As a busy multi-tasking mom, I'm constantly looking for ways to organize my family life, days, goals, plans, appointments, thoughts…my life in general. Many of my friends who are also parents voice the same concern. The burning question for many, seems to be: "how do I balance parenting with my personal and/or business life?"

Time management for parents is a valuable tool. With all of the resources out there, how does one go about finding the right solution? Is there a solution? I believe there is, unfortunately, it's not a quick fix. To me, the solution may very well be a hodgepodge of the various resources available. I've compiled a list of tips from the information I've found on time management in books and around the internet:

1. Balancing work and family life is a conscious decision. Understand that balancing family life with the other areas of our lives is a conscious, daily decision, not a timeless state of bliss that we'd love to exist in.
2. Clarify and prioritize family values. A value is defined as “a principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desired." This is important because our values drive our goals and actions and some values may be in conflict with one another. For example if you believe it's important to get to work early, yet you also don't leave the house until the kitchen is clean, this may cause a conflict. Determining the hierarchy of your values may help determine your actions.
3. Set realistic goals and expectations and learn to say 'NO'. Understanding that perfection is unattainable, lifts the burden to accomplish everything. With values prioritized, goal setting is easier. Learning to say no is important because we cannot be all things to all people, and our children cannot have everything they want. When we remind ourselves of this, saying no is much easier.
4. Keep a time diary. Before creating a plan of action and a schedule, some suggest keeping a time diary. I would suggest doing so for a week to really give yourself an opportunity to analyze the rhythm of your days and to see where all of the time has gone. You can take this a step further, as this is your 'pre-planning phase'. You can count the hours in a week and see how many are going towards the different values and goals you have. If you see the imbalance in your time diary, you can plan accordingly. This time diary gives you a visual analysis of your days. This is a task that I have my life coaching clients complete before we begin a program. A very effective tool anyone can use to organize their life.
5. Create a plan of action/schedule or rituals and routines. Determine the amount of time to allocate to different tasks, appointments and so forth and document them in a central calendar for everyone. Have your own personal and/or business calendar that you keep in sync with this central family calendar. (If the family is completely digital-on computers and smart phones-this may be accomplished through a free online shared calendaring system like Google Calendar). Creating rituals and routines in your household is helpful because children respond well to them. This also allows for daily tasks like getting ready for bed or school to be accomplished quicker because the rhythm of a routine has been established.
6. Manage distractions. Distractions like the phone, internet, or TV. When in the midst of completing a task, the phone rings. Do you answer it? Not every call needs to be answered immediately. With caller ID, and voicemail, you're never out of the loop, so if necessary, instead of answering a call, completing tasks or continuing with family fun time, is a good idea.
7. Build a support team. Teach your children tasks, and delegate throughout the family. There's nothing like teamwork!
8. Be flexible. Just because you have an amazing plan of action, doesn't mean it will happen. Life happens!
9. Keep work at work and home at home. By separating the two, you are able to focus on each one within the allotted time.
10. Schedule down-time for yourself. Everyone needs a recharge. And just as children benefit from routines, so do we, especially if we know it's sit back and relax time!

Do you have any time management tips you'd like to share?

Via Super Parenting Social Network

With all of the technological innovation going on, we’re becoming more and more glued to our seats. Thanks to the internet, the world is at our fingertips. While this statement holds true, the world is…out there. It’s outdoors, and many of us are missing it. I know I find myself online or on my computer busy at work, trying to change the world one keystroke at a time for hours or days on end. I have to force myself to leave technology behind sometimes, so that my family and I may truly enjoy the time we are spending together, outdoors.

What prompted this ‘ode to mother nature’? I’ll tell you. Some of you may already know that I took a very long drive yesterday. 25 hours from Sioux Falls, SD to Los Angeles, CA. My fiancé Rock and I split the time between us, not evenly, but close enough. Other than the gas and bathroom breaks, we drove straight through. I couldn’t help but stare at nature and the sky out the window, thinking about the beauty of America. We have so many different climates. I wish we weren’t so anxious to return to LA because I would have really liked to stop and take pictures of several of the places we drove through.

Whenever someone close to us or famous passes away, we are reminded of how precious this gift called life can be. We are reminded that we are on borrowed time and to cherish every moment. Michael Joseph Jackson, God bless his soul, lived August 29, 1958  to June 25, 2009. His time here on earth, was a gift to not only his family and friends, but to an entire generation many generations. His life was a gift to the history of music…to our own personal histories. Most of us can recall a memory linked to at least one Michael Jackson song. We remember watching the full length Thriller video and imitating the zombies dance routine; loving how he glided across the lit-up dance floor in Billie Jean; feeling awestruck by little Michael and his brothers while he showed why he was the lead singer; learning the new dance step he introduced in Remember the Time; or countless other songs and memories. Even my 10 year old daughter was moved by his life and music, and he hadn’t produced a record since she was 2.

Often times we find ourselves needing a little motivation/inspiration. There are several texts that provide the tools necessary for one to feel not only motivated, also empowered. Feeling powerful is a key ingredient in our personal joy as well as our ability to set goals and our motivation to achieve them. As a motivational speaker, mentor and life coach, I’m constantly being asked for a reading list of this nature. As a result, I felt it prudent to write my ‘10 Inspirational Books to Live By’ list. As I write each individual book review I will add a link to it here. So far I’ve only written a few. These are in no particular order and as life changes, so too may this list be subject to change.

I hope you are out spreading joy these days because recent studies by Harvard Medical School and University of California, San Diego suggest that your happiness may not only be influenced by people you know but by the people that they know.

Studies have shown for a while that happiness is contagious, these new findings show, however, that happiness is also influenced by people you may not know. "But this study shows that indirect relationships also affect happiness. We found a statistical relationship not just between your happiness and your friends' happiness, but between your happiness and your friends' friends' friends' happiness," says study co-author James H. Fowler, PhD, of the University of California-San Diego.

This is a post that I originally posted on another one of my blogs, A Wonderful Life! Coaching Blog. I chose to also share it here, with a few additions, since I understand that my blogs may in fact have different audiences.

“Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" --Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a powerful quote that evokes thoughts of leadership, inspiration and motivation.