Multitasking

The Top 3 Reasons We Don’t Finish What We Start

Published on by Lyn Bailey

The Top 3 Reasons We Don’t Finish What We Start

Do you feel as if you are constantly leaving a trail of half-finished projects in your wake? Are you the type of person who has one project in particular that you’ve always wanted to finish but just haven’t gotten around to it? If that sounds familiar, keep reading to find the top three reasons you tend not to finish what you’ve started.

  1. You’ve Lost Motivation

When you started the project, your enthusiasm for starting something new first motivated you. However, if you haven’t seen any results in some time, this may have caused your motivation to lower. The best way to combat this loss of motivation is by breaking your project down into more manageable pieces and rewarding yourself along the way for steps well done. Conquering these more manageable pieces will help keep you motivated even when the project is long.

2. Negative Thoughts About The Project

Another reason you may find it difficult to complete a task is because of the way you think about the project. When it comes to mind, do you think you will never finish it or is your mind filled with thoughts of how hard the project is? Both are negative paths of thinking, and they will keep you from finishing the project. Instead, it’s time to transform your thinking to be positive regarding the project you are trying to complete. A more positive outlook will give you new energy and motivation to complete the task.

3. Lack Of Discipline

Another reason people can’t finish the projects they start is a lack of self-discipline. A person with self-discipline doesn’t give up when the going gets tough. They also tend to avoid procrastinating or slacking off. If this sounds familiar to you, it’s probably time that you work to cultivate self-discipline in your life. Boosting your self-discipline will ensure you can start finishing all the projects you start.

In conclusion, finishing what you start is quite often difficult. The most likely reason you cannot finish projects is probably one of the above reasons. If you want to enjoy feelings of success, it’s time that you get to the bottom of your reason for not finishing a project and then work towards conquering the reason. This way, the next project you start, or one you have left uncompleted, will finally be done. After all, it’s always better to be late than never finish at all.

What have you started and not finished? If you would like some help in getting back on track with this project then click HERE to book a FREE Discovery Call with me.

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Obstacles that Keep You from Being Present

Published on by Lyn Bailey

Obstacles that Keep You from Being Present

When you want to live in the now, there are obstacles that can get in the way and stop you from being fully present.

Distractions are one of these. You can set a goal to be more present then it seems like one thing after another happens to get in the way of that goal. Sometimes these distractions can be problems at home or work. They could also be thoughts or habits that keep cropping up.

Closely linked to the problem of distractions is stress. When you’re under stress, it can be hard to keep your mind’s focus where you want it to be. That’s because your brain is busy trying to solve the current crisis.

Your body starts to react to stress in ways that aren’t conducive to living in the present. When your breathing and your body aren’t calm, it’s much harder to soothe your mind and focus your thoughts.

Too many demands on you physically can also be an obstacle to keep you from being mindful. When you reach the end of your physical strength, it can be hard to find the mental strength that you need.

If you’re not feeling well, you’re tired, or you’re under stress, your mind will have a harder time keeping the focus where it needs to be.

Any time that a physical need is present, it can be an obstacle. If you’re thirsty, your mind might want to focus on that only. If you’re hungry, your mind might not be able to focus on anything but food.

When a physical need nags at the back of your subconscious mind, you can have a lot of trouble centreing your mind on anything else. When you want to practice living in the present, you need to be sure that no physical needs are distracting you from reaching the level of awareness.

If you have a cold or other health ailment, that can be an obstacle. If you have a headache, toothache or are hurting anywhere in your body, those can make it difficult to achieve a state of focus for being present. It could be that all you can think about is how bad you’re feeling or how much pain you’re in. Any physical issues that are going on should be dealt with first.

Having a time crunch is another roadblock to mindfulness. If your life is so packed with activities and responsibilities that fitting one more thing in it seems overwhelming, you’ll have difficulty obtaining the awareness needed for living in the present.

Your own thoughts can get in the way, too. Thinking that you’re not good enough or that you can’t keep your focus is a common obstacle. Many people make the mistake of thinking that living in the present is something they can do just by wanting it.

However, it’s something that takes both effort and consistency. If you gently bring your focus back around each time you lose it, then you will eventually be able to live in the present for longer periods.

When it’s difficult is when many people give up. They want instant results and being mindful isn’t something that happens overnight. You need to work at it even when it’s not as easy as you’d like it to be.

Whatever you’re doing right now, try to stop a moment and pause. Take a breath and refocus. This is a simple way that you can calm your racing mind and body so that you can be fully present.

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Why It’s So Hard to Be Present

Published on by Lyn Bailey

Why It’s So Hard to Be Present

Being present can be difficult to achieve because doing so can trigger feelings of discomfort. The discomfort comes from thinking you must be completely within the present without slipping up.

 

When something does happen to shake your focus, it can make you feel like you’ve failed to achieve living in the now. However, being present isn’t something that has a success or failure scorecard. It’s simply learning how to pick up on the situations when you’re not practicing living in the moment and gently course correcting.

 

It can be hard to be in the present because you might get caught up in the mundane. There’s nothing peaceful about the stresses of life. When the dishwasher floods or the car breaks down, it can be easy to start daydreaming, rather than focusing on what’s currently going on in your life.

 

Living in the present is something that can take practice. It’s easy to fall back into bad habits. You can find yourself handling life the way you’ve always done. Your habits are your “go-to” response and your brain can automatically fall back into those thought processes.

 

When this happens and you realize that your mind and your reactions are opposite of living in the now, you can always hit reset. Just because you think you blew it doesn’t mean that you did.

 

Everyone will have times when they forget to focus, especially when life gets hectic. However, as soon as you’re aware that’s happening, you can pause and start fresh.

 

It can be hard to be present when you’re in the middle of something that’s stressing you out or making you angry or sad. This is totally normal. It’s common to have difficulty concentrating or focusing when you’re in the middle of a crisis.

 

 

That’s why you want to focus on learning to “live in the now” even if your life seems peaceful and calm at this moment. Then when difficult things happen, you’ll be able to maintain your peacefulness because you’ve spent time practicing.

 

Some people struggle to be present because they fear living in the moment means they’re going to be handing over control. Sometimes, it’s easier to think that if you worry about something or fret over it; you can prevent bad things from happening simply because you pre-worried.

 

However, living fully in the moment isn’t about giving up control. It’s about focusing your awareness so that you don’t waste valuable energy worrying about what has happened or what might happen. Instead, you’re experiencing fullness of life exactly where you are.

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12 Reasons to Live in the NOW!

Published on by Lyn Bailey

12 Reasons to Live in the Now

There are many reasons to live in the now. Doing so can improve every area of your life. You’ll live happier and in greater freedom from things that would normally weigh you down or hold you back. Here are the reasons why you need to live in the now…

Reason #1: You’ll feel better emotionally.

When you live in the now, your focus is on what you have, not what you lost, what was, or what will be. You won’t waste your precious hours dwelling on anything. You won’t live in discontentment and focus on what’s going to be.

You’ll simply be open to life as it’s happening to you. When you do this, you’ll find that your joy in life is magnified. You’ll smile more often and you won’t have that feeling that the world is sitting on your shoulders. You won’t feel like you’re burning the candle at both ends. Instead of just existing, you’ll be living life to the fullest.

Reason #2: Your mental energy won’t be wasted.

It can be exhausting having your thoughts jump through the hoops of “what if…” or “if only I had…” which in turn leads to physical fatigue. When you guide your thoughts to living in the now, you’ll discover that you don’t waste energy dwelling on things that don’t matter. You’ll gain freedom from pressure and worry.

Reason #3: Living in the now can rid your life of chaos.

You won’t find yourself reacting to things anxiously or fearfully. You’ll have a sense of peace and well-being even during the times that something is going wrong. You’ll feel this way because you’ll understand that living in the moment means that whatever is going on is current and doesn’t mean it’s always going to be that way. You’ll know that chaos is transient and doesn’t have the power to steal your peace of mind unless you give it control.

Reason #4: When you live in the now, it boosts your self-esteem.

You’ll have self-assurance and understand that you’re fully capable of handling your life. The way that you approach situations and others will change. You’ll be aware of your strength and wisdom and you’ll know that you’re prepared to deal with each thing as it arises.

Reason #5: Your understanding will increase.

 When you live in the now, you’ll have a deeper understanding of what’s right and which direction to go when you need to make a decision. Many decisions are made out of fear of what might happen in the future rather than weighing the truth of the options at hand.

Reason #6: Being present alters who you are.

You won’t be stressed out or worrying all the time. You’ll take things moment by moment. Your reactions will be formed out of living in what is. Because of this, you’ll discover that other people will be drawn to you. They will be drawn to your positivity, your calm outlook on life. They’ll see your peace. The people that are drawn to you will be ones that support you and give back rather than people that act as emotional drainers.

Reason #7: You’ll accept the forks in the road.

When change occurs, whether unexpected or planned, you’ll know that everything is going to work out. You won’t waste time or mental energy feeling like you didn’t get what you deserved.

You won’t go through life expecting things because you’ll be focused on what you have with a positive, thankful attitude. If something does go wrong, you’ll be able to take it in stride. It won’t shake your belief in yourself or in the goodness of your life.

Reason #8: You’ll stop trying to be perfect.

When you stop trying to orchestrate what happens to you or what unfolds in your life, you’ll realize that the now is what you have before you. You’ll stop being focused on planning your life to perfection.

When you live in the now, you won’t worry if something goes on that you didn’t plan. Every time life throws you a curveball, you’ll be able to accept it and still live happy, rather than getting caught up in what “should have” been.

Reason #9: Living in the now can add years to your life.

That’s because you don’t let stress ruin your life. You don’t allow the negatives and things you can’t control to become a roadblock. Stress tends crops up when you don’t focus on the moment. Perfectionism when planning the future is an example of this.

Many people want to erase bumps, roadblocks, and distractions from their goal planning because they want the perfect future. This strategy doesn’t allow for changes or failures. When it happens, they start to worry about what it means to their future and how they’re going to fix things.

When you start focusing on the future whether things have gone wrong or not, gently bring your thoughts back to the present. Being aware of the current moment keeps you from stressing on the moments that haven’t even happened.

Reason #10: Practicing living in the now because it gives you a positive outlook.

When you have a positive outlook, you have a stronger tendency to see life as good and you expect good. When you expect good, your emotions follow suit. Your thoughts can change the emotional landscape of your life.

Reason #11: Living in the now brings balance to your life.

You’ll discover that you can go through life trustfully knowing on a conscious level that what your life is as it should be. In addition, you’ll develop a faith that your present moment is exactly where you’re supposed to be.

When your life is in balance, it means that what’s important to you will be able to be center stage. You won’t miss the opportunities life gives you.

These opportunities may show up in hundreds of different ways. Such as paying full attention to the conversation of a child, picking up the nonverbal cues given to you by your partner or being in tune to your own needs or the needs of someone else

.Reason #12: You’ll stop using a subconscious script when you live in the now.

Too many people overanalyze their lives and waste their moments trying to decide what’s really going on. Living in the moment allows you take things and people at face value. You won’t second-guess their actions or motive

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Calm Racing Thoughts & Enjoy the Peace of the Present

Published on by Lyn Bailey

Calm Racing Thoughts & Enjoy the Peace of the Present

 

Living in the now is something that takes practice. You may struggle with being present because of racing thoughts.

People have this issue because of overthinking. There are common areas where people tend to overthink. One of these areas is money. A simple thought that you’d like to make more money can quickly turn into worrying that you may not have enough in the future. It could turn into worrying about what you’ll do if you lose your job or ability to work.

Relationships are another area where overthinking often happens. This is usually due to projecting. You don’t know what someone is thinking or feeling and it can make you second guess. You might think someone is feeling negatively toward you when they’re not even thinking about their relationship with you at all.

If you take a situation or a problem and you overthink it, you can spin it into a huge problem that seems overwhelming. Then you feel paralyzed and unable to take action. Now, racing thoughts keep you spinning your wheels and wasting time.

When you learn how to control your thoughts, you live fully present and acquire a feeling of power, as you realize what you can do. To calm racing thoughts and experience the peace of the present, you can take several steps in order to reach your goal.

First, remember to breathe. When you pause to breathe, it effectively lowers your heightened response as well as your stress. Focus on inhaling and exhaling and slowly count to three as you do so. You’ll instantly feel calmer.

Second, don’t look at situations that aren’t reality. Many people create worst-case scenarios in their mind. For example, if someone is late coming home, you might assume the worst—that your loved one was injured or in an accident. However, this thought doesn’t serve you. It only adds unnecessary stress and fear to your life.

If you realize that a thought is based only on anxiety, let it go. You might say, “I know Dave is running late. But I release my fear over it and choose to believe that everything will be fine.”

Next, don’t allow yourself to get caught up in the past either. Focus on the moment, rather than what used to be, or what could be. The only time that you have is right now. If you focus on the past, your thoughts will race about things that happened to you or how you could have done things differently.

You may also find it helpful to adopt a mantra. Having a word or phrase that you can turn to in order to refocus your attention can calm a racing mind. This could be something as simple as “Everything is fine” or “I walk in peace.”

Sometimes racing thoughts happen because you’re trying to hold on to important information. You fear what might happen if you forget to take care of something. To calm your racing thoughts, create a thought list.

Write down all the thoughts that are bothering you. Once they’re written down, you’ll discover that your thoughts are no longer racing. That’s because once you write something down, your brain believes it has dealt with the racing thoughts and will begin winding down.

You can also choose to do a calming activity when you’re struggling to be present. This might be something like playing a game, reading, writing, gardening, coloring, drawing, or listening to music. Calming activities stop racing thoughts because they change your focus from being immersed in anxiety or regret to actively doing something.

Exercise is another activity you can do that will calm racing thoughts. As you exercise, endorphins flood the body. This boosts your mood and can help you get fear or worry back under control. For the best results, choose a low-impact exercise that will calm you. For example, you might choose a slow walk around your neighborhood or a series of gentle yoga poses.

Change your sounds can also have a profound impact on bringing you into the present moment. Listen to the birds outside your window or put on some nature music. You could turn on a white noise machine or listen to instrumental music as well.

 

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How to Become Aware of the Current Moment

Published on by Lyn Bailey

How to Become Aware of the Current Moment

Learning how to become aware of the current moment is one of the best ways that you can live in the present.

Begin by tuning in to your body. You can do this by understanding how to connect with your body. Breathe in and pay attention to how the air fills your lungs. Then slowly release the air. Notice how the oxygen makes your lungs feel as you inhale, then again as you exhale. Then focus on the top of your head and move down or begin at your toes and move up as you focus on your body. During these body moments, you want to be aware of your breathing and posture.

Listen in to how your body feels in each area. Pay attention to assess whether there is something that you need to address. Sometimes, you can get so busy in life that you miss important things your body is trying to tell you. Perform a mental body scan to help you become aware of the present.

You can also check in with yourself as soon as you’re awake. Do this by taking a few minutes to write down whatever it is that flows into your consciousness. There’s no page count to reach or no limit to be had. You just write down your thoughts and your feelings. These short writing bursts can put your day into focus, as well as how you’re feeling at the moment.  Writing down what’s going on in your mind helps to clear away the cobwebs, determine your focus, and helps you prepare for the day. It doesn’t matter if you skip from thought to thought. There’s no grade to be had here. You can write one word, one sentence or several pages. This is simply tuning in to your mind at the beginning of your day just like you tuned in to your body.

Another way to stay present is to meditate as you’re going through your day. When you meditate on your day—on each task or action—it helps you to stay in the now regardless of whatever it is that you’re doing. To do this, just stop and take three deep breaths as you concentrate on the task or action you are doing at the moment.

This practice helps you to keep your attention trained on the current moment rather than thinking about what happened yesterday or turning your focus to what you need to do tomorrow.

Take a second to see yourself as you’re going through your day. Visualize your steps. This works to keep your focus on what you need to do rather than allowing yourself to become distracted by other things.

When your day is over, pause to reflect about the moments that you were fully present. Think about how you felt physically and how you felt emotionally. The purpose for this brief exercise is it helps you to become more aware of the attention you gave the present. It allows you to finish the day on a moment of reflection and gratitude.

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What is Anxiety?

Published on by Lyn Bailey
Why a Personal Development Plan

What is Anxiety?

 

We are living in a crazy world at the moment. The sudden and dramatic changes that Covid 19 has brought into our lives is causing many people to feel anxiety in increasing levels. So, what is anxiety? Anxiety is basically worry that never stops. Its symptoms can be severe or mild, and include emotional, physical, and/or psychological manifestations. Here are some of the symptoms and possible causes of anxiety.

 

Click here for 10 Ways to Overcome Anxiety

 

 

 

Symptoms and Manifestations

-Abdominal Problems

Anxiety can cause pain in your abdomen. Anxiety can also cause nausea, vomiting, and/or diarrhea. Have you ever had “butterflies in your stomach”? This refers to the fluttery feeling you get in your middle when you’re nervous. This is caused by the “flight or fight” response, during which the body decreases circulation to non-vital body processes such as digestion. This allows your body to go into full alert, able to run or fight as the case may be. When this is prolonged, however, the digestive organs become worn out and, without the return of normal circulation, begin to malfunction.

 

-Muscle Tension

This can cause pain throughout the body, the most frightening being the chest tightness in a “panic attack.” (Panic attacks are also symptoms of anxiety.) The muscle spasms can feel like you’re choking or like a heart attack, increasing feelings of fear and anxiety.

 

-Phobias

Phobias are irrational fears of harmless or specific things. Fear of heights, spiders, or flying in airplanes are some of the more com

mon phobias.

 

-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

People with OCD feel the need to enact some sort of ritual to alleviate anxious feelings. Probably the most well-known example is obsessive hand-washing, but OCD can also involve other ritualistic behavior, such as checking all the doors and windows multiple times to see that they are locked, even when you just locked them.

 

-Headaches 

 

Probably a result of muscle tension or chemical imbalance in the brain, headaches often are part of anxiety.

-Heart Palpitations

This is when the heart seems to flutter or beat rapidly and irregularly. Like the butterflies in the stomach, heart palpitations are part of the fight or flight response, only in the case of anxiety it’s chronic.

-Restlessness/Insomnia

People with anxiety often have trouble relaxing in general and sleeping in particular.

Click here for 10 Ways to Overcome Anxiety

 

Causes of Anxiety

 

-Genetics

There is evidence to suggest that the tendency to develop anxiety can be inherited. This genetic tendency may need an environmental trigger of some sort to develop actual anxiety symptoms.

 

-Traumatic Event(s)

Veterans of wars, survivors of rape and/or sexual abuse, and other victims of traumatic experience can suffer from anxiety. It’s as though the brain can not “move on” from the event, creating patterns of anxious thoughts and physical symptoms.

 

-Brain Chemicals

Those who suffer from anxiety tend to have abnormal levels of neurotransmitters, which means their brains have trouble transmitting information on a cellular level.

Click here for 10 Ways to Overcome Anxiety

 

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Is Multitasking really the answer to productivity?

Published on by Lyn Bailey

Is Multitasking really the answer to productivity?

Multitasking seems like a great tool to get more done. But you have to ask yourself, are you really ever truly multitasking and won’t it just set you up for confusion?

“Think you’re good at multi-tasking? Feeling energized that you can whip through email messages while simultaneously listening to discussions on a conference call? You might not be as efficient as you think.

It turns out that 98% of the population doesn’t multi-task very well. Only about 2% are good at multi-tasking and these “supertaskers are true outliers.” For most of us, we’re not really multi-tasking – we’re actually shifting back and forth from one task to another, such as typing an email and then listening to that conference call conversation, then back to our email and so on.

The problem with trying to multi-task is all that shifting back and forth between tasks isn’t all that efficient because, each time we do it, it takes our brain some time to refocus. So while it might seem efficient on the surface, it isn’t – studies show that multi-tasking can reduce productivity by as much as 40%.” See Forbes

If you are typing an email, it is unlikely you will be able to concentrate on something else at the same time. If you are on the phone, can you really give your attention to who you are talking to if you are reading your Kindle book at the IThe truth is, we are not really good at multitasking.

Looking at even a higher level, if we try to be a jack-of-all-trades, we tend not to be good at any one thing. On the other hand, if you focus on just one skill and put every effort into being the best at that skill, you are going to do a pretty good job at that skill. It will only take a matter of time before you are expert at it.

My Family

As a working mother of 4 young children, I used to pride myself at being great at multitasking. The truth was that my world was falling apart around me. I didn’t see myself as a good wife, a great mum or a good midwife. I was a jack of all trades and a master of none. Something had to give. I changed the way I started to look at my day and my To Do list. I learned how to focus on 1 or 2 really important, productive goals each day and worked at them until they were completed. This allowed me to feel I had achieved what I set out to do, and, in turn, feel better about myself.

While it’s true that we live in a fast-paced society, one requiring more and more of us to take on more tasks, it remains to be seen whether we are improving productivity by doing this. If instead, we figured out what the most important tasks are to move the organization ahead and then focus workers’ resources on those tasks, it is likely that the productivity gains could be greater from this.

Buddhists believe that people should focus on one task and one task only. They widely hold the belief that we are not good at multitasking, in fact, we are terrible at it. Even if the task given is mundane, it should be completed to the best of our abilities and only then do we move onto something else.

You’ll find plenty of people who will swear that they are good multitaskers. But if you look deeper at what those people are doing, more often than not you will find they are not good at it at all. These people tend to get easily distracted because they are trying to do too many things at the same time. It’s not that they are necessarily worse at it. It’s just that since they hold the belief that they are good multitaskers, they tend to do it more than others. So they appear to be worse at it. None of us are really good at it. You will find your productivity will increase if you focus on one task at a time.

If you would like some help in making this change in your life, then contact me for a FREE 30 minute strategy session to point you in the right direction. Click here to arrange a time.

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