After reading Donna-Marie’s ‘8 Time Savers‘ over at the Small Business Diva, I thought I would share some of my own time management tips.
- Set limits - you already set limits: on your children, on your spending, on your food intake and so on. This basic life skill can be applied to time, too. Decide, in advance, how long you want to spend on a phone call or a visitor, shopping or cleaning, and stick to it.
- Do the worst task first - every day, at the office or at home, do your worst or most difficult task first. At the office this could be writing a complex letter or making a phone call you’ve been dreading. At home it may be the ironing or scrubbing the grouting. Getting the worst out of the way as soon as possible gives you a sense of achievement plus relief. It also frees your mind to concentrate on other tasks.
- Sacred hour - award yourself a regular hour, every day, when you can work uninterrupted. Let phone calls go to voicemail and leave your emails, unless this is what you plan to work on. One hour of uninterruped work will usually achieve much more than five constantly inturruped by phone calls and visitors.
- Grocery shopping - utilise online shopping and saved shopping lists, particularly when buying the staples. Alternatively shop early in the mornings or later in the evenings when there are less shoppers and shorter queues.
- Regular coffee and meal breaks - this gives structure to your day and helps you keep focus. By having breaks it can help you clear your mind, and refresh if getting a little tired from looking at the computer for the past hour.
- Make appointments - by writing them in your diary, you are blocking out time in the day for your client meetings and while you’re at it, block out some ‘you’ time. 30mins for a mini manicure or pedicure will not only pep you up but make you feel good too.
Do you have any favourite time saving tips?
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As part of the Soul Coaching program we work with affirmations on a daily basis. I thought for those new to working with affirmations, it might be good to have a little bit of a background on what they are and how to work with them.
An affirmation is a statement we make about a person, thing or situation. It is something that we “state” to ourselves or to others on a regular basis. Affirmations are created based on our beliefs and can be positive or negative in nature.
Whether the statement is positive or negative you are affirming that belief on a regular basis and eventually you will believe it and act according to that belief.
The amazing thing about affirmations is that those negative statements can be turned into positive, powerful statements, which in turn can be used daily to bring more light, love and happiness into your life.
Positive thinking is essential for your personal growth.
By working with positive, powerful affirmations you can begin to change the way you think and feel about yourself, and start to create a future that you desire. You do this by identifying the negative and unproductive beliefs you have, and turning them into positive, supporting beliefs.
We suggest that you create affirmations that are in tune with your current situation but that can still effect change in the areas that they hope for.
Before you begin to create your positive, powerful affirmations, it is important to remember a few key points:
Present Moment – Your affirmation must be written in the present moment. For example, “I am financially supported” represents the now, whereas, “I will be financially supported” makes you feel like it is off in the future, not in the now.
Positive Words – Chose your words carefully because if you said “I am not poor” your energy is focusing on not being poor, and the universe hears the word “poor”. Instead change your words to be positive and uplifting “I have enough money for all that I need” or “I am wealthy” are better choices of words.
Short and Specific – While creating your affirmation, you want to chose words that are to the point and allows you to keep your affirmation short. The more succinct your affirmation, the easier it is to remember and the easier to work with.
Feels Right – When creating your affirmation, you want it to “feel” right and be in tune with your current situation. For example, if you are completely broke and there are bills attacking you from all sides, it is not going to help just saying “money now pours into my life offering me great abundance” as this is clearly not the case and trying to repeat such an affirmation would just create an undercurrent of disappointment with your current circumstances. Instead you could use an ‘umbrella affirmation’ such as “the universe now supports me in my endeavours to manifest great wealth”. Create something that you feel is right for you but is also a little bit of a stretch.
Repeat, Repeat and Repeat – Once you have created your positive, powerful affirmation say it to yourself as often as you can, write it down as often as you can and think it as often as you can throughout your day. The best way is to write it down and place it where you can see it often. They say it takes 21 days to break a habit, use this rule with an affirmation and repeat it often throughout the day for 21 days.
Visualise – As you repeat your affirmation, visualise yourself being in the situation. Really feel yourself there, having achieved whatever it is that you wished for. Visualisation helps you with the feeling and belief of your affirmation.
Update – As you work with your positive, powerful affirmations your energy will change and you will begin to feel better and better. Update your affirmations with your feelings and take into consideration that you want affirmations to be a little bit of a stretch for you.
It is better to create your own affirmation that is applicable to your own situation however if you choose an affirmation from a book or the internet, change it to fit your situation. If you are using an affirmation daily and it is not manifesting, think about why and maybe you need to create an ‘umbrella affirmation’ that will help support you in achieving your affirmation when the time is right. You need to honour where you and why before you can move forward.
Affirmations are truly the key to getting yourself in line with what you want, need and desire in life. Keep an eye out for our beautiful affirmation videos in the coming weeks.
If you already work with affirmations, what is your favourite one?
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In my previous post Growth and New Direction I mentioned I’ve known all along that I’ve wanted to offer personal development services online, but the how has been the challenge for me.
Before stepping into various ‘personal development’ topics, I thought it would be a good idea to discuss what I mean by personal development.
Personal development encompasses much more than cognitive skills such as learning how to paint, learning a new computer program, learning photography or how to make a great cookie. Sure, developing yourself in that sense allows you to expand your skill set and provides you with a sense of achievement, however it doesn’t necessarily encourage you to delve deeper.
To me, personal development is about awakening and becoming more aware of ones own inner feelings and thought patterns. The awakening is a process of exploration and identifying who you are, who you wish to be and how to make changes in your life. It is about becoming aware of your untapped potential and then working towards improving yourself.
As you awaken, you become more conscious in the way you interact with yourself and the world around you. Personal development teaches you how to make the changes you want in all aspects of your life. It is not something that you gain from formal education. It is through attending workshops, reading books, talking with people, reading the internet, participating in discussions or women’s development circles, writing your thoughts and feelings down, reflecting on your actions and so on.
My view is as you walk the personal development path, you become empowered to live your best life.
What is your view? Can you add to what I have written?