Who is the first one to get cut from the priority list when a loved one has an unexpected event? You! We innately want to care for others in their times of need. And that means giving up gym time, your nutrition goals may go out the window for a time, and whatever else you enjoy and do for yourself.

See, What Had Happened Was…

Recently, I ran planning prep day and planning day and boy were my ducks in a row. By Sunday I had meal prepped, mapped out my week, and I was on fire to crush my goals. However Monday morning my sweet daughter called to say she was sick and asked if I could take Grayson to school. As moms do, I said yes. Which meant my time to go to the gym would now be spent with Grayson.

Then she called later in the day to say she was too sick to take care of Noah too. So once again rearranged my day and rushed off to pick up Grayson so I could get home to take care of Noah too. Thank God I remembered some food I had prepped to keep me on track and Grayson from getting hungry. Because Grayson had a Dr. appointment too and I had planned a snack ahead of time. Then I had this great idea to see if Greg, my husband, wanted to have lunch. Although I took the last bite of chicken salad as we hung up the phone. I was clearly off my game. And the next day, I skipped attending a talk by an economist so I could catch up on the work I hadn't been able to finish the day before.

But my planning did come into play. I had healthy food around me to support my nutrition focus of the week. But my self care was sacrificed in caring for my grandchildren to support Abby who was sick. And that's what we do for our family members. I wasn't about to say, "No Abby, I have to go to the gym this morning." No, I chose to serve and support my daughter.

Mindset Shift

We need to have a mindset shift to know something is going to get sacrificed that we wanted to do in place of caring for our loved one. How do we have good systems in place and ways to continually be upleveling our own care, knowledge, and who we are, so that we are able to care for others in times of crisis? That's the whole premise of my book "Escaping Quicksand". Unexpected events happen to everyone. But do you have a system in place to keep you on track in those moments? And are you equipped with the mindset to combat those situations?

Webinar Alert: On June 12th @ 11:30 EST, in the Paper Solution Group, I plan to go through the medical binder. I know I want to insert some labs and DNA results and a few other things. Plus, I want to update the kids' medical information with me as power of attorney. I'm sure you have papers like that too that you need to file away for safe keeping. I like to focus on information management (paper) in the Summer so each month I'm taking you through me updating my binders and this month is the medical binder. I'd love for you to join me!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Preorder Your Hard Copy of Escaping Quicksand

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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.

Does everything feel a little chaotic kinda like it feels around the holidays? That's because it's Maycember! It's that time of year when there is a lot to do and no days off to do it! I've got some hacks to productively get through it!

Why does it happen?

Here we just thought we were heading into summer. Nope, first, you gotta get your lawn in order. And you probably notice you are back to mowing the lawn more frequently. Oh the joys of home ownership! Did you document all the things last year you did during Maycember? Like how much mulch you needed and other supplies to get your house summer ready?

Don't forget all of the graduations, weddings, and end of the school year events there are. As the school year wraps up and the weather changes to warm summer days there are more things than ever vying for your attention. The biggest difference is, no days off for the holidays but we're trying to get just as much stuff accomplished as we do during the holidays.

7 Hacks to Combat Maycember

Ok, so now you know we call this Maycember. What can you do about it?

1. Recognize the phenomenon and do not add anything to May.

2. Use all the pent up spring energy. Get out of the house, say hi to your neighbors, see people again! Also if you are feeling the nudge to organize, do it, use that spring energy

3. Be choosy on what you commit to and defer the rest. Just like planned neglect, some things will take care of themselves and others can be taken care of in July.

4. Plan what you are comfortable neglecting for a period of time. Use a new rule or change a habit like using paper plates, utilizing a laundry service, or deciding on the 5 meals you will rotate all month, so you can spend more time outside.

5. Plan, use the tools you already have from Organize 365®. Make a weekly plan with your weekly tear sheets that you do at the end of your Sunday Basket® time. Use those slash pockets in your Sunday Basket®. Maybe you have one for teacher gifts, fieldtrips, destinations for summer, and probably more! AND if you are having that organizing energy decide what lessons you'll attack and when on the weekly planner. You have the Binders? Document. Your future self will thank you next Maycember. Write down all the annual house related maintenance you do each year in your Home Reference Binder. That way next year, you'll know when to order the mulch and how much.

6. Pack your car closet. You know, where you have a few snacks, change of clothes because you never know where the spontaneous summer energy will take you, and a back up battery to charge your phone is a great idea too. Nothing is worse than rushing between events and realizing your phone is about to die and you have no way to charge it. We can control some stressors.

7. Block off time to organize. When our homes are a mess it creates mental stress. When you look ahead on your calendar, if you see a block of time, mark it off. This time is for you to reset the house. Get your laundry done, really go through your Sunday Basket® & plan (you need time to plan to think things through), clean a little, or organize a space. I tend to focus on paper during the summer.

And speaking of The Paper Solution and the binders, I have a webinar in the app coming up. It will be on May 29th @ 1:30 EST and I will show you how I go through and update my Home Reference Binder.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

If anyone listened to episode 704 about the 10 filters I use to plan my week but you are currently in Quicksand, I'm sorry. I decided to dial it back to this 15 minute hack to help you win the day. Just one day at a time.

Print the Worksheet (Knives Not Included)

Download and print this worksheet. There are two worksheets per sheet of paper. I want you to have a daily action plan because a week at a time may be too much. I know when I was in the pits of despair, I would have thought "Yeah someday!" I'll learn how to time stack and take advantage of pockets of time, that mind you I didn't even know I had because I was in such a reactive state of mind.

Do the Planning

Each night take just 15 minutes to do these 10 things:

1. Transfer items from your planner and calendar to this worksheet. These are appointments or events you have committed to.

2. Proactively think about tomorrow in regards to weather, what you want to wear, and what you want to do with your hair based on weather and activities you'll attend.

3. Go pick out the clothes you will wear tomorrow.

4. Place items you will need for the activities for tomorrow or the people you will see, in your car. Maybe you need to hand in a form, return a shirt to someone, or have work out clothes.

5. Plan your meals and snacks. Replenish your "adult diaper bag" if need be and think through what you will be eating and when due to lunch dates or anything else.

6. Fill in drive time to all your events. And block off time for both driving and then the actual event.

7. Look for pockets of time and plan to check things off you to do list during that time. The reality is that for most of us Mon- Fri time is spoken for. If you have a couple of things that have to get done during the week THIS is your opportune time to do them.

8. Plug in your housework and routines on this worksheet.

9. Highlight your top 1 to three things you have to get done tomorrow. If your day falls apart what do you have to accomplish to feel like you won the day?

10. Now cut that sheet in half and carry it around with you all day tomorrow. Because on the back is where you can write down all those things your brain is reminding you to do. At the end of the day look at it. Things that cannot wait till Sunday get planned for in the week. The rest of the list, the whole list, just goes in the Sunday Basket. No need to transfer to individual cards. Make life easy on yourself and just toss it in your Sunday Basket®.

You must win the day, so you can win the week, in order to win the war!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Download Daily Worksheet

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

Here's the truth coated in encouragement…Organization takes time but with intentionality you can cut the time to 14 months. No one goes from being in debt to out of debt in weeks. Stop it! Yes, it's going to take time. Things that are worthwhile take time. Getting out of your car and into a train is worth it for your mental health and productivity of your home so that you have more capacity and time to wrestle with what you are uniquely created to do.

Your Engine

The Sunday Basket® represents the engine to your train. Weekly you are chugging along and making sure your priorities are taken care of while still safely gathering information to address on Sunday. Once you get this system in place you will protect your plan - this is how productive people act. You have a system in place and your brain trusts that things will not fall through the cracks because of this system. It lightens your cognitive load so you can focus on your plan and priorities. Planning Day, you took the time to identify what you would focus on and the routines you want for the next 120 days. I gave an example of getting the mail and how you process it. If you process it daily, you take your eyes off the goal and distract yourself. If you process it on Sundays, you stay focused on your plan. Listen to this episode for the full explanation. The Sunday Basket® puts you in the drivers seat. Let the Sunday Basket® transform you to become where the flow comes from, you are the driver, the leader.

Train Cars

What is a train without cars on it? The four main cars are your green car that is your Paper Solution program, personal organization car, family/communal organization car, and your storage car. The Complete Home Organization Bundle supplies you with everything you will need for that first round of getting your cars organized. From there each time you round the tracks you are iterating and personalizing the system for you and your current phase of life. The train stops you from being reactive. A train can't make a u turn to go home to grab your purse. A train can't stop on a dime to answer an email quickly. You'll find when you don't stop to do all the little 5 or 10 minute tasks, it'll add up to about 5 extra hours a week to run your plan. Plus you won't be up against the time it takes to switch tasks back and forth. The train is your system to get planned, purposeful, and proactive.

Train Tracks

Every train needs tracks and The Productive Home Solution provides those tracks. It's a 365 day plan that helps you to maintain your train engine, cars, and calculate the speed you want to operate at. You pull into the train station three times a year for maintenance, called Planning Day. You take a pit stop at the retreat station to work on personal development known as Embrace or this year the Self Care Retreat. But you must invest the time to get the tracks in place and your train running smoothly. And when you understand how to do this for your household, you can plug and play for any family member you need to step in and help. Then if the situation arises, you can take their binders to the right people to more easily settle their estate. THIS, this well maintained train and well oiled track, is the biggest and best gift you can give your future self.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• 570 - Creating a HOME Organizing Train

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Productive Home Solution

• The Complete Home Organization Bundle

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

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.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for Planning Day

• Sign Up for Self Care Retreat

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

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!!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• [email protected]

• Sign Up for Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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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

• Sign Up for Planning Day

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

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®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

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®

• Preorder your hard copy of Escaping Quicksand

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

I am focused on explaining, in detail, the set up of the Sunday Basket®. Just wait till you complete this step - all the paper organized and no more trying to remember everything by cognitive power alone.

The Course

When you purchase the Sunday Basket®, you get access to the in app community and the online course. Once you make your purchase you start getting a string of emails to read then go complete. Now if you've had your Sunday Basket® for a minute, you may or may not remember getting those emails. Not sure you understand the "assignment"? You also get corresponding videos to show what to do. There's good news, last year I revamped all the videos and emails. New to or familiar with the Sunday Basket®, you can go into the course and click on Lisa's emails if you need a refresher and then watch the videos. And just so you know, this podcast series is going faster than the course. You can of course always do the course slower too.

The Paper Piles

Remember there were piles that got recycled, shredded, and archived. Now you are sorting your actionable papers and all those index cards. This is why I say one item per index card, that interrupts you whatever you were doing when that idea came to you, so you can touch it, manipulate it, and move it. Dump all those papers on the floor and begin to sort around yourself. I find that I run out of room if I try to use the kitchen counter. It is important that you sort based on activity like phone calls you need to make, or plans you have for traveling, or items you need to add to your calendar, and piles for individual people.

The Slash Pockets

Each of those piles will go into it's own slash pocket. You will see the slash pockets have two sides. If you need to use both sides temporarily, that fine till you can order more. I will be sharing the reason why I do one idea per slash pocket later. And if you run out feel free to use a paper clip.

It's because of the slash pocket we can play the delayed decision making game. Get in the practice for 4-6 solid weeks of writing everything down on index cards and pop them in your Sunday Basket®. Each Sunday you will review, take action, or place in a slash pocket for safe keeping until it demands to be taken care of or you have time. Back in the day there was more paper which was easier to keep track of all the things. Digital subscriptions, bill pay, and newsletter were physical. I encourage you to print those things out and review during your Sunday Basket® time. Right now sorting and placing in the Slash Pockets is the name of the game.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Preorder your hard copy of Escaping Quicksand

• The Productive Home Solution

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® 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

Step number one of setting up the Sunday Basket® is always the Big Sort. For the first time, I'm going into a detailed explanation of how to complete your big sort. After the big sort and decision making, you will feel empowered. It's time to dust off your Sunday Basket® if you have one because the next few episodes are all about setting up your Sunday Basket® and managing your cognitive load to be productive! If you are getting ready to purchase your Sunday Basket® please note there is a Classic Sunday Basket® and the Complete Sunday Basket®, when ordering. I explained the difference in this episode.

The Big Sort

Ok, so to start, you need a couple laundry baskets. You need to gather all the paper in your house. Yes, even your hiding places. Remember when company was on their way over and you shoved the paper pile somewhere? I've seen it all and I know all about the laundry room, your garage, backpacks, and lots of other places because I saw it in all my organizing client's homes. I'm guilty too! Here's the caveat: If you have newspapers, magazines, or catalogs, place them where you've been collecting paper, otherwise those laundry baskets are going to get really heavy. However, we are not collecting filing cabinet paper or paper nex to the filing cabinet that is waiting to be filed. We'll address them in May.

First, we're going to address newspapers, magazines, and catalogs. If they are a passion of yours, keep them. If you can come up with a plan to read them if that is important to you then set up an area maybe next to your chair, so you will actually look at them but then recycle them once you have read them. And last I grant you an amnesty day. Recycle all of them. If it's the news, it's old anyway. And you likely have a subscription so the new ones are on their way. Also, create a rule on when you will read them and how soon after you will recycle them. I have a routine where I read a newsletter and look through a catalog when I process my Sunday Basket®.

Laundry Baskets

It's time to sort the, what 2 or 3 laundry baskets you filled? I like to sort in the kitchen because I like the height of the counter. You need to set up 4 laundry baskets or banker's boxes with labels: Recycle, Shred, Archive, Active. They are pretty self explanatory except "Active". The active papers are going to end up in the Sunday Basket®. These steps can take weeks. It may be to overwhelming to do all of this in one pass. Remember I say, unapologetically, it's going to take time to get organized. And there's still one more thing you need to do to conclude the big sort.

You Are Already Managing It All

You need to empty your brain. Get a couple packs of index cards. You are going to sit down and just write down all the things your brain is thinking of. You will end up with a pile of thoughts. I know it looks overwhelming but the truth is, this is everything you are trying to manage without help. It can be things you need to remember for that day, something you need to renew or pay, something that you want to do for the next holiday, birthdays, whatever comes to mind! BUT, one thought per card. There is a method to my madness. Now you have active and archive papers and allllllll these index cards. Fear not! In the next episode, we are going to talk about the slash pockets that came with your Sunday Basket®. We are going to organize all that paper and you index cards and remove the overwhelm. In the meantime, If you see any task or item that cannot wait till the next episode, you must complete them. Put them on the list for a day this week and get them done!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

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• The Productive Home Solution

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