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The Motherhood

The Best Ideas for Getting Organized with Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks

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Hundreds of women came together in The Motherhood to get tips and tricks for getting organized from the brilliant Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks, Christine Koh of Boston Mamas and Meagan Francis of The Happiest Mom.

 

The biggest organizing challenges for everyone?   Paper clutter, kids’ arts supplies, kids’ outgrown and out-of-season clothes, family schedules, and finding time and inspiration to actually get organized.

 

From the wildly inspiring conversation, here are the Top Twenty Tips for Organizing Your Life:

 

1.  Simplify: 1) don’t organize more STUFF than you need to. (Declutter first.) 2) don’t organize more FINELY than you need to. (Don’t create files if a shoebox will suffice.)   – Asha Dornfest, Parent Hacks

 

2.   The key to getting organized isn’t finding that one true perfect system.  It’s creating A system. Any system. And then doing it!   – Meagan Francis,  The Happiest Mom

 

3.  Papers have a way of attracting more papers, toys more toys, junk more junk, etc. Attack it before it has a chance to grow! BE RUTHLESS!   – Meagan Francis

 

4.  I put a recurring Outlook to-do reminder to reconcile my paperwork every month. Since I love checking off to do items, it really helps! – Christine Koh, Boston Mamas

 

5.  For old papers you don’t want to part with – but aren’t sure where to store – use the scanner out and convert it to digital clutter! – Homa24

 

6.  I try to consolidate as much of that stuff as I can, right away.   So, for example, instead of hanging on to the school notices, I enter the information into my calendar/notebook right way and then ditch it. For bills, I have two pockets that stick to the wall – one for ‘to pay’ and one for ‘recently paid. –  Meagan Francis

 

                      (Photo: Wren)

 

7.  Hang clipboards like these to categorize and keep track of paper piles without taking up desk space. – Christine Koh

 

8.  If it’s not tax related or if I can get it online in the event I need it, it goes. – saracarl

 

9.   Make photobooks out of the photos of her kid’s art. They love looking through them. – Homa24

 

10.  The kids all have boxes to keep the papers they want to keep.  If they don’t put it in their box, it gets recycled. – Brandie

 

11.   Coupon binders are awesome! You get a binder and the baseball card holder plastic sheets {know what I’m talking about}. One coupon in each slot, then you always can see exactly what you have when you shop! – Brandie

 

                                      (Photo: Christine Koh, Boston Mamas)

 

12.  One of my key strategies to establish household harmony is getting stuff BEHIND DOORS. – Christine Koh

 

13.  We do bi-annual consignment sales for the kids’ clothes/toys. – loranstefani

 

14.  Think in terms of the concept that the more space you allocate the more you will fill it.  We have one cardboard box per grade to store art/papers from school and one large plastic bin for clothing. When space is limited, it forces you to trim down and only save what you really want to save! – Christine Koh

 

15.  Absolute necessity as you undertake getting organized: a calendar and a to-do list. Whatever format works for you…use it and keep it with you every day.   The important thing is to get into the habit of writing things down.  Initially it feels like more time taken away, but soon this amazing feeling of clarity comes. – Asha Dornfest

 

16.  We have one of those huge desk calendars hanging on the door to our garage.  Everyone has to write down anything they want us to know about on that calendar.  – Brandie

 

 

17.  My kids have trouble in the morning. Not morning people. So I write down their routines with them and they draw pictures, then they can check the chart to make sure they are getting through it all. – Julie Pippert.

 

18.  Jedi to-do list trick: You WILL be interrupted throughout your day. So add rough time estimates to your to-do items (5 mins, 15 mins, 1 hour, etc.). That way, when your kid throws up and your three hours of writing time gets reduced to 15 minutes, you can plug something into that open slot. – Asha Dornfest

 

19.  You do NOT need to do this alone, nor should you. Delegate to your partner, your kids, and to paid help if need be. Swap organizing ‘services’ with a friend. – Asha Dornfest

 

20.   I look at organizing as a PRACTICE, not a process. There’s always going to be setbacks and do-overs when you have kids. Embrace the endlessness! – Meagan Francis

 

Thanks to the great advice, we are itching to de-clutter our own desks and homes!

 

Asha of Parent Hacks shared a link to an organizing resource page.

 

You can find Asha, Christine and Meagan, the fantastic hosts for the Talk, here:

 

Asha Dornfest, Parent Hacks, @parenthacks

Christine Koh, Boston Mamas, @bostonmamas

Meagan Francis, The Happiest Mom, @meaganfrancis

 

Be sure to check out the full transcript of the “Getting Organized” Talk for tons more great tips and advice!

Great Live Talks Happening in The Motherhood This Week

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We are super excited about the Live Talks this week!  Here’s a quick run-down. Be sure to join us!!


Today, 1pm ET/10 am PT: Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks will share her BEST home organizing tips.

 

Tuesday, 1 pm ET/10 am PT:  DadLabs’ creator Clay Nichols will talk about kids and their technology – and ways you can manage their digital lives and where to put limits.

 

Wednesday, 2 pm ET/11 am PT:   Gabrielle Blair, Design Mom and Alt Design Summit co-founder, will share highlights from the Alt Design Summit.

 

Thursday, at 1 pm ET/10 am PT:  Amy McCready will lead a live on what to do if your kids won’t listen.

 

Our Talks are all-text, so no call-in numbers or speakers needed.  Just head to the Live Talks page in themotherhood.com to see the full schedule and dive into the conversation on the page.

 

The Women Entrepreneurs Festival

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The Women Entrepreneurs Festival 2012 this week was a huge high.  Founded by the incredible Joanne Wilson, Gotham Gal and Nancy Hechinger, NYU Interactive Telecommunication Program, the WE Festival brought together 300 women, all entrepreneurs, entrepreneur hopefuls or investors.

 

 

Talk about inspiring.  I met the most astounding women with ideas ranging from creating circuit breaker toys for kids, to crowd-sourcing the weather to making beautifully designed products for people with disabilities.

 

Some of the commentary and themes that stood out for me:

 

Co-founder Joanne Wilson gave rousing remarks to kick off the Festival.  Here’s a quote from a Gotham Gal post that gets to some of the points she made:

 

I’d like women to stop apologizing and to never utter the word I am sorry for the decisions that they have made in their careers.  I’d like women to stop starting their sentences with I think.  Just get in there and speak your mind … [And] we need to stop judging each other for the choices each of us have made and instead start applauding each other for who we are.

 

Caren Maio of Nestio got the room laughing when she said, “The definition of entrepreneurship is jumping off a cliff and building a plane on the way down.”

 

Joanne Lang of About One said that fundraising shifted for her when she equated finding investors with finding a husband.  Instead of hoping to convince investors to put their money in her company, she interviewed them to find investors who would ‘love me forever and support me.’  She took control of whom she wanted as partners and the investors started lining up.

 

Also on the subject of investing, the Investors panel talked about how women need to ‘lean forward into’ their pitches to investors and how women can tend to want affirmation and approval from their investors while men are more likely to present their plans, hear the investor feedback and then run their businesses as they see fit.  They said the latter is preferable.

 

Arianna Huffington told us we need to get enough sleep and take care of ourselves.  She said that men tend to brag about how they can get by on so little sleep, which she finds ridiculous, and how after hearing from a dinner partner at an event how he got by on so little sleep, she thought, “Well maybe if you got five more hours of sleep a night, you’d be more interesting.”

 

Arianna also talked about the many ways that women’s interests are leading coverage on the Huffington Post, including mindful living, divorce (“marriages come and go, but divorce is forever” and the newly launched Global Motherhood initiative (see Cooper’s post from yesterday).

 

Mary Schmidt Campbell, Dean of the Tisch School of Arts at NYU, talked about how men’s careers more often follow a straight line.  Women tend to stitch together their varied experiences and parts of themselves, all the bits of fabric of their lives, to create a beautiful tapestry, and it’s only down the road that we can look back and see all the pieces coming together into a whole that makes sense for us.

 

On my panel, Amanda Hesser of Food52 talked about branding and how she and Merrill deliberately didn’t want to go down the ‘easy chicken’ road – that they never wanted to choose recipe categories that would get the quick bumps in search traffic, but create interesting, valuable, new foods for themselves and their communities.   Our fellow panelists, Barbara Pantuso, Hey Neighbor, Tereza Nemessanyi, Honesty Now, and Allison Floam, The Fix, each shared their unique, interesting takes on building online communities.  Here’s the WE Festival’s overview of our Community Makers Panel.

 

Lastly, an important stat:  By 2018, women entrepreneurs will be responsible for creating 5 million new jobs nationwide, according to according to new data projections from The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.  That’s more than half of the 9.7 million new jobs the Bureau of Labor Statistics expects small businesses to create.

  Rock on, women!!

 

Nancy Hechinger closed the Festival with an inspiring summary of the highlights and Red Burns, founder of the ITP program at New York University, read this poem:

 

Appolinaire said:

Come to the edge.

It’s too high.

Come to the edge.

We might fall.

Come to the edge.

And he pushed them, and they flew.

 

 

Weight Loss on a Budget: The Simple Diet with Dr. James Anderson

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Dr. James Anderson was in The Motherhood today to discuss his new book The Simple Diet: A Doctor’s Science-Based Plan, which outlines a budget-friendly diet for losing weight.

 

Some ‘food for thought’ from the conversation:

 

Getting Started

 

Dr. Anderson said, “To be successful, many people need to develop a deep commitment to the importance of losing weight and improving health and mobility for their family and loved ones. One needs to have a HEART for weight loss.”

 

We’ve all fallen off a dieting wagon at some point.  “‘Simple’ is such a critical thing for me,” said Becki. “I don’t want to have to whip out a little booklet or an app on my phone every time I want to eat.”

 

Said Jenn of SuperJenn, “Making this a family commitment is a big part of success, as well.  When one person is going it alone it is more difficult.”

 

When You’re on a Strict Budget…

 

“One of the central features of the Simple Diet is the use of three shakes per day. We estimate that moderately obese people can save $75/week on the Simple Diet,” said Dr. Anderson.

 

According to Nicole of SAHM Reviews, “When we changed our eating habits, we realized that we spent less because we were eating less. Think about the cost of a steak … we used to cook two when we ate steak, but now we cook one.  That savings offset what we spent on produce. Coupon savvy moms need to remember that they can just transfer their savings from one product to another!”

 

“For a budget-minded dieter, I recommend purchasing fresh fruit and vegetables in season and preparing them with Splenda or non-caloric additives to be tasty,” said Dr. Anderson. “Canned fruits and vegetables also are good choices – rinse them to get rid of sugar and salt.”

 

The frozen entrees allowed in The Simple Diet help with portion size but still can be “more expensive than the cost of making my own foods,” said Rachael of Empowering Mommy.

 

But, as Christy of Quirky Fusion pointed out, “I think about how much my time is worth, especially during the day. I’d rather spend a bit more on a frozen meal during the day than carve out precious work time to cook. But I also like working more than cooking.”

 

When You Can’t Cook at Home…

 

According to Brett of This Mama Loves Her Bargains, when eating salad, “Dip your fork in the dressing, then put food on the fork – then your tastebuds get the flavor and not a ton of extra calories in each bite!”

 

“When I order at a restaurant I ask them to bring a box at the same time and before I even begin, place half of the meal in the box to take home for another time,” added Jenn of SuperJenn.  She also advised, “I’ve found that all of the cheese found on restaurant food can really hide the flavor of the meal as well… asking for ‘lite cheese’ can cut calories and increase the flavor of the dish.”

 

As a guest in another person’s home, politely maintaining your diet can be trickier.  Rachael of Empowering Mommy said, “My husband has learned to respectfully say, ‘I’m just watching my calories as I try to lose weight.’ He still tries everything, but small portions of the things that are high in calories.”

 

When You Don’t Have Enough Time…

 

The Simple Diet allows for low-cal frozen food options, which are a time-saver, but as Dr. Anderson says, “The sodium content of many frozen food entrees can be high. You can shop the hundreds of entrees available and find lower sodium ones.”

 

Double your favorite recipes when you’re cooking, so you can freeze the extra.  “I love making soups. Tons of veggies and plenty of leftovers to freeze for another night,” said Emily.

 

When You Just Want MORE…

 

“The Simple Diet relies on VOLUME,” said Dr. Anderson. “We recommend 64 oz of noncaloric fluid daily. Fruits and vegetables provide volume with only 15-30 cal/oz. Shakes provide volume with 10-20 cal/oz … People report initially that they cannot eat all the food.”

 

“Hydration can make such a difference in so many aspects of your health!!” agreed Jenn of SuperJenn. “Sometimes when we feel hungry, our bodies are actually thirsty, right?”

 

“On the Simple Diet we recommend eating fruit but not using fruit juices. The fruits, often with the apple, peach or pear skins, have more fiber and take longer to eat. Research shows that this is an important aid to weight loss,” said Dr. Anderson.

 

Here’s to a healthy New Year! You can read the whole transcript of the Talk with Dr. Anderson here.

 

Thanks to Dr. Anderson and our fantastic co-hosts for leading an inspiring and informative Live Talk:

 

Brett, This Mama Loves Her Bargains

Christy, Quirky Fusion

Jenn, SuperJenn

Nicole, SAHM Reviews

Rachael, Empowering Mommy

 

State of the Mom Blogosphere 2012

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When you put nine elite bloggers in a virtual “room” with hundreds of participants for a live chat about the State of the Mom Blogosphere in 2012, some clear trends emerge.

 

Back in September 2010, we gathered the same group of insightful, exceptional women, and their predictions for the online world that year were incredibly accurate.  We were thrilled and honored to have them with us again on January 17, 2012 (our first day live on our new platform!), to share what matters to them this year in the mom blogosphere.

 

Here are the top 10 takeaways from the discussion.

 

1) Expand with the Online Universe

The online universe has grown, and it’s not all about the blog anymore. To keep up, you need to make your presence known elsewhere.

 

As BusyDad noted, “One’s blog is now one of many facets of our online lives, rather than being by default the center of it. Many online luminaries these days are famous for their Twitter persona or their Facebook, and not necessarily their blog.”

 

Agreed EvolvingStacey, “I feel as if my connections and growing network takes place away from my blog … My blog is more like my house, but I leave my house to be social.”

 

That’s not to say that your blog is unimportant.  Amie Adams of Mamma Loves pointed out, “I tend to think of my blog as the hub to my online wheel. Twitter, FB, Google+, online forums all split off from it. It’s like an online business card – brings you credibility.”

 

2) Pinterest is the New Twitter

While you are expanding your social media horizons beyond your blog, make Pinterest a priority.

 

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest yet, consider this your introduction to the hottest new social media site of 2012 – a virtual corkboard designed to give you visual inspiration or consolidate your favorite ideas from across the web.

 

“I haven’t seen this much excitement and addiction since Twitter in ’08,” Isabel Kallman of Alphamom said about the site.

 

You can get an account and start pinning here!

 

3) Newbie Bloggers Welcome – but Bring Your A Game

New to blogging?  There are a lot of mom blogs in the space, but if you are ready to dive in, you shouldn’t be intimidated.

 

“There will be a lot more chatter to cut through now. But I think awesome is awesome. And awesome rises to the top,” said Christine Koh of Boston Mamas.

 

She recommended that beginning mom bloggers turn to “The Digital Mom Handbook” and “Mom Inc.” for help.

 

For new and existing blogs alike, Kimberly Coleman of Foodie City Mom also has great suggestions for blogging goals in 2012 on She Posts.

 

4) There’s No One “Right” Way to Blog

Everyone blogs for different reasons, some intensely personal and some more business-focused.  But whatever your reason – your fellow bloggers accept it now more than ever before.

 

Liz Gumbinner of Mom101 and Cool Mom Picks mused, “I can go back to the dark ages of 2006 when there were debates about the right kind of blogging.  That increased tremendously in 2008 or so with the mass monetization of mom blogs.  Now there’s this wonderful sort of detente – there are so many kinds of moms with so many kinds of blogs, and fewer debates about who is right and who is wrong.

 

“There’s no one right way to blog.  It’s nice that there’s more acceptance of one another.”

 

5) Look for Creative Inspiration Everywhere

Whether you’re driving, watching TV, taking a shower – pay attention, and a brilliant blog post idea might just pop into your head.

 

Noted Jennifer James of Mom Bloggers Club, “I am constantly thinking about new posts to write and new perspectives to write them from. I carry a pad with me and jot down a lot of ideas on receipts. The wheels are constantly churning.”

 

And don’t underestimate that old advice – write what you know!

 

Allison Czarnecki of Petit Elefant‘s creative blog ideas “come from my life. If we’re remodeling a bathroom, I find a way to post about a how-to. If we’re traveling, I write about that, and I spend half my life creating beauty recipes, so I photograph them and write about it.”

 

6) Don’t Underestimate OR Overestimate the Power of SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help bring traffic to your blog, but it’s not always the traffic you want or need.

 

Isabel Kallman of Alphamom said of her own success with SEO, “Started on WordPress, used the correct Plugin, changed the URL from the creative title, tagged my photos better … BUT DON’T FORGET: write great content.”

 

BusyDad pointed out, “Unless you have a review or cooking/recipe blog, I want to emphatically say that SEO is so much less important than engaged readers. Trust me… compelling content and engaged readers/friends are what will get you quality return visits, influence and credibility as a blogger.”

 

7) It’s Time to Bring Marketers Up to Speed

During the live chat, the group consensus was that marketers seem to target mom bloggers mostly for baby-related products.  Many felt that brands are missing the boat.

 

Tracey Clark of Shutter Sisters pointed out, “The tween and especially teen markets are hugely overlooked” by marketers in the mom blogosphere. “There’s got to be a shift soon there, doesn’t there?”

 

Amie Adams at Mamma Loves agreed, “My kids may develop their own tastes, but I’m the one who does the buying. I spend thousands on sports equipment, technology and clothing.”

 

 8) Help Your Blog Evolve as the Kids Grow Up

 

 

When our kids are babies and toddlers, many of us love to share every anecdote and detail of their lives.  When they get old enough to have their own online identities, respecting their privacy as an individual can change the face of your blog.

 

“I have started targeting my writing more toward the women with a shorter anecdote here and there about my kids,” said Andrea Updyke. “They are still young – oldest is 3 this month, but I already feel more protective of his story.”

 

“As our kids grow up, I think we naturally rediscover who we are individually, above and beyond mothers,” said Tracey Clark of Shutter Sisters. “This opens the doors up to new stories…it’s so exciting!”

 

9) Blogging Can Create a New “You” – Embrace It!

If you can identify your passion, find your niche and successfully write about it, your cup just might runneth over.

 

Justice Fergie said of her blog, “It’s given me an entire business, community, platform, brand image and now … a new way of life! I’m so excited to be working for myself, full-time. And it’s all thanks to blogging.”

 

Jennifer James of Mom Bloggers Club agreed, “Blogging has completely changed me. I see life and its possibilities in different ways – nothing is too big to tackle.”

 

10) What 2012 Might Have In Store

Social good, an increase in video blogging and fair compensation for brand-related projects were all tossed out as possible 2012 trends.

 

See more 2012 predictions in Jennifer James’ Mom Blog Magazine.

 

“I think 2012 will see Moms focus their efforts on *social change* via networks, communities and transitioning lifestyles,” said Mental_Clutter. “Gone are the days of tolerating drama, here are the days of moving forward to leave a substantial mark.”

 

“One the most interesting things to happen in the Mom Blogosphere is how many moms are taking their blogs to a new level,” added Rebecca Levey. “There are a lot of mini-media empires building beyond the blogs. Mom Blogs have become more like unique brands every year. ”

 

Agreed Shari, “We are already seeing the trends for 2012. So many fabulous women have taken it to the next level – magazines, TV, fashion shows – they have raised the bar. In a good way.”

 

 

That was one inspiring conversation.

We were there when the mom blogger community began, and we’ve watched as it has grown exponentially over the past several years.  We are constantly amazed by how quickly and how often the mom blogosphere changes.

 

Thank you to all of the amazing men and women who shared their thoughts with us on this fascinating topic!  You can find our co-hosts on their own blogs and elsewhere across the web in 2012:

 

Allison Czarnecki, Petit Elefant
Amie Adams, Mamma Loves
Christine Koh, Boston Mamas
Isabel Kallman, Alphamom
Jennifer James, Mom Bloggers Club and Jennifer James Online
Laura Mayes, Kirtsy and Mom 2.0 Summit
Liz Gumbinner, Mom101 and Cool Mom Picks
Stacie Ferguson, Justice Fergie and Blogalicious
Tracey Clark, Shutter Sisters and Tracey Clark

 

Check out a full transcript of the AMAZING conversation here.