Download a free copy of Getting it Together: Your Guide to Setting Up a Home Management System That Works when you subscribe to KaysePratt.com for free.
I read this ebook over the weekend and thought it had some great suggestions — especially if you’re new to the idea of setting up a home management binder.
Find more recommended time management and home organization ebooks here.
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Thanks for this link Crystal.
I like to look at different home management systems and I always get some ideas. But they all tend to be directed at stay-at-home moms or (work-at-home moms). I’d love to see a good system for those of us who work outside the home full time. So I guess this is more of a question for your readers.
My regular routine has me away from home a lot, so I try to squeeze personal matters into my lunch hours and the time I have after work but before I need to pick up my daughter from her extra-curricular activities. (It’s too far for me to go home and then go back to pick her up, so I like to stay late in my office and take care of personal matters such as bills, or use the time to run errands.)
This works well as long as I have everything with me that I need. For example, if I’m really on the ball, I’ll menu plan on the weekend, make up a shopping list and remember to take it with me so that I can stop at the store on my way home from work instead of making a separate trip to the store. Or remember to actually bring a paper bill with me to take of and not leave it at home in the mail pile.
Any ideas for a home-management method that is more portable? I like the idea of everything all together in a binder, but I would not want to be hauling it around with me all the time unless it was something small that would fit easily into my laptop bag.
Surely there are lots of MSM readers who are not home all day and in a similar situation. What works for you?
Try this one: http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/12/free-printable-weekly-organizer-free-printable-working-moms-daily-dos.html
And here are some articles:
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/02/time-management-tips-for-the-work-outside-the-home-mom.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/02/homemaking-routines-and-schedules-for-the-working-mom.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2011/01/7-time-management-tips-for-the-working-woman.html
I know many of our working moms love the Motivated Moms Planner… I’ve got a deal on it coming up in just a few minutes.
Thanks for the quick response Crystal. I’ll check out the links you listed.
I will also add that I purchased the Motivated Moms planner a couple years ago, and it was well worth the few dollars it cost.
Me again.
I started to comment on the Motivated Moms planner but then went back to your other post for that. But I also meant to say that the MM planner is designed for home maintenance, so it can stay home because I obviously have to be home in order to do those things. It’s the issues that I don’t need to be home to do — like pay bills and menu plan, that I have difficulty with and need a more portable system.
Truth be told, it helped me a lot to simply figure out what I could do away from home in order to make the best use of my time at home. If that makes sense. For years I tried to pay bills every other week on the day following payday. It always took me twice as long as it needed to because I had a child needing my attention. The light bulb finally came on, and I moved bill paying to my lunch hour so that evenings could be spent with my daughter doing things that we needed to be home to do. I wish I’d have figured that out years ago.
Susan, I am a SAHM so I can’t actually comment on the effectiveness of this, but have you tried FLYlady’s Office in a Bag? http://shop.flylady.net/pages/FlyShop_OIB.asp Maybe this would work for you. According to many testimonials I have read, it really helps moms who work outside the home.
THanks for the suggestion Melanie. I will check it out.
Hi Susan,
how about setting a little time aside for planning your next day the evening before? I work from home and also outside and if I have a doctor’s appointmen, grocerie shopping etc the next day, I have a look into my planner what I need to bring for the appointment and put these things in a specific place the evening before so I just can pick it up in the morning (you could use a small bag where folded papers fit in easily without being bruised). I also have a specific place for my groceries list so I know where to look for it and take it with me before I go. Maybe this works for you, it definitely helped me a lot to destress my mornings!
I am so excited to read this book! One of the things I will do in early 2013 is to set up a home management binder!
Thanks for all the tips! I’m new to the frugal living idea but really excited to start saving some big bucks.
awesome – just downloaded this one myself!!
I could not get it to download.
Sorry but the ebook was not free when I subscribed to Kayse Pratt. There is a 3.99 charge. Bummer
Yes, unfortunately it is no longer free.
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