Tag Archives: Time management

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3 Principles For Overcoming Fitness Obstacles

 

Resistance Training

If you’re like me, the quest to be in shape and manage weight feels overwhelming. And, as if the quest to be fit isn’t hard enough, there’s often other obstacles to overcome: health issues, time management, mustering up courage or energy. Even if you’ve been exercising for a long time, there’s always new barriers to overcome. How do you to put all of this into perspective?

According to Tom Turner, executive liaison for the Spina Bifida Association that’s exactly it: Perspective. According to Turner, there’s no mountain too high to climb. Tom would know. Paralyzed from the waist down since birth he’s now 35 and trains about three times a week. In fact, he tells me, he just couldn’t get along without exercise.

So in my quest for the last word on overcoming barriers in fitness, Tom sat down with me and together we came up with 3 basic principles that will help break-down fears and intimidation when striving to reach fitness goals. (After all, if he can exercise on a regular basis, shouldn’t that be encouragement enough for anyone to give it a shot?)

Principle #1 Move Into The Fear.

Train your mind to believe no mountain is too high or any goal is too difficult to attain, Tom tells me. Basically, it’s all about meeting your fears and facing them head-on. In this principle, aim to recognize your fears, acknowledge them and then move through them. Ask yourself what is it that makes you uncomfortable? Have you let yourself get out of shape and are afraid you’ll never get back? Do you have an injury that’s caused you to be afraid of your body? If you can visualize creatively, then you can put your fears in check. See your self as you’d like to be. Remember: your body loves you and has the potential to heal itself to perfection. Your only job is to trust it and listen.

Q: What is your body saying to you?

Principle #2 Trust Your Intuition.

It is important when overcoming obstacles and learning to break through barriers that you begin to listen to the still small voice of your body. In most cases, we all want the comfort of having someone telling us what we can and cannot do. However, our highest truth lies within us. This is not to say that the good opinion of others is not important, but ultimately the decision-making comes from within.

When facing a challenge or an obstacle look to how you feel. What are your instincts telling you? Often it is simply your instinct that will move you into a new mindset and raise your consciousness. I wasn’t about to let the wheelchair stand in my way, Tom tells me. In fact, he says he had to merely change his perspective about it. He says he first had to learn about what his restrictions were then, create a boundary for himself. We all have boundaries, he tells me. “Regardless if a person can walk or not, obstacles are as unique as people themselves. Therefore, it’s first best to know your boundaries.”

Next, Tom tells me he aims to meet those boundaries.† ìI first reach as high as I can within the confines of what I am able to do. Whether it be more sets, reps or greater endurance, I allow myself as much time as necessary to accomplish my small goals. It always surprises me, with small steps, how quickly I can reach a Big goal.

Principle #3 Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.

What then, about fear? I wanted to know. If we move into the fear and meet it eye to eye what if fear meets us there? So, I asked Tom: are you ever afraid? After 19 operations in my life, I’ve really come to terms with fear, he says. It really comes down to our most primal fear; fear of death. Once you realize that death is all part of the divine plan, it’s liberating, you can let it go and, instead, choose how to live. So instead of being afraid of death I decided to choose how to live.”

So what’s the take away message? Talking to Tom, I’m reminded of the poem by Dylan Thomas who said: Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. It seems appropriate here. The bottom line: Staying afraid often keeps us from truly living. Tom reminds me that a positive attitude is key, “Life is all about attitude.” He also says he could let fear beat him down, yet he doesn’t. I wouldn’t want to miss being part of tomorrow,î he concludes. That said, what fears are getting in your way? Make today the right time to face them.

In conclusion: Life Beyond The Boundaries.

When you’ve faced your fears and pushed your boundaries to the edges, what then? I wanted to know. Tom smiles. Find a new mountain to climb, he says matter-of-factly. It’s what makes life fun. I know I have considerations. I know that there will be days that I’ll need to stay in bed and rest while my braces are getting tuned up. It’s those times when I am with my thoughts that I decide what I am going to set my sights on.î

Authors Note: In my personal quest to live beyond the boundaries I’ve chosen Tom as my role model (lucky for me, he’s my brother). We so often look to the media for these sources and so often they are illusory. There are real people everywhere doing great things…look around you; angels are everywhere! Learn from them. Choose someone you look up to, admire or of whom you appreciate their values. Set goals, climb mountains! Set intention in motion and enjoy the healthy process.

 

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10 Ways to Manage Stress for Women

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Women are more prone to workplace stress because of the many roles they play in life: as career woman, wife, mother, daughter, and friend. Women work way beyond the 9-5 shift, often having to rush home to cook dinner, help the kids with homework, and prepare for the next day. The stress and anxiety caused by endless tasks and impossible deadlines in a high-speed, high-tech world has made women’s lives a living web of complexity.

The question is: How can women cope with stress and anxiety? The first step is to dissect the problem and understand how these psychological and emotional conditions that make women’s lives more difficult.

Stress is a combination of fatigue, restlessness, depression, over-focusing, and over-all gloominess that is a consequence of overwork and other domestic or personal problems. The difficulty of trying to balance time between work and the home has caused many women to suffer from stress. Personal or relationship issues like divorce or separation have also been the cause of anxiety panic attacks among women. Women who own and manage their own business are also prone to stress. Their high drive for business success cannot always protect them from times of depression and overwork. Career women, on the other hand, have to confront office politics, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and the fear of being laid-off.

But there’s still hope for over-worked, stressed women. Here are some practical ways for women to reduce and manage work-related stress:

1. Put up relaxing scenes. It could be a poster or a small painting with beautiful scenery. You can even download screen savers of beaches, waterfalls, clear lakes and other scenes that help create a serene mood.

2. The To-Do-List- Use that Post-Its or other stick-on note pads. Color-code your notes and even put up an alarm in your computer to remind you of priority tasks. The key is to know what to do first.

3. Time out – As they say, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.î Take some time out to take a breather. Do way from reading emails the mostly junk. Do stimulating activities like Sudoku or brainteaser. Reading some inspirational books like Chicken Soup for the Soul.

4. Rearrange your workstation – Add some homey look to your workstation… put up photo frames of your family or favorite pet. When ever you feel stressed out just glance at their happy faces or cuteness –and you’ll find yourself smiling back!

5. When a plant isn’t just a plant – Having a plant around your workplace is good stress relief. Studies show that looking at something green like a plant helps soothe your eyes after facing the computer monitor all day or after reading for a long time. Focusing on a green plant will have a soothing effect.

6. Exercise – Walking, climbing the stairs, or going out to run helps fight stress. Physical activity help get rid of tension. During a workout, your body releases endorphins which helps your body to relax. Endorphins also act as natural pain killers. There are a lot of exercise videos that you can use ranging from the standard aerobics to Pilates, tae-bo, and a host of other fitness programs.

7. De-clutter- A cluttered workstation like pens,pencils, notepads,tons of papers spread around every inch of your work place adds to your stress. Make your work environment more appealing by organizing your things and throwing away things you no longer need.

8. Set boundaries Communicate and assert yourself, make your co-workers know when you are more available for chit-chat.

9. Go less in your caffeine intake caffeine even is popularly known as a stimulant, too much of it adds to stress even leads to depression.

10. Eat a good breakfast Don’ skip meals even if you are indeed in a hurry. Studies shows that if you make it a practice to eat breakfast every day, you’re body gets more the needed proteins to give you an energy boost to face the working day.
Beat work-related stress without beating yourself up. Learn how to relax. Sure…we have duties and responsibilities but if you don’t learn to relax–burn out is what you get! Make an effort to relax. Listen to good music. Try not to smoke. Because if you don’t watch out, the results could be hypertension…depression… and a plethora of other ailments that can sidetrack your career and home life. It’s time to regain a sense of balance if you want to live a healthy long life.

 

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Time Management Tips And Tricks

Anxiety - Stress ... Time management vital for...

Anxiety – Stress … Time management vital for finals — cancel your Netflix subscription (7:45 PM, Nov. 28, 2012) …item 2b.. Muddy Waters – After The Rain – Full Album (1969) … (Photo credit: marsmet481)

 

Properly allocating your time is never an easy task, especially if you’ve never been the type to make the most of your time. However, there are a lot of ways in order for you to start-up and slowly integrate your whole system into practicing effective Time management methods.

Here are a few tips in order for you to successfully initiate your time management skills.

Keys To Successful Time Management

Before you can use some time management strategies in your schedule, there are a few key principles you have to understand first.

You need to be aware of your goals. Having proper awareness of what your goals are will assist you in properly prioritizing your activities for the day. It also helps you to get motivated and avoid distractions in between work.

You also need to develop a flexible schedule for yourself. It must be flexible enough to make sure that if you need to fill in other things aside from your usual schedule, you can still take care of them when you need to.

Tips To Successfully Utilize Your Time

Here are a few tips to successfully utilize your time

1. Examine your old habits and look for ways to change them.  When you learn that your habits are not conducive to proper time management, then it’s about time that you start changing them. Bad habits are usually hard to change but when you’re able to overcome it, the results are rewarding.

2. Put up reminders at home and office about your goals.  Usually when you’re trying to pursue long-term goals, you slowly lose focus on them. Putting reminders everywhere would help you get reoriented with your goals motivating you to strictly follow your schedule.

3. Maintain a list of specific things to be done each day and set a top priority on that list.  Maintaining a list of things to be done everyday is a great way to start on successfully allocating your time properly. A checklist would help you to remember all the things that you need to do for the day and compel you to finish them at the end of the day.

Furthermore making a checklist would definitely help you to become a more responsible person. It is more than just a reminder, but is critical in how you follow that list to see if it effective for you.

4. Concentrate on one thing at a time.  Some people try to do all things at the same time. This happens because people need to do a lot of things but they do not have the luxury of time. Proper time management allows you to concentrate on one task at a time. When you feel that this task is more urgent than the other, then you must first focus on that task before moving on to the next most important task.

When you concentrate only on one task, the time needed to finish the job will significantly lessen giving you more spare time.

5. Enjoy what you are doing  When you enjoy what you are doing, it creates less stress. When you are not stressed, you are more likely to accomplish your tasks within a shorter time frame. Consequently, you will be able to do more in your typical working hours.

6. Continually look at ways of freeing up your time  It is important to try to free your schedule up. Looking for ways to free up your schedule improves the time spent on finishing up your activities. Remember that if you save a few minutes from each activity, and then you sum them all up, you’d realize that you have saved a lot of time.

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