Balance – Page 8 – Career Life Institute

Spontaneous Fun

We've been programmed to believe that fun is just for kids. Remember when you were young and you just played and had fun. You might have done silly things and just laughed and laughed. So, when was the last time you laughed like that?

When we get older we tend to take everything more seriously and lose our sense of fun and adventure. We often take ourselves so seriously that we become engulfed in our own issues. We even forget to look outside to notice what is happening. We worry about "using" our time well. It's given us a schizophrenic approach to leisure and fun. Can we have fun without feeling guilty? Guilt seems to be such a part of our lives and it is now creeping into our leisure play. Some suggestions for having fun might include: setting specific time aside each day for just play, turn off the TV and go outside, meet a neighbor, ride a bike, break your usual routine and get out or the box you put yourself in. Bring in fun as part of your day.

I lead trips to the Big Island of Hawaii several times a year for adventure and fun. Now, believe me I can make this a very serious job. However, usually by day three we have moved to Plan F on the schedule and I'm wondering what to do next. Actually, I think it is very hard not to have fun in paradise. Yes, it is a state of mind. I think to some degree fun is about 'letting go" of preconceived ideas to notice what is available right now.

Let's just get on and live life. Maybe somewhere on your journey you might make a difference to your family, your business partners, and your overall sense of well being. It seems our choices are–staying just as we are…or surprising ourselves and having more fun.

Smile and laugh just a little more! Ask some older, perhaps wiser person you know, "What advice do you have about life?" You might just hear, "Have fun and enjoy life while you can!"

Daily Planning

This time of year I feel a stronger urge to hibernate than any other, a desire to be still and enjoy these precious days when the sun arcs across the southern sky and fills my kitchen. I'm drawn to sit there, like a cat, or to work quietly in my journal.

But the days in which I work-for clients, employers, friends, myself–I revert to a time management tool I learned in a goal setting class many years ago, daily planning. Since learning it (and even teaching it in time management classes for a couple of years), I've found it to be the simplest "trick" for getting tasks prioritized and accomplished.

Start by gathering your calendars and "to-do" lists.
On your calendar pages for the next week, write down all the things you are already scheduled to do in the times they're scheduled-business appointment, dentist appointments, and driving the carpool. Don't forget preparation time for business appointments.
Next, block out time each day (preferably in the morning) that you would like to have a ten-minute daily planning session with yourself in which you'll do this exercise. Make sure it's at a time that you can work uninterrupted. Write it in the appropriate time on your calendar. Then commit yourself to keeping this appointment!
Now look at the rest of the list and think about your schedule for the next few days. Write tasks on the daily calendar only when you think you can realistically accomplish them. For instance, if you have several errands to run, write them together on the day when you anticipate having time for them.
If you have a big project to get ready for next week, include a small block of time each day to accomplish part of it.
Can any of your tasks be delegated to someone else?
Make sure each day contains some personal as well as professional tasks-time with your children, spouse, friends, yourself. Adding personal "appointment" it a good way to balance your calendar and your life. Be sure to put the family appointment on your calendar–kids'' plays, spouse's business dinners, movies.
Use your daily planner as a tickler file-when someone's birthday is coming up, write a note the week before to buy a birthday card.
Try to keep from moving unfinished tasks forward everyday. Instead, during your daily planning session, thoughtfully consider when you can really accomplish something. If you find you're moving a task forward every day, write the task on a post-it or on a bigger goals list-this may not be the season you really want to accomplish it!

This is the bare-bones list, and if you just do this daily planning exercise at the same time everyday, you'll be amazed at the "extra" time you seem to create for yourself.

Staying Healthy During Menopause

Womankind has existed thousands of years with the fact of menopause. Today, in Western society, women experience a spectrum of problems ranging from mild discomforts to total debilitation. Hot flashes, irritability, forgetfulness, anxiety, depression, fatigue, vaginitis, and feelings of inadequacy are some of the experiences women have. But not in all cultures. Why? We don't know; however, we can extrapolate some educated hypotheses.

We know that 1) during menopause ovaries stop producing estrogen and progesterone–in steps and erratically; and 2) then estrogen comes from adrenal and ovary androgens, converted first in fat cells, then in the liver.

I believe the disabilities associated with menopause come from our high stress lifestyles, the type of diet we have, and environmental contamination. couples therapy los angeles Some ways can help us function well overall:

Respect the changes in your body and allow for grief if necessary; and recognize we have great things to offer as older, experienced women and "there is life ahead."
Deal with your stress. Know that stress alters body chemistry. Find a way to take a few minutes each day or take one day a week for yourself–garden, walk, do Yoga, reading, or whatever works for you. We have to take care or ourselves along the way with all the care given to others and to our professions.
For more info please visit : http://www.DrErikRoach.com
Eat well and use nutritional therapy to repair or minimize the effects of contamination. Check and use support for optimal liver and thyroid function; they are interdependent. The liver detoxes and potentiates our food and hormones.
Approximately 15 to 20 percent of us need hormone replacement therapy. I believe natural phyto-hormones are more effective and safer than synthetic hormones.

There is excellent help available locally to get you through menopause. Any serious therapy should be closely monitored by a responsible health care provider.

Create Reserves That Support You

NOTE: This article was originally written in 1999. It is still relevant today.

With Y2K looming, several groups encouraged us to have reserves of food and water available. Of course here on the Northern Coast of California we all know very well the importance of emergency supplies for power outages and earthquakes.

But how many of us have reserves in other parts of our lives? I sometimes buy the 4-pack so I have extras, and when I used to travel a lot, I had a full set of personal toiletries always ready to go. A couple of years ago I discovered the hard way that I need to always keep at least one extra month's supply of my vitamins – the supplier ran out and there was none to be had for a full month.

Well, how about in our careers and work life? Do you have an extra set of clothes ready in case you spill your morning coffee?? How about an extra set of car keys in case you misplace the ones you usually use? Do you fill your tank up with gasoline when it gets to half-empty? (I learned about that one with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that took out all the power in the Bay Area and my only vehicle was on empty!!)

How about work – do you make back-ups of your important files on a regular basis? Just think about how much of your daily work you would like to have to recreate, and that'll tell you how often to back-up your computer files. Do you start each day with a basic plan so you know how much time you have available for each project? Do you build in time (every day) for emergency interruptions? You know they're going to happen. Do you have extra vacation and/or sick leave built up in case you need to take it? Are you putting money away for retirement?

And do you allow yourself enough time to finish projects so you are not rushed at the end? One of the keys to making sure your "customer" is satisfied is to under-promise and over-deliver.

How do you do that? When taking on a project, build in a cushion of time. While it's true that you might be able to complete a task or project in a day or a week (if everything goes right), we all know about the unexpected things that happen – the fire in the building (that was us!!), the key person whose son gets ill and is unavailable for 3 days, the computer that crashes or locks up and won't let you finish, the materials that came in late.

By allowing extra time, we have room for the unexpected to simply be an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe. Because we've built in extra time, we are in a better position to discover another way to finish the project or resolve the situation.

And if we finish early, we get to be heroes!! How did you feel the last time someone told you they'd have something to you within a week, but you actually got it two weeks later? How differently would you have felt if they told you it would take three weeks and then you received it a week early? It's the same time frame, but the perception is very different.

There are many places in our lives where a reserve would reduce worry, provide more satisfaction, make life easier and let us feel more powerful. As you identify those areas, begin to take the steps to build that reserve for yourself. You don't have to do everything at once, just start somewhere. And notice how much it adds to your sense of wellbeing in the world when you realize you don't have to worry about things because you are prepared.