Organize 365 Podcast

I just love sharing this journey with this community! I love that while processing my thoughts auditorily, I get to connect with you and pick your brains. Just like you all do in the online community! I shared with you about the Teacher Pilot and now I want to fill you in on the Kids Program Pilot. "How did you come up with the Kids Program?" I should have expected this question. Of course, they didn't have many organizational questions because they had just completed the after school program their parents signed them up for - The Kids Pilot. And there should have been no surprise that it was predominantly boys. Mom wanted little Johnny to pick up after himself better, I guess! We had 14 children participate. They wanted to know how I came up with the Kids Program. First Thing's First First things first, what is the Kids Program? In my years of professional home organizing, I developed some rules for organizing the kids' rooms. First, no parents. I wanted the child to feel comfortable to say yes or no to items or clothes they didn't want in their room. And let me tell you, you can force your child, guilt your child into keeping something in their room, but it isn't getting played with or worn! Speaking of stuffed animals, and you can apply this to other "collections," there's a process of elimination I explained. Our brains can get all mixed up when the things we definitely want to keep are mixed up with the things we are ok to let go. Also, if the child has a rock collection you don't want them to have, come up with a compromise. It's like their passion project and you are completely dismissing it. So instead allow them a certain amount of space or number of items that they can keep. It's their little passion project, their treasures. You can have an organized room with passion projects in them. And clothes are a whole other battle. When dealing with smaller children, the only real question they are considering is how do these clothes make me feel? They don't care about the occasion they may need it for. They never knew how you dressed as a child or how you envision your child dressing. They wanna be able to play in comfort. I always found in boys it was jeans vs. "swishy" pants. You can buy them all the jeans you want but if they like swishy pants, swishy pants are the only thing getting worn. I want to save the child from the battle with the parent over what they want to wear. And I want the parent to spend wisely on clothing their children will actually wear. I talk to the child in my only Lisa voice and help them to respectfully articulate to their parents their preferences and why. I know we all want an organized child and an organized child is much more likely to be confident. Organization breeds confidence. There are about 14 steps between "You know how" and "Do it like this" There is no system in place of how we "hand down" how to #adult. This applies to baby steps like helping our children to organize their mini apartments, to our emerging adults to their independent living spaces. That is why we offer the Kids Program and Launch Program for ages 16-25. We go out on our own and overnight gain a ton of responsibility. Did you know that one out of three children are born with organizational skills? So it isn't any wonder that 87% of adults don't feel organized. So if we don't learn organization in school or college, I mean, where are we to learn these skills? It's not like we wake up adults one day with the skill of organization! The Launch Binder is a great way to comprehensively hand down the skills and systems we have learned along the way for an organized lifestyle. How do we all learn grocery shopping, a cleaning schedule, managing prescriptions, health insurance, buying a car, routine things like oil changes and getting new tires? As parents we just figured it out with each new stage of life. And oh my gosh, throw a kid in the mix and now it just got a lot more complex! Now you are managing a house instead of an apartment, managing other people's messes and your emotions about those messes, and you are balancing work and home life - not just school and the other stuff mom and dad take care of. Kids don't know what they don't know and I believe we all want to better inform our children to reduce their stress and boost their confidence. How do we get this into the educational system? So again I want to ask you, my community…how can we get this into all educational systems? At what age? Senior in high school? At the college level? We NEED to be teaching the skill of organization! Did you know that children who aren't organized also have increased negative self talk? And as we get older and gain more responsibilities to juggle, do you think the self-talk improves? If we can teach these students how to get organized and maintain it, we'll have mentally healthier confident children with skills that transfer into the rest of their lives. That will result in them moving through their goals faster and making an impact. Please let me know what you are thinking as I am sharing this information. This is the last frontier AI will approach. And I'm not confident it'll ever be able to manage the administration of life! So we've got to figure this out and teach them how to help themselves in whatever phase of life they are in. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Kids Program Launch Program Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Learn how increasing organization can lead to greater productivity and goal achievement. Discover the importance of starting with home organization before moving on to work organization. Prioritize and plan work tasks using a train analogy. Increase productivity through regular organization sessions and explore coaching and planning options for business.

I wish you guys could understand the opportunity Jayme gave me when she offered up her school as a pilot school. Jayme had been talking about the Education Friday Workbox® and explaining how she was so organized, but I was still shocked that she was able to get approval overnight! It was an easy "yes" for the superintendent because he knew it was already so effective for Jayme. I am so excited to share how it went! "Most people overestimate what they can achieve in a year and underestimate what they can achieve in ten years." - Bill Gates The same can be said for our houses. Most people overestimate what they can achieve in one weekend or month and underestimate what they can achieve in one year. It's funny, through developing Organize 365® I've been able to identify that we do not focus on decluttering or productivity as much as we focus on learning organization. The first one aids organization and the last is allowed due to organization. When I wrote "Organization Is a Learnable Skill", that's what I shared; my acts of organization. When we are organized, we get the pay off of productivity. I'm excited to dive into the book study and dig into how you can achieve results, too! Three years after launching Organize 365®, I was able to be the business owner and send my team out into the field. After six years of effectively running Organize 365® due to organization leading to productivity, I was still blogging, had the podcast, the early stages of what is now The Productive Home Solution®, and manufacturing for the Sunday Basket®. I was still in multiple direct sales companies and the train wasn't stopping any time soon. But If you would have told me I would accomplish all of that, I am not sure I would have expected to. I used to love to stay after school when I was a teacher and organize a fellow teachers' space. They loved when I bopped into their classrooms. I say all of that to tell you that at that time, I launched 8 workboxes. I had a box for all the things I was doing. And the Education Friday Workbox® was one of those 8. Being a teacher is so different from any other career. When you need a potty break at work, you get up and go, right? Not a teacher, they are in charge and looking after multiple children. They can't just leave them unattended. I have such an understanding of the teacher world, workload, and home life. So I knew how to make the Friday Workbox® work for teachers. I truly believe this should be on each teacher's supply list. It's a one time purchase and then a lifetime of organization in the classroom. The real issue becomes who pays for it; I don't think this should also fall on the teacher! Should it come from the federal budget? The state budget? Or the local educational budget? Each state operates a little differently so we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it, I guess. Our teachers really only get paid based on instructional time with students. But what many may not realize is all the administrative tasks they have, the responsibility to meet curriculum, nurturing the relationships with students and parents, and time that takes away from their families and pets that rely on them, too. They do not get paid based on all of the invisible work they do that is not optional! Our teachers make large sacrifices of mental capacity for the career that they love. Did I call Sally's mom back? I need 4 toilet paper rolls for that experiment tomorrow. Those are just a few examples of what teachers are trying to remember. We need to help teachers free up their mental overwhelm! They are constantly surpassing their mental capacity. I designed this pilot to teach them how to write those thoughts down quickly, something that can be done right in the middle of class, and continue on with the lesson. Then at the end of the week, sort them into slash pockets and conquer the tasks. It's so gratifying to free up mental capacity for them in a way that makes them confident everything will still get handled. Because I understand this world so much, I decided to create 3 more slash pocket colors for the Education Friday Workbox®. So, how did it go? What I Discovered It was interesting to me that all three sessions I led were mandatory. There were 52 people in attendance. This was offered to all faculty, not just teachers. Thirty-five staff members took on the opportunity to get organized for a more smoothly run classroom. The special needs teachers showed that they needed additional support. After doing a zoom with the special needs teachers, I decided to offer the Paper Organizing Retreat to all of the special needs teachers. Because what I learned was, almost all of the special needs teachers were new to teaching or new to their school building. That's a lot of newness and it explained their desire for more support! I had 4 of them attend plus Jayme. I sat down with them and learned more about their students and their workload. We came up with customized solutions for each teacher. That's the thing about any of the workboxes. They will get you 80% of the way there, but then you have to customize it to work for you and your needs. They all felt that for the third session they would like to learn home organization. I was open to other topics like lesson planning. But of course, I love that they were experiencing organization at work and wanted it for home, too. Yes, get both trains running!! What Puzzled Me I was fascinated to learn that only 2 out of all participants had a digital only organizational process. Which meant that of the remaining participants, 50% were hybrid of both paper and digital while the remaining 50% were paper only. Mind blown because I always hear of people trying to get a digital system perfected. But what I think is actually happening is that they are doing double duty! I'm also curious for the faculty that attended but did not take the Education Friday Workbox®, were the first two mandatory sessions beneficial? Should educators get an Education Friday Workbox® during college or first year teaching? Different states evaluate for IEP's through different entities. What I Would Love I would love for all teachers to have the Education Friday Workbox® and embrace it! I would love to see professional development for teachers via the Education Friday Workbox®. I'd love to be able to improve their mental health by freeing up their mental capacity. And I'd love to see teacher retention. I'm excited for this to become an actual study. But for now, I am happy with this pilot and it will add credibility to studies in the future. I'd love to help more educators as part of this Education Friday Workbox® pilot. What I Need to Move Forward Do you have knowledge about your state and how things are funded for education? Do I need to be part of a special vendor portal? Is there a certain list for vendors to offer professional development for your schools? Do the districts make the decisions in your state? Does your state have an initiative for teacher retention? Are you on the board, PTO, a teacher or a principal and think this is something you may want to do in your building? Do you want to offer it just to first and second year teachers? Or on a voluntary basis? Who makes the decisions? Who do I need to talk to? Do they want to meet in person? What can I do to advocate for these teachers? Who is open to receiving this information? Please email me at customerservice@organize365.com if you have answers to any of my questions or can aid introductions. I am taking you all on this journey so you can see that though I do not know the answers, I keep trying. The success or failure of execution will determine my next steps. I have been uniquely created for a time like this. I have been uniquely created to create online courses to teach people organization through the internet to make visible the invisible work done at home and work. And after my PhD, I will do research to make visible the cognitive and mental load in all these areas at a scientific level to elevate the conversation of systems and structures that need to be in place for adults, just like we have for children, in school, home, work, and teacher environments. I want you too to discover what you are uniquely created to do! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Education Friday Workbox® Paper Organizing Retreat Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Learn about the concept of organizing your life as a train, establishing habits and routines, and the importance of systems. Explore the benefits of joining an organization program and choosing the right starting point. Discover tools like the Sunday basket and the productive home solution for organization and planning.

Ready to get to know Lisa Woodruff from the past? I feel like it's valuable to fill you in on where all this started. Have you ever had an out of body experience? A temper tantrum of sorts? I remember one night in 2005, when I had one. It was as if I was watching myself have this meltdown. Greg was in shock, took the kids, and left for a long time. During that time, I tried to figure out what my problem was and how to get it together. I looked at my planner and realized I had taken the kids to 110 Dr. appointments on top of work and regular life responsibilities. No wonder I was having a melt down. I can remember the added stress of how broke we were in 2007 and 2008. Unfortunately after my parents divorced, my father passed away in 2009. My sister and I found a little financial relief in the sale of his house. Nothing stressful about settling an estate! But I was able to remodel our kitchen with some of that money, but then what? I knew better than to think the debt we had accrued wouldn't just get racked up again if something didn't change. I do have both trains running full steam ahead now. But there was a time when I graded all aspects of my life with an F with the exception of work. I was a teacher at a Montessori school for 18 months. I learned alot from my co teacher, the students, and that school. I learned compassion and was exposed to more diversity than I ever had in my teacher settings before. 2010 was the year of the Tsunami in Japan and the Earthquake in Haiti. Montessori is flexible and allowed for us to have discussions with the students about these current events in a way that expanded their thinking. I really loved my job there. That is, until it was brought to my attention that they didn't feel like I was doing as great of a job as I thought I had been doing. As I drove home from that difficult conversation, a conversation I tried to pass on because Abby was home very sick and I just wanted to be with her, I knew I needed to make a change. I asked myself, "What am I doing with my life?" If I was appreciated in my work, I knew my family would make a small sacrifice. But that wasn't the case. So I decided to ditch the job and raise my grades in the other areas of my life. I was spinning way too many plates the way it was. In December of 2011, I quit my job to be a stay at home mom. I knew the life I wanted to provide for my children. I also knew I needed to make money to replace my teacher salary. I am no stranger to making money and within 6 months I had surpassed that teacher salary. By our 2012 tax refund, I listed 9 schedule C's! NINE! I was doing it! I was available for my family and making money. Greg and I are very much aligned in two things; doing whatever it takes to help our children and living a life with no regrets, even if that meant money was tight at times. I didn't want to regret not being home with my children. I don't regret that we haven't been able to travel until now but boy am I ready! Europe here we come! And with everything Greg and I have been through, I'm so thankful that my marriage was never in question. 2012 is also the year I launched Organize 365®. I didn't know what it was going to become. All I knew is that the areas I had been successful in were organization and that it would result in good SEO! I wrote the book "Organization Is A Learnable Skill" for that year. It's a pretty accurate account of that year. I wrote month by month what I did and how I felt about the actions I was taking. I am a 4th generation female college graduate. I am a 4th generation female business owner! And here we are 12 years later with a podcast that has been consistent for 9 years helping this community. And I am proud to now be pursuing my PhD to better my business, Organize 365®! EPISODE RESOURCES: Episode 69: My Depression Story & How Depression Affects Organization Organization Is a Learnable Skill The Sunday Basket® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

The podcast discusses the three-part cycle of organization and productivity, the challenges faced by working women with children, redefining productivity and prioritizing tasks, different approaches to organization, and the significance of planning day and Workbox implementation.

I've been talking a lot about planning lately - an obscene amount honestly, but that's ok. Ironically, today is Workbox Planning Day! We're starting off the month getting those purple projects completed and ready for more GREEN in 2024! In today's episode I talk about how this week I'd love for you to come up with a list of planned neglect. It's been a long time since I've talked about planned neglect. I remember the first time I ever heard about this concept at a Creative Memories conference. I want you to think about all of the things that you've done for the past 11 months of this year. Out of all those things, what are the things that you are NOT going to do in order to create more margin, more bandwidth, more breathing room for you to actually enjoy the holidays and enjoy the end of this year? Really, honestly think about it - what are the things that you are going to purposefully put off from right now until the end of January? Just like right now with getting my PhD, I know I'm neglecting a lot of things in my life for the next 2 years (I'm almost done with year 1!) This doesn't mean I'll never do those things again, just not right now. Figure out what you can do, when you can do it, and how long it is going to take. What are all the roles and responsibilities that you have inside of your life and what are things you can do to make those easier? EPISODE RESOURCES: Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution® Friday Workbox® Sign up for the Newsletter Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

The podcast discusses expressing gratitude for listeners and curiosity about customer orders, Christmas traditions and strategic shopping on Black Friday, the benefits of a programmable medication dispenser, and strategies for making the most of financial resources and organizational plans.

Happy Anniversary Wednesday Podcast! In this episode, I wanted to do something just a little different. Normally I talk to someone who shares their Organize 365® transformational story. Some way, shape or form they found us, BUT not today's guest. Today, I am introducing you to the editor of the Organize 365® Podcast, Tiffany Mason with Virtually You! She has been with Organize 365® for a year now. I wanted to know her thoughts about the time she has been with us and the effect we have had on her. She sends me Voxer messages often so I know she has fallen down the same organizational rabbit hole as the rest of us! Recently, Virginia had to leave Organize 365®, but it was Virginia who connected us with Tiffany. There was an interview, we threw a lot at her, she didn't blink, so we decided to give her a try. Initially, she shared that she felt a little overwhelmed; there were a lot of different episode formats, products she didn't know about, and lingo she'd not heard before. After a few episodes, it made sense that we had a glossary playlist we needed her to republish for the sake of the Organize 365® Podcast listeners. It wasn't long before I could tell she was hooked. I mean, she is paid to listen to the podcast, but I think she would listen regardless. But why? Tiffany shared that she feels seen by me. She feels like my mission is not to sell sell sell - but rather offer systems and products to free up time for my listeners so they can do what they are uniquely created to do. Tiffany can also relate to my husband Greg. Her husband is more like me and she finds humor in the things I share regarding Greg and I! And she shared how impressed she was to learn Organize 365® was the 32nd largest woman run business in Cincinnati. I am proud to share that this year we moved up to the 30th spot! Because Tiffany is in Florida and I am in Ohio, I shared that Cincinnati is the number 1 city for startups. She pointed out that our ranking is even more impressive, being in that environment and climbing. I wanted to know how her organization has changed. She said she started with the Friday Workbox® and after she was comfortable with that, she wanted to do a planning day. She has had such a great impact from the planning day that she joked about getting on her knees and calling it a PSA post for society that all women should attend a planning day! She saw what it could do for work so naturally she wanted a Sunday Basket® for home life. She aspires to train her family to put things in her Sunday Basket® as you have shared here on the Wednesday Podcast. We got into an interesting conversation about the definition of home roles. Tiffany saw a post where a wife had the kitchen garbage and questioned if she's crazy to think he should do all of the garbage, if his "chore" is to do garbage. But this is the problem. After the war in the late 40's, marketing "brainwashed" us all into thinking a woman's role was homemaker. The guys aren't at fault either, they are just doing what they saw modeled. There are plenty of great fathers and husbands who are willing to do their part. Tiffany remembered a previous guest sharing that nowadays women are working and don't only have the house to focus on. In business, job descriptions are written but at home…well?? And in my studies, I have uncovered this is a white woman problem. In other ethnicities, they have well defined roles and housework gets done! Even the children have roles. Tiffany expressed so much gratitude for being a part of Organize 365®. She is impressed with the grace we all extend one another. She has been able to take some of our organization and implement it with her clients. There are so many moving pieces, but she's proud to work with Organize 365®. She encouraged all of you to share an episode with someone on the drive to Thanksgiving dinner, like a spouse maybe (wink wink). OR if you have had enough Thanksgiving, get some fresh air while you catch up on the Organize 365® Podcast and feel free to tag us! Tiffany's advice is, "You don't need to reinvent the wheel, just get the products that Lisa has taken the time to perfect." EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Home Planning Day Workbox Planning Day Friday Workbox® Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at https://organize365.com/wednesday. Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

Explore the importance of prioritizing personal desires and boundaries during the holidays. Learn about strategies for organizing and preparing for the holidays using the Sunday basket system. Discover tips for proactive holiday planning and prioritizing your own enjoyment.