How To Eliminate Slash Pockets

If you’re anything like me, you’re probably thinking about preparing your Sunday Basket® for the summer! It’s an exciting time, isn’t it? There’s something oddly satisfying about starting a fresh Sunday Basket® – it’s like a new beginning.

One of the questions that I get asked a lot is:

“What should I do with the slash pockets I rarely use in my Sunday Basket®?”

It's an excellent question for this time of year because, chances are, you’ve got a lot of completed slash pockets, or you have a few that you won’t touch this summer.

What should you do with these slash pockets? Throw them in the trash? Give them up for adoption? No, of course not!

Deep Diving Into Your Sunday Basket® 

Have you listened to my podcast episode where I talk about the Sunday Basket® Deep Dive? If you haven’t, go ahead and catch up with that one and then come right back!

In that episode, I revealed everything you need to know about the deep dive process which involves the complete renovation of the Sunday Basket®. You empty everything out in front of you and divide the slash pockets into different sections to help organize your new basket and eliminate the slash pockets you don’t need.

When you’re done with a slash pocket, it means that you've delegated the project, deleted it, or you’re finished with it.

An insight Into My Deep Dive Process

This week, I emptied out my Sunday Basket® and took all of the slash pockets out and interrogated each one. Which deserve a place in my Sunday Basket®? That’s the question I asked during the elimination process, and yes, I did feel like a bad-ass organizational agent. It was fun!

I label all of my slash pockets with a label maker. And whenever I come across a slash pocket that I want to eliminate from the basket, I remove its label. I can’t describe the feeling of accomplishment that runs through my veins when I strip the label back… it’s bliss.

Dividing The Year Into 3 Trimesters

If you’ve been listening to the Sunday Basket® Podcast for a while, you’re probably aware that I live in a world of my own. The rest of the world views 12 months as a full calendar year, but I divide my year into three trimesters:

1. The New Year - January to May
2. Summer - June to August
3. The School Year - September to December

For each trimester, I deep dive into my Sunday Basket®. And with summer fast approaching, I’ve begun organizing my next Sunday Basket®.

Organizing My Summer Sunday Basket® 

When I was looking through my Sunday Basket®, I noticed there were a few slash pockets that I won’t need until the school year. So, I decided to take these slash pockets and put them in a drawer until August.

I set aside three to four hours for deep diving into my Sunday Basket®. I went through all of my slash pockets, planner, bills, and mail, and spread everything out on my bed. Instead of asking my usual Sunday Basket® question, “Can this wait until next Sunday?,” I asked myself, “Does this need to be done this summer?”

If it needs to be done, I’ll keep it in my Sunday Basket®. But if there’s no urgency for it to be completed, I’ll put it in the drawer until after Labor Day (because that’s when I’ll do my next deep dive in preparation for the school year).

How To Eliminate Slash Pockets From Your Sunday Basket® 

There are two ways you can remove slash pockets from your Sunday Basket®:

1. Transfer that slash pocket to the next "Lisa year" so you can come back to it at a later date.
2. Eliminate it.

Remember, your Sunday Basket® is for your actionable projects. You don’t need to think about what other people consider to be actionable projects because everyone uses the Sunday Basket® System differently.

The Sunday Basket® is designed to work for you, so customize it however you need to.

If you’re following along with the Organize 365 Podcast, you won’t want to miss next week’s episode because I’m going to be talking about setting one goal for your entire summer.

On the Sunday Basket® Podcast, you’ll find out how you can organize your paper in the most time-efficient and effective way possible!