In this episode, I introduce you to Devin R. who is married with three children; two are bonus kids that came with marrying her husband. They have 2 dogs and two cats. In 2018, Devin was looking for help to get organized. She was mowing her lawn when I caught her ear mentioning that I lived in the Cincinnati area. Then Devin’s life hit rock bottom with her work insinuating that she was not a good teacher and then she and her husband decided to separate. She could resonate with my story from 2012.

Devin looked at her life and decided she needed to get control of her life. Once she grabbed a bag and gathered all the papers she felt better. It was like since her physical chaos was getting under control her mental chaos could be addressed. We had a great discussion that all marriages go through rough patches and Devin was vulnerable to share a little bit about her marriage and how they are reconciling after about three years of separation. She shared how her mindset has shifted about organization. She looks around and asks what do I have? Why is it here? And do we even need it? She remembers making her daughter’s lunch recently and didn’t have to trip over the cat to get the things for the lunch. It was all in the lunch making station.

Devin had tried other systems but they never felt like life long solutions to her. The podcast and videos work as reminders to keep up with the systems. They are like a life partner to the systems. And they help with the cognitive load. We talked about the Sunday Basket® and how when you have Prospective Memory and you write something down it’s cognitive off loading to free up your working memory. This is something Devins struggles with because of MS but lets her neurologist know at each visit how much the Sunday Basket® helps and how it could help others with her diagnosis. And then we got into the weeds a little bit about qualitative studies that I want to do based off the information from my (unbeknownst to myself when I started) unofficial quantitative or phenomenological study AKA the Wednesday Transformation episodes.

Devin has been on her organizational journey for about three years now. She’s coped with her MS diagnosis, separated from her husband, and is entering the coaching years of parenting. Because of all her systems, she has more time to really invest in her daughter and being present. She really wishes she knew someone taught organization sooner and found Organize 365® sooner. It takes time to get organized. Devin pointed out that she values the Power of Positivity episode. “Life is not happening to you, it’s happening for you.” With the right attitude you can apply positivity to all journeys, not just organization journeys, no matter how insurmountable they seem.

Devin started working upholstering for her sister after she left teaching. She shared how she got the Friday Workbox®, worked on it with Monique at a paper retreat and how it helps her to stay organized on customers' jobs. I got to offer a little advice on how she could slowly incorporate a part time worker for her to get back some CEO time. A good balance of responsibilities is to spend 80% on production and 20% on admin and lead generation. With the addition of a part time worker, she could add another client and make money to cover the hours of that part time worker.

Devin’s advice is, “Jump in one step at a time. Listen to all the podcast episodes and then the videos from The Productive Home Solution™”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Productive Home Solution™

• Home Planning Day

• The Friday Workbox®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.

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

The world is getting ready for back to school and then we find ourselves in the 10 most productive weeks of the year. Since you will naturally be in high productivity energy, it makes sense to walk you through what to expect in The Productive Home Solution™. Are you ready to have your home organized in 52 weeks? Most people believe organization is a learnable skill and yet aren’t organized. Why? They need a plan and here it is from my last webinar.

Fall

We kick off fall with Planning Day at the end of August. That sets us up for tackling your personal spaces for 5 weeks. Once you get your closet, bathroom, and bedroom organized you will feel the decision fatigue lessen and that will be by the beginning of Oct. Then you’ll move onto your spaces you use for your household administration. And you’ll tackle some of the more invisible spaces like your phone, email, computer, passwords, and etc. I’ll invite you to do the Holiday Blitz and new to The Productive Home Solution™ is a couple weeks devoted to all things holiday like wrapping paper, gifts, and cards. You’ll end the year in your storage areas.

Winter

Now that almost 120 days have passed, it’s time to have Planning Day again at the end of December. This 120 days focus around communal spaces because you will have the highest amount of organization energy during this time of the year. You roll into the kitchen for three weeks. Now each section has a way to fast track. If you find it’s a section you don’t want to do or don’t need as much time allotted, there are fast track tasks so you can possibly get organized in 9 months instead of a year. I’ve added a week to do family memories. And you all get to do taxes with me in February during the Superbowl. Come on, just try it with me!! Next you’ll think about and organize your spaces that guests would be, like, your spare bedroom or bathroom or your family/living room. We finish this section with information about having a garage sale, spring break (breaking down a meaty project) and your on the go spaces like your car or travel strategies.

Summer

It starts with another Planning Day on Mother’s Day weekend. Then we focus on outside spaces. There’s a Memorial Day Blitz and then we spend 2 weeks on each of the areas of the four binders from The Paper Solution®. Now even if you don’t have the resource binders, there are still activities to complete. You can expect the Back to School Blitz and that is not just for school aged children. Then there’s a deep dive into the Sunday Basket®-the foundation for you as the household manager.

You end it all with Embrace On Demand. I recently heard in two podcasts that these women had “free time” and you know what they did? They took care of their homes, they nested. In the 50’s the marketing firms started to put these lies in our heads of what our homes should look like. And if they looked like that, it meant that the homemaker was organized. LIES! Like I have said for years, our homes are holding us back. The two women in the podcasts one got their homes organized and then decided what to do next in life and the other lady did it so she could get focused on being productive. This is your time to get your home in order so you can focus on what you are uniquely created to do. Don’t know what that is? With all your extra time you can take yourself through Embrace and figure that out! It’s time for self care, caring for yourself. “First things first, I’m first.” You must align your home environment for the phase of life you are in for the goals you have for yourself and family.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• The Complete Home Organization Bundle

• Rewatch Webinar

• Webinar Worksheet

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

In this episode, I introduce you to Janet B. She’s married with one son, a rescue dog, and 5 chickens. Janet found Organize 365® when she was looking for podcasts about organization. Janet has always been fairly organized but is always looking to learn any new nugget about organization and had her sights set on productivity now!

Janet listened to the podcast for five years before she made her first purchase. Janet tried to DIY a few products like other listeners have shared. And that’s ok. It’s like you are almost trying before making the investment and I totally understand that. She finally made the purchase and then really understood how to better utilize her Sunday Basket®. The purchase wasn’t just the Sunday Basket®. She dove into The Complete Home Organization Bundle!! She just loves that everything has a place now!

There have been a few moments when Janet realized the impact of The Complete Home Organizing Bundle. Her husband was looking for a title and needed it quickly! Easy! Janet decided to figure out how to use her self-cleaning oven feature. Easy! And when her clothes washer had an issue she got out the manual and discovered there was an app that could diagnose what was wrong with it, and she got it working! Easy! All the information was at her fingertips because she took the time to fill out the binders from The Paper Solution.

Janet is a CPA and loves numbers!! Janet is currently a full time blogger explaining taxes in a way everyday people can understand. I love this because we start doing something we like, we get good at it, and then the complexities of business taxes enter and that is just not easily understood! We had a good conversation about AI and what is it’s place in the world. AI may be able to suggest a system but there is no person involved to support you on your journey or be able to suggest tweaks for your individual situation. Janet started another business where she is acting as a Daily Money Manager. And that led to her becoming a certified organizer to help her clients even more with superior products at their fingertips and organization of all their important paperwork by her!

And then we had a really great discussion about natural disasters and being ready. Janet admitted she used to have filing cabinets and paper was her weak area. Now her paper is organized and she loves getting people prepared within their binders to be able to grab them quickly when needed. When natural disasters happen, and you are not a part of them, that should be your heads up to check your information organization. I want you to ask yourself “If that was me, am I ready?” At Organize 365®, when a natural disaster happens, and a person purchases The Paper Solution®, we will be making a donation to the Red Cross. Because we want people to be prepared or use that event as a reminder to keep working towards completing your binders.

Janet now has the Friday Workbox® too and said she is more productive because she’s learned how to manage her mail and email better so she’s not constantly breaking her focus. We had a great email/productivity chat. And now she has more time and space to grow her Daily Money Manager business and network. Productivity doesn’t mean everything is done 100% at all times.

Janet’s advice is, “Go all in because if you start thinking you just want a little piece here and there, you’re gonna want it all! You will realize all of the pieces work together.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Complete Home Organization Bundle

• Home Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.

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

Do you remember the excitement of going back to school? That energy follows us into our adulthood because of the years of repetition AND the message of “get ready for back to school” is everywhere, in the stores, news, and social media. Now is the time to get your fall supplies ready. What are your fall supplies as an adult you may be asking? Well it’s registering for Planning Day and preparing your mind to get a plan in place. You want to be productive this fall, right?

Planning Day

What is Planning Day? Thursday, August 21st, you’ll spend 2 hours on a live webinar prepping for Planning day on August 23rd. On Saturday, August 23rd, you’ll spend 4 hours on a live webinar getting a solid plan in place. You’ll look at your responsibilities, time constraints, any Golden Windows you may be anticipating, and goals you want to set for the next 120 days (4 months.) You’ll look at week day time vs. Saturday time vs. Sunday time. Are there some new habits you’ve been wanting to implement? You’ll look at your routines and slip those new habits into your day and try them out.

What to do first?

You get a plan in place but where do you actually start? The Productive Home Solution will suggest what area of your home you will want to focus on based on the natural energy of this back to school/fall/holiday season upcoming. This is your 52 week guide to getting your whole house organized…but only 40 stations. You will spend more time at some stations that just one week. Each station is a space in your home like your personal closet, bathrooms, bedrooms, storage and all the other spaces. However, if you have a space you are dying to attack, go nuts. Each space/ module is independent of the other modules. Tanya will be leading The Productive Home Solution™ club and there you will find a supportive community to do this with!

We are also offering the Fall Productivity Enrollment Bundle! You will get your Planning Day, The Productive Home Solution™, AND the two year planner!! The Productive Home Solution™ is a lifetime membership. You will revisit over and over again as your phase of life changes and/or as you assume the responsibility of other homes. And now, Planning Day is like a lil retreat that takes place over three days to really mull over your options and plan how you want to spend your time this fall. This is what you need to know where you are going and over time that train of yours is going to pick up the pace and become productive.

Now, how dreamy would it be to get everything you will need for one whole year and not have to go back into the Organize 365® store to pick up something you are seeing in Planning Day or The Productive Home Solution™? That’s why we have The Complete Home Organizing Bundle! You will get all three planning days, The Productive Home Solution™, The Paper Solution, Holiday Blitz Bundle, Organization is a learnable skill in paper back AND audio, the two year planner, and Embrace!! You will save $700 and be set for the year. Need a payment plan, listen to the episode for insider tips. There is no perfect time to get started. Decide that you want to get organized and through Planning Day you’ll find the time you need to get organized. When you at least have a plan in place, when the unexpected happens, you won’t be thrown off the tracks, you may just take a little longer getting to the next station. You will have systems in place!

**Get signed up and then tune in, on August 15th, for a special webinar all about this Fall Enrollment or you can email customer service!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• CustomerService@organize365.com

• Fall Productive Home Solution Oreintation Webinar

• Planning Day

• Fall Enrollment Bundle

• The Complete Home Organizing Bundle

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

Is there anything I love more than planning? No! This was a fun set of questions to ask about planning, breaking down and attacking goals, and how to practice discipline that leads to organization getting completed so you can move on to productivity!

Integrating Home and Work Planning

When I started Organize 365® I was focused on the energy of the home and trimesters made the most sense. When I started organization for work it made the most sense to plan quarterly since all businesses run quarterly to accommodate the tax schedule. But in true Lisa fashion, I have listened to the masses and I agree, let’s do all the planning at once. In December, Home and Work Planning Days will occur at the same time over a three day span. I suggested that you consider populating your slash pockets of focus, from both categories and include a few from home school if it applies. What do I mean? It will make more sense if you listen to the full episode. We are all trying to get #allthethings done and feeling like we are failing. I walked through a couple of solutions that could alleviate that feeling. At the end of the day make sure you are only focusing on those things that need to get done this week.

Be Portable

As we are all trying to get it all done, consider these few things. What is the task and can it be portable? Is it in a bin? Throw it in the car. When you have idol time in your car, you can be productive. One favorite hack I shared was the Chromebook. There is a keyboard which I love and no need for wifi. It’s always ready for you to check numbers, work on your side hustle, make updates on accounts, or pay some bills. One person who wrote in is just in a “weird phase” as she put it and I reminded her of the go bag. Make sure you are ready to be caught off guard. And in that bag you could have snacks and water for the unexpected event or the hunger you work up from working out of your car.

Good news, you can learn discipline too?

It’s time for me to offer some tough love, “How bad do you want it?” Multiple people wrote in about “what if you aren’t in the right energy”, “what if you plan but then you don’t follow through”, and “unexpected events that throw you off.” Active parenting young kids is a whole other chapter to which I offered 6 valuable tips to you parents. You have to do the work to get the results. You can’t lose weight if you don’t change anything and so you too can’t get organized if you don’t make a plan and then run that plan.

The Sunday Basket® will provide a plan for the week and Planning Day will provide a plan for the next 120 days. And The Productive Home Solution ™ makes your personal spaces work for you! Most of Planning Day is not about goal setting. Planning day is about looking at your time, how you are currently using it, and what do you want to accomplish? When you look at all aspects of your life you can see where you have time to get organized or complete a project. Remember to treat your spouse as a “nice to have.” I like being in charge and I like being “the flow.” I plan as though I have no one to help me. But when the opportunity presents itself for me to have help, I take it and delegate. I plan everything like it depends on me, but I pray like everything depends on God.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution (where you will find the Spring Break Blitz Week)

• Ep. 595 - Pick Your Meaty Summer Project (How to break down big projects)

• Home Planning Day

• Work Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

In this episode, I introduce you to Lisa P. who lives in Australia with one of her three daughters, her husband, 24 mini goats, 20 ducks, 20 chickens, 2 dogs, and 2 guinea fowl. Lisa P. lives on a farm (could you tell) and has a cottage that she rents out like an Air BNB. Lisa P. heard an interview with me and was attracted to my passion for systems and organization. When I started talking about jigsaw puzzles and then the Sunday Basket® Lisa P. thought, “You got me!”

Lisa started binging the podcast last year like 2 hours a day! Lisa had always been an organized person and had systems in place but she felt like they weren’t working with each other. As a trailblazer among her peers starting a family first, she felt like she was always advising them. Now for the first time Lisa P had someone to look up to that had been down the road ahead of her and she could learn from the podcast, systems, and products.

We agreed that even though kids grow up and move out…the complexities of life don’t go away. It’s like there’s this significance of our active parenting years. So when her first flew out of the nest and the next followed very soon, she didn’t know how to feel. But then, she claimed this next phase of life for herself! She got excited about making the spare room for her and her hobbies, she accepted cleaning isn’t the most important thing, and she set a regular guilt free tea time to relax before the evening routine begins.

Lisa P. uses her daily routines like a flow chart. She has a list of priorities. When one gets by passed because maybe the cottage doesn’t have guests checking in or it’s a rainy day, she just continues down the list of daily responsibilities to be completed. She explained her life as romantically chasing the energy of her year, her almanac. Lisa P. has always had a passion for the seasons. After completing the Productive Home Solution™ she found the energies to match that of the Northern Hemisphere even though their seasons and school year is different. She loves how one energy pushes you into the next. It was so interesting to hear how the Australian year unfolds.

Lisa P. loves the Sunday Basket® because all the actionable papers don’t go away each week. Sometimes you need to hold on to actionable paper for a month or two while it goes through whatever process. But it’s nice to have the paper piles gone and a safe place that she knows where the papers are now. She also loves home Planning Day to figure out what projects will be top priority for her house in her flow chart. She has a Sunday Basket® for her “All Seasons Project” and a Friday Workbox® for the farm. She’s learned the difference between clearing and organizing and that has quieted the negative self talk about her home management skills.

Lisa P.’s advice is, “The game changer is identifying what stage of life you are in, then start feeling ok about it.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Friday Workbox®

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Home Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday.

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

You Guys! I was so excited to answer these questions. I love my hobbies so much!! Right now, travel is a hobby I want to focus on. Greg asked me why I am taking these adult fieldtrips alone? It feeds me. I encourage my family to follow their interests and develop their skills within their hobbies. I am starting to pour into myself like I always have for my family members and I think everyone should do the same, especially the household manager.

Scrapbooking & Photos

Disclaimer: I am a hands on scrapbooker. If you are looking for digital suggestions, I am not your guru. Creative Memories was one of the first direct sales companies I worked for. Anna and I discovered that her mom, Donna, was THE creator of the power layouts for scrapbooking specific to Creative Memories. I taught this system to all my customers and little Anna was the one counting all the chipboards that were going into the boxes that I had ordered!! There were questions about sorting, storage, getting started, and product recommendations. I learned a lot about storage of photos, how the containers matter, and the books you place those precious pictures in matter too. I stand by Creative Memories to this day because of their quality and I am actually still a consultant with them!

The first thing you need to identify is why you want to scrapbook and then you can make an action plan from there. One lady said there were pictures everywhere and how was she going to get them organized quickly because she needed her guest room to be functional soon. I recommend a bulk sort at this stage. Start sorting by decade and go from there because it will take awhile to get all those pictures in albums anyway! There is a whole section on photo organization in the Saving Your Story Photo Organization Program. Make sure you are journaling to capture why those pictures are important. And then I suggested a few ways you could document pictures quicker and have completed albums.

Books, Audio, and Journaling

I don’t journal too much but what I may consider journaling is summer time when I think about future ideas. And this is where Embrace came from. I think about the future and who I currently am and where I am going in my personal life and professionally. I’ve shared that there was that time when I decided “If it was to be it was up to me.” And that was the catalyst for being mindful of my attitude and what I consume. I make sure to always be consuming content about influential people, presidents, inventors, and the like; this helps me to stay future oriented. Anna also pointed out how one of Organize 365®’s core values is the Power of Positivity. It’s a focus for me and my business.

I am a life long learner and I love my books. I am such a compulsive book buyer that even when I couldn’t really afford books I would buy them anyway I just can’t help myself. I let Marie Kondo talk me into tossing out a bunch of books and boy do I regret getting rid of those books. I’ve realized I am not a minimalist and I love revisiting my books. The best way for me to suggest some great reads is through the podcast. I spent a whole year recommending books. And I guess those are my top 52 recommendations. Take the time to live in your hobbies and fill your hobby cup as you fill everyone else’s.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Saving Your Story Photo Organization Program

• The Productive Home Solution™

• January 2020 Book Reviews (You Tube) (check out the following 11 months for additional book reviews)

• 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!