Cubes & Crayons Coworking - Silicon Valley

Modern Mom: Can We really have it all!

While I posted this on my personal blog, it feels even more timely today, and so I share it to remind us all, that we are all working on that balance:

Over the weekend my "wife" had to quit to watch her nephew while her sister tutors.  And now I am scrambling to find a replacement.  My husband just returned to work from paternity leave and so I am back to conference calls hoping my youngest will map and my oldest will play quietly for a15 minutes.

I live by the belief that as a modern mom we can have it all, but sometimes that reality is far from the truth.  The goal towards flexible work options and retention of professional women in the workplace is improving.  It is a friendlier work environment for parents in general than it was thirty years ago.  I read an article on just this about how moms (or mums) in Australia are trying to make it all work.  And so the question remains, can we have it all?

Time Management for the Busy Parent

Doesn't 10 minutes a day all to yourself sound fabulous?  Find that some days the minutes tick by at a snail's pace?  Wonder how to get things done, have time with the kids, spouse, and more imporantly time for you! 

Capturing personal time is one of the hardest things for parents, and especially for mothers, to do. We focus on why we need to find time for ourselves and follow that with concrete strategies for getting that time every day. REGISTER

You will leave with:

• A plan for getting time for you
• Strategy for finding resources to help you with your plan
• Concrete list of goals for your time
• List of ways to get it all done or prioritize need versus want

Childcare available.  Members can book childcare online.  Non-members reserve childcare here.

SPACE IS LIMITED.

Join MF Chapman, work-life balance advocate, mom, and entrepreneur to work on your own balance. 

LasMadres: Bring a Friend Open House

Cubes&Crayons and LasMadres are partnering to bring SAHM, WAHM, and well, just Silicon Valley parents in general a chance to meet and learn about all the great events LasMadres does. Heard of Cubes&Crayons but still wondering what we are all about?  Wondering about LasMadres' fabulous group of parents?  Drop-in for our upcoming open house.  Las Madres members are encouraged to bring a friend.

April 2009 Special - 10% off all childcare/office rates

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originally uploaded by Felicity at Cubes.

Looking for the best infant and childcare in Silicon Valley?  Need one or two hours or several hours a week?  Join us in our small (no more than 10 children) and exciting learning environment.  And just as a bonus, we are giving EVERYONE 10% off all childcare rates for April 2009. Details...

A Slice of Coworking

I'm sitting curled up in my big comfy chair, paper and pen on the swivel top, and feeling the warm sun streaming through the window after days of rain.  Across the room two people sit focused at their laptops.  One, a graduate student, takes a break in a bit from the research to read student papers for the class she TAs.  The other, a consultant, chuckles at a message received. 
We work side by side and occasionally stop for "water cooler" chatter.  Today's topic includes upcoming events in March.  This is coworking at its core.  Interesting and savvy individuals who could easily be at home working in their pajamas but prefer to work and be in an interactive space.

Happy Birthday, Cubes&Crayons!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  With great joy and fun, we celebrated our 1st birthday at Cubes&Crayons coworking yesterday.  The bubbly was pouring, tasty nibbles were munched upon, and birthday hats were decorated by little ones, as members, friends, and new members raised a glass to our new fabulous space.  It has been an adventurous year culminating with the move of  our space just two days before our birthday celebration. 

Flexibility: Best Buy Gets It

Before coworking, flexible work, and career customization were terms being discussed on a regular basis, Fortune 500 company Best Buy was already talking about a results-oriented work environment. The book, Why work Sucks and How to Fix It, is a study of the large experiment they performed at Best Buy and how they were able to increase productivity by providing ultimate flexibility to their employees.  I heard about the study long before I was in the coworking world and thought, well, duh!

The Working Mom Debate: Inspiration from Sarah Palin?

 This morning when I was scouring my Google alert for Flexible work, I came across this article entitled Can working moms 'have it all?'  Of course, my first reaction is YES.  I wrote a blog on this just a few weeks ago, read it here.  The article focuses on the continuous struggle that the modern mom makes to balance work and life.  Of course there was the standard story of the mom guilt upon going back to work. Then there was the statement that with Sarah Palin balancing her 5 kids including her pregnant teenage daughter and her campaign to be a heartbeat away from running the United States the debate over work-life balance is taking a front seat.  I am saddened to think a woman like Sarah Palin is what is getting this into primetime news, but I am glad to see it in the news. 

Gas Gone Wild: Flexibility and The Environment

I watch my google alerts on flexible work religiously.  I want to know what's going on in the flexible work world because Cubes&Crayons is all about finding that flexibility between your work environment and your home environment.  And with soaring gas prices, the demand for flexibility is growing.  Workers can't afford the increased cost of the commute and employers aren't willing to provide additional salary to cover.  In the absence of pure cash, employers have the opportunity to offer the intangible by allowing workers to commute in less days and to save on fuel and ultimately help the environment.

Hooray for Hilton

In a recent press release, Hilton Hotels announced that they are rolling out a more flexible work program for their employees.  Although only for reservation agents, they are allowing employees to work out of their home (or presumably in a space comfortable to them such as a coworking space like Cubes&Crayons or BlankSpaces or one of the many coworking spaces around the world.)  In the words of Hilton Senior Vice President, Russ Oliver, "This unique career offering from a world-class organization attracts experienced and educated professionals who may not otherwise consider a customer contact position in the typical call center environment."

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