As many of you know, Sarah and I are White Cloud Moms (www.mywhitecloud.com) and have been working with White Cloud for about six months now.

We love the brand because it is all about being a Smart Alternative and helping people save time and money – who doesn’t want to do that? The White Cloud team invited us along with our fellow White Cloud Mom Bloggers: Keeper of the Cheerios , Bargain Briana , and Green And Clean Mom to head to Montreal, Canada and not only see the city but also visit a paper mill to see how toilet paper and paper towels are made. What fun!

We headed up to Montreal last Sunday and spent time in the old city of Montreal and even managed to take in a concert at the Jazz Festival.

Rarely (if ever) do I get to have fun when I am gone for business so this was a real treat. On Tuesday, we headed to the paper mill where they make White Cloud products. If you love that show, How’s It Made, then you would love seeing this. It is amazing to think about how everything you consume is produced and no matter what the item (even toilet paper) it is amazing to watch the process of it being produced.

I was immediately struck at the similarities between a paper mill and getting organized and how many of the principles that come into play in the production process are lessons worth learning/reminding ourselves about in our never ending quest to get imperfectly organized. Let me share those with you now:

Lesson One: Focus On The Important Things

The White Cloud factory manager, Stephan, was kind enough to give us an explanation of the production process and the factory objectives prior to us starting our tour. What struck me was how focused he and the company are on setting goals and focusing on the most important things to work on. White Cloud makes green products (we saw these), Green Earth, out of 100% recycled fiber, recycles any production waste it can and reuses it, and is properly obsessed with safety. They are focusing on the important things just like we all need to do ourselves when we think about how and what we are going to get organized.

Lesson Two: Break Down Big Projects Into Small Steps

We saw on our tour recycled paper (like the stuff you put in recycle bins most days turned into soft fluffy white toilet paper. That is a big task that could be overwhelming but White Cloud breaks it all down into simple steps each of which is simple to follow and tackle one by one. That is just what we need to do to successfully organize. Take a big hairy project like organizing your kitchen cupboards and break it down into bite size pieces (do one cabinet a day) to get it all done.

Lesson Three: Batch Processing Is A Good Thing

The factory makes huge amounts of paper all at one time. They form toilet paper ‘logs’ that are then cut to regular size. Batch processing can help with organizing as well. When you plan your meals for the week, cook extra protein (e.g. chicken) and use for multiple nights. Often batching tasks can save you time when you need it the most.

Lesson Four: Delegate

I think I was most struck on our tour by how massive the operation was and how few people it took to manage the process. Most of the processes are continually running and automated meaning that it takes very few people at all to keep this massive operation running 24/7. White Cloud ‘delegates’ to machines if you will so that the people can focus on the important tasks. This is the ultimate it getting help from others and a great lesson to remind ourselves in our quest to get organized.

Those were the key things I learned.

I left amazed and in awe at how White Cloud is made and will certainly never look at toilet paper in quite the same way again. I also was once again reminded about White Cloud really being a smart alternative to help me save time and money. I save time because I know what brand I buy and don’t have to waste time thinking about it and I save money because the products are amazing at a very reasonable price. Who can argue with that? Thanks White Cloud Brand!

Disclosure: This is sponsored content and we have been paid to do this post. That being said, we do not blog about anything we do not believe in and White Cloud did not edit our post or direct our content in any way.