Work / Life Balance

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of ZzzQuil for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine…

“The phrase “working mother” is redundant.” – Jane Sellman... This is one of my favorite quotes. {If you look up in the sidebar at my About Me box, you’ll see that I use this quote to kick off that section.} I love it because it’s such a truth when it comes to motherhood – I don’t care if you work from home, work outside the home, or “just” stay home with the kids – we’re all the CEOs of running our homes. We work, all day. And while not all of us are paid for our work, our work still has crazy-high amounts of value. We’re raising our kids to be amazing people as they grow up; teaching life skills, helping them explore the world around them and make sense of it all, imparting our family’s values, helping with homework, listening, cuddling, comforting. Not to downplay the role of daddies – {I am BLESSED beyond belief that Abby has the most amazing dad in the world. And a good dad as your partner makes the job of being a mom so much easier} – but I do have to say that moms kind of rock.

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Smart Solution: Seriously Simple Shared Schedules

Is the Mister going to be home for dinner? Does that business meeting conflict with basketball practice? Game night, girl’s night, date night… keeping everyone’s schedules straight in my work and family life is a herculean effort. To manage everyone’s coming and going, I need something more than just a place to jot things down (sorry, paper calendar). What I need is a system that truly supports me and helps me get through my day, one commitment at a time.

That’s why I can’t live without Google Calendar. Let me count the ways I love it: I can use it anywhere (so every device I have gets me where I’m going), it’s easy to share schedules, so I can coordinate efforts with co-workers and significant others, aaaand it’s free.

Watch this week’s Twirl to learn to see why gCal and I have a standing appointment….

Um, can you say life changing??

Ok, maybe that sounds dramatic. But for me – it’s true. Let me tell you a little story about how I found out about Google Calendar…. I have an incredibly packed full calendar. Between my family, freelance work, my Examiner column, and work for this site – there are a lot of deadlines, appointments, and commitments to keep track of. I was struggling to keep it all straight – and had asked around for suggestions. Google Calendar sounded like the best fit for me, so one night I open it up, and add a couple of things to it to see how it worked. Seemed cool, figured I’d mess around with it later the next day, when I had some free time.

Technology is Freaky Smart

The next morning, an alarm went off on my iPhone, reminding me of a conference call I had in an hour. Whaaaat the? I did NOT add an alarm for that??!! Then I realized, I had put that on the gCal. How the heck did it sync itself to my phone? I have no idea. Seriously, I’m tech challenged like that. {Which is why the tips from Digitwirl are so perfect for me} – but now, I’ve been sloooowly learning how it all works, and I can’t believe how much more organized I am!

Are you a gCal girl?

I can’t wait until Digitwirl shares some user tips about gCal, to help me learn all of the cool tools better. Do you use it too? If you’ve got questions – Head over to their Facebook wall to post ’em up! They are SO great at helping me whenever I need a great product suggestion, or when I need help figuring something out. These ladies are total genius rockstars, no lie. Check them out – Digitwirl on Facebook.

Find more Smart Solutions for Busy Moms, and Tech Tips Made Simple on Pinterest!

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3 minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.