Now that you know all about Annie, it’s time to learn about her Teacher Pilot. Annie was part of the Teacher Friday Workbox® Mastermind. And she had lots of ideas. So when I put feelers out to see who wanted to run a pilot, Annie raised her hand high. Annie had been using the Teacher Friday Workbox® and she wasn’t shy about it. When Annie’s school hosted a “choose your own adventure” personal development day, Annie offered to teach about organization and the Teacher Friday Workbox®. From there, interest grew and we were able to narrow down our pilot participants. 

I think everyone is in agreement that while massages are nice, to give yourself peace of mind and ease at work feels more like self care! I went on a little sidebar about self care. Self care is such a buzz word among Annie and her peers. But what actually provides long lasting self care? You know, child care and elder care is noted because someone else has to administer that care. But self care, you are the one administering it and it too needs to be done daily. But it’s invisible. Self care is not “in addition to,” but it should be baseline - like we all need daily self care!

The lucky kindergarten and 5th grade teachers would be the grades piloting implementing the Teacher Friday Workbox®. And one of Annie’s 4th grade teachers got to sneak into the program too. At the beginning of the pilot, Annie asked each participant to give 10 sentences about how they felt about their current organization and hopes of the program. They got training on how to set up the box and systems. Annie offered additional training throughout the year and during one of their personal development days, she offered for them to see how she had her Teacher Friday Workbox® set up. Annie asked for feedback in February too so she could see their progress. They all said that was extremely helpful. As we saw in Jayme’s pilot, each teacher implemented the Teacher Friday Workbox® in different ways. The teachers all want to stay in the pilot and continue to report their wins. Annie noticed it took her three years to hit that sweet spot and she assumes it will for her colleagues too. The overall feedback though was gratitude for this solution. They are excited, even asking for training over summer. Annie agreed and reminded them they also get to attend Teacher Camp coming up in July!! 

Let’s face it: Teachers are not digital and we need to offer non-digital solutions to promote teacher retention. I know this is a big ask. But at the end of the day when we meet the needs of our teachers, they will meet the needs of our students. When you move forward with the Teacher Friday Workbox® for your teachers, make sure to provide time for them to effectively learn how to use the Teacher Friday Workbox® and customize it for their classrooms.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• 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!

Alright, we’re at step one of the meaty project you have decided on. We’re talking prep. We need to wrap our minds around what we are doing, when we are doing it, and our budget. 

Declutter

You may already have some stuff in mind that you have been wanting to get rid of but got held up not knowing what to do with it. I say give it away, donate to donation centers that will recycle or resale the items. Or trash it. Many companies will come out and pick up large items, or get a dumpster and fill it up to your heart's content. And of course, you need to set time aside on your calendar to complete this decluttering. You must be intentional.

Prep

We talked about this in the last episode. Decide on your budget and get your supplies. I always say buy in advance what you think you will need. We are planning this project to be done in August so…save your receipts in the back of the slash pocket you used to plan this project. With supplies on hand, you can stay in that project energy. At the end, return the items you didn’t use. And prepare your family. Let them know your planned neglect tactics you will be practicing. And let them know your timeline and what to expect!

• Teachers - Getting organized and ready for the most productive fall

  • Declutter: Your classroom and Teacher Workbox before you leave for summer.

  • Prep: Your calendar and block off Teacher Camp and try to join us live; such great energy to be surrounded by.

• Organizing Your Paper

  • Declutter: Decide when and how much you will go through at a time and designate where the keep pile will go.

  • Prep: Block off the Paper Retreat or seek out the local help of a professional paper organizer.

• Organizing Your Health Journey

  • Declutter: Toss all expired items (also consider vitamins) or items that do not support your health journey, from your pantry and refrigerator. And declutter the kitchen - Revisit The Productive Home Solution® section for the Kitchen. 

  • Prep: Schedule time daily to track in an app or plan the day for success.

• Personal Development/Personal Spaces

• Declutter: Daily plan for 15-30 min to declutter personal spaces. AM? PM? When is best for you? 

• Prep: Sign up for Embrace and try your hardest to join us live!

• Getting Your Kids Organized

• Declutter: Go through the Kids Program. Kids stuff sells so consider a garage sale within two weeks of hearing this podcast!!   

• Prep: This is kind of declutter and prep together. But as you get through the Kids Program, you can buy clothes once the closet is decluttered, buy paint once another section has been watched and implemented. You get the idea. You could put together a fun calendar for your kids to follow along with the plan. 

• Organizing Your Family & Communal Spaces

• Declutter: Let your family know your plan and what to expect. This may be the project to call in Junk King. They’ll come into your home and remove any items for you that you have delayed tossing for this reason - you needed muscles LOL 

• Prep: Decide what is no longer serving you and your home. Plan the time on your calendar when you will complete this task. 

I know, we didn’t even start! LOL!!  Next week we will begin all the fun now that we are decluttered and prepped!!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Paper Organizing Retreat

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Embrace Self-Guided Retreat

• Kids Program

• 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’m so excited to share another educator that is helping other teachers learn about organization for retention and enjoyment in their educational careers. Annie discovered Organize 365® in 2019 through the podcast. Annie comes from a long line of paper pilers. She prides herself on how organized she was in college but once she got married and settled an estate, she too started paper piles everywhere. She loved the idea of the Sunday Basket® and made one of her own; that lasted 8 weeks. And 2 short weeks later, she was all access! What we noted from her listening to the podcast before having the products, it’s like you have the time to let the information sink in. You build the habit before making any purchases. This is so common with our podcast listeners.

Annie and I agreed how the paper can get out of control when you add others into your life. She spoke to the passing of her mom. Her mom knew where stuff was, but once she had passed her father did not. And the great man that her father was, he too was a fan of paper. He never owned a computer during the time of running his business so you can imagine all the paper Annie got to organize! Annie spoke to the benefits of the Financial Binder and while we agree it’s a little morbid to put together, it’s an act of love you can give to someone who may have to settle your affairs once you are gone. If you too struggle with asking, you can use my famous line “100 years from now, If I needed this…”

Annie is thankful for the time she has gotten to focus on her side career. She is a professional organizer, too. A lot of times people learn to organize for themselves and can’t help but to want to share it with others. Annie was perfectly content in her teaching career and life but couldn’t help organizing people on the side. She is so rewarded seeing other adults gain confidence through organization. 

She can also see how all the small changes she’s made over the years have added up to big changes in her marriage and home. She can remember when she got down to just one junk drawer and got rid of bags of her clothes. Now when she goes into her closet, all of her clothes feel good to her. That was when she realized she was organized! She wishes she would have implemented progress over perfection from the beginning. Annie likes things to be perfect, but she now has an appreciation for moving forward instead of being stuck in analysis paralysis. 

We talked about what seems to be 3 year blocks of time; about 3 years to get organized, about 3 years to focus on your health, and about 3 years to set goals and understand how to tackle them. And then watch out world - they become unstoppable!

Organization and your next project are waiting for you, too. If you are hesitant, I want you to ask yourself, “If not me, then who?” And “If not now, then when?”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution® Financial Binder

• The Paper Solution®

• 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!

Alright, alright…you have put all your project ideas in your Sunday Basket®. You have identified your extended Sunday Basket® areas for larger items, like a mattress for an upcoming project. And you have said yes, I enjoy completing projects here, like me working on projects on my bed. And we took a hot minute to think through our paid employment so that, as we work on this meaty project, work will be chugging along to set us up for the most productive time of year once summer is over. I know you are saying, “Yes, but Lisa, WHAT is the project?”

SMART vs. SMARTIES

Accomplishing goals at work and/or at school happens naturally. But when it comes to accomplishing goals at home, it just doesn’t seem to work the same way. The tool that we commonly use for goal setting is the SMART goal. I explained why SMART goals are great for work and school, but will leave you feeling defeated at home. 

Just in time for summer, I have a new goal setting tool for you to use at home and it’s called the SMARTIES goal. This was not a short episode and that is because I wanted to really explain this new way of setting a goal for your meaty project.

S is for Space, the room or person ( ie a child) you are organizing.

M is still for Measurable, but it’s a feeling we are measuring. Is your space functionally working and are you feeling organized?

A is for upgrading the Aesthetics within your budgets, like a gallon of paint or cubes to put your cereal bags in. No one is being given this idea of a room full of new furniture and finishings.

R is for learning skills to go from Reactive to proactive in your life.

T is for Time order, not timeline. The date is not as important as the time needed to complete this project. It’s going to take the amount of time it takes!

I is for Iterative. This space you are choosing to conquer will never be finished because the people using the space will continue to grow and need different things in that space.

E is for Ease, deep sigh…no guilt, no judgment, no unrealistic timelines. Once you learn organization, you’ll have ease in these projects.

And finally, S is for Share! Lots of times, once you get the hang of organizing you want to do it for your family and friends. Feel free to share these resources with them. And hop into the community and share what you have been doing. You may give someone an idea or get one yourself!

Choose That Meaty Project (detailed explanation in the second half of this episode)

1. Career Goals - Getting organized and ready for the most productive fall

2. Getting Your Kids/Family Organized

3. Organizing Your Paper or a Loved One’s Paper

4. Organizing Your Health Journey

5. Personal Reflection and Leaning Into What You Were Uniquely Created To Do

6. Organizing Your Personal Spaces

7. Organizing Your Family & Communal Spaces

I’m excited to cheer you on this summer as you pick a meaty summer goal! Use my free SMARTIES goal printable and get ready to listen to the podcast this summer as you organize and tackle your summer goal. Let’s do this!

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• SMARTIES Goal Printable

• 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!

Anna feels so strongly that the Teacher Friday Workbox® is the solution to ease the overwhelm and increase teacher retention, she created a course in the formal setting of a university. She’s here today to give a peek inside the course.

She knew based on her previous life in the education world that not all courses qualify to be reimbursed. There needs to be a focus on how the student would benefit from the teacher completing this course. Proactively, she knew to include SEL (social and emotional learning) standards. SEL being included makes the course even more attractive to those that would be approving reimbursement because schools are starting to require these skills to be taught, but there isn’t a lot of material out there for teachers yet. AND in this course, Anna provides lesson plans for the teachers enrolled in this course. 

We alluded to schools having funds that were for personal development. And they are Region 10 from Covid funds and in schools that have innovation as one of their core objectives; you can access funds earmarked for innovation workforce readiness in either essential or soft skills. Schools will reimburse for 60%-100% once you produce your transcript. 

Anna took time in this episode to read the course description. She was sure to stress the importance of learning organizational systems to support executive function. It explains how teachers will learn how to streamline their administrative tasks. And then she went over the modules. Module 1 is getting started and an introduction from yours truly. In Module 2, there will be a focus on ADHD for students and teachers and you get to listen to the ADHD podcast. Module 3 is so much fun as you set up your workbox, label your slash pockets, and dive into the app. Module 4 is learning how to support students' organizational skills and learn about the Lisa Binder; this is the module with the lesson plans helping students to develop SEL standards like self management competency. The last module will reiterate the importance of practicing all the skills and systems you have been taught.

Curious?

We tried to anticipate some questions you may be having and we want to put your curious mind at ease. I can’t recap them all so you will definitely want to listen to the full episode.  

1. Yes, you can take advantage of this course if you have the Teacher Friday Workbox® already. You’ll be lucky enough to have two workboxes AND the graduate credits plus all the other goodies.

2. You can simply take just this one course through Ashland University.

3. If you have existing products with Organize 365®, all products will be consolidated in one account.

4. This is a work at your own pace course so you can be creative as to how and when you complete course work. 

5. This will be an evergreen course offered multiple times during the year. 

Anna is conducting surveys before and after the course. We cannot wait to see the results, share them with you, and continue to improve the course. Now go get registered!

Managing Executive Functions with the Teacher Workbox Course $900

• 3 graduate credits once you complete the course and transcript

• Teacher Workbox to set up and keep

• Lifetime Access to online community

• Weekly Co Working Sessions

• 5 Day Teacher Camp (there is a replay)

• Last day to register for this specific course is 7/1/2024

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Managing Executive Functions with the Teacher Workbox (Ashland University)

• 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!

Summer is a great time to focus on you. This is the time of year I always take to reflect on me and my journey. My staff is preoccupied with all the things that come with summer so I take it as a time to sharpen skills and attend conferences. I love conferences, do you? About 7 years ago, I created one of my own conferences to offer to women. We did it live for the first five years, but with Covid and now me pursuing my PhD…it’ll be a minute until I get to offer it live again. But…

What are you uniquely created to do? 

I’m offering for you to take two days to focus on you and discover what you are uniquely created to do in this life. I know as women, possibly wives and moms, we want to find some sort of family-work balance. Make a plan and find a way to do it all! This experience is chalked full of Lisa shenanigans, lessons, and applicable advice. It is a virtual event but I will still guide you through filling out the workbook. AND this year with the add on…a TWO hour zoom call with me, Lisa, at the end of June! I can’t wait to hear all you learn and what you discover!

What is in the Embrace Experience?

• Self Guided Retreat

• Embrace Workbook

And the Add On?  

• 2 hour LIVE EXPERIENCE being hosted by Lisa on Saturday, June 29, 2024 at 10am-12pm ET (replay will be available for approximately 25 days)

• Exclusive Standalone Blush Pink Sunday Basket® – there is no other way to buy this exclusive color!

• Embrace Workbook

• Bonus video from Lisa delivered via email

• Surprise gift

Join us for the LIVE EXPERIENCE by purchasing the Embrace Experience + Add On or, if you already have the Embrace Experience, the Embrace Experience Add On Only! 

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• Embrace Experience + Add On

• Embrace Experience Add On Only

• [email protected]

• 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 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.  

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. 

• If this checklist didn’t get done, what would happen? 

• If someone else does this checklist, what would I do with all the time that would move the company forward? 

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:

• The Sunday Basket®

• Friday Workbox®

• Friday Workbox® 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!

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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:

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Organize 365® Teacher Workbox White Paper

• Managing Executive Functions with the Teacher Workbox (Ashland University)

• 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!

Ok, just one more detail we need to nail down before you start your project - identify your project space. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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:

• Lisa’s Playdough Recipe

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Paper Solution®

• The Household Operations Binder

• 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 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®. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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:

• Teacher Friday Workbox®

• Managing Executive Functions with the Teacher 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.

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