Organize 365 Podcast

It's not normal to plan in your home the way we do in business. But if you are part of the Organize 365® community, we do!  So as the natural energy of summer ushers in another planning time, I wanted to give you food for thought so you can decide a few things before planning day. 
Summer Energy
There are certain energies for different times of the year. Three that specifically encourage planning and that's when Organize 365® offers Planning Days. In America, you know you all feel it after you open presents and take part in all the festivities you wanna organize and plan the next year. But that's where I'll stop you. At Organize 35® we plan in trimesters. A lot can happen in 120 days. So we plan 120 days at a time and reevaluate what worked and what we want to tweak. Right now we are all anticipating summer. So we plan from May to August. Then in August we anticipate the kids going back to school and we get the urge to plan for September through December. Regardless if you have kids or not, the sales we see, traffic, travel, a lot of the things around us end up following the school year. 
We are facing uncertain times right now so you may be distracted about what you would like to focus on this summer. I have found that when the world seems uncertain I know I am for the most part in control of my house and my self care. If you feel like you are in quicksand, I want you to think about how you could best support yourself in the next 120 days. I offer two options because I find when I focus on one goal, I can set a bigger goal and I usually accomplish it.  So the top two things I want to encourage you to consider for your focus this summer are your paper and self care.
Paper 
Paper seems so easy to suggest this time of year. You can load up a couple of folders or a banker's box and sort it at the pool or during your child's sports practice like I used to do. I had a great friend that would meet me at the pool and we'd sort while the kids swam. And you will see in The Productive Home Solution this is the time of year we encourage you to focus on your information management, like taking important papers from the Sunday Basket® that are no longer actionable and placing them in your binders. 
Self Care
This is not a bubble bath or getting your nails done. This is caring for your whole self. This time of year I tend to focus on professional development. Is there a class you have wanted to take, wanna become a worker outer, or something else to support your faith, mental health, education, physical health, personal organization or passions? Or have you stopped dreaming and you don't even know what your passions are anymore? There are two ways you can dig deeper into those aspects. One is Embrace which I like to revisit every year because it's a lifetime purchase. Discover what you were uniquely created to do. And two, you can attend our first Self Care Retreat in Nashville in person or online. In this episode I broke down what to expect from the retreat and I can't wait to see you on June 26th to focus on you this summer.
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Are you ready to plan your next 120 days with me on Planning Day? It's time to dream about what is possible, not for the whole year! That is overwhelming and you never know how life is going to change. 
Don't miss the seminar on the 24th where I am going to share my thoughts on things like the food chain and oil prices because these things can affect your next 120 days. My hope is that it helps you to better prepare for Planning Day and all the projects you are considering. And what Golden windows are coming up for you? Are you going to have a window of time where you could conquer a meaty goal? I want you to already be thinking about this. Do you have a milestone birthday or maybe a big anniversary for you or your parents? By planning, these important events get the time and attention they deserve. You get to celebrate them as you want instead of throwing something together when you are surprised by it. 
I want you to start thinking and dreaming now. You prep for the cleaning lady and you need to prep for Planning Day. Prep will be April 30th. If this is your first time hearing about Planning Day, then I want to encourage you to get a system in place for planning. You have the Sunday Basket for weekly planning and Planning Day is the system for trimester planning.  So to prep, you can start filling in holidays and things that happen routinely during summer in your workbook. You will bring all of this to Prep Day for Planning Day. Prep day is two hours for you to move paper to your binders, think ahead to what awaits in the next 120 days, work on your calendar box, and your tear sheets. 
Then we dive in on May 1st for four glorious hours to evaluate your time, establish routines you'd like to try, and get a plan in place for the next 120 days. I find when I set my sights on one goal I accomplish it and it allows me to focus on a bigger goal, a more impactful goal. In this episode, I went through page by page of how I guide you through the workbook. This episode is all about what to expect during Planning Day and food for thought now about what you will write in your workbook on May 1st. Your weekday time is very different than your Saturday time and Sunday time. You may think you have no time for project, personal development, or organizing but Planning Day will reveal pockets of time where you get to choose what you will do with that time. We look at your available time in about 4 different ways. And I get you thinking about summer food, cleaning, and laundry. You may have never thought about it before but summer energy and activities change up our food, cleaning and laundry. I will talk a little but then you have time to think and then take action. Fill in your workbook with what you think you want to try this next 120 days and plan for upcoming events. Welcome to the productive people club because this is how productive people think and accomplish their goals. See you on April 30th!!

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Recently, I found myself asking "How did I get here?" I have more laundry somehow. So I thought about it and wanted to share how when your family changes it has ripple effects on your housework cadence and functionality. So, how did I get here?
Don't Get Oversold
First of all, I wanted to share that I have yet again gotten a new wash machine and dryer. I shared the many reasons for the upgrade, if you call it that. I am now using two black Speed Queen machines that look like they are from the 1960's and I couldn't be happier. Now, I can add clothes mid wash, throw an item in just the dryer, shimmy them if I want, our clothes smell amazing, and get washed quickly, not delicately, but quickly!  (If you know you know) I really wish I had not listened to the sales person each time and gotten these machines in the first place. Do not let yourself get oversold into bells and whistles you don't need. Take it from me. Learn from my costly mistakes. Ok so now I have the correct machines for my liking. 
Household Changes
In the last 120 days, a few things have changed that have broken my clothes washing cadence. The first one being my mother in law broke a vertebra. We have been going to her house for Sunday dinner. If we leave when I am in the middle of the wash I forget all about it by the time we are back home.  Next, I have a new grandson. I am helping my daughter a lot with Grayson so she can tend to herself and her new baby which indirectly has caused more laundry so I find I am not completing it over the weekend as I normally had been. And I am no longer doing the PhD so I want to find a new laundry cadence. 
So Friday night I got ready to throw in my "littles" load and low and behold the wash machine was already half full, but how? Grayson has been coming up in his jammies so when he changes I have him throw his clothes right in the washer. Then when he takes a bath, again, he throws his clothes into the washer. And since the washer is on the same level the family hangs out on, burp clothes and stuff go into it. That's how I got here with 4-5 loads to do each week. 
Now I could send all those clothes down to Abby but honestly laundry is not her friend and since the new baby she continues to stay behind. In fact she asked "How do you keep up on laundry and cleaning?" I shared the tips I shared with her in this episode for you too. I like doing laundry. It's not a problem, just a change in our family. I'm trying to find a new cadence and figure out this line drying thing. Like, do LuLu Lemon clothes really need to be line dried? Give it to me straight. 
Trial Run -> Habit
I think the reason why it takes most people a year and a half to complete The Productive Home Solution is this trial run discovery time before we can really tackle the goal. They spend the first trimester trying out different times to organize until it starts to become a habit to organize at a specific time. Then the next planning day they focus on a new goal because the organization time is "set." 
So the new plan is to trial run my idea of doing laundry on the mornings that I take Grayson to school. I will see if that works and continue to tweak for the month of May. This is what I will propose to myself on Planning Day. Hopefully by June, the kinks will be worked out and I will be off and running outside to play while still getting laundry done! This is the level I want you to think about the housework you do everyday and how it affects your family. What has changed in the last 120 days for your family and what systems are broken as a result? Join me for Planning Day and get a plan in place. 
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®

The Productive Home Solution

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So how did I become a worker outer person? I explained in great detail how I think about my time, plan how I will spend that time, and then iterate based on how each trial of use of time goes.  
Trial Run
I have always been a planner. I loved getting new planners about every six months in school. I love to reverse engineer my goals and writing my plan in planners helps me do that.  For every action there is a reaction.  If you want to say work out more than understand that means something else will be affected. For me it was my budget, time at work, and time with my family. When I am working something new into my schedule I try to do it with the least amount of friction to my family. I call it the household management dance. I really wanted to become a worker outer person, I had already tricked myself into doing a little bit, and I shared in the last episode how I prioritize that now but how did I get to that point? 
 
The first thing I did was look at what I wanted to offer as a grandmother and mother. I joined a gym thinking this way I could work out more, entertain my grandson, and give my daughter time with her new baby or an opportunity to do something like sleep in or care for herself. I like to stack as many benefits as I can into my tasks. Then I looked at when classes were offered for both myself and my grandson. I also decided to drop my private class to offset the new expense of the gym membership. And like I mentioned last week, I claim chunks of time for my goal first. So the plan was set, time to try it out.
Iterate
Well, let's just say I wasn't planning on getting in the pool to wrestle my grandson to get out of the pool. I was questioning everything after I got Grayson into his class and I was on the pilates reformer with wet pants.  This wasn't going to work, time to adjust expectations and the plan. The first time around planning for working out was a challenge because I had not done it before. But, there was no way for me to anticipate that it was not going to be possible to have Grayson attend swim lessons and I attend a class.  And who knew the instructors I liked only offered classes a few times a day? Which actually opened my eyes to attending a Wednesday night class when my husband Greg will be golfing anyway!

I'm a Worker Outer Now
Now, it's becoming one of my rocks, almost like a habit.  It's becoming routine where it fits into my week. When I plan for this time in the next Planning Day I will also be looking at Abby taking Grayson to school more, I will have graduated with my PhD, and Noah, the baby will be getting older. All of these factors will give me back time so I can continue to plug working out into the routine of my week. Now I can confidently say "I'm a worker outer!"
EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®

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After conducting the webinars in January, it became clear that people are not seeing the full value of the Sunday Basket® because they aren't getting to the planning step. My dear listeners, I am here to stress the importance of the planning step and the 10 filters that I use to plan my week.
You Tricked Me
I cannot stress the importance of the planning step. You hear me say processing the Sunday Basket® will take about 90 min.  However, it may take longer. You may be thinking "You tricked me!" No. If you are in the setting up process and getting in the routine of processing the Sunday Basket® on Sundays then it will take longer. When you start something new it takes time to get into a rhythm. So do not set a timer for 90 minutes and when the alarm goes off you quit. No keep going till you have your week planned! It's a game changer! I promise!
10 Filters
SO, I'm sharing the 10 filters I use to fill in my weekly planning sheet. This is the last step in processing your Sunday Basket. I start with looking at what my overall life priority is - my big personal goal in life.  I plug that into the week first. Right now, that is getting to the gym. Then I look for self care pockets of time. Like, when will I get my nails done or what days do I need to wash my hair?  Then I move on to extras I want to do for work. For instance if I will be traveling or need to record some podcasts. Then I see what caregiving needs to be planned for with my mother in law and then supporting Abby with Garyson.   So up to this point it's been "out of the ordinary tasks" because they aren't routine things. And as I have plugged things into the paper weekly planner I too have been adding events to my google calendar. I have to ask, up to this point is this how you thought I planned my weeks? 
Now we get into the routine filters that I consider when planning my week. NOW, I am finally fully consulting my 2 google calendars. I am taking items from the google calendar and putting those events on the weekly paper planner. I use that weekly planner sheet a little differently so I explained that in this episode. It's flexible like functional organizing. Make that weekly planner work for you and the phase of life you are in. Next, food. I don't take a ton of time on this because I pretty much eat the same thing all the time. But I need to place the Travola order and make sure my foods are stocked at home and the office. Then I fill in 1 or 2 things usually in the "Top Three" space. This signals to me that if the whole day melts down - this is the one (or up to three) thing that will get done.  And lastly I fill in the Organize 365 slot.  This is for The Productive Home tasks or I use it for ideas that I want to post on social media. Pro Tip: Plan for drive time, unless you have a teleporter that gets you to the next location in your day. 
The Order Matters
I feel strongly that the order in which you fill in your week matters. If I didn't start in this specific order do you think I would end up on the calendar? No. My goals and self care would get slim picking because all the time would be accounted for! This will take time in the beginning as you set it up and adjust to your planning needs. The planning portion of the Sunday Basket® is what reduces decision fatigue throughout the week giving you more and more capacity.  
Next week we diving into how I found HOURS to go to the gym using these filters during my Sunday Basket® planning time. 

EPISODE RESOURCES:
The Sunday Basket®

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The Productive Home Solution

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