Conquering lateness + an awesome giveaway
[This is a sponsored post from BlogHer through Citi, which includes an incredible giveaway opportunity. As always, all opinions are my own]
I’d always been one of those “late for everything” kind of people. I know it’s rude, it’s embarrassing, but unless it was a job interview, you could pretty much guarantee that I’d show up at least 15 minutes after the event time. It’s in my blood. I thought that having a baby would make this exponentially worse, but on the contrary, I’m usually on time now.
Why? It’s forced me to become more organized. There’s no time for last-minute fashion crises or failing to map out our event location. With everything I need to pack and take with us, it can be more difficult to do it with an active toddler at my side. Instead, I prep ahead and do as much as I can in advance.
Here are some of the things I’ve found to help:
-Make snacks and drinks the night before. I’ll pack up snacks for both of us -mama gets hungry too!- and drinks in the fridge so that I can grab them in the morning and go.
-Pack the “hit and run” bag. I used to carry a giant diaper bag around, but realized that it was loaded with heavy things we no longer needed and… crumbs. Lots of crumbs. So now, I put our snacks, a few diapers and sunscreen in a small lululemon bag that we tote around with us. It’s not fancy, but it works
-Have outfits planned in advance. Even though I don’t set them out (let’s not get crazy now, haha), I have an idea of what we’re each going to wear and where they are.
-Waking up before she wakes up. This was a hard one for me, as I’m not a morning person, but it’s the perfect way to get in a short workout and some work before we start the day. She’ll usually be up between 7 and 7:30, so my alarm will go off at 5:30 to do what I need to do. As much as I dislike waking up early, I love that I’m able to get in some quiet time, maybe a sweat session, and also get dressed and ready before she’s awake. If I have a head start on work stuff, I’m able to be more present while we’re hanging out and save the work until she’s sleeping.
I’ve found that as our family continues to grow, it will be important for us to stay organized. With all of the upcoming fall events, I’m doing my best to remember everything, be where we need to be (on time!) and pick up appropriate gifts for upcoming weddings and holidays.
Some of our current organization strategies:
-Our magnetic calendar. On our fridge, we have a dry erase board where we write work schedules, the Pilot’s flying schedule and any events. This way I know if he’ll be working late (and Liv and I will be getting hot bar for dinner…) and important events on the horizon.
-Alerts on my phone. Birthdays are set on annual renewal, and if an event is coming up, I’ll have an alert go off a day or two beforehand.
-Setting up automatic bill pay. Back in the day, it was hard for me to keep track of all of our bills. They all had different due dates, some companies wouldn’t bill us regularly, and with everything going on, I’d space it. Now, I have a spreadsheet with our monthly finances, our savings goals, and our bill due dates.
Many of them I have set up on automatic bill pay, so all I have to do is check the statement to make sure we’re being charged accurately.
With the holidays coming up, the last thing we want to do is waste time or money dealing with late fees, and the Citi Simplicity card makes it much easier to accomplish this.
Some of the details:
–Citi Simplicity is the only card to offer no late fees, an annual fee or a penalty fee. Ever.
– Citi Price Rewind searches retailers’ sites for lower prices when you buy and register an eligible item with your Citi credit card. Save your credit card receipt each time you shop. If Citi finds your item at least $25 lower than what you paid within 30 calendar days, you can get the difference in price back, up to $250. The average refund is $80.
-Your Citi Simplicity card offers discounts on travel, shopping, restaurants and gift cards, too with Citi Easy Deals.
Another reason they’re awesome? They’re giving one lucky Fitnessista reader a 16GB Mini Tablet LOADED with financial apps to help you stay organized this fall. Enter the sweepstakes for a chance to win.
Here’s how to enter:
Sweepstakes
The Conquering Lateness Sweepstakes (“Sweepstakes”) is open to legal US Residents, age 18 or older. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes ends at 5pm (PST) on October 24, 2013. More details are available here. No purchase necessary.
Only two entries per participating blog per household; if the same or substantially similar comment (as determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion) is posted twice, it may only count as one Entry. Eligible persons may enter this Promotion by taking any of the following actions, each of which counts as one entry:
1. Leave a comment in response to the Promotion prompt on this post (how you conquer lateness and stay organized)
2. Tweet (public message) about this Promotion, including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that Tweet in a comment on this post.
3. Blog about this Promotion (including a disclosure that you have received a sweepstakes entry in exchange for blogging about this Promotion), and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post.
4. To enter without commenting, follow this link, and provide your email address and your response to the Promotion prompt.
Be sure to visit the Citi brand page on BlogHer.com where you can learn more about conquering lateness!
Happy fall!
xoxo
Gina
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I use my calendar on the phone and set reminders and I set my alarm clock to go off 15 minutes early
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
tweet https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/389876481746149376
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
i love using a jumbo calendar on my desk it helps be keep up
https://twitter.com/purplelover04/status/389789776129171456
I stay organized by preparing the night before. (what to wear, what I need to take with me)
https://twitter.com/misaacmom/status/389979177333428224
I have a list of what is due and when.
I set reminders and alerts on my phone
I blogged: http://psychotwin.blogspot.com/2013/10/conquering-lateness.html
I am a huge list maker, they help keep me on track and on time. I also set alarms and reminders on my cell phone to help keep me on time.
zuzu.wilson(at)yahoo(dot)com
Tweet: https://twitter.com/Zuzuz_Petalz/status/391904749148057600
zuzu.wilson(at)yahoo(dot)com
To conquer lateness, I use a daily planner to plan for important events and due dates.
Thanks for the chance to win!
wildorchid985 at gmail dot com
tweet–https://twitter.com/WildOrchid985/status/391971401927639040
Anything I can do in advance I do in advance – make lunches, lay out clothes, pack backpacks and/or daycare bag, etc. I even shower at night, although I prefer a nice morning shower.
I love to use my dayplanner (and my phone as a back up) to keep track of appointments/commitments so I don’t fall behind 🙂
Google calendar/tasks!
keep a planner for sure
I do not let myself hit “snooze” and try to wash my hair before bed so I have more time in the morning.
I always set my clock 5 minutes fast… For some reason I always forget that it’s fast, so I normally get places early… Or right on time 🙂
I am a huge list planner. Such a good feeling to cross things off!
I only have my google calendar to keep me organized…paper planning has never worked for me.
I have a planner but I’d love to get technologically savvy and do it on a tablet!
I love my planner that I write everything in!
iphone is my savior
I get as much done the night before as possible. I also make lots of to-do lists!
I make sure to plan ahead the day ahead, make my lunch/snacks, pack my gym bag, clothes for work…and I always review my ‘schedule’ for the next day and make lists of anything I need to do…helps me stay sane and on time!
I have everything in my google calendar and always try to plan things out figuring I’ll be 15 minutes early. So even when something goes wrong, as long as it doesn’t take 15 minutes to fix, I’m ok on time!
I have always been a 10 minutes early kind of person. Its in my virgo blood. Now Patrick? We almost broke up when we first started dating because he’s a 15 minutes late kind of guy (is it a Mexican thing?!) and it drove. me. INSANE. He’s a little better now haha. I’ve also relaxed a little because apparently no one in California shows up on time, so I tend to show up exactly on time now.
I’ve always been pretty organized but my keys to success are putting *everything* in my calendar (even workouts), doing as much as possible ahead of time (packing food the night before, getting directions, etc), waking up a few minutes early before the madness starts to have a few minutes of quiet and feel like I’m ahead of the game instead of playing catch-up all day. I also keep as much ready to go as possible (non-perishable snacks in the diaper bag, toys/soccer ball/extra shoes & clothes/beach blanket in the car) so if our plans change we’re ready. 🙂
I actually get hives just thinking about being late, but since having Gregory, I’ve definitely had to adjust (and accept being late at times). I try to pack everything we need the night before hand or during a nap. I do all my fitness running with him. I am already teaching Gregory to help out with clean up, so that he can help us keep from being late.
i love the name gregory 🙂
I set the clocks a few minutes fast to trick the husband who has no sense of urgency!
I use post its on my desk top and a calendar on my phone that has an alarm to remind me of appointments and tasks.
I definitely need to be better about being on time but I send myself email reminders and pretend that I need to be somewhere 5-10 min earlier than I actually do 🙂
I keep everything in my google calendar – it always keep me on task!!
The more lists the merrier for me! My google calendar is crammed, but there’s nothing like a post-it note list stuck to my wallet to make me keep it together. 🙂
try to prepare ahead of time so i’m actually some times early
I am a list-maker! I have multiple to-do lists going on at any given time.
I make lists for everything and often have duplicates just to make sure I don’t forget something. When I was younger I was rarely late and then it was usually because I couldn’t get one of the children moving. As I get older it seems to take me longer to get going and I have to plan to leave 15 minutes early so that I can actually leave on time.
Tweet – https://twitter.com/willitara/status/392675624436781057
I try to have a regular routine for recurring tasks so I’m consistent on when I pay things, when I leave the house, etc. so I’m not late and stay better organized.
tweet https://twitter.com/prizepuzzle/status/392702251455627264
My best way to stay organized is make lists. I have them everywhere! I feel like when I write everything down, it’s hard for me to forget and then I feel accomplished as I check it off.
And prep work the night/day before keeps me on schedule. It might take a while to get it all together, but I’m very thankful the next morning when I’m able to just run out the door without doing a ton of things.
to conquer lateness, I have a calendar on my fridge that has it filled out for the entire year, what bills are due on what day!
I keep a calendar in plain view and I use not one, but 2 planners- one for at home and one for on the go.
I have a planner on my computer that I use to keep up with important things.
https://twitter.com/iiiyadirf/status/393117109368000512
michelletucker at baconnation dot net
I literally schedule backwards at least a hundred times starting from the time I need to be there. Then backwards I go from driving time, eating time, making food time, getting dressed time, and so on.
i stay organized with iphone apps!
https://twitter.com/scg00387/status/393197517006848001
I conquer lateness by “tricking myself” – I assume I need to be somewhere 15 minutes before I actually do; I usually end up right on time. I stay organized with a good old-fashioned paper-n-pencil calendar book (I’ve tried electronic organizers, but the act of writing it down in a book seems to really help me remember things); for bills, though, I have an Excel spreadsheet that I’ve customized to perfection over the years. 🙂
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/TKC4242/status/393251406590664706