Ok, I know you all have been dying to hear about my field trip to Greenfield Village. I tried to start the podcast three times before this final take because I want to tell you guys everything! But how in 45 minutes? Let me just say, I will be going back!

Greenfield Village

Most of us have seen a living historical farm of some sort. It’s usually a field trip where you get to see what it was like to live in the past. You get to see the equipment and lack of current day machines that help with everyday household tasks and business. That’s Greenfield Village but magnified. Henry Ford’s goal was “I only want to have ordinary people who had extraordinary vision.” He brought homes from Thomas Edison(while he was still living), the guy who created the Dewey Decimal system, the bus Rosa Parks rode, the guy who wrote the McGruff readers, the Wright Brothers bike shop, and other buildings of significance. The first 6 years it was a school. There was a lottery system for admittance. Students would start their day in church. A church that my grandma used to attend. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were basically teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs in Thomas Edison’s innovation laboratory. Thomas accumulated all kinds of supplies, textiles, and tools to create. All new things start with education and innovation.

You are standing where the greats have stood

I couldn’t help but to think to myself often “You are standing where the greats have stood.” Especially when I was in Thomas Edison’s lab. I was able to connect some aspect of my life to each house. Thomas Edison was the first person to assemble a team and let them dive into their uniqueness. He hired people to come work in his lab and then innovate.

And because he was paying his technicians, they had money to pay to stay at the Women’s Boarding house. I loved being at the boarding house where I played the role of observer. These women were baking, cleaning, chatting, and even sat by the fireplace to knit or catch up on the day’s events. I can’t stress the importance of relationships. Today’s society is becoming too isolated. We should be filling up our time with others, not our devices. The tour guide would have you believe the women had to do these daunting tasks because the men were out doing whatever. But I challenge that thought. These women were volunteers playing a role, reeling us into the past, and enjoying themselves. I kept picturing myself in those lifestyles. You didn’t have a car to go shopping, a phone to scroll on, or the conveniences of today’s lifestyle. If I were them, in that day, I’d love to grind the wheat and make the soup. So I’m not sure I’m buying that they didn’t like their responsibilities.

So all because one man decided to gather a team to explore their zone of genius, the town boomed. That led to other businesses from people exploring their zones of genius and doing what they were uniquely gifted and created to do, thus all of the village’s talents were represented.

Curiosity • Resourcefulness • Practice over time

It’s not the size of your house, your intellect, or resources that make you great. It’s curiosity like me needing to figure out how to settle an estate. And resourcefulness like me figuring out how to create and manufacture the Financial Binder. I have a teaching degree, not a masters in business. I also had to be very resourceful because my budget was small. I was an ordinary person with a vision. I didn’t come from money. I’m not well connected. And over time I keep learning and honing the thing that I am gifted and uniquely created to do. I keep refining The Productive Home Solution. I thoroughly enjoyed my field trip to Greenfield Village and was able to make so many connections to my life today. America - an entrepreneurial country!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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 Ambreen B. who lives in Jerusalem with her husband and 2 daughters, and her cat. Ambreen loves productivity and finds it interesting when people are more organized than her. She heard an interview on another podcast and loved hearing how kids get organized and the structure.

As her life became more complex by getting a home to manage, getting married, and having children, she knew “Ok, I don’t have to reinvent the wheel.” The boxes acted as a landing place for all of the things she was trying to remember. Then she decided to get her PhD. Our Sunday Baskets® is where we can cognitively offload to afford the capacity to deal with the unexpectedness of life. They take the worry piece and put an intervention in place therefore reducing worry from the event. That’s what the Sunday Basket® does, it reduces stress in the form of a system.

As an organizational sociologist and institutional complexity analyst, Ambreen understands that concept more than most. And she appreciates that it’s a tried and true system, not just one she pieced together. Ambreen was great to share how her Sunday Baskets® have helped her through the PhD process. Some people have a team to delegate to, Ambreen had her Sunday Baskets® to delegate to. She shared how she used the colored slash pockets and kept her focused. It allowed for a deeper level of focus. She knew that after planning day and she had a plan in place all she had to do was run that plan. She had peace of mind that she could focus on that day’s plan and completely ignore all other responsibilities. I added the importance of being able to have focused work time and mind wandering time. She tried to DIY at first but in the end it was way more economical to go all in and buy the actual Sunday Basket® and all.

Three days after getting the Sunday Basket® in hand, her mother in law passed away. It was time to put into action what she’d seen in The Productive Home Solution™ videos. Ambreen’s husband has 4 brothers but you know who combed through that home and settled the estate? The two daughter-in-laws. It was a crash course in grief and organization. While everyone else was in shock and overwhelmed, the system gave her tasks to be productive. But having a system gave her some sense of control in a situation she had very little control over. We talked about the 7 days of mourning and people wanting to drop off food. This was during “covid times” so she explained how she safely divided up the food for later consumption. We talked about the decluttering process. Ambreen loves the decluttering questions. And she really leaned into Do, Defer, Delegate, and Delete. That experience made her think about her parents and all of their stuff. She called her mom to talk about all their stuff and planning for the future.

She feels like the title Household Manager elevates the role and gives it the perceived importance it actually holds. She values this system so much. Ambreen has more mental peace. And she just wishes she’d known about Organize 365® earlier.

Ambreen’s advice is, “Buy the Sunday Basket®, don’t DIY- it’s not worth it.” She appreciates all the advice, grace that is provided, and no pressure to buy anything. She encourages people to just buy when they are ready.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Friday Workbox®

• 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!

You may not be a history buff like myself but I think you will find my aha moments interesting that I got when visiting these Presidential homes. We think so much has changed, but has it? Are we using our homes differently? I just think tv gave us this impression of how our homes should be used and look. We know differently at Organize 365®.

Why Adult Fieldtrips

I support my family in all of their passions and this act of self care is a way for me to support my passions and fill my cup. I love to go see presidential homes because of the history of the homes and functionality more than learning about the actual Presidents. These homes are the best representation of what life was like at that time. I like to think about the history of course, but also how the homes were used and the female roles in the homes and as a spouse. I’m always impressed by the vast libraries and proof of how much they valued education. And the finances, who had that much money to afford and run those plantations and who was managing the money? I visited 4 of the first 5 President’s homes in VA.

Women of the Plantation

Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, had her own study right off of the entrance. Martha assumed the responsibilities of the home when her mother passed away. When she moved home, they had to make modifications for her and her husband and their 13 children. Jefferson was constantly modifying Monticello to accommodate their current phase of life. Funny I know someone who constantly gives permission to people to modify your home to your current phase of life. Actually there were so many renovations that in the end it left a heavy financial burden on Martha and the plantation was sold to the DuPont family because they couldn’t afford all of the debt Jefferson had accrued. If only they’d had the financial binder. It’s so important to plan and document your final wishes of your (maybe debt) and assets.

Dolly was Madison’s wife. She was well connected, had money, was social, and came into their marriage with an 18 month old son after yellow fever took her first husband and two other children. She moved from the South to the North to live in VA. There were a lot of life changes for her including the addition of slaves in her life and managing the plantation. She was a pioneer of sorts having dinner parties and courting votes. She too had a study in which I’m sure she was coordinating everything.

These women’s husbands were in office, they were in charge of the finances, domestic staff, paid staff, their families, their spouse, social life, education, and community involvement. If only they’d had the Household Reference and Operations binder. How did they do it all?

The Estates

These estates were fairly close to each other and it reminds me of how arduous travel was in that day. They didn’t have cars. These homes were to house the plantation staff, guests who had traveled, and meetings regarding being in office. But the two families, the Jefferson’s and Madison’s, used their homes differently. And Jefferson had his own quarters if you will like a little condo of his own like the personal spaces I talk about in regards to children’s rooms. These homes fueled all their passions like a love of reading, small businesses, and public service. Isn’t that what we are doing today too? Our homes are the only thing we have control over and they must fit our phase of life because we spend so much time in them, much like they did in the times of these Presidential homes. I can’t wait to tell you about my field trip to Greenfield Village next time!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The 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!