With all the things constantly coming and going in our lives, it’s absolutely imperative that you have the tools you need in your tool bag to succeed. Today’s episode is a deep dive into my most used, all time favorite tool that I want you to start using to help you get organized!
Don’t miss this episode and be sure to share what you learned over inside the Facebook group!
Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast
Are you ready to learn my number one favorite tool I use for organizing just about anything and everything? When I say a tool and I’m actually organizing things, I know you are probably super curious about what it is. There is a lot of moving pieces to all of our lives. You have to figure out how to get all of that organized. I’m not talking about putting cans in your pantry a certain way, or how you are going to line up your refrigerator, or how your junk drawer is going to look after you organized it.
THIS TOOL WILL HELP YOU GET ORGANIZED
This is actually talking about any time before you go into executing something, how in the world do you get it organized. I use one tool and one tool only for that. I have been coaching on the back end lately and I take private clients from time to time. But they are clients that have to be a really good fit that need that extra one on one in a very unique situation. Most of the time I do my coaching inside of The Systemize Your Life Academy. I have had a client that I have been working with and we have been using this specific tool in a new way for her. It is blowing my mind as my life unfolds and gets busier. I just keep coming back to this one specific tool.
Mind Meister
The tool I am talking about is a Mind Meister. It is a mind mapping program. It’s a software program. I am all about pen and paper. My number one favorite tool might be my paper planner. But did I just bump my paper planner to my number two favorite tool? I don’t know I would go that far, maybe they are tied hand in hand. I want you to understand the gist of it and why I want you to start using it in your life.
There is a paid version and a free version of it. The free version gives full access to a limited number of maps. It was easy to expire that early on because I saw potential in the software and it’s only $8 a month. I gave up a couple other subscriptions to be able to allow for this subscription. I also subscribe to Meister Task which are sister companies. Meister Task is what I hold my work flow in. Mind Meister is very straight forward. When you pull it up and look at it, there is so much potential.
MIND MAPPING TO GET ORGANIZED
If you remember when you were a kid and they would make you do a spider map or a bubble map of all your ideas before you sat down and wrote a short essay, that’s the concept of this whole thing. You have your main idea, then all the sub categories. It makes organizing a specific project, a specific task so much more simple. I map out all of my clients time blocks I work with inside of here. There are options for how you can organize it. When you open it up, you can see how you want it set up.
I use the organizational chart most of the time because it goes in a linear fashion. For me that is easier to follow. However, when I map out all of my content pillars for my podcasts, those are my main content pillars. Then everything I talk about on the podcast is either home, business, motherhood, or marriage. I use the aligned chart for that one and I just start dumping all my ideas down in that one.
Systemize Your Life Academy Success Story
I had a girl inside The Systemize Your Life Academy who has had tremendous success and this is one of the reasons why. She is using this tool and has learned how I used it. There were a couple times when she first joined she would get a new project on her plate and wasn’t entirely sure how to walk through it. I would tell her to open up the map and we would work through it together. I would get in there and organize the mind map for her and all she had to do was go out and execute it. Once I started seeing how this was working over and over again, I realized how life changing it was.
THIS PROGRAM IS LIFE CHANGING
When you write things down on paper it gets it out, but you can’t get organized from there. It’s very hard without erasing, scratching 15 different pieces of paper. You can do this with post it notes, but you only have so much wall space. For me, using this program is a lot like post it notes for me. Now, I have over 30 different maps. I have a project that I am working on with another talented course creator. We have different projects we are working on over the course of the next year. I created a mind map for us and at the very top has our names and the project projection for us.
Execution becomes fun
Underneath it from left to right I have every single month for the next year. Underneath that I have what we are planning on doing together, deadlines, what needs to happen for us for that month. Then I shared that with her instead of a spreadsheet. Everything in there is movable. It becomes so visual. I can go in and collapse things I don’t want to be looking at.
When you do the very first mind map, the creation process of getting it all out, you can just put every idea down and move it to different subcategories. If you had a sub category that you didn’t want it at that point, you can move it to where you want it to be. It makes dreaming fun, but also makes executing the process fun because you are actually getting stuff done.
“The mind map makes dreaming fun, but also makes executing the process fun because you are actually getting stuff done.”
USE IT FOR TIME BLOCKING
There are so many other things I have recently realized what this is incredible for.
I have been creating time blocks and routines for women in their homes for over two years now. I never once had thought to use this tool for it until a little while back. It is way cool! If you are trying to figure out how to line up your time blocks and what routines should go in them, this is a really fun tool. I want to create a video on it and pop it inside the Academy as a resource because I just love it so much.
How I use the mind map for time blocks is by using the org chart, at the very top you can put down your time blocks for home as the name, something broad and global for what we are about to dive into. Then underneath that, there will be specific categories: monthly, weekly, daily. Then you put down all the different responsibilities that you have to do in each category. Inside the daily, you would put in the 5 block system, which is your morning routine, AM block, work block, PM block, night time routine. Then inside each of those blocks underneath the daily category, you hit tab and it creates a sub category.
Customization
In the AM block you would put the time frame for that block depending on what your schedule looks like. Under that it is so easy to start organizing all the things that need to be done. One of the moms that I was working with is a 50 hour a week working mom that has been switched to working from home. That is when she started really seeking help and had found me and we started working together.
The hard part for her was separating the two, how to know what to do in each block while she’s home. Well her work block is most of the day. She got to make her own hours and we set up when her work block worked best. I still was able to set her up with all 5 blocks, her work block was just 8 hours long. My work block is like 2 or 3 hours and my other blocks are bigger.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO DROWN IN MOTHERHOOD
She was drowning in motherhood because she was working so much and couldn’t delegate. She just needed a little help setting it up, an outside pair of eyes to look at what her life looked like and get it all organized. This is the program I used with her. We looked at what all the daily responsibilities were and how do we fit them into a concise routine. Every single block has anywhere from 2 to 4 routines max. Each routine unfolds and says what happens in that routine. For example, in the PM block there is a “Tomorrow” routine. That unfolds and says what happens in that routine: backpacks are filled, homework uploaded, workspaces are tidy. It is all there and so easy to see. We typed it all out then moved it all around until it all worked and was clear.
Organizing Your Thoughts
This makes it so easy to just get up and execute. You look at the large time block, and you have a lot of time, but a lot to do and no idea how to get it all done. Well, if you put it all into 3 or 4 routines, now you only have 4 routines to execute, not 57 things to do. Inside of those routines are tasks that need to be done, but you don’t have to think about them because they become routine. The only way for you to begin to actually know what this looks like is to get it mapped out. It’s the same thing with any project you have to do.
The reason why this becomes possible is because you have gotten it out, organized it, and you don’t have to think about it anymore. It is in a very specific order and now you can breath. Now you can be successful. Successful means you can complete what you want to be able to complete and you aren’t a crazy person in the process.
Strategy
Will you be stressed? May you have anxiety? May you have fears? Are you maybe going to be really tired because you put a lot on your plate? Yes, but you did it strategically and you are OK with that. You will learn lessons and do better the next time. I want you using this software program, I want you organizing your thoughts, using this for any kind of project you have to get organized. If you have anything big coming up. My annual goals, when I sit down and map out what I am going to be doing for the entire year, I put it in here and then I also map them out by quarter. You can organize them by folders. You can organize your organized maps!
I was getting overwhelmed with all my social media accounts. I wanted to hire someone to help me with it, but I didn’t even know what to tell them to do because it was all up in my head. What I did, was come in the mind mapping program and I created a social media strategy org chart. I put it all in there and jotted down all the ideas and ended up organizing it by day. I was able to share this with the community engagement facilitator I hired and she is able to see all of this and we can work on it together. It has simplified my business and my home in so many ways.
Connect with me!
If you have any questions about it, pop inside of the Facebook group and if you create a map for anything, take a screen shot and share it! I would love to see what you are working on. Also come check out The Systemize Your Life Academy to see all the amazing resources and learn all the tips on how to have success in your ventures!
Frequently Asked Questions
You mentioned I could use this program for time blocking-where can I learn more about that?
So glad you asked! It’ll be super helpful to start out with my free time blocking workbook for you to get the full gist of time blocking as well as my free fundamental needs workbook to help you sort out your core priorities to focus on in your life! And in case you missed it in the post I have an in-depth blog post for you to check out. And as always, my free Facebook community group is always open for you to join!