5 Ways to Save Stress and Hassle
I frequently find myself in stressful situations, usually because I´ve neglected to stay organized in some area or another. With that in mind, I´ve got a few tips for work at home moms to help avoid the problems I seem to run into all the time (but won´t anymore by following my own advice!)
1. Keep Passwords and Usernames Written Down
It might not be safe to store your passwords in a document on your computer, but that doesn´t mean you can´t keep them in a notebook. That is exactly what I do now, after having several hackers force me to change my passwords to hard to remember stuff. It´s a good idea to use a different password per account, too, which is even more confusing, so keep them all written down.
2. Mark Domains on Your Calendar
Sure, your domain site will send you an email when your domain is about to expire, but do you still check that email? I don´t. And that nearly lost me one of my sites this morning. Write the date down on a calendar and mark 30 days before that so you will remember to actually renew in time. You can also have those pertinent emails forwarded to another email address, but don´t rely entirely on that!
3. Keep Extras on Hand
There are certain things that always seem to run out or vanish at the worst time. Make sure you keep some of these on hand to avoid problems.
- Extension cords
- Candles
- Batteries (if you use rechargeables, make sure you always have at least 4 recharging)
- Pens
- USB cords
- Duct Tape
4. Freezer Meals and Instant Food
I think all of us have those evenings when everything comes crashing down and the kids are starving, tired and in tears and you just don´t have time to make a decent dinner. A quick something like Pop Tarts can be a lifesaver at this point, but if you want something better for you, frozen meals that you can thaw in a couple of minutes in the microwave are perfect.
5. Work Ahead on Deadlines
If you have a deadline in one week, start working now, don´t leave it until the end when everything could go wrong and you end up stuck. I know this sounds basic, but I tend to leave things until last minute, so I´m sure there are other wahms out there who do the same thing and end up with more stress than is necessary.
Do you have any tips for eliminating stress and hassle? Share them in the comments!
Excellent points. I recently changed ALL my passwords to more random (and hopefully more secure) character strings, and for the first time in my life I’ve had to write them down. Is it ironic that we’ve returned to pen and paper to keep track of our most sensitive electronic data, or is it just me?
I think it IS very ironic, Cindy!
agree – good advice for busy moms. Ijust set up a spreadsheet with all my logins , passwords and websites.
The spreadhseet is a god send , saves you from having to click the “forgotten passsword” link , get new password , activate again …so boring …my login spreadsheet rocks
Never thought about domain expiry – i’ve jsut done what you suggest
thanks
Excellent list.There is a ton of free software on cnet for free mostly that can help with time saving tasks on your computer. In particular i have been using an automation software that automatically pings all my blogs everyday so i dont need to worry about that.