Happy Monday! This Connections Episodes is all about Routines. Energy is a word that keeps surfacing in these questions and conversations within the community. We are busy ladies! So how do we establish and stick to these routines? It’s important to regularly evaluate your routines and determine if they are still serving you and your house for the phase of life you are in.

Energy for routines and sticking to them regarding family

Right out of the gate Mary asked about sticking to routines now that her children are out of school for the summer. We all do better with schedules/routines. You don’t have to rush out the door anymore but you can still have a schedule. This way you and your family can have expectations for the day. The best part about being an adult, is that you can make the schedule anything you want. It’s ok to have a few non productive days and enjoy the time with your kids. Most importantly enjoy your summer.

“I’m so busy doing everything for my family I feel like I never get to do what I want to do.” OR “I feel guilty being lazy when it’s so beautiful outside.” I say choose a day that you will what you want to do. For example, in the summer Greg golfs on Wednesdays so, I “project” on Wednesday. If it rains or golf is cancelled for some reason, I still “project.” OR you can say these are the projects I will do on rainy days. So go out and enjoy the sunshine but when you can’t, pull out those projects you have been wanting to tackle. You could also designate times or nights when you, say, watch tv with your spouse. It’s important to nurture important relationships and it’s important to fill your cup too.

Sticking to your routines for you

Another question was about having a plan for the week but not having the right energy for planned tasks. I had to throw out a little tough love. I want you to ask yourself “How bad do you want it?” I want my PhD badly so I have sacrificed time with my family and I have done the work even when I didn’t want to. If you want your home organized, do 15 minutes a day even when you don’t want to. If you find yourself waning in energy in general, look at your diet and physical activity. I have always been an energetic person but I noticed by cleaning up my diet and increasing my daily movement, I have more energy. I explained how making environmental changes can help you in making dietary changes. And I talked about the 24 hour rule. I delay projects and I delay decision making until Sundays. Basically I don’t buy anything unless I know I can start it within 24 hours. Anna and I laughed about me learning about the Orgnaize 365® staff and their addiction with the “Save for Later” feature on Amazon. I said a lot more about it so please go listen to the full episode.

Rapid Fire Q & A

“Lisa, What do you do with all of the completed puzzles?” “I donate them.”

“What is a typical work day for you Lisa?” “What is a typical home day for you Lisa?” Listen to episodes 471- 474 I take you through each day! I explain my rationalization for what I do.

“Do you have a routine with Amazon ordering?” Back in the day I had to watch all our pennies. And I explained how I would delegate our money in combination with processing my Sunday Basket®. You may get a better idea for how to set up an Amazon routine for yourself by listening to those episodes.

Regular Review

It is so important to establish routines so you have capacity for other aspects of life. Planning Day gives you a great opportunity to evaluate what you are currently doing, are your routines still serving you, are there things that have fallen off that you want to add back in or try in a different way? Every planning day you decide what you want you day to look like for the next 120 days. Planning day provides the opportunity to stop, review, change, and move forward.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Ep. 196 The 24 Hour Rule

• Ep. 469-479 A Day in the Life of (Weekends, Home, and Work)

• Ep. 521-525 How Lisa went from No Sunday Basket® to Sunday Basket® retailer

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media.

I’m sticking with answering your questions about the invisible work we do. And today is all about the Sunday Basket®. I didn’t yet have a name for it. But I’ll never forget the sense of accomplishment from the first time I tried my idea out that became the Sunday Basket®. In 2012, Joey went down for his normal 20 min nap, and I, Lisa Woodruff, actually got a few calls made and checked a few things off my list. The more I did it the more I realized this was something all household managers needed. And now I had a plan to get control of my to do’s and paper. Organization is a learnable skill.

Delayed gratification = Productivity

The Sunday Basket® is a box on your kitchen counter to “collect all”. On Sunday, you make decisions. One person asked “How do you know what to do first?” Reality check: you are not going to get all your to-do’s done. We are all overcommitted. When I go through my Sunday Basket®, it’s really a process of elimination; what is the least I can get away with doing. When you only take care of the things necessary, you free up time for you. And this is why we use note cards! You don’t need to do the busy work of rewriting your to-do list, you just decide if each thing on each note card needs to be done by next Sunday or not and you put it right back in it’s slash pocket if not.

One person noted they spend all their time going through slash pockets and recreating their to-do list. I remember being worried, “What was I going to do when I completed my Sunday Basket®?” It’s important to know what you are freeing up time to do. How would you feel actually completing one of those tasks each week? Then two each week? Then what’s that big reward? Will you get more time with your family? Continue your education? Plan what you will do with all that extra time.

Sunday Basket® for now and later

A Sunday Basket® can be utilized in many ways. I answered one question about using it for finances. You can have a whole Sunday Basket for finances where you track and plan your 401K, Investments, and projects or large ticket items that you are planning to purchase. I use my household manager one for monthly tasks including bills. I have a separate one for larger financial planning.

Another person inquired about all the tips she’s saved and if putting them in her Sunday Basket® was a good idea. If it’s tips or instructions for something difficult to find each time you need to do it, print it off and place them in your Household Operations Binder. And/Or, you could have a whole Sunday Basket® devoted to projects, book tours, getting your PhD, recipes, and life hacks for “someday.” I recommend pink because that’s the color for you, the future, and dreaming. The Sunday Basket® is a great place to store ideas and you will know where to find them later. Then when you have the time from only doing necessary tasks, you have time for something that doesn’t need to be done but that you have been wanting to do.

We have the Sunday Basket® for your household manager role. And there is the Friday Workbox for work. They both help in similar manners but the slash pockets have slightly different functions. We offer bundles to help you make the most out of you purchase to maximize your organization and productivity results. If you really don’t know where to start, you won’t break customer service’s heart to call and they’ll shop with you. They love to hear what you are working on and suggest the perfect products for you and the phase of life you are in.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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!