Today’s hectic world requires multi-tasking at every level. Work, family, and social life are all filled with numerous activities and demands on our time. It’s difficult to determine where and how to spend your time with so many commitments and activities tugging at you. It’s a balancing act that feels more like a juggling act and it has most people filled with anxiety and stress.

Over 70% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, with no cushion or planning for emergencies. They are juggling their money and their debt and getting nowhere – except further in debt and perilously close to a mental breakdown from the stress and anxiety of their situation. Their lives are so stressful and difficult, they don’t have time to enjoy living.

But when you make the commitment to simplify your life and live a good life while still taking care of every other aspect of your life, it becomes a much more manageable task. It all starts with a good hard look at what’s important to you in this life. It requires you to:

• Clearly understand your personal situation
• Recognize your issues
• Identify what keeps you from reaching your goals
• Determine what capabilities you have to succeed
• Develop a plan for change

Insightful thinking and honestly answering questions about your current life, compared to the life you would really like to live, will lead to a greater understanding of what is needed to achieve that new life. Pulling back the covers and accepting the cold, hard facts about what is wrong with your current life will eventually lead to a better life.

You must take control of your life and make changes to reach the destination you dream about. Don’t just think about it – take action and take control of your life. When you are in control, you are able to overcome obstacles and identify capabilities deep inside you that until now, you did not know existed.

Consider some of the questions that will give you a greater understanding of your current situation and the simpler life that that awaits you:

• What gives you pleasure and makes you happy?
• Where are you spending your time?
• Where do you want to spend your time?
• What are your goals?
• What are your values and are they aligned with your goals?
• What are your priorities in life?
• Are you spending your time on the right things to achieve your goals?
• Where do your family and friends fit in with your goals?
• What’s keeping you from achieving your goals?
• What’s keeping you from living the life you’ve always wanted to live?
• How can you overcome the obstacles?
• What can you change?
• What capabilities, talents, and skills do you bring to the table?
• How can you leverage your abilities better to attain the life you desire?

Looking at yourself honestly and assessing your current situation is a harsh reality for many. Once you sit down and evaluate where you are currently spending your time, money, and energy, you may be surprised at the choices you have made. You may discover that your actions are not aligned with your goals.

And more importantly, you may realize that your goals are in conflict with your values!

Scary?

It can be, but it doesn’t have to be.

Change can be hard and it may be painful – but the pain will be short-lived and your new life will be abundant with happiness. If you don’t change, aren’t you going to go through even more pain with no end to your debt, unhappiness, and stress in sight?

If your desire is to be debt-free and simply free, then that’s the path you should take. That journey will lead to greater enlightenment and the ability to nourish your spirituality in ways you never thought possible.

It may require some changes to the way you work and live. But it will give you the life you desire – including a quality of life that is rewarding and fulfilling. You will derive great satisfaction, fulfillment, and contentment from living the life you were meant to live.

The rewards will be great.

To find out more about how to fix up your life and debt, follow this link: Simply Living Debt Free.

The idea of working at home is attractive, but the reality can be challenging. Fortunately, most of the challenges one faces can be managed with a little effort and forethought.

The third post of our seven week mini course discusses how to deal with our family’s expectation in regards to us working from home. So, grab the RSS feed from this blog not to miss the complete mini course. Have a look at our previous post too.

This week we discuss: DEALING WITH FAMILY EXPECTATIONS

When both parents work outside the home, the details of taking care of the family and household are usually taken care of equally. The healthiest relationship consists of two partners who agree to split up duties; each taking in consideration what the other does for a living while away at work.

However, most families do not have such agreements in force, but rather they push and pull on each other to get things done when it apparent they have been neglected. Alternatively, mothers may take on the role of house keeper and caretaker without question, drawing on the traditional “wife and mother” roles passed on from grandmothers. In some modern families, dad may play the traditional nurturing role.

However, what happens when the caretaker works from home? Many spouses of work at home parents may not realize the energy that is involved in essentially working two jobs at the same time. While one may be working while at home during the day, the other is not there to see the benefits that come out of the work that was done.

Unfortunately, many spouses have a hard time realizing that their work at home counterparts accomplish more during the day than most in the corporate world do. Therefore, their expectations of what should be done at home, in the evening and on weekends, may not change. Even worse, the expectations could grow.

Here are some ways to help your spouse recognize the work you do, and allow your role of work at home mom morph from the traditional role of wife and mother to something that matches the new dynamics in your family’s household.

1. Display your professionalism – Get up early, shower, and be dressed for work when your spouse leaves for work. Develop a working schedule and adhere to it to show that you are serious about what you do.

2. Create a separate office space, make business cards, and otherwise treat yourself as a self-employed individual.

3. Involve your spouse in your work – Whenever possible, share with your spouse how your day went, any new projects you are involved in, and even offer to let them help now and then. This will help your spouse understand the concept that you actually provide a service or product to others, and make a living doing so.

4. Share the wealth and rewards – Nothing shows a spouse how hard you’ve been working than a share of the profits. While most income earned may be funneled directly into a joint account used for bills, set aside a small sum each month to use as “play” money.

5. Go on a special date, buy something special, or save up your money and take a small vacation. When a spouse is finally able to recognize what is accomplished throughout the day, and see the rewards that are associated with that, they are more likely to be open to a redistribution of the family’s responsibilities.

Not only will this make day-to-day life easier for the person working at home, but also it will bring a new appreciation from family members for the work that is done in support of the family.

Use these few tips and start to enjoy a more well rounded work at home career and lifestyle today. Join us again for the 4^th post of our 7 week mini course next week.

If you would like to read more about Working at Home and how we can assist you, follow this link:

Guide to Working at Home

Do you ever feel that you do not have enough cash at the end of the month to pay bills, buy necessities of life? Are you barely making a dent in your credit card debt balance, no matter how hard you try?

Here is a reality check for all of us: if we choose to spend it, it is gone for good. We cannot spend it on anything else. Are you perhaps worried about a nest egg for your golden years or savings for early retirement? Then you have arrived at a source that can provide some prudent tips on how to start, finish, implement, stick to, revise and refine a family budget.

A good place to start is to monitor these expenses.

Take stock of your fiscal situation. Start with assessing where exactly you are in your financial life and circumstance. Most of us think we know, but we really do not.

That is, until we take the time to actually list, study and analyze the situation. Figure out what your financial worth is, look at all financial goals, and set a timeline for reaching them. Does this sound like an action plan? Where do you start?

A good suggestion is your bank statements, tax return and recent current credit report – a financial asset statement if you will -and an overview of the current situation.

The premise is simple: you can not get to arrive where you want to be if you do not know where you are today, what it will take to get where you need to be and how to get there.

A well thought out, planned and realistic budget will serve as a roadmap to get you there. It is a financial tool facilitating your financial dreams, goals and aspirations, making them become a reality. Budgeting will enable you to actually reach your financial targets and set goals.

Here are twelve good reasons to get you started:

1. Family budgets are used as a baseline, analysis-tool and roadmap. It is a useful tool and guide. It tells you whether you are headed in the direction you want to be headed in financially. It helps you to move from spending to saving and good fiscal balance, management and responsibility. You may have goals and dreams, but if you do not set up guidelines for reaching them and you do not measure your progress, you may end up going so far in the wrong direction you can never make it back. Can you imagine the government or a major corporation operating without a budget? No, and neither should you.

2. It is often described and justified as an empowering enabler. A budget lets you control your money instead of your money controlling you.

3. A budget is a realistic estimate and true reflection of current circumstance and means, a type of financial situation-analysis that will tell you if you are living within your means. Before the widespread use of credit cards, you could tell if you were living within your means because you had money left over after paying all your bills.

4. A budget can help you meet your savings goals. It includes a mechanism for setting aside money for savings and investments.

5. Following a realistic budget frees up spare cash so you can use your money on the things that really matter to you instead of frittering it away on things you do not even remember buying.

6. A budget helps your entire family focus on common goals. It is unifying families in mutual purpose and effort, working together towards a successful outcome and reward.

7. A budget helps you prepare for emergencies or large or unanticipated expenses that might otherwise knock you for a loop financially.

8. A budget can improve your marriage. A good budget is not just a spending plan; it is a communication tool. Done right, a budget can bring the two of you closer together as you identify and work towards common goals and reduce arguments about money.

9. A budget reveals areas where you are spending too much money, so you can refocus on your most important goals.

10. A budget can keep you out of debt or help you get out of debt.

11. A budget actually creates extra money for you to do use on things that matter to you.

12. A budget helps you sleep better at night because you do not lie awake worrying about how you are going to make ends meet.

Nevertheless, despite all these wonderful reasons quoted above, people are still hesitant to commit to family budgeting as standard practice in their households. We might again want to probe a little deeper still and ask why?

In our follow-up post we will discuss the TOP THREE CAUSES OF BUDGET FAILURE. If you would like to read more about Budgeting and how to setup a family budget follow this link: How to Setup a Family Budget

The idea of working at home is attractive, but the reality can be challenging. Fortunately, most of the challenges one faces can be managed with a little effort and forethought.

This, the second post of our seven week mini course discusses how we can keep getting sufficient adult contact while working from the confines of our homes. So, grab the RSS feed from this blog not to miss the complete mini course.

This week we discuss: GETTING SUFFICIENT ADULT CONTACT

Most people receive a large daily dose of social interaction at their jobs, while in school, or otherwise during the course of the day. Those who work at home (and especially those who have children), on the other hand, especially those who work entirely on the computer or that work online, may lack the daily contact needed on a regular basis. Some may find themselves making frequent, but unnecessary, trips to the mall, bank, or grocery store just for some interactions with adults.

While it may be hard to meet new people when working at home, there are some ways to help get the social calendar filled. Other than pursuing personal hobbies and interests outside of work, there are some ways to get some social interaction during the course of your working hours.

Here are a few tips to avoid the castaway feelings that can begin to surface when contact with the outside world is limited:

1. Network locally: Joining a local Chamber of Commerce will open the doors to new relationships that can be enjoyed both personally and professionally. If you can’t afford to join, you can meet others at free career fairs or local workshops.

It doesn’t matter if you network with other work at home moms or not; however, building a network primarily with other work at home moms and dads will give you contact with others who understand the challenges you face on a daily basis.

2. Network online: There are a many online groups and forums that moms can join for support, mentoring, or just casual conversation. Over time, the friendships you make online can become strong enough to substitute a lack of personal relationships in your hometown. In some larger metro areas, member of online groups may even decide to meet in person and have regular get-togethers.

3. Schedule “out of office” meetings: Everyone needs a break now and then from their work. Hire a sitter if your children are still young enough to be home during the day. Make an “appointment” with a friend or other family member to meet for lunch once or twice a week. Have these meetings during your normal working hours so you feel as if you are really getting a break. This is also a good way to spend more time with your spouse, in the event that’s whom you decide to have lunch with.

4. Simulate company: In some instances, if leaving the house is not an option, you can create artificial company. This sounds off-the-wall, but chances are you already do it. Turn on the television, watch the news, listen to the radio, or wear a hands-free headset and make telephone calls while working.

You can also use an internet personal messenger to communicate instantly with local and long-distance friends and family. Some even play online music and have the ability to make PC-to-PC calls.

Those who work at home can now enjoy a social life that consists of more than little drooling people with baby bottles and spit up. There will also be no more need to bombard spouses when they get home, talking incessantly in an attempt to make up for a day with no understandable human dialogue.

Use these few tips and start to enjoy a more well rounded work at home career and lifestyle today. Join us again for the 3^rd post of our 7 week mini course next week. If you would like to read more about Working at Home and how we can assist you go to www.womenslifestylepublications.com/business/work-at-home/.

Being online is a big part of people’s social lives these days. There are online games, social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and Twitter, online dating sites and lots of other sites where people can meet and network. Unfortunately, being very visible online can put at risk for being assaulted. The number of cases where women are being assaulted and even killed by people that found them on the Internet is growing every year.

Some of the points below may sound a bit extreme and controversial. These are only guidelines to help protect yourself from various problems millions are faced with everyday on the web. Problems including things like Identity Theft, Online Bullying and other serious crimes are on the increase and will only get more difficult to control if We don’t take care to protect our personal information on the web.

Do you do enough to protect yourself when you’re online? Here are some ways that you can stay safe when you’re online.

Your Personal Computer:

· Use Antivirus and Anti spyware software. If someone sends you a worm on your computer they can log into your computer and see everything that you type as well as all your personal information like bank account and credit card information, address, social security number and more.

They can also get access to all your personal photos and documents. It’s easy to use anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Many of them are free. Spybot, one of the best, can be downloaded for free from several different websites. Keep your anti-virus and anti-spyware software updated and run it at least once a week.

· Use a firewall. Your computer already has one if it’s running a Windows operating system, all you have to do it turn it in.

· Use Cookie management services or Turn on Cookies notices in your web browser. Cookies are little bits of information code that are used by websites to keep track of various things including which sites you have browsed, your user Ids and passwords, email addresses and some personal details you have entered. Often this is useful when you don’t want to re-enter this information every time you visit a site but it can also be misused by what is called “data mining”.

Data mining is when a website uses your browsing information to track what kind of sites you visit, how much time you spend on their sites, what links you created or used. This might be used for marketing purposes or spamming. When you enable Cookie notices or use Cookie management services it will notify you when a cookie is created on you PC and you would have the option to continue or not. In most cases this information is used only on the specific site you are visiting but can also in some cases be shared without your consent with thousands of other sites and thus causing spamming or even worse.

· Make sure that your operating system and security software is configured to automatically update.

· If you use a wireless network at home or at work, make sure its setup with a network security password. Most service providers now setup their router / wireless equipment with SID’s (Security Identifiers). If you have an older version wireless modem and you can connect to your wireless network without having to use a password, find out if you can set it up with a password, if not, replace it with a newer type modem/router. This will prevent illegal usage of your network and avoid certain security breaches.

Surfing the Web:

· Develop an Internet persona. Never give out your identifying details online. Ever. Develop an Internet persona for the web, the same way an author would create a nom de plume. A false identity online can keep your real identity safe from stalkers, predators and identity thieves.

· Keep your profile private. When you use social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook make your profile and photos private so that only people you approve can see them. Even then you will get requests from strangers who want to add you as a friend. Don’t add anyone that you don’t know to your friends list and never give out any personal information like where you live online.

· Don’t put anything on the Internet you wouldn’t want your mother to see. Leave the revealing pictures or the pictures from your last drunken party to show your friends in person. Employers, predators, and anyone else who might be looking can find these things online if they know how to look, even if your profile is set to private. Be careful of how much you reveal about yourself online.

Online privacy is becoming more of an issue than ever before. Some employers for example are starting to use Social networks to spy on their employees or even to do an online reference check on possible employees as to what they are up to. We hear of bosses sacking employees due to something that might have inadvertently been posted on a social site. Be aware that in today’s highly evolved information based world, everybody is being watched by someone on the web, to some extent of course.

· When creating passwords, use 8 or more characters consisting of letters and numbers and symbols. Change these passwords regularly.

· When having to enter personal or sensitive information for example logging on to a banking site, make sure the site address begins with “https”, this means its a secure site.

Emailing:

· Use separate email addresses from your personal address, disposable addresses if you like, when having to receive newsletter, posting to forums or commenting on blogs. Thus when your email address all of a sudden becomes a target for spammers then its a lot easier to just delete this address, create a new one and continue without the hassle of having to inform all your friends and family that you are no longer available on a certain address. Use separate addresses for your web business, your personal mail and just everyday signups and correspondence.

· Do not open or click on any emails or attachments from people that you don’t know or if they look suspicious. Most email programs can be set with a Auto Preview Reading Pane, thus avoiding having to open the particular email.

There are signs that a mail might be dangerous. Things like, unknown senders, spelling errors in the title or body text, winning incredible competitions, grammatical errors etc. Rule of thumb, if you request the mail or know the person whom sent it, be careful.

These tips can help you keep safe online. Currently there is no real sure way to avoid the misuse of you information on the web and we do not profess that these points highlighted in this post is going to ultimately keep you safe, but by being aware of the dangerous areas and understanding the pitfalls of the online world could just avoid your future on the web and your life from being damaged or destroyed.

If You would like to discover more about how to protect yourself in every probable situation, read this lifesaving eBook, titled “A practical Guide to Self Defense for Women”. Topics covered including Online dating, ATM safety, Living alone, Parking lot safety and many more. BE PREPARED, Learn How To Protect Yourself Today.

Have a look at this preview below.

Disclaimer: In no way by mention of specific products, services or company names do we endorse or recommend the use or disuse of any of these products, services or companies. Products, examples and links are provided as a starting point for readers and must make their own decisions about how much security they need and whether particular offerings and products will suit their needs.

The idea of working at home is attractive, but the reality can be challenging. Fortunately, most of the challenges one faces can be managed with a little effort and forethought.

Over the next 7 weeks I’ll be posting a mini course in Working from Home covering Seven ways to make Working at Home really work for You. So, grab the RSS feed from this blog not to miss the complete mini course.

One of the most commonly encountered areas of frustration is combining work and home. A few factors converge to complicate things for those working at home. First, the traditional separation between work and home is eliminated. Lines become blurred and problems ensue. Second, a primary motivator for many working at home is a desire to spend more time with children. It’s a laudable goal, but it also produces some complications.

This week we discuss: SPLITTING TIME – WORK AND FAMILY

If you’re new to working at home, you’ll quickly find that it’s not as easy as you thought it could be to manage the home, the kids, and the job. Many decide to leave the workforce, thinking that if they instead work at home, that they will have plenty of time to keep the house clean and organized while keeping the children under control.

The truth is, working at home takes much more motivation, perseverance and commitment than a job outside the home does. Balancing work and family can seem almost impossible at first, but it is easier than that. While it is hard work to earn money while raising your children, it is infinitely more rewarding than spending all day away from your family only to come home tired and unwilling to participate in family activities.

However, if you’re struggling for ways to keep the balance and maintain your sanity, look to these helpful tips.

1. Make lists and prioritize: This holds true for both personal and professional “to dos.” Those who work at home will have no shortage of things around the house to keep up with.

Knowing exactly what you need to accomplish will help you prioritize your day, getting the most important things out of the way first. That way, if your day doesn’t quite go as planned, it will be the least important things that don’t get done.

2. Schedule your work and your play: When we have an outside job, our bosses determine our schedules. We’re allowed breaks, lunches, and the occasional vacation day. When working at home, those who keep a schedule are able to stay on track and balance their work and home lives more efficiently.

Don’t forget to schedule some fun time as well. That way you aren’t taking away time from work that needs to be done, causing a situation where working overtime on a later day will cause family stress.

3. Respect your family’s wishes: If your children or spouse prefers to spend more time with you when they get home, make a schedule that accommodates them. Try to work less in the evenings and on the weekends, and work harder and more efficiently during the day while they’re away.

4. Choose your battles wisely: Cutting the non-essential tasks from your day will save time, help you get your work done faster, and eliminate having your work overflow into family time.

Those who work at home may be tempted to tackle the pile of laundry instead of writing the proposal that is due, but choosing to fold laundry later while watching television with the family is a much better idea than having to miss family time so the proposal is done.

Being a work at home parent and spouse is a blessing, and many who are unable to be at home to raise their children will tell you they wish they had the means to work at home as well.

Though maintaining a healthy relationship with your work may be hard when trying to juggle the responsibilities of being a parent, there are ways to do it without sacrificing the precious time with your children or spouse.

I’ll be posting the rest of this 7 part course over the next 7 weeks. If you would like to find out more about Working from Home follow this link: A Guide to Working From Home.

Depression is a serious illness that affects more than 18 million adults in the United States alone. And I suspect more now than ever before with the current status of the world. Experts say that depression is the second most common illness among adults, with heart disease being the most common. People that suffer from depression have a hard time dealing with daily life and may have trouble forming or staying in relationships, holding a job, or even just going outside.

Depression can affect anyone at any age and could come from any number of causes. Depression can be brought on by a severe trauma in a person’s life that they have trouble dealing with. Or depression can just appear seemingly out of nowhere and with no obvious cause.

Depression is categorized by doctors as a mental health disorder even though it does have physical components. It is a disease; it isn’t “just all in your head” and it is not simply a matter of needing to cheer up. Depression is more than just a feeling of sadness. Depression is usually  considered to be a feeling of apathy towards life in general or a feeling of not caring about things that persists for more than two weeks.

Depression can be hard to diagnose as a condition because everyone feels sad or apathetic towards life at some time, usually after a major life change or a traumatic event.

There are many different symptoms that are associated with depression and each person experiences those symptoms differently. Because each person responds in a unique way to depression, it can be hard to find a therapy that will help each person deal with the symptoms of depression and people that are suffering from depression may need to try several different medications before finding one that helps them.

There are also five different types of depression. Some, like clinical depression, can last over a period of years while others like Seasonal Affective Disorder or postpartum depression are relatively short-lived because they are tied to cycles of life. Depression tied to recent life events, such as a tragedy, are also shortlived.

Depression can also be a symptom of other illnesses. When depression is combined with another illness it can be difficult for doctors to know if the depression is only being caused by the other ailment or if the depression is a separate condition.

Doctors have found that depression is often a problem for people that suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, social phobia, anxiety, panic, and sometimes even substance abuse. People that suffer from depression are statistically more likely to also have substance abuse problems because they will often try to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol to alleviate the symptoms of their depression. Since drugs and alcohol actually tend to intensify the symptoms of depression instead of stopping them it becomes a vicious cycle of depression and dependency.

People trapped in this vicious cycle usually end up needing treatment for the underlying depression even more than they did before they started trying to get rid of their symptoms with drugs and alcohol. Because each person experiences depression in a different way doctors often
have trouble diagnosing depression. Some studies have estimated that more than 15 million people suffer from undiagnosed depression in the United States alone every year.

To find out more about the What’s, Why’s, Who’s, How’s of Depression and How to Treat it,

Go to http://www.womenslifestylepublications.com/health-wellbeing/depression/