15Feb 2011

Blog anniversary contest: chance to win 2011 Samsung New Microwave oven

Update: Winner is Jaypee David.

How time flies! Touched by an Angel will celebrate its 5th anniversary on February 24 and I am having a small contest. I used to give cash money before , the prize money I got from winning awards for this blog. I didn’t really think of holding a contest this year until Samsung asked if I wanted to give out a Samsung Microwave oven in my food blog. I thought it fitted this blog though. Let me tell you why.

home-office
My favorite spot to work is in the dining area, close to the kitchen. It is here where I can monitor the daily tasks needed for home such as the cleaning and cooking routine . I can easily prop up my mobile gadgets and monitor certain websites all at once like Twitter, facebook and various messengers. Working near the kitchen area is one way for me to manage my time in being a homemaker and as a blogger. I see everything all at once.

home-office1
Of course, I know when to take breaks. My cat, Missy reminds me that I need to relax and take time to just chill. Isn’t she cute?

So what am I getting at with the blog anniversary give-away? and why the Samsung microwave oven?

samsung-ref

During Ondoy, my Samsung refrigerator floated around the living room even if my husband tied it with a yellow ribbon around the handrails. I was in Singapore when the disaster happened and thought of ways to cut down costs of our material possessions. Thinking the refrigerator was almost hopeless, I asked the Samsung PR for their service center contact information. Instead she did something better, she gave me tips on salvaging electronics which I shared in my Techiegadgets blog. Not only that, they gave washing and cleaning services to Ondoy victims.

The good news was my Samsung refrigerator survived the Ondoy damage and is back in the kitchen, right where it belongs. I did not have to spend anything. I just simply let the refrigerator dry up first before using.

kitchen

From then on, I placed so much faith in Samsung kitchen appliances that I got their microwave oven after seeing it in a launch in July 2010. The added bonus was seeing that the silver color matched the same color as my Samsung ref and my other small appliances.

I am happy to share the same Samsung Microwave oven to you.

samsung-microwave-oven

I thought of tying up the value of time efficiency of a microwave oven to time management tips that worked for you, just as I work in the kitchen.

So here is how the contest works.

Please share the most effective time management techniques that works for you, whether it be at home, kitchen, workplace and office by posting a comment below.

Contest Mechanics

1. Social media users can join: Facebook, Twitter, blogger. You need to place email address (so I can contact you), the url of your social media network in the comment box.

2. Delivery address should be in the Philippines. Samsung will mail the oven directly to your home.

3. Those outside the Philippines can join as long as the delivery address is located in the Philippines. (you can assign your relative to receive the microwave oven on your behalf)

3. One comment per social media user only.

4. I will short-list the three (3) most unique and interesting comments and the winner will be chosen by my daughter, Lauren . The winner will need to be verified if he/she did not win the same prize in a similar blog contest.

Prize: ONE winner of a brand new 2011 Samsung New Microwave Oven AMW83E-SB

Contest duration: February 15 – February 28, 2011 11:59 PM

Announcement of winner - March 6, 2011 ( I will have to make sure that the winner did not win the same prize from a similar contest)

Posted in: Site News ⋅ Tagged: Samsung microwave oven

About Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

Noemi, Editor of Blog Watch and features editor of Philippine Online Chronicles is a 55 year old mother to three kids and is married to Atty. Luis H. Dado. She loves being a full time mother and homemaker after retiring as a Researcher/Consultant from the UP Institute for Small Scale Industries in 1987. Now that her children are all college graduates, she devotes her time to grief support, blogging, new media events and using her blogs to promote online advocacies. Her personal blog is at aboutmyrecovery.com, which garnered numerous awards such as Best Website, Blog Category during the 9th and 10th Philippine Web Awards. Her blog also won in the Blog- Personal Category of the DigitalFilipino.com Web Awards 2007 and Globelines Broadband Family Blog Award (in honor of family-oriented blogging) 2007 Philippine Blog Award. Globe also recognized her as Digital Elder in the 2009 Philippine Blog Award.

View all posts by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado →

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_2HYGHQJD5JT72ZJFE5M5MWAKVY nico

One of the best tips I have learned was to prioritize objectively, meaning we have to give importance to our tasks based both on Urgency and Importance.

Demonstrated simply, this is like having to fill up a bucket with large stones, pebbles and sand. All of which can fit inside the bucket, just as long as you know the order which they go in. To fill up the bucket, one places large stones in first, then pebbles take up the small holes in between, and then sand fills up the rest.

This is an example how we can achieve the most from our day. The most important tasks should be finished first, followed by medium ones then smaller ones. But since we get swamped in a day with so many tasks, it seems easy to get confused and focus on finishing small items first but in the end, we really haven’t achieved anything significant.

In order to prioritize, we need to rank tasks according to the following:

1. Is it urgent? Can it Wait?
2. Is it Important? Is it just a small task?

If we answer yes to both questions, then we place that first in our list to do. If we answered yes to the first question only then we place that second. If we answered yes to the second question only, we place that third. And we save the unimportant and non-urgent tasks for later.

By doing this, we can see which items do really need our attention, and which take up our time needlessly.

Of course writing this down will help as well! Just prepare a table with 3 rows and 3 columns, labelling the top columns as important and not important and the left columns with urgent and non urgent. Whenever a task comes up to mind, just place it where it belongs on the table.

Hope this can help!
http://www.facebook.com/vida.cuaresma Vida Cuaresma

Here are the things that seem to work for me

- Check my ToDo List – I have a daily list of to-do’s. Once I’ve accomplished a task, I strike it off my list. I also keep a space that’s for “pending work” and a space for “accomplished work” it is gratifying to see my pile of accomplished work grow

- Yes to Technology – email, twitter, messenger, sms, calendars, social networks, and the like are extremely useful! As much as possible, I limit my meetings to those that are urgent. If I can help it, I make use of phone conversations and online collaborations, because in most cases meetings will be 20% official, and the rest are just idle chatter. A big plus is having a gadget that can cover emails, presentations, and networking.

- Coffee Breaks and Meals – although I’m pretty strict when it comes to my work hours, I make sure to enjoy my coffee breaks and meals. I need to fuel up, charge and re-charge for my work day. It is also leisure time that I can spend with my best buds who are in other offices.

- Limit Over Stays (Time) – get to work on time, get to leave on time. What I can’t finish today, I will strive to finish tomorrow; being a happily married woman and a loving mother to a 5-year old is tough enough, having to limit your hours to spend with your loved ones is even tougher. As much as possible, I limit work hours to work hours. Over time (in my case over-stay since I’m not being paid for it) makes me too anxious and it can be potentially dangerous for those of us who have to travel long distances to get home.

- Take time to Play – I attend to things that are not only productive for work, but personally productive as well, like taking scheduled learning sessions in our company. I believe that a happy employee is a productive one

- Work as You Go – in instances where I have to go to our other building, I make sure to do everything that I need to do at the other building (or bring things that I can bring).

- Be Organized – one of the things I hate most is having to search for something. Looking for something because it isn’t in its right place is a waste of time and effort. Having desk organizers, bag organizers, labels and proper tags are a must!
http://www.facebook.com/vida.cuaresma Vida Cuaresma

vida.cuaresma@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/nancybareno Cristina Angeles

I cant find my entry posted yesterday. I hope you don’t mind if I repost it again. Thanks.

I’m a mother of three. I started working again last year as a multi-tasking secretary to four bosses in a new furniture company. I repeat – four bosses. Among my responsibilities include answering calls, bookkeeping, attendance to meetings, making quotations, dispatching and monitoring of workers etc. etc. My bosses gave me instructions as if they don’t consult with each other. They also gave direct instructions to production workers without letting me know. Most of the time, this practice makes everything chaotic. Projects were finished late or worst, left undone. Unfortunately, it was me who took the blame when things went wrong specially with the scheduling. Most of the time also, I often stayed late in the office to fix the mess which means less time to spend with my husband and children. I tried using the organizer feature of my smartphone to keep up with my bosses but I want something that even the “Fantastic Four” can see. I was able to address that problem by using a simple old school technique.

I requested for a huge whiteboard to be installed on a wall where it is very visible to all of us. There, I wrote a “responsibility matrix” which includes columns for activities, responsible person, target date and remarks. I update the matrix whenever necessary. Since then, the elusive “world peace” was achieved. I’m not saying that everything became very smooth in our company but the situation is now far better than before. My bosses look at the board first before giving instructions to people. I can also give them an answer or an update in an instant based on the facts presented on the board.

This old tool help our managers make good decisions. It is also an effective monitoring tool. In general, it makes us use our time and very limited resources efficiently.

Email” cristina_lim_angeles@yahoo.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100001278914811
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/nancybareno
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V3WDNBRLF7RGA43WPMR43EIWR4 Lennie

I’m a home baker and caterer, and my world would turn topsy-turvy if I didn’t know how to manage time well. Here are two food-related tips that have worked for me:

• On weekly (or bi-weekly) food shopping: Make a list and stick to it (oft-repeated advice that most pay no attention to). I bring along a meal planner that lists the stuff I need to buy for the next two weeks. It’s my basic tool to make sure I don’t veer off-tangent. I pick a store I’m familiar with, so shopping can be organized according to its layout. Where I shop, as in most supermarkets, the basics are usually around the perimeter—produce, meats, poultry, fish, juice, dairy, breads. I’ve created a shopping system for myself: Once a month, I visit the shop’s inner aisles to buy staples like oil, frozen produce, canned goods, and dried herbs that I use regularly. Then, every two weeks, I buy only my perishables. This way, I stay out of the inner aisles (where the junk food usually is), 3 weeks out of 4. It really doesn’t take much to save some time and money—I simply zip in and out of the store, buying only what I need—and I still get to ensure that my family eats healthy.

• On preparing food: Have a megacooking day once every two weeks! I practice a cooking method that allows me to prepare all my entrees in two-week cycles. The secret to it is doing all similar processes at once: browning meat, and chopping onions, and cooking chicken only ONCE rather than several times a month—this saves me hours of cooking downtime! When sautéing several food items in succession, I use the same skillet—I just wipe it out then dump in the next set of ingredients, and this saves me time on washing as well! While cooking, I set timers to let me know when something’s ready to be taken out of the oven or has been boiling for a certain amount of time. Then, for the next couple of weeks, all I need to do is to take an entrée out of the freezer, thaw, and heat it. While heating, I prepare a quick salad or dessert to serve with it! All the time-consuming preparation and cleanup is done on my megacooking day, and this frees me up for a lot of other stuff during the week! (Which, ironically, involves more cooking and baking for my customers…and, of course, making sure my family gets the attention it needs!)

e.pillowtalk@gmail.com
e_pillowtalk@yahoo.com
http://www.facebook.com/lennie.tetangco
ghostwriter for Curtis Abbott on http://www.vestedwellness.com
http://twitter.com/nancybareno Cristina Angeles

Looks like my entry was disqualified It’s OK. Thanks
http://twitter.com/ada_engkantada ada engkantada

Hindi ako si Darna, accdng to Janine Desisderio’s local version of I’m not your Superwoman. But sometimes I try to be. Wanting to accomplish much in a shirt amount of time. Actually I pride myself in time management. I can OC sometimes and even set a target for a particular goal for a particular day. That way I know if I can still spare some time for other activities. Basically, I keep my handy-dandy notebook nearby. It’s a bit old fashioned, I know. In it list all my activities in a calendar (if my notebook is not a [planner originally, i draw the monthly calendars myself!) according to the dates that they are due. And then I list them on another page in chronological order, so I can see in a glance what I need to focus on. This depends on a variety of factors too, the deadline, the level of difficulty of the task at hand, and other regular activities or chores. For my day-to-day, I usually, allot my mornings for household chores, cooking, laundry, cleaning, preparing my daughter for school. The afternoons I allot for my work (I’m a WAHM) For nighttime, it’s for helping my daughter in her assignments. If I am on a tight schedule, I go back to work by 8pm and call it a night by 10 pm

EleanorGanda@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/ada_engkantada ada engkantada

Hindi ako si Darna, accdng to Janine Desisderio’s local version of I’m not your Superwoman. But sometimes I try to be. Wanting to accomplish much in a shirt amount of time. Actually I pride myself in time management. I can OC sometimes and even set a target for a particular goal for a particular day. That way I know if I can still spare some time for other activities. Basically, I keep my handy-dandy notebook nearby. It’s a bit old fashioned, I know. In it list all my activities in a calendar (if my notebook is not a [planner originally, i draw the monthly calendars myself!) according to the dates that they are due. And then I list them on another page in chronological order, so I can see in a glance what I need to focus on. This depends on a variety of factors too, the deadline, the level of difficulty of the task at hand, and other regular activities or chores. For my day-to-day, I usually, allot my mornings for household chores, cooking, laundry, cleaning, preparing my daughter for school. The afternoons I allot for my work (I’m a WAHM) For nighttime, it’s for helping my daughter in her assignments. If I am on a tight schedule, I go back to work by 8pm and call it a night by 10 pm

EleanorGanda@gmail.com
http://twitter.com/#!/ada_engkantada
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_V3WDNBRLF7RGA43WPMR43EIWR4 Lennie

Hi, Noemi, am reposting without the link to the blogsite I ghostwrite for, in case the link in the original may have been considered as undue advertising for the blog
_____________________________________________________________________

I’m a home baker and caterer, and my world would turn topsy-turvy if I didn’t know how to manage time well. Here are two food-related tips that have worked for me:

• On weekly (or bi-weekly) food shopping: Make a list and stick to it (oft-repeated advice that most pay no attention to). I bring along a meal planner that lists the stuff I need to buy for the next two weeks. It’s my basic tool to make sure I don’t veer off-tangent. I pick a store I’m familiar with, so shopping can be organized according to its layout. Where I shop, as in most supermarkets, the basics are usually around the perimeter—produce, meats, poultry, fish, juice, dairy, breads. I’ve created a shopping system for myself: Once a month, I visit the shop’s inner aisles to buy staples like oil, frozen produce, canned goods, and dried herbs that I use regularly. Then, every two weeks, I buy only my perishables. This way, I stay out of the inner aisles (where the junk food usually is), 3 weeks out of 4. It really doesn’t take much to save some time and money—I simply zip in and out of the store, buying only what I need—and I still get to ensure that my family eats healthy.

• On preparing food: Have a megacooking day once every two weeks! I practice a cooking method that allows me to prepare all my entrees in two-week cycles. The secret to it is doing all similar processes at once: browning meat, and chopping onions, and cooking chicken only ONCE rather than several times a month—this saves me hours of cooking downtime! When sautéing several food items in succession, I use the same skillet—I just wipe it out then dump in the next set of ingredients, and this saves me time on washing as well! While cooking, I set timers to let me know when something’s ready to be taken out of the oven or has been boiling for a certain amount of time. So even if I have several things going on at once, everything runs like clockwork. The megacooking day is undoubtedly exhausting (even if I take little rest breaks). But then, for the next couple of weeks, all I need to do is to take an entrée out of the freezer, thaw, and heat it. While heating, I toss together a quick salad or dessert to serve with it! All the time-consuming preparation and cleanup is done on my megacooking day, and this frees me up for a lot of other stuff during the week! (Which, ironically, involves more cooking and baking for my customers…and, of course, making sure my family gets the attention it needs!)

Thanks for letting me share these tips with your other readers!

e.pillowtalk@gmail.com
e_pillowtalk@yahoo.com
http://www.facebook.com/lennie.tetangco
Anonymous

http://luckyfinds-shareapic.blogspot.com/2011/02/time-management-as-way-of-life.html
emiliana.sison AT gmail.com

I am a mother of a 6-year old kid and employed fulltime as an assistant. As such, I need to master techniques as everything requires time.

To manage my time efficiently at the office, I make use of a tickler system. I sort out my tasks based on urgency and importance and put them in 5 folders representing the 5 days of the work week. Not all urgent tasks are important so I always focus on priorities. The priority ones goes to the monday folder which I have to accomplish on he first day of the week. Others that doesn’t require urgency fall in the corresponding days its attention is needed.

I use my cellphone to calendar tasks, meetings and schedules of my boss. It helps that most cellphone units nowadays can be programmed to send out notifications ahead of the calendar entries.

Another advantages of having a cellphone is that I can delegate tasks/communicate to someone while on my way to the office. I make calls when traveling. I find that combining such activities as a great way to maximize time.

I allot my spare time to delete old text messages and old contacts as it clogs up its memory. I do the same with my emails. Sorting emails during lunch time does wonders. Part of my email management goes to my tickler system if it requires reports or drafting of documents. I check my inbox frequently and flag emails which I deem important.
http://twitter.com/Louai27 Louai Pitlo

marilou s. pitlo
jedidahleigh@gmail.com
As a wife, a grad student and an employee, I ahve to effectively manage my time to be the best of the three worlds. I prioritize ruthlessly. I start each day with a time management session prioritizing the tasks for that day and setting my performance benchmark. If I have 20 tasks for a given day, I consider how many of them do I truly need to accomplish. This is very basic, realistic and practical. I hope this really help.
Anonymous

In terms of having a frenetic schedule (one that is frantic and hectic), nothing can beat that of a working mom’s. I belong to this world. My schedule revolves around juggling a career, children, a spouse, family and friends. A tough job, that is. But I am glad that I have learned to effectively manage my time thus allowing me to perfectly balance my work and family.

I have known it to be possible to live a life that I’ve always wanted and it was because I have made a choice, early on, of what truly is most important in my life. Defining and focusing on my priority are the keys to how I take charge of my schedule, so much so that the QUALITY of my life is my top priority. It all started with making some conscious choices about how I invest my time, efforts and energy. I know, it’s easier said than done but when I really stopped and re-evaluated my values and priorities, that was the only time I could really say that, “I would like to take charge of my life and that includes all my activities and my schedule.”

I have learned to say NO and decline requests that I know can take so much of my time or would mean time away from my family. I know what I’m capable of doing and I know what to expect of myself.

I’m one lucky working mom because I think I have created a perfect balance between work and family. I look forward to going to work and when I’m at work, I look forward to going home and be with my daughters. I have a 9-5 job and have been working for a local bank for the past 20 years. But I’m glad to say that I have developed a mind-set that my 9-5 work is just my sideline and that my true career only starts when I’m at home, as a wife and a mother. So, I guess it should start with having a mind-set that what is important and most valuable to you is the thing that you would love to spend most of your time and energy on.

I really make time for the things that I deem important and love doing like, bonding with my family, date with my husband, spending “me” time or pamper time for myself and spiritual nourishment. Prayer is extremely important because when you ask for a “quality” life, God will give you wisdom and organize your thoughts.

And oh by the way, I have learned to watch TV less and less (I even forgot the last time I watched TV) and instead I devote my time to doing more productive things like tutoring my kids or planning our weekly menu.

Vivian Aguilar
vvaguilar2003(at)yahoo(dot)com
FB name: Vivian Aguilar
Anonymous

Comments to join this contest is closed. Jaypee David is the winner of this contest. Congrats Jaypee