The Importance of Effective Paper Management

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:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Friday Workbox®

• 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.

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