Avsnitt
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Elaine Willing was on the Monday Connection episode and we have been working together to get this PCS Planning Course just right. You’ll get a workbook, training videos, and a community in the Organize 365® app. Elaine worked on a way to mentally process PCS. She’s figured out how to stop the spinning in your brain with the mention of PCS and turn it into productive actions. Hear all about it in yesterday’s episode!! The workbook helps you to process your emotions and proactively make a plan for the relocation. PCS’ing can be a lonely isolating process that only builds in complexity as your family grows and you “survive” another duty station. We realize the need to get to community quicker in these moves. The places Elaine has been pained to leave were those when she had a supportive community.
You guys!!! I am so excited to be able to offer the PCS Planning Course AND on top of that…it’s 90% off till May 9th, 2025 because that is Spouse Appreciation Day! This is not an April Fool’s joke!! Please tell everyone you know about this course to help soldiers and their families PCS with less stress. And as I shared in the coffee chat, there is an option to have our base get a virtual or in person training for the PCS Planning Course. You will get lifetime access so even if you are not in a PCS season, take advantage of the pricing now so you have it available to you when you need it again.
*4 Hr. Virtual Planning Day for your base via zoom.
*6 Hr in person (in the 48 continuous states), on base training. Includes the PCS bundle. Two hours will be interactive with me in a questions and answer or book signing interactive capacity.
*With this in person opportunity you get the PCS Planning Course, Workbook & The PCS Productivity Bundle.
PCS Productivity Bundle: Portable Sunday Basket, 2.0 slash pockets (pink, purple, blue, green), and 2.0 Productivity tabs. Your pink slash pocket is for travel, purple slash pockets is for all things related to your home, blue slash pocket for your family and pets, and green for finances including an expense tracker so you get things paid for that should be by the military.
**If you have questions and/or interest in one of these opportunities please email [email protected]
EPISODE RESOURCES:
PCS Planning Course
PCS Productivity Bundle
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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.
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Happy Monday! Today I get to introduce you to Elaine Willing, who is officially on staff as teh lead for our new PCS (Permanent Change of Station) initative. At Organize 365®, we’ve developed a course to help spouses, supporting their soldiers, to find community faster and make each move a little easier. I first met Elaine through her father in law at a home school co-op conference. He was sent to get a picture with me. Elaine found Organize 365® about 10 years ago when she was maxed out and looking for solutions. Then I got to meet Elaine and the rest is history! I share in her desire to help military spouses through the PCS process. Elaine has supported her husband for many years, is raising her three boys, and now it’s her turn to do something that fills her cup! She sees how spouses just kind of circle in the lower levels of Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Needs and never get to rise to the level where you explore your purpose, what you are uniquely created to do. Elaine knows all too well about PCSing (13 times) and understands the struggle with #alltheemotions, #allthepaperwork and is eager to get to spouses organized and in community sooner.
The Emotional Toll
Elaine was very vulnerable in sharing her experience, to this point, being a military spouse. She shared aspects of her life I had never thought of! I never considered the friendships they have to build quickly and let go at a moment’s notice. The grieving process you go through as you leave your current station (although she joked that sometimes you are relieved to leave if it just wasn’t a good fit) and anxiety or excitement about what lies ahead with a new duty station. Think of how much you trust the people you put down for your children’s emergency contact…Elaine has to find that stranger quickly, as all the forms continue to request it, as she gets her family settled in each new location. There’s a different at home cadence with each location based on the soldier’s new job. My jaw was on the floor as she explained to me how she got to fly home to see family. Yes they get free SA (space available) flights, but I’m not sure that’s a flight I want to take. And their stations overseas, they’ve only had one car which made daily activities challenging with little ones in tow.
All the Moving Pieces
Oh the checklists we’ve accumulated and compiled to assist with the repetitive nature of PCS’ing. There are checklists for utilities, vehicles, homes, packing the house, and what not to pack. I included 10 steps to an organized move. When military families move, lots times they are living out of a suitcases for 30 days. You better believe there’s a checklist for those suitcases. Some bases are equipped with a lending closet for basic things like maybe some toys for your kids or small appliances that weren’t necessities. And then where do you get groceries in your new location (tricky for Elaine with her family having food allergies), house keepers, after school activities, sports, babysitters, and even for you to find friends. There’s a checklist of services you’ll need to find and establish. A lot of the post-move checklists you could review on the plane ride to your new duty station. The very last checklist “Just tell me what to do” for when you are drained but know you need to keep going.
What to Expect
Over the many moves, Elaine has found a way to mentally process PCS. She’s figured out how to stop the spinning in your brain with the mention of PCS and turn it into productive actions. The workbook helps you to process your emotions and proactively make a plan for the relocation. PCS’ing can be a lonely isolating process that only builds in complexity as your family grows and you “survive” another duty station. We realize the need to get to community quicker in these moves. The places Elaine has been pained to leave were those when she had a supportive community.
Two Opportunities to Build Community:
*4 Hr. Virtual Planning Day for your base via zoom.
*6 Hr in person (in the 48 continuous states), on base training. Includes the PCS bundle. Two hours will be interactive with me in a questions and answer or book signing interactive capacity.
*With this in person opportunity you get the PCS Planning Course, Workbook & The PCS Productivity Bundle which includes a Portable Sunday Basket, 2.0 slash pockets (pink, purple, blue, green), and 2.0 Productivity tabs. Your pink slash pocket is for travel, purple slash pockets is for all things related to your home, blue slash pocket for your family and pets, and green for finances including an expense tracker so you get things paid for that should be by the military.
**If you have questions and/or interest in one of these opportunities please email [email protected]
EPISODE RESOURCES:
PCS Planning Course
PCS Productivity BundleSign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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.
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Saknas det avsnitt?
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Your home is like “home base” in tag, it’s the safe spot. In 2024, we spent resources on Joey and Abby’s homes. In 2025, I want to do some renovations on the second floor of our home, where Greg and I spend a lot of time. I wanted to share how I plan to attack those renovations but first I felt it appropriate to offer this bonus economic episode to give insight to all this Tariffs talk and the swift changing of the government right now. I based my choices off of the large picture and this is how you can too as the household manager!
Hire It Out vs. DIY
There is a direct relationship between the money you have to invest and the amount of time a project will take. Either you hire a contractor to complete the task with a timeline shorter than you could’ve done. Or you do it yourself but it will take longer usually. And then there’s a hybrid option somewhere in there. I have decided on the projects I want to complete upstairs, however if I hire it all out like I did with the kids’ projects I’ll be broke soon! Next episode I’ll tell you all about it.
YOUR House
When considering your household budget and anything you want to do you need to look at what is going on in your household budget. Just because the economy is bad doesn’t mean your household is. The example I share here was the Organize 365® budget (remember our homes are small businesses) in regards to shipping costs, de minimis value, and taxes. I also shared how physical nexus and economic nexus affects Organize 365® sales and taxes so you could get an understanding of the complexity of what seems like a simple purchase or subscription from our community. You GOTTA hear the episode. And I say that to encourage learning. Always be moving forward.
Everyone may not be happy about this adjustment but when I looked at the entire shipping process and considering what the customer has to pay, in addition to their receiving end, it does not make sense to continue shipping internationally. If I don’t make this adjustment and Organize 365® does under, then there’s no money anyway. Better to adjust and make unpopular decisions. You may be looking ahead and realize that in order to celebrate your child's graduation like you may have for a previous child you need to cancel the annual summer vacation. As the household manager, in order to keep the budget afloat, this decision may make the most responsible financial sense. This is where you need to cut costs first, at the household level.
Economic Outlook
Are we in a recession or not? I talked about my opinion of the stock market. It may be an indicator of the emotional climate but not the economy. Right now, everyone can feel how volatile the economy feels. The President is making changes more quickly than people are used to. There is a lot going on with Tariffs and we are toeing the line with financial war. This is not in our control. My best advice, with all the economical uncertainty, is to attend planning day so you can plan out and allocate money for the next 120 days AND look over the next 3 years.
What Do You Need?
As a household manager, looking at the current economy, I would not embark on the PhD. I know for my household budget and looking into the future over the next three years, now would not be a financially responsible time to tie up funds for that. However, I offered multiple ideas for how to continue personal development. If you can’t attend a conference this year like you normally do, try a different mode of learning. I know I want to do some renovating this year as my time is becoming available. If there is a financially hefty project you want to do, you may need to contribute some blood sweat and tears this time, in addition to or instead of hiring someone to complete the task. Can you invest more time and still get what you want?
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Home Planning Day
The Sunday Basket®
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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! -
In this episode, Monique is here to tell you all about her experience at Small Business Mastermind. You know how I always say I am where work comes from? Well Monique is where in person events have come from in the past and you’ve probably heard her on the podcast. She’s been a professional organizer, certified by Organize 365®, for 12 years now! She has attended our events as a customer, as staff, as an organizer, and now, a small business owner looking to grow an online business.
From the moment everyone arrived at the hotel, everyone just jumped right in. Due to the private chat set up in the app before the mastermind they all had a chance to connect. They were able to connect prior to the mastermind. Monique shared her surprise that more attendees weren’t organizers. But they all were women creating business.
Day one started with an energy in the room like a bunch of old friends reuniting, even for me because of all the Voxer conversations I’d had with all the women. And because of all of those conversations and the extensive survey everyone had filled out I knew the main struggle for everyone attending was green work. Everyone was asking “How do you get it all done?” We had a lengthy conversion about Executive Assistants and Chiefs of Staff and how you know which you need. Monique shared how she got so much value out of the first session. Everyone looked at their admin tasks and they calculated a dollar value for that task. It’s like I shared about economic stage 6, it may make more sense to pay someone to do something you are capable of doing because it takes you out of your business. Monique said that was one of the most impactful things she learned. We joked, once we had that session Monique was ready to go home and conquer her business!
I’ve shared transparently that on day 2, I didn’t really know what I was going to teach but I had no doubt that it was going to be meaningful. As we try new things, if we keep the person we are doing it for in mind, it will be impactful because we want better for them. That’s when I decided to do 12 minutes with Lisa to really drill down on one struggle or thought or project. I didn’t know till Monique shared but as people came out they all shared what they asked and what we came up with.
Monique brought to the table an online business that she wanted to grow. I advised that was a tough road if she wanted to go down it due to social media being such a beast like a part time job itself, all the noise online in general, and all the back office automations and such she would need would take years to build out. But Monique really did want to incorporate her coaching, paper organizing and productivity. But it’s funny both Monique and Lisa D. couldn’t remember their original idea they came to me with because what we imagined together was so much better and a perfect solution that they were so excited about. The day ended with the women attending Friday Workbox Planning Day live. I’ve never had applause at the end of Planning Day.
Monique is offering an amazing package to come to your house for a week and organize. But we all know how easy it is to fall off the wagon after a reset like that. So you will also get 3 months of coaching on the systems and staying organized. So once you get it organized it can pretty much stay that way! She’s only taking 10 clients per year so make sure you get your package booked today!! We pay people to do a lot of things for us like watching our kids, cleaning, our accounting so why not for organizing our homes and coaching to support this change?
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Small Business Mastermind
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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 https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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! -
What have you thought of this series so far? At the beginning of this episode, I recapped economic stages 1-5. It’s important to understand them and how to advance if you’d like. But also if you find that your economic stage was once 4 and you are back to 1, you are not alone. It can happen to anyone and honestly I think all of America is in stage one, trying to reduce expenses to match their income. The economy changed which affected our small business AKA our homes. It’s important to understand and own the economic impact our home has on the global economy. Thinking about stage 6 should prompt you to look at your expenses and set expectations for what you can expect financially.
Stage 6: A business bigger than yourself; but there’s no playbook
If you choose to go to stage 6, get ready for a life long journey of development. You may make some expensive mistakes or have some hires not work out. In stage 6, your business becomes bigger than just you and your household budget. You are looking at your budget and realizing you can increase your expenses to (in the long run) make more money. It’s time to start interviewing people, explore their uniquenesses, and hire accordingly. And get ready for your income to decrease. In growing your business and getting structure in place, just know you will likely have little to no income for about 3-5 years. I wish there was a playbook that could have warned me. Take heart, in America, the 4 positions that can provide exponential wealth are doctor, lawyer, sales, and business owner. So if you are embarking on stage 6, there’s a lot of income potential due to all the extra help you have in your company now.
Stage 6: Taxes
And with structuring your company, you will become a W2 employee, at least that is how I set up Organize 365®. My income was capped by my salary. I have learned more about the IRS than you ever wanted to know. There will be new tax implications on your business’s income. And your business income is not solely yours anymore. Due to the structure you put in place, you will pay yourself, your employees AND employment taxes. You get to learn about human resources and you’ll be where benefits come from! Remember, life long journey of learning and development.
Stage 6: It’s so fun!
Even if I had known the growing pains I could expect, no one could have stopped me. I love having a company, a team, and leading them!! Details aren’t my strength and it makes me really happy to hire those tasks out. It’s time to get your home in order to give way to the time and attention you need to direct towards your business. Get that home train running smooth to allow capacity at work so you can really make an impact.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Friday Workbox®
POTT START
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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!
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Happy 7th Birthday to the Sunday Basket®, let’s all break out in song. Just kidding…I am so excited to tell you the Paper Organization Certification course is 20% off till April 1st. Once you have finished the certification and get your license, you can charge for your services and receive 30% commission on products you sell.
Once upon a time I was a very frustrated mama. Joey was only 6 months old and Abby was 2. Lil Joey didn’t like to nap very long and I had a pile of actionable papers but no time to go through them much less accomplish anything. One night the Sunday Basket® was born. I knew the more planned, organized, and efficient with my time I could multiply the amount of tasks I could conquer. Links below to hear the evolution of the Sunday Basket®.
Once the Sunday Basket® took off and people were implementing it in their lives they were longing for more training. So I started to offer workshops. But I knew in my heart of hearts that with the growth of my company, there would not be enough Lisa one day. That’s when the opportunity to become a certified paper organizer started to be offered.
Some people can DIY it and implement it successfully. Some people, like me, prefer 1:1 explanations and don’t mind paying for the speed of implementation. And yet others want to be tricked into it with a little get together, snacks, music, and friends. I used to be a part of Creative Memories, a scrapbooking company. I loved our monthly Friday night workshops and envisioned the certified organizers taking a playbook from Creative Memories. We had such rich connections and were really doing life with each other. And with simply learning to ask “Can this wait till Sunday?” you have a safe place to hold all your actionable papers till Sunday and externalize all the things you want to do.
When people come to the paper organizing retreats that are just one day mind you, they walk away with friends. It is a non-judgmental space. It’s a safe place to ask questions about the paper you have with you. Lots of times another attendee has organized the type of paper in question. And it’s through those conversations that friendships are developed.
Depending on the stage of life you are in, it can be really hard to make friends. I think of how my mom and myself have made friends over the years. I have never really been in the phase of life to plan or attend girls nights out. Those Creative Memory workshops were that for me. And the Paper Organizing Retreat or the other in person event may be that for you. 50% of the people attending are usually settling an estate which can be isolating and lonely and sometimes it’s their spouses. You can’t make friends in the walls of your homes. 5 years after COVID, it’s time to get back to in person events. People are in need of people more than ever right now. And it’s us, the people and community of Organize 365® that makes it so unique.
So if you are interested, you have the heart of a teacher or a friend, and you want to become a Certified Paper Organizer now is your time!! You will be certified in the Sunday Basket®, and the Financial, Medical, Household Reference, and Household Operation Binders. Once you are certified, you can even add on certifications like The Friday Workbox®, Teacher Workbox, and The Productive Home solution. We need more certified paper organizers! If you want to take it a step further, become a professional organizer; we have a course for that too called POTT START, check it out. If you just need to talk it out or ask more questions please reach out to customer service at [email protected].
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Paper Solution Certification
POTT Start for Professional Organizer Certification
521-Lisa's Organization Story 2002
522-Lisa's Organization Story 2007
523-Lisa's Organization Story 2012
524-Lisa's Organization Story 2017
525-Lisa's Organization Story 2022
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Today on the Connections Episodes from Organize 365®, I’m talking to Corie Weathers, author of “Military Culture Shift”. Once Corie was married she and her husband desired to invest in marriages, in a private practice. That was until he decided to pursue being a chaplain in the Military. And so began a life long adventure of serving and PCS’ing with two boys. Corie is currently gearing up to PCS soon and vulnerably shared how she feels about it. Corie’s strength is not in adjusting to change. As a therapist, Corie advises others to adjust their expectations and look for the things you are excited about in the new location. It’s important to grieve the loss of your current lifestyle, feel it, process it, and then climb out of those feelings by looking for purpose in the new. And while it is a military family’s choice to serve, she pointed out there are a lot of sacrifices and choices you forfeit. Corie is deeply committed to serving the military community.
Military Culture Shift
We talked about the culture shift among military families over the years. It used to be that 1 in 4 people knew someone serving and now it’s 1 in 200 that know someone serving in the Military. Americans had a better understanding of the sacrifice service men and women and their families make, on a daily basis. The overall support system used to be greater. Because military families know the struggle of moving so often, when you arrived in your new location, you could count on the community to embrace you. The spouses acted as the backbone and placed on the back burner for their families. They volunteered so their active duty servicemember could focus on the mission. Honestly, the Military relies on the volunteers. It’s volunteers who help the families settle in. Also as spouses, you need to get your family established, then you could explore work opportunities. But by that time it was almost time to move again. In the 80’s the marketing had a fatherly figure kind of message as in you could count on the military to supply all your needs.
That shifted to “we take care of our families so they can take care of themselves” kinda vibe. They were trying to break the dependency of families on them for every need. Families were starting to get used to 2 income households so they didn’t have to rely on the military so much and because spouses wanted to work. Spouses face many challenges in relocating and often that second income is undependable. Where the spouse has a license or certification, in some cases they aren’t recognized in other states or countries. We got into a deep discussion about possible solutions and whose job is it to develop and implement those solutions. Social media has filled some of the gaps but due to more spouses working, volunteerism went down and community decreased.
Military Initiative Funding
We also talked about how funding gets assigned to different buckets. And the appropriation process to make sure the money gets spent as intended. And what happens when money is supposed to be set aside but comes up short and then some programs don’t actually get fully funded. It directly affects those that protect us. We talked a lot about the process. And that goes for every bill that becomes law, not just for the Department of Defense (DOD) initiatives. And when families fall on hard times due to programs not getting funded, now they no longer have that tight knit community to lean on.
Corie’s Challenge: “Who is going to be the people group that implements this thing that is so important to me?”
We agreed that it’s time for everyone to look at the issues with fresh eyes and come up with outside of the box ideas as solutions. As states are starting to have more control, it’s time for us and private institutions to step up and provide actionable solutions for those who protect our freedom. Could you be part of the solution for an issue personal to you?
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Military Culture Shift by Corie Weathers
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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. -
In this episode, Lisa J. and I sat down to recap the Small Business Mastermind; If you remember, she owns a farm in Australia. Lisa J.’s farm and life has been improved by the products and systems from Organize 365®. When she heard there was an in person opportunity to work with me, she jumped on the opportunity!! Lisa J. was also excited to be in a room with like minded accomplished women but what she didn’t expect to walk away with was so much more self confidence in business.
I put out a survey asking the attendees what they were hoping to learn. Glad I asked because I was on the wrong track as far as what I had planned to teach. I love learning about other people’s businesses and consulting them how to move forward and grow and I wanted to address what they needed. I decided to hop on voxer with everyone and get a better understanding of who they were and their businesses. This also got them talking with their teams and more focused on what they wanted out of the mastermind. Once they arrived, I opened with me introducing them to the group. And then we talked about all the ways I analyze time. It was time for lunch and I needed a break because Imposture’s Syndrome was setting in. These were amazing accomplished women. What could I teach them?
Coming back from lunch they introduced themselves to the group and talked about their strengths and weaknesses. I talked about the Kolby Index test. Once they took that and heard them explain themselves, it opened the door for authentic conversations in a safe space, advising each other how to overcome their weaknesses, strengths they saw in each other, and true camaraderie.
That was a huge success but how would I continue to provide value to these women going into day 2? I knew what to do, 12 minutes - one to one with me. I remember from my coaching days that by 8 minutes people would be so overwhelmed with actionable to-do’s that they wanted to go start strategizing on ways to implement those ideas. I also knew we needed a couple of minutes to say hi and hug. But then what would everyone do while I was tied up in these one to one’s? I had Tanya available for remote work conversations, Steph for Chief of Staff conversations, and Anna was available for information and documentation conversations. They could shop or tour the warehouse and of course check out Joey’s car. Lisa J. said they all agreed that the 12 min one to one’s were genius because it gave a deadline as to when the conversation was going to end so you really needed to be prepared going into the coaching session. She said everyone should have been recorded leaving the one to one’s because of the confidence they exuded.
One of the biggest benefits was all of the networking all of the attendees got to do during the day and at night. They all stayed at the same hotel, chose to have meals together, and explore the area a little. Due to being connected before the mastermind via the app, they were able to get the backstory of everyone and know what they needed help with. They are now a group of 20 friends doing business together and making connections in business. From our one to one, Lisa J is working on a retreat for farmers where they can work on the transfer of their farm to another owner or a younger generation. Can’t wait to catch up later this year. If you too are looking for guidance and a network of like minded business owners, get signed up to attend the next Small Business Mastermind!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Friday Workbox®
Transformation with Lisa J.
Small Business Mastermind
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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 https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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!
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You have found pockets of time to make a little extra money here and there. Now you are enjoying making the extra money and even are relying on it. This new stream of income is usually a little unconventional in the sense that it’s not W2 work. Your family loves how flexible it is because you are still available for them and there’s extra money. You are challenged by how flexible it is. You still have all of your previous responsibilities but now you the additional ones the new stream of income demands too. It’s time for a “reorganizing of the company.”
Just the Facts
This is just the facts people, no one is debating that women do more house work than men. Men normally go to work for 8-10 hours and the rest of their time is considered to be leisure. How much leisure time do women claim to have? Women on the other hand (generally speaking) do the house work and take care of children or pets, doesn’t leave much leisure time. And once you have a side hustle that is consistently bringing in money for your family, YOU have more responsibilities and almost no leisure time. This was mirrored in my childhood. Dad worked then golfed…a lot! And mom took care of the home, my sister and I, and she created a business in our basement. She was always working. As a business owner, which we established you are now, you are thinking about the daily operations of your business, ways to develop your business skill set, ways to grow the business, additional services or products you want to offer, and possibly being responsible for workers.
Fire Yourself
Let’s revisit stage 1. Remember you didn’t have a lot of extra money but you did have time? You were the one painting the walls or making the things you wanted. It may be time to evaluate all those tasks and hire someone to do them instead. Does it make sense for you to spend a day painting your walls OR would the time be better spent on your business because now you can afford to pay someone instead? Even if your family is counting on the money you bring in, could you do one more organizing job to pay to get that room painted? You spend more time in your business AND you get the room painted? It’s the same thing with hiring a house keeper or book keeper.
The Tradeoff
There is always a trade off right? Either you spend time or money. I say spend your money on tasks that don’t take you out of your business hours and instead use that time to get more experience in your business. In Home Planning Day, you can evaluate just the next 120 days. What do you want accomplished? How much will it cost? And who will do it? Then all you have to do is run that plan.
It doesn’t mean you are boujie because you hire someone in your home. The first hires I always recommend are a house keeper, book keeper, or an executive assistant. And my first hires were contractors for only like 5 hours a week.
A. That person is likely grateful for the work. I was so thankful that people let me clean their homes so I could send my kids to private school. You could really be helping someone out.
B. Hiring someone to do those tasks not associated with your business or the non CEO tasks reduces your task switching and increases your focus on your business.
In stage 5, you are focusing on finding body doubles to give you more time to commit to overseeing your business and be more cognitively available for your family.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Home Planning DaySign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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! -
You’re a business owner - Congratulations!! In stage 4, there needs to be a mindset shift. You are no longer just doing this little side hustle, you are an entrepreneur! I will never forget when a friend said to me that I was a home organizer. That was it!! The common thread of all my side hustles was some aspect of home organizing. But I identified as a stay at home mom. However, she was right and that’s when my mindset shifted because now my unique talents had an identity. Did you know that 39.1% of all businesses are owned by women? Those women, on average, are 42 and have been in business for 11 years. The most common reasons people start new businesses are to pursue a passion, seeking financial freedom, and to increase flexibility in their life.
Do you do this?
Now that your household is counting on this income, you need to get the math straight. The trap a lot of us fall into is still thinking like a W2 employee. Before we got a $2000 paycheck and all of that was for our house. Now, as an entrepreneur, you need to account for your business expenses AND taxes. So if your business had $500 in expenses and you need to save $500 for taxes, all your house really gets is $1000. In stage 4 you may need to evaluate your services or product offerings to make sure you are working smarter not harder. Because you are both the business owner and the admin, it can make it challenging to hit income goals.
Entrepreneurs
As an entrepreneur, you are officially dedicating time outside of your W2 employment and all your time is no longer for household tasks and leisure. This can include volunteer/charity work where you are dedicating your time to benefit people outside your home. And the longer you are in this work, the more you will narrow down the services or products you want to offer, keeping the ones with the best money exchanged for your time. That’s the beauty of entrepreneurship, flexibility. You also have flexibility in your time. This can be a double edged sword because since you are likely working from home, all your household tasks are there, begging for your attention. When you go to your W2 work they don’t expect you to clean the bathrooms. But at home…
How to Organize Administration and Track Profitability
And you may think your business isn’t taking that much time. But you probably aren’t tracking how long it takes for your administration tasks. Just like in your home, you use the Sunday Basket® to get it all done, you need a Friday Workbox® at work to get everything done. You are wearing a lot of hats in your business now. There are 4 types of work I teach you about in the Friday Workbox® and they are color coded.
The pink slash pockets are a safe place for ideas you have for the business, future products or services, and personal development you’d like to consider. The purple slash pockets are for projects with deadlines or products that are making money. With all of your paid work is plenty of invisible unpaid work too. And all of those tasks fall into administrative work which is in green slash pockets. Administrative work is bookkeeping, invoicing, emails, leads, tracking expenses, monthly P&L, and more. And blue is for the team we will talk about in stage 5.
In stage 4, it’s time to legitimize your business by organizing all of your tasks and creating an LLC. Administration is the key in stage 4. You need systems in place to free up capacity to be more productive and profitable.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Friday Workbox®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution
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One of the inspirations for me to pursue my PhD was “The Secret of Home Economics” by Danielle Drelinger and I got to interview her for this episode. Danielle and I were able to discuss some of the topics but, honestly, you gotta read the book!! Danielle wanted to write this book, because she covered education as a journalist. She knew she wanted it to be about education, include all races, all genres, all economic classes, and cover history. Thus was born “The Secret History of Home Economics”!
Origins of Home Economics Pre World Wars
The first thing I wanted to discuss was the role of home economics pre-wars. From the 1800’s leading up to the wars, home economics was really for any person, AKA not gender specific. Home economics was more the actual tasks and how labor intensive they were due to lack of electricity, running water, and staff. That staff was often immigrants and black women once slavery had ended. A black student I know, from a different PhD program, joked that they have always done laundry. Not even a question to outsource it, black women remember were slaves first but then hired help. But even in those days, it was common to outsource your laundry. It was outsourced to locations that had running water and other conveniences.
Importance of Home Economics During the Wars - Science of Food
The discussion shifted more towards home economics during WWII. It was during this time that women entered the work force in America. Home economics was teaching these women how to cook and maintain their homes with the additional demands of working. Women were creating clothing patterns to make work clothes and teaching clothes how to mend and make do due to limited supplies. They were also experimenting with food to keep their families fed and feed our soldiers. Home economists wrote cookbooks for each arm of the military. The Angels of Bataan, planted to supplement prisoners of war rations in the Philippines. At home, they had victory gardens to supplement rations too. Canning discovered through home economics was discovered and became popular to ensure food supply.
And the industrial revolution brought home appliances to help with labor intensive tasks like laundry and ovens that had temperature regulation. Along with conveniences came higher expectations. This is where I pointed out that I am working on the definition of housework because some of the “male tasks” seem more to me like “household ownership”. And it’s peculiar how the definition of home economics became mostly a woman’s role after the war.
The Deliberateness of Stay At Home Mom Depiction
The men had come back, they fired a majority of the women, and men were back to work. Now stay at home moms were in charge of emotionally supporting their children and the care of their upbringing and all the text books reflected that. “Kids need their moms and moms need to be available all the time.” It was then I realized that I have a degree in Family and Consumer Sciences but the only thing that schooling taught me was early childhood education! The bureau of Home Economics that once was making patterns for adjustable bib overalls for women in the workforce was now selling patterns for shopping coats for women to wear while shopping for groceries.
How Should We Move Forward?
Danielle feels strongly and I agree that the name should be changed back to Home Economics. A majority of people Danielle speaks to feels this is a class that should be added back to the curriculum of school - to teach basic life skills. And considering all of the subdisciplines, we should be offering a more holistic teaching of home economics; like eating healthy more affordably and consuming more responsibly. You guys…you gotta read or listen to the whole book!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Secret History of Home Economics
The Sunday Basket®
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In stage 2, you were starting to think about small pockets of time that you could make random amounts of money because there isn’t enough income to cover the expenses that you have reduced as much as possible. There may be something that has become more steady and you are making more than $600/year. This is a Schedule C on your taxes, where you submit a 1099 or claim the money earned. In 2009, I had 11 schedule C’s that I eventually combined under one LLC.
Do You Like Chicken Cacciatore?
I do! My mother-in-law gave me her recipe. I found I liked to bake it a little differently than her. I re-wrote her two sided index instructions, down to one side, the way I make it for my family. I like that it’s no longer stored in my brain. I just grab my instructions and make dinner, in fact anyone in my family could do the same. This is the same idea as an SOP (standard operating procedures) for your business. You should write down the process to complete the tasks for your job/household manager role. In the event there is someone new taking over one of your tasks, audit the steps to make sure it’s accurate before you hand it off to the new person, child or spouse.
Passion Turned Side Hustle
Now let’s say I make it for my neighbors and they love it. Let’s say they start to pay me to bake for them. I start making pretty good money each week cooking for them. I could also be baking my family the same meal at the same time. My invisible work I originally did for my family has become paid work that I now report to Uncle Sam through my taxes. It’s important to track all of my expenses in making the meals like mileage to the grocery store, the grocery bill, portion of my gas bill for using my oven, and when I start to expand to other people the mileage for delivery. This information is added into the monthly P & L, which you can track in the Organize 365® Income & Expense Binder. If you aren’t a good cook, you could babysit, clean homes, tutor, dog sit, Uber, Door Dash, bookkeeping, Fairy Godmother for a family, or direct sales **but make sure you are profitable. What do you have a passion for and you are good at? Will people pay you to do that? Be confident completing the job (that saves them time) and accept the money for a task you may do for your family for free. I suggest any side hustle you could charge at least $20/hr up to $60/hr or an amount per day like $100/day.
The Value of a Systems
If unpaid work is not optimized, then you cannot add in paid work because paid work (side hustle like baking for your neighbors) will always supersede unpaid work (your personal house work and baking Chicken Cacciatore). The complete Home Organizational Bundle; Sunday Basket® for weekly checks and balance, The Paper Solution for information management, and The Productive Home Solution to set up your house to effectively serve your family for the phase of life you are in, and planning days to audit your systems. Good operating systems in place allow unexpected events to feel like speed bumps instead of falling off of a cliff. Now you are ready for stage 3. Your systems are in place, you are documenting your income and expenses, and you have freed capacity to focus on making your side hustle more profitable. Now you can bake Chicken Cacciatore for everyone!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution®
Complete Home Organization Bundle
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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! -
In this episode, I introduce you to Kim B. who just celebrated her 44th wedding anniversary! Kim and her hubby have lived in their farmhouse for the past 35 years. Her daughter is all grown up and busy raising 4 young daughters of her own. When her daughter told her about Organize 365®, Kim was all ears. Kim has always been organized but always open to ways of more efficiency.
In April of ‘21, Kim retired. We talked about that transition. There are no good sources or guides to tell us what to expect in these times of transition. Kim has stayed very busy with helping on the farm, watching her granddaughters 3 days a week, watching after her father’s finances and visiting him at his living facility, and of course learning all kinds of skills she never had the time to before. She took a charcuterie board and sour dough class. What’s next? Scrapbooking!
After learning more about Organize 365® products, Kim crafted her own Sunday Basket® to make sure she’d use it. But she shared that, 4 weeks later when she got the Sunday Basket®, that the actual Sunday Basket® took her organization to a whole new level and the folders stand up! She loved that in the real Sunday Basket® she can place things like ink cartridges and pill bottles in it for Sunday. She even convinced her sister to get a Sunday Basket®. Kim feels good that when it comes time for her daughter to care for her and her husband, it’ll be easier due to the organization she’s doing now and the Medical, Home Resource, and Financial binders. She has more peace of mind knowing where paper work is for easy access and that the right paperwork is in order for the future.
She took one week, working about 8 hours each day, and organized her storage. She’d set aside a few bins that she needed to have her husband go through. One night she treated it like date night and they went to the storage room together and “walked down memory lane” by going through those bins. Yes they got rid of stuff but even better he was happy they did that. Because in the beginning he wasn’t too fond of her getting rid of things. Kim loves her life and is thankful that she can focus on things that are important to her and time with her family.
Kim’s advice is, “You just do a little bit at a time, one day at a time.” As her mother used to always say about everything she did for the holidays.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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 https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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!
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Ok now it’s time for Swiss Cheese Organizing Family Edition, this Friday, February 28th @ Noon EST! It’d mean a lot to have you attend live but there will be a replay. By attending live you will have the opportunity to ask any questions. Swiss Cheese Organizing in any home or business is ineffective. Just like I taught in the business edition webinar, the order in which you organize is way more important than the time you invest in organizing. And even more so with children under foot. Children provide a very unpredictable variable to life and how long your spaces stay organized.
I’m going to teach you to organize your summer organizing efforts. Get your kids spaces set (like age appropriate toys and clothes) and your summer calendar set so you can have a little fun too. Once the replay of the webinar is available, the Summer Planning Guide will be available too. It’s a grid I used to use to see all of summer in one snapshot. I will be offering a video to take you through setting up your Summer Planning Guide too. That way, once school starts again, you’ll be able to focus on your household organizing.
You can access everything at Organize365.com/summer2025. What’s everything? Sign up to attend this webinar plus see what all is being offered this summer for planning and organizing in Organize 365®! I’m talking to parents, homeowners, business professionals, teachers, military men and women. Start planning now with the Swiss Cheese Organizing Family Edition, don’t forget to sign up!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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. -
You are in stage one but you have decreased your expenses as much as possible and still there’s too much month left at the end of the money. What do you do? Hello Stage2. You start to look for small pockets of time when you can make random amounts of money. You want to increase your income but you are not yet ready to commit to a part time job of sorts.
Profit and Loss
In business, you do a monthly check of profit and loss. How much did your business make, how much did your business spend, and are you in the green still? You do not have a budget because business fluctuates month to month. After you have been a business owner for some time you may see patterns when your business brings in more and when your business is not profitable. And we need to be doing this in our homes too. Remember the most powerful small business is our homes. If you are anything like our house, we have a lot of fun in November and December and then spend Q1 paying it all off. And you may just find you need to find extra sources of income to plug that hole of expense. You may have already had the experience but it’s an expense because the money needs to get paid back. But you don’t have enough.
Random Amounts of Money
I remember the first time I learned about random money that I could get, being a full time stay at home mom with no desire to have an official job, was when a friend recommended for me to take part in diaper studies. I don’t think I ever paid for diapers. I didn’t always make money but I also was not spending money on diapers. I also made random money doing surveys in persona and online. And retail arbitrage. I’d shop the garage sales and in a few months I’d resell the items I’d bought because my kids were ready for the next stage of toys. It was income neutral but again I wasn’t spending money. I made money selling things on Ebay and Craigslist and eventually in direct sales.
Stage 2 is all about finding little pockets of time to make random amounts of money. It’s things that need to get done but also ok if they don’t. These tasks are 100% flexible. How can you make a little extra income to get P&L neutral? It’s a mindset shift on how to add income instead of reducing expenses. And for whatever reason stage 1 is no longer where you want to be.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
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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!
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You know how you hear people, on the Wednesday Transformation episodes, say to just get the Sunday Basket® instead of DIY? Yes, it’s because of the mindset that comes with the purchase. The basket is simply the school supply. And it’s the same for the Friday Workbox®.
You may be thinking you have the Sunday Basket® and it’s the same as the Friday Workbox®, right? Wrong. With the Friday Workbox® the slash pockets mean something different, you get access to the online dashboard and course for the Friday Workbox®, and the co-working time every Friday much like the Sunday Basket® Club on Sundays. The Friday Workbox® will help you, the lifeblood of your business, explore personal development and the dreams you have for your business. It helps you to treat your team like the royalty they are and to be loyal to your customers and create ways to surprise and delight them. And most importantly it helps you to see that you are in fact profitable every month, or not, and then there’s time for course correction. So here’s all the deals I have for you!!
Friday Workbox: 50% discount, now just $250!! You’ll get the Friday Workbox®, slash pockets, online dashboard, Friday Co-working time, and the course to teach you how to gain capacity in your business for more, remember life in abundance!
Meeting Agenda Course: 50% discount, now just $499!! It kills me when people say I don’t have meetings so I don’t need it but wait! Yes, you do! This is for all the details of purple project management in informational form and digital documents. Think of links you need for a project, they wouldn’t do you much good on paper in a slash pocket, right? I know, some things just can’t fit in a slash pocket!
Work All In Bundle: Best Deal!! $750 discount, now just $997!! Are you ready? You get the Friday Workbox®, Work Planning Day, Income and Expense Binder, and the Meeting Agenda Course. Don’t wait too long to take advantage of this because it’s while supplies last with the Income and Expense Binders and I don’t want you to miss out if you have been wanting to get one.
Friday Workbox Productivity Pack: 50% discount, now just $90!! You’ll get three stand alone Friday Workboxes®; Sapphire, Navy, and Plum. You can do what you want with Sapphire and Navy. I suggest treating them like employees or dedicate them to different businesses that you run. I gave plenty of examples in this episode to get you thinking about what that could look like. The Plum one will come with orange slash pockets for each month and purple slash pockets for the project you do cyclically and extras for new projects. For example, in July, you’d have a purple slash pocket for back to school, paper organizing retreat, and any other projects you have for July. Purple work isn’t always new work!
Small Business Mastermind: $2500 Introductory pricing is only until March 10th!! The first session is in March. It will also be offered the first week of June and the first week of September. After this year, this mastermind will no longer be offered.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
Friday Workbox
Workbox Planning Day
Friday Meeting Agenda Course
Work All In Bundle
Friday Workbox Productivity Pack
Small Business Mastermind
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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. -
Is color coding just busy work? We were curious if there were any studies to back up our stance that color coding helps with learning. Anna found a few and she’s here discussing them with me. Do you think in color? Anna and I do! We did a quick response activity where Anna said a color and I responded what I associate with that color. The Organize 365® products are colorful but not without intentionality.
Color Coding Helps with Recall
Teachers often color code subjects. When you are looking for supplies for their class you know to look for the designated color of items like a folder. When I was in school I used white index cards and then wrote in different colors to remember what I needed. I had to remember because this brain I have, it’s dyslexic and doesn’t understand phoenix. I had to remember for sake of the test!
I had a student that was really struggling to pass his spelling tests. Once we color coded the syllables, he started to pass his spelling tests. Again, color coding helps a person to recall what they have learned. This is the example I really think of when I think of the significance of color coding. I was blown aware at the effectiveness of color coding for that student. And when adults are students, your work is self paced. Color coding your work can help you stay organized and retrieve what you have learned when you need to use that information.
When Joey and Abby were little I would color code all their things. Having one boy and one girl made that pretty easy. If you had two boys one could be blue and the other boy could be orange. Reduce your cognitive load!
When things are color coded it reduces the cognitive load. Imagine a bin dedicated to toy cars. When you go to the toy organizer you look for that bin and then look for the specific car you want. The same is true with the Sunday Basket®. You are going to retrieve something related to a person in your family so instantly you know to look at the blue slash pockets, thus reducing the cognitive load to find what you need.
The Evolution of Color Within Organize 365®
When I first started to ship out slash pockets I was getting them at Walmart, taking out the company’s information and passing them off as my own.One day it dawned on me that Walmart could change what they sold and I’d be up a creek. So I got to work. I took a bet on myself and ordered a huge pallet of 1.0 slash pockets. Would you believe the day they arrived is the day Walmart changed what they were selling? This order was so large I couldn't fit it all in the garage with my car. So I got an office space. I had no idea what I was doing, I was learning. That’s when the Sunday Baskets® arrived and we had to move to a warehouse.
The last thing I ordered was the 2.0 Slash Pockets. Green for money and admin tasks that move the money. I have always thought blue was for people. And Pink was for me. Pink and blue make purple, right? Purple was for the home the people and I, my family, lived in and the projects I would need to do in and on that house. It was then that I understood the house to be a separate entity from my family. When you get a system from Organize 365®, you get the whole kit. You can mix and match the systems too because the colors translate across all the systems. All the Organize 365® colors have been intentionally selected. Color aids in organization being a learnable skill!
EPISODE RESOURCES:
APA citation: Lamberski, R. J. & Dwyer, F. M. (1983). The instructional effect of coding (color and black and white) on information acquisition and retrieval. ECTJ. 31(1): 9-21.
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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. -
In this episode, I introduce you to Tami T. who is married with two children at home. A few years before the pre-pandemic, Tami was doing a lot of driving for her work teaching private (band) lessons in schools. It took Tami about a year to listen to all of the Organize 365® episodes. Tami invested in the Whole Home program that we now know as The Productive Home Solution.
Tami would watch the videos beforehand and listen to episodes, while driving, about the specific space that was next in the program. By the time she got home she knew exactly what she wanted to do in that space. It dawned on Tami that she kept doing the kitchen. By the third time she started the program, she focused on all the other spaces. She’s tackled all of her spaces and even gotten rid of her filing cabinets. Tami attended a paper retreat and organized all her paper but one bin. She’s since tackled that too with the help of a virtual organizer that she found in the Organize 365® directory. She found with getting organized it freed up capacity to be able to mentally process that one last bin.
When the pandemic hit, her organization was really challenged. She had to teach her band classes AND she had two young children at home trying to attend school too. What did she do? She got a Sunday Basket® for each of them so Tami could keep everyone and all the assignments organized. Tami shared that now instead of just being a day or two ahead, she’s now months ahead. Again with more capacity and being planned a few months out, it has given her the time and energy to do some small tasks she’s always wanted to do. For example with all the planning completed she was able to make a program for the band concerts that she can repurpose in the future. And she could schedule refreshments and treats. She’s been able to make a little flyer to promote the performance to faculty. She can make the event better and be more present.
Tami did the kids program with her kids too. They have been able to learn the life skill of going through their closets and organization. The first attempt was a garage sale that didn’t go so well. Now they donate. If they have an item(s) it gets donated on Tuesdays when Tami is driving by Goodwill. Tami, as most moms do, has always had so much on her plate. By the kids learning those skills it actually reduces tasks from her plate. And this she wished she’d known sooner. Put those kids to work learning skills they will need in the future.
They took a family trip to Egypt and then Switzerland this past summer. Tami was able to pre plan all their summer activities. They took their trip and when they came home Tami had time to follow up on documentaries about Egypt because the summer was planned. She’s even been able to complete two scrapbooks from their trip. She finds she has more capacity and down time due to her Sunday Basket® and Education Workbox®.
Tami’s advice is, “Do the Sunday Basket® first, then the binders and sheet protectors.”
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
Teacher Friday Workbox®
Kids Program
The Paper Solution®
The Productive Home Solution®
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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 https://organize365.com/wednesday.
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! -
Last year, two of our key leaders and I attended a Dave Ramsey Summit. This is how I have gotten some of my best CEO training. I really think about the topics the speaker is bringing up and think of Organize 365® and have I implemented something similar? Have I done that thing? Or maybe is that idea an improvement we should consider? It was great for us to be hearing the same information at the same time and be able to discuss. We even changed our Monday morning meeting a little to catch our staff at a better time of day. And then I thought “Is there anything I need to add to our values?”
What is Busy Work?
When I thought about staffing and when someone leaves Organize 354®, is there a way to eliminate busy work. Do their job tasks still need to be done or were they busy work? Is there someone else on the team that can do those tasks? It got me thinking of all the busy work teachers do. It’s cute to put the little bubbles at the “end” of each stroke of the letters but is it necessary? I’d do it once, then copy the paper the rest of the year, otherwise it would become busy work. Revisiting a closet you’ve done recently thinking you’ll get the same high will let you down because the transformation is not nearly as dramatic. Busy work is that unnecessary re-working of tasks. As long as your work is not done, even if it’s busy work, you won’t have the excess time, capacity, and boredom to seek out what you are uniquely gifted and created to do.
Operationalizing
The flip side of busy work that can appear as busy work is operationalizing your tasks. I started out organizing my sister and I’s rooms. Then I graduated to organizing the homes I babysat in. I have always loved gifting an act of service. I organized the “craft area” by the fire place at my house and my mom loved it. So I did it annually around Christmas for her. But then my parents expanded the house and she got a larger space. My mom is an artists and that was definitely a challenge to understand what was valuable and not. I asked a lot of questions!! I would help other teachers to organize their classrooms. And eventually organized my clients. But in each of those instances I was growing my skill set. I was learning how the spaces were used and why the items were in there. I was operationalizing how I helped other get organized. You can do the same with repeated tasks. That’s why on Planning Day I tell you to stock up your storage for the trimester. Don’t order one of the same thing each month, operationalize it.
The Sunday Basket Replaces Your Checklists
First of all, there is a time and place for checklists. Checklists can be useful if you are trying to establish a new routine. Be careful not to let it become a crutch. Don’t be so stuck on the list that it supersedes your role in the company. And not everything needs to go on the list, just big things you can’t forget. And checklists are good for something you don’t do often. My best example I shared was our packing list for Florida each year. As we grow and change the list does too. We edit when necessary so we don’t forget for the next time we need to use the checklist.
I can remember the last time I used a master to do list. In 2014, I wrote 10 legal pad pages of all my to do’s. I organized them by family member or entity and then prioritized them. I transferred each item to an index card. And I filed them away to deal with on Sunday. It is nice to look at all tasks individually and decide on importance, my time, and my money. I may write down the same task multiple times and that’s ok because I got it out of my head and who cares if I wrote it multiple times. I place them in the appropriate slash pock. I take action on the actionable items. Then once I complete the task I get to toss it in the recycling. Lists never go away, with index cards you can complete them and toss them. The Sunday Basket is safe keeping till you can take action.
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®
The Friday Workbox®
The Productive Home Solution
Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter
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! - Visa fler
