scheduling Archives - Page 3 of 13 - Dr. Marie-Claire Moreau

Feb 05 2016

Saying YES to rest and play (and a challenge!)

If you’re like most women, you cram more than your share of projects and deadlines into every day. With a list a mile long, you live life focused on completion, meeting (ridiculously high) standards, covering all the bases, and making sure you never neglect anyone or anything along the way.

You’re focused, hard-working, and forever the person in charge. You step up to the plate. Every. Single. Time.

You have to, amiright? That stuff won’t get done by itself.

Listen, I understand. I was that woman, too. Forever the list-maker, the achiever, the over-doer, I was always the volunteer and person in charge. I loved it. On the surface, it actually felt really, really good. In fact I wouldn’t have experienced much of my early success without those early behaviors. Chances are, your focus on production and over-achievement probably serves you well, too.

But The Problem

While chronic busy-ness serves a useful purpose, it doesn’t come without a heavy price. We’re talking sleep, weight, relationships, happiness, and all of it.

You know what I’m talking about.

I meet women every day who do way too much.

Do you?

Perhaps you know you’re too busy and admit your suffering out loud. Or, maybe you don’t know it, but your busy-ness shows up in the form of sickness or pain. I meet high-achieving women going through all kinds of things in my my practice every week.

A Simple Solution

There is a solution, and it’s a lot simpler than you might think.

It’s down time— however you define that for yourself.

Down time refers to time for yourself, doing things that bring pleasure. This isn’t a luxury, by the way. It’s necessary for a healthy, stress-free life.

Regular time off isn’t a luxury. It’s necessary for a healthy, stress-free life.

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If you were to ask me 10 or 20 years ago when was the last time I sat around doing nothing, I’d have laughed at you out loud. Back then, I couldn’t even recall a time when I allowed myself time to just sit and be. I believed it was a huge weakness to goof off, so I never allowed myself the indulgence, for it would destroy my production for the whole day.

Boy, was I wrong.

Looking back at the wisdom of people who counseled, “Go for a walk, read a book, or take a nap”, I see now that I had a lot to learn about health and happiness. My lack of this kind of awareness didn’t allow me to see past the flurry of activity and endless stream of things on my schedule.

If I’d allowed myself regular time off, I wouldn’t have developed my illness, nor the painful symptoms that plagued me for many years.

Say YES to rest and play

Fast forward many years, much research, and many experiences and I see the things that stole big chunks of my life away. I am now called to counsel women and spread the important message about the value of self-care.

Often, I’m met with resistance — those familiar excuses I used for many years, too. Despite them, we work together on prioritizing, eliminating distractions, and discarding time-sucking activities. We rework schedules and find blocks of necessary time for the rest and peace they so richly deserve. Plus, I teach how to accept self-care without guilt, otherwise it isn’t self-care at all.

The 7-Day Challenge

Ready to try something better in your life?

Will you commit to making time for rest & play daily for a week?

I’d like to see you take an hour daily, for one week. But, if you can’t, 30 minutes will do.

You can keep a journal about how you feel if that’s your jazz. Or, just reflect on the experience before you go to bed at night to notice if you feel any different.

If, after a week, you don’t feel the challenge has been worth it, I understand…it just might not be your time to receive this message. But, if you’ve enjoyed it, keep going. You’ll grow in knowing the importance of down time for your mind, body and spirit.

To your evolution,

As a coach, writer, recovered over-doer and busyness addict, I understand the challenges of creating a balanced, healthy lifestyle while the mind tries to sabotage your success. In my journey to vibrant health, I created a personalized health system of nutrition and supplementation, lifestyle changes, and I retrained my mind and the energy of my body. I view my success as the formula to my happy, healthy life. I now empower other women to create their own personalized formulas, including the tools and strategies just right for them! Amazing life shifts come from our relationships. I look forward to helping you, too!.

Dec 31 2015

Daily practice: 5 things to do before getting out of bed

I should probably tell you I’m writing this on the eve of a new year. This is always a serious day, isn’t it? Though it can be filled with fun and anticipation — maybe sparkling plans for the evening – it’s also a solemn time, too. Most use it as a time of reflection and resolve for the new year to come, right? If you check your news feeds, I’m sure they’re ripe with advice and counsel, full of quotes and inspiration, lists and schedules, plus offers of programs and products to help tackle your new year.

I’m just here with one simple goal — to provide you something easy you can do every day. My offer is completely customizable to your life, your goals, your capabilities, and the new year you’re trying to create, too. It’s yours and yours to keep — my gift to you as it were (but, really, this is a gift you give yourself).

If you’re like a lot of people, you use this day to reflect on the year that passed. Maybe there was a new baby, a promotion, or a wonderful vacation; so you’re happy about that. But, a lot of what you remember can make you melancholy, negative, or full of sorrow, too. You review events and people, those who entered your life and under what circumstances, and the stories about those who departed the Earth. You think of places you went and places you wished you’d seen, but did not. You think of developing illnesses, persistent or puzzling situations, and unresolved problems that will follow you into the new year. Perhaps you remember goals met, but mainly you think about those that failed, and how you failed, too.

On some level, I think we all do that. I know I used to. We all want what’s coming to be better than what just happened.

We all want what’s coming to be better than what just happened.

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I think many of us dwell on sadness, the grief, or the bad. This makes it hard to look forward to a new day or a new year. For all it’s worries, problems and regrets, we become attached to the bad, making it hard for us to let yesterday go. For all the failures and how we feel about them, it makes letting go of last year much harder, too. Not consciously, friends, but emotionally.

It came to me recently that many of us create a story on the eve of every new day. We recite our story when falling asleep. The story tells us:

I failed today, so I need to do better tomorrow.

By the end of the year, we’ve written a longer story. It’s the one we recite on the eve of a new year:

This year was really bad, so next year had better be really great to make up for it.

Such a bummer, right? And, talk about pressure for the new year!

How would it be if you could begin to turn that around? What would it look like if you could look forward to every new day? Can you imagine how life would change if you anticipate the gifts of every new year?

Try the daily practice I use every morning. This simple strategy will change your new year (and could quite possibly change your whole life).

Begin by breathing and finding your roots into the ground. Smile and feel grateful. Instead of hitting the floor in a rush and panic over everything waiting on your calendar, remind yourself how grateful you are for the lessons of yesterday. Forgive (remember when Maya Angelou said, “When you know better, you’ll do better”?). Then, cultivate a rising sense curiosity over what the new day will contribute to your life, and get ready to enjoy the ride.

I do this practice daily myself. I also sometimes do it throughout the day. My favorite part is to set an intention to fully notice and participate in my day. I fill myself with a sense of excitement and eagerness about what may happen. And, by the time I get out of bed, I honestly look forward to going along for the ride.

After doing this for a while, it should come more and more naturally. Whereas I used to rise with some confusion as to how my day might go, I now wake with great curiosity over what’s to come. I’m happy with whatever happened the day before, and I literally cannot wait to see what the new day will show me. For those worried about excellence and productivity, you should know that you’ll still rise with plans to make and goals to meet, but you’ll have a different level of energy and eagerness than you did before.

In a nutshell, this daily practice has taught me that each day doesn’t happen to me, it happens for me, for my learning, and for my life evolution. It’s exciting!

Instead of each day happening TO YOU, notice that each day is happening FOR YOU.

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If you already have a daily practice, add this into it. If you don’t already have a practice, this might be just the one you’re looking for. Let me know either way — I look forward to hearing about your practice in the COMMENTS, below.

With much love,

Apr 23 2015

Too much or too little? Too easy or too hard?

Ever have the feeling you’re too tough on your kids? If the work you’re assigning is harder than it needs to be? Think there’s too much of it?

Or maybe you worry the work is too easy? That you’re a push-over? That there aren’t enough activities to fill the day?

We all have these thoughts from time to time.

How do we find just the right amount of work for our kids?

How do we know if it’s too hard, too easy, or just right?

Finding the perfect balance for every student takes time. I’ve never met anyone who got it right the first time.

Balance takes months, even years, to get right. And then kids mature, life takes twists and turns, and we start all over again.

Don’t worry. You’ll keep up. Eventually.

This may help.

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If balance is your concern, take a moment to ask the following questions. Ask them for every child in your homeschool, too. The answers will help understand if that elusive balance has been reached. If not, they’ll at least indicate areas you can work on to get there:

#1 First and foremost, is the child learning and happy?

Answering YES to this question is crucial. Homeschooling isn’t about being miserable. It’s about maturing and progressing, while living a good life.

#2 Next, is the child challenged, but not to the point of frustration?

Answering YES to this question is what you’re after. Can the child handle the amount and difficulty of the work you’re assigning — without stress and tears (yours or theirs)? And while feeling good about himself/herself? Refer back to #1 if you aren’t sure.

#3 Then ask, is there much idle time?

With no clear purpose (sometimes indicated by boredom, clamoring for attention, or mischief)? Answering YES to this question means it’s time for a tweak or two. Many children do fill their hours with worthwhile activities, ones you approve of, which add to their learning and development. But some kids need our help filling those hours for them. Determine how your child uses idle time, then tweak accordingly.

#4 Ask yourself if there’s enough time in the child’s day for play, hobbies, sports, day dreaming, or other things the child likes to do.

Is there enough time for winding down at the end of the day and preparing for a good night’s sleep? Answering NO to this question indicates a child’s day may be too full.

#5 Finally, does the child’s output match what is generally expected at that age/grade/stage of life?

This isn’t an exact science, and varies from child to child. But for those worried about it, it’s helpful to check the quantity & quality of work against what experts, authors, textbooks, publishers, or placement tests say children might be doing at approximately this stage of life. (Read about placement and understanding scope & sequence to learn more.) If there are genuine issues hampering progress, handle them. If you can’t, simply factor them into the equation.

Remember, the perfect balance will change as the years go on, and from child to child, too. What was normal one year will change to match a child’s maturity, habits and developing mind the next.

Keeping asking yourself these questions every six months, or every year, to keep up. You’ll get it!

Guest posting at “Vibrant Homeschooling” today

Opportunities to connect with new families are always welcome! Today, I get to meet some awesome new people over at Vibrant Homeschooling!

In my guest post, I’m completely transparent about a struggle I faced when my kids were very young. I share how hard days sometimes got to me, but how they also taught me valuable lessons about my kids, our homeschool, and (perhaps most importantly) about myself.

Here’s a preview of the article, but make sure to read the ENTIRE ARTICLE, so you don’t miss the ending…

It was a rainy morning, the third in three days.

And though I dreamt of sipping hot cocoa and playing with the boys in their blanket fort all day, I found myself piling three wriggly uncooperative children into a minivan and heading off to the library instead.

My feelings weren’t because I thought the activity would be unpleasant. Actually, I thought it was going to be epic.

I knew this, because I had organized the class myself. Not only had I made sure it would be taught by the most knowledgeable person in the state, but I had been careful to specifically request live specimens (not those phony plastic models), periods of learning for every different age group, printed take-home activities and web links, and generally a program I could be proud of.

Yet, for some reason, I didn’t want to go. The day was gloomy and the blanket fort was calling. I could just tell my kids weren’t up for another day on the town.

Without getting into ugly details, let me just say my instincts were spot on that day. Indeed staying home would have been the better option.

Because the enormous headache and stained jersey I came home with was eclipsed in much greater proportion by the display my kids put on at the library. And if their antics and attitudes and complete lack of interest and total lack of participation weren’t already enough to reveal what a parenting failure I was, I proceeded to have a mini melt-down myself…

READ THE FULL ARTICLE…

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Mar 09 2015

How block scheduling works for me (it’s not what you think)

If you’ve followed me a while, you know I prefer to be scheduled. Schedules keep me focused, keep me productive, and give me peace of mind.

But what you might not know is exactly how I use schedules. Or how schedules don’t rule over me.

In fact, I rule over them.

In this post, I’d like to talk a bit about block schedules. I want to first tell you their traditional origins. Then, I want to tell you how I modify and use the traditional model to meet my family’s specific needs instead.

If you or someone you know wants to hear this information first-hand, I’d be glad to come speak to your group. Turns out, not only is this really good stuff to read about, it’s is one of my most requested talks, too.

So, the basic thinking behind block scheduling is this: you decide what needs to be accomplished each day, you divide the day into time periods from morning until night, and you schedule people into each time period so that everything gets done.

I didn’t invent this way of thinking — schedules have been around for generations. But, if you’ve never heard of the concept, watch this for a brief introduction.

The problem with this method of scheduling is it can be very rigid. Some people don’t like having the entire day planned out ahead of time. Many people find it exhausting to move from task to task all day long. There are also philosophical and psychological objections, as many people find schedules an assault on their way of thinking, their creativity — a big brother-ish type of mechanism controlling their every move.

Some years ago, I discovered a solution to that problem. I was pretty excited about it.

My discovery solved the block scheduling problems I was having in my home. Plus, it solved all of the objections I was hearing from the people who attended my scheduling classes and workshops, too.

The solution I invented was to “plan” unplanned time. You heard it here first!

This was a huge and ground-breaking discovery for me. Something so simple made such a tremendous difference!

What I now do in my home, and I now teach in my seminars, is how to “schedule” down-time. Crazy as it sounds, it really works!

Not only do I schedule down-time, I also schedule free time. Choice time. And times when nobody in the house wants to be scheduled, needs to be scheduled, or should be scheduled, either.

Oh, and I also schedule people who are not on the schedule.

Confusing?

It’s really not. Because by un-scheduling time and people, they receive freedom. The freedom they need, want and choose throughout the day. While still keeping the rest of the household and duties right on task.

By the way, I also schedule things! You’ll need to attend a seminar to hear about that part.

Block scheduling isn’t what you think. I’ve solved it!

I’d love to show you how block schedule can work for you, your partner, your kids, and in your life.

Let me know how I can help,

Were you really looking for…

Samples of block schedules?

Blank block schedule sheets to print out?

Video tutorials about block scheduling?

More video tutorials about block scheduling?