10 Effective Time Management Tips

Hey Boo!

Have you ever thought to yourself that there aren’t enough hours in the day, or felt overwhelmed at the tasks facing you? If you have, here are a few helpful tips:

Clarify your goals and strategy

Be very clear about your aims and ambitions, both short and long term. Write them down. Once you know what you really want to achieve (and why) it’s easier to make decisions about what needs doing, and to plan accordingly.

Focus on your top priorities

You’ll be more productive and profitable if you identify and focus on the areas most important to your goal. Work on the fundamentals first. The Latin word ‘fundamentum’ means foundation – so take action, build strong foundations and the rest should follow.

Schedule time

Literally write an appointment in your work planner (you can also use a calendar if you don’t have a planner) to set aside a realistic block of time for your priority actions. This reduces anxiety over not having enough time and keeps you focused.

Say no!

Consider Jim Rohn’s suggestion. “Learn how to say no. Don’t let your mouth overload your back.” Always check your schedule before committing to anything new. Don’t allow others to divert you from your objectives.

Create supportive systems

This includes systems for filing, management information and communication. This may include apps, services, and supportive staff or friends to assist you.

Reality Check

Will your current activity have a positive outcome, or are you doing it to avoid something else? Ask yourself – will doing this bring me towards my goal? As Peter F Drucker observed “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Delegate!

It’s tempting to do something yourself when you think you can do it faster and better. But consider the long term – delegation now will save time in the future, and if done appropriately can motivate your staff, boost their confidence and help them develop their skills.

Repeat your success

Remember the last time you crushed a goal, accomplished something challenging, made yourself or your family proud? What strategies and techniques did you employ that made you so effective and focused? Can you repeat them? Alternatively, imagine you are going away tomorrow and work through today accordingly.

Balance your life

Formally schedule personal activities too, so you make time for family, friends, your health and fun because having a balanced life reduces stress and increases energy levels. Time management is really about life management!

End the day

At the end of the working day, organize your desk, make notes about what needs doing tomorrow and prioritize those tasks. You’ll worry less that evening and be prepared and focused the next morning.

Until Next Time Boo, keep Glowing!

5 Ways to Get Motivated Again

Hey Boo!

From time to time, we find ourselves in a rut. We seem to lose our zest for life and feel tired, irritable and unmotivated. We want to hide under the covers rather than face the day. Perhaps you’re feeling overwhelmed by work and adulting or just bored with the routine of your daily life.

You are not alone love. We all go through periods like this at some point. The good news is that we can do something about it. Here are some tips to help break out of the rut and feel excited about life again:

Take a “Time Out” – Prolonged stress can wear us down and zap any enthusiasm we once had. Before doing anything else, take a few minutes to breathe and just BE. Empty your mind of all stress and worry. This takes practice, but don’t give up! As thoughts come into your mind, gently push them back out and continue to keep your mind empty and calm. Take slow, deep breaths and let all of your muscles relax. Sit quietly and recharge your batteries. Try to do this daily, or even twice daily (morning and night). We need quiet time as much as we need anything else in life. Give yourself the gift of inner peace.

Get Inspired – Read something motivational, inspirational or uplifting. Look at some beautiful nature photos or read something you find funny. Consciously move your thoughts to a more positive place. Focusing on nothing but work and our daily tasks in life can leave us feeling pretty uninspired. It’s easy to turn it around if we want to. We just have to seek out things that will lift our spirits and our moods. Make it a point to laugh, be happy, joyful and lighthearted each day. Don’t wait for inspiration to come knocking on your door, go out and find it, or create it. Conjure up some funny or touching memories. Write them in a journal so you can go back and read them when you’re feeling down.

Get Excited – Think about the things you have planned for the day and rekindle the enthusiasm you once felt for them. When we first begin a new project, or start a new job, we are excited about the possibilities and eager to get moving! Over time, we can lose that enthusiasm for a variety of reasons. Travel back in time for a moment and think about what got you so excited at the beginning. What made your heartbeat a little faster? Recapture that feeling and hang onto it! Even if your tasks aren’t anything to be really excited about, at least think of some positive benefits to doing them. For example, list the ways they will benefit your children, your spouse, yourself, your job or your home. Identify the reward and focus on that. Even mundane tasks have some benefits. Sometimes it’s just a matter of switching our mindset to see the positive side.

Baby Steps – Sometimes the hardest part is actually getting started. A project seems so monstrous that we cringe at the thought of all that time and energy we’ll have to expend. Instead of overwhelming yourself, start small. Set a timer for 15 minutes and just start working on it. Allow yourself to stop after 15 minutes if you really want to. But most often, once we actually start working on something, we won’t want to stop. Don’t focus on the big picture, look at the smaller details and take them on one at a time. Any large task seems manageable once we break it down into smaller steps.

Care for Your Body – Sometimes our feelings of fatigue are caused by physical deficiencies, not mental. Be sure you are getting enough rest, eating food that nourishes your body, drinking enough water, getting enough exercise, etc. Especially when we’re very busy, we tend to grab the quickest, easiest meals, which aren’t always the best choice for our bodies. Eating a lot of highly processed foods and sugar is like putting watered-down gasoline into our cars. In order for our cars to run smoothly, we need to maintain them properly, and so it is with our bodies also. Remember, the body is the vehicle for the mind and soul!

Finally, remember to reward yourself from time to time, and be gentle with yourself! There will always be things that “need” to be done. But some of us take on way more than we can handle, and our lives turn into a pit of drudgery because of it. Try to eliminate the things that truly don’t bring you joy, or at least minimize the time you spend on them. Do what you can, and let the rest go. Or ask for help. Don’t feel you have to do everything yourself.

Remember that motivation, just like happiness, is something we CHOOSE. We may need to give ourselves a little push at the beginning, but once we get into the right mindset, it’s simple to stay there if we so desire.

Until Next time beautiful souls, keep glowing…

Where Does the Time Go?!

Hey Boo!

Time management is a big concern for a lot of people, including myself. Trying to run a small business, working full-time, keeping up with multiple social media platforms, taking care of personal/family obligations, while managing my physical and mental health has me running around like a chicken with my head cut off at times! When I speak with co-workers I often hear, “There are just not enough hours in the day…” or “Where does my time go?” The fact of the matter is that we all live busy lives. Work, family, and other commitments keep us all in constant motion it seems. So, how do we get everything we need to do done? We can’t get more hours in a day, so we have to better manage the time that we do have.

To utilize better time management, it’s important to recognize what the specific problems are. Is it not having enough time for you or your family? Maybe you are not sure where all your time is going and just want to account for it. Or you could have a full schedule that you are having a hard time keeping up with. Whatever the reason, time is a precious resource that most of us need to use to its fullest.

The most important step in time management is evaluating our schedules. On a sheet of paper write up a “typical” week for you, by looking at your current schedule you will be able to identify places where better time management could be used. Ask yourself why you are feeling unsatisfied with your schedule? Make a list of what you want to change and what you want to make room for. Do you want more time to pursue interests? More time to be with your children? Or just more time to get everything done?

After you have done this take a piece of paper and draw three columns. In the first column put a list of all appointments, events, or commitments that are “set in stone”, things that take place at a set time and happen daily, weekly or monthly. Such as work, club meetings, or standing doctor’s appointments. In the second column put “flexible” tasks or commitments that can be done around your “set in stone” commitments, such as grocery shopping, house cleaning, or having lunch with a friend. In the third column put those “occasional” appointments, doctor appointments, a school play, or an old friend coming into town (or anything that does not fall into the other two columns).

Then using a calendar (preferably one with large spaces for the days) Or use a notebook and label each page a day or two (depending on how much you are trying to accomplish daily or weekly.) Start putting in the items from your three columns, starting with the items that are “set in stone” then the items that are occasional, leave the “flexible” items to last since you are able to put them in around the other things.

The objective is to balance out your days and to maximize your time. Why make a separate trip to the pharmacy when it is on your way to your daughter’s dance practice? I always try to plan appointments in the same area on the same day, this reduces my travel time and gets the most out of my day.

The biggest thing to consider is: Are you doing too much? No matter how well time is managed there is such a thing as an overload of commitments. Time management is not just about structuring your week so that you can get everything accomplished. It is about creating a manageable schedule that will give you time for the important things in life. So, before looking at your time management skills look at what you are trying to juggle.

Include things that you want to do but just don’t seem to have time for in your day. What is the sense of managing your time better just to fit in more work? A part of time management is balancing so that you can have time to enjoy the fun stuff in life too.

If you are so booked solid that you cannot schedule an hour and a half of quality family time, an hour of time with your significant other, and at least at the very minimum 30 minutes – 45 minutes of time for yourself then you have too much on your plate and it is time to ask for help to relieve yourself of some commitments. Being run down and worn-out will not assist you in better time management, in fact it will hinder it.

Remember that you are not a robot, rest is an important part of productivity, listen to your body, and small consistent steps are better than occasional random leaps.

Until next time beautiful soul, keep glowing…

Featured

4 Personal Development Power Tips

Hey Boo!

No matter what your dream is, working on your personal development is sure to get you there. Personal Development, at its basis, is anything that allows us to grow into an ordered life that is of our choosing. This is one of the most cherished goals among self-improvement practitioners. There are some excellent methods available for achieving it. However, it is easier said than done. Here are a few hints and tips to get you started.

Clean the clutter from your life

There is a personal development saying, “a tidy desk is a tidy mind”. Oftentimes, your outer environment is a reflection of the way you think and feel. Is your living or working space always cluttered? It’s important that you start to order your environment to reflect the ordered life you are building. Clear away unnecessary clutter from your surroundings. This may sound like a meaningless task but you are sending a very clear message to your subconscious mind that you intend to get organized. When you begin to organize your living and working environment it allows you to develop the basic skills needed for organizing your life. This can be achieved through goals. You should structure your goals in such a way that each one builds on the other and ensure that they are not in opposition to one another.

Don’t be too set on achieving your goals in exactly the manner you intend to

A major factor in the non-attainment of goals is the inability to restructure plans and change direction when circumstances dictate these should be done. Remain flexible.

Don’t focus on the mistakes

Simply analyze them and learn the lesson they are trying to teach you. By staying focused on your failures, problems or toils you are actually creating more of them, or at least keeping them in your experience. Focus on the solutions or at least focus on the fact “you’re still in the game”. You still have the opportunity to learn, grow, and turn things around. Consider any mistakes you’ve made as life lessons. Apply what you have learned from them and use them as references (of what not to do) in the future.

Make sure you follow through on your plans

Persistence can accomplish things that nothing else can. How many times were you close to the end of the rainbow, and without even knowing how close you were, you quit? You may be someone who has drive at the start of a venture but finds your enthusiasm waning as you progress, lacking the motivation that is needed to “keep you keeping on” during times of hardship. Those who persist, especially in times like these, are those who ALWAYS win!

Key Takeaways:

To increase clarity and encourage organization, be sure to keep your work environment clean and clutter-free. Remember that your outer environment I often an indication of how you think and feel.

Don’t be so dogmatic when it comes to the how. Have a goal and plan of action to get you going in the right direction, but keep in mind that things may not go exactly as you planned down to the letter.

Don’t harp on the mistakes that you make along the way. It’s part of the journey. Learn from your mistakes and move on. It’s okay.

Be sure to follow through! We sometimes self-sabotage by not being consistent. The only way that you can truly fail is if you give up.

Until next time beautiful souls, keep glowing…

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6 Steps to Activating and Applying Behavioral Change

Do you REALLY want to make change in your life??

Hey Boo!

Without change there is stagnancy, and stagnancy eventually brings death.

In order to truly live, you must grow, and the requirement of growth is that you experience new things that open your perspective so that you evolve and become better. Hence, we cannot truly live without becoming better, and we cannot become better without change. But what kind of change?

The only kind of change that truly matters is behavioral change. We cannot change the people around us, nor can we avoid certain circumstances in life. The only thing that we can really change is ourselves. When we change our behavior, we empower ourselves to elevate in various aspects of life. Activating and applying behavioral change is the key to elevation and living the life you truly want. There are six steps and we are going to walk through them right now.

Step 1: Clarify Values for Each Life Domain

This really just means ‘write down what’s most important to you in each area of your life. What goals would you like to accomplish mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, emotionally?

For example: I want to make ‘x’ amount of dollars a month. That would be your value for your financial domain.

Once you’ve placed a value in each life domain you want to improve, move on to step two.

Step 2: Identify Life Giving Activities

Life giving activities are the things that you do that give you a feeling of accomplishment or bring enjoyment to your life. Some people become so focused on achieving goals that they cut out enjoyment and spend all of their available time with their noses to the grindstone. They believe that enjoyment is distracting them from achievement and hyperfocus is the answer. But unfortunately, hyper focusing on goals creates the opposite effect of the one desired. Instead of making more progress, it’s more likely that you become bitter, experience burnout, and possibly give up on the goal altogether.

The truth is, enjoyment is not frivolous, it is necessary. The best way to accomplish your goals is to identify life giving activities that bring enjoyment and align with your goals.

For example: One of my life-giving activities is writing. In my opinion, writing is art. It’s the first form of self expression that I ever embraced and has a special place in my heart. I can use my life-giving activity of writing to bring myself enjoyment, feel a sense of accomplishment, and aid in accomplishing my goal of reaching 10k beautiful souls per month.

Other lifegiving activities such as painting, dancing, listening to music are for my enjoyment and although they may not necessarily provide a sense of accomplishment or help achieve a goal, these activities serve as a form of reward or celebration and can also provide balance. (Work hard, play hard.)

So, for step two I want you to write down life-giving activities. They don’t all have to align with your goals but if they do, that’s awesome!

Step 3: Rate the Difficulty of Each Activity

Take a moment to rate the level of difficulty for each of the lifegiving activities that you’ve written down. What steps do you need to take to begin and/or complete these activities?

Step 4: Plan the Order of Completion

Now that you have an idea of how challenging each activity will be, you can plan which activity you want to start with. Are there any life-giving activities that you can start with right now?

Step 5: Schedule Activities Into A Calendar

How’s it going so far Boo? At this point you should have a list of goals for every aspect of your life, selected life-giving activities that align with your goals or provide balance and enjoyment. You should also have rated the level of difficulty for each activity and selected which activity you’re starting with. The more specific you are about scheduling and executing your plans, the more likely you are to complete them.

Since you’ve chosen your starting activity, go ahead and schedule that activity on your calendar. When scheduling the activity in your calendar it’s important to be realistic about the time it takes to complete the task. If it is a particularly large task or you’re dealing with time restrictions, it’s best to break bigger tasks into smaller steps to prevent overwhelm and ensure completion.

Which leads us to step 6…

Step 6: Complete the Activities

While accomplishing your goals remember to be fully present during the activity. Appreciating the moment that you are in is a very important part of the process.

Yay! You did it Boo! You have successfully activated behavioral change in your life.

Here are a few tips on how to apply and maintain the changes you’ve just made.

-Build a game plan around your goals and work progressively toward them.

Remember that every bit of progress counts.

-Think holistically

Progress in different areas of your life can be mutually beneficial and reinforcing.

-Make sure tasks are rewarding.

Life giving activities help you stay consistent while enjoying the journey at the same time.

-Remember to break down big tasks.

Make sure the task is small enough to get started and then work on it steadily to ensure continued success.

-Plan activities for specific times.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Plan activities for the time of day where you would be most productive and attentive.

–Make yourself accountable.

Write down your plans on your calendar to stay abreast of what you need to do. An accountability partner is also a great way to make sure that you stay diligent in the pursuit of your goals.

–Address negative thoughts.

Sometimes negative self-talk and self-doubt starts to creep in. Remember that this can happen in various parts of your journey and it’s normal. Remind yourself of your why and counteract your negative self-talk with positive affirmations and facts about how capable you are.

-Focus on completing one task at a time.

You may feel more productive to multi-task, but the more tasks you do at once the greater the margin for error. For the best, most consistent result start with one task and move on to the next only upon completion.

-Track your activities.

This tip is especially helpful as it serves as a form of accountability and encourages consistency. Tracking what activities you do and when you do them can also help you see what you are or aren’t doing consistently. Tracking your activities can also make you aware of trends in your behavior whether positive or negative.

Well Boo, that’s all I have for this week. If this blog was helpful to you, please share it. Until next time beautiful souls, keep Glowing…

10 Effective Tips for Time Management

Want to make the Most out of Your Time?

Hey Boo!

Have you ever seen people on your timeline that always seemed to be on the move and thought to yourself, ‘where do they find the time?’ I most certainly have. I was caught in the cycle of work, eat, sleep, repeat and was most miserable. I used to wish I had more time. But the truth is, we all have the same 24 hours in a day and there’s no changing that. I had to find a way to do not just thie things I needed to do, but the things that I wanted to do so that I could have joy and balance in my life. The solution isn’t more time, it’s better time management.

Here are some helpful tips

Clarify your goals and strategy

Focus on your top priorities

You’ll be more productive and profitable if you identify and focus on the areas most important to your business. Work on the fundamentals first. The Latin word ‘fundamentum’ means foundation – so take action, build strong foundations and the rest should follow.

Schedule time

Literally write an appointment in your work planner (you do have one of those, don’t you?) to set aside a realistic block of time for your priority actions. This reduces anxiety over not having enough time and keeps you focused.

Say no!

Create supportive systems

This includes systems for filing, management information and communication.

Take a reality check

Will your current activity have a positive outcome, or are you doing it to avoid something else? Ask yourself – will doing this take me towards my goal? As Peter F Drucker observed “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

Delegate!

Repeat your success

Remember the last time you went away on holiday, and how you got so much done in those few days before you left? What strategies and techniques did you employ that made you so effective and focused? Can you repeat them? Alternatively, imagine you are going away tomorrow and work through today accordingly.

Balance your life

End the day

At the end of the working day, tidy your desk, make notes about what needs doing tomorrow and prioritise those tasks. You’ll worry less that evening and be prepared and focused the next morning.

I hope those tips were as helpful to you as they have been to me. Until next time beautiful souls, keep Glowing…

T.I.M.E.

Some tips to manage your most precious resource.

Hello Beautiful Souls!

Today we are going to talk about one of the most precious resources in existence- time.

You have to give some to get some. The old adage is usually applied to money, but it is also true of time.

We are always pressed for time or seem to owe time to others, from our bosses to our families. Time is such a valuable commodity so we need to make sure that we use it carefully. Careful use of our time means one thing — time management.

The sad truth is that most of us who are really in need of time management rarely utilize it. However, spending time on this simple four-step plan named “TIME” can really make a difference in your day, your life, and your time!

T Is For Taking Time To Plan

Every minute spent on planning and organizing will save at least that amount of time when you implement your plan. Shopping trips taken without a list often result in wasted time, errands run without prior planning often mean wasted time, and tasks not properly organized often mean wasted time. We all know this is true and yet we still rush forward in our haste to get something done. Take time to plan and you will be more efficient.

I Is For Involving Others

Whether at work or at home, involving other crucial stake-holders in your planning and prioritizing can help you attend to the essentials and share the work. Others may have good ideas to help you achieve your goals and others may well spark even more ideas from you. Sometimes, simply talking things over with a sympathetic audience can help you think more clearly. Don’t forget to give others a share in the work as well as the planning.

M Is For Meditation

No matter how busy your life or hectic your schedule is, you must take time to reflect on your goals and dreams. Taking a few moments to clear your mind, focus your energy, and rebuild your strength can revitalize you and help you accomplish more when you swing back into action.

Allowing yourself this down time may well give you the opportunity to prioritize and brainstorm so you can be even more productive than before. Even if you don’t have brainstorms from taking this time out, it will definitely give you an energy boost.

E Is For Evaluation

It is important for you to regularly evaluate your priorities and goals. Perhaps you have accomplished tasks that can now be permanently crossed off your list or can be set aside until a later date. Perhaps you have achieved certain goals resulting in a change of other priorities. Perhaps you simply have learned something along the way that caused a number of shifts in your priorities and goals.

Evaluation can also give you a sense of accomplishment if you look back on what you have achieved and the goals you have reached.

Even if taking TIME for time management can seem wasteful, it is actually a process that pays for itself time and time again. Time management may cost you time for planning and organization but in the end it helps you gain time through efficiency and prioritization. The simple truth is that time management saves you time and can alleviate some of your stress.

Time management is important for us all, but it is especially important for people who have experienced narcissistic abuse and may be suffering from anxiety or cognitive issues such as brain fog or short term memory loss.

I do hope that these time management tips are useful to you. Please feel free to comment any additional tips you may have 😊

Until next time beautiful souls, keep Glowing…

10 Tips for Effective Time Management

Time Management

Hello Beautiful Souls!

Have you ever thought to yourself that there aren’t enough hours in the day, or felt overwhelmed at the tasks facing you? I know I absolutely have. And if you have as well, this blog can help you!

Clarify your goals and strategy

Focus on your top priorities

Schedule time

Say no!

Create supportive systems

This includes systems for filing, management information and communication. Creating a system for the functions that you repeat most often enable you to complete the task more quickly and efficiently with practice. Create that system and then practice it!

Take a reality check

Delegate!

Repeat your success

Remember the last time you accomplished something that you major, or something that you may have doubted yourself about. What strategies and techniques did you employ that made you so effective and focused? Can you repeat them? Alternatively, imagine you are going away tomorrow, and work through today accordingly.

Balance your life

End the day

At the end of the working day, tidy your work area, make notes about what needs to be done tomorrow, and prioritize those tasks. Shift your focus from what you didn’t finish today, to what you did accomplish. Now, put down that list, take a few deep breaths and leave those responsibilities at your work station. Part of good time management is knowing and appreciating each part of the day for the part it plays. Rest is just as important as productivity, so be sure to manage your resting time as well.

I do hope that these tips are useful to you. Please feel free to share your thoughts!

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Until Next Time, Beautiful Souls!