Timesaver Tuesday: Know When to Say "No"

Today's tip is short and sweet and oh so hard to do. But, it is most definitely a timesaver when you can put it into effect!

I am of the personality type that wants to please others, even if it makes me unhappy sometimes. I dont' like to make anyone upset, disappointed, or unhappy. I'm a people pleaser. I feel like, for the most part, this is probably a good thing, but sometimes I need to focus on me, my family, and our needs. On the one hand, I can get along with most anyone, can work well in a group, and tend to be one that you can depend on to help you out in a bind. Great, right? But, on the other hand, I have a hard time saying "no" when asked to help someone out, take on a new responsiblitiy, go somewhere with someone, etc., so I sometimes over extend myself to the point that everyone else is pleased, and I am stressed and over tired. Thus, the exact reason everyone should know when to say "no".

As working moms, we already do a lot by going out each day and doing our part to help support our families. Then we come home and take care of a little one, either by ourselves or with a spouse's help. I can attest that these things, in and of themelves, involve a lot of time, effort, and sometimes stress. Because of this, we need to learn to say "no" if we need to. For some, this is no problem, but, if you're like me, it is a learned process. I have learned to take time to think about a request before saying "yes" or "no". This allows me the opportunity to decide whether or not I truly have the time to fulfill the request. Previously, I would have said "yes" then later wondered, "what was I thinking??". To agree to something that you don't truly hae time for will cause you and your family extra, undeserved stress, and no one needs that. You owe it to yourself and your loved ones to do what you need to do for you when you need to. It doesn't make you a worse person to say "no" once in a while; your family will appreciate it! You'll be a much better wife, mommy, friend, etc. if you know your limits!

Timesaver Tuesday: Prepare Ahead Meals - Busy Mom's Cookbook

Today I want to share with you a website that has made meal times a little easier around our house, and has definitely saved us time. I would love to eventually try to do once a month cooking in order to save money and time throughout each week. But, I just can't get it together to cook for a whole afternoon or day! However, I did want to find something that was easy to prepare ahead of time (but didn't require cooking all afternoon!), freeze, and throw in a pan to cook when needed. In searching, I came across the Busy Mom's Cookbook blog. She has GREAT recipes for everyday use, but I also found some awesome Dump Chicken recipes. Twenty one recipes to be exact! The ingredients for the dump chicken recipes are designed to be dumped (hence, the name) into a ziploc bag, frozen, and cooked when your ready. We have tried several of the recipes and have found them to be quite tasty, and super easy! To fix 4 or 5 bags of chicken takes maybe 10 minutes. Our favorites are the Chili Maple Glazed chicken and Honey Sesame chicken. We usually bake them in the oven per the instructions from the site, but you can also use your crockpot or grill. This has saved us so much time in preparing meals each night, and also cleanup. One of these chicken dishes only dirties up whatever you cook it in. You don't have to get out any ingredients, mixing bowls, etc. We love 'em! We've even tried them with pork instead of chicken also! They're great, but if you are looking for something else, Busy Mom's Cookbook has TONS of other recipes designed with busy moms in mind. The dump chicken recipes are just one of the many, many blog posts on her site. I'd love to hear your tips for saving time in the kitchen!

Timesaver Tuesday: Feed Me First!

I'm not sure that today's tip is as much as time saver as it is a sanity saver. Over the last nearly 18 months, I have learned that dinner time is much easier if I feed EG first. This is especially true now that she is more active and hates to sit still longer than a few minutes at a time. What we started doing a few months ago is going ahead and getting EG her plate of food before we sit down to eat. That way, the focus is all on her and she can take as little or much time as she needs without aggravating hubby and I by getting up and down. If we haven't sat down to eat yet or are not in the middle of eating, we don't mind getting her down and cleaning her up early. We don't get to do this every night, but it's definitely nice for her to already be finished with dinner so that we can sit down and enjoy ours. While we eat, EG can either sit in her highchair and finish eating (if she hasn't already), sit in her highchair and draw or play with something, or play in the kitchen. This is, obviously, hard to do at restaurants, but at home it works great! Also, it's not something that I want to continue forever because I feel like (and research shows!) family meals are VERY important (even though she does stay with us through dinner...). It may not be a solution for everyone, but it works for us. In the end, I'm sure it saves time as well because we don't have to interrupt our dinner to put her down, clean her up, etc. Try it and see if it works for you!

Timesaver Tuesday: Bag it up!

Today's timesaving tip is one that I try very hard to implement, and saves so much time when I actually do it!

A great way to save time in the morning, before going out, when packing lunches, etc. is to go ahead and divide up snacks, fruit, etc. into single servings so that you can just grab and go when you are headed out the door. I know I always carry a snack with me for EG to munch on in the car, while we are waiting in line, or shopping at the grocery store. It's so much easier when I can look in the cabinet, grab a snack, and run rather than finding a bag (which we are probably out of...lol), getting the Cheerios down, pouring some out (while trying to hold EG and not spill them!), and then heading out the door. So the next time you buy that container of Beech-Nut Yogurt Nibbles (EG's favorite!) or some other favorite snack, go ahead and make some "ready to go" snack bags. It will save you a little time and sanity when you need it!

Timesaver Tuesday: When to Work

If you need to finish working on something (that truly can't wait until tomorrow), go ahead and stay a little bit after work to finish it rather than taking it home.

Every minute I am late after work makes me feel a little more guilty. Because of this I try to leave school as quickly as possible in the afternoons. Usually, this isn't a problem as long as I utilize my planning period appropriately. Lately, though, I have had a lot of paperwork to complete, and I have more than I can finish during planning. Although I feel guilty for staying late after work, I have found that the same task that takes 30 minutes after work will take twice as long (if not longer) if I take it home. Thus, it actually takes more time away from my family when I take work home. At home, EG always ends up fighting with the computer for my attention (who can blame her?) and I end up in a bad mood because I can't get finished. Also, it isn't fair to her, when she hasn't seen me all day, to pick her up from daycare and then ignore her for an hour! It is better for all of us if I just stay a little longer at work and then enjoy the rest of the day with my family, not having to worry about work or find time to get something done.

Image source: http://hr.ucsb.edu/icons/work_life.jpg

Timesaver Tuesday

Starting today (forgive me for the late start for my first Tuesday...lol) I'm going to be writing a weekly Timesaver Tuesday tip. After all, this blog is focused on products, tips, and ideas to help you make the most of your time spent with your precious little ones. Thus, I thought a Timesaver Tuesday would be totally terrific! I hope that this is a post that you can look forward to each week, and I'd be delighted if you'd share your own timesaving tips with me! They may even be featured on a future Tuesday! Now for the first ever Timesaver Tuesday...

I'm going to keep it simple this first week...very simple! My best daily timesaver is getting all of EG's clothes and accessories set out the night before, even her diaper. I set everything out in a stack on her changing table in the order it gets put on (i.e. diaper on top...shoes on the bottom). Having everything ready to go in the morning saves us at least 15 minutes. And in the morning when hubby and I are rushing to get ourselves ready for work, 15 minutes is a lifetime! Now if I could just get MY clothes organized the night before, EVERY night...