Like many moms, my daily life is packed -- both with work projects and a seemingly endless stream of household minutia. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about how to increase my happiness factor by shifting the weight off the minutia (I even have a draft post titled "How to Do Less"), so it was bizarrely well timed when TaskRabbit contacted me about being the Boston spokeswoman for their Do More. Live More. Be More. campaign. I was psyched for a couple of reasons. First, I've happily used TaskRabbit before. Second, the campaign is all about encouraging people to do more of what they love and less of what they don't.
As part of the campaign, over the next month I will experiment with letting go of my inner control freak and outsourcing via TaskRabbit. Below I share some of the overarching things I need help with and will update you later on how things are going. Meanwhile, TaskRabbit is asking folks a simple question: "What would you promise yourself if you had more time to do the things you want to do?" Simply share your promise (up to October 14) and you'll be entered to win cool prizes -- including a luxury vacation (yeah, uh, I suspect you could use one of those right about now!)

Probably not uncommonly, I want to outsource so I can have less minutia monkeys on my back and more time both with my family and on my own. More specifically, I really want to be present in the moment, not multitasking.

Purging. For me, purging -- whether it's kid stuff or old electronics -- makes me feel lighter both in physical and emotional space. I would love some help with finding new homes for our unwanted items as it's a task that sits at the bottom of my to-do list casting a hairy nagging eyeball at me.

Pickups. In addition to random errand pickups, I would love help with our weekly CSA pickup. The timing is not great for us and invariably makes for a harried end of day.

Event planning. I'm co-hosting a fantastic event October 4 (we're almost sold out -- you should get a ticket if you're thinking of coming!). I'm super excited about it but it also involves a lot of work. I'm hoping to outsource some of the tasks leading up to the event.

Household. We have a bunch of random household projects that need to get done.

Travel. I have several trips upcoming and I would love help with the planning -- whether it's researching details or procuring items needed for the trips.

Virtual assistant. This will be the hardest for me (that old control freak thing) but lately, I've been feeling completely swamped work-wise (I started a new business venture last month, and still need to find my rhythm balancing everything). I have always thought of TaskRabbit as an errand provider but in looking at the site, I see it's not uncommon to ask for clerical help. So I'm hoping to try out TaskRabbit for some virtual assistant type tasks. Fingers crossed.

That's what's on my mind so far. Do you have similar minutia monkeys on your back? What other tasks have been nagging at you?

Today, Kate recommends a thought provoking book about motherhood:

“The essayist Caitlin Flanagan has developed a successful career writing thoughtfully and often with acerbic humor on issues of family, marriage, motherhood, and feminism. She courts controversy by raising uncomfortable questions about whether men or women are better suited to housework, whether small children should be cared for by anyone other than their mothers, and whether contemporary women are fundamentally unsuited to accept the sacrifices required by marriage. She points at working mothers, stay-at-home mothers, and work-at-home mothers -- in other words, all of us -- and asks us to look into ourselves to understand our motivations, our compromises, and our choices and their impacts on our children. She is also the mother of twin boys, and a breast cancer survivor.
Her fascinatingly readable 2006 collection of essays To Hell with All That: Loving and Loathing Our Inner Housewife is the kind of book that you may love or you may hate but you won't be able to avoid thinking about. From her analysis of the Martha Stewart phenomenon to her description of her own postpartum depression and isolation -- a chapter that rang true for me -- Flanagan is honest about her own flaws as a mother and so allows her readers to be the same. The result is enlightening, engaging, guilt-inducing, and often laugh-out-loud funny. Whether you know her work from magazines like The New Yorker and The Atlantic or are coming to her fresh, Flanagan and To Hell with All That are worth getting to know.”

I don’t typically post about contests on other sites, but I wanted to share this Simplify My Life campaign from Mom Bloggers Club because: a) it’s pretty sweet; b) anyone tuned in here over the holidays knows I'm all about simplifying; and c) I evaluated the product being given away so I know first hand how fantastic it is. In a nutshell, MBC & HP are giving away the super slick HP Studio Tord Boontje Mini 110 netbook. Actually, six of them. Simply blog about how the Mini 110 could simplify your life; the three most creative blog entries will win a Mini 110, plus three randomly drawn readers who comment in on these Simplify My Life posts will receive a Mini 110 (so, if you don't blog, read and comment in!). Be sure to check out the entry rules, and for details on usability and performance, read my evaluation.

I feel as if I've known Kristin Brandt and Erin Kane of Manic Mommies forever; in reality, I’ve known Kristin since college (well, that kind of feels like forever ago…) and Erin since the Disney mom bloggers mixer. They both are smart, hilarious, and impressive in their juggling of work and home; whenever we meet up there's a lot of laughter and also serious parsing of all things social media and family life. For the twelfth installment of my Simplifying the Holidays guest blog series, I’m thrilled to welcome Kristin; read on to learn about the important lesson she learned from her mom, plus a series of holiday tips that have served Kristin well as a full-time working mom.

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From Kristin:

When I was a kid, we begged and pleaded my mom to decorate our house for Christmas. My brother and I loved all the twinkle lights that adorned our neighbor's homes, and wanted our house to twinkle in a similar fashion. But my mother refused, telling us that the decorations were tacky. Fast-forward 30 years, and today my parents' home (the same one I grew up in) is decked out for the holidays - complete with twinkle lights, animatronic reindeer, a toy soldier, and much to my disbelief, an inflatable Santa Claus. When I asked her why the change of attitude, her answer was simple: "I was a working mom. I didn't have TIME to keep up with the neighbors."

And so, I received my first valuable lesson about how to survive the holiday hoopla while holding down a full-time job and managing the multitude of commitments that have clogged our schedule: don't try to keep up with everyone. Here are some additional lessons (some may call them concessions – tomato, tomAto) I've learned since become a parent:

Set your DVR. You could buy DVDs of all of the holiday classics (Rudolph and the Red Nose Reindeer, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town) or you can save a few bucks by setting up "Season Passes" for each. That way, you don't have to remember to record them each year -- they will just appear, like magic, on your DVR.

Go faux. I love the smell of a real Christmas tree, but I also love the time saved by my pre-list Christmas tree from Sears. We bought the tree the year our second child was born, mainly because I could not face dragging two children out into the snow to find a tree. Four years later, I continue to happily avoid the tree-seeking activity, and can set up our tree whenever the mood strikes (or I find a stray hour). Did I mention that it also doesn't drop any needles and doesn't need to be watered and disposed of?

Stick to traditions. I always set up our creche in the front foyer, the tree in the "solarium" (a fancy way of describing our back room), and the Santas on the map drawer. We have Swedish meatballs for Christmas Eve dinner, cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and Paula Dean's Foolproof Standing Prime Rib Roast for dinner.

It's not that I'm not interested in trying something new, it's that traditions such as these keep things easy, and reduce the amount of stress. And, they become something regular and anticipated for the kids.

Take a day off. If you have the time available, consider taking a day off before the holidays are in full swing. Bring the kids to school or day care then use the "free" time to get holiday chores done – gift shopping, holiday card addressing, decorating, whatever!

Forget perfect. While we all want to plan the "perfect" holiday, the truth is "perfect" doesn't exist. Remember, a little goes a long way (for example, you don't have to decorate every surface of your home to make it feel festive). If you can manage your expectations, you are sure to enjoy the season!

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Looking for more holiday tips from the Manic Mommies? Check out these posts from their Real Simple Simply Stated blog:

Tips for managing the card chaos
Holiday food tips from a non-domestic diva
Hosting Tips

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You can follow Kristin on Twitter at @kristinsb, Erin at @emkprgal, and the Manic Mommies at @manicmommies.

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Image credit: FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

It's been so fantastic to meet aspiring and established small business owners and entrepreneurs through Kirtsy/Microsoft Office Live's Boston Hands On Small Business sessions. And the good news? Extra sessions have been added to this free, nationwide business development series and Angela and I will teach one more Boston installment tomorrow, December 1, in Cambridge. So register and come enjoy coffee and good company while you learn about cool free tools to help your business grow.
Also, Angela recently shared some terrific HOSB photos and an interview with local attendee and mamapreneur Susan Callahan.

Calling all small business owners and budding entrepreneurs! There are just two Kirtsy/Microsoft Office Live Hands On Small Business sessions remaining in Boston. HOSB is a series of 100 fun, FREE gatherings in 20 cities across the US and Canada, and covers free online and social media solutions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses build and promote their business. I’m teaching the Boston sessions with Angela from Mommy Bytes. The remaining two sessions are this Thursday, November 5 (7-9pm) and Wednesday, November 11 (1-3pm). Click here to register and hope to meet you soon!

During a recent interview with About.com’s breastfeeding expert Melissa Nagin, I was excited to learn about the Playtex Embrace Double Pump - a hospital grade breast pump that retails around $170 (a relative bargain in the pump domain). Playtex was kind enough to provide the Embrace to our pregnancy and postpartum expert Carole Arsenault of Newborn Nurses for evaluation. Read on for Carole’s thoughts on the pump:

“The Playtex Embrace Double Pump is a good option for working moms in that it is very lightweight, and is easy to assemble, take apart, and clean. The drop-in liners are fantastic and make cleaning that much quicker. There also is less chance of contamination and spilling with this system. The carry bag is stylish and easy to organize.

The moms who tested the Playtex Embrace pump with me stated that the shields are more comfortable than the pumps they were used to. The soft shields press on the areola, which is very similar to how a baby nurses. This construction is beneficial because stimulation of the areola, not just the nipple, will help keep milk supply up.

In regards to the actual pumping output, both moms reported a decrease in the power of suction with the Playtex pump, even when set at the highest level. Instead of taking 10 minutes to pump 2 ounces (the approximate output with their current pumps) it took between 15 - 20 minutes. Also of note is that the pump is louder than the Medela pumps. This could be a concern for moms who are trying to pump discreetly at work.

For the price of $170 for the entire Playtex Embrace pump kit, this system is a good value.”

Editor’s Note: Playtex currently is giving away free samples of their Drop-Ins Original Nurser System. Click here to sign up for a free sample.

There’s a point to commuting after all. Yesterday, while mama multitasking before heading to the office (i.e., entertaining the babe on my lap while trying to clean up a few emails while talking on the phone), the babe reached over for the laptop, played for a minute, then made a break for it. I thought nothing of it. I begrudgingly headed to work.

I soon discovered that there was a foreign object lodged firmly under my “v” key. I think it was a crumb. All efforts to dislodge the crumb were unsuccessful. Copying and pasting became impossible. I spent the next 7 hours avoiding the “v” key.

The commute home was crowded and grumpy (trains were backed up and everyone was missing their connections) but I later discovered the silver lining behind the stinky train. While my explicit attempts to dislodge the crumb were in vain, having the laptop bounce along on its side in my bag during the commute home did the trick. So far I have yet to find the crumb under a different key.

Pregnancy obviously is a natural, necessary part of the circle of life, but things can get complicated and confusing when you have to think about pregnancy in the context of the workplace. Click here for an informative Q & A on pregnancy and employment, including topics such as interviewing when pregnant, breaking the news to your boss, maternity benefits, and discrimination.