Lifehacks for Working Moms with Megan Strand

Our season's come to a close, but don't worry – we'll be back after our hiatus! Thanks so much for tuning in as we shift directions with this new season. If you have a life hack you'd love to hear Shelly discuss on the show, send us a note at lifehacks@trustory.fm. See you next season!

This week on the show, Shelly is joined by Tristan Gandolfi, the director of entrepreneurial education at Seed Spot. This company focuses on helping entrepreneurs who are creating solutions to social problems. Whether you have a great idea and are just trying to figure out how to make it happen or know you want to do something in the social space but aren't quite sure what just yet, Seed Spot can help. They have a variety of programs, and Shelly and Tristan talk through them. They chat about the networking and mentorships that come from their programs and how they're here to help ideas germinate and grow into successful businesses. Whether you're trying to start up your own business or looking for ways to shift your own to be more socially responsible, this conversation is for you. Links Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Website YouTube

Whether you work from home, at the office, or from the road, it can be hard focusing on the task at hand. Distractions constantly arise, not to mention habits we just can't break. All of this can keep us from being as productive as we'd like to be. On this week's show, Shelly is joined by musician, tech entrepreneur, and inventor Will Henshall. Will is behind focus@will, a tool that can help you find focus and achieve better productivity. Focus@will provides personalized music so you don't feel the need to take that break every 20 minutes. People who use this music have seen a 200-400% increase in focus time. Shelly and Will talk about how different brains need different types of music, how to find out what type of music works best for your brain, how this can help kids too, and more. It's a conversation that everyone should tune in to as it helps you figure out your own brain and what you can do to be more productive. About Will Will Henshall is a Los Angeles based tech entrepreneur, inventor and music producer. He was the founding member and main writer in the UK pop soul band Londonbeat. Their massive early 90s hit ‘I've Been Thinking About You' reached #1 in the Billboard chart and was the top selling single in all major territories and won him BMI/PRS songwriter of the year. In the mid 90s, he founded San Francisco-based audio tech company Rocket Network. The “DigiDelivery” media transfer system, now part of ProTools 12 Cloud collaboration, is a standard tool used everyday in pro audio production for TV, movies and music. He sold the company to Avid in 2003. His most recent start up is focus@will, a science driven instrumental music streaming service (2m users) that helps people at work and study reduce distractions and be more productive. He holds five patents, and has a new one in the oven! Links Facebook LinkedIn Website

Life is busy as it is, but for Highly Sensitive People, or HSPs, even the smallest change can overwhelm. Today, spiritual writer, guide, and certified Reiki practitioner Alissa Boyer joins Shelly Boucher to talk about the toolkit that HSPs can use to survive our busy world. From daily tools like journaling, breathing, meditation, and diet, to finding peace through your pets and helping your HSP children as a parent, the conversation is designed to help HSPs, people with HSPs in their lives, and everyone else really who wants to be ready to help any HSPs they may come across in their day-to-day living. And let's face it – we all could use tips on how to find inner peace these days, am I right? About Alissa Alissa Boyer is a Writer and Mentor for Highly Sensitive People & Empaths. She writes for the award-winning HSP blog, Highly Sensitive Refuge, as well as her own blog, Life By Alissa. Alissa is also a certified Reiki Energy Healer and the founder of the Highly Sensitive & Soulful Membership where she helps other HSPs and Empaths experience greater self-love, confidence, and inner peace through spiritual development. Links Facebook Instagram Highly Sensitive Soulful Membership Group Website The Highly Sensitive Person Test

Dog adoptions rose 30-40% during the pandemic over the last year. A lot of first-time dog owners are trying to figure out how to handle these energetic new members of their families. To help out, Shelly Boucher talks training tips with dog trainer and pet custody mediator Karis Nafte. They talk about dealing with separation anxiety and leash manners. The discuss the idea of “smart” dogs and what that really means for owners. They chat about the challenges of adopting different sized dogs. And they cover how to handle a variety of bad habits like chewing, barking, and digging, and how to curb them. It's a great conversation that can help new and old dog owners alike in working with their pets to create better behaviors. About Karis Karis has worked professionally with dogs, cats, birds and their people as a dog trainer and animal behavior consultant since 1996. Originally from the USA, Karis moved to South Africa in 2005 where she has been lucky to work with cheetahs, elephants as well as household dogs. Helping dogs after divorce who were displaying signs of stress and behavior problems brought her attention to the need for animal-focused mediation about ‘who keeps the dog' so that the best plan for the dog's future well being is put in place. Her training as an accredited family mediator allows her to combine the expertise in the area of divorce mediation with her knowledge of dog behavior. These two skills, mediation and animal behavior, enable her to keep the best interest of the dog in the forefront of the conversations and stay in a neutral position between the people at what can be a hugely stressful and emotional time. Links Instagram LinkedIn Website

On today's episode, Shelly talks with Dr. Foxy Fit herself, Mallory Fox! Mallory created Dr. Foxy Fit as a way to help people improve mobility, relieve tension, and reduce stress through mindful movement as a way to improve the quality of their lives. Mallory talks through stretching your mind through meditation and her mindful minute texts. She also discusses the power of stretching your body. And she's not talking about sitting down for 30 minutes to stretch. It's using whatever moments you have to move a little bit, like doing a leg stretch while waiting for your coffee to brew. Join Shelly as she learns from Mallory how to keep your body working, both physically and mentally, as you go through life! About Mallory Dr. Mallory Fox is a native Phoenician and local business owner of Foxy FIT where she helps busy people make time for self care through mindful movement. A former competitive swimmer, Mallory put herself through grad school working as a personal trainer. She started her business, Foxy Fitness, in 2013 and enjoyed the busy life of an entrepreneur until a car accident in 2018 left her with a traumatic brain injury and vision loss. After a lifetime of hustle and a “no pain no gain” attitude, Mallory found that recovering from her injuries required a total mindset shift: she put her energy into learning how to rest, connect to her body, and use stress to her advantage. Now, Mallory helps other people who have experienced life-changing events use mindful movement to transform their mindsets. She has a FREE mindful minute texting service to help people access one minute of mindfulness a day with a daily text to reduce stress and increase resilience. Text MINDFUL to 480-531-9810 to join! Links My Community Facebook Instagram Website Pinterest YouTube TikTok

On today's episode, Shelly talks with the founders of the West Tenth app, Sara Sparhawk and Lyn Johnson. They created West Tenth as a place to find artisans, crafters, artists and other service providers in your area. Of course, if you're an artisan, crafter, artist, or a service provider, it's the perfect place to market yourself and what you do. The concept feels like a blend of NextDoor and Etsy. Join Shelly as she learns more from Lyn and Sara about their exciting app! About Sara and Lyn Lyn Johnson is the co-founder and CEO of West Tenth, a digital marketplace where you can discover women in your local community who have turned their household talents into home-based businesses. As an advocate for female entrepreneurs and economic equality, her goals for West Tenth are to create a company that generates positive change for our society, that is profitably sustainable, and that provides an economic resource for women all over the world. Before founding West Tenth, Lyn worked in the financial world at PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York City and then as a CFO for a private financial advisory firm in Santa Monica. She is a mom to three young boys and in her spare time Lyn loves to pursue her passion for travel, and for exploring small towns across America. Sara Sparhawk is the co-founder and COO of West Tenth. Passionate about career coaching and development, Sara wants to grow West Tenth globally and enable women to pursue their career passions with the flexibility they need. She wants to make all women-led, home-based businesses visible to their communities. Formerly, Sara began her career in New York City where she worked at PwC and Guggenheim Partners in various finance and accounting roles. In 2011, she pivoted her career to focus on Talent Acquisition and Talent Management, and successfully helped build recruiting teams at Amazon, PwC, and Apttus. She has been featured in various publications including Inc., CNBC and Fox Business. Since 2004, she has volunteered as a camp counselor or fundraising volunteer for Okizu, an organization supporting families affected by childhood cancer. Sara is also an avid world-traveler and has visited over 40 countries across 6 continents. Links Facebook Instagram LinkedIn Twitter Website

It's been quite a break but Lifehacks is back! This time with a brand new host and a season of great tools and services to make the most of your time and energy!

When my kids were young, I had the good fortune to have multiple friends that were Speech and Language Pathologists. So any time I had a question or concern about my kiddo's language development, I'd turn to them for assistance, reassurance or strategies. I realize not everyone has this dynamic, so in this week's episode I've invited Sharon Soliday, a dear friend of mine (and Speech and Language Pathologist), to join me to discuss all things speech and language.

Over the past several weeks, we’ve talked about creating a personal spending plan and some tips about how to save money on one of your largest monthly expenses. But what about imparting some of that financial literacy to your kiddos? As far as Tim Ranzetta is concerned, having those conversations early and often is key to ensuring your kids have a firm financial foundation to avoid costly spending pitfalls and proactively manage their own finances. On this episode, Tim and I discuss all things personal finance, from saving for college (and related expectations) to opening a checking account. How to teach responsible credit card use (and why Tim recommends it!) to really understanding financial contracts. He’ll even explain how you can “lend” your good credit to your kids if you’re a long-term credit card holder. Tune in to this episode to hear all of this and more!

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with cooking and meal planning. I enjoy cooking and feeding my family healthy meals, but it turns out this is something you have to do every. single. day! I get burnt out easily. AND, as you might have noticed, food is EXPENSIVE and it just seems to be getting more so. For me, it’s overwhelming to manage the logistics as well as the finances of all this eating. My guest today happens to be a master at both meal planning AND shopping on a budget. Her name is Erin Chase and she is SO good at this, that she started what is now a successful blog called 5DollarDinners.com. Erin is crazy good at pulling together nutritious meals featuring real food and putting them together for you in meal plans you can download. I downloaded Erin’s 20 meals for $150 from Costco and my family loved, loved, loved the lemon pepper chicken (haven't made the rest yet!). Do check it out. So if you’re finding yourself pressed for time, money or both when it comes to meal planning and preparation, this episode is for YOU. Tune in now and let me know YOUR family’s favorite go-to recipe on the Lifehacks Facebook page or Twitter.

When you sit down to do your finances, does your heart fill with dread and loathing? Yeah…me too. My guest in this episode is CreativeMoney.biz’s Mindy Crary and she thinks all of this finance stuff is FUN (crazy, right?) and joins me to share her approach to personal finance. Tune in to this episode to hear Mindy’s tips on the best online spending tools, how and where to start cutting back on things you probably won’t miss and ways to prioritize spending plans without going overboard. Mindy takes a lighthearted approach to this stuff and really hones in on the psychology behind why we act and spend the way we do…and how to rein ourselves in without feeling deprived. So tune in to this episode and share your own tips on the Lifehacks Facebook page or on Twitter. Mentioned Links and Resources Mint.com Getting Started with Conscious Spending (and lots of other great, FREE resources)

Last month my family and I spent a week in Utah. Several of those days we volunteered at the largest no-kill animal shelter in the country - Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. This experience was a fantastic one for the entire family as you’ll hear on today’s episode. We worked with bunnies, parrots, puppies, cats and horses. You’ll hear which ones were winners and my family’s advice on volunteering at Best Friends (hint: do it!). This episode is a bit different than most so if this is your first time tuning in, I hope you enjoy!

How do you feel when you're called upon to give a presentation in front of a group of people? Nervous? Anxious? Terrified? If your public speaking skills leave a little to be desired, whether it's simply increasing your confidence or boosting your communication skills, today's episode is for you! Our topic today is one that’s near and dear to my heart and that’s how to overcome the sheer terror that can sometimes accompany the prospect of speaking in front of a group. After a particularly mortifying experience in which I thought I was going to pass out during a short presentation for my job, I was motivated to find some education on public speaking. And what I found was a local Toastmasters group where I met my guest on this week's episode. Bryndl Rohan is not only a phenomenal public speaker but she’s also reached the rank within Toastmasters of “Distinguished Toastmaster”, a level to which many aspire to but few achieve. Bryndl walks us through the ins and outs of a Toastmasters meeting, from what to expect your very first visit to how to find the right club for you.

It’s time to start thinking about Father’s Day and all of the amazing men in your life. For some of you that means double, or even triple duty, as you consider your own father or grandfather as well as the father of your precious cherubs. While the default may be to make a special breakfast or dinner for Dad and call it good, this week’s episode offers a thoughtful approach to honoring that special guy in your family’s life. My guest this week is Larry Hagner, host of The Good Dad Project podcast and he’s an endless source of really fantastic dad’s day ideas, from the basics all the way to the meaningful. Larry’s ideas are simple and thoughtful…the best kind, in my book!

It’s almost here. I can feel it. Summer and its glorious sun. As I say ‘good riddance’ to cloudy, damp weather and prepare to relish longer days and a more relaxed schedule for the kids, I dream of a summer garden. The promise contained within a flat of vegetables inspires visions of freshly picked produce on my dinner table. Each year, I try to take a teeny step forward in my gardening skill. I’ve finally reached the point where I can grow cucumbers, tomatoes and snap peas without too much trouble. I fight a mostly losing battle with the slugs over my kale. And the bunnies love all of it. The challenge of gardening for me lies in the upkeep, the maintenance and the pest management. And, if I’m honest, in the planning of it all. While I look forward to summer’s arrival all year long, when it finally appears I feel my garden plans haven’t happened in time and I’ve lost precious growing days. For those of us not born with a green thumb, gardening can be a little intimidating. Which is why I’ve invited not one, but two gardening experts to join me on this episode.

How much time do you spend thinking about your home appliances? Probably zero until you’re faced with a leaky fridge or dryer that’s no longer drying your clothing. And then it’s a minor emergency because the truth is, we depend on these appliances for modern day living. Did you know your major appliances should last 10 years or more? The key to long happy lives for your appliances is to maintain them. Angie’s List’s Cheryl Reed joins me in today’s episode to share some very simple ways to extend the life of these lovable hunks of metal. We walk through your home room by room, from kitchen to laundry room to bathroom sharing simple tips to keep everything from your dryer to your garbage disposal running smoothly. I promise you’ll learn at least one new tip that could save you money and add years to the life of your appliances. Learn all of these tips plus the Angie’s List Rule of $5,000 and how to determine whether it’s better to buy a new appliance or repair the one you have.

A few weeks ago I took to my Facebook page to ask what projects you knew you SHOULD be tackling but you just didn’t know where to start. One neglected project mentioned repeatedly had to do with photos...“organizing all my photos” or “sorting/printing pictures” and “creating yearly memory books for my kids”. And BOY can I relate. So today, I’m calling in an expert. Laurel Sittig is Editorial Manager for Photojojo, a blog and online store for photography gear and cool photo ideas. Laurel walks us through: Why we’re all so overwhelmed by our photos The “lazy” tools to use to organize (and share) your photos Ways to back up your photos (even if the internet disappears) Fun things to DO with your photos, like massive engineer prints, photo pinatas and sunglass photo frames Products that will help you be a better phone photographer

If a natural disaster struck tomorrow, would you be ready? Odd are, your answer is, "no". We've seen communities all around the world touched by horrific natural disasters, the most recent being the earthquake in Nepal. What if that was your community? Do you even know where to begin? The sad reality is that many of us are NOT prepared. But the good news is that, by listening to today's episode, you're going to get some terrific resources from my guest, Marcie Maynes. Marcie teaches all about family emergency preparedness at PreparingHeroes.org.

How many hours each week do you spend playing the calendar game over email trying to coordinate a simple phone call or in-person meeting? If your answer, like mine, is "a lot!", then keep reading. This minisode is for YOU. I've been on the hunt for a web-based tool that will essentially schedule my meetings for me. I've finally found it in Calendly. This Google-calendar-based online scheduler provides you with a link to share with others that displays only the times you tell it to, based on some general parameters as well as you existing calendar appointments. This tool is literally saving me HOURS each week. I did this minisode to explain all about it. Tune in by clicking the player bar above or on iTunes? And let me know how you like Calendly once you give it a shot! I'm @meganstrand on Twitter.

Do you ever wish your digital life would just synchronize itself? I mean, it seems conceivable, right? That technology could self-organize to your benefit? You could just sit back and watch it all happen, tweaking now and again. Well, hang on to your mousepads because...wait for it...it can. And that's what we're delving into in this episode. It's a web service called IFTTT (If This, Then That, rhymes with "Gift") that enables you to create 'recipes' linking one platform (channel) to another. Sound confusing? Yeah, I thought so too until Rash Pixel's Pete Wright (and this show's producer) explained in a bit more detail with a few examples. Here are some simple 'recipes', to give you an idea: If my daughter posts a photo to Instagram, send me an email. Get emails for new posts from my Craigslist search Mute my phone ringer at bedtime Text my husband when I leave work Thankfully Pete is an amazing teacher and walks us through the ins and outs of IFTTT. Give a listen.

If you have a kiddo that’s into sports, you’re going to want to pay close attention today because I have a guest that may very well change the way your family approaches those sports activities. John O’Sullivan has been involved in soccer full time as a player and coach since 1996. He is now an international speaker and national best-selling author of a book called Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High-Performing Athletes.

Does travel run in your blood? Ever dreamed of taking your kids to another country? If so, then today’s episode is a dose of inspiration for you. In September of 2013 Kathrin Spaccarelli and her husband sold most of their belongings, including their home, and traveled the world for a year with their two sons who were ages 6 and 10 at the time. They visited 25 countries on 5 continents in the experience of a lifetime. Kathrin joins me in today’s episode to share a little bit about their journey, how they made it a reality and why they were motivated to embark on this adventure.

Raise your hand if you purchase those thick summer learning workbooks for your kids. Now keep them raised if you’re successful in getting them to complete their allotted assignments all summer long. If you’re hand is still raised, congratulations, you’re the one super parent on the planet who has accomplished this feat. The rest of you, read and listen on! I have a confession to make. Part of me really hates summer vacation because it’s a long stretch of 10 weeks when my kids are not in school, not in a routine, are either running from camp to camp or bored out of their minds. As someone that works from a home office, it’s really challenging to manage. Arguing over doing workbooks just adds another dimension of strife to our summer days. That’s why I was so excited when I heard about a cool summer adventure called Brain Chase to help the kiddos keep their academic skills strong and give them a consistent task to focus on. I’m joined today by Brain Chase co-founder Heather Staker. Heather gives us the audio tour of what Brain Chase is all about and why she and her husband Allan felt strongly that this product needed to be invented.

Do you ever feel the itch to do something just a little out of the ordinary? Something that would have a lasting impact on you, your family and the world? I do. All the time. One thing I’ve been researching seriously over the last few months is volunteering overseas with my family and today’s episode is all about that: having a meaningful volunteer adventure abroad. I’m joined by Dave Santulli, Founder & Executive Director of United Planet, an organization that offers volunteer opportunities in 35 countries. And Dave walks us through the ins and outs of what that means if you choose to volunteer through his organization. It’s pretty fascinating stuff!

Do you own your own business? Or have you ever dreamed of starting your own business? If so, today’s episode is for you. According to Jill Salzman, moms make the best entrepreneurs because we know how to make it up as we go. Jill created the mom entrepreneur MeetUp, The Founding Moms. Their mission? Helping moms get down to business. Jill shares what happens at these monthly MeetUps in cities around the world, a few amazing and inspirational stories of successful mom entrepreneurs and why getting together with other women is so powerful. If you own your own business or have dreamed of starting one, today’s episode is a must-listen. The Minute by Minute Recap :58-2:27: How Jill “decided” to start The Founding Moms. Flat out freaked out about running two businesses with two small children, on a whim she went to MeetUp.com and started a meet up. 6 months in, they had over 200 members online. 2:35-4:15: At the beginning, the MeetUp groups addressed the logistics of ‘How do I do this?’. Then it morphed into a marketing, branding conversation. 4:15-7:00: The Founding Moms is currently in 40 cities in the U.S., 9 countries with 8,000 members and growing quickly. Members are all ages with children of different ages. When you show up to one of Jill’s meetings, there’s always a speaker giving practical, actionable tips on marketing or legal or branding. Chicago and Oak Park groups have over 600 members. At each meeting, there are no more than 20 people. In San Francisco, for example, they have larger groups. For the most part, they’re smaller. 7:10-8:18: The Founding Moms is free to join in your city and then $10-$15/month per event. Soon there will be an online forum that’s a paid membership (stay tuned!). 8:22-9:10: The online course is not available quite yet, but there will be an active forum, a Directory (like Angie’s list for mom entrepreneurs), video courses. 9:15-11:50: Another thing currently available from the Founding Moms is called the Founding Kit, which bundles services all business owners need (things like graphic design, a website, virtual assistant, etc.). All clients are already in business and see the value of the kit. 12:00-12:40: Megan picks a small bone with Jill…there’s no Founding Moms community in Portland. What?! Jill welcomes any mom with her own business who’d like to start this group to go to FoundingMoms.com/StartOne. 12:55-14:25: Jill’s advice for moms that want to start their own business: get out fast! The Founding Moms is that place women can go to sit in a room with other mom entrepreneurs to get the inspiration they need to take that next step. One conversation could charge you right out of the corporate rat race. Whether it’s The Founding Moms or just visiting a local co-working space, have conversations with people who are doing this work already. Talk to them about how they do it. 14:25-18:37: Jill shares a few stories of successful women entrepreneurs. One woman came to the MeetUp every month wanting to start something but not knowing what. She now runs a wildly successful branding firm by meeting the needs of the very women she was communing with. Another woman showed up at an exchange and wanted to quit her job to start a business with her husband. They started OptionsAway.com, a now successful business that allows you to hold the price of an airline ticket for a few days. Brilliant! Another woman was experimenting with chemicals in her kitchen to create an amazing “perfect manicure” product, she’d show up at MeetUps with her product and people’s mouths would drop. She is now being courted by major beauty brands. The company is Liquid Palisade. 18:37-20:04:Having the inspiration and watching other women be courageous is contagious and very powerful. Find Jill and Founding Moms online, on Twitter and Instagram.

How important is your child’s education? Hard to quantify, right? It’s probably safe to say that your knee-jerk response is something along the lines of, “Very!”. At least it is for me. Choosing the right school for your child can be a weighty and complicated decision, no matter their age. Whether you’re deciding where to settle as a family based on the public schools or checking out private or charter school options, there are so many factors that come into play. Where to start may well be the most difficult. In this episode I’m joined by Suzanne Podhurst, Editor-in-Chief of the education website Noodle. Suzanne shares a list of 10 critical things you’ll want to add to your list of questions when considering a K-12 school for your child. Oh, how I wish I had had this list several years ago when I was considering where to enroll my own kids. But, luckily for you, this episode provides you with the learnings from my own experience as well as Suzanne’s expertise. Tune in today!

Do you ever feel like your wardrobe could use a serious makeover but don’t know where to start? I work from home, so the motivation simply isn’t there most days to do much other than shower and pull on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie. The challenge comes when I do need to go to a professional meeting or just want to look put together. I’m at a bit of a loss. I have a few go-to outfits but that’s where it ends. For today’s episode I pull in a fashion big gun to help. Elizabeth Smith founded a company called Wardrobe Therapy to help the fashion frazzled like me navigate her way past the yoga pants and to a style she loves.

If you’re reading these words, you’re probably a parent. If you’re a parent of children that can speak, you’ve probably experienced the topic of today’s episode – and that’s back talk. Rude, snarky comments in response to your authority as a parent. It’s maddening! Luckily for us, we have a parenting expert to help us address this dynamic in our homes. Dr. Becca is a child psychologist and host of the blog, Parenting the Modern Family. Tune in to hear Dr. Becca’s wisdom!

Waking up to realize that you are a parent…in charge of another human being’s life…is typically a pretty life-altering experience. And while our Facebook feeds show much of the joyful, silly, happy and proud sides of being a parent, what we seldom admit to ourselves, let alone to our social circles is that parenting is hard and not always a lot of fun. My guest today is Jennifer Senior, author of the much acclaimed book All Joy and No Fun, named one of Slate’s Top 10 Books of the Year which I can almost guarantee will make you feel about 6 degrees closer to sanity because it is such an honest, fascinating look at modern parenting.

It’s a brave new parenting world out there, fraught with all sorts of parenting conundrums that our parents never had to deal with. So many of us feel like we can’t keep up with our kids and their love of technology. The thought of them venturing into an unknown cyberworld fills us with both excitement as well as great fear. In this episode, I’m joined by an expert on keeping kids safe online. Larry Magid is a technology journalist and an internet safety advocate and serves as on-air technology analyst for CBS News is also co-director of ConnectSafely.org and founder of SafeKids.com. If you’ve got a technology-aged kid, these 22 minutes are well worth your time to provide some perspective on this issue of internet safety, as well as some general reassurance that you already have everything you need to parent a child in this digital world.

How’d you sleep last night? Sometimes if we don’t sleep well, it’s a function of our environment: you’re up with a kiddo, the cat’s crying to be fed or that cough kept you up all night. But so often sleep is elusive because of our poor sleep habits, the biggest being our own attitude toward sleep. In this episode you’ll hear from a sleep expert named Terry Cralle – she’s a registered nurse and certified clinical sleep educator and spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council. And she’s got some great back-to-basics about why you need to be sleeping fully each night and how to improve your own sleep habits including the ideal temperatures for falling asleep, how much sleep your kids need each night and much more!

If you’re reading these words, my guess is that you’re a loving person. You probably spend an awful lot of time loving the other people in your life, whether that’s a partner, your kiddos or even your pets. But are you taking the time to spread that love to yourself? If you’re like most busy women, you may fall a little short in that department. In this episode I’m joined by the lovely Julie Jeske, an individual and couples counselor who is going to give us a 20-minute look into why we should think just a little bit more about loving ourselves and how to do that in a way that’s practical and simple to fit into your busy schedule. YOU are the #1 thing that’s missing from your own to-do list. I love Julie’s down-to-earth approach to all of this. She’s not pushing some agenda that’s hard to achieve, just small mindset shifts and the recommendation that we add ourselves to our to-do lists each day. Tune in to this fantastic, nourishing episode now by clicking the player bar above or by listening in iTunes or Stitcher.

What if I told you that there was a simple way you could have more energy each day without increasing your caffeine levels? Not the hyper kind of energy fueled by caffeine and sugar where you know a crash is just around the corner, but the kind of energy that just makes you feel more like you. The good news is that getting more energy is simple. The bad news is that it’s not easy. In this episode, I’m joined by Marcelle Pick, Founder of Women to Women. She knows a thing about increasing your energy levels naturally and simply because she works with busy women with full lives just like you every day. This episode is chock full of useful advice…things to move away from and things to consider to live your life with the highest energy level possible. Take even some of Marcelle’s advice in this episode and this may just be the most important 25 minutes of 2015 so far. Tune in now!

We’re all well aware that we should be getting a good night’s sleep every night but sometimes that seems impossible. Or worse…even if we’ve allocated the time for a solid night of dreamland, we find ourselves unable to fall asleep or stay asleep. I don’t know about any of you, but this stresses me out! Well, it turns out that, with sleep, like pretty much everything having to do with being healthy, we probably need to take more of a holistic approach. In this episode, Lifestyle and Wellness expert Lissa Coffey dives into how the food we eat impacts our sleep. We even get a mini-lesson in ayurveda to frame the whole conversation. Lissa is a spokesperson for the Better Sleep Council, so she knows a bit about this subject and is generous in sharing her knowledge.

Want to make 2015 the year of being more intentional and more productive? Then you must tune into today’s episode. Ever thought about cloning yourself to squeak out just a few more things each day? I know I have. In today’s episode I discuss the next best thing: hiring a virtual assistant with Josh Boltuch, CEO of Fancy Hands, the fastest growing virtual assistant service out there. With monthly subscription plans starting at only $30, it’s affordable to boot! Beware: hiring a virtual assistant like Fancy Hands may also make you focus on (gasp!) more important things in your life, instead of those time sucks you’re accustomed to. Not to worry, you’ll soon get used to the new, intentional you who no longer wastes needless time.

I'll admit it. I have a love/hate relationship with the looming end-of-year, goal setting process. I honestly do really love the reflective process of intentionally setting the tone for the coming year. But I've done it so many times only to have it forgotten by February that I've become a teeny bit cynical about the whole deal. But that doesn't mean I've given up entirely! In this episode, I'm doubling down by calling in the reinforcements and explore a framework for all this end-of-year nonsense with Marriage and Family Therapist Sabrina Walters. Sabrina has some new ways of looking at the goal setting process and part of it centers around a tool I've never heard of called the Core Values Index. Designed to optimize employee effectiveness in the workplace, this index very quickly gives you a snapshot at what's most important for you. It's pretty powerful and I hope you found it as useful as I did. This is the last episode of 2014 so dig in, put on your 'intentional planning' hat and enjoy!

Did you know that you make 25-30 food-related decisions by the end of breakfast each day? What?! It’s not just about the type of cereal you choose for breakfast, it’s how much you serve yourself, whether to add milk, how much milk, whether to finish the first bowl, if you go back for seconds, what you do with the extra milk and on…and on…and on…And that’s just in your kitchen! You do this all. day. long. Which, it turns out, is why we end up mindlessly overeating. We don’t realize we’re making hundreds of little micro decisions each day. I’m here to tell you the good news about all of this mindless eating. The same things that make you overeat can help you engineer your environment and your food choices so that you mindlessly eat less. Without going on some crazy diet. Without depriving yourself of the stuff you love. You can eat up to 20% less each day without even realizing it. You just need to implement a few simple, scientifically-proven tools (sounds like an infomercial, right?). Sound good? I thought so too! Which is why I’m super excited to share today’s episode with you. Dr. Brian Wansink is Director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab and this is the type of stuff he studies each and every day. He’s written an awesome book that you should absolutely read called Slim by Design. It will literally rock your world. Dr. Wansink can look at your kitchen and predict how much you weigh with a surprising degree of accuracy. Why? Because it turns out that your kitchen and how you have it structured can either make you (and your family) slim by design or heavy by design. In this episode Dr. Wansink shares tools for tricking yourself into eating less, both in this busy holiday season and at home year round. I can’t wait to hear your favorite parts of this episode. And get the book. Seriously. It’s that useful.

No matter how old your kiddos are, fostering independence is one of those skills I think we all probably try really hard to impart to our little cherubs. Sometimes we’re successful as we patiently share a process or explain a rationale for the umpteenth time. And sometimes we scrap that nonsense all together and just do it ourselves - done! If this sounds familiar to you, you’re going to love this latest episode. I've had the good fortune of joining a group of Speech-Language Pathologists from The Hello Foundation on two international service trips and was really struck by the power of the tools they used with kiddos who struggled to communicate. It was clear to me that these tools could be used with any kids, no matter their level of communication proficiency. At the end of the day, an SLPs job is to foster independence, work themselves out of a job, if you will. And isn’t that our job as parents, to a certain degree? In this episode, I invite a dear friend and one of the SLPs that was on those international trips to chat about some of these communication tools she relies upon every day in her work. Turns out, they can be uber-useful for ANY household. My friend Kira Wright explains how and why. Can’t get your kids to follow a basic bedtime or morning routine? Kira explains why you might want to try a visual checklist and how to create one. Do the weekends somehow slip away from your family, creating stress on Sunday night when no one’s accomplished what they need to? You’ll definitely want to hear about the family whiteboard system that Kira and her family use successfully to set expectations. Are you a parent that feels the need to look over your kid’s shoulder when they’re doing homework? Kira’s got some advice on that as well. You’ll find all this and more on today’s episode of Cause Talk Radio. So tune in now! Like this or other episodes? Your feedback means the world to me! Drop me a line or write a review on iTunes.

Where do you store the stuff that matters in your life? Do you have a special notebook? Do post-it notes litter your desk and computer? Perhaps you use collaboration software for work and then a calendar for home? Google docs? Excel spreadsheets? Or maybe you’re like me and you use every. single. one. of these things. It gets a bit cluttered and it’s definitely clunky and none of these items talk to one another. What if you could store all of these important things in one single place? One online repository you could use for work, and home and everything in between? Good news. You can. In today’s episode I chat with Rash Pixel’s Pete Wright about the coolest, most useful technology tool known to woman. It’s Evernote. Get ready to drool and then have some fun playing with Evernote. It’s a free app that you’re going to love (if you don’t already). Tune in now!

If you’re anything like me, you love food. Good food. Real food. Nothing puffs up my mama pride more than putting a healthy, yummy dinner on the table for my family after a long day (it sort of feels like a reward for me too!). Can you relate? But holy heck, there are a slew of logistics that come along with getting to that nicely made dinner from the planning to the shopping to the prepping and the actual cooking (not to mention cleaning the whole shebang up afterwards!). It’s a giant black hole of a time sucks. But it’s one that’s pretty much unavoidable when you’ve got hungry mouths to feed. In this episode of Lifehacks for Working Moms, I’m joined by Brandie Kajino, food blogger at SpoonandSaucer.com and busy working mom. We dish about our favorite crazy-easy, real food, go-to items in our household. What I love about Brandie is how realistic she is about all of this. Real food doesn’t have to be a giant hassle. Hungry bellies will be glad you listened to this episode!

This whole month we’re talking about creating a happy home. Today that means talking about a clean and organized home. As a mother, (whether you work outside the home or not) we all know that having a chaotic tornado of a home makes life a lot more stressful (and I know this from intimate personal experience). There’s something almost therapeutic when your house is neat and organized and clean. The challenge…at least for me…lies in keeping it that way. Which is why you’re going to love my guest today…Her name is Nikki Kinzer. She started her business as a professional organizer and now she;s an ADHD Coach and founder of Take Control ADHD and a personal friend of mine.