Blog post in honour of 123456 Twitter followers

June 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Blog post in honor of 123456 twitter followers

Recently there was major excitement in my brain that scaringly didn’t involve anything involving caffeine. It had to do with my obsession with stripes, prime colors and numbers neatly in order.

YES, I was approaching the moment of 123456 Twitter followers.


So rather than focus on other fleeting moments that will never happen again in my lifetime  ( FYI Thanksgiving will fall out on Chanuka for the only time in our lifetimes) I wanted to chat about why many of us like neat patterns and cool numbers.


So, why do we like our ducks in a row ?

I think it must have something to do with an innate love of predictability in our lives. Even if I can’t control the world around me, there is something very soothing about having the numbers around me align. Simple as that.


And here’s the irony, I got busy with life and missed the 123456 moment. It jumped to 123457 …. so perhaps there is beauty in that too. The real stability comes from within, the ‘ducks in a row’ syndrome might just be a reminder of that.


Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

My ‘aha’ moment … the simple way to delay emails.

May 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

‘Email is a mail delivering service, not a chat service ‘ @tferriss

Reading that quote really sent my inner productivity geek in a spin. I was guilty of sending emails, reading the immediate responses and getting sidetracked along the way.I have been working hard to batch email sending and email responding to 15 minutes twice a day, this chatting thing was a spanner in my productivity works. I had to hatch a plan to purposely delay some of those emails. So where better to ask life’s pressing questions to, than the Twitter universe ??


Thanks to Tracy and the clever chap over at bloggertricks.com I stumbled across Boomerang – the software that set me free. There is a freemium version which gives you 10 delayable emails a month or a paid version for $5 a month, seems fair enough.


It was uber easy to install and started working right away. I love it and will bless it daily when I hatch, match and dispatch my emails, allowing me to choose when the recipient receives the email ( I am thinking that 8.29am might be my first port of call). Give it a whirl and let me know what other strategically placed email tricks you picked up along the way.


Here is the youtube video explaining how it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KmsqYjB9j4


Here is the link to join which gives me ( and you) a free month

http://www.boomeranggmail.com/referral_download.html?ref=9m6cs


Here is Boomerang’s website without the referral piece ( don’t worry I am not techie enough to find out who did and who didn’t go the referral route)

http://www.boomeranggmail.com/

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

Just In Time for your Lunch Break :Poems by my niece Shira

May 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

My sister in law sent me these short poems my 11 yr old niece  Shira wrote. They whisper such compassion, sensitivity and hope that I wanted to share them.

 

Shoes just stand there in the window’s drab display

All I think of is that it was a dull day

The streets just do not glimmer

And the sun does not shimmer

If only this sad day could turn out okay

Flowers are beautifully growing

Most farmers are hastily mowing

Spring is today

Lets go and play

Oh how wonderful the day is going

 

When I grow up I probably want to be a great billionaire

Actually when I grow up I’d want to be a millionaire

I think I have made up my mind

I think I’ll be wealthy and kind

Or maybe I will go with being a nice,kind trillionaire

 

 

The dog next door with the big fluffy hat

Would never chase the blue and white cat

 

The smelly cheese was all green and moldy

But still I felt the need to look like my happy mouse Goldy

 

 

We all go through very hard times once in a while

But sometimes we just need to let out a cheerful smile

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

Delegate To Your Staff – Crockpot Winner : The Best 3 Ingredient Lentil Soup E-V-E-R !

May 6, 2013 By Leave a Comment

‘There are two kinds of people in the world, those that swear by crockpots and those that have no idea what the fuss is all about’. Kristin Von Ogtrop

 

For those of you still sitting in the second group of people, I understand that you don’t want to poison your family. I just want to tell you that you need to have some crock pot love in your life. This lentil soup is our family favorite and we make it at least twice a week.

 

If you try this 3 ingredient recipe that will take less than 45 seconds to prepare,  I guarantee  you will change sides.

 

Lentil Soup

Ingredients :

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce

1 14 oz of brown lentils ( if possible soak overnight in cold water)

salt

( optional : 1 cup of chopped celery, carrots, potatoes)

 

Directions :

Place lentils in 6qt crock pot, pour in the jar of  marinara sauce and any vegetables ( optional). Add 1 tsp salt and fill and refill the marinara jar 2 times until the water level is one inch from top of crock pot. Set it on low, it will be ready after 8 hours ( or set on high for 4 hours).

 

 

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

Delegate More Effectively to Your ‘Staff’ : Freezers 101

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Just because you haven’t got your own butler, doesn’t mean you don’t have anyone to delegate to.

 Think of your freezer for example, stop just using it for ice cream, ice cubes and frozen vegetables. Just because they aren’t human doesn’t mean they can’t be delegated to.

Your freezer is there waiting to to serve you by literally freezing your hard work in time. If you can’t see yourself becoming a freezer devotee right away,  that’s fine. Take small, bold steps that make your cooking schedule easier. A safe and strategic way is to cook double of any food item you cook on a regular basis to make your life easier. Wrap items well and label with a permanent marker well for easy retrieval.  Then, once you are starting to feel more confident, take a look at your daily cooking methods and see how using your freezer more effectively can shave time off your food preparation. Take a look at blogs written by clever Moms who are a few steps ahead of you, however, don’t get phased by the blogs you read about women who seem to cook once a year and the rest magically  plays itself out. Locate your own personal areas of stress and create the systems to set you free.

Whether you already use your freezer for food prep or are just waiting for a push to get started, try one of the following challenges.

Lightweight challenge: Saute 10 onions ahead of time, once they are cool, freeze in small bags. You now have saved the 15 minutes it takes to sauté half an onion and wash the chopping board and pan 20 times over (you do the math).

Extra credit : Over the summer, while they are out of school, experiment with freezing your children’s sandwiches, we freeze the lox sandwiches and add fresh cucumber in the morning. Cream cheese freezes well too. Stop rolling your eyeballs, it’s about saving precious sanity. If they are not the wiser, what do you think they would prefer – a frozen sandwich and a relaxed Mom or a fresh sandwich and a tense Mom ??


Medium-weight challenge: See what parts of your everyday food prep can be done ahead and frozen. For example, freeze fruit for smoothies in ziploc bags, ready to put into the blender. Commit to have 50% of  the items you need for a week of lunch and dinners in the fridge and freezer by Sunday night.


Heavyweight challenge: Commit to a segment of time each week to prepare two months of protein dishes in bulk. For some dishes, you will only need to clean and marinate, others may involve partial cooking, while others will involve cooking all the way. Pick up a book at your local bookstore or join an online forum. Use your freezer as your main source of “take out.” Defrost the dinner for the following night. If you are not a crock pot person, then consider making soup in bulk and freezing it. As your repertoire grows, consider freezing baked goods and bread, too.

There is always more to learn about freezing, so get started so you can create a freezing system that works well in your life.

Sneaky freezer tip : Soak, boil and blend a bag of lima beans / kale or anything else high in nutrients that your kids would never touch.  Freeze in the ice cube tray or in small bags. You will have enough for a month. Add one to the soups, sauces and brownies  you make. Your children will never know, just don’t brag too loud.

 

 

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No-one Wants to Sit Near You and Other Harsh Truths I Learnt When Travelling With Small Children

April 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

As an expat living in Miami, I have travelled back to UK  pretty much every summer for the past 15 years. Ten hours on an airplane  doesn’t seem that long when you think of those poor folks traveling for 24  to Australia, but trust me, 7 minutes into your flight when your 2 year old is screaming and your 6 year old has to go to the toilet NOW, 10 hours seems like a MIGHTY long time.


I have learnt a few truths along the way and want to enlighten you brave folks about to travel with children ….


Here are the 6  harsh truths that no-one else will tell you

 

 

1) No-one wants to sit near you.

This took me a while to get.

Let’s face it, those seated near you on the plane most likely don’t like flying and the best they had  expected  to do is read a good book, watch a fab film or snooze. All of these are 4000% more difficult with your little  guys positioned next to them. So yes, your daughter is adorable but all they are thinking when they see you sit next to them is ‘ there goes my sanity for this flight’.

 

 

2) Suit up, you are on duty

This is a regular work day, don’t even think you are going to snooze, watch a film or eat a meal. Going to the bathroom is your only luxury and chances are you will have a toddler with you at the time. You will work harder than the air stewardesses, except that they at least get an hour’s break and get to walk down the aisle without a child attached to their leg. I often considered asking them for a uniform as I felt it would be a helpful reminder to keep me on my toes.

 

 

3) Bribery Works

Quite frankly, keeping children in a small seat for long periods of time is almost as miraculous as the whole concept of flying itself. Most likely they will watch the TV for 7 minutes increments leaving you plenty of time to parent them. Create a bribery system ahead of time so they can be reminded why they want to behave so nicely. I have travelled with little incentive charts and stickers. Whatever brings me closer to sanity is welcome in my carry on.


4)  Plan ahead

There are 2 basic goals of travel  : the first is to get to your destination safely and the second is to not lose your mind along the way. If you want to remain sane while your children are basically in solitary confinement, like any good magician you will need some props. In my travels every child has their own small and light backpack with a coloring book / fun workbook, some crayons / markers, a sticker book and their own snack bag. I also pack any ipads we have. It’s all about keeping them glued to that chair, so don’t worry that they shouldn’t play on the ipad for hours on end Mom. If it keeps them content and quiet then it is a winner.


5) Pack smart

It can be tempting to bring everything on board with you ‘just in case’ . Been there, done that. It was a nightmare trying to carry everything and push the stroller and stay sane. The sad truth once I unpacked was that most of those items were left untouched.  Apply the 80/20 rule that you will only use 20% of the items you pack and just fly with those. Consider having one  bag with the items you know you will need and another ‘just in case’ bag with a change of clothes for you and the kids, extra diapers, spare pacifiers and anything else that could be a nightmare to be without.

 

 

6) Don’t think of it as a  chillaxing vacation

As you are landing and feel like the worst is over, don’t fool yourself into thinking that now the vacation begins. Travel with children is not a relaxing break, you are bonding and traveling with your children and it is bonding and admirable, but it is essentially doing the same thing you always do, just in another location. When you get home and your inlaws offer to have the children for a few days, run for the hills and take a few days to sleep, relax and be free, THAT is a vacation.



Thankfully now, my youngest is 4 and thanks to the wonderful parent friendly invention called ‘ sleep away’ camp I am ‘only’ travellng with 3 this summer. After all those harrowing experiences you wont find me chillaxing and reading my favourite book, you will most likely find me rocking some overwhelmed Mom’s baby to sleep …. In the mean time, my wish is for safe and sane travels to you all. And don’t forget  to pack the jumbo pack of chocolate for Mom.

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

My Time Saving Tips for Parents of Special Needs Kids

April 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Time Saving Tips for Parents of Special Needs Kids


If you, like me, have a special needs child, chances are you are spread pretty thin. Here are my tried and true 9 tips for leveraging your time and sanity to juggle the demands of a special needs Mommy lifestyle.

The irony of navigating the unchartered waters of the special needs world is that parents find themselves having to create their own road map for their children’s care. In the world of instant accessible information, we long for an app that will effortlessly guide us to the best therapists, IEPs and scholarships tailor made for our child.

While there are as yet, no known ways to create a magic wand, follow these essential steps to bring a semblance of normalcy to your world as you leverage your day to do more in less time.


1) See who is a few steps ahead.

Ask your children’s therapists or your child’s principal is they can connect you with a parent whose child is similar to yours, yet a few years older. Experience is a good teacher and they will undoubtedly share their hard earned wisdom with you.


2) Help those a few steps behind you.

It feels good to pay it forward, so ask a parent you see at therapy or at pick up if they would like to learn from your mistakes. You may think that everyone knows that Nordstrom sells different size shoes, but that nugget of information may be saving that Mom precious money and aggravation.


3) Join support groups

Your time and energy is spread thin, yet it is vital to take time to sharpen the saw. Online forums are a few clicks away for the most common and unique situations. Even logging in for a few minutes here and there will give you some hard earned emotional support and practical tips.


4) Google for scholarships

While googling your child’s symptoms may slowly turn you insane, googling for scholarships might help lighten the load. There are a variety of scholarships for tuition, dental care and summer camps and more.


5) Have your team talk to one another

Sometimes certain therapists and specialists are in opposite areas and even different time zones. By taking the time to enable specialists to talk or email you are helping your child receive more of a united approach.


6) Make it easy to keep notes

Set up a system for you to keep notes easily. Whether it is a notepad, google documents or project management software such as basecamp. ( basecamphq.com) keep your notes in one place for easy reference and follow up. Write down any questions or concerns immediately for simple retrieval the next time you need it.


7) Be Kind to Yourself

Sometimes we turn the frustration of living with our ‘new normal’ into a quest for being the perfect special needs Mom. You will wear yourself out emotionally and get cranky when you can’t achieve perfect. Stop shooting for perfect and settle for very good or even good.


8) Nurture ‘Team Mom’

Take care of yourself as best you can. Eat well, rest well and spoil yourself once in a while, and yes, that means getting the pedicure with extra parafin or whatever makes you feel pampered.


9) Don’t forget your marriage

Many times we wear our title of ‘ special needs Mom’ 24/7 and forget we wore the title of ‘wife’ first. Create healthy pockets of emotional intimacy with your spouse.

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

NetGalley Reviews ‘Frazzled to Focused’.

April 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

 

This review is from: From Frazzled to Focused: The Ultimate Guide for Moms Who Want to Reclaim Their Time, Their Sanity and Their Lives (Paperback)

The author of this book is a mother of seven (!) children who has developed a number of systems to help her live a more organized life. She has a chatty writing style that oozes warmth, humor and encouragement. As she explains, the book was written with “the overwhelmed, stretched-too-thin, sleep-deprived mom in mind”. It’s packed with heaps of tips and systems and it’s difficult to imagine a family who wouldn’t find something of value here. It’s also short and very easy to read.

Essentially, there are two parts to her process. The first is to clear out the clutter and make each room work for you. Rivka talks about the 80/20 rule as a guiding principle for knowing what to keep and/or keep easily accessible: 80% of the time you probably wear the same 20% of your wardrobe, your kids play with 20% of their toys etc. She then goes through the house room by room and talks about how to organize it better. You’ll probably have read some of her tips before, but there are some new ideas and it’s all written in a very inspiring way. She deals with real situations, like the family who won’t put things away or the tiny second bathroom with zero storage space or even space to add storage space. She talks about using restaurant kitchens as inspiration for organizing home kitchens, how to always be prepared for gift occasions and how to keep on top of the laundry.

The second part of the process is to put systems in place to save you time and keep the household running smoothly. Her mantra is “Systems don’t make you boring, they make you smart!”. For example, she is a great believer in meal plans. These can be as simple as literally having the same meal plan for every Monday-Friday, or as loose as “Mondays are chicken, Tuesdays are meat”. Whatever works for you. It saves you time in shopping and meal preparation.

I really liked this book, particularly because of the upbeat and accessible way in which it’s written. You can tell that she’s been there and roadtested what actually works and what doesn’t. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to clean out the second bathroom.

 

4.0 out of 5 stars Systems don’t make you boring, they make you smart, April 6, 2013

Review copy supplied by NetGalley

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

April 9th = Official Launch of ‘From Frazzled to Focused’ !!!

April 8, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Dear Friend,

I assume like me, you would rather be cool, calm, collected and focused rather than disheveled, disorganized, and frazzled. Am I right?

Then you’ll love your new life after reading the book “Frazzled to Focused.”

Cover Image

If you are anything like I was, with all your various commitments at home, work and community, you are probably pretty frazzled. Not enough time to spend with family, too much stress and not enough time to STEP BACK AND RELAX.

I got my time management groove back and wrote the book on productivity for Moms that I wished I would have had when I was a new Mom.

Intrigued? Here is a 30 page free excerpt.

On Tuesday April 9th we are trying to get as many interested friends and family to buy it on Amazon to help boost Frazzled to Focused‘s ranking. Please help and buy your copy then – I have already received feedback from readers on Amazon, Twitter or on my blog that this book has already changed their lives. I guarantee you wont be disappointed.

1) Please mark your calendars now for Tuesday April 9th!

2) Please forward this to your friends and/or on your preferred social networks
Facebook   Twitter

Action Step #1 Action Step #2

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos

‘From Frazzled to Focused Segment’ on @NBC – Really Now Who’s The FTF Queen ???

March 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

As most of you know by now, I launched my booked ‘From Frazzled to Focused’  two fine weeks ago.

Writing the book itself changed my life, and I am starting to hear how it is changing other people’s lives too. ( insert *blush*).

 

The response has been overwhelmingly positive and I treasure my reviews on Amazon like I do the pretty flowers on my  front porch. Awww.

Anyway, I had a mini bewildering moment last week, when someone emailed me that NBC was running a week long segment entitled ‘ From Frazzled to Focused’ …. ahem … for Moms dealing with their time management challenges. Ahem.

When I got an email reply from one of the contributors they assured me that their choice of title was just a coincidence. I used to be really naive and would have believed that a decade ago … but now that I am old and wise I don’t think so. Unless you want to tell me that someone having the same name and phone number is a coincidence too. Unlikely my dears.

So clearly, I can’t take on NBC, I am just little me and they are the big guys.

However, what I would like to do is reclaim my throne as queen of ‘ Frazzled to Focused’.

 Firstly I wanted to add a few nuggets to their ‘Frazzled to Focused’  segment on ‘Unfrazzled households’. They had some pretty good nuggets of their own – including taking time to create systems, sticking to them and taking the time to take care of Mom. I would add the following ( based on my advice in the book)

1) Focus on Dad. Systemize date night with Dad. If you want your children to feel secure go ahead and invest in your relationship with their father. Marriages don’t stay healthy and strong without your input. If their father is now your ex or soon to be ex, don’t bad mouth him in front of the kids, thats what best friends are for.

2) Make time for play. Don’t take everything so seriously and make time for fun sometimes. Ice cream can be dinner once in a while and once in a while taking the children to Target to buy random gifts because you love them will make everyone sleep better that night.

3) Stop shooting for perfect. Unless we are changing the brakes on our car or packing our parachutes you really can shoot for good enough.

4) Learn the basics of time management If you wanted to save lots of money I would hope you would become Suze Orman’s stalker or at least buy her books and get familiar with her most popular nuggets. Once you become a Mom all your previous time management tricks arent going to get you where you need to go. Wishful thinking isn’t going to get the socks paired up or dinner while you are sleep deprived and /or hormonal. Get resources. Ask those who have ‘been there and done that’, embrace the learning curve and cling onto it for dear life.

Secondly I would like to ask my ‘From Frazzled to Focused’ folks to help me dust myself off and reclaim my seat on the ‘Frazzled to Focused’ throne by you hopping over to Amazon and buying the book. This team effort will be able to be monitored via Amazon rank and I will be so so very grateful. I would very much hope that you will get your money back many times over by the tricks I teach based on my 20 years of experience. It really and truly is the book I would have loved to have had when I was a new mother.  Here is a 30 page free excerpt to give you an idea if my style works for you .

I will post my updated Amazon ranking on Tuesday 9pm

With my heartfelt wish that all of us become less frazzled and more focused ….. and just a little more relaxed, calmer and kinder along the way.

 

Rivka

 

Filed Under: Foolproof Guide to Organizing Digital Photos
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