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Have you ever felt like you cannot keep up with the influx of paper in your home? Every day more and more paper comes in, but who has time to go through it all. I though it was bad before, but now with kids, the amount of paper coming in has multiplied. I have found a system that I use to manage the influx of paper in my house. Now I know what to keep and where it belongs so I don't have piles of paper on my counters, dining room table, side table, and pretty much every surface in my home.
The new year will be starting in just a week and a half which means we are at the time of year where people are reflecting on the past year and making resolutions for the future. Did you set resolutions last year? How did you do with keeping them? Many times we set a resolution or goal for New Years and we make a big punch to reach it in the month of January and then our efforts slowly fizzle out. Or we write them down on a piece of paper that we never look at again until a year later when its time to set a new set of goals. Then were run around all year feeling super busy but with no direction and therefore accomplishing far less than we could.
As of this Friday, I will be 34 weeks pregnant with baby Hailey. This means it's time to start packing go bags for the hospital. This time we have an extra person to pack for. T will be spending time at grandma's while mom and dad are at the hospital. This will be his first overnight away from home, so we want to make sure he is as comfortable as possible. I have thus created a hospital bag and sibling bag checklist. The first is a list of items for Mom, Dad, and Baby, and the second is a list for the older sibling(s).
On days like today, I am glad that apps like these exist. After a full weekend of freezing temperatures, an insurance adjuster dreads heading to the office. You will be bombarded with claims of roof leaks and frozen pipes. Today we had no less than 10 claims in all areas of the region with varying degrees of damage. It is times like these that I am so happy that I have have found these relaxation apps perfect for busy moms. They help me take a few minutes and relax during busy stressful days.
The first one is perfect for days like today when I'm running around like a chicken without a head. The second, will come in hand when I have to spend long hours in the office writing up reports for all these claims. Either way, they are perfect for busy working moms!!
OMG. I Can Meditate ! - Meditation and Mindfulness Techniques Made Easy - OMG. I Can Meditate! Inc.
This app was created to help the typical busy person relax and remain calm. You don’t have to be an expert yogi with years of meditation training to take advantage of this meditation app. The app teaches some really simple relaxation techniques that you can use wherever you may be, and whenever you need them. In just 10 minutes, meditation coach Lynne Goldberg guides you through a simple meditation to help you relax and reduce stress.
If you think that spending 10 minutes a day meditating with this app is a waste of time, think again. When you are calm and relaxed you are prepared to accomplish more than you ever could when you are overburdened and stressed. That 10 minutes of meditation can actually save you time! Plus, you will be happier, more relaxed, and energized!! Meditation is used by many of the best and most successful minds out there from businessmen and women, to actors to athletes. If they can benefit from it, so can you. Best of all, this app is free for iPhone and iPad!
Office YogaMD Lite - Physical Medicine Associates This app came to my attention after it was named a Top 20 App for Working Mom's by Working Mother magazine. It is an essential app for any mom who works an office job, or just needs to reduce pain in general. Office YogaMD Lite is the ideal app for relief from computer-related pain and fatigue. The app presents various yoga moves that can be performed right in your office. These movements are presented in a clear and detailed audio-visual format.
Office Yoga teaches you easy yoga poses and practices that immediately improve your posture, breathing, and stress levels at work or at home. The application was created by Mary Schatz, M.D., a graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and is certified by world-renowned yogi B.K.S. Iyengar to teach his method of yoga. Through the app, Mary provides instructions on how to reduce eye, wrist, neck and back fatigue, stretch, and relax. It also includes a built-in reminder system that you can set to encourage regular breaks. If you have any of the following pains or issues, you need this app.
Great for: back pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, wrist pain, eye strain, fatigue, and stress relief. This app is available in the iTunes store for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.
Everyone has busy days now and then. These apps are perfect for helping you relax and decompress. I hope you try them out!! What do you do to de-stress on busy days?? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers,
Emily
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Two easy to use apps that you can use to help make money doing things that you already do.
It's that time again! Next week starts the next semester of grad school. Last semester I enrolled in 2 classes completely unaware that I would become pregnant at the start of the semester. It was rough. Having a packed schedule during the first trimester of pregnancy is not easy. This semester I decided to enroll in 2 more classes. Yup, I'm doing it again. Time to see what school, work and everything else is like in the 3rd trimester. My goal for these next few months: finding the balance.
This semester, my last day of classes is also my scheduled due date. It is literally d-day, lol. I informed both of my professors of this situation at the time of my enrollment last October. They promised that arrangements would be made so that I would be able to complete the semester regardless of when the princess arrives. Hopefully, that doesn't mean taking a final 2 days after delivery but I expect that the accommodations will be far more reasonable than that. Luckily, I have prior experience with both of these professors.
So on my plate for the next few months prior to my due date May 6, we have a few things. Obviously, keep growing baby Hailey keeping her and myself happy and healthy. Then there's grad school where we would like to continue with A's and B's. Next my hip hop class: I would like to have their dance completely taught by the time the baby comes. They will have to have a sub the following few weeks and then the recital is in June so I want them to be able to be fully prepared before hand. I am also set to choreograph a college production of Anything Goes in the next few weeks. This is a big tap show, which I love, but I'm not sure how many actual tappers I'm getting. So, we'll have to play that by ear.
On top of those things, there is continuing work on my non-profit, whose growth is slow but steady. We are continuing to sell our calendars and will be bringing them to a few events. We are also in contact with several dance schools to see if they can be sold at the studios. If you are interested in a calendar or know someone who would love one, you can check them out here: www.ihopeyoudancecalendar.com. 100% of the profits go to support youth dance.
Then of course, there is maintaining this blog, helping T with his YouTube video project and work.
The best way to find balance amidst all of these obligations is to first list them all out for a specified time frame. My time frame is the next approximately 4 months. If you can, estimate the amount of time each item will take from your week. For example, teaching my hip hop class is 1 hour and coming up with that week's choreography is about 20 minutes. So that's an hour and 20 minutes I put into my schedule. Now on those days, teaching dance class is my workout, so that frees me up to do something different in the morning. Therefore, I might schedule uploading T's videos on Friday mornings, since that's the day I teach. I might then schedule 2 hours on the weekend where I will work on my non profit. I also schedule 1.5-2 hours each evening for school work after T goes to bed. Once you schedule all of your obligations, the coming months seem less daunting. You won't have to wonder how you will find the time because you already scheduled it. This simple process can reduce stress immensely.
When things come up, as they often will, you can adjust your schedule, but its good to have a plan. It's also good to have your tasks prioritized. For example, if work gets super hectic, I may only be able to blog once that week. Sorry guys, but clearly keeping my job is the priority!! Lastly, schedule in some breaks and some family time. Nothing recharges your battery better than some quality break time! It will also make you more efficient in doing what you have to do.
So, sit down, schedule your obligations and go get em tiger!!
Cheers!
Emily
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Tips to increase your energy and organization to get through a busy day.
It can be hard to balance kids and work, when you are working from home. Here are some tips that can help.
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OK. So based on the title of this blog, clearly we're busy. We're parents and workers and family members and we have our own interests to pursue. We have bills to pay, houses to clean, food to make, and a laundry list of other things that we need to do in order to keep of family organized and running smoothly. All these things however, cut into the most important time we have, family time.
As I see it, we have 2 options here: do some of these things as a family, or let some of them slide. Only some. Admittedly, there are certain things that we can't let slide and aren't appropriate family time activities. Like paying bills. I have yet to find a useful way to include my toddler in that and it is definitely not something we can let slide. But a lot of our other tasks can be made into family activities.
Laundry, for example. In our house the break down is my husband loads the washer and dryer and T and do the folding and putting away. I always let T help me. Sometimes its actually helpful and sometimes its not, but we have fun either way. When I fold my husband's and T's t-shirts, T's job is to identify the characters on the shirts. Sometimes he wears special laundry time attire for this job, i.e. one of my husbands shirts. Another T job is to sort out all the socks so that we can match them and roll them up. He thinks its a game. He gets to work on his matching skills and we get to have fun together, AND the laundry gets done! Win-Win-Win!!
Another family time activity can be putting toys away. T and I play different games depending on what we have to clean up. Sometimes we have races to see who can clean up the fastest. Sometimes we put all the toys of a certain color away first and then move on to a new color. Sometimes we let some toys help us put away other toys. For example, recently Sulley assisted us in putting away our puzzles when were done playing with them.
A few other family chores include setting the table and dusting. T is excellent at bringing dishes and utensils from the kitchen to the dining room table. He also loves to dust. If he sees you with a dusting cloth, we demands a wipe so he can clean as well. We like to have dusting races and see who can clean their half of the table first. We also test each other to see if we can remember how to put things back the way they were. As long as its a game, it doesn't feel like doing chores!
Some things that slide: sweeping under furniture, sometimes the dishes, a full cleaning of the bathroom, definitely cleaning above windows and light fixtures. The thing is, I am OK with that. My house doesn't need to look like a museum, we live there and it should look like it. I would rather sit on the floor and play Legos than make sure my sink is constantly empty. Being busy means you have to prioritize, and for me, my priority is having fun with my toddler before he's not a toddler anymore.
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Tips to increase your energy and organization to get through a busy day.
It can be hard to balance kids and work, when you are working from home. Here are some tips that can help.
Check out this collection of tasks to help you stay on top of your home and your work.
Tips for getting the important stuff done when the kids are around all day every day!
It can be hard to manage life as a busy mom and it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Check out these ideas to make better use of your time.
Check out my favorite solution for clearing up your inbox and avoiding all those email notifications!
Here are 5 ways you can save time during the holidays and still get stuff done. It's all about prioritizing what needs to get done by you versus what just needs to get done.
Find out why 90 days is the best time frame for achieving goals and why you need a 90 day planner.
Creating a weekly schedule involves putting in time up front, but it saves you so much time in the long run.
Check out the simple process to make and effective schedule that you can actually stick to. Includes daily schedule examples.
One of the best ways we have to keep our family organized and on schedule is to have a family calendar posted in a central location in the house. T and I created one over a year ago and it has been serving our family ever since. Ours is made of chalkboard stickers and it is posted on our dining room wall. Each month we update it with all of our various schedules. Each person has a different colored chalk to represent their activities. For my husband, since his work schedule changes every week, we write what his work hours are. For me, I work a 9-5, so i just write in when I'm off. We also write in our extra-curricular activities, like when each of us have rehearsals or events. T has his own color for his activities like dance class or doctors appointments.
Everyone posts their activities, so that everyone else knows what is going on. That way things can be more easily planned and scheduled. If we want to plan a night out, we just look at the calendar. If we want to invite people over, we can easily see when everyone is free.
A calendar however, is only as good as how accurately it is maintained. Its's easy to start the month and put in your work schedule or days off, and the already planned events. Where the difficulty comes in is when things come up during the month, especially when you schedule things when you are not home. Here are 2 things I do:
Use a family calendar app like Cozi, this way when one person adds something to the calendar, everyone can see it. It really helps prevent overlaps when everyone has a busy schedule or at least lets you know when both parents have plans and you are going to need a sitter. Whats great about Cozi is that if you are used to just adding events to your phone calendar, Cozi can automatically import those events to the shared calendar so you are not doing double work.
When you add something to your phone calendar while you are out of the house, set a separate reminder for yourself to add that event to the calendar when you get home. Often times we start the month organized but as we get busy, we forget to add things to the family calendar. Then when the day of an event arrives we are totally flustered. If you set up a future lunch date with a friend while you are out, add it to your calendar and also set a reminder on your phone for a time when you know you will be home to add it to the wall calendar. This ensures that your calendar is always accurate.
Now back to the wall calendar, I think a big bold calendar is best; especially one that is easily editable. While the paper calendars you buy at the store are great for knowing the date and having nice pictures, they are not so great for this purpose. As plans change, these calendars can get pretty messy. I recommend either a chalk board or a dry erase board calendar. These are not too expensive and they wipe clean, i.e. you can use the same calendar for years and years!
Here is a ready made chalk board calendar which you can get for about $20:Chalk Board Calendar
For our calendar, we just bought a roll of chalk board contact paper and cut it out to form our own calendar. You can find a role for just over $6 here : Chalk Board Sticker
As a final option, here is a link to a dry erase board calendar for about $10: Dry Erase Calendar
No matter which option you choose, the calendar is only as good as how well it is maintained.
Let me send you a whole list of tips to help you make more time for yourself and your goals! Plus you will get weekly emails with more tips and advice.
You have successfully joined our subscriber list.
Check out the simple process to make and effective schedule that you can actually stick to. Includes daily schedule examples.
As busy moms, we put pressure on ourselves to do it all. There is so much on our plate and not enough time to do it in. We have jobs to do, kids to nurture, husbands to support, houses to clean, not to mention meeting our own needs. Having the kids around constantly can make some of these tasks near impossible. The problem is, often times we don't have people we trust or the resources to pay for someone to watch our kids. I recently came across a new app that solves this problem in a really smart way. Komae to the rescue!