Category: Career

How To Plan Your Day Using Trello

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Plan Your Day Using Trello

How do you plan your day? Do you use a paper planner, Google calendar, or something else?  What if you have several different projects and tasks that need to get done before moving on to the next?

I’m a planner junkie and have tried just about every brand of paper planner, every app and every sort of to do list that you can think of.  I’m a big fan of Google Calendar to organize appointments and reminders, but it doesn’t work so great on tasks that are involved in a bigger project.

That’s where Trello comes in.

I use Trello to plan out my week in tasks, if that makes sense.  Trello helps me break down a big project or goal into smaller actionable steps.  Then in turn those steps are planned for specific days to make sure they get done.

In today’s video, I’m sharing how you can plan your day using Trello.  You can watch online or down below:

If you’re new to Trello, check out my post on how I stay organized using Trello. It’s a wealth of information on how I stay on top of every project and every part of my life – from career, business owner, mom, wife, home manager, and so much more.

Here’s a quick recap from today’s video:

Create a new board title “This Week”

In the board you will create a separate list for each day of the week and an eighth list titled “Sort For The Week”.

Once that’s done enter in a new card for any recurring events. These can include weekly meetings, daily reminders, and so on.

Then create a Butler Bot (which I explained about in the video) to connect other boards and projects to the “Sort For The Week” list.

Now in your instructions for the bot, you can have any project or task that’s due in the next 5 days to either be moved or copied into the This Week board.  Once that happens then you can easily drag and drop your specific tasks to the day you need to work on them.

It’s easy-peasy.  Now you can stay on top of all those smaller tasks to help you reach your big goals.

Do you plan your day using Trello? Let me know in the comments!

 

How To Plan Your Month To Get More Done

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

how to plan your month to get more done, plan your month the right way

 

Happy July, friends!  The year is half over, can you believe it? I have no idea where 2018 is gone.  For that matter, I don’t know where the past two years have gone.  I look down at our little guy and can’t believe how big he is (and independent, and stubborn, and sweet).  It’s hard to imagine that this time two years ago I was a new mom who had no clue what she was doing.

Now fast forward two years and I’m a mom to a toddler who still has no clue what she’s doing!  But I think that’s just part of momhood.  Fake it until you make it.  As long as your kid is happy and healthy, then you’re doing a great job.  No time to be picture perfect and sweat all the small stuff.  You just have to roll with the punches and pick yourself back up after every mistake.

As we start a new month, it’s fun for me to spend a little bit of time planning out some fun activities to do.  Especially now that it’s finally summer around here.  We have lots of plans to visit the nearest petting zoo, swim most nights, and just be outside as much as possible.  I sat down to plan out our next month and thought, I should show you how I do it.

I’ve gotten a few questions about how to do it all as a mom – work, fun, cleaning, and all the small stuff in between.  So I figured now is a great time to show you how everything gets planned way in advance.  I’m not a fly-by-the-seat of your pants kind of Mommas.  I’m more of a plan it out, stick to a plan but make room for changes and extras.

That’s why we like to plan three months at a time when possible.  July is actually a new quarter for us, so we’ll be planning July, August, and September very soon (I might throw in a post on setting new goals, too)! But once a new month starts, it’s time to focus on that specific month.  Because let’s face it not every Mom plans their son’s second birthday party almost three months in advance (but thanks to having a son born on April 15th and I work in a tax office, I have to).

Planning for each month at a time is the perfect way to add in all of those school parties, birthday parties, and all the fun that comes up.  It all gives you a chance to build in productivity days and times to focus on what needs to get done.  For me that’s focusing on my business since I work full-time, but it also means times to deep clean our house, do outside yard work and so much more.

Here’s how to plan your month to get more done:

Pull Out Your Calendar

Whether you use a paper planner or Google calendar, get out and get it open.  If you’re like us and add things in as they come up or plan for several months at a time, now is a good time to make sure those events are still happening.  A lot of times, I’ll add in trips to visit friends or family, but something will come up and we are no longer going.  So spend a few minutes making sure what’s in your calendar is still happening.

Add New Events

Did your kiddos get invited to a birthday party or sleepover?  Make sure to add in any new events that you’ve recently been invited to or learned about. Right now school is out for the summer; however, you should be making a note to look through the school calendar for any upcoming events.  One of the biggest complaints I hear from friends with school-aged children is they never know when something is coming up.  They usually lose the school calendar from the beginning of the year and most of the notes that get sent home with their kiddos never make it to them.

Also, take this time to look through your community’s calendar and add any fun family activities or chamber events that you want to attend.  Our public library hosts so many events during the summer, so I always add those in as soon as their monthly calendar gets published.

Mark Any Due Dates

Make sure to write down any due dates that are coming up.  Even if a bill is on auto-pay, you should make a note of when it will be coming out of your account.  That way you can keep track of everything getting paid.

Write Down Pay Days

Make sure your have made a note on any pay days or checks that you should be receiving.  Perhaps you’re paid on the 15th and 30th of each month, well that makes it easy to remember.  However, if you get paid every two weeks then those dates shift and it’s important to know when they are coming up.

Schedule Money Dates, Date Nights, and Family Time

Most families’ schedules are crazy hectic.  So having time together can be hard to find.  Make sure you’re planning family nights, game nights and weekend trips with just the family.  They don’t have to be any crazy expensive outings, you can probably find some cheap or even free ones to do.

Also, you should be scheduling time with your spouse.  We like to have money dates every few weeks, but date nights are just as important.  It’s a time for J and I to just be together – no kid, no worrying about money, no housework that needs to get done.  It’s just time for us to be husband and wife.  It’s nice and much needed after a few weeks of running around like mad people.

Block Your Time

On days where you don’t have a lot of running around or kid activities, then block your time to get more done.  I use time blocking on days off work so I can focus on different projects for my business and for around the house.  Right now I work Monday through Thursday in the office.  Fridays become my business day.  It’s a day that I can work on my shop to add new templates, create new blog posts, batch record videos for the channel, and just spend time growing my business.  It’s amazing how productive you can be if you have uninterrupted time to get things done.  I block off time to clean the house and do one or two small projects around the house, too.

5 Ways To Generate Income Today

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

5 ways to generate income today

It’s summer, which means there are a lot of fun activities you could be doing with your kids.  I know this time of year is always hard for us because we want to go take day trips, go on weekend getaways and just have fun as a family.  But there is always a cost to involved.  Usually there is a ticket price, entry fee, travel expenses, or something else that makes it hard to afford.

Especially when you’re trying to work off a zero-based budget that doesn’t leave too much room for unplanned moments.  That’s why I love finding new ways to generate income today that we can use for all the summer fun we want to have.  

In today’s video, you can watch the 5 ways to generate income today with tips on how to get started.  You can watch online or down below:

For a quick recap, here are the 5 ways to produce more income right now:

Affiliate Marketing

If you have any sort of online presence then you need to be doing affiliate marketing.  It’s pretty simple to setup.  You can go to amazon to get signed up or find other programs online that offer deals with other retailers.  My biggest source is amazon for a few reasons – you can find just about anything on amazon and their affiliate program is super easy to use!

Once you find a product you love, then you can start promoting it.  I don’t promote any item or link any item unless I would recommend it to my best friend or family to use.  If I try something out and it’s so-so, then I move on and don’t link it.  But I link items I use on my blog, on my Youtube channel, on Instagram and even on my Facebook page.

It doesn’t generate a ton of income, but it’s something that is constantly growing.  If you’re not sure how to get your blog started, check out my post with the easiest tutorial ever!

Create something to sell

Think about what systems, check lists or talents you have or use.  Would someone else find those helpful?  Probably.  You can easily create an Etsy shop or a Squarespace site with items for sale.  Over in my shop I have a ton of spreadsheets, PDF downloads, tracking sheets, planners, and so on to help a family organize their money and their life.  These are templates my family uses and after sharing them with friends over and over, I decided I could probably open a small shop.  So I did.

I’m also so excited when I get a notification that someone has bought one of my templates.  It’s something so easy and so simple to do and if you’re willing to spend time marketing them on your blog, Facebook page, Instagram or Pinterest then you could start generating extra income.

Sell items you no longer use

How much junk do you have in your closets?  Be honest.  Probably a lot.  I recently found a 3 month onsie in my son’s drawer that had got tucked in the back… Our son is now 2 and there is no way he could fit into that onsie.  Give your closets, drawers, and plastic containers a deep clean.  You could probably sell a lot of clothes, decorations and other items that are just taking up space.  Sell those items on Facebook Swap Shops or Craigslist.  In our town we have a business that you can rent a basket from and any buyers are welcome to come between 9-6 Monday – Saturday to pick up their items.  They accept their payment, which means no chance of last second negotiations for a lower price and no meeting in random parking lots.

Work extra hours

Do you have a job that you could pick up an extra shift?  Try to pick up an extra shift once or twice a week to make some extra cash.  You could even offer to clean your office on the weekends to increase your income.  I know for awhile last year I was cleaning houses on the side every few weeks to make extra money.

Find a side job or freelance

There are plenty of work-from-home jobs on the market – appointment setters, teachers, and freelancers.  There is a site called UpWork that you can create an account, mark what you’re interested in doing then apply for side jobs.  Some jobs could take a few hours while others could take a few weeks – in the end you get paid.  It’s a nice way to add cash flow when you need it and you have the ability to work from home or during your free time.  In college I did this to bring in extra money – I helped write blog posts, created a booklet for new members for a gym in Australia and a other side projects.

In today’s video, I share more details on each way to generate more income and how you can get started. So make sure to check it out.

What I Use To Stay Organized – Introducing Trello

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

using trello to stay organized

Have you heard of Trello before?  If not, then you have to discover it!  Simply put, it’s an online project management platform that can seriously transform your life.  If you own a small business, manage a household, or have to keep track of anything then you really should be doing more than keeping a paper list.

Gasp!

I know, I know.  I can’t believe I just said that.  The queen of lists, planners and calendars just said you need more than a written list.  Don’t get me wrong, I still love my Mom Notebook with my entire heart.  But there was something missing.

Accountability.

I had an idea of when a project or task needed to get done, but there was no consistent system to staying on top of it.  I would come up with an idea, write it down in my notebook then create an appointment in my Google calendar, it seemed to be working. … until it didn’t.

I would change dates to get things done without updating everything in my calendar.  I couldn’t remember what project was what – it sounded like a great idea at the time, but 3 months later I had no idea what that description meant.

So I needed something more, something all encompassing.

Enter Trello.

You can customize it any way you want – you can have boards (projects) for every area of your life – I just about do!

In today’s video I’m going to share with you how I stay organized with Trello, how I use it to manage my business and my blog.  You can watch online or down below:

Here are my favorite boards to have:

This Week – a break down with every single day so I know what task needs to get done. I can assign due dates to projects that don’t need to be done this week, but I still need to be aware of them.  I also keep reoccurring tasks on each day to make sure they get done.

merelynne.com – This board is my editorial calendar – post ideas, video topics, where each post is in the production stage and to-do list for the blog.

MerelynneBudgets – my online shop that hosts all of my available offerings – budgets, print outs, planners, and more.  I create a running list of new ideas to work on and how I want to launch them into the world.

Personal Goals and Business Goals – where do I see myself in 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years.  But I also added a board with quarterly business goals to help keep me accountable.

Books I’m Reading – how many times are you told to check out this book, this article, or this site?  Too many to count, right? Now I just keep a running list of each title I am interested in reading.  I also make a note if my public library has the book or can get it, so that way I can rent it for free.

I can’t say enough good things about this platform.  It has transformed my business by allowing me to stay organized.  I have so many thoughts, ideas and squirrels running through my head that I need a place to jot them all down, organize them and add details to help me remember what it is I actually want to do.

Are you using Trello?  Let me know in the comments! 

How To Sound Confident

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

how to be confident and get more sales

Alright, I want to clear up one thing – I’m not teaching you how to fool people.  I’m hoping to help you build confidence in what you already know and how to present yourself to build trust with clients, customers and prospects.

You can watch How To Build Confidence online or down below:

Here’s a quick recap of the video:

Know The Basics

No reasonable person should expect you to be all knowing of everything at all times.  However, you should know the basics of what you’re selling, talking about, or providing advice on.  Doing some general research on a consistent basis or watching the news is a good place to start.

Don’t Give Specifics

If you don’t know the exact answer in the moment, then don’t give specifics.  It’s reasonable to explain to a customer that you will have to do more research and get back with them.  Most people would not be upset about waiting to make sure they’re getting the right answer.

Don’t Be Afraid To Say You Need More Research

People are different.  You never know what questions or answers you’ll be given.  In those situations letting the person know you will need to dig more or get more research isn’t a bad thing.  It’s actually enforce your level of expert because you’re not willing to give a wrong answer.

Don’t Be Afraid to Correct Yourself

If you do give a wrong answer or accidentally give an answer without all the facts, just own up to it.  Be honest with you customer and make the mistake right.  That’s respectable.

BONUS TIP

Watch the video for the biggest and best tip on how to sound confident with your customers.

How Organize Your Life Like A #MOMBOSS

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

how to be a mom boss, #momboss, mompreneur, business owner, meredith rines, merelynne

Do you need a little extra help getting everything done during your day?  Perhaps you’re a work from home Mom or a full-time employe and you or struggling to stay on top of it all.

I’ve been there.

I am a business owner, an employee in my family’s financial planning firm, a mom to an almost two year old, a wife and have a lot of other hats I wear.  So from time to time it can be hard to get all my work done in the little bit of time I have to do it in.

As a working mom and a business owner it’s important to be organized so that you can be the best #MOMBOSS possible. In today’s video I’m sharing some of my favorite tools that help me get more done in less time.

You can watch the #MOMBOSS video online or down below:

I am a huge fan of Google and think it can really be utilized to help you.  You can use it for you calendar and color code different parts of your life to make everything smoother.  You can also use time blocking, which helps you stay focused.

I also love having a paper planner, like The Happy Planner that helps you create prioritized to do lists.

Have you heard of Trello before? As a#MOMBOSS you should really check it out.  It helps you create workflows to create new content and new offerings, take care of client work and create deadlines to keep you on track.

Read more:

How to Track your Sinking Funds like a #MomBoss

Google Sheets as your check register

How to block your time

Your mom notebook

Apps that save us money and time

Need more help with your sinking funds?

I created an easy to use sinking funds spreadsheet to help you track all of your different sinking funds on one sheet.  This spreadsheet can be used month-after-month, for the entire year.  Long gone are the days of having to transfer numbers and lists from month-to-month.  You can learn more about it over in the shop.

 

 

How To Block Your Time To Get More Done

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

how to block your time, how to get more done, ways to be more efficient, productivity tips, meredith rines, merelynne

One of my biggest productivity secrets is all about how I schedule my time. As Moms our brains are working overdrive constantly. We may try to be focused on laundry, but our mind is thinking about an upcoming client meeting. Then as we’re sitting in the floor playing with our little one we’re thinking about the dishes in the sink and they’re driving us crazy.

That’s just what being a mom is all about – constantly thinking ahead and multitasking.  Nothing wrong with it, but it’s hard to be present with our spouse and with our children when we’re always thinking about what else needs to get done.

Besides my Mom notebook that contains every little thing I have running through my brain, I’ve discovered a great way to get more done and be more present with my family. 

Want in on the secret…?

You have to block your time.

Recently I started blocking time in my calendar and breaking my day into hour increments.  It is amazing and works wonders for me! 

You can watch the video online or down below:

Here’s how you block your time to get more done:

Instead of scheduling every single detail down to the minute, you dedicate a specific period of time to an area of your life.  Like house work, career, family time, me time, and so on.  Keep all of your to-do’s in a handy notebook so when you’re getting ready to focus on a specific time block you know what you need to do.  You may need to spend the first 5 minutes of each separate block prioritizing what’s most important, but once you have a game plan then you can get started.  Now you don’t have to jump from one area of your life to another, which means you can actually focus on the task at hand.  

When the period of time is over, I close down and move onto the next area.  It really helps my sanity.

Here’s how I block my time:

5:00 – 7:00 am is for getting ready, getting breakfast made and working on my blog.  I like to make sure I’m showered, dressed and ready for the day then I’ll spend any other free time (usually an hour) on making breakfast, checking emails and making sure any blog post is ready to go live.

7:00 – 8:00 am is for getting Dent up and dressed, feeding him breakfast then heading out the door to drop him off at the sitter.  Typically I get to work about 7:30 each morning, which gives me time to check my personal emails and make my to-do list for the day.

8:00 – 12:00 pm is for working. I focus my attention on my clients, appointments, preparing illustrations, and so on.  I try not to think about blog work or anything like that.  

12:00 – 1:00 pm is for filming any new content and then eating lunch.  I run home on my lunch hour to film a new video (or two) and then I reheat leftovers from the night before to eat before coming back to work.  Each morning (when I arrive to work at 7:30) I make my to-do list for the day.  In that list is what video I want to record and make sure my talking points are ready to go.  So when I get home I just have to sit down and hit record.

1:00 – 5:00 pm is for working again.  I finish up the day with any meetings, networking events, and so on.

5:00 – 7:30 pm is for family time, playing with Dent and following our evening routine.  As I’ve mentioned before we tend to eat dinner by 5:30 most nights and then we clean up the kitchen afterwards.  Once dishes are done then we sit down to play as a family.  Then it’s bedtime for Dent around 7:30.

7:30 – 9:30 pm is for straightening the house, doing laundry then relaxing with J on the couch, editing any videos, finishing blog posts and working on merelynne.com.

Tips For Packing For Your Next Work Trip

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

v\what to pack your next work trip, what to pack for work, conference packing, meredith rines, merelynne

What happens when you have to go out of town for work? Well if you’re like me, you probably put off packing until the last minute. You try to stuff everything into a small back just to arrive at your conference with wrinkled clothes. Well … that was the old me.

The new me is all about being prepared, looking my best and only bringing what I need.  And the best part?

I still pack last minute.

Yep, I sure do.  Want in on my secret?

It’s all about what to pack, how to stay organized and how not forget anything! You can create an easy packing system to help you manage just what you need to bring with you – no matter how long your conference is going to be, this one tip can help with a 2 day trip to a 2 week trip.

You can watch the video online or down below:

I love sharing new tips and tricks as I figure them out. This one is no different. I travel a lot for work, so I like to stay organized. I found that it helps by creating a list before I start packing. This list serves as a reminder of everything I need to bring and then when I get there, it’s a guide to remember what day I planned to wear what. It really saves time while I’m on the road and away from home.

I don’t know about you, but I tend to sleep so good when I’m in a hotel. I don’t know if it’s because it’s nice and dark, the temperature is (usually) easy to control and for work trips I typically have the place all to myself. I find myself sleeping in until the last possible second before jumping out of bed already running behind. By bringing a list of what outfit to wear, it really helps me to not feel rushed in the mornings.

You should try it!

Check out these other helpful posts:

How To Do It All As A Mom

What To Pack For Your Toddler On Your Next Trip

Tips For Traveling With A Toddler

What To Bring On A Road Trip With Your Baby

Where to Find Work Clothes on a Budget

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

Where to Find Work Clothes on a Budget, clothes on a budget, career clothes, budget work clothes, clothes for the office,

The other day my Dad and I were talking about office presentation.  He noticed that I had been trying harder to dress nicer while at work (thank you losing weight and feeling more confident!).  He started sharing with me how his view of dress has changed over the years.  Now don’t get me wrong my Dad still dresses super nice at work – suit, tie or sports coat every single day.  However, I remember when I was younger he was always to dressed to the top.  He never left the house without his suit, tie and matching jacket on.  Nowadays he’s a bit more relaxed with a sports coat (ha!).  

Not that losing weight is the key to feeling confident, but when you’re very self conscious losing just a little bit of weight makes a huge difference. 

Anyways…

I told him I was trying harder because I wanted to be taken more seriously.  I understood that as a young woman in the financial services field I needed to look like I can handle our clients’ needs.  And my Dad completely agreed.  He remembered when he was first starting out, he was younger and knew that first impressions meant a lot.  So though his season in the office has shifted, mine is just getting started.  

So here I am trying harder.  I want to dress with the confidence I have to handle our clients.  And it’s not easy when you wake up exhausted with a toddler that barely slept.  The last thing you want to do is iron your clothes, but that’s the one thing you need to be doing.  So I’ve been investing in better, high quality pieces to make getting ready more fun and easier.  

When I say investing… I mean buying great clothes at killer deals.  And I want to share my secrets with you.  Lately I’ve been trying to share with you my daily work outfits over on my Instagram Stories.  I try to stick to a pretty tight budget when it comes to clothes, which means I have to take excellent care of them so they last longer.

I started thinking there might be a lot of you who are in similar boats as me – you work in a professional office and need to dress to impress.  However, you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg to get good deals.  

Here are my favorite go-to places:

Kohls.

I love, love, love Kohl’s.  I get about 80% of my clothes here.  They are always having a sale or offer free shipping online.  So what I usually do is I head over to Ebates (you can join by using my referral link here) then connect to the Kohl’s website.  Ebates will automatically enter in any coupons they can find, but I still like to Google codes to make sure I’m getting the best deal.  I also try to time it right so that I qualify for Kohl’s Cash.  That way I can use the cash for other items I need later on or on some birthday gifts (to help with our gift budget) for family.  I typically ask for gift cards for Christmas and birthday so I can use those towards any new clothes.  

Target.

My next favorite place to score great deals is Target.  Again, I prefer to shop online so I am always using my Ebates (plus the closest Target is over an hour away!).  If you play your cards right you can time your visits to the store or online with their markdown schedule.  If I’m in an area to actually go in-store then I try to time it on Tuesdays either late morning or early afternoon.  That way staff has had a chance to start the markdowns and they will be scanning the new lower prices.  

I also purchase a lot of our diapers from Target (they have a similar subscribe & save feature like Amazon offers).  Our little guy seems to do better with the Up and Up brand diapers, so I try to buy those the majority of time.  Target will offer a deal where if you spend $50 or $75 in diapers then you get a gift card back.  So I time it to order a few cases of diapers (we go through once case a month) at at time when they go on sale to score a gift card.  Then I use that gift card to help buy any new clothes I need for work.

Walmart.

I know, I know… Walmart?  Yep!  It’s true.  I have found some great blouses and sweaters at Walmart.  I haven’t really been able to find any pants that fit me too well (my legs are super short!), but the blouses are great.  You can find a great top for a steal there.  Since we have a Super Center in town I typically do all of my shopping in-person, which makes it a lot easier.  I would recommend trying pieces on before checking out (or be okay with returning items).  Sometimes their sizing isn’t as accurate or consistent, but that doesn’t bother me too much.  

Keep Pieces Simple.

This isn’t really a store, but it’s a concept.  I love colors, but I’m not big on patterns.  So by sticking to solid colors -either bright, pastels, or dark then I can easily mix-and-match pieces together.  A pair of black pants goes with just about anything; however, a pair of patterned blue floral pants are harder to pair blouses with.  My big tip is just to keep your work pieces more simple so you can pair them with different items to give the illusion of a bigger wardrobe.

How To Balance Life When Your Have Kids and a Career

Posted on by Meredith Rines, MBA, CFP®

How To Balance Life, work life balance, mom balance, how to stay sane as a mom

I had been working on this post about how to balance life for a very long time.  I’ve had the idea scribbled in a notebook for months.  I’ve had a draft started, but not finished for weeks.  Yet here I am completely changing the whole premise of this topic.  

Let’s get real for a second – when you have kids there is no balance.  Sure you can feel like everything is rocking and rolling for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but it will come crashing down at some point.  I don’t mean to sound dramatic, but it does.

For instance, I started this post off (then deleted it) talking about how to find balance you need to be a planner.  You need to have a list of everything that needs to get done, be able to know when to delegate and when to say no, and you need help.  But that was before our little boy spent the better part of 3 hours nonstop crying last night.  No idea why.  He just did.

I’m tired.  I’m dragging and I sure know that today is going to be rough.

It’s 8 am and I’m already sipping on a Diet Mountain Dew (it’s my version of coffee).  This post was supposed to be finished last night so it could go live this morning, but that didn’t happen.  Because no matter how hard I try to plan, prepare and schedule my day – it doesn’t always play out like I hope.  So instead of finishing this post last night, I sat in complete darkness holding my crying boy in my arms until he fell asleep.

And there is no place I would have rather been.

Truth.

So maybe work life balance isn’t a fine balance act.  Maybe it’s having the ability to say no to some things so you can say yes to more important ones.

My son, my family and my well-being comes before anything else.  So on days like yesterday, I have to reschedule everything I had planned for the last 3 hours of my day, I have to go to bed later than I normally do and I have to wake up earlier than I thought was possible.

But to me balance isn’t doing it all and being perfect, it’s choosing what’s perfect for me.

I may not get it all done in the time frame I dreamed of and that’s okay.

You may not either and you have to be willing to accept it.  There are a few things you can do to help you not feel pressure to do things you HAVE to do when things you WANT to do come up.

  1. Plan your day.  I use Google calendar to plan out my family’s life.  Everything task, appointment, and reminder are scheduled in my calendar.
  2. Keep a running to-do list.  I am someone who will obsess over something until it’s done.  I have found that when I write a task or an idea down, then I can turn my brain off and focus on what I was supposed to be doing.
  3. Be okay with change.  Days don’t always go as planned and you have to be willing to accept it.  Let’s face it as Moms no two days are the same.  And if you think they can be, then just spend time with a toddler because they will correct your thought process in less than an hour.
  4. Build in buffers.  For me that means going to be later or getting up earlier (preferably not within a 12 hour period, but that’s mom life).  I also try to keep my lunch hour free to do other work.  I work full time so when my lunch break comes I usually run home to write posts, record videos or edit them.  This gives me some flexibility when my evenings or mornings don’t go as I hope. 
  5. Know your priorities.  Sometimes we get wrapped up in the hustle of life.  We get frustrated when we have to stop mid-thought to dig a toy out from under the couch just for your little one to do it all over again.  At those moments, just stop and remind yourself every day they are learning something new and one day they will be able to reach for a toy under the couch themselves and that day will be hard.  You may not realize it at the time, but it will be.  When our little one could finally hold his own bottle, I was happy until the day came that I wanted to rock him to sleep for nap time and he didn’t need me to any longer.  He could hold his own bottle and lay down on his own.

I may not be perfect with work life balance, but I don’t think anyone can be perfect when they’re a mom.  No matter if you’re a mom who works away from home, works from home or in between.  Any woman who mothers a child, runs a household and is making a difference will never have a perfect balance act.  And at the end of the day when you watch your little one sleep you realize that it’s okay because they are more perfect than you could ever imagine.