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 Zoom The Zoom training kind of turned into a Q&A. The teachers felt prepared for the IEP meetings unti ..read more

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 making visible all of the invisible work they do would give them reason to submit their resignation!&nbs ..read more

“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 smaller priced items you want. I know this because I am a mom, too. But will you gift yourself ..read more

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 little nervous and apprehensive.  For decades, 40 was midlife. That’s no longer true. Until your 4 ..read more

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 try this with my building for my teachers.  A Spark of a Conversation Normally on the 4th of July ..read more

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 learn organization because you have already mastered it. Organize 365® continues to revamp and change. A ..read more

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 and 30’s, you end up going to a hardware store.  As you progress through your 30’s, the amount of ..read more

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 in any of these studies as life-long unpaid work. There are 3 types: cleaning, tasks of daily living ..read more

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 was causing Jayme mental chaos. This is when Jayme found Organize 365® and cleaned up her personal spac ..read more

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 between.” Things happen legally at certain ages (18, 21), but other things are assumed to be inherently known o ..read more