Organize 365 Podcast

This week's podcast episode is about the 100 Day Home Organization Program which is now open for registration! Many of you listen to my podcast for a solid six months or more before you believe that you can become organized. Eventually you try the Sunday Basket® and attend a Sunday Basket® Workshop. After 6-8 weeks of using the Sunday Basket®, you wonder why you waited so long. Then, the intrigue sets in – would the 100 Day Home Organization Program work for me? Yes, IF you aknowledge these two things... First, it will take you a full calendar year, three times through the 100 Day Home Organization Program, to become fully organized… you can do it… and it works! Second, you have to be willing to make an investment. An investment of your time, money and motivation. A big part of the transformation starts with the transaction. What you pay for, you value and you take it more seriously. I Liken The Program To Montessori Learning On the podcast, I share an email that I received from Marcy who likened my methods to the classical model for education (the grammar, dialectic and rhetoric stage). Marcy made so many great points and this intrigued me as it's not something I was aware I was doing. This got me thinking about Montessori teaching methods, something that I'm very familiar with having worked as a Montessori teacher. In a Montessori classroom, students are grouped by three year age groupings and not by grade. Over the course of three years in the same classroom, children interact with students 3 years older and 3 years younger than themselves. All teachers in the classroom teach all age groups. You get a real depth of education because you are with different age groups throughout your education. You learn how to be mentored and how to be a mentor. Another key aspect of Montessori is it repeats the curriculum over and over at a different level. The same presentations are delivered to children, but expectations are different based on their age. Kids move at their own pace, as long as the work gets done. They can deep dive into the topics they love the most and there is no limit – peers do not hold individuals back. When I worked as a middle school Montessori teacher, I always made sure that I incorporated what was going on in the real world into the classroom. This is very similar to how I teach in the podcast. I am very thoughtful about what I teach and when. I want to meet you where you are. I teach three steps to getting organized. Declutter Organize Increase productivity Click on the links above to listen to my popular podcast episodes on each. By repeating the 100 Day Home Organization Program over and over agian, the amount of time you spend on each stage will change. The first time you do the program, you'll spend most of your time decluttering. Give yourself grace. You must take pressure off yourself. The expectation is that you're going to start taking some action. You may not get through the full 100 days your first time (not many people do!). If you start the program now, your second time through will begin in September. The organizing energy in September is really strong! You will spend more time on organizing from September to December the second time you go through the 100 Day Home Organization Program. Newsflash, you will not believe what you didn't get rid of the first time! You can never get rid of as much as you need to because your mind won't let you. But when you get to the point where you have empty space, this will rock your world! Empty spaces can feel strange. In round two, you will learn to start living with a few empty spaces. January 1, 2019, you'll start your third time through the program – this is when you'll be doing 50% organizing and 50% productivity. People LOVE productivity. But in order to get productive, you have to declutter and organize first. Join The 100 Day Home Organization Program! Registration for the 100 Day Home Organization Program is open now until April 3rd. I can't wait to help you GET organized! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/221

Hold on tight folks – it's about to get emotional! This week on the podcast, I talk about how to manage items related to your hopes, dreams, and memories that are still in storage. The Hot Mess Room Challenge As my podcast episodes related to the Hot Mess Room Challenge series draws to a conclusion, I'm still in the middle of organizing all of my crafts! Organize 365 is my passion now so I no longer need to keep all of my crafts. It is time for them to go. If you're in the Hot Mess Room Challenge, you've already been watching a lot of videos in my storage room. If you're not and you would like to be, click here. It's a free 28-day program with printables, an ebook, and all of the videos. In an ideal world, I would love for my storage room to look like it should at the end of the Hot Mess Room Challenge. Guess what, though? It doesn't look great yet and it probably won't look like that ...ever. The reason? It's often because it takes us up to 3 times or more to go through a space to get it to a point where you'd want to share the finished result with anyone, let alone announce it on Pinterest! Tackling Difficult Memories Our storage room is full of memories. There are many items in my storage room that remind me of the future that I thought I'd be living. They represent an unusual kind of loss because the items aren't attached to the loss of people or money. Instead, they represent a future that I thought I would have, but haven't yet, or that I know will never happen. We all have hopes, dreams, ambitions, and pictures of our future that don't materialize in the ways we thought they would. It doesn't make it bad. It doesn't make it good. It is just the reality of our current situation. Are there items in your storage that remind you of… The mom or woman you thought you'd be? The person you thought you'd marry? The lifestyle you thought you'd have? The career you thought you'd have? The free time you thought you'd have? These are difficult, but important questions. Often, we're not holding onto things for financial reasons. Instead, we feel that if we keep them, then one day that dream or ambition may come true. Flip Your Mindset Instead of focusing on what may have been, focus on what you have. For me, I never thought I'd have a dog, but here I am with Hunter and I couldn't imagine a world without him. What do you have that you didn't think you would? I never imagined that I could talk to people from my bedroom and inspire others to change their life based on their goals, hopes, and dreams to get organized. I'm teaching and using my gifts in ways that I never imagined I would. However, it was extremely hard to get rid of all my teaching supplies. Giving up on my dream of owning a day-care center was a process. It took me years to let my teaching license lapse and let my supplies go. A Yard Sale, Charity Event & Party All In One! It's wonderful to receive your emails and see the successes that you're achieving when you're getting your homes in order. On the podcast this week, I had to share Lynn's story because I LOVE it! She was debating over what to do with all of the things that she no longer needed and she finally settled on a yard sale in her basement. Everything was free, but people were asked to make donations to charity. She was partying with her friends in the kitchen while people were taking things away and at the same time donating to help others. After 2 hours, most of the items were gone and she'd made over $800 to donate to a local charity. She told me how good it felt on all levels. Supply & Demand Steph emailed me to share that smaller families may be the reason why people don't want to inherit so much stuff anymore. With parents tending to have fewer children these days, we often don't battle with siblings for nostalgic mementos like we may have done in the past. Mind blown! She's absolutely right. It's certainly true for when my sister and I were going through the family home as there was so many things and only the two of us to sort and acquire them. Take A Deep Breath & Start I really want you to look at the things you are storing and ask yourself whether you really need it... BUT at the same time, give yourself more grace if required. Maybe it's time to get rid of things, but equally, maybe it's not. It could be that you just needed to hear the words this time and then the next time we talk about it, that'll be the time to take action. We know that intellectually we need to get rid of things, but it's the physical and emotional ties that hold us back from getting rid of things until the third or fourth time. Previous Podcast Episodes The main podcast episodes that I recommend you listen to, where I talk about my own childhood memories and how to deal with items when someone passes away, are: 3 Things To Consider When You Are Saving Childhood Memories What to Save When A Loved One Passes 10 Things I Am Decluttering After 30 Years! Next week, I am sharing how the 100 Day Home Organization Program is like Montessori Education. Which is appropriate as I am here in Texas this weekend at the Home School Convention. Education is on my mind. :) I will also be stopping by the Hotel for the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018. All the party plans are humming along. AND... I'm visiting the 1000+ Sunday Baskets that just arrived this week. I have to go see all my basket babies! Thanks so much for following along on my journey and supporting the new Organize 365 Store! You may have noticed that I'm not on Facebook as much these days. It's become so complicated! While I still have a business page and a personal account, please know that everything that I record goes into the Organize 365 Facebook Group - it's a great free resource. If you're not in this group, why not?! Head on over and sign up. What I really enjoy about the Facebook Group is the shared conversations you all have with each other. It's great when you post questions and success stories as the whole Organize 365 team LOVE's to see what you're doing and share it with our wonderful community. I really like Instagram and, in particular, I love Instastories! Click here to follow me on Instagram. You'll often see me posting quick snippets of my life and they're only available for 24 hours. If Instagram isn't your thing, you can also see my Instastories on Facebook Stories, as well. Speaking of Sunday Basket®s, if you love the system and are looking for a way to make a little money on the side, or to drive clients to your existing professional organizing business, please consider coming alongside the already 50 strong team of Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizers! Why now? You can join between now and April 1, 2018 for a $500 one time fee and a yearly renewal of $250. Starting April 1, the one time fee goes up to $745, so get in now and save! 50% of the professional organizers on the Organize 365 Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Team say they have received a new professional organizing client at their FIRST WORKSHOP. You can learn more about becoming a Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer and/or sign up here: https://organize365.com/become-licensed-sunday-basket-workshop-provider/ View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/220

Does your home ever feel like a craft store?! This week on the podcast, I talk all about how to get your crafts in order so you can create space and have more time to enjoy doing the things you love. One of the reasons I've not tackled the hot mess room on the podcast so far is precisely because it's a hot mess room and it's overwhelming! When there's so much in there, it's easy to get overwhelmed and not really know where to begin, especially when you're listening to my podcast episodes but then can't physically see the things you should be sorting. Because of this, I'm here to try and teleport myself into your space and give us the chance to tackle this together in the most logical way possible. Start With The End In Mind Imagine for a moment that we could stop time and you could have seven full days to dedicate solely to working on your craft. Obviously, it's not practical in the real world, but it's a great starting point to look at all of your crafts and work out exactly what you could and would want to use in that time. This will form the basis for everything we do to organize your crafts. It's most likely that you'll have enough crafts to keep you going for seven years rather than seven days. Therefore, it's going to take you more than seven days just to organize it, let alone start enjoying it! You need to have this reality check. Otherwise, you're setting up for unrealistic expectations – and we all know I'm the queen of those! My Scrapbook Downsizing I have always loved scrapbooking and making photo albums. As a result, I've accumulated LOTS of supplies over many years. I came the realize that I didn't need all of those supplies anymore. I simply don't scrapbook as much as I used to. It this week's podcast episode, I explain how I managed to reduce my craft supplies from taking up two very large closets in the basement to one armoire in the loft. Why am I telling you this? It's so you can clearly see how I went from having supplies for a full-time business to supplies that will support me making one or two albums a year. Letting Go Of The Stamping & Counted Cross Stitch Similar to my scrapbooking supplies, I used to have A LOT of stamping supplies which I have now condensed to hardly any at all (just a small shoe box versus the whole bookcase that I used to have). My mother is an artist and makes wonderful rubber stamp cards. Because mom did it, I bought hundreds of rubber stamps and ALL the associated supplies. I was decluttering last summer when I realized that I hadn't stamped in 15 years. I was only keeping them because: I'd spent a lot of money on them The looked super cute They sat on the gorgeous piece of furniture that my late grandfather had made I did two things. First, I chose 20 stamps to keep for future projects and I sent the rest to my mom to use and give to others. Second, I took the stamp holder off the wall and offered it to my sister. She was delighted to accept it as she now got something that grandpa had made and she had a use for it. I did the same with counted cross stitch. I used to LOVE counted cross stitch, but I came to realize that I haven't done a project in 17 years. I can't imagine a time when I'm going to do one again any time soon, but I CAN see a time in the distant future when I will pick this hobby back up. So I've kept a couple of hoops and all my flosses are in order for when this time comes, but it's in a small box that's easy to store. Allow Yourself To Let Go Scrapbooking , stamping, and counted cross stitch are examples of crafts that I used to be really into, but am less so now. Similar to what I did, ask yourself if you're still really into something and if not, adjust the amount of supplies that you hold onto. As you're looking at your craft and reliving the memories of the interest in that craft, ask yourself: What is your current need, desire, and excitement for this craft? What is your future need, excitement, and desire for this craft? Only keep the things you really need and give 90% away! It may not be exactly 90%, but I guarantee you it will be around that amount. You do not need to keep a lot. Sometimes an advancement in technology makes your craft redundant. My stamps are a great example of this. They're wooden, but modern ones are clear and much easier to use. If you want to revisit a hobby later, invest a bit of money in new things. Don't be held back by the old things that you're storing. Just because you've held onto them doesn't mean you have to use them forever. Speaking of projects... OH MY GOODNESS! We have so many new products and opportunities coming out THIS WEEKEND I can't even stand it!! If you are following me on Instagram or Facebook be ready for LOTS of videos. :) I can't even decide what I am the most excited about!! First, I am so happy to announce that the BINDERS ARE IN! That's right! They are finally ready! There are five binders currently available - Financial, Medical, Household Reference, Household Operations, and Kids School Memories. You are going to LOVE THEM! and... the Official Sunday Baskets® are IN! I can't even believe my dream is coming true! If you have already participated in the Sunday Basket® Workshop, you will want to get your Official Organize 365 Sunday Basket® to accompany your slash pockets! If you haven't yet, we are now offering a special Sunday Basket® Kit for only $97 which includes the virtual Sunday Basket® Bundle 1.0 & 2.0 AND your very own Sunday Basket®! SHOP HERE As always, thank you for all you do as the heartbeat of Organize 365. I love hearing from all of you and am always cheering you on from the sidelines as you take control of your life - one room, one pile of paper at a time. Happy Organizing! ... Still reading?! Then you are a SUPER fan! 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/219

Welcome to the Hot Mess Room Series - Week 2! It's time to sort through all of those items that you've been hanging onto without ever knowing where they're likely to eventually end up. Storage is essential, but it can quickly get out of control. It's time to ask yourself two simple questions… Will I use this item 1-4 times a year? Is this item saved for a specific person, for a specific date in the future? If you can answer yes, the item can stay. If it's a no, it's time for it to go. Storing things that you need is fine, and the more organized you get, the more you'll appreciate a well-functioning storage room. My free 28-day organizational program on this topic goes into much more detail. Listen to my previous podcast for more information and you can sign up for it here. The number one goal for storage is to ask yourself if an item is something that you're ever going to use. This applies to your items and the items that you are storing for others. I covered so many different things in this podcast including gifts, wrapping, furniture, home repair items, sports & entertainment equipment, cleaning supplies, kitchen supplies, toys, home decor, children's storage, making money, and clothing. You can read all about it in the blog post here. The Series I know that organizing a hot mess room doesn't happen overnight so I'm creating this 4-episode podcast series to tackle things. This is Part Two. Last week, we laid the foundation and over the next two weeks we will cover: Craft organization Sorting memories and dreams for the future If you're not already doing the 28-day challenge, then WHY NOT?! It's a completely free program and you can start at any time. Sign up to start your journey here. 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/218

Take a deep breath – it's time to get your hot mess room in order! This is one of the most requested podcast topics fro me to cover. If it helps, it was equally overwhelming for me to think about how I was going to inspire and motivate you to sort it out. What I finally realized was, you needed a 28 day course. And I didn't want money to be the reason you didn't tackle this already overwhelming space. So I created a FULL 28 day course complete with a 25 page eBook, 9 full color printables, and 28 daily emails with actionable tasks and daily videos or podcasts to keep you going.You can get the WHOLE course FREE here. Over the next 4 podcasts, I'm going to tackle your out of control storage area head on. Buckle up and get ready for the ride! Whether it's the storage room, garage, spare bedroom, or even your entire house, there's always going to be things that you just don't know what to do with. As things build up in one space, they become a jigsaw puzzle. It's your job to try and work out what items should go where. To move forward, you need to realize what's actually in there and then once you've achieved that, you can sort it out. There's two reasons why you have a hot mess room… You have a lack of time (and decision-making capabilities) You have a lack of space Lack Of Time There's always something that will be more important to distract you from addressing the hot mess room. The reason that things are in there in the first place is because you don't know what you want to do with them. They're all there because you don't want to deal with them. If you did want to deal with them, you would have! Lack Of Space Your goal is to have a functioning and organized storage area. The logistics of this will depend on your individual situation. If you have a garage and basement and lots of available space to fill, you may need to make tough decisions to reduce the amount of possessions you are storing. If you live in a smaller space, the reason that you may have a hot mess room is because you literally don't have a storage area at all. When we pick houses, we often don't make our purchasing decisions based on storage even though it's something that we all need. Storage is a natural by-product of life. We all need a certain amount of stuff and that is absolutely fine. Depending on your circumstances, you may need an off-site storage facility. There's nothing wrong with this. Here are 3 good examples of when this may be necessary… When two families blend together, especially if children are involved When you downsize, but the kids are still using the house as a storage facility If you move to an area where you don't have a garage or basement Make Storage Work For You Since I started offering physical products, I've really had to think about the organizational logistics for myself and the wider team. Initially, we used the Home Depot shelving in the garage to store everything and this very quickly expanded to include an off-site storage facility. This worked, but it wasn't ideal. As it got colder, we realized that a physical office with a door would be more appropriate for our needs. In all of these spaces, we used the Home Depot shelving – there were lots of trips to the store! The key to organization is to ensure that it works for your needs. If it doesn't, change it, find a better solution, and move on. The System Whatever your system, start from an empty space for the optimum organization. The more uniform, the better. Your shelving and storage need to be neat, tidy, and clearly accessible. I personally use the HDX ventilated 24" deep shelving from Home Depot. I love that it is heavy duty yet very flexible and lightweight. (How to set up your storage room and the exact products I use are in the the WHOLE course FREE here.) It works for basements, storage facilities, garages, and even attics because it is so adaptable in height. It's the system I LOVE for setting up a storage room. If space is limited, you can place folding tables on the top of the shelving to make a countertop to work on. It's a great money-saving tip. The beauty of this system is that you can find anything at any time. Color-coded bins will hold your items and the contents will all be indexed in a home reference binder. You will keep this in the house for when you need to use it. Sign Up! I'm offering you the opportunity to enroll in a special 28-day program just for the hot mess room. It's completely FREE! I'm super, super excited about how much this will help you. Sign up for this 28 day daily organizational challenge and you'll get… Daily actionable work that will yield real results A 2-minute video each day An eBook and a comprehensive shopping list of how to set up a storage room 9 colorful printables to track what you have stored in your storage area Imagine getting organized in just 28 days! It's a reality and it's my FREE gift to you! Click here to start your 28-day organizational hot mess room journey. 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/217

It's the big one guys! Over the last few weeks, I've been super excited to introduce you to some of the people that have really helped shape who I am over the last decade. So I couldn't think of a better way to finish the series than by inviting my very own sister, Emily Kelly, onto the podcast! Emily takes you on the journey of some of our life experiences and shows you how I've become the person and businesswoman I am today... and to dish the dirt on everything about me that only a sister can know! We're very lucky to be in such a special relationship. I'm also super excited to let you know that Emily is now part of the Organize 365 Team. She is running the Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Certification Program. Entrepreneurship Runs In Our Family We grew up in a 100% entrepreneurial family so the idea of working for someone else was just never entertained. For us, we were taught that you either owned the company or you started one from scratch. On the podcast, Emily takes us back to when she was 3 years old to the story of her first friend whose mom owned a home goods shop in the valley and our Mom who was running her business from our basement. Every day, they'd play "shops" with the little guest checks or receipts lying around from both homes. It was that or trading stickers. It's all we'd ever known. Everywhere we went, we were pretending we were in business. It was so much fun! By contrast, since I was 4 years older, I was often out babysitting and dreaming of the day I'd become a mom! To picture the scene, we grew up in a neighborhood in Akron with no traffic (or sidewalks!) and there were very few children. It meant that we had to make our own fun. I'll never forget the day Emily and her friend set up a lemonade stand outside the house. Entrepreneurism was everywhere for us, but it's lovely to reflect on the fact that we learned business from different perspectives because of our ages. Our Mom's Business Emily loves that we're both true to form with the women on mom's side of the family when it comes to business minds. We have inherited the attitude of "I have an idea and it's going to sell." Our grandma mailed fabric all over the world so people could make their own clothes. Grandma Green had a flower shop, and our mom's idea grew while working for a clothing business. Emily and I have such fun recalling the stories of mom and grandma taking clothes for a huge end-of-season event to Cleveland to maximize sales in the 1970's/80's. Everyone helped with it. Mom saw potential right away. Many people were being successful with the trunk parties, but no one had the undergarments. Cue mom! She literally got on a plane to New York, went to a show, and started buying lingerie. She had slips coming out of her ears! It was an old-school direct sales business that she'd created on her own. Emily says that just blows her away! It reminds me of when I got on the plane to Dallas and asked the manufacturer to produce my Sunday Basket® for me. Mom grew the business to where she had women working for her in 26 states when she sold it just a few years later. It was an amazing achievement with lots of reinvestment. We are both so similar in the way we approach business today because of how she was. White Gloves, Party Manners & Favorite Games Emily and I recall how when we were young, we took etiquette classes to learn all about silverware and to get our slips out for formal dinners (slips feature heavily in our childhood!). We also learned how to get out of a car in a skirt. I often wondered, would any of this help me see the royal family? We're both BIG royals. I would have put being Queen on my list of jobs to be when I grew up if I could. I can't wait for the royal wedding and new royal baby this year! We did love to play lots and lots of games when we were growing up, too. We came up with all sorts of games. By far, our favorite was one we made up called "big friend." Visit the blog post here to view a short video of Emily and I sharing our memories of the game. Entrepreneurism Ran In Our Dad's Family, Too Our dad was no exception to entrepreneurism. Sales was his strength and Dad's company had over 100 employees. His father and grandfather had a coffee company. Our father's company in Akron that he eventually became co-owner of was called Alcon Tool. Dad's enthusiasm for manufacturing made us fall in love with the industry. Dad's ethos on work is something that stays with us both today. It doesn't matter what role you play in the team, everyone is equally important. That's what I'm trying to grow at Organize 365. Dad's Passing Our father passed away 10 years ago just before he was 61. On the podcast episode, Emily and I reflect on this most upsetting time in our lives. We talk about how it was kind to put us both as executors, but not practical. We found our own roles and formed a strong team at a difficult time. Growing Independently It's true that we had a privileged upbringing in both education and financial support, but in every single generation, the businesses that our families grew started from scratch. There was no inheritance, but just a great idea and the determination to succeed. Dad started life as a salesman and left as a partner. When I reflect back, my best advice would be to take a look at what you have and not what everyone else has. I'm successful and I'm very blessed, but I work really hard. I want to give back as much as possible, but I create zero excuses for myself. Having my husband Greg working allowed me to start Organize 365, but Emily is a very successful single woman. So it's not your spouse that makes or breaks you. Think about the "something" you were uniquely created to do and give it to the world. Every reason why you're not pursuing it is an excuse. Take what's in your way and get rid of excuses to move forward. This podcast is about our family highlights because it's all about encouraging and inspiring you. When you focus on the positives, opportunities become bigger and brighter and you can chase them. If you focus on what could have been, things look darker and it's harder to chase your goals. Creative Memories The time when Emily and I worked for Creative Memories was a super exciting time in both our lives. Replacing my teaching salary with direct sales so I could stay at home with my family was my dream and I was going to do everything I could to get there. My dad helped me decide on Creative Memories. We both felt it had a big reach... it turns out we were right! As Emily says, I joined and went straight to the top! Emily was one of my great customers and after turning me down initially, I finally managed to get her to sign up, too. She went straight to the top as well! We built teams and were in the top 6% performers of the company. We take a lot of what we learned in those days with us now to run a fun community workshop feel. Emily & I As A Team Again This brings us to today and where Emily and I find ourselves in the organizational realm. Although it's not the most profitable, I'm staying with the home and paper organization, as it's the area where I feel I can recreate the community buzz of Creative Memories. I'm constantly pivoting and moving forward to create this feeling in your house and at our workshops. It's awesome to have Emily on board to run the Sunday Basket® Workshop Organizer Certification Program. Prices go up on April 1st so get in touch with Emily to talk about the next steps as soon as you can. We'd love to have you on the team! Emily and I see the vision of bringing people together all over the world. It's a space where you can share experiences and move forward from them. No one should feel alone and that's why the workshop model works so well. Emily is so excited to be on board and she feels just like she did when we worked together at Creative Memories. For her, we've never been better than then as a team. I love Emily and so will you, I am sure! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/216

I am so excited to introduce you to Melanie Moore on this week's Organize 365 podcast! As many of you know, I'm running a series of the top 5 people who have helped shape and define me over the last decade and Melanie definitely qualifies. Melanie is the Director of Training & Development at CinchShare, a social media scheduling software that helps entrepreneurs, business owners, and anyone using social media to spend more time doing what they love rather than being tied to a computer. We use CinchShare at Organize 365 and I'm delighted that CinchShare is sponsoring the Organize 365 National Convention on June 7-9, 2018 in Texas. Melanie is going to be the Master of Ceremonies! How I Met Melanie The first time we spoke, I was in Walmart when my cell phone rang. The lady on the end of the phone sounded so enthusiastic that I pretended to know exactly who she was (even though at that stage I didn't!). At the time, Melanie organized events where companies would come together, share ideas, and take them back to their own teams to grow their businesses. She asked if I would be a speaker and I couldn't wait to jump in and say yes. I'd always wanted to be a national direct sales speaker and this was the perfect opportunity to learn and develop. She couldn't pay me, but asked if I had a book I'd like to sell at the end. I said, "Yes." The speaking opportunity was in 2 weeks so I had 2 weeks to write a book... which, of course, I did!! :) Be An Action Taker After several meet-ups, we realized that we were both action takers. Being an action taker is a lot of fun. It opens up time to spend on things you enjoy rather than deliberating over things that don't hold so much significance. For example, when something breaks, I'll buy a new one right away. I won't take hours pondering it. If the new one doesn't work out, we'll try again. Why Melanie Is An Inspiration To Me Melanie's enthusiasm and expertise is infectious. And we both talk as fast as each other! I love that we both see the bigger picture in life. We're able to both draw on our direct sales experience and see what's working and what isn't. The opportunities for both of us that arise from this are just super exciting. Organize 365 National Convention in Dallas Tickets are available NOW! Describing this convention is something I am having a hard time articulating. It's a convention that meets a retreat with a splash of the group activities you did on school field trips. Think of it as a chance to meet and hug me (I'm a big hugger!). It's all about getting like-minded people in a room together and learning so much from each other. Prepare to meet new friends, enjoy new experiences, and open your mind to a world of possibilities that you never thought possible. Give yourself the time to take a step out of the real world and purposefully plan your next year. I promise you, you'll walk out of the convention as a new person. As Melanie says, "You'll be a new person on a new mission. You'll see clarity like you've never experienced. Clarity alone will bring you back every single year." Rise – YOU Are Enough I want you to leave the conference believing in YOU. The convention will give you the resources you need to continue on your organizational journey and open up time in your calendar and space in your life for the future you want to happen. The more organized you are, the better your personal and professional life can be. I have a burning desire to see people thriving and living a relaxed life where they can live out their free time. The Organize 365 community is super awesome. We all learn from each other, including me! For example, thanks to a suggestion from someone in the group (thank you!), I now peg my jeans instead of hanging them so I have a designated space for each TYPE of jeans I wear. The peg is a brilliant idea! Supporting each other also brings us to synergy and the idea that 1 + 1 = 3 (or for me and Melanie, 8 million!). It's important to get off technology and see people face-to-face. Melanie is such a wonderful example of this and I'm so happy that our paths crossed. There's so much value in speaking to people. If you dream it and believe it, you can achieve it. As Melanie says, she can't wait to see my dream of running a national convention actually come to fruition… and neither can I! We're super excited to meet you all. There are only 160 tickets available. Once they're gone, they're GONE! Join us for some big surprises, be ready to be inspired, and take action. Come to Dallas and rise with us. View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/215

I'm super excited to introduce Laura Vanderkam to the podcast. I'm a HUGE fan and I've wanted to get her on the show since I started out. Laura is the talented author of several time management and productivity books – I've read them all! She is here to guide us through life by saying, "Hey! It can be tough, but there's so many different ways to manage our time and make things easier." I feel like I already know so much about Laura from her inspirational podcast, "The Best of Both Worlds." I'm always searching for podcasts about successful women and how they do it (aren't we all?) and this is where I discovered Laura. The podcast is all about loving our families and our jobs as one, a concept that's often presented as oppositional, but this one aims to prove it doesn't have to be that way. Laura and her co-host Sarah Hart-Unger have taught me so much, not only about organizing my life for the better, but also giving me the confidence to speak up and stand my ground on the things that are important to me. Can You Have It All? Well, according to Laura – yes, you can. Not only that, she tells you how to hit it out of the park. My personal light bulb moment was coming across, "What Most Successful Women Do Before Breakfast," one of Laura's books. To me, the content really makes sense. It's about loving harmonizing your family and career, helping out, being flexible, and organizing your time to allow you to feel fulfilled in every part of your life. Grab Those Goalposts Use goals to manage your time. I'm a big believer that you can pretty much do whatever you want if you pick a goal and set steps to make it work. I definitely look at my time differently now thanks to Laura. Unfortunately, good things don't just appear like magic. You need to think about how you're realistically going to get to where you want to be. Set manageable targets within achievable timeframes and the goal setting process will start to flow. The book "I Know How She Does It" is really good for this. Prioritizing Family Time – Anytime Talking about looking at time differently, I love the concept of shaking things up. A simple change can affect your life dramatically. For example, if you feel like you're missing out on quality time with your family, why not try making your meal time together at the beginning of the day. There's so much pressure for family meals to be in the evening, but this can happen at any other time. How about breakfast? Breakfast food is fun and often people, especially children, are in a better mood in the morning. So it really can be a great option for busy families to have that time to sit together. Work out what works best for you and your family and shake it up. Looking At Your Time Differently Who knew the middle of the week was Thursday evening? I know, right?! This is a game changer. Laura explains that if you start from Monday morning, the midpoint of the week is really Thursday evening, even though it feels like the end of the week. For Laura, managing time is about balance. What does balance mean to you and how can you achieve it? Don't be leisurely about your leisure time. It's not about scheduling things you have to do – it's about scheduling things you WANT to do! While she doesn't suggest planning every part of your life, sometimes we do need to schedule our free time. If you want to go for a run, factor in that 20 minutes somewhere. Laura also says it's important not to blame anyone else. You are in control. Don't use the kids as an excuse for not being able to do things. I pick 1-3 things I want to accomplish and look at how that fits in with the family – at least then I'm in the equation. We need to think about ourselves. The Great Sleep Debate – Are We Getting Enough? I was inspired by Laura tracking her sleep over a couple of years and had every intention of tracking my sleep for 2 weeks – I ended up doing 2 nights! I've always said I need 6/7 hours, but the issue is I love sleeping in on the weekends. The purpose of Laura's study was to see, in actual numbers, what the life of a professional woman looks like. It turns out, we have a lot more free time than we think. It's how we use that time that's key. Outsource The Things That Actually Take Up Your Time We need to ask ourselves, where are we actually spending most of our time? It's likely to be picking up laundry or doing the daily house chores, but we definitely need to look beyond the obvious if we want to save time. Many of you know that I used to organize people professionally. I'd get constant calls from women asking me why they suddenly felt overwhelmed by the housework, despite work not changing and their kids being older. The reason was mostly because they'd gotten rid of the nanny who had been looking after the kids AND the housework. Often, they'd just need a part-time housekeeper to fill the gap and they'd be back on track. Laura points out that those little jobs we often multitask are actually taking up tons of valuable hours that we could be spending elsewhere. She says to set aside a time and, if it's not done in that time, it's probably not that important. We definitely underestimate the hours it takes to sort the home, but give yourself credit for doing that activity, whether you outsource it or not. Putting You In Control If something's not done, I feel like it's my problem. I know that I often put that on myself. I'm sure many of you can relate, but Laura says there's always a choice and I think that is so important to remember. Sometimes you are doing this to yourself and you can take back control. Balancing family, free time, and chores can be overwhelming. What I LOVE about Laura is that not only does she have great ideas for managing your time effectively, she's able to make me see that I can't do it all. I'm WORKING And best of all – that's ok! Looking Forward The next book from Laura is called "Off The Clock" and it comes out on May 29th. It's a time study about tracking time and how people look at their lives. How do people spend their time differently? Laura found that people who felt like they had a lot of time had done something different or memorable. They felt like they had more time because they were doing something with their time that they actually remembered. The conclusion was that when you do this, your time actually expands. I LOVE it! The date is already on my calendar to get it. To find out more about Laura Vanderkam, click here. Follow me on Facebook and on Instagram – I'm currently addicted to Instagram Stories! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/213

I have mentioned on the podcast many times before that there is one blog that I read every single day... it is Andrea Dekker's. There is so much great material on her blog andreadekker.com. Andrea has four children under the age of six and she explains how she manages all their very different requirements, and her own, with a simple "be prepared" mantra. She also shares with us some great advice on selling your unwanted items on Craigslist, something she does often with success. How We Both Got Started Both Andrea and I started out with very different blogs. For me, I remember I was going to be this "guru" to help when your kids had food allergies and other things. But then I realized that dealing with that and dealing with everything my kids needed me to do was just too much! That is when in 2012, I launched Organize365.com. Though for Andrea, it was a little different. Andrea explains on the podcast that she just fell into doing what she does. After finishing college, starting work, and getting married, she realized she hated her job. Her father gave her some great advice when he told her to find out what she enjoyed doing and figure out a way to get paid for doing it. In doing that, she would be successful even if she didn't make a lot of money. So, a job she really disliked ended up being the springboard to starting her own organizing business, which was essentially her dream job. This was back in 2006. She didn't even have internet in her own house. But eventually she began to write her own blog, and she took some work as a virtual assistant. One of many things I love about Andrea's blog is her level of consistency. She would post every day at 8am and, just like reading a newspaper, I would sit down to read her blog every morning. I even copied this routine when I started blogging. My posts went up at 8am because Andrea's posts did! Andrea is good at routine. She takes the normal, everyday tasks and makes them more efficient and functional. She explains during the episode that she doesn't have creative, cool things to share. She just focuses on functionality and frugal solutions. If It Doesn't Work, Change It I was delighted that Andrea was willing to share a couple tips for my Organize 365 listeners. And I can certainly relate to the first tip about constantly evaluating what works and what doesn't work. Take the kids' toys for example... if the toys no longer fit in their space, then something has to go. Don't continue to just accumulate without purging as you go along. I am a self-confessed consumer, but the kids' toys change as they get older. I find that spreading them out into different rooms, or making them responsible for their own toys in their own space, makes it less overwhelming for you to clean them up again afterwards. Making the house work for you and your children is key. Andrea makes her house work for her. It's almost like a preschool room... the kids can help themselves. I remember when my children were born, I kept the socks upstairs because that's where you keep socks, right? But we always put socks and shoes on in the family room. So when I moved the socks downstairs, it was like the heavens opened and the angels started singing because I didn't have to go searching for socks anymore. Make your house function for you and your family. It works until it doesn't work. And then when it doesn't work, change it. How To Sell On Craigslist The thing about purging and reorganizing is that you end up with a bunch of stuff that I tell you to load in the car, take to Goodwill, drop it all off, and move on. This is where Andrea gives us some great advice as she is so good at selling on Craigslist. On her website, she has some great articles on this topic where she goes into great detail about how to write the advertisement and what things are most important when selling via Craigslist. Click here to see her "Craigslist 101" posts. And she even has one on how she sold her house on Craigslist – click here to see it. She really is that good at this! Her best piece of advice is to be honest with yourself. Is it worth your time to take pictures, post the ad, respond to emails, and to sell the item? If not – donate it! If you are going to sell, make sure you take high-quality pictures and list the measurements. The more information you can give, the fewer emails you will get with questions about your item. Also with pricing, Andrea gives a great tip... Take a look at similar items in your area and price your item a little bit less. Even at just a couple dollars less, people will subconsciously be drawn to your item. This is where I am so different from Andrea. I have literally given things away that are worth hundreds of dollars just to have them out of the house. In fact, I did that with my daughter's guinea pigs. I gave them away and paid my daughter one hundred dollars before she changed her mind. I'm just not good at selling things. ;) - No guilt here if you too are in the survival phase of life and just want the clutter gone! Lighten Your Load Having been fully through the accumulation stage, (20s and 30s) I am working my way through survival (40-55). I am so pleased to direct those of you struggling with young children and mountains of toys over to Andrea's blog to see how she is thriving during the accumultaion years with 4 children under 6. In this week's blog post, I have lots of links to my favorite posts on Andrea's blog. If you want to see the crazy antics I am up to, follow me on Instagram and watch my daily Instagram Stories to see a peek into my life. View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/212

You are probably confused right now. Lisa Woodruff, muscles? Well, the muscles I'm talking about are your organizational muscles! Are you ready to build your organizational muscles? Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not very good at physical exertion at all. In fact, I think sweating is a sin! I prefer to exercise my mental and organizational skills. Really, I am pathetic when it comes to exercise. I can literally go days when my step counter on my phone reads less than a thousand. There was a time a few years ago when I was able to walk 10,000 steps, but I just don't have the time now. And I don't want to make the time to do it, but I am making an effort. My goal this year is 5,000 steps and so far I'm doing pretty good. Bear in mind, this is my whole exercise program. I'm just trying to move more. I'm not trying to lose weight, just maintain it. Organization is similar to exercise in that regard. You have to match your organizational goals to the organizational outcome you want. Only compete with yourself! Hitting A Roadblock A lot of you will hit a roadblock this week. Isn't it freaky how I know that. Well, here's what happens... Over the Christmas break, you had time off and decluttered like a mad woman. The first step to getting organized is to declutter so you can see what you have left to organize. You got rid of everything that didn't move. Even the dog and children were afraid to sit too still in your house! You followed my advice and bought the bookshelves and bins from Home Depot. You've taken down Christmas and your holiday decoration area looks amazing. You feel like a boss, you're on a roll. You go from room to room, decluttering, taking out the trash, making donations. It looks better, but it doesn't feel organized and you don't know what to do next. Maybe I haven't recorded a podcast for that particular room and you're stuck, but decided not to buy the 100 Day Home Organization Program. You're saving money and it's expensive. Maybe you'll buy it later. And you're right, it is a little expensive and it should be. It was designed by a professional organizer and it works! It's OK, you don't need to buy the 100 Day Home Organization Program. I'm going to tell you how to grow your organizational muscles on your own. I am going to show you step-by-step how to tackle two areas in your home, the master bathroom and your linen closet. Organizing The Master Bathroom In just 15 minutes a day, you can organize the bathroom that you use every day to get ready to the point you feel like I came in and did it for you. Day One - Take a look at your towels. Do you need all of them? Remove the ones you don't need. Wash the ones you need out on display and freshen them up. Then, you're done with towels. Day Two – Make-up. Get rid of old samples and colors you don't wear and perfume that gives you migraines. Consolidate them into one space. It might help to take a look at the blog I wrote about Organizing Make-Up. You could also add in some organizational tools like the Make-up Manager I use like this one on Amazon (affiliate link). Over the next few days, assess your nail polish, your jewelry, your underwear and socks (yes, I keep all of these in my bathroom). Then look around you at the walls, do you like what you see? Continue until you have organized every single cabinet, drawer, and shelf, and then do it again. This is how you get organized, by spending 15 minutes a day in the same space every single day until you can go into that space for two 15 minute sessions in a row and there is literally nothing to do. It takes repetitive action, but your master bathroom will be amazing. Organizing Your Linen Closet Back in 2006, it took me about 4 months to organize my laundry room. Every 2 or 3 days, I would spend half an hour trying different things until I was happy... new shelving, new cabinets, new countertops. I had a blast doing it. Nobody cared. No one goes in there, no one messed it up. I could do what I wanted. I would run the washer and dryer at the same time. It was like white noise. I couldn't hear the rest of the family. It was amazing! But in the podcast, I focus on the linen closet. First of all, you need to empty it all over the floor and check out the bulky items (towels, blankets, comforters). Be honest with yourself here as these take up space. Do you need so many? Why do you still have towels from the 1980's? It is a cycle... we buy new and store the old ones in the linen closet. It's the same with bedding, get rid of them. If you think you don't have this stuff, just wait until you empty everything onto the floor. You'll see that I'm right. I had four sets of 20 year-old flannel sheets that I loved as a child, but my children didn't want them on their beds! Get rid of old towels and donate others that don't match your color scheme anymore to a homeless shelter along with any old single sheets. Be ruthless, what's the worst that could happen? That is how you organize your linen closet. But if you're thinking, "Wait, wait. There's still more stuff in here." I know you'll figure it out. And if you don't know how to take the next step, then you need a professional organizer to guide you. The Beauty of the 100 Day Home Organization Program You can organize your house like we did in these two scenarios, going back in day after day. But, if like me, it takes you 4 months to organize your laundry room, you can see how long it would take to do your whole house this way. You will get the same result room by room, but with the 100 Day Home Organization Program we go through the entire house in 100 days, take a break, and then do it again. Each time, your whole house is more organized, not perfect, but better. But in addition to the 15 minute daily actionable tasks, the real beauty of the 100 Day Home Organization Program is that it comes with a lifetime membership. There are no renewal fees. Once you're in, you're in. Am I Too Late To Join? I launched the 100 Day Home Organization Program in December in order to capitalize on the momentum of January 1st. You're all fired up and ready to go as we hit the kitchen. Perhaps you didn't sign up because you just didn't have the money at the time. Or you had done the kitchen a couple of times already and didn't want to do it again. Or maybe you thought you could just do it on your own. Maybe now you're starting to realize how beneficial it would be to have a professional organizer, one that has organized 100's of homes, just to tell you what to do each day and you can go do it. Well, if like those that have emailed me asking when the 100 Day Home Organization Program opens again, you thought you'd missed out... surprise! I am opening the doors again this weekend only. If you join between now and Monday, you can start the program on January 22nd when everyone who started on the 1st is done with the kitchen and moving onto the master suite (bedroom, bathroom and closet). Don't try to go back to day one, jump in with everyone else in the master bedroom! You can join us mid-stream, not have to do your kitchen, and get both the Winter and Summer 2018 planners at no extra cost. To find out more and sign-up, just click here. I am SO excited to be able to offer you this opportunity and I hope you will join us as I know this program works. It looks like it's going to be a long winter. You're going to be inside a lot, so let's get organized while we're there. Join us! View the complete post here: https://organize365.com/211