The Juggling Entrepreneurs

In this week’s RealAge Tips, it was mentioned that eating some good fats a half an hour before dinner can help curb your appetite and keep you from overeating.

Some good fats include:

• 6 walnuts, 12 almonds, or 20 peanuts
• olive oil for dipping bread into
  

AMA’s August 2007 newsletter contains a great article entitled “The Lost Art of Asking for Help.”

The article highlights M. Nora Kalver’s new book, Mayday! Asking for Help in Times of Need (Berrett-Koehler, 2007) and reviews:

• why people delay requesting help
• common cultural myths why we don’t ask for help
• The Mayday! process for asking for help.

Taking out the garbage is a ritual that everyone takes part of.  Have you ever noticed how different it can be from house to house?

My husband and I were introduced to our ritual by a neighbor.  Since we live on a small court, it is common for the trucks not to pull in all the way and pick up everyone’s garbage.  So we put the grass clippings, recyclables and garbage cans of three homes on a patch of grass not 10 feet long. =-)

On my walk today I noticed a man taking his garbage out.  He had on gardening gloves and was taking rusted old metal cans to the curb one-by-one using a dolly that had seen better days.  His neighbor used a wheelbarrow and garbage bags.

What is your ritual?

Working at home is not like working in an office.  You have no co-workers and you can easily be distracted by housework.

Many experts say a key to working successfully at home is to have a ritual.  They suggest getting dressed like you are going to work and having a dedicated space with a door you can close for your office.

Your office rituals are supposed to get you into the “work mode” and allow you to spend time productively.

For me, the crucial piece of advice is establishing set hours.

Everyone is different.

The important thing to remember is that what works for one person may not work for you.  A work-at-home mom with toddlers needs to have different rituals from someone who has the house to themselves.

A great article was passed to me by a wonderful VA, Kristi of Adonai Business Solutions, about how stressful it is to run a business for moms with small kids.

The article, “Stress makeover for mom at-home business“, mentions that us work-at-home moms (and dads) are trying to do to much and, therefore, we feel guilty because we aren’t spending enough times with our kids - even though we are at home.  =-)

The article goes on about how making a definitive “line in the sand” that separates your work from your family can help alleviate some of the stress.

Personal Experience

As someone with two kids under 5, it can be shear craziness.  What worked when I had just my son, does not work anymore now that I have two children.

It is a trapeze walk.  One gust of wind (moving to a new house, family illness, kids changing sleeping habit, etc) and you fall off.

In the past few months, I have eased back on my virtual assistance business.  I was just too burnt out and could no longer relax.

Looking back, I wonder if I would have been better off tightening the money belt (one less car, more budgeting) would have been easier.

On the other hand, I learned a lot about my self.  =-)

A new book has come out about work/life balance.

The book by Tom Stern uses humor to describe the issue.

Read an interview with Tom Stern conducted by Shari Lifland.

I don’t know about you, but it is very hard to find a great sun hat for my toddler and pre-schooler.  The hats in the local stores are very pretty, but they are missing some important features that make a great sun hat:

• Ventilation holes.  Many of the hats go so far as to have a liner in a different color, but no air holes to help keep my kids cool.
• A wide brim.  The two areas most exposed to the sunlight are my kid’s necks and ears.

My kids, especially my son, is very sun sensitive.  He is a red head =-).  Both my kids sneeze (light sensitivity) and get heat exhaustion if they are not wearing a hat in the sun.

Although it costs more, I finally found some hats with ventilation at Solartex.com.  Solartex has SPF ratings for their hats as well.

I chose the cream colored afternoon sun hat so my daughter can use it when he outgrows it.  Also, the light color will reflect the sun more effectively.

How to get your kids to wear hats

People ask me how I am able to get my kids to wear their hats.  It takes persistence.  I tell them we will have to go inside if they take them off and follow through with the threat.

We have a big tree in the backyard and I put up a tent every once in a while.  I let them know that they can take the hats off if they are in the shade.  This gives them a measure of control.  =-)

Water Bottle Fun

Another thing I do is have a water bottle for each of my kids available.  They love to drink from these and I don’t have to worry about dehydration.

If the weather is hot enough, I allow them to fill and refill them at the outside water spout.  =-)

RealAge has these tips for eating better while traveling.

• Order a special meal when purchasing a ticket.  Most airlines allow you to select a specific type of meal: low-cal, vegetarian, kosher, etc.
  
• Eat a protein meal prior to travelling.  This keeps you satisfied longer.
• Avoid salty and sweet foods when purchasing items at the airport.  Grab chewing gum and water instead.

Source: “3Tips for Better Plane Food“, RealAge, May 10, 2007.

One of my favorite things about working at home is the ability to work in different places: the kitchen table, on the patio, in the living room, etc. - Thank you wireless network.

Ok… since I have a 1 1/2 and 4 year old, it is a necessity as well. =-) There are times it would be nice to hide behind the boxes in my basement.

My favorite part of roaming are the house are the outdoors. From my patio and all the windows at the back of the house, I see the bird feeder. I have a newly planted garden from Spring Hill Nursery (check out the complete garden plans) in the front of my house.

Bird Feeders

I was lucky enough to see a rose-breasted grosbeak pass through. He was there for only 1 hour before flying on.

We have a pole system from Wild Birds Unlimited. On our pole, I have a thistle sock, a cage for pure suet, and two bird feeders with safflower and sunflower seeds. My next mission will be a bird bath — probably just a flower pot base set in the ground. =-)

If you have a Wild Birds Unlimited store near you, it is worth the visit. They are experts in recommending bird feed and feeders that will work for you. I have been able to reduce my population of black birds and starlings by changing over to a pure suet cake (not the ones with nuts and corn in them) — and the best part is that the woodpeckers like this better than the other stuff. Check out the educational section of their website, for information of what seed attracts what birds.

A great book about birding is National Audubon Society North America Birdfeeder Guide. It talks about:

• placement of nesting boxes and feeders
• bird-friendly flowers, shrubs and trees
• types of bird seed and feeders that different birds like
• bird identification pages which includes photos of a sitting and bird in flight.

Hummingbirds

Finally, if you have hummingbirds in your area, put out your feeders. I recommend a hummingbird feeder with perches (they actually prefer these and will sit on them). And don’t be shy about buying one that sticks to the window. To make the nectar, add 1/4 cup sugar to 1 cup of water and boil until the sugar is dissolved.

In Michigan, the official date is May 1st. The boys arrive first with the females coming in a couple of weeks. I would hear the first hummingbird around 5:30 am and the last about 10:00 pm at the height of summer. The boys would dive-bomb each other. They are quite entertaining.

Enjoy!

I don’t know about you, but I have always thrown left over medicine in the toilet and flushed them.

Well, it turns out this is not the best thing to do because sometimes it pollutes our lakes and streams. The patient information sheet you receive will tell you if it is safe to flush them down the toilet.

Call your pharmacist and local city official to find out where you can drop off old prescriptions.

Source: Trash Meds Safely by RealAge.

I have tried many different diets and they all say drink 8 glasses a day or more.  However, it is not necessarily true.

The amount of water you need depends on the weather, the amount of exercise, and your body makeup.  Some people need less water than others.

So why, are diets gun ho about 8 glasses a day?  They are simply trying to change your habits.  They want you reaching for water first before you reach for food.

Source: “Breaking the 8-Glass Myth,” RealAge Diet and Nutrition Center. November 2004.