Posts Tagged ‘home’
Lesson #2: Work Smarter Not Harder
This week we’re sharing lesson #2 in our series about running your business around your home life instead of letting your business run your home life. Figuring out how to work smarter not harder (thanks for the title James!) has been a very important lesson for us and something that we are still working on implementing. In order to work smarter not harder you first have to recognize that even though the marketing world would tell you something different there is no right or wrong way to do this. It honestly starts with knowing your own lifestyle and business perimeters and setting up tasks to help you stay within those boundaries. This will look different for every person, every family, every business. If you are single you may not mind working late into the night and if you are a mom you may find that you get your best work done early in the morning before the kids are up. Either way, you figure out how to work smarter by first recognizing what daily tasks are foundational elements to establishing a satisfying home life for you and your family.
Start by asking yourself what are the day to day tasks that have to be done in your home life? As fun as it is to dream up the perfect home life at the end of the day what stresses us out is the stuff that everyone has to deal with; chores and all that responsible adult stuff! More often times then not it’s the daily tasks of running a household that can easily distract you when you work from home so it’s important to figure out what those daily tasks are and how they align themselves up with your preferred lifestyle.
For me (Meg), my list looks like this:
Based on the list above there are four categories that are important to me and the home life I desire to have:
- Chores
- Marriage/Immediate Family
- Personal
- Social/Friends/Extended Family
By going back through the individual pieces that make up each category I was able to establish simple, everyday tasks that have helped me meet and maintain a healthy and realistic balance to my preferred lifestyle:
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STUFF: A Sprawling Work Table
Over the past few weeks we’ve been moving rooms around in our little farm house. After two years of running our business in two separate rooms we’ve finally compacted everything into “one” lovely office. We are still working on the aesthetics but I’m LOVING the functionality of having everything in “one” room instead of split into two. With this new layout I can actually shut the door when Cale gets home along with the added “distractions” of having stacks of work lying around calling my name.
I truly love the new space but there’s still not room for the one thing I REALLY want… a GIANT conference table.
Date on a Dime: Thankful for…
As you are probably more than aware, we are in that season of giving thanks. Though there was an attempt to not “go with the flow”, and to come up with something that wasn’t completely season-dependent, the attempt fell short and we gave in to the overwhelming desire to join in with the thankful festivities. Besides, there’s nothing better to kindle that flame than to sit down together on a cold day with a cup of hot cocoa, and reminisce on all the things we’re thankful for. And as a bonus, we made our “Thankful List” a beautifully adorned one. We first went in search for the best leaves in the neighborhood and, since it was a little rainy, enjoyed a walking cuddle under our umbrella. Once our selection was made we started the process of flattening our leaves, placing them inside a large book and using a few extra as weight. Then commenced our sipping and thanking. When our list was complete… our leaves were not yet flat!! There would be no laminating tonight. =/ We laughed and figured that we’ll have to have another short date in the near future to add our adornments, and complete our beautiful creation.
LIFE: Thinking Big
When I was little my dad once told me this…
“Small minded people talk about other people.
Medium minded people talk about things.
Big minded people talk about ideas”
So the question stands how are we thinking? I think it’s amazing how we can so quickly get caught up in what people think, or what is the hot new item right now. As we come into the Holiday season I just wanted to pause for a second and ask a simple question. What size is your thinking?
Recently we went camping with Meg’s family and as we were driving away I remember thinking, what have we talked about? I mean we’ve just spent 48 hours with people we love; what did we say? What did we do? How often do we spend time with people we love and when we leave we realize that the sum total of our time was spent talking about the new iphone, or latest gadget, or how bad someone’s style was in the booth next to us. Don’t get me wrong, mumu’s were never meant to be worn in public. But what I am getting at is how quickly we lose the quality of our time.
Stuff: A Cabin by the Lake
There must be something in the fall weather that makes you want to run off to a cabin, cuddle by the fire, and hang out with the ones you love. My mind keeps coming back to the “homie” feel in Dan in Real Life. Let’s be honest, don’t we all wish our parents had that lake house that was big enough to house all the kids+grand children+dogs+cats+boyfriends+girlfriends+friends+whoever else was invited to our exclusive family getaway? I swear I can smell the old quilts and feel the breeze coming through the open windows. I can remember days of being packed in a room full of beds and annoying cousins. Waking up to coffee and Grandma’s homemade pancakes.
Sure feels like home to me.
Love on a Dime: Melon Carving
Throughout history, wars have brought nations together to fight a common enemy.
We’re not condoning or condemning war here. But this month’s date on a dime brings that philosophy into the relationship.
Competition.
Not just competing for the nicest house or car, or best behaved kids – but a competition which stimulates the creative juices & brings a couple together to work as one.
Introducing melon carving.
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2011 Garden Checklist: June
When your sleeping with the windows down and the sounds of frogs at night you know it’s officially summer time! It’s that time of year where you can almost sense the excitement in the cool night air…and that’s not JUST from the kids being home from school! Meg’s Birthday is in June so we always enjoy fresh strawberry shortcake (I swear that girl could eat strawberries everyday!) and we also get to FINALLY start enjoying the fruits of our labor. So get ready folks…it’s almost harvest time!
Everyday Design: Colored Pencil Sculptures
When I was a child my favorite medium was colored pencils. I don’t know why I jumped past crayons at a young age and then went back to markers in college, but from 8-16 years, it was all colored pencils. This months ‘everyday design‘ post is all about color, and colored pencils. One of those wonderful little tools we creatives love to use. But here it is in a completely new form…
Meet Jennifer Maestre a girl with a love of pencils and texture, a national following and an Etsy Shop…
GCD: Office Remodel
Welcome to our NEW home office. A laundry room turned design studio, production laboratory, packaging center, craft organizer, and the sorta “catch all” room for holiday wrapping paper, outdoor summer games, canning supplies, etc.
GCD: NEW Product Design [Portfolio]
Product design has been a part of Green Couch Design since it’s inception in 2008, we love to work with new materials and play with the everyday elements we use in our homes and try to make them better, more fun, or just dress them up a little.
High class design in overalls. It's the simple life of a farm through the eyes of a couple of crazy designers. We call ourselves Green Couch Design and we are Bringing Design Home.
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