School, like camp, is the Bermuda Triangle of “stuff”: Things go to school and never make it home. If you want to ensure your kids stuff (sweatshirts, sneakers, lunchbox-that-look-the-same-as-everyone-else’s-lunchbox) don’t meet that fate, your best bet is a good old-fashioned, highly-legible, easy-to-read label. That’s why I love my labeller, and stickie labels of any kind. Something magical happens when you put a permanent mark on your stuff. It’s as if you say to the world, “This means more to me than any Sharpie could ever say.”
Aimee Sesar from Labeldaddy.com (I’m a customer and love their labels for clothes and sneakers!) offers some great advice on what to label and why in a guest post on the ButtonedUp website.
Batching tasks is the art of doing a bunch of similar things all at once to save time… something all us busy moms can relate to when we’re constantly being interrupted and can never finish anything we start! Time is our most precious resource, so the more we can save by doing things more efficiently, the better! I figured out that I’d lose 30 hours this year to a particular task if I didn’t make a change… you’ll have to watch the video to see what it was!
This video refers to a tip I gave this past week on The Juicebox, a weekly email I write to help overwhelmed moms simplify their lives. Here, I address the friendly backlash I got from many of you Juiceboxers who balked at the idea of only checking your email 2X/day. Lay off the Crackberry, people!
It’s back to school time, the house is quiet and I have time to “get things done.” I have so many business goals, as well as personal to-dos (budget possible kitchen repair/renovation, schedule doctor’s appointments, book airline tickets), that I KNOW I’m going to get overwhelmed if I don’t establish priority tasks for each day and focus on getting them accomplished before all others. It’s easy to keep “busy” by running errands and attending back to school meetings, but being productive is something entirely different– it’s about bringing about the RESULTS that you want.
Have you identified the things that are important to you? That you want to accomplish above all others? Pull them out of the pile of “stuff you have to do” and give them the priority they deserve. That’s the first step to transcending the “busy” and joining ranks with the truly “productive”. Want to weigh in? Leave a comment below!
Check out The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur’s latest collaborative post on how to thrive during your darkest entrepreneurial days. I especially love reading these collaborative posts (and contributing to them— see if you can find me!), because they give you such an insight into the collective mood of a group of entrepreneurs. So many positive approaches and uplifting messages, that you can’t help but pull yourself out of despair and keep reaching for your business goals. Mompreneurs, you know what I’m talking about! But corporate mommies or “homies” can find inspiration here too: It’s all about not letting your “story” get you down, about not interpreting a bad situation as anything other than a momentary blip in the big picture.
In this week’s Stroller Traffic, the beautiful and talented Amy Swift Crosby (former editor-in-chief of Ladies Who Launch and founder of Smarty LA), and I share style tips and must-haves for every work-at-home mom. Read the full article here.
Do you get Stroller Traffic? It’s a fab weekly newsletter for the stroller set. They share hip finds, cool ideas, and great deals each week for stylish city moms with kids under 3. I love everything they uncover, from beautiful birthday party invites to mom-friendly fashion.
One of the great things that I got from coaching sessions with Carley is very usuable action steps to put into practice as soon as I got home. Organizing time, lists, and action steps… she does a great job at taking what feels like the “overwhelming” and calmly breaking down so it’s doable. She’s so empathetic to what a mom goes through, so it doesn’t feel like some outsider giving you unrealistic suggestions, like Martha Stewart, or something! — Alex Brook, Mom of Two
School, like camp, is the Bermuda Triangle of “stuff”: Things go to school and never make it home. If you want to ensure your kids stuff (sweatshirts, sneakers, lunchbox-that-look-the-same-as-everyone-else’s-lunchbox) don’t meet that fate, your best bet is a good old-fashioned, highly-legible, easy-to-read label. That’s why I love my labeller, and stickie labels of any kind. Something magical happens when you put a permanent mark on your stuff. It’s as if you say to the world, “This means more to me than any Sharpie could ever say.”
