Productivity @ Home

Social Media Do's & Don'ts for College Students

Over at UniversityParent.com, there is a terrific article entitled Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for College Students.  The facts and ideas presented in this column are important to review with your children of any age who may be using Social Media.  Around our house, my kids are constantly reminded that their Facebook pages are their "online resumes" -- future college choices, employers, and even their own parents will be closely watching their online activities and judging their characters as a result.

The information in this article is also pertinent to adults of any age who are active online.  Think twice before you type, post a photo or video, or hit "send". 

Dictionary for Dads

On Tuesdays,I share my thoughts on Family Life.  Today's guest article was submitted by Robert Livingstone, Co-Founder and Vice President of Dictionary for Dads.  His website looks to be a comprehensive resources, filled with resources for not only dads, but anyone interested in family life issues.

Dictionary for Dads arose amid concerns of every day fathers who sought to promote their knowledge, education, experience and resources as it pertains to becoming an excellent father. As an organization, our goal is to assist fathers in raising healthy and happy children and nurturing a great relationship with them.

Having experienced many dilemmas as a father of three I made a very clear assessment that there is very little quality literature available for dads today. The role of a  fathers at times becomes so complex and I personally could have used some direction like a Dictionary For Dads

Dictionary for Dad’s provides resources and information which  are fundamental in assisting men in making informed decisions based on education, research and practical experience all provided by Dictionary for Dad’s. In doing so, we strive to reinforce the positive male role model in our society while increasing the social welfare of children throughout our world.

We understand that parenting is often complex and confusing with many variables including but not limited to nutrition, medical, psychological, developmental, environmental, marital, social and academic. It is our aim to provide every dad with education, information and resources for all dilemmas when they occur.

Dictionary for Dad’s believes that the label of a “dad” is one which is earned not one that is provided through birth.

For additional information visit http://www.dictionaryfordads.com/

Learn and Do Everything in Less Time

On Wednesdays, I share my thoughts on Learning and Professional Development.

A big thanks to Kelly from ClearViewEducation.com for calling to my attention their recent post entitled 100 Awesome Cheat Sheets to Learn and Do Everything in Less Time.  Since personal productivity is all about "Getting Things Done", this is the type of cheating that works for me!

The Cheat Sheet list includes a broad cross section of topics including hobbies, productivity and organizing, finances and home and garden.  The "Laundry 101" Cheat Sheet is going to get printed and posted in my laundry room alongside the "Cleaning Cheat Sheet" so that I can spend more time enjoying the "Wine and Food Pairings" Cheat Sheet!

Is compiling lists of things that will make life less complicated cheating?  I call it good time management and recommend you head over and check out 100 Awesome Cheat Sheets to Learn and Do Everything in Less Time today.

Have a post to share?  Email me any time at lisahendey@gmail.com if you have a tip on personal productivity that will help our readers!

Clear the clutter, cleanse the soul

The following article, reprinted with permission from of the Arlington Catholic Herald, is more religious in nature than those you will typically see on Productivity @ Home.  But I felt compelled to share it here since I'm a great admirer of the work being done by Project Nazareth's founder, Abby Sasscer.  How many of us would have the generosity of spirit to share our time and talents with others who might benefit from the services we offer.  In Abby's case, this organizational expert, author and speaker provides free in home consultations to families in need of her service.  Making herself available in this fashion has supported her speaking work, helped spread the word about her e-book, and helped countless homes fight the battle against clutter.  I'm pleased to reprint this article -- written by Katie Bahr -- and to recommend Abby Sasscer's e-book as a great resource as well. 

Whether you want to do it or not, the time spent clearing the clutter from your house may be good for more than just extra closet space; it can also benefit your soul.

That’s the idea behind Project Nazareth, an apostolate formed to help families declutter their homes and simplify their lives to become closer to God.

According to Abby Sasscer, a parishioner of St. John Bosco in Woodstock and the founder of Project Nazareth, the act of living simply gives families an opportunity to love God and practice virtue in their everyday lives, or their “domestic church.”

“I try to teach the families that the goal is not to have a perfectly organized house. The goal is heaven,” Sasscer said. “We can grow in holiness everyday within our domestic Church by practicing the virtues exemplified by the Holy Family in Nazareth. Every time we declutter, we practice the virtues of simplicity and holy detachment. Every time we manage our time and treasure wisely, we practice the virtues of wise stewardship and trust in divine providence. Every time we plan our menu, we practice the virtue of faithfulness and prudence.”

For Sasscer, organization and simple living are second nature.

Growing up in the Philippines, she was exposed to poverty every day on her way to Catholic school. She was impressed with the way those families handled their lives with very few possessions.

“I noticed something beautiful, that the poor families tended to be happier, more content and more thankful for what they had,” Sasscer said. “The simpler they were, the happier they were.”

After coming to the United States as a teenager, Sasscer spent time visiting a few convents. Again, she was attracted to and impressed by the simple and orderly lives of the nuns.

After receiving her bachelor’s in business administration, she parlayed that love of simplicity and order into her career when she got a job systematizing small, and eventually home, offices.

After she left her job to home-school her three children, she couldn’t leave her organizational talents behind and kept working to systematize parts of her own house. Eventually, a close friend started asking for tips on how to organize her house as well.

Sasscer wrote a manual, which later grew into an e-book called Simplifying Your Domestic Church — A Spiritual Journal to Help Families Declutter, Organize and Systemize their Home.

The e-book was written originally for home-schooling families, but the information, with sections on organizing vital documents, decluttering, menu planning, time management, tithing and Christian budgeting, is helpful for all families.

Sasscer compiled advice from other mothers, motivational quotes from saints and the Scriptures, and workshops on topics like budgeting, scheduling and menu planning. The book is organized in easy-to-read sections, with bullet points instead of long paragraphs.

“Most of the books on decluttering and organizing are so cluttered and disorganized,” Sasscer said. “I’m not really out to have a best-selling book. I’m out to help people and I don’t think they need to spend all their time reading.”

After the e-book was published, Sasscer began getting invitations to speak at diocesan parishes and to visit people’s homes for private consultations, all of which led her to form Project Nazareth.

“It was almost like an accident, really. Chronologically, it wasn’t planned by me,” she said. “It was planned by the Guy upstairs.”

Today, Project Nazareth has three main parts — “Project Mary” speaking engagements, “Project Elizabeth” home visitations and “Project Martha” phone consultations.

During the “Project Mary” engagements, Sasscer speaks to mothers with young children, teaching them how to instill the values of simplicity at an early age.

For the “Project Elizabeth” home visitations, Sasscer visits families in and around Shenandoah County. Home visitations take a minimum of three hours during which Sasscer will either assess each room in the house and give suggestions, or she will help the family focus on totally decluttering and organizing one room.

“Most of my visits are with home-schooling families and we really work together to prepare their classrooms for the next year,” she said.

The last part of Project Nazareth is the “Project Martha” phone consultations, which use a 24/7 hotline families can call if they need guidance.

Because Project Nazareth is an apostolate, all services are provided free of charge, with Sasscer only accepting offerings to cover her own costs for gas, meals and supplies.

For families looking to simplify and organize their own homes, Sasscer said the most important thing is to get rid of as much clutter as possible.

“On a practical level, the less stuff you have, the less stuff you have to organize,” she said.

She encouraged families to declutter twice a year, ideally during Advent and Lent. She also discouraged families from keeping things for future use.

“By excessively storing things for future use, you’re possibly depriving other people from using them right now,” she said. “Keep the gifts coming.”

During home visits, Sasscer encourages families to fill at least one big black garbage bag with stuff to give away. She jokingly calls these “body bags.”

“Consider it a body bag, like you just went to war and that’s the collateral damage,” she said. “You don’t keep body bags in your home because they stink on the spiritual level. It’s not alive, but it sucks all this energy out of you.”

When families are having a hard time getting rid of things, Sasscer often challenges them to think ahead in their lives to what they will really need.

“I encourage the person to constantly fast forward to the last two hours of life and ask, ‘Do I need this 20-year-old fondue set to get to heaven?’”

By clearing the clutter, families can redirect more of their attention to God.

“Picture yourself walking into a church,” Sasscer said. “You don’t have a lot of crazy clutter. Everything is simple, Christ-centered, uncluttered and light. You can focus on God. Simplifying the domestic church is like creating that same atmosphere within your home, and not just treating it as a giant storage shed.”

Find out more:

For more information, visit projectnazareth.info.
24 hour voicemail service: 800/382-0859 ext. 6498.
Buy the e-book at chcweb.com.

Way to Go Milo!

Congratulations to my good friend Lisa Umina of Halo Publishing and her buddy Milo for their recognition this week

in winning the Christian Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award for their tremendous book Milo and the Green Wagon.

At the time this book was released, I said of it, "Milo and the Green Wagon is a true gift for families. This precious story teaches children that they, too, can make a difference in our world by reaching out to people in need; Small efforts can add up to tremendous results! Author Lisa Umina and Milo teach us that there is true joy in giving to others." In the time since that review was written, Lisa and Milo have been working hard to educate kids (and their parents and teachers) to the fact that "ACT - Action Changes Things".

The award won by Milo and the Green Wagon is greatly deserved and a vote of confidence for the message that books can change minds and hearts. If you don't already own Milo and the Green Wagon, please consider purchasing this book to share with your favorite child. You will love it as much as she does!

10 Reasons to Have Family Meals More Often

When was the last time your family had a meal together? I don't mean sitting in the car munching on burgers from the drive-through.

I mean sitting down at the table and sharing a home-cooked meal. If you can't remember when you last enjoyed a family dinner, make plans to have them more often.

Experts have found - and continue to discover - plenty of benefits for both children and adults when families have dinner together at least three times a week. I know...I know, it's not always easy, so click here if you need help with meal planning and grocery shopping.

Here are 10 reasons why you should have family meals more often:

Good For The Body

1. When families eat together, everyone tends to eat healthier. People who have frequent family meals consume more calcium, fiber, iron, and vitamins B6, B12, C and E. It could be because home-cooked meals are healthier than fast food and restaurant meals. (Source: Archives of Family Medicine)

2. Children tend to eat more fruits and vegetables when they frequently have dinner with their families. They also tend to eat fewer snack foods. (Source: American Dietetic Association)

3. Children in families who eat dinner together are less likely to be overweight (Source: Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine). This makes sense, given the findings in #1 and #2 above.

Good For The Brain

4. Children from families who eat meals together get better grades than their peers who don't have lots of family meal times (Source: Lou Harris-Reader's Digest National Poll). So family dinners are not only good for the body; they're also good for the brain.

5. When families eat together frequently, children have better language skills compared to kids from families who don't have family mealtimes often. (Source: Harvard University)

Good For Emotional Health

6. Children of families who eat together report feeling happier and are more optimistic about the future, than their peers who have infrequent family meals. (Source: Lou Harris-Reader's Digest National Poll)

7. Teenagers are less likely to use drugs, smoke, and drink alcoholic drinks, when their families eat together regularly. (Source: Columbia University)

8. It may come as a surprise, but among Moms who work outside the home, those who have family mealtimes reported feeling less stress than those who had family dinners less often. (Source: Family and Consumer Sciences Research Journal)

9. The more often teen girls had meals with their families, the less likely they were to have symptoms of depression and suicidal behaviors. (Source: University of Minnesota)

Good For Family Bonding

10. Eating together gives family members the chance to communicate and build relationships, something that both adults and children appreciate very much. (Source: Nutrition Education Network of Washington & Oprah Winfrey's "Family Dinner Experiment")

I hope these reasons motivate you and your family to try and eat together more often. We're all busy - even children have plenty of after-school activities. But as the list above shows, family meals are worth every effort we put into them. It helps to plan ahead so that we're not scrambling to get dinner ready or panicking because we don't have all the ingredients we need.

To make it easier to get the family around the table with a home-cooked meal, check out Dine Without Whine's menu planning service. It cost just a penny to try it out!

Copyright 2009 Dine Without Whine

The Benefits of Roping Children into Community Service

There’s something about volunteering for community service that melts your insides and makes you feel soft and warm all over. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re not expecting anything in return for what you’re doing; maybe it’s just the thrill of being able to make a difference in someone’s life; or maybe it’s just that you find yourself spending your time in a worthwhile manner. Whatever the reason, community service gives back to you as much as you do for the community, in terms of emotional fulfillment. So it’s only natural that you should get your children involved too, because their lives are going to be enriched by helping other people. There are various advantages to be gained by roping your kids into helping out in the community, some of which are:

• They develop a sense of WE rather than I: Children are born thinking only about themselves and remain that way till they’re able to reason and think for themselves. Community service helps them understand the value of thinking about other people, about putting their needs before our own, and about the need to be less selfish and more generous with what we have. Children learn how to share, both on a physical and an emotional level, when they’re exposed to community service at an early age.

• They understand the problems that are a part of our world: It’s not easy to teach our children about poverty, illiteracy and homelessness, some of the few problems that exist in today’s society, when they have all the food they want, go to the best schools and live in comfortable homes with their own rooms. Community service helps them understand that there are people who are not as fortunate as we are, and that we need to open our hearts and our minds in order to help them in any way we can.

• They realize how fortunate they are: It’s tough to make your child realize the futility and stupidity of wasting food when there are millions of children starving all over the world. But if they see people who are less fortunate than they are, they will be less inclined to complain about their perceived woes in life.
• They utilize their time usefully: Community service is a good way to use free time. It also helps you bond with your kids outside your home and spend more time with them. If your kids are with you, it becomes a family affair, something the whole family can do together on a particular day of the week or over the weekend.
• They pick up new skills and discover hidden talents: If your child is a born organizer, the fact is going to be revealed when they work as part of a team and take on leadership responsibilities during community service. They discover other talents as well, like learning how to get along with other people and communicate effectively, qualities that will stand them in good stead when they become adults.

This post was contributed by Courtney Phillips, who writes about ranking of community colleges. She welcomes your feedback at CourtneyPhillips80 at gmail.com.  Courtney taught for two years before becoming interested in writing full time for various online publications relating to education, nursing, and health.  She writes her articles from knowledge through past experiences, research, and learned information.

Organizing Your Family Records

My battle with a very treatable form of breast cancer earlier this year already feels like a memory as I continue on my road to recovery.  But a few of the lasting effects of viewing your own mortality have stuck with me, and one of them is the concern that I get my "act together" in the event that something might suddenly happen to me.  Since I am the primary "finance person" in our home, I am concerned with getting things in better order both for my own peace of mind and for my family's sake.

To this end, I am happy that I recently had the opportunity to review Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom) from Nolo by Melanie Cullen.  The book, complete with CD-ROM, covers the following areas:

• instructions for survivors
• secured places and passwords
• final arrangements
• estate planning documents
• employment records
• insurance policies
• tax records
• retirement accounts
• government benefits
• real estate records

This workbook provides a complete system for structuring a records binder and easily organizing it for your loved ones. And, if you'd like to work on your computer, use the CD-ROM and print your work and put it into a binder.

The book contains 28 blank tables where you can organize information about the following topics:

Letter to Loved Ones
Instructions for Loved Ones
Biographical Information
Children
Others Who Depend on Me
Pets and Livestock
Employment
Business Interests
Memberships
Service Providers
Health Care Directives
Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
Organ or Body Donation
Burial or Cremation
Funeral and Memorial Services
Obituary
Will and Trust
Insurance
Bank and Brokerage Accounts
Retirement Plans and Pensions
Government Benefits
Credit Cards and Debts
Secured Places and Passwords
Taxes
Real Estate
Vehicles
Other Income and Personal Property
Other Information

If you're an organized person, you may already have much of this information pulled together.  But if you are not, or like me you haven't anticipated the need to have it all in one place, this book is a great tool for helping you work through the process.  The book contains 28 chapters and a seven step process for creating and compiling your own planner.  It's a huge resource, filled with all sorts of helpful information.  At first glance, it may feel a bit daunting to take on such a large task, but I'm hoping that by working through the book at a one chapter per week pace, I will have my family files organized within the next six months. 

Please consider joining me in the process and don't wait until tragedy strikes or it's too late to put your affairs in order.  This is a lasting legacy of personal productivity we can leave for those who love us most!

For more information, check out Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom) at Amazon.

The Nap-Resister: When Your Child Needs a Nap but Won’t Take One

This week, we continue our "nap time" series with another guest Family Life article by parenting expert Elizabeth Pantley.  This article is excerpted from Elizabeth's latest book entitled The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems .

The Nap-Resister: When Your Child Needs a Nap but Won’t Take One

Daytime naps might last just a few short hours, but they can affect all twenty-four hours of a child’s day. Naps can improve a child’s mood and reduce fussiness, crying, whining, and tantrums. Studies show that children who nap daily get sick less often, grow taller, and are less likely to be obese when they grow up. Naps enhance attention span and brain development. Naps can also help make up for any shortage in nighttime sleep. Even a one hour shortage in overall sleep hours can have a negative effect on a child – compromising alertness and brain function, and increasing fussiness and fatigue. 

There are many ideas for helping a child to take a nap, but the best idea in the world may not work for you if the solution doesn’t address the reason that your child won’t nap. There is not just one reason that babies and young children refuse to nap – there are hundreds of different reasons. Before you decide on a solution you need to understand your child’s motivation. Once you figure out the cause of your child’s “nonnappingness” you can put together a plan to overcome her resistance. Here are a few typical reasons kids won’t nap – and suggestions to solve each problem:

Problem: Has outgrown the current nap schedule
Solutions: Think about any changes in your child’s life, growth or development. Has he learned to crawl, begun to eat solid food or started daycare? Any change can also affect sleep patterns. Watch your child for signs of tiredness between naps and adjust your schedule to meet his new needs.

Problem: Nap schedule doesn’t match your child’s biological clock
Solutions: Naptime, bedtime, mealtime, exposure to light and darkness, and activity all can affect your child’s biological clock. Look at your child’s schedule to be sure these things occur at reasonable times every day. The improper order of things (such as active, brightly lit playtime just before bed) can affect your child’s rhythm.

Problem: Nap schedule isn’t consistent from day to day
Solutions: If on weekdays nap times, bedtime and wakeup time are specific, but on weekends they’re hit and miss, then your child will be functioning with a constant bout of jetlag. Other inconsistencies can also affect this, such as when your child naps at a certain time at daycare, but a different time at home, or if he takes a nice long nap on days when you are at home but takes a short one in the car (or skips a nap entirely) when you are on the go. Set up a possible nap schedule for your child and do your best to stay within a half hour of the nap times that you have set up.

Problem: Child is overtired and over-wired by nap time
Solutions: If you miss your child’s signs of fatigue he can quickly move past his tired spell, past overtired, and into a second wind – that state of artificial energy which often brings with it more crying, fussing, whining and tantrums. When you miss your child’s tired signs it also means he won’t be able to fall asleep when you do finally put him in bed.

To learn your child’s sleepy signs it can help to watch him in the hour after he first wakes up in the morning, when he is well rested. Compare this to his behavior during the time from dinner to bedtime, when most children show signs of fatigue. As his usual bedtime draws near, make note of how his behavior and body language differs from when he is alert and refreshed. Aim to put your child for a nap as soon as he shows signs of fatigue. A tired child will fall asleep easily and sleep longer and better.

Problem: Reliance on a specific sleep aid
Solutions: A child who is accustomed to falling asleep in one very specific way can easily become so used to this one method that if you try to have him nap under any other condition he would be physically unable to do so. The best way to understand a child’s association needs are to examine them from your own viewpoint. It’s possible that you sleep well in your own bed but struggle to sleep at a hotel or someone else’s home. Some children’s sleep associations are so strong it can only be compared to asking you to sleep on a roller coaster!

The most common nap-preventing associations are breastfeeding or bottlefeeding to sleep, being held by loving arms, or sleeping in a swing, bouncer or car seat. These are wonderfully comforting places for a child to nap – but when they become necessary for sleep then it’s likely to cause a problem for the parent who must provide naptime services. These associations are usually so necessary to your child’s sleep that they override every other reason or solution. Because these are complicated issues each of these associations has its own chapter of information and solutions in other parts of this book. 

Problem: Sneaky micro-naps
Solutions: The very first stage of sleep can last as little as five minutes and can reduce feelings of sleepiness– it lifts the lid and let’s the steam out just enough. If your child hits a tired zone and is lying on the sofa, sitting in a swing, or going for a ride in the car, he may nod off for five or ten minutes. This micro-nap doesn’t give your child the full benefit of a real nap, but can be just enough to rejuvenate him and prevent him from being able to sleep when you put him in bed later for a nap.
To circumvent this problem, avoid putting your child in a nap-inducing environment, like a ride in the car, or time in his swing, at a time when he’s likely to need a nap, unless you can leave him for a full long nap.

Problem: Health troubles
Solutions: If any health issue is bothering your child it can definitely affect his sleep. Allergies and asthma are two of the most common childhood diseases. Both of these conditions can make it difficult for your child to breathe comfortably when lying down. Colic, reflux, ear infections and difficult bouts of teething are other conditions that can prevent a child from napping well.
If your child suffers from any medical issues good naps are especially important for his health. If this is the case with your child it will be helpful if you are very flexible and open to finding any solution that helps him sleep. Put aside any notion that your child must sleep in a certain place or a certain way, and open yourself to the concept that any nap is better than no nap at all.
At the same time, talk with various medical experts about your child’s health matters and look to find the best solutions for your child.

Tips for encouraging naptime

No matter why your child won’t nap, there are a few specifics that can be helpful as you encourage any child to take regular naps. Keep these basic principles in mind:

• Maintain a consistent daily schedule that works with your child’s natural body clock. Create a predictable pattern to the day – with meals and naptime happening at reliable times.
• Modify your schedule according to your child’s sleepy signs. No matter what the clock says, it’s nap time when your child becomes quieter, loses interest in toys or playtime, fusses, stares off into the distance, rubs his eyes or ears, and of course: if he begins to yawn.
• Have a relaxing pre-nap routine to cue your child that naptime is here and help him wind down and relax.
• Set up a sleeping place that is cozy and that sets the stage for sleep. Dress your child comfortably for sleep.
• Keep mornings bright and active, and the half hour before each nap session quiet, dimly lit, and calm.
• Keep in mind that you cannot force a child to sleep, but you can follow the basic rules of biology, gauge your child’s sleepy signals, and create a setting that is inductive to sleep and relaxation.

From The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems by Elizabeth Pantley (McGraw-Hill, January 2009).

iPhone Apps for Family Finance Productivity

In a continuing effort not to "reinvent the wheel" but to address the continual interest in productivity related iPhone apps, I wanted to point you today to a great post over at The Simple Dollar that features Ten iPhone and iPod Touch Apps for Personal Finance Success. 

I'll second Trent's recommendation of mobile banking applications.  I've been very pleased with my recent installation of the Bank of America app for quick check ins on my accounts.  I also love "Check Please" for mindless tipping assistance when I don't feel like doing math and "My Budget" for planning purposes.

I love that Trent has included an overview of some of the great apps from Google, which continue to make my life more productive and happier on a daily basis!

What are some of your favorite tools for mobile finance?

Ten iPhone and iPod Touch Apps for Personal Finance Success