Organize 365 Podcast

On this week's podcast, I kick start the 3-week Kid's Organization Series. It's for kids between the ages of 7 and 21 – so whether you're still in school or preparing to graduate from college – this series is for you! I tried something a little different this week and recorded my podcast on video, too. If you would prefer to watch this episode, you can do that here... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc Organizing Your School Art & Memories But before we get started, I want to reach out to all the kids out there who are bored out of their minds this summer. If you can relate, I've got your back! One of the things you could do is go through all of your old artwork and school papers and sort out the things that you love and want to save to look back on in years to come. Sort everything into two piles – a keep pile and a recycle pile. Once you have gathered all of the papers and artwork you want to keep, you can store it all in a plastic tub and keep it in your closet, or you can put everything inside a binder using sheet protectors. You can create your own binder OR you can ask your parents (as nicely as possible) to let you order the Organize 365 School Art & Memory Binder where you can safely store and protect all of your papers and artwork so that they will last a lifetime. Organizing your artwork is something you could do while you're in the process of redesigning your bedroom, which is something that I did A LOT when I was a kid because I loved switching things around and making my room feel "brand new" again. So, if you want to redesign your bedroom this summer and change things up for yourself, follow these easy redesign tips! Planning On Graph Paper I don't know about you, but I find it easier to envision a redesign when I've drawn up a quick plan on paper first. Measure your bedroom and notice where the windows, doors and outlets are. In my case, I'm redesigning my son's bedroom which measures 10' x 10'. So, I've drawn out my plan on the graph paper to fit 30 squares across and 30 squares from top to bottom. [So, three squares of the paper is equal to one foot and one square of the paper is equal to four inches.] Marking Doors, Windows & Outlets Before we can get to the fun part of moving furniture around and getting creative with your bedroom, there are a few things you will want to mark on your plans such as doors, windows, electrical outlets, and vents. Leave enough space for any door openings in your room, whether it's the main door to your bedroom, a closet door, or the door to a bathroom, etc. Figure out how much space you need to leave free and mark this on your graph paper as a semi-circle. You can watch how I do this in this week's video... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc Also mark the placement of all of the windows in your bedroom. I also like to label each of the electrical outlets and the vent to allow heat and air conditioning to enter the room without any obstruction. Using Post-It Notes As Furniture Now that you have all the boring stuff marked on your plan, you can start redesigning your bedroom with Post-It Notes. Create a Post-It Note for each piece of movable furniture in your room. Many of you will have a desk, a dresser, or a bedside table. Measure it and cut a Post-It Note in the same shape and size that corresponds with your plan. Remember, three squares on the graph paper is equal to one foot. So if your bed measures 6' x 3', you'll need to convert that measurement to fit the dimensions of the squares of your plan. You can liven things up by using multi-colored Post-Its and labeling each one as you go. When I was a kid, I would do this ALL THE TIME. I would plan my new bedroom design over and over again. And when I was done with that, I made a plan for future homes – I just loved it. What can I say? Some kids played sports and some kids planned their future homes in excruciating detail and precision! Moving Big Pieces Of Furniture When it comes to redesigning your room and moving big pieces of furniture around, you need to think of the process as a huge jigsaw puzzle. Make sure you leave enough space in your room to move things around in the most efficient way possible and try not to limit your own walking space. You've got to be able to walk around your room without climbing over furniture to get to the other side! In this week's video, I show you (using my Post-It Note furniture) how to move your bed and desk and not get stuck in the room!... https://youtu.be/2Q9JWKBOFVc If you have too many things that can't fit in your bedroom or your college dorm room, I suggest renting an outside storage unit. This is especially useful if you've recently moved back home with your parents and there's not enough space to keep all of the things you accumulated throughout college. Just put it all in a storage facility – out of sight, out of mind! The Kids Organization Series I hope you enjoyed this first episode of the Kids Organization Series and found some useful tips and ideas for organizing and redesigning your own bedroom or apartment. In this series, I'm going to be focusing on all the things that you don't have time for during the school year that you could finally do in the summer. If you'd like to catch up with the podcast's I recorded last year for organizing your bedroom and collections, go to organize365.com/kids. Don't forget to take photos of your newly organized bedroom and tag me @organize365 on Instagram – I'd love to see how you're organizing your rooms and share it with my followers! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/235

Living through renovations, natural disasters, and moving can be a very stressful and disorganized time. Your house is turned upside down in the blink of an eye and before you know it, you're stepping over stacks of books on your way to the bathroom and the dog is snoozing on top of a box labeled, "The GOOD China" – just thinking about it gives me a headache! Instead of gritting your teeth and living through the chaos, you can follow these three easy steps that will help to not only organize your home during transitional times (such as moving or renovating the kitchen), but they'll also help to keep you sane. 1. The Hot Mess Room Challenge The first step is to do the Hot Mess Room Challenge well in advance. The challenge is different for everyone because no two "hot mess rooms" are the same. Your hot mess room could be your basement, the guest bedroom, or your garage. It's the room in the house that has collected a mass of random items that don't have a place anywhere else in the home. If you're thinking of a room like that in your house, it's your hot mess room! So, what is the Hot Mess Room Challenge? The Hot Mess Room Challenge takes 28 days to complete and it takes you through the progress of getting your hot mess room organized. You can think of the hot mess room like a jigsaw puzzle. The challenge will help you to separate each piece, organize each one and, in the end, put them together into an organized storage unit. The Hot Mess Room Challenge can be download it right here. It's delivered directly to your inbox, ready to download! At the end of the 28-day challenge, instead of a hot mess room, you'll have an organized storage room with shelving, bins with color-coded labels, and a complete inventory of everything you have stored in that room. When disaster strikes and you need to find something such as a flashlight or a photograph of a family member, you can't waste time looking through boxes upon boxes. Having an inventory gives you peace of mind knowing that if you ever needed something in a rush, you'll know exactly where to find it. 2. The Sunday Basket® Once you have completed the Hot Mess Room Challenge, you're ready to move onto stage two – organizing your Sunday Basket® System! You need to make sure that your Sunday Basket® is ALWAYS accessible to you 100% of the time. In fact, you should think of your Sunday Basket® as your lifeline during these stressful transitional times. Your Sunday Basket® is where you will keep your color-coded lists of everything that is in your storage room and an inventory of the things you have packed into boxes. If you are renovating your kitchen, for example, you would label boxes with things such as "Utensils," "Dishes," "Pots and Pans," etc. So when you need to find something inside one of the kitchen renovation boxes, you can check the Sunday Basket® checklist and it will tell you exactly where you can find that item. Another reason why you need your Sunday Basket® up and running when you're moving or renovating your home is that, in both of these cases, you'll have paperwork coming in such as household bills, invoices, etc. and you can keep all of these papers organized in your SundayBasket®. 3. The Organize 365 Binders Before you move or renovate your home, you need to make each of the four Organize 365 Binders to eliminate your filing cabinet and organize all of your paperwork. Once you have all of your binders arranged, you can move to your new house without trailing a bunch of unsightly and disorganized filing cabinets with you – how awesome does that sound? It takes time to organize each binder, so I would suggest tackling one at a time. If you'd like to find out how I organized my binders, you can head over to the Sunday Basket® Podcast to hear more about that and each of the four binders I mention below: Medical Binder: You should think of the Medical Organizing Binder as a caregiver binder and store information regarding your family's medical and health history, doctor information, diagnosis tracker, immunization record, hospitalization and surgery history, and so on. Financial Binder: The Financial Organizing Binder is for all of your finances, which includes everything you need to keep your finances in order during a home renovation, a move, or when a natural disaster strikes. Inside, you should keep your insurance policy information, financial prep sheet, credit card inventory, bill payment records, debts and loans, and any other finances that you need to keep track of. Household Reference Binder: Every homeowner needs a Household Reference Binder. It's where you should store everything that you want the new homeowner to know (if you're selling your house), including home exterior and interior information, home appliances, and details of things such as when you last checked the hot water heater, etc. Household Operations Binder: The Household Operations Binder is the key to maintaining your home and running the household. Inside this binder, you should keep all of the basic household information, important dates, trackers, meal planning, and your plan in the event of an emergency. Whenever you're moving to a new house, renovating, or in the aftermath of a natural disaster, you'll need to know where you keep your four binders. I suggest keeping them in the same place where you store your SundayBasket® so you can just grab it all and go! I hope you found these three steps useful when it comes to living through renovations, moving to a new home, or recovering from a natural disaster. Purchase your Sunday Basket® and Binders in my shop today! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/234

Just because you live in a small home doesn't mean your storage space has to be limited. Over the years, I've received A LOT of emails on the subject of maximizing storage space in small living spaces such as studio apartments, condos, and tiny houses. In fact, I received this email from an Organize 365 fan named Amy just the other day and wanted to share it with you: "Since having a baby, it's been so hard to keep on top of things at home, but listening to your podcasts in the afternoons usually gives me a little push. Do you have experience with organizing small homes and apartments? Our apartment constantly feels cluttered, but in reality, there are very few things we can get rid of, it's just a small space. Any advice for those of us who don't have basements, garages, spare rooms or even a hall closet and also don't have a lot of money for complex storage systems that fancy tiny homes all seem to utilize?" Amy is in a situation that I know many of you can relate to. Living in a small space with a baby usually means that there is going to be a lot of "stuff" – it's just the way it is. The issue lies with the fact that you genuinely NEED all of that extra baby stuff because you never know when you'll need it again, especially if you're planning on expanding your family in the future. The Baby Issue I'm not saying that having a baby in a small space is an "issue," but it's important to realize that children come with a lot of clutter. Expecting to add more kids to your family without expanding the amount of space taken up in the home is an unrealistic expectation. Now that I've given you that little reality check, we can dive into the good stuff! If you're fortunate enough to have a nursery in your home, it's a good idea to try and keep most of the baby related items in there as much as possible. And if you want to maximize your space WITHOUT decluttering, I have four space-saving suggestions for you! 1. Create More Space Before you say anything – Yes, I understand that you can't just click your fingers together and magically increase the size of your home to create more space. That's not what I'm saying, but it is essential to start looking at your house with "new eyes." Try and see your home's potential. It may be difficult at first, but trust me – there's always a way to create more space! A great tip I have for you is to use shoe holders over every door in your house. You can avoid using hooks (which can damage the door frame) by using 3M Command Hooks instead. With Command Hooks, you can just pop the shoe holder over the top and it'll hold the rack in place without causing any damage to the door – phew! So, what can you store inside these fantastic shoe organizers? I'm glad you asked! You can literally store all of the little things in your house inside the shoe holders. For example, on the back of the bathroom door, you can put your shampoo, soaps, and items that you would typically put in your medicine cabinet, etc. On the back of the nursery door, you can store cute little baby things like hair accessories, tiny socks, diaper rash cream. and baby wipes, etc. 2. Increase Storage Space With Bed Risers & Space Saver Bags A bed riser is cheap. You can pick one up from somewhere like Walmart for just $10. Bed risers can lift your bed a few inches or even a few feet above the floor, giving you additional storage space. I'm a huge fan of bed risers. Our master bed has not one, but TWO bed risers underneath it because… well, I couldn't see the TV screen over the bed frame! We also ended up putting our dog's bed underneath our bed. So, every night our dog Hunter sleeps underneath our bed. If you have a dog and he's a part of the family like ours is, then this news probably won't surprise you in the slightest. It's definitely a unique storage solution to store your dog's bed (and your dog!). You can use one bed riser or double it up for even more storage space. Another great way to maximize space in the home is to use a Space Saver Bag. You can put your big fluffy blankets in there over the summer and other out-of-season clothes to help save yourself more space. Use a vacuum to suck all the air out of the bag and watch in awe as the fluffy blanket that kept you warm all winter gets flattened into a very thin pancake. Store the bag underneath your bed and don't think about it until next winter! 3. Go 'Vertical' If you really want to make the most out of the small space that you DO have, you've got to start thinking vertically. Take a trip to Ikea and get yourself one of those cube storage units and stack them on top of each other against the wall. Build it all the way up to the ceiling if you can and store different items in each cube so you can have less clutter around the house – sorted! 4. Use An Outside Storage Facility I understand that not everyone can afford to invest in an outdoor storage facility, but if you can save up just a little bit of money each month, you can have enough to rent a small storage unit to help declutter your home. Choose a size that's right for you and use it to store all the extra things in your house that you won't need for a while such as holiday decorations, memorabilia, and baby equipment that your child no longer needs but you may come back to in the future for the next little one. There's ALWAYS storage solutions if you're willing to think outside the box. Don't let yourself be limited by the physical amount of space that you do have and try to look at it from a new perspective and, who knows, you might even come up with a few of your own creative storage ideas along the way! My entire company is run from my small home office in my bedroom. A small space forces you to constantly prioritize your space and your to-do's. Check out the NEW Friday Workboxes and get your homeschool, teaching, direct sales and entrepreneur businesses organized in a box. :) View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/233

Summer is meant to be a relaxing time of the year filled with fun activities, holidays, and warm afternoons spent soaking up the sun on the beach. However, summer is my least productive season (and I'm a productivity NUT, so that's saying a lot!). Things just don't get done and, before you know it, the summer has ended and all you have to show for it is a great tan but not much else. When we go head first into summer without a second thought about routines or schedules, we often end up feeling bored because we don't know what to do with our time. I'm not saying you should have a structured plan and organize every little detail of your summer, but it wouldn't hurt to have a few routine days that you can use sparingly throughout the summer. I have five different routine days for the summer that I'd like to share with you: 1. Help & Support Day If you have kids, you need a day off. It's as simple as that. Yes, we love our children, and we'd do anything for them, but sometimes we need some time for ourselves – a bit of ME time is good for you! I'm a full-time working mom with two teenagers and just last summer, I hired a nanny. I know what you're thinking, "Why on earth did you hire a nanny for two teenagers?" Well, here's why: Reason 1: There was a lot of random driving that needed doing last summer and I didn't have the time to drive my kids around. So, the person I hired to help me out would drive my kids to wherever they wanted to go and I was able to concentrate on work without any interruptions – success! Reason 2: I had a lot of household chores and projects I wanted to be done, but had no time to get to. She was able to scan all of my scrapbooks, do the dishes, clean the kitchen, and do the laundry – and it was fantastic! If you're not a mom, this probably sounds ridiculous. But if you ARE a mom, you might be thinking… "brilliant – I NEED THIS!" When I was a teenager, I worked as a babysitter. Before the summer kicked off, I would approach the parents I worked for and ask them if they wanted a day to themselves. I would be happy to look after their kids while they got their hair done (because it was the 80's and hair was literally everythingback then) and when the mom's heard this, they thought it was a genius idea. I created a desire in them that they didn't even know existed! Not to boast, but I was basically an entrepreneur from birth. So, when I became a mom, I was looking for someone who would sell the same services as I did – and I found them! 2. Pool Day Who doesn't love a pool day? Whether you're practicing your backstroke or soaking up the sunshine, everyone loves a good pool day in the summer. Most pools open between 10 am and noon, so you have most of the morning to do whatever you like, and the kids can have their own independent time, too. When it's time to go to the pool, pack your swimwear, towels, and whatever else you need to bring with you and go out and enjoy the day as a family! Remember, the pool tends to zap up all of your energy and brain power, so you probably won't have the energy to get much done when you get home. Take it easy and order some pizza to finish the day off in style! 3. Errand Day You can eliminate a lot of time from an errand day by just buying things online like I do. You can shop for groceries online as well, so this might be a good option for you if you don't feel like pushing a cart through a store. You'll probably need at least one or two errand days over the summer. Some of you may need an errand day each week, while others will need just one errand day per month. The best way to prepare for errand day is to create a list of what needs to be done and check off each task as you go. 4. Home Day This is my favorite kind of day where you can stay home and do whatever you like with your time – it's paradise! I usually like to focus on one of my larger projects on a home day because I've got plenty of time to get it done. However, there's nothing worse than enjoying your home day and having someone tell you that you need to get up and leave the house. That's the worst, isn't it? Avoid this scenario by telling everybody it's a home day. Make sure they know that you have no intention of driving them around the country or to McDonald's for some fast food (unless you change your mind, in which case, that's perfectly fine!). One of the best ways to make a home day super successful is to introduce your kids to a new activity. This can be anything from a new subscription box to a science kit or homemade play dough. I love play dough, and I often make homemade play dough that kids of all ages (including me) like to play with. It's a creative pastime and it doesn't cost a lot of money, which makes it perfect for a low-key day at home! Visit the blog post to get my homemade play dough recipe to try for yourself! 5. Big Event Day A big event day is basically a day spent outside of the house doing something BIG. This can be anything from the amusement park to the zoo. It's always a good idea to plan for the big event day the night before it actually happens. If you're going to be traveling, make sure to fill your car with gas in advance. You should also pack and plan everything you'll need for the big event day, such as snacks, food, etc. Each of these summer routine days is designed to give you some inspiration and guidance if you're struggling to be productive over the summer months. I hope you found it helpful and you can use some (if not all) of these routine days this summer! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/231

Before I get into this week's topic, I have TWO very exciting announcements for you! First, this is your LAST chance to register for the Organize 365 National Convention! That's right, tickets are almost sold out, and registration for the event closes at midnight on May 29th – so make sure to click here to learn more and sign up! The second announcement is for all the teachers out there and anyone who feels like once the school year starts, their head starts spinning! If this sounds like you, the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time is EXACTLY what you've been looking for. It cuts the time of the 100 Day Program in half, which means you can get it done TWICE as fast! Don't miss out on this one time offer! There are just 120 slots available! So, if you miss out this time, you'll have to wait until August to sign up. If you manage to get your hands on one of these treasures, you'll receive the current planner AND the brand-new planner that we're launching in August – now that's what I call a real VIP experience! Registration for the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time opens Friday May 25th and ends on May 29th at midnight or until the 120 slots have been claimed. Once they are gone, they are gone! If you want to be one of the first people to try the 100 Day Home Organization Double Time Program, click here to sign up! Now, onto setting your summer goals! Summer Is Coming! Summer is just around the corner and most of you are probably busy packing your suitcases and planning your summer vacation. It's an exciting time of the year. I know I'm really looking forward to planning my summer and spending more time with my family. Is it just me or does anyone else feel like summer is the dreamiest season of the year? Do you know what I mean? Things just seem to merge together and before you know it, you're right back at the start of the school year again and you've no idea where the time went. Weird, right? Well, I think I've gotten to the bottom of it. Let me share how you can reach your summer goals without fail – I promise. Try Not To Have Too Many Goals This Summer When you think ahead to the summer, it's tempting to overestimate just how much you can get done. I've always thought of July as the "Bermuda Triangle" of months. Nothing happens in July. It's almost impossible to get any work done and I can't explain why. Instead of giving yourself a hard time because you "failed" to reach all of your summer goals, take a step back and realize that it's okay! It's okay that you didn't get the kitchen painted this summer or that you didn't have time to declutter your closet – give yourself a break, it's summer after all! I think one of the main issues we all run into over the summer is the mistake of setting too many goals for ourselves in such a short space of time. Summer is very short, and it's very spontaneous. One minute you could be focused on organizing your kitchen and the next thing you know, you're running down the street in your flip-flops trying to sniff out where that delicious smell of BBQ'd ribs is coming from – unplanned things just happen. Give yourself the grace from the beginning and know that you're not going to get a ton of goals accomplished in the summer – and learn to be okay with it. Set Yourself One Or Two Goals MAX I always try and focus on one specific area of my life over the summer. Sometimes, I might go as far as assigning myself two goals for the entire summer, but it's okay to have just the one. Here is a glimpse into a few of my previous summer goals throughout the years: In 2015, I decided to focus my summer on improving my personal health and working on my marriage. I walked 10,000 steps per day and invested in having more one-on-one time with my husband. We spent summer nights talking outside on the patio, and that was the same summer we discovered (and binge-watched) the TV show "24." It was an easy-going summer and one that I really enjoyed. In 2016, I redesigned my websites because we had just launched the 100 Day Home Organization Program. A lot of my free time was spent in front of my computer screen. I decluttered my desktop, posts, and Pinterest boards, which helped me to have a real work-focused year with limited distractions and clutter. In 2017, I focused on decluttering the house and began to work on redoing different spaces, such as the kid's bedrooms and our landscaping. This summer project grew more momentum and ran into the beginning of 2018 – we recently had our windows and doors replaced! So now that you've heard all about my previous summer goals, I bet you're thinking, "Great Lisa, but what are you focusing on this summer?" Well, this summer, I'm going to focus on my kids. My son is preparing to leave for college and will be moving into his own apartment, so we have to help him get ready and prepare his living quarters before he begins his studies. My daughter also got her temporary license, so I'll spend a lot of time driving with her and taking a few road trips to help her gain more confidence as a new driver. What Is Your 'BIG Summer Win?' You've heard all about my summer goals, but now it's time to start thinking about what YOU want to accomplish this summer. What "BIG WIN" do you want to achieve over the next few months? The key here is to get as specific as possible with your big summer win. The more you can narrow it down to just one specific goal, the more likely you are to succeed. I would love to hear your big goal for the summer so please share it with us in the Organize 365 Facebook Group or go over to Instagram and tag me on what your big summer priority is going to be – I can't wait to see what you guys will be up to this summer! Oh and don't forget... if you are ready to jumpstart your home organization journey, I would LOVE for you to join me in 100 Day Home Organization DOUBLE TIME. Registration is only open until Tuesday IF the planner supply lasts that long! Join Here. Happy Memorial Day Weekend! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/230

Before we get into the main topic of this week's podcast episode, I have two time-sensitive subjects I want to share with you. First, the Organize 365 National Convention will be held in Dallas from June 7th to June 9th. Ticket sales end at midnight on May 29th, so make sure you get yours while you still can! The tickets are selling FAST, so click here to get your ticket today!! The second thing I'd like to discuss is the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Although it can be completed within 100 days, some of you may not be able to complete the program within the recommended time slot, and that's okay. So, keeping this in mind, I've decided to reveal how you can do the 100 Day Home Organization Program in double time on next week's podcast episode! Now with that out of the way, let's get into the meat of this week's podcast episode! This one is a little different from my usual podcasts because I'll be focusing on the seasons of parenthood and how each one brings new changes to our organization routine. My Mini Epiphany The other day seemed ordinary enough, nothing that remarkable or exciting happened. I pulled into my driveway with my daughter, and at the same time, my husband Greg arrived home with the dog from daycare. Then, my son pulled up to the house. At that moment, we all arrived home together as a family – and I had an epiphany. Okay, so it wasn't like a mind-blowing ordeal where I discovered the true meaning of life or anything. But still, it made me realize something very important. I'm happy. It may seem like a throwaway thing to say but if you think about it, how often in our busy lives do we take a moment and appreciate what we have? How many times have you stopped to ask yourself, "Am I happy?" It's not as easy as it seems, right? And yet, that's how I felt. Happy. Seasons of Parenting I'm the type of person who enjoys every season of parenting. I live in the moment. My son Joey is leaving for college soon, and many people have told me that I'm going to be sad when he leaves. But I don't think I will be that sad. Don't get me wrong, I'll miss him when he goes. But at the same time, I love seeing him grow up and going off to college is just another step in his journey. If you're a new parent, you'll face many obstacles throughout your child's life, and with each stage that passes, another will take its place. When you overcome these obstacles, your organizational strength will grow, and you'll have the tools you need to prepare for the next challenge in life. So, let's take a look at each season from babyhood all the way through to your child graduating from high school (you may want to grab a tissue!) The Early Years of Parenting New parents face a great deal of change in the early years, especially in the baby, toddler, and pre-school stages. Babies are a handful, and they can quickly go from one diaper size to the next. You always need to change your stockpile of diapers and then you need to organize what your kids will eat and drink. As you continue to expand your family, you'll also develop your mental bandwidth to include not just yourself, but each additional little human that you're responsible for. Grade School: The Game Changer Year When you have younger kids, your house can suddenly become overloaded with toys, clothes, and apparatus such as strollers and car seats, etc. But as the kids grow up, you can start to move the toys into their bedrooms and put the strollers and things into storage or give them to another family member if you don't plan on using them yourself. And once the kids go to all-day school, your home and organizational routine will change drastically. This is a time that I like to call "The Game Changer Year." It's dramatic, I know. But seriously, when the kids are in school for most of the day, you'll not only have more time for yourself, but you'll also have more time to organize your home. Everything seems to flow a lot easier, and you can treat yourself to some quiet time now that the kids are off to school. Even those of you at work while your kids are at school will notice a distinct difference in function of your home and the organizational progress you make will STAY! FYI - I highly recommend taking a day or 2 off work while your children are at school to reclaim your home. :) Middle School: Gaining Independence Oh, middle school – how I've missed you! If you didn't know, I used to be a 7th and 8th-grade school math and science teacher, so forgive me if I get a little nostalgic thinking back to the good old days. What I love about this age group is their ability to form their own opinions, and being able to witness their brains process change and develop as they progress through the school year. Middle school is a time when kids are starting to become more independent in their actions. High School: Graduation & College Whether you love it or loathe it, high school is one of the most memorable times of a child's life. Their independence starts to take shape, and they begin to think about driving and colleges. I don't know about you, but I love helping my kids take their beliefs, ideas, and unique talents and figuring out what it is that they want to do with their lives. It's up to us as parents to launch our kids into adulthood with the tools and strategies they need to make decisions that will help them succeed and live a fulfilling, happy life. Eventually, my kids will be done with college, and maybe someday they'll get married, or they'll travel around the world with their friends – and I'm really excited for all of it. I have enjoyed each season of parenting and the organization that goes along with it and I hope you do, too! As I am typing this, I just received the final workbook for the Organize 365 National Convention in Dallas from June 7th to June 9th. Oh my goodness, is it chock full of productivity, goal setting, and personal development! It brings tears to my eyes as I envision those of us attending being transformed and connected in ways only a live event can. I know many of you have immovable plans, but if you are still thinking... maybe I should. You SHOULD! You will not regret it! Come see me! Register at www.organize365.com/Dallas. View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/229

Spring break isn't just for kids. Adults need a breath of fresh air every so often to recharge their batteries and diminish work-related stress and anxiety. Taking a spontaneous break isn't something I do very often, but the more I live a truly organized life, the clearer I can see the patterns of how to breed more productivity in organization and a large part of this is taking the time to relax, unwind, and de-stress. My impromptu adult spring break adventure began a few weeks ago without me even realizing it until I was mid-way through the week! I share my story on this week's podcast episode and it begins with replacing the windows in my home. I know what you're thinking, what does something as mundane as windows have to do with spring break? As it turns out, deciding to upgrade my windows kick-started a week of relaxation and organizing because it gave me the opportunity to take some time off work. Upgrading Our Windows Greg and I had been thinking about moving for some time, but we finally decided against it and focused on renovating and upgrading our current home instead. Our old wooden windows were once the envy of the neighborhood back in 1986. But that was over three decades ago and they are no longer functioning. The entire process took three days. Although this didn't bother us much, our dog Hunter wasn't pleased since he had to get shipped to doggy daycare until the workers were done. Even though all of this work would be going on in the house, I knew I couldn't take a break from my work schedule. However, I also knew that the workers would be replacing the windows in both of my kid's bedrooms and trying to walk through the room to reach those windows would be almost impossible! There was one clear solution – I had to take a break from work (if only for a few hours) and clean my kids' rooms so the workers could cross the threshold to reach the windows. Cleaning & Organizing The Kids' Rooms Since both of my kids are teenagers and their rooms are more like mini apartments than bedrooms, let's just say that I don't go in there very often! But on this occasion, I didn't have a choice. I took the morning off work and assigned myself an hour and a half to clean each room. I stuck to my schedule and finished both rooms on time, but when I finished cleaning, I didn't feel like working. If you know me, you'll know that I always feel like working. However, Monday passed, and then Tuesday came and went, and I still didn't feel like working. My Adult Spring Break By the time Wednesday arrived, it hit me. I had scheduled my own spring break! Granted, most of you probably would prefer to go on a sunny vacation for spring break, and the idea of cleaning your kid's rooms and organizing the inventory sounds like work. But for me, it's heaven! I spent a large part of my spring break creating and organizing my Household Reference, Household Operations, Financial and Medical Binders. I even revealed how I arranged them and I also recorded a podcast series that you can listen to on The Sunday Basket Podcast. When I wasn't organizing my binders, I was out shopping with my family and getting things done that I usually didn't have time to do. Finding The Time To Organize We all live such busy lives that it can be challenging to find the time to organize anything. The more I started to think about a week-long adult spring break, the more I was convinced that this is something I'm going to do every year. My Sunday Basket and 100 Day Home Organization Program with 100 Day Productive Home Planner saves me a minimum of five hours per week. It helps me to organize and plan by season – which is much more practical than planning for the entire year in advance because life always gets in the way of our plans. By planning your schedule every 100 days, you can carve out pockets of time for yourself so you can spend your time wisely and get more done. Find out how you can live a more organized and happy life by joining us at the Organize 365 National Convention. It's going to be an awesome experience and I would love to have you there. Grab your tickets here before they sell out! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/227

I took Gretchen Ruben's Four Tendencies quiz and discovered that I'm a Questioner. I say "discovered," but I guess it's not that much of a surprise at all. Did you take the Four Tendencies quiz and find out what you are? A couple of weeks ago here in Cincinnati, Ohio, I had the Sunday Basket® Workshop Certified Organizers in town for a boot camp. I told them that I had recorded the podcast with Gretchen Ruben and so they took the Four Tendencies quiz. We found out that the majority of them are Obligers. We also had a few Questioners in the mix, though I don't think we had any Rebels or Upholders. So I think the majority of people who listen to my podcast are probably Obligers or Questioners. And as a Questioner myself, I know that being a Questioner is not an easy road. Questioners are analytical. I'm going to tell you about my questioning tendencies and how it relates to the Organize 365 products I develop. Instead of using the term Questioner, I've always said that I'm very analytical. So I think people who are very analytical are probably a Questioner on Gretchen Ruben's scale. Also, I think your personality comes into play, because you can be a contrary Questioner or you can be a productive Questioner. I'm a productive Questioner. I question and I analyze so that I can get an end result or so that I can help others get an end result. That is my overarching questioning–ness. I question something to figure out how to solve a problem. My ultimate goal as a teacher, educator, coach, motivator, parent, and human being is to solve problems and help people achieve the end result that they have for themselves. So I am a Questioner, an analyzer, in order to get you to the end result that you desire. Obligers & Questioners I think the majority of you up to this point have been Obligers, but in March I think I had some Questioners on the 100 Day Home Organization Program wait list! I got a couple of emails that asked, "Why are you making me wait? This is ridiculous. Here is my money, let me in please. Can I have the program? I don't want to wait a month." I literally got three of those emails in one week! I do not promote the 100 Day Home Organization Program every day of the year. I promote it for ten days, three different times of the year, when I know you will have the best end result of jumping into it. Now, I analyzed this quite a bit. I do not need the external motivation that an Obliger needs. My goal for Organize 365 is to get you to your desired end result which is an organized home. And as an educator, and a teacher, and an analyzer, I know that your best chance for success is to start in September, in January, and in April. You'll get as far as you possibly can because you'll be going with the natural energy of the year. However, I know that doesn't work for everyone. And so in the future on the wait list page at the bottom, there'll be a button that says, "Can't wait, click here." If you just took that quiz and you're an Obliger, you wait until September and you start with everybody else. You will have so much more success with the 100 Day Home Organization Program if you're doing the weekly Facebook Lives and if you're in the Facebook Group because everybody is doing the same thing which will help you get to your end result of organizing your house. The next round of the 100 Day Home Organization Program starts on MONDAY! And... I have opened registration for those of you who keep emailing trying to get in. :) You can sign up through the new store here... https://organize-365.myshopify.com/ (Your planner will get there by FRIDAY.) An Update On The Sunday Basket® Club We started the Sunday Basket® Club because a bunch of you Obligers came to me and said that you needed to pay a monthly fee so you would do your Sunday Basket®. And you said you wanted a Sunday Basket® class. I want you to have excellent value when you put money into Organize 365. When you pay for something at Organize 365, I want you to say at the end, "Oh, my gosh, it was worth so much more than that!" So, I price accordingly. I price for the value that is in the product, but I also price so that when you're done, you realize you got even more than you expected. With the Sunday Basket® Club, I was going to do twice-a-month training sessions on how to organize your paper, which I started doing in January. But I quickly realized that people were joining in February and not getting January's "how to get started with organizing your paper." There's an order to it that was missing. So… introducing the new Sunday Basket® Club! It's $99 a year. You can do the Sunday Basket® on Sundays with Monique and Ryan, and then every other Monday night, is a Facebook Live Q & A, just like in the 100 Day Home Organization Program. It's an opportunity for you to tell me what you want to hear by telling me what questions you have about your paper. For Questioners, simplicity comes at the end when you've decided what the answers to your questions are. That's how we get simplicity. So go ahead, ask me all the questions you want in the Sunday Basket® Club! I Want To Get You Results We are constantly analyzing and tweaking. Part of why I say, "Progress, not perfection" is because as a Questioner, I know there's no perfect. If you give me something that's perfect, I'm going to question it. I want you to get the best end result and that is why I do everything that I do. I want to give you all of the options so you can get the end result of getting your house organized. And sometimes, you see too many choices so you can't make a decision in order to get to your end result. I am trying to tailor my products to what you need. So that's a sneak peek into how a Questioner thinks and why I make changes. Every change I make is to benefit you. The 100 Day Home Organization Program hasn't changed in years. I am going to make it available on demand in the future, but I'm still going to do the launch model because that's what works for the majority of my audience. Next week, we're going to dive into physical products and the highs and lows of creating them! And there's still time to join me in Dallas, Texas for the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018! I can't wait to meet you and give you a BIG hug! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/224

You asked and I listened. This week on the podcast, I'm thrilled to welcome author Gretchen Rubin. Gretchen is one of the most influential writers in the world on human nature. She hosts an award-winning podcast and her best-selling books have been published in 30 countries and sold over 3 million copies! On the podcast, we talked about Gretchen's most recent book, The Four Tendencies, and how your personality type relates to getting your home organized. Which Personality Type Are You? Gretchen explained that the The Four Tendencies are four different personality types: Upholder Questioner Obliger Rebel You can probably tell which one you are just from the name! But if you want to take the survey for free, visit gretchenrubin.com. Gretchen explained that these personality types vary depending on what motivates you. We're all motivated by two main kinds of expectations: Outer Expectations: such as a work deadline or request from a friend Inner Expectations: our own desire to do things Upholders readily meet both types of expectations. Questioners question all expectations, so they'll only do something if they're convinced it makes sense. They make everything an inner expectation and object to anything they see as inefficient or irrational. Then there are Obligers, those who readily meet outer expectations (things other people want), but struggle to meet inner ones (the things they want). I think there are a lot of you out there! Finally, there are Rebels, those who resist all expectations, both outer and inner. Obliger is the most common type of tendency, with Rebel and Upholder being least common. Listen to the podcast to find out which tendency I have. Hint: No one guessed it correctly on Facebook! Making The Sunday Basket® Work For Your Personality Type I enjoyed telling Gretchen about the Sunday Basket® and it was interesting to unravel that it's my Obliger audience who were saying, "We need you to go through the Sunday Basket® with us on Sunday." I'm so pleased that I created the Sunday Basket® Club to give people the outer accountability that they need. How Does Personality Type Affect Home Organization? I think we have all of the tendencies in our family of 4! So how does this help us to get our homes organized, especially when dealing with the variety of tendencies in our family? I listened with great interest to Gretchen's advice on how to get the home organized when taking personality types into account. Gretchen explained that a big problem for Obligers is that they often struggle to delegate tasks. Do you recognize this tendency in yourself? This is where it helps to have people hold you accountable. Another great tip that Gretchen gave is one that I've heard myself say before… if you want to clean out the spare room, invite guests. That may well be the only thing that you need to do! Your Habits = Your Identity Like Dr Phil always used to say – You have an identity from being cluttered, but then you get organized and you have a new identity. So you have to really focus on that. Once you become organized, you ARE living a different kind of life. We don't realize how much of our life is habitual. This is why both mine and Gretchen's podcasts ask so many questions. It's to help people think about making choices and changing habits. I LOVED talking to Gretchen. She concluded on the show that if we have habits that work for us, we're much more likely to be healthier, happier, and more creative. Hey, have you signed up to join me in Dallas, Texas for the Organize 365 National Convention? I can't wait to meet you and give you a BIG hug! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/223

I want to share with you three reasons that I am an ultra-productive person. Productivity is definitely a mindset and a way that I was just inherently hard-wired for, but it is something you can learn. #1 Productive People Don't Waste Any Time You might be thinking, "Well, duh. I don't waste time either." But it's more than just not wasting time. I see time as my friend and I am in complete control of my time. This mindset shift alone will take a while for you to cultivate, especially if you're thinking it can't work for your circumstances. It is a mindset. Along with not wasting time, I reorganize my time - all the time. I see my day as blocks of time, but because I'm in control of all of my time, I move things around. #2 Productive People Are Results Oriented I didn't realize until recently how I do a to-do list and how an unproductive person does a to-do list. If you watched both of us doing our to-do lists, we would both look equally busy and look like we were getting the same amount done. But at the end of the day, my to-do list is done and you feel like you never got started on your to-do list. Here's the difference. I measure my success each day in finished products, not actionable work. Busyness gets me nowhere. Productive people are not busy, they are producing. That is the big distinguisher. You have to stop some of your busyness in order to get an end result, which means you have to know where you're going. When you look at the whole day at the end of the day, what did you actually get finished? What did you get done? What have you produced? Productive people are measuring what we are finishing and producing, not how we are spending our time. #3 Productive People Follow Tried And True Action Plans The biggest secret about productivity is that it is all about experimenting and creating habits. That is what productive people do. They try, they analyze, they look at their results and then they tweak and tweak. Productive people follow tried and true action plans. Whenever I have something new in business that I have never done before, I try to find somebody who has done that and I ask them what people they use, what system do they use, what is their process? I may tweak that for my own business, or I may tweak that for my own productivity or where it fits best in my schedule, but I don't start everything from scratch. The 100 Day Home Organization Program was developed by a professional organizer (me!) who took all of the spaces in your house, divided them into an organized chart, and then created the order in which you organize them according to the areas where you spend the most time and the areas of the house you have the most control. The 100 Day Home Organization Program WORKS! If you are looking to PRODUCE an ORGANIZE home, follow this system. ;) Being A Productive Person The things that I do that make me a very productive person are I don't waste any time and I feel that my time is in my control. I am results oriented, not busyness focused, and I follow tried and true action plans to get the results I want. If you are looking for a way to end up feeling 100 days from now that your house is more organized, I really do think that the 100 Day Home Organization Program is the solution for you. We would love to have you join us. View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/222