Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to try creating what my friend Lisa
Speaker 1: Woodruffe calls a Sunday basket. We all want to get
Speaker 1: control of our paper and other things that come into
Speaker 1: our lives. The best way to stop dropping balls is
Speaker 1: to set a designated time when you go through everything.
Speaker 1: When you learn to trust that you absolutely will get
Speaker 1: through everything, you can free up a lot of mental energy.
Speaker 1: Lisa Woodruffe, owner of the Organized Three Company an author
Speaker 1: of the new book The Paper Solution, suggests what she
Speaker 1: calls the Sunday basket technique. You collect everything you need
Speaker 1: to deal with during the week in a basket or
Speaker 1: at least some other container, and you set some time
Speaker 1: on Sunday to deal with it. This is a wonderfully
Speaker 1: simple idea. Do you remember at some point during the
Speaker 1: week that you need to schedule a dentist appointment for
Speaker 1: yourself for someone else. Write that on a slip of
Speaker 1: paper and stick it in the Sunday basket. Find a
Speaker 1: library book that needs to get returned, stick it in
Speaker 1: the Sunday basket, where you will see it when you
Speaker 1: have your schedule and can find a time to return it.
Speaker 1: Specific bills that aren't on autopilot can go in the
Speaker 1: Sunday basket, as can invitations that need to be responded
Speaker 1: to or school forms that need to be filled out. Basically,
Speaker 1: anything that requires your attention goes in one spot. You
Speaker 1: don't have to think about it until the designated time. Now,
Speaker 1: for this to work, you have to trust that you
Speaker 1: will deal with the Sunday basket. No tossing stuff in
Speaker 1: there and then deciding that maybe not this Sunday. Avoiding
Speaker 1: the basket might feel like you are catching a break,
Speaker 1: but handled well, a Sunday basket actually reduces mental load.
Speaker 1: You don't have to constantly think, Hey, did I respond
Speaker 1: to that invitation? Or did I pay that bill? Or
Speaker 1: am I supposed to make a dentist appointment. Lisa promises
Speaker 1: that once you get the system going, you'll be able
Speaker 1: to get through the Sunday basket relatively quickly. It might
Speaker 1: take a few hours the first time as you catch
Speaker 1: up on everything in your life that you've been dropping,
Speaker 1: but ideally it will be much much shorter in the
Speaker 1: future as you stay current and you'll no longer miss
Speaker 1: bills and deadlines and such. I love this idea. I
Speaker 1: don't personally do a Sunday basket, but I do plan
Speaker 1: my weeks on Fridays, and I require myself to deal
Speaker 1: with all such papers. Then any day really can work, Sunday, Friday, whatever.
Speaker 1: But it has to be a day that you stick
Speaker 1: with regularly, and for most people, Sunday turns to be
Speaker 1: a pretty good one. If you try a Sunday basket,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear how it goes. You can reach
Speaker 1: me at Before Breakfast pod cast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
Speaker 1: and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
Speaker 1: me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod
Speaker 1: that's b the number four, then Breakfast p o D.
Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,
Speaker 1: I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is
Speaker 1: a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts, from
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