Organize 365 Podcast

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. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! Today I'm so excited to introduce you to Laura L. During the pandemic she found me via the Organize 365 podcast. Laura started her Organize 365® journey with The Sunday Basket® and the binders. She also created binders for her parents. The day she got the MS diagnosis, the Medical Binder and the Sunday Basket® became monumental to her daily success. Laura got into the habit of taking her Medical Binder with her to doctor's appointments. She loves having everything at her fingertips. She has noticed that she gets a poor cellular signal in the medical buildings; so it's nice to have the paper copy to reference. Laura was already a fan of all things Organize 365®; but she felt compelled to share her success story with others. Laura launched her business and is The Paper Solution® Certified. She is thankful for the peace of mind that comes from the organization offered by the Sunday Basket®. Recently at her daughter's wedding the portable Sunday Basket® was called "The Bag with All the Nuclear Codes." She was organized and had all the information with her in her portable Sunday Basket ®. Then again the very next day it held the information needed for her mother because she had a doctor's appointment to take her to. Her advice if you are just getting started: "Just carve out the time to do it!" EPISODE RESOURCES: The Paper Solution® Binders Paper Organizing Retreats The Sunday Basket® The Organize 365® Medical Binder The Friday Workbox® The Portable Sunday Basket® The Paper Solution® Certification I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. 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!

Episode 1 - Over Prepared Even though I am the CEO of Organize 365® I am not exempt from life events that can throw a person off track. I only got a 48 hour honeymoon phase of balancing life, work and school until life showed up! But we are in it now - I'm juggling home and school and family! As I pondered the week I have concluded to only try to be seven days ahead, not four years! I was so over prepared I didn't know what to do with myself and then it dawned on me that I could work ahead. I learned I could even test ahead if I'm prepared. And I just may do that because who knows when life is going to show up again! Listen in to hear how my family has handled the transition! 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!

I am not a CPA and neither am I on my way to becoming one…but I have learned so much about how to get organized for optimal results when it comes to doing or getting your taxes done. And I'd love to share some ideas on how to organize the paperwork you need for your taxes and make the tax season easier for you. Whether you do your taxes yourself or have someone do them for you - it is in your best interest to have organized documentation. Documentation is key! The Organize 365® Income and Expense Binder holds all your substantiating documentation for your business. Did you know you need 7 years of substantiating documentation? Now there is a way to effortlessly keep track of everything. This binder will give you peace of mind at tax time. EPISODE RESOURCES: Free Organize 365® Tax Organizer Worksheet Organize 365® Income and Expense Binder Green Slash Pockets Mimi's Cookie Recipe (as mentioned in the mailbag) 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!

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share their challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! I have spoken about life events and how they derail us from time to time. Rosa E. came to the paper workshop and was energized to get her home organized. Little did she know that shortly thereafter her mother would be moving in with her permanently. A life event was about to derail her. Now that her mother has moved in, her family is finding a new normal. I offered some ways she could spend some special and intentional time with her mother. I speculate that this model of multigenerational homes may become popular due to the economy and all the demands on two parents in the workforce. I also shared how this works in my house with Abby and Grayson living there. Each family's space is considered mini condos or apartments. And I teach this starting in the Organize 365® Kids Program. It's easier to divide common spaces up and identify personal spaces. Everyone needs a "safe space" to decompress and do what they want to do without answering to anyone. I also pointed out that we all like the Sunday Basket® because it speaks to us, we're all just 12 year olds at heart. And now she's implementing a Sunday Basket® for her mother too. To top it all off, Rosa is also starting a new career. She's home organizing and The Paper Solution® Certified. She has been using the Friday Workbox® as her partner in success as she's starting her business. She attributes the Friday Workbox® to helping her schedule her week, think ahead to marketing and networking, and grow her organizational business in Arizona. EPISODE RESOURCES: Organize 365® Paper Organizing Retreats The Paper Solution® Certification The Business Friday Workbox® The Sunday Basket® I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. 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!

I just experienced a Golden Window and I want to share with you how I got organized to embark on my back-to-school journey! When I shared with you all that I'm going back to school to earn a PhD, I got a lot of suggestions. So many amazing suggestions that I literally started a pink slash pocket so I wouldn't lose any of these valuable ideas. And, of course, I want to share everything with you. Here's why - this journey is super helpful if you are also going back to school (whether you're working towards a PhD or a different degree). And it's also helpful to apply my journey and my experiences to any and all of life's changes. The type of organizing I'm doing to get ready for my PhD experience is no different than the type of organizing and preparation I would recommend for any life change or transition - having a baby, moving, starting a new job, getting ready to retire, getting ready to welcome grandchildren. When you are getting ready to make a change (especially one that will impact your daily schedules and routines) it's important to look around your home and at your organizational systems to make them as functional, organized and efficient as possible for what life is going to look like for the foreseeable future. This is a whole new life transition. Remember recently when I explained the difference between Ready…Set…Go? I have completed all household projects, put systems in place, reorganized my schedule, and I am in "Go" mode. This has been a major transition for me and I really evaluated how I spend my time, my habits, my routines, and looked for 30 hours I could devote to my post-baccalaureate first, and then my PhD. I will be taking you all on this journey with me. I could not be more excited and in four short years I will have earned my General PhD in Psychology from Fielding University! EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® Happy Doc Student Podcast How to PhD Podcast The PhD Life Raft Podcast PhD Pending A PhD Rollercoaster: A Diary of Ups and Downs of Being a Doctoral Student Stay connected with me and see behind the scenes on Instagram. 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!

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share their challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. You can see and hear transformation in action. I look forward to helping YOU learn the skill of organization, too! Kristen K. had a demanding full time job and a demanding two year old. When she "broke", she found herself searching for productivity podcasts. Lucky me, Organize 365® came up and Kristen was listening so she could gain control over her boxes of mail. Kristen was taking vacation days just to address these boxes of mail; and she knew there had to be a more productive way. Paper can easily get the better of anyone. After listening to multiple episodes, she knew the next step was the Sunday Basket. You guys, she still has her original Sunday Basket and uses it faithfully! She's even gone further to become a certified organizer so she can help others. She knows the struggle and doesn't want others to go through the same struggle. Kristen made an interesting side comment during this episode. She said, "I mean I had to do it, I knew my husband wasn't going to help." Too often we think our family is going to join us in this organization endeavor. No, they may not - and that's ok. You have to go into it knowing this is a "you" thing. We also discussed productivity vs. priority! Being productive is NOT prioritizing your tasks. Pick your priority, and that priority is ONE. You can prioritize ONE section of your life or ONE room in your house. We go over all the ins and outs of this topic in the episode. EPISODE RESOURCES: The Sunday Basket® The Productive Home Solution™ The Paper Solution® Certification I am grateful that you are reaching out to share your stories and progress with me and with the Organize 365® community. 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!

Is it possible? Can you put enough systems in place to correct or manage ADHD? After diving into ADHD and running all the tests, the ADHD expert was convinced I did not have ADHD. However, when we took a deeper dive into my childhood and who I was before Organize 365®; it was a clear picture of a person with ADHD. The expert explained that all the systems I have put in place, combined with hiring out the tasks that I struggle with…I have masked the fact that I have ADHD! I didn't always believe in an ADHD diagnosis. When I was young and thought I knew everything, I was convinced children just needed a little more discipline and manners. Some children just had a lot of energy is how I explained it. But then I had one student who put me in my place. I thought it was crazy for mom and dad to try medication for the little girl during the VERY last week of school. But much to my surprise; she was a very bright student and the medication helped ADHD get out of her way! I realized I knew nothing about anything. Isn't it funny how the more you know, the more you realize that you know very little? Once we adopted children, I loved to play preschool with them. It wasn't until a routine doctor visit that it was brought to my attention that I would be raising a child with ADHD. At this point, I craved information to help my children to succeed. I was lucky enough to attend seminars in Cincinnati with all the best doctors and learn about ADHD! Now I'm embarking on my PhD journey, where I'll be focusing on the brain and the eight executive functions. That's right! I'm a lifelong learner and am confident that I have the systems in place that I need to be organized and succeed. It has come full circle – and I'm here to share it with all of you! EPISODE RESOURCES: ADHD Resources Page ADHD Online Did you enjoy this episode? Please leave a rating and review in your favorite podcast app. Share this episode with a friend and be sure to tag Organize 365® when you share on social media!

What does it mean to be organized? How do you know when you're done organizing? No one has ever officially defined "organized." I decided I would define it. We started by conducting academic-level research using our surveys. You can read more about Organize 365® Research and the finding on our Research page. For most Americans, organization happens as Swiss cheese organizing. You're a little organized here and a little organized there. You can't confidently say, "I AM organized," because you think that being organized means perfection while not being organized is hoarding. You don't have language for what happens in the middle of these two! We need to consider the idea of done rather than perfect. In this episode, I share many statistics and findings from our research, which is all leading us to change the way we present and teach the material in The Productive Home Solution™. If you just get through the first 42 days of the 100 Day Home Organization Program, you will have 80% of the spaces you use on a daily basis organized. You CAN call yourself organized. But many of you don't FEEL organized. It doesn't fully check off any single category of organizing as complete for you. It just marks a couple more spaces in your Swiss cheese organizing. I want to see you get to the point where you can say that you are personally organized or storage organized or paper organized, etc. You get to pick and choose which areas you want to tackle and master and declare organized in your life. Coming in the fall in The Productive Home Solution™, you will be able to pick an area, focus on it for 5 or 6 weeks, and then declare that area of your life organized. You'll work in baby steps to mark a full area as done so you can move on to the next area you want to organize. But what does it mean to be organized? Both men and women declare their home organized when… You'll have to listen in to find out the answer! Learn more about and join The Productive Home Solution™ here. This episode is a part of the Organize 365® Glossary Playlist. Listen to other episodes on the Glossary Playlist here.

For 2022, we are adding to the Lisa glossary. This week, we are talking about the Organize 365® Research projects. No matter when you begin your transformational journey (or when you need to reset or restart), this information will be here as a reference for you. Listen in as I teach you about the ideas and beliefs that are at the core of everything I teach and how I approach organizing. Several years ago, as I was writing the Organize 365® vision, I knew that I wanted to conduct research to bring to light the organizational needs of Americans. I want to be the go-to resource for knowledge about home and paper organization. I legitimately had no idea how to do research surveys and data analysis. Recently, I have been learning about the difference between market research and academic research. Organize 365® is now sponsoring academic-level study and third-party data collection backed by Harrisburg University. Research always starts with a hypothesis — what you think the result will be. I wanted research results that showed that women are doing the majority of the work at home. But, that's now what we found. We have started to share our initial research findings. As I learn more about research, we really end up with more questions. One of the steps in research is to define every term used in study surveys. For example, you cannot ask a participant about "mental health" because that term is too broad and open to interpretation. However, you can ask about anxiety or depression. When we developed the first survey, I needed to figure out how to define "housework." The research questions ended up focusing on four different types of housework. Cleaning - Cleaning is related to the dwelling and covers any task a cleaning company would do. Learn more back in Podcast 422. Tasks of Daily Living - These are tasks related to the person regardless of where they live. These are the tasks defined by Social Security Disability and include things like preparing food, consuming food, running errands, planning meals, and washing laundry. Learn more back in Podcast 424. Maintenance - is an optional housework activity where the property owner makes an additional infusion of money into their investment (property) to maintain and improve their property. In the long run, maintenance expenses increase the value of the initial investment. Learn more back in Podcast 428. Organizing - is an optional housework activity where a person makes an investment of current time for a future return of time. This is completely optional and customizable. Time spent today organizing results in an exponential time in the future. Often this involves setting up systems of organization and can be applied to renters and owners. Learn more back in Podcast 426. Literature Review As part of academic research, researchers look at other studies done on similar topics. The Organize 365® review looked at the role of women in the 21st century home. As I mentioned above, I thought women were doing all of the housework. It turns out that everyone thinks they are doing the majority of the work at home. There is so much work to be done. Defining housework and recognizing these four areas makes housework feel overwhelming and never-ending. As women become more effective at articulating their role in housework, families will be able to better understand how much work is being done and proactively decide if the work should continue to be done at all. Our next study survey has been completed and we are busy analyzing the results. Learn more back in Podcast 430. #myextra5 The Sunday Basket® consistently saves people at least five hours a week by getting organized and being proactive. Through organization, you get extra time, and we all need more time. Follow or tag Organize365® on Instagram and share how you are spending your extra time once you get organized! — #myextra5 This episode is a part of the Organize 365® Glossary Playlist. Listen to other episodes on the Glossary Playlist here.

For 2022, we are adding to the Lisa glossary. This week, we are talking about ditching the file cabinet and establishing essential household binders. I also want to be your teacher to help you get your home and work paper organized and functional. No matter when you begin your transformational journey (or when you need to reset or restart), this information will be here as a reference for you. Listen in as I teach you about the ideas and beliefs that are at the core of everything I teach and how I approach organizing. As a professional organizer, I used to teach people how to build (and hopefully maintain) a color-coded file cabinet at home. But, in 2017, I had a sickening revelation that what I was teaching was not working. In a short time, I heard from two audience members who needed to emergently evacuate. No matter how organized their files were, their paper was not portable. I am a functional organizer, and I learned that our paper needs to be portable and limited to a reasonable amount of space. It was time to ditch the file cabinets and organize reference papers into essential household binders. File cabinets are typically not well-maintained and they are certainly not portable. America needs a better solution for reference paperwork. After some ongoing analysis, I realized that household paper generally fits into four categories. I look at my own life experience caring for my ill father and settling his estate. I look at my life as a homeowner. I thought about all of the information it took to keep my household organized and my family functioning. There were no ready-made systems for being a caregiver and executor when my father passed away. I have worked with the members of the team who have gone through similar life challenges to try and make our binders as broad and effective as possible. But, because they are binders, they can also be adapted to handle any life situation you encounter. I created a reference binder for each of the four areas of essential household paperwork. Tax forms and kid's memories live outside of this system, but everything else that needs to be saved can typically be fit into one of the four essential binders. The Four Essential Household Binders Organize 365® sells physical binders to help with your household paper organization. The contents for each binder are also detailed in The Paper Solution book. However, our physical binders have multiple pages of worksheets that help get the information from the many places it lives organized into one location. Setting up the binders will make your life more organized and easier. But, it is also a gift for your family. If anyone else ever needs to take over any portion of your #adulting, they will have what they need at their fingertips. Financial Organizing Binder This binder details your current and future financial information. It includes retirement accounts, vehicles, insurance, home inventory, estate planning, and funeral plans. This binder was originally designed for someone to be able to take over your financial life and close your estate. It can help with tracking bills, setting a house, or cancelling a lease. I estimate that in order to have a comprehensive financial binder, you will get 30% from your file cabinet, 30-40% digital information, and 30-40% in your memory or on random papers in your home. Medical Reference Binder This binder is designed to be used mainly by a caregiver. You can set one up if you are caring for someone else, or you can set one up to make it easier for a friend or family member to care for you. Although medical records are electronic, they are siloed in each medical practice. Many of the software systems do not effectively share information. Pharmacy, doctors, dentists, specialists, and insurance companies all have their own record systems in America. I estimate that 5-10% of this information lives in your file cabinet right now. 40-50% is online in some kind of medical record system. The other 40-55% is not recorded anywhere (yet!). Your medical binder is also a perfect place to keep a list of questions for your next appointment, write down observations, record behavior changes, and communicate with other caregivers. This binder has a comprehensive workbook that includes a health history, childhood milestone tracker, symptom recorder, and place to record what you have already attempted. Life is short and the unexpected happens. We will either need caregivers or be caregivers. Having a portable, concise medical reference binder will help you to get the best care. Household Reference Binder This binder is the one I use most frequently. It is designed for people who are homeowners but can be used if you rent too. This binder is designed to have all the reference information you would keep organized if your house was a person. If you were selling your house tomorrow, you could hand over the binder to the new owners. The binder contains home improvement information, paint colors, appliance information, and landscaping details. Typically, 80% of the contents of this binder are already in your file cabinet. Manuals, make and model numbers, serial numbers, and similar information can be stored in the binder. I also recommend keeping receipts for purchases here too so you know when it was purchased and how much it cost. Household Operations The Household Operations binder is all of the paperwork and information you need to run your household. No matter what kind of dwelling you have, you need a place to track meal planning, cleaning schedules, events, holidays, vacations, and pet information. As a teacher, I think of this binder as my lesson plan book for my family. Why binders? Papers that live in your file cabinet are not enough for someone to come in and manage your life. Some of the information on the pages in the binder lives in your computer, in your head, and in physical places like your wallet. File cabinets are not portable. Most of our emergencies involve leaving the house. We evacuate or lose our homes to a fire or flood. Someone gets hospitalized and we need the paperwork available for the healthcare team. In true emergency situations, it is rare to need reference papers at home. Usually, you need them where you need to go. Papers need to be taken to the family member, a doctor, a lawyer, or a school meeting. File cabinets hold far more information and physical paper than most of us can effectively manage. When I helped professional organization clients clean out their paperwork, most can declutter at least 80%. What about tax paperwork? Keep it in a file cabinet or file box. These items are bulky and rarely referenced. In a true emergency, you could replace them. What about kid-related papers? Kid's School Memory Binder Kids enjoy their own memories most when they are young and can see their own growth and progress. When your kids are in the midst of their accumulation phase or survival phase of life, they probably will not have time to sit down and look through their old math tests and spelling lists. But, when your kids are young, you might be amazed at how much joy they get from looking at their artwork, stories, and projects. They will sit down with their binders and tell stories about school that you might not otherwise get to hear. Have your kids help to make their own memory binder and then use them. Sit down together and see what they have to say about certificates, awards, and their own creations. Warrior Mama Binder For kids who have an IEP or 504, we have the Warrior Mama binder. This is a combination of medical and educational information that will help you to keep your child's paperwork organized and help you to advocate for his or her best education. Walk Softly and Carry a Big Binder My children are adopted and both needed additional support in their educational journey. I found that when I was going to advocate for my kids, I needed the medical and educational papers together for both doctor's appointments and school meetings. I needed medical tests, health records, and learning assessments all in one place. Your binder will hold essential details and can cut down on the time you need to spend to get your support professionals up to speed. This gives you more effective time during appointments. In my own experience, having paper documentation raises your expertise level with professionals and gives you immediate credibility. Why Not Digital? In all the times I have advocated for the people I love, paper has worked best. No one has ever asked me for a digital file. Often, systems are incompatible with one another. Records from the doctor are not easily accessible by the school record-keeping system. Paper is immediate. Sending a digital file after a meeting has not gotten the same results as passing around a physical paper during a meeting when all of the decision-makers are gathered together. This episode is a part of the Organize 365® Glossary Playlist. Listen to other episodes on the Glossary Playlist here.