I just knew in my heart of hearts that the Special Education staff was going to need support. Jayme’s building has ⅓ of the student population that qualifies for special education!! How was I going to give that support? Did the staff have the time? So I called Jayme and we decided on a Zoom class and I invited them to be my guest at my upcoming paper organizing retreat. The staff was excited to learn together and Jayme was creative in carving out time for them to complete the training. On...

Sorry, I got a little long winded in that last podcast. But you know, the podcast where I talk about your 30s and 40s I can speak to you more authoritatively about because I have lived it. A lot of what I’m saying from here forward is speculation and purely observational. Some things you have to just experience to understand - like giving birth! Being in your 50s is so freeing because you realize that no one is paying attention to what you are doing. They’re worried about themselves, thinking...

This is the recap of Day 1. I was driving to Jayme to teach the first workshop for her teachers about the Teacher Friday Workbox®. I’d been having conversations with other schools about implementing the Teacher Program in their schools. I was shocked by the one thing holding them back. The honest feedback I was receiving was that they were afraid they’d be shedding light on how overworked the teachers were and they knew the staff was resentful and considering quitting. They were afraid that...

“What do you wanna get mom?” Is this the question you are asking your siblings? Are you starting to plan to get something for your mom for Mother’s Day? You know I’m all about planning and I have a great idea that could be the perfect solution to your gift dilemma.  You’ll buy the $20 item…but will you gift yourself organization?  We moms are where the holidays come from, right? And while you are shopping for your mom (if you are lucky enough to still have your mom), you’ll probably pick up...

Well, let’s dive into our 40’s. What I’ve observed in these decades as you move through your 20’s, 30’s and 40’s to 50’s is if you can imagine driving a stick shift car where it doesn’t automatically cycle to the next gear, and you’re driving in second gear and you need to shift into third gear but you don’t and the car is whining. That’s kind of how we are at the end of every decade - we’re whining. We’re not ready to leave this decade because we don’t know the next decade and it makes us a...

By now I’m guessing most of you have heard the evolution of the Sunday Basket®. The Sunday Basket® organizes the invisible tasks of home life, right? And with a teaching background, I also know there is a lot of burnout. The Teacher Friday Workbox® is designed to organize the invisible tasks of teaching. So what if, just what if, an entire school would launch a pilot with Organize 365® and they could feel supported and organized? Jayme was the principal who raised her hand and said I want to...

You are all adults! Why am I trying to force a square peg into a round hole? There are people writing in saying “I am organized and I’d like to have a planning resource.” So here it is, all by its lonesome. I am breaking up The Productive Home Solution® for you more organized people. My school of thought was I originally wanted you to have all the “school supplies” to set you up for success. I realize you are adults and may want to have access to a planning resource without the resources to...

Welcome to our next installment of our phases of organization, our phases of life. So here we are, in our 30’s. We’re going to assume from this point forward that you are living independently and separate from your family home. I coined my own phase of life years ago (thanks Rhonda for the reminder!) for adulthood - accumulation. When you leave your childhood bedroom and you are living on your own, you realize you don’t own anything. Every time you decide you want to do something in your 20’s...

Now that you know a little bit about Jayme and her background in educational instruction, let’s move on to the responsibilities she’s had in different roles. Jayme has gone from assistant principal, where she barely left the building, to being the principal, where she was off campus frequently for personal development. But she has yet to be the superintendent!  Assistant Principal First thing Jayme pointed out that was so interesting is, in different states, different geographical sections...

It is astounding to me that we live in dwellings all over the world and we don’t have much at all (and nothing new) to explain the development of adults and the elderly. Surely this exists and I can’t find it yet?!? First, I’m going to explain what I have been able to find, and then I’m going to ask the same questions I did with the other phases of life.  The parabolas I came up with represent money and time. Then there’s the middle, straight line - it’s housework. It’s never accounted for...

Jayme was a self proclaimed organized hoarder. She’s always been a naturally organized person. In 2017, she hit rock bottom knowing she just had too much. It wasn’t until the windows were replaced in her house. You see when you have new windows installed, you have to move everything away from the windows so the installers have enough room. For about two weeks, all that stuff was in the middle of her room. THAT was chaos, but it shined a light on the fact that all the mess or hoarding at home...

This is the next installment of the phases of life series. We’re now in the phase of development called Emerging Adulthood. In my PhD studies, I’m trying to figure out the role that the developmental phases of life play in how we learn and do housework over the life cycle. I’ve always been interested in human growth and development. After 18, the amount of literature and research drops off quickly. The key distinguisher of this phase of life versus others is this feeling of being “in...

I hope you all remember Jayme from the Teacher Pilot that I shared with you in previous episodes. Jayme found the Organize 365® systems effective for home and then implemented them at work. Jayme was open to the idea of using her school as a pilot to see how the Teacher Workbox® could impact an entire building. In this series, we’ll discuss everything from the idea to implementation and to the feedback.  Meet Jayme: Principal at Greendale Middle School in Lawrenceburg, Indiana First off, I...

The first in this series of podcasts is the childhood phase (0-18 years). We are going to walk through the entire life cycle of a human and look at a few specific questions. 1. What is our purpose during this phase of life? 2. What is our capacity, time and money wise? 3. How are we using the physical spaces in our home during this time? 4. What scaffolding or support do we need to make this phase of life easier and more productive?  What is the purpose or job of a child inside the...

In this new podcast series I’m going to talk about organization in each phase of life, but first I want to talk about phases of life. There is childhood (0-18), a new theory called emerging adulthood (18-29), middle adulthood and late adulthood. There is so much to these phases of life and layered on top of these is the capacity and the time limitation of variables as it relates to that phase of life. I picture this like two arches that mirror each other and intersect at two points. We all...

I have these big ideas, big questions, big observations that I think about when I’m driving, going to bed, in the shower…how different related concepts are viewed in different environments and how they actually are all talking about the same thing; we’re just using different words to describe them. So in this episode and the next, I want you to give me a little bit of latitude to verbally process with you where I am thinking we are in our understanding of how we’re functioning inside of our...

This week I want to talk about lists. Why I don’t have to do lists, cleaning lists, work lists, etc. I just all the sudden realized I didn’t have them and had to figure out, where did they go? When did I get rid of them? How long have I been living without lists? Where was my security blanket? It just seems like the more productive you are, don’t you need more lists? Shouldn’t your lists have lists?  So my new to-do list is my Sunday Basket®. Many of the things that our brain reminds us to...

My fellow Americans…I bring you this state of the family economy due to what my household is experiencing and the relief I want to offer you! Have you also noticed the increased prices of the following? I asked the Organize 365® community and this is what you all said: •Groceries •Home Owners (especially in southern and coastal towns) •Electricity •Property Taxes •Rent •Healthcare •Tipping •Streaming Services/Entertainment •Service Providers Wait, I’ve been here before… In December I...

Last week I talked about Saturday time versus Sunday time, having housework time versus having household management time. Here’s another layer: big projects, small projects, big tasks and small tasks. When I’m stressed, I tend to check off as many small tasks as possible - things that don’t require a lot of mental bandwidth. It’s basically decluttering, and that energy makes you feel lighter so you can move into organizing. Then there’s big project energy. You can feel the difference between...

Today starts another three part series, and in this series we’re going to be talking about time, tasks, task stacking, and how to really think about our time at home differently. Today’s episode is about the difference between Saturday time and Sunday time. I’m going to take us all back to our childhood, because I think in childhood we understood the difference between Saturday and Sunday time. So on Saturdays, you cleaned your room (even if that meant just being able to see the floor and the...

First of all…don’t panic! It’s just a small, 6-week break. You know, every once in a while you need to get reorganized and pause something so you have more bandwidth to address another project. That’s all we’re doing! In the meantime, I’d love to record an episode with you about your transformation with Organize 365®! Just go to the website >Podcast >Wednesday Podcast >Apply to be our guest…it’s that simple! But when I come back, the episodes will be a mini series with Jayme from...

Last week, I shared with you our first Jump Start initiative which is your personal organization, where I would counsel anyone to start getting themselves organized after they’ve implemented the Sunday Basket®. However, some of you are not going to want to start in your personal spaces for various reasons. One, maybe they are already organized. Two, it doesn’t matter how much it would help you if you were organizing yourself - you are drowning so much that you must start in family spaces. Or...

In this episode, I introduce you to Lydia M. who has two daughters, ages 4 and 9 months, is married and living in Florida. She has the capacity to run her business, invest in her family, and partake in her hobbies or simply scroll through Instagram. But it wasn’t always like this. Lydia was getting ready to start her bookkeeping business, DAC Balance, so she searched for podcasts to motivate and educate her. She came across the Professional Organizer Think Tank Podcast in 2006 which still...

The number one reason cited as to why people do not feel like they are more organized or they do not start getting organized is they don't know HOW to start. They don't know WHERE to start. They don't know how long it's going to take...something else always gets in the way. Today's episode is going to help give you the tools to overcome this hurdle. So when you're at home and you feel like you're disorganized and you have a little bit of time, how do you use it? How do you get started?...