Real Life E® » Health & Wellness

Making Progress

reallifee — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

It’s that time of year again. Some of you may have already begun your New Year’s Resolutions for 2012, or may still be reflecting on what you have achieved in 2011. Below, time management coach, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, shares tips for making real progress on your goals– any time of the year.

**How to See Real Progress**

The key to accomplishing anything from finishing a project to going on a trip to climbing a mountain is consistent action in the direction of a goal:

1. Write down what you want to accomplish in a place where you will see it every day. (For instance at the top of my calendar, I have a list of the next places I want to travel. You can also put your goals on your to do list, tape them to your cabinet door, put them up as a screen saver. Whatever works for you.)

2. List out the next steps. For instance, if you’re planning a trip, write down these types of activities:

Look at calendar for potential dates
Call friends and/or family to see if these times work for them
Check out flight prices & set an alert to let you know when costs drop
Think through lodging/transportation options
Look up the prices online
Check if you can use rewards points
Browse the Web or go to the library or bookstore for ideas on activities
If traveling abroad, check on necessary paperwork/immunizations and start to schedule appointments
Buy travel insurance
Decide if you need to make any purchases & make a shopping list
Put up out of office messages
Etc., etc., etc.

3. Make note of anything with a very specific deadline or that needs to be done a certain amount of time in advance (like one month). Look over your calendar and set aside specific days when you will have a reminder to complete these activities on time.

4. Start telling people about what you’re doing so you have some positive peer pressure to keep moving forward (or get a coach to keep you accountable–in an encouraging way ;o)

5. Set aside a certain time each week when you will move forward on less time sensitive activities that need to be completed to move toward your goal. For instance, one hour on Saturday mornings. When you get to that time, spend that hour working on whatever is next. (It’s OK if you don’t finish a whole action item, you just need to be making consistent progress.)

6. CELEBRATE your progress! Give yourself some type of reward for moving forward such as a stop at your favorite ice cream place, a call with a friend, or buying a new book. (Whatever you find motivating!)

7. Watch as you accomplish your goal. It’s amazing how consistent action leads to results. Think of the little bulbs that put down roots and put up stalks and burst into flower. Seemingly “overnight” results come from consistent effort.

To stop feeling frustrated, get clear on what you want, plant seeds, cultivate them, and watch them grow!

Have a brilliant week!

Elizabeth

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.

Elizabeth’s time coaching clients have the opportunity to go through her exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM life transformation process through phone coaching and custom action guides or in-person training.

Work Better, Not Longer

reallifee — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:32:40 +0000

You don’t have to work 24/7 to get better at something. Instead, concentrate on the quality and focus you bring to your work hours.

In his recent article, “If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers,” Study Hacks Blog expert, Cal Newport describes this unique phenomena. With a few tweaks to your practice, you can improve the effectiveness of your work. So check out Cal’s article and accomplish more with peace and confidence today!

About Real Life E®

Why Even Your Surgeon Has a Coach

reallifee — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 20:35:10 +0000

That’s right! We all need coaches. Work/life balance coach and time management expert, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, describes the amazing physical and emotional benefits of coaching…

How would you feel if you knew your surgeon had a coach?

It’s natural if your first thought was: What’s wrong?

But according to Atul Gawande in his excellent article in The New Yorker about Coaching a Surgeon: What Makes Top Performers Better, you should be thrilled.

Atul found that coaching really helped him transcend a plateau in his surgeries.

I agree that coaching can absolutely help you move to the next level.

But I’ve also found that coaching can lead to brilliant results as a sort of physical therapy or occupational therapy.

Here’s what I mean:

Physical therapy: Sometimes due to our natural abilities or some major challenge that we’ve faced, our habits are too weak to support us in a healthy way. (For instance, many of my clients need strength training to “build” their planning muscles.)

Occupational therapy: A coach can help you when major life changes or increases in responsibility require developing new ways of thinking and acting. This is when your life went to the next level but no one gave you the instructions on how to operate in this new stratosphere!

In my experience, both with coaching others and with receiving coaching myself, it can feel a bit embarrassing at first to admit that you really are not sure how to improve. But once you are working alongside someone who understands how to navigate the territory and will encourage you to not give up when it’s hard, everything comes sooo much easier.

To your brilliance!

Elizabeth Grace

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth on Forbes: Do You Feel Like You’re Always Working?

reallifee — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:49:26 +0000

Even though you may love your job, sometimes the perpetual cycle of work, work, and more work can be just too much. You don’t want to be consumed by work, but somewhere along the way, it just happened. You need to find some balance. Pronto! Otherwise, you’re in danger of burning out.

Fortunately,there are a few simple adjustments to your mindset and daily schedule that can make a big difference. In her newest article, “Why Does it Feel like I’m Always Working?” featured on Forbes.com, expert time coach and work-life balance master, Elizabeth Grace Saunders, discusses simple solutions you can start implementing today. Overcome feelings of guilt, and tactfully stop over-committing by setting boundaries. You can work hard but still have time to play hard- every day!

So take a break from your work, and check out Elizabeth’s Forbes Article now.

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, which provides life coaching for individuals who struggle with time management.

Real Life E® empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.

Elizabeth’s time coaching clients have the opportunity to go through her exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM life transformation process through phone coaching and custom action guides or in-person training.

Hope for Clients Battling Depression

reallifee — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:20:01 +0000

Shorter days and colder weather can be a bit of a let down for many people. However if you struggle with depression, the changing seasons may not only dampen your spirit but also disrupt your time management, work/life balance, and strong relationship building attempts.

Fortunately, you can find tools and support to function during the darker months of the year. Check out the links below to learn more about depression, and discover helpful resources.

Be gentle with yourself, and hang in there! Spring’s around the corner! To your brilliance!

The Mayo Clinic’s Comprehensive Overview: clear educational summary, including info about symptoms, treatment, causes, and coping.

Check out the links at the bottom of the page to learn more about other types of depression including:

Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD)

Dysthesmia

Atypical (surprisingly, very typical!)

Postpartum

Male Depression

Other Resources:

Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance

Self-Help and Coping Tips

Living with a Depressed Partner

About Real Life E®

Help for ADD/ADHD Clients

reallifee — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:05:06 +0000

Time Management can be a challenge for anyone, but staying on task can be especially difficult for those struggling with ADD or ADHD.

But there’s hope! Elizabeth has experience working with clients of all different personality types and learning styles. The key to change is recognizing the challenge and finding a solution that works best for you. Check out some of the resources below to learn more about ADD/ADHD, to understand how it may have an impact on your work/life balance, and to connect with others who are struggling with some of the same difficulties. To your brilliance!

The Mayo Clinic’s Comprehensive Overview of Adult ADHD: easy-to-grasp educational resource, including info about symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment

Adult ADD/ADHD: symptoms, treatment, and other resources

Positive/Negative ADD Traits: One adult’s experience living with ADD

Attention Deficit Disorder Association: Online community of resources

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases team productivity, employee satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.
Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.

Pet Time: Dog Routines

reallifee — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:44:49 +0000

If you’re a dog lover, your four-legged friend is your ultimate companion. But when you’re feeling overwhelmed, you barely have time to exercise yourself, let alone make sure Fido gets enough exercise too. Keep yourself and your dog healthy and happy with a few well-placed additions to your dog care schedule.

Building a routine for your pet is mutually beneficial. Taking 20-30 minutes to walk your dog before tackling your next project can give you just the respite you need to clear your mind and get pumped up to move forward. Plus, walking your dog enforces a strong leadership position with your pet. For most dogs, trotting around by themselves in the backyard can be rather boring. Check out these tips to ensure that both you and your furry friend are getting the healthy exercise and mental stimulation you both need.

In addition to exercise, dogs crave love and attention and thrive on an established routine. This is especially important in terms of potty breaks and feeding times. Also, dogs need enough sleep to function effectively. If possible, consider designating an area of the house, such as a cushion or crate, for your dog, and keep your own bed a dog-free zone. This will allow your pet to have some ownership of his own special space and will ensure that you get a full night’s sleep as well. Take a peek at this Ideal Dog Schedule written from the perspective of a dog. Then tweak it to your own daily schedule and your pet’s preferences.

As part of your pup’s schedule, try incorporating a 10 minute block of training time everyday. Here’s a List of 10 Commands Every Dog Should Know. Don’t stress about you or your dog performing perfectly. Make it a fun activity to break up your day, and an opportunity for much-needed bonding time. When your dog masters some of these commands, you may be surprised how his overall behavior improves too.

Now that you have a playful, obedient, well-fed pup, you’ll want to show off your pride and joy. Make sure your dog’s well-groomed and that you keep up on necessary hygiene needs. Most dogs are pretty good self-groomers, but it’s important that you keep up on monthly flea and tick care and perform maintenance on their nails, eyes, and ears as needed. This can be done by Establishing a Grooming Routine.

Now, grab the leash, pick up that brush, or fill up that food bowl! But most of all, have fun! Your beloved dog is waiting for you!

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, which provides life coaching for individuals who struggle with time management.

Ditching the Dread… Of Success

reallifee — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:04:02 +0000

We’ve all experienced that roller coaster of project-related emotions at some point in life. While performing at the top of your game is initially empowering and motivating, the pressure to continually outperform yourself can be debilitating. An activity that once filled you with joy, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment now fills you with dread. Well, it’s time to ditch that dread and gain your confidence back! In her recent newsletter, Elizabeth describes the inspirational turnaround of a wonderful client. Try out some of the tools and strategies in the latest client success story below.

Starting a new project in an area where you have excelled but almost killed yourself in the process is terrifying …

What if you can’t produce the same level of results?
What if you lose yourself and quality relationships in the process?
What if you end up feeling terrible the entire time you’re doing the work?

These are all valid feelings when your past experience tells you that the only way to get big projects done is to work at a frenzied pace.

Fortunately, there’s a better way.

Last winter, I worked with a successful, well-published writer who also taught in a university graduate school Masters of Fine Arts program. She was stuck.

“I am scattered and making erratic progress with this or that. I want to make solid steps forward. I want to reclaim my life and place in the literary firmament, get healthy and in shape, and have fun!”

She also had just been diagnosed with ADHD and was wondering how much of an impact ADHD had on her life-long frustrations with writing and other areas of her life. One of her most important goals was to move forward on her next big creative project–a collection of linked short stories. It had been a long time since her first book had been published, and she needed to regain professional momentum…

“My friends are mostly writers and successful. I have lots of ink in the New York Times that I have written and that has been written about me. So I have talent. I also need to know what I need to do, like a solid schedule? work impulsively? Okay I know the answer to that.”

She did know the answer, but turning the answer into practical action took time coaching… We came up with an initial plan of how she could get in a good, solid, writing time in the morning. Then each week, we worked on assessing the results and evaluating how to move forward based on what happened.

“I found the process very stabilizing because I tend to be all over the place with trying things. You were able to roll with the way I operate and yet be a strong force in your own right. It was helpful having you to run things off of, especially when I got stuck–which was about every week.”

We worked together on different morning writing routines. The first involved: drinking coffee, eating breakfast, taking the dog out, meditating, getting dressed, and then starting to write. The second involved just getting coffee and starting to write. The end result was a fusion of the two with pouring a cup of coffee, meditating a bit, taking out the dog and then writing.

The end goal wasn’t to have this creative writer crammed into a rigid schedule but to have something that turned writing (her top professional priority) from a dreaded activity to a peaceful part of her daily schedule.

Over the course of our work together, she found that if she followed her morning routine and put herself in her writing space for two hours (with a timer set), the inspiration came and the writing moved forward.

Writing didn’t need to be something that she dreaded.
Writing didn’t need to be something that took over her life.
Writing could be something she choose to move forward on each day.

At last! Freedom to do quality work without losing herself, her relationships or her sanity was possible!

“I’ve found that the actual schedule that I longed for would absolutely drive me around the bend so I have a flexitarian schedule and am getting things done.”

“Having and sticking with a schedule is the single most important thing I can do for myself as an artist, as a woman living a rather complex and exciting life, and as someone newly aware that many of my problems stem from having ADHD. Nothing, nothing, nothing will move me forward like following my schedule will. Period.”

The same could be true for you.

You can take away the fear surrounding moving forward on a big project by developing, practicing and adjusting your custom routines.

To your brilliance!

Elizabeth

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E®, which provides life coaching for individuals who struggle with time management.

Work/Life Balance Calculator

reallifee — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:40:24 +0000

Ready, Set, Calculate!

If you are struggling with work/life balance, now’s the time to see exactly how and where you spend your precious time. With work, home and relationship responsibilities competing for your attention, it can be easy for important basics like healthy meals and regular sleep to be squeezed out.

The virtual Work/Life Balance Calculator from CNN.com is a wonderful resource that shows how you allocate your time throughout each day and over the course of an average week.

With categories including “Meals,” “Commute,” and “Leisure,” you can see how you currently divide your time, and then make adjustments to create your ideal schedule. The hours you spend on each activity are calculated by percentage, and the color coded pie-graph is an effective, eye-opening visual aid.

There are 168 hours in a week. How will you spend them? Get calculating!

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.

Day in the Life of a Time Coach: My Morning Routine

reallifee — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:41:03 +0000

Ever wonder how a time management coach spends her days? This sneak peek into Elizabeth’s morning routine might be just the inspiration you need to make a few adjustments to your own wake up rituals! Be sure to stay tuned for more insights into Elizabeth’s daily schedule. Enjoy!

Inside My Mind

I hesitate to talk too much…about the specifics of how I personally organize my day for a few reasons:

I don’t want to seem self absorbed.
I know from coaching clients around the world that custom plans based on the right strategies work better than copying someone else’s exact techniques.
I’m an ENFJ and not all–but many–of my clients are Myers Briggs INFP or ISFP so they sometimes need a bit different approach.

But that being said, much of what I do is teaching people how to develop the mindset and skill set of an organized person so I’m pulling back the curtain on my life. In the upcoming posts, you’ll learn about not only what I do on a daily basis but also get inside my mind on what I’m thinking throughout the process.

See below for a close look at how I start my morning…

I hope this helps you and demonstrates that I’m authentically living a life of accomplishing more with peace and confidence!

Elizabeth’s Morning Routine

My internal clock is set to 6 a.m. This is awesome on weekdays because it’s usually not a problem for me to get up when my happy nature sounds alarm goes off. It’s not so awesome on the weekends when I’ve stayed up later than 11 p.m. and want to sleep in–but can’t.

If I wake up with unpleasant thoughts in my head (perhaps from a weird dream) I sometimes lay in bed a bit past 6 a.m. so I can process the negative emotions. I then get up and immediately grab my Bible and my journal from my nightstand and take them downstairs to the dining room and put them in my designated spot.

I love the fact that the house is quiet, and I’m alone at this hour. It’s very peaceful and my mind can wander and get lost in thoughts without interruption. I start my fabulous Bunn coffee maker (only 4 minutes to brew a whole pot!) and then put together a simple breakfast.

As I gather my food, I usually make a rough sketch in my mind of what I plan on eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner. That way, I know that I’m getting some variety in my three meals and enough healthy foods like fruits and vegetables. I also make note of anything that I need to buy in my “Grocery” note in my phone.

Now it’s time to sit down and eat. As I munch, I read a short passage and then take time to ponder what it means to me. Usually during my pondering time, I go back for seconds on breakfast food. (I eat small portions so I can go back for more!)

Next, I take time to meditate. Depending on my mood, this can take many different forms:

Writing in a prayer journal.
Listening to an affirmations CD.
Laying on the living room floor staring at the ceiling and sorting out my thoughts.
Going on a walk through my neighborhood (usually just on the weekends)

After my meditation time, I’m typically feeling peaceful, energized and in control of my emotions. As they would say in the excellent book Switch, my “elephant” is happy so now the “rider” can start to direct my focus.

Around 7:30 a.m., I start to transition from being to doing… I put away breakfast food and clean up any dishes. I go around the house fluffing pillows, shutting cabinets, collecting up stray items and generally reassuring myself that everything is in order in my physical environment so that I can more or less ignore it for the next 8 hours.

I then shower and get ready for the day completely if I need to leave the house for an appointment during work hours. (I have a tendency to underestimate how long it can take to get ready and get out of the house.) If I’m not going out until the evening, then I just put on clothes for going on a walk at lunch and leave doing hair, make up and jewelry until the end of the day so everything is “fresh.”

Sometime between 8 and 8:30 a.m., I sit down at my computer and begin my morning processing and planning routine… to be fully explained in an upcoming post…

To your brilliance!

Your time coach,

Elizabeth

P.S.-Rest assured! I don’t recommend that all of my time coaching clients get up at 6 a.m.! That’s just what works for me.

P.P.S.–Feel free to share your insights on morning routines.

About Real Life E®

Elizabeth Grace Saunders is the founder and CEO of Real Life E® a time coaching and training company that empowers individuals who feel guilty, overwhelmed and frustrated to feel peaceful, confident and accomplished through an exclusive Schedule Makeover^TM process. Real Life E® also increases employee productivity, satisfaction and work/life balance through custom training programs.Elizabeth has appeared in Inc magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and on NBC. She was selected as one of the Top 25 Amazing Women of 2010 by Stiletto Woman and as a member of the Young Entrepreneurs Council featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Mashable, and many other media outlets.