You know that sinking feeling when you realize you’re in a conversation with no end in sight?

Instead of focusing on what’s said, your mind is running through your To-Do list for the day.

I realized last week that I lost about 30 minutes of my most productive time chatting with our carpet cleaner. Working from home allows for lots of time saved, but contactors and home maintenance workers can sabotage your productivity.

Small Talk Within Reason

I tend to be the type to pretend that I’m not home when the doorbell rings (thank goodness for video doorbells). On the occasion when I need to let someone into the house, I’m always polite. Probably too polite, which is what gets me in trouble. However, I genuinely appreciate the value of good help, and I think a few minutes of niceties go a long way.

“How are you? Can I get you anything? OK, here’s where we need help.”

Sound the Alarms

When you’ve gone beyond the small talk, and the...

It’s Tuesday morning after a 3 day weekend.  There’s an anxious knot in the pit of my stomach for the short week ahead.

Part of life balance is taking the time to soak in those LOONG 3 day weekends but fit my work into a shortened week.  Time to lean heavy on my calendar.

“What gets scheduled gets done” Michael Hyatt

This is important during any week but even more important today.  

Here’s a breakdown of my calendar process.

1. For me it starts with my personal yearly review.  I spend time reconnecting with my life plan.  
2. Next I set goals for the year that connect to the plan and commit those goals to a quarter during my year. There are times when goals have to roll from one quarter to the next but that’s a post for another day.
3. Finally I take those quarterly goals and break them into weekly tasks that are put into my calendar.  
4. I review my calendar each day to make...

Do you wonder how you’ll ever find the time to work on your big project? You’re ready to be more than just a Mom.

You’re not going to believe this but there’s a tool to find time for whatever it is that you want in your life.  It’s simple but not always easy.

It’s called the Ideal Week. It’s a downloadable template that will move your life from reactive to proactive.  It’s your life.  OWN IT!

The purpose is to find an intersection between your dreams and your realities.

Here’s what mine looks like today.

Steps to Create Your Own

1. Do a brain dump of everything that is and you would like to have in your schedule. Include all your tasks and habits.
2. Print out the template and use a pencil to time-block in all the actionable items (I make a lot of edits along the way)
3. Recheck for happiness.  This is your ideal week, so make sure the week you have planned out makes you smile. Yes that...

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” Steve Jobs

Thanks, Steve, but what if you don’t know how to go after those BIG dreams? 

We talked about how to set goals for your dreams. Now let’s dive deeper into the action plans for your achievement goals (not habits).  The steps you need to take to bring yourself closer to living out those dreams.

Often we feel lost and overwhelmed with anxiety with the thought of sitting down to tackle those big dreams. This is because you don’t have a clear path to your dream.  How do you face this unknown? I want to share with you a tested method I picked up from Jessica Abel.

Start with the Questions

First, write down all the questions that occur to you in a short brainstorming session.   

You could use a journal, a digital notebook or any other means of capturing info that works for you. (NOTE: keep this list handy so...

Monday hit me like a ton of bricks. 

Motivation had been my friend when I read the book Miracle Mornings.  I was intrigued because I’ve always been a morning person.  After reading, I set my alarm even earlier.  Motivated to capture the day and “maximize my potential.”

I sprung out of bed for the first week (even on the weekends). Then the next Monday hit. I had spent the weekend as I usually would.  Spending time with family and friends.  Staying up later to enjoy more time, but then still bounding out of bed at 5am.

Seizing the day seemed like a much less worthy cause. Motivation ghosted me on that morning.

I realized if I wanted to continue with the morning routine I was loving, I was going to have to call on more than motivation to push me out of bed. 

Let’s look at the definitions:

MOTIVATION

(noun): the act or an instance of motivating, or providing with a reason to act in a...

“A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.” — Walt Disney

Walt definitely knew how to dream. The more remarkable thing is that he made those dreams come to life.

How do we dream BIG like Walt without slipping into the world of fantasy?

Start with Your Why

If you’ve created a life plan, tie your goals back to the areas of your life that need the most attention.  

No life plan? That’s ok. (Although I HIGHLY recommend it). Wherever you want to focus your goal, think first about why. You’re going to have to dig deep here.  It must be tied to your values.  What really matters.

“If the heart doesn’t find a perfect rhyme with the head, then your passion means...

The day I bought my first Franklin Covey Planner in the 90s is a fond memory.  Categorizing tasks into quadrants of urgency and importance (Eisenhower Matrix) blew my mind.

Yes, I geeked out on my planner.  

Fast forward another ten years and my baby girl taught me that life doesn’t always fit into neat little boxes.  She was a colicky baby and to this day a free-spirited girl.  She challenges the status quo while I grip my to-do lists.  

Every brain is wired differently. I agreed, in theory, but I didn’t grasp the concept until I was changing its diapers.  

These struggles turned into a journey that changed my concept of mental health.  

I won’t get into all the gritty details here but if you want to more check out my outdated Instagram account.  Today, mental health is at the core of Life After Busy.   You need to take care of your mind to craft your best life.  

I’m not a mental...

I have a confession.

I used to pretend to sleep in on the weekends and instead use the extra time lounging in bed to check emails.  Who does that?  

My sweet hubby would always get up with the kids.  Sacrificing his sleep so I could catch up on mine.  I was always the one to get up with them during the week.

Looking back on it now, it’s ridiculous.  What a crazy way to spend the time I should have been recharging?  And the even crazier part...I was a full-time mom.

My family saw the value of a well-rested mommy.  “Getting caught up on emails” not so much.  Clearly, I had trouble asking for time alone.

This seems to be such a woman thing.  We are so worried about putting everyone else first.

Let’s stop it.  Here are some ways to find the alone time you need.

Ask For It

Yep.  It’s really that simple. 

Because sometimes you don’t really...

You have a giant project due today and the time blocked to get the work done.  The problem is your brain is everywhere else but on the task in front of you.

The pressure feels like the walls of your office are closing in on you, but you can’t get focused to do the work.  What’s going on?

Here are the top three reasons you can’t focus and LEGIT ways to work through them:

Procrastination

Procrastination is not doing the things you know you need to do when you need to do it.

Know yourself to fight procrastination.

It’s the first step to reclaiming your focus. If you’re finding it hard to resist temptation, make a note of how procrastination is affecting your life.  

For example, did you rush through Sunday dinner so you could get back to the project that you put off until the last minute?  Next time you’re tempted to scroll social media, instead of hitting your word count, think...

I’ve just lost an hour and so have (most of) you because I’m writing this paragraph on the day after daylight savings.  Congratulations everyone!  You’ve survived the attack of the changing clocks.

A battle with the clocks is a true test of your mindset.  A mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notions.  Losing time will mess with all of those.

How did the battle play out for you and your household?

I was feeling pretty good until my ten year old lost his mind with the mention that we had math tutoring today.  An epic meltdown I’m going to chalk up to losing an hour of sleep.

Losing an hour, epic meltdowns, or any other setback will test you if you don’t have a clear vision of where you’re headed.  Let’s dive deeper.

Clear Those Dirty Windshields

Think of your life as a car.  You are driving along with a beautiful new ride.

My dream car is a Range Rover so...