This month I am going to record a 4-part podcast series about how we prepare to get projects done, and then this summer I’m going to record a 7-part series about how to actually set a goal and achieve a goal that is a project inside of your home; specifically how do we start, continue, finish, and pick a new project.&nbsp; You make so many mental decisions about how you want your projects and your process to be before you even start, and of course there are lots of pivots and iterations that happen along the way. But it is the mental preparation, the physical space preparation that you do that really helps you set and achieve goals.&nbsp; What happens before you set the goal - specifically anything household related? And then when you’re in the middle of the goal or the project - how does your household change in regards to the physical spaces? I end up using multiple spaces in my house to keep the things that are related to those projects and to keep me on track.&nbsp; The first one is the Sunday Basket®. It is how you run the administration of a household. It is where you put the mail, your ideas, small items that need fixed, or things that need to be returned. It’s basically a really nice kitchen counter pile collector. Because we do so much inside our households, we have to acquire the items we need for projects we’re going to do before we actually are doing the projects. The Sunday Basket® is also for all the little random things that we remember that we need to do that aren’t necessarily for next week. It adds to and enhances your planning routines. It’s the pink, purple, blue and green slash pocket items. I had this color system before I even manufactured the Sunday Basket®. I filled up the blue, purple and green slash pockets immediately. I got to the pink and just stared at them and didn’t know how to really use them. I had personal goals, but didn’t have any slash pockets to give a physical weight or representation to those personal goals. Your pink slash pockets can be literally anything you want them to be. The nice thing about the Sunday Basket® is it’s fairly private. Nobody’s going into your Sunday Basket®.&nbsp; The Sunday Basket® holds decades of your future hopes and dreams - personally, financially, for your family, for your home. It keeps the daily running of the house going and your weekly cadence of things coming in, things you need to do, things that can wait until next week. That’s basic 101 Sunday Basket® usage. But the beauty of the Sunday Basket® is that all the next week, next month, next year or next decade ideas can also live in here and not get lost when the opportunity comes or you’re ready to do that big project or that big pink work.&nbsp; EPISODE RESOURCES:               &nbsp;   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!

590 - Preparing For Projects - Step 1 - The Sunday Basket

Jayme and I were caught off guard by our nerves for this second in person workshop day. I think the reality was that we were using technology we were super familiar with running ourselves to promote more transparency and we weren’t in control. Two type A’s like to be in control! It was so good though and I think our biggest takeaways from this day and this pilot are:   We individualize so much for our students, why don’t we do the same for our teachers?   Allow real vulnerable conversations and be open to suggestions for improvement   When the teachers saw improvement in their main teaching role, they wanted it for their classrooms or personal life next.   Jayme had 65% of her staff participate and we were looking for their feedback. I noticed in these responses they are the ones I get from the Organize 356® community. Accomplishment is the number one response I get when I ask people “How does it feel to be organized?” And this group of teachers were no different. This was after only 6 months of use too!! We used the Mentimeter app so that they could submit their answers via their phones so they could be open and vulnerable. We asked “What have you noticed about using the index cards?” Here were a few of the responses:&nbsp;   Get things out of my head   My ideas are organized   I remember things better   I can prioritize tasks   Less stress   Saves time   Visibly see what I wanted to do but haven't yet.   So the second question we asked them was if they were taking work home. I was shocked that more teachers didn’t say yes. I really thought that was going to be higher until Jayme explained her expectations. Jayme has communicated with her staff how to effectively use their time. Just because it’s called the Friday Workbox® AKA Teacher Workbox, you don’t have to do it on Fridays. She explained to them that she stays late on most Thursdays for games. Since the games don’t start until 6, she has 3 hours to process her workbox. This is helping them not bring work home. Here were the results to that second question.   No (9)   Yes (15)   Sometimes (9)   I was also curious to see how many teachers were using digital organization and to what extent. I was shocked that paper was the highest. I thought for sure because of all the buzz that it would be higher digital or hybrid, but nope. In the society of America, a capitalist country, we have our own rules within each organization, so there is not this one, main digital stream. This leads to paper!! And by the way, index cards are paper. I’ve been challenged on this. Think about it...would you rather have your teachers write something down quickly on an index card and continue instruction OR would you like them to pull out their phones? I would hope if you choose the latter there would be an expectation that it not be in the middle of instruction. But then two things happen, the teacher is trying to remember to put it in their phones later AND all the rabbit trails with all their shiny pathways distract the teachers and who knows how long that quick task of entering the idea or task will take! So what were the results of this question? …   All Paper (17)   All Digital (3)   Hybrid of both (13)   And lastly I was feeling like, what else do they want? I had taken the time to teach the system of the Teacher Friday Workbox®. I had spent time with the Special Education team, getting them set. It was no surprise with success in their teacher role, now they wanted it in their classrooms and at home. Each teacher was invited to planning day. They got to plan in their personal life. There is so much invisible work required from teachers and they were getting relief from all those responsibilities. And that is why Jayme and I wanted to do this. We want educators to be fulfilled in home and work life, we want teacher retention and this is one way to achieve that! EPISODE RESOURCES:         On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize...

Teacher Podcast #8 - Lawrenceburg Middle School Pilot Second Training

How does our laundry room explode? And is there any way we can have it looking like a magazine? Let's discuss. Now, you may not have a laundry room. Yours may be in the basement, so yours may not work the way my laundry room does. As I'm talking about this, it may be a different space in your house. It may be a spare bedroom. It may be a home office. Or it may be the dining room table. I'm going to go through two more spaces in the next two weeks. So if you're like, “I have bomb explosions in every room of my house,” there are different kinds of explosions. So we're gonna talk about the different kinds. Before the Sunday Basket®, everything I’m going to tell you about would be in the laundry room plus my bills, mail, my actionables. So when I got to Sunday, I would be like “what do I have going on?” “Where are my things?” No one is ONLY doing laundry in their laundry room. Period. No one is. So I’m going to encourage you to go on over to organize365.com and sign up for the Free Week of The Productive Home Solution®, which is the laundry room.&nbsp; Things that might end up in here are the following: things that you need for a project, but won’t fit in your Sunday Basket®. Things that are in process that we don’t want to forget. Items for the next holiday, for summer vacation, projects that are ongoing that get delayed, backpacks at the end of the school year (that don’t get emptied out until weeks before the next school year!). Things that may be incoming or outgoing into the house - birthday gifts that need to be wrapped, things that need to be returned, donated, or you’re not quite sure what to do with it yet.&nbsp; The Free Week of The Productive Home Solution® is a great introduction to it, because the way I organize a room is not the way people normally would. Go ahead and clean out your laundry room, look at it with different eyes. Next week, we’re going to talk about my garage - which may be your storage area, your den, your porch, your family room, but we all have this space. We’ll check that out next week. EPISODE RESOURCES:               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!

591 - Preparing For Projects - Step 2 - Overflow Room 1 - Laundry Room

Calling all educators! Do you need graduate credits in order to renew your license? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you. We now have a professional development course offered through Ashland University that focuses on executive function and utilizing the Teacher Friday Workbox® to reduce your overwhelm as an educator. The course is 3 graduate credits and will be offered multiple times throughout the year. Our first course kicks off in June and will run through the end of August. Once you enroll in the course through Ashland University, you will receive a link to access the graduate class through Google Classroom and you will receive a physical Teacher Friday Workbox® in the mail.&nbsp; You will learn more about the course and meet the instructor, Anna, in Wednesday podcasts coming later this month. Until then, you can find more details at  We look forward to learning with you! EPISODE RESOURCES:      &nbsp;   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  when you share on social media

Coffee Chat - College Credits Available for the Teacher Workbox Course!

This is our final episode about the Teacher Friday Worbox® Pilot with principal Jayme. We talked about how Jayme suggests getting started in your school and our hopes for all schools to be using the Teacher Friday Workbox® in the future.&nbsp; What Would Jayme Suggest?&nbsp; We have received a lot of feedback saying everyone is so interested, but they’d like to talk to Jayme. So what does Jayme have to say about this teacher pilot that she implemented in her school? Jayme appreciates all of the resources that come with the Organize 365® company as a whole. The podcast is an endless source of information for home and work organization. But when you add in the Teacher Friday Workbox® for staff, well…The teacher not only gains lifetime access to their dashboard with Organize 365® but they get the community. Jayme loves how supportive the community is as they all share their best practices and encourage each other. They also get Teacher Camp in July. You know, the one month all educators are available?&nbsp; Jayme stressed the principal’s excitement over the Teacher Friday Workbox® is important for the staff to get on board. Each school will implement differently as each teacher will. She suggests for there to be one person “championing” the efforts to get staff on board with the Teacher Friday Workbox®. This person understands and can filter questions about implementation. We can agree there is no budget line for the Teacher Friday Workbox® so Jayme suggested a “phase in plan.” Choose a category of teachers, like first year, or a grade that would most benefit from the Teacher Friday Workbox® and start there. Of course, the best course of action would be for the whole building to start together but we are well aware of budgets. Another segment of teachers that you could prioritize is those that would have had an IEP in school. Let’s meet people where they are, support them in their roles as best as we can, so they stay in those roles longer! Speaking of staying in their roles longer…You say “Yes, this is great but there is a time and financial cost associated with each person who gets the Teacher FridayWorkbox®.” Yes, and there is a time and financial cost associated with new hires. The goal for Jayme and I in all of this is to better support teachers so they will stay in their roles longer and the schools don’t have to hire and train new employees. The community starts to scratch their heads when there is too much turnover in staff. Let’s get everyone settled in, lessen their cognitive load, and be at peace with work and home responsibilities.&nbsp;&nbsp; School Train Stops and Stations I have previously proposed driving in cars versus driving a train; if you don’t know what I mean check out podcast episodes 570 and 571. And that sparked an idea for Jayme about a school train. Trains have quick stops and then they have larger stations that they stop at and spend a little more time at before taking off again. Jayme pointed out the importance of using times like winter/summer break and possibly spring break as your station time. During this time, you can really go through your Teacher Friday Workbox® and reset yourself and your work. We want to see all educators on a train where communication can flow from leadership to the teachers and back to leadership. This program opens communication. Let’s get everyone a ticket on smooth traveling locomotives. Choo choo! For $349 (one time) Teacher Friday Workbox® includes:   Teacher Camp   Teacher Workbox   Slash Pockets   Lifetime Access to the Online Community   EPISODE RESOURCES:      &nbsp;   On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us,...

Teacher Podcast #9 - How to Implement the Teacher Workbox in Your School

Alright, this is going to be a little bit shorter podcast. We’re going to talk about the garage as an extension of the laundry room. We’re in this short podcast series where I’m trying to make visible the…well, they’re actually not invisible spaces. They’re very, very visible…all look like hot mess spaces inside of our homes. But each hot mess has a different purpose. We have this expectation that while we’re managing all of this, our homes are also going to look like a magazine while we’re doing it. That if we’re doing it right, our house should look like a magazine. But if you can “see” the work, then that’s a problem. And yet, the more complexity your house has, the more people your house has, the more projects your house has, the more chaotic hot spots your house is going to have - because you have all of these projects in process. When you get all the way organized and you do what I'm going to teach you this summer, your house will look more magazine-ish, especially if you are over 50. Under 50 and have kids; change your expectations. Stop giving yourself an aneurysm over things that are really not necessary.&nbsp; Number one, you need the Sunday Basket®. In addition to the Sunday Basket®, you are going to have to keep all of your dreams in a Sunday Basket® overflow space - which is the laundry room. The garage is an overflow of the laundry room.&nbsp; The number one thing that will go into this space is really large items. The second thing that ends up in the garage is anything that’s related to an outside project. Other things that end up in the garage are things that are on their way out.&nbsp; When you start realizing that you are a production machine, you are the CEO of your household, you’re a household manager, everything is in production. Our expectation at home is that we should be able to walk through this perfect magazine house. It’s not a magazine house, it’s a production machine.&nbsp; The cadence for cleaning out your garage is on the red, white and blue holidays in the US - Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day. If you can get your garage and laundry room where they’re actually decluttered and organized, they need to be able to accept all of this “in-processness” with an underlying organization below it.&nbsp; EPISODE RESOURCES:               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!

592 - Preparing For Projects - Step 3 - Overflow Room 2 - Garage

I want to introduce you to another educator that is embracing the Teacher Friday Workbox® and values the benefits teachers experience when using it. Anna found Organize 365® through podcast interviews I’d done on other shows. Anna knows the transformation that results from the physical products and the blitzes from Organize 365®.&nbsp; Turns out, I could have known Anna many years ago when her mom was a Creative Memories consultant. Her mother's innovation with power layouts in scrapbooking helped me to create many scrapbooks in very short amounts of time. Anna always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She shared memories of teaching her younger brother after an enriching day at kindergarten herself. Anna, now in education in a supporting role outside the school buildings (NOT how you may imagine), values the Teacher Friday Workbox® so much that she created a college course for educators that she will be facilitating that results in 3 college credits at Ashland University.&nbsp; Anna did go to college to be a teacher, but got pulled in a different path. As she “created her own degree,” Anna got to experience emerging adulthood first hand. This is yet another point of connection for Anna and me. After completing her graduate degree at University of Maryland, she moved back to Ohio. While starting her new life she started a small sewing business. She took a substitute teacher position which turned into a Family and Consumer Science (AKA Home Economics) teaching position for the next 6 years. During the pandemic, she created virtual/visual teaching materials for teachers. All of the teachers were looking for help and Anna was right there supporting them.&nbsp; Her next move? She was experiencing a golden window, what better time is there to explore? Over the past year, Anna has had the freedom to explore many opportunities. During her exploration she took courses from Ashland University. She was so impressed with her experience that she approached them and said “Hey, how about I come work for you?” Anna's transition from being a classroom teacher to becoming an adjunct professor at Ashland University in Ohio is a testament to her dedication to education. Equally, her involvement with Organize 365® highlights her ongoing commitment to addressing teacher overwhelm and burnout through practical, curriculum-aligned support. Anna has been very intrigued with the flow theory. She explained it as a task that challenges you enough to stay engaged. And also not so challenging that your desire to stay engaged dwindles. She wants to keep exploring this in her efforts to support teachers. This initiative, along with the new course she created, embodies her belief in equipping teachers with tools to manage their workloads effectively, thereby extending their careers and enriching student learning experiences.&nbsp; Next week we’ll be talking about the white paper Anna has created for Organize 365® and explore even more ways to support teachers in their essential work. EPISODE RESOURCES:         &nbsp;   On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with this community. You can see and hear transformation in action. If you are ready to share your story with us, please apply at&nbsp;. 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!

Teacher Podcast #10 - Meet Anna

Ok, just one more detail we need to nail down before you start your project - identify your project space.&nbsp; We all have a lot going on and I’m guessing a lot of projects. It’s ok to be working on more than one thing at a time. In this episode I share some of those things that I have going on. But how do we organize the projects, have appropriate amounts of time to work on them, and a dedicated space where we can leave a few projects out that are “in progress?” Keep in mind, the biggest difference between work projects and home projects is that work is income generating and home is production generating. Once we finish this remodel and get Abby’s washer and dryer downstairs, we will not be generating income from that project, but we will have increased productivity for both of us. Keeping that in mind, you need to plan financial resources for these projects, too. Ok, I had a moment of clarity recently. In preparation for this episode, I was thinking of my project workspaces. I realized almost always my work space has been my bed! I loved my room growing up. My mom would update it from time to time and I loved doing projects on my bed. Then when the kids came along? Again, it was my bed. I would help get them ready for bed, Greg would bathe them, and then we’d put them to bed. The kids liked me upstairs when they went to bed, so then I would work on projects in my room for the next 3-4 hours. In my bedroom, on my bed. As a rule, the kids did not go in our room because they were where I was and that was with them in the kitchen, likely. Therefore, the projects were out of the range of little hands.&nbsp; Which brings me to an important point. Make sure all your basic supplies are in the project area. Back in the day, I made sure all my scrapbooking supplies were available in my project space. Make it easy for yourself so once you start you have all the things you need at your disposal.&nbsp; The other project space, but really I’d have to label it as a workspace, was my kitchen. I love the layout of our family room, kitchen and dining room. When the kids were little, and I revisited this with Grayson, I sectioned off the rooms with baby gates to make one self contained room for us for the day. I remember I used to make awesome playdough (see recipe link below.) It lasted a long time. I kept it out of reach in the laundry room, but all the toys for playdough were within the kids' reach. We basically lived in the kitchen. And as the kids grew, I would alter the cabinets for our needs. At one point, we needed one cabinet dedicated to medicine and vitamins. And I would “audition” the new arrangements. My friend, Carol, used to audition a set up or furniture. Like a bookshelf, she’d audition it in a space in her house and, if it was functional, it stayed and was possibly upgraded. If it didn’t work in that place, then she would audition it in other places. I encourage you to do the same. Try out a desk in your bedroom. If you like it and it works for your life, keep it there. Maybe you get a nicer, better quality desk or realize you need one with drawers or more work space. But you get the idea.&nbsp; I want to give you permission to have those project piles around without stressing. Our homes are lived in, not museums. It's about making peace with the ebb and flow of project life. Honestly, it’s refreshing. It’s all about being smart with your space and making it fit your project lifestyle. EPISODE RESOURCES:               &nbsp;   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!

593 - Preparing For Projects - Step 4 - Where We Do Our Projects

Anna is back and we’re talking all about the white paper Anna created for the Teacher Friday Workbox®. When Anna came to me with this pink sparkly box of Teacher Friday Workbox® opportunities, I wanted to talk shop. Anna was almost done with her EED and I am still very much tied up with the PhD. So it was a win-win to have Anna complete a white paper. It is so interesting that there is literature and media supporting what I have been saying all along. Anna’s supportive data came from her EED education and mine is coming from my PhD education. Anna shared that for the school year 2023-24, Tennessee reported 3.900 teacher vacancies and Virginia reported 3.9% of teacher positions were not filled. There is a real teacher retention problem and with the help of Anna (and don’t forget Jayme!), we are out to shine light on the issues and increase teacher retention.&nbsp; There IS Money There is personal development money schools can be using that is not earmarked for the operations of or in the buildings. Schools have these funds and aren’t always sure how or where to spend them. Yes, you can offer self care like maybe a massage day for the teachers, but it’s a temporary fix. Give the teachers a raise! But that is costly to an already dwindling budget. An easy answer will be the Friday Workbox® or the course from Ashland University that rewards them with CEU’s. How Does The Teacher Friday Workbox® Actually Help Educators So how is the Teacher Friday Workbox® like self care? Most of you have heard on the podcast that a lot of teachers have purchased the Teacher Friday Workbox® on their own. They were looking for a solution and treated themselves to organization. As the number of tasks go up, so does the teacher's burnout level. A person needs to see the work before they can start to strategize a solution. The Teacher Friday Workbox® helps to identify all the invisible tasks. Then teachers can decide if they need to eliminate, delegate, or plan for each task. Task Switching We have all heard the stats about how costly in time it is to constantly be switching between tasks. The Teacher Friday Workbox® helps you to identify tasks in similar categories (the task specific slash pockets). When you pull out an IEP for a specific student, you can focus on all the tasks needed to be completed for that one student. Our brain likes this focus on one task and stress is reduced.&nbsp; Reduce Cognitive Load on Working Memory Color coding is so productive for our brains. And I know I have nerded out about the connection in the brain when we write things down. That activity of pen to paper is so impactful on our brains and with recall. Cue the index cards. You write everything down. You don’t stress over remembering what you are trying to remember. The Teacher Friday Workbox® allows you to use your brain as a brain and not a filing cabinet.&nbsp; Community When Anna really stopped to think about what teachers needed in a resource that could decrease burnout …it was the Teacher Friday Workbox®! She also pointed out the value of community that you get. It's nice to have positive voices outside of your building. It’s nice to see what others are struggling with as well as celebrating wins. AND it’s private from parents and students. It’s a safe space for all things teaching.&nbsp; What is included in the Teacher Friday Workbox®?   Red Workbox (roughly the size of a watermelon)   One Set of Rainbow Slash Pockets   Sets of 5 of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Purple, and Pink   Online Dashboard   Online Private Community   Teacher Camp (first two weeks of July)   During the Summer - Thursday night coworking time with replays   Lifetime Access   EPISODE RESOURCES:         &nbsp;   On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365­® community as they share the challenges, progress, missteps and triumphs along their organizing journey. I am grateful that you are reaching out to share with me and with...

Teacher Podcast #11 - Academic Research Support for the Needs of Teachers

It’s summertime! Time to put on some sunscreen, let your hair down and get relaxed, right? Wrong! People, you need to plan what you are doing in business because everyone else has that summer mentality. Let me tell you, summer will be over before you know it. But with a little planning, you will be ready for the most productive weeks that come after summer. Summer, Summer, Summertime… Why does summer go so fast? I’ll tell you why…because in May/beginning of June it’s almost like we exhale from the school year in anticipation of all the summer fun. And the Bermuda Triangle we call July. The first week everyone basically has off or takes off mentally anyway. It’s hot and our energy is zapped. August comes around with back to school. If you have school age children just be forewarned, life will not return to some normalcy until September. Summer is when we take advantage of our PTO and making memories with our families. Be Purposeful With everyone here and there, you’ll be lucky to have a full meeting. It’s a hard time of year for hiring and/or growing your team in skills and mindset. Just reserve yourself to the fact that summer is a good time to work on YOU! If you are a business owner (but also applicable to your position in your company), I would suggest for all summer production to be planned and accounted for by June 1st. We do offer a Friday Workbox® Planning Day on June 7th so it’s not too late to get a plan in place if this is the first time you are considering this. This way you have peace of mind that projects will get done at work so you can get projects done at home; and this will apply to your staff, too. If you are organized in the summer, the pay off is profitability and productivity in the fall.&nbsp;&nbsp; Don't forget the Friday Workbox®. I did a quick rundown of the colors and what you could be planning within each slash pocket. Pink is for all your ideas, personal development, and research and development. We’ll focus on the pink work for Friday Workbox® Planning Day. Purple is for your projects. Projects have dollar amounts and deadlines attached to them like client work or new products that will be launching. I strongly caution you to only pick one to two projects in summer. Blue is for people such as your employees, contractors, vendors, excluding the end user or your customers. And green is for finances and your admin tasks. This is also where you would have your checklists. The Value of a Checklist The good ole checklist. A little tough love here, make sure you are putting tasks on it that are important and that you would not already complete on auto pilot. Checklists are what you are doing and a good indication of what could be handed off. As your company grows, you can use those checklists like job descriptions. Your checklists will point towards the position you need to hire next and what they will be doing. And as people resign, and as business changes and evolves, you will need to evaluate if that checklist still needs to be done or can some tasks be eliminated and the rest handed off to another employee/contractor. When it comes to your checklists, I want you to ask yourself two questions.&nbsp;   If this checklist didn’t get done, what would happen?&nbsp;   If someone else does this checklist, what would I do with all the time that would move the company forward?&nbsp;   Now that we know work will be taken care of, join me next week as I discuss how to choose this meaty summer project you have been waiting to sink your teeth into! EPISODE RESOURCES:            &nbsp;   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!

Teacher Podcast #9 - How to Implement the Teacher Workbox in Your School

Lisa Kelly Woodruff

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