In this episode, I introduce you to Christine F. who lives with her daughter and their dog. Christine was listening to “The Art of Decluttering” in May 2023 and heard me speaking about ADHD. Her daughter had just been diagnosed so Christine’s ears perked up. Christine, in education for the past 26 years but currently a counselor for seniors, just kept listening, thinking “Wow, that’s a lot!”

But January 2024 was a turning point for Christine when suddenly she couldn’t get enough of the podcast because there was an episode about The Paper Solution® Binders. She had been watching her stepmother settle her father’s estate and realized the value of the binders and how these systems helped life. How valuable it could have been if her father had the Financial Binder.

In March 2024, it really clicked as the school pilot programs were being discussed on the podcast about the Education Workboxes. She took the plunge and ordered the Sunday Basket® and Teacher Friday Workbox®. Being a counselor of seniors (who were preparing to graduate and it was nearing the end of the school year) and getting ready to transition to a different teaching position, this gave her order and a system. In her desperation to survive and function, she saw the light of what the Teacher Friday Workbox® could do and that provided motivation to get so much completed so quickly. No one could see how frazzled she was on the inside, but now she had found internal organization.

Shortly thereafter, she purchased everything. She’d always been fairly organized, but she realized she’d been missing systems. Christine is visual so it’s best if things are left out so she can see them to remember to take care of them. A friend of hers even noticed a difference in Christine. She no longer had a messy desk. All of her paper had a home and it was accounted for weekly. She loves that she can grab and go. If she has an IEP meeting, she can bring just the slash pocket. And the “Waiting For” slash pocket has been a game changer for her!

Since the other systems were proven, she decided to go to a Home Planning Day. The biggest take away for her was the number of different ways you look at your time in Home Planning Day. It was clear to her why she could never get all the Sunday tasks done. She changed the timing of some tasks and switched others to different days. Now she gets to enjoy Sunday. It’s a resetting of your time and expectations every 120 days, not the rest of your life. There are different energies at different times of the year. Christine knows she’ll accomplish nothing in August and now she won’t even try after knowing that and planning accordingly. Now she has more time and bandwidth.

Christine’s advice is, “Trust the system and just get all of it. If you can only start small, start with the Sunday Basket®. But really, if you get the whole system it can literally organize your entire life.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Organize 365® Home Planning Day

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

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

In this episode, I reintroduce you to Lorie G. Lorie lives with her dad but still has her own place, too. I hope you remember previous episodes with Lorie. There were some fun things going on in her and her dad’s life that I thought would be fun to share with you!

Lorie and her 95 year old dad decided to take a trip from southern California to Dallas to see family. Lorie was so prepared. She created a whole binder for the trip complete with daily itineraries, pre-selected outfits, and medical information about her father. Lorie had created a little to-go packet (small version of the The Paper Solution® Medical Binder) that was more convenient to travel with. Lorie noted that all this planning allowed her to be present on the trip. But nothing could have prepared them for all the car troubles they encountered. She was thankful they traveled with cash because that was the only way to pay the tow truck out in the middle of the desert.

In the Medical Binder, Lorie keeps a vitals check tracker sheet she made. We both agreed it’s important to know what is normal for the person you help care for. Let’s say she brings her dad in and his blood pressure is high. It might be high for the average person, but she has physical evidence showing a history of this being his normal. Lorie knew something was off with her dad one morning before one of his appointments. She called ahead to tell the doctor, they called ahead to the hospital, and Lorie brought his Medical Binder. Her dad asked why and she said just because she wanted to. If they needed paperwork, she’d have it. In the past they have not been able to access test results, but Lorie has had the physical copy. And there’s something to be said for a doctor to look at the paperwork and be able to carry on a conversation with you, too. But sure enough, unbeknownst to him, he needed to go to the hospital and they were already expecting him. It was a smooth transfer all because Lorie knew what was normal for her dad.

Lorie loves her dad dearly and keeping him in top shape is what she’s doing. She took a room that wasn’t being utilized well and turned it into a “fun zone” with wellness stations to encourage him to move. Lorie put a tv in so they could do workouts together; he’s got a recumbent bike, tension bands, and room to stretch.

Along with movement, Lorie makes sure she and her dad eat well. Back when she was a teacher and had an hour commute, she’d be too tired to cook when she got home. This birthed “Crazy Cooking Day.” Much like how I like to get all my machines working for me at one time, Lorie gets her crock pot, insta-pot, stove top, and oven all working at the same time. In 4 hours, she can prep up to 60 meals for them to eat well for awhile. She makes individual servings. And she saves money by bulking up on sale items that go into those dishes. She’s mentioned it many times in the Organize 365® community app - go look for the directions. And if it’s a going out night, they just scratch off a circle from the sheet Lorie made to see what restaurant they are going to! Lorie created one for field trips too so they can get movement somewhere other than just the fun zone.

Lorie’s advice is, “The Medical Binder is critical for everyone in your family.” And I added that it may just be you who needs one. If something happens to you, then your family has all the pertinent information. If you are adopted like Lorie, it’s even more valuable. It’s so important for us to know our own medical data to be more participatory with our wellness/illnesses course of action.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

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

I’ve stopped apologizing for my natural energy that drives me to want to be productive. And I want the same for you. Ultra productive people are so proactive that they have a plan B, C, D, and so on. They are prepared to zig, zag, and pivot at a moment’s notice whenever plans change.

What Do You Do Now?

Ultra productive people capture all their ideas for a rainy day (eh hum, pink work). For me, that “rainy day” came this year when I was supposed to have jury duty. I went through my slash pockets and planned all those tasks for the week(s) I knew I was going to have jury duty. If I didn’t get summoned, I had work to do but it didn’t need to get done. When I arrived at the courthouse, they announced there would be no case and we were absolved from the remaining two days that week. If this happened to you, what would you do? I think a lot of people sit in “I don’t know what to do” and the day gets wasted. I however, thought through my options and decided going into work and finishing some important administrative tasks was the most beneficial use of my time.

When I was still doing in home organization. I developed an A/B schedule. It never failed that a client would cancel. I wouldn’t know what to do because I had planned on working. So my day would go to waste. That is, until I came up with what I needed to do on the days I wasn’t scheduled for out of the house work and days I worked from home. If an out of the house day became a work from home day, I knew exactly what I needed to do. It was like my plan B.

Time for Everyone Including Me

Seems like the mom is always offering to help and pour into their family, but does the family ask the same to the mom? No. It’s just facts, I think. So go ahead and pour into yourself too! I am pouring into me the same way I pour into them. I think about my time A LOT! I think about tomorrow, the week, the month, the next 6 months. I look at my color coded calendar and make sure everyone I love is getting time, that I have set aside enough time for the PhD and work, and now I include ME!

Sunday Basket®/Friday Workbox® Love

I have bountiful pink slash pockets. I have a lot of house projects, trips I want to take, and things I want to try/do. They are in a safe place, the Sunday Basket® for my house and the Friday Workbox® for work ideas. Greg and I went to Home-A-Rama and there we saw Wow Window Boxes. I knew all about Wow Window Boxes because it’s been tucked away in my Sunday Basket® since 2017 when I had received an estimate. I spilled the beans that I was going to ask for it for Christmas. Much to my surprise, Greg said we could do it now. So we did it in time for Thanksgiving!!

You know when you have a plan for your day and then something takes it off track? I always struggle with how annoying it is. But then, I dig into my Sunday Basket® or the Friday Workbox® and there are all my ideas and slash pockets waiting to be executed. They turn into my plan B, C, or sometimes D. I have proactively filed them away in the correct slash pocket, then I can decide how much time I have and what kind of energy I am feeling.

These are just a few ways I am unapologetically proactive so I can be ultra productive. For my family and Organize 365®, I am where work comes from. I love it. I am uniquely created to help others become ultra productive, too!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Friday Workbox®

• Podcast 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

In this episode, I introduce you to Mary H. who is married with two sons and a dog. Mary has always been a fairly organized person, but she was looking for productivity tips. She listened to “Best of Both Worlds” and heard about the Sunday Basket®, but first invested in The Productive Home Solution®.

On her 40th birthday, she was ready to burn it all down. There was a lot of change from switching up her position at work, to the world coming out of Covid, to retiring from a side business. She decided to revisit old podcast episodes. She was looking for new ways to do things. Before, when Mary had heard about the Sunday Basket®, she questioned, “Why would you delay what you can do today?” But after revisiting the podcast and trying new ways, she experienced the benefits. When her husband mentioned taking the boys mini golfing, she was able to help him locate the free round of golf she knew she had. It was a win-win. She could easily tell him where it was and they got to use the coupon.

When we started recording, Mary shared she was packing for a Make-A-Wish trip granted to her son. Her son has recently recovered from cancer. But we talked about that unsure time and the systems Mary had in place to keep her son comfortable and her family going. When her son was diagnosed they gave her a binder, but Mary added useful things like checklists and it took the place of a would be Medical Binder. I just had to reference one of mine the other day. How cool is it that information from 20 years ago can help us make informed decisions for today and the future?

Mary also invested in the Kids Program. She admits her kids haven’t participated so much in learning, but it has helped her understand how to facilitate them decluttering and organizing. She used the system 1) to keep the item and keep it in his room, 2) to say the child wants to keep it but not in their room, and 3) to toss or donate. Mary and her son were surprised with how much he got rid of. They were able to donate those toys to another child.

Mary is thankful for the voice of reason through the podcast to focus on the important stuff and continually be thinking of how to always be improving. Mary has always been good to take time for herself, but she can enjoy it now without guilt knowing all the things will get done. She wishes she’d valued trying things in different ways. Just because one way works doesn't mean another way could be even better and more efficient. While she admits she hasn’t used all of the products to their fullest potential, she’s found immense benefit from the items she’s purchased and all of the free content constantly offered from Organize 365®.

Mary’s advice is, “Don’t be afraid to invest in all of the Organize 365® stuff.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Productive Home Solution®

• The Paper Solution®

• Organize 365® Kids Program

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

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

In this episode, I introduce you to Ashley M. who is married and has two little boys running around the house. Ashley, an executive director of a Montessori teacher education program, has always been a fairly organized person and interested in efficiency. But when she stumbled upon Organize 365® in the fall of 2022, she was interested in productivity. She’d been listening to the Best Laid Plans Podcast and had read The Paper Solution book, both of which mention the Sunday Basket®. Ashley loves to read and one Organize 365® product led to another; she enjoys the podcast, too!

Ashley found peace in letting the Sunday Basket® be her external brain. She noted as moms, there’s constantly a lot coming at you because you are caring for a lot of heartbeats. She also has The Paper Solution® Binders which is what Ashley valued the most because again as moms, there is a lot of paperwork. She likes that with the Sunday Basket® she is only dealing with actionable paperwork. She knows all of her ideas have been captured and can be revisited later. Ashley also pointed out that the Sunday Basket® helps her to execute big plans as well as daily life tasks; and the fact that it grows with your family.

In 2021, they bought a larger home and then she had her second son. With the Sunday Basket®, you just add a slash pocket for a new child or sport. And in the binders, you add traditions or health progress as the children grow. I also pointed out that you can do the same if you start caring for a family member. It’s customizable for the phase of life you are in. Again, that’s why we do Home Planning Day, to adjust.

And the same thing holds true for The Productive Home Solution®. Ashley has established a lunch/treat station so she doesn’t have to think so much about it when preparing lunches. With Ashley’s husband being taller, she’s placed the items he uses in the higher cabinets. And for her one year old, his sippy cups are lower, which adds to efficiency in their kitchen. Efficiency is a muscle Ashley has been growing as she has become aware of patterns and cycles. She loves that all the products together remind her when to think about what; like reminders about dentist visit times, household chores, traditions for holidays, and even a special birthday treat that she’d probably otherwise forget about.

Ashley said that if she feels at peace, then she knows she can do something for herself with any extra time. But if she’s feeling chaos creep in, she knows she can easily get back on track with a little tidying or planning. Or she can look at her calendar and decide what she wants to “put back” and tackle another time. She has so much more calm and confidence that she’s keeping track of things. There’s more space for dreaming now that she’s out of survival mode. She’s thankful the system just works and there’s no need for rewriting it, no improvements needed.

Ashley’s advice is, “You can get on the other side outside of anxiety, chaos, and overwhelm with Organize 365®”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Organize 365® Home Planning Day

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

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