Weekender #156

🎃 24 creative no-carve pumpkin ideas for Halloween.

⚖️ Why weight loss drugs aren’t the easy way out.

🍁 The best fall scent candle that burns for over 70 hrs.

📱 Learn how to control your iPhone from your Mac using mirroring.

Balancing work and life as a mom of two is a wild ride, but it’s one I’ve learned to love—chaos and all.

Working from home has been a game-changer for me, and my kids are pretty independent, which makes parenting easier.

But that lingering “mom guilt”? It’s real. Am I doing enough? Am I present enough? Some days, it’s a tightrope, but I’ve learned to manage it with a few strategies that help me find balance.

First off, I start my day early—I’m talking 5:30am.

Once the kids are out the door and off to school, I take a little time for myself. A 30-minute workout followed by a 15-minute sauna session. It’s my way of resetting and getting into the right mindset for the day ahead. (Try to make this a non-negotiable in your own routine!)

By 8:30 AM, I’m at my desk, fully focused.

Shout out to time blocking because it’s my absolute savior. I schedule my workday meticulously, carving out time for meetings, deep work, and, most importantly, making sure I try to clock out when my kids come home from school. From that point until they go to bed, I’m all about being present with them.

After the kids are in bed, the day doesn’t quite end. That’s when I switch gears into house mode; tackling the never-ending list of chores and, of course, spending time with my husband. The fact that he also works remotely is a massive plus. It means we can sneak in breakfast dates in the morning or take quick breaks to chat during the day, which keeps us connected.

I used to feel guilty about doing things like this during work hours—things I’d never do if I were at the office—but that’s the beauty of working from home. Embracing these moments has actually led to a much better work-life balance. The flexibility is something I’m super grateful for, and it keeps things fresh.

Even with my routines, though, there’s always that question: Am I balancing it all?

The truth is, I’ve learned to keep things in perspective. Some days are smoother than others, and yes, I get exhausted. But, honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’m lucky enough to do what I love, be there for my kids, and still carve out time for myself and my marriage. That’s balance for me—not some perfect, Instagram-ready version, but the kind that works in real life.

Kristel (TA Writer)

Having managed close to $1M in swag budgets for marketing events, employee gifts, client gifts, and holiday gifting, I can tell you one thing: now is the time to start planning.

Whether you’re gearing up for the holiday season or prepping for upcoming conferences, early planning is crucial—vendors need extra lead time due to high demand.

Keep in mind:

• For Holiday Gifting: Plan now for personalized gifts that’ll stand out during the busiest time of year.
• For Events: High-quality or highly useful swag at conferences makes your brand memorable, but timing is everything—start early to avoid rush fees.
• Shipping & Delivery: Ensure you have updated addresses and allow for longer lead times.

Here are some of my go-tos when it comes to events:

• Branded socks (always a hit)
• EOS lip balm
• S’well tumbler
• Eye mask
• Power bank

And some trending holiday gifts:

• JBL
• Fellow Pour Over Kettle
• Sherpa blanket
• 3 piece cheese set

Don’t wait—work with swag.com to create unforgettable, high-quality swag.

Joanna (TA Co-Founder)

📚 Read: Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Love a good dark, twisty thriller? Pretty Girls brings all the suspense with estranged sisters reuniting to uncover some seriously disturbing secrets about their missing sibling. As they dig into the past, the mystery only deepens, linking to a string of violent crimes.

📺 Watch: Bad Monkey

Bad Monkey gives crime drama a quirky spin with Vince Vaughn as a former detective who stumbles upon a severed arm that pulls him back into the world of crime-solving. With unexpected twists and oddball humor, this Apple TV+ series is the perfect binge for when you want something dark but fun.

🎧 Listen: How to Get Motivated Even When You Don’t Feel Like It

In this episode of The Mel Robbins Podcast, Mel dives into actionable strategies for finding motivation, even when you’re feeling stuck or unmotivated. Through practical advice and motivational insights, she helps listeners break through mental barriers and ignite their drive.

Whether you’re a biz owner or W2 employee, you’ve probably come across dozens of tech stacks. Here are all the tools our team has ever used, love, and why:

1. Miro: We use this tool a lot for brainstorming, building out logic trees and automations, thinking out steps in our marketing funnels, etc. It allows us to zoom out and look at.
2. monday.com: One of the best PM tools. You can break down big goals into smaller tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. It’s perfect for keeping everyone on the same page without a million follow-up emails. If you’re looking for a more lightweight solution, Notion is our go-to.
3. Square: For in-person or online sales, Square is a no-brainer—especially when a whopping 70% of consumers prefer paying by card.
4. Smartsheet: We rely on data to make business decisions, so spreadsheets are inevitable, but can easily get out of hand. Smartsheet helps you manage and turn complex data into visual dashboards, and the automation capabilities are 🔥. The cell history tracks all changes, and you’re also able to create condensed reports from a master sheet, allowing team members to pull relevant updates without overwhelming them with extra details.
5. Hubspot: This is what we currently use to track our sponsorship sales and nurture relationships. It’s an all-in-one platform for CRM, marketing, and sales.
6. Gusto: We’re currently using this software for our team’s payroll, benefits, and compliance. It’s a “set it and forget it” type of tool—once you get it up and running, you’re golden.
7. Fellow: We aim to minimize meetings throughout the week, but some days back-to-backs are unavoidable. In fact, we prefer to stack meetings on certain days so we can protect our no-meeting days. Having Fellow makes sure we can be fully present in meetings, while it does the heavy lifting of note-taking, recording the meetings, providing accurate summaries post-meetings, and identifying the clear action items that can be assigned to teammates.
8. Greenhouse: A user-friendly customizable ATS that can cut your hiring process time down in half, offers a lot of data you can utilize to fine-tune your search, and includes scorecards for interviews giving you valuable feedback. Plus, it makes the hiring process more collaborative with hiring managers and scheduling.
9. Typeform: The next time you’re thinking of putting a standard contact form on a webpage—don’t (we’re looking at you biz owners and marketers). Consider building out a quiz experience instead. We’ve tested this many times and the quiz experience converts higher.
10. Chatgpt: Our go-to AI assistant for brainstorming, drafting, fine-tuning ad copy, forecasting, and so much more, saving us hours a week.
11. Canva: Even if you think you have zero design skills, Canva makes it easy to create pro level visuals in minutes. They have a huge library of templates, graphics, and even stock photos. We love how you can upload your brand kit and have it automatically apply your aesthetic to each slide.

Beethoven is a deaf therapy dog. He volunteers at several areas in Columbus, GA and has worked for the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office since 2015. He communicates by hand signals and kids love when Beethoven does the fist bump and catches treats!

Beethoven loves every moment he is working and he is an amazing asset to the community. One of his favorite activities is burying his Milkbone cookies. The attached picture is of him giving his owner “the look” to take him outside to bury his cookie. 🦴

💌 We’re huge pet lovers at The Assist and want to feature a pet each week—fill out this form for your fur baby to be featured!

🚨 Job Ops: Visit our job board here.