Work Bag: Keeping it all together

Having a good work bag is essential to staying organized, especially if you are as busy and on-the-go as me. 

On a weekly basis I teach school from 8AM-4PM, stay at work until 6PMish or run to the main office for a meeting, go to class, come home and work on school stuff, and tutor privately on the weekends across town. I love my life and I actually enjoy being so busy, but I need a go-to bag that I can take with me everywhere that will help me stay organized. Here is what my bag looks like:

  This is a Zara bag that I got for my birthday. It's very large and big enough to hold all of my stuff. You can find the exact bag here: ZARA Plaited Shopper.

Here is the inside

Inside my bag I keep the following items at all times!

 1. My Erin Condren Planner   2. My iPad   3. A pencil pouch  4. small black pouch with small notepad, binder clips, paper clips, and a mini-stapler.

 

I got the black pouch in a set of four from Barnes and Noble. All four were various sizes, and I use it to store essential items that I would need while grading papers or managing paperwork on the go. You can find a similar one here.

This is the pencil pouch I use. It's actually a makeup bag by Sonia Kashuk from Target. I thought it was fun and cute and not so boring. It works perfectly for me because it has two sections. I use one for pencils, pens, markers, and the other for post-its, white out tape, page flaggers and other things. I take this baby with me everywhere. It's so handy to never need to scrounge for a pen. Here is a similar one.

Erin Condren Life Planner vs. Other Planners

Hi Friends, 

Well my Erin Condren Life Planner finally arrived yesterday. It was perfect, and I love everything about it. I decided to do a video review about the planner and how it compares in size with other planners. 

With all of the online reviews I saw about the EC planner, I never found one that talked about the size of the book compared to a purse or handbag. I thought it would be a helpful perspective. 

Enjoy!

How do you manage your time?

Time. It seems, no matter how far in advance I start planning, or how late I stay at school, there is always a never-ending list of tasks for me to complete. Not mention this week, I have had a meeting every day before school AND during my conference period! Sigh.

One of the biggest problems that all professionals have is finding enough time to get things done during the day. Some weeks as a teacher, every single minute of my “planning” time or before school and after school time, is often consumed by meetings. And yet, I’m expected to keep all of those plates spinning in the air in perfect harmony.

Here are a couple of things I do to help keep myself organized, balanced, and out from under the “weeds.”

1. Keep a running “To-Do” list – I keep a running to-do list that I write down in my planner. I take this book with me EVERYWHERE. Whenever a thought comes into my mind about something I need to do…I write it down. If I’ve had an extremely busy day of adding tasks to my to-do list, I spend five minutes at the end of the day prioritizing the tasks. I ask myself…”what needs to get done today”? What can I get done tomorrow? And so on. I highlight the tasks that need to get done right away in yellow and the rest in green. Color coding helps me because I am a visual learner.
   
2. Read your emails -  I read every email that comes into my inbox as soon as possible. Some days I get 10 emails, most days I get 50+. And before all of you business people gawk at how low the number fifty is, let me remind you…that’s fifty emails WHILE I’m teaching and talking to a billion students at one time. It’s the ultimate in multitasking.  

• I read every email and try to reply/respond/act as soon as I can. When I do that, it feels like I’m scratching another item off my to-do list. However, if it’s a lengthy email, or something that requires more time and thought to respond to, I read it, then go back and mark it as “unread.” This is a signal to me later on, that I still need to go back and re-read the email and address something. Managing emails this ways eliminates a ton of unnecessary or superfluous emails from my inbox, while at the same time, keeping me updated on pertinent and important information. This habit has been a lifesaver for me because our school uses emails as its primary form of communication.

If you have any great tips on how you manage you time, please share them! Reply to this post…I’d love to learn a better/new way.

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Life Planners by Erin Condren

Ok, so my new obsession is the Life Planner by Erin Condren.

Here's why:
1. I have an iPad. When I first got it, I used the calendar feature to organize all of my appointments. I also used the "To Do" ap for my never ending to-do list. HOWEVER, what I realized through using my iPad as my planner for 6+ months was that I am a paper girl.  There is just something about writing it down and crossing it off that does my mind and heart good. It sticks more if I can write it down.

2. So, after an obsessive amount of time online, I decided on the Erin Condren Life planner. It takes WEEKS to make (hand made) and ship, but from all of the reviews online, it appears to be worth the wait. 

3. I wanted something that was professional looking but also stylish. I am a teacher...but I'm not into cute-sy. I meet with parents and professionals on a daily basis, and I want a planner that can be both professional and stylish at the same time. The awesome thing about EC planners is that you can customize your own design. 

3. Check out Erin Condren's website. Click on "Life Planner" and see for yourself. Also, watch this awesome YouTube video that shows an in depth look at the planner by Miss EJ Beauty. ( I have watched this video almost everyday for a week now.) Eeek...can't wait until mine comes in!

When it does, I will post a vlog about the features and its size. I had a hard time finding pics and videos that show how large and thick the planner is in comparison with other brands, or how it fits in your purse or bag. 

Five Dysfunctions of a Team

If you are looking for a quick easy way to improve the functionality of your team, I highly recommend this book. I read it this past summer for my Leadership class and found it's simplicity and ability to easily relate, refreshing. 

As a team leader at my school, I am using the fundamentals of this book to explore how my team can work better together and be more effective. Doing a quick search on Google will provide you with great activities to accompany the book. It's worth a read!

My classroom

Hi guys...So here are some belated pictures of my classroom right after I finished setting it up. I used quite a few ideas from Pinterest.

1. the poms hanging from the ceiling - I was going to make my own using a "how to" I found on Pinterest, but I ended up find them at Party City for $6 for a pack of three. You can't beat that!

2. The Work Center - I used colored paper plates to make the black letters stand out more. Walmart - a pack of 15 was $.99.

3. I used pretty wrapping paper to cover the sides of my desk and filling cabinet. Just for an added pop of color.