Category: Getting Organized Page 2 of 3

Do You Write To-Do Lists?

What is so great about writing out to-do lists? In times like these, it is so important to have some kind of plan to stay positive and give yourself a fighting chance to overcome stress and anxiety.  Last week, I shared 25 Ways to Survive Stressful Times to help give you ideas on what to do while stuck at home. I have so many different ideas on how to spend my time since I had to shut down my massage therapy office. I miss working on my clients and the feeling of satisfaction when I can provide one hour of stress and pain relief for them.

When I am not working on my blog or coaching business, I like to still keep myself busy and work on my personal growth. One of my passions is to learn new things and find exciting hobbies to keep me busy.  For example, I create to-do lists to keep my mind organized so I can remember everything I want to do.

Each day brings new challenges whether it’s helping the kids with their homework, cleaning up after their messes, finding ways to keep them busy, and getting used to the new “normal” of this extra time together.

As an introvert, I need more alone time than the average person to recharge and be able to cope with the stressors of each day. So, every day I try to focus on how I can be a better “bonus” mom and partner so that we can all live in harmony. Some days it is truly exhausting! However, I try to remember the positive and that we are all healthy and blessed with a nice home to live in and have love in our hearts and wonderful friends and family.

Insights on my Daily To-Do List

Each day I wake up and read devotionals from my 2 favorite books that my mom gave me, Jesus Calling and Joyce Meyer’s Starting Your Day Right. Doing this gives me the strength to face the new day with the armor of God.  It helps me set the mood of the day and helps lower the anxiety that is always simmering.  I am not a morning person at all so I need some extra time before I leave the bedroom to get my head right before interacting with anyone else.

Once I feel ok to start my day, I usually eat breakfast within an hour of waking up. I have been trying to stick to a regular schedule of eating so I don’t go off track and binge. Additionally, I always try to work out in the morning to get it over with.  Structure works well for me!

After my morning routine, I check my e-mails and then scroll through my business social media accounts.  I have been trying to spread caring and hopeful messages each day on my social media.  Then I check my website for any new comments on my posts so I can interact with the people who follow me.

Being a business owner, you really always have to stay connected a large part of the day to stay in touch with clients and followers.  I don’t mind doing this because I love connecting with old and new friends!

How I Stay Motivated

Making time to work out and cook healthy meals is also an important part of my day. I try to get work projects done before dinner and then have the rest of the night to spend time with family and unwind.

In the last few weeks of being home, I have had extra time to sort out what needs to be worked on and any other projects that have been held up in the wings. It is important for me to feel somewhat productive each day and I like to be able to check stuff off my list!  Here’s some stuff that I do to keep my mind busy and feel productive to ward off anxious thoughts from creeping in.

My Business To-Do List

• Develop new online group and DIY coaching programs
• Learn about Google Analytics to grow my e-mail list
• Take a class on SEO for my website
• Update my old blog posts and optimize for SEO
• Research new topics for my blog and conduct interviews with health professionals
• Update my business books and expenses
• Finish my taxes
• Stay in touch with my massage therapy clients during the shutdown
• Clean up my business social media accounts
• Create a media kit for my blogging business on Canva
• Use PicMonkey to create photos for my blog
• Take a Pinterest class on how to build my following
• Clean up my shared drive folders and organize my files
• Take the 10K Traffic Challenge course to grow my blog following
• Update my website content and try out new themes

My Personal To-Do List

• Clean the house over and over again!
• Organize the kitchen cabinets
• Shop for healthy food and some treats too!
• Bring food over to the food pantry
• Clean out my car
• Find a new personal growth class to take
• Read more books. I am currently reading a very inspirational book Tim Tebow’s- This is the Day
• Keep up with laundry
• Sort through vacation photos and do something with them!
• Take off pictures from my phone and upload to the computer
• Make a new recipe every few days
• Keep posting positive messages daily on social media accounts
• Help kids with homework
• Stay active every single day and sweat out any toxins
• Go outside every day for fresh air
• Watch some new Netflix shows – excited for the new season of Ozark!
• Watch Mass on Facebook live every Sunday morning
• Listen to one guided meditation daily
• Play more board games with the kids
• Learn about gardening and photography
• Check-in with family and friends. My college friends have been doing a Zoom “happy hour” every week and it is so nice to see their faces and vent!
• Last but not least- spend quality time with my family and always eat at least dinner together so we can chat. Relationships will surely be tested during this forced time together but praying that it will bring us all closer and stronger!

Write Out Your Goals

Have you been putting something off until a later time to work on?

Now is a great time to start working on your goals. Why not use this time and make progress on becoming a better version of yourself. You may not be a fan of writing to-do lists and that is ok! I am just sharing what helps me. What may help is looking at each of those 5 Aspects of Whole Health that I have shared in older posts– Physical, Emotional, Nutritional, Environmental, and Spiritual™©.

Take a look at how you can improve your life from that perspective and I promise you will come up with lots to keep you busy.  What are some things you have been doing at home that have helped you pass the time? Work on your to-do list today!  Whatever it is, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy. This too will pass 🙂

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

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During really stressful times, our brains sometimes cannot recall what is best to do for ourselves or our families. Being overwhelmed is a symptom of not having the ability to manage stress. Hey- I have been there thousands of times! Some of us with anxiety are just naturally more prone to feeling overwhelmed easily. It’s ok. There is nothing wrong with you for feeling that.

We are living in a world right now that is extremely stressful and uncertain at times. Did you know that anxiety is caused by worry and fear of the future and affects how we feel about our security and safety? Whether you are anxious or not, here are some ways to get your mind off the worries and fears of whatever is going on in your world.

25 Ways to Survive Stressful Times

Stay on track with your routine for yourself and your kids.

Move every day. Take a walk, run, or watch an exercise video online. Some of my favorites are Jessica Smith, Leslie Sansone, PopSugar, and Fitness Blender. I like a good mix of walking, strength, and interval training workouts.

Pray or meditate and read something positive daily.  I like the apps Calm and Breethe and I just recently found a Christian app called Abide.

Take a break from electronics.   Too much screen time can cause more anxiety. Stop watching the stressful news all day!

Watch a funny show or video. Youtube has a ton of them! Seinfeld and Friends reruns make me happy!

Schedule in some alone time even if it’s only 15 minutes. Find somewhere in the house, even the bathroom, to be alone!

Go outside, explore nature, and get some fresh air. Soak up the sunshine for some extra Vitamin D.

Start a bucket list of places you want to eventually travel to and then go on Pinterest and pin them for future review.

Update your personal and professional goals. It will help you remember your purpose and stay organized.

Get your kids involved in self-care routines like creative play and healthy movement. For example, do a guided meditation with them.

Ten More to Go!

Clean your house one room at a time! Organizing and cleaning are my 2 top ways to fight anxiety.

Get rid of unnecessary clutter and old clothes you don’t wear anymore and donate to a charity.

Play with your pets. We have a dog and he brings so much joy and stress relief to me daily! They need love and exercise too!

Organize your closets. Put your winter clothes away and get out some spring clothes.

Movie night. Netflix and Amazon Prime have great choices for all ages.

Play board games or cards. My new favorites in our house are 20 Questions and Blank Slate.

Do some yard work. Gardening or an outdoor project at your house will keep you busy and outside in the fresh air!

Watch virtual tours online like Virtual Traveler, or visit museums all over the world. My favorite is watching the aquarium webcams!

Sing karaoke! The Echo Show has the option to display the lyrics. I can’t believe how many words to songs I get wrong!

Last But Not Least

Read the latest novel. Check out Amazon’s list of best sellers. I like reading on my Kindle usually but still enjoy actually picking up a real book

Expand your knowledge and take online classes. Udemy has some great options! There are some great apps too for learning a new language like Babbel.

Set up a virtual hangout for friends or family with Zoom or Google Hangouts, or House Party from the comfort of your home! I also like the app, Marco Polo, which allows you to send quick videos to your contacts individually or a group.

Meal preparation. Now that we have more time at home, I am trying to plan and cook more especially to avoid last-minute bad choices!  For new recipe ideas, scroll through Pinterest, and watch cooking videos on Tasty or YouTube.

Talk to a professional like a therapist or coach who can offer some extra help on how to manage stress better. Most of them offer telephone or online chats.

Have a Plan

The best way to overcome those stressful days is to acknowledge what you are feeling and then have a self-care plan in place to refer to when needed. You know the quote “have a plan or plan to fail.” I find that having a printed out list works for me and then I can choose what I feel up to doing at that specific time.

Above all, please take care of yourself first so you can be there for your family. I chose to have faith that eventually things will get better. Stay healthy and positive. My prayers and thoughts are with you. Please share what stress management tools work for you!

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

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Do you write out your goals? This is the time of year that you may start to think about goals for next year and changes you want to make for your health, career, family, etc. Honestly, I really don’t enjoy setting goals but it is a necessary evil especially for business owners. Setting intentions or goals are extremely helpful when tracking progress for yourself and in business. Looking back at old journal entries are so amusing because it is interesting to see how much things have changed in my life.

Setting goals are a good exercise to help uncover any chronic patterns or bad habits that you still struggle with. It can be a very positive or negative experience depending on how extreme you get. I was always taught to set small and realistic goals so you don’t get too overwhelmed or disappointed if they don’t come to fruition. There are some helpful questions that I use with coaching clients to help discover what they need to work on. This may help you in figuring out some goals to work on for next year.

Discovery Questions to Reflect On

If you could wave a magic wand, and really get what you want in the next 6 or 12 months, what would that look like?

When you reach this goal, what will having that do for you? Think about how this will positively affect your life and why it is important to you.

What’s stopping you or slowing you down from having the desired outcome right now? Think about any roadblocks that you struggle with.

How has that impacted your daily life (work, relationships, finances)?

How does it make you feel? Does it make you feel better or worse?

What is your stress level on a scale of 1-10? How does it manifest in your body?

What do you do to pamper yourself and unwind? How often?

Is there anything that you’d like to be doing for yourself that you’re not?

Setting Goals By Category

Goal setting may be easier to organize by category. Pick one and just start writing!

1. Health & Fitness

2. Career

3. Relationships

4. Social Life

5. Personal Development

6. Spiritual

7. Financial

8. Giving

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Committ to a Plan

Think about how committed you are to make changes.

What would happen sooner or later if you don’t make these changes?

What do you think the cost would be if nothing changes?

Think about healthcare costs, time, money, and how these issues would affect your family as well. No need to overwhelm yourself! I suggest reflecting on 1 category at a time.

Simply write down in a journal what you want to happen and then add a short term time limit like 3 months. You can even come up with a shorter or longer time frame. That’s up to you. I suggest reading your goals on a daily basis to remind yourself of what you want to accomplish. Visualize the outcome and start making changes.

Take some quiet time and write down some goals you may want to accomplish this upcoming year. I am going to work on exercising more consistently and try to get to the gym 4 times per week. Please share one goal you would like to work on. Sometimes, you just need a little help and someone in your corner to help you overcome those obstacles that are holding you back from enjoying life and being the best version of yourself.

If you would like some help, set up a complimentary Discovery Call with me today!

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

Subscribe to my Lifestyle Blog!

 A Wellness coach guides their clients to live the best version of themselves.  At some point in life, we all need a little extra help to overcome the obstacles.  Suffering from Anxiety or struggling with chronic pain or illness? I know how you feel. My personal journey has been tough. However, I have come out the other side and want you to as well.

Have you ever thought of getting help and just didn’t know where to start? Besides being a Licensed Massage Therapist, I am also a certified Whole Health Educator™ and Wellness Coach.

My holistic approach focuses on the whole person which includes discussing lifestyle habits and the 5 Aspects of Whole Health including Physical, Emotional, Nutritional, Environmental, and Spiritual™©.

First, coaching sessions are customized for the client’s needs and have an emphasis on stress management. You may be thinking well what does that even mean? Let me clear it up a bit for you.

The Whole Health Coach interacts with their client in a mindful and respectful presence. In other words, the coach invites the client into the center of their healing process. Similarly, information is shared with clients at the level of understanding they are most comfortable with.

Moreover, a “big-picture” concept is the healing strategy that is used. For instance, the Wellness coach encourages the client to identify their needs and make changes they feel are appropriate.

Primary Tasks of a Wellness Coach

1. Provide a clear & simple explanation of the body systems & their relationship to the body as a whole.

2. Share the research of stress research pioneer, Hans Selye, MD, Ph.D., on stress adaptation. Also, teach the anatomy, physiology, and nutrition of how human beings adapt to their environment.

3. Act as an information resource, affording the client a wide range of information on current research, treatments, and self-care. The Whole Health Education® model does not direct the client by suggestion, recommendation, advice, or conclusion.  This model invites them to discern with his/her physician, family, partner the strategy or strategies that, for the client, foster natural compliance.

4. Facilitate their client’s ownership and understanding of the cause and effect of health and disease. Also, simplifies health information so the client can make clearly informed health care decisions. Then the client can make transformational changes.

Someone in Your Corner

In my practice, I offer services geared towards middle-aged women who are overwhelmed with stress, anxiety, and suffer from chronic pain. 

I teach them how to deal with the emotional struggles of having pain, anxiety, and a powerful mind/body connection.  Therefore, the goal is for clients to manage stress better, gain a positive outlook, and age gracefully without depending on drugs. Above all, this type of transformational Coaching offers natural solutions to stress and chronic pain.

Sometimes, you just need a little help to help you overcome those obstacles that are holding you back from enjoying life. Learn how to overcome Anxiety and cope with the struggles of having chronic pain and illness. 

Set up a complimentary Transformation Discovery Call with Jill DeMasi today!

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

Subscribe to my Lifestyle Blog!

Stress management is an essential part of any wellness program.  Stress can be extremely harmful to our health. Also, lack of self-care, unhealthy habits, poor mindset, unresolved anger, and chronic stress can lead to so many problems in our bodies and minds. The powerful mind/body connection cannot be ignored. If you feel out of control and overwhelmed take a minute to read this. I shared some of my stress management techniques that will help to jump-start your journey to a healthier and happier life.

Natural Stress Management

Spring is a perfect time for renewal and to perform a detox for yourself.  Therefore, it’s a great time of year to think about “spring cleaning” in every area of your life. There are many ways to refresh your life and help you feel like you have some control.  Moreover, when you feel in control, you tend to be able to better cope with the stress that comes along in daily life.

Over the last couple of months, I shared 7 stress management tips from my premium Stress Solution Coaching program. In case you missed it, below is a review and the links to the 7 Ways To Detox Your Life.

Stress Management Series- Detox Your Life Recap

1. Detox Your Mind

2. Detox Your Body

3. Detox Your Home

4. Detox Your Closet

5. Detox Your Calendar

6. Detox Your Digital Life

7. Detox Your Relationships

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Live the Best Version of Yourself

It is good to evaluate where you are at.  Could you be doing better at managing stress?  Take some time to evaluate these stress management steps. I recommend spending time on one tip per week.

What small steps can you take to move closer to a less stressful existence?

Ask yourself… what can I do today to make tomorrow better for myself, my loved ones, and the rest of the world.

If you need some help with managing stress and are interested in hearing more about my signature 6-week Stress Management Coaching program click here!

Comment and feel free to share with me if you have taken any action and what some of your struggles are.

Also, I offer a complimentary Discovery call to explore coaching options.  Check it out and take some action today. You are worth it!

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage Stress, Chronic Pain, and Anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

Subscribe to my Lifestyle Blog!