Best Results Organizing

Recently, I caught up with a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. We chatted about what I’d been doing (working with clients, visiting Paper Mommy, and not blogging) and what he’d been doing (work, complaining about work, and doomscrolling). I mentioned that when the world gets too much for me, that’s my cue to clean out my junk drawer (as in Is Your Junk Drawer a Drunk Drawer? 3 Steps to An Organized Junk Drawer) or otherwise dig into some project that will absorb me, physically and mentally.

He was dubious. (I understand. Not even organizers want to organize all the time.) Then I shared the New York Times‘ Wirecutter column, 118 Things to Do Instead of Doomscrolling.

As an alternative to reading about war, crime, politics, and the whole general <waves arms around in dismay> everything, the piece promotes varioius typical and offbeat tasks. There’s advice to read and write, cook and make art, play games, train pets, learn origami, write a thank you note, and tend to houseplants. The piece also suggests learning to make latte art, chatting with a farmer about their favorite produce, and rewriting the end to your favorite book/play/movie/TV show.

I wasn’t exactly shocked that amid the more entertaining and physically active pursuits, the only organizing tasks that made it onto the list were at #39 (organizing the medicine cabinet) and #43 (do some “soft decluttering”). However, I was surprised to find that podcasts weren’t listed among these uplifting methods of distraction.

Podcasts abound, and it seems as though almost everyone has one! (Paper Doll does not. I like being a guest on podcasts, which is much like playing with someone else’s baby — all fun and very little ongoing responsibility.) I realized that it’s been four years since I posted Paper Doll Picks: Organizing and Productivity Podcasts and Paper Doll on the NAPO Stand Out Podcast: Why Paper Still Matters, so it’s definitely time for an update, especially as so many of my friends and colleagues have entered the podcast space.

Listening to (or watching) podcasts focused on organizing- or productivity-related topics has a variety of advantages. In addition to providing an alternative to doomscrolling, keeping your mind active, introducing you to new resources, and giving you something to talk about when the conversational well runs dry, a good organizing or productivity podcast can help you solve problems you hadn’t considered having achievable solutions.

In this post, I’d like to introduce (or re-introduce) you to some podcasts I think you’ll find appealing.

SIMPLE ENOUGH

My friend and colleague Miriam Ortiz y Piño of More Than Organized in Albuquerque, New Mexico is a Renaissance woman. Like me, she’s an inaugural Certified Professional Organizer®. She’s also a Money, Mindset, and Marketing Coach, and a Streamlined Money Breakthrough Business Coach, and I had the pleasure of being one of her clients early in the pandemic when we were all trying to figure out the art of the “pivot” during unprecedented times.  

Now, as a few months ago, Miriam is a podcaster!

Simple Enough: Organizing, Productivity, and Mindset for Entrepreneurs is the perfect extension of Miriam’s expertise as an organizer and business coach. Here’s her own description of what she brings to her audience:

Do you have no shortage of ideas or ability, but still feel buried under decisions, half-finished projects, clutter, and systems you started but never quite finished? Simple Enough is for entrepreneurs, creatives, and overthinkers who want a calmer, clearer way to organize their space, decisions, mindset, and life – without forcing themselves into someone else’s system.

Miriam takes the conversation beyond the “how do I fix this” and gets to the nitty-gritty of “why did this get like this in the first place?” because she knows that there are always underlying issues, and until you figure those out, the problem (or the clutter) will keep coming back.

If your get-up-and-go has got-up-and-went, and you’re having trouble finding the motivation and clarity to achieve your personal and professional dreams, dial up a few of Miriam’s recent podcasts to see how her perspective can help you find some of your own. Check out some episodes like:

• Organizing Starts with the Dream, not the Stuff
• Why You Can’t Let Go of Stuff: How to Decide What to Keep
• Downsizing Without the Overwhelm
• Company is Coming: How to Get Your Home Ready for Guests without the Panic
• Your Home Office is Working Against You

As Paper Doll, I hold special affection for the episode, How to Organize Paperwork So You Can Find What You Need, but you could also dive into a more iconoclastic episode, The Organizing Rules You Never Need to Follow.

Find Miriam’s Simple Enough podcast at her Substack on the web or in the Substack app, or on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts.

RETHINK TIME, a Podcast by Time Timer

Longtime Paper Doll readers know how much I adore Time Timer as a resource: for teachers, parents, and therapist when working with children, for people with ADHD, and for anyone who has a complex relationship with time. I’ve written about Time Timer’s timers, app, and approach numerous times, most recently in:

• How to Use Timers for Improved Productivity and Focus — Part 3: Tangible Timers
• Paper Doll Organizes Your Shower Thoughts and Keeps You On-Task

So, I was delighted when I learned that Time Timer was starting REThink Time.

Hosted by Christen Barbercheck, REThink Time looks at time, not merely from the perspective of how to use it more efficiently, but how to make it less challenging and more rewarding. In Time Timer’s own words:

We will explore how we teach, support, and experience time in classrooms, therapy spaces, and everyday life. Whether you’re a teacher, a parent, or struggle managing time yourself, we will be interviewing experts in the fields of education and neurodiversity to share real-life strategies you can use in everyday moments—so time feels more understood to everyone in your life.

I’ve really been impressed with how REThink Time combines expert talk on technology, education, ADHD, neurodiversity, and the wider workplace to provide true understanding and real-world applications of innovative solutions. It’s easy for experts to talk about abstract theory, but I suspect most people hunger for ways to make their lives (and the lives of their children or the people they support) more satisfying. REThink Time delivers!

Although the premiere episode did share the history of Time Timer in From “How Much Longer?” to a Global Tool: The Time Timer Origin Story, this podcast is not a commercial for the company. 

• Is Tech Changing Our Kids
• Raising Independent Kids Through Montessori Principles
• Make Back to School Easier
• Why Telling Kids to “Calm Down” Doesn’t Work (This episode explored emotional regulation, mindfulness, and breathing techniques, and while focused on children, offers stellar stress management techniques for adults, too!)
• Neurodiversity at Workplace

I particularly recommend the most recent episode, Outsmart Your ADHD Brain. Christen interviewed Jeff Copper, a cognitive engineer, attention coach, and founder of DIG Coaching Practice about ADHD, working memory, and task initiation. 

You can watch on REThink Time on YouTube or listen on Spotify.

SURFING THE QUICKSAND

I first knew Kathy Vines, my colleague, friend, and one-time NAPO-conference roommate, as a professional organizer, productivity coach, and founder of Clever Girl Organizing. And she IS a clever girl!

But Kathy is also a speaker, author, certified smarty-skirt (my own term!), and the host of Surfing the Quicksand. Now in its second season, this GenX-friendly show is, in Kathy’s words,

“a podcast for helping midlife women get a little more organized, productive, healthy, sane, and unstuck, one chat at a time.”

Boy, do I get that!

Organizing our lives means so much more than the tangible “stuff.” It’s the relationships, the career and life paths, the decision trees, and everything you remove or add to your life, or the way you rearrange aspects of it, to make your time on this planet more fulfilling.

(For those of you watching Ted Lasso‘s fourth season, you may have noticed Mae reading Mary Oliver’s moving poem, When Death Comes, over the final shots; rather than being depressing, as the poem name might imply, it’s about living your live to the fullest, and I think we can well imagine that getting “unstuck” from the quicksand is key to that endeavor.)

I can’t say it any better than Kathy’s own media kit. So, if you’re interested in any of the following: caregiving, career shifts, identity changes, health and wellness, financial planning, household responsibility, productivity, wellness, personal development, organization, reinvention, and practical life tools, this podcast is for you.

Season 1 had a whopping 41 fascinating, meaty episodes, and Kathy is already a half a dozen episodes deep into season 2, so you’ve got your choice of topics. You can start at the beginning or pick and choose the episodes that call to you. Personally, I’ve had the most fun with the episodes where Kathy interviewed Paper Doll friends and colleagues (often mentioned in the pages ofthis blog), including:

• Seizing the Moment: A Journey of Serendipity (with Sara Skillen)
• Resilient Kids, Sane Parents (with Leslie Josel)
• Productivity for How You’re Wired (with Ellen Faye)

One of my favorite episodes was a recent one where Kathy sat down with one of my besties, Deb Lee.

Deb’s a genius at productivity, tech, and making a person feel valued and heard, and when I listened to Deb and Kathy chat on the podcast while driving up a mountain to my client day, it was so warm and inclusive that forgot I was listening to a podcast and not on a three-way phone call! Sample the episode, The Onion Years: Peeling Back the Layers of Caregiving.

Surfing the Quicksand is available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, and you can keep up with the show at the Surfing the Quicksand site above, or on Facebook and Instagram.

As a professional organizer, I’m usually disinclined to promote tangible goods, but if you’re in deep need of T-shirts, hats, water bottles, or totes (or are stymied for holiday gift options), you may want to check out the Surfing the Quicksand merch shop.

OLD FAVORITES — PODCASTS WORTH REVISITING

In addition to these new (or new-to-you) podcasts, I’d love to call your attention and share some love for some other beloved podcasts. 

Getting to Good Enough

I was always a huge fan of my friend and colleague Janine Adams’ and Shannon Wilkinson’s Getting to Good Enough show, which was billed as  “A podcast to help you let go of perfectionism so you can live life with more ease, less stress and a lot more laughter.”

From 2018 through 2023, Janine, a fellow professional organizer and founder of Peace of Mind Organizing, and Shannon, a life coach, offered up a gentle “You Are Enough” NPR-style hug in a world of loud, pro-achievement, miracle morning, hard-core press podcasts. So, as a recovering Type A+ (who has, over decades, barely chilled to a Type A-), I was crestfallen when Janine and Shannon stepped away from their podcasts booths. 

Then, last year, much like my beloved Ted Lasso (which also went off the air in 2023), Janine and Shannon unexpectedly announced that they were coming back! Also like Ted Lasso, Getting to Good Enough revels in finding a compassionate approach to living your life.

If you’ve never listened, you might want to go back to the beginning and alternate new episodes with working your way through the backlog. If you’re excited but didn’t realize the show was back, there’s no time like this cozy autumnal season to get back in the anti-perfectionist groove.

From the very first 2018 episode, Done is Better Than Perfect, to Imposter Syndrome: Why It Happens (and What Actually Helps) to Getting Unstuck After a Mistake, you’re going to find something that floats your boat.

The recent The Beauty of a Good Checklist had me nodding along as I listened and drove, and I soaked up What it Takes to Take a Break at the airport as I jetted off to visit Paper Mommy last month. 

I should note while almost all podcasts have show notes worth checking for key points and resources, Janine and Shannon provide particularly good (and organized) notes.

You can watch Getting To Good Enough on YouTube (though only the episodes since the show’s return have actual video of Janine and Shannon), or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or as an RSS feed.

Get Organized With Dr. Frank Buck

I’ve promoted the excellent Get Organized! with Dr. Frank Buck podcast many times in the past (and have been a guest on several occasions), most recently last year in Take Note: Paper Doll’s Guide to Organized Note-Taking (Part 1). Frank’s zippy episodes deliver practical advice at the intersection of productivity, organization, technology, and his original area of expertise, education. 

Some nifty episodes recently have included:

• Stop Losing Money to Forgotten Auto-Renewals (My Money Calendar System) 
• Time Management for Teachers: 3 Principles That Matter
• How to Make Reading Fun Again (An interview with Danny Brassell) 

Frank continues to deliver weekly episodes on all the topics that drew me to share his material, but a recent show, 12 Apps That’ll Make You an Organized College Student reminded me of how great this podcast is with keeping up with both essential principles and new solutions.

You can listen to Get Organized! with Dr. Frank Buck on Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and an RSS feed, but I encourage you to tune in to the show on YouTube, at least when Frank is discussing technology, to get the full effect. 

Of course, there are so many podcasts out there to stir your passion for getting organized, being more productive, and keeping you from doomscrolling, and this is only a taste. However, after taking a short sabbatical from blogging in August and September, Paper Doll HQ is aiming for somewhat shorter posts.

Note, I said shorter and not short. I am who I am, and like Ted Lasso, I am built out of words, and will continue to share so, so many of them with you readers. And if this post inspired you to listen to podcasts and think more about Ted Lasso, well, here’s a list of the 18 Best Ted Lasso Podcasts.

It’s good to be back in the blogging groove and to be back with Paper Doll readers again!