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Counselors Explain Why Every Parent Needs to Take a Mental Health Day

Counselors Explain Why Every Parent Needs to Take a Mental


Life is full of things that stress you out. Work, bills, social life, kids, spouses – it can all be so demanding. It comes at you like a train going full speed ahead. A good mental health day is almost always the answer.

This is especially true if you have kids and even worse if you have more than one kid. You love them, and they love you. This doesn’t mean that you should be embarrassed to want a break from them.

Unfortunately, for a lot of parents, that break never comes. Many parents don’t make it a priority to take a mental health day to relieve themselves of all the stressors they deal with. They use their kids as an excuse as to why they can’t take time out for themselves.

If this is you, it’s good that you’re reading this article. You need to know why it’s imperative that you give yourself the occasional mental break. Here’s what counselors have to say about it.

Why You Should Take a Mental Health Day

As a parent, you’ll often put your kids first. Your needs get put on the back burner until you get some free time (which doesn’t come very often). You may find that your list of requirements keeps getting longer and longer.

Although you may be the best at managing stressful situations, that doesn’t mean you should continuously do it. The effects of stress can creep up on you and even impact your relationship with your children. You may not realize how stressed you are until you’re on the verge of having a breakdown.

Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., president & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, says it’s common for people not to realize how stressed they are. “Often people minimize the stress they are under, the effect it has, and don’t take action,” he says. This pressure is hazardous to your health.

The problem with ongoing stress is that your body never has a chance to settle down. According to Dr. Borenstein, the human body is designed to deal with short-term stress, not long-term stress. No matter how well you handle stress, it’s still stress.

Taking a mental health day ensures that you get a break from stress. This way, even if you don’t realize you’re stressed, you’re still getting a break. It doesn’t make you a bad parent to put yourself first. In fact, doing so helps to teach your children good stress management.

When You Should Take a Mental Health Day

The time to take a break may not be evident because, as stated before, you may not realize how stressed you are. Because of this, you should schedule these days regularly. However, there are a few signs that can let you know if you’re stressed out. Some of them include:

  • Jaw or tooth pain
  • Expanding waistline
  • Having a hard time focusing/concentrating
  • You keep having headaches
  • Trouble sleeping

If you notice that any of this is happening to you, it’s time to take a day to yourself. These few symptoms are manageable, but not taking care of them can cause worse symptoms that will impact your health as well as your relationship with your family.

Once you realize how important it is to take a day to yourself, you’ll probably wonder when the best time is for your day. Scheduling your day can be just as stressful as anything else in your life.

Just keep in mind that scheduling is the key. If you make a plan and plan far enough ahead of time, you can make sure that things will be handled while you’re having your day. The last thing you need to be worried about is who’s taking care of your kids and your household while you’re doing you.

A failure to plan will lead to you feeling guilty about putting yourself first. Guilty feelings lead to stress, and this can cause you to cancel your day. It’s imperative that you make a plan so you can have a peaceful mental health day.

One great way to start your plan is by picking a day that your spouse is off from work. This will ensure that you have someone to watch your kids when you’re not around. If you’re a single parent, try picking a day when a friend or family member is fully available for the entire day.

If you don’t have either of those options, you may have to hire a babysitter. You could save money by picking a day when your kids go to school—that way, the babysitter only needs to be there in the evening.

How You Should Take a Mental Health Day

While you’re planning the date, you should also plan your activities. However, don’t plan a strict schedule. A strict schedule could make you stressed if you can’t stick with it.

You should expect your day to be relaxing above all else. To do that, you need to figure out what you need most of all to rest.

Do you need complete solitude? Perhaps you need more time with your loved ones? A massage is a classic choice.

Whatever it is that you need, put that at the top of your activities list. Try focusing anything else you do that day around your priority. Think of some activities that will relax you and help you have a peaceful day.

Even if you decide to do that one activity, that’s okay. The goal is to renew yourself. But to do that, you’ll need complete peace of mind. Just make sure that you take the whole day to yourself, even if it’s to do that one thing.

Here Are Three Positive Activities to Help You Enjoy a Relaxing Day

You can take your mental health day alone, with friends, or with your partner. Modify these activities to suit your lifestyle.

1 – Treat Yourself to a Day at the Spa

Enjoy a pampering retreat, either alone or with your partner.   Enjoy a manicure-pedicure service, massage, and facial masks. While these services might feel decadent, remember that you deserve it! This self-care is essential to well-being.

2 – Connect with Mother Nature

Do you live near a beach, National Park, or mountains? Grab some of your friends, pack a picnic, and hit the bicycling or hiking trails they offer to visitors. Getting your heart rate pumping as you engage in these activities will invigorate you. And, the grand vistas you see along the way are food for the soul.

3 – Explore Cultural Activities

If you are not the “outdoorsy” type, consider a day trip to a nearby city. Open your mind to learning by exploring their cultural offerings. Do they have an art museum, historic district to explore or live theater? Are any festivals happening that you would enjoy? Expand your mind. That focus on learning new things will entertain you as well as engaging your mind.

What You Shouldn’t Do on Your Mental Health Day

The objective is to have a peaceful day that renews you and gets you ready to face your stressors with a clear head. So far, you’ve been told what you should do during your day. However, there are some things that you shouldn’t do either.

1 – Illegal Drugs

You should never do illegal substances. For starters, it’s illegal. Doing anything against the law is a bad idea. Plus, getting arrested is going to stress you out more than anything your kids could do. Doing drugs while you’re already under pressure can lead to a higher risk of debilitating addiction. Then the drugs will cause even more stress on your mental and physical health. It’s a vicious cycle that can have devastating effects on your life.

2 – Infidelity

Infidelity never ends well. Sure, you may feel good on that day or that night, but eventually, the truth will come out. When it does, it will cause more stress than you could ever imagine.

The stress will come from guilty feelings, but more of it will come from the effects that the infidelity will have on your spouse. Talal Alsaleem, an expert infidelity counselor, says that infidelity causes “…triggers, flashbacks, hypervigilance, avoidance behavior, and manifestations related to the knowledge about the affair and everything related to the affair.” Dealing with this type of fall out in an already stressed marriage could be enough to push you over the edge.

If you’re tempted to cheat on your spouse, perhaps what you need to schedule is marriage counseling instead of a mental health day (you may need both). Communication can significantly reduce stress between you and your spouse.

3 – Overspending the Family Funds

Going shopping is a great way to relieve stress unless one of your regular stressors is finances. The last thing you want to do is aggravate your stress when you’re supposed to be relaxing. If money is a problem in your life, try to plan your day with activities that are free or low-cost.

Even if money isn’t a common issue for you, overspending can stress you out once you’ve realized how much money you wasted. Joel L. Young M.D., medical director of the Rochester Center for Behavioral Medicine, compares overspending to using drugs. He says that even if people have unlimited funds to spend money, overspending can lead to feelings of guilt or shame, hoarding, and undermining relationships.

Enjoy your day, but don’t bring more stress on yourself by spending unnecessary money. There are plenty of ways to do you without breaking your wallet.

Final Thoughts on Why Parents Should Take an Occasional Mental Health Day

You’ll always be Super Mom or Super Dad to your kids. However, remember that you’re human. You get stressed out, and that’s okay.

What’s not okay is ignoring the fact that you need a break. Even if you handle stressful situations well, you need to renew your mental health every once in a while. Not doing so will begin to affect you and your family in ways you may not even notice.

Focusing on your mental health is setting an excellent example for your kids. After all, you wouldn’t want your kids to subject themselves to constant stress, right? Taking the occasional mental health day will keep you in the right frame of mind to continue being the best parent you can be.

Business

Behind the Scenes Look: A Day in the Life of a Freelance Ghostwriter

Behind the Scenes Look: A Day in the Life of


Behind the Scenes Look: A Day in the Life of a Freelance Ghostwriter

Did you know that around 60% of celebrity books on the top seller list are written by ghostwriters?

With so many people learning about ghostwriting, it’s natural that there’s a curiosity about what a freelance ghostwriter does on a daily basis. Some people might be considering working in this field as well, but many people want to find and hire a ghostwriter.

Continue reading this article and we will give you a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a freelance writer and incite in how to hire a ghostwriter.

Planning and Productivity

Before a ghostwriter even starts writing, they map out their day and figure out what they are going to do and when they’ll do it. Most freelancers track their hours to make sure they’re working enough to hit their income goals.

It’s easy to let your day go off the rails without proper planning. Any other productivity exercises are done early in the morning as well. If you want to hire a ghostwriter, it’s best to email them late at night or very early in the morning. Make sure to be very direct when hiring a ghostwriter so they understand what you want and how they can help.

Checking Emails and Responding

After morning planning, productivity, and some breakfast—and lots of coffee—it’s time to check emails.

Morning emails might hold requests from potential clients, or from current clients with questions about current projects. Getting these emails taken care of early in the morning will allow for the actual writing part of things that takes place next.

Writing for Someone Else

Since ghostwriters write for someone else, they have to be good at taking on the voice of other people. It’s important that people not know that someone else other than the person who’s name is on the content wrote the book.

Not everyone is good at writing and you’d be surprised how many people that are bestsellers never slaved over a computer putting their words together in the beautiful arrangement that is now their amazing book.

A large part of writing for someone else means they will need to interview that person and learn more about their story, who they are, and how they speak.

Finding a Great Ghostwriter

In order to find the perfect ghostwriter, you might need to search through a good deal of people. Keep in mind, though, that once you find the perfect person that gets your voice, you’ll be able to use them for multiple projects.

If you’re hiring virtually, don’t be afraid to ask them to hop on a video conference with you, so you can get an idea of who they are. You should also ask them to do a small sample project, but keep in mind you do want to pay them for this.

Understanding a Freelance Ghostwriter’s Job

Now you know more about what a freelance ghostwriter does and you have an idea about how to hire someone. Depending on your project, you might be able to get it done faster than you thought with a professional that knows how to get the job done.

Do you want to learn more about writing and other interesting topics? Continue through our blog to learn more.

Lifestyle

15 Ways to Make a More Positive Environment Every Day

15 Ways to Make a More Positive Environment Every Day


Your environment has a lot to do with your mood. Indeed, many people don’t realize how much their environment affects their happiness and even their outlook on life. A positive environment or a negative situation has a massive impact on whether you’re a positive or negative person.

One study, published by researchers at IOP Science, shows that having green areas such as trees and landscaping in a neighborhood positively correlate with a “joyful” factor. Other things will also keep your environment positive.

Here are 15 ways to create a more positive environment at home or work

1. Let in some light.

It’s no secret that darkness and depression go hand in hand. There have been numerous studies done linking these two things. Always being in a dark environment can alter your mood. You won’t be as happy and positive as you could be.

If you work in a dark environment, you can’t do anything about that. However, on your breaks, try to relax in a well-lit room or even outside. In your home, try to stream in as much natural light as possible. Natural light puts you in a better mood than artificial light.

2. Decorate your space to your liking.

Dull, boring, bare walls don’t inspire much. This is especially true if your walls are a flat, dull, stark color. This is one reason why people hate working in cubicles so much.

Adding some personality to your space can go a long way when it comes to putting you in a positive and inspired mood. Personalizing your space, whether it’s home or work, is a great way to create a positive environment.

3. Put affirmations on your walls.

This is probably one of the easiest ways to create a positive environment. Being able to read positive messages throughout the day can subconsciously put you in a positive and motivating mood. It’s almost like tricking yourself into being positive.

You can buy fancy wall messages if you want to be more decorative, but you could also write out your affirmations and stick them on your wall. This might be a little more logical if you work in a cubicle. Either way, get some positive messages up in your line of view.

4. Socialize more.

Lack of social interaction can make you feel lonely, negative, and depressed. Even introverts need to interact with people sometimes. If you’re always by yourself, you need to push yourself to get out and meet people.

You don’t have to become a social butterfly, but you should at least make an effort to make a friend or two. You can easily do this by joining a group. A book club, a fitness class, or volunteering are great ways to get out and meet people.

5. Take care of background noise.

Background noise, also known as noise pollution, can have a dramatic effect on your mood and your health. In some cases, you can’t do anything about the noise. Urban areas are drowned in background noises like traffic, sirens, and people.

Unfortunately, background noise has been linked to an increase in high blood pressure, anxiety, and depression, among other things. While you might not be able to get rid of it, you can do something to reduce it. Earplugs help, or you could try a white noise machine.

6. Keep your work in your workspace and keep your relaxing space work-free.

It would help if you had clear boundaries in your home to maintain a positive environment. This means that you should designate a place in your home for work only. If you have an office that is great, but if you don’t, you should block off an area and let that be your work area.

Doing this allows your mind and spirit to relax fully when you’re in your relaxation areas. Being able to relax has a significant impact on whether you’re positive or negative. If you can never relax, you can be sure that your mood is going to lean more towards the negative side.

7. Clean up clutter.

Regularly seeing piles of clutter everywhere throws off your brain’s dynamic. It can make it hard for you to focus, affect your memory, and decrease your productivity. Even worse, the effect is cumulative, so all of this continues to pile on until you’re left feeling uninspired and unmotivated.

Cleaning up clutter helps to keep you in a positive spirit. Your brain isn’t thrown off by disorganization, and you can focus more. You’ll find yourself happier and in a better mood.

bully a plant
IKEA’s Bully a Plant project proves the power of positivity can alter your outcome.

8. Surround yourself with positive people.

If you’re always around positive people, that positive attitude is going to rub off on you. Even if you think of yourself as a leader and not a follower, surrounding yourself with the wrong people will eventually have a negative effect on you.

Instead, keep your circle full of people with a positive outlook on life. This could mean cutting some people out. Sometimes even family and friends are the ones you need to drop from your circle. It doesn’t mean you should not ever talk to them again. It just means to keep them at a distance, so they don’t influence your environment.

9. Start a garden or buy some plants.

You don’t have to become a gardener, but greenery and pretty flowers have been known to increase happiness and positivity. If you don’t want to grow plants, buy them. It could be a small plant for your desk, or it could be large floor plants for your home.

You don’t even have to buy real plants. Fake plant arrangements that look great can have the same effect. This way, you can reap the benefits without having the stress of keeping them alive if you don’t have a green thumb.

10. Enjoy the little things in life.

There is so much to enjoy in life. If you’re continually ignoring these little things, it can take the joy out of your day. Wake up, go to work, come home, do it all again. That’s a monotonous cycle that doesn’t inspire a positive mood.

Try enjoying the warmth of the sunshine for a few minutes. Smell the flowers outside of your job before you go in. Watch a street act—Pet a puppy. Admire an elderly couple who is still in love after decades. It’s the little things that make life worth it.

11. Make sure your environment smells good.

According to Rachel S. Herz, an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Brown University, odors can affect your mood, but not like it does for everyone else. You must have associated that odor with something in your life. Therefore, if a scent is offensive to you, it can put you in a bad mood, which can crush your positive environment. For anything else that smells bad to you, do what you can to remove the odor from your situation.

12. Don’t stare at screens all day.

Studies show that the average American spends 7 hours a day staring at screens, and it’s causing vision problems, eye strain, headaches, and neck pain. With all of this going on, it can be hard to remain positive. Try to limit your screen time as much as possible. Put up your phone and read a book instead of watching tv.

13. Exercise more.

When you feel good physically, you feel good mentally. The effects of regular exercise on your mood is no secret. It’s been studied over and over again. Exercise releases endorphins which make you feel good and puts you in a great feeling. You’ll feel better and be in a more positive mood.

14. Be kind to people.

Being helpful to people will inspire people to be kind to you. You’ve heard that old saying – treat others how you’d want to be treated. Treating other people well will make you feel great and make them feel great. Then they’ll want to make you feel great, and it becomes an environment where everyone is making everyone feel great. How can you not think positive like that?

15. Eat healthily.

You are what you eat. You’ve probably heard that several times before. Studies have shown that certain foods can affect your mood and even the way you feel about life in general.

Eating healthy is a great way to feel good about yourself. As stated before, feeling good mentally equals feeling good physically and vice versa. Your mental state is as much a part of your environment as any tangible object, so eat healthy to keep yourself feeling good.

Final Thoughts on Creating a Positive Environment

Creating a positive environment starts with yourself. You must make your physical environment warm, happy, and inviting. You must also have excellent mental and emotional health to keep you in a positive spirit. Don’t be afraid to remove anything that inspires negative thoughts or emotions. The more happiness, light, and positivity you invite into your life, the better you’ll feel and be. Before you know it, being positive will be a way of life.

Lifestyle

Psychologists Reveal How to Shift Into A Positive Mindset on a Bad Day

Psychologists Reveal How to Shift Into A Positive Mindset on


Do you ever wake up in a bad mood? It doesn’t matter how much sleep you get or how good you feel; your spirit is off. Sometimes, you wake up feeling great, but the smallest thing can tick you off and put you into a negative mood. However, you will live a happier, more fulfilling life by shifting gears into a positive mindset.

Someone at the office may make a snide comment, or you may find that you’re out of coffee, and it’s only 10 am. All the negative things that you must deal with within a day can affect your mood. However, you can’t stay in this mood as it’s not productive or beneficial for a happy life.

Why Do Your Moods Fluctuate?

Did you know that your moods can have everything to do with your ego? Research suggests that folks use up their determination to prevent temptation, but they drain rational resources.

Each person has a stress-threshold that dictates how much they can take without blowing a gasket. Once you get beyond that threshold, it alters your mood. You may become grouchy, irritable, or syndical of others.

While you see what’s going on outside your body, do you know what’s going on inside to make these changes? Your blood pressure goes up and down as you encounter stressors from the day. With these blood pressure fluctuations come the increase of cortisol, which is also known as your body’s stress hormone.

Since each person’s threshold is different, it can be a small thing that alters your mood, or it may take something significant. If you need to change to a positive mindset and put the moodiness aside, there are some things you can do.

Five Ways to Change the Negative to a Positive Mindset

A negative mood comes from strong feelings that you’re having that you cannot shake. Rather than face the issue and deal with the feelings, you choose to react. Thankfully, when you resolve your problems and face the things that are bothering you, it helps change to a positive mindset.

Even if the coffee container is empty in the morning, take a 15-minute break and run to a store to get more. Sure, it’s an inconvenience, but rather than stewing about such a minor issue, you can fix it. Here are some ways to help you stay optimistic.

1. Catch up on Rest

According to the Center for Disease Control, one out of three people in this country does not get the required hours of sleep they need. Do you know what happens to your body when you don’t get sufficient sleep? It increases your chances of developing mental distress, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems.

If you’re not getting at least seven hours of sleep each night, it can put you in a negative mindset. When you don’t feel good in your body, it can affect your mood. If you’re having problems sleeping, then you need to talk to your doctor.

There are many herbs and things that can also help you get a restful night, such as melatonin. When you get your sleep back on track, it’s easier to keep a positive mindset.

2. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is the ability to switch your mind from a pessimistic state to an optimistic one. Today’s society makes it extremely easy to get sucked into a negative mindset. However, you don’t have to live in a place of discontent when you can change your brain’s molecular structure by using gratitude.

Did you know if you focus on your blessings instead of the things you don’t have, then you will be healthier and happier? There have been many studies that have proven that when you have an attitude of thanksgiving that it stimulates the hypothalamus in your brain to improve your mood.

If you find it hard to do a 180-degree turn on your gratitude level, start with small things first. Notice the beauty in your child’s face, or be appreciative of the lovely, cozy bed you climbed out of this morning. Did you know that gratitude can be just as addictive as being negative and grumbly?

3. Calm Down with Meditation

If you can’t seem to master a positive mindset, then you should try meditation. It can be overwhelming to find time to fit everything you need to in a day, and all the stress can affect your mood. So, you can fix this by taking the time to channel positive energy and release the negative.

Sometimes, you need to breathe. Scientifically, there is a reason why mindful breathing and the relaxation that comes with meditation works. When you experience stress or have mood fluctuations, the prefrontal cortex in your brain goes into an overactive state, which can lead to depression.

Thankfully, meditation is the key to change those brain regions that are linked to the blues. When you’re using mindful breathing, you retrain the brain to focus on your success and not your failures. When physical sensations intrude on you, you will feel negative emotions like stress.

The rhythmic breathing that occurs in meditation helps you work yourself out of a bad mood, no matter what comes your way. It’s because you are taking time to stop, and you’re sorting out all those feelings that are causing you problems.

Did you know that there are specific mood-boosting meditations that can assist you in your goals? These meditations are especially beneficial for those who are new to this ancient practice.

4. Use Your Support System

You need a support system to make it in this life. People don’t realize how incredibly important it is to have someone that you can call when the whole world seems to be going wrong. When you feel negative, reach out to a friend or family member to talk too about what’s going on.

A third party can look at the situation from the outside and put things into perspective. You can make a bigger deal of the situation often because you compound it with all the other stressors you have in your life. Getting good advice and support is much needed to keep you in a positive mindset.

Psychologists did a study and used brain imaging to see how your brain is affected by your moods. They found that people who verbalize how they feel often have fewer problems with sadness and anger than those who try to keep it all inside.

When you avoid talking about the troubling things, you give them power. However, when you vocalize these issues, you release the energy they have on you.

There’s all this noise inside your head that gets louder as your stress level rises, and you become overwhelmed. When you find somewhere and someone that is your safe place, you can release all the noise and have clarity.

5. Exercise

You already know that you need to get so much exercise each week to maintain a healthy weight. However, research shows that your mental health benefits just as much from a workout. The evidence and studies that have been done on this subject are overwhelming.

When you exercise, your body begins to release neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin, and dopamine. It also releases endorphins, which all work together to make you feel good. When you are depressed, it’s likely caused by an imbalance in these neurotransmitters.

However, a doctor will give you a medication, or you take some herbal treatments to rebalance them. Many people don’t realize that exercise is so powerful that it can be the equivalent of taking anti-depressant medication.

When you’re struggling with negativity, you need to go for a walk, run a mile, or do some intense cardio. You will release those happiness chemicals to put you in a positive mindset.

Here are ten vital reasons why you should take the time to count your daily blessings.

Final Thoughts on Living a More Fulfilling Life by Shifting into a More Positive Mindset

No one likes to be in a bad mood. Consequently, you are responsible for your actions and your attitudes. The smallest of things can trigger you and put you in a negative frame of mind, but you can control how you respond to those triggers.

You have the power to move beyond the problem and live in optimism. Thankfully, your bad mood won’t last forever. If you need something to help prod you to give you some perspective, then you should look to the future and not the past.

Do you remember that day in 2018 when you were so angry you could spit nails because you were late for work? No, of course, you don’t remember. The good news is you won’t recall these little mood fluctuations because they are a fleeting moment in time.

Focus on your future, and live in a mindset where you count your blessings and not ruminate on everything that is wrong. You will be surprised at what a difference it will make in your life when you focus on the positive things.

Lifestyle

Life Coaches Reveal How to Plan Your Day in 5 Simple Steps

Life Coaches Reveal How to Plan Your Day in 5


Some people are so structured and seem to plan every detail of their day. Yet, others tend to fumble around, hoping they don’t miss something vital that they need to do. If you want to learn how to get everything you need to do in a day, there is no secret or magic trick.

It’s not difficult to plan your day, but it takes some determination and a few life-changing tips. Why should you plan your day? Well, here are a few reasons.

Four Excellent Reasons to Plan Your Day

Here are some useful planning tips for implementing today.

1. You’re Better Prepared

When you have everything planned, then you know what to expect. Your goals for the day are clear, and unless something unforeseen arises, you’ve got things covered. When you have a prepared mindset, you will have a higher chance of having a good and productive day.

The problem comes into play when you don’t have a clue what’s going on. You will struggle through the day fighting hard and have a low chance of success. When you wake up ready to tackle the day, you will be motivated and drive to accomplish the tasks at hand.

Your brain needs to be prepared to be able to have full motivation. If you’re in doubt, you should know that this method works, and it will help you finish the tasks you have to do promptly.

2. You Prioritize

How many times have you worked all day long and haven’t seemed to accomplish anything? You might feel like a dog chasing its tail around in circles. You must know that this is a rookie mistake, and it must be avoided.

When you plan, you have the chance to prioritize the tasks you must complete making sure each one is fulfilled. If you don’t have a plan, then you can run in 100 directions and do whatever comes to mind first. When nothing is connected or coherent, your entire day is run very haphazardly.

It’s essential that you give time to the things of the highest priority. When you start your day armed with a plan, then you can make sure that all the urgent tasks are handled. If you need to see a doctor or attend your child’s school play, then you can ensure those tasks get worked into your day too.

The fact is that you can get where you need to be, and you don’t have to compromise your responsibilities to yourself or your family to do so.

3. Improves Time Management

Your day and productivity level come down to your time management. Do you need to manage every second of the day? Well, no one is perfect, and it’s hard to have a life so scripted.

Thankfully, you can schedule your day and make good use of every minute of it. The most important task should go into slot one, followed by the next important thing, an hour for lunch, and so on until you’ve filled your schedule.

Make sure that you have a list and don’t let anything overlap. You have deadlines, personal commitments, and you must ensure that everything is planned out for 24 hours so that you don’t waste any time or feel burdened.

4. Create Structure

Do you have days when you seem to wing everything? Spontaneity is the spice of life, but you can’t live every day in that manner. It sounds fun to throw caution to the wind and not let life become too structured and regimented, but did you realize that living like that will take a toll on your mental health?

It’s not fun to deal with surprises and urgencies as they can affect your personal life and your work efficiency. When you plan your day, it brings order to an otherwise chaotic time. Planning gives you structure and order, and it will make your life seem more systematic.

Now, you shouldn’t mentally confuse a scheduled day with an uninteresting lifestyle. Having composition means that you have a plan and know what you need to do to be successful. Your routine must be pre-planned and thought out clearly.

You can boost your productivity and keep a structured life, but this type of lifestyle can help you get rid of all your bad habits and strengthen your good ones.

When you are accomplishing tasks and reaching goals, then it gives you a boost in your step. It does incredible things for your self-esteem to mark items off your checklist as accomplished.

5 Tips to Planning the Perfect Day

If you want to plan your day and boost your results, you need an effective method. Here are some tips for you to consider.

1. Begin with Clear Goals

You must first start each day with clearly defined goals. Never start a day without a plan. It’s essential to keep your daily goals on track to achieve all you need.

While setting precise daily goals, you must also keep in mind your plans for the week. You want to make sure that one day flows into the next, and you’re not left wandering around.
When you have not only your daily but weekly goals in mind, you can plan in advance. Your goals must allow you to accomplish all you need to do and allow time for the unforeseen events.

2. Each day must Be Part of the Bigger Picture

Please don’t get so caught up on a single day that you forget it’s part of the bigger picture. Remember, Monday is only one-seventh of your week, so you can’t single it out over the whole week or month. Everything you plan must take into consideration the week, month, year, and your life.

Having a cohesive plan is advisable, and it should fit into what you want to achieve for the long term. Additionally, keep the events from yesterday and those from tomorrow in the back of your mind. If you have unfinished business from Tuesday, and it’s not Wednesday, you must consider what’s left and what’s on the list for Thursday.

When you have deadlines in both the business and personal parts of life, you need to be mindful of them daily rather than waiting until the last minute.

3. Classify

Your day should be about much more than your job. In every life comes the need for socialization, personal commitments, chores around your home, and family time. You must ensure that you include all these things in your schedule and learn to make time for each classification.

Self-care is an item that many people don’t make time for in their day. You are more important than dusting the furniture, paying the cable bill, and making a work deadline. Yes, all those things are essential, but if you don’t take care of yourself and your needs, you will never accomplish all you need to do.

You should have no less than 30 minutes each day to reflect, create, and boost your mental strength. When you have it all planned according to then, it’s easier to balance your day.

4. Allow for Flexibility

When you plan your day, you don’t want to make the time restraints, so regimented that there is no time for flexibility. Life is full of surprises, and you never know what each day will hold. You must have room for adjustments.

Your boss may throw a surprise assignment on you, or your child may wake up sick. There always needs to be a plan b or backup to your day. You must be able to move things around so that you can handle life’s unexpected challenges.

5. Sustain Balance

You only have 24 hours in your day, so you don’t want to put so much onto your schedule that it’s not humanly possible to do it all. When you plan your day, you want to give yourself about one or two major tasks.

Once those big tasks are handled, then you can schedule about three or four smaller ones. Remember, some jobs will take more time than others, and you need to allow for interruptions, phone calls, and other things that can get you off schedule.

You also need to have some sort of balance. Your day cannot be all about work, or you won’t have time to relax and read a book or watch your favorite television program. Don’t cram so much into one day that it stresses you out and take the rest of the week to recover.

Final Thoughts on How You Can Achieve Better Results When You Plan Your Day

Are you convinced that planning your day is worth the effort? Make sure you make those plans the day before to wake up knowing exactly what you face that day. It’s all about keeping things into perspective and seeing yourself reach each goal that you set.

Don’t feel pressured to tackle all of these suggestions at one time. Small steps will equal big changes in due time. So start with little goal-setting and work up from there.

The goal is to see growth and development in your life, which can happen when you plan your day and make time for all the things you must do.

Lifestyle

4 Simple Ways To Appreciate Yourself Every Day

4 Simple Ways To Appreciate Yourself Every Day


There are many excellent things to appreciate in everyday life. You can always find beauty in nature and the world. There are friends, family, and loved ones. And, there are simple necessities. There are all your favorite things. But you might be missing out on the most crucial person to appreciate: yourself!

Yes, many things are worth appreciating, and you certainly should be grateful for them! But many people lose sight of their merit when they focus so much on how good everything else is. Don’t forget that you’re a wonderful person. Additionally, you deserve self-appreciation all the same. If you don’t appreciate yourself, you’re doing yourself a disservice.

But you might find this more challenging that one would think. It can be tough to learn not just to love yourself but actively be grateful for yourself, especially daily. To help inspire you, here are four quick and simple yet effective ways to appreciate yourself every day.

1.    Surround Yourself With Good People

To facilitate self-directed positive thinking, you first need to create a positive environment that will appreciate and love you in turn. After all, it’s only fair that you receive back what you put out there into the world! So take care to vet your friends carefully, and find the people who will treat you the way you deserve to.

·         Accept And Appreciate Genuine Compliments

Good relationships will try to build you up, which is precisely what we all need. It can be tempting to downplay or brush aside a compliment and instead await some grand display of affection, but this isn’t healthy or realistic. Instead, it is much healthier for both our self-esteem and our relationships with others to accept and internalize genuine compliments. A study has shown that receiving praise is related to a positive increase in our capabilities too!

·         Remove Toxic People From Your Life

It’s easy to find yourself surrounded by toxic people who take advantage of you, without ever really returning the love and care you give them. This can apply to both parents, friends, and partners alike. If any of them either demands help without helping you in turn, belittles you repeatedly, or talks to you behind your back, it’s best to cut them out of your life directly. Set up firm, healthy boundaries, and stick to those who take care of your feelings in return.

·         Ask A Close Friend To Explain What They Like About You

You may feel like this is unnecessary and selfish, but there’s no harm in asking your friends what they like or love about you – especially if you’re not feeling too well. Have them tell you or it down for you to read so that you can be reminded of what positive impact you have on those around you, and what you’re good at. This activity will give you something to refer back to the next time you find yourself questioning your worth!

2.    Maintain A Healthy Lifestyle

Your physical and mental wellbeing are often two things that are strongly intertwined with each other. So it should come as no surprise that it’s easier to engage in self-directed positive thinking when you’re physically healthy and in good shape.

With that in mind, here are a few things to consider when trying to make yourself healthy:

·         Eat A Balanced Diet

Studies have shown that there is a pretty strong correlation between nutritional deficiencies and depression. In other words, there’s a pretty good reason you should take a closer look at your current diet. Getting enough water, nutrition, and sleep will make you feel physically better – and, by extension, makes it easier for you to feel better about yourself.

·         Exercise

Exercise has been proven by research to confer all sorts of benefits for both your physical and mental wellbeing. In this particular case, it helps with alleviating anxiety and depression. And this is before taking into account that workouts will help you feel and look better, which can help build your sense of self-worth. This is especially so if you’re doing strength training, which often has clear and visible progress you can refer to!

·         Manage Stress Levels

This tidbit should come as no surprise to you. Stress has been proven by research to inflict a strong, negative effect on our psychological state. This means that doing your best to manage your stress and relax helps you appreciate yourself better!

3.    Learn To Talk Yourself Up

Many of us often tend to talk down or belittle ourselves, whether out loud or internally. This is especially so if we had grown up in an environment that had been very hurtful while we were growing up, and in the process, internalized these negative thoughts.

To better appreciate yourself better, it’s better for your mental wellbeing to instead:

·         Replace Negative Thoughts

If you find yourself faced with negative beliefs about yourself, try replacing them with something else. Statements like “I’m so fat” or “I’m so stupid” will naturally come up automatically after making a mistake or being embarrassed, but they should not go uncontested. Instead, rewrite them to be more realistic and positive. Bring up the good things you have about yourself, or remind yourself that your failures do not make you a bad person.

· Don’t Fall Victim To Shame

Before you can truly learn to appreciate yourself, you first need to differentiate between guilt and shame, and the emotions they cause. Both of them are responses to making a mistake, but only one of them is potentially productive. Guilt often realizes and acknowledges that you’ve done something terrible, and can spur you to positive change. On the other hand, shame often makes you stew in feelings of failure. This, of course, isn’t productive in the slightest. If you make an error, it is always best to focus on remedying it the best you can, and then moving on.

·         Use Mantras Or Positive Affirmations

Self-affirmation isn’t as silly as you might think it is. Studies show that repeated upbeat mantras – especially in reaction to adverse circumstances – can activate the reward center of your brain. As a result, the usage of mantras in the face of adversity can help reinforce one’s inner resilience and strength. This means that so long as it’s short, concise, and meaningful to you, that mantra you’re repeating in your head may just brighten your day!

·         Leave Yourself Post-It Notes

Another way to saturate yourself with positive affirmations is by placing sticky notes where you can see them. Try writing down little notes like “I’m fantastic,” and “I am loved.”

Then place them where you could use some encouragement. For example, on your bathroom mirror, on the back of the door when you’re heading out, or even in your wallet. This makes self-affirmation a tangible and visible thing that, depending on how creative you get (and how quickly you forget), may serve as a way to boost your spirits at unexpected times of the day.

·         Delve Into Your Thoughts

Far too often, we tend to accept negative self-assessments without ever really challenging them casually. As a result, we tend to simply take these negative ideas of unworthiness and belittling as fact, despite them often being mostly baseless. So the next time you find yourself coping with thoughts of worthlessness and the like, consider asking yourself what triggered them, and where do these thoughts come from. This way, you get to identify what is the actual root cause behind such negative perceptions of yourself and learn how to undo that learned thought behavior. Remember – you are not your thoughts. They are temporary and will pass with time. It’s best to allow them to leave without clinging on to them.

4.    Be Kind To Others

Too often, we tend to focus on negativity, often to the point that we ignore everyone around us. It may seem counterintuitive, but turning our focus outwards and caring for others is often an incredibly effective way to feel better about ourselves. This is because we get to finally do something tangible that has clear and distinct positive effects, which often, in turn, uplifts our mood.

On top of that, kindness can also serve as both a way to practice gratitude – which in itself is a useful skill that helps with one’s self-worth. Want to get started? Here are a few tips to get started with:

·         Thank Those Around You

Try taking a moment to recognize when someone did their best to help you out, and thank them in return. It’s a simple action that not only inspires positivity in others but also likely will inspire positivity in you as well! To do this, pay attention to the actions and behavior of those around you, friends, and strangers alike. While a general “thank you” will suffice, it pays to take one step further and try being specific about what good or help they’ve done for you. This way, you’ll also learn to be more appreciative and observant of the world around you.

·         Go The Extra Mile

Instead of being a passive bystander, be deliberate in your acts of encouragement and understanding. Research has shown that performing acts of kindness helps the performer’s wellbeing as well. This is often because the act of thinking and treating others kindly inspires you to think about how you, too, can be kind and understanding towards yourself as well, and how you would want others to treat you.

·         Volunteer For A Good Cause

Consider trying to help those less fortunate than you are in places like soup kitchens, orphanages, or nursing homes. In the process of assisting others, you’ll find that you might actually be uplifted in turn as well – and not just in an emotional way. Studies show that serving others not only reduces depression and negative thoughts, but also gives you a boost in oxytocin, dopamine, and serotonin – all neurotransmitters that are responsible for feelings of happiness and joy!

Final Thoughts On Some Simple, Yet Effective Ways To Appreciate Yourself Every Day

Appreciating yourself is about feeling good about yourself, caring for yourself, and taking note of your achievements and excellent qualities. You don’t have to do anything intricate or fancy to appreciate yourself fully – even the simplest of steps can help you appreciate yourself daily. Before you know it, that self-love will be ingrained in you!

Lifestyle

40 Great Websites Where You Can Learn Something New Every Day

40 Great Websites Where You Can Learn Something New Every


A couple of decades prior, when you needed to discover some new information it regularly implied spending several nighttimes per week at a neighborhood school, taking a photography or accounting class from an exhausted night school teacher.

Today, the universes of learning and individual or expert improvement are actually readily available. The open learning development has made the chance to get more quick-witted in your extra time totally available to anybody with a web association, and it’s detonated as of late. On one of the more well-known web-based learning destinations, Udemy, there are more than 30,000 courses accessible.

What’s more, that is simply on one site. Challenge yourself to discover some new information consistently. It can profit your vocation, your own life, and your psychological prosperity, making you a more joyful and more gainful individual in general. To enable you to begin, here are 40 astounding spots to gain some new useful knowledge:

40. Lynda (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Lynda

Where more than 4 million individuals have officially taken courses.

Note: Looking for some real-life hacks or some everyday life hacks? Well, you have officially come to the right place. This article is a collection of some of the best sites on the internet to learn new things. We have the newest life hacks here some of the best everyday life hacks you can use.

39. Your Favourite Blogs and Online Magazines:

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Make time to peruse and discover some new information consistently from your most loved websites and online magazines.

Note: Looking for some real-life hacks or some everyday life hacks? Well, you have officially come to the right place. This article is a collection of some of the best sites on the internet to learn new things. We have the newest life hacks here some of the best everyday life hacks you can use.

38. CreativeLive (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: CreativeLive

Get more intelligent and lift your inventiveness with free online classes.

37. Hackaday (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Hackaday

Learn new abilities and actualities with chomp estimated hacks conveyed day by day.

36. MindTools (daily life hacks):

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A place to learn authority abilities.

35. Codecademy (daily life hacks):

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Learn how to operate Java, PHP, Python, and more from this very famous web-based coding school.

34. TedX (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: edX

You can find huge amounts of MOOCs, which includes programming courses.

33. Platzi (daily life hacks):

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Get more intelligent in promoting, coding, application improvement, and plan.

32. Big Think (daily life hacks):

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Read articles and watch recordings highlighting master “Big Thinkers.”

31. Craftsy (daily life hacks):

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You can learn a very fun, new aptitude from master educators in cooking, sewing, sewing, cake designing, and the only limit is sky if you want to go there.

30. Guides.co (daily life hacks):

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An enormous accumulation of online aides on pretty much every theme possible.

29. LitLovers (daily life hacks):

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You can practice your affection for writing with free online lit courses.

28. Lifehacker (daily life hacks):

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One of my undisputed top choices.

27. Udacity (daily life hacks):

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Learn to code at the free online college created by Sebastien Thrun.

26. Zidbits (daily life hacks):

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Get subscribed to this tremendous set of fun actualities, irregular news, and articles which are based on the real themes.

25. TED-Ed (daily life hacks):

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The very famous TED mark will bring to you lessons which are worth sharing.

Note: Looking for some real-life hacks or some everyday life hacks? Well, you have officially come to the right place. This article is a collection of some of the best sites on the internet to learn new things. We have the newest life hacks here some of the best everyday life hacks you can use.

24. Scitable (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Scitable

Teach yourself about hereditary qualities and the investigation of development.

23. iTunes U:

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Yale, Harvard, and other amazing universities share the address podcasts.

22. Livemocha (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Livemocha

Connect with different students in more than 190 nations to rehearse another dialect.

21. MIT Open Courseware (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: MIT Open Courseware

To learn initial coding aptitudes; furthermore, look at these different spots to pick up coding for nothing.

2o. WonderHowTo (daily life hacks):

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New recordings every day to show you how to do any number of various things.

19. FutureLearn (daily life hacks):

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You can join more than 3 million courses which are other than your course and that too out of wellbeing.

18. One Month (daily life hacks):

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Commit to taking in another aptitude over a time of one month with everyday work.

17. Khan Academy (daily life hacks):

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Khan Academy is one of the best-known gamified web-based learning platforms.

16. Yousician (daily life hacks):

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Who said when you gain some new useful knowledge it must be business related?

15. Duolingo (daily life hacks):

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Duolingo is a totally free, gamified dialect learning website.

14. Squareknot (daily life hacks):

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You can get inventive with different sort of creatives using Squreknot.

13. Highbrow (daily life hacks):

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A membership benefit that conveys five-minute courses to your email day by day.

12. Spreeder (daily life hacks):

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How cool would it be to have the capacity to speed read?

11. Memrise (daily life hacks):

If you want to get more intelligent and extend your vocabulary, just go this website.

Image Credits: Memrise

10. HTML5 Rocks (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: HTML5 Rocks

Google master is presenting to you the most recent updates, asset aides, and the slide decks.

Note: Looking for some real-life hacks or some everyday life hacks? Well, you have officially come to the right place. This article is a collection of some of the best sites on the internet to learn new things. We have the newest life hacks here some of the best everyday life hacks you can use.

9. Wikipedia’s Daily Article List (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Wikipedia’s Daily Article List

Get Wikipedia’s day by day highlighted article conveyed appropriately to your inbox.

8. DataMonkey (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: DataMonkey

This website facilitates the capacity to work with information. Learn the amazing SQL and Excel.

7. Saylor Academy (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Saylor Academy

This Academy offers a very awesome open talking course you can take on the web, and see all the more free open talking courses there.

6. Cook Smarts (Daily life hacks):

Image result for cook smarts website

Image Credits: Cook Smarts

Learn fundamental to cutting-edge sustenance prepare and cooking procedures.

Note: Looking for some real-life hacks or some everyday life hacks? Well, you have officially come to the right place. This article is a collection of some of the best sites on the internet to learn new things. We have the newest life hacks here some of the best everyday life hacks you can use.

5. The Happiness Project (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: The Happiness Project

If you want to be happy just go and click on this website.

4. Learni.st (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Learni.st

Expertly trained courses are present which help with the alternative of premium substance.

3. Surface Languages (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Surface Languages

A great decision in the event that you simply need to take in a couple of expressions for movement.

2. Academic Earth (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Academic Earth

This website has been offering top quality college-level courses since 2009.

1. Make (daily life hacks):

Image Credits: Make

If you want to learn how to do that DIY venture you have your eyes on from the beginning, just go and check Make.

 

Lifestyle

How to WIN the Hardest Struggle We All Face Every Day

How to WIN the Hardest Struggle We All Face Every


Life isn’t always easy, it can be full of struggle. Every day we have two choices to wake up and decide how we want to feel.

We can be mindful and feel grateful for what we have. We can also choose to worry about the day or grieve about the troubles of yesterday. 

Bad days happen. Bad weeks happen. So, it’s easy to say that our challenges in life have limited our freedom of choice and ability to feel good.

The truth is, we have power over our emotions. We run the show. We can exercise that freedom immediately by choosing to feel the good that exists, even if it isn’t as much as we would like in this moment. We can let go of expectation and feel at peace with where we are right now. 

Just like the “Tale of Two Wolves,” by an old Cherokee Brave who was teaching his grandson about life. 

A Tale of Two Wolves

 “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“The battle is between two wolves.

One is Negative. It is anger, lies, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,

inferiority, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Positive. It is joy, peace, love, hope, happiness, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson though about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:

“Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one that you feed, son. Choose wisely.” 

This is a battle that will be forever taking place, however, we can choose how many wolves we have on the good side. Our daily habits make all of the difference. 

When we decide to wake up and choose gratitude through prayer with God or a Gratitude list, we allow for more of the “good wolves” to protect us. 

When nourish our bodies with water and nutrient dense food, we allow for more of the “good wolves” to protect us. 

When we help another person, from the goodness of our heart, and not for personal gain, we continue to add wolves to the good side.  

When we decide to be an encourager of others, instead of a critic, we add more wolf warriors to our side. 

Life does NOT have to be a constant struggle or battle. Life can be filled with goodness, every single day. 

It’s true, when we become conscious and identify negative patterns in our life, we can improve our outlook and situation completely. 

When things are not going well, we did not stumble upon bad luck. We are not a bad person. Positive and negative energy are present in our every day lives, and we can decide how that will effect us.  

We can choose to look for solutions and see our challenges as a learning experience to bring about change and positive energy.

We don’t have to let negative energy drain us. Battles in our mind will come, but they do not have to make us a victim. Negative situations will happen, but we do not have to lose sight of the goodness that is still around and available to us. 

The bottom line: Energy is contagious and when you are mindful of your own vibes you give others permission to do the same. Allow your positive energy to shine onto the world. Your light is a gift. You can change the world. 

So, which wolf will you feed?

Lifestyle

12 Ways to Create a Pampering Spa Day at Home

12 Ways to Create a Pampering Spa Day at Home


One of the best ways to relieve stress is by taking a trip to the spa. While it’s the little things in life that matter, you may not be able to afford to have such luxuries. Thankfully, you don’t need to go out and about to create a spa day at home.

A spa day at home is a way for you to unwind and release some stress and tension that you carry around. There’s very little that they do at a spa that you cannot do at home. Additionally, it’s very beneficial to have some “you” time where you put the children and spouse on the back burner for a few minutes.

Pampering Yourself with A Spa Day at Home

If you have no idea where to begin, we have created a list for you to simplify the process. Grab some candles, essential oils, bath salts, and a beautiful, fuzzy robe, and you’re ready. Here are some ways to let the pampering begin.

1. Do a Cleansing Facial Mask

There are hundreds of facial masks on the market. You can find ones for dry, oily, or combination skin. There’s no need to spend a fortune as you can usually get sample packets that give you a one-time treatment before you buy a more significant portion.

Mud masks are great because they draw impurities from the skin as well as hydrate. The black charcoal masks are great for those who have acne and whiteheads. Though it’s challenging to pull off the cover once it’s dried, it brings with it all the dirt and debris that hides deep in your pores.

Masks and facial scrubs can stimulate the collagen in your skin to generate new cells. You will look and feel amazing when you scrub all the build-up off your face.

shea butter
Learn why shea butter is well worth a try for your hair, skin, and nails.

2. Pedicure for Pennies

Your feet take a lot of abuse, so a foot soak is in order. Do you have cracks and rough spots that are driving you crazy? Wintertime is the worst for dry skin on your heels. Thankfully, you can get rid of this before summer’s sandal season.

Start by pouring some Epson’s salt into a tub of moderately warm water. Put your feet into this tub to soak for 10-15 minutes. Once you pull them out, the skin will be softened and more comfortable to remove.

Take a pumice stone and work those rough patches out. Pay special attention to the sides and heel of the foot. One your feet are silky smooth, then rub a foot cream on them to seal in moisture.

Lastly, clip your toenails and add a color of polish, if you so desire. Your foot makeover can be a fantastic transformation that doesn’t cost a fortune.

3. Manicure Miracles

Your hands are busy throughout the day. Do you have hangnails and need to get them back into shape? Start by trimming off all the overgrown cuticles that are edging up your nail.

Next, clean out any debris from underneath the nail. Then, clip the nails to the desires shape. Finally, buff the top surface to promote growth and evenness. Now, you can color or gloss them to look like a million bucks.

4. Tweeze Those Brows

Are your brows on fleek? Having well-manicured eyebrows are all the rage. If you love threading, then you can accomplish the same thing with tweezers or wax. You can mold and shape those brows and then use color to make them stand out.

5. Laser Hair Removal

As you begin to age, you may notice that you have hair growing in places that it shouldn’t be. Even guys have hair creep up in the ears, eyebrows, and nostrils that can be unsightly. You don’t need to go to the spa to make your hair problems go away.

There are many laser hair removals system that you can buy to use from home. These systems are inexpensive and work well. Just be sure to read the reviews before purchasing as some are better than others.

Forget paying $100s for each treatment. You can get rid of that hair in your home for pennies for each session.

6. Have a Spot of Tea

One of the best things about going to the spa is all the gourmet teas that they offer. These teas are amazing and have the perfect herbal blend to put your mind, body, and soul at ease. Thankfully, you can make these drinks at home.

Chamomile tea is one of the best options for calming you, but don’t forget the power of peppermint, either. A lovely hot cinnamon tea is also refreshing. When you’re in the middle of a pamper session, a cup of tea will hit the spot.

green tea

7. Muscle Healing Massage

One of the best parts of going to a spa is the massage. They use oils and rub all those tired and overworked muscles. Now, you will need some help to pull off this part of your spa day at home, but it’s worth the effort.

Light some aromatic candles, put on some soft music, and grab your favorite essential oils. Your spa day at home wouldn’t be complete without a fantastic massage. Plus, you will feel so much lighter after the stress is rubbed away from your body.

8. Bubbling Bath

Who says bubble baths are just for kids? There is something mesmerizing about sitting in a tub of hot water with bubbles all around. Use the hottest water you can tolerate and fill the tub with oils and bubble bath.

Next, light candles and put them all around the tub for an ambient glow when you turn off the lights. Then, put some soft mood music on to help you relax your cares away. Fill the tub as high as you can get it, and then you can soak for as long as you like.

9. Take Care of Those Dark Circles

Do you have dark circles under your eyes? It’s a common problem for someone who isn’t getting enough rest, has sinus issues or is under stress. Get a few cucumbers to place on the eyes.

Cucumbers have been used for decades to help erase dark circles. They have cooling properties and are loaded with vitamins and minerals to stimulate healing in this area. They can also help with fine lines and wrinkles.

Leave the cucumbers on for about 10 minutes or until they become warm. A cold cucumber works best to help the dark circles. Plus, cucumbers can be used as sunscreen and hand sanitizer when juices and mixed with other agents.

spa day at home
Read up on essential care tips to decrease dark circles under your eyes.

10. Hot Oil Treatment

Your hair can develop split ends if it’s not cut promptly. Hot oil treatments can help with split ends as well as nourish every shaft. You simply heat the mixture, leave it on your hair for the allotted time, and wash it out.

Hot oil treatments can be done every month or more often if needed. They don’t leave the hair greasy afterward. Instead, the hair is silky, shiny, and repaired. If you don’t have the premade kit, then you can use olive oil too.

11. Yoga

Now that you’ve done all the things to have your body calmed, why not try some yoga. Doing deep breathing exercises will help to remove any lingering stress. Yoga is an excellent way to open your mind, as well as heal your body and soul.

Doing this ancient practice as often as possible will only help you. When you learn to control your breathing, you can stop anxiety and panic in its tracks. It can help you to gain control of your life and stress levels too.

12. Moisturize from Head to Toe

Lastly, you’ve pampered yourself with your spa day at home. Now, it’s essential to seal in everything you’ve done with a great moisturizer. From head to toe, your body needs hydration.

Now, you don’t want to use the same moisturizers on your face that you use on your feet. Buying a few different varieties will help to address the dryness issues wherever you need them. There’s nothing better than a silky-smooth body that feels great to touch.

Plus, when you feel good about you, then your confidence will radiate for others to see. No one wants alligator skin so that you can take care of that with the right moisturizer.

spa day at homeFinal Thoughts on Treating Yourself to a Spa Day at Home

Once a week or so, enjoy a spa day at home for one. You will treasure the quiet moments and the time you’ll have to spend on self-care. Who knows? Maybe your in-home beauty treatments will add up so some serious savings of cash.

Business

What Is an Ad Agency Like Behind the Scenes and Day to Day?

What Is an Ad Agency Like Behind the Scenes and


What Is an Ad Agency Like Behind the Scenes and Day to Day?

If your ads aren’t bringing more customers to you, look no further.

Many business owners and content creators alike struggle to make ads that will promote their service while encouraging viewers to invest in them. Fortunately, ad agencies understand how to make ads that appeal to viewers.

With an ad agency, you can work alongside professionals to create advertisements for your service that will bring in more traffic. They have a variety of tools and strategies to ensure that your advertisements are effective.

So what is an ad agency and how do they work? Read on to learn more.

What Is an Ad Agency?

An advertising agency works with clients to create advertisements that will attract more people to their services. Clients will typically describe what they want to advertise and who their target audience is. 

It’s not until a client signs a contract with an ad agency that the work begins. From there, the agency will discuss how much they’ll do for a set amount of money. Ad agencies usually charge hourly fees but they can also make a lump sum.

Creating an Advertising Campaign

Most of the work in advertising is following a set of steps to solve a problem. The problem with many clients is that they’re not receiving as many customers as they want. 

When a client meets with the agency, an account manager will talk about the problem and come up with ways to solve it. After doing research and writing an analysis, the account manager will talk to the creative team and come up with a plan.

Over the next several days or weeks, the team will propose several ideas to the creative director. The creative director will then filter through the ideas that aren’t good enough and guide the team to come up with better ideas.

The production department of the agency may be introduced to the project if it requires prints, photos or videos. The account manager will watch over the project to ensure that the team is making progress.

After coming up with several final ideas, the creative team will present them to the client. This is when the client gives feedback and talks about any changes they’d like. 

When the client approves of an advertisement, the ad will be published via the internet, in print, on the air, etc.. The agency will then monitor how well the advertisements do for the client, and the client can choose to work with them again.

Copywriting Jobs

Working in advertising comes with a variety of tasks that need to be done to sell a product or service. A copywriter is one of the most important roles in advertising because they’re responsible for writing content in ads.

Copywriters will typically write on the internet using a variety of tools to make their ads more visible. By using popular keywords and formatting, they can create content that will have a good SEO ranking.

Copywriting jobs will consist of providing customers with information about something, depending on what the client is trying to sell.

What Copywriters Write

Copywriters don’t create solely ads, they write a variety of things that can encourage a customer to buy something:

Blog Posts

Blog posts are used by many companies to build trust with customers. These posts can be used to provide customers with information about the company, their services, and what products they sell.

Copywriters can create content for blogs that will incline customers to invest in something, and the blog posts will bring more traffic to the client’s website.

Emails

Advertising via email is something that’s been around since the beginning of the internet. However, modern email systems are designed with filters that can block out promotional emails. This means that ad agencies have to use copywriters to ensure an email campaign is effective.

When copywriters start making emails, they make them short and enticing. If an email is too long, viewers will most likely skip over them. Using a variety of keywords will avoid having the emails go directly to a filtered folder.

Social Media Posts

Social media is essential for the success of any business and ad agencies make sure that they use it for their campaigns. There are over 3.2 billion active users on social media, so ad agencies have their copywriters create content for their posts to attract people.

Many social media platforms allow users to post things like photos, videos, and text posts. To effectively engage with audiences, these posts have to be witty enough to prevent viewers from scrolling past them.

The creative team of the agency will come up with visuals for social media posts whereas copywriters will create the written parts. When clients want ad agencies to make posts for them, they usually have them create a variety so they can post them over time.

Start Working with an Ad Agency Today

What is an ad agency all about? Providing you with content that engages with your audience and encourages them to invest in you. If you run a business or would like your content to get more traffic, you should hire an ad agency to make content for you.

Ad agencies have several teams of people that are capable of making content that appeals to audiences of any demographic. Using copywriters, they can make content that lets your posts and website show up more often in search engines.

Browse our articles to learn more about content strategies that advertising agencies use.