Ideally, Christmas should be a time of joy, peace, and good family times. For many, however, financial worries overshadow the holiday, causing unneeded stress. My family and I know this stress first-hand.
Because my husband and I are both going through treatment for cancer (yes, unfortunately…both of us), neither of us are currently able to work outside the home. A side note here is that it’s been a wonderful opportunity to focus once again on my home business, but that’s a topic for another post.
So how do you take a time of year that’s stressful because of tight (or almost non-existent) finances and make it one of joy?
One big answer lies in having a frugal Christmas. Don’t believe the lies that the holidays have to be a time of extravagance. It is entirely possible to save money on your holiday meals and gifts. Following are some ways to save big money…and maybe have enough left over to buy treats for Santa’s reindeer.
1. Save moolah on your vittles. The grocery stores in your area probably send out weekly fliers (if you don’t get them in your mailbox, look in the Sunday paper). Don’t just recycle these — actually read them. I’ve saved a lot of money by utilizing these sales fliers. See which store has the best deals, and shop there. (I usually have two or three stores that I’ll bounce between — thankfully, they’re all pretty close together.) Clip coupons, too, and do so for at least three or four weeks before you plan to shop for the holiday meal. That way, you’ll have a good stash of coupons to choose from and a better chance of finding the ones you need. The week of your shopping trip, match up as many coupons as you can with the stores’ sales fliers. You could save twice on some items!
Some stores have their own coupons. My local Fred Meyer will give me a discount on something they have a coupon for even if I don’t have that particular coupon with me. All I have to do is ask.
Also, stock up on non-perishables as they go on sale in the weeks before Christmas. It’s another great way to save money, but you’ll also save yourself from the stress of “the big holiday shopping trip.”
Finally, go through your cupboards or pantry. Be creative and use what you have. Didn’t use all the cranberry sauce or pumpkin at Thanksgiving? Cranberry sauce looks just as much at home on a Christmas dinner table, and that can of pumpkin can be turned into bread, muffins, or cookies. Or pie.
2. Share the holiday meal duties. If you’re getting together with extended family, another way to save money on your holiday dinner is to make it a potluck. You can make the main dish and have others bring side dishes, drinks, and desserts. Most people love being able to contribute to the holiday meal. It will make them feel good to show off their best dish, so ask.
3. Put away the plastic! Do you max out the bank account and maybe even the credit cards when you buy Christmas gifts? Take advantage of layaway. Quite a few stores are bringing back this practice. You shop for your items, take them to the store’s layaway counter, and put down a percentage of the total. Over the following weeks you continue making payments until they’re paid off and you can take them home.
4. More creative gift buying. Purchase gifts when they’re on sale throughout the year. (Just don’t forget where you hide them!) An alternative to doing this is to set aside a certain amount of money each payday specifically for Christmas. Put the money in an envelope in a desk drawer, or better yet, in a designated savings account — where it might be a little less tempting to borrow from.
5. Homemade…and handmade…with love (or maybe just out of necessity). If you’re crafty, you can make gifts for some of the people in your life. You can put together cookie mixes in jars, coffee lovers’ baskets filled with mugs and their favorite coffee beans, scented eye pillows, etc. The sky is the limit, really. If you can make it, someone is sure to appreciate it. This is a great idea for gifts for teachers, neighbors, and others who’ve played an important part in your family’s lives throughout the year.
6. It really IS the thought that counts. Finally, if money is super tight this season, give fewer gifts to extended family and friends, or at least gifts that cost less. Do you really need to keep buying $20-30 gifts for nieces and nephews who are 18 or older? If you don’t want to stop buying for them, try giving them gift cards to a favorite store, coffee shop, or for iTunes for $5-15 instead. Look for other ways to cut costs in gift giving. Is there a friend you buy a gift for every year who never reciprocates? Perhaps this year’s gift can just be a card.
Hopefully, you’ve gotten some good ideas and have been inspired to save money this Christmas season. Make it merry!
I love your comments! What are some of your favorite ways to have a merry-yet-frugal holiday season?
================================================= Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.
Our coffee table in our family room was spread with a red checked tablecloth (one we usually use for outdoor picnics), and absolutely smothered with the makings of an impromptu taco bar. We had the taco meat (ground turkey, of course), grated cheese, chopped lettuce, diced tomatoes, sour cream, and taco sauce, accompanied by refried beans, Spanish rice, apple juice, plates, cups, ice…the works.
And I held in my hand the remote, so I could push the “OK” button to start our movie, “Secretariat.” Soon, we were enjoying our meal and watching what turned out to actually be a really good movie, interrupted just twice by our five-year-old’s requests to go to the bathroom.
It didn’t occur to me until the next day what actually happened: We’d had FAMILY TIME, and it went off without a hitch. Better than that, it was fun. Even my youngest sat still for the whole movie and, finicky eater that she usually is, put away four tacos all by herself.
When I’d tried to pull together family nights in the past, I was usually met with groans because my kids had other things they wanted to do (friends to see, places to go), or they didn’t want to watch any of the movies I’d suggested.
This time, when I said we were having a family movie night, I got shrugs and an “okay” from everyone. My 18-year-old had the night off, no one else had plans, and the only issue was deciding on a movie. Finally I just said, “How about ‘Secretariat’?” And that was that.
It was such a good evening.
Usually, our family is going in different directions, even if we’re all at home. Someone might be playing a video game, someone might be texting a friend, someone might be on the computer, someone else might be watching TV. And it’s easy to let those irreplaceable moments slip by without even trying to grasp them in our hands.
My oldest child is turning 19 this month. My second oldest is turning 17 in April. I’ll have a 16-year-old this fall. And my baby just turned five. Try as I might to slow down the years, I haven’t been able to yet.
I’ve been realizing more and more that time with our families is precious. I don’t mean to sound archaic by using that word — “precious” — but it really is. Like gemstones, those moments are precious. They’re sweet…to be treasured and savored…irreplaceable.
How many more days will we have like this? Before I know it, my kids will be grown and gone, starting families of their own. How much time is robbed from our families by the TV, the Internet, the cell phone? How much time do we give to all the activities we’re convinced our kids have to be involved in so they can grow up well-rounded? (Don’t get me wrong — I think activities like sports, dance, and the like are healthy, but there needs to be balance.)
Think about your own family. When is the last time you got everyone together just to enjoy being together? Just to savor the moments before they’re gone? I encourage you to do that soon. Set aside some time this weekend to do just that. Here are some ideas for things you can do with your family:
As we did, have a movie and taco night. Or have pizza, or play a board game.
Do you have little ones? If the weather permits it, take a picnic to the park. Your kids can play until they’re tuckered out and be nice and ready to sit and have lunch (and maybe even sleep well for that nap when you get home).
Go for a drive. When our kids were younger, we would go for drives out toward Mount Rainier. We wouldn’t always make it there, sometimes stopping at other attractions along the way, but sometimes we did. It was always a good day if we found a little bit of snow for them to stomp around in or throw at each other.
Volunteer. Find a nearby soup kitchen and get your kids involved in serving the less fortunate in your community. Not only will that create a memory, but they’ll be learning compassion.
Take a walk in your neighborhood, or find a nearby walking trail.
Spend the day at the local aquarium or zoo.
I hope that’s given you a good starting point. It doesn’t matter what you choose for your family time as long as you just make it happen.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and how your family spends time together. Leave a comment below!
================================================= Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.
It’s the same thing every morning. First, my alarm clock goes off (set to a very staticky radio station that I never seem to get around to fixing). I smack at it with an arm that had fallen asleep during the night — how ironic is that — then feel around blindly for my glasses. A few minutes later, I’m shuffling down the hallway…holding my trusty iPhone, my cat at my heels.
My husband usually wakes earlier than I do (and I’m up — most days — by 6 or 6:30), so he makes the coffee. I stumble into the kitchen, eyes squeezed shut against the too-bright lights, pour coffee and a little flavored creamer into a travel mug, and wander into the living room (the extent of my travels).
I turn on my phone, read something out of the YouVersion Bible app (my favorite way to start the morning), and sip at my coffee before moving on to the news apps. I am a total news junkie, and just like spending that time with God, not checking the news every morning would just leave me feeling like I was forgetting something. Seriously — I have six news apps on my phone. (I may or may not have just admitted that.)
Next, I move on to check my email inbox, searching through the junk for something sent by a real person — any real person, then it’s on to Facebook to read messages sent to me and to see what others could possible have to say at such an awkwardly early hour (well, early for me — many of my online friends live in entirely different time zones, and some in different countries).
Some mornings I’ll feel a little guilty for starting my day like this. But I’ve come to realize that this is just what I do. It’s how I wake up and prepare for my day. It’s a ritual, and it’s one that’s a part of who I am. I have the luxury…for now, at least…of starting my day off in a very easy-going manner. Why start off frazzled if I don’t need to?
I have no other rituals until the clock strikes 10 o’clock or so. It’s then — provided my wily five-year-old has gone to sleep — that my husband and I sit down in our family room and watch Seinfeld and Frasier reruns. The shows are still funny, and it’s our time together. I love starting and ending my day with these rituals. Somehow, I think it keeps me feeling balanced, if that makes sense.
It’s a rare woman, indeed, who hasn’t experienced some kind of stress-inducing upheaval in her life. Stress and anxiety that sticks around over a prolonged amount of time can also lead to depression (as you may know). Sometimes that depression can be very deep, or it can be such a light fog that it’s become your “new normal” until it’s diagnosed by a professional. In this current time in our nation’s history, when so many are experiencing financial hardship, that very stress+anxiety=depression equation is affecting many, many people.
You may be one of those women, or perhaps you’re facing other issues — small or large — that are causing you to feel some stress in your life. If you don’t have a ritual of your own, I strongly recommend that you create one. Maybe you don’t have an iPhone to have coffee with (sometimes my husband joins in on the conversation, which I also consider part of my morning ritual), and perhaps you can’t stand sitcom reruns, but I’m sure you can think of something you enjoy doing. In fact, you’re probably thinking of it right now.
Rituals are an important part of our lives because they provide a sense of sameness, of stability. We know, almost instinctively, that small children need rituals because those very rituals help them to feel safe and secure. Bedtime, for example, goes a little easier for all involved if the child knows that getting pajamas on, brushing teeth, reading a story, and perhaps a sleepy-time prayer are all a part of the routine. In the same way, rituals can also help us moms, who often feel we carry the weight of our worlds on our shoulders, to feel a little more safe and secure.
If you’re on your computer Facebooking with friends…and coffee…first thing in the morning, that is a ritual. Enjoy it! If you have a favorite show you watch on a regular basis, that’s a ritual, too. Enough with the guilt! Your ritual needs to be something you enjoy, not something someone else thinks you should do (like going for a walk with the dog at o’dark-thirty every day…unless you want to, of course).
Another ritual of mine is working out. Because we’re a busy family of six, I don’t always get to exercise right when I want to, but I consider it a comforting ritual when I’m able to do it. (Though perhaps “comforting” isn’t the best word to describe Jillian Michaels’ “30-Day Shred”!)
So, ladies, if you don’t have a ritual, get one — we all need some semblance of normal in our everyday lives. I would love to hear what your rituals are, if you’d like to share. Leave your comments below.
I have a confession to make: I got a little spoiled this summer. With three teens and a four-year-old, it was nice only having to make lunch for one of them. The older ones were on their own when it came to making their lunches, and didn’t seem to mind one bit.
Now that school has begun again (for two of them, anyway — one graduated last June), I’m back to my job as chief lunch maker. They do make their own lunches to take on occasion, but I’m still the one who decides which foods will be in the cupboards and fridge to pick from.
The hardest part, for me, is variety — making sure they don’t get tired of the same-old, same-old. The easiest part is making sure they’re not getting junk, and it’s easy for one reason: I read food packaging labels and I know what I’m looking for.
My “dream lunch” to send to school with my kids would be something like this:
Turkey sandwich on whole wheat
Fruit
Veggies with healthy ranch dip
Crackers with no added MSG, sugar, or high fructose corn syrup
Water or milk
But…that’s not always possible, nor what they want on a daily basis. Sometimes I’ll give in (Doritos, cookies), but only a little, and not too often. It’s easy to throw a lunch together with conveniently-packaged snack foods from the grocery store, but it really doesn’t take that much effort to make it healthier.
At the very least, keep an eye out at the grocery store (yes, read labels while you’re shopping) for the usual criminals: monosodium glutamate (a.k.a. MSG), high fructose corn syrup (HFSC), bad fats, and artificial sweeteners.
Why? MSG is a known neurotoxin that never leaves the human body and has been proven to cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals. HFCS can wreak havoc on the body and is thought to make certain people more prone to developing diabetes, and artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose (Splenda), Nutra Sweet, and others are chemically derived, can cause symptoms like headaches and depression, and can contribute to obesity by actually causing you to actually crave real sugar…after all, you can’t really fool your own body — at least not for very long.
I’m always amazed at how many prepackaged foods contain food additives like the ones mentioned above. (MSG is also known by many other names. Read this post to learn more.)
We parents hold our children’s health in our hands…literally. It is vital to make sure we’re feeding them the healthiest foods possible and are teaching them good habits now. I realize it’s not always possible to keep this stuff out of our cupboards (especially if you aren’t the only grocery shopper in your family), but at least getting started — and making changes, no matter how small — is the important thing.
In the spirit of the highly popular book series, Eat This, Not That, I’d like to share with you some good substitutes for your kids’ school lunches. I’ve compiled a list of common not-so-healthy lunchbox items and their more nutritious counterparts (notice I didn’t say “perfect,” just “more nutritious”). You’ll notice that some of the items do contain sugar, but when it comes right down to it, I’d rather my kids have a small amount of sugar than HFCS or chemically-derived artificial sweeteners. Our bodies at least know what to do with regular sugar (eat it or store it as fat), but simply gets confused by the others.
Peanut butter. Here is a good example of choosing “the lesser of two evils.” I know what you’re thinking…how could peanut butter possibly be evil? I love peanut butter as much as the next kid (I’m a kid at heart), but there are two things to watch out for: calories and fats. Rather than do an all-out comparison, I’ll just recommend two brands that I’ve bought, eaten, and fed to my own family.
The first is Skippy Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. The only ingredients are roasted peanuts, sugar (3 g. per 2 tbsp.), palm oil, and salt. There’s much debate about palm oil, but it’s healthier than regular Skippy Peanut Butter, which contains cottonseed, soybean, and rapeseed oils. (Oops, I guess I just did a comparison.) Skippy Natural has 190 calories per two tablespoons; 140 of those are from fat.
The second I’m going to recommend is Adam’s 100% Natural Creamy Peanut Butter. It has more calories at 210 per two tablespoons, 150 of those being from fat. Yikes. However, its only ingredients are roasted peanuts and salt. Adam’s Peanut Butter is an acquired taste, I’ll admit, especially if your kids are used to regular peanut butter, which is sweeter and more processed.
Jelly and/or Jam. Do NOT buy “low sugar” or “sugar free” unless it’s from the nutrition section of the store. I can pretty much guarantee it will contain artificial sweeteners. (Smucker’s Simply Fruit “Low Sugar” variety has the NutraSweet logo right on the label.) Also, avoid jams and jellies with HFCS. My favorite sweetened-with-sugar-only brand is Danish Orchards.
Crackers. Many store-bought cracker varieties contain MSG and HFCS. There’s no need for it! It’s one of my chief frustrations while shopping to see foods that are full of this garbage being marketed toward our children. Even Cheez-It crackers — the regular variety contains MSG. The same brand’s whole grain variety does not, so if your kids like Cheez-Its as much as mine do, get the whole grain ones. They don’t taste ANY different.
Capri Sun. Ah, memories. My mom put Capri Sun pouches in my lunch when I was in junior high school (back in the…ahem…early 80s). There are more varieties of Capri Sun now, so being a vigilant parent is very important if you buy them for your kids. Depending on the variety, you could be giving your kids HFCS or artificial sweeteners (sucralose, in this case, which caused serious depression in me last year…so I know first hand how bad it is). Stay away, for example, from the Roarin’ Waters variety. It’s clear in color, so it makes you think it’s healthier. NOT. Roarin’ Waters contains sucralose, identified as “Splenda brand sweetener” on the ingredients list. If a child can’t have sugar, I can understand why a parent might need to buy items with artificial sweeteners once in a while. HOWEVER, Roarin’ Waters also contains sugar along with the sucralose. If someone could explain the reasoning behind that, go ahead: I’m all ears!
Instead of Roarin’ Waters, buy instead the Original Capri Sun, which is sweetened only with sugar and real juice concentrates. Their Sunrise variety is also sweetened only with sugar, and their 100% Juice line is just as it says…100% juice. See my previous post on Capri Suns here.
Of course, my favorite (and usual) drink to send along with my kids in their lunches is bottled purified water.
I hope this article has given you some “food for thought.” If you remember none of what you read here, at least remember this: READ LABELS before you buy. Steer clear of MSG, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, trans fats (and saturated fats, when possible). If it doesn’t sound natural, it most likely isn’t. Also, when you can, avoid unnecessary sugar. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind when reading labels is this: A long list of ingredients gives you a long list of reasons to not buy that particular product.
Stay tuned this week — I’ll be giving you healthy breakfast options for your kids, healthy sandwich ideas, and more!
Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and come join the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook page by clicking here.
The trend of moms working from home to be near their children has grown in the last couple of years. Now that they have found jobs or businesses to run, they’re starting to realize that working from home is not as easy as they thought it would be. The work they do is hard to separate form their personal lives, which makes it hard to schedule time for work responsibilities and home duties.
The workspace these moms use to do their jobs at ends up being a part of their household, so that makes dividing work and home life even more difficult to do — and one of the motivating reasons for creating my Balancing Work and Family guide. Imagine that your office is a part of the dining room, which also happens to be the room where you eat your meals as a family. How easy is it going to be for you to leave your work life to be with your family when the office is 5 feet away from the dinner table?
The realities of dividing work and personal life can get smudged for work at home moms. When that happens, one’s stress level is sure to rise, which could jeopardize one’s sanity. To prevent your sanity from leaving, you should find ways to ensure that separation takes place between your job/business and your family life.
Assess the current situation. Try to find an area, within your home, to have your office so that it won’t interfere with your family life. The home office needs a room with a door where you can be apart from the rest of the house. A den or a garage can be converted into office space that is exclusive to your business. Some people have resorted to placing their office in the laundry room, just because it has a door! When that is not an option, set up shop in your bedroom to keep it away from the family areas.
Organization is the next step. A messy desk can be a huge distraction when trying to work. Everything needs to have its place. If you worked in an office, your boss would not stand for a messy work space. There’s no difference when you’re office is at home and not at the worksite.
Use inexpensive organizing items, such as baskets with separate compartments to help organize the odds and ends on your desk. You can keep rubber stamps, letters, invoices, pens, pencils, and the like in here. Organization makes finding things much easier, which results in a more relaxed work day.
Keep your business phone separate from the family phone line. When using the same line, you run the risk of your children answering business calls or picking up the phone during a conference call. This causes your professionalism to fly right out the window and takes your customers or employers along with it.
The same goes for the computer. It’s best to keep your business computer separate from what the other family members use, but budgets don’t always allow for this. In that case, make sure that the business/job files and documents can’t be easily accessed by anyone but you. This will help prevent some of the stress that could be brought on by family members stumbling on a client’s important document and accidentally deleting them.
Be sure to use calendars or planners as they are very helpful when trying to keep track of business appointments or deadlines and family appointments. This will lessen the stress of setting up family appointments when you’ve forgotten about business deadlines you have.
Consider hiring a sitter on days you have a lot of work to do. Being a work at home mom gives you the benefit of controlling your own schedule. Having a sitter keeps the kids away from your office and gives you quiet time to focus on your work and gives your kids a chance to have fun without you feeling too guilty.
Mixing business with family in the home setting can be a major source of stress. Keeping the business side of your life organized and separate is crucial to success in keeping your stress levels down and your sanity intact.
==================================================== Get More Help:
Working at home can be extremely rewarding, but it’s challenging. Get the help you need with Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. It’s your practical guide to tracking your time, setting priorities, learning to say no and achieving that balance you strive for.
Time is one of the most important resources that we have. Time is one thing that you can’t swap, borrow or purchase. We are all given the same 24 hours to each day. Even with all of our modern day time-saving conveniences such as e-mail, fax machines, microwaves, and dish washers, there is no way to get more hours into your day. It is up to each of us to make the very best use of our time since we can’t get it back.
Here are some time saving tips that you can use to optimize and free up your precious time:
Double Up. One way to maximize your time is to double it up. Try exercising while vacuuming or while watching TV. While you are talking to your children, use that time to go through their back packs and ask them about their day. During your down time chats with your girlfriend on the phone, why not clip coupons or browse through the sales paper.
Make Use of Services Available To You. Take advantage of pick-up and delivery services offered by neighborhood stores, dry cleaners, and restaurants. One wonderful service to look into would be to hiring a teenager or an errand service to run certain errands for you.
Schedule Like Tasks at the Same Time. Instead of sitting in front of your computer all day returning e-mails as they arrive, try to return all e-mails during the same block of time. Set aside an hour or so to return multiple e-mails as opposed to doing it sporadically all day.
Combine Your Outdoor Errands. When you are out grocery shopping also pick up your needed prescriptions, run to the post office, and fill up your gas tank. By doing this you will not have to leave the house 3 or 4 times in the same day.
Organize Your Home. We spend so much time looking for things, trying to re-create things that have been lost, and cleaning up clutter. Create a spot in your home where you keep, record, and pay your bills, and store your stamps, envelopes, and other things that you use frequently. Don’t forget about your children. How many minutes or hours a day do you spend looking for shoes, socks, toys, or that favorite stuffed animal? Arrange things so that your children can take care of some of their everyday needs. Try using shoe racks that hang on the closet door so that your children can hang up their shoes. Use clear storage containers for small toys and a desk for storing all of the arts and crafts supplies.
Make Use Of Small Bits of Time. Take care of small projects during waiting periods. For example, if you find yourself waiting in the doctors office, why not use that time to plan and write out your grocery list or “To Do” list. If you use public transportation use that time to read those magazines that have been piling up.
Plan Ahead. We can’t always foresee what will be needed but we can be prepared for certain things. Pick and set out your children’s clothes the night before. When you are cooking dinner, double the recipe and freeze half of it to be used for a meal in the upcoming weeks. Before you go to bed, create a short list of the things that you have to do the next day.
Be sure to allow for some flexibility in your schedule. If the sun starts shining on what you thought was going to be a rainy day, grab those children and head to the park or take an impromptu trip to the zoo! Just make sure to take care of yourself and be wise about your time.
Aurelia Williams, certified Personal Life Coach and owner of Real Life Coaching and author of the Journey to Joy ebook. Learn to quit running yourself ragged: Take the Journey to Joy instead.
Take heart, crazybusy mamas: Cooking potatoes just got a whole lot quicker! I don’t want to give away the gist of the video, because you’ve got to see it for yourself. All I’m going to say is this: “Put away your peeler.” My jaw dropped at the end of this video; yours probably will, too. As for my potato peeler, it’s staying in the drawer.
Enjoy this video — it’s very quick! By the way, it’s hosted by Dawn Wells, a.k.a. “Mary Ann” of Gilligan’s Island fame. (No, she’s not selling anything — this is just for fun.)
Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at CrazyBusyMama.com, a blog created to inspire and motivate busy mamas everywhere to feel healthy, fit, and in control of their lives. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sdinius, and become a member of the CrazyBusy Mama Facebook fan page by clicking here.
An interesting re-think of time management by guest blogger Cindy Dachuk. Enjoy.
If you are anything like me, then you likely find yourself overloaded with more things to do in a day than can possibly be accomplished. We use technology more to stay on top of things, and to keep in touch with everyone, than to free up our time. We try to cram as much as possible into our workday, to be as productive as possible, in the vain hope that perhaps we won’t have to work late or take work home to catch up.
Is it little wonder then that we are always on the search for the latest tool or tip that helps us manage our time more efficiently? After all, that’s the real issue, isn’t it? Not having enough of that precious commodity – time. Or… is it?
Maybe, instead of continuing to work at managing our time and tasks more effectively, we need to reframe our thinking. The issue with time is that it’s finite. No matter how you do the math, there are only 24 hours in a day. Instead of learning to manage your time more efficiently you have to learn manage the Energy you bring to your tasks.
Much of the early research on energy management comes to us from the world of sports, but it is just as applicable to our day-to-day work lives. Heck… to our lives in general! As a professional athlete, it is essential to understand exactly what it takes to achieve consistent, peak performance. Research has shown that though it is important to hone the technical skills each athlete brings to their respective sport, it is essential that they maximize the Energy output in order to increase performance.
We may not be operating our daily lives at the same physical level as professional athletes, but the machines we’re using to accomplish our work (our bodies) are the same. The challenge for us though, is that we are typically asked to ‘perform’ for 8 hours a day, a minimum of 5 days a week, without the benefit of the knowledge or training that athletes receive.
A key training method of elite athletes is known as Periodization, first introduced by the early Greeks. Periodization is the concept of improving performance through balancing periods of activity with periods of rest. Consider your typical work day though. You likely…
- Wake up to an alarm clock blaring at you
- Race through your morning routine to get out the door as quickly as possible to beat the traffic
- Move from one task to another, one meeting to another, with no pause
- Take lunch at your desk so you can continue to work… you wouldn’t want to ‘waste’ time!
- Race home, work tucked under your arm
- Fix dinner – Spend time with the kids (that all-important ‘quality’ time!)
- Squeeze in a little more work
- Collapse in front of the television to ‘vegetate’
- Drag yourself to bed so you can get up tomorrow to do it all again!
Where was the rest, the renewal, in your day? Oh… right… it’s called vacation and it doesn’t come daily, it comes annually! We live in a world where ‘busyness’ is worn like a badge of honour and where renewal and recovery get ignored. However, our ability to be fully engaged at work, to be optimally productive, depends upon our ability to periodically ‘disengage’ successfully.
Building moments of recovery into your work day will enable you to engage in your tasks more fully and passionately. Research has clearly shown that productivity increases when people build in periods of renewal into their work day. Even though they are ‘breaking’ more, they get more done than those choosing to work ‘flat out’. Some of the most creative thinkers (such as daVinci and Einstein) were strong advocates of breaks, to allow their subconscious minds to work out the problem at hand.
I have clients that will not schedule any meeting exceeding 90 minutes in length, without scheduling a break, recognizing the link of our energy levels to our body’s natural Ultradian Rhythms. And… really… most meetings run needlessly long anyway!
Consider breaking your day into 90-120 minute blocks of time. Rather than fighting these natural body rhythms, defer to them instead. A break needn’t be long in duration for it to provide you with enough of a rest for your energy and focus to improve. Potential ideas for workday renewal breaks?
- take a walk
- read a chapter of a book, or listen to one
- listen to music
- do some light stretches
- prepare and eat a light, healthy snack
- work on a puzzle, crossword, sudoku
You get the idea! Whatever activity would work best for you and relieve you of some of the physical and mental stress you’ve experienced so far. Allow your mind to switch gears, take a break from the task at hand, so that it can be more focused when you return. Odds are that the solution to the problem you were stuck on before the break, is waiting for you upon your return!
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About the Author: As the President of the Titan Training Group, Cindy Dachuk has traveled throughout the United States and Canada delivering workshops and training programs, primarily in: Understanding Style Differences, Personality-Based Persuasion, Executive Presence, Personal Branding, Gender Differences, Personal Presentation Skills. Cindy’s work as a Personal Coach has provided her with the opportunity to work with clients on a one-on-one basis, mentoring them in the development of a personal plant of action. Her book, It’s Time Now, is based on her experiences in helping others identify and achieve their life goals. http://www.titantraining.ca
The start of a new year always gives me the urge to make changes around my house. I’m a redecorator at heart — my interior decor style has changed often over the years and though I may not always be financially able to change our furnishings and colors at will, the desire is there.
Oh, for a few thousand dollars to switch things up again! I can dream….
Getting back to reality, I wanted to share a great link with you that I found today. Martha Stewart’s team has put together a visual list of 100 ways to get organized around your home. I usually shy away from that type of article, as the ideas are usually boring and regurgitated. These, however, are just plain fun. You’ll find yourself saying, “I can do that!” or “That’s a fun idea!” Or maybe you won’t, but I sure was.
(I particularly liked the tea cup jewelry organizer — keep an eye out for it. As the owner of way too many tea cups, it looks like a fun and girly idea to try.)
The other tips are, for the most part, much more practical — but still fun. Enjoy!
I’m feeling a little under the weather today (another cold), so I wanted to share a treat with you. If you’ve ever wanted to start your own blog, specifically a WordPress blog, guest blogger Kelly McCausey wants to help you learn how. Settle in and read on!
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WordPress is the website building tool of choice for many business owners these days. It’s a great option. No software needed on your computer, great functionality and flexibility – and you can update your site content from any computer, netbook or smart phone. It’s no wonder that it’s become so popular.
You’ve probably heard that WordPress is incredibly user friendly – and it is! Still, most first time users find it overwhelming at first. If you ever tried to tackle WordPress on your own and felt like giving up, you’re not at all alone. There’s a lot to take in at first.
I was lucky though. I had several patient friends available to help me over the learning curve. Still, I wouldn’t say that I felt truly comfortable for months after. The more I got to know it, the more I realized that WordPress is both simple and complex all at the same time.
If you only want to use WordPress to publish content, it’s pretty darned simple. The visual editor operates like any basic word processor. You enter content, press publish and you’re finished.
Think of WordPress as being three things at once.
1. It’s a Content Management Script that runs on your web server, letting you enter content as easily as writing an email.
2. Your content is stored in a Database on your web server.
3. Finally, it wears a Theme, a set of template files, that determines how the content is displayed online.
Entering content is easy. The database takes care of itself. Customization, want to alter your design and manipulate the database for special needs, you have to tap a whole other area of knowledge and that’s where many get stuck.
There’s good news and bad news for those who want to learn more about managing their WordPress site. The good news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users who are willing to answer your questions. The bad news is that there’s a huge resource of documents and a large community of developers and users…
The trouble for newcomers is usually that they don’t know how to ask the right questions to produce the answers they really need. The documents and forums seem to be written in a foreign language and newbie questions are often answered with links to more foreign explanations that just add to their feelings of overwhelm.
My advice? Don’t give up. Keep asking questions. To get the best answers, provide as much information about your problem as you can. If you’re persistent, you’ll find that things come easier over time.
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Kelly McCausey of Mom’s Talk Biz invites you to WordPress Orientation, your all access pass to exclusive WordPress learning. We demonstrate answers to your questions during our live web conference sessions. If you’re goal is to do it yourself, WordPress Orientation is your pathway to learning how.
(Psst! You can also listen to some great podcasts Kelly has put together by going to WAHMTalk Radio. ~ Sally)
Ideally, Christmas should be a time of joy, peace, and good family times. For many, however, financial worries overshadow the holiday, causing unneeded stress. My family and I know this stress first-hand.
I have a confession to make: I got a little spoiled this summer. With three teens and a four-year-old, it was nice only having to make lunch for one of them. The older ones were on their own when it came to making their lunches, and didn’t seem to mind one bit. 
Capri Sun. Ah, memories. My mom put 
Sally Dinius is writer-in-chief here at 
Time is one of the most important resources that we have. Time is one thing that you can’t swap, borrow or purchase. We are all given the same 24 hours to each day. Even with all of our modern day time-saving conveniences such as e-mail, fax machines, microwaves, and dish washers, there is no way to get more hours into your day. It is up to each of us to make the very best use of our time since we can’t get it back.
workday, to be as productive as possible, in the vain hope that perhaps we won’t have to work late or take work home to catch up.
Building moments of recovery into your work day will enable you to engage in your tasks more fully and passionately. Research has clearly shown that productivity increases when people build in periods of renewal into their work day. Even though they are ‘breaking’ more, they get more done than those choosing to work ‘flat out’. Some of the most creative thinkers (such as daVinci and Einstein) were strong advocates of breaks, to allow their subconscious minds to work out the problem at hand.
