173. Get Organized YOUR Way

Transcript:

  Welcome to the Connected For Real podcast. I’m Rebbetzin Bat-Chen Grossman, a marriage coach for women in business. And my mission is to bring God’s presence into your life, into your marriage and into your business. Let’s get started.

 And we are live, welcome everyone to the connected for real podcast. I’m Robertson, and today with me is Gail, and she’s going to introduce herself. Sure thing. Hello everybody. My name is Gayle Gruenberg. I’m the owner of Let’s Get Organized.

I’m a certified professional organizer in chronic disorganization and I’m based in Fairlawn, New Jersey. Wow. Okay. Chronic disorganization. What does that mean? That means that someone may have a brain based challenge that affects their ability to organize. It affects executive function of which organizing is one.

And there is a definition for chronic disorganization, which essentially means someone is negatively impacted on a daily basis by being disorganized. They have a history of being disorganized. They expect to be disorganized without an external intervention. And they’ve tried every self help technique out there with very little success.

So, it’s something that they’ve lived with for a very long time. Yeah, and then it makes you feel like you’re broken, and it makes you feel like there’s something wrong with you, and it makes you feel like there’s just nothing that’s out there that’s going to help you. How do you help people who are in that situation?

I know a lot of them. Well one of the things I like to do best is to listen. So what I do is I, I take the perspective of I’m talking to a person and that person has strengths and talents and, and abilities and emotions and thoughts and amazing things about them. So I try and learn what that is. I’ve experienced clients who have very low self esteem and self respect due to their being disorganized.

They think that, like you said, there’s something wrong with them, but they are perfectly naturally creative, resourceful, and whole. So I want to find out what they’re all about. And then we can create organizing systems that play to their strengths and their natural abilities so that they have a chance of succeeding.

Yes, yes, I think that one of my biggest breakthroughs was when I stopped trying to do things that work for other people. You know, because this is one of the biggest things is like you think there’s something wrong with you. You’re not organized. You’re naturally creative. You go with the flow. You’re spontaneous.

You think this is the only way to see life. And so systems and routines and usually people who are very, very into systems and routines and organization, they make you feel bad about how you’re not doing it right. So it adds to the fire, you know, and it makes you feel even worse about yourself.

So you try to do the things that work for them and it doesn’t work for you. And they say, all you have to do is just. Do it, you know, all you have to do is just do this, you know it just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. And then I, I know the feeling, it feels really, really awful. And to add, all of the pain to the injury.

You also then become a mother and you feel out of control because you’re like, I’m supposed to be able to do this and I have no idea how. Yes. And you’re absolutely right. You know, even people who don’t necessarily have a brain based challenge may never have been taught how to organize. You know, there is a way of thinking and some people are born with linear brains and some people are not.

So if they’ve never been exposed to. The skills, then, you know, how do you expect someone to do something they’ve never learned how to do? Right, exactly. And I think it adds. You know, I love adding and adding because this is my life. Being a perfectionist makes it so much harder because you want to be perfect.

So, it’s not enough that you just try, and it’s not enough that you give yourself these little challenges. But you’re also expecting yourself to be perfect at it. And then when you fail, surprise, surprise, we happen to not be perfect. Then, you know, it feels even worse. It does. And perfectionism, I believe it’s the quote, perfectionism is the enemy of good enough.

And I definitely feel, you know, you can be organized enough if a system is working for you. Excellent. Use it. Don’t change it. You know, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. And it just has to work for your life, your brain, your family, you know, your style. There is no one size fits all. everything is going to look absolutely, you know, gorgeous if that’s not the way you need to live.

Right. So how do you suggest people who think differently or are just, you know, their brain is just styled differently? Get organized in a way that works. Well, there’s a lot of evaluating that needs to happen. Like, okay. So in my book, I go through seven steps, right? And the first is consult.

So let’s find out like, okay, what are your goals? What do you want to have happen? What’s your big why? And what are your core values? So let’s think about that. And then we consider, so what are the challenges you’re facing and what are your strengths and your talents? And then We would figure out all right, say you have a processing modality, so to speak, like you learn visually, you need to see things.

So we would come up with systems that rather than putting things in a drawer, for instance, you might put them on a shelf. Or and rather than an opaque cabinet, you might have something with glass. You know, like what feeds the way you take in information. What makes it easy for you to grab and go, so to speak?

And everyone’s solution and mix of solutions is going to be very unique based on Their lifestyle requirements and the way they live in the world. And you had said you know, the, the just do it philosophy. There’s like a concept or a technique that we use. It’s called body doubling, which is I, it’s one of my favorites.

Sometimes just being there with someone and holding the space and being like a. Sounding board, a reflector, an anchor, a mirror is all that somebody needs to take the final follow through step that they might have been challenged by. So tell me more about this body doubling, because that sounds really cool.

Basically, what you’re saying is having a second person. Hold your hand and help you follow through. We call this accountability. I think Absolutely, I’m thinking of like, you know, my husband said to me one day when are you gonna stop paying coaches to coach you through your business and I was like never never I’m never gonna stop right like this is an expense that has to be built into my business because I need To have somebody who’s holding my hand and telling me what to do next.

And yes, I have grown my business you know, like mind blowingly. amazingly, I’m so grateful. And most of it I did myself, but I always have somebody, not always, but I try not to go too long without one where I have where to turn to, I have who to ask. And I think that’s what you’re talking about.

And now I get why I say never. I think it’s just the way that I work best. Many, many people do like I hear all the time. I know what I have to do. I just don’t have the time to do it. And it’s lonely and it’s boring and it’s mundane. And there are so many other things I need to do. And there are so many pulls on my time.

Whereas with a body double, you’re making a commitment or with a coach, you’re making a commitment. You’re setting aside the time, you’re setting aside the focus. You’ve got somebody there, you can bounce ideas off. You can, you know, a different way of looking at things or different ideas or different experiences.

So when the two of you come together, it’s like the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Right. Oh, I love it. That’s also why I like being part of a group and not just one on one. Sometimes the group is greater than just being you and the coach alone. So I learned that and I was like, yep, this is what I need.

So what else can people do to really lean into their own superpowers without having to feel broken? I definitely like you say, lean in, I want to lean heavily on the whole core values idea because if we identify what’s most important to us, who’s most important to us, what kind of a person do we want to be, then making decisions through life, whatever decisions are required.

I think they become easier. So to turn it to organizing, and if you’d like, we can talk about clothing, say you’re out there and you’re shopping and, and I’ll be honest. I went shopping for a new handbag yesterday and it was, it was a nightmare. And it was like, okay, so how do you evaluate what is important to you?

Like what, what do I need my handbag to do for me? Does it need to be beautiful? Does it need to be functional? Does it need to be light? Does it have a shoulder strap? Does it have to have two handles? And I did purchase one, but to be honest. I’m going to take it back because it’s not what I really want.

But tapping into the core values of, do I want to spend more time with my family? Do I need to save money for XYZ excursion or whatever it is. Like, setting those criteria makes it easier to adapt, deciding what you bring into your life, what you let go of in your life, how you structure your, your physical organizing systems, your time management, your finances.

It just gives you like guidelines and bumpers, like, like being Jewish, you know, we live according to Torah values. The decisions are made. I love how you saw it that way. Some people see it a little bit restricting, but you’re saying, no, use those restrictions as boundaries to help you know what’s the rules in your life.

I, a long time ago was working with an organizer. I made a rule for myself that I no longer wear shirts and skirts, just dresses. And it was such. A life changer. I cannot explain to you. I cannot explain to you. It changed my life. I used to feel really tight and uncomfortable. And I just would wait to end the day.

And now there’s nothing around my belly. There’s just a dress and it just sits there and I’m just so comfortable. I, why did I do this to myself? You know, nothing around my waist is just such a freedom to me. And I never realized that was bothering me so much. It’s a toleration. There are so many tolerations in our lives, things that we just put up with that we don’t even realize and they, they just, put us in bad moods.

And that translates to other parts of our lives. But I love how you said that you made a decision. Right. And you know, it’s crazy. I used to have stomach aches and I, you know, all of everything, it just completely turned it all around. And I’m shocked at how one little thing can have such an impact.

But first of all, I got rid of most of my shirts and skirts. Like I only kept some for, you know, specific purposes. A lot of bags of clothing left my house that day. It was such a fun experience, but also when I go shopping, when I’m looking for what I want, which by the way, I hate shopping, hate, I do not know how to shop, I do not understand what we’re doing these days, like everything is not made well, and everything looks the same, and ah!

Just have such a hard time with this. Anyway, I love shopping in secondhand stores because the style is still good, right? 100 percent sign me up vintage and consignment. I don’t know how to shop these days. I tell my kids, okay, whatever it costs. Let’s just go. And we go all day long from store to store, finding nothing and feeling really frustrated.

So if you guys know anybody who’s like a personal shopper, send them my way. I do not like shopping. I do not like the whole experience. And now like, you know, with all these kids around and they all need things like, I don’t know, just ask your dad or, you know, go with your friends, buy what you want.

Leave me out of it. Which is really difficult because then you also want to have some input and what they’re buying. So it’s like Are you here? Are you not? Are you are you’re fully in? Are you you know? So it gets complicated but when I do go shopping and when I do try to find what I need I’m always after very clear things because I know what’s practical for me.

So it changes the way that you feel overwhelmed. You don’t even go to certain areas of the store or you don’t even bother trying on things if you know that’s not what you wear anymore. You’re so right. You’ve set criteria and it makes, you know, you’ve got the boundaries to make your decision.

And in the book, I have a decision tree because. Making decisions can be very difficult. Yes. I think decisions are one of the biggest things that we have a hard time doing. And it’s mostly because you have to commit to a decision. Yes. And I agree with you 100%. If you make the decision and you trust your gut, chances are it was the right decision.

Yeah, but it’s hard to know. And you can always change your mind. There you go. You know what I found? I found that making a decision. Even if it’s the wrong one is better than not making a decision at all because not making a decision keeps you stuck and making a decision can always be pivoted. But at least you started moving forward and you took action and then you learned something perfectly said I Love it.

Okay. So let’s talk about more practical tools. What are the other steps you have you said seven? Yes. The first two are consult and consider. And then we clear. So if we’re doing a physical space, then we clear it out. And that’s something that I just, I find so fulfilling. So the other day I did a kitchen and say there was a cabinet or if you prefer, if we’re talking clothing, a closet.

I find it so cathartic to just clear out the entire space. So you’re starting with an open space. Clear. Easy. Everything is out. Then, you have to categorize, which is, it can be a challenge, because, you know, people with brain based challenges may not be able to see broad categories. There might be too many categories, too narrow, and that, that can really hamstring people.

But essentially, categorizing is putting like with like. You see how much you have, you see if it’s in good condition, like clothing, does it still fit? Does it look good on me? Is it the right color? Is it in good repair? You know, is it really super crazy out of style? Like, I don’t know, maybe, you know, some vintage is wonderful, but if it’s like, you know, bell bottoms, then it just doesn’t work for you.

Forget about that. So there are the criteria. of what to keep. How many do you need? You know, what do you need to use something for? You know, maybe you have a beautiful dress that you might wear to a wedding every now and then. So it still makes sense to keep it. And then anything that does not fit your current lifestyle.

You don’t necessarily have to hold on to, and it’s perfectly fine to give it to somebody who will be able to use it, like a gemach or, you know, someone who might be like newly coming into the community or whatever, and they’re starting completely fresh. 📍 So there’s the Torah value.

You’re being generous. You’re giving, you’re giving tzedakah. So that’s the categorize. Then you get to contain, which many people will start with this step but they think like, okay, I have this beautiful container. Now I’m going to be organized. But if it doesn’t fit your need, it’s the wrong solution.

We were saying if you need to see things, then putting something behind a drawer is not going to work or behind a door. It has to be the right shape, the size, even the, the texture. Because some people process information tactilely and if it feels good, they’re gonna use it. So it’s that philosophy then.

I love that we keep going back to what works for, you know, yourself, because this is one of the biggest things, right? We try to be like everyone else. We try to fit all these rules. You know, other people have created, but at the end of the day, you have to know yourself and know what works for you. And I love how you keep going back to that.

You know, you said colors is so helpful to know what colors I like to wear. I’m usually wearing burgundies and purples. And if I go out of that, it’s, you know, turquoise, like I really love the blues and the purples and the burgundies. And I like patterns. I like a lot of, you know, fun, fun movement. So knowing that about myself helped me get rid of a lot of clothing and a lot of headscarves too.

Like if I don’t have clothing in this color, why do I have a headscarf in this color? You know, Perfect. And what you’ve actually done is you’ve sort of increased your wardrobe because now everything matches and you can coordinate, whereas it’s not like a one off that has. You know, no business being there, right?

  Hey! Before we continue the episode, I want to ask you something. Are you ready to get answers from God directly? Feel more in love with your husband and more supported than ever? Run the business of your dreams without having to sacrifice any other part of your life? That is exactly what my one on one private coaching is for and I want to invite you, just you and me, for a free deep dive discovery call.

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Now back to the show.

 Yeah. Yeah. I love that. So, okay, good. So now we’re in contain and you’re saying don’t go backwards. Don’t be like, okay, this is the container. This is my closet. Now let’s fit it all in. Well, that’s a really good point because a closet is a finite space. So the size of the container is important. And it is a consideration, like, do you want to overstuff your space?

Or do you want to have enough so that it fits in the space that you’ve allowed? So over time and it’s easy to visualize this like a, pile of newspapers, if anyone still reads a newspaper say you have a basket and at the end of a week or whatever, if the basket is overflowing, it’s time to empty the basket.

So you’re going to limit what you keep to the size of your container. And it’s kind of a, it’s a visual to know like, Oh God, you know, things are spilling over time to pare it down again. Yeah, so and also get yourself a basket that can hold a week worth of newspapers, right? If you’re reading every single day and you want to make sure that you have them for at least a week Think about that and get the right size to begin with don’t fight.

Don’t fight reality Yeah, yeah, like you said go with your natural tendencies if you’re gonna hold them for a week you hold them for a week Yeah, and then also there is another rule that you’ve just created. I only hold them for a week. That’s true. Yeah, that’s true. That’s really helpful because then you’re like, Oh, I guess it’s done.

It’s going bye bye. You know, it allows you to let go easily because you don’t have to make an emotional decision every single time. It’s sort of like now external from you. It’s a rule. Yeah, and that’s step number six, which we call control and it’s the maintenance step. You have to keep up with your system.

You have to use it and tweak it and work it to see, okay, so I’ve put this in place. Is it working for me? Do I need to make any changes? Have my needs changed? Has my lifestyle changed? You know, you’re expecting a new child. The system is going to change to accommodate the new child. So it’s constantly ongoing.

Yes, yes, I know, I know, it’s constantly ongoing, it’s constantly changing, like you finally get used to it and then it changes, that’s my go to phrase, like, we finally got used to it, so it’s gotta change but thank God for good things. One of the quotes that I Once heard or I don’t know if it was a quote or something that I heard discussed on a podcast a long, long time ago.

And I can’t remember which podcast it was, but he was talking about making rules because once you make a rule for yourself, then you could say, Oh, I have a rule that I don’t work after 10 PM. Oh, I have a rule that I don’t take in you know, whatever. Pamphlets, you know, whatever it is in, I was at a conference and there was a woman there who was teaching how to organize your stuff.

And she said, I have a rule that I don’t take home any cards or any flyers. What I do is I take a picture of them and then I give them back. So I’m not wasting paper. I’m not wasting money. I’m not wasting anything and I don’t have to bring into my house any of the junk. And I was like. Seriously, lady, like I love this stuff.

I’m a graphic designer. I am like collecting all the things and I came home with all the garbage, you know, and I kept it for years because, hey, I got it, at a conference and, you know, I, I have to keep all these people in my life and blah, blah, blah. And then I realized, no, I think she’s right.

So the next time I went to a conference, I took pictures of everybody’s cards and then I took a selfie with them so that I remember what they look like. I remembered their contact information and it was so much better because I was able to keep in touch. I was able to send them the picture and be like, that was so fun seeing you there, whatever.

It was so awesome. And then I realized, yes, she’s right. This lady is right. Make yourself a rule. And don’t take it home. You know, the only thing I take home are the pens. Cause I love pens. So you give me pens. I will take them anytime. I think mostly because my kids steal my pens. So I’m constantly running out of pens, but yeah, I think it’s.

It’s, it’s a gift to yourself to make a rule and then it’s not difficult to stick to. You know, it’s not, you don’t have to apologize. Oh, I would love to work with you. It’s just 10 o’clock is so late and I don’t know, should I, you know, should I, should I not? It’s like, no, I have a rule that 10 o’clock is not work time anymore.

That’s it. You know, it’s rules, boundaries. Yeah. Bumpers on the bowling alley. It gives you the channel, the road, you know, that you want to go down and you know, you get into trouble when you go off the road. Right. And I think also the fact that you’re saying containers, you know, boundaries are containers.

Boundaries are really helpful to contain certain things. And when we’re talking about time and time management, boundaries are very helpful. Important and also very difficult to keep. I know a lot of people are having a hard time with managing themselves within time. People say time management. I’m like, you cannot manage time.

It is not in your control. You can manage yourself within time. Give us a little bit of of that. You know, how do we manage our time better? How do we keep those boundaries? How do we not go over time? It’s so, so, so hard. I think someone, one needs to be very disciplined. Which is difficult. It’s really hard.

And I think accountability comes into play too. And I suffer from it myself, even as an organizer. We, we’re not perfect. We are totally human. We have foibles. We screw up. Oh, don’t tell me you’re not, you’re not perfect either. No, because we’re all human. But time blocking. Tends to be very successful for people that if you set like, you know, say 7 to 9 a.

m This is my time to pray Self care, whatever it is and then from 9 to 12 is like work time or whatever and then I might actually take a lunch You know and like business development time is going to be, say, Thursday afternoon or whatever it is. I love to color code. So if it’s possible to color code that time on a calendar, teriffic.

But, you know, boundaries do sometimes need to be permeable because things do come up and there are exceptions to the rules. Right? Yeah. Yeah. I love that you’re saying this. I like time blocking too and I found that as soon as I started leaning into my Google calendar or my, you know, iCal, which is the Mac version and they do sync.

So to me, they’re the same. But my Google calendar is on my Mac in purple, right? So anytime somebody schedules a call with me, it goes automatically onto my. calendar. And I know that I have a meeting then. And one time I was, you know, speaking to God in one of my walks and I said, I don’t know what you want me to do today.

It’s so overwhelming. And I just was quiet for a minute and I heard the answer come through and it was like, just do what’s on your calendar. You know, just tackle whatever is on there because I filled it up for you. All you have to do is now just follow the things, you know, now you have a podcast, then you have a session, then you have a connect call, then you know you have break for lunch.

And I was like, Oh, okay, I can do that. You know, so there again, it’s like I had to sit down one time and create the rules about when I’m allowing people to schedule. You can’t schedule any time you can’t schedule in the middle of the night. You can’t schedule a lunchtime. You can’t schedule a supper time, right?

Whenever my kids are home, there’s very specific times I do work in very specific times I don’t. So when you go to schedule your discovery call or your session with me, you’re going to see. There are options and any of those options are fine because I opened those slots as time blocks, right, but it won’t spill over into the times that I blocked off for family or the times that I blocked off for myself.

And I love that. That’s perfect. That’s a perfect example. Yeah, yeah. And it took me a while, you guys. It took me a while. First, you have to set it up and make sure that it syncs on your phone, and on your calendar, and all the things, you know? And it’s not 📍 supposed to be that difficult, but you’ll be surprised.

Yeah. Sometimes the tech, you know, is yeah. That’s true. And you’re calling to mind, there’s a, like a rule of thumb, one minute of planning saves 10 minutes of doing. So if you can do some planning upfront, you’re going to save yourself a ton of time down the road. Yes. You know what? I don’t think that I knew that when I actually set it up, like I set it up hoping it would change the way that I do things.

And then once it was all set up, it was like, this is genius. And now years later, I’m still using my Google calendar and I can even. Just search, you know on my phone. I can search someone’s name and be like, oh, oh, yeah I have a meeting with her, you know next week. Okay, so I don’t have to worry You know a lot of times when my clients work with me they schedule For, you know, a week from now for two weeks from now, and I just want to make sure they’re on the schedule before it fills up, right?

So I can just search that quickly without having to like fumble and mumble and, you know, confirm with them or whatever. So what you’re also speaking to is the success of having systems. You’ve created a system and you’re following it and it’s working. And I’m so embarrassed because if people knew me before, they would be shocked.

You know, they’d be like, how did you do it? What did you do? How did you like magic? Right? Because I. I’m so creative and so spontaneous and so go with the flow. I was anti systems. And I think one of the biggest things was like you were saying you have to be disciplined. That is exactly what I heard my whole life.

And I have this like allergy to the word disciplined and I have an allergy to like, you know, all the words that mean. Routine and get your act together and you know, whatever it is all these things. It’s like Leave me alone. I don’t want to so I didn’t want to create systems because I wanted to be free I didn’t want anybody to tell me what to do.

I didn’t want it to come from the outside And so I was resisting creating these systems for a long long time and this business has really pushed me to the next. Phase of myself where I’ve opened up to, Hey, yeah, systems are to my advantage, and here is how, and here is why.

And like you were saying, I was living with systems my whole life. I keep kosher, right? That’s a system. Those are rules. That’s a boundary. And it doesn’t bother me. It actually makes my life really simple because I know where I’m allowed to eat, where I’m not allowed to eat, but I didn’t think about it that way.

I was still thinking, no, I’m resisting systems. And I did one coaching session with an amazing coach who said, what if systems would actually create freedom? Exactly. That’s exactly right. Yes. And you’re sitting there going, she finally made you realize that it took a whole session, with a coach to allow that in because the resistance was just so strong.

A lot of creative people feel that way. They think, Oh my gosh, you know, I’m going to get squashed because somebody is telling me you have to do this. Whereas like you’re saying, if you externalizing of systems, things you don’t necessarily have to think about, freeze up your creativity so you can go create at will.

And you know, what’s fun also, I’m totally free to go into my Google calendar or my, you know, my phone and block off time. That I don’t want people to be available. So I have these little like blocks of busy, you know, if I know, Oh, this day, I feel like taking a drive, I’m not going to be available. I block it off and then I don’t have to worry that anybody’s going to schedule that day or that anything is going to come in because I just blocked it off.

And that was my. My ability to go with the flow and be spontaneous. May I share with you an amazing book that I’m using as a Bible sort of, we’ll, we’ll paraphrase that. It’s called 10 X is easier than two X by Dan Sullivan. And Dr. Benjamin Hardy. And it’s definitely a business building book as well as a person building book, like how do you 10 X your business, but how do you 10 X your personhood as well?

And in it, they talk about different types of time. There’s the Kronos and the Kairos and. I haven’t listened to, I have an audio book, I haven’t listened to it in the last few weeks, but one is like there’s linear time and there’s hours and minutes and seconds and you’re experiencing it and it feels like there’s a finite amount.

Whereas the other is taken from the entertainment industry where there are their performance days, practice days, et cetera, et cetera, like recovery days. But from the business standpoint, they’re talking about there’s focus days, there’s like delivery day, there’s a preparation day, and then there’s a free day. So you need free time to go be creative. You know, so taking a drive is a wonderful way to do that and it’s a way to expand our experience of time because chances are when you’re driving and you’re thinking you’re being super creative, like you don’t know time is passing.

And then there are the times like when you’re working with a client and it’s like, okay, this is focus. And then there are the times when you’re doing your coaching and you’re learning how to be a better person or you’re praying or whatever. So there are different ways of working.

of thinking about time that can be really productive. Oh, I love it. I love it that they have different days for different things because then you could also batch and I have been batching. Let me tell you a secret. This is the first time that I feel so organized. Somebody today told me you have a well oiled machine and I was like, oh my gosh, just hearing somebody say that about me feels like.

Does she really know me? You know, should I tell her, should I tell her the truth? Totally. Cause you’re like, I don’t know who this is, but something’s changed. I sat down at the beginning of the year. I printed out the entire year in months. right? So 12 pages of january, february, march, april, may, june, all the months.

And I took sticky notes. This is, you know, thanks to my coach Steph Crowder. She loves planning her year on the wall. So she actually puts the months up on the wall and uses sticky notes for different things that mean different. you know, different things that she walks you through. But I decided I was not going to plan my whole year of all the different aspects of my business, just the podcast.

And I decided Monday is the day where we go drop a podcast in the podcast app. And I put a sticky note on every single Monday. And then I thought through what’s the system that’s going to keep this going and you know, the four pillars obviously because Who would I be without the four pillars?

So God marriage business you and then every month All I had to do is pick a topic. So I had money and God, money and business, money and marriage, money and you. And then the next month was food, food and God, food and business, food and marriage, food and you. And then the next month was, you know, happiness and freedom and communication and routines.

And, you know, it was just. goes on and on and on. I got to the end of the year and I was like, Oh my gosh, I came up with 12 times four. And then, you know, anytime there was five in a week, that’s when I was able to get creative and be like, Oh, look at this. This is 40 days before that I could talk about the power of 40 days.

And I stuck a sticky note there saying 40 days a solo episode, you know, and then the one right before Passover is also like, it’s empty, because there’s an extra week. It’s like, Well, isn’t this perfect timing? Passover is, you know, that first Monday. So maybe I’ll do a solo episode in preparation of Passover, whatever.

Maybe I will, maybe I won’t, but it’s all in there. And then once I came up with the system, it was so easy to fill because anybody. That I was meeting that I thought was cool that I thought was, you know, really on the level that I wanted my listeners to hear like you, for example. You know, I was like, yes, can you be on my podcast and talk about this?

And, you know, it was the coolest part is that everybody. fit perfectly into the system without having to force it, you know, it’s like, this is a, you know, a nutritionist. Oh, she’s obviously going to talk about food. And this one is a, you know, money coach. Well, guess what? She’s in the money category. And so the categories and the people and the specialties that they had just fit right in and it started to fill itself up.

And then. I said, okay, so let’s just record it as soon as possible because I want to have as much of it as possible done before I have the baby. I, Batran Grossman, was able to get an entire year’s worth of podcasts recorded and planned before it was even two and a half months. into the year. That’s phenomenal. My brain is just blown. And it’s me allowing myself to lean into a system. It’s me allowing myself to brainstorm the system, definitely getting the external help, right?

I went to my coaches and I was like, help me figure out the system. Does this make sense to you? I like that mirroring back and forth. I like the bouncing off ideas, right? So, I’m leaning into all the things that work for me, and I have an assistant, which is another thing that I highly recommend for all you people who don’t like doing certain things.

Get someone who does love to do it. You know, I don’t like reading long emails, so I just forward it to her. I’m like, I don’t know. The podcast says there’s some issue here. You deal with it. And she reads the entire email and tells me in two words, what it says, like, here’s what you need to do. Boom. Thank you.

Thank you. How many years would I just have to like, sit there and stare and feel like what do they want from me? So many words are just staring at me. Also, I’m doing a challenge. You know, by the time you guys hear this, the challenge is probably over. But hey, who knows, maybe it will come again, overwhelmed to overjoyed.

And I like Yes. Yes. It’s a five day challenge, completely free. And it’s super awesome because it’s designed for lazy people. I was thinking I would never show up to anything that required an hour a day at this point in my life, but 10 minutes a day I can do. So I made the emails short and sweet and to the point, super simple.

And I also recorded. Myself reading the email and walking you through so that you don’t actually have to read the email if you don’t want to, because I know myself, I would much rather listen or watch someone tell me what the email said. Right. So I did that. I did that for them. And I thought, isn’t that amazing when you can lean into what works for you, then you can give that to other people as well.

I love that. Oh, that’s so inspiring. My wheels are spinning going, Ooh, how can I implement that? Yes, go for it. Implement it. Steal my stuff. I, this is what I love to do is I love to help women who are working hard. Just work smart. You know, that’s one of the things that once I figured it out for myself and I started to lean into it and I am the last person in the planet to be talking about systems and automations and delegation and all this stuff.

I was like the worst at all of it. And now I’m the queen. You are. Well, you have a whole team that you’re managing. Well, yes, yeah, the children are definitely a team to manage, but I also have a husband and God who happens to also be a partner in this. So definitely lean into the support that you do have.

You know, especially like, you know, we were talking about the four pillars. God is at the core of everything you do. He is a partner in your marriage. He is a partner in your parenting. He’s a partner in your business and he doesn’t want you to work hard. He wants you to work smart. So you have to be very attentive and really lean into the intuition and learn to listen so that you don’t have to go the long way.

Perfect. Actually, it’s and that actually we can call that the seventh step, which is coach, you know, in my, my seven steps coach, you’ve been saying all along how important it is to have a coach and somebody to to bounce these ideas off and getting help from someone is not a weakness. It’s a total strength.

So yeah, it’s like a shortcut. You know, why would you figure it all out yourself if you have ways? Yeah. Yeah, taking you step by step, telling you what the roadmap is, figuring out for you, and then helping you redirect when you’re lost. Perfect. And, and, you know, what, what better coach do we have than God?

Exactly. And, you know, anytime I have to find a coach, anytime I’m like at that, you know, fork in the road where I’m like, Oh, I feel like I’m ready for a new coach. I’m feeling, you know, I’m, I’m at the next level. I, I, I asked God to guide me. Totally, you know, guide me to the right person, guide me to somebody who’s going to have, you know, similar values, who’s going to help me work smart and not push me to do things that aren’t working for me.

Right. And so I feel like along the whole journey, I’ve been guided to the right people. And I’ve been also guided to how to pay for it. You know, like you think, Oh, my gosh, like, it’s so expensive. Like, no, but when it’s aligned, then God shows you how Yes, totally. There is always a solution. Okay. And my part of my morning routine is literally asking God, okay, guide my footsteps.

What have you got for me today? Just show me the right way. Yes. There’s always an answer. There is always an answer. There’s always an answer. And You know, I think a lot of us have been taught how to ask, but we’ve never been taught how to listen. And that’s a skill that I teach in my programs because it’s so needed.

You know, God didn’t put you here to send you directions and just throw things at you. He put you here for a relationship and it goes both ways. You have to be able to speak and to ask and to request and to be willing to want. And then you have to be willing to listen and find the answers and follow those guidance.

You know, follow the, the guidance. The, the crumbs to find what God really wants and how you can work together and, you know, be of service. So this has been such a fun conversation talking about time management. We’re right on time to love it. I’m so proud of us. We’re doing so well. Okay, Gail, tell everybody how they can find you because you’re just so awesome.

All right, back at you, Bethan. The best way to find me is on the website, which is www. lgorganized. com. I love it. What’s LG stand for? Let’s Get. Ah! LG Organized. There you go. I love it. I love it. And you have a book too. I do. It’s called Get the Big O! Organized! Seven Steps to Achieving Calm, Clarity, and Control in Your Space, Mind, and Life.

Wow. I love it. Thank you. This was so awesome. Well, listeners, make sure you take action, any action from today and tell us about it because that would be really fun. If you want to even, you know, take a picture of yourself or of something that you’ve done because of this podcast, that would be super awesome.

And tag us. I am at connected for real on Instagram. What are you on Instagram? At let’s get organized LLC. There you go. So let us know that you heard it and that you are taking action and don’t forget to come back next week for another amazing episode and don’t forget to be connected for real. Thanks so much, Gail.

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Can you share it with them? I am Robinson Bat chen Grossman from connectedforreal. com. Thank you so much for listening and don’t forget you can be connected for real.