This is very unlike me. All I can say about these past twelve days is… whoa! For twelve days I wrote NO to-do lists, did NO brain dumps and did NOT use my diary. Me? Yes me. What happened, you may ask? Did I fall into the abyss along with a case of wine? Or did nothing change? The results of this experiment certainly surprised me.

Firstly, I didn’t turn on my laptop at all. Like, at all. Not once. (Ok, maybe once for a meeting but that doesn’t count). I didn’t write any new content, I didn’t do any e-learning and I let 324 emails accumulate. None of which I replied to (sorry Katrina…)

So what did happen?

No I didn’t fall into the abyss (although I did drink a fair bit of wine… and...

My gorgeous, busy mums. Please stop using this word.

Should.

I catch myself saying this word quite frequently. How about you?

“I should drop by and help out.”

“I should get up and do the dishes.”

“I should agree to help at that event.”

“I should hurry up and make up my mind.”

Should is a word. But it’s more than just a word. It’s a sell-out. A word we use when we are busy pleasing others before we please ourselves. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?

How many times a day would you say or think the word ‘should’?

The awareness of how often you actually use this word will probably astound you.

Each time you use it, you’re actually giving away...

As a mum,  getting time for myself is something very precious. Last week during one of my coaching calls, my client asked me about how I manage to get so much time to myself (me time) considering how busy I am. As a busy mum, business owner, primary school teacher and domestic goddess, my days are busy, but I’ve always managed to get time for myself every day. But until I was asked this question, I’d never actually explored ‘how’ I manage to do it... so here it goes.

Self Care

Self care is without doubt the most important concept for mums to recognise and understand if she wants to create a harmonious work/life blend and feel relaxed. We are the barometer of our family and when we feel calm, organised...

Housework.

I’m sorry you had to read that.

Did you cringe too?

Here’s the thing about housework. It has to be done.

Again, sorry!

For me, there are different levels of ‘housework’. There are painless things like doing the washing, making beds and dusting. There are mid-range things like putting away clothes, cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming. Then there are highly painful tasks like cleaning the shower, mopping, cleaning windows and tidying.

Tidying? Some may argue that this is not a ‘highly painful task’ but let me break it down. In my experience, tidying is the ‘root’ of all cleaning tasks. Almost nothing else can be done thoroughly until the tidying process has occurred.

Some people are...

I envy all of those amazing office spaces that people create in their homes. You know the ones... they are so perfect that I’m convinced that they’re just show-room offices in people’s homes and their real work spaces are actually tucked away in the corner of the lounge room or taking up the entire dining room table!

Seriously though, after spending way too much time looking at gorgeous offices on Pinterest, I’ve decided that I can have an inspirational work space too; and so can you!

Declutter

Start by removing everything off your desk except your electronics (because, well you know,  they’re super heavy). Wipe the surfaces clean and then make a plan for how you want your office to look and feel. File...

Being a working mum is hard! Leaving the house to go to work can be a mixture of emotions. Leaving the kids behind, feeling rushed, unappreciated and exhausted all before 7:30am isn’t quite the work/life blend lifestyle that you once imagined you'd have. By beginning the day with a positive mindset and a solid plan can help you to make conscious decisions that will change all this.

Here are 10 things that every working mum should do before she leaves the house to go to work.

1. Make time for YOU

Self care is the single most important thing that a working mum can do for herself. We, the mum, are the barometer of our family and when we are calm, centered and fulfilled, then so are our family members. I’ve learnt that self care...

Do you sometimes find it difficult to motivate yourself in business? Like anything else, there are times in our business when we feel more motivated to work and get shit done than others.

We all have those days where the mere thought of walking into the office and getting down to business is overwhelming or uninviting. But as we all know, your business will only ever work as hard as you do!

Sometimes, we just have to pick ourselves up, walk through that door and get to work. But how do you do that when you’re feeling unmotivated? Here are my 5 top tips to help motivate you in business.

Have a spring clean

Creating a practical and inspirational  physical work space is key to feeling motivated to work. When you sit down at your...

What I've Learnt from Owning a Business - I'm not sure there's enough room in this blog post!

But seriously, shall we talk business? Owning a business is so exciting! I could talk for forever about business and all that I’ve learnt and experienced over time, but I’ll stop myself right now and get to the top 10 points...

Setting up a business is easy

Although quite a process, it’s very easy. You get yourself an ABN (Australian Business Number), name your amazing business idea, register it and get yourself a Facebook page (and eventually a website). To get started in business, all you need to do is follow the prescribed list of ‘to-do’ tasks and you’re on your way. It’s actually quite scary when...

With the Internet at our fingertips every moment of the day, it’s impossible NOT to take notice of what everyone else is doing. It wasn’t until I opened an email from a colleague this week that I realised just how paralysed I have become in my own business. I’m so paralysed, that every time I have an ‘idea,’ it already seems so similar to something I’ve seen somewhere else... the language, the image, the message.
How do you know what is actually true to you if you can’t block out everyone else?

• The thing about taking too much notice of what everyone else is doing is that it contaminates everything that you create, and compromises your authenticity. So, how do you stay authentic when there are so...

Last November, I sat in the doctor’s surgery awaiting the results of my pap smear. I’d already had the phone call from the receptionist earlier that day asking if I could pop in on my way home from work, which is never a good sign.

I waited anxiously, reflecting on the last time I was here... a couple of weeks earlier. I’d sat in that same room in the same doctor’s surgery, watching ambulance after ambulance roar past, sirens blazing. The doctor and I chatted about how there must have been a terrible accident. Little did I know that they were going to a fatal head on collision, which sadly my brother was involved in.

Not long after this, my friend lost her battle with Leukaemia and as I sat and waited I...