Beyond the Books Recap

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Last Thursday, Julia and I hosted the first Beyond the Books meeting for bookskeep’s women clientele. We have some fantastic momtreprenuer and female clients and I wanted the opportunity to bring them all together to share their stories and struggles, to create a support network. We created Beyond the Books to provide an opportunity for frustrations to be shared, solutions to be found, and relationships to be created. I am a big believer that support makes all our lives easier.

The topic for last week’s meeting was Time Management, something we all seem to fight. As busy people in a busy world, this piece of the puzzle can get complicated, and as a mom it’s often even harder. For this reason, I wanted to offer some tips and talk about the importance of making time to be happy.

How to Think Big Picture

While it may seem like you’ve got forever to figure it out, you only have a short amount of time when you look at the big picture. That’s one of the things that the Life in Weeks chart we mention in Motherhood, Apple Pie, and All That Happy Horseshit  can help you realize. When you break down how much time you spend in each stage of your life, going to school, starting a family, and working a job, you see that there may not be as much time left to do the things you want “when life settles down”.

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I know so many women that are putting off their dreams and desires until the kids are out of the house. But when you look at the big picture, you’ll see that doesn’t leave you with very much time left. That’s why I encourage you to fill out your Life in Weeks and decide to take control of your time.

How to Prioritize

Another great concept that we discussed was the glass and rubber balls ideology from the book. Learning and understanding this thought process is so important for us, especially as moms. We’re always told that we must choose between ourselves, our work, and our family, when in reality that just isn’t true, and thinking about these pieces in terms of glass and rubber balls really helps you understand how to prioritize.

Julia offered the great analogy of a child in a play. Your child is in a school production that will be shown once a week for a month. Of course, the first showing is an important moment that you don’t want to miss as a parent. That is a glass ball. However, the second, third, and fourth showings have a little less weight to them. When you have a huge meeting to prepare for the night of the third showing, the play becomes a rubber ball, and the meeting becomes glass. So you see how the balls, the big things in your life, are always changing based on what is important for you in the moment.

How to Manage

Julia and I also shared our methods of time management that help us keep our lives on track. I plan out my entire week on Sunday nights and have it all written down in a OneNote weekly template. I write down my “one thing’s” that have to be done for the week and I focus on them first and foremost. On the other hand, Julia uses the Timestripe app that allows her to plan out her weeks and then look at them day by day to keep from being overwhelmed. This is the best thing about time management, that there is no right way. You just have to find what works for you and keep doing it.

Whether you’re a mom or just a busy person, a little time management can make a huge difference in how you feel about your life. While the thought of taking time to write down your plans can be overwhelming in itself, once you start, you’ll be glad you did. If you need that little push, or just don’t know how to big, reach out to me at cyndi@bookskeep.com and I’d be happy to help!

About the author 

Cyndi Thomason

Cyndi is a mom and author of Profit First for Ecommerce Sellers and Motherhood, Apple Pie, and all that Happy Horseshit. She is also a speaker and thought leader in areas of ecommerce accounting and Mom Entrepreneurship. Cyndi is the founder of bookskeep which provides accounting and Profit First advisory services to hundreds of ecommerce businesses around the world. When not helping business owners or her team, Cyndi can be found in her garden.

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