Organize 365: Productivity Tips for Home and Life Organization

Lisa Woodruff is a home organization expert, productivity specialist, and author of multiple books, including The Paper Solution. Lisa’s research-based teaching shines a light on the invisible work being done at home and a modern definition of housework. Lisa believes organization is not a skill you are born with. It is a skill that is developed over time and changes with each season of life. Lisa is best known for inventing the Sunday Basket. The Sunday Basket is a weekly kitchen counter planning system. Designed as an intervention for busy household managers that reduces decision fatigue and cognitive load. The Sunday Basket externalizes the never-ending demands on a household manager's time and resources, freeing their time for what they are uniquely created to do.

676 - American Entrepreneurial Communities 09/19/2025

676 - American Entrepreneurial Communities Ok, I know you all have been dying to hear about my field trip to Greenfield Village. I tried to start the podcast three times before this final take because I want to tell you guys everything! But how in 45 minutes? Let me just say, I will be going back! Greenfield Village Most of us have seen a living historical farm of some sort. It’s usually a field trip where you get to see what it was like to live in the past. You get to see the equipment and lack of current day machines that help with everyday household tasks and business. That’s Greenfield Village but magnified. Henry Ford’s goal was “I only want to have ordinary people who had extraordinary vision.” He brought homes from Thomas Edison(while he was still living), the guy who created the Dewey Decimal system, the bus Rosa Parks rode, the guy who wrote the McGruff readers, the Wright Brothers bike shop, and other buildings of significance. The first 6 years it was a school. There was a lottery system for admittance. Students would start their day in church. A church that my grandma used to attend. Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were basically teaching the next generation of entrepreneurs in Thomas Edison’s innovation laboratory. Thomas accumulated all kinds of supplies, textiles, and tools to create. All new things start with education and innovation. You are standing where the greats have stood I couldn’t help but to think to myself often “You are standing where the greats have stood.” Especially when I was in Thomas Edison’s lab. I was able to connect some aspect of my life to each house. Thomas Edison was the first person to assemble a team and let them dive into their uniqueness. He hired people to come work in his lab and then innovate. And because he was paying his technicians, they had money to pay to stay at the Women’s Boarding house. I loved being at the boarding house where I played the role of observer. These women were baking, cleaning, chatting, and even sat by the fireplace to knit or catch up on the day’s events. I can’t stress the importance of relationships. Today’s society is becoming too isolated. We should be filling up our time with others, not our devices. The tour guide would have you believe the women had to do these daunting tasks because the men were out doing whatever. But I challenge that thought. These women were volunteers playing a role, reeling us into the past, and enjoying themselves. I kept picturing myself in those lifestyles. You didn’t have a car to go shopping, a phone to scroll on, or the conveniences of today’s lifestyle. If I were them, in that day, I’d love to grind the wheat and make the soup. So I’m not sure I’m buying that they didn’t like their responsibilities. So all because one man decided to gather a team to explore their zone of genius, the town boomed. That led to other businesses from people exploring their zones of genius and doing what they were uniquely gifted and created to do, thus all of the village’s talents were represented. Curiosity • Resourcefulness • Practice over time It’s not the size of your house, your intellect, or resources that make you great. It’s curiosity like me needing to figure out how to settle an estate. And resourcefulness like me figuring out how to create and manufacture the Financial Binder. I have a teaching degree, not a masters in business. I also had to be very resourceful because my budget was small. I was an ordinary person with a vision. I didn’t come from money. I’m not well connected. And over time I keep learning and honing the thing that I am gifted and uniquely created to do. I keep refining The Productive Home Solution. I thoroughly enjoyed my field trip to Greenfield Village and was able to make so many connections to my life today. America - an entrepreneurial country! EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/38229165

Transformation with Ambreen B 09/17/2025

Transformation with Ambreen B In this episode, I introduce you to Ambreen B. who lives in Jerusalem with her husband and 2 daughters, and her cat. Ambreen loves productivity and finds it interesting when people are more organized than her. She heard an interview on another podcast and loved hearing how kids get organized and the structure. As her life became more complex by getting a home to manage, getting married, and having children, she knew “Ok, I don’t have to reinvent the wheel.” The boxes acted as a landing place for all of the things she was trying to remember. Then she decided to get her PhD. Our Sunday Baskets® is where we can cognitively offload to afford the capacity to deal with the unexpectedness of life. They take the worry piece and put an intervention in place therefore reducing worry from the event. That’s what the Sunday Basket® does, it reduces stress in the form of a system. As an organizational sociologist and institutional complexity analyst, Ambreen understands that concept more than most. And she appreciates that it’s a tried and true system, not just one she pieced together. Ambreen was great to share how her Sunday Baskets® have helped her through the PhD process. Some people have a team to delegate to, Ambreen had her Sunday Baskets® to delegate to. She shared how she used the colored slash pockets and kept her focused. It allowed for a deeper level of focus. She knew that after planning day and she had a plan in place all she had to do was run that plan. She had peace of mind that she could focus on that day’s plan and completely ignore all other responsibilities. I added the importance of being able to have focused work time and mind wandering time. She tried to DIY at first but in the end it was way more economical to go all in and buy the actual Sunday Basket® and all. Three days after getting the Sunday Basket® in hand, her mother in law passed away. It was time to put into action what she’d seen in The Productive Home Solution™ videos. Ambreen’s husband has 4 brothers but you know who combed through that home and settled the estate? The two daughter-in-laws. It was a crash course in grief and organization. While everyone else was in shock and overwhelmed, the system gave her tasks to be productive. But having a system gave her some sense of control in a situation she had very little control over. We talked about the 7 days of mourning and people wanting to drop off food. This was during “covid times” so she explained how she safely divided up the food for later consumption. We talked about the decluttering process. Ambreen loves the decluttering questions. And she really leaned into Do, Defer, Delegate, and Delete. That experience made her think about her parents and all of their stuff. She called her mom to talk about all their stuff and planning for the future. She feels like the title Household Manager elevates the role and gives it the perceived importance it actually holds. She values this system so much. Ambreen has more mental peace. And she just wishes she’d known about Organize 365® earlier. Ambreen’s advice is, “Buy the Sunday Basket®, don’t DIY- it’s not worth it.” She appreciates all the advice, grace that is provided, and no pressure to buy anything. She encourages people to just buy when they are ready. EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/38200860

675 - Household Management in Presidential Homes 09/12/2025

675 - Household Management in Presidential Homes You may not be a history buff like myself but I think you will find my aha moments interesting that I got when visiting these Presidential homes. We think so much has changed, but has it? Are we using our homes differently? I just think tv gave us this impression of how our homes should be used and look. We know differently at Organize 365®. Why Adult Fieldtrips I support my family in all of their passions and this act of self care is a way for me to support my passions and fill my cup. I love to go see presidential homes because of the history of the homes and functionality more than learning about the actual Presidents. These homes are the best representation of what life was like at that time. I like to think about the history of course, but also how the homes were used and the female roles in the homes and as a spouse. I’m always impressed by the vast libraries and proof of how much they valued education. And the finances, who had that much money to afford and run those plantations and who was managing the money? I visited 4 of the first 5 President’s homes in VA. Women of the Plantation Jefferson’s daughter, Martha, had her own study right off of the entrance. Martha assumed the responsibilities of the home when her mother passed away. When she moved home, they had to make modifications for her and her husband and their 13 children. Jefferson was constantly modifying Monticello to accommodate their current phase of life. Funny I know someone who constantly gives permission to people to modify your home to your current phase of life. Actually there were so many renovations that in the end it left a heavy financial burden on Martha and the plantation was sold to the DuPont family because they couldn’t afford all of the debt Jefferson had accrued. If only they’d had the financial binder. It’s so important to plan and document your final wishes of your (maybe debt) and assets. Dolly was Madison’s wife. She was well connected, had money, was social, and came into their marriage with an 18 month old son after yellow fever took her first husband and two other children. She moved from the South to the North to live in VA. There were a lot of life changes for her including the addition of slaves in her life and managing the plantation. She was a pioneer of sorts having dinner parties and courting votes. She too had a study in which I’m sure she was coordinating everything. These women’s husbands were in office, they were in charge of the finances, domestic staff, paid staff, their families, their spouse, social life, education, and community involvement. If only they’d had the Household Reference and Operations binder. How did they do it all? The Estates These estates were fairly close to each other and it reminds me of how arduous travel was in that day. They didn’t have cars. These homes were to house the plantation staff, guests who had traveled, and meetings regarding being in office. But the two families, the Jefferson’s and Madison’s, used their homes differently. And Jefferson had his own quarters if you will like a little condo of his own like the personal spaces I talk about in regards to children’s rooms. These homes fueled all their passions like a love of reading, small businesses, and public service. Isn’t that what we are doing today too? Our homes are the only thing we have control over and they must fit our phase of life because we spend so much time in them, much like they did in the times of these Presidential homes. I can’t wait to tell you about my field trip to Greenfield Village next time! EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/38149420

Transformation with Lea N 09/10/2025

Transformation with Lea N In this episode, I introduce you to Lea N. who is married and has her mother living with them. Lea is a lifelong learner and had been watching some organization shows. Lea came across a few guest spots of mine on those shows. Lea really resonated with what I said and got the Sunday Basket® right away. When she had been listening to those interviews, she found herself thinking “Oh I get it and I get Lisa!” She was always organized but this gave Lea a system. Lea’s parents are divorced. Her mom moved in and soon after got really sick with Endocarditis, which ended up being a four and a half month stay at the hospital. Lea has a successful restaurant in the L.A. area. As an entrepreneur, you wear a lot of hats. Lea would work and then head to the hospital. She runs her business off the Friday Workbox®, the two and half year planner, and rainbow tear pad. She just makes her “lesson plan” for the week and runs it without really referencing it again. Right after her mom returned home to finish her recovery, her dad’s girlfriend passed away from the same thing her mom was recovering from. But now, she was helping her dad to sell his girlfriend’s house and get settled into a long term care facility where they could care for him and his dementia. Unfortunately he fell about a year later, broke his hip, and ultimately passed away. That is a lot for one person to manage. That is a lot of emotion for one person to process. She’s thankful she had the podcast in her ear to receive permission to feel how she felt. She was thankful for Michelle, from the Sunday Basket® club, (her other Organize 365® bestie ) for the continued guidance on the systems to maintain her organization. The color coding was a game changer for Lea. She was proud of herself when she brought one of the binders to a Lawyer and he complimented how helpful and thorough it was. Lea credits getting those binders done to the professional paper organizers from Organize 365® because she’s an “obliger” and doesn’t want to let others down. She sees the “trickle down,” that this will happen to her boys as well and she wants to be organized for them, when the time comes. We talk about child care. We talk about self care. But we don’t talk about menopause or the period of life when you get the responsibility of your parents - eldercare. It takes a lot of time, money, and responsibility. She states it’s not easy to get organized but once you do at least you aren’t looking for “that paper.” She feels great about all of the organizing she has done and with all of the unexpected life events that have come her way, she doesn’t know how she could have made it through without them. She’s anticipating a time when she can focus on their home with The Productive Home Solution™ program. Lea was in the middle of a home renovation and opening a second restaurant when her husband lost his job. And speaking of more unexpected life events she joked about the toll of menopause. We talked about her desires to be even more profitable and productive with the coming of her second restaurant. And we discussed that for “busy bees”, we don’t want a vacation on the beach, we wanna be producing! I explained Dan Sullivan’s idea of “free days” where you are still productive. She’s empowered to do more because she knows she’ll never be “done”. She has peace of mind that all responsibilities are taken care of. And she’s constantly evolving. Lea’s advice is, “Just get the Sunday Basket®. It just gets you on the right path.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/38133075

674 - Organize 365 Traits: Golden Windows and Your Uniqueness 09/05/2025

Transformation with Mercedes P 09/03/2025

Transformation with Mercedes P In this episode, I introduce you to Mercedes who is married with two young children and a one eyed siamese cat. When she was expecting her first baby, she knew she needed to get some systems in place to get organized and stay organized once she had the baby. Her husband listened to a lot of podcasts at the time so she decided to find one about organizing. Two popped up but she ultimately chose Organize 365® because Abby had just found out she was pregnant with Grayson so she related the episodes. Mercedes started with the overflow boxes for the clothes for the baby. Then she did her personal spaces, because that’s what was taught to do first. Mercedes saw that it worked so she fully trusted the systems and implemented as instructed. Full trust. But it was great that she did her personal spaces because then we talked about how moms don’t get on the to do list. We do the children’s clothes and personal spaces but when does mom’s get done. Do your personal spaces first women! Then all you have to do is maintain like Mercedes explained. In 2023, Mercedes got one of the Teacher workboxes to teach home school. She has two neurodivergent children and wants to support them the best she can. Throughout the interview we discussed the life of being a stay at home mom. And what it is like to have children with disabilities. It’s very isolating because social media has a narrative of what it should be like to be a stay at home mom but they leave out the part about if have disabled children. Mercedes wishes she’d realized earlier that her life didn’t have to meet the social media narrative. Mercedes had tried tips and tricks from books and social media but they were one off suggestions. They were like a one time task. What we identified about what makes Organize 365® so much more beneficial is that it’s a whole system. Mercedes loves the way the podcast and system makes her think about the functionality of the organizing she’s doing. It’s about applying the learned information from the programs. She first realized she was an organized person when her friends hadn’t planned anything for summer coming up and she already had the water table and sand box at her house ready to put together when it got warm enough. She attributes Organize 365® to her parenting journey being “easy.” Mercedes was always a somewhat organized person. But what Organize 365® did for her was to organize her mindset to match her actions. She got the Sunday Basket® in December of 2024 and the Friday Workbox® in February of 2025. She uses them in combination with an app Finch for self care. It reminds her of her cleaning tasks so she can focus on all the crafts. Mercedes has her days planned out so she can get 2 creativity hours in. Mercedes values her new found clarity of what is going on in her life, the capacity she’s gained to do more, and time for creativity. She wrote a novel and that’s what spurred on the Friday Workbox® purchase so she could organize self publishing. She’s started novel number two…watch out world this organized mama is on a roll. Mercedes’s advice is, “Do things as you need to. It’s your journey. You’re the one in charge of it. Don’t listen to social media. Listen to Lisa, she knows what she is talking about.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/38048120

673 - Growing Profitable Personal Brands with AJ Vaden 08/29/2025

673 - Growing Profitable Personal Brands with AJ Vaden I am so excited to introduce AJ Vaden the New York Times Best Selling author of the book Wealthy and Well Known (co-written with her husband Rory Vaden.) AJ lived, slept, and breathed her work. Until she didn’t. This sudden change forced AJ to dig deep and identify her personal brand. She and Rory had a unique opportunity extended to them, with divine timing, that became their signature program - Brand Builders. I have been a big fan of AJ and Rory since I completed their program Brand Builders in 2021. Personal Brand AJ and Rory were working at the same business when one of her superiors came to her and notified her that her services were no longer needed; effective immediately. Those next days were tough as AJ did a lot of self reflection. Out of the blue a long time friend reached out to Rory and AJ for consultation on how to improve their brand and business. That business owner was so impressed they said “This is it! THIS is what you are meant to do!” They could have said no. They could have come up with every excuse in the book to pass on the idea. Instead Rory put in his notice to quit his job and AJ and Rory joined forces to build Brand Builders Group. Brand Builders Brand Builders is a program that guides and teaches members to identify their personal brands. They help people to identify their why which is really their who. I completed this program in 2021. I wanted to complete this program to see if there were any gaps in my business knowledge. Remember I have a teaching degree not a Masters in Business Administration! I will always be a life long learner. AJ pointed out that we are no longer paying for information, we are paying for application of that information. And through the 4 stages that they teach that’s what the business owner learns. They value the community feedback, much like Organize 365®, and continue to iterate and provide results. I am planning on attending one of their upcoming masterminds. The reason I am so ecstatic? I have found it difficult to find other women business owners who have shared their path to success. Women are running their homes (business #1), then their businesses (business #2), and lastly possibly business #3 if they are in active parenting. I can find all kinds of advice on growing a business from men. But what I see with Brand Builders Group is a more equal divide of men and women who participate. The mastermind will be led of course by AJ and Rory. It’s such a great example for my women running businesses and myself. A woman who understands the unique struggles of being a mom, wife, and household manager. Wealthy and Well Known This book was written to help the people AJ and Rory used to be. AJ reiterated many times that for $27 you too can learn everything I learned in 2021! Nothing is held back. Their desire is to change reader’s lives with the transformation of their business and mindset and hopes that readers will share the book with others. The other driver behind the book is to find business owners that need additional help and guidance. They want to come alongside business owners and help to succeed. I believe in this book so much that I purchased 150 copies to give to my team, mastermind attendees, certified organizers, and all female business owners that I have relationships. I hope you will consider purchasing the book or download the free audio book so you too can identify your personal brand and apply the information that you learn. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37961860

Transformation with Leslie p. 08/27/2025

Transformation with Leslie p. In this episode, I introduce you to Leslie P. who lives with her two dogs and has always been a renter. Leslie was searching for podcasts about organization. It caught Leslie’s attention when she heard one of the Monday Connections podcasts when we were talking about subjects related to those things she loves like demographics, sociology, and anthropology. Leslie was always an organized person but once her mom had passed and she was in the role of executor, she just couldn’t get out from under all the paper! She needed help and was looking for organizational solutions. The year after her mom passed Leslie referred to as the “Year of quiet living.” She stayed in her mom’s 55+ community and took time to figure out her next steps as she faced hurdles in NYC. She’d decided to go out on her own and no longer be a W2 employee. When Leslie decided to move down to Florida and stay with her mom to take care of her, who had cancer, she grabbed most of her stuff and just left. Well all that stuff was up there still waiting for Leslie to deal with. When Leslie finally located some important paperwork under the couch pillows that she’d been looking for, she decided she had to get a system in place. In the midst of the mess, she created a priority list like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. What was the most important first step. She then started to feel permission to put things in logical places like her socks by the front door. She started to task stack while her dogs were eating so she could do other things in her kitchen. And she now gives herself permission to honor the phase of life she is in which may mean the fact that she’ll buy new tools, get rid of things, make mistakes, and allow new permissions. Like keeping two sets of china and hosting the holidays her way. She’s also given herself permission to have a personal life outside of working and taking care of her dogs because she also had more free time now. And with systems in place she no longer has a need for a to do list AND she’s not forgetting to do things. Leslie opened the conversation saying she was not the Organize 365® typical demographic. I wanted to dig into that a little. Leslie uncovered how renting an apartment is kinda like PCS’ing. You move more frequently and need to start all over again. What does a day look like again? How is the drive to work? Can you keep the same medical providers? How does errand running look? Coffee shops? And we talked about things about renting like owning a car and having outdoor space. We also talked about cost opportunities and what that means for the quiet middle of society from each person’s point of view. We both pointed out things the other had not considered. Leslie also attended a Planning Day. Leslie had attended plenty of corporate organization/productivity events and they all paled in comparison. She was so impressed with how comprehensive and effective Planning Day was. It’s frustrating for Leslie because she wishes she’d known sooner that a lof of people struggle with organization and for a long time she thought it was just her. Now she has less anxiety, perceived anxiety, as well as sleeping better, and has a healthier outlook. Leslie’s advice is, “Listen to Lisa because she is smart.” But all joking aside she added “Give yourself permission. You are the subject matter expert of your family, your life, home, of your goals, and your priorities. You get to decide. Trust yourself.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37951020

672 - Audience Q&A 11 Work Organization (Invisible Work) 08/22/2025

672 - Audience Q&A 11 Work Organization (Invisible Work) It’s another Q&A episode and we’re diving into Sunday Baskets® and Friday Workboxes® and how to make it all flow together because it was asked in many different ways. The Sunday Basket® and Friday Workbox® can support a lot of operations, this episode was so great for exploring multiple ways to run your home or business. As a Household Manager As a household manager it is easy to get multiple Sunday Baskets® going. Multiple people asked how to manage them all and make them work together. Honestly once Planning Day focuses on both home and work at the same time this will be more seamless. You need to take roughly 90 min to three hours to fully process your Sunday Basket®, ideally on Sunday afternoon. This opens the opportunity to go through other Sunday Baskets®. I have some that I process monthly and there maybe some actionable papers that move to my weekly Sunday Basket®. I have active papers in Sunday Baskets® for trips I’m planning, Abby’s wedding, and whatever else. The final thing that pulls all the Sunday Baskets® and Friday Workboxes® is the weekly tear sheet where it all comes together, it’s one plan for the week, including home, work, and sometimes homeschooling priorities. There was also a nurse who wrote in about how to best utilize the Friday Workbox for a service line she’s in charge of. She’s a blue slashpocket person; a worker. She doesn’t own the business but there’s still a lot of responsibility. I offered ideas on how to involve the rest of her team, establish checklists to keep them on track and understand the time it takes for that checklist. I offered color coding ideas to best communicate with her team and have information at her team’s fingertips. I offered similar ideas to a mama who homeschools. As a “CEO” role There was a minister and a direct sales audience member that asked about how to best use the Friday Workboxes® because they don’t see themselves as running a business or a CEO. If you are in direct sales or in charge of an organization, it’s like you are the CEO. As a CEO you need lead generation that produces purple work with deadlines and such. Once you complete those deadlines, you get paid which is your admin/green work. And in that mix is the people who make it happen wish is your blue slash pocket work. There are all kinds of practical applications for whatever line of work you do! This episode was chalked full!! For the minister we talked about two Friday Workboxes®. Once for her and one for the church. For the church workbox, pink can be upcoming projects in the works like a new addition to the building that hasn’t been finalized or ideas for outreach during Christmas or Easter. The purple work is the projects that are set in motion and repeat events like how Organize 365® does the planning days routinely. And then of course staff is blue and a church is a business so green is admin, payroll, and any other financial responsibilities. Her personal workbox could have pink work that is all about her sermons or pink work could be future plans she’s exploring, and purple work can be things she’s personally responsible for, blue the people or organizations she’ll need to accomplish the project or idea, and of course green for money. You get the idea. The Entrepreneurship Journey Got junk? We had a great conversation about the mindset of the guys who opened 1-800-GOT-JUNK. And I was able to offer some advice to someone looking to open a special needs daycare. We talked about a few books and what I learned from them as far as my skill sets, who I should hire, and how a visionary and implementor work together to run a company. Organize 365® is what it is today because of what I’ve learned along the way…I want to always be learning. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37883830

Transformation with Verna R 08/20/2025

Transformation with Verna R In this episode, I introduce you to Verna R. and her husband are empty nesters. You may remember Verna and her daughters coming on the podcast in 2020. It was the first timeI got to talk to a whole family who was using the Organize 36® systems. And the second time just Verna and I talked about her organization journey. Verna was referred to Organize 365® by her daughters to get organized since it didn’t come naturally to her. Her mother and mother in law were natural organizers so Verna appreciated systems and organization but none of the systems she tried stuck until she tried Organize 365®. In 2002-2004, Verna had cancer. Once she finished treatment she decided it was time to hire an organizer because she needed help due to low energy from recovery. Yes, I pointed out that the organizer can help with all the visible work. And the second thing I pointed out was that over the span of you get a home, then probably add a spouse, maybe some kids. As we get older, the complexities of daily life build on each other and there is no break time to reset for middle school years, Sports years, or heaven forbid a time with an illness. Everything still had to get done. But Verna had been sick. A professional organizer help in the short term but Verna desired a system for a lifetime. The last point I made was that the organizer cannot deal with the invisible work. Verna agreed with me and we talked about offloading to the external brain, the Sunday Basket®. I added that as our executive functions decline, starting as early as your 30’s or 40’s, the calendar with the external brain and planning helped to prolong the speed of decline. How can we do that? Have a system like the Productive Home Solution™ that provides training!! And we all want to be independent as long as we can! Verna shared her three purple slash pockets are for making gifts, her house, and volunteer work. She uses planning day to process those activities. She also credited her husband, Bruce, to being a good partner and sharing the daily tasks. We had a little side discussion about retirement and how much work the wife gains once her husband retires. I’m making Greg think about what he’s gonna do with all his time once he retires. Bruce kept himself busy for a couple more years after he retired. Now they are teaching together in Nepal from time to time and even have started to bring their grandchildren. Verna has more calmness and purpose. She took the time to really observe herself. She paid attention to what she was saying yes to and directly then what that meant she was saying no to. She extends herself a lof grace knowing she can’t change the past and really loves who she is today. She’s looking forward to setting a S.M.A.R.T.I.E. goal for her storage and getting her grown kids stuff out of her storage. That will free up some of her cognitive load to think about what their future living situation may look like. Verna’s advice is, “Notice what you do. Pay attention. It will show you what you value and what you prioritize.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37868150

671 - Inside the Complete Home Organization Bundle - Live Q&A with Lisa & Team 08/15/2025

671 - Inside the Complete Home Organization Bundle - Live Q&A with Lisa & Team “I am more interested, as a fellow sister and teacher, in the student learning the skill, more than I am in having a recurring membership program.” I knew 10 years ago that I wanted to offer lifetime access to this system so women everywhere could get bored, bored enough that she has to wrestle with what she is uniquely created to do. This was a webinar we did as a one off to talk about the Completed Home Organization Bundle. The feedback from viewers was that this webinar, with myself, Virginia, and Tanya, helped them the most to understand what is in the bundles, how much time it will take, and the results to expect during the process. Big News Well we kicked off the webinar letting our international followers know that they can now purchase the Productive Home Solution because the workbook is going digital! The Productive Home Solution™ is your 52 week road map on how to get organized. The introductory pricing for lifetime access to The Complete Home Organization Bundle will not last forever so take advantage of the deal we are offering. As one person commented it was a little out of her price range but it was worth it for her sanity! And thanks to PayPal, when you check out there is a way to break it down into a payment plan. How is this different from all the other organizational offerings? The biggest difference most people notice is that this is an all encompassing system from organizing to planning to the invisible work we are all doing. It’s a plan. You can have a gym membership but if no one shows you how to use the equipment than what good is the access to the gym? A couple things that I am really proud of is that I teach these systems from a woman’s point of view. I have been there. Done that. And I have been in a plethora of homes to see all different family dynamics. And of course there’s the fact that I was a teacher. I understand that everyone learns differently and I try to cater to all learning styles in each system. And the best part of the system? It follows the energies of the year. And we reset every 120 days with Planning Day. This is a system that will teach you how to organize your space your way! What is the worst that could happen? You could get stuck. You likely will but Tanya runs a live club every Thursday that you can always attend. It’s a welcoming space to ask questions or share where you are getting stuck. And each system comes with community access through the app. It’s great to connect with other people in the same phase as you. People share tips all the time and talk about how they solved an issue they were having. And if you do get stuck, we encourage everyone to push through. When you make this kind of investment, you will get the work done because you have really thought about this purchase! I paid for a spendy weight loss program and you better believe I started making better food choices. And even though my family may not be on board with trying to get healthier, they are watching. And the woman usually sets the tone for the house. So like me with better food choices (which then my family is also benefitting) you too with getting your home organized. And at the end of the day it’s for you! As women, our houses are holding us back. The clutter gives us anxiety. I truly believe the Sunday Basket® is the solution to women’s mental health to lighten the cognitive load of all of our invisible work. Organization solves the root problem for women’s mental health, their homes. Virginia shared she now has to hide how productive she really is from her friends and Tanya shared that she no longer feels behind on everything. Organization has always been a part of my life and it has opened doors for me and my family from consistent babysitting gigs, to making friends, to growing Organize 365®. Each time I have gained time and capacity, I have leveled up and I want the same for you. I want you to get more time back so you can wrestle with what you are uniquely created to do. This is the time to figure out who you are and who you are becoming! EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37831615

Transformation with Devin R 08/13/2025

Transformation with Devin R In this episode, I introduce you to Devin R. who is married with three children; two are bonus kids that came with marrying her husband. They have 2 dogs and two cats. In 2018, Devin was looking for help to get organized. She was mowing her lawn when I caught her ear mentioning that I lived in the Cincinnati area. Then Devin’s life hit rock bottom with her work insinuating that she was not a good teacher and then she and her husband decided to separate. She could resonate with my story from 2012. Devin looked at her life and decided she needed to get control of her life. Once she grabbed a bag and gathered all the papers she felt better. It was like since her physical chaos was getting under control her mental chaos could be addressed. We had a great discussion that all marriages go through rough patches and Devin was vulnerable to share a little bit about her marriage and how they are reconciling after about three years of separation. She shared how her mindset has shifted about organization. She looks around and asks what do I have? Why is it here? And do we even need it? She remembers making her daughter’s lunch recently and didn’t have to trip over the cat to get the things for the lunch. It was all in the lunch making station. Devin had tried other systems but they never felt like life long solutions to her. The podcast and videos work as reminders to keep up with the systems. They are like a life partner to the systems. And they help with the cognitive load. We talked about the Sunday Basket® and how when you have Prospective Memory and you write something down it’s cognitive off loading to free up your working memory. This is something Devins struggles with because of MS but lets her neurologist know at each visit how much the Sunday Basket® helps and how it could help others with her diagnosis. And then we got into the weeds a little bit about qualitative studies that I want to do based off the information from my (unbeknownst to myself when I started) unofficial quantitative or phenomenological study AKA the Wednesday Transformation episodes. Devin has been on her organizational journey for about three years now. She’s coped with her MS diagnosis, separated from her husband, and is entering the coaching years of parenting. Because of all her systems, she has more time to really invest in her daughter and being present. She really wishes she knew someone taught organization sooner and found Organize 365® sooner. It takes time to get organized. Devin pointed out that she values the Power of Positivity episode. “Life is not happening to you, it’s happening for you.” With the right attitude you can apply positivity to all journeys, not just organization journeys, no matter how insurmountable they seem. Devin started working upholstering for her sister after she left teaching. She shared how she got the Friday Workbox®, worked on it with Monique at a paper retreat and how it helps her to stay organized on customers' jobs. I got to offer a little advice on how she could slowly incorporate a part time worker for her to get back some CEO time. A good balance of responsibilities is to spend 80% on production and 20% on admin and lead generation. With the addition of a part time worker, she could add another client and make money to cover the hours of that part time worker. Devin’s advice is, “Jump in one step at a time. Listen to all the podcast episodes and then the videos from The Productive Home Solution™” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37784155

670 - How to Get Your Entire Home Organized in One Year 08/08/2025

670 - How to Get Your Entire Home Organized in One Year The world is getting ready for back to school and then we find ourselves in the 10 most productive weeks of the year. Since you will naturally be in high productivity energy, it makes sense to walk you through what to expect in The Productive Home Solution™. Are you ready to have your home organized in 52 weeks? Most people believe organization is a learnable skill and yet aren’t organized. Why? They need a plan and here it is from my last webinar. Fall We kick off fall with Planning Day at the end of August. That sets us up for tackling your personal spaces for 5 weeks. Once you get your closet, bathroom, and bedroom organized you will feel the decision fatigue lessen and that will be by the beginning of Oct. Then you’ll move onto your spaces you use for your household administration. And you’ll tackle some of the more invisible spaces like your phone, email, computer, passwords, and etc. I’ll invite you to do the Holiday Blitz and new to The Productive Home Solution™ is a couple weeks devoted to all things holiday like wrapping paper, gifts, and cards. You’ll end the year in your storage areas. Winter Now that almost 120 days have passed, it’s time to have Planning Day again at the end of December. This 120 days focus around communal spaces because you will have the highest amount of organization energy during this time of the year. You roll into the kitchen for three weeks. Now each section has a way to fast track. If you find it’s a section you don’t want to do or don’t need as much time allotted, there are fast track tasks so you can possibly get organized in 9 months instead of a year. I’ve added a week to do family memories. And you all get to do taxes with me in February during the Superbowl. Come on, just try it with me!! Next you’ll think about and organize your spaces that guests would be, like, your spare bedroom or bathroom or your family/living room. We finish this section with information about having a garage sale, spring break (breaking down a meaty project) and your on the go spaces like your car or travel strategies. Summer It starts with another Planning Day on Mother’s Day weekend. Then we focus on outside spaces. There’s a Memorial Day Blitz and then we spend 2 weeks on each of the areas of the four binders from The Paper Solution®. Now even if you don’t have the resource binders, there are still activities to complete. You can expect the Back to School Blitz and that is not just for school aged children. Then there’s a deep dive into the Sunday Basket®-the foundation for you as the household manager. You end it all with Embrace On Demand. I recently heard in two podcasts that these women had “free time” and you know what they did? They took care of their homes, they nested. In the 50’s the marketing firms started to put these lies in our heads of what our homes should look like. And if they looked like that, it meant that the homemaker was organized. LIES! Like I have said for years, our homes are holding us back. The two women in the podcasts one got their homes organized and then decided what to do next in life and the other lady did it so she could get focused on being productive. This is your time to get your home in order so you can focus on what you are uniquely created to do. Don’t know what that is? With all your extra time you can take yourself through Embrace and figure that out! It’s time for self care, caring for yourself. “First things first, I’m first.” You must align your home environment for the phase of life you are in for the goals you have for yourself and family. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37670970

Transformation with Janet B 08/06/2025

Transformation with Janet B In this episode, I introduce you to Janet B. She’s married with one son, a rescue dog, and 5 chickens. Janet found Organize 365® when she was looking for podcasts about organization. Janet has always been fairly organized but is always looking to learn any new nugget about organization and had her sights set on productivity now! Janet listened to the podcast for five years before she made her first purchase. Janet tried to DIY a few products like other listeners have shared. And that’s ok. It’s like you are almost trying before making the investment and I totally understand that. She finally made the purchase and then really understood how to better utilize her Sunday Basket®. The purchase wasn’t just the Sunday Basket®. She dove into The Complete Home Organization Bundle!! She just loves that everything has a place now! There have been a few moments when Janet realized the impact of The Complete Home Organizing Bundle. Her husband was looking for a title and needed it quickly! Easy! Janet decided to figure out how to use her self-cleaning oven feature. Easy! And when her clothes washer had an issue she got out the manual and discovered there was an app that could diagnose what was wrong with it, and she got it working! Easy! All the information was at her fingertips because she took the time to fill out the binders from The Paper Solution. Janet is a CPA and loves numbers!! Janet is currently a full time blogger explaining taxes in a way everyday people can understand. I love this because we start doing something we like, we get good at it, and then the complexities of business taxes enter and that is just not easily understood! We had a good conversation about AI and what is it’s place in the world. AI may be able to suggest a system but there is no person involved to support you on your journey or be able to suggest tweaks for your individual situation. Janet started another business where she is acting as a Daily Money Manager. And that led to her becoming a certified organizer to help her clients even more with superior products at their fingertips and organization of all their important paperwork by her! And then we had a really great discussion about natural disasters and being ready. Janet admitted she used to have filing cabinets and paper was her weak area. Now her paper is organized and she loves getting people prepared within their binders to be able to grab them quickly when needed. When natural disasters happen, and you are not a part of them, that should be your heads up to check your information organization. I want you to ask yourself “If that was me, am I ready?” At Organize 365®, when a natural disaster happens, and a person purchases The Paper Solution®, we will be making a donation to the Red Cross. Because we want people to be prepared or use that event as a reminder to keep working towards completing your binders. Janet now has the Friday Workbox® too and said she is more productive because she’s learned how to manage her mail and email better so she’s not constantly breaking her focus. We had a great email/productivity chat. And now she has more time and space to grow her Daily Money Manager business and network. Productivity doesn’t mean everything is done 100% at all times. Janet’s advice is, “Go all in because if you start thinking you just want a little piece here and there, you’re gonna want it all! You will realize all of the pieces work together.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37651900

Coffee Chat - Fall Productive Home Solution Enrollment is OPEN! 08/05/2025

Coffee Chat - Fall Productive Home Solution Enrollment is OPEN! Do you remember the excitement of going back to school? That energy follows us into our adulthood because of the years of repetition AND the message of “get ready for back to school” is everywhere, in the stores, news, and social media. Now is the time to get your fall supplies ready. What are your fall supplies as an adult you may be asking? Well it’s registering for Planning Day and preparing your mind to get a plan in place. You want to be productive this fall, right? Planning Day What is Planning Day? Thursday, August 21st, you’ll spend 2 hours on a live webinar prepping for Planning day on August 23rd. On Saturday, August 23rd, you’ll spend 4 hours on a live webinar getting a solid plan in place. You’ll look at your responsibilities, time constraints, any Golden Windows you may be anticipating, and goals you want to set for the next 120 days (4 months.) You’ll look at week day time vs. Saturday time vs. Sunday time. Are there some new habits you’ve been wanting to implement? You’ll look at your routines and slip those new habits into your day and try them out. What to do first? You get a plan in place but where do you actually start? The Productive Home Solution will suggest what area of your home you will want to focus on based on the natural energy of this back to school/fall/holiday season upcoming. This is your 52 week guide to getting your whole house organized…but only 40 stations. You will spend more time at some stations that just one week. Each station is a space in your home like your personal closet, bathrooms, bedrooms, storage and all the other spaces. However, if you have a space you are dying to attack, go nuts. Each space/ module is independent of the other modules. Tanya will be leading The Productive Home Solution™ club and there you will find a supportive community to do this with! We are also offering the Fall Productivity Enrollment Bundle! You will get your Planning Day, The Productive Home Solution™, AND the two year planner!! The Productive Home Solution™ is a lifetime membership. You will revisit over and over again as your phase of life changes and/or as you assume the responsibility of other homes. And now, Planning Day is like a lil retreat that takes place over three days to really mull over your options and plan how you want to spend your time this fall. This is what you need to know where you are going and over time that train of yours is going to pick up the pace and become productive. Now, how dreamy would it be to get everything you will need for one whole year and not have to go back into the Organize 365® store to pick up something you are seeing in Planning Day or The Productive Home Solution™? That’s why we have The Complete Home Organizing Bundle! You will get all three planning days, The Productive Home Solution™, The Paper Solution, Holiday Blitz Bundle, Organization is a learnable skill in paper back AND audio, the two year planner, and Embrace!! You will save $700 and be set for the year. Need a payment plan, listen to the episode for insider tips. There is no perfect time to get started. Decide that you want to get organized and through Planning Day you’ll find the time you need to get organized. When you at least have a plan in place, when the unexpected happens, you won’t be thrown off the tracks, you may just take a little longer getting to the next station. You will have systems in place! **Get signed up and then tune in, on August 15th, for a special webinar all about this Fall Enrollment or you can email customer service! EPISODE RESOURCES: 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 when you share on social media. /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37655695

669 - Audience Q&A 10 Planning and Planning Days (Invisible Work) 08/01/2025

669 - Audience Q&A 10 Planning and Planning Days (Invisible Work) Is there anything I love more than planning? No! This was a fun set of questions to ask about planning, breaking down and attacking goals, and how to practice discipline that leads to organization getting completed so you can move on to productivity! Integrating Home and Work Planning When I started Organize 365® I was focused on the energy of the home and trimesters made the most sense. When I started organization for work it made the most sense to plan quarterly since all businesses run quarterly to accommodate the tax schedule. But in true Lisa fashion, I have listened to the masses and I agree, let’s do all the planning at once. In December, Home and Work Planning Days will occur at the same time over a three day span. I suggested that you consider populating your slash pockets of focus, from both categories and include a few from home school if it applies. What do I mean? It will make more sense if you listen to the full episode. We are all trying to get #allthethings done and feeling like we are failing. I walked through a couple of solutions that could alleviate that feeling. At the end of the day make sure you are only focusing on those things that need to get done this week. Be Portable As we are all trying to get it all done, consider these few things. What is the task and can it be portable? Is it in a bin? Throw it in the car. When you have idol time in your car, you can be productive. One favorite hack I shared was the Chromebook. There is a keyboard which I love and no need for wifi. It’s always ready for you to check numbers, work on your side hustle, make updates on accounts, or pay some bills. One person who wrote in is just in a “weird phase” as she put it and I reminded her of the go bag. Make sure you are ready to be caught off guard. And in that bag you could have snacks and water for the unexpected event or the hunger you work up from working out of your car. Good news, you can learn discipline too? It’s time for me to offer some tough love, “How bad do you want it?” Multiple people wrote in about “what if you aren’t in the right energy”, “what if you plan but then you don’t follow through”, and “unexpected events that throw you off.” Active parenting young kids is a whole other chapter to which I offered 6 valuable tips to you parents. You have to do the work to get the results. You can’t lose weight if you don’t change anything and so you too can’t get organized if you don’t make a plan and then run that plan. The Sunday Basket® will provide a plan for the week and Planning Day will provide a plan for the next 120 days. And The Productive Home Solution ™ makes your personal spaces work for you! Most of Planning Day is not about goal setting. Planning day is about looking at your time, how you are currently using it, and what do you want to accomplish? When you look at all aspects of your life you can see where you have time to get organized or complete a project. Remember to treat your spouse as a “nice to have.” I like being in charge and I like being “the flow.” I plan as though I have no one to help me. But when the opportunity presents itself for me to have help, I take it and delegate. I plan everything like it depends on me, but I pray like everything depends on God. EPISODE RESOURCES: (where you will find the Spring Break Blitz Week) (How to break down big projects) 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37586765

Transformation with Lisa P. 07/30/2025

Transformation with Lisa P. In this episode, I introduce you to Lisa P. who lives in Australia with one of her three daughters, her husband, 24 mini goats, 20 ducks, 20 chickens, 2 dogs, and 2 guinea fowl. Lisa P. lives on a farm (could you tell) and has a cottage that she rents out like an Air BNB. Lisa P. heard an interview with me and was attracted to my passion for systems and organization. When I started talking about jigsaw puzzles and then the Sunday Basket® Lisa P. thought, “You got me!” Lisa started binging the podcast last year like 2 hours a day! Lisa had always been an organized person and had systems in place but she felt like they weren’t working with each other. As a trailblazer among her peers starting a family first, she felt like she was always advising them. Now for the first time Lisa P had someone to look up to that had been down the road ahead of her and she could learn from the podcast, systems, and products. We agreed that even though kids grow up and move out…the complexities of life don’t go away. It’s like there’s this significance of our active parenting years. So when her first flew out of the nest and the next followed very soon, she didn’t know how to feel. But then, she claimed this next phase of life for herself! She got excited about making the spare room for her and her hobbies, she accepted cleaning isn’t the most important thing, and she set a regular guilt free tea time to relax before the evening routine begins. Lisa P. uses her daily routines like a flow chart. She has a list of priorities. When one gets by passed because maybe the cottage doesn’t have guests checking in or it’s a rainy day, she just continues down the list of daily responsibilities to be completed. She explained her life as romantically chasing the energy of her year, her almanac. Lisa P. has always had a passion for the seasons. After completing the Productive Home Solution™ she found the energies to match that of the Northern Hemisphere even though their seasons and school year is different. She loves how one energy pushes you into the next. It was so interesting to hear how the Australian year unfolds. Lisa P. loves the Sunday Basket® because all the actionable papers don’t go away each week. Sometimes you need to hold on to actionable paper for a month or two while it goes through whatever process. But it’s nice to have the paper piles gone and a safe place that she knows where the papers are now. She also loves home Planning Day to figure out what projects will be top priority for her house in her flow chart. She has a Sunday Basket® for her “All Seasons Project” and a Friday Workbox® for the farm. She’s learned the difference between clearing and organizing and that has quieted the negative self talk about her home management skills. Lisa P.’s advice is, “The game changer is identifying what stage of life you are in, then start feeling ok about it.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37600130

668 -Audience Q&A 9 Organizing Hobbies & Photos (Visible Work) 07/25/2025

668 -Audience Q&A 9 Organizing Hobbies & Photos (Visible Work) You Guys! I was so excited to answer these questions. I love my hobbies so much!! Right now, travel is a hobby I want to focus on. Greg asked me why I am taking these adult fieldtrips alone? It feeds me. I encourage my family to follow their interests and develop their skills within their hobbies. I am starting to pour into myself like I always have for my family members and I think everyone should do the same, especially the household manager. Scrapbooking & Photos Disclaimer: I am a hands on scrapbooker. If you are looking for digital suggestions, I am not your guru. Creative Memories was one of the first direct sales companies I worked for. Anna and I discovered that her mom, Donna, was THE creator of the power layouts for scrapbooking specific to Creative Memories. I taught this system to all my customers and little Anna was the one counting all the chipboards that were going into the boxes that I had ordered!! There were questions about sorting, storage, getting started, and product recommendations. I learned a lot about storage of photos, how the containers matter, and the books you place those precious pictures in matter too. I stand by Creative Memories to this day because of their quality and I am actually still a consultant with them! The first thing you need to identify is why you want to scrapbook and then you can make an action plan from there. One lady said there were pictures everywhere and how was she going to get them organized quickly because she needed her guest room to be functional soon. I recommend a bulk sort at this stage. Start sorting by decade and go from there because it will take awhile to get all those pictures in albums anyway! There is a whole section on photo organization in the Saving Your Story Photo Organization Program. Make sure you are journaling to capture why those pictures are important. And then I suggested a few ways you could document pictures quicker and have completed albums. Books, Audio, and Journaling I don’t journal too much but what I may consider journaling is summer time when I think about future ideas. And this is where Embrace came from. I think about the future and who I currently am and where I am going in my personal life and professionally. I’ve shared that there was that time when I decided “If it was to be it was up to me.” And that was the catalyst for being mindful of my attitude and what I consume. I make sure to always be consuming content about influential people, presidents, inventors, and the like; this helps me to stay future oriented. Anna also pointed out how one of Organize 365®’s core values is the Power of Positivity. It’s a focus for me and my business. I am a life long learner and I love my books. I am such a compulsive book buyer that even when I couldn’t really afford books I would buy them anyway I just can’t help myself. I let Marie Kondo talk me into tossing out a bunch of books and boy do I regret getting rid of those books. I’ve realized I am not a minimalist and I love revisiting my books. The best way for me to suggest some great reads is through the podcast. I spent a whole year recommending books. And I guess those are my top 52 recommendations. Take the time to live in your hobbies and fill your hobby cup as you fill everyone else’s. EPISODE RESOURCES: (check out the following 11 months for additional book reviews) 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37534735

Transformation with Meredith D 07/23/2025

667 - Audience Q&A 8 - What To Do When Your Organization Gets Off Track (Invisible Work) 07/18/2025

Transformation with Lindsey G 07/16/2025

Transformation with Lindsey G In this episode, I introduce you to Lindsey G. who has a blended family with three children with her current husband and 5 cats. Lindsey found Organize 365® when she was searching for organizational podcasts. The Organize 365® message resonated with Lindsey so she started to binge the podcast. After being a single mom for over a decade, it was a lot to all of the sudden have extra people in the house as their families came together. In Dec. of ‘23 Lindsey had decided to leave her job as a band teacher at a charter school and open her own music school. She also thought to herself “I don’t have to be this busy. I want a new normal.” And that’s when she went searching for podcasts to support her getting organized. Lindsey shared how much empowerment she feels from doing the Sunday Basket®. I was curious how she thought single parent life would have been if she had known about the Sunday Basket® then. That led to a more in depth conversation about single women who are the parent, provider, and house manager. I let out a little secret about a project we are working on in this vein, gotta listen to get the scoop! She wishes she’d learned then that she was worth the money and time investment. She also initially squirmed at the idea of routine structure. Now that she’s made the investment, she has since realized routinely doing her Sunday Basket® frees up time and helps her to plan for creative time. She wishes she’d found the Sunday Basket® because as a single mom so she could have been much more efficient with her time. Lindsey was vulnerable enough to share that she has bipolar. It is managed but she still has the high and low energy swings. The Sunday Basket® helps her to take care of necessary tasks during low energy and do extra tasks when she has extra energy. Lindsey got the Launch Program to send her son off to college, and the Holiday Blitz to better plan November and December which she now sees as “one month.” She plans for the things that happen each season, they aren’t new things and they aren’t surprising Lindsey anymore. It wasn’t so much that she had an ah hah moment that something was organized as much as she notices her ability to maximize time. She has maxed out efficiency when running errands, planning her week, and even looking at her time in the pie wheels during Planning Day. Now instead of thinking “maybe I can make it all work” on a weekly basis, she plans her time, Mon- Fri and then Sat separately from Sunday, in Planning Day. With her understanding of the invisible load she can be much more intentional. She’s thankful that she has ditched the “you gotta be busy to be important” belief. Lindsey has more peace, confidence, and surety that tasks will get done. Lindsey’s advice is, “Binge the podcast. Find the ones that resonate with you. Then get the Sunday Basket® and when you feel ready add on other products and systems.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37382150

666 - Audience Q&A 7 - Organizing Kids of All Ages 07/11/2025

665 - Upleveling the Sunday Basket and Complete Home Organization Bundle 07/07/2025

665 - Upleveling the Sunday Basket and Complete Home Organization Bundle Happy Monday! I am constantly asking myself “Knowing what I know now, if I had to start all over again from scratch, would I still design these programs, products, and services the same way? Or would I do them differently? This summer I answered this question by saying yes I would do something different and the Organize 365® team confirmed my ideas. Changes with the Sunday Basket® The Sunday Basket® is a combination of your gifts, strengths, and orientation coupled with your life experiences and the people with which you do that. I have decided to add the weekly tear pad that you see me use to organize my week in the videos. The monthly tear pad will also be included. How inconvenient it is to get the Sunday Basket® but realize you need to go back into the shop to grab a few add on items. Now you don’t. You will also get the pink, purple, green, blue tabs and the Sunday Basket® Bookmark. Those are the product changes but I also decided to shift your mindset on the amount of time you will need to set aside each week for the Sunday Basket® which is 3 hours each week for roughly the first six weeks. You are learning a new skill set and watching the videos. You are no longer alone in this organizational fight and you have the Organize 365® community to help you iterate and improve the systems you are establishing. Changes with the Complete Home Organization Bundle This 52 week course now includes The Productive Home Solution™, The Paper Solution, 4 Binders, 3 Planning Days, 2 year planner, Holiday Blitz Bundle, Embrace, Paper Solution Book, and Organization is a Learnable Skill book. It is a complete turbo charged bundle to again include everything you need to get your home 80% organized in a year without having to revisit the shop. (I explained why only 80% in this episode.) It is designed to help you eliminate the mental and physical clutter and get systems in place. And again I decided to shift the mindset about how much time this is actually going to take you. I have been on a health journey and shared about how I have added practices into my week, devoting more time, but now getting the results I desire. And it’s the same with this system. Ask yourself, “Are you willing to put the time in now, to live a completely different life a year from now? And for one year, you will now look at sections of your home and watch the videos that apply to your and your current phase of life. Might be the same house but you may need to start using it differently. Week one starts after Planning Day in August. The holidays are a big deal that require a lot of time and planning. For two months, I want you to utilize the Sunday Baskets® from the Holiday Blitz Bundle. One is for the holidays and one is for taxes. You will delay everything else in your regular Sunday Basket® till January. These additional baskets will give you a place to cognitively offload so you can be present in and enjoy the holidays. And I felt it necessary to include Embrace. Embrace is designed to help you reflect on how you formed the idea of what a household manager came to be, decide what you want to keep of that description, and then uncover what are you uniquely created to do with all of the extra time now that your life is organized. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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 when you share on social media. /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37288950

664 - Audience Q&A 6 - Physical Household Management (Visible Work) 07/04/2025

664 - Audience Q&A 6 - Physical Household Management (Visible Work) I’ve answered questions about the invisible work we are all doing and today I am answering questions about the visible work we do. A good example of visible work is everything you would do inside of The Productive Home Solution™. I explained the evolution of the program from it’s inception as 40 weeks One Home to the “exhausting” 100 day program where I realized not everyone has kids, to today The Productive Home Solution™. I have been refining this program for 10 years to help anyone be able to organize any home. It’s a 52 week cycle of organizing spaces that matches the energy of the year. Yes, the energy changes throughout the year. Remodeling Elizabeth is getting ready to remodel her kitchen and wanted to know the best way to leverage The Productive Home Solution™. I answered saying as items are boxed up, label where those items will go once the remodel is done. One box per cabinet. I also found it useful to set up card tables with laundry baskets as cabinets during the remodel. Pro tip: ask for extra shelves for your cabinets! Another person asked for an alternative to the shoe organizers during the remodeling because her husband doesn’t like the look. “The organizers stay!” The alternative is more expensive and cumbersome. Plus, if it was all tucked away her family would constantly be asking where things were because it’s all out of place to begin with. You can see through the organizers and it’s for a short amount of time. “The organizers stay!” Email! You guys, we are all in trouble with AI. It is making email more and more difficult to maintain. In The Productive Home Solution™ there are TEN lessons on email alone! If you are “email upside down”, archive all you have now and slowly go through them. It once took me 8 weeks to go through a client’s email inbox! A few additional quick tips that I was able to offer was use your email like a Sunday Basket®, delay replying, delete spam, print actionable emails or emails you have replied to, and hire an executive assistant if you can. At some point, you may even think about a Chief of Staff to help. We are doing all of this invisible/ visible work for our families on top of our paid work. Email is the easiest to step out of. But only you can comfort your child in the middle of the night. What can you outsource? What Can You Outsource As women we are wearing the hats of wife, mom, home school teacher (in this case from the question), and household manager. She wanted to know if she should focus on The Productive Home Solution™ or the Teacher Friday Workbox™ because she homeschools. There is a great compromise to be made here. Do both. Do the teacher planning and incorporate an hour of home school to The Productive Home Solution™ and while you are at that they could be working on some of the Kids Program. Also, to lighten the load get a housekeeper. Again, where are you needed and what can you outsource? A housekeeper was suggested for another person asking about how to best prepare for going back to school for her CPA exam. I replied to delegate and elevate your family members. She had a college aged child that could help with housekeeping or hire it out. Also stock up on everything you can before classes start. Take care of things like dr. appointments and upcoming maintenance on cars or anything else. Those are things you can do early because school has hard deadlines that aren’t flexible! Lower your standards of clean and communicate with your family about what to expect and things you will need help with because you no longer will have the bandwidth to do them. You guys submitted such great questions. Catch the full episode to hear the more questions and solutions I provided. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37271420

Transformation with Lauren H 07/02/2025

Transformation with Lauren H In this episode, I introduce you to Lauren H. who is married and has a blended family with three kids and two dogs. Her mother actually lives on her property too in a separate dwelling. Lauren has been listening to the podcast for past 9 or 10 years. Only in the last 5 has she officially started her organization journey when she had her son, her mom came to live “with them”, remodeling their home, a booming business, her daughter starting Kindergarten, and oh yeah covid for the perfect storm to make someone need to get organized. Paper had always been a problem for her and the other systems didn’t address paper. She was no longer in control of the paper and she needed a system to get things in order. We had a great conversation about multigenerational housing, which was one element adding paper to her life. Lauren’s mom has lived on their property for awhile now. It’s cheaper and she’s very able to live in her own place with Lauren close by instead of an assisted living facility she doesn’t want to be at anyway. That being said we talked about the peace of mind the medical binder provided for Lauren during Covid. No one could go to the doctor with their loved ones, this was a way to make sure the medical team knew about her severe corn allergy. Once Lauren got all of the medical binders filled out for her family, she moved on to the financial binder. Lauren and her husband run a modular home business. The financial binders help them to keep track of all the business accounts. It felt so great when her husband needed a title for a trailer he sold and he knew exactly where to look for it. Lauren is thankful for her helpful and supportive husband. She thanked me for the message that yes women are doing more because actually they want to be running the show! They want to do all the household things but also be supported. Even in business it’s easier when there is one person in charge. And because lifestyles are so varied, at Organize 365® we try really hard to have the conversation be dynamic to support all the ways we are running our households. When life grows, so does your paper and that’s why Lauren finally gave into putting systems in place because life kept growing and her paper was overwhelming. She loves that the Sunday Basket® is like her external brain. She has so much more space in her brain now. She had very nice things to say about me, her “Organizing Big Sister”, as far as my teaching style. And then she got very excited about planning. Planning provides her the opportunity to look at her life and her business. Lauren agrees that it’s critical to take time to plan. Take yourself out of the daily activities of home and the tasks at work and plan. She feels like when she’s planned out the next quarter, she can be more present during the days of that planned quarter. And she loves that with planning nothing sneaks up on her like November that is clustered with birthdays then followed by the gift purchasing holidays. She can plan for it. She can budget for it. She only wishes she knew how to be organized and plan sooner! Lauren’s advice is, “Start with the Sunday Basket®. Get everything out of your brain. For 6-8 weeks get your mind and body in a rhythm of sitting down every Sunday and processing your Sunday Basket®. Then start one of the binders.” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37244250

663 - Audience Q&A 5 - Paper Information Management (Invisible Work) 06/27/2025

663 - Audience Q&A 5 - Paper Information Management (Invisible Work) We are moving on to the questions about paper management. You become responsible for more paper as you get older. It starts with car titles, insurance, and institution degrees. Then you graduate to information about your health, your home, and your growing family. Before you know it you may be caring for a parent or settling an estate. How do you control all the paper? Financial Binder The Paper Solution has two steps to it. There is the great sort. You may need Sunday Baskets® to initially sort paper into according to which binder you will be placing it in. You will feel more confident knowing what paperwork you have, even though it’s not in binders yet. And then there’s placing all those papers in the appropriate binder. The first question was a little bit of a heavy one asking about filing personal papers for the event of your passing. It was easy to answer though, make sure you have a financial binder filled out. I created the Financial Binder after settling my dad’s estate. There were so many things I didn’t know I needed and I wanted others to know when it is time for them to settle an estate. I was stumped when asked about a loved one’s social media. Anna mentioned she discovered that you can designate someone as your custodian upon death. And she’s seen accounts that indicate the person has passed. Check your social media settings. Completing the binders can be a huge gift to your future self but can feel overwhelming today. Just set aside 15 to 20 minutes a day or extend your Sunday Basket® processing time. You probably need roughly 120 hours to get through all of the paper and set up your binders. A good cheat is to attend a paper retreat here at Organize 365® or at any of our certified paper organizers retreats. You can get roughly 40 hours of work completed by attending. You may find your to-do list growing as you fill in the binders. So set yourself up to complete tasks from anywhere. That’s why I set it up in a basket, so it was portable. Switch your mindset to think of what you can do in the places you go so you can be the most productive in completing this gift to your future self. This could be your plan B too for days you need to pivot. If you normally care for your child or parent and a doctor visit gets changed or your loved one is not feeling well, you could paper sort in place of those activities or at those activities. You never know how the day is going to go when caring for others. You could also be enjoying these summer days and paper sorting could be saved for rainy days. It’s a small shift in mindset of when and how you can get this paper under control. Medical Binder “How much detail should go into the medical binder?” I have found it useful to have past blood work, tests, and any letter from a doctor regarding special permissions for a prescription or procedure. I gave three situations where without my medical binder, the course of treatment would have included medicine but due to paperwork I had, the course of treatment changed. The Value of a Checklist One person wrote in saying she spends a few weeks in Mexico every summer and how could she better plan for it. Good ole checklists. You create a checklist and each summer just update the list according to any changes in growth or what you need when away from home. You can store it in the Household Operations binder until you need it, update it, and place it back in the binder till next time. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37124745

662 - Audience Q&A 4 - Routines! (Invisible Work) 06/23/2025

662 - Audience Q&A 4 - Routines! (Invisible Work) Happy Monday! This Connections Episodes is all about Routines. Energy is a word that keeps surfacing in these questions and conversations within the community. We are busy ladies! So how do we establish and stick to these routines? It’s important to regularly evaluate your routines and determine if they are still serving you and your house for the phase of life you are in. Energy for routines and sticking to them regarding family Right out of the gate Mary asked about sticking to routines now that her children are out of school for the summer. We all do better with schedules/routines. You don’t have to rush out the door anymore but you can still have a schedule. This way you and your family can have expectations for the day. The best part about being an adult, is that you can make the schedule anything you want. It’s ok to have a few non productive days and enjoy the time with your kids. Most importantly enjoy your summer. “I’m so busy doing everything for my family I feel like I never get to do what I want to do.” OR “I feel guilty being lazy when it’s so beautiful outside.” I say choose a day that you will what you want to do. For example, in the summer Greg golfs on Wednesdays so, I “project” on Wednesday. If it rains or golf is cancelled for some reason, I still “project.” OR you can say these are the projects I will do on rainy days. So go out and enjoy the sunshine but when you can’t, pull out those projects you have been wanting to tackle. You could also designate times or nights when you, say, watch tv with your spouse. It’s important to nurture important relationships and it’s important to fill your cup too. Sticking to your routines for you Another question was about having a plan for the week but not having the right energy for planned tasks. I had to throw out a little tough love. I want you to ask yourself “How bad do you want it?” I want my PhD badly so I have sacrificed time with my family and I have done the work even when I didn’t want to. If you want your home organized, do 15 minutes a day even when you don’t want to. If you find yourself waning in energy in general, look at your diet and physical activity. I have always been an energetic person but I noticed by cleaning up my diet and increasing my daily movement, I have more energy. I explained how making environmental changes can help you in making dietary changes. And I talked about the 24 hour rule. I delay projects and I delay decision making until Sundays. Basically I don’t buy anything unless I know I can start it within 24 hours. Anna and I laughed about me learning about the Orgnaize 365® staff and their addiction with the “Save for Later” feature on Amazon. I said a lot more about it so please go listen to the full episode. Rapid Fire Q & A “Lisa, What do you do with all of the completed puzzles?” “I donate them.” “What is a typical work day for you Lisa?” “What is a typical home day for you Lisa?” Listen to episodes 471- 474 I take you through each day! I explain my rationalization for what I do. “Do you have a routine with Amazon ordering?” Back in the day I had to watch all our pennies. And I explained how I would delegate our money in combination with processing my Sunday Basket®. You may get a better idea for how to set up an Amazon routine for yourself by listening to those episodes. Regular Review It is so important to establish routines so you have capacity for other aspects of life. Planning Day gives you a great opportunity to evaluate what you are currently doing, are your routines still serving you, are there things that have fallen off that you want to add back in or try in a different way? Every planning day you decide what you want you day to look like for the next 120 days. Planning day provides the opportunity to stop, review, change, and move forward. EPISODE RESOURCES: Ep. 469-479 A Day in the Life of (Weekends, Home, and Work) Ep. 521-525 How Lisa went from No Sunday Basket® to Sunday Basket® retailer 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 when you share on social media. /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37091125

661 - Audience Q&A 3 - The Sunday Basket (Invisible Work) 06/20/2025

661 - Audience Q&A 3 - The Sunday Basket (Invisible Work) I’m sticking with answering your questions about the invisible work we do. And today is all about the Sunday Basket®. I didn’t yet have a name for it. But I’ll never forget the sense of accomplishment from the first time I tried my idea out that became the Sunday Basket®. In 2012, Joey went down for his normal 20 min nap, and I, Lisa Woodruff, actually got a few calls made and checked a few things off my list. The more I did it the more I realized this was something all household managers needed. And now I had a plan to get control of my to do’s and paper. Organization is a learnable skill. Delayed gratification = Productivity The Sunday Basket® is a box on your kitchen counter to “collect all”. On Sunday, you make decisions. One person asked “How do you know what to do first?” Reality check: you are not going to get all your to-do’s done. We are all overcommitted. When I go through my Sunday Basket®, it’s really a process of elimination; what is the least I can get away with doing. When you only take care of the things necessary, you free up time for you. And this is why we use note cards! You don’t need to do the busy work of rewriting your to-do list, you just decide if each thing on each note card needs to be done by next Sunday or not and you put it right back in it’s slash pocket if not. One person noted they spend all their time going through slash pockets and recreating their to-do list. I remember being worried, “What was I going to do when I completed my Sunday Basket®?” It’s important to know what you are freeing up time to do. How would you feel actually completing one of those tasks each week? Then two each week? Then what’s that big reward? Will you get more time with your family? Continue your education? Plan what you will do with all that extra time. Sunday Basket® for now and later A Sunday Basket® can be utilized in many ways. I answered one question about using it for finances. You can have a whole Sunday Basket for finances where you track and plan your 401K, Investments, and projects or large ticket items that you are planning to purchase. I use my household manager one for monthly tasks including bills. I have a separate one for larger financial planning. Another person inquired about all the tips she’s saved and if putting them in her Sunday Basket® was a good idea. If it’s tips or instructions for something difficult to find each time you need to do it, print it off and place them in your Household Operations Binder. And/Or, you could have a whole Sunday Basket® devoted to projects, book tours, getting your PhD, recipes, and life hacks for “someday.” I recommend pink because that’s the color for you, the future, and dreaming. The Sunday Basket® is a great place to store ideas and you will know where to find them later. Then when you have the time from only doing necessary tasks, you have time for something that doesn’t need to be done but that you have been wanting to do. We have the Sunday Basket® for your household manager role. And there is the Friday Workbox for work. They both help in similar manners but the slash pockets have slightly different functions. We offer bundles to help you make the most out of you purchase to maximize your organization and productivity results. If you really don’t know where to start, you won’t break customer service’s heart to call and they’ll shop with you. They love to hear what you are working on and suggest the perfect products for you and the phase of life you are in. EPISODE RESOURCES: 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37033965

Transformation with Carly L. 06/16/2025

Transformation with Carly L. In this episode, I introduce you to Carly L. is married with two children. Carly was looking for paper organization solutions and came across the book “The Paper Solution.” Paper has always been Carly’s nemesis but it was to a point where she couldn’t locate important papers. Her daughter would be starting Kindergarten soon and she knew she had to do something with all of her disorganization. Carly joked she was so disorganized that she missed the Black Friday sale to purchase the Sunday Basket®. Carly grew up in an organized home, but hers wasn’t. She described it as feeling a low level of constant anxiety humming. There was constant chaos of not knowing where things were. She thought other books and checklists were going to help her. But, in fact, Carly has gained so much empowerment from the books and the Organize 365® systems. She passionately explained how we are building lives here. She values how Organize 365® teaches people how to think about organizing. The skills you learn can evolve with the phase of life you are in . It’s not the picture perfect containers that will help get you organized. “Lisa did it and I can too.” If your kitchen cabinet isn’t working where it is and you want it in the laundry room, you just get out your tools and make it happen. That’s what Carly did because she remembered the story I shared of me doing the same thing. You have to make your house work for the phase of life your family is in. Carly said things don’t get organized, you do and systems do. Carly claims you can’t have the Sunday Basket® and not be productive. Carly uses her Sunday Basket® and she ordered the Holiday bundle that came with a Sunday Basket® for Christmas and one for taxes. Carly also takes care of her mother-in-law, and has a Sunday Basket® for her as well as a Medical Binder. When her father-in-law passed, her MIL didn’t know anything a household manager would know. She has poor English and it was difficult to navigate. Now, with the help of the Sunday Basket®, Carly can stay organized with all things concerning her MIL. Then Carly said, I’d like to request a Sunday Basket® for the military. I was excited to spill the beans early to her (in December when this was recorded) about the PCS box we recently unveiled. We talked a lot about the relocation process and all of the paperwork. We talked about the marital roles the military expects. Carly talked about how the Sunday Basket® helps a person to compartmentalize tasks. It’s like a personal assistant reminding you of the things you need to do and will be very helpful for PCS’ing. And she claims a Sunday Basket® will help your marriage. She found she was purchasing duplicate items and couldn’t locate important things. Their home environment is much more calm and she can be the partner she wants to be because she knows where things are. She doesn’t feel like she’s constantly playing whack a mole anymore. It’s functional organization, that you get from the Organize 365® systems, that serves us. She pointed out that even if you are tired, you can do a 15 minute organization task. Carly appreciates that you can jump back into the system anytime. She feels the planning days are magical. Her family is thriving because of routines she has in place. She warned planning is one part but then you just gotta do it! She has gained so much self esteem from everything she has implemented. Carly’s advice is, “Don’t give up on yourself. And if you fail,it’s just like a child, you’re gonna crawl, then you’re gonna walk, and the your gonna be running!” EPISODE RESOURCES: On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/37033885

Audience Q&A 2 - Decluttering and How to Get Started (Visible Work) 06/13/2025

Audience Q&A 2 - Decluttering and How to Get Started (Visible Work) Ok, this is so much fun answering all of the questions that have come in. I decided to organize the questions in the same order in which you would experience in The Productive Home Solution®. In the next 10 episodes, we are going to look at all of the visible work we all do. When it comes to getting organized we want to eliminate the overwhelm and disorganization and get to being productive and organized so you can do what you are uniquely created to do. Decluttering comes first and it is getting rid of what you no longer need. Decluttering is like vacuuming, it’s got to be done over and over. Do not confuse it for getting organized. I’ve seen people over-declutter, then have regrets, and then not like being “organized”. Someone asked “How do you know when you are done?” I say when you have made enough space to start moving things around in the space you are organizing, that’s good enough. You will find in that process that you find more things you want to declutter. Getting organized is totally different; it’s getting your home to a functional state for the phase of life your family is in. Organizing your life is opening up more time to do what you want to do and being more productive. I’d like you to have realistic expectations and just know this will take you roughly three years to get fully organized. The more you do it the more you build those muscles. After we all do our closets and kitchens, which seem to have some universal set up, we don’t know what to do. There are so many variables like our age, the phase our family is in, and where we live that can demand we use our houses in different ways, maybe untraditional ways. A question came in regarding items she’d decluttered. She wanted to get rid of some items but was struggling because they have financial value. You have to decide to donate, have a garage sale/selling online, or toss the items. I explained how I needed money so I held a garage sale and sold things online. There is a whole video about having a garage sale in The Productive Home Solution®. I advised her to start collecting these items somewhere near the garage. This makes it easier if you are going to hold a garage sale or if you will need to put these items in your car for donation drop off. I also talked about claiming your donations on your taxes. And I discussed the mental hurdles of getting rid of items. I know for me it was difficult to admit I was not going back to the classroom, I was not going to be pregnant, and I didn’t want some handed down items. We have to admit that that chapter of our life is finished. I found holding onto those items made me reflective of the past and I really want to be future oriented. By getting rid of those items the negative emotions left and opened up space literally and figuratively for the future. Organization is future oriented. And another person wrote in with questions about combining households and how much she was overwhelmed with all of the boxes in all the rooms, not to mention their storage unit and her mother-in-law’s things, who has passed away. I suggested a few boxes a day. See if there are duplicates and decide which one to keep and which one will be donated or whatever. And never make someone get rid of things of a loved one until the person is ready. It usually takes 5 years for the attachment of the item to the passed person to become less or be gone. And then I addressed cleaning and organizing. It’s really hard to clean a cluttered home. You can lower your standards of what clean means. You need to declutter. And then you can consider a cleaning person if you want so you have more time to organize. Or you can take advantage of the free Household Manager 21 day bootcamp! It was created so you could get a taste of getting organized. You start by printing out the calendar, pick your three weeks, and big black trash bag energy. This is to teach you how to declutter and organize a space. Give it a try and tell me about your transformation! EPISODE RESOURCES: ^ Garage Sale Episode - Inside The Productive Home Solution® ^ On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at . 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! /episode/index/show/organize365/id/36976360

Organize 365: Productivity Tips for Home and Life Organization

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