I don't know how or if I do it...

Balance work and family, that is.

Given that I am committed to both my family and my career, and love both, it takes some major strategic planning and sheer bloody-mindedness to organize my life and to believe that I am balancing the demands of family and career.

Some things that seem to help at home:

- Prepare something for the crockpot and set up the coffee maker the night before
- Make big meals so there are leftovers for lunch and another meal
- Throw a load of laundry in the machine before supper and in the dryer after
- Fold and put away dry clothes before bed
- Scrub the toilet, or windex mirrors, while the kids are in the bathtub
- Handle paper only once, then throw it in recycling or file it
- Clean the kitchen right after supper, and shine the sink
- Write daily and weekly task schedules
- Getting up at 5 am to work for an hour or two before the kids wake up
- Buy precut veggies for meals and lunches
- Declutter or tidy while on the phone
- Organize, give away or toss clothes, magazines and toys often

With children and husbands:

- Family meals at the table, as often as possible
- Ongoing communication
- Hug and kiss everybody at least 5 times each day, preferably more
- Always say I love you to everybody before I leave the house
- Leave love notes around, in lunch packs, on mirrors
- Call often to stay in touch with my "pack"
- Play dates, a Babysitter and Date nights
- Play time everyday
- Organized sports

At work:

- Hang out with the cool, fun and smart people ;-), which is easy to do in my job!!
- Take care of the big tasks first, set priorities
- Avoid dead-end meetings or committees
- Write and read every week (harder than you might think...)
- Limit time on email or phone
- Closing office door when big projects are due
- A good filing system, and ongoing decluttering
- Tubs for each course or big task
- A sign out system for books
- Water plants and tidy desk at least once a week
- Lunch with friends, and make new friends
- A paper day-timer that only I write in (online ones get fuller faster somehow)
- Delegate and share the work, because there is too much for any one person

Just for me:

- Eat breakfast every day, even if its in my car
- Drink water and take vitamins
- Read every night before bed, and early each morning
- A weekly designer coffee
- Hitting my favorite consignment stores
- A movie with a girlfriend or sister
- Buy books online
- Composting and gardening
- My iPod
- Reading my favorite blogs and magazines