Q: I work from home, and with my kids home for the summer, I am having a hard time getting things done. What should I do?
A: Working from home brings a certain sense of freedom– you can set your own schedule, create your own office culture, and perhaps best of all, relish the joys of the world’s shortest commute.
What do you do when 30 minutes of free time falls in your lap? A client with two school aged kids shared this story the other day:
“Pat was grocery shopping, Max was at a playdate, Eliana was taking a nap. I suddenly found myself with a glorious window of time and I should have done something fun, but I had no idea what to do with myself.”
Exercise is often one of the first things to go when parents feel spread too thin. People say they don’t have time. Or that they are too tired. Or that they feel selfish taking time away from their kids. More often than not, though, moms and dads just don’t know how to fit exercise into a crammed schedule.
To fit in exercise, parents need to redefine what it means to work out.
My Slashie profile can look intimidating at first glance: Entrepreneur / Business Owner/Author/Speaker/Organizational Coach/Boss/Bae/Mom/Friend/Swimmer/Shower Singer. I’m used to wearing many hats and juggling numerous responsibilities with my clients, staff, family and friends. Though my to-do list is often lengthy, I enjoy the challenge and conquer my days by making every moment as productive as possible...
Over the holidays, I went to Puerto Rico to visit family for their annual Christmas Party. In the wake of Hurricane Maria, I didn’t know what to expect and arrived prepared for anything — from bringing fun, good energy to help my relatives take a break from the stress, to rolling up my sleeves and helping with the recovery.
In my early days as a professional organizer, my company was called Task Masters — with the tag line “we do life’s drudgery for you.” One year in mid-December, I got a call from a new prospect who wanted help preparing for the holidays. There were 2 weeks until Christmas, and she hadn’t had time to decorate her house, shop for gifts, wrap, send cards or prepare for Christmas dinner. We worked non-stop 8 hours per day for 8 days, and by December 24th everything was flawless and ready for its closeup
Several years ago Life Magazine conducted the Great American Weekend Study, and discovered that 47% of people wait until Thursday night or later to plan their weekends. I don’t even need to tell you what happens when we wait too long to plan — the weekend slips through our fingers and before we know it, it’s Sunday night, and we didn’t do anything fun or refreshing.
Many moons ago, I loved to cook. It was fun to experiment in the kitchen—to have a vision for something exotic (baklava) or even ordinary, like minestrone, and make it happen. But somewhere along the way, after having a child, and launching my business, cooking and all the prep involved with it became an exhausting chore.
