534 - How Long Do Golden Windows Last?

Organize 365 Podcast

Lisa Woodruff

Entrepreneurship, Self-improvement, Business, Education

4.5 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2023

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

There are times when getting organized is going to be easier. I call these Golden Windows.

Some Golden Windows are given to all of us - like January (new year), spring and fall. The new year is all about starting the year off with a fresh start and achieving new goals. Spring and fall are both times of the year when there are big season shifts and you get a burst of energy. The spring energy lends itself well to planning and the fall energy lends itself well to productivity.

Common Golden Windows include:

Expecting a child
Moving or selling your home
When your youngest child starts school
When your youngest child starts middle school
When your youngest child starts driving
Milestone birthdays

If you want to hear a more in depth definition of Golden Windows, listen to this podcast.

Today's episode is going to focus on a question I get a lot - how long do Golden Windows last?

This depends on the type of Golden Window you're experiencing. There are long and short Golden Windows. A long Golden Window is something you can anticipate. A short Golden Window is one where you don't realize you're in a Golden Window until you're already in it. In a short Golden Window, you don't get to plan ahead so the energy fizzles out fast.

An example of a long Golden Window could be pregnancy. You know you are going to have a baby so you have months and months to plan, re-organize, nest and prepare.
An example of a short Golden Window could be adoption. When we adopted Joey, we got a call at 5 pm and by 7 pm we had a baby!

Each Golden Window, no matter whether it is short or long, is an opportunity not to be overlooked! And while the length of time that Golden Window will be open for you depends on a lot of factors (outside of your control) there are certain things you can do to get the most out of it.

Here are my three recommendations for making the most of a Golden Window:

Anticipate
Optimize
Extend

Understanding your Golden Windows allows you to get so much more out of these amazing bursts of energy. Listen in to find out how to anticipate, optimize and extend your Golden Windows for maximum impact.

EPISODE RESOURCES:

Golden Windows Podcast
Organize 365® Home Planning Day
The Productive Home Solution®
Complete Home Organization Bundle
Embrace - Self-Guide Retreat - now available on-demand

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	This week's mailbag is from Tracy.
0:02.8	I started a makeshift Sunday basket in 2016.
0:06.6	I remember seeing people posting pictures of their baskets overflowing because they got
0:11.4	behind on the consistency.
0:13.4	It shocked me at how people who knew how beneficial this thing was could ever let it get
0:18.1	to that overwhelming point.
0:20.4	Fast forward six months, and that was me.
0:22.8	Even with months of paperwork piled in a basket, I was still more organized than I was previously
0:28.0	with paper piles everywhere.
0:30.0	I set my timer for 20 minutes and decided to start sorting.
0:33.5	The timer kept me motivated, and it only took me three 20 minutes segments to whip it back
0:38.2	into shape.
0:39.7	My mistake was not blocking off a consistent time to do the basket weekly.
0:45.3	If I didn't get to it, I would say, oh well, I'll do it next week.
0:48.9	Now I plan my week on Friday.
0:52.1	And if I know my normal Sunday basket time is going to be interrupted, I will schedule
0:56.4	in a two hour block to get it done before Sunday.
1:00.2	In most cases, it seriously takes 30 minutes or less.
1:03.8	It was the timer and consistency that motivated me to keep the streak going.
1:08.7	Now that I have that down, I have more bandwidth to get so much more completed instead of just
1:13.4	thinking about it.
1:14.6	I do it.
	...

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