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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Lindsey G. who has a blended family with three children with her current husband and 5 cats. Lindsey found Organize 365® when she was searching for organizational podcasts. The Organize 365® message resonated with Lindsey so she started to binge the podcast.

After being a single mom for over a decade, it was a lot to all of the sudden have extra people in the house as their families came together. In Dec. of ‘23 Lindsey had decided to leave her job as a band teacher at a charter school and open her own music school. She also thought to herself “I don’t have to be this busy. I want a new normal.” And that’s when she went searching for podcasts to support her getting organized. Lindsey shared how much empowerment she feels from doing the Sunday Basket®. I was curious how she thought single parent life would have been if she had known about the Sunday Basket® then.

That led to a more in depth conversation about single women who are the parent, provider, and house manager. I let out a little secret about a project we are working on in this vein, gotta listen to get the scoop! She wishes she’d learned then that she was worth the money and time investment. She also initially squirmed at the idea of routine structure. Now that she’s made the investment, she has since realized routinely doing her Sunday Basket® frees up time and helps her to plan for creative time. She wishes she’d found the Sunday Basket® because as a single mom so she could have been much more efficient with her time. Lindsey was vulnerable enough to share that she has bipolar. It is managed but she still has the high and low energy swings. The Sunday Basket® helps her to take care of necessary tasks during low energy and do extra tasks when she has extra energy.

Lindsey got the Launch Program to send her son off to college, and the Holiday Blitz to better plan November and December which she now sees as “one month.” She plans for the things that happen each season, they aren’t new things and they aren’t surprising Lindsey anymore. It wasn’t so much that she had an ah hah moment that something was organized as much as she notices her ability to maximize time. She has maxed out efficiency when running errands, planning her week, and even looking at her time in the pie wheels during Planning Day. Now instead of thinking “maybe I can make it all work” on a weekly basis, she plans her time, Mon- Fri and then Sat separately from Sunday, in Planning Day. With her understanding of the invisible load she can be much more intentional. She’s thankful that she has ditched the “you gotta be busy to be important” belief. Lindsey has more peace, confidence, and surety that tasks will get done.

Lindsey’s advice is, “Binge the podcast. Find the ones that resonate with you. Then get the Sunday Basket® and when you feel ready add on other products and systems.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Launch Program

• 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!

Happy Monday! I am constantly asking myself “Knowing what I know now, if I had to start all over again from scratch, would I still design these programs, products, and services the same way? Or would I do them differently? This summer I answered this question by saying yes I would do something different and the Organize 365® team confirmed my ideas.

Changes with the Sunday Basket®

The Sunday Basket® is a combination of your gifts, strengths, and orientation coupled with your life experiences and the people with which you do that. I have decided to add the weekly tear pad that you see me use to organize my week in the videos. The monthly tear pad will also be included. How inconvenient it is to get the Sunday Basket® but realize you need to go back into the shop to grab a few add on items. Now you don’t. You will also get the pink, purple, green, blue tabs and the Sunday Basket® Bookmark.

Those are the product changes but I also decided to shift your mindset on the amount of time you will need to set aside each week for the Sunday Basket® which is 3 hours each week for roughly the first six weeks. You are learning a new skill set and watching the videos. You are no longer alone in this organizational fight and you have the Organize 365® community to help you iterate and improve the systems you are establishing.

Changes with the Complete Home Organization Bundle

This 52 week course now includes The Productive Home Solution™, The Paper Solution, 4 Binders, 3 Planning Days, 2 year planner, Holiday Blitz Bundle, Embrace, Paper Solution Book, and Organization is a Learnable Skill book. It is a complete turbo charged bundle to again include everything you need to get your home 80% organized in a year without having to revisit the shop. (I explained why only 80% in this episode.) It is designed to help you eliminate the mental and physical clutter and get systems in place.

And again I decided to shift the mindset about how much time this is actually going to take you. I have been on a health journey and shared about how I have added practices into my week, devoting more time, but now getting the results I desire. And it’s the same with this system. Ask yourself, “Are you willing to put the time in now, to live a completely different life a year from now? And for one year, you will now look at sections of your home and watch the videos that apply to your and your current phase of life. Might be the same house but you may need to start using it differently. Week one starts after Planning Day in August.

The holidays are a big deal that require a lot of time and planning. For two months, I want you to utilize the Sunday Baskets® from the Holiday Blitz Bundle. One is for the holidays and one is for taxes. You will delay everything else in your regular Sunday Basket® till January. These additional baskets will give you a place to cognitively offload so you can be present in and enjoy the holidays.

And I felt it necessary to include Embrace. Embrace is designed to help you reflect on how you formed the idea of what a household manager came to be, decide what you want to keep of that description, and then uncover what are you uniquely created to do with all of the extra time now that your life is organized.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Sunday Basket®

• The Complete Home Organization 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.

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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Lauren H. who is married and has a blended family with three kids and two dogs. Her mother actually lives on her property too in a separate dwelling. Lauren has been listening to the podcast for past 9 or 10 years. Only in the last 5 has she officially started her organization journey when she had her son, her mom came to live “with them”, remodeling their home, a booming business, her daughter starting Kindergarten, and oh yeah covid for the perfect storm to make someone need to get organized. Paper had always been a problem for her and the other systems didn’t address paper. She was no longer in control of the paper and she needed a system to get things in order.

We had a great conversation about multigenerational housing, which was one element adding paper to her life. Lauren’s mom has lived on their property for awhile now. It’s cheaper and she’s very able to live in her own place with Lauren close by instead of an assisted living facility she doesn’t want to be at anyway. That being said we talked about the peace of mind the medical binder provided for Lauren during Covid. No one could go to the doctor with their loved ones, this was a way to make sure the medical team knew about her severe corn allergy.

Once Lauren got all of the medical binders filled out for her family, she moved on to the financial binder. Lauren and her husband run a modular home business. The financial binders help them to keep track of all the business accounts. It felt so great when her husband needed a title for a trailer he sold and he knew exactly where to look for it. Lauren is thankful for her helpful and supportive husband. She thanked me for the message that yes women are doing more because actually they want to be running the show! They want to do all the household things but also be supported. Even in business it’s easier when there is one person in charge.

And because lifestyles are so varied, at Organize 365® we try really hard to have the conversation be dynamic to support all the ways we are running our households. When life grows, so does your paper and that’s why Lauren finally gave into putting systems in place because life kept growing and her paper was overwhelming. She loves that the Sunday Basket® is like her external brain. She has so much more space in her brain now. She had very nice things to say about me, her “Organizing Big Sister”, as far as my teaching style.

And then she got very excited about planning. Planning provides her the opportunity to look at her life and her business. Lauren agrees that it’s critical to take time to plan. Take yourself out of the daily activities of home and the tasks at work and plan. She feels like when she’s planned out the next quarter, she can be more present during the days of that planned quarter. And she loves that with planning nothing sneaks up on her like November that is clustered with birthdays then followed by the gift purchasing holidays. She can plan for it. She can budget for it. She only wishes she knew how to be organized and plan sooner!

Lauren’s advice is, “Start with the Sunday Basket®. Get everything out of your brain. For 6-8 weeks get your mind and body in a rhythm of sitting down every Sunday and processing your Sunday Basket®. Then start one of the binders.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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!