Not only had I not read the book, but I had also never even heard of hygge. I’m sure my expression was one of complete confusion as I turned to her and said “What in the world is hygge?!” Being the researcher that I am, I immediately checked out every hygge book I could find at the library. I loved the concept so much that I slowly started incorporating more and more hygge into my family’s everyday lives. It didn’t take long before my kids started requesting hygge (sitting by the fire each evening with dimmed lights, soft music, and board games) and it has now become a Hackney family evening routine.

Since this time of year is one for dreaming, goal-setting, and planning and because my guess is that many of you would love to have a better work-life balance in 2023, I thought I’d share three simple steps to creating a better work-life balance; an elegant balance. These three steps are the framework around which the entire Elegant Balance Academy (my new online course that launches soon) is built.

The new year is right around the corner, brimming with potential and opportunities. It’s a chance for a fresh start, new beginning, and pursuit of our wildest dreams. I know you have dreams. Maybe it’s been a while since you’ve allowed yourself to think about them… it feels selfish or indulgent, but if you dig way deep down, I know you have desires that you would love to see come to fruition in the next 12 months. We all do.

However, now that I’m a mother, the mere idea of orchestrating a Christmas Eve dinner for 30 people, refereeing board games between siblings, and trying to put cranky but excited children to bed at midnight only to be woken up at 5:00am to open gifts that “Santa” had left leaves me stressed out and exhausted.

And yet, research has also shown that when our brains are in positive mode, we’re more creative, solve problems faster, and tend to be more mentally alert. How do we get to this positive mode? Well, one way we can do this is by taking the time to celebrate.

Autumn can be a busy season. If we’re not careful, we can completely skip over fall in all our busyness. However, autumn is such a beautiful season in and of itself; worthy of slowing down and savoring the experiences that it has to offer.

Today’s post is a bit different – I wanted to do a “research spotlight” focused on a book chapter that my colleagues and I published last summer entitled “Invisible Grief: An Examination of Miscarriage in the Workplace.” Not only is miscarriage more common than most probably realize, but there are also several reasons it is relevant to the workplace.

There’s nothing worse than looking forward to a nice morning spent sipping coffee from your favorite coffee shop only to find that you forgot an essential tool to complete your work. It usually means that you’re either 1) not going to be as productive as you’d like to be or 2) you have to get your coffee to-go and head home so that you can complete your work. I don’t want either of those to happen to you!

I’ve been intentionally pursuing a better work-life balance for over 7 years. Throughout that time, my husband and I have found a few somewhat unusual (or at least unpopular) ways to make things easier on ourselves. I hope it sparks some new, creative ways that you can create a better work-life balance for yourself.

We all want to save money and look great! In this episode, I share 10 tips to help you get the most out of your thrift store shopping.

As our families transition back to school, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with all the new demands coming your way. For example, this is the first year I’ve ever had to think about homework after school! In today’s post, I wanted to share five practical tips to make this transition easier on you and your children. It’s my hope that my trial and error over the last few years will help you confidently tackle this new season.

Now, some of you probably enjoy packing and maybe even have your own strategy down to a science. Others of you might be a bit more, how should I say it…, spontaneous with your packing. Either way, you’ve probably found yourself taking a trip with a suitcase that barely closes.

We want to put work back in its place. Yes, your work can be enjoyable and meaningful but it’s not the only part of your life. You’re so much more multi-faceted than that! By adding luxury to our daily lives, we can elevate our experiences in each of the roles we play. Making life more fun!

I like to focus on the things that you have control over but your organization is a key actor in your work-life balance experience. As your will soon see, many of them are related to employee benefits and I want to encourage you to go back and check your employee handbook or go talk to HR because it’s quite possible that you aren’t aware of all the benefits available to you and if they can help you create the life you want, then there’s no reason to leave them sitting on the table!

Those of us with children are headed into summer break. Due to the pandemic, some of you may still be on summer “break” from last year. Although the title of this post refers to surviving summer, I hope that the tips shared here help you to do more than just survive.

Playing multiple roles comes with a lot of challenges. One of them being transitioning between roles. This has become even more difficult as more people have begun working remotely. That natural separation between work and home is no longer present, so we have to create it for ourselves.

I’ll be the first to admit that I am a fair-weather girl, so each spring I find myself doing everything I can possibly do to embrace the mildness and gentleness of spring. Honestly, we can learn a lot about elegant living through this concept. Embrace the season you’re in right here and right now. Don’t resist it. Instead, look for the beauty and the joy in it.

The birds have been singing, the flowers are blooming and I am overwhelmed and awestruck by the beauty of it all. I've been reflecting on this spring season and what we can really learn from it.

What I want you to see today is that instead of saving “dressing up” for a special occasion or event, we should harness the power of clothes to help us more forward towards becoming the women we want to be and living the life we want to live.