 I am happiest when I’m working
I also love the sight of a long and intricate to-do list. The satisfaction of checking that list off one by one does something to my soul 😍 But does this make me a bad mom? Do my friends and family roll their eyes whenever I answer their question “What are you up to today?” Absolutely not. Because “working” to me also means- ✨Working on myself ✨Working on relationships ✨Working on my sidewalk chalk skills with my 7yr old ✨Working on my (non existent) cooking skills I’m just a busy 🐝 . And I think busy people get a bad rap because A) others are uncomfortable with their level of work ethic or B) they are afraid they may hit burnout status. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard people tell me that I have too much on my plate, and I understand where they are coming from. But I believe when you find that sweet spot of knowing how to choose things that spark fire, your enthusiasm and energy levels only go up. Next time someone you know wants to take on the world, let them. In fact, cheer them on! Send them a “YASS GIRL 🙌🏻” text and watch them work magic ✨ And to my busy 🐝’s, don’t let anyone put out your fire 🔥
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 Being a busy mom AND bossbabe can feel like a never-ending juggling act. But fear not! Get ready to slay the busy game with these time management tips for busy moms that I use every day! (Well I try to) Let's dive in and conquer your hectic schedule while still making time for yourself.
 Summer is here, and while we cherish time with our kids, it's vital to prioritize "me time." Let's explore quick tips for staying organized and enjoying summer to the fullest. 1. Create a Flexible Schedule: Strike a balance between structure and spontaneity by designing a flexible summer schedule. Outline essential tasks, meal times, playdates, and outdoor activities. This framework ensures you have planned moments for yourself. 2. Plan Ahead: Take time each week to plan activities with your kids. Involve them in choosing outings and projects. Prepping meals and snacks in advance frees up time for self-care. 3. Organize Outdoor Essentials: Keep outdoor essentials in one place for easy access. Create a beach or pool bag with towels, sunscreen, hats, and swimsuits. Have a basket near the door with sunhats, sunglasses, and bug spray. 4. Declutter and Streamline: Use the summer break to declutter and streamline your home. Involve your kids in sorting through toys, clothes, and books. A clutter-free environment saves time and promotes a serene atmosphere. 5. Designate Kid-Friendly Zones: Create play zones in your home to encourage independent play. Set up an art corner, reading nook, or sensory bin station. These dedicated spaces foster creativity and minimize scattered toys. 6. Utilize Time-Saving Tools: Harness technology for organization. Employ voice-activated assistants to set reminders. Utilize online calendars and scheduling apps to manage commitments efficiently. Self-care is essential for moms. Implement these tips to enjoy summer with your kids while carving out precious "me time." Embrace the joy of summer, involve your kids, and relish in the beauty of both family time and rejuvenating moments. Happy organizing, mommas!  Having a positive mindset has been linked to a lower risk of dying from heart disease, stroke, cancer, respiratory diseases, and infection. Additionally, it provides benefits such as a better quality of life, higher energy levels, better physical and mental health, and a longer life span, among other things.
I’m not saying that having a more optimistic approach is magical, but it does help a lot when it comes to handling the more challenging parts of life. If you want to create a more positive mindset, here’s a list of things you should do! 1. Practice Gratitude Every single one of the tips I’ll be sharing with you today requires consistent practice and you should start with gratitude. Practicing gratitude will help you reduce stress, have more resilience in the face of challenges, and improve your self-esteem. You can keep a gratitude journal or use an app for this, just make sure you write down at least 3 things you’re grateful for every day. 2. Learn to Focus on the Good Hurdles are a part of life and things won’t always go our way, but it’s important we learn to focus on the good even when it’s difficult. It doesn’t matter how insignificant the good things may be. Focus on them and use them as fuel. Train yourself to search for the silver lining in every situation. It’s always there, you just have to notice it and it will give you strength. 3. Learn to Shut Down Negative Self-Talk Negative self-talk is so common! We are often unkind to ourselves, but that’s something we all need to work on. A negative opinion of yourself can be difficult to let go of, but it’s possible. Speak to yourself the way you would speak to a loved one. Be kind, be encouraging, and turn your negative inner voice into a positive, respectful and uplifting one. 4. Find the Humour in Things Laughter is vital because it improves your mood and it helps you keep stress, depression, and anxiety at bay. This is why you need to open yourself up to humor no matter the situation. Trust me, it will make a huge difference if you can learn to laugh at the things that threaten to bring you down. 5. Find Positive People to Learn From Last but not least, surround yourself with positive people. If you’re trying to change your mindset but your inner circle is full of negative people, you will have an uphill battle. Find the people you can learn from, whether that’s a friend, a family member, a mentor, it doesn’t matter. Positivity, just like negativity, is infectious, so surround yourself with it and you will adopt a more positive outlook on life. The more you practice these tips, the more positive your mindset will become and the better you’ll feel about your life. It takes work because bad habits are not easy to shake, but it will be worth the effort! Do you ever go bed with so much ambition to take on the world the next morning, but wake up and can't seem to remember what you have to do? This is how my brain works. If it's not laid out in front of me, with bright pink highlighter and alarms going off, its not getting done. That's why I HAD to create an easy morning routine that automated my moves and made me way more productive.
When you have nothing to go by, it makes it easier to procrastinate, become sidetracked, and lose your focus on what needs to get done. My brain has a million tabs open at all times so even though some of these things are quite simple, I don't even have to put any effort into thinking what needs to get done, I just do it on autopilot. Take a look at what my mornings look like- 1) Make coffee ~ Obvi. I have a Keurig so I quickly pop a coffee tab into the machine and away it goes 2) Load the Dryer ~ If you read my free e-book, you know that I load the washer at night and set it to run in the AM before I wake up. By the time I get downstairs and make my coffee, the load is ready to go in the dryer! (and if you didn't read my e-book, shoot me a message and I will send it to you!) 3) Gratitude ~ I have the "5 Minute Journal" from Indigo and I LOVE IT. It literally takes 5 minutes to jot down the 3 things you are grateful for and what your intentions are that day. I swear it puts you in a more positive mood and sets the tone for your day 4) Workout ~ This is when I do my squats and pushups. If it's a gym day, I will do them AT the gym, and eat breakfast before I leave 5) Protein Breakfast ~ Either protein oatmeal and berries, scrambled eggs and avocado, or a protein shake (chocolate, peanut butter banana is my FAVE) 6) Check email/to do list ~ I used to do this on my phone (bad idea) Now I sit in my home office and check email and it's way easier to concentrate. My to-do list is created the night before so I check and see what's on the agenda for the day 7) Eat the Frog- I learned this in a podcast for Studio Owners but I think its important for everyone. Eating the frog means to tackle the most daunting thing on your to-do list. Once it's completed, everything else will be a breeze! Don't put it off! It will cause unnecessary stress :) 8) Plan snacks/dinner ~ I either pack my bag for the day or I decided whats on the menu for dinner and either take it out of the freezer or pop over to the grocery store. The rest of my day is tackling the to do list! You can use my list as a guide or create your own routine, but my challenge is to create a tangible list that you can work off of, at least until it becomes automatic for you Creating an evening routine is my number 1 way to ensure I have a productive morning. When I am organized before I go to bed, I cut out all the morning chaos and even catch a few extra ZZZ's because I planned my day the night before. The main reason I get most of my tasks done, is because I prepare it all at night! There's nothing worse than waking up and not having a plan of action for the day (unless you're on vacay and the plan is to have NO plan!) So prepping myself for the upcoming day just helps my brain map out what I will be doing. The more you do in the evening, the less you have to do in the AM :) 1) 10 minute tidy ~ I set a timer on my phone for 10 minutes, and I go around and pick up around the house. I start with main rooms: front entrance, living room, toy room etc. This is a quick pick up of items that don't belong, so 10 minutes gives me enough time to run around and put everything back in it's place :) 2) Kitchen Sink Rule ~ When I first read this on a blog years ago, I dismissed it, but I started implementing it a year ago and now I can't go to sleep without doing it! The rule was to always make sure your kitchen sink is empty and DRIED before you go to bed. No dishes, no wet cloth, and sink dried and shiny. Theres nothing more calming than walking into your kitchen bright & early and seeing a clean, empty sink. Just try it!! It starts your day off right 3) Load laundry/set timer ~ My washing machine has a "delayed start" button so I set it an hour before I wake up 4) Lay out agenda ~ I leave my agenda on my office desk, opened, so I can look at it in the AM and have a clear idea of what I have going on that week 5) Set alarms ~ I take full advantage of the alarm app on my phone, and I set an alarm for EVERYTHING. My alarm is regularly going off with reminders (don't worry, it plays popular songs instead of annoying loud tones) I set them for everything including- "Mail cheque for venue", "PVR the Bachelor", "get Stella from school", "book order due"... I like this better than the reminder app because you can SNOOZE something if you can't do it immediately (don't worry I always get Stella from school! 6)Tomorrow to-do ~ I jot down everything I need AND want to do the next day. Then I circle the "frog" to make sure it gets done first. This list goes beside my agenda 7) Remove Makeup/mask ~ I take off my makeup as soon as I know I am home for the evening. Then I try to do a facemask every other day. I have a couple fancy, pricier masks that I use weekly, but I have a TON of the sheet masks you can buy at a drugstore. (3 for $5 at Shoppers) It's a gooey, thin white sheet with eye and nose holes that you place on your face and take off in 15 minutes.   There’s so much to be grateful for, isn’t it? You have a job that pays the bills, a roof over your head, food on the table, family and friends who love you, etc. What more could you ask of life? The answer is: as much as you want! You have a good life, yes, but is this your dream life? The only way to know is to take a step back and listen to your heart. So far, it’s likely you’ve only been listening to your mind.
That’s all fine and great, but sometimes our minds can trick us into believing we’re not good enough to chase our dreams and create the life we truly want for ourselves. We’ve been conditioned that way; so we’re often scared of straying from the path into the unknown and begin working towards our dreams. Well, I’m here to tell you something important: you are capable and you are worthy of creating the life of your dreams. So why not start today?! 1. Define Your Vision The first thing you want to do is define your vision. What are your dreams? Sit down for 30 to 45 minutes and look inward. I recommend you get a journal and start writing about your dreams, goals, and desires, no matter how big or small they may be. Write them all down and give yourself the time to focus only on what you want from life. 2. Start Visualizing We’ve been taught to believe that visualization is a waste of time, it’s daydreaming and we could use that time more productively. But visualization is never a waste of time! Take a moment to think of the dream you are most passionate about from the list you created, close your eyes, and visualize yourself in that scenario. You already made it, you’re there. How does it feel? What does it look like? Lose yourself in the vision and think of nothing else for 5 minutes. When you do, you’ll realize how helpful visualization really is. 3. Take the First Step Now that you know what you want and you’ve created such a complete vision for yourself, the only thing left to do is take action. Take the first step, then the second, and the third, and don’t stop until you’ve reached your goals. There will be hurdles and you may even make a few mistakes along the way, but don’t stop. Lost time is something we can never get back, so we need to make the most of it and start now! Yes, it can be intimidating to get up and start changing your life. It means you have to step outside your comfort zone, which is something we’ve been taught to avoid. However, taking the step is worth it because, at the end of the road, you’ll have the life of your dreams. What could be better than that? So, get yourself ready and take action. Be brave and the universe will reward you! Here’s your quick little reminder to go after it ✌🏻😝✌🏻Relentlessly. Always align yourself with things and people that make you happy 😁 Learn about the importance of becoming self-aware ❤️ Understand what fuels your fire, and incorporate that into each day. Find mentors. Social media tends to get a bad rap but it can also be a great tool for inspiration, motivation, and accountability. Three people I look to for motivation each and every day is Gary Vaynerchuk- https://www.youtube.com/c/garyvee/videos Jill Christine- https://www.instagram.com/jillchristinefit/ Selena Hamilton- https://www.instagram.com/selenarhamilton/ Who do you look to for motivation? 😘 Photo by: @ashleyciona 💙   I must admit, I have a lot of projects on the go. I always have, and THAT’S what excites me. The hustle. People ask if I’m ever afraid of burn out but I feel like it’s just in my DNA to be busy. I get a lot of slack for it, but why? Truth is, I spent about 2 years travelling and living in different countries where I found myself not able to legally work and after the first 2 weeks I HATED IT! (Those 2 weeks were filled with lots of eating, drinking and binge watching MTV) I would create to do lists with just about anything on it, to ensure I was productive that day. Some of those things included “getting out of bed,” and “getting dressed” 🤦🏼♀️ I remember asking myself “did I even contribute to society today?? Or was I just walking around, using up the world’s resources and then going back to bed” It was a crummy feeling I’ll never forget. Now I embrace my ambitious nature and lean into my busy lifestyle. I appreciate it much more when knowing what it feels like to have nothing on the schedule that day 😰 Point is, if you enjoy being busy, go do it! Don’t let anyone dim your light to make themselves feel more comfortable. So I’ll be over here, gettin’ stuff done. And if you’re like me and love the chase, keep shining on girl😘✌🏻
Guest Blogger- Cheryl Conklin of www.wellnesscentral.info  Everyone knows that diet and exercise are two pillars of good physical health and mental well-being. But a lot of people forget about the importance of sleep! Getting a good night’s sleep—consistently—can have a wide range of positive effects on your overall wellness, especially when it comes to your mental health. If your sleep is a little lacking, keep reading to learn how you can boost your sleep quality tonight and enjoy better mental health tomorrow!
The Link Between Sleep and Mental Health Make sure you understand just how important quality sleep is when it comes to coping with stress and maintaining a positive mindset throughout the day.
Relieve Stress with Relaxation Techniques It’s normal to have a difficult time sleeping when you’re struggling with stress. Keep some relaxation techniques in your arsenal so you can relax before bed.
Adopt a Routine Few things are better for your sleep than sticking to a routine. A consistent daily schedule can also help you keep your mental health in check!
If sleep deprivation is a common problem for you, as it is for a many people, take steps to improve your sleep—starting tonight! From implementing relaxation strategies during periods of stress to adopting a daily routine, there are several ways to fix your sleep quality and enjoy better mental health at the same time. Make sleep a priority in your wellness routine! |
AuthorTiffany is the author of this blog, unless she finds someone super cool to feature :) Archives
July 2023
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