Weekender #199

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but September is the real New Year for moms.

Forget January. That’s amateur hour. September is when we reset our calendars, the closet, and if we’re lucky, our sanity.

As a work-from-home mom with a daughter entering middle school (pray for us) and a son heading into 4th grade, I’m deep in the trenches. I’ve got lunchboxes to scrub, WiFi battles to negotiate, and a tween who suddenly has opinions about her outfits and wants to talk contour at 7:14 AM. We are not the same.

If you’re also juggling deadlines, spelling tests, and mood swings—this one’s for you. Here’s how I reset before the school bell rings:

1. Reclaim Your Mornings (Before They Claim You)

The 19 minutes between the time you should be up and the time you actually get up? That’s your sweet spot.

Wake up 20 minutes before your kids. Not for emails. Not for chores. For you. Stretch, stare out the window like you’re in a Nancy Meyers film, sip hot coffee, or just scroll in peace without someone asking where their socks are.

Bonus tip: Lay out your own clothes the night before. Even if it’s just sweats. It’s a tiny gift to your future self.

2. Pick One Mental Load to Drop

The back-to-school mental load is real: supply shopping, permission slips, dentist appointments, spirit week schedules (why are there so many themed days?!). Choose one thing and delegate or automate it.

• Let your partner be the Lunch Captain for a month. No trades.
• Put all school events into a shared Google Calendar (color-code it or it didn’t happen).
• Buy three of the same water bottles to end the “where is my bottle?” spiral.

Trust me, you don’t need to be the manager of all things.

3. Build a “Mom Commute”

Even if you WFH, create a “fake commute” to start your day. Walk around the block, drive to a coffee shop for no reason, or sit in your parked car with a podcast and snacks. Reclaim the brain shift between home and work mode.

Middle school drama does not belong in your 9 AM Zoom.

4. Back-to-School = Back-to-Boundaries

This is your opportunity to reintroduce yourself to your work boundaries like:

• 🕓 “I log off at 4 PM for pickup. Not sorry.”
• 🧃 “No, I won’t take a meeting during snack o’clock.”
• ❌ “I’m not available for back-to-back calls on Tuesdays because I’m also the household Uber that day.”

Say it with me: “I have a job, and I also have a life.”

5. Declutter One Tiny Thing (Not Your Whole Life)

Don’t Marie Kondo the whole house. Pick one drawer. One backpack. One inbox folder. Tiny wins = major dopamine.

Especially when a tri-fold project is due tomorrow.

6. Set a “Mom Budget” (Yes, For You)

You know how there’s always some $25 surprise like “optional” yearbooks or emergency book fair funds? Create a line item in your budget for your sanity:

• A luxe sheet mask
• A monthly cleaner
• One deeply unnecessary Amazon gadget

You’ve earned it.

7. Make Your Car a Sanctuary

Between soccer practice and “I forgot my lunch,” you’re basically running a shuttle service. Make it sacred. A good podcast, iced coffee in the cupholder, and a trunk stocked with snacks = instant vibe shift.

Back-to-school isn’t just for the kids. It’s your reset, too. You are not just managing logistics—you’re leading a household, showing up at work, and being the emotional thermostat for everyone around you.

So take the pressure off. You don’t need to do it all. You just need to do what matters most to you.

And maybe keep an extra granola bar in your purse.

Because someone is definitely going to forget theirs.

P.S. We’re partnering with Next Arrow for a free virtual workshop—Resilience for Parents—on Aug 21 to help HR and people leaders support working parents ahead of National Working Parents Day in September. Register here.

Kristel (TA Ops/Marketing)

It’s not that your team isn’t working hard. It’s that the work of managing work—tracking tasks, updating timelines, and digging through messages for context is eating up everyone’s time and brainpower.

Most teams hit this wall when:

• Projects live in 3+ tools (hello, version control nightmares)

• Stakeholders get added late, and everything slows down

• Updates happen in meetings instead of in real time

• People think they’re aligned… until the deadline hits

It’s not a “you” problem. It’s a systems problem.

That’s where Wrike comes in. Think of it as a single, centralized hub for projects, files, updates, requests, and workflows—designed to scale with your team.

🔎 Pros:

• Custom dashboards to keep everyone on the same page

• Built-in automations to eliminate repetitive updates

• Request forms to stop “quick asks” from derailing your day

• Enterprise-level permissions and integrations (without the chaos)

⚠️ Watch-outs:

• The flexibility means you will want to spend time setting it up right

• It’s robust, so expect a short learning curve, especially for non-technical folks.

💡 If your “simple” task tracker has turned into a Frankenstein of spreadsheets, Slack threads, and project ping-pong, Wrike might be your way out.