Organize 365® Podcast

I want to share with you three reasons that I am an ultra-productive person. Productivity is definitely a mindset and a way that I was just inherently hard-wired for, but it is something you can learn.

#1 Productive People Don't Waste Any Time

You might be thinking, “Well, duh. I don’t waste time either.” But it’s more than just not wasting time. I see time as my friend and I am in complete control of my time.

This mindset shift alone will take a while for you to cultivate, especially if you’re thinking it can’t work for your circumstances. It is a mindset.

Along with not wasting time, I reorganize my time - all the time. I see my day as blocks of time, but because I’m in control of all of my time, I move things around.

#2 Productive People Are Results Oriented

I didn’t realize until recently how I do a to-do list and how an unproductive person does a to-do list. If you watched both of us doing our to-do lists, we would both look equally busy and look like we were getting the same amount done. But at the end of the day, my to-do list is done and you feel like you never got started on your to-do list.

Here’s the difference. I measure my success each day in finished products, not actionable work. Busyness gets me nowhere.

Productive people are not busy, they are producing. That is the big distinguisher. You have to stop some of your busyness in order to get an end result, which means you have to know where you’re going.

When you look at the whole day at the end of the day, what did you actually get finished? What did you get done? What have you produced?

Productive people are measuring what we are finishing and producing, not how we are spending our time.

#3 Productive People Follow Tried And True Action Plans

The biggest secret about productivity is that it is all about experimenting and creating habits. That is what productive people do. They try, they analyze, they look at their results and then they tweak and tweak.

Productive people follow tried and true action plans. Whenever I have something new in business that I have never done before, I try to find somebody who has done that and I ask them what people they use, what system do they use, what is their process? I may tweak that for my own business, or I may tweak that for my own productivity or where it fits best in my schedule, but I don’t start everything from scratch.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program was developed by a professional organizer (me!) who took all of the spaces in your house, divided them into an organized chart, and then created the order in which you organize them according to the areas where you spend the most time and the areas of the house you have the most control.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program WORKS!

If you are looking to PRODUCE an ORGANIZE home, follow this system. ;)

Being A Productive Person

The things that I do that make me a very productive person are I don’t waste any time and I feel that my time is in my control. I am results oriented, not busyness focused, and I follow tried and true action plans to get the results I want.

If you are looking for a way to end up feeling 100 days from now that your house is more organized, I really do think that the 100 Day Home Organization Program is the solution for you. We would love to have you join us.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/222

Direct download: Org365-222.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

This week’s podcast episode is about the 100 Day Home Organization Program which is now open for registration!

Many of you listen to my podcast for a solid six months or more before you believe that you can become organized.

Eventually you try the Sunday Basket® and attend a Sunday Basket® Workshop. After 6-8 weeks of using the Sunday Basket®, you wonder why you waited so long.

Then, the intrigue sets in – would the 100 Day Home Organization Program work for me?

Yes, IF you aknowledge these two things...

First, it will take you a full calendar year, three times through the 100 Day Home Organization Program, to become fully organized… you can do it… and it works!

Second, you have to be willing to make an investment. An investment of your time, money and motivation. A big part of the transformation starts with the transaction. What you pay for, you value and you take it more seriously.

I Liken The Program To Montessori Learning

On the podcast, I share an email that I received from Marcy who likened my methods to the classical model for education (the grammar, dialectic and rhetoric stage). Marcy made so many great points and this intrigued me as it’s not something I was aware I was doing.

This got me thinking about Montessori teaching methods, something that I’m very familiar with having worked as a Montessori teacher.

In a Montessori classroom, students are grouped by three year age groupings and not by grade. Over the course of three years in the same classroom, children interact with students 3 years older and 3 years younger than themselves. All teachers in the classroom teach all age groups. You get a real depth of education because you are with different age groups throughout your education. You learn how to be mentored and how to be a mentor.

Another key aspect of Montessori is it repeats the curriculum over and over at a different level. The same presentations are delivered to children, but expectations are different based on their age. Kids move at their own pace, as long as the work gets done. They can deep dive into the topics they love the most and there is no limit – peers do not hold individuals back.

When I worked as a middle school Montessori teacher, I always made sure that I incorporated what was going on in the real world into the classroom.

This is very similar to how I teach in the podcast. I am very thoughtful about what I teach and when. I want to meet you where you are.

I teach three steps to getting organized.

  1. Declutter
  2. Organize
  3. Increase productivity

Click on the links above to listen to my popular podcast episodes on each.

By repeating the 100 Day Home Organization Program over and over agian, the amount of time you spend on each stage will change.

The first time you do the program, you’ll spend most of your time decluttering. Give yourself grace. You must take pressure off yourself. The expectation is that you’re going to start taking some action. You may not get through the full 100 days your first time (not many people do!).

If you start the program now, your second time through will begin in September. The organizing energy in September is really strong! You will spend more time on organizing from September to December the second time you go through the 100 Day Home Organization Program.

Newsflash, you will not believe what you didn’t get rid of the first time! You can never get rid of as much as you need to because your mind won’t let you.

But when you get to the point where you have empty space, this will rock your world!

Empty spaces can feel strange. In round two, you will learn to start living with a few empty spaces.

January 1, 2019, you’ll start your third time through the program – this is when you’ll be doing 50% organizing and 50% productivity. People LOVE productivity. But in order to get productive, you have to declutter and organize first.

Join The 100 Day Home Organization Program!

Registration for the 100 Day Home Organization Program is open now until April 3rd.

I can't wait to help you GET organized!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/221

Direct download: Org365-221.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Hold on tight folks – it’s about to get emotional!

This week on the podcast, I talk about how to manage items related to your hopes, dreams, and memories that are still in storage.

The Hot Mess Room Challenge

As my podcast episodes related to the Hot Mess Room Challenge series draws to a conclusion, I’m still in the middle of organizing all of my crafts! Organize 365 is my passion now so I no longer need to keep all of my crafts. It is time for them to go.

If you’re in the Hot Mess Room Challenge, you’ve already been watching a lot of videos in my storage room. If you’re not and you would like to be, click here. It’s a free 28-day program with printables, an ebook, and all of the videos.

In an ideal world, I would love for my storage room to look like it should at the end of the Hot Mess Room Challenge. Guess what, though? It doesn’t look great yet and it probably won’t look like that ...ever.

The reason? It’s often because it takes us up to 3 times or more to go through a space to get it to a point where you’d want to share the finished result with anyone, let alone announce it on Pinterest!

Tackling Difficult Memories

Our storage room is full of memories.

There are many items in my storage room that remind me of the future that I thought I’d be living.

They represent an unusual kind of loss because the items aren’t attached to the loss of people or money. Instead, they represent a future that I thought I would have, but haven’t yet, or that I know will never happen.

We all have hopes, dreams, ambitions, and pictures of our future that don’t materialize in the ways we thought they would. It doesn’t make it bad. It doesn’t make it good. It is just the reality of our current situation.

Are there items in your storage that remind you of…

  • The mom or woman you thought you’d be?
  • The person you thought you’d marry?
  • The lifestyle you thought you’d have?
  • The career you thought you’d have?
  • The free time you thought you’d have?

These are difficult, but important questions.

Often, we’re not holding onto things for financial reasons. Instead, we feel that if we keep them, then one day that dream or ambition may come true.

Flip Your Mindset

Instead of focusing on what may have been, focus on what you have. For me, I never thought I’d have a dog, but here I am with Hunter and I couldn’t imagine a world without him.

What do you have that you didn’t think you would?

I never imagined that I could talk to people from my bedroom and inspire others to change their life based on their goals, hopes, and dreams to get organized.

I’m teaching and using my gifts in ways that I never imagined I would. However, it was extremely hard to get rid of all my teaching supplies. Giving up on my dream of owning a day-care center was a process. It took me years to let my teaching license lapse and let my supplies go.

A Yard Sale, Charity Event & Party All In One!

It’s wonderful to receive your emails and see the successes that you’re achieving when you’re getting your homes in order.

On the podcast this week, I had to share Lynn’s story because I LOVE it! She was debating over what to do with all of the things that she no longer needed and she finally settled on a yard sale in her basement.

Everything was free, but people were asked to make donations to charity. She was partying with her friends in the kitchen while people were taking things away and at the same time donating to help others. After 2 hours, most of the items were gone and she’d made over $800 to donate to a local charity. She told me how good it felt on all levels.

Supply & Demand

Steph emailed me to share that smaller families may be the reason why people don’t want to inherit so much stuff anymore. With parents tending to have fewer children these days, we often don’t battle with siblings for nostalgic mementos like we may have done in the past.

Mind blown! She’s absolutely right. It’s certainly true for when my sister and I were going through the family home as there was so many things and only the two of us to sort and acquire them.

Take A Deep Breath & Start

I really want you to look at the things you are storing and ask yourself whether you really need it... BUT at the same time, give yourself more grace if required. Maybe it’s time to get rid of things, but equally, maybe it’s not. It could be that you just needed to hear the words this time and then the next time we talk about it, that’ll be the time to take action.

We know that intellectually we need to get rid of things, but it’s the physical and emotional ties that hold us back from getting rid of things until the third or fourth time.

Previous Podcast Episodes

The main podcast episodes that I recommend you listen to, where I talk about my own childhood memories and how to deal with items when someone passes away, are:

Next week, I am sharing how the 100 Day Home Organization Program is like Montessori Education.

Which is appropriate as I am here in Texas this weekend at the Home School Convention. Education is on my mind. :)

I will also be stopping by the Hotel for the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018. All the party plans are humming along.

AND... I'm visiting the 1000+ Sunday Baskets that just arrived this week. I have to go see all my basket babies! Thanks so much for following along on my journey and supporting the new Organize 365 Store!

 

You may have noticed that I’m not on Facebook as much these days. It’s become so complicated! While I still have a business page and a personal account, please know that everything that I record goes into the Organize 365 Facebook Group - it’s a great free resource. If you’re not in this group, why not?! Head on over and sign up.

What I really enjoy about the Facebook Group is the shared conversations you all have with each other.

It’s great when you post questions and success stories as the whole Organize 365 team LOVE's to see what you’re doing and share it with our wonderful community.

I really like Instagram and, in particular, I love Instastories! Click here to follow me on Instagram.

You’ll often see me posting quick snippets of my life and they’re only available for 24 hours.

If Instagram isn't your thing, you can also see my Instastories on Facebook Stories, as well.

Speaking of Sunday Basket®s, if you love the system and are looking for a way to make a little money on the side, or to drive clients to your existing professional organizing business, please consider coming alongside the already 50 strong team of Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizers! Why now?

You can join between now and April 1, 2018 for a $500 one time fee and a yearly renewal of $250.

Starting April 1, the one time fee goes up to $745, so get in now and save!

50% of the professional organizers on the Organize 365 Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Team say they have received a new professional organizing client at their FIRST WORKSHOP. You can learn more about becoming a Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer and/or sign up here: https://organize365.com/become-licensed-sunday-basket-workshop-provider/

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/220

Direct download: Org365-220-2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Does your home ever feel like a craft store?! This week on the podcast, I talk all about how to get your crafts in order so you can create space and have more time to enjoy doing the things you love.

One of the reasons I’ve not tackled the hot mess room on the podcast so far is precisely because it’s a hot mess room and it’s overwhelming!

When there’s so much in there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and not really know where to begin, especially when you’re listening to my podcast episodes but then can’t physically see the things you should be sorting. Because of this, I’m here to try and teleport myself into your space and give us the chance to tackle this together in the most logical way possible.

Start With The End In Mind

Imagine for a moment that we could stop time and you could have seven full days to dedicate solely to working on your craft. Obviously, it’s not practical in the real world, but it’s a great starting point to look at all of your crafts and work out exactly what you could and would want to use in that time. This will form the basis for everything we do to organize your crafts.

It’s most likely that you’ll have enough crafts to keep you going for seven years rather than seven days. Therefore, it’s going to take you more than seven days just to organize it, let alone start enjoying it! You need to have this reality check. Otherwise, you’re setting up for unrealistic expectations – and we all know I’m the queen of those!

My Scrapbook Downsizing

I have always loved scrapbooking and making photo albums. As a result, I’ve accumulated LOTS of supplies over many years. I came the realize that I didn’t need all of those supplies anymore. I simply don’t scrapbook as much as I used to.

It this week’s podcast episode, I explain how I managed to reduce my craft supplies from taking up two very large closets in the basement to one armoire in the loft.

Why am I telling you this? It’s so you can clearly see how I went from having supplies for a full-time business to supplies that will support me making one or two albums a year.

Letting Go Of The Stamping & Counted Cross Stitch

Similar to my scrapbooking supplies, I used to have A LOT of stamping supplies which I have now condensed to hardly any at all (just a small shoe box versus the whole bookcase that I used to have).

My mother is an artist and makes wonderful rubber stamp cards. Because mom did it, I bought hundreds of rubber stamps and ALL the associated supplies. I was decluttering last summer when I realized that I hadn’t stamped in 15 years. I was only keeping them because:

  1. I’d spent a lot of money on them
  2. The looked super cute
  3. They sat on the gorgeous piece of furniture that my late grandfather had made

I did two things. First, I chose 20 stamps to keep for future projects and I sent the rest to my mom to use and give to others. Second, I took the stamp holder off the wall and offered it to my sister. She was delighted to accept it as she now got something that grandpa had made and she had a use for it.

I did the same with counted cross stitch. I used to LOVE counted cross stitch, but I came to realize that I haven’t done a project in 17 years. I can’t imagine a time when I’m going to do one again any time soon, but I CAN see a time in the distant future when I will pick this hobby back up. So I’ve kept a couple of hoops and all my flosses are in order for when this time comes, but it’s in a small box that’s easy to store.

Allow Yourself To Let Go

Scrapbooking , stamping, and counted cross stitch are examples of crafts that I used to be really into, but am less so now. Similar to what I did, ask yourself if you’re still really into something and if not, adjust the amount of supplies that you hold onto.

As you’re looking at your craft and reliving the memories of the interest in that craft, ask yourself:

  1. What is your current need, desire, and excitement for this craft?
  2. What is your future need, excitement, and desire for this craft?

Only keep the things you really need and give 90% away! It may not be exactly 90%, but I guarantee you it will be around that amount. You do not need to keep a lot.

Sometimes an advancement in technology makes your craft redundant. My stamps are a great example of this. They’re wooden, but modern ones are clear and much easier to use. If you want to revisit a hobby later, invest a bit of money in new things. Don’t be held back by the old things that you’re storing. Just because you’ve held onto them doesn’t mean you have to use them forever.

Speaking of projects...

OH MY GOODNESS! We have so many new products and opportunities coming out THIS WEEKEND I can't even stand it!!

If you are following me on Instagram or Facebook be ready for LOTS of videos. :)

I can't even decide what I am the most excited about!!

First, I am so happy to announce that the BINDERS ARE IN!

That's right! They are finally ready!

There are five binders currently available - Financial, Medical, Household Reference, Household Operations, and Kids School Memories.

You are going to LOVE THEM!

and... the Official Sunday Baskets® are IN!

I can't even believe my dream is coming true!

If you have already participated in the Sunday Basket® Workshop, you will want to get your Official Organize 365 Sunday Basket® to accompany your slash pockets!

If you haven't yet, we are now offering a special Sunday Basket® Kit for only $97 which includes the virtual Sunday Basket® Bundle 1.0 & 2.0 AND your very own Sunday Basket®!

SHOP HERE

As always, thank you for all you do as the heartbeat of Organize 365.

I love hearing from all of you and am always cheering you on from the sidelines as you take control of your life - one room, one pile of paper at a time.

Happy Organizing!

 

... Still reading?!

Then you are a SUPER fan!

Have you signed up to join me in Dallas, Texas for the Organize 365 National Convention? I can’t wait to meet you and give you a BIG hug!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/219

Direct download: Org365-219-2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

Welcome to the Hot Mess Room Series - Week 2!

It’s time to sort through all of those items that you’ve been hanging onto without ever knowing where they’re likely to eventually end up.

Storage is essential, but it can quickly get out of control. It’s time to ask yourself two simple questions…

  1. Will I use this item 1-4 times a year?
  2. Is this item saved for a specific person, for a specific date in the future?

If you can answer yes, the item can stay. If it’s a no, it’s time for it to go. Storing things that you need is fine, and the more organized you get, the more you’ll appreciate a well-functioning storage room.

My free 28-day organizational program on this topic goes into much more detail. Listen to my previous podcast for more information and you can sign up for it here.

The number one goal for storage is to ask yourself if an item is something that you’re ever going to use. This applies to your items and the items that you are storing for others.

I covered so many different things in this podcast including gifts, wrapping, furniture, home repair items, sports & entertainment equipment, cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies, toys, home decor, children's storage, making money, and clothing.

You can read all about it in the blog post here.

The Series

I know that organizing a hot mess room doesn’t happen overnight so I’m creating this 4-episode podcast series to tackle things. This is Part Two. Last week, we laid the foundation and over the next two weeks we will cover:

  • Craft organization
  • Sorting memories and dreams for the future

If you’re not already doing the 28-day challenge, then WHY NOT?! It’s a completely free program and you can start at any time.

Sign up to start your journey here.

Join me in Dallas, Texas for the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018! I can’t wait to meet you and give you a BIG hug!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/218

Direct download: Org365-218-2.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 8:00am EDT

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