Author’s Note: I wrote this column for Forbes back at the end of 2017. At first it didn’t get much traffic and I wasn’t totally surprised. I didn’t expect it to be a popular message. But somewhere along the way it got shared and it has just exploded. It is my most popular Forbes column and has generated more than a half a million page views. It is, incidentally, one…
How I Do It: Work/Life Strategies
Take Some Time For You During Thanksgiving Break
One of my favorite writers on time and how we use it is Laura Vanderkam, author, most recently, of Off The Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done. One of her observations is that people tend to treat time differently depending on where in the week or year it falls. For example, she notes that those who feel that their work life is out of whack with their…
Podcast: Hurry Slowly with Jocelyn Glei
When Jocelyn Glei emailed me and asked me to be interviewed for a new podcast she was creating called Hurry Slowly. I said “yes” immediately, just based on the podcast’s title. I love this concept — that we can be both impatient to achieve results while not being frantic. I so enjoyed the conversation we had. Here are what I think are the highlights: Why the “ideal worker norm” hurts…
Interview with KJ Dell’Antonia: Newsflash! Parenting Can Be Fun
When I was a new mom I read the New York Times’ now-defunct Motherlode blog. That’s where I discovered KJ Dell’Antonia who edited that blog from 2011 through 2016. I avoided most parenting media because it would make me feel terrible! What do you mean you haven’t perfectly coordinated every single second of the first birthday party that no one, especially the kid, will ever remember? By contrast, I found…
Interview with Laura Vanderkam: Time Management Techniques for Career Restarters
I don’t remember exactly when I discovered the work of Laura Vanderkam, but when I did I was hooked. She wrote the book 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think and followed that with I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time. I love her work because she challenges the accepted narrative—we are all too busy, you can’t do it all,…
5 Steps To Creating Time For What Matters Most
Many women lament their inability to create boundaries around their time so they can accomplish what matters most to them. If you find yourself saying, “I have to …” with a sigh for a lot of your calendar items, that’s sure sign that you are spending time in a way that doesn’t bring you joy. Sure, we all have plenty of things we have to do, but many of us have…
In Praise of Ambitious Women
In November 2017, Wall Street Journal magazine had a cover story about Reese Witherspoon. She has become a force in Hollywood creating movies and TV shows that are made by, star, and appeal to women. That this is a novel concept—despite the fact that 52% of moviegoers are women—is a testament to how far we’ve got to go. But her success is a testament to how far we’ve come and we…
Could This Really Be the Key to Work/Life Balance?
I was recently interviewed for a podcast and at the end I was asked a series of rapid-fire questions. One of them was “What is the key to work/life balance?” Hmmm. A lot of things flashed through my head. An understanding boss. A company that respects employee’s personal lives. A supportive spouse or partner at home. Some other kind of good personal support network. All of those things are helpful,…
Summer Strategies For Working Parents
KJ Dell’Antonio wrote an op-ed in the NYT last summer about what a burden summer can be for working parents, especially mothers. The piece points out the most extreme example of a fundamental truth — the American school calendar is predicated on a family structure that hasn’t existed for decades. In 2015 more than 74% of mothers with at least one child between the ages of 6 and 17 and more…
Moms Who Inspire Us
I seek out stories of moms who are making a big impact on the world. I find it troubling, in 2017, that the cultural narrative still often presents women as needing to choose – either have a family or have major accomplishments. And yet all around us there are women quietly (and, sometimes, not so quietly) being great moms and CEOs, politicians, thought leaders and more. As we get…