For every moment you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Where is your stress coming from? Is the daily pressure mounting inside or outside of you? Do you feel stressed on a daily basis or just occasionally? Are you subconsciously adding to your feelings of frustration? Perhaps you are sabotaging your self by not being honest about what you need.

The first step to correcting a problem is to identify where we have a problem. Many times we don’t know what we don’t know. Once we know better, we do better.

Common frustrations and irritants that can be corrected to give us more serenity in life:

1. Skipping meals and poor nutrition
2. Food or environmental allergies. Especially dairy, wheat, peanuts
3. Trying to please everyone. It is impossible.
4. Poor organizational skills, so we have to spend time looking for needed items.
5. Constant noise, no time to think.
6. Self-medication with food, drink, medicine, nicotine or caffeine
7. Blaming other people or trying to control their behavior and choices.
8. Passive aggressive behavior. Speak up for what you need in an assertive voice.
9. Neglecting to recognize how many things you do right every day.
10. Living in the past or the future. Be grateful for today.

S—Stop your thoughts-you cannot think a positive and negative thought at same time.
T—Take a deep breath
R—Reflect on who owns the problem
E—Evaluate if it is worth a heart attack
S—See a picture in your mind of a calm sea, a green mountain, a soft blanket
S—Say out loud over and over; “This too shall pass.”

For more information on books, cd’s and teleclasses to help live a more abundant life, go to www.ArtichokePress.com or www.UseEncouragingWords.com Thank you. You do an important work. I believe in you.

With the holidays fast approaching, thoughts turn to work-life balance more so than any other time of year. If you are like many of us, you must keep up with your work responsibilities while fitting much more into your personal life. This can get crazy stressful if you let it. Whether you are a work at home mom, business owner, or employee, here are some tips for avoiding or reducing stress this holiday season.

1. Accept that life is an eternal work in progress.
It is not supposed to be all done. This goes for life in general, but especially around the holidays. Let go of perfectionism and the need to do everything on your lists. Each day, take a breather to reflect on your accomplishments and feel proud.

2. Know when you have done enough.
Many of us are overachievers when it comes to holiday preparation, household chores, work responsibilities, or all three. Ease up on yourself this year and use the added time to celebrate or relax. Working two hours late at the office is not REALLY necessary; family and friends will do fine with smaller tins of fresh-baked cookies; it’s OK if your floors are less than pristine.

3. Share the workload.
Rethink your tendency to do everything for everyone. Be creative in thinking how routine tasks can be completed differently. The drudgery of housework can become quality family time, for example. A woman recently shared how proud her son was to do his first load of laundry, start to finish.

4. Understand what activities are important to you.
December can become so crowded with activities it is easy to become overwhelmed. The solution is to prioritize according to what’s important to YOU. If seeing your daughter’s school play is what matters most on a particular day, then put that ahead of all else. Most other responsibilities can wait until another day.

5. Focus on gratitude.
Instead of obsessing over what needs to be done, be grateful for what you already have. When you consciously express positive and emotional appreciation, you attract more feelings of contentment and peacefulness. This will create positive change in both your personal and work life.

6. Consciously direct your reactions.
Happiness is a choice. Finding the positive–delight, excitement, and contentment–in everything you do will change the outcome of each day. Work tasks, for example, will go by quicker and you will be in a more lighthearted mood afterward.

7. Organize your whole life with a women’s planner.
Buy a planner that includes all critical aspects of your life: fitness and nutrition, wellness, healthy finances, and fulfilling your personal passion are all critical to your complete happiness. By using a day planner that recognizes this need, you will be better equipped to live each day to its fullest, even through the hustle and bustle of December!

Bobette Kyle is cofounder of Lifestyle Inspirations LLC, where the company’s day planner for women, MY LIFE MATTERS, guides women on the journey toward empowerment by turning goals and dreams into action. Get this month’s planner pages for no charge at: http://www.womansplanner.com/free-month

by Joel Yount

In a matter of days people all across the country will be joining friends and family for a wonderful time of fellowship and celebration gathering around a table. In many cases, we will likely see people who we don’t normally see all the time. However, passing around the turkey or stuffing isn’t the only thing we can share at the table. In some family traditions, every one sitting at the table takes turns going around and saying what they are thankful for. If you have a home based business, why not embrace the opportunity to express your home based business?

In addition, why not bring some small samples of some popular products along to share after the meal? You never know who may ask for more information. In the meantime, enjoy the season of Thanksgiving and cherish the ones you spend it with.

Looking forward to the cheesy potatoes, red cabbage, and the mountains of stuffing.

Joel Yount

Website: http://www.jgyount.freewaytosuccess.net

I have been professionally working from home for the past 21 years and at times I have gotten so bogged down with doing things for my family, friends and my business that I had no time left over for myself. Over the years…I have learned to say no to others so that I had time for myself.

At the beginning of my work at home career I was juggling way too much. I tried to put in 6-8 hours a day working on my business, cleaning my home, taking care of the kids, making dinner, running errands and all of those things that we are responsible for as mothers. At the end of the day I would be stressed out and exhausted and didn’t feel any self-worth or self-importance.

Over the years I have learned to balance both my professional life, family life and personal life into something that works for me. The solution for me was to come up with a daily schedule and routine. To start your own daily schedule and routine you need to sit down and make three lists. Label your three lists: Work, Family and Pleasure. Your next step is to list the tasks you want to accomplish along with the amount of time you think you will need to accomplish those tasks in. You will want to block off 1 blank hour per day onto each of your lists for those things that ‘pop up’ that you didn’t plan on.

Your next step is to put your newly drafted plan into action and to come up with a daily routine. Once you get into a daily routine you will find that your day will run more smoothly and you will get more things accomplished…getting things accomplished will lead to self-worth and self-importance and you will end your day feeling fulfilled and happy.

As work at home moms…we need to realize that we are only one person and at times we won’t get everything done. When that happens, there is always tomorrow!

Shelly Hill has been working from home since 1989. Shelly is a wife, mother, grandmother and a professional online writer and blogger. You can visit Shelly’s Work At Home Business Options site for home business articles, tips and ideas at www.workathomebusinessoptions.com and you can visit Shelly’s Two Classy Chics Blog at twoclassychics.blogspot.com for information on product reviews.

As a mom you probably go through times in your life when you think you can’t possibly manage work and taking proper care of your family. In fact, there are probably times when you feel you’re not doing a good job at one or the other or maybe even both. Don’t despair! There is help for you whether you work from home or outside of the home, your family is large or small or you have other commitments like volunteer work.

Time Management – Knowing where and how you spend your time is key to balancing your life. Start by keeping a calendar of all your activities. You can do this online, on a paper calendar or in a journal. Track everything from showering, exercise, meal preparation, driving time, and so on. You will probably see areas where you can cut some time out by doing certain activities while you’re waiting in line at the grocery store or riding in the car. There are lots of useful ways to spend idle time and you can figure those out as you fill out your calendar or journal.

Set Priorities – As women we often have a hard time saying “no” because it is in our nature to help others and want to be useful. However, you must know when to say “no” to those activities that don’t help you reach your family, personal or business goals. And even if the activity does in some way help you reach your goals, you will need to prioritize the activity according to its value or importance.

Don’t be Afraid to ask for Help – Another trap women tend to fall into is the “I can do it all” syndrome. For some reason society has taught women that they have to be “Super Mom” otherwise you’ll be seen as lazy or a bad mother. That is a lie! When you are feeling overwhelmed by work, family and kids, have a friend, relative or neighbor give you a hand by helping you clean your house, or taking the kids away for a couple of hours while you get some work done. Whatever the situation may be, don’t hesitate to ask for help.

These are just a few of the suggestions you’ll find in my report, Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family. The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” report shows you how you can find a balance between work and family, without letting any of those balls you are juggling fall on the floor. This report gives you real life solutions, and the best part is that you can get started right now.
Not only are there tips for everyday life, but inside The “Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family” contains valuable insight for work at home moms and moms who work outside of the home.

In addition, I also show you how to get started and then keep the momentum! So don’t wait another second. Stop doing the juggling act and get your life in balance now with the Real Life Guidance to Balancing Work and Family report.

Looking for tips to get your life in balance now. Get ‘em right now… 24/7! Real Life Guidance toolkits are available for easy and instant download to your computer.

Balancing your family and your business can be a struggle to say the least. One or the other may demand more at times which makes the balance even more difficult. There are a number of ways to achieve balance with your family and your business.

The first thing you need to do is decide what you want and need out of your business. Do you do your business because you need the money? Maybe you work your business for the satisfaction that you get when you help people. Whatever the reason is, you need to write it down so you will always have it in front of you and in a place where you can see it at all times.

The next thing you need to do is set your business hours. Now this is something you must work into your family time and they need to be involved in this decision making process. Now if you work from home full time and your children go to school full time, then the decision is easy to make. You work while they are in school, however this may be a completely different story if you work full time outside the home or your children are little and spend their days with you. This is why it’s crucial that you sit down with your family and decide on a work schedule that works for everyone.

Once you have your hours set, you need to make sure you follow them. If your day is to end at 3 pm, then at 3 pm you turn off the computer and you don’t do another thing with your business until your day starts tomorrow. This will be hard to do at first, but you are working to achieve balance and this is the start.

One of the easiest ways to achieve balance between your family and your business is to outsource as much of your workload as you can. You may think this will be hard to do, but you can do it. Remember the reason behind this is balance and it won’t happen if you don’t figure out a way to make it work.

Outsourcing is where you pay someone to do the work for you. For instance, writing articles and submitting them to the article directories can be a timely task. But, if you outsource this to a Virtual Assistant, you won’t have to spend the time doing it and you will be able to work on things that can’t be outsourced.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you work, there are things others can do to help you save time. Even direct sales people can outsource work. If you are in direct sales, you probably do online networking, advertising placement, article writing and submissions, and blog writing and posting. Those are all things that can be outsourced. If you run a coaching business, there are a number of things you can outsource as well. Look at your day to day tasks and see if you need to be directly involved in it. For example, you shouldn’t outsource your product presentations or coaching meetings. Those are tasks you should do yourself.

Another way to achieve balance is to organize yourself. Organization is key to accomplishing a lot in business. If you have your office organized and you use a daily planner, you will know what needs to be done, when you need to do it, and everything will be in place so you won’t have to search for anything. When you work your business this way, you will be able to complete so many more tasks than you ever thought would be possible.

These are two of the many ways to balance your family and your business. Remember to take a break every once in a while, spend time with the family, and go on vacation at least once a year. When you do these things, don’t bring your business with you. People will understand. Think about what it will take for you to win the balancing game in your life and go for it!

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. She enjoys helping others reach their goals and dreams. Check out her website at www.virtualfreedom4you.com.