Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — If you’re still playing catch-up from summer (think messy garage and where do I put school papers?), try one of these suggestions to turn over a new "Life Leaf" that gets yourself and your life back under control.
Find your focus
Forget listing every single thing you need to clean, fix or change. That only leads to a large cheesecake and nowhere fast. Instead, consider one to three goals that need urgent attention, then focus on them like a Jedi master.
Forget listing every single thing you need to clean, fix or change. ... Instead, consider one to three goals that need urgent attention, then focus on them like a Jedi master.
As a life coach for 10 years, I found it was ideal to choose one of these “umbrella goals” at a time, then set one substantial goal a week to support it. An umbrella goal could be “Organize my home with clear spaces and efficient routines,” or “Get fit by losing 20 pounds and gaining healthy habits.”
The weekly goal would support the big goal. Weekly goals for losing 20 pounds could include eat 2,000 healthy calories a day, exercise three times per week or find a fabulous hobby. Yes, you could do more than one goal a week, but it’s not sustainable. Not as a busy woman, wife and/or mother.
Set one substantial goal and stockpile the changes. Meanwhile, to avoid losing focus, enlist support. Grab a neighbor, some friends or your friendly mailperson and become accountable to one another. Or join our biyearly eight-week challenge with other women doing this very one-goal-a-week program.
Whatever you do, get started and stay Jedi-focused. English Channel swimmer Florence Chadwick attempted to be the first to swim between the coastline of California and Catalina Island, but when a thick fog set in, quit the quest. Later, she discovered she’d been within one mile of her dream. During her second attempt the same thing happened, but she kept a clear vision of the island coastline and successfully achieved her goal. Make it simple, keep it focused watch it happen.
Related:
MOMentity: Ready for routine? 2 ways to increase balance in your life
Back-to-school provides parents the perfect opportunity to reevaluate our personal goals, daily schedules, and making the most of our time. This MOMentity article highlights two things we can all do for increased balance in our lives.Set a schedule
One surefire way to become more balanced is to create a new routine. Doing so creates fresh neural path ways, those brain grooves that help determine habits. Put yourself in the way of that new routine and you’re halfway there.
Dr. Phil said that when he wanted to lose weight, he stopped walking through the kitchen because he would inevitably reach for a donut. Walking into his house through a different door easily eliminated those calories.
Right now, I’m focused on getting organized. When my children leave for school, I have about 15 minutes of tidy-the-house mojo before I get distracted with more joyful things to do. So before the cleaning spell is broken, I tidy key areas (meaning, the ones people will see). This quick run-through gets my home in order and leaves me guilt-free for my two real loves — new baby and creative writing. Choose your best routine. Consider when it’s really best for you to grocery shop, run errands or rest (in theory?), and you’ll get done what matters most.
Define Mama Time
After life coaching many women, I’ve seen that if you build chill time in the schedule, it will come (or, you will threaten your family until you get it…). For me, this is 9:30 p.m. and beyond. After that point, if someone disturbs me, I grow fangs and long twisted hair. It is not pretty.
My kids learned long ago that any question asked during Mama Time was answered "NO" (caps intentional). So go ahead and blissfully (-ish) read, think, rest or do whatever you need to do. Take time when it works best for you and your family, but take it. Before you know it, your kids will see mother resting as a normal occurrence and not a UFO sighting.
Enjoy turning over one or more of these new Life Leaves and you will have a spectacularly beautiful fall!
Connie Sokol is a mother of seven, a national and local presenter, Education Week speaker, and TV contributor on KSL’s “Studio 5”. She is the author of "Faithful, Fit & Fabulous," "Caribbean Crossroads," "Motherhood Matters," and "Life is Too Short for One Hair Color." Visitwww.conniesokol.comfor more.
