In this episode, I introduce you to Betsy B. who lives in Portland, OR with her husband, daughter, 2 dogs, and one snake. Betsy has listened to the podcast for 10 years. She was inspired over the years as I grew Organize 365® that she too could start a business. Betsy is a deep thinker and loved the long episodes that lasted as long as her housework. And she loved that they were chock-full of insights. Betsy is an interior designer so she really took to a recent episode (#601) about how homes used to be constructed and how they supported the style of life then. Betsy gets paid to repurpose those designs to support phases of life her clients are experiencing.

The homes in Betsy’s area usually do not have access to the backyard because people used to hang their laundry in their backyards. But now, we like to have get togethers in our backyards. Betsy joked about how the things she’s learned are “baked into Betsy” and her saying to herself “that’s because of Lisa.” I’ve talked in the podcast about iterating your spaces for the phase of life you are in. Betsy iterates the structure and I help you to iterate your spaces. For example, Betsy’s cabinet in her dining room has served as a place for her china, then as a craft station for her daughter, and now it’s where Betsy likes to work and “that’s because of Lisa.” She iterated her space.

We got into a discussion about remodeling spaces versus moving. It’s a lot cheaper to remodel. Prices have gone up since the pandemic and we aren’t returning to pre-2020 pricing. And still remodeling is cheaper than moving. Make your spaces work for you. I’m putting a second chandelier over my table and I’m not worried about resale. You know why? Because we aren’t moving! We have made our house work for the phase of life we are in over the years.

And then we hit the highlight of our conversation about checklists. Betsy struggles with adrenal fatigue. She has used the Organize 365® systems to efficiently use her energy. For their groceries, she simply wrote out a list of staple items, copied it, and there’s a stack she pulls from before each trip to the grocery store and marks off the items they need. Betsy shared that she has more fun in her life now and added “obviously more time, peace, and space too.” She can take part in the fun stuff because of her checklists. She externalized the executive functions to lower her cognitive load, thus making the fun seem possible. AND due to the lists she has created as she packs, her family can now help also lighten Betsy’s cognitive load and energy required to do something like camping. The fun things don’t seem so overwhelming. She’s made it easy on herself with simple lists in page protectors and dry erase markers so they can reuse the lists.

Betsy’s advice is, “Start slow and keep it simple; just do that one thing. Go slowly if it’s overwhelming. You don’t need to make it complicated.”

EPISODE RESOURCES:

• The Sunday Basket®

• The Productive Home Solution®

• Home Planning Day

• The Paper Solution®

• Sign Up for the Organize 365® Newsletter

On the Wednesday podcast, I get to talk with members of the Organize 365\xad® 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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