Denise Caron-Quinn, Productivity Expect & Founder of In Order to Succeed shares ideas for getting organized and tips for maintaining order throughout separation and divorce.
Category: balance
Four Tips For Organizing Your Home So You Can Work More Efficiently
By Guest Blogger Corrie Petersen
When you work more efficiently you get more done in a day and you won’t stress about things. One of the best ways to make that happen is to organize your home. There are a number of ways to make this work, but it’s important you get it done so you work your business efficiently and effectively.
Here are a few suggestions for you to consider putting into action in your own home.
1. Clean your home from top to bottom making sure everything has a home and that it makes sense where you put it. Don’t put your toilet paper in the kitchen or your towels in the bedroom. It’s important to put things in your home close to the place you’ll use them at the most.
2. Create chore lists for the family. When they know what needs to be done they won’t bother you with questions about what needs to be done. One thing to consider is creating a list for each room of the home and taping it in a place where each person can see it easily. A cabinet or wall is a thought.
3. Take one day a week and clean your home thoroughly. Then do a quick pick up each day so it doesn’t take a lot of time to clean on that day you choose. Involve the entire family so you’re not the only one cleaning the house.
4. When you work a home business it’s important to have your own space. While that space is important you need to keep it organized and personal home items free. Don’t store the kids’ toys in your office, but at the same time it’s important to keep your business items in your office and not in another part of the house.
An organized home makes for an efficient family. It’s like a well oiled piece of machinery, it works smoothly and efficiently and the same goes for your home. When it’s organized and in order you won’t have problems knowing what to do and how to do it. You won’t have to worry or stress when you spend all day cleaning only to find out you forgot something.
When your family works efficiently you’ll have less to do and that will help you work your business efficiently. You won’t feel like it’s a terrible thing for you to be working instead of doing something for your family or your home and that will help reduce the stress which will give you more productive time.
Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business and she’s the owner of WAHM-Articles.com. She is married and has two teenagers. She loves spending time with her family. Catch up with everything she has going on when you click here to read her mommy blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corrie_Petersen
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6600190
Four Tips For Organizing Your Home
By Guest Blogger Corrie Petersen
When you work more efficiently you get more done in a day and you won’t stress about things. One of the best ways to make that happen is to organize your home. There are a number of ways to make this work, but it’s important you get it done so you work your business efficiently and effectively.
Here are a few suggestions for you to consider putting into action to actively practice organizing your home.
1. Clean your home from top to bottom making sure everything has a home and that it makes sense where you put it. Don’t put your toilet paper in the kitchen or your towels in the bedroom. It’s important to put things in your home close to the place you’ll use them at the most.
2. Create chore lists for the family. When they know what needs to be done they won’t bother you with questions about what needs to be done. One thing to consider is creating a list for each room of the home and taping it in a place where each person can see it easily. A cabinet or wall is a thought.
3. Take one day a week and clean your home thoroughly. Then do a quick pick up each day so it doesn’t take a lot of time to clean on that day you choose. Involve the entire family so you’re not the only one cleaning the house.
4. When you work a home business it’s important to have your own space. While that space is important you need to keep it organized and personal home items free. Don’t store the kids’ toys in your office, but at the same time it’s important to keep your business items in your office and not in another part of the house.
An organized home makes for an efficient family. It’s like a well oiled piece of machinery, it works smoothly and efficiently and the same goes for your home. When it’s organized and in order you won’t have problems knowing what to do and how to do it. You won’t have to worry or stress when you spend all day cleaning only to find out you forgot something.
When your family works efficiently you’ll have less to do and that will help you work your business efficiently. You won’t feel like it’s a terrible thing for you to be working instead of doing something for your family or your home and that will help reduce the stress which will give you more productive time.
Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business and she’s the owner of WAHM-Articles.com. She is married and has two teenagers. She loves spending time with her family. Catch up with everything she has going on when you click here to read her mommy blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Corrie_Petersen
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6600190
6 Tips on How to Deal with Stress for a Longer Life!
It feels like everyone’s schedules seem busier than ever right now! However, one high-priority item to add to your full plate is to take at least 10 minutes a day to relax and you will live a longer and happier life! Stress is one of the top killers in our modern world, and yet we still refuse to take a time-out. Taking a break is like hitting your reset button; this brief appointment with yourself will increase your productivity, improve your mood and most importantly, decrease the chronic stress that over time paves the way for heart disease, depression, insomnia, cancer and other life-shortening health conditions. Here are 6 tips on how to deal with stress in order to live a long and happy life.
Quiet Time Is Not Just For Toddlers
Somewhere along the line, we got the idea that taking time for ourselves was selfish or even a waste of time. While we schedule time for our children to rest, we think we are exempt. Yet, rest and relaxation are essential to restore our physical energy and to maintain emotional balance. Take 10 minutes of quiet time in your day. Read an inspiring book. Take a long, slow stroll in nature or your neighborhood. Commune silently with a furry friend, meditate, journal, or whatever makes you feel peaceful within. I’m giving you permission to relax.
Retreat From Technology
This tip may seem a little radical to some: take a one-day retreat from technology. Information overload is particularly harmful at midlife because you have less tolerance for stress, which can contribute to high blood pressure and heart disease. So, give yourself a break. Take one day out of the week to minimize screen time. Don’t watch TV, resist the lure of email and skip the news. It will be there tomorrow and, after a day of rest, you’ll be refreshed and ready to deal with it.
Unblock Tension With Exercise
The constant pressures of your responsibilities can lead to chronically elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is a direct cause of muscle and joint pain. Clenched jaw? Chronic back and neck pain? These can all be manifestations of stress in your body. Release physical tension and clear these emotional blockages with massage therapy, cardio exercise, yoga, tai chi or qi gong.
Breathe For Stress Release
For increased stress reduction, practice five minutes of deep breathing during a break. Deliberately slow down your breath by counting to six for each inhalation and exhalation. When you exhale, blow out and let go of worries and negativity. After five minutes, you should immediately experience deeper state of relaxation and a clearer head.
Stay Relaxed With Schisandra
Supplement your attempts to be stress-free with healing herbs. Schisandra, sometimes spelled schizandra, is a berry that has been used for thousands of years in China as an energy tonic to revitalize the senses, soothe the nerves and take the edge off anxiety. Schisandra contains several vitamins and flavonoids that possess antioxidant and immune-boosting properties, which will also come in handy with the upcoming cold season. Grown in Asia, it is available as a supplement from health food stores and online. Also, look for schisandra berries, which can be infused into a tart and tasty tea. Sometimes you can find schisandra in combination with other herbs. Schisandra should not be used by pregnant women.
A Powerful Stress Release Relaxation
This more structured relaxation releases tension in your whole body front, sides and back. If you practice this exercise daily for 10 minutes, you may begin to notice that you have a higher capacity to cope with stress, a less worried mind, and an increased energy level. Lie down on your back. Try to slow your respiration, breathing from deep in your abdomen.
FRONT: Starting at the top of your head, imagine your scalp muscles relaxing while you say the word ‘calm’ to yourself with every exhalation. Repeat this with each body part as you move down through your face, throat, chest, stomach, lower abdomen, thighs, knees, legs, ankles and feet. Visualize all the tension leaving your body through your toes as black smoke.
SIDES: Begin at your temples on either side of your forehead, and work your way down the sides of your upper extremities. Again, imagine your muscles relaxing while you say the word ‘calm’ inwardly with each exhalation. Repeat with each body part as you move down through your jaws, the sides of your neck, shoulders, upper arms, elbows, forearms, wrists and hands. Visualize all the tension leaving your body through your fingertips as black smoke.
BACK: Starting at the back of your head, repeat the breathing-visualization-word routine as you move down from the back of your neck to your upper back, middle back, lower back, back of thighs, calves and heels. Then focus on the soles of your feet for one minute.
Try to work up to two 15-minute sessions per day.
Hope everyone finds the time to RELAX because it’s crucial to your health!
Credit @ WendyKlucas
Six Ways to Boost Productivity
1. Stop Multitasking and give your family, your friends and your personal and professional issues your full attention.
2. Recharge yourself. Give yourself some down time. Schedule it to be sure that you make it happen.
3. Keep one calendar. Adopt a system that works for you and stick with it. Don’t look in more than one place to know where you’ll need to be.
4. Be realisitic when scheduling the time it will take to get something done. Then add an additional 15 minutes as a buffer as we know how often tasks require more time and predicted. Expect and plan for delay.
5. Put technology to work for you. Find a couple of reliable technological support resources to help you online, via phone or in person as you WILL require their services from time to time.
6. Remember to devote time to build your vision.
Six Tips on How to Increase Productivity
Feeling a little sluggish lately? Here are six tips on how to increase productivity in your daily life.
1. Stop Multitasking and give your family, your friends and your personal and professional issues your full attention.
2. Recharge yourself. Give yourself some down time. Schedule it to be sure that you make it happen.
3. Keep one calendar. Adopt a system that works for you and stick with it. Don’t look in more than one place to know where you’ll need to be.
4. Be realisitic when scheduling the time it will take to get something done. Then add an additional 15 minutes as a buffer as we know how often tasks require more time and predicted. Expect and plan for delay.
5. Put technology to work for you. Find a couple of reliable technological support resources to help you online, via phone or in person as you WILL require their services from time to time.
6. Remember to devote time to build your vision.
15 Productivity Tips to Create a More Organized Life
Enhancing your productivity can seem like an overwhelming task. These 15 productivity tips make the process easy and achievable.
1. Begin the organization process with areas that are most visible and/or problematic. Start small and be sure to allow sufficient time for each step in the process. (sort, purge, assign a home, containerize, then maintain and equalize regularly)
2. Create systems that fit your life and surroundings.
3. Keep your systems and procedures as simple as possible.
4. Sort everything by how it is used and keep things close to where you use them.
5. Automate as much as possible & become more familiar with technology to use it to help organize information and pay bills to the extent that you feel comfortable.
6. Learn to say NO, lessen your commitments in accordance with your big picture life goals.
7. Use a master list to keep track of to-dos and projects.
8. Delegate whenever possible and don’t be afraid to ask for help from family, friends and professionals.
9. Purge and weed continuously. Set aside time each day to tidy and maintain your surroundings and schedule.
10. Establish a home for everything and return items to their proper place immediately (or shortly) after use.
11. Use of proper containers and tools to more simply organize your environment and schedule.
12. Invest in a good labeler (ie. Brother P-Touch) and label EVERYTHING.
13. Fight procrastination. Make decisions about things when they show up & not blow up!
14. Adopt the habit of letting something go (donate, sell or toss) with every new acquisition and/or purchase.
15. Tell someone about your commitment to the process of getting organized & it will help you stick to your plan and reach your goals.
by: Denise Caron-Quinn
Founder & President of In Order To Succeed
Why You Should Take a Vacation
Did you know that 56% of the work force does not take advantage of their vacation time at work? I recently went on a much needed vacation to northern Minnesota. I struggled with disconnecting from work and the guilt of not being there if something important came up. But, when I got back I felt refreshed and much more motivated to do a great job. Did you know that going on a vacation can actually promote creativity, productivity, rest, relaxation and can even improve your performance at work?
According to a Careerbuilder survey, more than half of workers say they work under a great deal of stress, and 77% say they feel burned out on the job. Research shows that it takes up to three days to relax when you go on vacation and longer vacations (seven days or more) are associated with better psychological outcomes than shorter vacations.
Not only does going on a vacation provide you with wonderful benefits, it provides your co-workers with opportunities they normally would not have. If you are anything like me, you find it hard to step away because of the desire to be needed, to answer client questions and to do a great job. Well…you might be surprised at how smoothly things run when you leave! Taking a vacation allows your co-workers and employees to step up and show what great employees they are. As long as you help them succeed as much as possible by preparing before you go and passing over everything that you think of. Also, trust that your employees will get the job done right and don’t check in on them every minute.
Here are a few tips I have learned to enjoy your vacation:
1) Put it on the calendar and remind everyone you know when you are leaving and when you will be back. This will help your co-workers and boss mentally prepare for you to leave and you won’t feel guilty when you are running out the door.
2) Turn off the work email. The one thing I did for my vacation is disconnected my work email on my phone so I couldn’t access it. It was such a great idea and felt so great to disconnect for a few days!
3) Make sure you have an out of office message on your phone and email. If you don’t, you will wish you would have!
When you get back from vacation, don’t worry if you have thousands of unread emails! Call the person that took your place while you were out and in just 5 minutes you will find out everything you need to know to get through your first day back. I also recommend scheduling an extra day off when you come back so you can dive back in slowly and not overwhelm yourself.
by Guest Blogger Anna aka Classy Career Girl.
Further Reading
About the author: Classy Career Girl is a Consultant by day and a MBA student by night. She blogs about her journey through business school while working full time and loves to research and write about career advice, work-life balance and stress management. You can read more about her journey on her website http://www.classycareergirl.com and follow her on twitter at http://www.twitter.com/classycareer.
Photograph courtesy of Classy Career Girl.
Tip Day Wednesday: 3 Tips for Climbing Your Personal Mountains
by Guest Blogger Gunter Jameson
Sir Edmund Hilary, the first man to climb Mount Everest, once said, “It is not the mountains we conquer, but ourselves.” Whether you are trying to climb physical mountains or the metaphysical mountains you encounter in your everyday life, here are some tips to keep in mind that might make your journey easier.
1) Carry as little as possible.
When climbing a mountain, you need to take as few items with you as possible. The less you take with you, the faster and longer you can climb. When you face life’s challenging mountains, stick to the same rule. The more you can simplify your life, the better. If your house is full of clutter, clean it out and throw things away. If you carry emotional baggage with you, deal with it so you can throw it off the side of the mountain and get rid of it. All the clutter in your life, physical and emotional, only serves to hold you back from reaching your goals.
2) Take your time.
If you try and rush to the summit of a mountain as fast as you can, you risk slipping, losing your grip, skipping safety precautions, and potentially falling to your demise. Did you know what climbers do when they get to the top of Mount Everest? Most of them take a picture and head back down as soon as possible. There’s a lesson in that: climbing mountains is not about reaching the summit but about the climb itself. When you face your personal mountains, think of them the same way. You may face challenges, but it is the way that you deal with those challenges that counts, not that they are finally over. So, slow down, deal with things properly and in an orderly fashion. If you try and hurry, you may miss something or make a mistake, causing you to back track and even start all over again from the beginning.
3) Pick the right climbing partners.
You never want to climb a mountain alone, and you always want to have people with you who have experience mountain climbing. The same goes for your life. Having friends and loved ones with you during your challenges and difficulties makes it easier. They can help you carry your load, lift you up, and use their strength to pull you to safety. What’s more, make sure that those with whom you surround yourself are the kind of people that will help you when things get difficult. Surround yourself with uplifting and supporting friends and family and you’ll make it to the summit of all of life challenges.
Further Reading
About the Author: Gunter Jameson writes about several topics including travel, minimalism and online classes.
Photo via flickr by Wit.
Tip Day Wednesday: Time Management is Myth
Time Management is Myth. Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, but really there are only 24 hours in day. And there are always going to be 24 hours in a day. No matter how organized, productive, or efficient you are there are still only going to be 24 hours in a day. This Tip Day Wednesday think about the idea that time management is myth and that is doesn’t exist. Instead of managing time, mange the number of activities you have. Changing your perceptive from one that attempts to manage time to one that attempts to manage activities will simplify your 24 hours.
Further Reading
Check out past Tip Day Wednesdays for more organizing, productivity, and time management tips.
Image via flickr by Nic McPhee