Meal Planning for Super Busy Parents
Improving your eating habits needn’t take more time from your super busy schedule. Fact is, most of you are eating anyway (I hope!). So, why not make healthier choices about what you eat, when you eat, and how much you eat.
In a follow-up article I found related to the exclusive interview President Bush had with Hannah Storm on CBS last week, our President commented about how young he feels because he commits to rigorous exercise. Bush says that people who claim they’re too busy to exercise regularly really just haven’t chosen exercise as one of their priorities. He said, “I don’t buy that. I think you set priorities in life, and if exercise is one of your priorities, then you do it.”
Bush points out that a fitness culture “starts with families” and said “I exercise a lot because it’s good for my mind and it’s good for my soul.”
Plan your meals in advance so that you make smart choices for yourself and your family. Prepare fresh fruits and vegetables, when possible, but when a quick trip to the produce aisle is just too much in your already too busy schedule, have frozen varieties on hand for a quick delicious and nutritious meal. Avoid the trap of fast food for convenience and save it for just the special treats. But, when it’s the last remaining option (which sometimes happens in super busy lives!!), choose the healthiest options on the menu and avoid extra sauces and condiments that tend to add hollow calories.
Here’s to healthy eating!
Best regards,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
Women Leaders Getting Better at Juggling
I read an article yesterday that was published in the Miami Herald. It was in the Balancing Act section and was about how top women business leaders are good at juggling. Although I avoid endorsing juggling as a strategy and opt for rebalancing or integrating instead, the key point that I extracted from the article is about women talking more to each other and sharing solutions. Women today are finding more work/life solutions because we’re supporting each other better!
As women climb the career ladder or start their own business, the importance of having a diverse network of supporters both inside and outside of the workplace increases as does their responsibilities at work. Those who have been most successful at achieving an overall life satisfaction have learned to incorporate effective strategies for enhancing performance and productivity.
Even as women are building businesses and advancing on the career ladder, an ever-increasing number are also achieving work/life balance — A whopping 61 percent of women business leaders interviewed for this article claim they are satisfied with the balance between their career and personal life, up from 51 percent in 2006, according to the 2007 survey released by FIU’s Center for Leadership and The Commonwealth Institute.
Talking with other women and learning about potential strategies that work has helped women adapt effective strategies for better balancing their lives. The universal challenge of findingmore work/life balance is easing as more and more women talk honestly and openly about it and determine creative solutions. As women set more realistic expectations, we they are permitting ourselves to have time for our self and to ask for (and accept) help both inside and outside work, when needed.
Women need to stop hiding behind the facade of being perfect and be real instead. There’s so much more we can learn from each other when we’re open and honest!
From one working mom to many others….
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Increasing Emphasis on Work/Life Balance is Worldwide
I am constantly on the lookout for trends and stories related to work/life balance. What I find is that this is an issue that spans the globe. It is clearly a global issue. I’ve read about problems faced by employers and employees across the US and in Canada, Australia, India, throughout parts of Europe, and more. Some countries seem to have more policies and support in place than others, yet this is a very broad issue.
In India, I read that there’s an increasing emphasis on work life balance across companies. As a result, human resources are being viewed by most organisations in a more holistic manner. Work life imbalance and stress feed on each other. Happier employees are more productive and more loyal. Flexible working opportunities and a platform for employees to maintain a healthy balance between work and home benefit everyone. Having an engaged employee is largely dependant on the ability of the organisation to keep pace with changing employee expectations and providing a platform to strike that perfect balance.
This is no different from anywhere else….or is it?
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
What’s on Your Plate?
I’ve taken 3 months off from Blogging because I had too much on my plate. Now that things are winding down with the extra commitments I’ve taken on due to my daughter getting a role in a play, my son starting baseball season, and the regular routine of work and life commitments, I’ve re-committed to regular weekly or bi-weekly blogging to support super busy people and delivery of my e-newsletter twice monthly.
Ironically, during March, a colleague had advised me to use my expertise to develop a timely program specifically for Administrative Professionals during Administrative Professionals week the end of April. I came up with a program called “There’s Too Much on My Plate” that helps super busy professionals clearly acknowledge everything on their plate and begin taking ownership and control for everything there is to manage at work and home.
I had the pleasure of visiting American Standard and delivering a keynote to inspire better control of the balancing act. And, now, I’m working with teams at several key corporations to deliver customized programs to meet the needs of their super busy administrative professionals.
One thing I learned first-hand from the last few months is the absolute importance of staying very focused on the most important things and declining other requests and opportunities. Even when there was time to attend another meeting or networking event in the evening, I found that by pushing and having too much on my plate, I was exhausted and wasn’t able to apply the focus and energy to those things that mattered most.
When deciding what’s most important, realize that it may not be forever, but it’s for now. My daughter’s had rehearsal for her play usually 3 days a week for 2-4 hours at a time almost an hour from home. I often brought work with me to do while I waited, dialed into a conference call for my own professional development, or shopped in the local area. It was a great experience for her but the lesson for me, put more boundaries around my time, seek more help, and accept the help that’s offered. And, importantly, negotiate expectations, communicate fully, and be fully present where ever I am.
As my program for “There’s Too much on My Plate” continues to evolve, I will have many experiences to share from participants and from my own experiences. Stay tuned!!
Sincerely yours,
Coach Natalie Gahrmann
natalie@nrgcoaching.com
Re-aligning your Priorities in your Super Busy Life
If you find there’s little time left at the end of the day, you’re not alone! Here’s a remedy I found on the internet (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Indra_Books) for those who want to maximize their time:
1. First evaluate the amount of time you actually spend working, commuting, sleeping, eating, spending time with your family, attending children’s activities (i.e. baseball, dance lessons) , running errands, visiting friends/relatives, making purchases, etc.
2. Make a list of all of the things you do that take up the non-work related remaining hours
3. Sort the tasks by type of activity. Feel free to make up your own categories.
o Family
o Home Repairs/Maintenance
o Errands/Shopping
o Social Activities
o School Activities
o Other
4. Asterick the ones you would rather not do.
5. Estimate how much time it takes you to do each task (per week).
6. Make a list of all of the things that are on the perpetual “to do” list that never seem to get done. Sort this list, as well. (Having things that are constantly waiting to be done, does nothing but add stress to your life.)
7. Now here comes the difficult part. Giving up control to get control. You are really going to have to put on your positive change attitude to make this work. Ready???? If so, circle the items that can be hired out. The possibilities are endless. If you are serious about change, then you will not be making excuses at this point as to why someone else cannot do the job. Do NOT, use money as an excuse at this point. You can’t afford to do that. This is your life you are talking about. Here are some suggestions:
o Lawn Care
o Home Repair Specialists (painters, handyman etc)
o Errand Service
o Personal Shopper/Concierge
o Nanny/Babysitter
o Car Specialists
o Financial Specialists
8. Make another list of things you would like to do but never have time to do.
9. If you successfully completed Step 7, you should now be able to make a new list of things to do each week that include your “wants.” Can you replace the “have to” items with the “want to” items? If you answered yes, you did a great job and are well on your way to taking back control of your life. If you answered no, then we still have some work to do.
Now some of you are probably saying, this is easy for her to say. Well, no it isn’t. I have helped many clients do this so that they can have time for the items at the top of their priority list. I, myself, had to hire out some things in my business that I don’t have the skills or expertise to handle and I really don’t enjoy doing.
Stop now and take stock of your life and priorities. You may find that when you reprioritize you only need some reorganization or you might have bigger problems that would benefit from the regular commitment with a professional coach, organizer, or life management consultant.
If we at N-R-G Coaching Associates can be of assistance, please contact us to discuss your needs.
Best regards,
Coach Natalie
Fighting Addiction
A newspaper article last month described how, in an ironic role reversal, many professional working parents, when home, are sneaking their Blackberries (or a similar device) into the closet or the bathroom to check e-mail so their children and spouses don’t catch them. These parents are e-mailing while at their kids’ school events and at home during “family time” (including dinner.) In shame they take to hiding their dirty “habit.”
The Blackberry (also unaffectionate called “CrackBerry” because of its sometimes addictive nature) is a hand-held device that provides 24/7 connection to your job. The Blackberries are the workplace cyber tool of the new millennium which enables you to always be in touch with work e-mail and the Internet. It can be both a blessing and a curse.
It can be intrusive and can eliminate any remaining boundaries of work-life balance, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Life is full of choices and any tool can be misused or abused. A shovel is a marvelous invention, but you wouldn’t use it to clear snow off your car’s windshield — or at least not very often. Some employees or managers have addictive or obsessive-compulsive personalities and get hooked on things like this.
So, beware of your possible addiction to these tools and know that you’ve probably gone too far when you take it to bed with you in fear that you might miss something important! Set reasonable limits and boundaries so that it’s a tool to help increase your effectiveness not a device that always needs to be on and ruling your life!
Managing the Homefront in your Super Busy life
I’ve been coming across more and more women who have husbands who have left the work force to be home with the kids. For some, this is the perfect solution. This tends to work real well when there are more career opportunities and ambition by the woman but a desire to have the children primarily cared for by their parents.
What I find happens in some cases is sort of a disconnect. There’s somewhat of a role reversal to the former traditional model of the father as the bread-winner for the family. This may create feelings of resentment, jealousy, frustration on the negative side or feelings of appreciation, support, encouragement on the positive side. Neither feelings are right or wrong.
The problem comes when these feelings are not discussed honestly and openly. Someone feeling negatively really needs to be heard. Otherwise, this may adversely effect the relationship, and ultimately the family unit.
Many of the women I know who are the bread-winners of their family tend to be controlling. Not necessarily a ‘control-freak’ or not necessarily consciously but by default. Husbands in the role of a stay-at-home dad may relinquish their role and behave in a subservient manner. The frustration for women comes when they not only work long hours in their career but are also expected to oversee or manage the household despite having someone capable at home.
I don’t think there are any quick solutions but a need for constant communication. Both parents need to be clear about their roles and contributions to the family unit. They need to be in touch with their feelings and recognize when they’re not feeling good about something; then address it without placing blame or judgment.
Beings this seems to be a growing area of interest and concern, I’d love to hear from those of you in this type of situation. Please email me to describe your situation as well as what’s working and what’s not. I’ll continue updating a BLOG discussion on this topic as I hear from more of you.
Thanks,
Coach Natalie
The Power of Choice
So many people limit their choices because they feel they have none. They are stuck by “golden handcuffs” (high salary, benefits, stock options, etc.) that keep them in a position they are very unsatisfied with. I believe people always have choices but that every choice comes with consequences, both good and bad. Sometimes it’s the consequences that we fear that keep us stuck, but we do have choices!
One of my former clients, Barbara, felt slightly dissatisfied with her career opportunities at her job. At about the same time, she was getting calls from headhunters about other possibilities. She didn’t consider any of them because she had a number of years vested in her current company. As we talked about her situation, she decided that there was no harm in exploring her options. So, she spoke with a potential employer and decided to interview with them. She flew from North Carolina to Dallas to meet with the other company. She found that they were willing to offer her more money and career growth than what she had. As she reviewed the offer and evaluated it, we discussed her options and concerns. We found that although it seemed like a lucrative offer, relocating her family and starting over wasn’t something she really wanted to do….not even for the large sum of money they were offering to her.
Barbara chose to stay with her employer, but after the experience and gaining more self awareness about what was really important to her, she chose to meet with her management to propose changes in her job. They accepted her proposal and she was glad she chose to stay…even 7 years later when I touched base with her to see how she was doing!
We all have the power of choice in our own lives. When we don’t make choices, we’re not really in control of our own life.
We can choose to release what drains us and embrace what nourishes us. Realizing your life is the consequences of your choices becomes very empowering. If what you’re doing isn’t working for you, choose to change it!
Coach Natalie can help you make choices by being a sounding board and helping you explore your possiblities, brainstorming options, and empowering you to take control of your life.
Want to explore your options….take this assessment and see if you’re ready for coaching!
Here’s to you and the choices you make in your life!!
Yours truly,
Coach Natalie
Defining “Having it all”
Ok, I posted a message about “having it all’ and it prompted a question, what does that really mean?
Having it all may mean different things to different people. If you want to “have it all”, begin by defining what that really means to you and not what you think it should mean. Once you know what you want, you can take steps to consciously create it by adapting, adjusting and recalibrating similarly to what I’ve done in my life and helped many of my clients do, too.
I feel I have everything I want in my life–not in equal quantities but in satisfactory levels. This helps me live a rewarding and balanced life. I have meaningful work through my business; warm and rich relationships with my husband, children and our families; strong friendships and professional relationships; a great home and community; regular exercise routine; a connection with God; a spiritual community; comfortable financial situation; personal growth and development opportunities and more…so much more! I have a sense that I make a difference and that’s really important to me. I know my priorities and my values and I live my life based on them.
When I suddenly begin feeling overstressed, can’t find things, get short with my loved ones, then I know it’s time to take a break and recalibrate. It’s also time to communicate more so that the people around me who love me most, can help me be at my best. When my environment tells me that something isn’t working, I listen.
For instance, when I am pushing very hard to finish a project, sometimes my high expectations and perfectionism get in the way and cause me to spend every possible minute working on it and perfecting it. I might neglect my need to eat a well balanced meal, might sacrifice sleep, or like I mentioned above, I might lose my patience easily with those around me. I might feel a tenseness in my neck, a knot in my stomach, a headache or an anxiety that doesn’t want to go away. Whereas, I used to push even harder, now I take a break. Perhaps, I might call a friend, send an email, go for a walk, or play with the dog. I might even invite the kids to do something fun with me or snuggle with my husband.
I choose the organizations I want to participate in and don’t volunteer for everything that comes my way. I was invited to be on the Board for the newest organization I joined but respectfully turned it down because I knew I had enough on my plate. Saying “no” even to those real tempting offers makes a big difference. Realize that if you say “Yes” to something, you may have to say “no” to something else because there’s only so much time in a day. When you take on too much, quality suffers and things begin slipping through the cracks, or worse, your health or relationships suffer.
If you really want to have it all, there are 3 simple things you can do:
1. Gain more awareness
2. Make more powerful choices
3. Add more energy
I’ll Blog about each one separately so I can keep these brief.
Yours,
Coach Natalie
Having it “all”
This past week I’ve been interviewed for a newspaper article, a magazine article and contacted by someone from Oprah’s office who called to ‘pick my brain’ for a show they’re preparing. Many of the questions were similar although their objectives and prospective audiences were different.
What this says to me is that people are interested in finding out how I’ve created my own life balance and if it’s possible to really “have it all”. I feel that I do have it all. Through trial and error, listening to my body and my environment, and giving my decisions in my life thought, adjustments, and recalibrating when necessary, I’ve been able to create a dynamic life balance. My clients and research have also been instrumental in helping me maintain a balanced life and a positive perspective.
My clients come to me for help minimizing stress, managing their time, building skills and confidence, strengthening relationships, setting goals and achieving them. These issues are often symptoms of an unbalanced life. As my clients work with me they get more clarity and are better able to make decisions in their life to help them “have it all”, too. Clients who create a more balanced life also create more personal and professional effectiveness, productivity and efficiency
Want more balance in your life….call Coach Natalie for a complimentary coaching session to explore if coaching can help you get it.
To you…with balance and success!
Yours,
Coach Natalie
