How I'm Getting Organized this Fall
Ep 159 | Author: Emilie Aries
They call September "the other January" for a reason: with the changing of the seasons and the start of the school year, it's a great time to get organized for the remainder of the year ahead.
With just over 1 quarter of the year left, which includes the hustle and bustle of the holiday season ahead, if you don't get organized now, you might not be able to catch your breath until the new year.
Here's how I've been getting organized to make the most of the rest of 2019:
Getting my house organized
As I confessed on my Instagram stories last week, I'm an anxiety cleaner. When I feel stress or anxiety over whatever's happening at work, I take it out on my house by cleaning from top to bottom. It makes me feel more in control and clears the decks (literally!) so I can better focus on the task at hand.
Lately I've relied on the help of my iRobot mopper and other home tech to automate my least favorite part of cleaning, and enlisted the help of #BradTheBoo to share the burden as well (something we discuss at great length on our recent episode about how we're building a feminist marriage).I've cleaned off clutter that somehow stacked up everywhere throughout the course of our fun-filled summer and recycled tons of old newspapers, magazines, and mail we had laying around. It's amazing how much stuff can find its way into the nooks and crannies of your home, but it feels so good to be left with light and bright rooms that feel easier to breathe in.
Getting my inbox organized
This time of year, my inbox has me feeling buried alive! So last Friday, I sat down first thing in the morning and spent two hours (!!) cleaning things out and getting back to inbox zero. I've written extensively about my email management best practices in the past, but I must admit: I'm not perfect about it.
Email just has a way of piling up, no matter how diligent you are about inbox rituals. But I've found that spending the time to get back to a healthy baseline is such an immense relief.
Even though the digital pile doesn't take up the same visual space as the physical piles of clutter that have stacked up on my desk and shelves throughout the house, the impact on my brain is comparable. It stresses me out!
Getting my finances organized
I've spent much of this year sharing details the personal finance revolution I've experienced, which has been a huge overall relief when it comes to money management. After working with a financial advisor, Cris Caruso, for the first time, I've never felt more clear about where we are and where we're headed in terms of achieving - and funding! - our biggest ambitions.
This fall, I finally finished refinancing our mortgage, which comes as a huge relief because it took hours and hours of paperwork and phone calls to get us to closing, but it was absolutely worth it. We took advantage of lowering interest rates to restructure our 30-year mortgage into a 20-year mortgage and save ourselves over $175,000 in interest payments overall. You can hear more about how we're building wealth through real estate here, too. I'd be happy to write more about the refinance process if you're interested
!But beyond the big finance stuff, I've also been in a season of reconsidering whether the monthly recurring expenses on my accounts are really worth it. As much as I'm a fan of ClassPass and Curology, for instance, I haven't been using them to their full potential lately. I've been too busy to make it to all the fitness classes I'm entitled to on my membership plan with ClassPass and I've got bottles on bottles of acne-clearing medicated lotion for Curology, too. I pay between $25 and $35 a month for these services, which I love, but decided to reevaluate whether they made sense anymore. As such, I've put those subscriptions on hold for the fall to see how I feel about it after the fact.
Similarly, I recently noticed my cable bill and water bill were getting slightly more expensive each month. So I took time last week to call those providers up to see what was happening and try to negotiate better rates.
This is the kind of maintenance work staying on top of our money takes - and doing it now during this season of change leaves me feeling organized and ready to make the most of the remainder of the year.
Getting my personal & professional goals organized
To keep myself feeling fueled and focused for the final quarter of 2019, I'm using my Bossed Up LifeTracker Planner to bring renewed mindfulness to how I'm spending my time. Each month, I use the research-backed LifeTracker method to clarify my most important objectives across work, love, wellness, and everything else that doesn't fit neatly into those categories.
What I love most about this method is that I'm able to really prioritize my goals on a monthly and weekly basis, so that I always feel like I'm moving forward on the things that matter most to me. So many of our biggest life goals don't come with actual deadlines. Starting a family? Writing a book? Advocating for a raise or promotion? Those are things that are important, but only to you. No one else is going to hold your feet to the fire to make sure you're actually going to get those things done. That's why I love how the LifeTracker method helps me hold myself accountable.
Plus, with this community of support that comes with it, we get to hold each other accountable, too. I'm excited to host our third quarterly accountability call of the year this coming Sunday night with the hundreds of other bosses who are using this method, too.
How are you getting organized this fall?
What does the change of seasons inspire in you, boss? Are you a fall cleaner, too? Or are you hitting it hard on your professional ambitions right now? Or both? I'd love to hear from you in the comments section below.