Grab the tissues! This episode was recorded live at the Organize 365 RISE: You Are Enough National Convention, held in June 2018. Lisa interviewed Dawn Carlson, a wife, mother of four, business owner, and new Certified Sunday Basket Workshop Organizer.

In this interview, Dawn shares her story of transformation from depressed, struggling, frazzled woman to a confident, productive CEO with Organize 365. Using the 100 Day Home Organization Program and virtual organizing, Dawn took back her home and freed herself to do what she is uniquely created to do. Dawn gives us a glimpse of the real-life ups and downs of home organization, and brings us the inspiring message that YOU can do it.

Dawn is a member of our All Access, a program designed to help you transform your home in one year.

Interested in a live event with Organize 365? Check out the upcoming events!

Be sure to check out organize365.com/240 for notes, links, and photos from this episode.

Like the show? Leave a review!

If you tried any of my suggestions, I’d love to see them! Follow me on Instagram and join the Facebook Group for more great organizing tips, then share your photos with me by tagging me @organize365 or using #organize365!

Want more information on launching your professional organization business? The Professional Organizer’s Think Tank is for you.

Want more information on adding the Sunday Basket Certification to your current business? We’d love for you to join us in the Certification Program!

In this episode, Lisa talks us through the story of Angela, a wannabe professional organizer who finds encouragement and motivation through Organize 365. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a profitable, confident, productive professional organizer, this episode is for you. Organize 365 has launched programs to help you START your business, MARKET your business, and GROW your business. With the Sunday Basket Certified Workshop Organizer program, Angela transforms her business from a small hobby business to a money-making profession she loves.

Snag that free checklist here!

Want more information on launching your professional organization business? The Professional Organizer’s Think Tank is for you.

Want more information on adding the Sunday Basket Certification to your current business? We’d love for you to join us in the Certification Program!

Be sure to check out organize365.com/238 for notes, links, and photos from this episode.

Like the show? Leave a review!

If you tried any of my suggestions, I’d love to see them! Follow me on Instagram and join the Facebook group for more great organizing tips, then share your photos with me by tagging me @organize365 or using #organize365!

We’ve reached the final episode of the Kid’s Organization Series. I hope you’ve all enjoyed this mini-series so far and found the advice useful when it comes to organizing your bedroom – or mini apartment as I like to call them!

In previous episodes, I’ve talked about organizing your clothes, closets, and rearranging the furniture in your bedroom. But now I want to talk about organizing your toys, collections, and how to save space if you’re sharing a bedroom with someone else.

Eliminate Your Nightstand

If you share a bedroom with a sibling or a friend at college, every space counts. With two beds in the room, it’s unlikely you’ll have a lot of space to work with unless you’re lucky and have a massive room for you both.

If you’ve been keeping up with the podcast, you’ll know that my son is preparing for college and we’ve been shopping for his new apartment. During one of my many Walmart visits, I came across storage headboards. Well actually, there were more like mini bookcases with shelving suitable for things like an alarm clock, picture frames, ornaments, books, and other small items.

A storage headboard eliminates your need for a nightstand, giving you more floor space to work with. If you want to have a lamp near your bed, you can use a clip-on dorm lamp that can clamp onto your headboard. They are adjustable and you can angle it so that you can read at night without shining a stream of light in your roommate’s face – phew!

Cube Units For Bunk Beds

If you have bunk beds in your room, a storage headboard is probably out of the question. But don’t worry, I’ve got the perfect solution!

IKEA are the masters of storage units! Their KALLAX shelving units are my favorite. They are available in a range of different sizes, but if you’re looking for the perfect bookshelf for bunk beds, I suggest going for the 1 x 5 unit. It takes up very little space and you can easily attach it to the wall with a standard L bracket.

You’ll need to think about functionality over appearance. Most people will immediately assume that the unit should be facing outwards, but this isn’t how I do it. I recommend connecting the unit to the wall sideways so that the kids can reach into the shelves from their beds.

Reducing The Bedroom Clutter

If you share a room, you MUST reduce the number of collections and toys that you keep because there just isn’t enough room to spare. If your family has additional storage space or a family bookshelf, etc., then you might be able to keep some of your possessions there if you don’t want to donate or throw them out.

Cube units are easier to work with for organizing your bedroom because they’re functional, long-lasting, and you can easily separate them if you like. A 2 x 8 unit, for example, can be stacked on top of each other with your TV on top.

My daughter took a slightly different approach to her shelving units and, instead of putting a TV on top of her 2 x 8 unit, she put her hamster cage on top of it. It’s not a regular hamster cage either – it’s a hamster mansion!

Organizing Books

Is it just me or is every home overflowing with books? I was a preschool teacher and when my kids were young, we literally had EVERY picture book ever published. The house was covered in them until I finally decided to do something about it.

My kids were never big readers. They preferred to play with toys rather than sit and read for hours. So, I took all the picture books and stored them in the loft. I then put their toys in their bedrooms and they were so much happier.

If you’ve got a lot of books, you should think about donating some of them or moving them to where everyone else in the family keeps their books. I suggest assigning one of your cubes in your shelving unit for books – and that’s it!

Organizing Your Toys & Collections

Everyone has a passion project. Your passion project is the type of toys that you’re currently into. Whether it’s PS4 games, Monster High Dolls or Lego, your passion project will probably take up at least four of the cubes in your unit.

Toys are different from collections because toys are the things that you play with while collections are more personal and private. Your collection is special because it has a memory connected to it and, even though the rest of the family sees it as junk, you don’t see it that way.

There’s just one thing to remember – your entire collection HAS to fit into one cube. You can store them in a bin, but once that container fills up – it’s time to go through it!

You should spread everything out on the floor and go through it piece by piece. Prioritize your collections and only keep the items that you still love. Everything else should be donated or thrown out because they’re just taking up space that you don’t have.

Find A Display Area For Your Collections

Once you’ve gone through the bin, you need to find a flat surface in your room where you can display your favorite pieces from your collections.

I suggest putting them on a ledge or “floating shelf” that you can hang up on the wall with a nail or L bracket. This type of shelf comes in a range of sizes and is relatively inexpensive. You can find them anywhere, including IKEA, Target, and even Walmart.

You can attach it to your wall and use it as a collection shelf. If you share a room with a sibling, get two shelves for your collections and stack them on top of each other.

I hope you enjoyed this special Kid’s Organization Series as much as I enjoyed making it! I’ve organized plenty of kid’s rooms in the past. It’s one of my favorite things to do because each child is different and their bedrooms reflect their personalities – I think that's fantastic!

If you tried any of my suggestions, I’d love to see them! Follow me on Instagram for more great organizing tips, then share your photos with me by tagging me @organize365!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/237

We’re continuing our Kids Organization Series and following up last week’s topic of redesigning your bedroom with an episode all about cleaning out your closets and organizing your clothes – it’s exciting stuff, I know.

But don’t worry, a closet clean out doesn’t take as long as you might think. As you continue to improve your organizing skills and return to a space you’ve previously organized, the process becomes much easier and quicker.

If you haven’t listened to my previous podcasts offering clothing organization tips, you can go back through podcast episodes 103 to 107 to listen.

Have you caught up? Great! Let's get stuck into organizing your closet!

Donating Unwanted Clothes

Donations should happen on a regular basis. In fact, I would go as far as saying it should be a part of your everyday life.

I go through my closet and reorganize the clothes quite often. So when I began going through everything recently, I didn’t have much to do. There weren’t many clothes that I needed to donate, but that wasn’t the case when it came to organizing my kid's closets.

I’ve always taught my kids the value of donating to those in need. When they were really young, like around six or seven years old, we would reorganize their room together and they would give me the things that they wanted to donate. Now that they’re much older, they take the things they want to donate and put it in the donation area.

So when it came to organizing their closets, a lot of the clothes were set aside to donate. This is not only a great way to get rid of all the clothes you don’t want anymore, but it also frees up closet space and gives those clothes to someone in need.

Organizing Hangers

When I told my kids I was going to help them clean their closets, they were pretty excited about it. I started in my son’s room first, and if there’s one thing you need to know about his closet set-up, it’s the fact that everything he owns (except for socks and underwear, etc.) is hung up in the closet.

However, a large part of his closet consisted of empty hangers that took up way too much space. So, the very first thing I did was take all of the empty hangers and put them in a laundry basket. I made sure that all of the hangers faced the same direction because as you know, hangers love to get tangled together.

Putting your empty hangers in a laundry basket is great because it gives you more free space on the rod and you can just grab a hanger whenever you need one.

Keep Vs. Donate

To keep or not to keep? – that is the question!

One of the biggest decisions you’ll make when you clean out your closet is deciding which clothes you want to keep and which you wish to donate. When I help my kids go through their closets, I hold each item of clothing up high for them to evaluate. They look at it and decide its fate with a simple “yes” or “no” response. It’s a quick process of elimination and I go through the clothes super-fast for two reasons:

1. I don’t want this to take forever
2. I know kids can get bored

All of the clothes that they want to keep are hung up in the closet and all of the clothes they want to get rid of are put into trash bags for donation. Instead of carrying all the bags downstairs and into the car, I tie a tight knot at the top and take them to the top of the stairs and I roll them down! It saves a lot of time and energy because I don’t have to keep running up and down the stairs – plus, it’s just fun to roll things down the stairs!

Sorting The Clean Laundry

The next step is to go through all of the clean laundry items and sort out the pieces of clothing in the same way as we did before. This is where you’ll look at each piece of clothing and decide if you want to keep it or donate it to Goodwill.

While you organize your closet, you should keep in mind whether or not you plan on buying any new clothes soon. For example, my son needs new white long sleeve t-shirts for college, so we ended up donating his old ones because we knew that we were going to add a bunch of new t-shirts to his closet very soon.

As we organized the clean laundry, I held up each piece and again, my kids answered either “yes” or “no.” Anything that they wanted to keep went back into the closet. And anything they wanted to donate went into the donation bags – and yes, we rolled them down the stairs again!

Organizing Closet Shelves

My daughter's closet has multiple shelves that I built for her when she was much younger. Back then, she would use them to store her toys, but now she uses them to store her clothes. So when we were in the process of organizing her closet, we used the shelves to store other pieces of clothing that she didn’t want to hang up including her leggings, workout clothes, soft shorts, etc.

We hung everything else up in the closet and put the winter clothes on one rod and the spring/summer clothes on the other rod. We then took small bins or storage boxes and used them to store things like socks, underwear, swimwear, and things that she can grab whenever she needs them.

And there you have it, the easy (and speedy) way of organizing your closet!

I hope you have fun going through your clothes. And if you have a dresser drawer in your room, you can arrange it in the same way. But instead of hanging the clothes you want to keep in the closet, you fold them up and put them into your dresser – simple!

Next week, I will be talking about collections, toys, and sharing your bedroom. :)

Remember to sign up for the Back To School Blitz!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/236

On this week’s podcast, I kick start the 3-week Kid’s Organization Series. It’s for kids between the ages of 7 and 21 – so whether you’re still in school or preparing to graduate from college – this series is for you!

I tried something a little different this week and recorded my podcast on video, too. If you would prefer to watch this episode, you can do that here... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc

Organizing Your School Art & Memories

But before we get started, I want to reach out to all the kids out there who are bored out of their minds this summer. If you can relate, I’ve got your back! One of the things you could do is go through all of your old artwork and school papers and sort out the things that you love and want to save to look back on in years to come. Sort everything into two piles – a keep pile and a recycle pile.

Once you have gathered all of the papers and artwork you want to keep, you can store it all in a plastic tub and keep it in your closet, or you can put everything inside a binder using sheet protectors. You can create your own binder OR you can ask your parents (as nicely as possible) to let you order the Organize 365 School Art & Memory Binder where you can safely store and protect all of your papers and artwork so that they will last a lifetime.

Organizing your artwork is something you could do while you’re in the process of redesigning your bedroom, which is something that I did A LOT when I was a kid because I loved switching things around and making my room feel “brand new” again.

So, if you want to redesign your bedroom this summer and change things up for yourself, follow these easy redesign tips!

Planning On Graph Paper

I don’t know about you, but I find it easier to envision a redesign when I’ve drawn up a quick plan on paper first. Measure your bedroom and notice where the windows, doors and outlets are.

In my case, I’m redesigning my son’s bedroom which measures 10' x 10'. So, I’ve drawn out my plan on the graph paper to fit 30 squares across and 30 squares from top to bottom.

[So, three squares of the paper is equal to one foot and one square of the paper is equal to four inches.]

Marking Doors, Windows & Outlets

Before we can get to the fun part of moving furniture around and getting creative with your bedroom, there are a few things you will want to mark on your plans such as doors, windows, electrical outlets, and vents.

Leave enough space for any door openings in your room, whether it’s the main door to your bedroom, a closet door, or the door to a bathroom, etc. Figure out how much space you need to leave free and mark this on your graph paper as a semi-circle. You can watch how I do this in this week's video... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc

Also mark the placement of all of the windows in your bedroom. I also like to label each of the electrical outlets and the vent to allow heat and air conditioning to enter the room without any obstruction.

Using Post-It Notes As Furniture

Now that you have all the boring stuff marked on your plan, you can start redesigning your bedroom with Post-It Notes.

Create a Post-It Note for each piece of movable furniture in your room. Many of you will have a desk, a dresser, or a bedside table. Measure it and cut a Post-It Note in the same shape and size that corresponds with your plan.

Remember, three squares on the graph paper is equal to one foot. So if your bed measures 6' x 3', you’ll need to convert that measurement to fit the dimensions of the squares of your plan. You can liven things up by using multi-colored Post-Its and labeling each one as you go.

When I was a kid, I would do this ALL THE TIME. I would plan my new bedroom design over and over again. And when I was done with that, I made a plan for future homes – I just loved it. What can I say? Some kids played sports and some kids planned their future homes in excruciating detail and precision!

Moving Big Pieces Of Furniture

When it comes to redesigning your room and moving big pieces of furniture around, you need to think of the process as a huge jigsaw puzzle. Make sure you leave enough space in your room to move things around in the most efficient way possible and try not to limit your own walking space. You’ve got to be able to walk around your room without climbing over furniture to get to the other side!

In this week's video, I show you (using my Post-It Note furniture) how to move your bed and desk and not get stuck in the room!... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc

If you have too many things that can’t fit in your bedroom or your college dorm room, I suggest renting an outside storage unit. This is especially useful if you’ve recently moved back home with your parents and there’s not enough space to keep all of the things you accumulated throughout college. Just put it all in a storage facility – out of sight, out of mind!

The Kids Organization Series

I hope you enjoyed this first episode of the Kids Organization Series and found some useful tips and ideas for organizing and redesigning your own bedroom or apartment. In this series, I’m going to be focusing on all the things that you don’t have time for during the school year that you could finally do in the summer.

If you’d like to catch up with the podcast’s I recorded last year for organizing your bedroom and collections, go to organize365.com/kids. Don’t forget to take photos of your newly organized bedroom and tag me @organize365 on Instagram – I’d love to see how you're organizing your rooms and share it with my followers!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/235

Living through renovations, natural disasters, and moving can be a very stressful and disorganized time. Your house is turned upside down in the blink of an eye and before you know it, you’re stepping over stacks of books on your way to the bathroom and the dog is snoozing on top of a box labeled, “The GOOD China” – just thinking about it gives me a headache!

Instead of gritting your teeth and living through the chaos, you can follow these three easy steps that will help to not only organize your home during transitional times (such as moving or renovating the kitchen), but they’ll also help to keep you sane.

1. The Hot Mess Room Challenge

The first step is to do the Hot Mess Room Challenge well in advance. The challenge is different for everyone because no two “hot mess rooms” are the same. Your hot mess room could be your basement, the guest bedroom, or your garage. It’s the room in the house that has collected a mass of random items that don’t have a place anywhere else in the home. If you’re thinking of a room like that in your house, it’s your hot mess room!

So, what is the Hot Mess Room Challenge?

The Hot Mess Room Challenge takes 28 days to complete and it takes you through the progress of getting your hot mess room organized. You can think of the hot mess room like a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge will help you to separate each piece, organize each one and, in the end, put them together into an organized storage unit.

The Hot Mess Room Challenge can be download it right here. It’s delivered directly to your inbox, ready to download!

At the end of the 28-day challenge, instead of a hot mess room, you’ll have an organized storage room with shelving, bins with color-coded labels, and a complete inventory of everything you have stored in that room.

When disaster strikes and you need to find something such as a flashlight or a photograph of a family member, you can’t waste time looking through boxes upon boxes. Having an inventory gives you peace of mind knowing that if you ever needed something in a rush, you'll know exactly where to find it.

2. The Sunday Basket®

Once you have completed the Hot Mess Room Challenge, you’re ready to move onto stage two – organizing your Sunday Basket® System!

You need to make sure that your Sunday Basket® is ALWAYS accessible to you 100% of the time. In fact, you should think of your Sunday Basket® as your lifeline during these stressful transitional times.

Your Sunday Basket® is where you will keep your color-coded lists of everything that is in your storage room and an inventory of the things you have packed into boxes. If you are renovating your kitchen, for example, you would label boxes with things such as “Utensils,” “Dishes,” “Pots and Pans,” etc. So when you need to find something inside one of the kitchen renovation boxes, you can check the Sunday Basket® checklist and it will tell you exactly where you can find that item.

Another reason why you need your Sunday Basket® up and running when you’re moving or renovating your home is that, in both of these cases, you’ll have paperwork coming in such as household bills, invoices, etc. and you can keep all of these papers organized in your SundayBasket®.

3. The Organize 365 Binders

Before you move or renovate your home, you need to make each of the four Organize 365 Binders to eliminate your filing cabinet and organize all of your paperwork. Once you have all of your binders arranged, you can move to your new house without trailing a bunch of unsightly and disorganized filing cabinets with you – how awesome does that sound?

It takes time to organize each binder, so I would suggest tackling one at a time. If you’d like to find out how I organized my binders, you can head over to the Sunday Basket® Podcast to hear more about that and each of the four binders I mention below:

Medical Binder: You should think of the Medical Organizing Binder as a caregiver binder and store information regarding your family’s medical and health history, doctor information, diagnosis tracker, immunization record, hospitalization and surgery history, and so on.

Financial Binder: The Financial Organizing Binder is for all of your finances, which includes everything you need to keep your finances in order during a home renovation, a move, or when a natural disaster strikes. Inside, you should keep your insurance policy information, financial prep sheet, credit card inventory, bill payment records, debts and loans, and any other finances that you need to keep track of.

Household Reference Binder: Every homeowner needs a Household Reference Binder. It’s where you should store everything that you want the new homeowner to know (if you’re selling your house), including home exterior and interior information, home appliances, and details of things such as when you last checked the hot water heater, etc.

Household Operations Binder: The Household Operations Binder is the key to maintaining your home and running the household. Inside this binder, you should keep all of the basic household information, important dates, trackers, meal planning, and your plan in the event of an emergency.

Whenever you’re moving to a new house, renovating, or in the aftermath of a natural disaster, you’ll need to know where you keep your four binders. I suggest keeping them in the same place where you store your SundayBasket® so you can just grab it all and go!

I hope you found these three steps useful when it comes to living through renovations, moving to a new home, or recovering from a natural disaster. Purchase your Sunday Basket® and Binders in my shop today!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/234

Friday Workboxes will increase your productivity in your "work" just like the Sunday Basket^® does for your home. 

This podcast was originally a Facebook LIVE. You can watch the video here. 

Check out all the Organize 365 Friday Workboxes here.

Join the Organize 365 Newsletter to stay on top of new products as they launch.

And follow Lisa on Instagram to see behind the scenes of her everyday life and watch new products as they are developed. 

Just because you live in a small home doesn’t mean your storage space has to be limited. Over the years, I’ve received A LOT of emails on the subject of maximizing storage space in small living spaces such as studio apartments, condos, and tiny houses.

In fact, I received this email from an Organize 365 fan named Amy just the other day and wanted to share it with you:

“Since having a baby, it’s been so hard to keep on top of things at home, but listening to your podcasts in the afternoons usually gives me a little push. Do you have experience with organizing small homes and apartments? Our apartment constantly feels cluttered, but in reality, there are very few things we can get rid of, it’s just a small space. Any advice for those of us who don’t have basements, garages, spare rooms or even a hall closet and also don’t have a lot of money for complex storage systems that fancy tiny homes all seem to utilize?”

Amy is in a situation that I know many of you can relate to. Living in a small space with a baby usually means that there is going to be a lot of “stuff” – it’s just the way it is.

The issue lies with the fact that you genuinely NEED all of that extra baby stuff because you never know when you’ll need it again, especially if you’re planning on expanding your family in the future.

The Baby Issue

I’m not saying that having a baby in a small space is an “issue,” but it’s important to realize that children come with a lot of clutter. Expecting to add more kids to your family without expanding the amount of space taken up in the home is an unrealistic expectation.

Now that I’ve given you that little reality check, we can dive into the good stuff!

If you’re fortunate enough to have a nursery in your home, it’s a good idea to try and keep most of the baby related items in there as much as possible. And if you want to maximize your space WITHOUT decluttering, I have four space-saving suggestions for you!

1. Create More Space

Before you say anything – Yes, I understand that you can’t just click your fingers together and magically increase the size of your home to create more space. That’s not what I’m saying, but it is essential to start looking at your house with “new eyes.”

Try and see your home’s potential. It may be difficult at first, but trust me – there’s always a way to create more space!

A great tip I have for you is to use shoe holders over every door in your house. You can avoid using hooks (which can damage the door frame) by using 3M Command Hooks instead.

With Command Hooks, you can just pop the shoe holder over the top and it’ll hold the rack in place without causing any damage to the door – phew!

So, what can you store inside these fantastic shoe organizers?

I’m glad you asked!

You can literally store all of the little things in your house inside the shoe holders. For example, on the back of the bathroom door, you can put your shampoo, soaps, and items that you would typically put in your medicine cabinet, etc. On the back of the nursery door, you can store cute little baby things like hair accessories, tiny socks, diaper rash cream. and baby wipes, etc.

2. Increase Storage Space With Bed Risers & Space Saver Bags

A bed riser is cheap. You can pick one up from somewhere like Walmart for just $10. Bed risers can lift your bed a few inches or even a few feet above the floor, giving you additional storage space.

I’m a huge fan of bed risers. Our master bed has not one, but TWO bed risers underneath it because… well, I couldn’t see the TV screen over the bed frame!

We also ended up putting our dog’s bed underneath our bed. So, every night our dog Hunter sleeps underneath our bed. If you have a dog and he’s a part of the family like ours is, then this news probably won’t surprise you in the slightest. It’s definitely a unique storage solution to store your dog’s bed (and your dog!).

You can use one bed riser or double it up for even more storage space. Another great way to maximize space in the home is to use a Space Saver Bag. You can put your big fluffy blankets in there over the summer and other out-of-season clothes to help save yourself more space.

Use a vacuum to suck all the air out of the bag and watch in awe as the fluffy blanket that kept you warm all winter gets flattened into a very thin pancake. Store the bag underneath your bed and don’t think about it until next winter!

3. Go ‘Vertical’

If you really want to make the most out of the small space that you DO have, you’ve got to start thinking vertically.

Take a trip to Ikea and get yourself one of those cube storage units and stack them on top of each other against the wall. Build it all the way up to the ceiling if you can and store different items in each cube so you can have less clutter around the house – sorted!

4. Use An Outside Storage Facility

I understand that not everyone can afford to invest in an outdoor storage facility, but if you can save up just a little bit of money each month, you can have enough to rent a small storage unit to help declutter your home.

Choose a size that’s right for you and use it to store all the extra things in your house that you won’t need for a while such as holiday decorations, memorabilia, and baby equipment that your child no longer needs but you may come back to in the future for the next little one.

There’s ALWAYS storage solutions if you’re willing to think outside the box. Don’t let yourself be limited by the physical amount of space that you do have and try to look at it from a new perspective and, who knows, you might even come up with a few of your own creative storage ideas along the way!

My entire company is run from my small home office in my bedroom. A small space forces you to constantly prioritize your space and your to-do's. Check out the NEW Friday Workboxes and get your homeschool, teaching, direct sales and entrepreneur businesses organized in a box. :)

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/233

Summer is meant to be a relaxing time of the year filled with fun activities, holidays, and warm afternoons spent soaking up the sun on the beach. However, summer is my least productive season (and I’m a productivity NUT, so that’s saying a lot!).

Things just don’t get done and, before you know it, the summer has ended and all you have to show for it is a great tan but not much else. When we go head first into summer without a second thought about routines or schedules, we often end up feeling bored because we don’t know what to do with our time.

I’m not saying you should have a structured plan and organize every little detail of your summer, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few routine days that you can use sparingly throughout the summer.

I have five different routine days for the summer that I’d like to share with you:

1. Help & Support Day

If you have kids, you need a day off. It’s as simple as that. Yes, we love our children, and we’d do anything for them, but sometimes we need some time for ourselves – a bit of ME time is good for you!

I’m a full-time working mom with two teenagers and just last summer, I hired a nanny. I know what you’re thinking, “Why on earth did you hire a nanny for two teenagers?”

Well, here’s why:

Reason 1: There was a lot of random driving that needed doing last summer and I didn’t have the time to drive my kids around. So, the person I hired to help me out would drive my kids to wherever they wanted to go and I was able to concentrate on work without any interruptions – success!

Reason 2: I had a lot of household chores and projects I wanted to be done, but had no time to get to. She was able to scan all of my scrapbooks, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and do the laundry – and it was fantastic!

If you’re not a mom, this probably sounds ridiculous. But if you ARE a mom, you might be thinking… “brilliant – I NEED THIS!”

When I was a teenager, I worked as a babysitter. Before the summer kicked off, I would approach the parents I worked for and ask them if they wanted a day to themselves. I would be happy to look after their kids while they got their hair done (because it was the 80’s and hair was literally everythingback then) and when the mom’s heard this, they thought it was a genius idea.

I created a desire in them that they didn’t even know existed! Not to boast, but I was basically an entrepreneur from birth.

So, when I became a mom, I was looking for someone who would sell the same services as I did – and I found them!

2. Pool Day

Who doesn’t love a pool day? Whether you’re practicing your backstroke or soaking up the sunshine, everyone loves a good pool day in the summer.

Most pools open between 10 am and noon, so you have most of the morning to do whatever you like, and the kids can have their own independent time, too.

When it’s time to go to the pool, pack your swimwear, towels, and whatever else you need to bring with you and go out and enjoy the day as a family!

Remember, the pool tends to zap up all of your energy and brain power, so you probably won’t have the energy to get much done when you get home. Take it easy and order some pizza to finish the day off in style!

3. Errand Day

You can eliminate a lot of time from an errand day by just buying things online like I do. You can shop for groceries online as well, so this might be a good option for you if you don’t feel like pushing a cart through a store.

You’ll probably need at least one or two errand days over the summer. Some of you may need an errand day each week, while others will need just one errand day per month.

The best way to prepare for errand day is to create a list of what needs to be done and check off each task as you go.

4. Home Day

This is my favorite kind of day where you can stay home and do whatever you like with your time – it’s paradise!

I usually like to focus on one of my larger projects on a home day because I’ve got plenty of time to get it done. However, there’s nothing worse than enjoying your home day and having someone tell you that you need to get up and leave the house. That’s the worst, isn’t it?

Avoid this scenario by telling everybody it’s a home day. Make sure they know that you have no intention of driving them around the country or to McDonald’s for some fast food (unless you change your mind, in which case, that’s perfectly fine!).

One of the best ways to make a home day super successful is to introduce your kids to a new activity. This can be anything from a new subscription box to a science kit or homemade play dough.

I love play dough, and I often make homemade play dough that kids of all ages (including me) like to play with. It’s a creative pastime and it doesn’t cost a lot of money, which makes it perfect for a low-key day at home!

Visit the blog post to get my homemade play dough recipe to try for yourself!

5. Big Event Day

A big event day is basically a day spent outside of the house doing something BIG. This can be anything from the amusement park to the zoo. It’s always a good idea to plan for the big event day the night before it actually happens.

If you’re going to be traveling, make sure to fill your car with gas in advance. You should also pack and plan everything you’ll need for the big event day, such as snacks, food, etc.

Each of these summer routine days is designed to give you some inspiration and guidance if you’re struggling to be productive over the summer months. I hope you found it helpful and you can use some (if not all) of these routine days this summer!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/231

Before I get into this week’s topic, I have TWO very exciting announcements for you!

First, this is your LAST chance to register for the Organize 365 National Convention! That’s right, tickets are almost sold out, and registration for the event closes at midnight on May 29th – so make sure to click here to learn more and sign up!

The second announcement is for all the teachers out there and anyone who feels like once the school year starts, their head starts spinning! If this sounds like you, the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time is EXACTLY what you’ve been looking for. It cuts the time of the 100 Day Program in half, which means you can get it done TWICE as fast!

Don’t miss out on this one time offer! There are just 120 slots available! So, if you miss out this time, you’ll have to wait until August to sign up. If you manage to get your hands on one of these treasures, you’ll receive the current planner AND the brand-new planner that we’re launching in August – now that’s what I call a real VIP experience!

Registration for the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time opens Friday May 25th and ends on May 29th at midnight or until the 120 slots have been claimed. Once they are gone, they are gone!

If you want to be one of the first people to try the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time Program, click here to sign up!

Now, onto setting your summer goals!

Summer Is Coming!

Summer is just around the corner and most of you are probably busy packing your suitcases and planning your summer vacation. It’s an exciting time of the year. I know I’m really looking forward to planning my summer and spending more time with my family.

Is it just me or does anyone else feel like summer is the dreamiest season of the year? Do you know what I mean? Things just seem to merge together and before you know it, you’re right back at the start of the school year again and you’ve no idea where the time went. Weird, right?

Well, I think I’ve gotten to the bottom of it. Let me share how you can reach your summer goals without fail – I promise.

Try Not To Have Too Many Goals This Summer

When you think ahead to the summer, it’s tempting to overestimate just how much you can get done. I’ve always thought of July as the “Bermuda Triangle” of months. Nothing happens in July. It’s almost impossible to get any work done and I can’t explain why.

Instead of giving yourself a hard time because you “failed” to reach all of your summer goals, take a step back and realize that it’s okay! It’s okay that you didn’t get the kitchen painted this summer or that you didn’t have time to declutter your closet – give yourself a break, it’s summer after all!

I think one of the main issues we all run into over the summer is the mistake of setting too many goals for ourselves in such a short space of time.

Summer is very short, and it’s very spontaneous. One minute you could be focused on organizing your kitchen and the next thing you know, you’re running down the street in your flip-flops trying to sniff out where that delicious smell of BBQ'd ribs is coming from – unplanned things just happen.

Give yourself the grace from the beginning and know that you’re not going to get a ton of goals accomplished in the summer – and learn to be okay with it.

Set Yourself One Or Two Goals MAX

I always try and focus on one specific area of my life over the summer. Sometimes, I might go as far as assigning myself two goals for the entire summer, but it’s okay to have just the one.

Here is a glimpse into a few of my previous summer goals throughout the years:

In 2015, I decided to focus my summer on improving my personal health and working on my marriage. I walked 10,000 steps per day and invested in having more one-on-one time with my husband. We spent summer nights talking outside on the patio, and that was the same summer we discovered (and binge-watched) the TV show “24.” It was an easy-going summer and one that I really enjoyed.

In 2016, I redesigned my websites because we had just launched the 100 Day Home Organization Program. A lot of my free time was spent in front of my computer screen. I decluttered my desktop, posts, and Pinterest boards, which helped me to have a real work-focused year with limited distractions and clutter.

In 2017, I focused on decluttering the house and began to work on redoing different spaces, such as the kid's bedrooms and our landscaping. This summer project grew more momentum and ran into the beginning of 2018 – we recently had our windows and doors replaced!

So now that you’ve heard all about my previous summer goals, I bet you’re thinking, “Great Lisa, but what are you focusing on this summer?”

Well, this summer, I’m going to focus on my kids.

My son is preparing to leave for college and will be moving into his own apartment, so we have to help him get ready and prepare his living quarters before he begins his studies.

My daughter also got her temporary license, so I’ll spend a lot of time driving with her and taking a few road trips to help her gain more confidence as a new driver.

What Is Your ‘BIG Summer Win?’

You’ve heard all about my summer goals, but now it’s time to start thinking about what YOU want to accomplish this summer. What “BIG WIN” do you want to achieve over the next few months?

The key here is to get as specific as possible with your big summer win. The more you can narrow it down to just one specific goal, the more likely you are to succeed.

I would love to hear your big goal for the summer so please share it with us in the Organize 365 Facebook Group or go over to Instagram and tag me on what your big summer priority is going to be – I can’t wait to see what you guys will be up to this summer!

Oh and don't forget... if you are ready to jumpstart your home organization journey, I would LOVE for you to join me in 100 Day Home Organization DOUBLE TIME. Registration is only open until Tuesday IF the planner supply lasts that long!

Join Here.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/230

Before we get into the main topic of this week’s podcast episode, I have two time-sensitive subjects I want to share with you.

First, the Organize 365 National Convention will be held in Dallas from June 7th to June 9th. Ticket sales end at midnight on May 29th, so make sure you get yours while you still can! The tickets are selling FAST, so click here to get your ticket today!!

The second thing I’d like to discuss is the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Although it can be completed within 100 days, some of you may not be able to complete the program within the recommended time slot, and that’s okay. So, keeping this in mind, I’ve decided to reveal how you can do the 100 Day Home Organization Program in double time on next week’s podcast episode!

Now with that out of the way, let’s get into the meat of this week’s podcast episode!

This one is a little different from my usual podcasts because I’ll be focusing on the seasons of parenthood and how each one brings new changes to our organization routine.

My Mini Epiphany

The other day seemed ordinary enough, nothing that remarkable or exciting happened. I pulled into my driveway with my daughter, and at the same time, my husband Greg arrived home with the dog from daycare. Then, my son pulled up to the house. At that moment, we all arrived home together as a family – and I had an epiphany.

Okay, so it wasn’t like a mind-blowing ordeal where I discovered the true meaning of life or anything. But still, it made me realize something very important.

I’m happy.

It may seem like a throwaway thing to say but if you think about it, how often in our busy lives do we take a moment and appreciate what we have? How many times have you stopped to ask yourself, "Am I happy?"

It’s not as easy as it seems, right? And yet, that’s how I felt. Happy.

Seasons of Parenting

I’m the type of person who enjoys every season of parenting. I live in the moment.

My son Joey is leaving for college soon, and many people have told me that I’m going to be sad when he leaves. But I don’t think I will be that sad. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll miss him when he goes. But at the same time, I love seeing him grow up and going off to college is just another step in his journey.

If you’re a new parent, you’ll face many obstacles throughout your child’s life, and with each stage that passes, another will take its place. When you overcome these obstacles, your organizational strength will grow, and you’ll have the tools you need to prepare for the next challenge in life.

So, let’s take a look at each season from babyhood all the way through to your child graduating from high school (you may want to grab a tissue!)

The Early Years of Parenting

New parents face a great deal of change in the early years, especially in the baby, toddler, and pre-school stages. Babies are a handful, and they can quickly go from one diaper size to the next. You always need to change your stockpile of diapers and then you need to organize what your kids will eat and drink.

As you continue to expand your family, you’ll also develop your mental bandwidth to include not just yourself, but each additional little human that you’re responsible for.

Grade School: The Game Changer Year

When you have younger kids, your house can suddenly become overloaded with toys, clothes, and apparatus such as strollers and car seats, etc. But as the kids grow up, you can start to move the toys into their bedrooms and put the strollers and things into storage or give them to another family member if you don’t plan on using them yourself.

And once the kids go to all-day school, your home and organizational routine will change drastically.

This is a time that I like to call "The Game Changer Year."

It’s dramatic, I know. But seriously, when the kids are in school for most of the day, you’ll not only have more time for yourself, but you’ll also have more time to organize your home. Everything seems to flow a lot easier, and you can treat yourself to some quiet time now that the kids are off to school.

Even those of you at work while your kids are at school will notice a distinct difference in function of your home and the organizational progress you make will STAY!

FYI - I highly recommend taking a day or 2 off work while your children are at school to reclaim your home. :)

Middle School: Gaining Independence

Oh, middle school – how I’ve missed you!

If you didn’t know, I used to be a 7th and 8th-grade school math and science teacher, so forgive me if I get a little nostalgic thinking back to the good old days.

What I love about this age group is their ability to form their own opinions, and being able to witness their brains process change and develop as they progress through the school year.

Middle school is a time when kids are starting to become more independent in their actions.

High School: Graduation & College

Whether you love it or loathe it, high school is one of the most memorable times of a child’s life. Their independence starts to take shape, and they begin to think about driving and colleges.

I don’t know about you, but I love helping my kids take their beliefs, ideas, and unique talents and figuring out what it is that they want to do with their lives. It’s up to us as parents to launch our kids into adulthood with the tools and strategies they need to make decisions that will help them succeed and live a fulfilling, happy life.

Eventually, my kids will be done with college, and maybe someday they’ll get married, or they’ll travel around the world with their friends – and I’m really excited for all of it. I have enjoyed each season of parenting and the organization that goes along with it and I hope you do, too!

As I am typing this, I just received the final workbook for the Organize 365 National Convention in Dallas from June 7th to June 9th. Oh my goodness, is it chock full of productivity, goal setting, and personal development! It brings tears to my eyes as I envision those of us attending being transformed and connected in ways only a live event can.

I know many of you have immovable plans, but if you are still thinking... maybe I should. You SHOULD! You will not regret it! Come see me!

Register at www.organize365.com/Dallas.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/229

Spring break isn’t just for kids. Adults need a breath of fresh air every so often to recharge their batteries and diminish work-related stress and anxiety.

Taking a spontaneous break isn’t something I do very often, but the more I live a truly organized life, the clearer I can see the patterns of how to breed more productivity in organization and a large part of this is taking the time to relax, unwind, and de-stress.

My impromptu adult spring break adventure began a few weeks ago without me even realizing it until I was mid-way through the week!

I share my story on this week’s podcast episode and it begins with replacing the windows in my home. I know what you’re thinking, what does something as mundane as windows have to do with spring break? As it turns out, deciding to upgrade my windows kick-started a week of relaxation and organizing because it gave me the opportunity to take some time off work.

Upgrading Our Windows

Greg and I had been thinking about moving for some time, but we finally decided against it and focused on renovating and upgrading our current home instead.

Our old wooden windows were once the envy of the neighborhood back in 1986. But that was over three decades ago and they are no longer functioning.

The entire process took three days. Although this didn’t bother us much, our dog Hunter wasn’t pleased since he had to get shipped to doggy daycare until the workers were done.

Even though all of this work would be going on in the house, I knew I couldn’t take a break from my work schedule. However, I also knew that the workers would be replacing the windows in both of my kid’s bedrooms and trying to walk through the room to reach those windows would be almost impossible!

There was one clear solution – I had to take a break from work (if only for a few hours) and clean my kids' rooms so the workers could cross the threshold to reach the windows.

Cleaning & Organizing The Kids' Rooms

Since both of my kids are teenagers and their rooms are more like mini apartments than bedrooms, let’s just say that I don’t go in there very often!

But on this occasion, I didn’t have a choice. I took the morning off work and assigned myself an hour and a half to clean each room. I stuck to my schedule and finished both rooms on time, but when I finished cleaning, I didn’t feel like working.

If you know me, you’ll know that I always feel like working. However, Monday passed, and then Tuesday came and went, and I still didn’t feel like working.

My Adult Spring Break

By the time Wednesday arrived, it hit me. I had scheduled my own spring break! Granted, most of you probably would prefer to go on a sunny vacation for spring break, and the idea of cleaning your kid’s rooms and organizing the inventory sounds like work. But for me, it’s heaven!

I spent a large part of my spring break creating and organizing my Household Reference, Household Operations, Financial and Medical Binders. I even revealed how I arranged them and I also recorded a podcast series that you can listen to on The Sunday Basket Podcast.

When I wasn’t organizing my binders, I was out shopping with my family and getting things done that I usually didn’t have time to do.

Finding The Time To Organize

We all live such busy lives that it can be challenging to find the time to organize anything. The more I started to think about a week-long adult spring break, the more I was convinced that this is something I’m going to do every year.

My Sunday Basket and 100 Day Home Organization Program with 100 Day Productive Home Planner saves me a minimum of five hours per week. It helps me to organize and plan by season – which is much more practical than planning for the entire year in advance because life always gets in the way of our plans.

By planning your schedule every 100 days, you can carve out pockets of time for yourself so you can spend your time wisely and get more done.

Find out how you can live a more organized and happy life by joining us at the Organize 365 National Convention. It’s going to be an awesome experience and I would love to have you there. Grab your tickets here before they sell out!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/227

I took Gretchen Ruben’s Four Tendencies quiz and discovered that I’m a Questioner.

I say "discovered," but I guess it’s not that much of a surprise at all.

Did you take the Four Tendencies quiz and find out what you are?

A couple of weeks ago here in Cincinnati, Ohio, I had the Sunday Basket® Workshop Certified Organizers in town for a boot camp. I told them that I had recorded the podcast with Gretchen Ruben and so they took the Four Tendencies quiz. We found out that the majority of them are Obligers. We also had a few Questioners in the mix, though I don’t think we had any Rebels or Upholders.

So I think the majority of people who listen to my podcast are probably Obligers or Questioners. And as a Questioner myself, I know that being a Questioner is not an easy road.

Questioners are analytical.

I’m going to tell you about my questioning tendencies and how it relates to the Organize 365 products I develop. Instead of using the term Questioner, I’ve always said that I’m very analytical. So I think people who are very analytical are probably a Questioner on Gretchen Ruben’s scale.

Also, I think your personality comes into play, because you can be a contrary Questioner or you can be a productive Questioner. I’m a productive Questioner. I question and I analyze so that I can get an end result or so that I can help others get an end result. That is my overarching questioning–ness. I question something to figure out how to solve a problem.

My ultimate goal as a teacher, educator, coach, motivator, parent, and human being is to solve problems and help people achieve the end result that they have for themselves. So I am a Questioner, an analyzer, in order to get you to the end result that you desire.

Obligers & Questioners

I think the majority of you up to this point have been Obligers, but in March I think I had some Questioners on the 100 Day Home Organization Program wait list! I got a couple of emails that asked, "Why are you making me wait? This is ridiculous. Here is my money, let me in please. Can I have the program? I don’t want to wait a month." I literally got three of those emails in one week!

I do not promote the 100 Day Home Organization Program every day of the year. I promote it for ten days, three different times of the year, when I know you will have the best end result of jumping into it. Now, I analyzed this quite a bit. I do not need the external motivation that an Obliger needs.

My goal for Organize 365 is to get you to your desired end result which is an organized home. And as an educator, and a teacher, and an analyzer, I know that your best chance for success is to start in September, in January, and in April. You’ll get as far as you possibly can because you’ll be going with the natural energy of the year.

However, I know that doesn’t work for everyone. And so in the future on the wait list page at the bottom, there’ll be a button that says, “Can’t wait, click here.” If you just took that quiz and you’re an Obliger, you wait until September and you start with everybody else. You will have so much more success with the 100 Day Home Organization Program if you’re doing the weekly Facebook Lives and if you’re in the Facebook Group because everybody is doing the same thing which will help you get to your end result of organizing your house.

The next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program starts on MONDAY! And... I have opened registration for those of you who keep emailing trying to get in. :)

You can sign up through the new store here... https://organize-365.myshopify.com/

(Your planner will get there by FRIDAY.)

An Update On The Sunday Basket® Club

We started the Sunday Basket® Club because a bunch of you Obligers came to me and said that you needed to pay a monthly fee so you would do your Sunday Basket®. And you said you wanted a Sunday Basket® class. I want you to have excellent value when you put money into Organize 365. When you pay for something at Organize 365, I want you to say at the end, “Oh, my gosh, it was worth so much more than that!”

So, I price accordingly. I price for the value that is in the product, but I also price so that when you’re done, you realize you got even more than you expected.

With the Sunday Basket® Club, I was going to do twice-a-month training sessions on how to organize your paper, which I started doing in January. But I quickly realized that people were joining in February and not getting January’s "how to get started with organizing your paper." There’s an order to it that was missing.

So… introducing the new Sunday Basket® Club! It’s $99 a year. You can do the Sunday Basket® on Sundays with Monique and Ryan, and then every other Monday night, is a Facebook Live Q & A, just like in the 100 Day Home Organization Program. It’s an opportunity for you to tell me what you want to hear by telling me what questions you have about your paper.

For Questioners, simplicity comes at the end when you’ve decided what the answers to your questions are. That’s how we get simplicity. So go ahead, ask me all the questions you want in the Sunday Basket® Club!

I Want To Get You Results

We are constantly analyzing and tweaking. Part of why I say, “Progress, not perfection” is because as a Questioner, I know there’s no perfect. If you give me something that’s perfect, I’m going to question it.

I want you to get the best end result and that is why I do everything that I do. I want to give you all of the options so you can get the end result of getting your house organized. And sometimes, you see too many choices so you can’t make a decision in order to get to your end result. I am trying to tailor my products to what you need.

So that’s a sneak peek into how a Questioner thinks and why I make changes. Every change I make is to benefit you.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program hasn’t changed in years. I am going to make it available on demand in the future, but I’m still going to do the launch model because that’s what works for the majority of my audience.

Next week, we’re going to dive into physical products and the highs and lows of creating them!

And there’s still time to 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/224

You asked and I listened. This week on the podcast, I’m thrilled to welcome author Gretchen Rubin.

Gretchen is one of the most influential writers in the world on human nature. She hosts an award-winning podcast and her best-selling books have been published in 30 countries and sold over 3 million copies!

On the podcast, we talked about Gretchen’s most recent book, The Four Tendencies, and how your personality type relates to getting your home organized.

Which Personality Type Are You?

Gretchen explained that the The Four Tendencies are four different personality types:

• Upholder
• Questioner
• Obliger
• Rebel

You can probably tell which one you are just from the name! But if you want to take the survey for free, visit gretchenrubin.com.

Gretchen explained that these personality types vary depending on what motivates you. We’re all motivated by two main kinds of expectations:

• Outer Expectations: such as a work deadline or request from a friend
• Inner Expectations: our own desire to do things

Upholders readily meet both types of expectations. Questioners question all expectations, so they'll only do something if they're convinced it makes sense. They make everything an inner expectation and object to anything they see as inefficient or irrational.

Then there are Obligers, those who readily meet outer expectations (things other people want), but struggle to meet inner ones (the things they want). I think there are a lot of you out there!

Finally, there are Rebels, those who resist all expectations, both outer and inner.

Obliger is the most common type of tendency, with Rebel and Upholder being least common.

Listen to the podcast to find out which tendency I have. Hint: No one guessed it correctly on Facebook!

Making The Sunday Basket® Work For Your Personality Type

I enjoyed telling Gretchen about the Sunday Basket® and it was interesting to unravel that it’s my Obliger audience who were saying, "We need you to go through the Sunday Basket® with us on Sunday."

I’m so pleased that I created the Sunday Basket® Club to give people the outer accountability that they need.

How Does Personality Type Affect Home Organization?

I think we have all of the tendencies in our family of 4! So how does this help us to get our homes organized, especially when dealing with the variety of tendencies in our family?

I listened with great interest to Gretchen’s advice on how to get the home organized when taking personality types into account.

Gretchen explained that a big problem for Obligers is that they often struggle to delegate tasks. Do you recognize this tendency in yourself? This is where it helps to have people hold you accountable.

Another great tip that Gretchen gave is one that I’ve heard myself say before… if you want to clean out the spare room, invite guests. That may well be the only thing that you need to do!

Your Habits = Your Identity

Like Dr Phil always used to say – You have an identity from being cluttered, but then you get organized and you have a new identity. So you have to really focus on that. Once you become organized, you ARE living a different kind of life.

We don't realize how much of our life is habitual.

This is why both mine and Gretchen’s podcasts ask so many questions. It's to help people think about making choices and changing habits.

I LOVED talking to Gretchen. She concluded on the show that if we have habits that work for us, we're much more likely to be healthier, happier, and more creative.

Hey, 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/223

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

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

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:

• 3 Things To Consider When You Are Saving Childhood Memories
• What to Save When A Loved One Passes
• 10 Things I Am Decluttering After 30 Years!

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

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

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

Take a deep breath – it’s time to get your hot mess room in order!

This is one of the most requested podcast topics fro me to cover. If it helps, it was equally overwhelming for me to think about how I was going to inspire and motivate you to sort it out.

What I finally realized was, you needed a 28 day course. And I didn't want money to be the reason you didn't tackle this already overwhelming space. So I created a FULL 28 day course complete with a 25 page eBook, 9 full color printables, and 28 daily emails with actionable tasks and daily videos or podcasts to keep you going.You can get the WHOLE course FREE here.

Over the next 4 podcasts, I’m going to tackle your out of control storage area head on. Buckle up and get ready for the ride!

Whether it’s the storage room, garage, spare bedroom, or even your entire house, there’s always going to be things that you just don’t know what to do with.

As things build up in one space, they become a jigsaw puzzle. It’s your job to try and work out what items should go where. To move forward, you need to realize what’s actually in there and then once you’ve achieved that, you can sort it out.

There’s two reasons why you have a hot mess room…

1. You have a lack of time (and decision-making capabilities)
2. You have a lack of space

Lack Of Time

There’s always something that will be more important to distract you from addressing the hot mess room.

The reason that things are in there in the first place is because you don’t know what you want to do with them. They’re all there because you don’t want to deal with them. If you did want to deal with them, you would have!

Lack Of Space

Your goal is to have a functioning and organized storage area. The logistics of this will depend on your individual situation.

If you have a garage and basement and lots of available space to fill, you may need to make tough decisions to reduce the amount of possessions you are storing.

If you live in a smaller space, the reason that you may have a hot mess room is because you literally don’t have a storage area at all.

When we pick houses, we often don’t make our purchasing decisions based on storage even though it’s something that we all need.

Storage is a natural by-product of life. We all need a certain amount of stuff and that is absolutely fine.

Depending on your circumstances, you may need an off-site storage facility. There’s nothing wrong with this.

Here are 3 good examples of when this may be necessary…

1. When two families blend together, especially if children are involved
2. When you downsize, but the kids are still using the house as a storage facility
3. If you move to an area where you don’t have a garage or basement

Make Storage Work For You

Since I started offering physical products, I’ve really had to think about the organizational logistics for myself and the wider team. Initially, we used the Home Depot shelving in the garage to store everything and this very quickly expanded to include an off-site storage facility.

This worked, but it wasn’t ideal. As it got colder, we realized that a physical office with a door would be more appropriate for our needs.

In all of these spaces, we used the Home Depot shelving – there were lots of trips to the store!

The key to organization is to ensure that it works for your needs. If it doesn’t, change it, find a better solution, and move on.

The System

Whatever your system, start from an empty space for the optimum organization. The more uniform, the better. Your shelving and storage need to be neat, tidy, and clearly accessible.

I personally use the HDX ventilated 24” deep shelving from Home Depot. I love that it is heavy duty yet very flexible and lightweight. (How to set up your storage room and the exact products I use are in the the WHOLE course FREE here.)

It works for basements, storage facilities, garages, and even attics because it is so adaptable in height. It’s the system I LOVE for setting up a storage room.

If space is limited, you can place folding tables on the top of the shelving to make a countertop to work on. It’s a great money-saving tip.

The beauty of this system is that you can find anything at any time. Color-coded bins will hold your items and the contents will all be indexed in a home reference binder. You will keep this in the house for when you need to use it.

Sign Up!

I’m offering you the opportunity to enroll in a special 28-day program just for the hot mess room. It’s completely FREE! I’m super, super excited about how much this will help you.

Sign up for this 28 day daily organizational challenge and you’ll get…

• Daily actionable work that will yield real results
• A 2-minute video each day
• An eBook and a comprehensive shopping list of how to set up a storage room
• 9 colorful printables to track what you have stored in your storage area

Imagine getting organized in just 28 days! It’s a reality and it’s my FREE gift to you!

Click here to start your 28-day organizational hot mess room journey.

Hey, 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/217

It’s the big one guys!

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been super excited to introduce you to some of the people that have really helped shape who I am over the last decade. So I couldn’t think of a better way to finish the series than by inviting my very own sister, Emily Kelly, onto the podcast!

Emily takes you on the journey of some of our life experiences and shows you how I’ve become the person and businesswoman I am today... and to dish the dirt on everything about me that only a sister can know! We’re very lucky to be in such a special relationship.

I’m also super excited to let you know that Emily is now part of the Organize 365 Team. She is running the Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Certification Program.

Entrepreneurship Runs In Our Family

We grew up in a 100% entrepreneurial family so the idea of working for someone else was just never entertained. For us, we were taught that you either owned the company or you started one from scratch.

On the podcast, Emily takes us back to when she was 3 years old to the story of her first friend whose mom owned a home goods shop in the valley and our Mom who was running her business from our basement.

Every day, they’d play "shops" with the little guest checks or receipts lying around from both homes. It was that or trading stickers. It’s all we’d ever known. Everywhere we went, we were pretending we were in business. It was so much fun!

By contrast, since I was 4 years older, I was often out babysitting and dreaming of the day I’d become a mom!

To picture the scene, we grew up in a neighborhood in Akron with no traffic (or sidewalks!) and there were very few children. It meant that we had to make our own fun. I’ll never forget the day Emily and her friend set up a lemonade stand outside the house.

Entrepreneurism was everywhere for us, but it’s lovely to reflect on the fact that we learned business from different perspectives because of our ages.

Our Mom’s Business

Emily loves that we’re both true to form with the women on mom’s side of the family when it comes to business minds. We have inherited the attitude of "I have an idea and it’s going to sell."

Our grandma mailed fabric all over the world so people could make their own clothes. Grandma Green had a flower shop, and our mom’s idea grew while working for a clothing business.

Emily and I have such fun recalling the stories of mom and grandma taking clothes for a huge end-of-season event to Cleveland to maximize sales in the 1970’s/80’s. Everyone helped with it.

Mom saw potential right away. Many people were being successful with the trunk parties, but no one had the undergarments. Cue mom! She literally got on a plane to New York, went to a show, and started buying lingerie.

She had slips coming out of her ears! It was an old-school direct sales business that she’d created on her own. Emily says that just blows her away!

It reminds me of when I got on the plane to Dallas and asked the manufacturer to produce my Sunday Basket® for me.

Mom grew the business to where she had women working for her in 26 states when she sold it just a few years later. It was an amazing achievement with lots of reinvestment. We are both so similar in the way we approach business today because of how she was.

White Gloves, Party Manners & Favorite Games

Emily and I recall how when we were young, we took etiquette classes to learn all about silverware and to get our slips out for formal dinners (slips feature heavily in our childhood!). We also learned how to get out of a car in a skirt. I often wondered, would any of this help me see the royal family? We’re both BIG royals. I would have put being Queen on my list of jobs to be when I grew up if I could. I can’t wait for the royal wedding and new royal baby this year!

We did love to play lots and lots of games when we were growing up, too. We came up with all sorts of games. By far, our favorite was one we made up called "big friend." Visit the blog post here to view a short video of Emily and I sharing our memories of the game.

Entrepreneurism Ran In Our Dad’s Family, Too

Our dad was no exception to entrepreneurism. Sales was his strength and Dad’s company had over 100 employees. His father and grandfather had a coffee company. Our father’s company in Akron that he eventually became co-owner of was called Alcon Tool. Dad’s enthusiasm for manufacturing made us fall in love with the industry.

Dad’s ethos on work is something that stays with us both today. It doesn’t matter what role you play in the team, everyone is equally important. That’s what I’m trying to grow at Organize 365.

Dad’s Passing

Our father passed away 10 years ago just before he was 61.

On the podcast episode, Emily and I reflect on this most upsetting time in our lives. We talk about how it was kind to put us both as executors, but not practical. We found our own roles and formed a strong team at a difficult time.

Growing Independently

It’s true that we had a privileged upbringing in both education and financial support, but in every single generation, the businesses that our families grew started from scratch. There was no inheritance, but just a great idea and the determination to succeed. Dad started life as a salesman and left as a partner.

When I reflect back, my best advice would be to take a look at what you have and not what everyone else has. I’m successful and I’m very blessed, but I work really hard. I want to give back as much as possible, but I create zero excuses for myself.

Having my husband Greg working allowed me to start Organize 365, but Emily is a very successful single woman. So it’s not your spouse that makes or breaks you.

Think about the "something" you were uniquely created to do and give it to the world. Every reason why you’re not pursuing it is an excuse. Take what’s in your way and get rid of excuses to move forward.

This podcast is about our family highlights because it’s all about encouraging and inspiring you. When you focus on the positives, opportunities become bigger and brighter and you can chase them.

If you focus on what could have been, things look darker and it’s harder to chase your goals.

Creative Memories

The time when Emily and I worked for Creative Memories was a super exciting time in both our lives.

Replacing my teaching salary with direct sales so I could stay at home with my family was my dream and I was going to do everything I could to get there.

My dad helped me decide on Creative Memories. We both felt it had a big reach... it turns out we were right! As Emily says, I joined and went straight to the top! Emily was one of my great customers and after turning me down initially, I finally managed to get her to sign up, too. She went straight to the top as well!

We built teams and were in the top 6% performers of the company.

We take a lot of what we learned in those days with us now to run a fun community workshop feel.

Emily & I As A Team Again

This brings us to today and where Emily and I find ourselves in the organizational realm. Although it’s not the most profitable, I’m staying with the home and paper organization, as it’s the area where I feel I can recreate the community buzz of Creative Memories.

I’m constantly pivoting and moving forward to create this feeling in your house and at our workshops. It’s awesome to have Emily on board to run the Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Certification Program. Prices go up on April 1st so get in touch with Emily to talk about the next steps as soon as you can. We’d love to have you on the team!

Emily and I see the vision of bringing people together all over the world. It’s a space where you can share experiences and move forward from them. No one should feel alone and that’s why the workshop model works so well.

Emily is so excited to be on board and she feels just like she did when we worked together at Creative Memories. For her, we’ve never been better than then as a team.

I love Emily and so will you, I am sure!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/216

I am so excited to introduce you to Melanie Moore on this week’s Organize 365 podcast! As many of you know, I’m running a series of the top 5 people who have helped shape and define me over the last decade and Melanie definitely qualifies.

Melanie is the Director of Training & Development at CinchShare, a social media scheduling software that helps entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone using social media to spend more time doing what they love rather than being tied to a computer.

We use CinchShare at Organize 365 and I’m delighted that CinchShare is sponsoring the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018 in Texas. Melanie is going to be the Master of Ceremonies!

How I Met Melanie

The first time we spoke, I was in Walmart when my cell phone rang. The lady on the end of the phone sounded so enthusiastic that I pretended to know exactly who she was (even though at that stage I didn’t!).

At the time, Melanie organized events where companies would come together, share ideas, and take them back to their own teams to grow their businesses. She asked if I would be a speaker and I couldn’t wait to jump in and say yes. I’d always wanted to be a national direct sales speaker and this was the perfect opportunity to learn and develop. She couldn’t pay me, but asked if I had a book I’d like to sell at the end. I said, "Yes." The speaking opportunity was in 2 weeks so I had 2 weeks to write a book... which, of course, I did!! :)

Be An Action Taker

After several meet-ups, we realized that we were both action takers.

Being an action taker is a lot of fun. It opens up time to spend on things you enjoy rather than deliberating over things that don’t hold so much significance. For example, when something breaks, I’ll buy a new one right away. I won’t take hours pondering it. If the new one doesn’t work out, we’ll try again.

Why Melanie Is An Inspiration To Me

Melanie’s enthusiasm and expertise is infectious. And we both talk as fast as each other! I love that we both see the bigger picture in life. We’re able to both draw on our direct sales experience and see what’s working and what isn’t. The opportunities for both of us that arise from this are just super exciting.

Organize 365 National Convention in Dallas

Tickets are available NOW! 

Describing this convention is something I am having a hard time articulating. It’s a convention that meets a retreat with a splash of the group activities you did on school field trips.

Think of it as a chance to meet and hug me (I’m a big hugger!).

It’s all about getting like-minded people in a room together and learning so much from each other.

Prepare to meet new friends, enjoy new experiences, and open your mind to a world of possibilities that you never thought possible. Give yourself the time to take a step out of the real world and purposefully plan your next year. I promise you, you’ll walk out of the convention as a new person.

As Melanie says, “You’ll be a new person on a new mission. You’ll see clarity like you’ve never experienced. Clarity alone will bring you back every single year.”

Rise – YOU Are Enough

I want you to leave the conference believing in YOU. The convention will give you the resources you need to continue on your organizational journey and open up time in your calendar and space in your life for the future you want to happen. The more organized you are, the better your personal and professional life can be.

I have a burning desire to see people thriving and living a relaxed life where they can live out their free time. The Organize 365 community is super awesome. We all learn from each other, including me! For example, thanks to a suggestion from someone in the group (thank you!), I now peg my jeans instead of hanging them so I have a designated space for each TYPE of jeans I wear. The peg is a brilliant idea!

Supporting each other also brings us to synergy and the idea that 1 + 1 = 3 (or for me and Melanie, 8 million!). It’s important to get off technology and see people face-to-face. Melanie is such a wonderful example of this and I’m so happy that our paths crossed. There’s so much value in speaking to people.

If you dream it and believe it, you can achieve it. As Melanie says, she can’t wait to see my dream of running a national convention actually come to fruition… and neither can I!

We’re super excited to meet you all. There are only 160 tickets available. Once they’re gone, they’re GONE! Join us for some big surprises, be ready to be inspired, and take action. Come to Dallas and rise with us. 

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/215

I’m super excited to introduce Laura Vanderkam to the podcast. I’m a HUGE fan and I’ve wanted to get her on the show since I started out. Laura is the talented author of several time management and productivity books – I’ve read them all! She is here to guide us through life by saying, "Hey! It can be tough, but there’s so many different ways to manage our time and make things easier."

I feel like I already know so much about Laura from her inspirational podcast, "The Best of Both Worlds." I’m always searching for podcasts about successful women and how they do it (aren’t we all?) and this is where I discovered Laura. The podcast is all about loving our families and our jobs as one, a concept that’s often presented as oppositional, but this one aims to prove it doesn’t have to be that way.

Laura and her co-host Sarah Hart-Unger have taught me so much, not only about organizing my life for the better, but also giving me the confidence to speak up and stand my ground on the things that are important to me.

Can You Have It All?

Well, according to Laura – yes, you can. Not only that, she tells you how to hit it out of the park. My personal light bulb moment was coming across, "What Most Successful Women Do Before Breakfast," one of Laura’s books. To me, the content really makes sense. It’s about loving harmonizing your family and career, helping out, being flexible, and organizing your time to allow you to feel fulfilled in every part of your life.

Grab Those Goalposts

Use goals to manage your time. I’m a big believer that you can pretty much do whatever you want if you pick a goal and set steps to make it work. I definitely look at my time differently now thanks to Laura.

Unfortunately, good things don’t just appear like magic. You need to think about how you’re realistically going to get to where you want to be. Set manageable targets within achievable timeframes and the goal setting process will start to flow. The book "I Know How She Does It" is really good for this.

Prioritizing Family Time – Anytime

Talking about looking at time differently, I love the concept of shaking things up. A simple change can affect your life dramatically. For example, if you feel like you’re missing out on quality time with your family, why not try making your meal time together at the beginning of the day. There’s so much pressure for family meals to be in the evening, but this can happen at any other time. How about breakfast?

Breakfast food is fun and often people, especially children, are in a better mood in the morning. So it really can be a great option for busy families to have that time to sit together. Work out what works best for you and your family and shake it up.

Looking At Your Time Differently

Who knew the middle of the week was Thursday evening? I know, right?! This is a game changer. Laura explains that if you start from Monday morning, the midpoint of the week is really Thursday evening, even though it feels like the end of the week.

For Laura, managing time is about balance. What does balance mean to you and how can you achieve it? Don’t be leisurely about your leisure time. It’s not about scheduling things you have to do – it’s about scheduling things you WANT to do! While she doesn’t suggest planning every part of your life, sometimes we do need to schedule our free time. If you want to go for a run, factor in that 20 minutes somewhere.

Laura also says it’s important not to blame anyone else. You are in control. Don’t use the kids as an excuse for not being able to do things. I pick 1-3 things I want to accomplish and look at how that fits in with the family – at least then I’m in the equation. We need to think about ourselves.

The Great Sleep Debate – Are We Getting Enough?

I was inspired by Laura tracking her sleep over a couple of years and had every intention of tracking my sleep for 2 weeks – I ended up doing 2 nights! I’ve always said I need 6/7 hours, but the issue is I love sleeping in on the weekends. The purpose of Laura’s study was to see, in actual numbers, what the life of a professional woman looks like. It turns out, we have a lot more free time than we think. It’s how we use that time that’s key.

Outsource The Things That Actually Take Up Your Time

We need to ask ourselves, where are we actually spending most of our time? It’s likely to be picking up laundry or doing the daily house chores, but we definitely need to look beyond the obvious if we want to save time.

Many of you know that I used to organize people professionally. I’d get constant calls from women asking me why they suddenly felt overwhelmed by the housework, despite work not changing and their kids being older. The reason was mostly because they’d gotten rid of the nanny who had been looking after the kids AND the housework. Often, they’d just need a part-time housekeeper to fill the gap and they’d be back on track. Laura points out that those little jobs we often multitask are actually taking up tons of valuable hours that we could be spending elsewhere. She says to set aside a time and, if it’s not done in that time, it’s probably not that important.

We definitely underestimate the hours it takes to sort the home, but give yourself credit for doing that activity, whether you outsource it or not.

Putting You In Control

If something’s not done, I feel like it’s my problem. I know that I often put that on myself. I’m sure many of you can relate, but Laura says there’s always a choice and I think that is so important to remember. Sometimes you are doing this to yourself and you can take back control.

Balancing family, free time, and chores can be overwhelming. What I LOVE about Laura is that not only does she have great ideas for managing your time effectively, she’s able to make me see that I can’t do it all. I’m WORKING And best of all – that’s ok!

Looking Forward

The next book from Laura is called "Off The Clock" and it comes out on May 29th. It’s a time study about tracking time and how people look at their lives. How do people spend their time differently? Laura found that people who felt like they had a lot of time had done something different or memorable. They felt like they had more time because they were doing something with their time that they actually remembered. The conclusion was that when you do this, your time actually expands. I LOVE it! The date is already on my calendar to get it.

To find out more about Laura Vanderkam, click here.

Follow me on Facebook and on Instagram – I’m currently addicted to Instagram Stories!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/213

I have mentioned on the podcast many times before that there is one blog that I read every single day... it is Andrea Dekker's. There is so much great material on her blog andreadekker.com.

Andrea has four children under the age of six and she explains how she manages all their very different requirements, and her own, with a simple "be prepared" mantra. She also shares with us some great advice on selling your unwanted items on Craigslist, something she does often with success.

How We Both Got Started

Both Andrea and I started out with very different blogs. For me, I remember I was going to be this "guru" to help when your kids had food allergies and other things. But then I realized that dealing with that and dealing with everything my kids needed me to do was just too much! That is when in 2012, I launched Organize365.com. Though for Andrea, it was a little different.

Andrea explains on the podcast that she just fell into doing what she does. After finishing college, starting work, and getting married, she realized she hated her job. Her father gave her some great advice when he told her to find out what she enjoyed doing and figure out a way to get paid for doing it. In doing that, she would be successful even if she didn't make a lot of money.

So, a job she really disliked ended up being the springboard to starting her own organizing business, which was essentially her dream job. This was back in 2006. She didn't even have internet in her own house. But eventually she began to write her own blog, and she took some work as a virtual assistant.

One of many things I love about Andrea's blog is her level of consistency. She would post every day at 8am and, just like reading a newspaper, I would sit down to read her blog every morning. I even copied this routine when I started blogging. My posts went up at 8am because Andrea's posts did!

Andrea is good at routine. She takes the normal, everyday tasks and makes them more efficient and functional. She explains during the episode that she doesn't have creative, cool things to share. She just focuses on functionality and frugal solutions.

If It Doesn't Work, Change It

I was delighted that Andrea was willing to share a couple tips for my Organize 365 listeners. And I can certainly relate to the first tip about constantly evaluating what works and what doesn't work. Take the kids' toys for example... if the toys no longer fit in their space, then something has to go. Don't continue to just accumulate without purging as you go along.

I am a self-confessed consumer, but the kids' toys change as they get older. I find that spreading them out into different rooms, or making them responsible for their own toys in their own space, makes it less overwhelming for you to clean them up again afterwards.

Making the house work for you and your children is key. Andrea makes her house work for her. It’s almost like a preschool room... the kids can help themselves.

I remember when my children were born, I kept the socks upstairs because that's where you keep socks, right? But we always put socks and shoes on in the family room. So when I moved the socks downstairs, it was like the heavens opened and the angels started singing because I didn't have to go searching for socks anymore. Make your house function for you and your family. It works until it doesn't work. And then when it doesn't work, change it.

How To Sell On Craigslist

The thing about purging and reorganizing is that you end up with a bunch of stuff that I tell you to load in the car, take to Goodwill, drop it all off, and move on. This is where Andrea gives us some great advice as she is so good at selling on Craigslist.

On her website, she has some great articles on this topic where she goes into great detail about how to write the advertisement and what things are most important when selling via Craigslist. Click here to see her "Craigslist 101" posts. And she even has one on how she sold her house on Craigslist – click here to see it. She really is that good at this!

Her best piece of advice is to be honest with yourself. Is it worth your time to take pictures, post the ad, respond to emails, and to sell the item? If not – donate it! If you are going to sell, make sure you take high-quality pictures and list the measurements. The more information you can give, the fewer emails you will get with questions about your item.

Also with pricing, Andrea gives a great tip... Take a look at similar items in your area and price your item a little bit less. Even at just a couple dollars less, people will subconsciously be drawn to your item.

This is where I am so different from Andrea. I have literally given things away that are worth hundreds of dollars just to have them out of the house. In fact, I did that with my daughter's guinea pigs. I gave them away and paid my daughter one hundred dollars before she changed her mind. I'm just not good at selling things. ;) - No guilt here if you too are in the survival phase of life and just want the clutter gone!

Lighten Your Load

Having been fully through the accumulation stage, (20s and 30s) I am working my way through survival (40-55). I am so pleased to direct those of you struggling with young children and mountains of toys over to Andrea's blog to see how she is thriving during the accumultaion years with 4 children under 6. In this week's blog post, I have lots of links to my favorite posts on Andrea's blog.

If you want to see the crazy antics I am up to, follow me on Instagram and watch my daily Instagram Stories to see a peek into my life.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/212

You are probably confused right now. Lisa Woodruff, muscles? Well, the muscles I'm talking about are your organizational muscles!

Are you ready to build your organizational muscles?

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not very good at physical exertion at all. In fact, I think sweating is a sin! I prefer to exercise my mental and organizational skills. Really, I am pathetic when it comes to exercise. I can literally go days when my step counter on my phone reads less than a thousand.

There was a time a few years ago when I was able to walk 10,000 steps, but I just don't have the time now. And I don't want to make the time to do it, but I am making an effort. My goal this year is 5,000 steps and so far I'm doing pretty good. Bear in mind, this is my whole exercise program. I'm just trying to move more. I'm not trying to lose weight, just maintain it.

Organization is similar to exercise in that regard. You have to match your organizational goals to the organizational outcome you want. Only compete with yourself!

Hitting A Roadblock

A lot of you will hit a roadblock this week.

Isn't it freaky how I know that. Well, here's what happens...

Over the Christmas break, you had time off and decluttered like a mad woman. The first step to getting organized is to declutter so you can see what you have left to organize. You got rid of everything that didn't move. Even the dog and children were afraid to sit too still in your house!

You followed my advice and bought the bookshelves and bins from Home Depot. You've taken down Christmas and your holiday decoration area looks amazing. You feel like a boss, you're on a roll.

You go from room to room, decluttering, taking out the trash, making donations. It looks better, but it doesn't feel organized and you don't know what to do next.

Maybe I haven't recorded a podcast for that particular room and you're stuck, but decided not to buy the 100 Day Home Organization Program. You're saving money and it's expensive. Maybe you'll buy it later.

And you're right, it is a little expensive and it should be. It was designed by a professional organizer and it works!

It's OK, you don't need to buy the 100 Day Home Organization Program. I'm going to tell you how to grow your organizational muscles on your own.

I am going to show you step-by-step how to tackle two areas in your home, the master bathroom and your linen closet.

Organizing The Master Bathroom

In just 15 minutes a day, you can organize the bathroom that you use every day to get ready to the point you feel like I came in and did it for you.

Day One - Take a look at your towels. Do you need all of them? Remove the ones you don't need. Wash the ones you need out on display and freshen them up. Then, you're done with towels.

Day Two – Make-up. Get rid of old samples and colors you don't wear and perfume that gives you migraines. Consolidate them into one space. It might help to take a look at the blog I wrote about Organizing Make-Up. You could also add in some organizational tools like the Make-up Manager I use like this one on Amazon (affiliate link).

Over the next few days, assess your nail polish, your jewelry, your underwear and socks (yes, I keep all of these in my bathroom). Then look around you at the walls, do you like what you see?

Continue until you have organized every single cabinet, drawer, and shelf, and then do it again.

This is how you get organized, by spending 15 minutes a day in the same space every single day until you can go into that space for two 15 minute sessions in a row and there is literally nothing to do. It takes repetitive action, but your master bathroom will be amazing.

Organizing Your Linen Closet

Back in 2006, it took me about 4 months to organize my laundry room. Every 2 or 3 days, I would spend half an hour trying different things until I was happy... new shelving, new cabinets, new countertops. I had a blast doing it.

Nobody cared. No one goes in there, no one messed it up. I could do what I wanted. I would run the washer and dryer at the same time. It was like white noise. I couldn't hear the rest of the family. It was amazing!

But in the podcast, I focus on the linen closet. First of all, you need to empty it all over the floor and check out the bulky items (towels, blankets, comforters).

Be honest with yourself here as these take up space. Do you need so many? Why do you still have towels from the 1980's? It is a cycle... we buy new and store the old ones in the linen closet. It's the same with bedding, get rid of them.

If you think you don't have this stuff, just wait until you empty everything onto the floor. You'll see that I'm right. I had four sets of 20 year-old flannel sheets that I loved as a child, but my children didn't want them on their beds!

Get rid of old towels and donate others that don't match your color scheme anymore to a homeless shelter along with any old single sheets. Be ruthless, what's the worst that could happen?

That is how you organize your linen closet. But if you're thinking, "Wait, wait. There's still more stuff in here." I know you'll figure it out. And if you don't know how to take the next step, then you need a professional organizer to guide you.

The Beauty of the 100 Day Home Organization Program

You can organize your house like we did in these two scenarios, going back in day after day. But, if like me, it takes you 4 months to organize your laundry room, you can see how long it would take to do your whole house this way.

You will get the same result room by room, but with the 100 Day Home Organization Program we go through the entire house in 100 days, take a break, and then do it again. Each time, your whole house is more organized, not perfect, but better.

But in addition to the 15 minute daily actionable tasks, the real beauty of the 100 Day Home Organization Program is that it comes with a lifetime membership. There are no renewal fees. Once you're in, you're in.

Am I Too Late To Join?

I launched the 100 Day Home Organization Program in December in order to capitalize on the momentum of January 1st. You're all fired up and ready to go as we hit the kitchen.

Perhaps you didn't sign up because you just didn't have the money at the time. Or you had done the kitchen a couple of times already and didn't want to do it again. Or maybe you thought you could just do it on your own.

Maybe now you're starting to realize how beneficial it would be to have a professional organizer, one that has organized 100's of homes, just to tell you what to do each day and you can go do it.

Well, if like those that have emailed me asking when the 100 Day Home Organization Program opens again, you thought you'd missed out... surprise!

I am opening the doors again this weekend only. If you join between now and Monday, you can start the program on January 22nd when everyone who started on the 1st is done with the kitchen and moving onto the master suite (bedroom, bathroom and closet). Don't try to go back to day one, jump in with everyone else in the master bedroom!

You can join us mid-stream, not have to do your kitchen, and get both the Winter and Summer 2018 planners at no extra cost.

To find out more and sign-up, just click here.

I am SO excited to be able to offer you this opportunity and I hope you will join us as I know this program works.

It looks like it's going to be a long winter. You're going to be inside a lot, so let's get organized while we're there. Join us!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/211

In 2018, I want you to start valuing and looking at your time differently. Who you spend your time with, what you spend you time on, and how you want to spend your time in the future.

In today's podcast, I am answering the question, "How did I purposefully create the Organize 365 business and organized life that I am living right now?"

It is true. I am fulfilled, satisfied, and debt free, but it hasn't always been like this. It has been a journey. For me, the change came when I hit 40. I think milestone birthdays are like a window of opportunity to think about how we spend our time and money, and to make shifts to propel us through the next decade.

In this podcast, I share a few key transitions in my thought process, and how I spent my time and money in the last 6 years that really were the catalyst for this change.

1. I shifted my focus from thinking about our income needs to how I wanted to spend my time.
2. I focused on hiring help both at home and in my business.
3. I expanded my thoughts beyond how to be a great professional organizer to how to change the organization industry.

Finally, this past fall I reflected on all of these changes and created the... 

Organize 365 Mission, Vision & Values

Mission: To inspire, motivate, and teach busy women to take back their home and paper with practical and doable organizing systems and programs that work.

Vision: Through research, targeted surveys, and data analysis, Organize 365 will bring to light the organizational needs of the homeowner to shape and develop the discussion about the "stuff" in American homes through podcast conversation and book-thought leadership.

As a trusted leader in home and paper organization, Organize 365 will be the "go-to" resource for busy women, future professional organizers and home-organizational brands, and the media.

Organize 365 will help the homeowner finally get organized with home and paper organization courses, products that combine teaching and application of practical organization principles.

Values: We value the power of positivity. Our words, mindset, and actions shape our reality. Organize 365 uses empowering words to shape personal change. We build community. In community, everyone can learn to be organized, action is easier and happens exponentially.

Organize 365 believes organization is a learnable skill. We live life in abundance. Resources are not limited, but limitless. Through collaboration, Organize 365 connects the right people and resources for maximum benefit and sustainability.

We believe in transformational freedom. As you let go of one thing, you are open to receiving the next. We strive to unlock your life's purpose through the process of decluttering, organizing, and increased productivity.

I hope you have enjoyed learning a little about the roots of Organize 365!

Ask yourself this... If I could do, be, and have anything in the world and I didn’t have to worry about all the things that I’m worrying about, what would that look like?

Follow me on Facebook and on Instagram – I’m currently addicted to Instagram Stories!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/210

Have you ever played Candy Crush? It is so ridiculously simple and mindless… but addictive. In this week’s podcast episode, I compare organizing your house to playing this fun, addictive, and ultimately endless game of Candy Crush.

It was around three summers ago that I played this game obsessively. I would find any excuse to play Candy Crush. I would even make extra time to play it, and play it for way too long trying to get through a level. Finally, I had to take it completely off my phone because I just have no will power. A couple of years later, I put it back on my phone and found I wasn't quite so addicted as I was the first time.

A word of warning – if you have never played Candy Crush, don't take this podcast as permission to go and download it! When I first started playing it, I thought you could "win," that you could finish the game, but there are literally millions of levels. You can never win. I don’t recommend wasting your time on it!

What does Candy Crush have to do with home organization?

As the new year approaches, we all start to set goals to get organized, lose weight, and put our finances in order, all at the same time. These are the top three New Year's resolutions that we all want to achieve. On January 1st, when people ask you what you're going to do, you say, "I'm going to lose 10 pounds, I'm going to get out of debt, and I'm going to get organized," because that is what everybody plans to do every single January!

When it comes to home organization, at the end of the year you may say, "I'm going to get my house in order." What you mean is you're going to declutter, donate, sell, and basically get rid of things. That's what you mean by getting organized in the last week of the year.

That's like the first 20 levels of Candy Crush. You go in, you play it, you go to the next level. Or, when organizing your home, you go in the room, you fill a trash bag, you take it out to the car, or you donate it and you continue like this… donating, trash, donating, trash. You feel good and you're also getting a bit of exercise while doing it!

Another example – you're clearing the house, taking down decorations, and you feel like you're doing a great job, then suddenly you return to a room you have already done, checking for any other clutter, and you get a little stuck. You start to look for more help to make decisions about what you need or don't need. It's not as easy to get through the room.

This is like Candy Crush – often they don't let you through the level on the first shot so you have to play it again until you finally get through it.

What happens when you get stuck?

Let’s say you make great progress until you realize there are no more "quick wins." So where do we go from there?

Maybe you buy some little containers and organize some drawers, maybe tweaking and maintaining things you've done before. By about the middle of January, there is still 80% that has not been organized successfully and you don't know where to start to resolving this. You wonder if there are organizers you can buy. This usually doesn't work, it costs a lot of money, and there aren't organizers you can buy for the space you need to organize... don't you hate that?

This is because 99% of organization has nothing to do with the cute containers.

It’s like you are stuck on Candy Crush level 56 and you're asking yourself, what do I have to do to get through this level?!

There are two things you can do when playing Candy Crush when you get stuck:

1. Pay for help

You can pay for more moves when you run out of your lives, plus other pay options.

1. Head online – I go to YouTube

Just search for “how to beat level 57 in Candy Crush” and watch a video of some genius who knows how to beat that level.

Either you go spend the time watching someone who knows how to do it or you pay the money to take you to the next level.

Guess what, it's the same with organizing. You start to get wins and you are flying through your house. You will want to spend more time organizing your house because you are having such success.

Equally, when you get frustrated and your laundry room is driving you bananas, you are going to start figuring out how to beat that laundry room. Someone has to win the battle and you want it to be you. You get so determined that once it is complete, you have a sense of satisfaction and can give yourself permission to go and do something else with your time.

When you're in the middle of January and you’re going to tackle the front hall closet or the laundry room, for example, just like in Candy Crush, you have two choices:

1. Go online

You can go online and find many resources and people that can help you. For example, on Pinterest or YouTube, you can see spaces that have been organized by others and watch how they do it.

1. Hire help

You can get a professional organizer or you could do my 100 Day Home Organization Program.

How I can help you?

To help you get organized, I have two things to offer you that I am so excited about.

1. The Sunday Basket® Podcast

I’m so excited to let you know that on Sunday, December 31st, I’m launching the Sunday Basket® Podcast.

It is available now on iTunes. Please go check it out and subscribe.

Starting tomorrow, on the Organize 365 podcast I will be posting a podcast to listen to EVERY DAY through December 31st. I am calling this the Organize 365 BINGE.

These are previous podcasts that I have pulled out and put in the exact order I would have you listen to them if you were brand new to Organize 365. They will help you with the mental mindset you are going to need going forward. So whether you are new to Organize 365 (welcome!) or you are a regular, take a moment to subscribe, listen, and share this podcast with your friends and family. Help lighten the load for everyone!

Then from December 31st to January 7th, I will have 8 brand new episodes on the SundayBasket® Podcast. You have to subscribe to The Sunday Basket® Podcast, though, so be sure to do that so you get my daily tips and motivation!

1. The 100 Day Home Organization Program

Registration to my 100 Day Home Organization Program is now open – click here to join.

The program gives you 100 actionable, 15 minute a day activities starting on Monday, January 1st. Every day by email, you will receive a 15-minute activity with a short video, an actionable step, and any links to material that I talk about in the email or video.

It is designed to systematically organize your entire house in 100 days. Don't worry, it comes with a lifetime membership so you don't have to commit to do all 100 days IN 100 days. You can skip days and go back to them and do this over and over again. We do the program 3 times a year.

Also with the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you get my amazing planner!

On January 1st, I will go live in the private Facebook Group and take you through the first part of this planner to set your goals and productivity.

I also do a weekly live Q&A in the group which I also post online. So even if you aren’t on Facebook, you won't miss out.

This is the game changer from waking up on January 1st, 2018 saying, "I'm going to lose some weight, get out of debt, and get organized" to waking up on January 1st, 2019 saying, "I got organized."

My goal is to help increase your productivity to allow you to do whatever you were uniquely created to do. We as women are being taken out by the everyday and this is stopping us from being the unique individuals we are meant to be.

I really want to be your coach, motivate you, and help you reduce the time spent on everyday tasks, to become more organized, purposeful, and productive through 2018. If you would like to join the 100 Day Home Organization Program, just click here. I hope to see you on the inside!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/208

On the podcast this week, I ask you the question – who is in your top five?

Let me explain!

A few years ago, a cell phone company had a benefit for their customers where you could select the top five people that you talk to the most on the phone and those calls would be free. They would run advertisements where they talked about you having a "top five." My husband, Greg, and I used to find the whole "top five" thing amusing, and I recall it was often the source of jokes with comedians!

Then I heard a quote and it really had an impact on me.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” by the late Jim Rohn.

You’re the average of the five people that you spend the most time with in terms of income, positivity, taking action, etc.

The five people you spend the most time with are who you’ll be the most like.

I remember when I first heard this quote, it really caused me to think about who the five people are that I spend the most time with.

At the time, I was thinking how true the quote was. My income was the average of the five people I spent the most time with. My gossip level was the average of the five people I spent the most time with! (I don’t gossip anymore, but I used to gossip a lot!).

I changed how I spend my time

It was a conscious decision that I made to change how I spend my time. Hearing that quote over and over again and thinking, well, who do I want to be like?

• What income do I want to have?
• What kind of free time do I want to have?
• How do I want to spend my free time?
• What do I want to talk about in conversations?

I don’t listen to the news anymore, but at the time I was watching CNBC every day and I was freaking about the stock market… our money… every day.

I lived in a very moment-to-moment life. Now I live a much more peaceful, purposeful, proactive, cultivated life. I have cultivated the life that I am living. I let the media and the people in that I want and I don’t let in the rest.

My life is not directed based on what comes across my desk or comes across my TV. Even in my free time, I am choosing not to be marketed to through commercials, and I’m choosing not to get my news fed to me through a regular network news program.

Who are your five top people?

Now when you hear this, you may think about the five people you spend the most time with. They may all be under three feet tall! You’re not going to change that. You’re not going to change your spouse, your kids, your parents, your parish, your church, your whatever.

The people you spend the most time with are somewhat static and somewhat flexible. So, who you spend the most physical time with may not be as easy to change as who you spend your intellectual time with.

Ask yourself, who do I want to learn from? Who do I want to be like? If I could hang out with them tomorrow, and we lived in the same city, who would I hang out with?

I changed my top 5 through podcasts. I picked two or three podcasters I really liked at the time and I listened to every one of their episodes. And I would sometimes listen to their episodes over and over again so I would mentally be with them all the time.

When I find someone I like, I listen to their podcasts and (virtually) I become their "best friend" and get to know a lot about them.

You probably know a lot about me. You may listen to me every day. You may be interacting with me in social media. I like to think that I might be one of the top five people that you spend the most time with!

Great characteristics of your top five people

I want you to think about the average of the five people you spend the most time with, and who are the five people you most want to spend 2018 with?

Listen to the podcast to hear about four characteristics of people that I think would be most helpful for you to have in your top five going forward in 2018.

Change your mindset

A year from now at the end of 2018, what do you want your life to look like? Who do you want to be associating with? How much money do you want to be making? Who are those people that are living the life you want to be living 12 months from now?

Your top five don’t have to be the physical people you see every day.

So really, consciously, think about who is going to be in your top five going into 2018.

Then follow me on Facebook or on Instagram. I would love to be in your top 5 in 2018... and beyond!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/207

'Tis the season to get overwhelmed with stress and give yourself a migraine and cold sweats just thinking about decorating your house for the holidays!

We all love how our house looks when it is all decorated, but the task itself seems like climbing Mount Everest. We can get ourselves so worked up about how arduous the task appears. I know it feels like the biggest task of my life at times.

How can we change our mindset on this?

Recently, I held a "Holiday Blitz" challenge on Facebook Live, a free 5-day "get ready guide" for the holidays. To those of you who took part, I hope you found it super useful. The printables are available here and the videos are still on Facebook.

During the challenge, I discussed how women have many roles that they play, and how we have different things to do all the time that leave us feeling like we are always working. The holidays are a time where there is a lot of pressure on the female head of the home. She needs to produce great food, decorations, and gift ideas, and be the host for guests, just to name a few.

When it comes to decorating, we tend to put up every decoration we have because everybody loves them, right? Well, yes, but would they even notice if we didn’t use EVERY decoration? Well, most likely, they wouldn't!

Where to start?

It was around 10 years ago that decorating my house took on this momentous feeling. I used to love it, but so many things led to a change for me.

I've tried various approaches over the years to get back into the swing and take joy from festive decorating, and the approach that has worked best is a giant purge. We all have that box of decorations sitting in the basement that we no longer use.

You collect all these decorations and wish you had a space, but really they are just guilt in boxes and it is okay to get rid of them. Yes, go ahead and donate them. You will not need them in the future. And you will not miss them either!

That doesn’t mean you can't ever add new things, just as long as they make sense to you. We bought a Christmas tree (ours have to be fake as I am allergic to real trees) around 10 years ago and, at the time, I loved it. Then Christmas tree technology really moved on and I got pre-lit tree envy, but for years couldn’t justify the cost. This year though – I bought it! Or rather, them. I got a few… but they were a great addition for us, as I’ll explain shortly.

What next?

This year, I decorated my entire house in 3-1/2 hours and I’m going to share my secrets with you. I break it down into 4 steps.

Clean

I always decorate on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The kids are on holiday and I’m off work, but my husband isn’t. So he gets the gift of leaving the house looking normal and returning to it fully decorated. This year, it fell perfectly that our housecleaner was coming that same day, too.

Block out time

I started optimistically by blocking out the whole day, but life happened and I couldn’t get started until 12:30 pm, rather than 10 am as I had originally planned. I already knew I had to be done by 6:30 pm. We had family coming in from out of state, and it was likely that my husband would finish work early. I was a little stressed at losing a couple of hours in the morning, but knew that I had to get it all squeezed in somehow.

Start with the hardest part

For me, the hardest part was always setting up the old tree. So I started with the smallest of the new trees. It took me no time! I was amazed. Then, I moved onto the bigger tree and assumed that would be simple, too. I shifted the furniture around and "ta-da," in 20 minutes I was done and had a beautiful big tree. Getting the new tree(s) saved me so much time and so much stress. It will alleviate so much worry for me next year.

Keep going until you’re done

At 2-1/2 hours into it, and with the Fall decorations down, nativity scenes set up, wreaths hanging, and baby Jesus in his wooden manger, I was done. But I wasn’t done. Those tree ornaments weren’t going to hang themselves! I made excuses. I even hid the ornaments on the other side of the room. I so desperately wanted it to be over already.

But I didn’t quit. Our ornaments are separated into boxes by which tree they go on. I put the living room tree ornaments on and it was so fast and easy. By this point, I realized I had been so close to giving up and had been moaning about something so simple. I looked at what I had left and made a plan. I changed some things up and put things in new locations. Yes, I gave myself permission to change my own rule! We get so locked into tradition sometimes that we lose the sense of things.

By the end, I was exhausted. So I had a coffee and took a nap in the time that I had to spare. My husband was thrilled when he got home and I was so pleased with myself that I actually got it done.

Remember…

You are in control. You can ask family which are their favorite decorations (do this before you put anything up so you know they actually remember it) and you can take away the pressure of having to put up all the other things that they don’t mention and won’t notice aren’t there anyway. Ease the pressure on yourself where you can and bring back the joy of holiday decorating.

To see more about my holiday decorating and whatever else I'm up to, follow me on Instagram. Happy Holidays!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/205

I am delighted to welcome Dr. Carmen Landrau to this week's podcast episode. Carmen is a cardiologist, a professional speaker, a mom of 3 kids, and is from Puerto Rico. How Carmen balances work and home life is fascinating and her method of getting help to those in need in Puerto Rico is amazing. Those of you who listen regularly will know that I become obsessed when there is a natural disaster so I was thrilled to have Carmen on the show.

Carmen and I met in California at a conference for entrepreneurs. With the help of her coach, she has developed a keynote speech helping professional women get to the next step in their careers and life. Women are multi-everything. We are busy being wives, mothers, daughters, friends, and career women. We all have the same problem and, if we want to have it all, we need to figure out how to do that. Our way of thinking is different to men and the expectations are different. Carmen helps women figure it out.

The link to Puerto Rico

I brought up my desperation about Puerto Rico to Carmen when we met in California. It was then that I learned Carmen’s family lives in Puerto Rico and that she has given to the cause in a very tangible way. I just knew I wanted to share her story with you.

Carmen and I agree that nobody will save you in life. As women, we need to get more bold with our solutions and not wait to be asked to fix something.

Carmen’s mom, sister, and extended family are still in Puerto Rico. They are one of the lucky few that have power, water, and food while 90% or so of the island still does not, nearly two months since the hurricane.

I was incredibly naive and ignorant about Puerto Rico. I thought it was tiny like St. John Island and figured we could just move the people off the island. It is a significant population (they would have 5 electoral college votes if they were a state) and they don’t want to leave. At the time we recorded the podcast episode, the official death toll was 50. However, the true statistic is more like 500 as people are dying from "natural causes" brought on by the lack of resources.

Carmen is part of an amazing movement helping the people of Puerto Rico

Carmen worked around the system and got medical supplies there. It all started on a Facebook group set up by a doctor in Florida who is also from Puerto Rico. Initially, it was set up for female Puerto Rican doctors to see how they could help. It has evolved to include both sexes and other professions who want to help. Word of mouth from those within the group meant that a day or so later the Baton Rouge Emergency Aid Coalition (BREAC) got in touch. They are a group of volunteer medical professionals who have stocks of medication that they have collected from other shelters used in previous natural disasters. The equipment and medication can be used elsewhere, as long as they are obtained by licensed professionals in order to maintain chain of custody.

But how to get them to Puerto Rico? Amazingly, through word of mouth and social media, people offered their planes to transport it, including United Airlines. Nine planes have gone out from Houston, 20 or 30 more nationwide. All of this happened because of volunteers and people making donations. It is almost too simple... doctors in Puerto Rico send out requests to doctors in Houston, then they source it and send it. Doctors in Puerto Rico then meet the plane and distribute it to those in need. No politics or red tape makes for a smooth and efficient system.

The aftermath and legacy

Carmen believes that when you find yourself in the aftermath of something like a natural disaster, or something else unexpected, you need to act and get over it or your whole life goes downhill. She acknowledges that people are still trying to figure out what happened and how to cope, but that’s why she is doing this. She is from Puerto Rico so she has a clear motive, but she is amazed by how many others want to help. When she asks why they do it, nobody has a specific answer. It is just the genuine goodness of their heart. That brings with it so much meaning and it is more appreciated than anything.

Carmen knows it will take years to mend the damage done in Puerto Rico, but hang in there. Puerto Ricans know what they are doing and can fix this with you. They have survived this and the sky is the limit, keep moving forward. See this as an opportunity to re-invent yourself and try to make the best of it.

There are many obstacles to helping in Puerto Rico, not least that it is an island nation. When the power goes out in Florida, there are trucks flooding in from other states to get things up and running. That cannot be done in this case. It is commendable that if you put a woman at the helm, things happen. When somebody is hurting, we go in there and fix it.

The impact of this will be around for years, just as it will be in Texas and California and all those other sites of recent disasters. We are getting so used to the tragedy. It almost becomes a recurring news item with the lead up to it being more fully covered than the devastation and the impact itself. That is when they need us most and we need to know that they need us. Thank goodness for social media... it can be really useful. People affected can ask for exactly what they require.

There is an opportunity for business owners to help

There is an opportunity for business owners to help each other here. If only the effort big business put into the Olympics in Rio was put into helping Puerto Rico, right? They don’t apply that to charity and they most likely won’t, but smaller businesses can step up. We can also use newer technologies and update the island. We do not need to try to rebuild exactly what was there. It can be seen as a blank canvas, full of opportunities for those who seek them and take advantage of this situation to improve lives.

Big business should pause for thought, too. They spend so much of their money on advertising, but the world is evolving and we don’t watch TV anymore. When will they realize they would do better to find a problem, like the situation in Puerto Rico, and solve it? We, as the public, would see and appreciate that. Surely there can be no better form of advertising.

So, what can you do?

Get out there and ask the questions. Figure out what people need and provide it if you can. Look at your resources and connect differently. Use that to help people.

It is the day after Thanksgiving here in the United States and that significance is not lost on Carmen. There is always a reason behind what happens in our lives and perhaps the reason she and I met was so I could offer this help. What goes around, comes around. So if you can help, you should. It may be you one day.

Related to this, I plan to set up an initiative for 2018. As we are decluttering, think about what makes us uniquely us and how we can impact the community around us. When we did the fundraiser for Houston, it was fun and we were able to surprise people. That feels good. (We are over $8,000 – THANK YOU so much to all who have contributed!)

On the podcast, Carmen encourages everyone to go to the website www.BREAC225.org. There are ways that you can donate to fundraisers and so many links to stories like Carmen’s. They also have a cool way of doing things so you don’t have to wonder how to help – they have an Amazon Wishlist!

If you would like to find out more about Carmen, click here.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/204

In this week’s podcast episode, I talk to you about organizational energy.

At the beginning of 2017, I recorded three podcast episodes in a row after I had come to the conclusion that there is a cycle to getting organized.

The first step is decluttering. The second step is organization. The third step is increased productivity.

I want to take some time to "unpack" what each of these steps are and understand the energy behind decluttering, getting organized, and becoming more productive.

What do you tend to focus on?

If you’re a homeowner, you most likely tend to focus on one of these five: decluttering, organizing, being productive, cleaning, or decorating. And you’ll likely subscribe to and follow people (podcasters, bloggers, authors, etc.) who have the same focus as you.

For example, I’m focused primarily on organization and on having a home that is organized in a functional way. To become organized, you first need to declutter. When you have worked on organization, you then tend to start working on productivity. I focus on all three steps as I see them as interconnected, but you’ll rarely hear me talk about cleaning or decorating!

Let’s look at what I mean by these steps…

Decluttering

Decluttering is the act of reviewing a space and removing what no longer needs to be there.

Quite often, decluttering needs to be completed as a group/family activity. At the very least, you need input from your family members when it comes to deciding what to do with their items.

Decluttering is 70-90% physical and 10-30% mental. It becomes more of a mental exercise when you are dealing with items that are of emotional significance.

Organization

Organization is 50% physical and 50% mental.

The mental aspect of getting started. Then the physical emptying out the space. Then comes the mental decision making on what to do with items. Back to physically buying and filling containers to use. And ending in mentally evaluating and reevaluating if the organization methods you chose is the BEST for you.

Back and forth between mental and physical at a rate of 50/50.

Increase Productivity

Productivity is 10% physical and 90% mental. Being productive is largely a decision-making activity.

For example, if you decided that you wanted a new capsule wardrobe, you would spend 90% of your time working out the when, what, and how of it all. Then, the actual act of going out and buying what you want, after all the decisions have been made, would take just 10% of the overall time.

Cleaning

Cleaning is 100% physical. There is very little thought process involved. You know what needs to be cleaned and you, or someone else, needs to take action. The only mental aspect is often us trying to justify or avoid doing a task that just needs to be done! That is why it is the easiest item to delegate!

Decorating is something that I have so little experience with, I’m not even going to attempt to explain that one!

How this relates to energy cycles

In today's podcast and post, I explain how energy cycles throughout the year ebb and flow and how they relate to home organization. (This post is a long one and this email is long enough! Read the whole post here.)

but I will post the energy you are feeling right now...

October - December

At this time of year, we start planning for the holidays.

Thanks to those of you who took part in my holiday blitz this past week!

Your focus is back to cleaning again. You want to clean before Thanksgiving and before you start putting those Christmas decorations up.

The energy that is coming in the last 6-7 weeks of the year will come in waves.

The energy will not be constant. The waves will come and you should ride them and not push them off. It’s harder to resist than to actually go and do what you want to do.

For example, you’ll get an urge to go clean a room, declutter the kids’ rooms, decorate, etc. Whatever it may be, you will find you have these urges. I recommend just acting on them.

December 22nd

It seems funny for me to be so specific with a date, but on December 22nd my blog traffic will double (like it has done for the past few years)!

I’ve realized that most of us start organizing on December 22nd. It’s when the kids are home for the holidays. Extended family start to arrive, if you are at home on the holidays. You are done with your holiday shopping, wrapping, etc. Most of the cleaning is done. You have time off work (with most jobs). It’s winter so you don’t want to be spending too much time outside. You will start to think about a home organization project that you could undertake. Family are around to help with decluttering. The focus is more decluttering than organizing at this time.

From December 22nd to January 1st, the decluttering energy turns into an organizational energy.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program

I open enrollment for my 100 Day Home Organization Program at certain times of the year for a reason. The timing is well thought through and I base it on the cycles and energies that I’ve discussed in this week’s podcast episode.

I’m pleased to let you know that the 100 Day Home Organization Program has just opened again (November 10-14). Click here to register. If you join now, you’ll start receiving the daily emails right away and you'll get the new and improved planner.

Remember, the 100 Day Home Organization Program is not just for Christmas, it’s a lifetime membership!

You can do the program again and again until your life has transformed. My goal is for you to live an organized life so you can spend your time doing what you love and pursuing your life purpose. What a great gift that would be, at Christmas or any time of year!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/202

This week’s podcast episode is number 200.

200 episodes. Can you believe it?!

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, last week the Organize 365 podcast surpassed 2 million downloads!

Thanks to each and every one of you who have listened to my podcast and who have supported me with Organize 365.

I thought a lot about what to cover on my 200th episode and decided that I wanted to talk about paper, one of my favorite topics.

Also, this week I have a few special announcements to make… all of them related to paper!

I’m launching a second podcast – The Sunday Basket® Podcast

In January 2018, I’m going to launch a second podcast called The Sunday Basket® Podcast.

Recently, I’ve been wanting to talk more and more about paper organizing, but I know that not everyone wants to hear about it. So I decided to create a separate podcast where I can talk about paper organizing to my heart’s content for anyone who wants to listen.

By having a separate podcast all about paper organization, I can focus the Organize 365 Podcast on my philosophy for home organization, mindset, other fun organizational predicaments, and productivity.

Every generation handles paper differently

Every generation looks at organization differently, and as such, they handle their paper differently.

When we understand our generation, we develop an understanding of how we handle paper.

Here’s an example of how we handle paper differently. The majority of people today do not use checkbooks anymore. However, I spend 30-40 minutes a week balancing my checkbook and reconciling our household transactions. I can’t comprehend how other people don’t do this! As a Gen X person, I was brought up with paper.

On the other hand, Millennials will tell me that they do not have any paper. It is not a "thing" for them at all. What is a checkbook?!

The paper tsunami is coming

The majority of paper is with the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers.

These generations set up filing cabinets. They did not have computers so paper ruled.

Today, we tend to continue with the filing cabinets, but our habits have changed... rather, our filing cabinets have become a habit and not a resource.

We have all sorts of paper that we file away, but if we want to look something up, we don’t go to our paper files, we look things up online!

Realistically, 80% of the paper in our filing cabinets right now should be recycled or shredded.

The issue is that none of us want to shred all of that paper. But neither do Baby Boomers or the Silent Generation.

One of these days someone is going to have to go through all of this paper. Even if you don’t do this with your own files, you may end up doing it for your parents and your grandparents.

All of these files need to be sorted through, because while 80% of it most likely can be shredded, the other 20% is very important. For example, it could be an important part of your family history, or even lead to cold, hard cash. I have found both when sorting through my family paperwork!

I helped a client with her paperwork when her husband passed away and there were multiple 6-figure investments hidden in the piles of paperwork that, thankfully, we discovered. This happens more than you can imagine.

Almost always, when circumstances lead to you having to sell your parents’ home, paper is the one thing that gets boxed up to deal with "later." Your parents' generation has likely lived in their home for decades, and therefore, there is SO much to sort through. Paper always seems to be the thing that can be boxed up. The issue is that "later" can become decades. This can result in generations of paperwork boxed up in people’s basements. After all, who has time to sort through it all?

I’m writing a new book about paper organization!

I’m so excited to share with you that I’m writing a book on paper organization.

My book will help you handle the paper tsunami that is is coming – the tsunami consists of your own paperwork, plus your parents’ paperwork, and your grandparents’ paperwork.

We don’t need filing cabinets anymore. I call files little paper graveyards!

We need all of our information digital and scanned. My book will take you from the Sunday Basket® to online digital scanning.

My goal is to provide the road map that people need to help them tackle their paper and NOT keep it out of sight and out of mind in the basement anymore!

With all the natural disasters that have been happening lately, I am more inspired than ever to help people get their paper digitalized so that it’s always available to them.

There is a paper tsunami coming… and we need to be ready!

Please take the household paper survey

I would like to find out more about the paper in your house. I would love it if you would take my household paper survey. It will only take you 5 minutes to complete. The link to it is on the Organize365.com homepage.

Sunday Basket® Workshops

If you want to get started with sorting your paper, please consider signing up for a virtual SundayBasket® Workshop with me. I love delivering the virtual workshops. They are so much fun and I guarantee you will find it really helpful. Learn more here.

Or maybe you would prefer an in-person Sunday Basket® Workshop delivered by a SundayBasket® Workshop Licensee. That would be amazing! Click here to find your nearest in-person workshop provider.

Or maybe you’re interested in becoming a Sunday Basket® Workshop Licensed Provider! Registration is always open. Click here to learn more.

Creating a Schedule Printable

Finally, for the past couple of months, I have focused on productivity, looking at goal setting and routines. Many of you downloaded my Creating A Schedule printables. I hope you found them useful. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, what are you waiting for?!

One final note... In the podcast, you'll hear me mention adding a new front page to the printable that lists the 5 podcasts related to it... why you need a morning routine, afternoon and evening routine, how to plan your week, and how to set goals. Well, I didn't do that after all so I've just linked to them here. Now that's productive!

Have a great week, and don't forget to take the paper organizing survey!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/200

Did you know that I have a condo?

In this podcast episode, I share all about how I have preserved my sanity in my teenage years, 20s, 30s, and 40s by having my own condo.

Putting yourself first

I hope that by sharing how I use my condo, and how it’s evolved over time, will help give you the permission that you need to put yourself first.

I tend to talk about productivity in the fall because it’s a naturally productive time. It’s often a time when people set their goals and intentions for the next 12 months – certainly, I do.

Many people have been in touch with me regarding my recent podcast episodes on time management and productivity, and they have told me that they struggle with applying many of the concepts themselves because they are people pleasers (and with this, I can’t help but feel a little like that must mean that I appear not to be).

The funny thing is, I’ve ALWAYS been a people pleaser. It’s something that has been with me my whole life. It's only in recent years that I’ve started to learn how to put myself first. It has been really hard to do and has taken a lot of careful thought and proactivity on my behalf.

I have often thought that if I put myself first and share this with people, they will think that I am selfish, that I don’t care about others, or that I’m spoiled. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking this.

A little history about my condo

When I was young, I lived in a neighborhood without many children to play with my own age. I was not athletic so that ruled me out of pretty much all extra-curricular activities. So I spent my time playing "teacher" with my younger sister and "training" how to be a babysitter. I also helped my mom with her business, a direct sales clothing company.

I created a game to play with my sister called "Big Friend." My sister and I pretended to be 16, our bikes were cars, our kitchen was a café, and our bedrooms were our apartments. I LOVED my bedroom! When I got punished by my parents, I’d get sent to my room – which was never a punishment in my eyes! I would spend lots of time in there, and would love to reorganize and redecorate it.

My love of the private space and sanctuary of my bedroom continued into college in my dorm room, then on to when I lived in a shared house.

Even when Greg and I moved to the spacious house that we still live in today, I’ve always spent most of my time in one part of the house.

When my children developed separation anxiety at night, I stayed upstairs because they wanted me on the same floor as them.

Since I’m always looking at ways to be productive, I worked in my bedroom until they fell asleep. Because of this, I had started spending the whole evening upstairs – especially when Tivo was invented!

So when the kids go to bed, I stay upstairs, hang out in my bedroom, watch TV, take a bath…. I just spend a lot of time in there. It’s cozy and warm.

I have a TV, my office, and food in my bedroom. I break all of the bedroom rules. In fact, I have a fully functioning office in my bedroom – it's the Organize 365 headquarters!

Even though my kids are teenagers now, one of them still prefers that we’re on the same level in the house. Therefore, I still spend most of my evenings upstairs in my bedroom.

It’s nice to have a private space just for you

The whole point of getting organized is to help you find the time to do the things in life that you want to do.

When you do the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will find that there is a clear method to the organizational approach that you’re taken through. It starts in the kitchen, which is where the majority of people spend their time in the home. The kitchen is most important for your family.

Next is the master bedroom and closet. They are most important for your soul! This is where you get dressed, where you sleep, where you regenerate yourself. It’s all about you (and a little about your spouse, of course!).

The rest of the house is for your family, but the bedroom is about you. It’s your condo!

My house is an apartment building

I like that our house is like our own apartment building.

Downstairs, the kitchen is like the café which is where we socialize and catch up. Upstairs, we all have the privacy of our own apartments. Our apartments are decorated to our own taste and style.

So in the same way that I encourage my kids to think of their bedroom as a mini-apartment, I treat my bedroom just the same.

The key is to have a space that is all yours

I know your bedroom isn’t all yours, but honestly, 99% of the time your spouse really doesn’t care what you do with the bedroom (if your spouse is anything like mine).

If they do, focus on your half of the bedroom! Use an imaginary piece of tape to divide it, if need be.

Do you put yourself first?

If you are feeling like you have to take care of your kids, your job, your spouse, your house, and you are at the end of the list... I want you to move yourself up to the top of the list. I’m not suggesting you do this all the time or even every day. But how about for just an hour a week?

I would love for you to pencil in an hour that is just for you on your calendar.

In addition, why not do an organizational task this week just on your stuff, on your area and no one else’s.

When you get yourself organized, your family follows suit. There is an energy that comes from that positive place.

For me, when I want to have "me time," I take great comfort hanging out in my condo!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/199

On the podcast this week, I talk about goal setting.

Goal setting is one of my favorite things. I may even like it more than organizing!

The kind of goals that I love to set are BHAG – which stands for big, hairy, audacious goals.

To put this into context, when I was 16 my goals were: to be a stay-at-home mom, home-school my kids, and grow all my own food, own a business AND be the President of the United States!

I have always had really high expectations for myself and others around me.

When I was graduating from college, I was told I had "unrealistic expectations."

I think it’s fair to say that I do often have unrealistic expectations.

I usually don’t achieve my goals in the time frame that I originally set. But that is because they are so big that they require extra time, resources, and personal development in order to achieve them. But I DO achieve them!

Examples Of Big Goals That I Have Achieved

In summer 2016, one of my big goals was to create an Amazon number 1 bestseller by the fall… and I did! (The Mindset of Organization).

Then in the spring, I published my second book, How ADHD Affects Home Organization , within 90 days. It also became an Amazon number 1 bestseller, sold over 5,000 copies and is currently featured as an Amazon book of the month.

I exceeded my own big, hairy, audacious goal!

I remember when I announced in May 2016 that I wanted to get published by August 2016, some concerned Organized 365 readers thought that I was setting myself up for a fall. I received emails saying “Do you think you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?,” and “Are you sure you can publish a quality book that fast?”

The fact is, we’re not used to people setting and achieving really, really big goals.

Entrepreneurs are well known for chasing the elusive goal. And as soon as they get close to the goal, they extend it and make it bigger. I sure can relate to that!

Introducing Good, Better, And Best Goals

I was listening to James Wedmore’s podcast recently and he discussed this idea of good, better, and best goals.

The basic idea is that the goal you want to achieve has 3 levels – a good goal, a better goal, and a best goal.

Good, Better, And Best Goals In Home Organization

I think this concept of good, better, and best goals relates to home organization as well.

I’m a functional organizer and not a "picture-perfect, Pinterest home" organizer.

What I’ll be teaching you is to set expectations that reach a good and better goal, but not necessarily a best goal. Let me explain.

You could say that to declutter a space would be a good goal.

A better goal is to functionally organize that space after it is decluttered.

The best goal would be for the room to be really well designed, have been designed by an interior designer, and have brand new containers that all match!

A laundry example would be as follows – Good... clean laundry. Better... clean and put away. Best... clean, put away, and organized.

In my 100 Day Home Organization Program, I have often said that it takes 3 times going through a space to really get it organized. Really, what we are doing there is getting to good, to better, then to best.

I talk through some more examples of good, better, and best goals on the podcast, ranging from organizing paper, to setting weight goals, to how far you got with creating a plan from last week’s podcast episode.

Don’t Get Too Attached To The Outcome Of Goals

Sometimes when we set goals, we get very attached to what an outcome will look like. This may be based on what has happened in the past, the results of others, or just an ideal that we carry around.

I would urge you not to get too attached to exactly what the outcome will look like. Because it may well be that you achieve a goal without even really realizing it.

I would love for you to consider the following in goal setting:

1. When you are setting a goal, think of what would be a good, better, or best goal.

Good means this has to happen. If this doesn't happen, then I didn’t meet this goal.

Better is what I really want to happen, what I’m striving for.

Best is if the sun, moon, and stars aligned and all your big goals are met!

2. Do not get attached to the outcome of the goal.

Sometimes, our goals can be achieved in ways that we didn’t envision.

Good luck at setting your good, better, and best goals! I’d love to hear how far you get with them over in my Facebook Group. If you’d like to join, click here.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/198

On the podcast this week, I talk about time management and productivity.

I’ve finally figured out what is missing for women on this topic!

Everyone needs a schedule. You need a plan and you need to proactively tell yourself what you should be doing. Because if you don’t, you will just end up sidetracked and distracted.

I haven’t talked about time management and productivity very much in the past. That is because I think that you need to get physically organized first before you can get mentally organized.

This is a little different from what you’re used to hearing me say. I do think that change happens in your mind first and then in your physical reality – as far as getting physically organized and decluttered.

But when it comes to productivity and time management, we’re at a whole new level. Now we are visualizing what change will look like and mentally making the changes.

That is why I want to make this physical for you. I have created some AMAZING printables that I’m so happy to share with you. You can download them here and they go with this week’s podcast episode and next week’s episode as well.

They also go with episodes 192 and 193 on routines.

Making changes to our time management and how we manage our schedule does not happen overnight.

I have devised 4 steps for creating a plan for time management.

Steps 1 & 2: Morning and Afternoon & Evening Routines

I recently created two podcast episodes on my morning routine and my afternoon and evening routines.

Thank you for all the feedback that I’ve received on these episodes – I loved recording them and they’ve been really well received.

Many people talk about morning and evening routines, but for me my afternoon routine is my most important routine right now (between 2-5pm – after my productive work) .

In this week’s podcast episode, I talk you through exactly what I want you to do to creat your routines and my worksheet will help you formulate one – just add ONE new thing into your morning, afternoon and evening routine.

Step 3: Work out all of the roles that you are responsible for in the household

This step is going to overwhelm you!

I take you through the task of working out how many roles you are responsible for when it comes to running your household.

There are A LOT of roles and you will be surprised how many relate to you. For example, healthcare coordinator, taxi driver, vacation planner, etc.

On the worksheet, you are then asked to work out all of your ‘to-dos’ for each role. You may find this difficult, but give it your best shot!

To put this into context – a couple years ago, I completed a time study for me and Greg. We discovered we were spending 36 hours a week on household and childcare related tasks.

Step 4: Planning your time and creating a schedule

In this final step on my worksheet, you actually plan your time. You create a schedule.

The focus is on being PRODUCTIVE. When you plan your time in advance (right down to the minutes), you will find that you have more minutes. Yes, you get more time back in your day!

I can work with you on this task, if you'd like. I love helping people plan their schedules in order to be more productive. Just click here to book a coaching call with me.

You NEED a schedule – especially if you work from home.

Whether you are an entrepreneur, a work-from-home employee, a stay-at-home mom, or you have any other role that requires you to work from home, you NEED to have a schedule.

I consider "work" as your life purpose. That is how I define work. This could be paid or unpaid (i.e., stay-at-home mom). Whatever your work is, it’s your life purpose.

Time is so valuable and you can never get it back so you need to work out a schedule that ensures you do not fritter away your time.

Share your new schedules in the Organize 365 Facebook Group!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/197

On the podcast this week, I introduce you to a rule that I impose upon myself that I call the “24 Hour Rule."

The 24 Hour Rule is going to free you up from all the things that you might do, should do, could do, or want to do someday. Instead, it’ll teach you to focus on today.

Warning: Please listen to the full podcast episode! You may think at first that the 24 hour rule is a little crazy, but by the end I hope I’ve convinced you to give it a try.

A Bit Of Background

The 24 Hour Rule is something that I developed for myself after I’d been doing the SundayBasket™ for a few years.

Why? Well, I found that a couple of items in my Sunday Basket™ stayed every week!

This goes against the rule of the Sunday Basket™, that you empty the Sunday Basket™ completely on Sunday. Then you hold up every single item – every piece of paper, mail, slash pocket – and you ask yourself, “Can this wait until next Sunday?”

If it can, then it goes right back into the Sunday Basket™. At the end of your time working on your Sunday Basket™, you have identified the items that need to be acted on before next Sunday. All the rest can wait.

I Started To Drown In My WOW Ideas

I’m an ideas person. Ideas come to me all the time and I get so excited. I’m a WOW person and not a HOW person – I usually leave the details to someone else.

I love to write down my ideas or print them off and then put them in my Sunday Basket™. I realized that all of these WOW ideas were the items in my Sunday Basket™ that were staying each week. I was just accumulating a lot of ideas, but not necessarily implementing them.

In other words, I was drowning in my own ideas and becoming overwhelmed. I had to stop stockpiling all of my should/could/someday ideas in a physical location because it was wasting my time instead of inspiring me.

To overcome this problem, I created the 24 Hour Rule.

The 24 Hour Rule Explained

My 24-hour rule is pretty simple.

When I find a great idea, I ask myself, “Can I do this within 24 hours?”

Now, of course, there are many things that you can’t implement fully in 24 hours, but here’s another way to look at this…

We all have times when we come up with a juicy idea that we dive right into and end up spending 2 hours (sometimes even more!) on the internet researching our idea. Do you agree?

Most likely, you didn’t have those 2 hours when you first got your idea, but you made time within 24 hours to flesh it out. Then you decided if it was worth pursuing now, later, or not at all.

My point is that, if an idea is that good and it moves you that much, then you will take immediate action on it.

All of the other someday ideas can be disregarded right now. Don’t write them down or print them off. Just let them be.

As soon as I adapted the 24 Hour Rule, I found that if I really wanted to do something awesome for my business, my home, or my family, I could almost always start to take action within 24 hours.

A Recent Example Where I Applied The 24 Hour Rule

A recent example of my coming up with an idea and applying it within 24 hours is the fundraising appeal that I am currently running for Avondale House in Houston, Texas.

I was completely glued to the news on Hurricane Harvey – reading and watching everything about it on my phone. I felt so bad for those affected that I thought there must something I can do to help.

That’s when I came up with the idea of fundraising for Avondale House. You can read all about it and contribute here. Great news, we’ve raised over $2,000 at the time of recording this podcast! Thank you so much to everyone for contributing.

Now you see that the idea of helping out with Hurricane Harvey relief was so important to me that if I had waited, I would never have taken action.

Your To-Do List Is Never-Ending

The reality is that as soon as you knock things off your to-do list, other things come onto it. That is why it’s a to-do list, and not a to-done list – it’s never going to end!

As soon as you come to terms with your to-do list, it will give you greater perspective on organizing your to-dos, prioritizing, and a more realistic view of life.

There is only so much you can do in your day and I really, really want you to be able to use some of your free time for whatever you want to do.

This is why a key piece of advice that I have for you is to only have 3 big things – or what I callrocks – that you want to accomplish each day. Keep things realistic and don’t constantly chase the impossible.

I’m going to cover this concept in more detail in future podcast episodes so stay tuned.

The Sunday Basket™

Most things come back to the Sunday Basket™ because I truly love the Sunday Basket™.

The Sunday Basket™ takes time to set up and get used to using. But when you’ve been implementing the Sunday Basket™ for 2 months, I’m going to bet that you find you have a lot more time back in your week. That time comes from no longer looking for paper items and trying to remember things, and from being more organized.

It’s amazing how much time you spend just with switching tasks. Did you know you can spend up to 20 minutes switching tasks and recovering from getting distracted? That’s a lot of time!

And that’s why, I always encourage you to put your big ideas in your Sunday Basket™.

But let’s take it a step further and always apply the 24 Hour Rule to each and every one of those ideas. I suggest that when you review your ideas every week, you should assess whether you will act on it in 24 hours. If not, throw it away or review it again in 100 days.

I challenge you today…

What is something that you have on your someday list that you can eliminate?

I challenge you to get rid of it – go ahead and lighten your load!

Now, is that big idea you have right now actionable within 24 hours?

Then, I encourage you to start pursuing it now!

Are you interested in knowing more about the Sunday Basket™?

You can join attend a virtual class here or join the Sunday Basket™ Workshop Licensing Program by clicking here!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/196

On the podcast this week, I’m thrilled to introduce you to Wendy Zanders.

Wendy is a successful professional organizer and her story fascinates me. She has done things in almost the exact opposite order to how I’d normally recommend, but it has worked well and I couldn’t be happier for her. Her story just goes to show that there are many different routes to success and we must all follow the path that feels right for us.

Wendy discovered me when she was suffering from depression

Wendy found me and the Organize 365 blog and podcast during the most depressing time of her life. Her family had suffered the loss of a dear family member and she was really struggling. She actually connected with me when she heard me share my depression story, as her experiences felt so similar to mine.

Wendy shares on the podcast how she joined my Jumpstart Professional Organizer Program (a one-time offering this past summer). The program was for people wanting to start a professional organizer business. She then joined my Sunday Basket™ Workshop Licensing Program, and later she joined my 100 Day Home Organization Program. This is pretty much the exact opposite order that you would expect!

A little more about Wendy

Wendy is 35, lives in Frederick, Maryland, and she has a husband, a 4 year old daughter, a 10 year old son, and a new business. She is in between the accumulation and survival phases of life. Her life is pretty busy, with non-stop family commitments, business commitments, and church commitments. Wendy and her husband both work full-time, and they very much divide and conquer when it comes to running the family and household.

Earlier this year, Wendy decided that she wanted to get a part-time job on the weekend to help build up the family emergency fund. She was given the advice to find something she loves to do and then do it as a business. Like me, Wendy LOVES being organized and helping others get organized. Becoming a professional organizer seemed like the perfect choice!

Wendy and I first spoke in May of this year. After asking me plenty of great questions, she decided to join my Jumpstart Professional Organizer Program. Thankfully, her husband was behind her 100%, something that is always a huge help for the women who take my program.

Wendy is also a member of my Professional Organizers Think Tank Facebook Group. She explains on the podcast how being a member of the group really took things to another level for her, being able to connect with other like-minded professional organizers on the same journey as her has been invaluable.

She works on her professional organization business on Friday nights and Saturday. Wendy had a goal to earn back the program fee within 7 months and she did so within 3 months!

Becoming a professional organizer despite having ADD

Wendy shares on the podcast that she has attention deficit disorder, something that you wouldn’t always associate with a professional organizer.

Wendy was not diagnosed with ADD until later in life. It was actually the point at which her son was being tested for ADHD that she realized she had many of the symptoms herself.

Wendy becoming a successful professional organizer... with ADD... really does mean that if you have a passion to do something, then go out there and do it!

Marketing can be the biggest challenge

One of Wendy’s key strengths is marketing her business.

Being a professional organizer means meeting and connecting with many people. Therefore, marketing efforts that lead to the most results are often those conducted in person.

Wendy is a superstar when it comes to marketing her business and on the podcast she shares the many ways that she’s doing this.

Become a Sunday Basket™ Workshop Licensed Provider

Would you like to become a Sunday Basket™ Workshop licensee like Wendy? Would you like to help people in your local area get their paperwork organized? This is a first step before joining my mentoring program for professional organizers.

My Sunday Basket™ Workshop Licensing Program is now open and I’d love for you to join. Registration closes next Tuesday, September 26th. Please click here to find out more.

If you want to join the licensing program, but it’s not right for you at this time, you can put yourself on the (no obligation) wait list for next time.

Finally (because I’m so excited about it!), I want to share that Wendy and I are both going toBizChix Live in October which is going to be AMAZING. If you want to learn more about the event please, click here.

Happy Paper Organizing!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/195

There is nothing more frustrating than nervously watching a tragedy unfold before your eyes and feel like there is nothing you can do to help. The hours I have spent the last month reading articles, watching video clips, and following friends on social media who are going through natural disasters is mind blowing.

This nervous energy eats me alive. I want to DO something.

Ironically in Cincinnati, Ohio, we have very few natural disasters. A stray tornado or big snow storm, but nothing like the fires, earthquakes, and hurricanes I 've watched in the last month.

Even so, emergencies in general are a guarantee in life. Someday you will need to have your medical and financial ducks in a row to facilitate your care or the care of a loved one.

This week in the podcast, Betsy shares her Houston Hurricane story, and I share how you can organize your important documents and help the autistic community at the Avondale House School in Houston, Texas.

The Avondale House is a resource for the special needs community in Houston and a school for children with autism.

For the rest of 2017, when you purchase the medical and financial organizers through this link, 100% of the sale will go to the Avondale House School.

The financial and medical organizers are editable PDFs so you can store your information digitally or they can be printed and put in a binder – it's your choice!

These organizers collect all your important information so you don't have to hunt through your filing cabinet or wish you could take the whole thing with you if you have to evacuate. This will really help you in an emergency situation, whatever that situation may be.

100% of the proceeds from sales of my medical and financial planners will go to Avondale House. This is a "win-win" situation as you get these two great organizers AND you get to donate to such a great cause.

If you would prefer to not purchase the planners, but would rather donate directly to Avondale House, you can do so here.

One thing you will never hear me say is, "It 's just stuff." I know better.

Physical items can be replaced, but it does not minimize the pain and inconvenience of doing so. I hope you are reading this in a house with running water, a working sewage system, and electricity

Like I said in the podcast, my own medical and financial organizers were not filled out, but I am doing it now.

I don't want to, and I don 't "have the time," but I know... one day I will be glad I did.

Prayers to everyone in the path of these natural disasters.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/194

When is the last time you took a hard look at your afternoon and evening routines?

We hear A LOT of people talk about their morning routines. (I shared details about my morning routine last week.)

It’s also quite common to hear about evening routines. But, I’ve hardly ever heard anyone talk about afternoon routines. For me, my afternoon routine... or rather, my after-school/after-work routine... is really key to my productivity.

In this week’s podcast, I dive into my afternoon and my evening routine.

Afternoon Routine

When I talk about an afternoon routine, I am referring to the time of day when we are transitioning from work responsibilities back to our family responsibilities.

Personally, my afternoon routine is currently going through changes as my children are getting older and are no longer relying on me for rides home from school and to their various activities. As such, I find myself with more time to work in the afternoon.

For quite some time, my work day ended at 2pm when I left to pick up the kids. If I’d done my work for the day by 2pm, that was a good day. Any work that I got completed after 2pm was what I called "bonus" work!

As the kids have gotten older and more self-reliant, I have been able to carry on with work, if needed, from 3:15pm (when I get home from picking them up) until 5:30pm. Yes, I do work a lot! If I don’t have work to do at this time, I sometimes take a nap.

This year, I have help with my kids' school pick up and my son will be driving, which means my work day will be 8am to 5pm.

Whether your work day ends at 2pm, at 5pm, or whenever, here is one daily routine I recommend you follow during the last 20 minutes of your work day:

• Tidy Up – Take a few minutes to organize your work space. Coming in the next day to a tidy area will get you into the right mindset.
• Calendar – Look at your calendar for the next day and get an idea of what you currently have scheduled.
• To-Do List – Go over the list of goals you have set for the week and figure out which items need to be completed the next day.
• Write It Down – On either an index card or a legal pad, write down your tasks for the next day in the order you need to complete them. Remember to always TRUST the schedule you made the day before! The impromptu coffee run sounds good in the moment, but your rational mind says otherwise.

Following this afternoon routine today will set you up for a successful tomorrow.

Then, 5:30pm to 7:30pm is the time I have set aside to spend with my husband and kids, but I also have time set aside to do other important things for myself.

Here are some of the things that I like to do as part of my afternoon routine after I've spent valuable time with my family:

• Clean the Kitchen – I like to ensure everything is clean and put away in the kitchen. (This is a new addition for me this year.)
• Plan Dinners – Take a few minutes and decide what to make for dinner the next day. This saves you from scrambling to figure it out the next afternoon.
• Pack the Car – Look at the schedule you made for the next day and place anything you need for tomorrow in the car. For example, dry cleaning that needs to be dropped off.

That is my afternoon routine and I think it’s the key to my productivity.

Evening Routine

From 7:30pm to 9pm, everyone in my family likes to enjoy some alone time.

I tend to head upstairs to my office and continue working. But, the work that I do at this time is work that I really enjoy doing and nothing too heavy.

At 9pm, I start my bath and pick my clothes out for the next day. I try to keep my wardrobe pretty simple. Capsule wardrobes really interest me and I’m going to dive deeper into that idea in the fall.

Around 9:30pm, Greg and I watch a TV show. (You’ll need to listen to the podcast if you want to hear me run through my favorite programs right now!)

No matter which small tasks you add to your evening routine to help the next day run smoother, make sure to take time to RELAX.

Remember, at the end of the day, it isn’t about what you didn’t accomplish that day, it’s about what you DID accomplish and how you impacted the people around you.

It’s all in the routine!

Don't miss Lisa and Joey's bear, rope, and toaster Walmart trip in this episode!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/podcast/routines 

In this week’s podcast episode, I talk all about productivity and morning routines.

You’ll discover why my morning routine is different than everyone else’s and why I make no apologies for that!

Two years ago, I recorded a podcast episode where I talked all about my morning and evening routines at that time. If you would like to hear it, click here.

In that episode, I focused on decision fatigue and how setting up routines that you can run on auto-pilot will minimize the number of decisions you need to make. It's amazing the difference a well-planned morning routine can make!

This week’s episode continues to build on that topic with a focus on productivity.

I love productivity.

I’m a productivity nut. If there is any way that I can save 5 seconds a day, I’ll figure it out and I’ll save those 5 seconds, whether I put them to good use or not!

Wasting time is one of my biggest pet peeves. So, I love to study how to be more productive.

However, just recently I noticed that the majority of the productivity gurus that I have been following – those with podcasts, books, blogs, etc. on productivity – are all men.

I’ve tried to change this and seek out female leaders in the productivity field, but they are hard to find.

Even though I am a very productive person, it’s hard not to feel like I’m not as productive as I could be when comparing myself to someone so different than me. There are many differences between the productivity schedule of a man and a woman. There are also key differences between the schedule of a Gen X and Gen Y person. There are HUGE differences between the productivity schedule of people with and without kids!

Many of the male gurus I have been listening to want you to get up early (before 5am), have an ice cold shower, exercise, meditate… this is not for me. I've tried aspects of it. I even found myself in the gym at 6am…it DID NOT work out well for me!

I realized, I was comparing myself to people with such different lives, goals, and challenges than mine.

We all strive for balance.

As women, we are always trying to seek balance in our lives. But you know what… balance is boring!

We can’t perfectly balance everything and if we do – if there is complete balance and not one single thing that gets more of you because you’re so passionate about it – where is the fun in that?!

Think of it like a cookie. First, we all like/need different ingredients in our cookies. The base ingredients are often similar, but the rest varies, whether that’s chocolate, raisins, gluten free, soy free, etc., just like we all have different things going on in our life.

Second, whatever those ingredients are, they are not required in equal proportions. That would not make for a good cookie!

Third, there is no perfect cookie for all. We are all different and unique!

You need to know WHO you are taking productivity and morning routine advice from.

The productivity routine of the modern woman covers 7 items:

1. Household
2. Cleaning
3. Shopping
4. Work - paid or unpaid
5. Self Care
6. Spouse (optional)
7. Kids (optional)

They may not all be applicable to everyone. For example, I know not everyone has a spouse or kids. Personally, I opted out of number 2 and have a housekeeper!

My point is that you need to know who you are, what phase of life you’re in, when you like to wake up, what your expectations are for yourself and work. When you are clear on all of that, you can work out the best morning routine for you.

My morning routine.

I define my morning routine as from the time I wake up until when I start the productive part of my day. For me that is a 5:45-6am wake-up until around 9-10am when I get to work.

I wake up with enough time to get up, get ready, and get in the car to take my kids to school. I’m on auto-pilot with my routine so much so that I don’t need to think about it. Refer to this episode and also this one to learn about my make-up caddy.

It’s almost impossible for me to forget anything with the way that I’ve organized this. In this week’s episode, I talk you through in detail exactly what I do, what I eat, etc.

There are 4 steps to establishing a morning routine.

• Step 1 – Habitualize your regular daily morning routine for getting up/ready
• Step 2 – Determine your best work time for doing your household tasks and work
• Step 3 – Create a flex day – this is a day where you don’t have any big work demands and can blitz smaller tasks and be responsive to new things that come up
• Step 4 – Create a focus for each day – this doesn’t mean you can’t do other things, but always have a focus/priority for each day

There is no perfect.

I’ve spent so much time trying to find the perfect morning routine and the perfect way to be productive. I realize now that there is no such thing as perfect.

I would love for you to look at your own morning routine.

Are you a morning person or not?

Do you like to dive into creative work early or not?

Is exercise something that really helps you first thing?

Get to know yourself and build the routine that suits you. What fuels you? How long does it take? How do you work best?

Let me know in my Facebook group.

Next week, I’m going to talk about afternoon and evening routines.

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/192

Every year I tweak my morning & evening routines when summer ends and the kids go back to school.

Here are 5 steps to create your own morning & evening routines.

http://organize365.com/how-to-create-morning-and-evening-routines/

In this week’s podcast, I take a look at the cost of clutter and disorganization in our lives.

I think we all know that there is a cost benefit to leading a more organized life, but did you know that it’s not just a financial benefit?

A disorganized and chaotic life can bear many costs… let's look at the different costs that disorganization causes in our lives and the steps that you can take to make a difference.

1. Financial Cost

Buying twice, losing things, items getting ruined, misplacing coupons that eventually expire… I don’t think anyone would argue that there is a not a financial cost benefit to being more organized.

2. Mental Cost

It can be mentally draining trying to remember all of the things that we are responsible for… getting the laundry started, doing the dishes, getting the kids ready for various activities, etc.

We are constantly trying to remember and stay on top of things. The Sunday Basket™ is a HUGE help here. Personally, I like to make notes and jot down ideas all through the week and then go through them all together on a Sunday. I find 50% of the items in my SundayBasket™ are notes to myself.

3. Time Cost

When disorganization creeps into your life, you lose time. You lose time looking for things. You lose time doing things on a whim. You lose time just trying to escape from your cluttered and disorganized situation by watching TV and playing on your phone.

The funny thing is that while you know you are losing time, you don’t have time to figure out where you’re losing it. There is NO TIME! If you had the time, you could do a time study and really get to the bottom of how you can save time, but again… who has time for that?!

I have done a time study twice and it was very depressing seeing the true reality of how much time I spent driving in my car and watching TV.

We have a lot of demands on our time and, if you’re not proactive in how you manage your time, you end up doing things on a whim and putting out fires.

4. Emotional Cost

There was a study that concluded a direct link between families who have more clutter, disorganization, and unfinished projects in their homes with mood and cortisol levels.

Basically, the conclusion is that there are health benefits to being more organized in the household, and the risks of not doing so include depression and a less satisfied marriage.Here is a link to the study.

It’s important to note that there’s no right or wrong when it comes to home organization. Just like there is no perfect weight for a woman, or no perfect way to feed a baby, everyone has a different level of home organization that is right for them and makes them happy.

Irronically, the more progress you make in some areas of organization, the more frustrated you get in other areas. This is completely normal and it just signifies a new level of organization that you expect. You have raised the bar and you now need to stay above that bar for your own peice of mind.

So how do we make the change we want to see? YOU need to take action!

It’s really important to understand that you are in the driver’s seat and the change that you require will not just happen to you, but rather by you. You need to make it happen .

Don’t wait for someone to come rescue you because, believe me (I’ve been there), that will not happen!

There are two things that you need to do to help bring about the change that you want:

1. Change your mindset – Bring about the mental transformation to live a clutter-free, organized life. You are already doing this right now by reading this newsletter and listening to my podcast.

2. Physical change – For this, I have an exercise for you to do!

To do the exercise, you need to listen to the podcast episode and hear me talk you through it.

Trust me. All I will say is listen to the podcast episode when you are at home and have a piece of chalk handy!

P.S. Registration is now open for my 100 Day Home Organization Program where I am with you every step of the journey to help you get your home and your life organized.

Every week, I am there to encourage and motivate you, share stories, and help you reach your goals. You will make fast and lasting progress because of the way the program has been organized.

You will also be with a group of like-minded ladies who are all on the same journey as you, taking action at the same time as one another in the same living spaces.

Let me teach you how to expand your mind. I will show you how to be more productive,more proactive, and how to plan.

You will take back your home and have time to live the life that you are supposed to live.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program is an investment, but it’s an investment in yourself. It will make home organization your new priority. You will start to see a reduction in all of the other costs associated with disorganization and clutter.

Register now! Registration ends on August 28th for the next session starting September 4th.

And for those of you already registered... Congratulations! Please pass this on to ONE person you would love to do the 100 Day Home Organization Program with you!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/190

On last week’s podcast episode, I introduced you to Holly, Monique, and Emily, the virtual organization teachers for my 100 Day Home Organization Program. (<--- Registration is open!)

This week, I thought it would be a great idea to introduce you to one of the 100 Day Home Organization Program members. 

Wait until you meet Dawn! We had so much fun recording the episode and giggling like school girls.

Dawn first noticed me in 2015 when she was searching online for help with keeping her house clean. I would LOVE for you to tell me how YOU met me!

Dawn has been using a Sunday Basket™ for about a year, having participated in the Sunday Basket™ virtual workshops, and she joined the 100 Day Home Organization Program in January, 2017.

With 4 school-age kids with ages ranging from 6 to 15, Dawn is definitely in the survival phase of life. :)

I was embarrassed to admit on air that I thought THAT was enough responsibility - the kids & house - and was SHOCKED when I found out she owned an electrical contracting business which she has been running with her husband for 14 years!!

Dawn is responsible for the business bookkeeping and office staff, but her focus, productivity, and ability to even get to the office was derailed when she had her fourth child and couldn't keep up.

Similar to myself, Dawn spends A LOT of time in her car. During the school year, she spends 3.5 hours per day in her car doing the school run for her 4 kids who are at 4 different schools.

Dawn got my attention in the 100 Day Home Organization Program Facebook group for two reasons.

First, her regular use of smiley face emojis.

Second, she has goats. Lots of goats. I initially thought maybe one or two. Little did I know,she has over 35 goats?!?!

With all this going on in Dawn’s life, is there any wonder she looked for some help with getting her home organized?

Dawn started the 100 Day Home Organization Program in January, 2017.

First time around, Dawn admits she got distracted and didn’t follow along. When she posted about this in the Facebook group, I swiftly moved her to the front of the class and helped her out. For anyone considering joining, know that the 100 Day Home Organization Program is not passive and I WILL make sure you do the work!

Under my guidance and watch, Dawn organized her whole kitchen within 3 days. It went from a disorganized mess to super-organized. She went on to do her master bedroom, making a huge improvement to her house.

The 100 Day Home Organization Program is something that you have access to for life and it is not designed to be done once. No one, myself included, could get through the whole program in one go at it. That is why it’s a lifetime membership.

When Dawn started the 100 day program for the second time, she signed up for the virtual organization package.

In her first call with me, we decided to turn her dining room into her office... and she has never looked back.

Dawn also shares how we worked together to fix her messy breakfast situation in the kitchen and how we sorted out her garage.

If you sign up for the virtual organization package for the upcoming 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will get to work with Monique, Holly, or Emily, who I introduced you to last week.

If you would like to sign up for the 100 Day Home Organization Program, registration for the September 2017 session opened TODAY! Click here.

Check out my Facebook LIVE Friday afternoon to see my new garage shipping station I put together this week to mail out planners to those of you who register!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/189

In this week’s podcast episode, I discuss how best to declutter and organize your closet.

I discuss capsule wardrobes, how you can purge too much, and how you can have a variety in your everyday clothing while loving and wearing everything in your closet!

I started this year with three episodes about the importance of decluttering, organizing, and increasing productivity.

In those episodes, I explained that when you reduce the amount of "stuff" you own and get it all organized, your productivity will increase.  This will give you LOTS of extra time to focus on what you were meant to do in life.

Productivity is a result of living an organized life. 

This week's episode builds upon those topics. So if you missed those episodes and would like to listen to them first, they are #144 – Declutter!, #145 – Organize, and #147 – Increase Productivity.

What to buy?

When I was in high school, my mother taught me some important lessons on how and what to buy when it came to clothes.

Here are the tips she shared with me that I still find helpful today:

• "Cost Per Wearing" Analysis – Evaluate the cost of your clothing by how many times you think you will wear it. A $150 coat is worth the investment if you wear it 100 times, bringing the cost of the coat down to $1.50 per wear.  Compared to a $15 "bargain" top that you only actually wore once, meaning the cost per wear is $15. The $150 coat was a far more economical investment.

• Buy In Outfits – Focus on purchasing items that are interchangeable. By focusing on a specific color scheme or style in mind, it will save you time and stress because everything will match.

What to keep?

Now that you have some ideas for how to shop for new clothes, what should you do with all of your existing clothes that are sitting in your closet?

It’s time for you to decide what needs to stay and what needs to go.

Just recently, I went through my own closet to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

Here are the rules that helped me when decluttering my own clothes.

• Keep clothes that fit you – We all have that one item of clothing we are keeping until we can lose 5 pounds and it will fit once again. It NEEDS to go!  You should only keep clothes that fit you and make you feel great. Don’t keep clothes that make you feel like you should change to be able to wear them.

• Keep items that match each other – If it doesn’t match anything else in your wardrobe so you have nothing to wear it with, it needs to go. It doesn’t matter how cute or comfortable those shoes are if you are never going to wear them.

• No extra purses – Most women do the same with purses… we usually stick to one primary purse yet hold onto our old purses, telling ourselves we might one day need them. This ALMOST NEVER happens! Try to keep your everyday purse, as well as a particular favorite, and get rid of the rest. You really DON’T need them all.

Types of wardrobes to consider...

If you’re looking to try something entirely new when it comes to organizing your wardrobe, there are a couple different options out there for minimizing your closet.

• Capsule wardrobe – This type of wardrobe limits you to a certain number of items per capsule (not including your under garments). You set the number to what you would like and you limit your wardrobe capsule to that number.  Have capsules for work, seasons, or specific occasions, it’s up to you.  You can keep the rest of your clothes, but it takes the stress out of planning your day-to-day outfits.

• Uniform wardrobe – Many successful executives such as Steve Jobs, Barrack Obama and Mark Zuckerberg have utilized the uniform wardrobe. Clothes in this kind of wardrobe are all similar and interchangeable.  For example, my wardrobe consists of mostly jeans, sweaters, and tops.  Jeans match pretty much everything so it is easy for me to buy a large variety of tops to interchange with them.

As parents, our wardrobes often fall to the wayside as we spend all of our time and money making sure that our kids (who are constantly growing) are getting the clothes that they need.

I’m here to tell you that it’s IMPORTANT to update your wardrobe, too.  Instead of buying the occasional, random item for yourself on a whim, make a point of finding yourself something nice that matches your wardrobe.

It’s essential for you to look and feel good about yourself, too.

Now that I have shared my ideas for decluttering your wardrobe, I challenge ALL of you to walk into your closet and come out with 15 items that you no longer need or want.

This is a great first step towards getting your closet decluttered.

By following my tips and getting your closet organized, you’ll be able to get dressed quicker, feel better, and get on with living your best life.

Now go declutter!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/186

I’m excited to announce that next week I’m running a Back To School Blitz.

It’s a 5-day challenge designed to help get you ready for a really productive fall and fully prepared for the new school year.

So in this week’s podcast,  I talk all about the Back To School Blitz.

Why run a Back To School Blitz?

For me, the start of the school year signifies the start of my 12-month year.  I discussed this in podcast 134 where I explained that I have 3 different "mini new years" in my year.

It starts in September... the beginning of the school year, then January... the beginning of the calendar year, and finally June... the beginning of summer.

Each has a different set of possibilities, but September has the most possibilities for me. It's when I set the BIG goals for my year ahead.

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter if you’re not going to school, the beginning of the school year is when we should all get everything in order and set our goals for success.

Productivity starts with being prepared.

There are plenty of little things that we could do now to set ourselves up for a productive school year.

So, my 5-day Back To School Blitz is designed to help set everyone up for a productive school year... whether you go to school or not!

I’m more excited about doing it for myself than for my kids.

What is the Back To School Blitz?

It’s a 5-day challenge that you need to sign-up for here.

It’s delivered to you by email. Every day at 5am EST, you will receive checklists via email.

You should print a copy for everyone in your house who is taking part in the blitz.  For example,  I’ll print off three... one for me and one for each of my two children. Since my kids are teenagers, I’ll try and convince them to do the checklist themselves.

Don’t worry, the checklists are not lists of things to buy. In fact, my Back To School Blitz does not involve buying anything at all!

Instead, it’s all about decluttering, culling, and making inventories of what we have in our house so that in August we can go ahead and buy exactly what we need.  This will stop you from over or under buying things.

So here’s what it involves:

• Monday: Clothing – Going through your closet and figuring out what you need, what needs altered, etc.
• Tuesday: Set up a command center – A back to school Sunday Basket™ that you will set up next week and continue to use thereafter. It will help you take note of the various things that need to be done before going back to school (i.e., supply lists, school uniform, car pool arrangements, etc.).
• Wednesday: Supplies – A supply list for your home or your home-based business. It’s the best time of the year to stock up on things like pens, binders, highlighters, etc.
• Thursday: Personal grooming – Look at what you have and what you need. Schedule manicures, haircuts, other treatments, etc.
• Friday: What does it take to get this family out the door? – Backpacks, lunches, purses, car, etc.

Since everything is delivered by email, you need to sign up.

In addition, every day I will go live on Facebook at 10:30am EST to provide support and share additional tips and advice.

Together, we are going to get our kids and ourselves ready for a really productive fall and new school year. Are you with me?

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/185

It’s a rite of passage almost no one will escape: the difficult, emotional journey of downsizing your or your aging parents' home.

Here, nationally syndicated home columnist Marni Jameson sensitively guides readers through the process, from opening that first closet, to sorting through a lifetime's worth of possessions, to selling the homestead itself. Using her own personal journey as a basis, she helps you figure out a strategy and create a mindset to accomplish the task quickly, respectfully, rewardingly—and, in the best of situations, even memorably. Throughout, she combines her been-there experience with insights from national experts—antiques appraisers, garage-sale gurus, professional organizers, and psychologists—to offer practical wisdom and heartwarming advice so you know with certainty what to keep, toss or sell.

Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go

Doing laundry always seems like it takes a lifetime, doesn’t it?

But how long does it really take?

For this week’s podcast episode, I timed how long it took me to complete ALL of my laundry.

Over the course of a weekend, I used a stopwatch and I timed from when I began a laundry task to when I completed it. By doing this, I was able to get an accurate idea of how long completing all of my household laundry really took.

My Findings

The truth is, the actual tasks involved in doing laundry didn’t take up too much time.

Every time I went into the laundry room to complete a task, I was usually only in there for about 5-8 minutes.  So it really wasn’t taking me very long.

I discovered I was able to do 9 loads of laundry in only 61 minutes.

BUT... and this is a big but... the 61 minutes were spread over 3 days. So I pretty much felt like I spent 3 days in my laundry room!

So what I came to learn is that, while the tasks don’t take very long, laundry can seem so much more time consuming than it really is because it occupies so many of our thoughts as we are doing it.

I found I was always thinking about things like when the current load will be complete, whether I have gathered everything for the next load, where are the hangers, and so on.

My Laundry Tips

Fortunately, there are ways to save yourself both time and stress when it comes to your laundry.

Here are my top tips for making laundry easier:

• Sort by weight – Instead of separating your laundry into loads by color, try separating them by how much each item weighs. Heavier items take longer to dry and lighter items take less time to dry.  This will save you drying time on those little loads. 

• Difficult load first – We all have that load of laundry that is just more difficult than the rest. Do your most difficult load of laundry first and this will make the rest of your loads less stressful.

• Multiple days of laundry – By spreading your laundry time throughout the week and doing some of the easier loads on weekdays (towels for example), you will save yourself time and stress on the weekends.

• Set a timer – Every time you start a load of laundry, start a timer on your phone. By setting the timer for 45-50 minutes, it will help prevent you from forgetting about the laundry and losing track of time.

Of course, hiring someone else to do the laundry would be the ultimate time saver!  This might not be an option for everyone, but it’s definitely something to consider.

There may be no perfect solution to doing laundry, but I would LOVE to hear your suggestions for making laundry quicker and easier.

Please share your ideas in my Organize 365 Facebook Group.

A special thank you to this week’s podcast sponsor, TidyLiving!

Use the promocode ORGANIZE365 to save 10%

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/183

In her latest book, Lisa Woodruff explores the executive functions of the mind that directly affect your ability to organize your home: flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, task initiation, planning, and organization. Along the way, she provides tips and strategies for overcoming obstacles—tools you can use to get the organized house you’ve been dreaming of.

Now available as an Audible Book.

How ADHD Affects Home Organization

This week’s podcast is about the times when you find yourself in a tough phase of life. It’s about the times when you literally have no time to get organized no matter how much you want to.

It may be that you’re SO busy you struggle to find even 15 minutes a day to get your home organized.

Or you have the time, but what you want/need to do requires money and you literally don’t have a spare $15 right now.

It may be both, you don’t have a spare 15 minutes AND a spare $15!

They’re not phases that we want to find ourselves in, but nonetheless, it can happen to us all and probably will at least once in our life.

I can easily draw upon my own personal experience with this topic. I’d LOVE to say that I was stuck in this phase of life for a week or a month, but it was more like 6 years!

In the episode, I touch on how to get organized if you have a chronic condition (like fibromyalgia or a physical ailment). I’m afraid I have no magic answer ,but my main advice is to get someone to help you, either paid (if you can afford it) or unpaid (friends and family). When you have help in place, you then need to think about how you can incorporate help with home organization as well as physical care. People want to help you, and so, broaden your thinking on how you can use that help.

If you’re a parent, a lot can depend upon the age of your children and what I like to call the "stage of parenting" that you find yourself in. I recorded a whole podcast episode on this very topic: #130 - The Three Stages of Parenting.

• Age 0-6 is when you’re doing EVERYTHING for your kids. You’re at home a lot. It can be exhausting. And there’s SO much to organize because the rate of change when it comes to clothes, toys, etc. is mind boggling!
• Age 6-12 is when you do things with your kids. You teach them how to start looking after themselves.
• 13+ is when they’re becoming a young adult. Then, it’s more about coaching and mentoring.

So what do you do when you’re in the middle of a phase and you don’t have time or money to get your house organized?

My answer is to work on changing your mindset.

A lot goes on in your head before you see it in physical reality. I notice this with my business, my finances, my relationships… the world is more mental than it is physical. Positivity feeds and attracts more positivity, and negativity feeds and attracts more negativity.

I reference in the podcast a documentary series on inventions that I watched and loved. If you’d like to check it out, it’s by National Geographic called American Genius.

If you’re in a hard place and you feel stuck in a tough phase of life, this doesn’t mean that you should give up the desire to have an organized home in the future. If you think about having an organized home and you want it enough, you will manifest it.

Having a Sunday Basket™ will really help you too. The Sunday Basket™ helps bring order, it develops the right skills, and brings about the discipline required for an organized house.

Of course, please continue to listen to my podcast and other podcasts on home organization, too! Continue working on your mindset, even if you’re somewhat limited in the action that you can take right now. You will be amazed at the power of a mindset shift!

View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/176

This week’s podcast episode is a special one for me as it's all about my new book, How ADHD Affects Home Organization, which launched June 1!

In this week’s podcast episode, I share a lot about why I decided to write the book, what my goals are, and how I truly believe that this book is REALLY going to help people with ADHD feel empowered and able to take control of their home organization!

If you’d told me years ago that I’d one day be the author of a book called How ADHD Affects Home Organization, I’d have found it hard to believe... I don't have a degree or PhD in the subject!

However, it’s a topic that I’ve specialized in for almost 20 years in order to help my children. I’ve worked hard on overcoming every challenge that my children have faced, no matter how many attempts it took. We’ve tried a 100% natural approach with no medication at all, and we’ve tried various medications and alternative therapies, too. I’ve read medical journals, researched like crazy, and over the years I’ve developed an obsession with understanding how the mind works and how we can improve it.

I’ve parented, taught, and professionally organized people who struggle with ADHD. I’ve helped people from all around the world get their homes organized and stay organized.

My podcast series on ADHD last spring was very popular.  SO many people got in touch to say how much it had helped them and how I was able to explain things in a way that no one else had ever managed to before.

Through all of the above, I came to accept that I am an expert and I can and should use my expertise to really help others.  It seemed about time to write a book and so I did... and that’s why I’m launching How ADHD Affects Home Organization.

This book is for people who find themselves overwhelmed, even paralyzed, with home organization. Where you put effort in and don’t make progress, and you spend money on organizing solutions that just don’t work! My book is for people who know what to do, but just can’t get started!

Organization is not easy. And if you have ADHD, it’s a lot harder, but it’s not impossible! It’s all about understanding how your brain works, then working with your brain and not against it. It’s about recognizing your strengths and weaknesses, using them to your advantage, and finding strategies that work for you.

How ADHD Affects Home Organization explores the executive functions of the mind and how they affect your ability to organize your home. In particular, I take 6 executive functions (flexible thinking, working memory, self-monitoring, task initiation, planning, and organization) and explain for each one what it is, why it’s important when organizing your house, and I share solutions to problems that you may face.

The kindle book is free from June 1^st - 3^rd. Then from June 4^th, it’ll be 99 cents for the rest of the month. If you buy the Kindle version, you’ll also receive a discount when downloading the audio version from Audible.

Please get a copy of the book and please, please review it, too. It really helps more people receive the message that they too can get organized!

This book will help the loved ones of those who have ADHD, too. Once you understand how the brain of a loved one with ADHD works, you understand them as a person a little bit more than you did before.

I truly believe it’s going to be a game changer and really help a lot of people. I’m so EXCITED! I want to remove the cloud over people who have ADHD and offer them hope, solutions, and empowerment.

To get your copy, please click here!

Welcome to the final episode of my three-part series all about the different phases of life and how specific life experiences can cause them to overlap.

In this week's episode, I talk about what happens when we lose a loved one. Specifically, I focus on losing a parent.

It's rather poignant for me that when I recorded the episode, it was 8 years to the day that my father had passed away.

Losing a loved one moves you into three phases of life

Survival

When your parent passes away, immediately you're thrust into the survival phase. You have a lot to do.

You have to plan the funeral, speak to other family members, help organize the estate, and many other things at an incredibly stressful and emotional time of your life. You're in the survival phase.

Accumulation

You will accumulate a lot of belongings from your parents.

At such an emotional time, you don't want to let go of things in haste. So I recommend finding an off-site storage unit for a certain period of time just so you can take time to decide what to keep and what to let go of.

If you're anything like me, you may find yourself trading-up many items that are actually nicer than those you already have!

Downsizing & Legacy

After about a year, you enter the downsizing and legacy phase.

The legacy phase comes first and it lasts for about 3-4 years. You start to think about what you'll keep longer term that once belonged to your parents. What do you want to be a part of their legacy?

It's all about how you're going to take the essence of the person who passed away and put it to use in a meaningful way.

I really recommend finding interesting and creative ways to keep the items that carry sentimental value to you.

For example, I have a shadow box and every time I find little things that remind me of my Dad, I put them in the shadow box in the basement.

About year 5, you're going to find yourself focusing more on downsizing.

At this time, not only will you be thinking about what you want to keep that once belonged to your parents, but you start to think about yourself, too. You start to look at YOUR belongings and think about what will be YOUR legacy.

You realize that someone has to get rid of it all someday!

I could record podcasts for weeks about how different life events, in addition to our chronological age, impact what organizational phase of life we feel like we are most in at any one moment.

My goal in recording these podcasts was not for you to be able to better categorize your phase of life, but to recognize that we are all floating between the phases at any one time and can learn and grow at our own pace and stage of life.

A special thank you to this week's podcast sponsor, the National Association of Senior Move Managers!

Last week, I introduced you to the 4 phases of life and how when you have your babies can impact upon your phase of life.

This week, I explore this topic even further and share with you how caring for family members can also affect your organizational phase of life.

Having a baby, the topic of last week's podcast, is a welcome and joyous life event. When you have a baby, you're thrust into the accumulation phase. All of those toys...food...clothes...furniture...!

This week's focus is on when you become a caretaker for a family member.

Unfortunately, when you become a caretaker of a family member, that's not such a joyous life event.

Sometimes we'll see it coming and have a gradual lead in, other times it rocks our world in an instant!

Often this will be due to medical emergencies, like when a loved one falls and breaks their hip...which I've found in recent years is a real thing and it happens A LOT!

I can share from first-hand experience that being a caretaker is EXTREMELY time consuming.

You have an immediate prioritization shift in your life.

You're thrust into having responsibility over two sets of everything...two households, two sets of bills, etc.

Whatever stage of life you were previously in, when you become a caretaker, you're also now in the survival phase, too.

In this podcast episode, I share with you some really useful ideas on how to cope if this happens to you.

I also have two super useful products that are designed to help you keep track of, and ultimately share when needed, important personal information.

One focuses on medical information (i.e., insurance, current and past prescriptions, medical history, etc.).

The other focuses on financial information, mainly for spouses to keep a joint record (i.e., bank details, etc.).

They are editable so you can fill one in for yourself, another for your parents, and I even fill the medical record out for my children. It's just so useful to keep all the information that you have in one simple record.

Next week, I look at how losing a close family member can affect your phase of life. I'm sure you can guess what phase you find yourself in when that happens!

Full blog post can be viewed at organize365.com/170

A special thank you to this week's podcast sponsor, the National Association of Senior Move Managers! 

I'm super excited to share with you my next series of 3 podcasts which are all about the different phases of life and how they overlap.

Most people are living in overlapping phases of life. I really want to address this topic and explore what it means for you.

This is something of a storytelling podcast - there's not a lot of direct action for you to take, but lots of learning!

I've actually been wanting to record this podcast series for about 9 months, but it's a topic that is best approached when the timing is just right! January is all about organizational projects, March is about decluttering... May is the perfect time to reflect!

It's all centered around what I consider to be the 4 phases of a woman's life.

The Childhood Phase (birth to around 18 years old) - Limited organizational requirements and heavily influenced by parents.

The Accumulation Phase (around 18-39 years old) - A period of learning and accumulating. You accumulate more and more belongings! Usually in this phase, you accumulate a spouse and family, too!

The Survival Phase (around 40-54 years old) - A mindset shift takes place at this stage. Most people are working during this phase and, in addition to that, they're looking after their family and running the household. And if you're anything like me, you're in your car all the time!

The Downsizing & Legacy Phase (age 55+) - The big clear out! Kids are moving out and you naturally start to reduce the amount of items in your house. You also begin to consider your legacy - what will you save and why?

There are three big life events that affect these phases of life - having children, becoming a caretaker for someone, and when someone close to you passes away.

This week's focus is on having children.

When we have kids, we go into full blown accumulation mode. Even the most minimalist of people can't resist accumulation when it comes to babies!

As more and more millennials are tending towards having children in their early 40's, what does this mean in terms of the stages in life?

Having a baby in your 40's = an overlap of the accumulation and the survival stage.

Next week, I look at how becoming a caretaker for someone can affect your phase of life.

Have a great week!

This week on the podcast, I'm talking to you about all the different kinds of bags you have in your house. From backpacks to purses, I'm going through the different kinds of bags and how many we should have of each.

And I am super excited about the next three podcasts. I'm creating a series of podcasts about what to do when the phases of life overlap.

Thank you so much for being part of the Organize 365 community. My hope each day is that I can provide you with one new nugget of information that will help you make your home organization easier.

Have a great week!

The book The Power of When will help you understand your body’s natural chronotype and how to use that information to achieve your personal goals in organizing your home and living a more productive life.

I used the information in this book to understand how and why the members of our family choose to do daily routine tasks at different times of day and how to best support my kids as they become adults.

The Power of When

Clean out and back up the cars - because we are going to FILL them!

Designate one car for donations and one for items that need to be delivered, returned or consigned.  

Next decide how long you have to work on this project at ONE time. 

If you have 2 hours or more - EMPTY the garage. You know it's true. Once the items are OUT of the garage it is as easy to donate them as it is to put them back in the garage. 

The garage houses all of the future projects we "think" we are going to do.

The biggest work you are going to do is DECIDE if you really are going to do those ideas and projects. 

In the podcast I talk about how I no longer have flower gardens, why I easily donate items we have purchased and never used and how we need better tools. 

It's a funny listen. And will keep you going while you declutter guilt and expectations in the form of flower pots and old sporting equipment.

Check your storage solutions.

Now is the time to invest in a few plastic shelving units to organize what you have left and buy organizers specific to what YOU have in your garage.

Keep going! You can do this!

Keep decluttering all the way until March 31!!

I want you to focus on decluttering and your Sunday Basket this month so…

The 100 Day Home Organization Challenge registration is closed. Join the wait list here and you will be the first to be notified when it reopens.

Step 1 - Get ALL your photos in ONE place.

Step 2 - Decide what you want.

Step 3 - SORT by person and Project.

Here are my favorite albums to make. Click here for my photo services and see videos of the most popular albums I make.

Step 4 - Print your photos. :)

TimeShel is the Apple App I am using to print 30 photos each month from my phone.

Look at these beautiful pictures!

TimeShel is super easy to use. Remember to use the code: ORG365 to get a free month 10 prints or 40% off your 30 monthly print subscription.

Era is the Apple app I mentioned for having larger prints printed from your phone. Again, use the code ORG365 and get free shipping on your first order. :)

Click here for all the links and show notes.

Click here to join the 100 Day Home Organization Challenge.

The Procrastinate on Purpose By Rory Vaden is the book that explains how I am so ridiculously productive and it has NOTHING to do with time management.

I had so much fun sharing about the significance calculation, the rule of 30 and how all this relates to getting your home organized!

Rory's Focus Funnel:

1. Can it be eliminated?
2. Can it be automated?
3. Can it be delegated?

No?

Then do it now or procrastinate it on purpose.

Links mentioned in the podcast:

100 Day Home Organization Challenge

My Weekly, Monthly and Yearly checklists.

Rory's book on Kindle

The audio book version of The Mindset of Organization is finally here!! I hope you enjoy the sample chapters in podcast 140. You can get a free audible copy of The Mindset of Organization and start a free 30 day trial of audible at Organize365.com/audible

I talk a LOT about saving your memories. And while I tell you to save your memories in blankets and photo albums, I have not given you a resource to do so. Until today.

I am SO excited to introduce you to Once Upon A Time Creation. Jen Anderson has created a beautiful line of keepsakes that can be created from your storage room treasures.

Check out my favorites in this week’s blog post.

What treasures will you create? Check out Once Upon a Time Creation here.

Click here to join the 100 Day Home Organization Challenge.

The ONE Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan is the book that has helped me the most in achieving increased productivity.

Using the focus question, “What is the ONE thing I can do, such that by doing it, everything else will become easier and unnecessary?” I prioritize my day on a continual basis.

In this podcast you will hear:

• Why I prioritized a nay over recording this podcast.
• How extraordinary success is sequential.
• About the domino effect.
• How to apply the ONE thing to organizing your home.

The audio book version of The Mindset of Organization is finally here!! I hope you enjoy the sample chapters in podcast 140. You can get a free audible copy of The Mindset of Organization and start a free 30 day trial of audible at Organize365.com/audible

The audio book version of The Mindset of Organization is finally here!! I hope you enjoy these sample chapters today. You can get a free audible copy of The Mindset of Organization and start a free 30 day trial at Organize365.com/audible

Listen to how being organized, and living an organized life allows you to be more productive, and be able to handle those unexpected emergencies and events that come into every person's life. Change is inevitable. Unexpected events are going to happen. They are a guaranteed but they're unexpected.

A few weeks ago, I had a series of events happen in a matter of just two to three days that cost me 80 hours out of the next two weeks of my life. Some of these were good changes. Some of these were bad changes. And all of them were unexpected.

I'm going to walk you through that 16 days, how these events unfolded over that time, what ended up getting sacrificed out of my schedule, and how I got back on track.

So what did I do?

#1 - I managed my expectations.

#2 – My systems are rock solid.

#3 - I used my phone for almost everything!

#4 - I remained calm so that the kids and Greg remained calm too.

So this getting organized thing, it's a big deal. It's a really big deal. It has a huge impact, not only on your space and how your space looks, but your ability to drop everything and take care of your kids or the people that you work with so that they can go and grieve or do what they need to do, and you can pick up the pieces and not be a hot mess or all stressed out about it. It's important for your marriage if you're married. The more organized you are, the more time you have for those people that you love and for yourself.

The quickest way to get to a productive life is to get your home organized. Join me in the 100 Day home organization challenge and let’s do this!

I’m sharing what I like, don't like and why I think that this book doesn't work for American women.

Talk about a controversial statement, I know, but I think "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" does not work for the majority of American women. Marie and I approach organizing differently based on our ages and countries of origin./p>

There a few things that I do like about Marie's book.

1. I love that she has brought the discussion of clutter and organizing to the attention of the media and people around the world.
2. I like the idea behind her method of sparking joy. “If it doesn't spark joy that you should get rid of it.”
3. I also love that Marie champions that idea that organization is a teachable and learnable skill.

Yes, yes, YES! That is what I have been saying for years, that it doesn't matter if you're not organized now, you can learn to be organized.

{To really understand why this book doesn’t work for American women read the whole post or listen to the podcast where I dive deep into the differences between an American house and a Japanese house and our cultural differences.}

Immediately that rubbed me the wrong way, which is why I had such a hard time with her book. Having helped so many women organize their whole homes and organized my own I know, it took me three years to get organized. Knowing how hard American women try to be organized and the quantity of items to be organized I knew it was not that easy. You can't just wave a magic wand, do it once and it's all done.

#2 Marie consistently brings up this idea of perfectionism, the perfect system and that you can reach perfection.

I do not think that you can reach perfection. I'm not there, I actually get bored when I get anywhere close to being super productive. I create all these alternative projects I can do to make my life a little bit more cluttered. I don't want to live in a perfect minimalistic, 100% efficient life. I don't agree that you can actually even achieve a perfect life.  

#3 Is the topic of paper organization.

This is the hot button that originally rubbed me the wrong way when reading Marie’s book. The first time I read her book, I stopped reading after the one and a half pages about how to organize paper, which basically said just get rid of all of it.

I about had a heart failure.

So when I re-read the book last week, and I read all the way through I realized that towards the end of the book she does tell you how to organize paper, a little bit. But she still sticks with the idea that almost all paper should be thrown away and that there are only three files that you should have.

Files.

#4 Marie glosses over photos and memories.

Her suggestion to go through your photos one by one and make decisions, would take at least a year for most of the Americans that I know. It is definitely not something you can tidy all at once and be done in a day or two. Furthermore, most Americans have a hard time deciding which photos are good to keep and which ones can be let go.

Don’t believe me? What do you do with your school pictures after you put one in a family frame and hand them out to friends and family members? If you are like most Americans you store the rest in the school envelope and “save” them. Who know, we might “need” them. And they cost good money. See – we need help.

And lastly, #5 Marie explains how she empties her purse every single day.

Her wallet, train ticket, etc all come out of her purse and are stored in different places in her home. Then she puts the purse in a bag and puts it up on the shelf of her closet. There is no way that I could empty out my purse and refill my purse every day.

I am so grateful that the "Magic Art of Tidying Up" has become such a popular book and has brought this whole idea of organizing and decluttering to the forefront of the media. It has opened up the discussion for people around the world to really take a look at the stuff that they have saved and think about the kind of a life that they want to live.

When your family gathers together for the holidays this year, bring out your memory boxes!

Organizing old family memories, treasures, photos, and memorabilia is time-consuming and hard emotional work. Why not involve the whole family this year and conquer a few boxes at the same time.

1. Pull out all the photos.

Grab a few boxes of photos and let you family enjoy them, unorganized and all. Enjoy sharing stories and reminiscing about old times.

Use a photo-safe pen for family members to label who is in the picture on the back.

Let your family pitch duplicates, blurry pictures, pictures of landscapes, and other unnecessary photos.

Ask a teenager to scan the best photos and share them with the family.

Let your family members take the photos home!

2. Record the stories.

You can make a video or audio recording of your family’s memories, but I like good old fashioned oral tradition as well.

Share stories, let the grandchildren overhear, and laugh until you cry.

Hearing the stories of your family’s history is powerful.

3. Pull out childhood memories from the attic and storage room with your adult children.

Bring up a few boxes of your adult child’s childhood memories to reminisce and go through in the family room. Share the memories and either declutter the items or send them home with your child. J

If you are the child, go grab a few of those boxes on your next visit home.

4. Play old home movies on the TV.

Fire up the old VHS or movie reel player and enjoy watching past holidays, babies take their first steps and ride their bikes.

Memories are meant to be shared and enjoyed. Enjoy yours with your families this holiday!

You can view the full post here: https://organize365.com/137

Thank you to Swap.com for sponsoring this podcast series.

For many of us, it is relatively easy to let go of inexpensive items of clutter that we no longer love and need. As you progress through your home decluttering/organization journey, you will naturally start to question why you are keeping items of greater value.

For many of us, the act of collecting is fun. As children, we collected Beanie Babies, Happy Meal toys, and rocks. As we age, the desire to have complete collections can consume us beyond our actual desire for the items being collected. 

And once collected, collectibles have both a real and a perceived value. 

So what do we do when we look around our homes and see expensive clutter that we lovingly collected and purchased?

1. Does the collection still bring you joy? 
2. Have you documented the memory?
3. Look up the monetary value. 
4. Share your collections with family. 

You can view the full post here: https://organize365.com/135

Thank you to Swap.com for sponsoring this podcast series. 

I always thought that I divided my calendar into three separate years because I was a schoolteacher or because I had children. But the more I talk to women without children who work 9-to-5 jobs, the more I find that this way of looking at the calendar actually rings true for most women.

In this week’s post, I will walk you through how I organize my calendar three times a year, and how each time block starts out structured and organized and ends up chaotic and unstructured.

My 3 calendar seasons are September to December, January to May, and June to August.

Read the full post here: https://organize365.com/my-three-new-years/

Match your holiday gift to the recipients "love language" and give clutter free gifts this holiday season.

Have you heard of the 5 love languages? Understanding how we give and receive love helps us make more meaningful purchases and give gifts that will be used and appreciated.

The five love languages are:

1. Quality time
2. Acts of service
3. Touch
4. Gifts
5. Words of affirmation

In this week's blog post, I have ideas for clutter free gifts for each of the 5 love languages. Read it here: https://organize365.com/clutter-free-christmas-gifts/

It is so easy for us to start organizing ourselves and start making progress.

Then we look at our spouses and notice that they have not made the same progress we have made. We want them to be doing what we are doing. However, they need to see a few more things from us before they're ready to jump on board.

Here are the steps:

1. Husbands are looking for you to be consistent.
2. Your husband is looking for results that last.
3. Change is yucky.
4. He has to want it for himself.
5. Stop focusing on his passion projects.

Click here to read the whole post: https://organize365.com/organize-husbands/

Just as there are 4 phases of life that I identified in the Mindset Of Organization Book, these 3 phases of parenting all need different organization as well. The more you understand where you are in life, the more successful you will be at finding and implementing the organization you need to make your life function better.

Parenting Stage 1: 0-6 years old – You Do It All

The first stage of parenting is sheer survival! Under the age of 6 almost all daily duties with your children fall on your shoulders. The days are long and I’m not sure who said the years are short – they weren’t for me!

Organizing yourself and your family in this stage is like shoveling snow in a snow storm. Organization is unique to you and your family and likely will completely change every 3 months. My solution was to chunk my year into 3 month groupings. I would make a few goals for each of my kids, purge their clothes and toys and keep plugging away.

Parenting Stage 2: 7-12 years old – You Do It Together

The grade school years of parenting were the easiest for me. I loved the structure, the fact that my kids were still under my control and the great friends I made during those years. These are very social years where the kids and parents connect and enjoy activities together.

As your kids age through this stage their toys will go from being everywhere – to being only in their rooms. These are the years when your kids learn chores and establish their contributing roles to your family dynamics.

Parenting Stage 3: 13+ years old – Guidance & Support

This parenting stage is as time consuming as the first, except this time I am in my car all the time and not at home. Luckily for me I view that large quantity of driving time as the best quality time I get with my teens. Deep thoughts, but dreams and life lessons are often talked about in the hours and hours of time I spend with my teens in the car.

I find myself going from managing one family calendar to providing and supporting my teens as they take on their own calendar scheduling, activities and start making their big lifetime goals come to life.

Almost all sports involve special clothing, equipment and leaving the house. Even walking my dog!

Here are 8 steps to get your sporting equipment organized and have everything you need – when you need it!

1. Get a bag for EACH sport and each person.
2. Create a custom checklist for each bag.
3. Buy MORE of anything you can!
4. Keep the sports bags and uniforms in the car, garage or laundry room.
5. Stocked “Mom Bag”.
6. Stocked “Spectator Bag”.
7. Buy Garage Organizers.
8. Clean Out the Car!

For more ideas and further explanation view the whole post here: https://organize365.com/how-to-organize-sporting-equipment/

You only have 24 hours a day. The only way to get more time is to eliminate tasks or get help doing them.

I know this is a hard concept for some to embrace. The idea of paying someone to do something you CAN do is a big mental mindset shift.

By PAYING for a task to be done by someone else you are saying.

1. I can't do it ALL.
2. This is important enough to me at this time to make sure it is done and done regularly.
3. I am going to use that time that is freed up to do.....

What is it that you REALLY what to be spending your time doing? 

This blog post is a meaty one. https://organize365.com/care/ I share the 10 steps I go through when hiring help. 

How to hire help

1. Make a job description. In your dream world what are ALL the things this person would do? When I hired babysitters for my daughter, I specifically looked for people who liked to cook and liked pets - 2 of my weaknesses and my daughter's strengths.
2. Invite 10-20 people to look at your job description. Many people will not respond, so reach out to between 10 -20 potential good matches. When you get a yes... The LESS hours you need, the more candidates you will go through.
3. Schedule an in person interview at your house on the day you want regular service. If you want a babysitter every Friday night, interview people on Friday night. If they can’t make the interview at that time... they won't be able to accept the job.
4. Be flexible. The best employee/ employer relationship is a win -win. You win by getting the task done. Know what you want done - no matter what - and what would be a great addition, but not a deal breaker if it can't be done.
5. Hire for a long time relationship not a one off task. Working in your home with your family is an intimate relationship. Trust your "gut feel" when interviewing and go for the candidate you feel most comfortable with.
6. Remember this is a job. Don't get too chummy too fast. Maintain your role as employer and have safe boundaries.
7. Negotiate. Be fair with what you are willing to pay. If you are wanting just a few hours or a specific day and time, be willing to pay a little for then to work around your schedule.
8. Start with a trial. When you have picked your winner - start with a 30 day trial. Having a trial period of time allows you both to get to know each other and the expectations of the job. At the end of 30 days you will be able to clarify any tasks that need to be changed, modify hours, and solidify the agreement going forward.
9. Be a good employer. I LOVE being an employer. Appreciate your hired help. Treat them like a valued member of your team. Remember important events in their lives. Pay them fairly and ethically. Pay the taxes you know you should.
10. Enjoy your new found time! 

I use and recommended Care.com for household employment needs. By using this link I will earn an affiliate commission at no additional expense to you. Thanks!

Save 20% on a Care.com membership here.

Boys have fewer categories of “toys” but more pieces and parts than girls. The key to having an organized boy’s room is to buy organizers specifically designed for each of their precious collections. Understanding how boys go from toys to collections will also shed some light on the husbands and fathers in your life.

The blog post is full of Amazon links of the exact products I use when organizing boys Legos, video games, and card collections.https://organize365.com/organizing-boys/

Next Wednesday I will tackle how to organize sporting equipment for all ages.

Our natural inclination is to want to organize someone else or dive deep into organizing our "passions."

Today’s podcast came from a reader's submission, “Now that I no longer have kids' schedules dictating my time, I have no clue how to start planning MY time.”

I find this is SO true. When I have very little time, I manage my time and tasks well. When I feel like I have “all the time in the world,” I waste almost all of it.

In this podcast, I am diving deep into how we look at the time we have and how to make our own goals and deadlines to live the life we want.

I’d love to walk you through how to set and start your home organization plan in motion. Please join me in an upcoming webinar.

https://organize365.com/mindset-webinar/

You can view all the productivity podcasts here: https://organize365.com/productivity/

Basements and storage areas are the easiest places to hide treasures we aren’t sure if we still want and items we don’t know how to properly get rid of.

Today, I am revisiting this space with more ideas to help you tackle your storage monster.

And with the winter holidays just around the corner, I have a challenge for you and some tips on scaling back and organizing your holiday decorations.

You can find more storage organizing posts and podcasts here: https://organize365.com/home-storage-and-organization-ideas/

This summer, I took the 10 Weeks To An Organized Move blog series and organized it into a free eBook resource.

Once you have your tasks divided out by type, then it’s time to find new pockets of time to accomplish your to-do list!

Here are 10 ways I have been able to find more time in the last 10 years:

1. Watch less TV.
2. Limit my time on social media.
3. Turn off my phone notifications.
4. Shorten the amount of time I spend straightening up in the morning.
5. Smoosh household tasks together.
6. Skip household tasks all together on one day each week.
7. Get up early or stay up late.
8. Hire help and use that time on your focused work.
9. Trade a day with a friend or use dates to knock out to-do's.
10. Work faster and accept that done is better than perfect.

Listen to this week’s podcast to hear how I did – or didn’t - use each of these strategies in different phases of my life.

For all links to all the posts in the productivity series go here: 

Once you have streamlined and moved most of your household tasks to large chunks of time in your calendar, you can now start to use 5 minute snippets of time to knock off some of the repetitive routine tasks on your list. This opens up more valuable chunks of time to get done bigger - and more valuable - projects. 

All work is NOT created equal. Before you listen to the podcast this week, make a giant list of all the tasks you want and need to get done. Then listen in to discover how to re-organize your to-do list to get the most done.

There are 4 kinds of tasks that end up on my to-do list.  Here is a brief synopsis of each one:

1. Ideas - Oh boy, do I have a BUNCH of ideas! Instead of putting my ideas on my to-do list, I jot the idea on a scrap of paper and toss it into my Sunday Basket. Then every 2-3 weeks, I read through my ideas and 80% end up getting tossed in the garbage.

2. Repetitive tasks I can be easily distracted from while doing them - Laundry, dishes, bill paying, cooking, grocery shopping, yard work, etc. These never-ending repetitive tasks can easily be done while listening to a podcast or beside my husband or kids while chatting with them. I save these tasks for Sundays and evenings when the family is home.

3. Focused work - These are the big things on your to-do list that would make a difference in your home, family, or career, but they require silence and focused work to get them done. Often, these are the items that move from list to list because we don't have the time to do them. NEWS FLASH, the time is never going to magically appear. Sorry.

To change your life and get big things done takes prioritization and time. Start by finding 30 minutes a day to put toward your focused work. Just ONE goal. Then work your way up to 2-4 hours a day. This is NOT easy, but SO worth it! It will feel weird pulling that time from other areas, but once you accomplish one goal you will be hooked!

4. Thinking time - This is not a to-do on your list, but I find if I do not have any time for my mind to wander - while I am driving, walking the dog, or doing the dishes - I get cranky. I need time to think and dream about possibilities and solutions. I am an entrepreneurial creative type and we need lots of time to think. You might need some planned thinking time, too!

For all the links to all the posts in the productivity series go here: www.organize365.com/productivity 

Checklists save time and sanity! In this podcast I am going over the checklists I use for monthly tasks and remembering one time yearly to do's.

The Mindset of Organization: Take Back Your House One Phase at a Time has launched on Amazon.

Step 2 in becoming more productive is to take your Sunday Basket to the next level. This is part two of Sunday Basket 2.0

Why do you want to be more productive? It is easier to find time when you know what you will do with it.

5 things I do to make vacation packing easier.

Every other week I will be recording podcasts on productivity to share with you what I do to get so much done. 

Organize 365 107 - Kid Bedroom Organization - Step 5 - The transition from childhood bedroom to living on your own

Learning the skills of organizing your bedroom is so much more important than just making your mom happy.

Bedroom organizing basics

The older you get, the more food and laundry you will have in your room. The younger you are, the more your toys will be all over the floor.

Each week, no matter what, start by doing these 3 things first:

1. Pick up ALL the trash and put anything food related back in the kitchen.

2. Pick up all the dirty clothes and put them in the hamper or laundry room.

3. Pick up and put away what is on your floor.

Every week and every time we talk, I am going to be encouraging you to get rid of stuff and declutter your bedroom. Here's why...

1. Your bedroom is not a house. You have limited space to store your treasures and you need to make sure they are STILL treasures and not just old stuff you don't know what to do with.

2. You are always getting NEW stuff which means you need to get rid of OLD stuff.

3. Things break, you lose pieces, and you just stop playing with stuff over time.

HOW do you do declutter your bedroom?

1. Decide what you no longer play with or want.

2. Take it to your mom and see if she or your siblings want it.

3. Help mom create a donation box or basket for you to put stuff in each week that you no longer want.

Where do I START organizing? That's the number one question I get asked as a professional organizer.

And while that is a loaded question with multiple "right" answers, I have decided to start all of my clients with a simple system I call The Sunday Basket.

It's not magic, and you don't have to use a basket... any bag or box will do.

You see, organization is a way of living and "being organized" is a way of thinking.

The Sunday Basket is a system for processing mail, kitchen counter "to do" papers, and ongoing household projects.

The weekly routine of collecting, processing and maintaining household to dos and papers is the perfect training ground for all your future home organization skills.

And, like it or not, the mail just keeps on coming... giving us plenty of practice to hone and refine our organizing skills.

I have complied all the best videos, podcasts, and posts from all over my website into one organized page to help you get your Sunday Basket started in 4 easy steps.

Sign up for the FREE 4 step Organization 101: The Sunday Basket here.

In the last 4 podcasts I shared how the executive functioning part of the brain affects home organization. Today I want to share 5 general tips for achieving home organization success if you have ADHD.

1. Simplify EVERY area of your home EXCEPT for your passions.
2. Box up past projects and put them in storage. {Keep them, but not in your work space.}
3. Clean up your craft/ project area every 1-3 weeks. 
4. Maintain and straighten you home every 2-3 days.
5. Reflect on what IS and is NOT working often.

View the post and podcast here: http://organize365.com/organizing-with-adhd/

Link to Alpha Brain: http://GetOnnit.com/365

I have been hedging my affinity for Goodwill due to the backlash in public sentiment. My goal is to help you declutter your house, not debate current news events.

However, when I received an email from the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities agency asking to help spread the word about the goodwill that Goodwill was doing in our community, I was excited to jump in.

In today's podcast, I go more in depth about my affinity for Goodwill over the last 20 years and how I have experienced excellent service and amazing opportunities in my community for the disabled because of the opportunities Goodwill provides.

By using the voucher in today’s post, the value of your Goodwill donation will NOT be sold. It will be given as a CREDIT to the less fortunate in our community to use as money in the Goodwill shops.

It has been my experience that Goodwill lives up to their mission, "Goodwill Easter Seals of Miami Valley and Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries provide vocational training to people with developmental disabilities. Goodwill’s core mission is to empower people with disabilities and other needs to achieve independence and to enhance their lives.  The local Goodwill organizations are a part of the world’s largest and most successful network providing employment and training services for people with disabilities and other barriers to employment."

No matter where you donate, giving the items in your home which have become clutter to others in need is always a blessing!

View the post and voucher link here:

http://organize365.com/spring-cleaning-donations-goodwill-vouchers-people-butler-county/

This week, you will turn your clocks forward and lose an hour. Oh, how I hate to lose time! However, the changing of the clocks reminds me to do a few other semi-annual maintenance tasks!

Here are 12 things to do When you change the clocks this weekend.