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Nicole

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

Please note: This post was sponsored by the Chrissy Weems Scholarship Fund.

 

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

Being a blogger is the most public of affairs. Except when it comes to behind the scenes things a blogger has to do to keep things running smoothly in their online business. And what better time than Spring to give your blog a fine tooth cleaning.

Blog admin and maintenance are never anyone’s favorite things to do. Including me. And I often use this as an excuse to let things pile up a bit before tackling them on my blog.

Each Spring when I’m in the zone, I can barrel through my to-do list and I’m always left wondering why I left things so long.

When I’m ready to get started decluttering my blog I start with a five-point checklist of essential admin and maintenance tasks  I do every so often to try and keep on top of things including:

Check my sites for broken links: When it comes to people revisiting older posts on your blog, broken links are the worst. Because having broken links on your blog can mean that Google ranks your blog lower than it would do otherwise and it discourages visitors from pinning your content.

To remedy this, I use a free broken link checker each Spring (and once a month on administrative days) to scan my blog for dead links.

Thankfully, they’re usually pretty easy to fix. As the checker gives me both the broken URL and allows me to amend the blog post quickly and to delete links from bloggers who aren’t blogging anymore or from companies no longer trading.

Perfect for finding older content which you might want to update this season.

Refresh old content: One of my favorite Springtime blog chores is to look through my stats page and see what posts people are frequently checking out. This allows me to refresh those pages, make sure all pictures are properly sized, amend any SEO errors using my Yoast plug-in, and to re-pin those posts online.

I then take this task a step further and schedule to tweet out these posts in 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after sprucing up these posts to my Trello calendar. This allows me to keep great content fresh and relevant to my readers for seasons to come.

Touch-up your sidebar: Each Spring I make a point of taking a fine tooth come to my blog’s sidebar. Paying close attention to verifying that all my social media buttons are current, social media badges are current, verify that all advertisements are still relevant to my current season sale drives, change the position of my Adsense ads, and give priority to ambassadorship images.

Update you’re About Me page: Each Spring I make a point of checking out my blog’s About Me Page. Making certain my contact information is accurate, my headshot represents my current look and style, and that my page is still relevant.

Categories: Seasonally I like to look at my blog’s categories and make sure that the majority of my frequently viewed posts don’t need redirected URLs and that posts are in the proper categories for popular topics on my blog. This applies to my blogs tags too!

I rethink my blog strategy: Each Spring, after dealing with the back end of my blog, I make a point of setting aside time to rework my blog’s vision. Taking time to examine my previous quarter’s blogging, media, and marketing strategy. Making notes and amendments as needed. I also make a point of studying the path of other successful women in my field.

Female entrepreneurs that make progressed beyond their blogs. Creatively branching their current endeavors into bigger and better business ventures over time.

This Spring I’ll be studying the business journey of Chrissy Weems, founder of Origami Owl, jewelry brand established by Chrissy and her daughter Bella Weems.

Weems is a wife, mother, and advocate for female-driven businesses. A graduate of Arizona State University, she utilized and leveraged her degree in Fine Arts to create a workable, profitable business that utilizes her business savvy and passion for creativity.

After finding success in local malls, Weems used her blog and business plan to create a social selling model in January of 2012. Expanding her brand into a line of customizable jewelry with glass lockets, miniature charms, and chains that can be personalized by the user according to his/her preferences.

This season I will be using the inspiring story of Chrissy Weems and her journey to becoming an entrepreneur to help galvanize my efforts to expand my blogging endeavors as well!

Take a course: Spring is the perfect time to sharpen up your blogging skills. For me, this usually means taking a blogging course or program. Sometimes these courses are uber niche. But generally, they are related to marketing and business strategies.

This was something I did even while as a full-time college student. I sought out courses and classes to help me create a better business strategy and to keep my academic hunger alive and well. This also included finding scholarship opportunities too!

Something that may also be able to you from well-known blogger courses too! Its all about finding new ways to rethink your business, your voice, and your overall blogging platform at home.

While there are lots of things you can do to spring clean your blog. These are just 7 things you could do to make a smart, prudent, and lasting difference to your site’s SEO, strategy, and beyond.

Steps that allow me to be a better steward of my business, minimal, yet exacting, in my online pursuits, and more intentional with the means I utilize to make a living for myself each season at home.

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

I hope these tips will help you in the season to come! Be sure to pin and save the above graphic for quick reference later on!

Now, friends, I want to ask. What are your suggestions to spring clean your blog? I’d love to hear about it below!

7 Ways to Spring Clean Your Blog This Season

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The Grass Is Always Greener – And Your Home Can Be, Too

The modern enlightened individual is keen on keeping their home as environmentally-friendly as possible – but that can be much harder than you might think. The truth is that you need to approach the topic from as many angles as you can if you really want to make it work as well as possible.

Most people are doing something or other to try and keep their home green – but all of us could do a little more. As it happens, some of the best practices you can take on board for this purpose are actually quite surprising, with some particularly good results to be seen – and fast.

In this article, we are going to look at some of these in detail, so that you can work on making your home as green as you have always hoped it would be.

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Installing Solar

If you have a little spare cash upfront, you might want to think about installing solar panels in your home somewhere. Long gone are the days when people thought you had to live in a sunny region for solar panels to be worthwhile. It goes without saying that they are more effective if you do, but you can still make good use of them and get plenty of energy out of them no matter where you live.

What’s more, although they might be a little costly up front, you will be able to make your money back usually within two years. And after that point, you will be able to start selling electricity back to the grid – even better! This is one of those fantastic examples where you are both helping yourself and helping the planet in one go. It’s definitely worth considering this option if you want to make your home greener.

Changing The Curtains

You might not think that something as seemingly simple as changing your curtains can be that effective in helping the environment – but you would be mistaken. As it happens, you can make a huge difference to how green your home is just by making sure to choose curtains which are a little more energy-efficient.

A good example of this lies in thermal curtains. Thermal curtains help you save power in your home, keep you warm when you need to be, and ensure that you are using much less energy on the whole. All of these help in the long run, and you will absolutely notice a difference to your energy bills as well.

Just something as simple as changing your curtains can have a profound effect on how green your home is – so it is definitely worth making these changes if you can.

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Living Mindfully

One of the biggest changes you can make is to change how you actually approach the way you live from a mindset point of view. This means that you can then gradually alter every other aspect of your life in the home, in such a way that you end up making some pretty big changes on the whole.

But working to change your mindset can be one of the most difficult things of all, and it is hardly surprising that most people don’t really know where to begin. If you find it hard to stick to an ecological way of looking at things, it can help to keep reminders around the home of why you are making those efforts.

You could print out data on the damage that humans are inflicting upon the environment, such as the amount of plastic produced per ear, and keep it in your fridge.

Whatever you can do to keep your mind straight will make a difference to how you behave, and over time these things will add up to make a huge difference to how much of an ecological impact you are making in your home. All in all, changing your mindset is the prerequisite for changing the world.

Limiting Water Consumption

It is a sad indictment of our times that we might be running out of a resource which you would think is practically limitless, but that’s exactly what is happening.

As a species, we are running out of viable freshwater sources making everything that we can do to help this is a good step forwards. As it happens, there is plenty we can do in the home to limit water consumption, and all of these efforts are bound to add up to make a considerable difference over time.

If you want to reduce your water consumption, you can do so by using water butts – these tanks, located in your garden, will collect water over time, and you will be able to use that water once purified in order to save water from the tap.

You might also be able to simply restrict the amount you use by, for example, being careful not to take long showers, or washing up manually instead of using a dishwasher. All of these things help, so make sure that you are doing as many of them as possible.

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Insulating The Home

One of the most vital things you should do is make sure that your home is properly insulated. If it is not, it might mean that you are using a lot more energy than is necessary and that in turn is not the best thing for when you are trying to reduce your ecological impact in the home.

There are many kinds of insulation you should look into, but the most important is on the roof and the walls. You can also make sure that you have double-glazed windows, and that any areas such as basements or cellars are also being looked at. Insulate your home right, and it can help you to save money at the same time as helping the planet – a win, win, win situation.

Take the above on board, and you will find that it helps you to massively reduce the amount that you are hurting the planet. This will feel good for you and your family, and it will mean that your home is more enjoyable to live in too.

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Why I’m a Roto-Rooter Ambassador

We’ve all been there. Whether you own or rent your home, I’m sure that you’ve dealt with plumbing problems, including those pesky clogged, gunky drains. As a homeowner, I’ve had to deal with my share of pipe problems. Costly and high inconvenient plumbing problems. Which is why I’m excited to announce that I’ve been chosen as a Roto-Rooter ambassador!

I am by no means any sort of plumbing expert, but I’m always on the hunt to find new ways to maintain my home’s plumbing, which is why I am excited about learning ways to take care of my home through this new ambassadorship.

While I’m sure you already know Roto-Rooter’s reputation for being the #1 company for their in-home plumbing services, however, did you also know that they offer a line of consumer products that you can use at home? This means that instead of calling someone out to the house, I can do some of the jobs myself. Including unclogging drains. 

While I’m simply a homeowner and not a professional, I still want products that I can depend on to provide the fastest performance while remaining safer for all of my home’s pipes and plumbing.

What’s truly awesome about the Roto -Rooter’s Clog Remover products is that they are able to clear clogs 50% faster than other national brands. As they are also formulated with a patented gel formula that penetrates deeply to the clog’s source. 

What’s even better? With all Roto-Rooter products, it works — or its free. You heard that right. Roto-Rooter is so confident in their products that they offer consumers a satisfaction guarantee on their entire line of consumer products.

Plus, if the clog persists and you need professional help, just give the bottle to a Roto-Rooter services technician and receive 10% off of your service call. How awesome is that? Be sure to visit rotorooter-products.com/our-guarantee.html for more details on Roto-Rooter’s consumer products satisfaction guarantee.

ML Roto Rooter BA Option 1 REV 21616 wo frame

And for these reasons and more, I am so excited to tell you that I have again partnered up this year with Roto-Rooter as an ambassador! So the next time you have a clog or need to maintain your septic tank, be sure to visit your favorite grocery and mass retailer to pick up Roto-Rooter products. Products that will have your plumbing in tip-top fast!

Over the course of the next year, I’m excited to introduce you to even more of the products and services Roto-Rooter has to offer as well as some at-home plumbing fixes. Stay tuned for next my next post in this series where I will share with you several easy at-home plumbing fixes that you can do for yourself! 

Now I want to ask, how do you currently deal with all your weekend warrior and DIY plumbing emergencies at home? I’d love to hear about them below! 

 

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February 2018 No-Spend Challenge Update

February No-Spend Challenge Update

It’s hard to believe that today marks the first day of March in my 2018 No-Spend Year! While this past month was very trying for me personally, financially is was a boon.

This past month I spent a total of $362.34 and saved our family $2,081.99.

What I spend on:

  • $246.98 in groceries (including tax) for the month
  • $35.00 on a new bookbag
  • $80.36 charge to have our gas line and heating system serviced

How I saved:

  • $416.00 on requesting interlibrary loan books for all 12 of my reading club and Facebook group reading selections for the month of March
  • Used earned Amazon gift cards to purchase $175.00 in household goods for my ETSY and Art business. 
  • Earned $1,400.00 on sponsored blog posts in a 2-week span that was used to fund a personal savings account.
  • Groomed pets  at home which saved us $70.00
  • Reviewed a microphone filter product for my upcoming podcast saving me $20.99

I was very encouraged by my savings this past month. Especially with what I was able to put back from blogging.

Keep in mind, I’m only counting a third of what I earned. As those were the funds went directly towards our savings goals. With the remainder of the funds paying for yearly blogging fees and pre-paying the myriad of taxes we pay at home each year.

Anyone who has been a professional blogger for some time will know that quarter one drives are often slow, and I’m over the moon that blogging is starting to pick up for me this season!

How I’m not spending at home

You may also be curious to know what I personally do during a no-spend month at home? Luckily I find it easy to amuse myself without spending any money.

February No-Spend Challenge Update

Early Spring is generally a busy time of year for my family. As we are in the throws of Seaperch aquatic robotics competition season for my husband as well as preparing for regional science and history fairs and modern dance team finals for others.

February No-Spend Challenge Update

Spring has also found its way into my garden. With the sprouting of hyacinths and the blooming of magnolia trees and dogwoods, my time to start landscaping and gardening also begun.

I’ve spent a lot of time germinating seeds, weeding flower beds, pruning crepe myrtles, mending the trellises for our climbing roses, planning to build additional compost bins, and turning the last of fall’s leaves into mulch for the warmer months ahead.

There’s also been the cultivating and creating of new videos for my YouTube channel, including a new YouTube venture, The Lady Prefers Plants. I’m also still pre-recording and editing podcasts for my upcoming Spring podcast. As if that wasn’t enough, I’m working on not one but two ebooks set to be published later this coming season.

Additionally, I’ve been spending more time focuses on my personal health. Despite a few setbacks, I’ve lost an additional 16 pounds and have been making an intentional effort to utilize my at-home gym.

Needless to It has been a busy time at The Lady Prefers 2 Save, so I haven’t had time to worry about things to buy. With one exception.

Budget DIY

February No-Spend Challenge Update

We have finally started the process of repainting the interior of our home. We started with using the leftover paint we had on hand from several art projects. We then repurchased that same brand from our local hardware store. Our paint color of choice? A good, solid white! 

Speaking of hardware stores, our little bitty hometown recently opened a new mom and pops shop. In this shop, besides the usual and obvious, were trendy items like milk and chalk paint, an entire aisle of French-themed wallpaper selections, eCloth, Mrs. Meyers, Method, and an entire section of zero-waste all metal, stone, or wooden household, yard, and children’s items. Bestill my heart. And the kicker? The shop is within walking distance of our home. Shopping small has never felt so good! 

For the foreseeable future whenever the need to nest strikes, you already know where I’ll be. For which I’ve already started a slush fund to take care of. Thank you very much! 

There is also plenty going on at home that doesn’t cost anything. Including trips to the library, date-nights-in, listening to my husband’s immense vinyl collection, and taking long walks as a family by our local lake. All things that give me all the feels while costing none of the dimes. Perfect for this challenge!  

Meal Prepping and Planning

February’s food bills were pretty low. While we still can’t see the bottom of our deep freezers, which are often very full, we are grateful that food is getting used rather than hanging around going stale.

Obviously, we have also been purchasing food. Just not nearly as much as we would have several years ago. We purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, almond, soy, and coconut milk, and staples we go through often like lentils and pasta. Overall we are just trying to minimize our spending by using up what we have.

Meal prepping and meal planning have been a blessing for us this month. As I plan meals for the week and prep meals only twice a week, on Sunday and Wednesday afternoons. Then for the rest of the week, I either throw pre-packed meals into my Instapot or Crockpot for dinners, use jarred salads or pre-made spreads for lunch, and enjoy smoothies or tofu scrambles for breakfast. 

This saves me hours at home each week. As a family, we plan to continue this trend long after our no-spend season is over.

Where I’m not saving

One area of my life that needs some help is my personal self-care routine. Specifically my hair! I really need a haircut. Every day is a bad hair day at the moment. 

Because I didn’t want to spend much I have been putting this chore off. But in March I do have an appointment and have already set aside funds for this purpose.

I am also setting aside funds for purchasing new cruelty-free makeup because after becoming vegan my stash was decimated after purging any and all brands that weren’t cruelty-free, including 3rd party overseas, testing, fair tread, and came in post-recycled packaging.

And if you have any suggestions for affordable, low-plastic, cruelty-free makeup, skin, nail, or haircare products, let me know below!

Besides, it’s truly an investment. Proper skin acre in your 20’s and 30’s can save you on costly plastic surgery procedures in your 50’s and 60’s, am I right?

Overall, I want to feel better about myself each day and so I’m giving myself permission to bend the rules a little and indulge in these two areas this Spring. Afterall, I’m worth it. 

Lessons learned

Friends, those are the savings and situations that went down during the second month of our 2018 No-Spend Year Challenge. A month full of both great lessons, both learned and garnered, on living a more savvy savings season at home.

There are so many ways to save money that are worth trying. Maybe they will work for your family and maybe they won’t – but you never know until you try!

This past month of not spending reminded me that the little things do add up. With my biggest lesson being: When you want your savings to start adding up quickly, stay home and eat from the pantry! Solid sage advice! 

For those who are thinking of starting a no-spend challenge this month or for anyone interested in learning more about a no spend challenge, check out my past no-spend challenge series.

And if you participated in our no-spend, or your own frugal February, be sure to leave your comments about what you learned! If you didn’t participate, I’d still love to hear how and where you saved the most this month! Share your stories below!

 

February No-Spend Challenge Update

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Save on TENA at Walmart

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ChooseTENAOvernight #CollectiveBias

 

Do you suffer from adult incontinence or care for a loved one that does? TENA® knows that one Unexpected Leak is one too many. Stocking up on their overnight products from Walmart, will give you peace of mind to sleep through the night, or know the one you care for is covered.

On March 4th there will be a coupon in the paper where you can get $5 Off Any One (1) TENA® Overnight Underwear Product. The offer expires 3/18/2018 and can only be redeemed in-store at Walmart.

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Time Running Short But You’re Still A Shopaholic? There Are Ways Around This

If you are already reading this, chances are that you are already pretty familiar with clothes shopping. After all, who doesn’t like a good shop crawl every now and again, spending all day walking from store to store with the occasional sit-down coffee break somewhere in town. It’s a feeling like no other, and it can really be one of the best things to do to unwind, both yourself, and your wallet.

A decent chunk of the time, the trip does not even need to be costly, you can buy one thing and walk around the rest of the day, but it’s that inherent feeling of satisfaction from walking around and checking on everything with the possibility of buying something.

Not everyone can relate to long shopping trips for clothes, but it would be rather safe to say that someone enjoys shopping of some sort in one way or another, whether it’s computer parts, aquarium equipment, checking out food places, or even trying to find some new furniture.

It’s all about that somewhat fulfilling feeling of knowing that you are out somewhere looking for something, with enough money in your pocket to buy whatever comes your way in case the occasion arises.

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Nowadays it seems like there is just less and less time in the day. With us not getting any younger, and time being fickle and fleeting as it tends to be, when you grow older you start to appreciate the time of day a bit more.

Realizing that your teenage days of walking around malls and clothes shops for the whole day once or twice a week are over, and you need to actually organize something when planning a day out.

Well, we’re here to speak about just that, and you can still get that satisfying feeling of going around shopping, without having to spend the whole day doing so.

After all, someone has to take care of all the other nagging responsibilities in life, but all work and no fun makes for a miserable experience, so without further ado, let’s get started.

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Shopping like in the good ole days, but a bit more streamlined

Rather than going to a random location somewhere in the city and doing the usual “We’ll see what we come across and probably stop at a few coffee shops and food places along the way”, you should try and be a bit more efficient with your trip.

Try to do some ever so minor planning before you start your day, it doesn’t have to be on paper, it doesn’t have to be on your phone, but at least try and get a mental map of your general trip, with a realistic time frame. Of course, you cannot make that time schedule too tight or constricting because then it won’t really feel like you’re out to enjoy yourself, but rather are running errands.

As there is a fine balance to strike here. Without overthinking this and making the trip out seem like more of a chore than anything, try to pick an area somewhat populated with shops rather than having to wander around from shop to shop, if you can’t find an area like that close by, maybe a mall could be a good substitute. Not to mention, it’s also warmer in the mall, which is a positive that is not to be overlooked.

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Shop the objectively more efficient way

It’s no secret that most people nowadays feel disabled if they don’t have their mobile or smartphone with them at all times, that most certainly includes trips to the toilet. People have grown so used to using their phones for so many things, from checking the time, to looking up information on ancient Greece or finding out where the nearest kebab stand is.

Times have most certainly changed and if you haven’t noticed yet, nearly all companies have acknowledged the massive potential in online shopping, meaning that just about 95% of all your favorite brands most probably have an online outlet of sorts.

Whether it’s just a catalog or a fully functional online store like Ruby Rd’s ladies apparel, there is most certainly not a lack of options when it comes to online shopping. If you need some more convincing on why you should shop online, here are a few tips to get you started:

  • Convenience is key, it might not have that same exact feeling as going around and exploring shops for a large part of the day, but the feeling of sitting cosily on the sofa while watching a movie with one eye and checking out some clothes online with the other is a great one in its own right.
  • This cuts out travelling costs from the whole ordeal, so if you just so happen to have to take an expensive train route to get to your shopping district of choice, then this is absolutely perfect for those times when you are on a tighter schedule.
  • This probably goes without saying, but you don’t exactly get tired when your trip consists of either sitting on your sofa or sipping a latte in a cafe and browsing on your phone. Let’s be honest, we’ve all experienced some regrettable leg pains from standing around all day just because of shopping.
  • This does not always apply, but it’s relatively common. Shopping online usually nets you better prices that if you were to go and buy things in the store.
  • No matter how great hanging around shops is the whole day, one thing that’s not great in any scenario is standing in overcrowded shops for longer than you would like to admit.

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Afterthought

Despite all these positives for the online argument, both serve their own purpose. Sometimes you just feel like going out and hanging about shopping til you drop, knowing that whatever you buy you will be able to take straight home and just be done with it.

When ordering online, things can always go wrong, the delivery might take much longer than you expected it, it might get lost or damaged in transit, you don’t get to try on whatever you are buying before it actually shows up at your doorstep. Fortunately for us, the two are not mutually exclusive, so rest easy, and make the best of both worlds.

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The Great Balancing Act

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In such a fast-paced world, balancing your time whilst also making enough money to survive can be a challenge; as can ensuring a plentiful supply of time with your family whilst simultaneously nurturing your career… let alone squeezing in the “me time” necessary to keep you sane.  

Without a doubt, life can feel like a balancing act where we are trying to squeeze the most out of our two most precious resources – time and money.

Time is an often overlooked and under-appreciated gift. We are all blessed with 24 hours each day, yet many of these hours are spent doing things that truly don’t matter to you or create value to your life; as an example, being sat in traffic each day.

Life is short and unpredictable, and of course, there are necessary things that none of us enjoy which need to be taken care of, but sometimes we live our lives as if tomorrow is somehow guaranteed and forget to squeeze the most out of life.

Indeed, whilst we all know we have a finite amount of time here – it’s not usually until something shakes us up, like the death of a close friend or a terminal diagnosis that we truly appreciate the value of time.  Consider, for example, the film “The Bucket List” where two guys are diagnosed with cancer and decide from that point in to use their remaining time to fully experience life.

Today, new mom’s for example, are having to work such long hours they end up missing out on the joy of parenting; either they’re too emotionally exhausted from having to balance their career with being a mother, or they are so time-starved they barely get the chance to spend time with their family.

Similarly, with single career-focused women, their career can become their life… and with so many distractions now vying for our attention, in today’s world we need to look at ways to have more free time freedom so that we can engage in the important things in life; rather than living in a perpetual state of reaction where we are just trying to keep balance.

As women, we are often guilty of playing the role of “caretaker” too well, in that we take care of everyone else first and leave ourselves to last, but it’s worth thinking about the safety announcement you hear when flying; how you should always attend to your own oxygen mask before helping others.  

In a similar vein, it’s important to remember that life is for you… as well as your family and your career… it’s important to set time aside for yourself too and really connect with yourself.

We’ve established that time is an incredibly valuable resource so let’s now take a look at some time-saving tips to help you focus on what matters most:

  1. ORDER GROCERIES ONLINE

Think of how much time you could save if you were to simply order your groceries online and have them delivered to your door.  The drive to the store, the time in the store, packing bags, driving back, unpackaging bags, not to mention the potential for traffic.  Setting essential items to repeat on a weekly or monthly basis is a great way to keep on top of things without having to exert much mental energy.

  1. GET A CLEANER

It’s true that not everyone can afford a cleaner, but this can be such a time (and sanity) saver, particularly for busy moms.  In the alternative, you can always turn cleaning into a fun game where the kids get involved with cleaning as playtime activity; or set yourself a timer and see how much you can get done in just thirty minutes making cleaning a slightly more engaging and manageable task.

  1. WORK REMOTELY

If possible, see if you can work remotely, from home, in a way that enables you to work flexible hours; this way, your time is your own.  Similarly, if you study, nowadays you can study most courses online without needing to attend a physical class – as an example, you can even study online rn bsn degrees.  This not only saves time but also money, as online courses are often cheaper due to the reduced overheads… plus you don’t need to travel to the course or get overnight accommodation, which in addition to cost savings, means more quality time with your family.

  1. ORGANISE YOUR TIME

The convenience of online working and online studying means you have much more time to enjoy your life, and for that matter build a life.  We spend far too much time living in reaction to work – trying to fit our lives in, yet it doesn’t have to be that way; the amount of time you can save by having a good planning system in place is phenomenal… a lot of “time management” comes down to first planning your tasks so that you can keep on top of things with ease.

  1.  WORK WHEN YOU WORK

Brian Tracy, a pre-eminent time management expert advocates the idea that you work when you work and rest when your rest; meaning if you are sitting down to work – ensure you have a singular laser-like focus on the task at hand in a distraction-free environment.  Today, particularly when working from home, people multitask by working with their laptop on their lap whilst having the TV on in the background or even dropping in and out of a conversation with their spouse.  

By fully working when you work, you can reduce the amount of time you are needing to work – and you’ll get the added benefit of being able to fully rest when you rest.

  1.  THE PARETO PRINCIPLE

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule suggests 20% of our activities account for 80% of the outcome.  In simple terms, you want to focus on what tasks are going to have the greatest impact and get these done first.  Often, we can get lost in the small tasks that create a lot of “busyness” in our lives and detract from the time we need to manage our “business” – be that in a commercial or personal context.  

The best way to determine what your most valuable tasks are is to write out a list of all your tasks for the day, week, or month and then determine which tasks are going to create the greatest impact; then make sure you focused on these tasks above all else.  This time management principle is the cornerstone of almost all books on the subject and is just as applicable to busy mom’s as it is to busy executives.

Friends, those are my tips for managing The Great Balancing Act at home and in life. Share your story below. What are your best tips for managing it all at home? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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