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Staying Sane Through the Holiday Rush

December 9, 2011 By

The holidays always seem to fly by. We’re so busy planning parties, decorating our homes, attending school concerts and church programs, preparing meals and goodies, going to family gathering after family gathering, purchasing last minute gifts (the list goes on and on…). Sometimes we, especially moms, forget to take time for ourselves. And without that time to relax, reflect, and just breathe, we may miss the significance of special moments that make wonderful holiday memories.

So, even as you selflessly work to make the holidays spectacular for everyone else, remember that the holidays are for you to enjoy too. Here are a few tips to follow to make sure that, even during the busiest times of the year, you are keeping your life in balance and taking care of yourself:

  1. Define your priorities. Decide what is most important for you and your family, and don’t let others tell you differently. Once you know what’s important in your life, it’s easier to know when to say yes and when to say no. There’s only so much time in the day…remember that saying “yes” to one activity is saying “no” to another.
  2. Know when you’re at your best. Morning people should schedule important tasks in the morning, while those who take a while to wake up and get going should use afternoons for their most demanding projects. When your energy is low, do things that don’t demand as much brainpower…fold laundry, scrub the bathroom, wrap gifts, address Christmas cards.
  3. Take a break. When you feel overworked and overloaded, refresh yourself with a 10 or 15-minute walk, devotion, or relaxing moment of complete silence.
  4. Assign household tasks to other family members. Kids can do laundry, dust, vacuum, set the table, take care of pets, and pick up after themselves, so enlist their help!
  5. Schedule time for yourself. Don’t feel guilty about taking time to do the things you love. This might seem a bit selfish, but the truth is, when you don’t take care of yourself, you burn out and everyone suffers. Give yourself permission to take a bubble bath, get a pedicure, go out to supper with friends, or see a movie in the middle of the afternoon.
  6. Make your health and happiness a priority. Even when life gets busy, commit to doing the daily things that make you feel your best. They might include activities like praying, reading a devotion, exercising, doing yoga, having a non-interrupted 15-minute conversation with your spouse, or snuggling with your kids at bedtime. Whatever those things are in your life, do them daily, without exception.

Get more tips on balancing all of your work and family responsibilities by reading “Work – Life Balance…Can you REALLY have it?” and “Are You Worn Out and Stressed?” If you already realize that you’ve got too much on your plate, check out “When Your Overcommitted” for some helpful advice.

Come To Order wishes you and your family a peaceful and enjoyable holiday season full of blessings. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Filed Under: Home & Family Tagged With: , , , , ,

Time Management Lowers Stress

June 28, 2011 By

Half our life is spent trying to find something to do with the time we have rushed through life trying to save. ~ Will Rogers
time-management

In today’s world we tend to overload our schedules and rush from one event to the next. Time management is an effective way to lower stress. Try taking a few minutes each hour to clear your thoughts. Take several relaxing deep breaths, shake out muscle tension, and align your actions to your daily goals.

Placing small reminders throughout your day will make this process a habit. Once the habit is formed you will notice; focus and concentration improvement, less sore muscle and tension pain, and goal achievement easier. Not to mention a positive mindset from the control you gain over stress.

If you find this technique beneficial, check out  Stress Release Reminders, it has become my passion to help others by reminding them to take control of their schedules.

Here is a list of helpful time management techniques to lower stress:

  • Set goals Daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, yearly goals, and lifetime goals should be pondered over and written down. Aligning yourself each day to move forward toward your lifetime goals will keep you on track & stress levels lowered. If we remind ourselves often of our goals, detours can be corrected quickly or if necessary changed to accommodate the new path. Check out Stress Release Reminders custom 5 minute journal technique for goal setting.
  • Learn to say “No” There is 24 hours in each day and this will never change. So when you have prioritized your time and do not have extra time, it is ok to say no. Once you have decided to say no, do not go back and second guess your decision.
  • Priorities your tasks Do not multi task. Focus on one task at a time so you do not have to go back and redo your work.
  • Delegate tasks to others Most people believe they are the only one who can do a job correctly. If you are thorough in your instructions than anyone can help you get your to do list done.
  • Start early finish early There is a great sense of pride when you complete a task early. So don’t put things off to the last-minute. Procrastination is an urgency that can be avoided.
  • Don’t compare yourself to others Comparing yourself to others will only cause stress. If the person is faster you will feel inferior. If the person is slower you will feel as if you are pulling the weight of the task. Either way it is a waste of your time and your stress.
  • Don’t sweat the small stuff Complications will happen while achieving goals or tasks. Remind yourself of the end result and focus on the most efficient way to the finish line.
Filed Under: Mom-Empowerment Tagged With: , , , ,

Easy Ways to Make More Time for You

June 4, 2011 By

If the only time you have for yourself is when you sleep then you’ve got to seriously make a few changes to the way you’re living.

Women tend to take care of everyone else before they even consider prioritizing their needs. We’re naturally very giving. We give a piece of ourselves to our partners, children and work and very often there’s not much left for us. If you tend to feel guilty taking time for yourself then come in a little closer because I have a secret for you, it’s 100% okay if you start making time for you. Let me frame this for you. Think back to a time in your life when you didn’t have any responsibilities or worries. Can you remember that time? Do you remember when all you had to do was worry about what you were wearing and when you were hanging out with your friends? It was probably when you were a teen. Now it may be hard to remember but if you think about it teens tend to be able to put themselves first right? But what happens to the ability to do that? Life’s responsibilities. But here’s the important part, you can’t take care of all of your responsibilities in your life if you’re not doing a very good job of taking care of you. You can get by for a while but it does catch up to you. Let’s put guilt and excuses aside and put yourself in the position of taking care of you again. You can start with these easy steps:

  1. Set Aside Time: Whether it’s first thing in the morning or the end of the day. If you don’t have any extra time in your day then you need to find that time first. Once you find it then you can decide how you want to spend it.
  2. Make a List: Decide what you’d like to do with your time. More time for your self-care? Time with friends? Exercise? Simply list what you’d like to do
  3. Delegate: If you’re doing EVERYTHING then little by little pass some things on to others. If you tend to do it all at work then you probably do the same at home. What can you delegate to others?
  4. Distractions: Limit them! Is t.v. important or eating dinner with your family without distractions? Do you need to answer the phone every time it rings or can you wait and return a call when you’re done with an activity?

These are very basic time management tips but you need to start somewhere. Begin thinking about how you’ll feel when you have more time for you. Maybe less stressed, more relaxed and generally happy. It’s okay for you to put yourself first, you need to take care of you.

Do you tend to take care of everyone else before you take care of yourself? What can you do for yourself today to start taking better care of yourself?

Filed Under: Health & Wellness, Uncategorized Tagged With:

3 Ways a Mom Can Live Easier

April 22, 2011 By

grand-central-station

There’s no question that in my house I’m Grand Central Mom, everything runs through me. It’s okay, I like it this way. I want to know everything that’s going on because I don’t want to miss anything. My kids are teens and they are very busy. They have full schedules at school, play sports and have social lives. When they were young I remember planning everything for them including their play dates, activities, after school programs…everything. Not only was I managing their schedules but I was certainly in charge of my own which included my work, exercise and social life.

There was a time I had it all committed to memory but then one day I realized that I had a lot to manage and I couldn’t remember all the details. I tried everything, memos, calendars, planners, leaving voicemail messages for myself and yet I always felt like I was forgetting something. So we called a “Family Meeting” and discussed how we could better manage our lives so that we could enjoy it more.

We decided to do three things:  schedule less things, involve the kids, research really good organizational systems.

This is how it went down:

  1. Schedule Less. In order to schedule less we took on less. As a family we began to choose what our priorities were and how we wanted to spend our time together. We looked at what each of us wanted to do in a day and what we had to do during it (school, work, home chores).  We realized that all we wanted to do couldn’t happen unless we figured out how to make the time for it. It came down to choices. By freeing up wasted time in our days we soon learned how to make the most of the time we had together and then I found more time to do the things I needed and wanted to do to take care of myself.
  2. Involve the Kids. Because I worked I felt that I should “pamper” my kids. I wasn’t around all day so I wanted to treat them wonderfully when I was with them. What I didn’t realize was that my enabling really wasn’t a very wise choice. I soon learned that they couldn’t do chores or simple tasks because  they hadn’t been taught how, we or I had just done things for them. Some of it I rationalized was because it was faster to just do things myself than have to explain it. My husband and I made a conscious decision to start teaching the kids how to do the basics: fold and wash their clothes, wash the dishes, clean, vacuum, sort through the mail and take out the trash. All things they’d need to learn to do when they were on their own anyway. As they began to do more I had to do less and I felt so much better..no more arguing, no more resentment and more time for me to go for a walk or practice yoga.
  3. Choose great organizational systems. This took me a while to figure out because I had so much to organize. The kid’s paperwork, our home, my work, emails, multiple voicemail boxes. It’s gotten much harder as we have more to manage. I resisted technology for a long time but when I finally caved it made all the difference. I’m not a purist, I do carry a paper organizer as well but now I’ve learned a way to keep up better. One thing I do is follow Digitwirl, Carley Knobloch searches out the latest tech gadgets that can help make tech work for you. She puts out a weekly 3 minute video to show simple ways to organize life digitally.

Life has gotten far easier since I’ve started simplifying and managing it better.

What do you do to make life easier for you?

Filed Under: Health & Wellness Tagged With: , , , ,