I’ll be honest: Organization is optional. While cleaning and tasks of daily living are not optional, you CAN survive without organizing. Even though this next-level step of organization is optional, when you do choose to do it, it is a current investment of time today for a future exponential return on time later.

Organization always pays you back in time and sometimes money.

You can't make anyone else be organized, so you have to start with yourself and your personal spaces. Organization must become a habit starting with these personal spaces. It needs to be something that you do regularly, spending 15 minutes a day or an hour once a week working on building your organizational muscles.

The best place to begin? Your closet! You are 100% in control of your clothing. After that, you can move on to your portion of the bathroom space and bedroom space, your wallet or purse, and your transportation.

Remember: This is NOT about perfection. Organized means that everything has a place and everything is in its place.

When it comes to organizing these spaces, there are no rules. I'm not going to come judge you and your space. Make it how you want it to be!

In our research study, "Organization is Not an Optional Hobby for Women," we found that 62% of women reported that anxiety prevents them from organizing their personal spaces. I just want to hug you and tell you that this doesn't have to be stressful.

In this episode, I share more about what personal spaces are and some encouragement and instruction for building your habit of organizing in these spaces. There are also some changes coming to the 100 Day Home Organization Program in the fall based on this research that I share too.

Are you ready to get your personal space organized?

Read more about our research studies here.

Ready to start organizing? Read more about The Productive Home Solution™ here.

Want more inspiration? Listen to my morning, afternoon, and evening routines episodes to hear more about how I use and organize my personal spaces.

On Wednesdays, I usually talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. This Wednesday Transformation is a little different.

In this episode, I sat down with my sister, Emily Kelly, to talk about her personal and professional transformation. Emily came to work with me at Organize 365® over 4 years ago. During that time, her mindset has shifted. Emily has been leveling up. She has regained control of her finances. She's gone through hard seasons. Now she's ready for a new adventure.

I said I'd never fire Emily and she said she'd never quit, but the time came recently for Emily to leave Organize 365® because her dream job appeared. She didn't go looking for it. It found her. Listen in as Emily tells the whole story in this episode.

Mentioned in this episode: You can listen to my depression story in episode #069.

I hope you find Emily's story encouraging as you're working towards your transformation!

How are you leveling up?

I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday

I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

This week I am sharing my conversation with Jackie S. She lives with her husband, two young children, and their dog. Jackie is also my cousin! Jackie describes herself as an under-buyer until the pandemic made her change a few of her habits. She talks about how Planning Day gives her more realistic expectations of her time constraints and keeps her from "should-ing" on herself. She shares how she's learning to balance her time between family, home, and work responsibilities with creative twists when needed. She also wants to have more than three priorities in a day, but I reign her in and explain the difference between three deeper priorities and a million shallow tasks. We also geek out together on topics like task-stacking and habits. Jackie and I could have talked forever! I hope you enjoy our conversation!

What resonates with YOU about Jackie's story?

I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday

For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links:

Organize 365®

The Sunday Basket®

The Productive Home Solution (formerly All Access)

Planning Day

I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

It's time for a little Organize 365® history lesson! Let's retrace the 10-year journey of Organize 365® and the various iterations of the 100 Day Home Organization Program.

I was a very organized child. My mom used to take me shopping with a bag of buttons in hand. While she tried on clothes, I'd sit on the floor and sort the buttons.

I love sorting things and I love finding new ways to organize things.

Over the course of my lifetime, I've had seasons where I was extremely organized, such as when I was a teacher. At other times, I was completely unorganized, like when we adopted our babies or when my father passed away and I was managing his estate. 

I found that when I was disorganized, I felt so out of control.

Listen in to hear more about how the 100 Day Home Organization Program was born and continued to change over the years. We're making changes to the program again now that it is a part of The Productive Home Solution™ (formerly called All Access). Based on our research, I'm excited to reveal the new choose your own adventure format that will enable you to make progress on what you need to organize in your current season of life. 

Note: If you're a current member of The Productive Home Solution™ you will continue to have legacy access to anything you have access to now. 

Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here.

This week I am sharing my conversation with Jullia R. She lives with her husband, two teenagers, and their pet cat. Jullia shares how the Sunday Basket® tamed her mail and papers. She loves that system creates vertical, color-coded piles that do NOT take over her counters. She also tells how a simple change she made while going through the 100 Day Home Organization Program made a world of difference in the functionality of her kitchen. In between the extra trips to the donation center and the dumps, she's found more control.

What resonates with YOU about Jullia's story?

I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday

For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links:

Organize 365

The Sunday Basket®

The Productive Home Solution (formerly All Access)

I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

In this podcast series, I will be diving into organizing the business of work. I will be taking you along with me for a workweek that I recorded in November 2021.

At Organize 365®, we divide our work into four categories. As a shortcut, we use the Friday Workbox® colors to categorize the different kinds of work. These colors are pink, purple, blue, and green. 

Creating a shared vocabulary and defining different kinds of work gets all of our team on the same page. Together, we move faster in the same direction and have fewer episodes of miscommunication. 

Today is Friday - It is a hodgepodge day for me with a little green, a little blue, and a little purple work, but little to no pink work.

On this Friday, I start my day with purple by talking to YOU live online about this week’s podcast episode topic. Because I record my podcasts so far in advance, by the time an episode airs, I usually have a little more to share with you. Another purple activity for today is a masterclass I’m teaching called “Your Most Productive Year Ever.”

I’m spending some extra time with the team today by having Thanksgiving lunch together. Many people on the team will be taking extra time off for the holiday next week.

Most of you probably do your Friday Workbox on Friday afternoons, as I counsel you to do. While I will do a deep dive into my email, I will wait until over the weekend to do my Friday Workbox. It sounds blasphemous, but I purposely do this so I don’t overwhelm my team with new ideas going into the weekend. I just tie up the loose ends from my email, handle anything left on my desk, and prepare for the very beginning of the week. 

Then, I will spend 4-5 hours working over the weekend and during that time, I will go through my Friday Workbox®. I don’t talk much on the podcast about working over the weekend. I know many of you don’t want to work over the weekend, but this is what works for me in this season. This also gives me the margin to spend more of my Friday on social connections with my team.

I love the life I’ve created for myself, but by the end of the day on Friday, I’m ready to go home to spend time with Greg and snuggle Grayson.

In this podcast, I will take you along and talk to you at different times during my workday. Listen in to hear more about how I spend Fridays with my team, why we don’t do Black Friday sales, and how I use Google docs over email when possible.

How do you spend your Fridays? Do you do your Friday Workbox® on Fridays?

Learn more about the Friday Workbox® here.

Welcome to the newest Wednesday Podcast! On Wednesdays, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365 community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps, and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!  

This week I am sharing my conversation with Kristina S. She lives with her husband and two young girls in Germany. She shares how she and her husband stay organized as teachers without a permanent classroom space as well as how the Sunday Basket® has been the solution to her family's paper organization needs. I always love these international stories!

I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday

For more information about the programs and products mentioned in this podcast please check out these links:

Organize 365

The Sunday Basket®

The Productive Home Solution (formerly All Access)

Workboxes

I look forward to helping YOU get Organized!

PS - Be sure to share YOUR unique way of using #myextra5 and tag your post on Instagram so we can share your wins!

In this podcast series, I will be diving into organizing the business of work. I will be taking you along with me for a workweek that I recorded in November 2021.

At Organize 365®, we divide our work into four categories. As a shortcut, we use the Friday Workbox® colors to categorize the different kinds of work. These colors are pink, purple, blue, and green. 

Creating a shared vocabulary and defining different kinds of work gets all of our team on the same page. Together, we move faster in the same direction and have fewer episodes of miscommunication. 

Today is Thursday - It is an all pink day for me.

It is important to both work in and on your business. Working on your business means taking time for your personal development, your growth, your mindset, your skillset, and thinking about where you’re headed in the future.

You need days like this when you can step back to work on yourself and dream for your business. 

On Thursdays, I usually focus on myself. I spend time raising my lid so I can lead Organize 365® and the dream team to the next level. I use these days for coaching programs, conferences, webinars, podcasts, and books. Instead of joining a coaching program right now, I’ve instead joined a couple of round tables for C-level executives and for business owners in the Cincinnati area. 

I have been spending my Thursday mornings meeting with other members of these round tables. On Thursday afternoons, I’ll often do things that I personally need to do like doctor’s appointments or clothes shopping. No one expects me in the office on Thursdays and I can do whatever I want!

In this podcast, I will take you along and talk to you at different times during my workday. I’ll share with you who I’m meeting with today, how I got a rare lunch with my husband, and how I handled some unexpected changes to my schedule.

What activities and resources are you using for your pink days to work on yourself and on your business?