May 21, 2021 • 8 mins
The answer? Organization. And it's easier than you may think. Professional organizer Lisa Woodruff, CEO and founder of Organize 365, has great tips that not only save time, they also make you more productive.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day. We just
need to look for it and share it. Here's something
(00:26):
Good for today. Everyone could use a little more time
in their day, and most of us would like to
be more productive. We've just learned about a simple way
to do both thanks to one of our favorite guests,
professional organizer and business coach, Lisa Woodruff. Lisa has a
technique that can help even the most disorganized among us
(00:47):
get it together, and when we do, we'll find we
not only have more time, but we also get more
out of that time. Lisa is the CEO and founder
of Organized three and author of the book The Paper Solution,
What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop
it from taking over your life. Here's what Lisa had
to say, Lisa, thanks so much for joining us, Thank
(01:09):
you for having me so tell us. How can staying
organized help us with time management and productivity? This is
such a great question because no one really ever asks this,
and the key that I finally realized after ten years
of running organized. Three six is that organization is where
time comes from, and productivity comes from organization. So we
(01:33):
all want to be more productive, right like, we're all
trying to be productive, but in order to be productive,
you have to get organized first. So I'm gonna lead
you through an example that everyone has experience, and I
want to really expand your mind on how productivity and
organization really do give you more time. So imagine that
you have to do your grocery shopping. And here are
(01:54):
the six different ways that you can do your grocery shopping.
The first three I know you've already done, and the
last three are going to really expand your mind for
what is possible. The first one, you're going to go
to a grocery store, you have no list, You're just
gonna go around and you're going to get We've all
done this right like, and you end up with like
things you don't need and you come home and you
didn't get eggs. The second one is shopping with a list.
(02:15):
We all know that shopping with a list is more
productive and organized, and we'll save us time. The third
iteration of this is to take that shopping list and
create it in the order that the products are in
the store, so like all the meat is together, all
the all the dairies together, all the produces together. You
can see how this is going to save you time.
Now all of you are doing this because of the pandemic,
(02:37):
but I did this before the pandemic. You can onways
shop online and just pick up your order. Like this
is gonna totally save you a ton of time. Well,
here the last two that are going to really increase
your productivity. What if you set up a recurring order
and had it shipped or delivered to your house. That's
gonna save you even more time. And the last one
is what if you had an assistant empty and prepare
your food for you at home so it was just
(02:58):
in your refrigerator ready to go. Each iteration from one
to the next involved planning time and creating a repeatable system.
Planning time yields exponential future time. I know you've said
before that it's not something we're born with. So are
you saying that anyone can become an organized person? And
if so, how do we do that? Absolutely, just as
(03:20):
the example above, I'm sure you mentally thought about how
you could move from your current grocery system to the
next one in my list. And at first you may
have said I don't have time to, I can't afford to,
I don't know that far in advance, and often we
stopped there. Our brain does not want to learn a
new way to do something. It wants us to keep
(03:40):
doing our established habits to save us time. And our
brain is wrong. It can learn new habits, but it
needs to understand how these will work before we can
habitualize them. So let me show you. Let's get right
to the last two steps in my grocery list to
have a recurring ordership or delivered your house and have
an assistant empty and prepare your food. Now, instead of
(04:01):
thinking why this will not work, I want you to
say to yourself, yes, but if it did, I don't
know what to order on a recurring basis. Yes, but
if I did, I would order these drinks we have
all the time, these snacks we have all the time,
and these breakfast foods. It's okay not to do this
for all of your grocery order. It could just be
a percentage of your grocery order. We don't have to
(04:24):
have things to be perfect in order to create new systems.
Another thing you might have said to yourself is I
don't have the money for someone to prep and put
my food away. Yes, but if I did, my week
would go so much more smoothly. So to step into
that one, it is what if I prepped and prepared
my own food? Like you step into the person that's
(04:44):
going to do it first, and then once you see
how this works for you, could you have a family
member do it? Could you have a babysitter do it?
It doesn't have to be a high end assistant that
is doing this for you. But how do you process through,
habitualize something and then delegate it to someone else so
it gets done on autopilot after you start this process.
It's all about being open to the possibility and taking
(05:07):
the next iterative step forward to make a five percent improvement.
And for those who tend to be disorganized, what are
some simple things you can do to focus on improving
your organization and time management skills? Think about why you
do the disorganized act and think through some solutions. So
(05:27):
here's a really simple one, like why do you drop
your towel on the floor or why do your kids
drop their towel? On the floor. Why are they doing that?
Are you too tired? Is there not a hook for
your towel? Is the hook not in a convenient location?
And then can you do it anyway? How do you
feel when you're the person who hangs up your towel?
Like you feel great? Like I'm an awesome person. And
(05:50):
it sounds so crazy, but you know, you know that
when you take care of things that need to be done,
you do feel like I'm prioritizing my future for today.
So step one is the mindset of moving from a
reactive person someone who just goes through life, to a
proactive person and then adding one pro task per week.
(06:12):
Pros no that they have skin in the game and
can impact the outcome of their game. And you two
can be in the driver's seat and I'd love to
encourage you. And finally, if you could pick the single
most important organizing tip I can save us time every day?
What would it be. It's back to when you were
a kid and you had to plan things out the
night before, like put yourself in your fourth grade brain
(06:35):
the night before school. You would pick out what you
were going to wear the next day, what you were
gonna eat for breakfast and lunch, you would plan, you know,
whatever homework or assignments needed to be done. Just because
we're adults doesn't mean we shouldn't do those good habits
we had as kids. So start with what will you
wear tomorrow? What will you have for breakfast in lunch?
And what are the one or two things that must
get done before the end of the day. Thinking about
(06:57):
those things the night before, we'll make the next day
more smooth. Smoothly and slowly, you will grow your skills
over time. How great to know that any of us
can become more organized. And when we are organized, we're
more productive and that buys us more time. So here's
something good for today. Getting organized is all about changing
(07:18):
your mindset, says Lisa. Our brains don't like change, but
we can shift our perspective from this won't work too
If it did work, here's what I do, and that's
the way to create new, helpful habits. Two key tools
to help you get organized is first, ask yourself where
are you wasting your time? And second, creative repeatable system
(07:38):
that allows you to stop doing that. For example, can
we organize our grocery shopping list better? Can we get
all of our groceries delivered every week so that we
never have to go to the store. Finally, Lisa's single
most important organizing tip is to resume the habits we
learned as children. Plan out your day the night before.
You know what you're gonna wear, where you're gonna eat,
(08:00):
and one or two of the most important things you
have to get done that day, and you'll find that
everything goes more smoothly from there. Thank you for listening,
and please share Today's Something Good with others in your life.
(08:22):
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Here's Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:46):
from my heart Radio, check out the i Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to this episode of Here's Something Good, a production
of the Seneca Women Podcast Network and I Heart Radio.
Each day we aspire to bring you the good news,
the silver lining, the glass half full, because there is
good happening in the world everywhere, every day. We just
need to look for it and share it. Here's something
(00:26):
Good for today. Everyone could use a little more time
in their day, and most of us would like to
be more productive. We've just learned about a simple way
to do both thanks to one of our favorite guests,
professional organizer and business coach, Lisa Woodruff. Lisa has a
technique that can help even the most disorganized among us
(00:47):
get it together, and when we do, we'll find we
not only have more time, but we also get more
out of that time. Lisa is the CEO and founder
of Organized three and author of the book The Paper Solution,
What to Shred, What to Save, and How to Stop
it from taking over your life. Here's what Lisa had
to say, Lisa, thanks so much for joining us, Thank
(01:09):
you for having me so tell us. How can staying
organized help us with time management and productivity? This is
such a great question because no one really ever asks this,
and the key that I finally realized after ten years
of running organized. Three six is that organization is where
time comes from, and productivity comes from organization. So we
(01:33):
all want to be more productive, right like, we're all
trying to be productive, but in order to be productive,
you have to get organized first. So I'm gonna lead
you through an example that everyone has experience, and I
want to really expand your mind on how productivity and
organization really do give you more time. So imagine that
you have to do your grocery shopping. And here are
(01:54):
the six different ways that you can do your grocery shopping.
The first three I know you've already done, and the
last three are going to really expand your mind for
what is possible. The first one, you're going to go
to a grocery store, you have no list, You're just
gonna go around and you're going to get We've all
done this right like, and you end up with like
things you don't need and you come home and you
didn't get eggs. The second one is shopping with a list.
(02:15):
We all know that shopping with a list is more
productive and organized, and we'll save us time. The third
iteration of this is to take that shopping list and
create it in the order that the products are in
the store, so like all the meat is together, all
the all the dairies together, all the produces together. You
can see how this is going to save you time.
Now all of you are doing this because of the pandemic,
(02:37):
but I did this before the pandemic. You can onways
shop online and just pick up your order. Like this
is gonna totally save you a ton of time. Well,
here the last two that are going to really increase
your productivity. What if you set up a recurring order
and had it shipped or delivered to your house. That's
gonna save you even more time. And the last one
is what if you had an assistant empty and prepare
your food for you at home so it was just
(02:58):
in your refrigerator ready to go. Each iteration from one
to the next involved planning time and creating a repeatable system.
Planning time yields exponential future time. I know you've said
before that it's not something we're born with. So are
you saying that anyone can become an organized person? And
if so, how do we do that? Absolutely, just as
(03:20):
the example above, I'm sure you mentally thought about how
you could move from your current grocery system to the
next one in my list. And at first you may
have said I don't have time to, I can't afford to,
I don't know that far in advance, and often we
stopped there. Our brain does not want to learn a
new way to do something. It wants us to keep
(03:40):
doing our established habits to save us time. And our
brain is wrong. It can learn new habits, but it
needs to understand how these will work before we can
habitualize them. So let me show you. Let's get right
to the last two steps in my grocery list to
have a recurring ordership or delivered your house and have
an assistant empty and prepare your food. Now, instead of
(04:01):
thinking why this will not work, I want you to
say to yourself, yes, but if it did, I don't
know what to order on a recurring basis. Yes, but
if I did, I would order these drinks we have
all the time, these snacks we have all the time,
and these breakfast foods. It's okay not to do this
for all of your grocery order. It could just be
a percentage of your grocery order. We don't have to
(04:24):
have things to be perfect in order to create new systems.
Another thing you might have said to yourself is I
don't have the money for someone to prep and put
my food away. Yes, but if I did, my week
would go so much more smoothly. So to step into
that one, it is what if I prepped and prepared
my own food? Like you step into the person that's
(04:44):
going to do it first, and then once you see
how this works for you, could you have a family
member do it? Could you have a babysitter do it?
It doesn't have to be a high end assistant that
is doing this for you. But how do you process through,
habitualize something and then delegate it to someone else so
it gets done on autopilot after you start this process.
It's all about being open to the possibility and taking
(05:07):
the next iterative step forward to make a five percent improvement.
And for those who tend to be disorganized, what are
some simple things you can do to focus on improving
your organization and time management skills? Think about why you
do the disorganized act and think through some solutions. So
(05:27):
here's a really simple one, like why do you drop
your towel on the floor or why do your kids
drop their towel? On the floor. Why are they doing that?
Are you too tired? Is there not a hook for
your towel? Is the hook not in a convenient location?
And then can you do it anyway? How do you
feel when you're the person who hangs up your towel?
Like you feel great? Like I'm an awesome person. And
(05:50):
it sounds so crazy, but you know, you know that
when you take care of things that need to be done,
you do feel like I'm prioritizing my future for today.
So step one is the mindset of moving from a
reactive person someone who just goes through life, to a
proactive person and then adding one pro task per week.
(06:12):
Pros no that they have skin in the game and
can impact the outcome of their game. And you two
can be in the driver's seat and I'd love to
encourage you. And finally, if you could pick the single
most important organizing tip I can save us time every day?
What would it be. It's back to when you were
a kid and you had to plan things out the
night before, like put yourself in your fourth grade brain
(06:35):
the night before school. You would pick out what you
were going to wear the next day, what you were
gonna eat for breakfast and lunch, you would plan, you know,
whatever homework or assignments needed to be done. Just because
we're adults doesn't mean we shouldn't do those good habits
we had as kids. So start with what will you
wear tomorrow? What will you have for breakfast in lunch?
And what are the one or two things that must
get done before the end of the day. Thinking about
(06:57):
those things the night before, we'll make the next day
more smooth. Smoothly and slowly, you will grow your skills
over time. How great to know that any of us
can become more organized. And when we are organized, we're
more productive and that buys us more time. So here's
something good for today. Getting organized is all about changing
(07:18):
your mindset, says Lisa. Our brains don't like change, but
we can shift our perspective from this won't work too
If it did work, here's what I do, and that's
the way to create new, helpful habits. Two key tools
to help you get organized is first, ask yourself where
are you wasting your time? And second, creative repeatable system
(07:38):
that allows you to stop doing that. For example, can
we organize our grocery shopping list better? Can we get
all of our groceries delivered every week so that we
never have to go to the store. Finally, Lisa's single
most important organizing tip is to resume the habits we
learned as children. Plan out your day the night before.
You know what you're gonna wear, where you're gonna eat,
(08:00):
and one or two of the most important things you
have to get done that day, and you'll find that
everything goes more smoothly from there. Thank you for listening,
and please share Today's Something Good with others in your life.
(08:22):
This is Kim Azzarelli, co author of Fast Forward and
co founder of Seneca Women. To learn more about Seneca Women,
go to Seneca Women dot com or download the Seneca
Women app free in the app store. Here's Something Good
is a production of the Seneca Women podcast network and
I Heart Radio Have a Great Day. For more podcasts
(08:46):
from my heart Radio, check out the i Heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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