Weekender #220

🧩 Tips for caregivers juggling full-time jobs and full-time responsibilities.

🧴 The beginner’s guide to using tretinoin without wrecking your skin barrier.

🌡️ Silent symptoms of perimenopause every woman should know before they show up uninvited.

📱Why parent WhatsApp groups are actually the worst.

By the time January rolls around, most of us are craving a reset. Not a “new year, new you” overhaul. Just relief.

The holidays have a way of leaving evidence everywhere. Extra coats by the door. Leftover wrapping paper you meant to deal with later. Shoes kicked off after long days. Piles that feel manageable on their own but exhausting when you look at them all at once.

If you have kids, a partner, roommates, or simply a full life, the idea of spending an entire weekend organizing your home is unrealistic.

You are tired. You are overstimulated. And that is exactly why the goal here is not perfection. It is progress.

You do not need to organize your entire home to feel better. You just need to start in the right place and keep your expectations grounded in reality.

Start Where You Walk InNo matter what kind of space you live in, house, condo, apartment, or a rented room, your entryway sets the tone for everything else.

It is the first thing you see when you come home. It is also where clutter accumulates the fastest.

Shoes. Bags. Keys. Mail. Packages. Recycling. Trash. Things that technically belong somewhere else but landed there because it was convenient.

When that space feels chaotic, your nervous system feels it too.

This is why the entryway is the quickest way to reduce mental stress. Not because it is glamorous, but because it gives you an immediate win.

Clear what does not belong. Take recycling out. Put donations straight into your car. Hang coats where they actually live. Give shoes a bin or a shelf. Even 10 focused minutes here can change how it feels to walk through your door.

Helpful Entryway Picks

• Slim shoe rack or stackable shoe bins for small spaces
• Wall hooks or over-the-door racks for coats and bags
• A narrow entryway console with hidden storage
• Small catchall trays for keys, wallets, and mail

Then Zoom Out, Gently

Once the entryway feels calmer, resist the urge to do everything at once. Instead, think in categories or corners, not rooms.

Start with what piled up during the holidays.

The fridge is an easy one. Leftovers that are no longer appealing. Half-used sauces. Containers you forgot existed. A quick sweep, tossing what needs to go, and wiping down shelves can make daily life instantly easier.

Next, deal with the visual noise. Wrapping paper, boxes, gift bags, and packaging tend to linger far longer than they should. Breaking down boxes and taking out trash and recycling is not glamorous, but it clears a surprising amount of mental space.

Helpful Reset Picks

• Clear fridge bins for leftovers and snacks
• Stackable clear containers for produce or anything
• A trash/recycling bin combo
• Heavy-duty trash bags or box cutters for breakdown days

Closets Are a Judgment-Free Zone

Closets get messy fast, especially this time of year. Between trying on multiple outfits, changing into comfies the second you get home, and juggling jackets, jewelry, bags, and shoes, it adds up quickly.

Instead of aiming for the perfectly organized and aesthetic Marie Condo closet, aim for containment.

Shoes go back into bins or on a shelf. Jewelry lives in one place. Bags have a hook or a designated corner. Clothes that are clean but not put away yet get one basket, not five.

If you have kids home changing outfits multiple times a day, laundry will never feel “done.” That is normal. One load at a time is more than enough. Folding and putting it away may take longer, and that is okay. Progress still counts.

Quick tip for parents: This is a great time to do a fast pass through your kids’ closets and keep only what fits right now. Kids outgrow clothes quickly, and it is easy for too-small items to pile up. Bag up anything they have outgrown and add it to your donation run. Local shelters, hospitals, and family-focused nonprofits are often looking for gently used kids’ clothing, and this small reset can make getting dressed a whole lot easier.

Helpful Closet Picks

• Jewelry trays for drawers or an accessory box
• Drawer dividers for dresser drawers
• Stackable closet storage baskets
• Adjustable clear organizing rack for purses, a stack of clothes, or towels
• A single, designated “clean but not put away yet” collapsible laundry basket
• 3-compartment laundry hamper
• Under-bed storage containers

Ten Minutes Counts More Than You Think

You do not need hours to make a dent. You need intention.

Setting aside ten minutes a day to tackle one small thing matters more than waiting for the perfect free afternoon. One drawer. One shelf. One basket. That effort compounds over time.

And yes, the mess will come back. You clean one area, and another seems to explode. That does not mean you failed. It means you live in your home.

If it helps, put it on the calendar. Maybe it is one weekend afternoon where activities get paused, and everyone pitches in. Maybe it is a recurring weekly reset. Not everyone has the luxury of time, but planning what you can give removes the constant guilt of feeling behind.

Helpful Reset Tools

• A label maker so everything has a clear home
• Matching storage bins to help you feel like you have your shi*t together
• A timer to keep clean-up sessions realistic and contained

A Reset, Not a Reinvention

January does not require a total overhaul. It asks for systems that support how you actually live.

Start at the door. Let that win lead to the fridge. Let the fridge lead to the closet. Let ten minutes turn into momentum.

Your home does not need to be flawless to feel calm. It just needs a little intention and the right tools to make staying organized easier.

If you’ve been waiting for the right time to reset your space, this is your sign. Start small. Start where you walk in. And give yourself credit for every bit of effort you make.

Cameron (TA Newsletter Operations)

Late payments. Misclassified contractors. Tax filings that somehow get “lost.”

You’d think payroll would be simple by now—but one small mistake can snowball into a financial and legal mess.

Here’s the shortlist of stuff you don’t want on your payroll resume:

• Paying someone the wrong amount (and finding out on Slack)
• Missing a tax deadline because your platform “didn’t remind you”
• Misclassifying a global contractor and getting hit with fines
• Forgetting to run payroll altogether. Yes, it happens.

If any of that made you break out in a stress-sweat, take a breath.

These tools exist to keep that chaos out of your life:

🧾 Patriot – Small but mighty. Great for budget-conscious teams that still want full-service payroll, tax filing, and a clean, easy setup.

⚙️ OnPay – Super flexible if you’ve got a mix of W-2s, contractors, and random edge cases. It’s like payroll without the question marks.

🌍 Multiplier – Hiring internationally? Multiplier helps you pay global contractors legally and on time—no legal team required.

🏛️ Paychex – A tried-and-true option if you’re scaling fast and want HR, benefits, and compliance all under one roof. Big company vibes without the big company mess.

Clean payroll = fewer fires, fewer headaches, and fewer “Oh sh*t” moments.

These tools help you get there.

📚 Read: Ikigai by Héctor García & Francesc Miralles

A soothing, wisdom‑filled read about finding purpose and joy in everyday life. A calm, grounding reset before the new week starts.

📺 Watch: Beast in Me (Netflix)

A gripping psychological drama that pulls you into the messy, addictive world of secrets, guilt, and the darker side of human nature. The kind of show that demands a blanket, snacks, and zero interruptions.

🎧 Listen: “What Kinda Man” by Parker McCollum

Raw, honest country that feels both strong and vulnerable. Perfect for quiet moments or long drives when you want to feel something.

If we’re being honest, most people don’t struggle with selling — they struggle with keeping track of everything that comes before and after the sale.

The leads.

The follow-ups.

The “Did I reply to this person?” anxiety spiral.

The contacts you swear you saved somewhere.

A good CRM doesn’t just store data. It gives your brain breathing room. And that’s exactly where Bigin by Zoho and Apollo.io shine.

Bigin by Zoho is perfect for small teams, solo operators, or anyone who wants the benefits of a CRM without feeling like they’re adopting a second job.

It keeps your pipeline organized, your follow-ups timely, and your deals moving.

Simple dashboards, drag-and-drop pipelines, and clean contact management mean you always know what’s happening and what needs attention next.

It’s the “I can finally breathe again” version of a CRM.

Apollo.io, on the other hand, is the engine that fills your pipeline in the first place.

It helps you find leads, enrich contact data, send outreach sequences, and stay consistent with prospecting.

Where Bigin keeps relationships moving, Apollo helps you spark them.

Together, they cover both sides of the growth equation:

Finding the right people + keeping the relationship alive.

A duo that quietly makes your business run smoother without drowning you in dashboards, settings, or complexity.

Odin is a goofy boy who can’t keep his tongue in his mouth! His family’s niece says he has “mean eyes”, but he’s only mean if you try to touch his mommy! He loves to play in the water and makes friends with all other animals! He also like his spare human, but he’d never tell you!

🐾 Got a cute fur baby? Submit them to be our pet of the week in an upcoming issue.

Have more feedback? 💌 Reply to this email and tell us.

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