3 Ways to Pamper Yourself When You're Low on Time

Have you ever heard the expression "There's no tired like teacher-tired?"  I didn't become a coffee drinker until I started teaching, and it seems like every teacher I know juggles way too many responsibilities. We teach, we parent, we study, we meet, we plan, and somewhere in that mix, we're supposed to take care of ourselves and our families as well. Talk about a tall order! I've never been great with the work-life balance, but as I've been increasingly pressed for time this past year, I've learned to prioritize and find shortcuts so that I can still feel pampered despite feeling crunched. Today, I'll share 3 of my favorites.

1. Jamberry Nails

I've seen bazillions of teachers blog about Jamberry before, and I'll admit that I was skeptical. I love getting my nails done, but I lack the time and budget to do that with any regularity. Not to mention, manicures never hold up on my nails. They always smudge or chip within a day. Getting gel manicures has helped, but those take a long time to put on and take off. And usually, I destroy my nails taking them off, too, because I'm impatient. 

In May, I tried Jamberry Nails for the first time, and I'll never go back to anything else. They're super easy to apply (20-30 minutes tops, and I'm slow relative to some people I know), and they last up to 2 weeks even with the heavy activity that comes with being a teacher, wife, and mom. Usually when I change them out, it's because I want a new pattern and not because the wraps are coming off. For example, check out these awesome Halloween wraps (which will be going on my nails next):

They look much more vibrant than any polish I've used, and they're not expensive. A sheet of wraps yields 2-3 manicures + at least 1 pedicure. If you have really short nails, you could probably get more out of them. I always buy them using the buy 3 get 1 free deals, so it's less than $5 for a mani/pedi for significantly less time and effort. 

I like Jamberry so much that I just became a Jamberry Independent Consultant (mostly so I can get the consultant discount on my nail wraps -- I want them all!). If you haven't tried them yet, I'd be happy to tell you more or hook you up with a sample to try for yourself. You can find out more by visiting my Jamberry website and liking my Jamberry page on Facebook. Or just leave me a note in the comments section, and I can arrange for a sample to be sent to you.

2. Gwynnie Bee

As a plus-sized person, I've been super jealous of all of the cute teacher-y clothes that friends have been posting from Stitch Fix. But I finally found an alternative that I love in Gwynnie Bee. Gwynnie Bee is a clothing subscription service that is like the Netflix for clothes. You select a plan (I'm currently on 3-at-a-time), load up your "closet" with clothes you like, and sit back and receive outfits from your virtual closet. If you like it, you can wear it and send it back when you're through with it or buy it at a discount. If you don't like it, you can immediately send it back to exchange for something else from your closet. There's no limit to how many outfits you are sent each month, and you can alert Gwynnie Bee that you're sending something back so they'll send you your next item.

I love my Gwynnie Bee subscription for a variety of reasons:

1. It's convenient - The clothes are delivered to my doorstep, and they have a prepaid plastic envelope so I can send them back. I'm constantly getting new outfits to try.

2. It's a time-saver - I don't shop nearly as much as I used to, and I don't have to do as much laundry or dry cleaning because Gwynnie Bee takes care of it all. 

3. There's no guilt - Shopping for plus-sized clothes gets depressing because selections are always more limited or dowdy, and while catalogs offer better selections, I never know how it will fit me. Now, I can have clothes delivered and not feel bad sending them back if they don't turn out as well as I'd hoped. 

4. You stumble onto great dresses you'd never find otherwise. Check out this fab retro dress that I ended up buying:

The minute I tried that dress on, my husband told me to buy it. Who could argue with that?!

5. It's perfect during transitions between sizes. I gained a bit when I had my daughter, and then I packed on a few more pounds when I started working on my PhD last year. I started Weight Watchers around Labor Day, and I'm already down 10 pounds (woo hoo!). I intend to keep on losing weight, but I don't want to have to buy a whole new work wardrobe at each step along the way. Now I can just go in and adjust the sizes on the clothes in my closet (they have sizes 10-32). 

Gwynnie Bee offers the first month free, and I highly recommend it. You can check it out using this link.

3. Birchbox and Ipsy

I started subscribing to Birchbox and Ipsy about a year ago. I'm not a huge makeup or product person, but I like trying new things, and it's fun to get a package every month. It's a small indulgence that makes me feel extra pampered. For example, this month, I received this amazing rosemary-scented shower gel in my Birchbox, and it's something I never would have found otherwise. In my experience, Birchbox tends to have more high end products while Ipsy has larger midrange samples that come in cute bags. I look forward to receiving both.

Treat Yourself

The older I get, the more I realize how important it is to take care of myself. This is true especially when everything gets busy and chaotic between work and grad school and caring for my family. I don't get to go shopping or go out for mani/pedis anywhere near as much as I used to, but I don't need to. There are so many amazing services and products out there that you can treat yourself even when you're extra busy. 

Finally, while I've been trying to take more time to pamper myself this year, I've had some help in the "feel like royalty" department. I was shocked beyond words when I was named Teacher of the Year at a faculty meeting last week, and my dear friends went out of their way to make me a crown, a tutu, and a sash for the local homecoming parade last week. They even made a matching tutu for my 3-year-old (who loves tutus). I work with some pretty amazing teachers, and they definitely inspire me and push me to be the best teacher I can be. I'll be sharing some of our amazing projects together in some upcoming posts, but I have to thank them for all they do for me each and every day. Loving what you do and where you work is the best kind of pampering of all. 

10 Must-Have Tools for the Busy Teacher

This year was uniquely challenging for me. I had my biggest class ever (28 students) , and I was co-teaching all day with teachers and paras from the special ed department--also a first. Meanwhile, I started working on my PhD, and my toddler constantly kept me busy. My plate has never been so full!

If you're a teacher who often feels pulled in every direction, then this list is for you. These are my top 10 tools for juggling it all. Hopefully you'll find some to use as well!

1. Nozbe

Nozbe is the ultimate task list manager. You can organize by projects -- school, work, home, etc., create recurring tasks, and so much more. I can access it from any device, add attachments, and email stuff to my to-do list. I started out with the free version, and I quickly upgraded to the paid version. At $96/year, the paid version has a hefty price tag, but this app was SO much better than any other task manager I'd tried, and it's been worth every penny. If you're someone who has lots of projects going at once, this app is worth exploring.

2. Evernote

This is my brain online. All of my coursework and notes are in Evernote, and all of my anecdotal records and student work samples are in here as well. I was able to use the free version for many years, and then once my husband and I decided to go digital with all of our financial documents, etc., I upgraded to the premium version. At $35/year, it's pretty affordable.

3. Dropbox

 I don't think I could function without Dropbox. I switch between so many devices between work, home, and school each day, but Dropbox allows me to keep track of everything. All of my lesson plans, TpT purchases, readings for class, and more are in my Dropbox account. I'm still living off of the free space, but I'm getting the daily reminders that my Dropbox is nearly full. Might need to upgrade that soon, too. Premium accounts offer 100 GB of storage for $99/year.

4. GoodReader

 I've used this app a lot with my students, but I'm finding it to be totally clutch for my grad school stuff, too. I'm doing tons of research for my courses and scoping out dissertation ideas, and GoodReader allows me to annotate all of the PDF's I'm amassing. I've created a folder on Dropbox for all of the articles I've gathered, and I can sync that folder to GoodReader so I can read it all on my iPad. I can also send it back to Evernote when I finish. One of my dear friends told me that I'd have laundry baskets full of research cluttering my house while I worked on my PhD, but not so...It's all electronic!

5. GoogleCalendar

I have a variety of calendars on Google -- class schedules, deadlines, school events, etc. Some of these I share with my husband so we can both be aware of each other's events. Other calendars I share with my students and their parents so they can be aware of upcoming events and tests. I like that all of my calendars are color-coded so I know which calendar I'm looking at, and I can select/de-select different calendars to narrow my focus if I'm looking for something in particular.

6. YouCanBook.Me

This free site allows me to share portions of my calendar with parents so they can schedule parent-teacher conferences. I choose the days they can see, set the times they can schedule, and manage the maximum time blocks they can reserve. They don't get to see any of the events on my calendar, just whether I'm available or not. If they reserve a time slot, it will automatically add it to my calendar and send me an email. It's eliminated the back-and-forth process of conference scheduling and allowed me to manage my time better.

7. Planbook.com

Since I was co-teaching this year, I needed to find a way to share my plans easily from week to week. I tested out Planbook in August, and I loved it. I like that you can extend or bump lessons, attach files, and customize the fields that appear. It's a great resource that's keeping me much more organized. You can get a free trial of it before paying the $12 for an annual subscription.

8. Typinator

This is a tool that's new to me, but Typinator is a text expander tool. There are several pieces of text that I find myself typing or copying/pasting over and over. Typinator allows me to create typing shortcuts for all of those. For example, if I want to type my blog address as a hyperlink when I comment on someone's blog, I can simply type "~bl" and it will place the text there for me. I also use it for standard replies to emails such as when parents email me to say their child will be absent. I can type "~abs" and it will write: "Thanks for letting me know about the absence. I hope your child is feeling better soon! Today's assignments will be posted on our class website, and let me know if there's anything else you need." Four key strokes = all of that. I find typing way faster than using the mouse, so this is a time saver that quickly adds up. It's only available for Macs, and it's priced in Euros (converts to around $36 US), but I use it all the time.

9. GoodReads

Distinct from GoodReader, GoodReads is an online community surrounding books. It allows me to keep track of the books I'm reading and which books I want to read next. As I'm starting my dissertation research, I'm constantly finding book titles that I want to check out. Similarly, there are lots of teaching books and children's books that I want to investigate someday, and GoodReads helps me organize all of that. Best of all, I can use its scanning feature to scan barcodes when I'm browsing in the bookstore.

10. Edmodo

I used Edmodo a lot for collecting student work and grading tests/quizzes this year. It managed all of the submissions and kept the work organized for me so I could be more efficient with tracking these things. It also allowed me to create assignments, give and grade quizzes, communicate with students and parents, and so much more. This is a great free learning management system that was a centerpiece of my classroom this year.


With the exception of Typinator, which is only on my computers, all of these apps are cloud-based or mobile-friendly so I can get to them from any device. When I'm shifting between my iPhone, iPad, laptop, and desktop, that's critical. I may be busy, but I can get to my projects anytime, anywhere, and I'm not hauling around tons of materials everywhere I go. These tools boost efficiency and minimize life clutter.

What are some tools you're using this year to help with productivity? I'd love to hear more recommendations in the comments.


This post contained some affiliate links meaning that if you click on the link and purchase the app, a small part of your subscription cost will go to me instead of entirely to the company. I'm only recommending products that I highly use and pay for myself, however, and I hope you'll find value in these resources as well. 

Overwhelmed, you say? How to Cope

Despite being on the planet for 30+ years, I still don't seem to have the concept of time worked out. I came to this realization last night as I compared my summer to do list against my calendar. Yikes! Honestly, the number of lesson plans I'd intended to write, TpT products I'd hoped to create, and professional books I planned to read were more than I could probably accomplish in a year much less a summer break.

Here are some tips I try to remind myself when I get into these stressful predicaments.

1. Delegate and negotiate 
There are some things that I have to do because no one else can do them for me (e.g., write my blog, research for my doctoral program, etc.), but there are plenty of items on my perpetual to do list that could be delegated or outsourced. For example, my husband and I hate to do yard work -- especially during the hot and humid Georgia summers. We could suck it up and commit the time, or we could pay someone to do it for us. We opt for the latter because the free time we gain is more valuable than the money we spend. When I get going with my doctoral program this fall, we'll likely hire a maid service for the same reason. The trick is to go through the to do list and determine how much of it has to be done by me and how much of the list could be done -- even partially -- by others. Using TpT for lesson plan assistance is another great example of delegating.

I also negotiate for free time on the weekends. I have an amazing daughter who's almost 2. I love hanging out and playing with her, but she's also at an age where she's a lot of work. When I have an overwhelming to do list, I try to negotiate free time with my husband where he'll take Syd for a couple of hours so I can work distraction-free, and then I'll reciprocate later in the day. Often he'll take her out of the house to run errands or get groceries so I can really get a lot done. It's been incredibly helpful to chunk out time like that and know that I'll have it.

2. Consider worst-case scenarios
Often the stress we feel is self-imposed, and it helps to gain a bit of perspective. What's the worst-case scenario if I don't finish making all of the TpT items I want to create this summer? Certainly nothing catastrophic. Often it's the same case with the stack of papers waiting to be graded during the school year. Looking at my to do list through this lens helps me see what's really important. It's not a blank check to delay work indefinitely, but it's helpful when there's a lot going on and too many balls to juggle at once.

3. Prioritize and minimize
Sometimes the sheer sight of my to do list can cause me to tense up and feel overwhelmed. One strategy I use to combat that is to rate the items on my list using a scale that reflects the urgency and the importance. Then I make smaller to do lists with the 3-5 items I want to accomplish in a day. This helps me stay calm and feel productive while avoiding the pressure of my long-term, substantially larger to do list.

Another helpful tip that I picked up somewhere was the two-minute rule. If something comes to me that I can take care of in 2 minutes or less (e.g., an email), I try to do it right then and not put it off. Otherwise, my inbox becomes cluttered and that's one more thing stressing me out. Filing or scanning papers is a similar example.

4. Focus on one thing at a time
One of the biggest time sucks that happens to me is that I try to do too many things at once, and I forget that "multi-tasking" isn't always more efficient. It helps me if I chunk like activities together and really get focused. For example, I try to spend a lot of time working on my blog on Mondays so that I can get posts written and scheduled for the rest of the week. I rarely finish all of my posts, but I'll at least know what I'm going to write about and have a skeleton draft done so that it will take less time the rest of the week. I dedicate another day to all of my cleaning and errand-running, a day to focus on reading/lesson planning, etc. I also try to have a day with nothing scheduled so I can relax and hang out with my family. During the school year, that's usually a Saturday or Sunday, and even if I can't clear out the whole day, I'll set a rule that I'll stop working by noon or only work after my daughter has gone to bed. It helps.

5. Shut down the distractions
This is the hardest thing for me because I often have email, Facebook, and Twitter open while I work, and then there's Feedly and Pinterest which can become huge time sucks, too. Lately, I've found it helpful to close out of those tabs and use a timer app. For example, I'll work on something for an hour, and then as my reward for being productive, I'll allow myself 15 minutes on Pinterest. The timer helps me avoid slipping down the rabbit hole of lost time.

What are some strategies you use to help you when you're feeling overwhelmed or overcommitted? I'd love to hear more ideas in the comments. 

And as a side note, have you checked out the Teacher Toolbox Trio lately? The giveaway is over, but I decided to keep the linky going for a while because there were still teachers who wanted to share. And honestly, how I could possibly resist the opportunity to see what other teachers love and add to my own wish list? If you haven't linked up yet, I'd love to have you join the fun!

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How I Decluttered my Inbox

I try out new apps constantly, but it is rare that I find one that I consider a game-changer -- one that revolutionizes how I do something and boosts my productivity.

Meet Mailbox.

Mailbox works with iOS mobile devices (iPhones, iPads) and GMail, and it can handle multiple GMail accounts. The idea is that your email box should always have ZERO messages in it, and it helps you achieve that goal by giving you four options for each message in your inbox.

Big-swipe to the left: Add to list

So many of the emails that I receive are ones that I don't need to respond to immediately, and Mailbox understands that by allowing you to file messages as low-priority action items. It has three main lists:

• To Read -- great for newsletters and other items you're interested in reading at some point but not necessarily the second that it arrives in your inbox
• To Watch -- my husband and some friends will sometimes send me YouTube videos that I can't watch at work -- not because they're NSFW, but because YouTube is categorically blocked at my school. These videos also tend to be low-priority items.
• To Do -- emails of things to add to my "to do" list

It also gives you the option of creating additional lists. I made the "To Buy" list, for example, for items like subscription services that are going to expire sometime soon that I need to renew or for wishlist items that I'm thinking about buying someday. 

Short swipe to the left: Defer

Sometimes I receive messages that I want to deal with, but not at the time I've received it. When I'm using my iPhone, for example, I rarely respond to email because I prefer typing on my laptop. Some emails are ones that I'll look at more closely at night or over the weekend when I have more time. Other emails are ones that I want to deal with at a specific future time or date. Consider these examples:

• a coupon for a clothing store that I might use but is only valid for a certain week in the future
• a confirmation email for an upcoming trip or conference

The beauty of the Mailbox app is that you can set the exact date and time when you want that message to reappear in your inbox by letting you "Pick Date."

The message will reappear in your inbox at the date/time you specify so it can get your attention rather than just getting pushed to the depths of your inbox to be forgotten.

Short swipe to the right: Archive the message
I might want to look for it someday, but it's not something I need to act on.

Long swipe to the right: Trash the message

Mailbox is a free app in the iTunes store, and in the three weeks that I've had it, it has replaced the default Mail app on my iPhone and completely changed the way that I manage email. I've gone from having literally 1,000s of emails in my inbox to having ZERO. It's the first time I've ever felt like I've been on top of my email situation.

The iPad version just came out this week, and I'm using that a lot, too. It has a larger interface, but all of the same features. Here's a screenshot of it on my iPad:

You can see that I have one message in my inbox -- a coupon that I have to use this weekend if I'm going to use it at all. I've deferred 14 messages -- some that I'll reply to on Tuesday, others that I want to deal with once I'm completely done with school on Thursday. I've got some lists, but I can also check the archive or the trash in case I accidentally swipe something into the wrong place and want to move it back out.

If you click on a message in your inbox, an image of it will appear on the right so you can decide what to do with it. It's a very easy-to-use and intuitive app, and now that I have it, I can't imagine giving it up. It's a huge asset to my productivity, and my only wish is that I could use this with other email platforms -- like my school/work emails -- that aren't GMail accounts.

Have you tried Mailbox yet? I'd love to hear about how you manage email productivity in the comments below.

Hope you're having a great Memorial Day weekend!