When we ask moms if we could wave a magic wand and grant them one wish, 70% say some version of ‘more time.’ Unfortunately, all of us are stuck with 168 hours each week. Luckily, work-life balance isn’t a zero-sum game. Having a ‘break’ from my kids for work makes me a better mom. I am psyched to see them and revel in the few hours I get with them a day. (As compared to the utter tiredness I feel on Sunday evening.) The ‘break’ from work to be with my kids also makes me bette

So often, I default to treating the symptoms of an issue versus the underlying cause. Take my sleep. I’ve been struggling with waking up at 3 AM with a racing mind preventing me from returning to sleep. I’ve been trying everything—meditation, sleep podcasts, journaling, and reading. I still struggled. Then I looked at the situation more fully. I woke up because of needing to pee. The stress was keeping me up, not waking me up. How can I stop myself from waking in the first pl

Not even an hour after I wrote about my 2018 theme of treating the root cause versus the symptoms, this happened. I cut myself with a knife cooking dinner. Nothing serious, but it was bleeding consistently. Of course, we only have poop emoji and My Little Pony band-aids, neither of which actually work. 'Joe, how do I cook dinner without a working band-aid? I'm bleeding on the food,' After 5 minutes of my complaining, he says, 'Why don't you just take a paper towel and put pre

Holidays are stressful. Tempting foods get in the way of health goals. With shopping, decorating and parties, you have even less time than usual. And, more family time comes with potential flights and annoyances. This week, let's work on being intentional with how you approach the next few weeks. You can't control other people, but you can control how you handle these situations. Today, take a few minutes to identify and write down the following: Three priorities for the holi

How are you? Please, don't answer ‘good.’ Life's too short for meaningless chitchat. Your emotional vocabulary is one the highest indicators of strong EQ and vital to your well-being. It: Helps you connect to (and process) your feelings. Naming a feeling has been scientifically proven to help you deal with it. There is a big difference in how you’d approach being sad vs. hurt, or thankful vs. proud. When you identify the underlying emotion, it feels more manageable. Increases

It’s so easy as a working mom to put everyone else’s needs above your own. To prevent meltdowns, I know my kids needs better than mine. We have strict rules in place to protect them — set bedtimes, food always on hand and extra time to prevent rushing. What would your life like if you created similar rules around your needs? What if you viewed your own stress as detrimental as a toddler breakdown? Take a minute to define your melt-down prevention strategy. For me, I need to:

One tip that has helped make our family lives smoother is to always 'end on a high note'.  I used to eek out every second of joy out of an outing, leaving only once there was the inevitable breakdown.  Now I leave when we are all having a great time.  No breakdowns. No stress. This keeps me energized throughout the weekend. Activities with the kids leave me energized versus drained. And, let’s be honest — with two small kids, leaving on a high note is probably only cutting ou

At Google, I ran a daily team meeting tackling the onslaught of issues arising during a critical pre-launch period.  It was depressing. We all ended the meeting looking like we’d been hit by a bus. I knew I needed to change it, so added a standing intro agenda item — “F*ck Yeahs!”  We went around the horn and shared all the great things that had happened in the past 24 hours. Everything from signing a new partner to our favorite cheese being restocked in the micro-kitchens.  

In my coaching, I love analogies that help you tap into values you want to tune up in your life. The one that’s made the biggest impact in my life right now is finding my ‘Monk.' I can get way too caught up in the 'doing' of life — endless to do lists and overpacked weekends.  I have calendar blocks labelled ‘down time’ and embarrassingly have even pencilled in ‘sex.' My inner-monk approaches life differently. He’s: Intentional vs. on autopilot Calm vs. frenetic Tied to a hig

Here at Uplift we want to give you easy things you can implement to make your life easier and happier.  What gets tracked, gets managed. So here is a quick exercise this week to help you decrease daily stress. Step 1: For one week, document each time you are stressed and what caused it.  What struck me for my list was that 80% were things that could easily be prevented. For example, here was my list: Not being able to find my keys Having a fire-drill at work Not having a conf