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 do a lot of the same things as you to conquer lateness…pack my lunch and snacks for work the night before, decide what I am going to wear and how I want to do my hair, and always add a little buffer of time to get ready. It always takes longer than I expect! 🙂
I’ve been relying on apps to get me more organized. I set up tasks in Any.Do (all repeating tasks for the day). I try to use Google Now’s reminder function to make quick notes.
It’s a work in progress.
I sync my calendar with my husband for all our events and bills, but we need to get better about our budget and would totally benefit from financial apps!!!!
I have an old school planner. I love writing things down, it helps I think to keep it fresh in my mind.
I set my clocks a few minutes fast. I know they are fast but it still somehow works.
I have alerts on my phone that remind me an hour before I’m supposed to leave for something. Works like a charm
I shower in the evening and use my google calendar for everything!
I conquer lateness by always having my go bags packed and ready!
To conquer lateness I have begun making lists and prioritizing when each things need to be done. Great giveaway!!
I’m a night person, so I put everything I need to take with me in the morning on the kitchen table. I also lay my outfit out the night before. For breakfast I make a large pot of coffee at the beginning of the week, so I can just heat up a cup everyday. And I make Gina’s crustless quiches on the weekend so I’ll have a quick breakfast all week. Anything so all I have to do in the AM is roll out of bed!!
I’d have to say conquering lateness was something I grew up learning from my mother. We were never late, or on time. We were early and we still are early. It’s engrained in me, I just expect that things will take way longer than they will and get everywhere early. It’s a good habit but can get annoying when you have late friends 🙂 As for organization, I am a list maker. I make lists all day everyday and I love them!
I use my Hello Kitty planner for everything…homework, workouts for the week, and a calendar, of course. I also have a calendar on our fridge of what is going on. Like any other female, I also make tons of lists. I would like to get in the habit of saving more, and spending less.
Lateness is me! I think it is in my genes. Recently I have started to work on this. I am trying to get more organized as well. I have a white board to check off on a daily bases. I try and get things together the night before so I don’t have to run around 5 mins before I live. I started making lists. I am applying to graduate school, so I have written months head of time, when I want to have certain things done by.
Talk about an AWESOME giveaway! I would definitely use it to keep track of our bills and student loans…I can always get better at that. I blogged about this giveaway today! I read your post just in time before I published mine. So I was able to act like a ninja and put it in the post. http://alishasappetite.com/five-friday-favorites/
I use a planner to stay organized. It is a small planner I keep in my purse and everything goes in it. I am also a list maker, but I make my lists on an app on my phone so I don’t lose the paper! I also pack lunch the night before, have a rough idea for what outfit I am going to wear the next day, and leave the house early (you can never tell with traffic). I am never late and I credit that to making sure I give myself twenty extra minutes when going to work or going somewhere.
List – I make lists of EVERYTHING. It helps keep me accountable AND organized.
I conquer lateness by packing my lunch beforehand, and always planning 15 extra minutes for delays like traffic
I prepare the night before and pack bags, lunches, and set out clothes.
Giving myself too much time is my biggest helper. If I think something will take 15 minutes, I give it 30. That way, I keep a cushion for any annoyance that pops up.
I use the Reminders on my phone for lots of stuff as well. I’m still old school too though, and keep a “paper planner” notebook. This is used mainly for my son’s stuff though (school mtgs, projects, etc).
I am by nature organized and timely. This just means that I am obsessed with finding tools to help me stay that way or improve various areas of my life. I love Google calendar – especially for the recurring events (hello birthdays and anniversaries) plus being able to sync my calendar w my husband’s is so handy. I do not like to rush (it makes me feel disorganized). So I wake up with enough time to do what I need to accomplish (mostly while chugging coffee) and be on my way. Packing bags ahead of time, laying out clothes, menu planning, home filing systems and frequent paperwork clean-ups also keep me sane.
I set alarms on my phone to keep me on time! Also, for years I have had to set all of my clocks fast which helps me.
I use google calendar. That way no matter where I am, I can always check my schedule on the fly – and it texts me about upcoming events or to remind me to pay rent!
I pre-make meals the night before and I have all of our outfits layed out (yes, I’m crazy but that’s what you do when you work full time and have two active children). I also make spreadsheets for all of our bills and our home remodel so we don’t go overboard – which would be really easy to do. Last but not least, we have a weekday routine that we rarely falter from. If we do, the children are tired the next morning and tend to act out more.
I have to set my clock ahead a few minutes so I always *think* I’m running short on time. Then of course, I have a few minutes to spare and it works out perfectly 🙂
I tend to be early for most things, EXCEPT when they’re early morning things. I love my sleep! What helps me is to plan what I’ll wear, what I’ll have for breakfast, how I’ll fix my hair, etc. the night before. Then even if I’m a zombie when I wake up, I don’t have to worry about wasting time attempting to make too many decisions. I just complete the plan on autopilot and head out the door!
Lists, make-ahead meals and google calendar for scheduling and alerts.
I definitely employ the “wake up before my child” technique. I’ve found that having an hour in the morning to get all of my stuff done makes our mornings so much more enjoyable. I’ve also embraced my naturally curly hair, walking out the door most mornings with wet hair and forgoing the time-consuming blowdrying step!
I stay on track and on schedule by utilizing Google Calendar, which I sync with my iPhone!
I rely heavily on my gmail calendar. I also set reminders for myself. One of the very first things I do when I wake up is check my calendar. Keeps me organized!
I plan out the route beforehand and count backwards the time I need to be ready and out the door. If I haven’t been there before, I usually add 15 minutes for parking and any accidental turns!
You and me both! I think lateness should be considered a gene like brown eyes or a widows peak. I use a planner and color pens to stay organized. Honestly, it’s a lifesaver. Plus lists, I organize my lists by prioritizing the things I have to do using A, B, and for the not-so-urgent things C. Lastly, baskets. I have a slight obsession with baskets. For one they’re so cute and they help keep things organized! What’s not to love?? I have a diaper changing basket, toiletries basket, clothes baskets, toy baskets, etc.
When I do laundry on the weekends, I hang up a week’s worth of outfits for my daughter so we can just pick throughout the week.
To avoid being late, I need to give myself time to prepare–that’s all it is. If I don’t give enough time to get ready or prepare something ahead of time—I’ll be late. I try to avoid this when it comes to an event. If I run late with my own to do list—I’m annoyed but it is easier to deal with only annoying me—not other people:)
I conquer lateness by putting myself in the other person’s shoes and thinking about how I would feel waiting for my late self! I hate waiting for others so this helps a lot!
I am one of those very organized, always early people. In fact it is a bit of a joke among my friend with some of them even trying to beat me to events from time to time. My calendar on my phone is definitely a priority for me. I check the whole weeks events almost every day so I have an idea of what is coming up, when and what I need to do.
Love this give away.
I conquer lateness and stay organized by:
Setting out clothes the night before.
Writing down lists when it comes to shopping, packing, etc.
Using reminders on my phone, Google calendar and work calendar.
Keep a Google calendar that is shared with my husband AND a magnetic calendar on the fridge so the whole family can view it anytime.
Make a budget and follow it!
I conquer lateness by keeping clocks in each room in my house! I will frequently glance at the clocks to keep myself on track and get out of the house on time!
Google Calendar! My husband and I have shared calendars so it not only helps ourselves stay organized, but it helps me understand what he has going on and assists in planning around both of our schedules. It also helps that I can reference the same calendar at home, work or running errands. Love it!
We also use Google Drive to share documents that we both need to reference when we aren’t always at home – addresses, account information, gift ideas, dinner/date night ideas, vacation day tracking… and baby name ideas. 🙂
I conquer lateness with 2 children under 3 by preparing everything we need for the next morning the night before- clothes are laid out for everyone, lunches are packed & in the fridge ready to go, diaper bag has specifically what we need for the day (daycare, fun activities, play dates, etc.), and breakfast is prepped as much as possible. We can all be out the door by 7:30 am when we need to be!
I am a stickler on not being late. My mom always was/is and it drives me nuts, haha. I am a perpetual list maker and do many of the same things you do-choosing clothes ahead of time, packing bags the night before but I think the game changer for me was changing the time on most of our clocks so that they are 5 minutes fast. If I think I am already 5 minutes late I hustle a little more, it works!
I have a joint google calendar with my boyfriend and alerts on everything that pop up on my phone. I am also very aware that other peoples time is just as important as mine and I try to be very respectful of that which makes it easy to be on time.
I’m a perpetual scheduler. plus, my husband’s frustration with my lateness helped me get over it :).
Prepare as much ahead of time as possible and make lists!
Doesn’t really seem to matter what i do to plan things out, I think I just always over plan, and under estimate the time it actually takes to get places! The clocks are all set ahead in our house..but since I know that, I just do the math to find out what time it really is, and how much more I can try to do before I have to leave!! 🙂 I would LOVE a tablet to help me get more organized!!
My iphone is always with me, sending me reminder alerts!
I use my Phone Calendar to schedule appointments and reminders. Works most of the time! Also setup Auto-pay for all my bills, so i don’t miss them.
Tweeted!
https://twitter.com/TracyKoep/status/383632699535024128
The best I can do is put everything on our shared gmail calendar. I also just have to write everything I need to do down or I will forget. I really want to work on meal prepping- when I already know what we are having or better yet, have it already prepared, the whole day seems less stressful.
Every year I buy a cute planner and write everything down. I also keep post-its in my planner to make grocery lists, make notes, etc. It helps me to write everything down!
I’m good at being late for life too. :/ I set clocks ahead 5-10 minutes. And whenever I have to be somewhere, I tell myself that it actually starts 15 minutes before it actually starts. Then I have it in my head and end up being right ON time. 😉