Packed with honest, funny, and comforting advice—“a book you MUST read if you are returning to work after the birth of a child…. I loved it and you will too.” —New York Times bestselling author Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D. The first three trimesters (and the fourth—those blurry newborn days) are for the baby, but the Fifth Trimester is when the working mom is born. A funny, tells-it-like-it-is guide for new mothers coping with the demands of returning to the real world after giving birth, The Fifth Trimester contains advice from 800 moms, including: •The boss-approved way to ask for flextime (and more money!) •How to know if it’s more than “just the baby blues” •How to pump breastmilk on an airplane (or, if you must, in a bathroom) •What military science knows about working through sleep deprivation •Your new sixty-second get-out-of-the-house beauty routine •How to turn your commute into a mini–therapy session •Your daycare tour or nanny interview, totally decoded

From the creator of the popular website Ask a Manager and New York’s work-advice columnist comes a witty, practical guide to 200 difficult professional conversations—featuring all-new advice! There’s a reason Alison Green has been called “the Dear Abby of the work world.” Ten years as a workplace-advice columnist have taught her that people avoid awkward conversations in the office because they simply don’t know what to say. Thankfully, Green does—and in this incredibly helpful book, she tackles the tough discussions you may need to have during your career. You’ll learn what to say when • coworkers push their work on you—then take credit for it • you accidentally trash-talk someone in an email then hit “reply all” • you’re being micromanaged—or not being managed at all • you catch a colleague in a lie • your boss seems unhappy with your work • your cubemate’s loud speakerphone is making you homicidal • you got drunk at the holiday party Praise for Ask a Manager “A must-read for anyone who works . . . [Alison Green’s] advice boils down to the idea that you should be professional (even when others are not) and that communicating in a straightforward manner with candor and kindness will get you far, no matter where you work.”—Booklist (starred review) “The author’s friendly, warm, no-nonsense writing is a pleasure to read, and her advice can be widely applied to relationships in all areas of readers’ lives. Ideal for anyone new to the job market or new to management, or anyone hoping to improve their work experience.”—Library Journal (starred review) “I am a huge fan of Alison Green’s Ask a Manager column. This book is even better. It teaches us how to deal with many of the most vexing big and little problems in our workplaces—and to do so with grace, confidence, and a sense of humor.”—Robert Sutton, Stanford professor and author of The No Asshole Rule and The Asshole Survival Guide “Ask a Manager is the ultimate playbook for navigating the traditional workforce in a diplomatic but firm way.”—Erin Lowry, author of Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together

Perfect for anyone seeking to get a firm handle on their personal finances, Financial Adulting is a must-have resource that demystifies and simplifies complex topics and makes understanding personal finance fun From the founder of The Fiscal Femme, a popular feminist money platform, and author of The 30-Day Money Cleanse, Ashley Feinstein Gerstley's Financial Adulting: Everything You Need to be a Financially Confident and Conscious Adult delivers an easy-to-follow, informative, and fun financial guide. From budgeting and consumer activism to retirement investing and paying down debt, you'll learn everything you need to know and do to be a financially savvy adult. In this important book, you'll: Master fundamental concepts, including dealing with student loans, maximizing your 401(k), and preparing for salary negotiations Use a racial and feminist justice lens to tackle rarely discussed topics in money and equity and better understand deep-seated historic and systemic obstacles Recognize that your circumstances, goals, and values are unique and require a custom approach in order to succeed financially Receive a simple step-by-step guide to reaching your financial goals while living a big, exciting, and meaningful life

Everyone has an opinion, anecdote, or horror story about women and work. Now the acclaimed author of What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast shows how real working women with families are actually making the most of their time. “Having it all” has become the subject of countless books, articles, debates, and social media commentary, with passions running high in all directions. Many now believe this to be gospel truth: Any woman who wants to advance in a challenging career has to make huge sacrifices. She’s unlikely to have a happy marriage, quality time with her kids (assuming she can have kids at all), a social life, hobbies, or even a decent night’s sleep. But what if balancing work and family is actually not as hard as it’s made out to be? What if all those tragic anecdotes ignore the women who quietly but consistently do just fine with the juggle? Instead of relying on scattered stories, time management expert Laura Vanderkam set out to add hard data to the debate. She collected hour-by-hour time logs from 1,001 days in the lives of women who make at least $100,000 a year. And she found some surprising patterns in how these women spend the 168 hours that every one of us has each week. Overall, these women worked less and slept more than they assumed they did before they started tracking their time. They went jogging or to the gym, played with their children, scheduled date nights with their significant others, and had lunches with friends. They made time for the things that gave them pleasure and meaning, fitting the pieces together like tiles in a mosaic—without adhering to overly rigid schedules that would eliminate flexibility and spontaneity. Vanderkam shares specific strategies that her subjects use to make time for the things that really matter to them. For instance, they . . . * Work split shifts (such as seven hours at work, four off, then another two at night from home). This allows them to see their kids without falling behind professionally. * Get creative about what counts as quality family time. Breakfasts together and morning story time count as much as daily family dinners, and they’re often easier to manage. * Take it easy on the housework. You can free up a lot of time by embracing the philosophy of “good enough” and getting help from other members of your household (or a cleaning service). * Guard their leisure time. Full weekend getaways may be rare, but many satisfying hobbies can be done in small bursts of time. An hour of crafting feels better than an hour of reality TV. With examples from hundreds of real women, Vanderkam proves that you don’t have to give up on the things you really want. I Know How She Does It will inspire you to build a life that works, one hour at a time.

Let’s face it, planning and saving for retirement is not easy. We are told that the earlier we start the better and that the “magic of compounding” will make our dreams come true if we simply trust the stock market and our investment advisor. ​But for most people it’s simply not possible. People in their twenties are often saddled with student debt and may be struggling to find suitable full-time employment. Saving for retirement is the last thing on their minds, as it should be. ​Then in our thirties and forties we tend to do things like get married, have kids, and buy houses. All these things cost a lot of money! So for many people there simply isn’t any money left to put away for retirement. Therefore many of us become procrastinators when it comes to saving for retirement. ​But there is hope. This book will take you step-by-step though planning and saving for retirement starting in your fifties and the best way to fund your retirement years. It is designed for people approaching retirement who want to ensure it is comfortable and stress-free.

Discover the power, joy, and love of living a present, authentic, and intentional life despite a world full of distractions. If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. We check our email while cooking dinner, send a text while bathing the kids, and spend more time looking into electronic screens than into the eyes of our loved ones. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted. But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times bestselling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections. Finding balance doesn't mean giving up all technology forever. And it doesn't mean forgoing our jobs and responsibilities. What it does mean is seizing the little moments that life offers us to engage in real and meaningful interaction. In these pages, Rachel guides you through how to: Acknowledge the cost of your distraction Make purposeful connection with your family Give your kids the gift of your undivided attention Silence your inner critic Let go of the guilt from past mistakes And move forward with compassion and gratefulness So join Rachel and go hands-free. Discover what happens when you choose to open your heart--and your hands--to the possibilities of each God-given moment.

Your bundle of joy comes with a bundle of financial considerations -- everything from managing the mortgage on one income to paying for your child's education. So from the moment you decide to start a family it's worth taking the important step of getting financially fit for parenthood. Mother-of-four and personal finance journalist Nicola Field takes parents and parents-to-be on a step-by-step journey that covers every aspect of funding a family. Baby or Bust tackles the key issues faced by parents today, including: deciding when to have children managing the extra costs living well on one income taking parental leave working out which government benefits you are entitled to saving for your child's education. With lots of easy-to-follow tips and plenty of good, sound money advice, this entertaining and informative book is a must-read for anyone about to start a family. You may not be able to stop the baby from waking at 3 am but at least you won't be lying awake worrying about the family finances!

For many women in their 20's and 30's, the greatest professional hurdle they'll need to overcome has little to do with their work life. The most focused, confident, and ambitious women can find themselves derailed by a tiny little thing: a new baby. While more workplaces are espousing family-friendly cultures, women are still subject to a "parenting penalty" and high-profile conflicts between parenting and the workplace are all over the news: from the controversy over companies covering the costs of egg-freezing to the debate over parental leave and childcare inspired by Marissa Mayer's policies at Yahoo. Here's the Plan offers an inventive and inspiring roadmap for working mothers steering their careers through the parenting years. Author Allyson Downey, founder of weeSpring, the "Yelp for baby products,” and mother of two young children advises readers on all practical aspects of ladder-climbing while parenting, such as negotiating leave, flex time, and promotions. In the style of #GIRLBOSS or Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office, Here's the Plan is the definitive guide for ambitious mothers, written by one working mother to another.

You're an independent career woman suddenly dropped into the chaos of Babyville. You have a newborn to care for, three months (if you're lucky) of unstructured time to fill, a work decision to make (to go back full-time? part-time? job share?), childcare to acquire, and family finances to balance. You need someone to make you laugh during the hard times, a doctor to call in the middle of the night, and a good career counselor to boot. Never fear! Sure to become the gold standard resource during that crazy first year, The Working Gal's Guide to Babyville combines stories and sisterly advice from the trenches, infant care information and tips from a pediatrician, and career and budget guidance from a pro. From getting baby to sleep through the night to making the most of maternity leave, from weighing work options to finding childcare, from networking with new parents to emotionally transitioning from "Ms. Independent to Mom," it offers desperately needed, easy-to-execute strategies and expert solutions on all manner of Year One issues. The essential guidebook for today's busy career moms, it's every bit as hip, smart, and savvy as the women who'll be reading it.

The uninterrupted life is not worth living. Got questions about Catholic family life? You've come to the right place! As a lifelong Catholic, devoted wife, diligent homeschooler, and mother of seven, Susie Lloyd knows lots of people who just might have the answers for you. Susie herself is too busy to give advice: busy giving home haircuts and finding missing socks; busy teaching her teen girls to drive, cook, and diagram sentences; busy praying for divine protection while she races off to church (late) in her full-size van. As she did in her beloved first book, Please Don't Drink the Holy Water, in these pages Susie Lloyd will charm and edify you with her offbeat but always pitch-perfect take on the joys and challenges of raising a Catholic family in today's world.