Laundry, advertising, cleaning, finding new clients, cooking, designing a new project, grocery shopping, meeting with a client, the list goes on and on and being a work at home mom running my own business, having four children do not always mix together well. It takes a lot of time management and being ok with letting certain things go. I use these tips to try to shape out my day.
FIND TIME TO WORK
It's so easy to let a day go by and not get any work related business done. When you're a work at home mom you have to set aside time in your day to work. For me, it's getting up early before everyone else does, during nap times, maybe an hour after dinner and then again after everyone goes to bed. During these times, don't allow any visitors or non related work phone calls. Let your friends and family know, that way they will be less likely to contact you while you're "at work".
If your budget allows, try dropping the kids off at the sitter a few days a week and only do work related business for that time. It would be easy to stop at the grocery store on the way home, but try to avoid that. It just means more time to get work done. Save the weekends to do grocery shopping or to get laundry done.
Learn to say no. Reality is, people will be far more understanding than you think and realize you have a business to run when you turn them down in order to get work done.
MANAGING THAT TIME
Make a to do list. I usually do this the night before. That way I can wake up in the morning and get right to work while my mind is fresh. However, keep this list short that way you feel like you've accomplished something that day when you get all of your tasks done. If you need to, make a day list of things to do and another list for the entire week. Put the most important tasks at the top and cross them off as you go.
Don't multi task but do learn that you can't do everything all the time. If you have a lot of small tasks, get one done and move onto the next. However, if your tasks are time consuming see how many hours that day you have to work and break up that time accordingly to your list. Once you've spent about an hour or so on one task, move onto the next. That way you don't spend your entire day working on one thing and you feel like you've gotten more done.
If you're working on something and another idea pops in your head, write it down instead of investing time to do it. If I am researching on the web and I come across a website that looks interesting but irrelevant to what I am working on, I'll jot it down and go back to it later that day or write it on my to do list for the next day.
Sometimes laundry will pile up or your house won't be as clean and organized as you would like it to be, but know that you have to compromise somethings in order to be lucky enough to work at home. Be ok with letting things go for awhile and just know that you can get to them later. Don't drive yourself crazy thinking you can get everything done. There's just not enough hours in the day. And just remember... if mom's not happy, ain't nobody happy!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Hottest Trend for Baby Announcements
It used to be that baby announcements came in two colors: pink for girls and blue for boys. In today's day and age this is not necessarily the case anymore. At Absolute Edge, we tend to stick to a more contemporary and modern look for our announcements.
Say you're having a girl. Try thinking of colors like lavender & pale yellow or orange & magenta. If you want more of the traditional pink try adding in apple green, bright green or pale yellow as a second color or a different shade of pink. Black has always been a nice bold background color for baby announcements, but chocolate brown with pink added gives a more contemporary look.
For boys a lot of the trend still revolves around blue. Not just a single baby blue, perhaps add apple green, lime green or pale yellow as a second or primary color. If you want more of a bold look try navy blue and red or hunter green. Again any of these colors mixed with chocolate brown will be sure to make your invitation stylish.
Other trends include patterns on the card. Dots, stripes, plaid, gingham are all still popular, try adding a few of these patterns together to get a more modern look. Die cutting is also another way to add characteristic to your invitation.
As far as wording: keep it short and simple. Nowadays it's more about the design than it is about the rhyming words. Baby's name and information and a "with love" message from the parents is all you need to create the finishing touches on your trendy baby announcement.
Be sure to check out our gallery of baby announcements today and let everyone know of your precious addition to your family!
Say you're having a girl. Try thinking of colors like lavender & pale yellow or orange & magenta. If you want more of the traditional pink try adding in apple green, bright green or pale yellow as a second color or a different shade of pink. Black has always been a nice bold background color for baby announcements, but chocolate brown with pink added gives a more contemporary look.
For boys a lot of the trend still revolves around blue. Not just a single baby blue, perhaps add apple green, lime green or pale yellow as a second or primary color. If you want more of a bold look try navy blue and red or hunter green. Again any of these colors mixed with chocolate brown will be sure to make your invitation stylish.
Other trends include patterns on the card. Dots, stripes, plaid, gingham are all still popular, try adding a few of these patterns together to get a more modern look. Die cutting is also another way to add characteristic to your invitation.
As far as wording: keep it short and simple. Nowadays it's more about the design than it is about the rhyming words. Baby's name and information and a "with love" message from the parents is all you need to create the finishing touches on your trendy baby announcement.
Be sure to check out our gallery of baby announcements today and let everyone know of your precious addition to your family!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Bad etiquette for wedding invitations
Who's name goes first: the bride or groom? Do we mention our gift registry on our invitation? Do we invite someone we know for sure is not coming? Is it considered rude to write "black tie" on the wedding invitations? We have a large family and do not want to invite all of them, how do we keep it a secret to those we are not inviting?
Oh the decisions! These are all questions couples face as they sit down to decide on their wedding invitations. First of all, you'll want to choose a company to work with that specializes in wedding invitations. That way you'll have all your questions answered as you work your way through the process of design.
You'll probably already have a look in mind that you want for your invites. If not, the company you go with should have samples of them for you to look at or pre-designed ones for you to add your own wording to. Of course if you're having a formal wedding you'll want a more formal invitation. Some couples often ask if it's rude to write "black tie" on the wedding invitations. Consider this: there are going to be some of your guests who don't own a tux and don't have the money or just prefer not to wear one. So it might be better to write "black tie optional". This way your male guests who won't be wearing tuxs know at least to wear a nice dark suit and this gives women and idea for what to wear as well.
Another decision you'll have to make is how many invitations you'll need to order. If you decide to have a smaller wedding and only want to invite certain family members that's your prerogative. If you're sending out save-the-date cards or invitations you may want to call those family members that you are inviting and let them know the situation hoping they won't pass on the word. On the other hand if you know someone is not coming go ahead and send them and invitation anyways - it's the thought that counts.
As far as the wording, the bride's name always goes first. Whether or not you put parent's names on there normally depends on who is footing the cost, but this is not always the case so don't assume.
Consider adding separate pieces inside the envelope such as a map to the event, an rsvp card or a gift registry card since this is considered bad etiquette to put on your invitation.
It's best to mail out your invitations 6-8 weeks before your wedding date to give your guests plenty of time to make arrangements. If you are planning way ahead of that you may want to send out a Save the Date card to let people know of the upcoming event.
When designing for a client, I ask for two weeks for custom invitations to be designed plus printing time. When ordering pre-designed invitation allow at least up to one week. However, if you need them any sooner I can always make arrangements for you. There are plenty of decisions to be made and more time allows more attention to your invitations to make it another perfect part of your wedding.
Oh the decisions! These are all questions couples face as they sit down to decide on their wedding invitations. First of all, you'll want to choose a company to work with that specializes in wedding invitations. That way you'll have all your questions answered as you work your way through the process of design.
You'll probably already have a look in mind that you want for your invites. If not, the company you go with should have samples of them for you to look at or pre-designed ones for you to add your own wording to. Of course if you're having a formal wedding you'll want a more formal invitation. Some couples often ask if it's rude to write "black tie" on the wedding invitations. Consider this: there are going to be some of your guests who don't own a tux and don't have the money or just prefer not to wear one. So it might be better to write "black tie optional". This way your male guests who won't be wearing tuxs know at least to wear a nice dark suit and this gives women and idea for what to wear as well.
Another decision you'll have to make is how many invitations you'll need to order. If you decide to have a smaller wedding and only want to invite certain family members that's your prerogative. If you're sending out save-the-date cards or invitations you may want to call those family members that you are inviting and let them know the situation hoping they won't pass on the word. On the other hand if you know someone is not coming go ahead and send them and invitation anyways - it's the thought that counts.
As far as the wording, the bride's name always goes first. Whether or not you put parent's names on there normally depends on who is footing the cost, but this is not always the case so don't assume.
Consider adding separate pieces inside the envelope such as a map to the event, an rsvp card or a gift registry card since this is considered bad etiquette to put on your invitation.
It's best to mail out your invitations 6-8 weeks before your wedding date to give your guests plenty of time to make arrangements. If you are planning way ahead of that you may want to send out a Save the Date card to let people know of the upcoming event.
When designing for a client, I ask for two weeks for custom invitations to be designed plus printing time. When ordering pre-designed invitation allow at least up to one week. However, if you need them any sooner I can always make arrangements for you. There are plenty of decisions to be made and more time allows more attention to your invitations to make it another perfect part of your wedding.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Twitter!
Am I the last person on earth to join twitter?! I decided it would be a good place to promote my online business. I do graphic design and custom made invitations. What other quick way can you reach millions of people with just one post?
I am currently reading "A geek’s guide To Promoting Yourself and Your Online Business in 140 Characters or Less with Twitter" by Geek Preneur
Download it here at: http://fliiby.com/file/479593/v44omd6f8o.html
It's a great tool. Check it out!
I am currently reading "A geek’s guide To Promoting Yourself and Your Online Business in 140 Characters or Less with Twitter" by Geek Preneur
Download it here at: http://fliiby.com/file/479593/v44omd6f8o.html
It's a great tool. Check it out!
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