In this podcast series, I will be sharing how my habits, routines, and the different ways I think about time. This week I’ll be sharing my afternoon routines.

I always learn more from listening to real-life stories of how other women are “getting it done.” Thanks for letting me share mine with you!

Afternoon routines are those things we do between our daytime activities (work or school) and dinner. 

A Day in the Life Afternoon Routines

Adding an afternoon routine to my schedule in my 40s was a game changer!

Today my commute home from the office provides that natural transition. In my 30s, my transition came at the end of the school day, driving in the carpool, or collecting the kids from the bus stop. 

Recognizing your transition may be all you need for your brain to make a switch in priority and production. 

Ultimately daily routines add structure and reduce decision-making fatigue.

Listen in as I share how I “bucket” my morning routine to line up with the kind of work I’ll be doing each day of the week.

As a bonus, I added my afternoon routine when my kids were in high school to this podcast episode. 

This podcast series is not for you to compare yours and my schedules, but to open your thoughts to explore the possibilities of what could be in your everyday life. My afternoon routine has continued to change and evolve over the years and will continue to do so in the future.

Do you have an afternoon routine? Is it time to add or take something away from your afternoon routine?

You can learn more about the 2022 Embrace experience on our website. In 2022, we have both virtual and in-person options. Save the date of June 25 & 26, 2022!!!

In this podcast series, I will be sharing how my habits, routines, and the different ways I think about time. This week I’ll be sharing my morning routines.

I always learn more from listening to real-life stories of how other women are “getting it done.” Thanks for letting me share mine with you!

It's time to dive into the workweek.

Before I go any further, I just want to remind you that here at Organize 365®, we view your “work” as “whatever you spend the majority of your Monday - Friday doing during the day.” 

Why is it important to define our workday as “work”?!

It was so powerful for me to redefine “work” for myself and view my seasons of parenting, homeschooling, and being the family medical liaison as “work” because then I could embrace and apply better routines & productive habits to my day.

I share one week of my morning routines recorded in November in this week's podcast. While recording this week, I realized that I actually have two different morning routines.  

Listen in as I share how I “bucket” my morning routine to line up with the kind of work I’ll be doing each day of the week.

As a bonus, I added on to this podcast episode my morning routine when my kids were in high school. 

Hands down, one of the best habits I embraced for my mental health was establishing daily routines. 

Why? Because it gave my “never-ending to do list days” structure and broke my day into buckets of time. 

We all need structure, routines, and transitions in our days.

This podcast series is not for you to compare yours and my schedules, but to open your thoughts to explore the possibilities of what could be in your everyday life. My morning routine has continued to change and evolve over the years and will continue to do so in the future.

Do you have a morning routine? Is it time to add or take something away from your morning routine?

You can learn more about the 2022 Embrace experience on our website. In 2022, we have both virtual and in-person options. Save the date of June 25 & 26, 2022!!!

In this podcast series, I will be sharing how my habits, routines, and the different ways I think about time. This week I’ll be sharing my Sunday Routine.

I always learn more from listening to real-life stories of how other women are “getting it done.” Thanks for letting me share mine with you!

As I shared in the last podcast episode, Saturdays are fundays around here, which means Sunday afternoons are my domestic workday. 

We started watching church from home sometime in late 2018/early 2019, and Greg’s mother has been coming to our house on Sundays for the past few years. My Sundays are now spent entirely at home. I decided for this season to add all housework tasks in and around my Sunday Basket® time on Sundays from 12-4.

I fit my housework into a four-hour time block.

Each weekend, I give my home and family a four-hour block of time. Some weeks I am running to check all the to-dos off my list, and other weeks I am looking into my Sunday Basket® to find projects to fill that time. 

I have always found that getting my machines and people started first, before I dive into the work only I can do, has improved my productivity. I do the same thing on Sundays during this work time.

1. I go through my emails and make decisions.
2. I review my meeting agendas for the week.
3. I get myself organized. I clear out papers, plan my outfits, and update my calendar so that I have time to get my most important work done. 

In my 20s, 30s, and 40s, four hours would not have been enough time for all of this. This podcast series is not for you to compare your schedule with mine, but to open your thoughts and explore the possibilities of what your everyday life could look like.

How much time do you need to spend on housework each weekend? Which day or days will you do so, and for how long?

You can learn more about the 2022 Embrace experience on our website. In 2022, we have both virtual and in-person options. Save the date of June 25 & 26, 2022!!!

Today marks the start of a podcast series I have wanted to produce for years! I love sharing the “behind the scenes” of my daily life on Instagram. For a long time, I have been thinking about how I could share my day-to-day life on the podcast.

Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing how my habits, routines, and the different ways I think about time. I did not get to these mindsets and behaviors overnight. It was a transformation that happened over a decade. I want to share the information that would have helped me make these changes faster and more effectively. 

Now, I do not “have all the answers.”  I am on the journey of life, just like you, working to have more control over how and where I spend my time and energy. The easiest way to understand where someone's time and energy goes is to hear their story. So, I’ll be sharing my days in lots of detail.

I ask that you just consider these as possibilities and inspiration. Dream a little bit and explore how you might make some changes to your everyday life. 

Saturdays

Let's start with my Saturday routine. Saturday is a “free day” in the Woodruff household. 

On Saturdays, everyone picks their meals, sleeps as late as they want, and chooses their entertainment. It is a great way to transition from the hustle and bustle of our Monday - Friday into the more relaxed pace of the weekend. 

Saturday is my new Sunday.

Until we made this transition as a family, Saturdays were full of chores and work. 

Now that I work full-time in an office, I can’t even imagine having the energy to stay in full-on work mode on my Saturdays at home. 

Many of you make Sundays your “free day.” Either way, I think the important thing is that each person in the house gets to have a day, or a part of a day, to “do their thing.”

Do you have a day to rest and enjoy your passion projects? 

I am not sure I could have had this kind of a day in my 20s, 30s, and 40s, but I wish I had at least considered the option.

One of my passion projects is taking care of my family and our shared home. Listen in as I take you along on my “domestic day” and the rewards I choose when my time and energy run out. I don’t get it all done either! But, I do rest and rejuvenate when I hit my limits.

This month, I have a special treat for you! Normally, you get to hear the transformational story of ONE member of our community. This month, I want to share some of the very special breakthroughs of women just like you as they attended Embrace 2021.

You can learn more about the 2022 Embrace experience on our website. In 2022, we have both virtual and in-person options. Save the date of June 25 & 26, 2022!!!

There are 4 main categories of reasons why people decide to get organized. In this episode, I walk you through the main reasons to help you find YOUR why.

Unpacking your why will help you stay motivated and keep your eye on the prize when you get stuck in the day-to-day of your organizing. 

Which of these four reasons for getting organized resonates most with you?

1. I got caught up in the hype of New Year's resolution or the Marie Kondo Netflix series.
2. I'm tired of feeling behind and reactionary.
3. I'm looking for my home to be a restful haven.
4. I want to break a family cycle of disorganization.

Every reason has its trouble spots to overcome. If you jumped in spontaneously, the beginning is fun and easy, but then you find an area that requires more thought or doesn't fit the model, and you get stuck. Dig into another reason to continue organizing. If you're reactionary, there will be a period of time in which you feel like you're going backward. If you didn't have a model of organization growing up, it's probably going to take a little longer to learn the skill of organization. 

Be sure to take (and print) pictures of your progress too! It's hard to see your progress when you're so close to your home. Taking a step back and comparing before and after photos will help you see the progress. 

I don't want to see you give up! Figure out your why and hang onto it when you feel discouraged. What will getting organized allow you to do or be?

Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!