Friday Workbox® Playlist Organize 365 Podcasts

Time to plan out the next quarter of your work? Learn more about the Friday Workbox® Planning Day in this orientation replay.
Watch the video version and download the syllabus here: https://organize365.com/orientation

Time to your work? Learn more about the Friday Workbox® in this orientation replay.
Watch the video version and download the syllabus here: https://organize365.com/orientation

This week, we are continuing to look at the different kinds of work. Having labels for things like types of work allows us to see things differently and sometimes leads to better communication. 
Prior to founding Organize 365, my entire life was reactive. Everyone else got to tell me what to do - the economy, my family, my stuff. I just kept reacting to what was happening in my environment. In 2011, I drew a line in the sand. Sink or swim, I am in charge of my life from here on out. I started by taking care of my home and began proactively attacking my life. Unless you actively decide to do planned work and work to create a life where the majority of your work is planned, you will remain in firefighting mode and continue to be reactive.
Until I read The Phoenix Project, I did not even have a mindset for types of work like this. I did not realize the two other kinds of work we are talking about today were a thing that existed. Last week, we explored proactive and reactive types of work. Today, we add in maintenance and change orders. 
Work: Maintenance - maintenance is the repeating tasks that result in the care and upkeep of your home and life. Many people ask Organize 365 for a cleaning checklist or a home maintenance checklist. There are tons of them on Pinterest. However, if you are using the internet for a list consider how often you need to do the tasks. Are you sure everything you are doing on your checklist needs to be done (at all) or needs to be done as often as you are doing it? 
Your standard and comfort level is unique to you. Maintain at the level at which you want to maintain your home. Make a list of the tasks you want to be done - daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly timeline. Make sure that the frequency you assign each task matches with the home you want to have. 
Work: Change Orders - anytime things change, it creates work. When a person, assignment, or locations changes, you need to think through the new situation, and you need to do the work to make the change happen. Change is part of life - try not to add a lot of drama. Pivot, adjust, and keep making progress. Often, these kinds of change orders are reactive.
Tip! With meetings, book 5-30 minutes after them for your change order work meeting. Follow up as immediately as possible - adjust the agenda (maintenance), and then get your to do items into your Sunday Basket or Friday Box, make decisions, give approvals, or adjust deadlines. At home, you may need to adjust to new dietary requirements or adjust for your energy level or adjust to someone else (sick kid, spouse stuck late at work, etc.). 
I have learned to proactively adjust my plans based on my energy levels. As I analyze my own patterns, I have learned that I need to have a certain kind of energy in order to be effective at content creation - writing books or recording podcasts. Other kinds of work I can do no matter what my energy level is at a given moment. I adjust my schedule each evening for the next day based on my energy level. 
I am giving you permission to make your own maintenance checklists and your own change orders. Just because we have work to do in our own homes, does not mean that we need to do it at a certain time or in a certain order or on a certain day. I give you permission to loosen the standards you have set for yourself that are so high. They may be robbing you of your joy. Do what is right for you. Try it without worrying. There is no failure, it is just an experiment.

I have recently been enjoying parable based books to learn new things and to gain confidence that my own analysis and plans are “right” in the world of business. Reading a fictionalized version of important information helps me to apply learning and see nuances rather than just read dry facts. Recently, I listened to The Phoenix Project by Gene Kim and learned how they describe four different kinds of work. 
In this podcast, I will introduce you to the first two kinds of work. I then also share my thinking about how these kinds of work are also present in our home and household lives. By thinking about these kinds of work, we can get better work patterns and be more effective in the work we do. 
Constraints - constraints are limits that are difficult or impossible to change - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. When we do not have enough of these things, it can be a limit on our organization and productivity, and changing our situation can require a major effort.
Bottlenecks - are problems that can be analyzed and solved - in this episode, I give examples of time, money, and space. I explain how we are not using what we have effectively. It is vital to discern whether you are facing a constraint or a bottleneck - many times there are effective changes you can make.
Work: Firefighting - reactive work that has deadlines, stress, or feels like a crisis. This work shows up unexpectedly and causes us to pivot, iterate, and adapt rapidly. In the home, the Sunday Basket® contains and then puts out fires. Firefighting is reactive by its very nature.
Work: Planned Work - Planned work is proactive. When you plan your work, you use your time, money, and space more effectively. Organize 365 members accomplish large goals without stress, overwork, or being hurried. The 100 Day Home Organization Program focuses on planned work. Each day is planned out for you and you make progress in 15 minute chunks.
Try it! For the next 10 days, every evening I want you to write out your plan for the next day in the order you will accomplish your tasks on a notecard. Write down your appointments, any household tasks you need to accomplish (pick up a prescription or clean the oven or do laundry). When you write out a plan for your day in order, you can see if you days are smoother. Bonus: the evening before, also add to the index card what clothing you will wear and write down what you will eat. Spoiler alert - there are no perfect days and no perfect plans! The goal is to move from reactive to proactive. You can learn more about using notecards in Episode 310: Ditch Your To Do List with Notecards.
Listen in next week for the other two kinds of work!
 
Books mentioned in this episode (affiliate links):
Traction - Gino Wickman  Lisa’s YouTube Review
Get a Grip - Gino Wickman and Mike Paton 
The Phoenix Project - Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, and George Spafford
The Goal - Eliyahu Goldratt

In this podcast series, I will be diving into organizing the business of work. I will be taking you along with me for a workweek that I recorded in November 2021.
At Organize 365®, we divide our work into four categories. As a shortcut, we use the Friday Workbox® colors to categorize the different kinds of work. These colors are pink, purple, blue, and green. 
Creating a shared vocabulary and defining different kinds of work gets all of our team on the same page. Together, we move faster in the same direction and have fewer episodes of miscommunication. 
Today is Friday - It is a hodgepodge day for me with a little green, a little blue, and a little purple work, but little to no pink work.
On this Friday, I start my day with purple by talking to YOU live online about this week’s podcast episode topic. Because I record my podcasts so far in advance, by the time an episode airs, I usually have a little more to share with you. Another purple activity for today is a masterclass I’m teaching called “Your Most Productive Year Ever.”
I’m spending some extra time with the team today by having Thanksgiving lunch together. Many people on the team will be taking extra time off for the holiday next week.
Most of you probably do your Friday Workbox on Friday afternoons, as I counsel you to do. While I will do a deep dive into my email, I will wait until over the weekend to do my Friday Workbox. It sounds blasphemous, but I purposely do this so I don’t overwhelm my team with new ideas going into the weekend. I just tie up the loose ends from my email, handle anything left on my desk, and prepare for the very beginning of the week. 
Then, I will spend 4-5 hours working over the weekend and during that time, I will go through my Friday Workbox®. I don’t talk much on the podcast about working over the weekend. I know many of you don’t want to work over the weekend, but this is what works for me in this season. This also gives me the margin to spend more of my Friday on social connections with my team.
I love the life I’ve created for myself, but by the end of the day on Friday, I’m ready to go home to spend time with Greg and snuggle Grayson.
In this podcast, I will take you along and talk to you at different times during my workday. Listen in to hear more about how I spend Fridays with my team, why we don’t do Black Friday sales, and how I use Google docs over email when possible.
How do you spend your Fridays? Do you do your Friday Workbox® on Fridays?
Learn more about the Friday Workbox® here.

In this podcast series, I will be diving into organizing the business of work. I will be taking you along with me for a workweek that I recorded in November 2021.
At Organize 365®, we divide our work into four categories. As a shortcut, we use the Friday Workbox® colors to categorize the different kinds of work. These colors are pink, purple, blue, and green. 
Creating a shared vocabulary and defining different kinds of work gets all of our team on the same page. Together, we move faster in the same direction and have fewer episodes of miscommunication. 
Today is Thursday - It is an all pink day for me.
It is important to both work in and on your business. Working on your business means taking time for your personal development, your growth, your mindset, your skillset, and thinking about where you’re headed in the future.
You need days like this when you can step back to work on yourself and dream for your business. 
On Thursdays, I usually focus on myself. I spend time raising my lid so I can lead Organize 365® and the dream team to the next level. I use these days for coaching programs, conferences, webinars, podcasts, and books. Instead of joining a coaching program right now, I’ve instead joined a couple of round tables for C-level executives and for business owners in the Cincinnati area. 
I have been spending my Thursday mornings meeting with other members of these round tables. On Thursday afternoons, I’ll often do things that I personally need to do like doctor’s appointments or clothes shopping. No one expects me in the office on Thursdays and I can do whatever I want!
In this podcast, I will take you along and talk to you at different times during my workday. I’ll share with you who I’m meeting with today, how I got a rare lunch with my husband, and how I handled some unexpected changes to my schedule.
What activities and resources are you using for your pink days to work on yourself and on your business?