learn she'd have two weeks off to tackle some projects she always wished she had time for. But soon their income was affected and ironically, they moved in with her father, step mom, and their 7 month old baby in Florida. She likes to refer to them as "the original modern family!" Natasha took her skills she'd learned after finding Organize 365® and started to organize her dad's kitchen and house, too. It was a struggle at first, but now they appreciate the method to her madness. Her parents saw how much she loved organizing, so her mom invested in the Sunday Basket® for her. She did at least set it up, but didn't use it for 2 years. Now she's in almost all of Lisa's programs! Natasha found out she had developed Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2019. Listen in as we discuss the necessity of planning and creating habits to feel in control of a disease that makes you feel like you have no control. At any moment, Natasha can be at the mercy of her energy. When she's having a flare up, she's in a lot of pain and it causes low energy. But what she finds is that with help from the Sunday Basket and the 'spoon theory', she can prioritize tasks per day according to her energy. Organization is now part of Natasha's health management - it gives her more time, more energy, and more peace. Up until her diagnosis, Natasha was a competitive ballet dancer. Now she's almost in her 30's and already in her second career of running a dance studio. She's now sharing her love of dance in a different way. And her doctors encourage her to keep dancing! She has created a podcast that she plans to air someday. It will be titled "We Dance Too" and would love it to be a layer of her business to help her reach out and partner with other businesses focused on Rheumatoid Arthritis. She wants to share what she has learned about organization that others with her disease could utilize, too. Natasha dreams a lot, so who knows what that third career may look like! She now has the confidence to say no to some things and not feel guilty about it. We discussed not permanently closing the door on opportunities that present themselves now. Just look at them as "not right now" and file away in a pink slash pocket. Natasha wishes that she would've known sooner that organization is a learnable skill. But her advice to others is, "Everyone who starts The Productive Home Solution® should just listen to the steps and do one at a time. And follow the energy." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Planning Day The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Bachata Fuego Sarasota - Natasha's business I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

At 40 I knew it was "time to start my company." But what company should I start? I started simple and have grown with demand. Everyone is working all the time and no one has time to plan. You also don't have the time NOT TO. You still have to put in the hours - so you can spend the time working on current projects, or reflecting on what you were doing. It's still work. The thing is, no company or no one employee will do this perfectly, and no one actually has the time - you have to just do it. My hunch is that this quarterly planning is going to become the norm due to the internet and business changing so rapidly. Gone are the days of having a 10 year plan, because the change in life alone will make predictability difficult. Not bad to have a 5 or ten year plan, just know there will be lots of course corrections. The Singularity theory says that there will be a time where all knowledge will be known from everywhere instantly. This is where we are headed, people. Cue the Rabbit Trail I took a detour down a rabbit trail in this episode! This rabbit trail began with my recent studies of the Industrial Revolution. It dawned on me that railroads offered transportation, thus lending itself to more communication. Much in the same way when cars were invented. Farmers could get their products much further and visit their families and other farmers because the car could travel further than the standard horse. See, transportation and communication. And now, due largely in part to the pandemic, the internet is the new railroad. The communication and transportation highway. It's all online, everything. The Workbox Planning Day is a continual progression of regular reflection, opportunity selection, and course correction: Continued regular reflection; Ask yourself How has the world changed in the last three years? Where is my/the business now? Where is it going? Are we going in the same direction? How are people buying? Are we still relevant? Opportunity selection What projects do you want to get to the finish line in this quarter? No more than 5; but ideally 3. Course correction I gave the example of our new website. We hadn't planned on it but it was necessary to keep the business going. Once the issue was identified, we course corrected Takeaway… Your biggest benefit and your biggest expense in business is the people. EPISODE RESOURCES: Friday Workbox® Workbox Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to September G. who is an ambitious entrepreneur. We talked about her routines pre and post pandemic, and the moment she just couldn't take it any longer. The pandemic was the opposite of a Golden Window for September! She couldn't take that they had settled into old habits during the pandemic. When her husband asked if they were on the verge of a divorce due to September's unsettled behavior and the meltdown she had, she said that is when they banded together and invested in the Sunday Basket® and their marriage. She has been able to make the invisible work visible, so others can accomplish the same tasks in her absence since she travels often. It gave them a chance to renegotiate and reorder responsibilities. Listen in as we discuss the vital role the Sunday Basket® and The Friday Workbox® plays in both her businesses and her home life. She and her husband actually go through their Sunday Basket® on Fridays, and then he knows what his checklist is for the week. She runs a coffee shop with her children, and the Friday Workbox® helps them get things done more efficiently. It systematizes what's happening and when, they get more done, work faster, and management is much more proactive. It works so effectively that she has peace of mind that things will not fall through the cracks. I hypothesized that maybe the boys are ok with doing the Friday Workbox® on their own because they saw their dad model this behavior. Even when we don't realize it, our children are watching us. We need to get ready to cheer September on because in March and April of 2024, she embarks on the Southern Tier Bike Ride from San Diego, CA to St. Augustine, FL. September explained the ride and that it is a 2-month commitment. She is confident that Gerety Education Team, the coffee shop, and her household will be taken care of due to the systems and organization that September, her family, and her remote team have put into place thanks to Organize 365®. She has freedom from stress knowing that things won't fall through the cracks. September's advice is, "Just buy all the stuff." Let Lisa do all the thinking for you and you just fill in the blanks or do the things. Forget struggling to DIY it! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 Barbie Movie Have I mentioned I like to plan? It's like a never ending mental puzzle. I've become really skilled at manipulating my time like Lego bricks; I move it around, expand it, replan it in my brain before taking action. This got me thinking: "How can I explain Planning Day to someone who's never heard of Organize 365®?" It made me think of a few silly examples, like the Barbie movie. Did you see it? OR did you see a lot of other people talk about seeing it and start thinking maybe I should go see it too?! This is what happens - the more we hear about something, the more we think there must be value in what everyone else is doing. Just like my Culver's onion rings I talk about all the time, or Madam Secretary being my role model. You see others in the community finding such value in it and I want you to experience the same results with Planning Day. So much of this is mindset. I talked about this in my last podcast series, the difference between being organized and productive is your mindset. Planning Day is a day to think about the next 4 months, and planning your household 3 times a year is very purposeful. The Flow - Positive, Productive, Proactive I've coined the products and services that Organize 365® offers the flow. Greg says to me quite often, "Lisa, can you please just go with the flow?" The podcasts, blitzes, The Productive Home Solution™, clubs, Instagram - it's all curated as a positive, productive, proactive flow! When you are in the flow - you will become very productive due to the cadence and "stair step" process of the Organize 365® products. Whether you have kids or not, it's a flow we have all become conditioned by due to the American education schedule. We all know that we get rejuvenated in summer, then we buckle down from after Labor Day until mid November. We then get organized in January, and ride the wave through spring break until summer arrives again. Organize 365® recognizes this cyclical pattern and has created a flow that compliments it! Our homes are a business - and we need the Organize 365® products and programs to run that business! What Planning Day Does: Gives you the big picture of where you are going Plan the next 4 months and learn how to "purposefully procrastinate" You will have bigger time horizons. Look at this 4 month chunk and then you don't have to spend anymore time planning or reacting. The idea is to have thought of most things and then have more time to address something unexpected or overlooked. Helps you to make better decisions Spend your money, time, and energy better. Establish new habits to the point where they are no longer reactionary. You just know the next step or how to approach the situation. After 4-6 weeks you will have more mental capacity. All those other goals and dreams you have? Plan them accordingly and you'll know exactly when you'll meet or complete each one! What's Included in Planning Day (first one is included when you purchase of The Productive Home Solution™): 4 hour Zoom Webinar Brain Dump - personal, financial, household, family Where you are right now - Golden Windows, top 3 priorities, etc. Timed breaks 3-10 min (wherever they fit in) Year at a glance 168 hour time circles - see where your time goes and plan where you want to spend it going forward. Establish routines for morning, afternoon, and evening Analyze how you spend your time on weekdays vs. weekends Plan ideal weeks going forward Set goals for the next 120 days, and break down those goals into each month Replay for 25 Days; to ensure you get started If it was available forever you would not have any urgency to get started You can watch or listen multiple times. If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed, take a break, sleep on it, and come back to it the next day (or later). The workbook won't be fully complete or perfect. Remember the only wrong way to do this is to not start. Workbook (with extra pages so you actually use it! You'll know why I say this once you listen) Community While there is no live chat (which is nice because then you don't miss out on anything in replay mode), there is always the community. Many conversations take place during the breaks and after, of course, as everyone continues to take steps towards organization and productivity. I'd love to have you join me in the classroom and get functionally organized so you can do what you are uniquely created to do! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ Home Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode Ryan L. is back, and she's getting ready for a Golden Window! The last of her three children is getting ready to fly the coop! What will she do with all her new found time and energy? "This is for me! This is my time!" expressed Ryan. She plans to get fully organized. Ryan is a Kolbe Consultant and we dug into that for a bit. She and I shared our Kolbe numbers, what they mean, and how you too can learn from your Kolbe numbers. Ryan stressed that all numbers are a strength; they just simply show how you do things in those 4 categories. Listen in as we discuss the necessity of planning and creating habits. One of her favorite "Lisa-isms" is Planned Neglect. Set the bar LOW and trust your instincts! It's impossible to do this incorrectly. Too many times we don't know how to get started or afraid we'll do it wrong. The most important thing is to just get started. Ryan plans to start in her laundry room. It's funny how you can think this is such an insignificant room until you analyze this space. This room is the "workhorse" of the house, the room where every random thing gets dropped. Check out the free week to organize your laundry room, you'll be surprised! Ryan feels bad that she's so excited for her Golden Window (you know…that mom guilt starts to kick in). She will be able to put time on her calendar and won't have as many distractions so she will be able to protect that time better. Her goal is to commit 20-25 hours a week to get her home through The Productive Home Solution™ this time around. If you find yourself on the cusp of a Golden Window like Ryan is…immediately fill that new free time as if you've hired a Professional Organizer for your house - except you're the expert! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Productive Home Solution™ FREE WEEK The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Planning Day The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Productive people are weird. We just are. We are not going with the flow. We are where the flow comes from. First, I suggest listening to part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this series before doing anything else. In today's episode we are bringing the entire process of expanding your capacity and productivity together. There's a process to this and it all comes together today! I have received many requests to record podcasts on how I get so much done. Where do I get the capacity? The energy? How am I so productive? I'm obsessive about being productive and proactive because my sense of significance and purpose is burning so deep in me. I don't want to waste my time. I am all in on having the most impact I can have on my family, my friends, the Organize 365® community, my team and the community as a whole! But here's the thing - this was an evolution for me. It didn't happen overnight or in a weekend. It was a long process. I've been thinking about this series for years, but have never been able to articulate it. I had to dig deep to really pinpoint the things I was doing to get it all done. It was hard for me to remember why or how I got to this skill level. Productivity has everything to do with how you think about your time, energy, capacity and your sense of purpose. It has nothing to do with containers, planners, or checklists. It is your mindset that makes the biggest difference in your own productivity. You can learn how to manipulate your own energy and expand your capacity just by focusing on your personal and professional development. If you also give yourself permission to do things you don't see other people doing - you will be well on your way. What's the thing you want to do or learn that will help you take the next step? What's something you want to do but haven't for #allthereasons? Today's podcast is going to have you asking yourself some deep questions: What's something you can learn to keep growing or developing in order to expand your capacity? What's something you want to do that's out of your comfort zone? How do you keep maximizing your capacity, then using it with purpose? Are you deriving the energy from your physical space at the most optimal level? Do you truly know how to plan and are you planning enough? A productive person surrounds themselves with physical, mental and emotional space that supports their productivity and growth. Last week, I talked about juggling. I don't feel like I'm juggling, or that my life is imbalanced. This feels more like bouncing balloons up into the air and constantly keeping them from hitting the ground. Productive people have the capacity not only to keep all these balloons in the air, but to have more balloons than they would be physically able to hold all at once. What does it take to do this? Obsessive and relentless planning! I hope you join me and get functionally organized so you can do what you are uniquely created to do! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ Home Planning Day The Friday Workbox® Work Planning Day Jeff Olson - The Slight Edge Rory Vaden - Procrastinate on Purpose 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Mary B. She's a mom of 4 and after her divorce found Organize 365®. She walked away from that divorce thinking she wasn't good enough. When she looked around her house, her negative self talk got the better of her, telling her she wasn't even good at keeping her house organized. Then when she noticed she'd also been gaining weight, she started to dig into why. Mary was very vulnerable and shared the mental health journey she has been on and how Organize 365® played a role in her healing. Mary saw a naturopath and also saw an EMDR therapist when her anxiety and panic attacks became regular. Through EMDR therapy, she discovered trauma from the divorce hanging around, and unfortunately even more trauma from her childhood. All this trauma was stuck in her body and keeping her cortisol levels high. We discussed how no two people experience the same thing in the same way, and also about how you can move on from a traumatic event without dredging up the past to try and "solve the problem." Listen in as we discuss the guilt we feel as women - even when we are the ones doing most of the childcare and generating an income too! Research has supported that for each child a woman adds to their life, they gain three and a half hours of extra work while the man gains none. How much leisure time does the dad lose when a child is brought into the family? NONE. How much time does the mom lose when a child is brought into the family? Countless!! It's time for us. You should not feel guilty about budgeting for home cleaning services then using that time you get back for yourself. Use it for your hobbies and interests - guilt free. It was so important to have this conversation because it seems as though we are living these isolated lives, even in such a connected world. We keep everything so private to "save face" when really it's all falling apart behind closed doors. These conversations need to be normalized. Mary is not stuck anymore and has been able to conquer her paper piles. If you find yourself in a similar situation to Mary's, you can reach out to her in the Organize 365 community app so you can have a private, candid conversation with her directly. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Let's unpack the next step in my productivity journey - PLANNING! First, if you haven't listened to part 1 and part 2, I highly recommend doing so before delving into planning! Planning is the fun part, but you really need the foundational productivity mindsets discussed in the first two parts of this series. The planning we are going to discuss in this podcast is a completely different kind of planning. This is planning from the ground up! A productive person teaches themselves how to get all the way done. For me, I really learned how to do this kind of planning in March 2020. This is when reality set in for me and failure was not an option. Planning became my number one priority. The type of planning I've learned to do and the type of planning I teach in Planning Days for both Home and Work allows you to look at the big picture as well as what is actually possible in the season you're in. It's an awesome way to continue taking next steps without feeling overwhelmed or like you're drowning! I don't plan for an entire year at a time. That wouldn't work for me or my business. I break planning up for Home by my three new years - listen to this podcast to learn more about those. For work, I plan by quarter which allows me to be agile and create efficiencies for my teams and meetings throughout the year. It doesn't end there - setting up this system for planning and essentially planning out my planning time allows me to have multiple times throughout the year to freshen up my home and work. You know that amazing burst of energy you get at the start of the new year? The whole "new year, new me" energy? Imagine having that multiple times per year? What could that do for your productivity? That's exactly what these planning days do for me and the Organize 365® community! Ultimately, this podcast series on productivity is going to teach you how to juggle really well. It's true that life is a juggling act and you need to know how to keep all the balls in the air. Listen in to hear what balls I'm juggling and how I've used my productivity skills to juggle better! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Friday Workbox® The Friday Workbox® Planning Day The Productive Home Solution™ Home Planning Day® 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Kristen M. a mom of three, a teacher, podcaster, and a teacher-prenuer. How does she do it all? Kristen shared that it started with the Sunday Basket®. She knew she had to get her paper under control first. Routines are so important and without her knowing it, she had established an afternoon routine of doing 15 min of paperwork between the end of her work day and when her children would be home. Once she experienced the magic of the Sunday Basket®, she quickly layered system upon system and now is a well rounded Organize 365® member! Listen in as we discuss the different uses for Sunday Basket®s throughout the year. Kristen used one of her Sunday Basket®s to organize her daughter's senior year and now her daughter will be going off to college with the Launch Program and Binder. And she will use it differently again closer to the holidays. Hear how Kristen's children love the magic of the Sunday Basket® too, mind you one is only 8 years old!. The Sunday Basket® helps her to be more present because she is not trying to remember everything. And she can stay aware of her children's desires due to them contributing to the Sunday Basket® index cards. Kristen also shared the magic of the Sunday Basket® through her eyes. Once she got the hang of it, it was so freeing. Kristen was already organized so why did she need new systems? The reality is the new systems were freeing up her working memory. Instead of trying to remember everything all of the time, now it was physically in her external brains known to us as Sunday Basket®s. She doesn't have to remember how the school year curriculum went. She just refers to the Sunday Basket® and knows what she can change or do better for the upcoming school year. She uses her different slash pockets to organize things for her podcast, "The Modern Math Teacher" and her teacher business within each "external brain." She's impressed when she looks back and can see all the impact she has been able to have due to the physical systems of her external brains, the Sunday Basket®. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 today's episode, Expanding Your Productivity: Productive People Part 2, I discuss how the next step on my productivity journey was very much an inside job. A lot of the things that I was doing during this part of my transformative journey were invisible to those around me. But, yet had a massive impact on where I am today. I quickly realized that to have the impact I wanted to have, I would need to create products and courses. The products you need to truly get your papers organized didn't exist. I would need to create them. The courses you need to learn to get functionally organized and stay organized didn't exist. I would need to create them. My in-home professional organizing business was growing rapidly and in the background I was creating a new vision and mission for Organize 365®. Listen in to hear how I was able to create this on an airplane! I had a burning desire to help women learn the skill of organization so they could unlock their time to do what they were uniquely created to do. I was having great success with this with my in-home clients. But how could I do that on a larger scale? This is where I had to just keep taking the next step. You know the long game but you are very much in the weeds, putting one foot in front of the other. To those around you, your transformation may be undetectable at this point. If you aren't sure what the next step is…I'm here to affirm that no one else is going to be able to tell you either. I can tell you that you are always capable of more than you realize. You have so much more in the tank than you realize. Through this period of time in my life, where I was deeply internalized and absorbing information, books and podcasts, I became laser focused on creating the products that now fill the Organize 365® warehouse and are helping people all over the world (literally)! I also created The Productive Home Solution™ as the course that will help you learn to live an organized, productive and proactive life while organizing your entire home - one step at a time. It was through my own experiences of not knowing what that next step was that I was able to create a complete program designed to provide you with the next steps for getting organized in a way that is functional and sustainable for you. Then, once you're organized, the sky's the limit! You will have unlocked so much time and possibility and I can't wait to see what's next for you! It's so fitting that this podcast happens to be episode 550! We are now half way to 600 episodes because I just keep making the next episode and taking the next step. Whatever stage of life you are in, I want to encourage you to let go of guilt and invest in yourself. Do and get the things you need to feel motivated, be more productive and take the next step. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Productive Home Solution™ The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I am excited for Susan T. to share her Organize 365® journey with you! Susan lives with her husband and adult children - her daughter is 29 and her son is 26. They both live in apartments in Susan's home and we talk about the blessings and challenges of building strong relationships with our adult children. When she found Organize 365® through an interview I did on another podcast, she was helping a friend get her paper organized. She then, like many of you, binged all of the Organize 365® podcasts and found that our solutions were exactly what she needed! She had been trying for a while to figure out a system for organizing her work. She had an ever-growing pile sitting on the corner of her desk. The pile was creating overwhelm for her. She struggles to get her work organized and move easily from task to task. She needed a system for her work and her paper pile. The Friday Workbox® transformed how she organizes her work and her ability to keep moving throughout the week at work, especially as someone who works mostly out in the field. Planning Day for Work and Home have also been a gamechanger for her. She subscribes to both Work and Home Planning Days which leads us to a conversation about how Organize 365® is able to help orchestrate a flow for your life through these planning days, which is exactly why Susan goes to them all. She looks at it as an accountability partner for her home and work. The coaching she gets from me during these events is an added bonus! Listen in to hear our tips for organizing your medical history in real time and how to set aside time for yourself to dream and think! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Friday Workbox® Planning Day The Productive Home Solution™ The Productive Home Solution™ Home Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Where does productivity come from? Planning our day the night before? Having solid routines? Having a beautiful and well-maintained planner? Those things are all important, but they aren't necessarily going to make you more or less productive. What are the differences between productive people vs. less productive people? To begin this podcast, I want to offer grace and understanding for those of you in phases of life where you have very little or no control over your productivity (such as a medical diagnosis, depression and active parenting years). I've been where you are and I know that these are all very real constraints. Productivity comes from being in control of your time. In order to do this, you need to observe YOURSELF. Look at your day and pay close attention to your energy levels - physically, mentally and emotionally. Become curious about yourself. What makes you more or less energetic? How can you extend periods of productivity? How can you unlock more of your time? In this episode, which is part one of a four-part series, I discuss the very first steps I took in my transformative journey to becoming my most productive self. I didn't just wake up one day with the energy and capacity to be the CEO of Organize 365® while also getting my PhD. This was a long journey. The first step in this journey was a wake-up call for me. I realized no one is coming to save me. If it's going to be, it's up to me. This realization led me to quit my job and other habits that were draining my energy on all levels. Through this series you can follow along on my productivity journey and learn how I had to take total ownership of my life. Productive people are obsessed with knowing what things make them more or less productive, from their diet choices to the amount of sleep they are getting. A big part of my transformation was looking at the purpose of the things I was trying to do. Productivity is not just about getting more done, it's about doing things that matter, knowing why you're doing them and doing them with a sense of calm. Want to instantly boost your productivity? Here are two questions you can start asking yourself to be more productive starting today: What's one thing I can do right now? Keep moving forward. Even if you are only taking one step at a time. When you feel "stuck" ask yourself, what's the next step that I can do right now. Do I have 15 more minutes? True productivity is not a check mark on a checklist - it's a completed project. When you are working on something and running out of time, don't be afraid to spend extra time to complete the project, especially if it will save you time in the future. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® Brooke Castillo and Kris Plachy Podcast 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Lori S. Lori is married with two adult children. Her daughter has completely left the nest and is getting married next spring and her son is in college. Lori has always been an organized person and loves to plan as much as I do. She found the podcast while looking for new ideas and systems to try on her organizational journey. Lori immediately upgraded the DIY Sunday Basket® in her kitchen to the real Sunday Basket®. She and I discuss how all the solutions ebb and flow, shrink and expand depending on your phase of life. A real light bulb moment for Lori was when she learned my philosophy on getting your storage room organized. In The Productive Home Solution™, I teach you how to organize your storage room as a store. This has allowed Lorie to transform her home over the past year. Lori has unlocked her time to do what she is uniquely gifted to do and that includes writing a book! We discuss Lori's book, "One Shade Greener at Home: A Room by Room Guide to Reduce Toxins, Lighten Your Environmental Footprint, and Live Simpler". Listen in to hear the things I'm doing to live greener! Lori and I both agree that small consistent steps over time make the biggest difference! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 isn't really about scissors. It's about empowering yourself. It's about taking back your spaces, your time and making things more efficient, functional and enjoyable for YOU. Your home is yours. It is the place where you have the most control. So if there are things at your home like old scissors - now is a great time to re-evaluate your supplies and get better ones if needed! I can't say it enough - managing your household is a full-time job and you get to be the CEO. So if things aren't up to par, you get to make it better! What would make your job as the CEO of your household easier? This podcast is airing in the middle of summer because right now is when you are going to find the best sales and the most variety of office and school supplies. Observe what you use and want to stock up on now while it is all on sale. What current supplies are you just tolerating but would be better served by upgrading or updating? Small upgrades to your supplies can yield big results! Grab your favorite beverage, take some time to yourself and go stroll the back to school supplies aisle at your favorite store. EPISODE RESOURCES: Back to School Blitz Upgrade your Organize 365® Supplies 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Janet O. Janet is a mother of two "adult children", she's been married for 38 years and she is a Nurse Practitioner in the emergency room! I've met her twice at Paper Organizing Retreats as she worked to get all her paper organized once and for all! Listen in as we discuss her husband's ALS diagnosis, how his diagnosis catapulted her sense of urgency to get organized and how she found Organize 365®. There's a lot that stands out in this interview for me. What I found most interesting about this interview is how medical professionals view the Organize 365® Medical Binder. Sometimes we worry that our medical providers will be offended by bringing these documents with us or we think that they already have all the information so we don't need to bring anything. This is not the case. Yes, most medical facilities now have digital systems for record keeping, but they aren't connected in any way. This means if you are visiting multiple providers (which almost everyone does), they don't have a complete picture of your health and medical history. When I met Janet for the first time at a Paper Organizing Retreat, she very infamously told me that her husband said the Holiday Blitz (which is FREE) is worth the entire price of The Productive Home Solution™. Janet was notorious for overcomplicating and creating stress around the holiday season. The Holiday Blitz allowed her to simplify and plan ahead for less stress around the holidays. Janet also talks about how she and her husband now use multiple Sunday Baskets® and we discuss recommended intervals for processing different Sunday Baskets® used for specific purposes. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Paper Organizing Retreats The Productive Home Solution™ The Paper Solution® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 episode is the second part of a two part series. Rhonda and Casey are back and today we are discussing how Rhonda's organizational journey led her to become more organized at home, with paper, homeschooling and has allowed her and her husband to expand their work! They have BOTH started new businesses since Rhonda's organizational transformation. One of the things that initially surprised me when I became a professional organizer was how much a lack of organization was holding people back. Rhonda's story shows how learning the skill of organization will unlock your time and allow you to do more of what you were uniquely created to do. Rhonda is now an Organize 365® Certified Organizer and provides organizing services to clients in Springfield, MO! Rhonda now understands that organization is not a one size fits all systematic approach. It is about learning the skill of organizing and creating organization that works for you and your family. Now she shares her passion of organizing to help others move from reactive to proactive. How did she go from an overwhelmed and self-described disorganized homeschool mom to being able to juggle homeschool, home, sports and starting her own business? The Business Friday Workbox® with Work Planning Day comes in full view during this episode! Oh my goodness - hearing Casey's perspective on the Work Planning Day is a must-listen! Casey is a civil engineer who has spent his entire adult life working for large companies. One day he was eavesdropping on Rhonda's Work Planning Day and suddenly was completely enthralled with it. You have to hear why he kept making Rhonda pause the replay! Casey was able to take my philosophy on meetings back to his company to help re-evaluate the amount of meetings taking place (there were A LOT)! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Friday Workbox® Friday Workbox® Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! This episode is part one of a two part series! I'm so excited to welcome Rhonda H. back to the podcast. She recently shared her transformation story with me and today we are going to hear about Rhonda's organizational journey from her husband's perspective! When you are on a transformational journey it impacts those around you. We all hope that as you make positive changes in your life - become more organized, more productive, more positive - it will have a positive impact on those around you, also. And perhaps, it will even inspire and motivate those people to join in. But sometimes it can be intimidating to others, sometimes they aren't ready for you to make changes or it can even make them feel bad about themselves. Listen in as we explore how Rhonda's organizational journey impacted her husband and her family. Rhonda and Casey have been married for 18 years. Rhonda has homeschooled (and still is) all four of their children. In this episode, they very candidly and accurately share how they have divided up the invisible work at home over the years and throughout different phases of their life together. Casey is happy to report how Rhonda's transformation through the Organize 365® courses has led to a new level of confidence that has had a positive trickle down effect on their entire family. Join me for the second part of this interview where we segway from discussing the home and housework to how Rhonda has organized her paper, work and homeschool! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Planning Day Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 today's special Back to School Summit episode, I'm talking with Steph Fowler from Austin Fowler. Steph has four kids and became a business owner after having her kids and finding an unmet need in the marketplace. Today's episode focuses on a question I love to ask other successful entrepreneurs who are balancing home and work - how do you do it? How does Steph Fowler do it? Planning and organization! Steph offers so many amazing insights into balancing a big family with lots of extracurriculars and growing a business. We discuss the importance of making the invisible work visible. She writes it all down! As do I. I've been telling you for years - WRITE IT DOWN. Start now - grab some notecards or a piece of paper and start writing down any errant thoughts or to-dos that pop into your head as you listen to this podcast! The best part of this podcast is that you get to hear about everything that's in my wallet! If you are one of those people like me that's always curious about how others' organize their things, you'll love the detailed conversation we have about how I personally use the Austin Fowler products for organization and productivity on-the-go! Episode Resources: Register for the FREE Back to School Blitz Austin Fowler - Free printable packing checklists 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 today's special Back to School Summit episode, I'm pleased to welcome Angela Watson back to the Organize 365® podcast! Angela has been on the podcast multiple times now. Angela spent 11 years as a classroom teacher and then created a truly life-changing course for Teachers called the 40-Hour Teacher Workweek. She's also the host of her own podcast, Truth for Teachers. We hope all the teachers out there will listen to this episode as it is a hug from Angela and I to you! We understand better than most that teachers LOVE to teach. It's a calling as much as it is a profession. Even if you're not a teacher, this episode is for you! Angela and I dive into planning and have lots of inspiration and tips to share about how to make the most of your days. We discuss how a really good plan actually frees you up to be more creative. Planning doesn't box you in. It helps you maximize your time, but you have to find a planning system that works for you. Planning isn't one-size fits all. Angela and I encourage you through this podcast to listen and learn from many people when it comes to creating a planning system for yourself. Take what works for you and adapt it to your own planning system. Then maintain your planning. Angela has a great analogy for how planning is like gardening. You don't just plant your seeds then you're done. You have to keep checking them, watering them, figure out what's not working and make adjustments. I guess it's true that life's a garden! Listen in and learn how you can plan in the most worthwhile way for you. Learn to plan this summer so you will be ready to run when the most productive 10 weeks of the year come around this fall (from Labor Day until the second week of November). What can you do this summer that will help you run farther faster this fall? Episode Resources: Register for the FREE Back to School Blitz Truth for Teachers - Angela Watson's website 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 today's special Back to School Summit episode, I'm talking with Cas Aarsen from Clutterbug! Cas has three children and is also growing a company! As we enjoy our summers, we also want to take advantage of this time to set ourselves and our family up for success this fall. Cas and I agree that the more you LEARN to be organized and productive, the more you're able to show up in all areas of your life. Part of that learning process is discovering what type of organization works best for you and your family. Cas offers a free quiz that allows you to find out what kinds of organizational systems and approaches would work best for you! She calls them her Clutterbugs! I love it! We discuss how important it is to find out what your Clutterbug type is and also how much time, capacity and where you are in the organizing cycle. Organize 365® offers a free quiz that is very complimentary to the Clutterbug quiz. Once you find out your Clutterbug type, the Organize 365® quiz can empower you to pinpoint why you are ready to get organized, how much time you have to commit to getting organized in a sustainable way and where you are in the organizing cycle. There are SO many great tips in this podcast! Enjoy and I hope it empowers you to think forward toward how you want your fall and/or school year to be organized, productive and less stressful this year! Episode Resources: Register for the FREE Back to School Blitz Take the free Clutterbug Quiz Take the free Organize 365® Quiz 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 today's special Back to School Summit episode, I'm talking with Sarah Hart-Unger about PLANNING. I love planning and so does Sarah. We both attribute planning to our success. There's so much value in thinking about your time in a concrete way and that is what planning allows you. Sarah is the host of the Best Laid Plans Podcast, co-host of the podcast Best of Both Worlds with Laura Vanderkam, mother of three children, and a pediatric endocrinologist. So needless to say, she has a lot on her plate. Organization and planning are a big part of her ability to do so much! In this episode, we dive into how to use planning as a tool in your arsenal as you head into fall and back to school. We also discuss planning as it pertains to your kids! Kids like to know and have a plan also. Episode Resources: Register for the FREE Back to School Blitz Sarah Hart-Unger- Best of Both Worlds & Best Laid Plans Home Planning Day with Lisa Work Planning Day with Lisa 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!

Have you ever been looking for something so hard that you miss it? Of course you have. That's why we have so many idioms for this exact situation, like "If it'd been a snake it would have bit you." You tear your house apart looking for the glasses that are literally on your head (guilty). You get frustrated at everyone in your house for losing your car keys that are still in the car. Often what we are searching for is right under our nose. Perhaps it's been there longer than we realize. Today on the podcast, I reflect on my personal history and how it has uniquely shaped who I am and where I am today. I love sharing my story with all of you and I reflect on this not because I want to tell my story. I want you to see that my unique gift and passion for being the CEO of Organize 365® runs deep. Just like I know there's something that runs deep in you, too. Picture yourself from the 50,000 foot point of view, then take inventory of your life and your story. You'll quickly realize that your "something" has been right under your nose the entire time. Sometimes we can't see the forest through the trees. We are so focused on the details of our life that we don't see the bigger picture. In my business and my life, I give myself permission all the time to dream. I literally schedule this time into my schedule. When you listen to today's podcast, I am giving you permission to dream. Think back to your upbringing, your life, the experiences you have sought out - everything is so close to you that you may not even see it. Think, dream, and take inventory of your unique personal history. Your story isn't done yet. Neither is mine. I'm pursuing a PhD and learning that Organize 365® is growing in different ways than I ever imagined. I'm paving my own paths and writing my own story. Your story is also still in the making. In this podcast I encourage you to look at all the puzzle pieces of your life up until now and let's start to put them together to help you discover your unique purpose. What are the things that you understand better than anyone? What is the thing you would sit down on the internet and research for hours? What is keeping you from taking the next step in pursuing your unique purpose? Whatever you're dreaming about, I'm here to encourage you to take the next step. Whatever it is…do it. Believe you can do it - because believing in yourself is NOT optional. Give yourself permission to dream it and do it! This is such a fun episode. I hope during this episode you free up your mind for your own story. In order to save you some time googling - here's the link to the infamous Longaberger Basket Building! Listen in to find out how this ties in! If you've forgotten how to dream or you're not even sure where to begin, I've created the Embrace experience for you. EPISODE RESOURCES: Embrace Self-Guided Retreat Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Katelyn S. In this can't miss interview, you will get to hear how Katelyn went from a self-described borderline hoarder to being ready to move with just two suitcases (one dedicated to her Organize 365® products) halfway around the world! Katelyn's transformation brings tears to my eyes. She absolutely embodies the Organize 365® mission, visions and values. When I started Organize 365®, I wanted to have a positive impact on helping people become organized so they can do what they are uniquely created to do and when you hear Katelyn's story - you will hear how organization freed up her time and mind to do exactly that. Listen in to find out where Katelyn is headed and why! She has some exciting adventures ahead of her. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Education Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution™ Embrace Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 past years I've proclaimed, "I don't know what Embrace is. Just do it." Today on the podcast, I'm coming clean. I DO know what Embrace is. I've just been scared to say it. But I need to. I want to help you unpack what you are uniquely created to do. It's an evolution, but the sooner you leave fear in the rearview mirror and you take that first step, the sooner you'll be closer to what you are uniquely created to do. This podcast episode takes me out of my comfort zone. I am coming out of hiding and I'm here to tell you - I do know what Embrace is. I know exactly what it is. I created it and I have carefully orchestrated every aspect of it. Embrace is an embodiment of my unique gift. My ability to tell the story of your life and help you get lost in dreaming of what could be so you can make it happen. Let's look at it this way: if you are getting ready to list your house for sale, a realtor will tell you to take down all the photos and tchotchkes so that other people can picture themselves living in the house. When you are listening to my podcast, I try to create a conversation where you are able to get lost in your own life. You are able to apply whatever I am talking about to your situation - yourself, your home, your family, your work. For as long as I can remember, I have been putting together the puzzle pieces of what it is to be a female head of household in today's society. My lifelong pursuit is to figure out who I am and who you are and how that relates to the many other roles we have. When I created Embrace (it was an evolution as well - hear the complete history of Embrace in today's episode), I wanted to create a completely unique two-day experience to immerse women in the musical of their life. And that's what Embrace is. It is the musical of your life. It is about you and it is a uniquely "Lisa" experience designed to help you understand and create a vision for how you can get to self-actualization with the life that you have. YES! Your life. Your current life. Not someone on social media's life. Not your life if you didn't have kids or weren't caretaking for a loved one. Not your life if you had more money or more time. Your life. Today. As it is. Ahhh. It feels SO good to finally speak this into my beloved podcast microphone. I DO know what Embrace is and you still should just do it! Learn more about Embrace. I created Embrace for you. I'm cheering you on as you embark on this journey to what you are uniquely created to do. EPISODE RESOURCES: Embrace Self-Guided Virtual Retreat The Productive Home Solution™ with Home Planning Day Sign-up to get the FREE Back to School Blitz in July! The Midlife Unraveling by Brene Brown 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Rhonda H. Her Organize 365® journey began when her cousin (who is like a sister to her) sent her the Sunday Basket® Podcast Playlist. She binged the podcast and tried to DIY her own Sunday Basket®, but quickly realized (like so many others) there's no substitute for the real deal. As a homeschool mom to four children, she didn't stop at The Sunday Basket®; she took her organizational journey through all the available resources at Organize 365®. She had tried many things to get organized and some of them worked as quick fixes, but the Organize 365® approach is where she finally found her organizational transformation. By learning the skill of organizing, she was able to maintain the organization for the first time ever. Why do we pretend we can get organized in a weekend? You can't get into better health in a weekend. You can't get out of debt in a weekend. And you can't get organized in a weekend either. It's a journey and I'm so excited to have Rhonda joining me on the podcast today to share her journey. Listen to the end to hear how she is now sharing her unique gift with others through Organize 365®! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ Education Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 episode is all about organizing your finances. What I've found is that organizing your finances isn't just about money. The Paper Solution® Financial Binder will guide you through your files, computer and the information inside your head needed to create a complete financial binder and estate plan. As difficult as it is to think about and even talk about - you are most likely going to settle an estate someday (you may have already).Your estate will also need to be settled. The Financial Binder was created out of my own experience with settling my dad's estate. Your life is different after you've settled an estate. This binder makes it as painless as possible for you to get your own financial records in place and you can also use this to help your loved ones. Listen in as I outline the four things you need to organize your finances. There is so much invisible work that needs to be made visible when it comes to our finances and estate planning. Every The Paper Solution® Binder includes a fully curated workbook. The Financial Binder's workbook includes: Financial prep sheet Family information sheets Personal documents and contacts Financial advisor information Insurance policy information Safe deposit box inventory Financial account inventory Debts and loans record Credit card inventory Bill payment records Gift cards and reward tracking Travel rewards Retirement benefits Household inventory EPISODE RESOURCES: The Paper Solution® - get all four essential binders with training courses and a virtual paper organizing retreat! The Financial Binder 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I'm delighted to introduce you to Jennifer L. She's a substitute teacher, caregiver to her grandmother and living with ADHD. As you'll hear in this interview, she's balancing A LOT of things. She's implemented the Sunday Basket® and I have some additional suggestions for her to help her lighten her mental load.. How to process through screenshots on your phone as part of your Sunday Basket® routine Organizational solutions that work well for those with ADHD Caregiving Finding your unique purpose Listen to end to hear how Jennifer L. has started to dream bigger for herself and embrace her unique purpose. It's truly inspirational. EPISODE RESOURCES: Embrace Self-Guided Retreat The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Education Friday Workbox® Jennifer L's favorite podcast episodes: Six Figure Time and The 4 Kinds of Housework Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Why do we put off organizing our medical records? Medical emergencies happen. The more prepared and organized you are, the better care you will receive. The Paper Solution® Medical Binder will allow your loved ones to advocate on your behalf with ease and decisions will be made faster. In this episode we do a deep dive into: What it means to organize your medical records and health What health & medical information do you need to have and where do you find it How to organize medical information for others - loved ones and children Best practices for managing medical records Viewing your medical history from a macro and micro level How to support yourself when you are in the caregiving role Every The Paper Solution® Binder includes a fully curated workbook. The Medical Binder's workbook includes: Family information sheet Medical information summary Medical & health history Family medical history Doctor information Diagnosis tracker Allergy tracker Medication tracker Lab results Hospitalization & surgery history Doctor appointment tracker Milestone checklist Immunization record EPISODE RESOURCES: The Paper Solution® - get all four essential binders with training courses and a virtual paper organizing retreat! The Medical Binder The Warrior Mama Binder Parent's perspectives of the pathway to diagnosis of childhood cancer: a matter of diagnostic triage The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter Don't wait to organize your medical and health records. Our health is something we often take for granted when we have it and wish we had it back when we don't have it. Be prepared. Make the binder for you and your loved ones. This is the best way to support your future self! 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! This is a highly motivational podcast. I'm so excited to introduce you to Jack Brendamour, co-owner of Junk King Cincinnati. Listen in as Jack and I discuss: Junk King Cincinnati's success Honoring the legacy of Pete McCreary, Junk King Cincinnati's original founder How to handle junk in your home The benefits of using a green and ethical junk company like Junk King What to do with styrofoam The best ways to stay on top of junk piling up in your home How Junk King has saved over 860,000 pounds from going to the landfill EPISODE RESOURCES: Junk King Cincinnati Habitat for Humanity Matthew 25 Ministries The Process of Organizing a Storage Space with Michelle Paradice I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 is the second of a four part series featuring The Paper Solution® Binders. Today I want to introduce you to the Household Reference Binder. The Household Reference Binder is for anything related to your house. Think of it as a little file cabinet for your house. In this episode, we discuss how to implement The Household Reference Binder for: Your home Second home, rental properties, multiple properties, etc. If you are getting ready to sell your home, move or buying a new home If you are a realtor The Household Reference Binder is a powerful tool that you should have to help you protect your biggest asset - your home! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Paper Solution® The Household Reference Binder 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Jake Nordmark. Jake has been part of our Organize 365® Dream Team for the last 2 years. We are talking about how things changed for him during the pandemic, things he learned with his diagnosis, and a sneak peek into the Launch Program when Jake and several of the other young team members went to school together at Organize 365® to learn and experience Launch. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Launch Program The Paper Solution® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 is the first of a four part series featuring The Paper Solution® Binders. Today I want to introduce you to the Household Operations Binder. This binder gives you or someone else everything needed to be the COO of your household! The Household Operations Binder is fun. This binder is all about you, your uniqueness, your family, how you celebrate life and the things and traditions that make your family unique and special. This binder will not only allow you to create a "lesson plan" for how you run your household, but also how to do it more effectively and efficiently. During my active parenting years, the Household Operations Binder was part of my Sunday Basket® routine. I would flip through the binder and create my schedule for the week. Every The Paper Solution® Binder includes a fully curated workbook. The Household Operations Binder's workbook includes: Cleaning Schedules Meal Planning Master Grocery Lists Family Information Emergency Information Babysitter Information Important Dates Rarely Used Items Tracker (genius!) Electronics Inventory Holiday and Event Planning Vacation and Travel Planning and Checklists Pet Records And more! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Paper Solution® The Household Operations Binder The Sunday Basket® 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Ginger H., and we get to talk about the Sunday Basket® and the habits that Ginger has established. Ginger is an empty nester with her husband and enjoys using her Sunday Basket® and participating in Planning Day. Listen in as we discuss the necessity of planning and creating habits. As we talk you can see where attending Planning Day is optional, but planning for the next 120 days is not optional. Ginger is on her second post retirement career as a real estate agent and talks about how her The Paper Solution® Household Reference Binder has been the best tool for her and her clients. She also explains how the The Paper Solution® Medical Binder was such a delight for her physician and The Paper Solution® Financial Binder has been great for the diversity in documents between her and her husband. Ginger advice is, "Do your husband a favor, do your kids a favor and get yourself organized, use the Sunday Basket®, use The Productive Home Solution™, use the The Paper Solution® Binders so that you know where everything is" EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution Planning Day The Paper Solution® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 honor of Mother's Day, I want to focus on the feminine touches that make a house a home. What are the things you remember growing up from your mother, grandmother or mother figure in your home that you want to add to your home? YOU make your house a home. In this episode, I encourage you to take a minute and reflect on: The great things that the women in your family have given to your family. How have these women helped make your house a home? What are the things you want to replicate? How can you purposefully add in those little traditions, holiday memories and feminine touches to your home? EPISODE RESOURCES: Mimi's Cookie Recipe Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Dawn F. and we get to talk about books! All the books! Dawn is an educator who has been a K-2 reading specialist for the past 17 years. Reading is her true passion which means she has a lot of books. Which means we get to talk about organizing books, which books to keep, how many books should you keep and how to store and display books. Dawn's favorite quote is, "I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves." I absolutely love this quote. Dawn describes herself as "organizationally challenged." She has found that the Organize 365® approach works for her. During the pandemic, she found the time and energy she needed to start getting truly organized. Her Sunday Basket® is running smoothly, takes little time to do each week and she feels amazing when she's able to find all her paperwork at a moment's notice. She moved and downsized recently and is implementing functional organizing throughout her new home. Listen until the end to hear how I have been using common school supply organizing tools for simple bathroom organization! EPISODE RESOURCES: The 24 Hour Rule The Sunday Basket® The Education Friday Workbox® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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 want to end this series by talking about how I'm planning for the next trimester and beyond and what is different now than what I was living with before I started this journey. The beginning of this journey started with trying to get naps in, still working a bit on days that I planned to do school, but it has moved to no naps and no work on Mondays and Thursdays. Looking at my past trimester will help me to better plan my next trimester. This has been such a joy being able to verbally process this change with you. Whenever you take on something new, you are changing your identity, adding to the person you already are and the person you are going to become. I have recently gotten to the point where I identify as a PhD student and that I am thinking what it will be like when I am actually Dr. Woodruff. That was the first time I said that out loud! Join me thinking about what it is going to be like when I finish this PhD journey. What journey are you on that you can imagine where you will be at the completion of that journey? EPISODE RESOURCES: Follow my journey on Instagram - Check out the PhD Highlight Button 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 times when getting organized is going to be easier. I call these Golden Windows. Some Golden Windows are given to all of us - like January (new year), spring and fall. The new year is all about starting the year off with a fresh start and achieving new goals. Spring and fall are both times of the year when there are big season shifts and you get a burst of energy. The spring energy lends itself well to planning and the fall energy lends itself well to productivity. Common Golden Windows include: Expecting a child Moving or selling your home When your youngest child starts school When your youngest child starts middle school When your youngest child starts driving Milestone birthdays If you want to hear a more in depth definition of Golden Windows, listen to this podcast. Today's episode is going to focus on a question I get a lot - how long do Golden Windows last? This depends on the type of Golden Window you're experiencing. There are long and short Golden Windows. A long Golden Window is something you can anticipate. A short Golden Window is one where you don't realize you're in a Golden Window until you're already in it. In a short Golden Window, you don't get to plan ahead so the energy fizzles out fast. An example of a long Golden Window could be pregnancy. You know you are going to have a baby so you have months and months to plan, re-organize, nest and prepare. An example of a short Golden Window could be adoption. When we adopted Joey, we got a call at 5 pm and by 7 pm we had a baby! Each Golden Window, no matter whether it is short or long, is an opportunity not to be overlooked! And while the length of time that Golden Window will be open for you depends on a lot of factors (outside of your control) there are certain things you can do to get the most out of it. Here are my three recommendations for making the most of a Golden Window: Anticipate Optimize Extend Understanding your Golden Windows allows you to get so much more out of these amazing bursts of energy. Listen in to find out how to anticipate, optimize and extend your Golden Windows for maximum impact. EPISODE RESOURCES: Golden Windows Podcast Organize 365® Home Planning Day The Productive Home Solution® Complete Home Organization Bundle Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! In this episode, I introduce you to Pamela A. to discuss her organizing journey and transformation. Pamela spent many years looking for her solutions to get herself and her home organized. With two small boys and a husband, she was on an endless search for organizing solutions. She found the Organize 365® Podcast through a Google search. She was hooked and binged all the old episodes while driving to and from work. That's SO many episodes. If you are also new around here - I highly recommend using our Organize 365® Podcast Playlists to find what you're looking for. Flash forward to today - Pamela's boys are now 27 and 33 years old. Pamela works full-time at a hospital. She has been living in the same house for the past 29 years (similar to me). There are upsides and downsides of staying in the same house for so long. When you move, it forces you to make decisions about your stuff. Pamela and I discuss that over the years she has accumulated a lot of stuff - that's not hers. Pamela's house is home to all her sons' stuff, her grandparents' stuff and now her own mother's belongings as well. It's a lot. Pamela watched the video I made where I show the process of organizing a storage room and she said she's going to need a dumpster like we used in this video. Watch it for free. Listen in to this interview to hear our in-depth conversation about: Why do we keep all of this stuff? How much should we realistically be keeping of things like children's artwork, books, American Girls, Legos, etc? How to organize a storage room and how long will it stay organized? Why we use our basements and storage rooms for delayed decision making and how to avoid this in the future. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Process of Organizing Your Storage Space Movie The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution™ I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Proactive versus Reactive Listen in to how I map out someone going from a completely reactive life to a proactive one. Since I don't have a lot of margin in my life right now, there are things I used to do regularly that I'm unable to do. I now have a 2-week break from school and I will be sharing how I plan to continue my proactive living without the additional margin in my life. At first I thought I would take the additional time off from school and put it to working more, but SURPRISE, I have decided to take some additional time off from work to do more personal and family related things. I want to have the flexibility to do whatever my energy is in allowing myself the freedom to do all these things in whatever order and be even better prepared for my next school semester. Here are some of the things I plan to take care of during my break: Reorganize the storage rooms Clean out the family room and toys Move into outside living Personal organizing - closet, bathroom, purse, car, supplements, and personal care Stock the house for the next 4 months Deep cleaning Catching up on podcasts Listen to audiobooks Sunday Basket® deep dive Binder updates Photo printing Puzzles and TV watching with Greg Fun family outings I am in a season where I am running really fast and I love it! What season are you in and how are you planning for these areas of your life? EPISODE RESOURCES: Follow my journey on Instagram - Check out the PhD Highlight Button 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 episode answers a question I get a lot. How do you know when you are organized? What does it mean to be fully organized? Does anyone ever feel finished? Is there an organization finish line? Let's get into it! First, you're going to want to follow along with the Organize 365® Research - get a FREE copy of our newly released research magazine here. Our most recent research study aimed to answer these questions about what it means to be organized and where the finish line might be. In order to do this, we broke organization up into the four categories we defined - personal, storage, family & communal spaces and paper. This allowed us to zero in on different areas and give people an opportunity to rank if they felt organized in any of these areas of their lives. 15% of respondents felt they were personally organized 14% of respondents felt that their storage rooms were organized 18% of respondents felt that their paper was organized 13% of respondents felt that their family & communal spaces were organized This is a huge problem because our research has already revealed that 87% of Americans believe organization is a learnable skill. So the majority of people believe this to be learnable, but yet they have not achieved it. My concern is that people start to think they are the problem. When in fact, the real problem is that we don't have a good way to learn the skill of organization or know when you've accomplished it. Listen in to hear more about how Swiss Cheese Organizing is only exacerbating the problem. Which leads to one of the most important points of this podcast: The order in which you attack organizing your home is MORE important than the amount you get done in any one area. Learning to be organized and becoming organized is a commitment. Just like any other new skill or lifestyle choice you may make - getting healthier, getting out of debt, getting a degree. It's going to take time. Probably eighteen months to three years. Once you understand that it is going to take time - there's a relief in that. A release of pressure. Let go of the idea that you can get this done in a weekend. That if you don't instantly start feeling and operating more organized, you've failed. You cannot get a transformation overnight or in the nooks and crannies of your everyday life. This is a commitment. But here's the really important thing to remember - in three of the four areas of organization we have defined (personal, storage and paper), once you get these areas organized they will stay organized for a long time. Today's episode includes approximate timelines for each area and tips for maintaining them once they are organized. There is so much organization goodness in this podcast and I want you to take from this that there is no one finish line for organization. There really are four finish lines, but also we are going for excellence not perfection. Create your own benchmarks and allow yourself the time you need to make this transformation and learn this skill. EPISODE RESOURCES: The State of Home Organization Research Magazine - my free gift to you! Watch me organize Michelle's Storage Room Excellence vs. Perfection in Home Mangement The Productive Home Solution™ Planning Day The Productive Home Solution™ Course + Planning Day Home ALL IN Bundle 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! Today I'm interviewing Lindsey S. She's a high school special education teacher that found me through my podcast with Angela Watson. What's so interesting about this interview is that Lindsey S. was already living an organized life when she found Organize 365®. But her life was speeding up and she had the wherewithal to know she had to implement some new organizational systems and skills if she was going to keep up. She lives with her husband, twin 5 year old daughters, and 9 year old daughter. Lindsey holds nothing back in the hopes that her story will help others. One of her daughters has a learning disability and one has autism. Her openness in sharing her journey advocating for her children is admirable. Even as a special education teacher of 12 years (knowing the ins and outs of the systems in place), she still needed a system for organizing and presenting her documentation for each of her daughters. She uses the Warrior MAMA Binder! We talk about parent intuition and observation which is something I've always known (anecdotally) is a thing. But I'm learning more and more about it in my PhD program. Lindsey has thoughts on this also! Switching topics to how Lindsey organizes herself and her household - you have to hear how Lindsey is "chunking" out her Sunday Basket® time! If you are in a busy season of life and can't seem to find the time to do your Sunday Basket®, this podcast is for you! I am floored to find out Lindsey also has Sunday Baskets® for each of her girls! She walks me through how these are set up and it is absolutely genius! She gave me some ideas to implement in my own life with my daughter. Then, she walks us through her Friday Workbox® which has been amazing for her since she has so much administrative work that she's been able to make visible (and pretty) with a Friday Workbox®. The Friday Workbox® helps her easily glide through her day. It's given her more capacity and time. How is Lindsey using the time she's unlocked through implementing Organize 365® systems and courses? Listen in to find out! EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Warrior Mama Binder The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Productive Home Solution™ I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

We are nearing the end of my first trimester and I am now in the mindset to be successful in this 4 year journey. In this podcast, I'm talking to you about planning. Processing this journey, I am a whole to part learner, looking at the end of the journey to understand what I will need to move through this journey. I am spending time attending webinars and meetings finding out more about the field I am studying and what else I may want to focus on to further the impact I could have. Once you make a decision, it is not set in stone; you can re-decide, modify, and make changes. As I move forward, I will continue to re-evaluate and plan my PhD experience. Planning for me is the key to not slip back into a reactive life, but to continually be looking at how I am using my days, weeks, months, trimesters, and the next 4 years, for the most impact possible; for myself personally, for my company, and for the people I am doing the research for. EPISODE RESOURCES: Follow my journey on Instagram - Check out the PhD Highlight Button 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 used to think that once my kids got older that summer wouldn't be so much of a challenge. Wrong. Adults get summers, too. Have you heard motivation coaches say "you only have so many summers left" OR "you only have so many summers left with your kids?" It may sound cliche, but it's true! When you put it in this context, it becomes very clear that you should absolutely prioritize your summer experiences! In today's podcast, I have some questions for you about your summer plans! We break it all down and I'm giving you my tips for planning your summer! It can be whatever you want it to be! Questions to ask yourself: What are your summer traditions? When you think about summer, what do you think about? What are things you do in the summer season exclusively? What have you done in the past that you want to repeat this summer? What is something new you want to do this summer? Are there any big milestones or birthdays or events that will be happening over summer? You MUST plan your seasons. There are natural points throughout the year to do this. Listen to this podcast about what I call Golden Windows to learn more. Here's why this is important - it's natural to be reactive at home. The Productive Home Solution™ Planning Day trains you how to plan and proactively prepare for all the foreseeable stuff. It's not enough to just think about or want it - you have to make a plan for it or it won't happen. Planning Day helps you understand the cycles and seasons. You learn to create plans for how you will use your home, what your schedule and capacity will look like during that season and how to tap into energy for optimum success. Planning Day is part of the Organize 365® courses that make the invisible work visible so you aren't in reactive mode and you can unlock your time for yourself, your family and community! What do you want your summer to look like? Join me on Planning Day and let's put thought and planning into making your summer amazing. It's your turn to plan and I'm so excited to be your teacher! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Productive Home Solution™ Planning Day The Productive Home Solution™ Course + Planning Day Home ALL IN Bundle Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! You are in for a treat because in this episode we meet Deanne. She found Organize 365® through the book "How ADHD Affects Home Organization." She's a mental health professional who was seeking resources for her clients, but also found the book to be helpful for her and she wanted to learn more about functional organization! Deanne lives with her husband, her 15 year old son and an 18 year old exchange student from Norway! She also has two older sons that have launched. Since Deanne is a mental health professional, we jump right into the connection between organization and mental health. How does organization impact our mental health? We speak anecdotally about the physiological and emotional distress that organization can cause. Deanne started her own functional organizing journey with The Sunday Basket®. It's a great place to start! She now has a Sunday Basket® she manages on her mom's behalf, a Friday Workbox® for her business and has gotten her oldest son using his own Sunday Basket®. Deanne plays many roles in life - she is a wife, mother, business owner, caregiver for her mother and I'm sure many other things. We get into what functional organization and systems like The Paper Solution® Binders can do for you as you are balancing these roles and having to advocate for others. As Deanne took on caregiving for her mom, she became the power of healthcare and power of attorney. She set up a Sunday Basket® for her and had to sort through a room's worth of paper on her mom's behalf. She has made it a point to set up her own binders. We discuss how doing our binders is (1) a gift we give to those that will one day have to advocate for us or settle our estates and (2) a project that doesn't need to be perfect. If you are using The Paper Solution® Binders and they are at 80%, that is absolutely an A+ and will save you and your family time in the future. We discuss the process of implementing the Sunday Basket® and our learning styles. How did you implement your Sunday Basket®? Did you do it all at once or one step at a time? Deanne waited until she had a big chunk of time and could get it all set up the way she wanted. She's now well on her way. This interview covers so many topics, tips and positive organizing affirmations! EPISODE RESOURCES: How ADHD Affects Home Organization The Sunday Basket® The Friday Workbox® The Paper Solution® Binders Additional Resources for Getting Organized with ADHD I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

Why is it that when we decide to undertake something that's going to make a difference in our lives, we still try to cut corners? When I decided to go back to school in pursuit of a PhD, my mindset was initially to make the supplies and things I already had work for my school venture. But when I've needed something, I've found it's just better to go ahead and get it. Some of these supplies help me move forward faster, be more productive and/or just be able to get my assignments and reading done in different places. Do you have the supplies or tools you need where you need them? It makes all the difference. Listen to my story about scissors to find out why. Here are some of my favorite supplies mentioned in today's podcast: Fiskars scissors Shokz Wireless Open-Ear Bluetooth Headset Organize 365® 2.0 Highlighters Organize 365® 2.0 Productivity Tabs Organize 365® Slash Pockets Jergens Cherry Almond Lotion Don't live in frustration over not having what you need where you need it. The time and sanity savings will offset the investment. EPISODE RESOURCES: Follow my journey on Instagram - Check out the PhD Highlight Button 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 today's podcast, we will discuss how you can get your home organized when you are never home. There are different seasons in our lives in which we will need to change our organization. How does your home change for different seasons of your life? The seasons I've identified that require the most functional organizing changes are: Children 0-5 years old Children in middle and high school Empty nesting Caregiving for a loved one Settling an estate Welcoming another generation of your family into your home - listen to this podcast on multigenerational living There will be seasons of life when you will not be home much. When I started podcasting in 2012, I was going through a season of life where I was never home. My children were in two different schools that both required me to drive for hours a day. Looking back now, I can safely say it's a season. So if you are in a season where you are never home, just know that this is a season. Some seasons feel never ending, but all of these seasons do end. I encourage you to take from these seasons the best that they have to offer knowing that one day you will be on the other side. Why do we want to get our home organized when we are never home anyway? Organizing gives us a sense of control. In a season where you are already pressed for time and feeling a loss of control, you may be wanting to feel organized, proactive and productive when you are at home. Where to begin? At Organize 365®, we've identified four areas in every home that need to be organized in different ways and at different times and intervals. These are personal, family and communal, storage and paper. During a season where you aren't home very much, I'm going to recommend you focus on personal organization. Start with your car. I've always defined personal organization as your closet, bathroom, bedroom and car! You need to think about your car completely differently during this season. It's now an extension of your home. In 2012, I turned my car into my portable house! The trunk was my "car closet" and the front area was my personal cockpit. I set up my car to serve my changing needs. Your secondary focus should be just your personal spaces (as time permits at home). Focus on your bathroom, closet and your side of the bedroom. Do quick tasks that you can complete in 15-20 minutes. Write everything down. If you are away from home as you are listening to this podcast, something you can start doing today, from anywhere, is to start writing everything down. Everywhere you have a thought, you should have a notepad to write it down. Take your Sunday Basket® with you. You need your Sunday Basket® more than ever during this season, but you may want your portable Sunday Basket® to be your primary Sunday Basket®. When you are out and about throughout the day, you will get 15 minute breaks in the action. Look at your portable Sunday Basket® and think "what's one thing I can get done in this 15 minute pocket of time?" I processed through my Sunday Basket® in waiting rooms, in my car while waiting for my kids and so many other places. It won't be perfect. Focus on the moments. Build the future life and future person as you go. Support yourself along the way with personal organization that works for you. And bring your Sunday Basket® along for the ride. EPISODE RESOURCES: Portable Sunday Basket® with Pencil Pouch The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Planning Day Organizing Personal Spaces 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! Meet Marie. This podcast has been a long time in the making. Marie started listening to the Organize 365® podcast back in 2015! She's had all the versions of The Sunday Basket®. Marie lives with her husband of 23 years, 18 year old daughter and 15 year old twin daughters. She also has a 20 year old son who lives in an apartment nearby. Marie is experiencing the teenage years with her children and is wondering why she still doesn't feel as organized as she would like and where all of her time is going. This is an all too common theme. I've seen it time and time again. You think because your kids are now teenagers that you should be organized. Your kids are much more independent than they were so surely you should be getting your time back. Not so fast. This is a transitional time period where your kids may act and speak as though they are independent - they have independent thoughts, make decisions and it's a really fun season of parenting. But you are still very much in active parenting. Whenever you're in a transitional period of time, there's a push and pull between the now and the soon-to-be. You are still very much in the current season, but starting to wonder what you are going to do next and wanting to get into the next season. You're in the inbetween. Embrace it. What's one more experience you want to have during this season? What's one more memory you want to make? If you've ever wanted to hear what goes on during a virtual organizing session - this is it! This interview quickly turns into a session similar to what I used to have with my clients when I did professional organizing. Want to try it for yourself? Ask yourself: What lights you up? What don't you like to do? What are your family/household members into? How organized do you want to be? What really needs to happen in the next 12-18 months or in the season you're in? When you think about having your home organized, what does that look like for you? Have you implemented The Sunday Basket® and how is that working for you? Tune in as we also discuss what it truly means to save five hours with The Sunday Basket® and leadership versus management! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ The Productive Home Solution™ Planning Day The Paper Solution® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!

When someone tells you what to do and they have experience - you should probably listen to them. I was told by someone in the know to get my eyes checked before I started my PhD. I didn't. I felt confident that my over-the-counter readers were just fine. Well, here I am in Week 11 with new glasses! In this episode, I share two things I learned this week through my PhD journey: You need to have the right tools when you are doing anything. A PhD is so reading intensive that you do need to get your eyes checked! Speed reading allows you to take in a lot of information, but details matter in the PhD program. I started using a ruler to read and highlight! EPISODE RESOURCES: Follow my journey on Instagram - Check out the PhD Highlight Button 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 podcast episode will give you tactical and functional organizing tips for multigenerational living. If you are in a multigenerational home or considering this option - this is for you! Multigenerational living is near and dear to my heart these days. I am cherishing this life phase that I'm currently in - sharing my home with Abby (my daughter) and Grayson (my grandson). I know many members of the Organize 365® team and community are also living in multi-generational homes. I realize that there are different circumstances that may lead you to be in a multigenerational home. The three main situations that I've seen for multigenerational living are: Caregiving. If you are currently living the "sandwich" generation lifestyle - taking care of your parents while also trying to keep up with your adult children - I have a BIG HUG for you! Being a caregiver can be extremely isolating. I've been there and it can be a long road. Consciously merging households. This seems to be a more recent phenomenon (in the United States at least). Families consciously decide to live together because they enjoy each other, it makes economic sense and they can share in the work and experience running the household together. Life circumstances. Sometimes it's not a conscious decision but life circumstances create a situation where multigenerational living is necessary. Regardless of how you ended up in a multigenerational home, here are my top organizational tips for making the most of the situation: Be purposeful about transitioning the home to support a multigenerational home. Ensure that everyone (INCLUDING YOU) have your own space. Everyone needs their own space. In my home, this means that Abby and Grayson have the basement apartment to themselves. They get to decide what they want down there, what it looks like and they are responsible for everything in this space. I also have my own spaces in the house that are just mine. Create rules for communal spaces, but be willing to renegotiate and evolve those rules as the situation changes. For example, the communal spaces in our home are the living room, kitchen, laundry room and garage. These areas get to be cleaned and organized to my standards. There are rules for how we all operate and take care of these areas. Laundry Days - This one has been great in our household. We have designated laundry days to ensure that we can get laundry done for ourselves on the days that our most convenient for all of us in the household. Don't feel guilty to say what you want in terms of the communal spaces. Organizing the kitchen and food in a multigenerational home - start by considering the stages of life each of you are in. In my household we have the toddler phase, Greg and I are working away from home and Abby is a stay at home mom. Our kitchen is supporting three very different phases of life. We have created dedicated space for everyone's food and Grayson's adorable toddler eating utensils, plates and sippy cups. How I've maintained my cleanliness standards in communal spaces: Baby Gates - Living Room, Dining Room and Laundry - Grayson doesn't go in those areas so they stay picked up. Weekly Cleaning - We have a weekly cleaner come and every Thursday we know the house is being cleaned and everything needs to be picked up. Minimalized toys in the family room - Constantly decluttering and rotating the toys in the family room - not minimalist but definitely minimized. When you live in a multigenerational home, there will be some frustrations. If you are feeling frustrated (and I've been there), try to do a mindset swap and remember the many blessings that come with this experience. Your home needs to be organized differently and you need to establish different rules for yourself for all the phases of life you go through and different people or peoples living in your home with you. Top 2 takeaways for living in a multigenerational home: Pick your battles. Create rules. See the episode resources below for your supply list to help keep each member of the family and the entire household running smoothly. You'll be sharing a lot, but you don't need to share your own brain! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® - one for each adult in your home Household Reference Binder - one per house Medical Binder - each family member needs their own Financial Binder - each family unit or couple has their own Household Operations Binder - you would have this for each family unit - like teachers at a school - they would each have their own lessons. 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!

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! This week, I am sharing my interview with Christine M. She lives with her husband and well loved cat in Ontario, Canada! When Christine M. experienced three moves in a short period of time, she learned the skill of organization through Organize 365®. Christine is a former teacher turned grad student so we had a lot to talk about. Christine found her way to Organize 365® through my friend and fellow podcaster, Angela Watson. She was going through teacher burn-out, something we have been hearing all about. I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate teachers. If you are a teacher, this podcast is a hug from me to you - thank you for all that you do! Christine's interest in Organize 365® started through her Teacher Friday Workbox® which is now the Education Friday Workbox®. She wanted to implement systems into her teacher role to help her be more productive and purposeful with her time. Her organizational journey went into overdrive when she found that she and her husband would be moving across Canada to Ontario. She utilized Organize 365® Ten Steps to an Organized Move (which is available inside The Productive Home Solution™) to pull off the most organized move imaginable. Getting organized BEFORE you move is key. In the years that followed her move, she transformed into an even more organized person. We discuss the key principles and learning that she did to fully transform herself into a positive, productive and proactive person. She loves the idea that items in her home are auditioning for their place. Listen in to hear all about her journey and how she is now using her Education Friday Workbox® to organize her grad school journey! I love to hear how the Organize 365® products and courses evolve with your life. EPISODE RESOURCES: Education Friday Workbox® - organizational system designed for teachers The Productive Home Solution™ The Sunday Basket® The Portable Sunday Sunday Basket® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. 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!