Happy Monday! Introducing the Connections Episodes from Organize 365®. Every other Monday I will be talking to people and the Organize 365® research staff about topics, books, studies, and other valuable materials that are connected to our goals at Organize 365®. Today I picked Anna, our education and research lead. When she first brought up this topic I wasn’t super jazzed, but after learning about the history of new year’s resolutions and why people started setting them…well it led to a great conversation.

When and why did people start setting new year's resolutions?

The Babylonians were the first we see making new year’s resolutions to their gods. They’d set the intention to return farm equipment or pay off their debts in hopes of a profitable crop that year. It was after harvest time that they’d do this as they prepared their field for new crops. And then we see the Romans setting intentions to their god, Janus, who had two faces. One face looked towards the past and encouraged reflection of the past year. And one face facing forward to plan ahead. They’d do this March 15th when, maybe due to their climate, they were preparing for a new crop. And then in 1582, Pope Gregory the 8th developed the Gregorian calendar we use today and he set the new year for January 1st.

Yesteryear’s common new year’s resolutions versus today

When I look at the top 10 goals from 1947, I like to think about life then. They were coming out of World War II, they had food being rationed, and manual housework. So it’s no surprise that last on the list was to lose weight. It was a stressful time and people wanted to break bad habits, such as smoking and drinking, which was first on the list.

Nowadays life is easier. We have machines that do a lot for us, ability to live in the suburbs (off laborious farms), less generational living, cars, school buses, and catering to our children more so they are doing less, although we noted this is likely cultural. And we are addicted to our food. So it’s no surprise that top of the list now is to lose weight. Followed by organization because our children are involved in more activities, women now work, social media shows a standard that is not realistic but we are striving for it, and life is just faster paced. Need to be organized to stay on top of it all!

One category, besides the ones I always notice like weight loss, money, and organization/productivity, is intrinsic/personal development. This is the introspective type of new year’s resolutions that was on the list. People want to help others and grow in their faith. I will start including this fourth category.

Organize 365® is there for you for your new year’s resolutions

Planning day sets you up for almost 3 mini years. The human brain doesn’t like to think past about 100 days. It’s easier to set one new, new year’s resolution each time. You can set up actionable steps to accomplish that goal, too. You can try out new tasks or routines that become habits, stacking small steps that in the end accomplish a big goal.

Anna’s New Year’s Resolution: Drink more water

Lisa’s New Year’s Resolution: Continue to implement more habits to support my health

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• History of New Years Resolutions (Babalonians, Romans, 1582 Pope Gregory the 8th)

• 1947 Gallop Poll for New Year’s Resolutions

• Current Farmers Almanac for more recent New Year’s Resolutions

• Outlived by Peter Attia MD

• CustomerService@organize365.com

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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I was on a plane in 2017 for a 5 hour flight from Los Angeles to Cincinnati when I committed to 5 values that I wanted to have within Organize 365®. This will be a 6-part series to share why I chose those 5 values plus one extra value that I felt needed to be added. I can trace my positivity back to 6th grade at church camp when I accepted Christ as my savior. But when my dad picked me up he said “No you didn’t, now get in the car.” I was always a positive child so I wasn’t mad or hurt, I knew it was just this special relationship I had with God.

Sharing my dad’s belief in me

“Dad, I’d like to run daycare centers in corporate buildings.” I explained as dad had asked me what I wanted to go to college for. My dad had so much belief in me at just 17. He proposed that I take the money they were going to spend on college, which was about $100,000, and invest it in me and this business idea. I ran into the kitchen to pitch the idea to my mom, but she stood her ground. My mother was hell bent on me being the 4th generation of female college graduates in our family.

The decline

As a little kid I was so positive, there was so much natural optimism. Even at 17 I had so much faith in myself, plus my dad’s belief in me. But then life…I was so excited for the MRS (Mrs. Woodruff) degree and was ready to start our life. But children didn’t come despite our desperate desire and so we adopted. But then more life was handed to me when my parents decided to get divorced, then my dad passed away, and I had to settle his estate.

I did inherit a little bit of money where we were able to remodel the kitchen and afford some more medical testing. I was always fighting a battle with people. They thought I was crazy because of everything I was doing for my kids and their health. Which got me thinking, “Am I the problem here?” (Funny how today’s society supports all the measures I took so many years ago.) I went from positive Lisa to cynical! Another blow was when my supervisor informed me that I wasn’t a good teacher. I made up my mind that I was going to quit. I wasn’t doing good at anything. I had become so negative and not fun to be around. Greg supported me quitting even though we had the most debt we have ever had. I turned in my resignation the next day.

It’s not happening to you it’s happening for you

The final straw was that first Monday while the kids were at school. I looked around and thought, whose house is this? I was so disconnected from my life. I realized that I, and my attitude, was the problem. Then and there I decided to take my life back and to be positive. I changed all the inputs, like the friends I kept, the shows I watched, the things I read. I knew I wanted to stay Greg’s wife and the mother to my children. I ended up writing my book “Organization Is A Learnable Skill" to document how I took my life back. I now know that life is not happening to me, it’s happening for me. I sat down and wrote down 40 areas I was going to address. I remembered that belief my dad had in me to start a business and I was now going to do just that. And from that list one of my first programs was born, the 40 Weeks One Whole House Challenge (now incorporated into The Productive Home Solution®).

Being positive is a core value for Organize 365®. It’s funny how fast a negative person can infiltrate the staff in a matter of days. I can’t have that and I don’t want to turn that ship around. My experience has been that positivity leads to success. So we are positive at Organize 365®.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• 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!

In this episode, I introduce you to Allison G. who lives with her husband, daughter, son, and a furry kid. Allison found the Organize 365® Podcast after hearing my name a few times in two other organization/productivity podcasts. Allison felt organized at work but didn’t realize she wasn’t at home. She kept her calendar full and leaned on being busy if she forgot anything.

In January 2022, Allison fell while skiing. That really slowed her down and plopped her on her couch for some time. She noticed all of the physical chaos in her home. Allison has been a teacher for 21 years. Listening to the other two podcasts, she understood the big picture of organization and productivity. But by listening to Organize 365®, she’s been able to figure out how to apply those principles specifically to her life. Allison also turned 40 in 2022, which is one of those pivotal times in a woman’s life when I tend to see them want to declutter, get organized, and be productive.

Allison got the Sunday Basket®, quickly followed by the entire system. In March of 2022, Allison was very diligent and kept up on homework and training. She started with the 1.0 slash pockets for the first 6-8 months. Then she added in the 2.0 slash pockets. Allison says she passively went through The Productive Home Solution® the first time and has started her second round. She feels the reason for her organizational success is she gave herself time and took it slow. We make all these plans and framework for work, but not usually for home. Why? The Sunday Basket® and The Productive Home Solution® gives you a framework to get systems in place at home.

After seeing results at home, of course she had to get the Teacher Friday Workbox®. She loves using the rainbow tear pad and planner for her classes. As a teacher, you could see all the paper work and books for all classes as overwhelming. You could look at your lesson plan and just see a lot of text. But when you color code them, now it’s 7 categories or 7 classes. Allison raved over the layout of the products and the quality of the paper. And she can match the slash pockets to the colors on the tear pad.

Allison is no longer faking being organized, she IS organized! She has systems in place at home to find important paperwork, like the insurance policy for earrings she lost. She’s been able to free up time to dream which led to her learning mahjong this past fall. Her family knows all about the Sunday Basket® even though they always call them buckets. She only wishes she’d known sooner it didn’t have to be the way it was before. And she’s gained so much confidence by knowing she’ll finish what she starts and not using her cognitive “power” to hopefully remember things that need to get done!

Allison’s advice is, “If you are motivated and excited, get going! But if you think you need time, give yourself time. ”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

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 https://organize365.com/wednesday.

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!