I’ve answered questions about the invisible work we are all doing and today I am answering questions about the visible work we do. A good example of visible work is everything you would do inside of The Productive Home Solution™. I explained the evolution of the program from it’s inception as 40 weeks One Home to the “exhausting” 100 day program where I realized not everyone has kids, to today The Productive Home Solution™. I have been refining this program for 10 years to help anyone be able to organize any home. It’s a 52 week cycle of organizing spaces that matches the energy of the year. Yes, the energy changes throughout the year.

Remodeling

Elizabeth is getting ready to remodel her kitchen and wanted to know the best way to leverage The Productive Home Solution™. I answered saying as items are boxed up, label where those items will go once the remodel is done. One box per cabinet. I also found it useful to set up card tables with laundry baskets as cabinets during the remodel. Pro tip: ask for extra shelves for your cabinets! Another person asked for an alternative to the shoe organizers during the remodeling because her husband doesn’t like the look. “The organizers stay!” The alternative is more expensive and cumbersome. Plus, if it was all tucked away her family would constantly be asking where things were because it’s all out of place to begin with. You can see through the organizers and it’s for a short amount of time. “The organizers stay!”

Email!

You guys, we are all in trouble with AI. It is making email more and more difficult to maintain. In The Productive Home Solution™ there are TEN lessons on email alone! If you are “email upside down”, archive all you have now and slowly go through them. It once took me 8 weeks to go through a client’s email inbox! A few additional quick tips that I was able to offer was use your email like a Sunday Basket®, delay replying, delete spam, print actionable emails or emails you have replied to, and hire an executive assistant if you can. At some point, you may even think about a Chief of Staff to help. We are doing all of this invisible/ visible work for our families on top of our paid work. Email is the easiest to step out of. But only you can comfort your child in the middle of the night. What can you outsource?

What Can You Outsource

As women we are wearing the hats of wife, mom, home school teacher (in this case from the question), and household manager. She wanted to know if she should focus on The Productive Home Solution™ or the Teacher Friday Workbox™ because she homeschools. There is a great compromise to be made here. Do both. Do the teacher planning and incorporate an hour of home school to The Productive Home Solution™ and while you are at that they could be working on some of the Kids Program. Also, to lighten the load get a housekeeper. Again, where are you needed and what can you outsource?

A housekeeper was suggested for another person asking about how to best prepare for going back to school for her CPA exam. I replied to delegate and elevate your family members. She had a college aged child that could help with housekeeping or hire it out. Also stock up on everything you can before classes start. Take care of things like dr. appointments and upcoming maintenance on cars or anything else. Those are things you can do early because school has hard deadlines that aren’t flexible! Lower your standards of clean and communicate with your family about what to expect and things you will need help with because you no longer will have the bandwidth to do them.

You guys submitted such great questions. Catch the full episode to hear the more questions and solutions I provided.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

We are moving on to the questions about paper management. You become responsible for more paper as you get older. It starts with car titles, insurance, and institution degrees. Then you graduate to information about your health, your home, and your growing family. Before you know it you may be caring for a parent or settling an estate. How do you control all the paper?

Financial Binder

The Paper Solution has two steps to it. There is the great sort. You may need Sunday Baskets® to initially sort paper into according to which binder you will be placing it in. You will feel more confident knowing what paperwork you have, even though it’s not in binders yet. And then there’s placing all those papers in the appropriate binder. The first question was a little bit of a heavy one asking about filing personal papers for the event of your passing. It was easy to answer though, make sure you have a financial binder filled out. I created the Financial Binder after settling my dad’s estate. There were so many things I didn’t know I needed and I wanted others to know when it is time for them to settle an estate.

I was stumped when asked about a loved one’s social media. Anna mentioned she discovered that you can designate someone as your custodian upon death. And she’s seen accounts that indicate the person has passed. Check your social media settings.

Completing the binders can be a huge gift to your future self but can feel overwhelming today. Just set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day or extend your Sunday Basket® processing time. You probably need roughly 120 hours to get through all of the paper and set up your binders. A good cheat is to attend a paper retreat here at Organize 365® or at any of our certified paper organizers retreats. You can get roughly 40 hours of work completed by attending. You may find your to-do list growing as you fill in the binders. So set yourself up to complete tasks from anywhere. That’s why I set it up in a basket, so it was portable. Switch your mindset to think of what you can do in the places you go so you can be the most productive in completing this gift to your future self.

This could be your plan B too for days you need to pivot. If you normally care for your child or parent and a doctor visit gets changed or your loved one is not feeling well, you could paper sort in place of those activities or at those activities. You never know how the day is going to go when caring for others. You could also be enjoying these summer days and paper sorting could be saved for rainy days. It’s a small shift in mindset of when and how you can get this paper under control.

Medical Binder

“How much detail should go into the medical binder?” I have found it useful to have past blood work, tests, and any letter from a doctor regarding special permissions for a prescription or procedure. I gave three situations where without my medical binder, the course of treatment would have included medicine but due to paperwork I had, the course of treatment changed.

The Value of a Checklist

One person wrote in saying she spends a few weeks in Mexico every summer and how could she better plan for it. Good ole checklists. You create a checklist and each summer just update the list according to any changes in growth or what you need when away from home. You can store it in the Household Operations binder until you need it, update it, and place it back in the binder till next time.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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

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!

Happy Monday! Anna had this great idea for this summer on the podcast; the idea was to address questions from the Organize 365® community. I asked Anna if she thought we’d get any responses? We did. We got 70 questions in the first 24 hours. So, today we’re getting personal answering questions about my family and how I navigate incorporating my business.

Family Involvment

The question was asked about what I do when my family members don’t want to participate in organization. I reiterated many times in this episode that I think my view point now is because of my lived experience up to age 53, that I am now. As women, our roles change a lot depending on the phase of life our family is at. I am out of active parenting years, made it through menopause, and just feel less emotional more matter of fact.

In the brain, schemas are organized patterns of knowledge, or mental frameworks, used to interpret and understand the world. It’s like a repeated skill that you have mastered. So if you always make the kids lunches, organize the schedule for the family, and get the groceries, you likely have schemas for those tasks. But then you ask your husband (or kids) to step in and he doesn’t do it as well as you. He doesn’t have the years of schemas built up that you do. You’re asking the rookie to do, without training, what the World Series player normally does.

What you focus on is what grows. Focus on what your family does right. I mentioned on a side note that being an entrepreneur has afforded me luxuries that Greg doesn’t have and that makes him a little jealous. You never know the root of the negativity you get from your family. But I know my boundaries and goals and what it will take to accomplish them. And stop doing so much. Allow your family to assume some tasks like those teenage kids. Let them form schemas. OR I just focus on my areas and what I can do. I have accepted that I am only in control of myself.

What I contribute to my organizational success

There are 4 things that I can see I incorporated into my systems. Mind you first they were just systems for myself and my clients. From the Franklin Covey Planners I gained the idea of beginning with the end in mind. I liked how the Slob Sisters, who wrote Side Tracked Home Executive, had you write everything down on note cards and then there was a rotation system to keep you on track. Fly Lady had the control journal that I loved. But at the end of the day it was too many tasks eating up my day. I then decided what was the minimum I could get away with doing each day based on what could wait. And lastly, Getting Things Done by David Allen. It was good for executives but I needed something for parenting and a household manager.

And for my PhDers out there, I explained all about my organization of papers for my school work and now the dissertation.

With all of the things I do, naturally someone asked about me taking down time and getting sick. I have always been a naturally energetic person. I love to be busy with my hands. Down time for me is doing a puzzle while watching tv with Greg. I can’t even relax at the beach! And as far as getting sick. Most times, you won’t know I‘m sick till I’m back in the saddle. I deny the possibility as long as I can. But I always have peace of mind if I do get sick because I try to be a week or two ahead, in work, to prevent the cascade of everyone else completing their work. Like I’ve said before “I’m where work comes from.” Always in that ready state of preparedness. And you get to choose how you respond to situations. Your attitude is a choice.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Sunday Basket®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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