Work Life Balance for a Work at Home Mom

Work Life Balance Work-life balance is something that everyone wants to achieve, whether one works at home or in the office. But people who work at home probably find it more difficult to realize this balance as the distinction between the two is elusive. When you work in the office, it is much easier to leave work at work and home stuff at home because they do not happen in the same place.

For most freelancers, the drive to become workaholic comes from the desire to earn more. I’ll confess I was guilty of this when I was just starting out. I would normally work until 3:00 in the morning. Then the following day, I would have to wake up early because my son should be in school at 9:30 A.M. I like the fact that I’m able to help pay the bills. But I like it even more that I have money for shopping. Not just for me but for my hubby and kiddo too. Along the way, I realized, it is no longer healthy. No one can keep up with the Energizer bunny, that’s for sure.

Taking short breaks from your work and taking a day off or two are still important even if you work at home. During your break, leave your work space. On your “rest days”, try to do something else aside from work. As one blogger puts it, get off the roller coaster ride. This will help you with your creativity, productivity and will help you stay sane too.

Do not overbook.

You must learn to say no if you no longer have the bandwidth for additional projects. More projects translate to more dollars. But at the end of the day ask yourself, are you willing to sacrifice your health and your family over more moolah?

Share the load on household chores. As a mom, you do not have to do everything. You are only stressing yourself too much by doing all the work. Talk to your significant other or your kid who can already help you do some chores. Better yet, hire a household help, someone who can help you with the chores on a regular basis. This way, you are able to do your work and you still have time to enjoy with the family.

Having work-life balance is not an easy task especially for a work at home mom. But with planning, time management, and help from your family, everything is manageable.

Submitted by Eunice Calupig

See how real life coaching can help you further succeed in your online business with a free 20 minute, no strings attached, consultation.

Tips for Setting Goals You Can Reach

If you’re like me, you have a head full of lofty goals and ideas but very little idea of how to begin making those dreams a reality. Luckily for all of us, goal-setting is much easier than it would seem. Try these 5 simple tips that I use and you’ll be fast on your way to getting yourself motivated and setting yourself up for goal success!

Start Small.

The first mistake most of us make when we are setting goals is to jump ahead and set our sights on the ultimate goal from the outset. Why is this a problem? Well, we if set our sights on the big picture in the very beginning we have a tendency to forget that we can’t get to that lofty goal in one easy step. Just like climbing a mountain, large goals can only be reached by taking many, many smaller steps along the way.

How do we solve the problem of biting off more than we can chew? By setting goals for ourselves in stages and increments. Let’s look at an example:

If your ultimate goal is to lose 100 pounds, you don’t set that as your only goal, you set that as your long term goal. Then, with you long term goal in mind, you’ll set up some intermediate goals. In this case, let’s say that your intermediate goals are losing 25, 50, and 75 pounds. Losing 25 pounds is a much less daunting task, isn’t it? And, now that we’ve broken down the larger goal into more manageable chunks, we’re going to break those down into even more manageable short term goals of 5 pounds each.

Now, instead of focusing on losing 100 pounds all at one shot (how scary would that be!), you can focus on the much more manageable goal of losing just 5 pounds, then 10, then 15, then 20, then 25, and so on.

We’ve already made the goal easier to achieve, just by breaking it down into short, intermediate, and long term segments.

Use ‘Starter’ Goals to Get the Ball Rolling.

Does even your short term goal seem intimidating? Do you still need a more concrete way to get started on the path toward your goal? Then what you need to do is set some short term goals that you know you can achieve. These ‘Starter’ goals should be related to your larger goals but they should be things that you know you can easily accomplish and preferably things you can accomplish easily on a daily basis.

This may seem like a silly thing to do, setting goals for yourself specifically so that you know you can reach them. But that’s kind of the point. Setting yourself up with a few goals you know you can accomplish will help instill in you the drive you’ll need to work for your larger goals.

Let’s go back to our weight loss example. What are some things you could do to contribute to weight loss and healthier living that you know you could accomplish on a daily basis?

- Getting the proper amount of rest every night
- Drinking your 8 glasses of water
- Tracking your caloric intake
- Taking a walk or a jog

These are all things that you might already be doing on a daily basis that you could use for the purposes of this exercise. Once you’ve decided on one or two things you’d like to commit to, track your success at those goals. Goals like drinking 8 glasses of water a day may seem tiny and insignificant, but you’ll be amazed at how good it makes you feel to know that you’ve accomplished your goal for that day. Once you have a week or two of successes with these kinds of goals under your belt, you’ll find that you’re itching to add more goals to your list. You’ll be well on the road to success in achieving your larger goals!

 

Keep Track of Your Goals and Your Progress.

Whether you consider yourself a visual person or not, one of the best things you can do for yourself is to create a visual representation of your goals. Maybe you’d like to create a poster with images of your long term goals and charts leading up to your short, intermediate, and long term goals. Maybe you’d prefer to keep a chart of your goals and your progress in a text document on your computer. Maybe you’d even prefer to use a website designed for helping track and reach your goals. Whatever method you prefer, decide on your goals and then record them and your progress toward them so that you can see where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going.

Recording daily or weekly successes in a visual way will help you maintain those feelings of accomplishment that will help you reach your longer term goals. Visualizing the end results you’re hoping to achieve will also give you a motivational push toward what you’re trying to accomplish.

Note: In situations where the goal is weight loss, it’s sometimes helpful to remember to use other measures of success beyond the numbers on the scale. This is where your ‘Starter’ goals will come in handy because, even when the scale isn’t showing your progress, you will still be able to feel like you’re working toward your goals if you’re meeting the goals of taking care of your body.

Reward Yourself!

This may seem pretty obvious, but all too often we forget to reward ourselves for the small victories as well as the larger ones. We generally remember to reward ourselves with a gorgeous new dress or new pair of shoes if we finally meet our weight loss goals, or we remember to reward ourselves with that luxurious cruise if we’ve met our goals of saving money or paying off bills, but we forget to reward ourselves for completing those ‘Starter’ goals and intermediate goals that are what enabled us to get to the finish line in the first place.Rewards don’t have to be large, but they are extremely important all the same. Because while completing a goal can be its own reward, it’s always nice to help reinforce that good feeling with more tangible rewards so that you will be even more motivated to keep on track.

What kinds of things can you reward yourself with? It’s good to tailor your rewards to your long term goals and gauge them according to the size of the goal you’ve completed. For ‘Starter’ goals, you might reward yourself at the end of a week or a month of accomplishing those goals and you might reward yourself with such things as ‘comfort items’ or free time to do things that you love to do but have a hard time working into your schedule. You could reward yourself with that new best-seller you’ve been dying to read, or a night off from the chores, or mini makeover or manicure and pedicure. Whatever that small thing is that you’ve wanted but couldn’t justify having, reward yourself with it when you meet your smaller goals.

For intermediate goals, go a little bigger, a little crazier. Spring for a full body massage, or a small shopping spree at your favorite store. See if you can get a sitter for a day and give yourself a mini vacation. Or maybe just go to the salon and get an exciting new hairstyle.

Whatever the reward, make sure it’s appropriate to the size of the goal you’ve just completed and make sure it’s something that you want but normally wouldn’t be able to have. Keeping rewards in proportion and keeping them exciting will help you ‘keep your eye on the prize’ and work that much harder for your goals.

Find and Maintain a Support System

Whether you look to your family, friends, or online forums, an emotional support system is the best gift you can give yourself no matter what your long terms goals happen to be. This is especially true if your goals center on weight loss or recovery from an illness or addiction. It’s important to have a group of people with whom you can share you experiences and from whom you can gain advice and support. No matter where your goals take you, you will find the journey far easier once you realize you’re not alone.

L. K. Smith is a writer with eclectic tastes, she finds herself engaged in topics ranging from Social Science, to television and movies.

If you’re having difficulty cutting the negative self talk, contact me for a free 20 minute consultation. I want to help you set and achieve your goals and see your dreams come true.

I Practice What I Preach

I love that I ‘practice what I preach’, it really does make what I say stand up with more meaning because I follow many of the same things that I suggest to my clients.

Just this past Tuesday I received an unexpected call from a writer for a popular newspaper here in the Washington, DC area. The gentleman on the other end of the telephone totally caught me off guard. He politely introduced himself then asked me if I would be available for an interview for an upcoming article that he was writing. I was delighted to have been asked but before I could fully digest his proposal to me, my mind immediately went into “frenzied-work” mode and I was thinking about what I would have to do to prepare for this interview.

What would I wear, what type of questions would he ask, what other appointments would I have to move around in order to make this last minute change to my schedule…etc. You get the picture.

After I “slowed” my mind I gathered more information from him and agreed to do the interview. When I asked him what exactly the interview would be about, he said “just a general talk”. My mind went blank, then frenzied again. What? No set topic, no burning questions you are just dying to know that I can “hyper-prepare” for. ACK! Again, I slow my mind and agree to meet him the next day (yes, the very next day).

Sometimes You Just Have To Do Things Afraid, Right?

After I told a few people about the interview and it all “sunk” in I had to laugh at myself and then I started to coach myself. Have you even been in a situation where you are unsure of the outcome? You aren’t really sure what will be asked of you but you know that you have to rise to the occasion and “just go for it”? Well, that’s exactly how I felt.

My 1st call was to my husband (bless his soul). He congratulated me, asked me what would happen with our son during the time I needed to be away from the home, reminded me that he was working late, then he quickly got off the phone because his office phone was ringing (smile).

My next call was to my best friend, Kim. She was totally supportive and with her I ran though some possible scenarios for the interview, both good and bad, just to be sure that I was stretching myself for whatever may be thrown my way.

The final group of people that I reached out to was my totally supportive, there 24/7, Mom Mastermind family (who by the way, without them the site that you are reading this post on probably wouldn’t even exist)! They congratulated me and also offered tips that could be used before as well as after the interview.

Thank Goodness For A Support Network!

As a life coach, I’m always there for my clients to help clear away the fog so that they can clearly see that first step of a challenge or opportunity they have to worth through. I am happy for the many “coaches” that I have available to me. I love being surrounded by people that I can use as a sounding board, mentors, advisors, trainers and motivators to help me to stay focused and to follow through on both my personal and professional goals.

Positive Self Talk Helps Conquer Goals

Do you feel like you are always talking yourself out of success? As soon as you start to set goals for yourself, do you suddenly have nagging thoughts about how you aren’t up to the task or how you simply aren’t qualified to carry it through?

If you have ever experienced either situation, you need to change the way you respond to your inner dialogue. Instead of obeying your negative commands, you can use positive self talk to counter the negativity and overcome nearly all anxious thoughts.

Setting Goals and Sticking to Them with Positive Self Talk

Are you initially filled with excitement when you first set goals for yourself? Are these thoughts then followed by self-doubt and self-defeating thoughts that stop you in your tracks before you even get started?

It can be difficult to make the most of your life when you are constantly talking yourself out of being a success. It can be frustrating and discouraging to have these thoughts constantly plaguing you. Many of us, in fact, don’t even realize we have them! All we know is that we don’t have the confidence to stick to our plans and reach our goals. But there’s another way!

Positive self talk is an effective way to set goals and ensure that you stick to them, even if you have never been able to do this before. The way this works is that you decide what goal is important to you, and then you plan the logistics of how you are going to attain this goal. When self-doubt starts kicking in, you will respond with affirmations that prove your success without surrendering to the negative pressure. Since you’re reading this article, it’s clear that you’re no quitter and you’re certainly not a failure, so start believing in yourself!

Re-Programming Your Mind

Affirmations are essentially positive statements that re-program your mind for the positive. The moment you have a self-defeating thought you’d be able to counter the negative with a motivating statement. An example of a positive affirmation is: “I am worthy of great success,” or “I see myself in the winner’s circle.” What this does is replace negativity with thoughts that will help you move toward your goals instead of further away from them.

Positive self talk is easier to implement than you might think. You may not be aware of the severity of the negative dialogue currently within your mind. However, once you begin with positive self talk, you will suddenly realize that you are self-sabotaging the goals you set for yourself from the minute that you make them. This process can open your eyes to exactly how much this inner conversation has been interfering with your life. You’ll feel hopeful that you can now set goals and surpass them.

Through positive self talk you will be able to easily set long and short-term goals for yourself. And when you use affirmations, you’ll have accessible tools to help you push yourself further than ever before. Learning to quiet negativity with positive thoughts is a great move toward setting and attaining future goals with ease.

If you’re having difficulty cutting the negative self talk, contact me for a free 20 minute consultation. I want to help you set and achieve your goals and see your dreams come true.

Tips to help you keep your Home Organized

Home organization might not be as easy for some as it is for others. Some people just naturally seem to be better at home organization than others. If you’re one of the not so fortunate people that home organization doesn’t come naturally for, here are some tips to help keep your home organized.

1. Don’t let the clutter collect. As often as possible, put items away or throw them away as soon as you are through using them. This includes mail, newspapers, dishes, dirty clothes, clean laundry, keys, DVDs and CDs; anything that tends to cause clutter. Get in the habit of putting it away, right away. This will save you hours of picking it up later.

2. Organize your closets, cupboards and drawers. Once these areas are cleaned out and organized it will be much easier to keep it organized. Make a home for everything; then once an item has a home, make sure everyone in your family knows about it and is instructed to return items to their home after use.

3. Get into a daily routine. Humans are naturally creatures of habit and we can make something a habit in as little as 21 days. You can apply this rule to your daily routine as well. Begin by setting a schedule for yourself. Include daily routines such as picking up clutter, doing dishes, washing laundry and cleaning bathrooms. You might be able to find time both morning and evening so your house always stays clean and organized.

Ask a friend or family member who is well organized to help you get organized. If you don’t have an organizational bone in your body, you may not be able to even begin the process of becoming organized on your own. You may need some outside assistance. If you have a friend or family member who is well organized, ask them to help you. You could even offer to pay them for their time and assistance. Together you could tackle the big job of organizing your home and then once it’s organized, keep it organized by practicing the steps above.

Getting organized and staying organized requires other skills such as time management, as well as a desire to be organized. Sometimes lack of organization in the home is a direct result of low self esteem or some other underlying issue. If you find yourself having a difficult time even having the desire to get organized, perhaps talking with someone like a life coach can help you find the underlying cause as well as give you some practical tips and steps to help you overcome the possible issues.   Click here for your free 20 minute consultation

Also check out Get Organized Now! – Its an amazing collection of 1,300 organizing tips, ideas and techniques to help you organize your home, your office and your life

How do you handle change/transition

Main Entry: ¹tran·si·tion
Pronunciation: \tran(t)-?si-sh?n, tran-?zi-, chiefly British tran(t)-?si-zh?n\
Function: noun

1 a : passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another : change 
1 b : a movement development, or evolution from one form, stage, or style to another
2 : an abrupt change in energy state or level (as of an atomic nucleus or a molecule) usually accompanied by loss or gain of a single quantum of energy.

Just about everything in life goes through a transition…Our economy, our jobs, the weather, our relationships.. you get the idea.  

Now that the school year is winding down and just about over, many parents are now transitioning out of a more rigid schedule of school drop offs and pick-ups, monitoring and checking homework and study times into a more relaxed time where children are either at home, spending time with family and friends or at some type of summer camp.  For me I find that the transition is always a little bumpy. Yes, can you believe it, me the life coach has a problem with certain “changes”!  Since I tend to be a creature of habit this I usually operate best with a solid schedule in front of me and I love consistency!  While I am a creature of habit and love a good ‘solid’ schedule I am always sure to leave a little of what I call “Wiggle Room” into my schedule just in case something come up.  For me when we (my 10yo and I) transition from school time to summer time it usually takes me about 10 days to adjust to the new “looser” schedule.  My son on the other hand, just jumps in and embraces it with both hands (heck actually his entire body). 

Usually during my “transition” time, I will lean on my own personal life coach, family and to help me to move into the new/next phase.  Often a transition can bring up some feelings of insecurity, and even fear.

What about you?  How do you deal with transitions and change?

How Moms can Make Money Helping other Moms

If it’s one thing moms can do it is stick together. Making life run smoothly with kids, home and career can be a tall order. Communicating with other moms helps to ease the stress. If you are looking for a business venture, why not make money helping moms just like yourself?

What will you offer to these moms? Well, your product is as close as your memory. Your expertise is the product you can market to moms everywhere. There are situations that you have encountered and overcome as a mom that other mothers are facing too. They could benefit from what you know to make their life a bit easier.

Packaging your Product – EBooks

Put your advice down on paper. You probably have a lot of good advice to offer but it won’t sound like much unless you can get it out of your brain and into a legible format. If you have a talent for writing this will be less of a challenge for you. Take a writing course to bone up on the finer points of writing outlines and organizing your thoughts on paper.

Your format for these organized thoughts is an eBook. Everyone has heard of them but might not know exactly what they are. An eBook is essentially a book in digital form. You can create and publish them yourself. For the work that you put into the project, you are greatly rewarded with pure profit.

The first consideration is the length of your eBook. A typical eBook can have as few as 70 pages or as many as 150. People will pay more for longer eBooks.

EBooks are popular media because they can be downloaded or printed in an instant. As soon as the payment is processed, the customer gains access to the eBook. No storage space other than what is on your computer or flash drive is needed to house the eBooks you buy.

Selling your EBooks

Consider your market – other moms. Let’s say that the subject of your eBook is getting a toddler through the terrible twos and threes. Fill your eBooks with information that moms want to know:

• Tips for bedtime
• Disciplinary tips
• Going out in public
• Dealing with mom stress
• Testimonials
• True life examples

All of these ideas can be used to flesh out your eBook. These same bullet points can be selling points for your eBook. When creating the eBook website page, use snippets from stories in the book, testimonials from others who have read the book and a partial list of chapters in the eBook as advertising on the page.

Condense chapters into enticing articles that you submit to article directories. Don’t give away too much because you want moms to buy your eBooks. Supply a link to your website in the resource box.

As a mom you can join online forums to share your helpful advice with other moms. Use a link to your eBook page in your signature line for easy access. As you develop a following on these forums, other members will visit your site and see your eBooks.

EBooks can be used to share information that you have learned as a mom with other moms. They are easy to create and with a marketing strategy, can bring large profit to your business.

See how real life coaching can help you further succeed in your online business with a free 20 minute, no strings attached, consultation.

10 Ways To Reduce Stress

Life can be stressful, there’s no doubt about it. You may be wondering how to turn down the pressure and learn to de-stress. Why not try one or more of these ten ways to reduce stress.

Full-body breathing

Deep breathing, or full-body breathing, is considered to be one of the best ways to reduce stress. Breathing deeply sends oxygen throughout your body and encourages the brain to calm which allows the body to relax. This is a great way to de-stress that won’t cost more than a little bit of time and effort on your part to master.

Control your temper

Failure to control anger can be detrimental to emotional and physical health. In fact, anger can result in additional stress you may not want. However, controlling your anger can help you reduce stress and relax. Learn not to take things personally which can help you control your anger which will results in being less stressed.

Head massage

If you’re stressed you may end up with a pounding headache. Although many people instinctively rub their temples to reduce tension and eyestrain, learning more about head massage or finding someone trained to give them may be one way to turn down pressure in your life.

Think positive

You may have been instructed to “think positive” on occasion. Positive thoughts and self-talk can actually reduce stress by focusing on good things rather than bad. Some researchers claim optimists will live longer, have better health, and have less stress. Try it today and see if it’s true for you.

Get some exercise

Exercise is a tried and true way to reduce stress. Not only is exercise good for you physically, it also releases endorphins which will improve your mood and outlook. Exercise doesn’t have to be strenuous to do your body good – a daily walk outside can do wonders to relieve stress and help you feel better.

Find something to laugh about

It’s been said that laughter is the best medicine, and it seems science has proven this fact. Laughter reduces stress and exercises the internal organs. The effects of laughter can also remain after you’ve stopped laughing. Find a silly movie and laugh away; it does your body good.

Keep a journal

Writing out things that frustrate you helps reduce stress as well as give you clarity of thought. If you’re able to see a situation clearly, you’ll feel less stressed about it. Grab a pen, some paper, or your computer, and feel the stress ease away.

Meditate

Meditation has long been used to combat stress. It also helps with physical pain and enables you to feel more peaceful. Spending fifteen minutes in meditation can calm the mind and help you re-focus when you have to return to your normal day.

Take a bubble bath

Women have this relaxation technique mastered, but the benefit of bubble baths isn’t only for women. If you’re overtired and stressed, time in bubbles can do wonders to restore peace to your mind and reduce the effects of stress on your body.

Get plenty of rest

If you’re not sleeping well, it’s not unusual to feel stressed. Lack of sleep can also lead to a short temper, lack of concentration, and physical tiredness. Sleeping will help reduce stress, and re-charge your mind and body for what the day holds in store.

Life can be stressful, but there’s no reason you can’t use these ten ways to reduce stress to help you turn down the pressure of life. You can use them individually or in combination for added stress-reducing benefits.

If you’re having trouble with learning how to reduce stress, click here for a free 20 minute, no strings attached consultation with a certified life coach