The Time-Saving Mom: How to Juggle a Lot, Enjoy Your Life, and Accomplish What Matters Most by Crystal Paine Published by Bethany House Publishers on March 7, 2023
Genres: Non Fiction
Format: eARC
Source: Provided by author for honest review
Goodreads
Sharing her proven time-saving habits and productivity hacks, New York Times bestselling author and successful entrepreneur--and mom of six--Crystal Paine delivers a real-world, no-nonsense guide to keeping you sane and doing the things you love most. You'll discover how to set up a system that works for you, prioritize your days, and simplify your life.
Julie’s Review:
I had to preorder The Time-Saving Mom: How to Juggle a Lot, Enjoy Your Life, and Accomplish What Matters Most when one of my favorite blogger personalities (The Money Saving Mom) was starting her launch. Then I joined the launch team because as a blogger, well that’s what I do.
I read it in about a weekend and a few extra evenings. I love that it was written in an easy to digest and enjoy kind of way. Crystal Paine writes like a real human wants to read, a real busy mom human, a kind of human who has no time to skim past fluff and repetition. The book contains lots of visually easy to enjoy bullets, breakout sections, etc., on top of the paragraphs explaining her methods.
Crystal Paine is a busy busy mom, she runs a business and has a big family. She has a lot on her plate, and teaches us how she manages her time and energy so well. My favorite was her Priorities section where she shows us her 6×2 system. It’s brilliant! The way she organizes her priorities so everything gets focused on a selected day is brilliant, and not allll the time alll at once, which is impossible!
I also love that we use Google Calendar the same way. I put all my reminders in Gcal too, everything from going grocery shopping to a reminder to make a phone call. I even sometimes put work related items in my personal Google Calendar if they overlap into needing preparation in advance, an early meeting, etc. I love her tips to brain dump everything into an all-day event on your Google Calendar and just move it around to whatever next available day you can get that done.
The only criticism I would have is the book shares her systems that work for her lifestyle, which is a SAHM, WAHM with her own business. A lot of the flexibility and being able to decide what to say no to isn’t as attainable for moms with careers outside the home. We are not just answering to ourselves and our family, but we have a boss and external deadlines that maybe don’t align with our personal goals. So finding time in the margins for our personal priorities becomes that much more challenging. While the author doesn’t have that lifestyle, a bit more advice or application to that lifestyle would have made this book even more relatable for more moms.
I also skimmed over the Prayer section, because that is not my cuppa as I do not do religion. However, I do believe in mindfulness and gratitude practice, and the tips she shares in that section can easily be transitioned into starting your day with mindfulness and positive energy. The main lesson there is not to internalize the hardships and negativity but focus on peace and asking either a higher power, the universe, or even yourself, to give you abundance of time and energy to focus on your priorities.
As with all things taught in these self-help books, they will not do you any good unless you actually sit down and apply them. One step at a time, one habit at a time, or you will be too overwhelmed and might quit. This book includes an appendix with trackers and worksheets to help implement her time management teachings.
About the Author
Crystal Paine (moneysavingmom.com) is a New York Times bestselling author, a popular speaker, the host of The Crystal Paine Show, and the founder of one of the top personal finance blogs on the web, Money Saving Mom. Her desire is to help women across the globe live with more joy in their everyday lives. Her biggest passions are helping women understand how the Gospel can radically transform their lives, raising awareness for foster care, and finding great deals at the grocery store. She lives with her husband and kids in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.
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