Rubber Bands

Rubber bands can be so helpful. These colorful ones aren’t elastic enough; it’s only suitable for tying the hair. I can’t find the elastic rubber hands in a variety of colors here.

 RubyTuesday 2

Shoe Trends for Women – This Fall

Shoes do maketh a woman! Almost all the clothes that women wear, conventionally, leave their shoes exposed for the world to see! Thus, the outfits simply have to be completed with the best of footwear and one that goes perfectly well with the whole ensemble. From the days of sober shoes made of leather and mostly available in black or brown or white or pink, women’s shoes have come a long way indeed. Colors, different materials, styles and designs have all made bold forays into women’s fashion. Shoes are also showing this kind of change. This fall, colors and bold choices seems to be the flavor of the day!

Most leading shoe manufacturers have brought out amazingly innovative designs in their brands. Colors seem to have made it in a big way under the spotlight, including neon, lime greens and shades of red too. Even glitter and sparkle have made it to women’s shoes. Of course, most of the shoes have combined this bling with “somber” colors like black and grey. But glitter has made it into brogues and Oxfords too. Color and glitter are making it to the shoes by way of embroidered shoes and metal tone studs and buttons as well. If this sounds a bit loud, wait till you hear of the next aspect of shoe trends this fall.

Most shoe designers are also making their shoes hugely manly. Metal toe caps in gold and silver finish have come in a big way. In fact, such use of metal is also seeing shoes being made with completely studded metal finish too. Huge buckles and ankle straps of metal are adding that bit of dash to shoes. Designers are also pushing the envelope in terms of shoe length. They have brought out a line that focuses on shoes reaching up to the knee. And yes, the good old jack boots are hitting the fashion scene too. One small word of advice though – do check them out very carefully before buying them. You need oodles of confidence to carry them off!

Fabrics and textiles are also changing the shoe trends this fall. More number of fabrics are finding their way into the shoes. Also, the choice of fabrics lies with textured, animal prints and even the use of graphics. So it all adds up to shoes with some major attitude on display! So apart from the classic leather, women’s shoes are also using reptilian skin and nubuck too. The laces are also showing trends similar to the shoes per se. One rather popular fall shoe trend seems to be combining neon colored shoe laces with formal wear. So you get brown leather shoes and hot green laces. And these laces are thick and big – so there’s no missing them!

Speaking of colors, shoes for this fall are being made with the good old black, gray and brown of course. But there is navy blue, maroon and a deep mustard yellow coming to the fore as well. These colors have found their way into the boots for men also. Some of the bolder ones are made with dual tones. So there is a tall brown boot with a splash of blue on the tops of the boots.

Tips for Boosting Workspace Productivity

4 “stay productive” methods that keep me focused on work

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As a writer who works from home, I understandably suffer bouts of being unproductive—when the house is a mess, when my kids are home from school, on the days I’m just unmotivated and procrastinating. I suffer from productivity loss at home just like folks at the office suffer in large and small corporate offices.
 

Home businesses are no different—however when you’re attempting to balance a full time job with another full time job (parenting), things can get a little hairy when it comes to staying focused on work. Since I’ve been working at home for some time now (I’m by no means perfectly focused), but I do have a few “stay productive” tips that I’d like to share….

1. Carve out a space that’s dedicated to work

That means, don’t make the mistake I did and spend the first month working from home from your kitchen table and wondering “why am I not productive?” No, in order to encourage healthy focus; one needs to set the atmosphere of healthy focus early on. And by that I mean setting up a space that’s completely dedicated to your work. You have an office or cubicle when you’re working for someone else, right? Do the same for yourself (preferably in a space with a door that closes) and you will find that you’re better able to concentrate on the work at hand—and not the kids, the laundry, and all the other things around the home.

2. Work with your working style

When I started my home business I had these grand ideas about waking up real early and working my day so I could quit work early to go to the gym and have dinner ready for the family when they got home. The reality of that whole “ideal” scenario is that I’m not a morning person, I’ve never been a morning person, and I’m never likely to start being a morning person. The moral of that story is to stay realistic and work with what you got. That means taking a good hard look at your own limitations, accepting them and creating your new work life based around that reality. I’ve since learned to accept my own quirks and even learned to rely on experts for things that I’m not so good at (i.e., my business accounting) so I can focus my productivity on what I’m good at and enjoy (i.e., writing).

3. Get your inspiration from external sources

As a writer, I work on my own for most of the day. That means when I get a little stifled creatively, I have to look to external sources for inspiration—such as my friends and family, other business professionals in my field, my clients, and yes, even my competitors. They’ve all got lessons to teach. When I go for my daily runs, I use this time to soak in and refuel—from advertisements on the subway to conversations over coffee with my weekly book club—I’m constantly looking for sources of inspiration to help refuel my professional life. I take these experiences and work them into my stories and my creative ideas.

4. Be easier on yourself

Come on, no one is perfect, and we can’t be good at everything we try and successful when it comes to every single work project we touch. As a business owner, I’m still constantly learning and perfecting my skills every single day. If I were to concentrate on the negative all the time (i.e., the days I have to neglect work to pick up my sick child from school or the days I have to neglect my children to finish and important client project), I’d be criticizing myself constantly—which is hardly productive. Instead, I aim for a healthy balance and when I’m feeling stressed, I learn to say no. I’ve also incorporated tools to help make my job easier—office tools like my handy little electronic transcription let me transcribe interviews into Word documents digitally, because let’s face it, otherwise it would never get done. I also purchased one of those glass white boards to keep office paper work off my desk, otherwise I’d be swimming in paperwork, and clutter really staunches my creative juices.

About The Author

Angela is a staff writer for Apron Addicts, a blog about kitchen fashion and home style. Angela also likes to write about mobile technology, business, productivity, and anything else that catches her attention.

Thanks Angela for sharing your tips. It surely helps every woman who prefers to work from home.  Now I know what to do :)