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Resolving to Find Time

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Technology Thursday

2010 is fast approaching, and with it the inevitable drafting of New Year's resolutions. I suspect many of us always have an implicit resolution of finding more time - more hours in the day to get everything done. I'm constantly scanning for ways to add efficiencies to my routines and household chores wherever possible and, of course, technology is often a help in this regard. Here are a few ways technology can be used to save a few minutes here and there as we head into 2010.

First, a mundane but useful tool is auto-billpay. I resisted this for a long time because early experiences (as in, a decade ago) were pretty annoying. But things have come a long way since then, and now I'm auto-paying many more bills than I used to. At some point a few months back I just got very tired of losing significant portions of my weekend to writing checks and licking envelopes.

A Decade of Work-Life Balance

Work Wednesday

Photo by Optical Illusion via Flickr.

I thought I'd blog today about vacation (we're in the Magic Kingdom right now!) as a counterpoint to Work Wednesday. But it would be difficult, if not overly deliberate, to disregard the proximity of the New Year on this penultimate day of the decade that ends at midnight tomorrow.

A decade that, for me, has been all about finding, creating, and refreshing, work-life balance. So, I'm going to pass on the temptation to make my own working mom's New Year's resolutions or compile my own list of top parenting trends. Instead, I'll offer a few (just a few, remember, I'm on vacation!) personal reflections on a decade that started with imbalance and ended with (rough) equilibrium. At least for the moment.

Finding. At the beginning of the of the decade - actually, the millennium (remember Y2K?) - work-life balance was barely in my consciousness.  Except to the extent that I knew that I was working too much. And that it was somehow standing in the way of other parts of my life.

So in January 2000, I left my law firm partnership and, after a month or so of traveling, I began a new job with the federal government. And found not only a new career and a cause that I cared about, but a husband, my husband, three doors down the hallway. (Actually, we lived in the same apartment building and had met before but that's a tale for another day.) While work could still sometimes be wacky, the change of job allowed me to have a saner, if less lucrative, lifestyle.

Any Way You Slice It, It's Still A Family

Truth Tuesday

I became a mother 12 years ago this very day.  

I was as clueless, overwhelmed and temporarily remorseful (Why did I do this?!) as they come. "Out of my element" doesn't even begin to describe it.

And all the while, during that first year and for several years beyond, I strived for perfection. Everything needed to be under control. Organized. Just right. Exactly as planned. 

I may have started out in the Minor Leagues of Motherhood, but I was determined to win Mother of the Year for every year following that. 

I was on top of stuff.

I planned.

I made lists.

I was A Great Mom.

Cutting Carbohydrates? Try This Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Meal Monday                                                                                                           

I'd like to begin this Meal Monday post by saying I really like carbohydrates. In fact, Chocolate Cake and I have been the best of friends for years. She's helped me through many rough times, attended a number of my children's birthday parties and has always been there when I needed her. Unfortunately, as I've hit the eighth month of pregnancy, Ms. Cake and her carbohydrate-laden friends have suddenly become my enemies.

Struggling with gestationally-induced insulin resistance (as are nearly 5% of all pregnant women), I've had to begin keeping a closer eye on how many of these carbohydrates make their way into my home and at what time of day. But, I must admit, I miss them. I miss sitting down with a cup of tea and a friendly cookie and I miss pancakes for breakfast. So, instead of completely banishing my old friends from my life, I've had to be a little more creative, introducing myself to some of their close relatives.

One of the better recipes I've created is the following one for Low-Carb Peanut Butter Cookies. Before you delve right in, a quick note about one of the ingredients, Almond Meal. It's also known as Almond Flour and though it can be purchased for exorbitant amounts of money in health food stores, it's very easy to make yourself.

Can an Entrepreneur Take a Vacation?

Startup Sunday

My brother is an entrepreneur and he lives in China -- two concrete reasons that I don't get to see him often. So when we are graced with the pleasure of his company, I want to enjoy it! For years, he would come to celebrate Christmas and New Year's with us, only to pop open his laptop the moment the dinner table was cleared and the conversation died down. Oh, how I fumed. He was present physically but his mind was far away.

Now, I finally understand. After becoming an entrepreneur myself, I realize how painful it must have been for him to take a week away from his business. To be around the globe from his employees, clients and investors, celebrating a holiday that barely interrupted their routine flow of business. He never complained about the full-day family outings we planned, and discretely ducked away from after-dinner drinks for his conference calls.

Over this Christmas weekend, I tried an experiment. I decided to unplug from work for three full days. No work calls, no projects, no writing or sending email. Sure, I checked my Blackberry for emergency messages, but nothing was urgent enough to warrant a reply.

It felt good. I was able to focus exclusively on my family, nuclear and extended. I slept and read novels and played games with the kids. I even indulged in a movie at the theater with my brother and parents. Today when I sat down to write this blog post, it flowed out of my fingertips easily -- thanks in part to being refreshed by the mental break from work.

I'm not sure yet whether I can extend the complete break from work to other vacations during the year. It's pretty easy to take Christmas weekend off -- whether or not you celebrate Christmas, nobody expects you to be available at the drop of the hat. When it comes to an August week at the beach, it's trickier to declare it a work-free zone. Fortunately, I have nine months to figure that out.

What about you? Were you able to unplug over the holidays? Or did you, like my brother, sneak in work around the edges of family celebration?