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Archive for the ‘Self Help and Motivational’ Category

“Optimal living” is about gaining the momentum to overcome the the influences and forces that are holding you back from personal development or transformation. We call the idea of overcoming these obstacles “achieving escape velocity”. Optimal Living is the practical side of achieving escape velocity. It’s about the changes you can make in your environment, relationships, living arrangements and your approach to solving the survival needs you have in life.

The main focus of Optimal Living is about creating a firm, stable and sustainable foundation from which to launch your foray’s into the mysteries of transformation. In other words, an “optimal situation” that will greatly enhance your ability to achieve your personal development, transformation or spiritual growth.

The blocks or obstacles to achieving self actualization / realization seem to be centered around three arenas of our life. These three arenas are interdependent. First, in order to do or achieve anything, we need energy. This is the first and most foundational arena. We call it your “Energy Reservoir”. We also need time and the ability to pay attention to what we are trying to accomplish or create. This is what we refer to as the “Freedom Factor”. Thre are many things in life that can rob us of time and attention if we let them. The third factor we need to look at is what we call “Memetic Undertow”. Memetic Undertow is a general term that covers all kinds of ideas, emotions and beliefs that can stop us from achieving “escape velocity”. Let’s look at these one at a time.

Energy Reservoir
Physical energy, mental energy and motivational energy are the three main types we have to deal with. If we are lacking in any one of the three, we won’t be able to accomplish much. It makes sense to insure yourself against “running out” of any of these fuels. The best way to keep your physical energy up is to eat well and stay fit. Also, don’t overdo it on heavy working out because this could be counter productive. Remember we are shooting for “Optimal”. This means you try to get the most gain with the least amount of energy. One method I have found that works well is the “slow burn” method. It is simple and quick.

Mental energy is the ability to think clearly and face reality instead of falling into confusion or negative thinking. The best way to get clear on what is going on in our minds is through self inquiry and contemplation. Two other forms of mental work are: Questioning and Mindfulness. Also, you need the proper rest if you use your mind to solve problems in a stressful environment at your place of work. Try meditation, or you may want to think about finding a less stressful job.

Motivational energy has to do with our emotions. Enthusiasm is a highly energized emotional state. The best way of insuring you have this motivational energy is to work on eliminating the negative emotional reactions you experience that seriously sap your energy level. Emotional reactions and negative emotions come from unresolved issues that are hidden away in your subconscious mind. Emotional Clearing is the most powerful method I know of to deal with these issues. You will be amazed at how much energy you gain by working with your negative emotions to resolve them.

Dissipation is the antithesis of Optimal Living and will seriously thwart your ability to achieve escape velocity. There are many things that will steal your energy and I think you know about them. But let me remind you anyway. Television, drugs, alcohol and any activity you find yourself addicted to. If you have compulsive addictions, you can deal with them with Emotional Clearing and Self Inquiry.

Freedom Factor
Freedom is a wide subject. It comes down to decisions. Think before you make commitments like creating a family, buying a car or a house. The principle is: simple is better than complex for our purposes of achieving “escape velocity”. Almost anything you do can help you “gain energy or drain energy”. Always measure the consequences of life decisions and choose simple over complex, conserving over wasting. The object is to gain energy and free up your time.

Relationships can be nourishing or degrading and stressful. If you find yourself in a stressful relationship, step back, step away or get some quality help now. How is it to be around your family? Do they wear you out? Do they press your unconscious buttons and drain your energy? Take some time to reflect on it.

Memetic Undertow
You can see the effect of memes all over the place. You have beliefs that have been programmed into you that do not serve you. Society has placed certain “expectations” on you that you may be blindly expending energy to meet. Your family may be exerting emotional pressure on you that steals your energy and time. When you are serious about self development, transformation or spiritual growth, there can be no “sacred cows”. You must learn to question everything. The key words here are: “conscious or unconscious”? Carl Jung stated that enlightenment is “… bringing the darkness to the light.” Or put another way, making the unconscious conscious. Self Inquiry and deep reflection are the tools that can help you do that.

The basic principles of Optimal Living for achieving “escape velocity” are simply stated. Least energy most gain. Simple verses complex. Nourishing vs degrading. Conserving vs wasteful. Reflective vs projective. Conscious vs unconscious. Reactive vs responsive. At cause vs victim hood. Learn to apply these clarifying questions to your life on a continual basis and you will automatically find yourself moving rapidly ahead on your journey to self actualization / realization and wholeness.

Thomas Digges
http://www.articlesbase.com/coaching-articles/optimal-living-for-self-actualization-and-transformation-72001.html

Fear and reward are two most commonly used methods to build motivation in someone. But, these methods are temporary. The only lasting thing is self motivation. Motivation actually is the enthusiasm of doing something. It refers to inner feeling, strong desires, and expectation about something. You may sometimes loose the necessary level of the inner drive to get something done. Self motivation is what you need to boost the level of your inner drive to achieve your goals.

Self motivation is a form of self encouragement. You will say to yourself that you have the capacity to do better and eventually get whatever you want in your life. This inner enthusiasm will push you forward until you achieve your set goals. You may not even be aware of any reward in the beginning but you keep working on it. You work on it because your inner strength says that you can attain your goals. This is your will power – the driving force behind your self motivation. Self motivation is a combination of will power, goals and ability to continue attaining the highest level of your success.

You need self motivation to accomplish tasks you have now. Along the way, you may be facing with situations that are discouraging and can bring down your motivational level. You need to keep yourself really focused on your objectives to maintain the level of your self motivation. Here are techniques you can adopt to start acquiring higher motivational level and achieve greater success.

Writing Your Plan

Success does not come easy without any proper plan. Failing to plan is actually planning to fail. Therefore, you must give a greater emphasis on having well prepared plan to achieve your goals. You simply need to have your plan written on a piece of paper. Having your plan clearly written gives you more psychological inner drive to work toward achieving your goals. You create more enthusiasm and can see more clearly how you want to achieve your goals. Thus, your commitments will be much stronger.

When writing down your goals, state very specific terms. For example, if you want to accumulate certain amount of money, state exactly how much you want. You must also set a specific date to fulfill your goals and specific rewards for achieving your goals. Writing is not enough if you do not follow up with some reading. You have to make a point to read your written plan at least twice a day. Once in the morning before you start your day; and one at night just before you go to bed. This simple routine will keep you stay motivated.

Be realistic, things happen in life. Unforeseen circumstances may sometimes require you to make adjustments in your plan. Go ahead and make the necessary adjustments. But, try to maintain realistic limits. Do not make it too easy or too hard for you to achieve. Set it just right to maintain your motivation level.

Visualizing Your Goals

You need to simply make your goals as visual as possible to maintain your motivation at the highest level possible. If your goal is to own an apartment, find pictures of your desired apartment keep them in front of your eyes. Visualizing your goals creates a positive impact on your mind and keeps your motivation surging. When you feel very down, visuals will help you provide the necessary boost to surge your motivation level.

Like the written plan, you have to make a point to see the visuals at least twice a day. The images you see of yourself achieving the goals you desire will instill strong impact in your mind, which will control your actions to maintain your level of motivation.

Controlling Your Feeling

This one is not quite straight forward action. It has to do with your feeling in your mind. You need to control what you feel. Your feeling will reflect your mental attitude and moods. If you feel upset and depressed, you will feel as if everything crashes on you. This feeling reflects on your physical self. You will lose concentration and everything you do will be full of mistakes. You have to learn to start controlling your feeling.

The simplest way will be to start your day with a smile. No doubt this can be fake at times due to things that happen around you, but you have got to master this simple task to ensure that things around you will be pleasant and enjoyable for the rest of the day. You can feel the enthusiasm and energy level soaring. You will be able to stay motivated and spread positive energy around you.

Your mental and physical attitudes work closely. Hence, to stay motivated, learn to develop cheerful and confident characters by simply walking with your face up and smile on it. You will realize that your confidence and self motivation developing. It is probably kind of hard to maintain the action, but with time, once it naturally becomes your way of life, you are able to motivate yourself even during difficult times.

Giving Your Effort A Reward

You need to give yourself a reward for what you have achieved. This one simply acts as an appreciation to yourself in achieving your goals. You have to credit yourself for what you have gone through, your determination and your hard work in ensuring your success.

Earlier I said reward is a temporary method to motivate someone. In this case, a reward is not what keeps you motivated. It is just an element to add flavor to your self motivation exercise. You may want to think of a simple reward that sounds reasonable with what you have achieved. Do not get over excited about this. Meaning, the reward has to be at par with your level of achievement. Take this positively to further enhance your level of self motivation.

Mohd Fadzil Dolmani
http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/techniques-to-build-self-motivation-137296.html

A motivational speaker can actuate a team to perform beyond their normal levels and thus achieve fantastic results. But, while an appropriate speaker will be able to do this magical job with seemingly no effort, another not so suitable one, will miss the target completely. The immediate question that arises then is how to choose a motivational speaker that is most the most suitable for the session.

An important point when selecting a motivational speaker is understanding the difference between the ‘self achiever’ and the ‘text book’ motivational speaker. While the former is known to have put his/her theory to practice and achieved overwhelming tasks, the latter is simply delivering pep talk with impressive phrases like ‘hold yourself no more’. Indeed the self achiever is customarily favored over the textbook speaker, and so an intensive research into the achievements of the motivational speaker is the first step to undertake when selecting a motivational speaker for the team.

It is also relevant that the motivational speaker that you select is suitable and a good match for the audience’s requirements. So while a motivational speaker on weight loss may do well at a gym, he/she may not be able to fare so well at corporate sales driven gatherings, despite being a self motivator. The task at hand is to fully understand what the team needs and then expose them to a motivational speaker who is a guru in this field and has a background to show for it. A motivational speaker, in keeping with the needs of the audience, is essential. Hiring haphazardly would result in minimizing your valuable resources.

When selecting the motivational speaker for a group that is looking to re-evaluate its strengths and weaknesses and their personal situations as well, it will be beneficial to hire a motivational speaker who is a self achiever. However, if the idea is to motivate a team into looking towards a shared vision and other such group dynamics, then it will help to employ a leadership motivator such as a coach of a team, etc.

Once the need of the group, and therefore the type of motivational speaker, has been established, one can locate these speakers from various sources. The internet of course is a vast sea of resources, and it is easy to locate several types of motivational speakers, their contact information, and other pertinent information. The Yellow Pages will help tremendously, and sometimes you will hear of a great speaker through word of mouth. I would recommend that you ask others about good motivational speakers that they have used.

The trick is to hire a motivational speaker who has an interesting method of delivery and is capable of holding the interest of the audience while influencing their performance levels. Based on this and a few other pointers that have been listed above, a motivational speaker for the team should be hired to easily meet and achieve the aims of the group.

Lily Morgan
http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/how-to-decide-on-a-motivational-speaker-712396.html

You may have noticed the rise in popularity of audiobooks of late. Like writtenprinted books, audiobooks are made in every genre from self help, sci-fi, biographies, religious, thrillers and more. One of the fastest growing genres of audiobooks has been self help and self improvement audiobooks.

Self help audiobooks come in several categories including creativity, health and fitness, interpersonal skills, motivation, personal growth, sex and relationships, stress management, success, time management, and religious titles. There really is a theme of self help audiobooks for everyone’s needs.

There are many great creativity titles available. These can include such greats as the John C Maxwell book Thinking for a Change which teaches 11 ways that successful people approach life and work. Another great audio book is titled How to Think Like Einstein by Scott Thorpe which teaches techniques used by Einstein and other geniuses use to expand their mind.

A best selling health and fitness audiobook author is Dr Nicholas Perricone which specializes on how your health can affect how your appearance. There are also great health audiobooks on popular diets like Atkins and the Zone diet.

A very practical audiobook to help with interpersonal skills is 250 Job Interview Questions by Peter Veruki. Veruki’s audiobook is a must to prepare anyone who is expecting a job interview or for new college graduates. Another beneficial audiobook to help improve interpersonal skills is How to Get Your Point Across in 30 Seconds by Milo Frank. This audiobooks teaches how to get your point across in 30 seconds and why it is important. And it provides the research to back it up.

One of my favorite motivational audiobooks of all time is The Magic of Thinking Big by Dr. David Schwartz. This classic was written in 1959 and its principles hold true today. Dr. Schwartz teaches that one does not have to be an intellectual or have some kind of a special innate talent to be a success, but what one needs is to learn and understand the habit of thinking and behaving in ways that will help you get there.

There are many personal growth audiobooks to choose from. They can come from many different famous peoples perspectives like the Dalai Lama’s book The Art of Dying. There are also modern classics like Eckhart Tolle’s Gateway to Now.

There are sex and relationship audiobooks from many different perspectives. They can range from authors like the traditionalists Dr. Laura Schlessinger’s audiobook 10 Stupid Things Couples Do to Mess Up Their Relationships, to Sex in the City writer Greg Behrendt’s popular book He’s Just Not That Into You.

One of the most popular time management audiobooks is Ken Blanchard’s The On-Time, On-Target Manager. This is an engaging parable which teaches how to overcome procrastination and increase productivity.

There are also some great religious titles out there like The Purpose Driven Life by Pastor Rick Warren. This inspiring book helps you to figure out who you are and what is God’s amazing plan for your life. This is an audiobooks that everyone needs to listen too, even if you are not a Christian.

With there being such a great variety and such quality self help audiobooks out there, it is easy to see why they are such a hit. One of the best things about them is how easy it is to just put them in the CD player or have them loaded to your iPod and then you can listen to them when ever you want. It is also easy to play your audiobook a second and third time to really absorb and learn its lessons.

Today you do not have to get your audiobooks as books on tape and you do not have to drive all the way to the mall to buy your audiobook as a CD. Now, the best way to find an audiobook is on the internet. Audiobooks can be downloaded for instant access in mp3 format off of the web. After downloading your audiobook, you can play it on your PC, burn it to a disc, or load it to your iPod or mp3 player. It is as easy as that. Another great feature is that downloaded audiobooks are at a fraction of the costs of packaged audiobook CD’s from the store.

With such a great variety of self help audiobooks, and with downloading audiobooks faster and less expensive then every before, don’t you think it’s time that you discovered how easy it is improve your live by listening to audiobooks too?

Mike Fletcher
http://www.articlesbase.com/advice-articles/audiobooks-can-help-you-be-a-better-person-120569.html

There are 3 basic element to change your life, you need to ask, believe and receive the new life, you also need to live your new life, just don’t imagine it but really believe and feel that your life has changed, you should set specific goals, create plans, but the most important is to always stay positive and be grateful for the things you have. Your mind is a very powerful device that can create form nothing. If you believe and really feel the new positive actions coming into your life then they will. This doesn’t over night you need to practice and block out negativity and continue to be positive.

When you create your life’s new plan remember it is a journey and you need to act like you are living this journey using your thoughts and imagination, and see the vision as if you are there in this new life. To stop the negativity you need to think of something positive quickly, think of a pet, listen to music, start thinking of the opposite of the negative thought.

When planning a personal development plan you need to alter your life style and career path. Defining a personal development plan would mean altering the career path life cycle. If you develop a personal plan and believe in it, and practice this and see yourself in this new plan it will be only a matter of time before in comes in reality. will be only a matter a time. A good plan will also act as a performance assessment tool and a blueprint of all your day-to-day operations.

When trying to motivate yourself the only way to really make this happen is to believe that you are already living in this new life. Do not let outside negative thoughts stop you from your dreams and being positive, nothing happens by coincidence, people do not have more luck or less luck, it you believe you are lucky you will be lucky if you believe you are unlucky you will be unlucky. The best way to motivate yourself is to by motivational books and videos, read them all the time watch the videos and be grateful for the things you have and what you are going to receive.

Everybody has one or another personal aspect to improve and better and hence a personal development coaching business could be a good idea as not only will you be making money, you will be helping so many individuals develop and improve their skills.

There are lots of self declared gurus on the internet as well as in the book stores who want you to follow such rigid routines and they are not actually interested in helping you but want you to continue following them so that you become dependent on them and thus, be able to use you as a predictable source of income. Oh sure, I liked to believe that I was in control of myself, but why then was I not able to motivate myself if I did indeed have so much control. The speaker is able to tap into your emotions.

You get so caught up in “what if” that you end up not doing anything. Furthermore, they have the nerve to complain and cry about it when they are doing nothing to try to better their situation.

David Fishman
http://www.articlesbase.com/self-help-articles/help-your-inner-self-and-motivate-yourself-for-greatness-114416.html

There are many individuals who mistakenly assume that our memory usually worsens as we age, and who are convinced that improving memory might be for a good number a total misuse of resources. The simple fact is that a good memory is not something that you are given at birth that steadily fades with with time. I am sure that you have run into any number of children with poor memories, and likewise a good number of aged individuals who have both extremely good sharp memories of the past and the capacity to learn different facts comfortably and successfully.

And so the first area to check out when improving memory is diet and exercise routine. This method may perhaps surprise you. You might assume that it is all about brain training practices, nevertheless entertaining they may be, it seems as though all these teach you to do is to achieve success at performing other sorts of mental training routines!

If you return to basics, a first-rate memory requires nutrient underpinning which may be derived from diet alone, but with modern day crop cultivation practices as they are, our earth is being stripped of key minerals and additional nutrients and this is degrading the nutritiousness of our food. Therefore you might be sensible to get the appropriate memory vitamins, and eat natural and organic foodstuffs.

The other fundamental factor in improving memory is to change our lifestyle. Do you appreciate that smoking and lack of good old-fashioned exercise can have a negative influence on focus and memory? How can this be? Well, our brains need to have oxygen to nurture the brain’s neurones to stay on the ball, be able to be attentive and learn. Naturally, a great supply of oxygen needs a good blood circulation. Here refraining from smoking and lots of physical fitness come in. Exercise can in addition raise your mood which has a helpful influence on your potential to master and recall material.

Thus as soon as you have cleaned up your food intake and way of life, then you can get started on taking a look at techniques of creating the best environment for acquiring knowledge and subsequently for recall. This would needless to say come with learning how to unwind and thereby be in a good frame of mind for acquiring knowledge. It in addition aids with recall.

Next we can begin handling the organization of the data you require to study. This would mean to begin with having the ability to weed out irrelevant details. So often individuals neglect to focus upon the significant things and litter their memories with trivia. Next your most reliable memory enhancing approach can revolve around selecting techniques, for instance, to help make the subject material more memorable. Experiment with exaggerating and perhaps making funny, the salient components of the essential data. Then link them with each other , such as associating the items in a story that you are sure you can effortlessly remember afterwards.

Therefore you can realize that the way you live in terms of the amount of and type of activity you take, the quantity and kind of foodstuff you take, and whether or not you smoke, is basic to how skillful you can be at improving memory. After you have looked after your lifestyle, it follows that you can investigate additional methods for making improvements to memory, such as memory exercises and strategies.

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Self esteem and confidence can effect all areas of your life from your job and love life to simply finding the motivation to chase your dreams and goals. Many people often find themselves stuck in a job that they don’t really want to be in, rather than having the kind of career they dream about.

This often comes down to confidence, as the idea of leaving the financial security of a job can be quite daunting. There is also the factor that many people once comfortable in a role don’t feel they are good enough to take their career to the next level.

If you have found that you are in a situation such as this then there are a number of different solutions to get you out of a negative headset. Once you have done this you should be able to move on and achieve your goals. Here are 5 tips to help you gain more confidence and sort out your career.

1. Control Your Negative Thinking. It is very easy to slip into a negative state of mind and put yourself down. Take note of when you’re doing this and manage it. Imagine a good friend is saying the same thing about themselves and then think of the advice that you would give them. Are you going to agree with what they’re saying? The answer is more than likely to be no.
2. Get Some Confidence From A Coach. If you have been struggling with your confidence for a long time then you might want to seek some help from a confidence coach. Confidence coaching is a great way of learning how best to overcome your problems and deal with them in a positive way.
3. Focus On Success Rather Than Failure. It is easy to focus on what you don’t have and what you’re not good at but it is important to focus on the things you do have. If you realise the good things you have then you’re more likely to stay positive.
4. Smile And Sit Up Straight. It sounds silly but sitting up and smiling gives the impression that you are confident and people will approach you as if you are. This makes life a lot easier as the first impression you will receive is going to be a good one.
5. Get A Better Idea Of How To Advance In Your Career. A good career coach will be able to help you get ahead in your current job or advise you on finding a new one. Career coaching will help you to refine the good skills that you already have and help you to develop new skills that you might need for a career change. You can find a coach near you by typing in phrases such as Career Coach in London into a search engine.

These 5 basic tips for helping to improve your confidence are all great ways to begin. There are a number of different steps that you can use to help improve your confidence but one on one coaching will help.

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The Best Man has many more jobs besides just making a best man speech. Oftentimes, it’s his help that allows the whole wedding to run smoothly.

If you are in charge of keeping the wedding rings and the marriage license, make sure you have them in a secure location where they won’t get lost. Pack the car with the luggage, passports, plane tickets, and other things the couple might need if they are leaving for the honeymoon directly after the reception. Take a moment before the wedding for final touch-ups. Make sure groom looks his best for his wedding. Button any missing buttons, straighten his tie, and calm his nerves.

If something goes a little amiss during the wedding ceremony, make sure you are available to help fix it. You most likely won’t have to deal with something out of “The Runaway Bride.” Just be prepared to help out, whether the flower girl is crying or if a spot gets on the Groom’s jacket. The rehearsal generally sorts out these types of problems before they actually happen, but just being prepared can make the difference.

After the wedding ceremony, the job of a Best Man is pretty ambiguous. Your next job could be anything from the Master of Ceremonies at the reception or the chauffeur for the Bride and Groom to the reception. Talk to the Bride and Groom and make sure you now what’s going on. Sometimes the Best Man introduces the various speakers. If this is assigned to

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Are you thinking about going on a diet to lose weight? You can’t open any magazine without reading about the latest fad diet. Whether it is a low-carb, low-fat, or low-calorie they still require a person to put forth an effort. The problem is that all of these programs can’t be the best. What is successful for one person is a failure for another. While many people lose weight on diets, not so many keep the weight off.

If a person does lose weight following one of these restrictive diets, they are very likely to see the weight return within the year. It has been proven over and over again that these diets are not successful in making the weight loss permanent over a long period of time. It is common for a person to have tried several of these diet plans to try to stay at a healthy weight. Message boards such as biggest loser weight loss forum have many stories of people who have tried every weight loss program that they could get their hands on and are still unable to keep the weight off.

There are many plans to help a person lose weight such as the one at http://www.fatlossfactor.com and people can investigate these plans to see if it could help them but for the most part it has been shown that diets alone don’t work. There is a place in a total fitness plan for these types of diets. The weight that is lost on these plans is not usually fat. It is more important to lose the fat then it is to lose anything else. Studies show that each day, the body burns 2-3 calories per pound of fat — and 35-50 calories per pound of muscle. By getting rid of the fat instead of the muscle a person’s body will work more efficiently and it will make weight loss even easier.

What can I do to get rid of the body fat on my body? The method that most people recommend is to watch what you eat and get more active. That means increasing activity and decreasing calorie intake even if that means doing a six pack ab exercise program before you go to be at night but if a person is serious and really wants to get healthy there are some other things that they must do.

Eating right is best done by eating a wide variety of foods from all of the food groups. A restrictive diet will often be harder to stick to and will leave a person feeling sluggish. You can still enjoy some of your favorite foods, but don’t overdo it. Cutting junk food, sugary sodas, and sweet, undiluted fruit drinks out of your diet is an easy way to lose weight over time. If a person makes little adjustments instead of major changes they will have a big impact on the way they look and feel. Smaller changes are much easier for a person to make. Occasional cheating on a diet is okay but it should not be a regular pattern.

Adding 20 minutes more of exercise to your current routine will burn an average of 100 calories of fat a day. Over a year’s time, that extra 20 minutes of exercise should allow you to lose 10 pounds.
The key to a good weight loss program is not to eat too much food at any one time. We live in a world where many people believe that bigger is better but this is not the case when it comes to weight control. The best way not to overeat is to put less food on your plate. One good idea is for a person to have smaller meals more often. Six small meals per day is one of the best approaches to eating. It is extremely effective when you’re trying to lose weight.

A person who is carrying some extra pounds need to find a way to correct it. The things that they do to shed the fat should be things that they will continue to do once the fat is gone. If you don’t change your lifestyle, the weight will return.

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Sometimes you feel that pure adrenaline alone is keeping you going and you wonder how you are able to survive, let alone function well at work and juggle all the other requirements of being a busy mum.

You realise that you would do well if you could work to a schedule and manage things much more effectively, but your new arrival is not aware of your need to schedule things, at all! During these crucial formative years, the baby is entirely dependent on your response and it sometimes feels as if you are working a 9-to-5 shift in reverse at night, as you answer to your newborn baby’s requirements.

As a devoted mother, you are certainly enjoying your life in your new role, but from time to time you may feel as if you are at the end of your wits, calling on every element of your being to conquer what would otherwise seem to be perfectly mundane tasks. Isn’t in awful, when you can see the new work week approaching and not know how you’re going to cope?

While we have already determined that it is difficult to maintain a schedule and if someone mentions the phrase “time management” to you once more, you are going to scream, but it is nevertheless important for you to establish as close to a routine as you possibly can.

Without routines we find ourselves bouncing from pillar to post and it all leads up to an elevated level of stress, which negatively impacts every other area. Although you might not like to think that you have to do so, it’s important for you to get into a routine as soon as possible.

In the mornings, keep your procedures as simple as possible. It can be very difficult to get going in the morning if your night’s rest has been disrupted by the needs of the baby. However, you have things to do and you should do them in the same order every day.

Exercise is vitally important and this must be your first priority. This is most important and you should not be tempted to lay for 15 minutes extra in bed. Position your treadmill so that you can view the headlines, traffic problems and the weather on the TV ahead of you, even as the coffee is brewing in the kitchen. When you are done, it’s time to get the children up and make sure they have their own chores to do to lighten your load.

You will need to get this down to a fine art, or even a science, every day. This is probably the most stressful time of the day, as you are trying to focus while still trying to wake up! By insisting on a clockwork routine and making sure that all your family are “on board” with this concept and that they help you, you’ll be ready to get out of the door running, on time.

From time to time, you might think that you have nothing available when it comes to keeping up with your “me time” and enjoying your social life, having to concentrate so hard on work and the baby. Take time to foster a good relationship with a caregiver and understand how important this person can be to you.

You will hopefully have an understanding boss at work. Never take advantage of the situation though and only call in any favours or use any delay allowances or personal days if absolutely necessary. If you always play fair, whenever emergencies come along, you will be more able to deal with this situation and to meet with your boss’s favour.

Try not to schedule anything that is too demanding, technically for you at work in the morning and at all times, do not overload your schedule unrealistically.

Time management is very important during your 9-to-5 routine at work and you should try not to allow work to spill over into your own personal time.

Use professional coaching to help you focus on key areas. Many in your position have used dedicated coaching for women and have often been able to get past “the wall” by turning to online life coaching solutions.

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

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