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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Post-its and planners!
Reminders on my phone help keep me on top of things. I used to be a note person but now I tend to lose those so phone reminders with alarms work best 🙂
I do as much at night as possible to get ready for the work morning (set up coffeemaker, make my lunch, lay out clothes, etc). I am also a big fan of auto bill pay and budget spreadsheets!
I set reminders on my phone (with alarms!) and make sure the clock in my car is set ahead by 10 minutes. Also, I’m a huge proponent of having bags etc packed the night before.
I line post it notes up at work as things come up, so I don’t forget. I do my best to get everything ready the night before work. Also keeping my closet super organized helps with quickly picking out outfits.
I use my phone reminders for everything!
I use my phone reminders for everything!
I make lists and sync my outlook calendar to my iphone!
Post-its, lists, and a calendar! I like to pack/prep things ahead of time, if possible.
I write EVERYTHING in my calendar, both on my computer and in my agenda! Also lists. Lots of lists.
I’m the queen of to do lists and loose a good pen and a stack of post it’s!
I’ve been making sure I input my bill pay right away as I receive my bill in the mail or email. Most of my recurring bills are automatically paid via bill pay but it’s the credit card or once in a while bills that catch me off guard.
I tweeted – https://twitter.com/OnMyVTPorch/status/386322417091477505
My Google Calendar and “abc Notes” Post-It note-style app on my phone keep my organized!
My agenda is my brain! 😉
I write everything in my planner and try to get everything ready for my day the night before!
I always make sure to get places at least 5 minutes early. I take public transportation everywhere and I will always take an earlier bus or train.
I keep a good ole day planner and put check boxes beside everything I have to do!
Getting up early enough is the main way to ensure being on time. Them mentally going over what needs to be done and how you’re going to do it helps too
I stay organized by making lists!
I use my google calendar to keep my family and myself organized. And lists help too!
I do both by obsessively using my calendar. I have a to-do list attached, so I can remember what needs done AND see my appointments!
I always make coffee the night before and set all my clocks fast! I set them to all different times so I know they’re fast, but can’t figure out how fast so I just take them at the time they actually read.
I’m definitely a list maker– crossing things off makes me so happy!! I’ve also just started to get into using the reminder feature on my phone which helps too!! We also keep a. Dry erase board on our fridge with the months appointments, etc.
I would die without my daily planner!
I stay organized by keeping a calendar to write down appointments and activities. I also make lists,
https://twitter.com/susan1215/status/386564379073708032
I always set a reminder on my phone to pay each bill that is due. I set it about a week ahead of the date suggested to mail on the bill. I have only been late once in all my years of having credit cards.
I have a big desk calendar in our living room, and I use it to make daily to-do lists (easier than just making a general list of things I have to get done- which can stress me out!). For lateness, I always plan to arrive 15 minutes early- my choir teacher always said, “If you’re not early, you’re late,” and it’s stuck with me ever since!
I keep a calender on my fridge with all of the big events for the month. That is my go to place. i like to plan once a week with my husband, that way i know his work schedule and he knows of anything big we might have going on that he needs to know about. Conquering lateness is still a challenge, but I usually make a plan the night before I go to bed for the next days events. Snacks and sippy cup full and ready to grab for the baby. I really try and have the extra things we will need for the day in my purse etc. I love to budget so I that is both a monthly and weekly task. I use the dave ramsey envelope method most of the time and pay all of my bills online. My biggest challenge is menu planning. eeek.
My husband and I share a Google calendar that we can both update from our smart phones. Also, it helps when I wake up earlier than the rest of my family, get in some quiet meditation time and a steaming cup of coffee. I accomplish so much more in those two hours than the rest of the morning!
i tweeted: https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/386867183482986496
i schedule my bill payments ahead of time using internet banking bill pay or automatic payments
Planning, planning, planning is how I conquer lateness. Writing lists is also a fave.
Post it’s and alerts on my phone keep me in line 🙂
My dayplanner and alarms on my phone help keep me on time and organized.
Lists, Lists, and more Lists! And my calendar in my phone!
Tweeted it! https://twitter.com/LeHobbylobbyist/status/387560509316161536
I conquer lateness by maintaining a master family calendar so we all know where we need to be. It helps us keep each other accountable and on time.
I use a daily planner to keep track of things, but I’m so paranoid about being late that I generally show up at least half an hour early. For everything. Then I sit outside on my phone until it’s the correct time…
I conquer lateness and stay organized by writing down a to-do list and set reminder on my calender with email notification. that way, I don’t forget a thing, especially appointments, deadlines and payments. love the benefits and features of this Citi Simplicity.
amy [at] utry [dot] it
tweeted:
https://twitter.com/uTry_it/status/387671075519090688
amy [at] utry [dot] it
I’m a color-coordinated list maker!
How I stay organized – Google Calendar! I put everything in there: meetings, dinner dates, credit card payment reminders, etc. Love those shoes!!!
I still use my Franklin Planner. It’s pocket size so I carry it in my purse. I find that no matter what other things I have tried, I always go back to my Franklin Planner.
Here’s my tweet: https://twitter.com/LindaHP/status/388019600635330560
I put reminders on my phone one and two days ahead of time for events. I also leave the house 10 mins earlier than I should leave so that way in case I hit traffic or something comes up i’m still on time or early. My dad taught me it was always better to be early than late or on time!
tweeted https://twitter.com/pittsy82/status/388815700585771009
I’m a big fan of lists and scheduling out what I need to get done every day to make sure I accomplish everything. And I’m always more on top of things if I take the time to pack my lunch, get my bag ready, etc. the night before. Also, filing paper work right away always works better than letting it build up (although I can’t say I’m always very good about this).
I keep my day planner handy and make lists.