Can I tell you what I want?  More than a night out or a new bauble, I want sleep.  I’m not kidding.  I’m on my third baby, and while my experience has increased, my energy has not.  Taking care of three small children is rewarding, but draining nonetheless.  So, more than anything right now, I’d like to sleep longer than 4 hours at a time.  While my husband is incredibly kind and generous and would no doubt grant me my wish, he cannot still my mind and calm my worry.  That is to say, he cannot make the house quiet or help me not to be anxious about how everyone is doing without, well, me.

The solution we’ve found for these situations is a sound machine.  Please believe me- sound machines have saved our marriage by blocking noise- from each other, from our older kids, and between our children.  When we’ve had to let kids “cry it out” even the timers on our sound machines have given us a break for the greater good.  Thus, that is what I want this Valentine’s Day- a date with my sound machine!  Whether it’s a long, uninterrupted nap, or a 6-hour stretch at night where my husband is at the helm with a bottle in his hand, I’d love to be blissfully unaware.

If you’re looking for a gift your spouse will really appreciate, consider safeguarding your marriage with a sound machine!

Tips for Productivity

I have many weaknesses, but for the sake of time, I will cut to the chase and tell you one of them is not productivity.  I am a fairly motivated person who likes goals and deadlines and just getting stuff done.  I am a procrastinator by nature, but after years of practice, I have learned to value efficiency and productivity.  I am a mother of 3 small ones and I work from home.  I cook 6 nights a week and I still put 3 meals on the table…and I’m not crazy or pulling out my hair by the end of the day.  It’s not that I’m amazing or particularly gifted, but I have learned a lot since working and writing from home 4 years ago.

Step 1: Getting rid of distractions

I can’t exactly tell my kids to quit crying {though I have instituted taking turns on who gets to cry}, but I can set up some good boundaries for actually getting work done at home.  I believe in a good home office, white noise, and general organization.  But what do you do when you have writer’s {or worker’s} block?  Even if you do everything known to man to get to work, that doesn’t mean the muse fairy will hit you over the head with a brilliant idea or plan that will set you on a pedestal for the rest of your life.  While it’s crucial to clear your mind, ears, and desk of distractions, bottom line is you still have to work.

Step 2: Getting rid of writer’s (worker’s) block

So, here are few tips for breaking the barrier when you’re staring at a blank screen:

• Sit and think for 10 minutes.  Seriously, before you give yourself (another) break, try to come up with a starting point.  It’s not that I don’t value breaks- in fact I have a lot due to the nature of my work day and kids.  However, I think it’s easy to procrastinate by allowing yourself too many.
• Make a list of things that need to get done and start doing them- it may be that you have a break-through as you make the list or start checking things off.  Sometimes, the feeling of accomplishment is enough to get your mind going.
• If you’re writing, do a google search and see what others have written.  Sometimes this is good fodder for a new idea or a response to someone else’s.  I find that I write best {i.e. not plagiarize} if I read an article and then close it, whether I agree with it or not.
• Since I do work from home and also have small children still at home, I don’t work 9-5.  So, I have a couple hours a couple times a day.  I push it hard while I have the peace and quiet to do it, then when I’m on with the kids, I keep a pad and paper by me so I can jot down any ideas that come to mind.  That way, I’m not working while the kids are around and I also don’t lose an idea.
• Take breaks.  See, I do value breaks.  I just think they need to be earned.
• Frequently, I work on an idea in the back of my head…maybe it’s a real life experience, maybe it’s not, but either way, I find that my best ideas come when I am not technically working.  I usually mull them over in the back of my mind as I wash dishes {we live in the UK- no dishwasher, so there’s lots of that} or pick up toys or even play with the kids.  Then, I either work on it the next chance I get, or I at least write it down so I don’t forget.

Step 3: Go Ergonomic

My family of 4 moved from Iowa back to Texas in 2008 for the summer, and then to Scotland.  We’ve been overseas for 3 1/2 years now with crazy amounts of jet lag numerous times a year.  Jet lag is hard enough on adults who can mentally power through it.  It can be devastating for a family- especially if you really need to function pretty quickly.  For some, they’re on vacation and want to make the most of their days.  For others, like, us it was a matter of finding grocery stores and linens and basics for our new home….all with a 2 year old and a 4 month old who still woke up at night on a normal schedule!

Tips for Jet Lag Reduction

In my opinion, protecting sleep is essential.  Here are some of the ways we ensured our kids (and therefore we) got good sleep:

• Count on 1 day for every hour of change.  We had a 6 hour change- therefore, it took about 6 days for everyone to be completely back on track and feeling well.
• Be reasonable in your expectations- you can’t expect to regain 6 hours in 1 night, no matter how tired you are.  (see #1)
• Eat meals on the NEW time schedule.  This will help your (ahem) bowels, as well as your ability to sleep at the new times.
• Shorten naps- don’t allow yourself or your children to nap for long periods during the day (unless they are infants).  This will only prolong the nighttime troubles.
• Decide on a course of action for middle of the night wakings- will you snack a bit, get a drink of water, watch a movie, etc.?  You’ll make better choices ahead of time than in the moment.
• Get black out blinds- almost everyone sleeps better in a dark room.
• Use white noise.  Chances are you’ll be sleeping at odd times, possibly when the world around you is up and about (and therefore making noise).  Thus, mask it with white noise and they even have jet lag sound machines.
• Be patient- you’ll get on track, I promise.

Check out these tips for reducing the effects of jet lag with simple things such as reasonable expectations and a few products, like a jet lag sound machine.

Do you feel distracted at work?  Do you see your colleagues as distracted?  Chances are, you answered yes to both.  I’m sure distraction has been a problem since the beginning of time, but I have a hard time believing it has ever exceeded the distractions of today.  We have technology like never before, and we are tied to it whether at home, in the car, or at work.  Don’t get me wrong, all our gadgets are awesomely freeing- we can go anywhere and do almost anything with our little cell phones.  However, that freedom comes with a price tag- it’s hard to cut our ties. Thus, while we’re doing homework with our kids, while we’re cooking dinner, and yes, while we’re at work, we’re constantly glancing down at our phones.  Check out this 2005 study:

• 1 in 5 workers will interrupt a business or social engagement to respond to a message.
• 9 out of 10 people thought colleagues who answered messages during face-to-face meetings were rude.  Interestingly, 3 out of 10 believed it was not only acceptable, but a sign of diligence and efficiency.
• Ultimately, this level of distraction is equivalent to a 10 point IQ loss.

These distractions have never been more costly.  The brain suffers from distraction.  Trying to balance work, co-worker conversations, internet interests (personal and otherwise), and all kinds of messages can’t be anything other than distracting.

More on IQ loss

In 80 clinical studies, Dr. Glenn Wilson of King’s College London University found that distracted workers lost 10 IQ points, the equivalent of a lost night of sleep and more than two times worse than smoking marijuana (a 4-point loss).   While I cannot speak to drugs, after nursing 3 babies through the night, I can attest to how difficult it is to function during the day without a full night of sleep.

Sound Masking for Better IQ & Fewer Losses

Workers find themselves distracted more than 2 hours every day, and the most commonly reported distraction is not the internet or messages- it’s co-worker conversation.  If you find yourself distracted, a simple way to combat this kind of distraction is to use white noise, as found in a sound machine.  This low-level background noise serves as a buffer for you when so much is going on around you.

If you struggle with office noise and distraction, trying a sound machine just might increase your productivity.

• Set “office hours.”  It’s not fair to your family or yourself to work 24/7.  Just like an office job, you need to set specific hours in which you work, and I do mean work.  Treat your at-home job as a real job and be professional about it.  You can’t take breaks to hang with friends, wash dishes, or even do laundry.   On the flip side, once those hours are over, stop working and go “home.”
• Act professionally.  Just because you have a laptop and a couch doesn’t mean you should work in your pj’s.  You don’t have to wear suits, but dressing professionally can help you stay in the work mindset and not get easily distracted.
• Set goals.  Again it’s part of being professional- don’t work aimlessly or without goals.  Dependent upon your job, set weekly or monthly goals that are challenging but achievable.  This will help you stay focused and not run adrift.
• Block distractions.  They come in a lot of forms, both internally and externally.  If noise of a problem or just catches your attention, try a sound machine or this free white noise generator.  Another form of distraction comes online, as well.  There are quite a few productivity add-ons you can try to get more done.

If Christmas is over, but you’re still hearing bells, you’re not crazy.  Ringing in your ears is a common problem that has nothing to do with people still celebrating the holidays.  The ringing is called tinnitus, a fairly uncomfortable, sometimes painfully distracting nuisance that millions of Americans suffer.  While tinnitus can range from soft to buzzing to a persistent, sharp pain, no one enjoys the extra soundtrack they are experiencing in one or both ears.  Tinnitus is very distracting because it keeps you from productive work, restful sleep, and peaceful relaxation.  Keep reading to see how you can treat tinnitus with sound therapy.

Sound Therapy for Tinnitus

You don’t have to to just grin and bear the effects of tinnitus.  If you find yourself frustrated by the ringing and would prefer not to lose sleep or productivity over it, then there is a solution: sound therapy.  Sound therapy is an easy to use, affordable solution for tinnitus that provides relief for any user.  The use of white noise covers the sound spectrum so that you can work or even sleep without the discomfort of tinnitus.  It’s as if the tinnitus has been muted because your brain literally can not process that sound in the midst of the white noise surrounding it.

A common question that frequently arises is how does trading one sound for another solve anything?  Good question.  It may seem counter-intuitive, but white noise covers the sound spectrum in a  peaceful way.  It is not sharp, painful, or even irritating.  It need not be excessively loud to be effective either.  Rather, the very nature of the sound itself provides relief. And if the idea of white noise doesn’t appeal to you, there are plenty of nature sound options available that are even more peaceful, such as a gentle stream, ocean waves, or even a waterfall.

The bottom line is that if tinnitus is affecting your life at all, sound therapy is the most readily available and usable resource you have.  Plus, it’s affordable and many models are portable, making them readily available to travel with you.

Whether you have 1 child or 5, there are certain things that don’t change- like sleep.  Well, sleep changes drastically, but the need for sleep does not.  You still need a solid 8 {or 12, let’s be honest} of sleep a night and throwing in a kid or 2 or 3 doesn’t make that any different.  Most parents are sleep-deprived and some struggle to find their focus.  It might be an unproductive work day or just an irritable day at home with a fussy baby or demanding toddler- whatever it is, we all need good, consistent sleep.

My husband and I use a sound machine in our room for better sleep.  It’s not that we need the white noise itself or even a totally quiet room to sleep in, we just can’t handle all the ambient noise around us: howling wind, thunder storms, barking dogs, neighbor’s bass lines, street noise as car doors open and slam repeatedly, etc…A problem arises, however, when we need to be able to hear our children.  We have a 3 year old and a 5 year old who recently started rooming together in preparation for the arrival of our baby.  We had quite  dilemma- we originally planned to just quit using the sound machine in our room so we could hear whatever child needed us.  Unfortunately, that meant that every time my son {the loudest sleeper on the face of the earth, which we attribute to his ginormous tonsils and tendency to mouth breath, as well as just randomly call out dead in his sleep} made a peep, I was awake.  Then, I laid there awake listening to our college-aged neighbors party until the wee hours of the morning.  No, this was not going to work.  The sound machine went back on the next day after we chatted with the kids- if you need us, come get us!  We did have the caveat that the need had to be legitimate and not just a desire to get out of bed because they love us so much.

Balancing a Sound Machine & a Newborn’s Needs

However successful this new policy was, I was still plagued with how to hear the baby who would be upstairs and not next to us.  Then I had the brilliant idea of using our sound machine but also using a baby monitor for her {this would also work for the other two if I didn’t trust them to get me when they needed me}.  By using the baby monitor, I could still do just that- monitor the baby and not miss feedings, but be able to sleep through the neighbors’ noise and my noisy son.

If you want to use a sound machine but still be able to hear your baby, check out this tip  for using a sound machine and a baby monitor.

It’s a weird time of year- Thanksgiving is over, Christmas is looming, and there is a lot to get done…yet, the mind often wanders and attention drifts, and before you know it, the day is gone and very little has been accomplished.  Even when it’s not the Christmas season, full of stress, shopping, visiting family, school programs, and extra activities, the average worker is distracted more than 2 hours every day.  I imagine that number increases during the holidays.

If you find yourself daydreaming, stressing, or just being plain old unproductive, try some of these tips to help you get more out of your day so that when your Christmas break comes, you can actually take a break and not worry about all that you didn’t get done on time.

Tips to increase productivity and efficiency

• Prioritize your day – Instead of losing the first hour of the day to email and catching up, try to start with the most important tasks first thing in the morning.  Even if you’re not a morning person, you usually are the freshest then and you also ensure that something important gets done.
• Use white noise – Random office noise, completely unrelated to you and your work, consumes almost two hours a day for most people. Try out this free white noise generator to see if you could benefit from masking the miscellaneous noise at work.
• Establish a ‘No-Interruption’ Mode – Set aside a specific period of time each day or at least a couple times a week in which you turn off all distractions, including but not limited to Facebook, Instant Messenger, email and even your phone.  You may have to book an unused conference room to make the most of this time.  Then, at the end of your time, take a short break to check your phone and email.
• Take a break – Get up from you chair and walk around. About once an hour, stretch your muscles, look around and breathe deeply. This will help relieve stress, relax your muscles and increase blood flow to your brain.
• Drink more water – Your brain is about 75% water. Getting even slightly dehydrated can decrease your productivity and energy by up to 20%. Interestingly, if you feel thirsty, you are already on your way to dehydration!  Thus, keep a water bottle at your desk.  If you’re like me and prefer coffee, tea, or even Coke, try to at least match your other beverage consumption with water.
• Sit up straight – Good posture one of the most important changes any computer user can make to improve comfort and productivity. The ultimate goal is to maintain a neutral typing posture while using your computer more productively.  Start with a good, ergonomic chair and adjust it to support your body. Move the back rest up or down to find the angle that best fits the curve of your back. Make sure your lower back has enough support, or add portable lumbar support. Lower your chair height so your feet rest firmly on the floor and adjust your arm rests to provide easy elbow and arm movement.
• Get Organized – Clear off all the clutter on your desk and stop wasting time looking for things. Place the frequently used items, like your phone or stapler, within easy reach. Try using an adjustable keyboard tray to open more space on your desk, and to allow for better typing posture.
• Upgrade your keyboard – Ergonomic keyboards are designed to help you type faster, more comfortably and more efficiently. Try out several different keyboards to find one that best fits your hands. Give yourself a few weeks to adjust to the new fit and style.

Eliminate distractions by turning off your phone or email, and by adding a personal, free white noise generator to your work. Increasing your comfort with a well-designed, ergonomic chair or upgrading to an ergonomic keyboard can also help you remain productive all day long.

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and you are facing Christmas.  You may have gotten away with staying home for Turkey day, but with more time off, most families find that they end up traveling for Christmas, or at the very least, hosting visiting family for the holidays.  Having family around is actually a blessing most of the time, but finding the space and doing all the planning can be tricky, if not downright stressful.

So, maybe you have lots of company this month, or maybe you’re the company- either way, getting everyone to sleep and sleep well can be a challenge.  There are different bed times, different routine,s different needs, all based on different ages and people just being different by nature.  From snoring to slamming doors to midnight bathroom breaks to coughing to restful kids to rustling sheets, having company {and being company} is an acoustic nightmare, resulting in grumpy, sleep-deprived individuals.  And who wants cranky children, let alone adults, for Christmas morning?

That’s why I’m sharing my best resource with you- sound machines for sleep.  Even if you’ve never needed one before, having a little white noise as a boundary between you and your guests/hosts provides a little bit of freedom so no one feels badly about the extra noise.  Check out the various applications below.

Sound Machine App #1

If your company is making noise, use a sound machine for your own family.  It will help cover the added noise of extra people so that you (and your children) can still get good sleep.

Sound Machine App #2

If it’s your own children making too much noise for grandma or other visiting kids, why not offer a sound machine to your company?  They can choose a nature sound they like and tune out your own rowdy kids.

Sound Machine App #3

If you find yourself traveling for the holidays, it’s time to consider a portable sound machine.  Chances are, you’ll feel more relaxed and more at home.

Whether it’s for you or your guests, sound machines are a wise investment because they protect everyone’s number one concern: sleep.

Working from home has a lot of advantages- you set you own hours, you can work on your couch in your pajamas, and you’re your own boss.  For me, it means I can raise my children and still get a paycheck.  With all those benefits, there are definite cons to working from home, too.  Being at home means there are a million distractions just waiting to grab your focus- the phone, TV, internet, dishes, laundry, etc.  It’s difficult to balance it all.  To complicate matters even more is when you throw in the holiday season.  Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean there isn’t work to do or deadlines to meet.  Plus, most of us end up traveling quite a bit to see parents, grandparents, in-laws, or even grown kids.    So, how do you work from “home” while on the road for Christmas “vacation?”

Tips for Working from Home on “Vacation”

• Set realistic expectations for what you can get done.  It’s hard to work at the same level somewhere other than home, so either be proactive in your planning or allow some flex room for making up the time elsewhere.  It is vacation after all.
• Find a spot to work where you can set up and have everything you need to be productive. You may not love your spot, but it’s important you have somewhere to work.  It may be at your host’s home, or you may need to carve out time to leave and hit a nearby library or coffee shop.
• Talk to whomever you’re staying with and discuss your needs, even your preferences.  Often, your family just doesn’t know what you need (or don’t need) to be able to work.
• Similarly, it may be helpful to talk with each other and even your kids if they’re old enough to understand what and when you need to work.  It’s never good to assume everyone understands what you need if you haven’t actually said it.
• Use a fan or a portable sound machine to mask distracting noises, including your own flesh and blood.

With realistic expectations and a good sound machine in place, here’s to returning home having accomplished all that you hoped to!