Member since June 2022
Lisa S. Griffith is a speaker, trainer, productivity coach and consultant, and Certified Professional Organizer®, whose career has spanned over thirty years as a teacher, director, and administrator of performing arts in schools, churches, and community organizations. She now utilizes her extensive skills to inspire, coach, and teach those who want to understand how to best organize their work spaces, inboxes, calendars, and to-do lists in both their professional and personal lives.
Lisa has presented for many distinguished organizations such as Fidelity and Lifespan Corporation in RI, at numerous women's conferences, such as the Connecticut Business Women's Forum and the Bryant University Women's Summit in Rhode Island, and at academic institutions including Brown University, University of Pennsylvania, Tufts University Medical Center, and Northeastern University. She offers highly interactive programs for both in-person and virtual venues.
Lisa's signature organizational system for both stuff and time - the IN ORDER™ system - offers a unique, memorable and easy path to clearing the clutter from your physical space and your calendar, and has proven to be a highly motivating presentation for many people in both their personal and professional lives. Very interactive, its
simple, yet effective components work beautifully any situation.
Where others see mayhem, Lisa sees potential and a pathway to productivity. Her mission is to generate positive change in people’s professional lives by helping them create sustainable structures and systems that encourage and stimulate growth through outer order and inner calm.
While music is no longer my vocation, it is definitely my avocation. I am still a musician and performer, which means I’m super comfortable speaking to groups large and small. I particularly enjoy singing and making music with choral groups. In addition, because of my lengthy teaching career, I'm a major advocate of education in the arts, because I've seen it change so many children's lives in such a positive way. Because I spent many years as a performing arts director, I understand the challenges that occur when juggling multiple responsibilities in staying organized and being productive in those roles.
The "Drawer of Shame"
Working with a physician client in both her business and home offices, we were discussing the best ways for her to manage her time and keep track of the multitude of tasks she needed to accomplish in her busy life as a physician and a mother. At one point, she decided she was comfortable enough with me to show me her "drawer of shame" (her words.) Internally, I'm thinking "Yikes!" Externally, I sucked it up and put on my most non-judgmental, productivity coach face. Well, she took me over to a huge chest of drawers and opened it up with a grand flourish, saying, "Voila! My drawer of shame!" I, rather hesitantly, looked inside. To my great surprise (and relief), it was full of........PLANNERS! All kinds, all shapes, sizes, and design. Daytimers, old Franklin Coveys, simple, fancy, complicated and basic. They all had one thing in common - they were only partially filled. Every single one had been abandoned after only a couple of weeks of use. Every time she came across a bright and shiny new planner, she bought it, thinking "this is the ONE! This is what will help me get organized!" She had been searching and searching for "the one thing" that would change her life. "The one tool" that would help her manage her time better. And when it didn't, she threw it in the drawer and just felt like a failure again.
So we had to have a "Come to Jesus" kind of conversation, where she had to realize that it's not about the tool. It's about establishing new and better habits. It was about her attitude towards her time. We always think that the newest app, or the shiniest planner, or those pretty matching bins are the solution. But it's not about the "stuff." It's about dealing with the clutter in our heads, not in our spaces, or our calendars. It's never about the stuff.
I first spent 20 years as a teacher, so my communication, teaching, and training skills were tested and honed over and over. It taught me patience and how to discover someone’s particular learning style which proves invaluable when I’m teaching clients new and more productive ways of doing what they do. In 2008, I established my business, The Organized Way, and then rebranded in 2019 to Griffith Productivity Solutions (GPS) to fully capture the work I do with individuals, teams, and corporate entities to improve personal and professional productivity.
My time as a performing arts director still informs how I take in information, assess situations and personalities, and create and present motivation, inspiration, and practical solutions for whatever group I'm speaking to.
Productivity advice is abundant, yet many professionals feel more overwhelmed than ever. The issue isn’t a lack of tools—it’s the constant mental strain caused by unclear priorities, oversized projects, and too many decisions competing for limited time and energy. This friction often shows up as stress, fatigue, and chronic procrastination.
In this session, productivity coach and Certified Professional Organizer® Lisa S. Griffith presents five principles for focused, sustainable work. In the Dial Down the Friction Productivity Method™, participants will learn how to reduce the causes of cognitive load by identifying and reducing the friction around their day-to-day professional and personal lives. We begin with practices to clarify larger priorities and then winnow down to specific, down-to-earth strategies that align with the demands on today’s professionals. By asking the question, “what’s making this harder than it needs to be?, we discuss why procrastination is often a symptom of decision fatigue, how breaking work into manageable steps creates momentum, explore planning ahead, aligning work with natural energy patterns, and setting boundaries through strategic “no’s.” Attendees will walk away with realistic strategies they can apply TODAY to work more effectively—without working longer.
Work-life balance is a term that is flung around everywhere these days. From folks who have given up and are just “putting in time” at work, to those who are running on that hamster wheel in an attempt to keep up with both their personal and professional lives, achieving “balance” is nearly impossible. What is work-life balance, anyway? For some folks, work IS life. For others facing burnout, the prospect of “quietly quitting”, putting in the bare minimum in order to save physical and mental health and rescue some semblance of a personal life, is the only thing keeping them in their jobs at all. In this presentation, participants will learn about the five obstacles to maintaining a balanced life and how to overcome them. From dealing with decision fatigue, to avoiding procrastination, to finding peace in their physical space, participants will acquire techniques to help them build expertise in managing life’s sway without having to quit quietly (or out loud!)
When people ask you how you’re doing, is your answer always “crazy busy”? Do you have more to accomplish in a single day than most people have to deal with in a month? Does your to-do list never get done? Do you lie awake at night wondering how you will ever manage to get through tomorrow?
We all have the same twenty-four hours a day, but sometimes it seems like everyone else is getting more done (and more sleep) than you are! This presentation will help you learn how to better manage your time so you can be more productive and less overwhelmed. Find out how to deal with your to-do list: what does and doesn’t need to be done, what’s important and what’s not, and how to figure out the difference. Get an idea of what products and apps are out there to help you manage those important tasks. Learn how to choose the best calendar style for you and what kind will work with your life and learning style. And most importantly, discover how to better manage your work-life balance: can you really get it all done in the time you have? Learn how to get your schedule under control and make time for the things that you really enjoy. Participants will learn a system for establishing priorities for their time and how to discern the best ways to accomplish their goals and make the best use of the time that they have. A variety of task management and calendar options will be presented so that participants will be aware of the best applications, both digital and paper, for their lifestyle. Specific time management practices will be offered for concrete, practical, daily use. Stumbling blocks to increased productivity, such as procrastination and over-commitment will be addressed, and we will discuss the realities of “work-life balance”, and what it means for today’s business owners as they tackle the challenges of daily living while striving to achieve the best for themselves and those in their lives.
Time blocking can transform your productivity—but only if it works in the real world. In this practical, myth-busting workshop, participants will learn why traditional time blocking often fails and how to create a flexible system that actually holds up to interruptions, shifting priorities, and busy schedules.
Beyond the basics, this session introduces powerful advanced strategies that make time blocking sustainable: how to decide what truly belongs on your calendar (and what doesn’t), how to prioritize using the Must/Should/Could framework, and how to handle interruptions without derailing your entire day. Participants will also learn how to build in “Reset Blocks” to recover when plans change and how to reschedule tasks without guilt—turning missed plans into better ones.
Attendees will leave with a realistic, adaptable approach to managing their time—one that prioritizes progress over perfection and helps them stay in control, even when their day doesn’t go as planned.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, disorganization can lead to missed opportunities, wasted time, and unnecessary stress. This presentation is designed to address common pain points such as cluttered digital files, overflowing inboxes, lost documents, and inefficient workflows.
Participants will learn practical strategies for managing digital documents, taming overwhelming email, optimizing cloud storage, and the best practices for choosing powerful digital tools like apps and software that are most useful to their daily routines. By tackling these challenges head-on, attendees will discover how being organized digitally can save time, boost productivity, and reduce frustration. This presentation is not platform-specific, and will address general strategies and techniques for managing digital information in general for both work and personal life. Whether you’re struggling with document chaos, email overload, or underutilized software, this workshop offers actionable solutions and hands-on guidance to help you regain control and streamline your digital life.
If you are struggling with disorganization in your home, your work place, or your schedule, you need a system to help you get it all under control. It can be so frustrating to feel that you’re wasting time, money, and energy due to being disorganized, but not knowing how to make it better makes it even more overwhelming. You’ve read all the books, surfed all the sites, and watched all the organizing shows, but you still don’t know how to get going. The IN ORDER™ system is designed to help you get started and walk you through the process of organizing both your spaces and your time in a simple, straightforward way so that you can accomplish your organizing goals. With a plan in hand, you will know where to begin, how to move forward, and how to finally get it done. Stop spinning your wheels in the mire of disorganization. Discover the confidence that comes with knowing that you can find what you need when you need it. Find more room in your space, and more space in your day, so that you can focus on work, family, leisure – whatever it is that brings you joy!
Is your “to file” pile taller than your filing cabinet?
83 dried out pens, 54 broken rubber bands, ripped envelopes, old coffee cups – wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a functional workspace instead of a cluttered mess of a desk?
This presentation will help you get your work space under control, whether you work from home or in a more formal business setting. Discover paper management techniques that will enable you to turn your cluttered desk into a functional and efficient workspace. Tips for managing your physical office layout will be offered to increase its functionality. Learn how to organize both physical and digital documents for efficient and easy retrieval. Find out about the "5 D's for Quick Decisions" so you can rapidly sort and make decisions about any incoming mail and paperwork. Clear your space, and gain function, time, and productivity. Participants will be given specific techniques for organizing their home or business office space for maximum efficiency and productivity and will learn a system for rapid and simple decision-making for dealing with mail and other daily incoming paperwork. Best practices will be offered for establishing and utilizing various filing systems, as well as tips on how to maintain a newly-organized space.
The "Drawer of Shame"
Working with a physician client in both her business and home offices, we were discussing the best ways for her to manage her time and keep track of the multitude of tasks she needed to accomplish in her busy life as a physician and a mother. At one point, she decided she was comfortable enough with me to show me her "drawer of shame" (her words.) Internally, I'm thinking "Yikes!" Externally, I sucked it up and put on my most non-judgmental, productivity coach face. Well, she took me over to a huge chest of drawers and opened it up with a grand flourish, saying, "Voila! My drawer of shame!" I, rather hesitantly, looked inside. To my great surprise (and relief), it was full of........PLANNERS! All kinds, all shapes, sizes, and design. Daytimers, old Franklin Coveys, simple, fancy, complicated and basic. They all had one thing in common - they were only partially filled. Every single one had been abandoned after only a couple of weeks of use. Every time she came across a bright and shiny new planner, she bought it, thinking "this is the ONE! This is what will help me get organized!" She had been searching and searching for "the one thing" that would change her life. "The one tool" that would help her manage her time better. And when it didn't, she threw it in the drawer and just felt like a failure again.
So we had to have a "Come to Jesus" kind of conversation, where she had to realize that it's not about the tool. It's about establishing new and better habits. It was about her attitude towards her time. We always think that the newest app, or the shiniest planner, or those pretty matching bins are the solution. But it's not about the "stuff." It's about dealing with the clutter in our heads, not in our spaces, or our calendars. It's never about the stuff.
I first spent 20 years as a teacher, so my communication, teaching, and training skills were tested and honed over and over. It taught me patience and how to discover someone’s particular learning style which proves invaluable when I’m teaching clients new and more productive ways of doing what they do. In 2008, I established my business, The Organized Way, and then rebranded in 2019 to Griffith Productivity Solutions (GPS) to fully capture the work I do with individuals, teams, and corporate entities to improve personal and professional productivity.
My time as a performing arts director still informs how I take in information, assess situations and personalities, and create and present motivation, inspiration, and practical solutions for whatever group I'm speaking to.
Productivity advice is abundant, yet many professionals feel more overwhelmed than ever. The issue isn’t a lack of tools—it’s the constant mental strain caused by unclear priorities, oversized projects, and too many decisions competing for limited time and energy. This friction often shows up as stress, fatigue, and chronic procrastination.
In this session, productivity coach and Certified Professional Organizer® Lisa S. Griffith presents five principles for focused, sustainable work. In the Dial Down the Friction Productivity Method™, participants will learn how to reduce the causes of cognitive load by identifying and reducing the friction around their day-to-day professional and personal lives. We begin with practices to clarify larger priorities and then winnow down to specific, down-to-earth strategies that align with the demands on today’s professionals. By asking the question, “what’s making this harder than it needs to be?, we discuss why procrastination is often a symptom of decision fatigue, how breaking work into manageable steps creates momentum, explore planning ahead, aligning work with natural energy patterns, and setting boundaries through strategic “no’s.” Attendees will walk away with realistic strategies they can apply TODAY to work more effectively—without working longer.
Work-life balance is a term that is flung around everywhere these days. From folks who have given up and are just “putting in time” at work, to those who are running on that hamster wheel in an attempt to keep up with both their personal and professional lives, achieving “balance” is nearly impossible. What is work-life balance, anyway? For some folks, work IS life. For others facing burnout, the prospect of “quietly quitting”, putting in the bare minimum in order to save physical and mental health and rescue some semblance of a personal life, is the only thing keeping them in their jobs at all. In this presentation, participants will learn about the five obstacles to maintaining a balanced life and how to overcome them. From dealing with decision fatigue, to avoiding procrastination, to finding peace in their physical space, participants will acquire techniques to help them build expertise in managing life’s sway without having to quit quietly (or out loud!)
When people ask you how you’re doing, is your answer always “crazy busy”? Do you have more to accomplish in a single day than most people have to deal with in a month? Does your to-do list never get done? Do you lie awake at night wondering how you will ever manage to get through tomorrow?
We all have the same twenty-four hours a day, but sometimes it seems like everyone else is getting more done (and more sleep) than you are! This presentation will help you learn how to better manage your time so you can be more productive and less overwhelmed. Find out how to deal with your to-do list: what does and doesn’t need to be done, what’s important and what’s not, and how to figure out the difference. Get an idea of what products and apps are out there to help you manage those important tasks. Learn how to choose the best calendar style for you and what kind will work with your life and learning style. And most importantly, discover how to better manage your work-life balance: can you really get it all done in the time you have? Learn how to get your schedule under control and make time for the things that you really enjoy. Participants will learn a system for establishing priorities for their time and how to discern the best ways to accomplish their goals and make the best use of the time that they have. A variety of task management and calendar options will be presented so that participants will be aware of the best applications, both digital and paper, for their lifestyle. Specific time management practices will be offered for concrete, practical, daily use. Stumbling blocks to increased productivity, such as procrastination and over-commitment will be addressed, and we will discuss the realities of “work-life balance”, and what it means for today’s business owners as they tackle the challenges of daily living while striving to achieve the best for themselves and those in their lives.
Time blocking can transform your productivity—but only if it works in the real world. In this practical, myth-busting workshop, participants will learn why traditional time blocking often fails and how to create a flexible system that actually holds up to interruptions, shifting priorities, and busy schedules.
Beyond the basics, this session introduces powerful advanced strategies that make time blocking sustainable: how to decide what truly belongs on your calendar (and what doesn’t), how to prioritize using the Must/Should/Could framework, and how to handle interruptions without derailing your entire day. Participants will also learn how to build in “Reset Blocks” to recover when plans change and how to reschedule tasks without guilt—turning missed plans into better ones.
Attendees will leave with a realistic, adaptable approach to managing their time—one that prioritizes progress over perfection and helps them stay in control, even when their day doesn’t go as planned.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, disorganization can lead to missed opportunities, wasted time, and unnecessary stress. This presentation is designed to address common pain points such as cluttered digital files, overflowing inboxes, lost documents, and inefficient workflows.
Participants will learn practical strategies for managing digital documents, taming overwhelming email, optimizing cloud storage, and the best practices for choosing powerful digital tools like apps and software that are most useful to their daily routines. By tackling these challenges head-on, attendees will discover how being organized digitally can save time, boost productivity, and reduce frustration. This presentation is not platform-specific, and will address general strategies and techniques for managing digital information in general for both work and personal life. Whether you’re struggling with document chaos, email overload, or underutilized software, this workshop offers actionable solutions and hands-on guidance to help you regain control and streamline your digital life.
If you are struggling with disorganization in your home, your work place, or your schedule, you need a system to help you get it all under control. It can be so frustrating to feel that you’re wasting time, money, and energy due to being disorganized, but not knowing how to make it better makes it even more overwhelming. You’ve read all the books, surfed all the sites, and watched all the organizing shows, but you still don’t know how to get going. The IN ORDER™ system is designed to help you get started and walk you through the process of organizing both your spaces and your time in a simple, straightforward way so that you can accomplish your organizing goals. With a plan in hand, you will know where to begin, how to move forward, and how to finally get it done. Stop spinning your wheels in the mire of disorganization. Discover the confidence that comes with knowing that you can find what you need when you need it. Find more room in your space, and more space in your day, so that you can focus on work, family, leisure – whatever it is that brings you joy!
Is your “to file” pile taller than your filing cabinet?
83 dried out pens, 54 broken rubber bands, ripped envelopes, old coffee cups – wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a functional workspace instead of a cluttered mess of a desk?
This presentation will help you get your work space under control, whether you work from home or in a more formal business setting. Discover paper management techniques that will enable you to turn your cluttered desk into a functional and efficient workspace. Tips for managing your physical office layout will be offered to increase its functionality. Learn how to organize both physical and digital documents for efficient and easy retrieval. Find out about the "5 D's for Quick Decisions" so you can rapidly sort and make decisions about any incoming mail and paperwork. Clear your space, and gain function, time, and productivity. Participants will be given specific techniques for organizing their home or business office space for maximum efficiency and productivity and will learn a system for rapid and simple decision-making for dealing with mail and other daily incoming paperwork. Best practices will be offered for establishing and utilizing various filing systems, as well as tips on how to maintain a newly-organized space.