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 conquer “lateness” by setting out my clothes for the next day. I know it seems like overkill, but I teach several fitness classes each day and need a few changes of exercise clothes, plus office appropriate attire. It’s a huge time saver!
For the most part I’m a pretty punctual person, but that’s because I consistently do a few things. I pack all my foods the night before. Whether it’s breakfast and lunch for the work week or snacks on the weekend, I get them ready the night before. If I’m going somewhere new I usually plan to get there 15 minutes earlier than I need to be to account for running late, traffic, getting lost, and parking. My high school cross country coach used to always say “To be early is to be on time and to be on time is to be late” and I’ve kind of adopted that same mantra over the years.
I use the calendar on my iPhone, my work planner and a magnetic dry erase board on our fridge. I check bills weekly to prepare for payments ahead of time.
Growing up, we were late to EVERYTHING because my Mom was a notoriously late person. I have never wanted to be that way, so I follow some daily routines to avoid lateness: lay out work and exercise clothes, pack my lunch and breakfast, use a whiteboard for dinner plans and appointments and update my husband and I’s iCal with events and appointments on a daily basis. This prep work allows us to accomplish our daily goals and be more efficient 🙂 I would love a tablet with financial apps from CITI as our finances have yet to be well organized!
I’m just like you. I’m always 5-15 minutes late to everything. It’s usually because I’m running around the house trying to remember where I left my keys, finding a dog bone to stuff for the pup, or grabbing misc things. I’ve been better about remembering where my keys are by leaving them by the front door. I bought a couple cosmetic bags to keep my purse essentials so I can throw them into my bags, no matter where I’m going.
I conquer lateness by setting my clocks ahead so that even if I think I’m running late, I turn out to be on time
I conquer lateness and stay organized by putting everything on my Google calendar. Then I have my Google calendar setup to send me a text 15 minutes before every appointment. It keeps me from being late and helps me never forget a thing!
I use a little planner and keep it in my purse. I could definitely use an upgrade to a tablet!
I pack my lunch and get an outfit ready the night before. I also get up an hour early to get my workout in for the day.I am also a list maker and a note taker.
Tweeted. https://mobile.twitter.com/oowidescrnoo/status/383645641727307777
I am an incessant list maker! It’s the only way I stay sane.
I conquer lateness by prepping the night before: outfit, lunch, work-out clothes for after work (if I’m ambitious). Then I can just move on autopilot in the morning!
I am never late and am always early! my mom is this way so it was instilled in me at a very early age. but I still like to stay organized with a weekly planner and weekend to-do lists to get ready for the week!
I try to put everything on my google calendar and create alerts when needed!
I’m the queen of lists. I write everything down in my planner an do for months in advance.
I use my iphone for all my organization!
I am anal about being on time — and I’m often early! I rely on public transportation, so I build in a 15-minute window on all errands or travel times to account for messed-up bus and train schedules. I also rely heavily on my iPhone to remind of of things, and I set multiple alerts for the super-important stuff, instead of just one alert.
Hope I’m the winner!
I HATE being late for anything! My Iphone calendar is a life saver, as is the reminders and notes app’s. I set alerts and alarms for everything. Also, by prepping the night before (lunch, outfit, set out my coffee mug, etc) mornings usually go pretty smoothly. I am a huge fan of auto-bill pay through my bank’s website to get my bill’s paid on time. I love that technology can help keep us on time and organized 🙂
I use mint.com to organize my expenses and bills and use my iPhone calendar to notify me of upcoming events. To shorten on the hectic morning, I plan out my clothes for the day the night before in my head. Small changes result in big time savers!
I’m not entering the contest ( don’t need another tablet!) but I just wanted to say this is one of the best ‘sponsored’ posts I’ve ever seen – it actually had a point and practical information rather than just “hey, this is great and you should enter to win one!” Good work 🙂 that’s all! Have a great weekend!
I do very similar things as you do: automatic bill pay (whew!), make snacks the night before, etc..I always mentally map my day out before I go to sleep-that always motivates me upon waking and sets my goals right away!
I keep a notepad by my bed so i always can jot something down so i don’t forget in the morning.I keep snacks in my bag so im not looking for food when i should be leaving.
I’m pretty low tech — I have a paper planner in the kitchen for family activities and a paper planner that I carry with me…I do use a color coding system, so that should probably win bonus points! I am also constantly late for social activities, but never for interviews or client meetings…I could still work on finding a system to make myself a bit more organized and on time. Oh, I also love lists!
I’m not entering to contest either but just uber jealous that your girl sleeps so late.. I’m lucky if I ever hear my 5:30 alarm, usually my little guy takes care of that!
I always set 30 minutes aside for travel time regardless of the location. It’s funny because I’ll do that even if the place is 5 minutes away. I’m so used to it though that sometimes I’m late when I have to go somewhere further.
I do as much as I can to get ready the night before – packing lunch, putting everything I need in my backpack, and making a kong for my dog!
I use my google calendar and synch it with my iPhone- my bf and I share a google cal so it helps both of us keep track of what the other has going on as well!
we use excel sheets to help keep us organized! we’d be lost without it.
It is definitely a cultural thing to be late to events and places for me. Growing up as a Latina I realized that we were always late for everything with my fam so I learned from them things to NOT do.
I, like yourself try to plan ahead and stay organized, I think organization is key to being prompt and staying on time for whatever you do. My best way to conquer lateness would be setting up alarms and to-do reminders on my cell phone. I try to make sure that I keep alerts that pop-up on my screen and tell me what’s next and set a due date or time. I have also really enjoyed bill payer online because it saves me from late fees which I have gotten in the past quite the few times :/!
In order to be on time and conquer lateness I also plan my outfits ahead of time and layout possible accessories and shoe options, I can be very indecisive at times.
What I do feel is lacking is a calendar, I think that if I were to have that calendar planned out at least a week in advance I would forever conquer lateness!
Thanks for sharing your strategies!
We use a magnetic monthly calendar and a google calendar to stay organized.
Google is my organization lifesaver. Calendar and Drive are shared between my fiance and I to manage our busy little lives.
i am always early; i get anxious if i am not, but this is through prep and time management and a little too much type A personality 🙂
I chronically underestimate how long it will take me to do anything, so I always add an extra 15 minutes. Reminders on my phone also help me not to forget things.
I try to teach my girls how to organize their own things (backpacks, lunch boxes etc), so in the morning we’re not scrambling for things on our way to school.
I’m an early bird. Once it’s after 10 PM, I’m not very productive. I’d rather get a good night’s sleep and get up 20 minutes early to get things done. So I usually try to pack my lunch and work bag the evening before, but any odds and ends I usually do in the morning (and I make a list of what needs to be done so I don’t forget or stress about it while I’m in bed).
I try to remember that things always take longer than you think they will, so I give myself more time to get things done than I think I need. This way I get things done on time and thus get places on time!
I tweeted 😉 https://twitter.com/cindy_saw/status/383655520772452352
I always wake up early, even if its 5 more minutes more than I need to get ready, I need some extra time to check e-mail or get on the road so I don’t have to stress about being late! as for organization, i’m lacking…but I use apple notes to make lists.
I use my iPhone calendar to set reminders for all of my bills. That, paired with nagging emails and letter reminders, I couldn’t forget a payment if I tried!
I always plan a 30 min buffer before we have to be anywhere for those little, unexpected tasks that come up as I’m walking out the door
I have a desk calendar at work that i write everything on, that along with my iphone calendar helps me remember any important event. I also like getting things done early, so i will prep things the night before and/or get up early to make sure all is ready to go! I hate being late, it stresses me out for some reason :-/
I grew up being on time…my parent’s motto was “if you are on time you are late, and if you are early you are on time.” Fortunately, I also have the “early” gene. As for paying bills, I have multiple e-mail reminders to help me out on that!
I use my iPhone and google calendar for everything. I love Evernote for keeping a running to do and grocery list!
I have so many checklists it’s not even funny! And I won’t leave the house without pre-packed snacks. 🙂
Google Calendar has been a lifesaver. I love being able to save things to do, sync with my phone, and have the alerts keep me moving on time!
I always make my lunch the night before so that when I’m up early heading to the gym and class it’s one less thing to worry about.
I have all sorts of alerts and lists on my phone. And I write out physical lists too – there’s nothing more satisfying than crossing a to-do off!
I get as much done on the weekends as possible! Grocery shopping, meal prep, when I do laundry I have an over-the-door hanger on my closet door where I try to hang my outfits for the week. And my calendar in my phone has been a huge help keeping appointments and events straight!
I always get as much prepared the night before as possible. Gym clothes are out and ready to go. Kids lunches are packed and backpacks are ready to go the night before!
My husband and I go over our weekly plans on Sunday night each week and I try to plan ahead the night before for any appointments or social gatherings.