Archives for August 2016

August 30, 2016 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Finding Time for Yourself

Between work and family life, it can often be a struggle to make time for yourself. It may seem like “me-time” is a luxury you can’t afford. Don’t fool yourself into ignoring the benefits though. Everyone deserves time for self-care; it is essential for your well-being and to help prevent feeling burned-out.

Here are a few ways to start incorporating time for yourself, so you can feel renewed and ready to tackle anything that comes your way.

Prioritize

Step one is to decide what is the most important way to spend your personal time. Make a list of all the things you wish you had more time to do, and sort them in order of importance. Analyze how you actually spend your time so you get a game plan together. Are the things you are currently doing really important enough to cut into your personal time?

Eliminate

Get rid of the time-wasting distractions in your life. With a little bit of planning and sticking to a schedule, many of these common distractions can be resolved. Plan your meals ahead to avoid multiple trips to the grocery store in a week. Avoid checking emails and taking personal calls constantly throughout the day by setting aside a certain time for these tasks. Delegate tasks where possible. Maybe your spouse or children can help out with a few extra chores around the house, and coworkers can take a work project or two off your hands.

Commit

Now that you have freed up a bit of time for yourself, commit to it! Remind yourself that “me-time” provides an essential and valuable opportunity to refresh and revitalize. Learn to say no to tasks you don’t relish doing. You don’t have to take everything on. Create a daily to-do list and make sure your personal time is on the schedule. This will help you plan out your day, ensuring you follow through with personal activities.

With a little planning and perseverance, it is completely possible to make more time for the activities the bring you joy, fulfillment, and help you relax. You simply have to make it a priority and ensure others in your life respect your time. You might start seeing a boost in your productivity levels, and a little less stress in your life – and you’ll be glad you did it!

Ready to create the changes that will help you move towards living the life you REALLY want? Now is the time to take control of your personal development by eliminating self-doubt. Give your confidence a boost so you can value the life as well as the business you have dreamed of. Contact Kim Hughes when you are ready to Bring Clarity, Balance, and Confidence to your business. Visit KimHughesCoaching.com for details!

Image courtesy of jill111/Pixabay.com

August 23, 2016 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Get More Energy for Your Morning

If you aren’t a morning person, you may find it a challenge to summon the energy to face your daily routine. Apparently it takes around two hours or less for the average person’s brain to really wake up, so it is easy to see why many of us have to drag ourselves out of bed. You don’t have to continue stumbling through your morning though. Here are some great tips to boost your energy and shake up your routine.

The Right Light

Sunlight signals the body that it is time to wake-up. Keeping the curtains open is one way to get your sun exposure, or you can get an alarm clock that simulates it. Either way, spend a few minutes in front of a sunny window and maybe do a little stretching.

Exercise

Go for a low to moderate workout to get the blood flowing, and to trigger endorphins that can help you beat the midday slump. A morning walk or 15 minutes of yoga should help loosen the muscles and improve your mental focus.

Your Routine

Showering in the morning provides a great opportunity for an energy boost. Change up your shower routine by including bath products that contain peppermint or rosemary – both good for mental clarity. Or you can simply apply a few drops to a cloth and inhale the scent.

Lemon Water

Drinking a glass of water with lemon in the morning is thought to have many health benefits. Lemon water helps cleanse the digestive system, reduces inflammation, improves the immune system and boosts your energy. Squeeze half a lemon into a glass of water and drink 15 to 30 minutes before eating breakfast to enjoy the benefits.

Breakfast

What you have for breakfast can really go a long way toward making or breaking the first half of your work-day. Cut down on refined sugar and consider including sources of lean protein, fruits and veggies, and complex carbohydrates in your morning meal. Whole-grains, turkey, avocado, yogurt, eggs and bananas are some good options.

Vitamins

Taking a multi-vitamin can help counteract a deficiency of nutrients in your diet. Eating a balanced diet is the best way to meet your energy needs, but there are supplements that can help with fatigue. Magnesium, Vitamin B12 and folic acid are a few supplements that can boost your energy if you are deficient in them.

Sleep

And last but not least, get a good night’s sleep for a better morning. 8 hours of sleep is about average, though some people may need more. Stay on a daily schedule and avoid trying to catch up on sleep after your week is done.

I hope these tips will help you stay on your game and rock your morning routine in future. Making simple changes is sometimes all that is necessary to see an improvement in your energy levels, so you can stay focused and more productive throughout your day.

Image courtesy of jill111/Pixabay.com

August 9, 2016 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

August Organization

Are the “dog days” of summer making you feel unmotivated right now? It may feel like a real challenge to break out of lazy summer mode to start getting organized for the busy fall season, and that’s why I have gathered the following tips to help you get prepared.

Here in the South, there are still several weeks of bathing suit weather left even though vacation time is drawing to a close and school is starting back. This is a good time to get rid of any summer clothes, bathing suits, or travel gear that didn’t get used or aren’t in great shape. You may consider donating any items that are still usable. You can donate clothes, jackets, school supplies, etc to your school, or have a garage sale since August 13^th is National Garage Sale Day.

Have tons of photos from your last vacation? Now is the time to go through them and decide which to keep and which to clear from your computer or camera memory card. Consider making a scrapbook, getting your favorites framed, or create photo books through Shutterfly or Wal-Mart to capture the great memories. These are great to give as Christmas or birthday gifts as well.

If you have children starting back to school, you will want to help make the process go smoothly for you and your family. Here is the link to a handy checklist of back-to-school tasks to take care of. Find some great recipes for the crock pot when creating your weekly meal calendar. Get the camera or your Smart Phone out to spend time with each child to plan out their clothes for the first week – this is always fun (more for the girls than the guys). Buy a little photo album at the dollar store for a buck, take some photos of different outfits, then print and put in the photo book with the day labeled. Then in the morning each child will open their “styling book” so they will know what to put on. Really this is a fun idea!

Make sure to schedule physicals, eye doctor and dentist appointments early and order any special gear or uniforms that they may need. Designate a work space fully stocked with everything they need for doing homework.

Next, start evaluating your office or work organization system. Is your process working, or do you spend far too much time trying to remember where everything is?

Start by going through your physical work space and evaluate what can be thrown out.
Consider investing in drawer bins and dividers, and an organizer for your desk surface for storing any items you plan to keep.
File important papers in color-coded and labeled folders
Investing in a planner is great way to stay on top of daily and weekly tasks. Writing down your schedule helps un-clutter your brain, and keeps you from forgetting important appointments.
Clear out your virtual space by creating folders on your desktop for storing files, photos, etc., and doing the same for your inbox. Read, delete or save emails in folders you have designated.
Personalize your work area with furniture, décor, containers and organizers that make you enjoy being in the space and boosts your productivity.

These tips should help point you in the right direction for end-of-summer organization. Some of us may be dreading the idea that the lazy days of summer will soon be drawing to a close, but with a little planning and preparation, the transition into fall can be smooth and stress-free as well as fun.

Image courtesy of Iris/Flickr.com

August 2, 2016 By Kim Hughes Leave a Comment

Top Websites for Learning New Skills

I’ve rounded up a few top websites offering great opportunities to learn new skills in business, marketing, self-improvement, design and more. Think you need to spend heaping piles of cash at institutions to learn valuable and relevant skills? Think again. Some of these sites are free, or charge a low monthly fee to access tons of great learning material. You can learn at your own pace, from home or at your favorite café.

Skillshare

Offering over 7,000 classes, a membership with Skillshare will get you access to courses on business, design, technology, culinary, lifestyle and more. Learn skills in 15 minute blocks with most classes taking less than an hour. Sign up for $10 a month and learn from the experts. You can even try it out for free.

Lynda

Learn about business, marketing, design, web development and more. Lynda is a LinkedIn company that offers business, creative, and technology courses. Classes take approximately 30 minutes to complete. They are currently offering a free 10-day trial with access to thousands of courses.

Khan Academy

Topics of study at Khan Academy include mathematics, engineering, science, computing, arts, humanities, finance and economics. Great for students or those who interested in career building. Khan Academy is a not-for-profit that provides all of their courses free at any time. Approximate time per course is 30 minutes.

Blinkist

Have a long reading list and just not enough time to get to it all? Blinkist offers over 1,000 non-fiction best sellers condensed into 15 minute summaries. You can also download the app and get audio versions of your favorite titles for even more convenience. Genres include: personal growth and self-improvement, productivity, entrepreneurship and small business, marketing and sales, politics, communication, money and more. Try it out free for 3 days or subscribe for a low monthly price.

Udemy

Udemy offers a range of topics such as: business, IT and software, productivity, personal development, design, marketing, health and fitness, music, language and more. Pay only for the courses you are interested in, and take advantage of frequent discounts offered. They offer more than 40,000 courses and most start at $12.

These websites are just a few of the great time-saving learning tools out there, that you can use at your convenience. Do you have any favorites that aren’t listed here? Let me know! I am always looking for great tools and ideas to pass on.

And, if you need help in organizing your life or business – contact me today – I am always happy to talk to you about how you can do more, be more and enjoy more.

Image courtesy of StartupStockPhotos/Pixabay.com