Articles for Family Organization Tips
Last night I spent four hours – YES FOUR! cleaning out my business email box. While doing so I cam across an email from Mary on behalf of Yahoo who provided some tips I should have been using for the last three months.
I thought I’d share these tips on managing your email inbox with you;
Tips for managing your inbox
Filter through the clutter: Yahoo! Mail Filters automatically sort your incoming messages according to rules that you set up. For example, you can create a filter so messages from your family members are automatically delivered to a personal folder called ‘Family.’
Or simply direct all those newsletters and email messages that you subscribe to, but are of low importance, to a different folder.
Rather than sort through each email message to decide where it goes, filters are like a built in filing system that save time and help you stay organized!
Read important messages first: Now you can quickly see important messages from the people that matter most to you. Simply click on the ‘connections’ link in your inbox to view the messages from the people that you communicate with most often.
Weed out the junk email; Use the “Spam” button to report it: If you receive unwanted e-mail or e-mail from an address you don’t recognize, report it by clicking on the “Spam” button in the toolbar at the top of your inbox or message.
Start to Declutter and organize your home today with Clutter Diet
This will report the contents of the message to the anti-spam group so Yahoo! Mail (or your service provider) can watch out for similar messages in the future and, if warranted, automatically block them from ever reaching your inbox.
Sweep your inbox: Make it a ritual to block out time each day or each week this season to answer email and purge old, dusty messages. Even a few minutes can go a long way to a more organized inbox
There you go – one more way to stay more ‘Almost Always Organized’.
Just a quick post to let you know that Moms Inspired Learning posted my top five tips for busy moms on their blog.
In the spirit of making sure moms feel supported as they tackle the busy life of motherhood and organizing their family schedules and lives, the Almost Always Organized Mom is happy to introduce another real mom juggling it all and her tips for busy moms.
How do you keep your children’s schedules together ? I only have one child, so keeping his schedule together is pretty easy. He goes to school or summer camp 3 days a week (full day – I run a home-based business and use this time to work). We then have play dates (by ourselves or with other children) on the days that he isn’t in school.
He takes swimming lessons which vary by time and date throughout the year and we love to visit the zoo and play at the park.
Do you use a particular day planner ? I keep track of all of my appointment and my son’s appointments using my calendar in Microsoft Outlook. I set reminders so that I always know when we have to be somewhere.
Do you own a blackberry? No, but I wish I had some kind of “sophisticated” phone – I am leaning toward an iPhone, but haven’t invested in anything yet.
What is you most used ‘time saving tip’ when it comes to running your
house? Involve your children! My son is at the age where he loves to help out – so it keeps him occupied and helps me to get everything done.
Do you have a favourite quick meal for your family? Yes, my favorite meal is a chicken dish:
Take skinless/boneless chicken pieces, sprinklewith salt/pepper to taste.
Divide into single serving or dual serving sizes and place on a large piece of aluminum foil.
Add 1 clove of crushed garlic to each “package”.
Add tomatoes, mushrooms, sliced onions. Add chopped fresh rosemary.
Fold up the aluminum foil to make a leak-proof package. Leave some room for steam to accumulate inside of
the package.
Bake on a cookie tray at 350 for 1-1.5 hours. Serve over
rice. The chicken and vegetables cook in their own juices, so there is no added fat required. It is delicious and healthy!!
Tell us the truth ? What would we find in your car right now ? Oh my -
a bit of everything – some extra clothing for my son, toys, papers, snacks and water bottles – my car is always in some state of dis-array! I believe I have a bunch of old clothes in my trunk that need to be taken to goodwill too!
What advice would you give to other moms who feel the pressure of trying
to be ‘super mom’? Set priorities and let everything else go. You will drive yourself crazy if you try to do it all – so don’t try. In my house, I have “let go” of the idea of having everything neat and orderly all of the time. I can’t keep up with it and run my business and take care of my family – so I do the important things (laundry, cooking, and having some fun) and let go of the clutter. Does it bother me? yes, but I have learned to accept that I just can’t do it all.
What is your number one goal for the year ? How do you plan to reach it
? That’s a really good question. I can’t say that I have one main goal for the year. I have lots of small goals. I try not to set any goals that are too large or too daunting – but rather set many smaller goals
that I can reach in a short time. That way I am always getting small doses of accomplishment throughout the year rather than striving for one main goal. This way if I miss a few along the way, it isn’t upsetting because I have also accomplished many!
Dr. Masucci is a mom to one beautiful boy and a small-business owner. She lives in Pennsylvania just north of Pittsburgh where she operates a maternity and breastfeeding boutique (A Mother’s Boutique ) and writes about parenting and breastfeeding on her blog Mommy News and Views.
It’s September and here that means back to school has arrived. So have the newsletters, teacher notes, dance registrations, band forms, lunch program and picture day forms.
I am lost in a pool of paper and determined to not be as ‘unorganized’ as I was last year. or to drown under the pile.
So this busy mom has dusted off her mom time management skills and has managed to get through the first week of school with everything under control.
My family time management control center is back up and running… complete with;
1) a LARGE desktop calendar – stuck onto the cork board with double sided tape. The little ’30 day family calendars have never had enough space to write down all of our schedules.
2) the large envelopes (on the corkboard) are used for teacher notes, school forms ect.
3) my ticket (the small blue paper). Graciously handed to me by a local RCMP officer who felt I did not come to a full and complete stop at the four way intersection this week. Read More→
