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 try to arrive early for everything. Lately, I have been trying to allow myself extra time between appointments/meetings to make sure I have enough time to get from one to another, with maybe a few extra minutes to take a breath in between. I am also a huge fan of google calendar and task lists.
Iphone reminders! And ical!
I have my work and personal calendars synced with everyone on Google, love it!
I conquer lateness by convincing myself that I have to be where I have to be 30 minutes earlier than the actual time 🙂
Calendar & alarm clock.
I always chart out my schedule the day before on iCal–works so much better than making your schedule the day of. For some reason scheduling the day before helps you to actually stick with your plans… 🙂 Oh, and getting up and reading and praying in the mornings is always a good start to the day.
I love my magnetic calendar, it makes my life so much organized and easier.
-https://twitter.com/tcarolinep/status/385263409144418304
I try to conquer my lateness however having a son with Autism it is not always possible to be in time on appointments, to try to conquer my lateness ,I set a schedule for the day and give my son rewards when he finish one task at a time, the reason of my lateness are unscheduled meltdowns ( cause by sensory overload and going to new places) , and when that happens , what I do is to let the meltdown run its curse , and be patience .
https://twitter.com/Dealsfan32/status/385270521819983873
I write everything down in a planner and try to do as much the night before so mornings aren’t stressful.
Unfortunately, I don’t conquer lateness…yet.
I would love to win the tablet! I’m chronically late… it’s in my blood too! I just recently got a full time job and I’m working on balancing bills and unfortunately, I have student loans to look forward to once I’m done with my masters. This would be wonderful!
I used to always be early then I had kids. They suck the time away, but my ways to conquer lateness are my Sunday prep, and my calendars. I try to keep the whole family on the same page. I am also giving my 9 year old more responsibility in the evening and mornings to get stuff done. He is doing a great job and that helps tremendously.
I do as much as I can to prepare the night before, in the morning I get up the first time my alarm goes off and don’t stop moving until I am ready to walk out the door. Would love to win this to gift to my husband.
The tablet sounds amazing! I struggle to be on time so much! I was so good about this in grad school but now with work, and husband who is constantly late ,I can pretty much garuntee we will be 30 minutes behind schedule! I have learned to set alarms, make lunches and snacks the night before and make a plan for the day first thing in the morning- it helps to know how I need to divide my time! I constantly joke that we will be a huge mess when we have kids- but you give me hope that we might actually get better ha!
I would LOVE a tablet to help me stay organize. I travel fairly often, and something portable would really help me out!
I am an always on time sort of person, but my husband is not! I’ll often tell him to be ready 10 minutes earlier than when we really need to leave to get us out the door on time.
I also try to consider the “worst case scenario” when it comes to transportation–if I know I can get across town in 15 minutes if everything goes perfectly, I’ll usually leave myself a 10-15 minute buffer for delays.
I always try to have much prepared before hand so that all I have to do is grab and go – such as having my work clothes out and ready the night before, breakfast and lunch ready to go, and a plan for the day so that even if I am running late, I can still be good. And if I’m running ahead of schedule, I can relax and enjoy the calmness of getting out the door versus running out the door.
I conquer lateness by being an early bird! Seriously! I feel so much better waking up at 4 am, running at 5 am, getting to work by 8 am (yeah I have a commute) and having all that done before most people wake up!
I also use automated payments so I am never late paying bills.
Lateness also depends on the other people .. I know with my friends, I might know they run on “Rachel time” etc, and then I know it’s acceptable for us both to be 10 minutes late. If however, there’s someone I don’t know, I make a special effort to be on time. Big factor is counting on transit… how long it takes to walk/bike/or bus. If I don’t control the mode (bus), I’m more careful and go earlier (and don’t miss the bus!).
Would love a new tablet to stay organized- I just got married, so it will be great to have something to keep track of our new joined life together and the financial apps!
I prep my breakfasts for the week on Monday and have foods prepped to put together each night for lunches and dinners in order to stay organized and committed to healthy eating.
Regarding lateness, I usually have the opposite problem of arriving too early which can be just as awkward.
I am very rarely late because I obsessively plan for everything & make lists daily – it may look crazy to outsiders, but it works for me!
I use my phone as an alarm and the calendar and notes to stay organized
https://twitter.com/sweetums82/status/385453899173228546
I would love to win a tablet, I love new gadgets and anything thing easy to keep me organized!
I conquer lateness by setting my alarm clock 5 minutes ahead!
My best tip for conquering lateness is preparing things the night before if you can! I lay out clothes, make lunches and even lay out my children’s breakfast bowls and spoons! For appointments I have a planner and always try to arrive 30 minutes early so if something happens like traffic I generally arrive on time!
Tweeted
https://twitter.com/mummytotwoboys1/status/385488235373146112
I do so much better when I plan my week out on Sunday like meals, what I need to get done, etc. It’s sometimes hard to motivate myself to do it on Sunday though.
I set alarms and reminders in my phone for EVERYTHING! I know that I use my phone more for organizing my life, than I do to make calls on it. Also, I recently switched my work schedule from afternoons/evenings to early morning (4:00 a.m.), so I have to have everything for the next day prepped before I go to bed the night before, or it’s not happening. I also prep most of my food for the week on one of my days off, sometimes making double batches and freezing the extra for later. This has helped me keep on track with healthy eating despite my crazy new schedule.
I keep the clock in my bedroom that I see the most when getting ready and the clock in my car set eight to ten minutes fast. Even though I know that it is not accurate, it still keeps me moving more quickly. Too bad I cannot cheat like this with my phone.
I also agree with having outfits decided upon and breakfast prepped the night before – lifesavers on a busy morning.
A magnetic calendar board in my kitchen and my phone calendar keep me organized…and sane!
I think it’s super important to have stuff ready ahead of time. That way you’re not running around trying to remember what you’re forgetting and worrying!
I conquer lateness by telling myself to be places 15 minutes early.
I’m pretty disorganized so I make tons of to-do lists. There are random scraps of paper everywhere in the house. I tend to use the backs of old envelopes or receipts. As a result, my fiance can never throw anything away because he doesn’t know what’s important. 🙂 I don’t have any kind of new technology – no smart phone, tablet, e-reader, etc… so this would be so wonderful!
Meal prep and for a few minutes I’ll walk through the next day in my mind- making sure im prepped and ready for expected events- so I can leave space for the unexpected!
Oh man, my kids are usually the ones making me late. 😉 I know, I know, it’s up to me to get them ready on time! I have to factor in the time it takes to get them ready… and then add 10 minutes just to be safe! If I can prep things to take with us and lay them out the night before, that helps too.
I’m the worst at being late. I try to tell myself the time an event actually starts is 15 minutes before it actually does, but that doesn’t always work … clearly. Thinking about an outfit beforehand has helped me a lot recently! As has gathering everything I need to take with me in my purse/bag the night before!
I keep a planner, and try to do everything in advance – plan meals, pick out clothes, etc.
I’m almost always on time, unless I get stuck in Atlanta traffic, but its my husband who has no grasp on time! I have a calender set aside just for him to remind him of what we have planned and send him reminders on when to leave work/ get ready so we aren’t late!
I have learned to prepare the night before which means laying clothes out, getting breakfast and lunch ready, whatever I can do ahead that will cut time in the morning!!
Write (note) everything down! If something is not on paper or tracked in my phone, I’m guaranteed to forget it.
Conquer lateness by scheduling extra time in between appointments! I also try to write important events down on my calendar or I’ll forget and double book myself.
i prepare everything i need before i go to bed
https://twitter.com/HappyTina0115/status/385939468705755136
Lists, lists, lists! Detailed agendas and reminders plus a pretty good memory equals organization for me.
Keeping a planner helps me the best when it comes to staying organized – and ALWAYS having a to-do list going 🙂
Making lists, living by my calendar, and setting reminders!
Lists everywhere! Crossing things off makes me happy! Prepping every possible thing the night before helps me a lot too.