Sarah

How to set up filters in Gmail and experience email bliss

Sarah · Apr 9, 2015 · Leave a Comment

On any given day, hundreds of emails can flood your inbox. On top of work-related emails, there’s the school information, Amazon notifications, bank statements and the endless, endless lists of promo emails that you don’t even remember signing up for.

It’s entirely too easy to miss out on the important information (I see you, library almost-due and overdue notices) with all the clutter.

Unsubscribing from non-critical information is one way to go, but often there’s that occasional email that you do want and don’t want to miss out on.

How do you easily remove the clutter to focus on what’s important – without ditching it entirely?

One super easy way is to set up filters in Gmail!

I have filters set to automatically send almost all of my emails to the relevant folder – automatically “filing” them away for me. It’s genius.

How to Set Up Filters in Gmail

1. Select an email.

2. From the top menu bar, select “More.”

3. Select “Filter messages like these.”

4. Create Filter with this search.

5. Apply the label (you can add new labels here, or select from a pre-existing list).

6. Decide whether or not it should Skip the Inbox (hint: If it has a label, it probably should skip the inbox).

7. Check the “Also apply filter to [number] matching conversations.”

8. Click “Create Filter”

9. Experience email bliss!

Setting up filters is a great one-time action that will save you time and energy every day moving forward. Take 5 minutes today and set up your email filters.

Cleaning and organizing tip: Just do ONE thing

Sarah · Apr 2, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Three years ago I wrote a guest post on my favorite local frugal living blog. It’s a theme that has stuck with me, and I still firmly believe that focusing on the one next action is essential to success in any area of life.

Doing one thing is a step in the right direction. If I avoid the clean laundry pile because it’s overwhelming, there will always be an overwhelming laundry pile. Action, any action, makes a difference.

Some days, one thing is truly all I have time and energy for. Other times, I find that once I make that first step, I have motivation to do a little more. Maybe 5 minutes, maybe 15 minutes. Occasionally, I finish a whole task. Giving myself permission to only do one thing, gives me the freedom to want to do more, rather than feeling like I have to do more.

Read the rest here.

How to best use your “fringe hours”

Sarah · Feb 22, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Released in 2015, The Fringe Hours* by Jessica Turner is a refreshing quick read. Jessica takes a no-nonsense approach with the mentality that of course you should take care of yourself. She also advocates that there is plenty of time in the day for all of us to practice self-care – in the fringe hours.

As someone who has spent way too much time dwelling on whether or not I’m being selfish with my need for space and alone time and hobbies, I needed to hear the message Jessica shares. Somehow she managed to say what I’ve felt but couldn’t manage to put words to.

Yes, it is important to take care of ourselves so that we can live take care of others. And we have the time to do so – even if some of us have to be more creative to find that time. I’m still learning to prioritize what recharges me, especially when that isn’t something I can quantify as productive.

“Unreasonable expectations for what we can accomplish in a given period of time set us up for failure…You know what your limits are. Embrace those limitations not as something negative but as realistic opportunities to do what only you can do.”

– Jessica Turner

One of my favorite examples of prioritizing time was that of doing a craft project while laundry was piled up and the dishes weren’t done. In my own life, keeping chores done enough, but not perfect, is one of the only ways to get the time I need for activities that re-charge me.

A great tip for extra reading time: read a magazine while drying your hair. I’ve read while drying my hair for years, although I usually read books rather than magazines. Kindle books are super easy to read. If you’re reading a print book it can get a little tricky to find weighted items to hold down the sides of the pages in order to read hands-free.

I highly recommend you grab a copy and read it in your #FringeHours! Check out more good reads here.

*Disclaimer: Yes, this is an affiliate link. I also received a complimentary (that’s free) advanced readers copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would gladly pay full price for this book.

Why customer service is critical

Sarah · Feb 3, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Alternately titled: Why I love Costco. And why I almost didn’t love Costco anymore. All because of customer service.

Let me preface this with the fact that I love Costco, have been a member my entire adult life, and many many have fond childhood memories of long Costco trips with lots of samples. My family is notorious among my friends for being an extreme Costco loving family.

I made special trip to Costco for diapers today. It wasn’t totally out of my way, but diapers were the only reason I went today rather than a more convenient time next week. For the first time ever, they were out of Kirkland Signature diapers in our size.

The alternative was a new-to-us upgraded version of Huggies. That cost a full $8 more than the Kirkland Signature – for the same sized box. Yikes!

My options, as I saw them:

Grab a box of more-expensive Huggies and ask if a) there were more Kirkland Signature diapers somewhere I missed or b) if they would price match.
Not bother asking, and pay for the more expensive diapers.
Not bother asking, and make another stop at the regular grocery store for store-brand diapers.

Option 1 seemed the most logical. Option 2 wasn’t an option I could bring myself to do. That’s a chunk of change, and the type of thing that gets me on principle even if we did have wiggle room in our budget. Option 3 seemed exhausting and an option to avoid if at all possible (see: two toddlers).

At the check stand, I asked if there were diapers somewhere I had missed, and about price matching otherwise. The person boxing groceries (whose name tag also read “Supervisor”) went to check.

Sure enough, the diapers were on back order. And no, they couldn’t price match.

I commented that I expected more from Costco’s customer service. I asked if any other locations had diapers, naming my next closest location. It would be another trip, but I could hold off a day or two and make it work if I needed to.

Nope, the only location that has diapers is a good 40 minutes from our house the opposite direction. And when I clarified again that that didn’t work for me location wise, and was there anything they could do for me, I was told again, nope, sorry.

Resigned to a trip to the grocery store for cheapo diapers to last until Costco re-stocks, I figured it would be worth swinging by Member Services and asking about a complaint form. I proceeded to share what had happened, and Rachel became my new hero.

Actually, first she just handed me a form to fill out, then as I was starting to fill out the form, we were casually chatting. I mentioned how long I’d been a Costco member, she asked me what had happened. I told her. She said she was going to go check something. A few minutes later, she came back – with a $20 Costco gift card. I told her that definitely wasn’t necessary, I wasn’t looking for a handout. She then offered to have someone go get a box of diapers for me, ring them up, and use the gift card toward them.

Um, well, if you insist. Give me what I came for originally, at a deal and save me a trip to another store? Why, yes and yes.

I was tempted to give her a hug. I resisted. Instead, we came home with diapers, our budget and my heart both a little happier.

The moral(s) of the story:

It always pays to ask politely. And ask again, respectfully, if you get an unreasonable answer.
Customer service up front can save a company money – as well as loyalty. Had the front line supervisor agreed to price match, my frustration would have been avoided, and the company would have saved $12. And what if I hadn’t gone to customer service to give feedback? I would have shared my frustration with Costco with at least one person (hopefully I wouldn’t have let it get to me too much, although this is the type of thing that has been known to drive me batty. Sorry real life friends and Facebook friends. I’m working on it.)
No matter what your job or business is, customer service matters. Providing excellent customer service the first time around not only leads to loyal customers, but is likely to save the company money in the long run. In this case, Costco would have been $12 richer by agreeing to my initial (seemingly logical) first request.

PS – Am I the only one that thinks it’s slightly odd that the only time in three years I have seen a Costco diaper outage just happens to be the first time there is a more expensive alternative? I’m really hoping that was random coincidence, although the cynic in me is slightly skeptical.

What would you have done in this situation? Do you have an example of customer service making or breaking a brand or store loyalty?

When you need to take your own advice

Sarah · Oct 14, 2014 · Leave a Comment

Do you ever have seasons where you realize that you really need to take your own advice?

Yeah. Me too.

In fact, it’s where I’m at right now.

I see the words, “project manager. problem solver. simplifier” on my website header and cringe, because there are too many areas of my life that don’t feel very managed, or simple, right now.

I’m not looking to turn this blog into therapy. But I do believe that it’s critical to examine how emotions and the practical play together – and how they both play into our work and productivity.

And since I’m right in the thick of it, we’re going to dive in right where I’m at. I’m hopeful that this will resonate with some of you in similar places.

My incredible life coach recently challenged me by asking me what advice I would give to myself, if I were my own client. Ouch. Yep. I’d give a whole lot of advice to someone else in my shoes, but when it’s my own life I’ve got all sorts of excuses or reasons I “can’t.”

The (Brief) Backstory

The last few years have been a bit of a whirlwind in all areas of life – for me personally, for my immediate family, and for my extended family.

And I’m realizing that it’s finally caught up to me.

I’ve always been the person that get’s the, “Oh, you’re strong,” “How do you do it all?” “Wait, you don’t cry,” and more.

Recently, my answer to “How do you do it all?” has fairly consistently been a flat, “I don’t.”

There are logical reasons for me to be overwhelmed. I’ve take a few “life stressor” tests lately, and have scored off the charts as high risk for stress-related illness. None of the “life stressors” we’re facing are earth shattering, and some have been great (hello children!).

Cumulatively though, they’ve left me with nothing left to give.

And for the person who loves to accomplish, to do, to power through – that’s been hard.

Where I’m at Right Now

I’ve said yes to things that sound great, and look like they should fit in my schedule – and would under normal circumstances. I forget that I’m not normal right now.

Last week I had a near breakdown in the grocery store over an overdue library book notification. That was the point that I knew something had to give. This past week, I’ve called in all my resources for help with daily life, sought a doctor to determine what, if any medical issues are at play, and have prioritized self-care (which in this case, looks a lot like basic survival).

In talking to my husband, I’m realizing that this has probably been building for awhile – longer than I was aware, and I just finally hit a breaking point.

I can’t stay here (nor do I want to), and this is definitely the worst shape I’ve ever been in mentally. But it’s also not the first time I’ve driven myself to the brink with stress, often largely self-induced.

The plan is to take the fall (or however long it takes) to focus on where I’m at, how I got here, specific tactics for reducing stress, focusing priorities, focusing on healthy self-care, where to go from here, and anything else that strikes my fancy. It will be a little bit of self-care, a little bit goal-setting, and a whole lot of balance.