I had a plan to get organised before this half-term, I was going to put the hours in to get some work done in advance. This would have meant having to work slightly fewer hours during half-term week. However plans like that don’t always work out. The week before half-term my eldest had a stomach bug which I then caught and my husband caught. Once we’d all recovered I wasn’t only behind with work but I was also behind with all the washing, ironing, housework, everything.

I spent most of half-term trying to catch up with myself as well as keep the children entertained. I managed it and I didn’t miss a deadline but I had to work quite a bit in the evenings and by the end of the week I was exhausted!

Some of my friends who work from home used holiday clubs this week for their children which worked very well. That’s something I could think about for the future. However once I start paying for childcare my overall earnings are lower. It’s a dilemma most mums face. And then there’s the guilt that you should  be doing something creative with your children during half-term instead of trying to squeeze in work here and there when they manage to occupy themselves.

I have an idea that I’ll be really organised during the next school holidays and I’ll divide up my time perfectly between my work and the family. And I’ll get some work done in advance too. I’ll do my best but we all know even the very best plans don’t always work out!

There has been a huge surge in popularity over recent years, for parents particularly, in ‘portfolio careers’ – basically an exciting sounding phrase meaning ‘do even more work than someone with just one job’. There are of course benefits – you get to use different skills, explore your creative side, meet different people – variety is, after all, the spice of life.

But there are also downsides, particularly if you are self-employed and working from home. The main problem is boundaries. When you have so many plates spinning at once, just how to you decide which to focus on, which to let spin, so that they don’t all end up a pile of broken crockery at your feet? As a seasoned portfolio career woman, and a single mum of two, I’ve had plenty of chance to hone my circus skills, and have come up with the following essentials:

Be organised: We all know filing is boring, but it is a necessary evil when it comes to being self-employed and managing multiple projects. You don’t want to be searching through bags of knitting needles for your memory stick, or getting icing from your bespoke cup cake business all over an important business plan. Each job is separate, so keep it physically separate too. If nothing else, this is a great excuse to take a trip to Staples for some lovely new files and coloured sticky labels.

Plan your time: When you have so many things on the go, it can be hard to know where your priorities lie, so plan, plan and plan some more. Planning needs to be both long and short term. Map out the next month or two, blocking out time for large projects, to make sure you don’t end up taking on more work than you can handle. On a daily and weekly basis, look at shorter term priorities, but keep long term deadlines in mind.

Focus on one job at a time: It sounds simple, so why do I find it so hard? Choose which hat you’re going to be wearing for the next hour/day/week and keep it on. Don’t try putting on more hats at the same time, you’ll just look stupid and they’ll probably fall off.

Take breaks: Tea and biscuits are an essential ingredient of home working. It’s hard to switch from one task straight into something completely different, so take the opportunity to switch off, have a coffee, put on some washing, and clear your mind ready for the next job. You could also experiment with cakes and/or crisps.

So there you have it! Follow my top tips to success and in a few months you’ll become calmer, more efficient and at least half a stone heavier. What are your tips for juggling?

• 62% of commuters want to reduce time spent travelling to and from work

• Being stuck in traffic, travelling in the dark and wasting time are big frustrations

• 46% say bosses won’t allow them to ‘commute smart’ to reduce their travel time

British workers are wasting 4.6 million hours a day commuting, according to a research report by Citrix GoToMyPC launched today to coincide with National Commute Smart Week. The survey of 2,000 adults* finds 62% of commuters want to reduce the time they spend travelling to and from work, with the biggest frustrations being stuck in traffic (42%), issues with public transport (38%), travelling in the dark (36%) and cost (30%).

The report reveals how British workers believe they could significantly reduce the astonishing 26 million hours a day they spend travelling to and from work, by adopting a smarter approach to commuting. The most popular solutions include home working (34%), varying start and finish times (22%) and using technology to enable flexible and remote working (32%).

The report also suggests that smart commuting could have a positive impact on the British workforce, helping them to become fitter, healthier and more relaxed. Over a third (35%) of commuters said they would spend more time with family; 31% would take more exercise; 22% would make healthier meals; and 21% would take up a new hobby or join an evening class. A cheeky 16% even revealed they would make the most of the extra time by spicing up their love life.

Graham Jones, Internet Psychologist, said: “Bosses who insist that people all go to work at the same time and stick to a set routine are actually weakening their business. That’s because people generally don’t like being told how to run their life; they feel their boss is controlling them and therefore are actually less motivated. Using the Internet, for instance, to gain increased flexibility means that motivation levels in office staff could rise as people feel more in control of their own destiny.”

Commute Smart Week is a national initiative, organised by Work Wise UK, aimed at encouraging workers to reduce or even eliminate their daily commute to improve health, wellbeing and productivity. The week, now in its third year, takes place from Sunday 8th November to Saturday 14th November 2009. Citrix Online is offering UK commuters a unique 60-day free trial for GoToMyPC, which enables fast, easy and secure access to a desktop from any remote location: www.gotomypc.com/free  and a 60-day trial for GoToMeeting, hosting easy online meetings anywhere, anytime: www.gotomeeting.com/now.

Guilt is a state which occurs when you believe you have done something you shouldn’t, or conversely, when you haven’t done something you think you should - and so has the potential to pretty much affect most situations! But if it IS only a state of mind, then maybe a change in perspective is all that’s needed to turn guilt on its head.

Here are some ideas about how you can turn a guilty thought into a postive one: more

This week, the Family Friendly Working blog is looking at coaching. You may think that coaching is all about achieving perfection, but it doesn’t have to be like that. Sometimes you just need to decide what are important goals, and then also make a conscious decision that some things in life are NOT important. In her post, Fake It ‘till You Make It, Aussie Mumpreneur Karen Miles has some tips on how to fake parenthood when you need some breathing space:

1. Catch an episode of Play School and copy one of their art projects (even download their website templates) then marvel at your early childhood education skills. Your toddler will bask in your greatness.

2. Keep wicker baskets in every room to toss toys into at the end of the day and call your decorating style ‘country eclectic’.

3. Hide the laundry pile at the back of a cupboard when friends or family come over and enjoy your ‘tidy’ home for a few hours.

4. Better still, ‘home-bake’ some mini apple pies for mother’s group / school courtesy of the local bakery. Sprinkle a dusting of icing sugar over the pies after taking to them with a rolling pin (to squash them up a bit to make them look ‘truly’ home-made).

Karen says: “Cut yourself some slack. Laugh at the chaos of your life (you may as well), and give yourself the space to be ok as you are. Cut the smaller corners that will help you get through the day. Often your own expectations of yourself far exceed those of your kids or other people.”

 So, when the pressure to be a perfect parent is mounting, ask yourself what is really important. Shove the laundry under the counter, send in bought cakes (with a little bit of home made icing on top ), sit back and spend some time enjoying family life.

And have you ever let rip in the week before your period? Some people may call that PMT, but it can also be a useful way of addressing lurking issues and clearing the air.

You may or may not feel that your hormones change the way you work but I’d certainly recommend The Optimized Woman: Using Your Menstrual Cycle to Achieve Success and Fulfillment: If You Want to Get Ahead, Get a Cycle to help you find out more.

I spoke to Miranda Gray about her personal experiences which lead her to write this book. Miranda says, “After doing a science degree at university I did an illustration course and half way through it I set up as a freelance illustrator. It was very obvious to me, painting 24/7, that my creativity changed with the phases of my cycle. Also I found it easier to do some things towards running the business at certain times of the month than others. From discussing these experiences with other women and looking for images of women from the past to find a system to relate to, I wrote my fist book Red Moon: Understanding and Using the Gifts of the Menstrual Cycle back in 1994. It was very successful, translated into 5 languages, and I gave talks and workshops on the contents. It is about to be reprinted too.

Miranda then moved on from traditional illustration into electronic graphic design and set up a multimedia company with her husband. She explains, “Over the last 15 years I have worked for clients ranging from large international corporates to small startup businesses. A few years ago it occured to me that although I work to my strengths in my cycle that there was no knowledge of this practice in mainstream work and the menstrual cycle is still as much of a taboo in mainstream society as it was back in the early 1990s. Also, having finished a course on life-coaching and having tested a range of different success and goal achievement  methods, it became obvious to me that they were based on a consistency of experience, motivation and ability that women do not have, making it difficult for women to use them to achieve their full potential.”

This moved Miranda to develop The Optimized Woman . She says, ” The Optimized Woman is designed to show women how to recognise their Optimum Time abilities and to apply them practically to three main areas of their lives: well-being, goal-achievement and work enhancement. It answers the question ‘What use is my menstrual cycle?’ and shows it as a powerful resource when we adapt activities, expectations, motivation, and success and goal-achievement methods, in line with our changing phases.

Miranda is in her 40s and lives in Southampton, England, in a scheduled ancient monument. As well as running a multimedia business with her husband, she paints children’s book illustrations, teaches Reiki, runs women’s workshops and facilitates an online women’s course. She has a degree in Geophysics and has written a correspondence course on using crystals for well-being. Find out more about the Optimized Woman at www.optimizedwoman.com/ or buy The Optimized Woman book for £10.79 here.

What are Emma’s Secrets of Success? “We all measure success differently,” comments Emma, who is a success mentor. “For some it is about achieving financial freedom whilst for others it’s freedom in how they work. What I believe sets successful people apart is that they are totally clear on what it is they want to achieve. It sounds simple, but if we don’t know what we are trying to achieve then we won’t know when we get there.”

EMMA’S TOP SUCCESS-ATTRACTING PRINCIPLES THAT WORKED FOR HER!

WEED THE PATH: get very clear on what you want to achieve. Clear the path of weeds including energy sapping people, projects, situations that are keeping you away from focusing on your goals.

SHINE YOUR LIGHT: adopt a lighthouse approach and send your light of imagination and intent out there and visualise in all manner of detail what you want to achieve, including what it will feel like to have achieved your goal. Apply all your senses. We tend to get what we think about and what we think about expands.

THINK RIGHT: building a sound business from the outset requires key business skills. If you don’t know these, find out what they are. Read entrepreneurial press and attend workshops. Make it a priority to learn what the building blocks for business actually are, and don’t leave anything to chance. Emma’s Seven Business Disciplines (www.EMpwr.co.uk) worked for her.

SUPPORT & DELEGATE: Identify your strengths and weaknesses. Bring in expert services where you need them ie: having trouble focusing on the next steps and time management skills? Hire a personal/business mentor. What can you delegate or even delete from your to-do list? In asking for help, offer something you find easy/effortless to do in return. Barter time.

PRIORITISE! Stop trying to do it all! If you’re juggling demands of a family, dump the guilt and tightly prioritise every day what must be achieved that day. Use your time wisely. Apply as many time-saving strategies as you can to daily life. Be elegant in your approach to your life.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN: Do the core planning right at the beginning of goal-setting. We often forget some of the detail that made a great idea exciting in the first place. Record planning on the computer or if you prefer, an attractive journal. This is the same for planning your first book or market garden as it is a physical business venture.

MONEY SAVVY: Don’t spend what you don’t have. Be realistic with money. Treat it with respect. Deal with debt. Create budgets. Learn about cash flow. Apply a little philanthropy. What goes around comes around. Learn how spending less can be living better. L

IVE LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT: We rarely get a second chance at the big stuff that makes a life full, exciting and inspiring for us and our children! If you have an aching passion to build a business, write a book, run a cookery course or build a mail order candle business, incorporate the passion you feel for this into your daily life and inch towards achieving, every day. Small steps, yet part of the bigger picture. S

ORT THE SMALL STUFF FAST: Admin has to be done. Set aside 2 hours a week in non working hours time. Create smart files, pay bills on time, cancel old agreements and keep on top of all paperwork. Move it, file it or bin it.

FOCUS ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS: This especially applies if you have a family. Don’t do anything where guilt or heaven forbid, resentment can creep in. Bring your whole self to the family time and then you can bring your whole self to project/business time. Create clear boundaries from the outset. Have a burnout avoidance strategy. Build in as much fun and kick-back time as you can! Schedule holidays and long weekends. Experience your life. Not many people get to the end of their days wishing they’d worked harder.

“It is really possible to have it all and have a ball,” comments Emma. “It doesn’t mean you will be chasing your tail either! Just find your passion and purpose, be strategic in all that you do, from homework supervision to growing a business, keep cheerful with the hardwork. Know exactly why you are doing anything. Learn to say no so that you don’t leach time. Say yes to yourself more often. Help others to help themselves. Life does not have to be perfect – it needs to be enjoyable and create a positive experience. Treat yourself with absolute kindness. Pay attention to stress. Deal with what crops up in life. Coach yourself to success. Be a willing participant in your whole life”

1.How many hours a week should you work is a question that only you can answer. The debate raging in the media is tiresome and irrelevant for 3
reasons: it centers on working full time or not at all (so many mums work part time), it assumes that all children are the same, and presumes that every mum has a choice about the hours they work.

2. Combat guilt at leaving your child with the knowledge that as a working mum, you are a great role model for your toddler. If you have a little boy, he will see women as equal with men in the workplace when he is older.

3. Most women these days have had to earn their own living from the time they left full-time education. Ask yourself if you can really be fulfilled staying at home all day with no other projects or profession. There is no right or wrong answer to this: many women welcome the break from a job they don’t really like – others need their career as much as they wanted to have children.

4. If you have to work full time, you have to work full time. Don’t waste time fretting over leaving your toddler in childcare – instead redirect this energy into planning quality time activities with your little one on your days off.

5. Toddlers are very adaptable and although they might make a fuss when you leave them at nursery or the childminder, they will soon come to enjoy the stimulation, variety and social opportunities that daycare offers.

6. Nursery or childminder? It depends on the childcare provider and your toddler. Many boys especially need the bigger space that a nursery provides.
On the other hand, some nurseries are too big to cater for your child’s individual needs.

7. Want to reduce your working hours but can’t afford to? Maybe you can after all. Look at new ways you can cut back. Organisation is hugely important in saving on day-to-day expenses. For example, cooking in bulk and freezing saves a lot of money. It also saves you time – instead of cooking when you get home from work, put a frozen shepherd’s pie in the oven and sit down for some quality time with your toddler.

Harriet Morris is a mum of two and runs www.toddler-ideas.com, a complete parenting resource – from tantrums to treasure hunts. Download your FREE Tantrum
Prevention Kit here.

People who’ve realised their dreams talk about going through different stages and roller-coasting up and down before they make things happen.  Have a think about where you are and how you can move on.

 Uneasy

 This is that uncomfortable feeling when you’re starting to think that all’s not well with your life, that various things are going wrong for you and that maybe you ought to do something about all this.  But you don’t quite start, because there are other things you need to do.   The uneasy feeling goes grumbling on, though.

 Confused

 Now you’ve actually managed to make yourself do something, but the feelings have got a bit worse.  There seem to be far too many possible ways to change, and every one that you think about has got something wrong with it…

 ¨ it needs money or things that you haven’t got and can’t see how to get

• ¨ you don’t know enough about it and can’t see how to find out
• ¨ you can’t see where to start
• ¨ the whole thing nibbles away at your confidence

 It’s much too easy to get stuck at this stage.  But take heart: lots of people have worked through it, and so can you.

 Searching

 You’ve begun to organise yourself, probably by writing down what you want and what you’re doing.  You’ve also started to get focused by working out where you really want to get to.  Seeing what your future could be sets you searching for practical and factual answers to the questions you’ve got.  You’ve got a better idea of what you can do and what you need to know in order to be able to do it.  Once you know the facts, some ideas aren’t promising and get dropped, but others sound much more hopeful so you find out yet more about them.   Gradually, the confused feelings drop away and you begin to feel that you’re moving forward.

 Preparing

 Now you’ve got a pretty clear picture of where you want to be and how you might get there, so you start working out the details. 

 ¨ What will the future be like when you’ve made it happen?

• ¨ Exactly what will you have to do to make it happen?
• ¨ How will you do it?
• ¨ How will you get the money, things and support that’ll help?

 Because you’ve begun to do things, the world starts to change.  People help you, practical problems get solved, you find the ideas and things that you need.

 Moving on

 Now things start to happen and go your way.  Not everything works perfectly, of course, and sometimes it feels like two steps forward and one back, but it genuinely is more forwards.   New problems present themselves – and get solved.  You find out more things you need to know – and how to learn them.  Other people are impressed and believe in your abilities – so they help.  Your confidence grows, because you can see that there are more successes than failures – and you did it.

 So how can you move yourself on?

 If you’re still just Uneasy…

 ¨ Start thinking of ways to change your situation

• ¨ Look at the huge amount of helpful information on this website
• ¨ Expect to become more confused – but don’t worry, it won’t last

 If you’re Confused…

 ¨ Start thinking about how things could be

• ¨ Make a list of all the things you know how to do, or could learn
• ¨ Begin to write ideas down, perhaps in a special book because this matters
• ¨ Have a page for each idea and draw a line down the page
• ¨ On the left-hand side, write “Good things about this idea”
• ¨ On the right-hand side, write down “Possible problems with this idea”
• ¨ Look through the ideas and pick one that has more positives than negatives
• ¨ Start a new page for this promising idea and look for answers to:
• o How can I accentuate the positives and minimise the negatives?
• o What do I need to know before I can decide about this?
• o Where will I look for what I need?
• o Who can I talk to who knows something I need?

 Congratulations!  You’ve already started Searching.

 If you’re Searching…

 ¨ Don’t stop at one idea – sometimes even the unpromising ones can work

• ¨ This site has lots of what you need
• ¨ Tell people what you’re doing and ask for advice – don’t bottle it up!
• ¨ Think about talking with a skilled adviser
• ¨ Make sure you record everything you do so you can see you’re progressing

 If you’re Preparing…

 ¨ Spend time defining exactly what the future will be like

• ¨ List everything you’ll do so as to make it happen
• ¨ Decide how you’ll do it – and get help with the things you don’t know about
• ¨ Contact sources for money, things and support – get advice if you need it

 And if you’re Moving on, then good luck!

This article is from Sandy McMillan who helps people work out what to do. You’ll find him at www.careersolutions.co.uk

The other thing that helped me get out of post-baby chaos was signing up to FlyLady. Once you have got past the americanisms, it is a great way to give your life back some structure, and take control of the house rather than letting the chaos control you. I still love the idea of the 27 fling boogie, where you chuck 27 things in a bin bag while dancing round the house singing ‘Please Release Me’.

I hope one or both of these help you as much as they have helped me.