Member Lifesavers

I am the kind of a person who would pre-plan crazily and try to go by it as much as possible.I tend to get irritated and disturbed if things dont fall the way I intend to and strangely my life has somehow supported them:) Right through my pregnancy,I had been planning on how to switch between baby and work all at the same time.. Barely 2 weeks after my child was born,I logged onto my laptop and started keeping myself updated with what's happening at work.I even started doing a couple of reports and attending a few conference calls when the baby would sleep to swing into the work mood assuming life would be easier when I actually resumed work.Initially it was really tough but gradually I could manage it(my long stay at my parents' place really helped here) When I joined back work after 3 months,I could really sense a bit of relief when my pre-planning worked out to a large extent. Things to keep handy that could help: 1.A diary to note down plans.I usually attach a time to each task..For e.g. Getting up - 8:30 AM,Feeding and taking bath - 8:30-9:00 AM,etc. and try to stick to it. 2.Invest in a multi-rack stand for keeping baby clothes(tshirts,pants,cloth diapers,etc) to pick up things fast. 3.Multi-tasking is the key(A word of caution : Dont try to be a superwoman:) 4.Get a domestic help/cook (Cooking and cleaning take up a huge chunk of time that could be utilised to attend to your baby. 5.Try and convince your boss to agree on work from home for sometime.This will ensure some good quality bonding time with your baby in the initial few months. 6.Look out for a quality day care centre in the proximity of your office so that you can attend to the baby whenever required.. 7.Stay in touch with your day care caregiver over phone regularly.Volunteer to help if time permits like partnering to take care of other children in the day care at times. 8.In case the baby is sick,split the day and responsibilities with your husband,work from home if possible,get external help from family or relatives or save some leaves to take care of the baby yourself if nothing else works out. 9.Save the weekends to spend most of the time with your baby ,to unwind and relax 6..Try to keep an alternate plan if all your pre-planning fails (We are all human beings and can not predict the future)

Have you ever felt like someone just pressed the Fast-forward button on your day and before you know it its ten o'clock and time for bed, yet I feel like I accomplished nothing. I love to organize and with working Part Time outside of the home and FULL-TIME at home with my business, 2 children and my wonderful Husband, I really rely on a schedule and many time management tips to keep my sanity (ok, so some of you think I am already insane, I won’t argue with that) but at least I am organized. I found online scheduling software that i can sync with my husband, all of my employees across the country all on one calendar. It’s called CalendarCruncher.com, and I don’t know what I did before this online scheduler. This has worked for me to keep my chaos organized. What do you busy moms use or what other insights do you have?

Thankfully, no one is looking over my shoulder at work, so one of my me time squeezes is periodically checking facebook & now this site...for my daily dose of there is a life out there aside from work and being a mom.

Online shopping delivered to my office is a lifesaver. As long as I dont have to try it on, I can order handbags, facial products, or anything else online and it saves TONS of time.

I started using the disposable plastic food containers to store small toys (action figures, dinosaurs, etc). Not only does it keep all of the little stuff together but a pack of them is only about $2.50. These then get placed in the toy box and we have an organized toy box!