I do not consider myself among the many who have large numbers of important, impressive, incoming e-mails each day. And yet I still sometimes feel the flow of the e-mail waters rise a bit too far above my head for just a few moments. Admittedly, sometimes things get buried back behind the new emails coming in, lost to the inbox abyss.

My mom would tell you to always keep your inbox empty. Read it. Delete it.

I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t always work that way. Canna getta witness?

Recently I’ve seen an increase in important incoming emails and an increase in responsibility answering those emails. The number of mis-placed, forgotten, and buried emails cried out for a solution. I FOUND ONE.

My solution is my ACTION folder.

(Somebody in the back row just hollered “Duh!!” Please bear with me and the others who have yet to learn about the greatness that is the action folder!)

This solution is something you can implement immediately, right now, regardless of where your inbox stands. I promise. Whichever email system you use, go into your system right now and create a folder called “ACTION NEEDED” or if you prefer, just simply “ACTION.”
From now on, every email that comes in that requires any kind of action (ANY KIND!) whatsoever that you can’t or don’t have time to do right that very second — move it to the action folder. Immediately. Do not dally!

• If you need to reply to that email – send it to the action folder.
• If you need to add that phone number/email address/info to your contacts/phone/mailing list – send it to the action folder!
• If you need to look at that again tomorrow so that you will remember to email or call someone else – send it to the action folder!
• If you need to print it, store it, forward it, edit it, download it, copy it, cut it, paste it – send it to the action folder!

I promise this will make your email life so much easier. BUT.. this is a multi-part tip.

Once you send it there, you can’t forget it.

Set aside a time (preferably routine times, in the morning and at night, on your lunch break, whatever) to go through the action folder and DO the actions. It’s a habit you need to develop but it’s an easy one to develop and get the hang of.

When I check my email for the first time of the day, I send action emails to the folder and once I’m done I open the folder for a quick review of the items inside, in case I need to be reminded of anything particularly urgent. Later in the day while the kids are working on school work that needs less of my assistance I go through my folder and clear my action items. Sometimes I get a chance to go back through before bed, but if I don’t it’s okay because I will do it again mid-day the next day.

Because all of my action items are in one place, nothing gets lost, nothing gets overlooked, and I actually save myself time. Depending on what the actions are I may be able to get through them in a few minutes to half an hour’s time. And I get the added benefit of looking a whole lot more responsible, too!

There’s also a third step to this system I’m using: Categorized folders.

I already had a handful of folders I was (kinda) using but without a system, I wasn’t using them well. Before I had an action folder, I might file both an action and a keep email into a folder, but I wasn’t able to stay on top of that. Now as I go through my inbox if there’s an email I need to keep that doesn’t require action (I get some of those for my produce co-op for example) I can file it straight into that folder.

After going through the action folder if I still need to keep it, I can file it, if not, I can delete it. It’s a better way of ensuring I don’t keep emails I don’t need and making sure I can find emails I do need later. Periodically you need to browse through any folders to see if you have things that can be purged, of course.

This is the kind of tip that anybody can use, regardless of how many “important” emails you get coming through your inbox in a day. Even if you share an email account with someone. Or maybe, ESPECIALLY if you share an account with someone. ; ) And since “Action” starts with A, you have a good chance that it will be the top folder in the list making it easy to see, remember and stay on top of. I can’t take credit for that, but it helps. I suppose if you had a LOT of action emails coming through you could break it down into multiple action folders (“Action biz, Action personal” or “Action blog, Action store, Action homeschool co-op” for example.) I bet that would work.

If you have an e-mail organization tip, please share it in the comments. I’m open to improving my system even more if I can. But for now, this is REALLY working for me!

Now. If only I could organize my digital photos so quickly and easily…

And if you have a Works for Me Wednesday tip of any sort, head over to Kristen’s!

Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/idogcow/ / CC BY 2.0

It’s Wednesday. That doesn’t really mean a whole lot other than that it’s also Works for Me Wednesday and I’ve got a big fat nothin. Now surely that can’t be COMPLETELY true. SOMETHING around here has to be working, right?

You’d think. And yet I’m drawing a big, fat, blank. It might be the backed up laundry and dishes distorting my view, just sayin’.

We’ve been sick, though. The kind of sick that gets ya run down, makes ya dog tired and affects your Want To and Care To. YOU KNOW WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. So maybe I’m not putting in the work to get those other things done but I’ll tell you what HAS worked around here the last few days, to make sure that food gets cooked and people have clothes to wear.

Pretty Much All That’s ‘Workin’ For Us This Week:

1. When we got sick we were caught up on housework, dishes and laundry because we were doing our necessary daily upkeep – that’s important to note.
2. Making sure that we get a minimum amount of work done each day, so that even if we still get behind we keep things moving. Basically at least a load of laundry a day and a load of dishes a day will keep us with things to wear and eat on until we can get caught up again.
3. Focusing on what we can do, not what we aren’t getting done, so Momma doesn’t stress out.
4. Taking at least 30 minutes (setting a timer) for picking up around the house to make sure that we don’t get buried under clutter and things that didn’t get put away because we “didn’t feel like it.”
5. Not focusing on all the things that didn’t get done, worth repeating.
6. Resting, drinking lots of water and eating healthy foods, so as to HOPEFULLY get out strength back soon!
7. Did I mention not focusing on everything that doesn’t get done?

You may have noticed a theme there. Get done what you can get done. Don’t worry about what you don’t. Take care of yourself so you can get better.

I’m bummed that we’d been doing well with KEEPING the house cleaner and now it’s not, but I know that we got there once and we can get back there when we get our energy back.

It seems that there are several things going around our town right now, and not just our town but people in other places, too, if Facebook and Twitter are any indication. It’s a no brainer, but if you’re under the weather, too.. this is my advice to you. Especially the “don’t fret” part. Sometimes we just need a reminder.

So this is what’s working for me – what’s working for you? Tell me. And if you wrote a post, leave a link. And link up at Kristen’s. Next week I plan on feeling better and you never know, your tip might be something I’d interested in.

If you’re homeschooling with littles underfoot, one question you often get asked (and ask yourself) is “what do you do with the littles while you’re schooling the olders?”

Obviously there are many answers and not a one size fits all answer for everybody. The things we have done have varied with the different personalities and temperaments of each child, with their age and abilities, and so on.

For a long time it has been easy to occupy our toddler son with drawing – he loves to draw, and I don’t discount that as educational. Every penstroke, every circle he draws, is preparing him with the motor skills to form and shape letters and numbers later on. Every critter and creature he sketches is encouraging and expanding his imagination, or allowing him the opportunity to ponder things he learned earlier in the day.

In fact, my son loves to draw SO MUCH, that in all honesty, he goes through entirely. too. much. paper. Or, he gets ahold of my dry erase markers (and once a permanent marker!) and scribbles all over my to do lists and math lessons.

Which is why I was really excited to find this:

That, my fellow delighted moms (and dads), is a double sided dry erase lap board. And my four year old son LOVES it. Since he has recently been expressing an interest in letters in addition to drawing (finally!) he has the opportunity to flip back and forth between the two, drawing and then “writing”, drawing and then “writing.” It occupies him for LONG periods of time. (With low odor markers of course!)

And sometimes after I get the girls settled in with their school I’ll sit down with him and work on some very simple handwriting and phonics. He gets into it and asks “what makes this sound” and “what says that” and “how do you write ___”… It’s all really cute, of course.

After he tires of his lap board, sometimes we’ll move on to other activities. He likes to sit in my lap while I read a science lesson to the 6 year old, and he likes to pretend to “do school” with preschool workbooks. Sometimes he gets to water paint (which he also loves and uses too much paper for) and sometimes it’s time for a movie and a nap. ;0)

Either way, the double sided dry erase lap board is DEFINITELY working to entertain — and educate — our rambunctious toddler boy!

What works for you?

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We Are That Family. {P.S. If you’re looking for a blogging tip, (which this week’s WFMW is SUPPOSED to be about..) I did a series for beginning bloggers a while back called How To Blog.}

~ Buy this on Amazon: Board Dudes Double Sided Dry Erase Lapboard (Or try to find it on clearance at JoAnn’s like I did.)

~ Read my Disclosure Policy

You think I’m kidding, I’m not! A couple of years ago I weaned my family off the sugar and food coloring abundant dessertified forms of yogurt available on the store shelves. I say “weaned”.. truth is I just stopped buying it. Since then (except on rare occasions) we’ve only bought the large tubs of plain yogurt. We’ve even made our own!

It wasn’t hard, the kids made the switch easily. We still add a little bit of sugar and flavor, but the difference is that we are in control of the amounts, and there’s nothing else in there besides what we put in it. And you’d be amazed at how little sugar, or honey, or jam, or whatever, it takes to sweeten up the yogurt enough to get the kids to love it! We’ve mixed it with maple flavor and brown sugar, we’ve done vanilla and pumpkin pie spice. Get creative!

But I have a new reason to love plain yogurt because it’s FAT FREE and LADEN with protein. Practically dripping. We buy the Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt in a 2lb container and with my ongoing exercise challenge, I’ve been paying more attention to the nutritional label to make sure I get enough protein, carbs, fat, etc, in my diet. I learned that I haven’t been getting quite enough protein in my diet. The challenge to add more protein without adding too much fat (short of supplements) can be a bit tricky because a lot of protein rich foods also have fat – milk, cheese, meat, eggs, etc. But not plain yogurt.

Check out these nutritional facts:

Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt:

Serving Size: 1 cup / 227g Calories: 130 Calories from Fat: 0 Total Fat – Grams 0 % DV Fat 0 Saturated Fat – grams 0 % DV Saturated Fat 0 Trans Fat – grams 0 Cholesterol – mg 5 % DV Cholesterol 2 Sodium – mg 220 % DV Sodium 9 Potassium – mg 550 % DV Potassium 15 Total Carbohydrate – grams 19 %DV Carbohydrate 7 Dietary Fiber – grams 0 % DV Dietary Fiber 0 Sugars – grams 17 Protein – grams 15 % DV Protein 30 % DV Vitamin A 0 % DV Vitamin C 0 % DV Calcium 40 % DV Iron 0 % DV Vitamin D 0 % DV Thiamin 10 % DV Riboflavin 30 % DV Phosphorus 30 % DV Magnesium 8 Diet Exchanges 1-1/2 skim milk

Plain yogurt is my new “Go to” snack, especially when mixed with a tablespoon of Mackays Lemon Curd and a serving of thawed frozen raspberries. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Oh, Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt, I *heart* you!

Plain yogurt is helping me get enough protein while I’m working out, and it’s also allowing me to have tasty and healthy snacks that satisfy because I’m horrible about sticking to healthy diets if I don’t enjoy them. I firmly believe that’s an important key to develop a healthy eating habit that will stick.  I keep harping on the Yoplait Fat Free Plain Yogurt, because these are the nutritional facts for that brand. Other brands may not have the same numbers. I also specifically mentioned Mackays Lemon Curd for the same reason, it had the lowest calories and fat per serving. The important thing is to always check the label and choose the best option to meet your needs. In this case it was low fat and high protein. Yay protein!

Do you have any high protein foods that work for you?

This post has been submitted to Works for me Wednesday. Thanks, Kristen!

Nutritional information and images from the Yoplait website.

The biggest thing working for me this week is sending the kids to Grandma’s house for the week! No. Seriously. And while they are gone I am CLEANING, CLEANING, CLEANING. Which leads to my other thing that works for me:

Working around the room.

When the room is just a MESS and you don’t really know where to start or don’t really even want to start… pick a corner and just. start. working. In my kitchen, I always start on the counter by the back door. Clean off the counter, the whole counter and nothing but the counter. YES, grab as many things as you can, don’t you dare walk away with only one thing in your hand. Load up everything that needs to go in the sink or in the trash can and take them in one trip (just don’t get confused!)

I don’t know about you, but I always work clockwise. I don’t really think that’s a rule. I wonder if a left handed person or a left brain person would do it differently? (Since I am a righty for both..) Hmmm… Anywho….

When that counter space is done, I move to the sink, then the counter on the other side, and so on and so forth around the room in a circle. I do the same thing in the other rooms, too. I know I am not the only one who does this, experts have recommended this for years, and it really does work for me.

This week while the kids are gone, I’m applying this principal but on a deeper level- instead of just picking up the space, I’m cleaning the space thoroughly. I started in the living room at the bookcase and took that opportunity to declutter it, dust it, and reorganize it. Moved to the chair next to it, cleaned behind it, under it, under the cushions, etc, and kept going. Yeah, okay, so I had the vacuum on half a dozen times instead of doing it all at once, but it felt good. I could visibly see the room getting cleaner piece by piece and once I was done with a space I never had to go back over it for something else.

The older I get, (or after having 3 children and using up all my brain cells), not only do I often have trouble focusing but I also frequently suffer from a serious Lack of Want To. I know you know what I am talking about. That’s why this really works so well. I don’t really have to think about it. I do have to get up and do it, but it gets done quickly and easily and truthfully,… I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER ONCE IT’S CLEAN.

Oddly enough, I can think better when it’s clean too.

Huh.

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We Are That Family!

Sponsored Link:101 Uses of Hydrogen Peroxide {Click here for my Disclosure Policy}

Today I’m reposting an oldie but goodie because it has saved my money and my daughter’s wardrobe once again!

Same daughter, another brand new white shirt, a coffee stain that’s been through the dryer, and the same solution:

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“Shout it Out!”

Originally posted January 23, 2008

Remember that slogan? Today’s tip is a quick one from my laundry room. I hate (I really do) spending money on expensive clening products, they just really cut into the budget. Sometimes they’re worth it. And this one really is. A four dollar bottle of Shout Advanced Gel is definitely worth it when it helps me save half of my four-year-old’s wardrobe. (Yeah, you thought it was going to be the BOY, didn’t you?? Not this time!)

Drama Queen is notorious for stains; always has been. She stains at least half of her stuff the very first time she wears it. Can we say frustrating??

Not anymore.

I had several cute and new things with stains that didn’t come out so I took a shot and bought a bottle. And boy am I ever so glad. I’ve been using it a little over a month and it has removed every thing my four year old has thrown at it, including set in stains that got missed in the wash, AND half-removed stains from who-knows-when. The older the stain the longer you need to pre-treat it, so be prepared. I sprayed it, folded the shirt and left it on top of the washer until the next day. I just kept checking it each day and adding more gel if necessary until I felt confident enough to wash it. A couple of times I washed something and saw a small amount left and sprayed it again. But man, this stuff works.

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Works for me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We are THAT Family