Its all a matter of balance
“Never get too busy making a living that you forget to make a life” - Dolly Parton
How many times have you missed out on doing something with family and friends due to work commitments? Twice is one too much. Immediately after the pandemic, I was told by so many clients, that they had decided to reduce their hours, work less days or work from home more so that they could be at home for when their children finished school or to meet a friend for a coffee. I asked the same clients recently if they were still enjoying this work/life balance and 75% of them told me that, due to financial pressures or pressure from their boss, they had returned to the hamster wheel. The 25% who had held firmly to a shorter week, looked visibly happier. So what can we do to rebalance our working week? Is spending longer at work causing us stress or are we causing the stress?
Lists, Lists and more Lists
I find that if I start the day/week slightly ahead then by the end of the week, I am not too far behind my workload which leaves the weekend for me to unwind and recharge, which is what weekends are really for. So I write a daily list for the next day and a weekly list for everything else. The sense of satisfaction striking them off is immense, sometimes, however, one or two jobs remain on the list and tend to be moved from day to day. I ask myself why, why do I not want to tackle those jobs, this is where a mindmap comes in. By mind mapping, you break down the job into smaller pieces, and write alongside what you need to do and who you need to speak you, can you delegate the job to someone or is that job really worthy of being done, are you just making work for yourself?
How to Mindmap - Canva has a free template for you. Once you’re using mindmaps, you will use them for everything. If we have a project or problem we use them.
April Fools Day - 1st April - be careful, you may fall victim to a prank but after midday, no more jokes can be played. Please keep any pranks lighthearted and one that everyone will laugh at. I will never ever play an April Fools Day joke again after, one year when my daughter was around 10, I pretended that someone was here to see her, I instantly felt so awful when she skipped so happily down the stairs and burst into tears. I expected my daughter to chase me but no, I spent the rest of the day trying my hardest to make it up to her. No April Fools Day Jokes in our house!
OUR NEWS:
Have you seen our latest NEW additions to our product range? - Chill, Sleep, and Get Well Soon Letterbox gifts have joined the Calm and Spring Letterbox gifts. The perfect way to send someone a wonderfully thoughtful treat that fits through any conventional letterbox. Filled with our wax melts, scented tealights, therapy balm, massage oil, crystal, seeded paper heart and mindfulness meditations. They come in the prettiest box, printed floral flowers.
We have also increased the Soy Wax Melt collection to include our new scents, they are now available in
Spring
Calm
Sleep
Chill out
Antibacterial
with summer, fresh as a daisy and our they say exercise is good for you arriving later in April.
April 2nd sees the Helpmeorganics team walk for 10k to raise funds for The Badgers Trust as part of The Big Green Hike. So if you can, please donate to our JustGiving page, every penny will be spent on badger protection and conservation. One of our team is currently struggling with plantar fasciitis but he is determined to walk the 10k although it may be more of a hobble!
In the Garden
Isnt it wonderful how nature is awakening, the pond is full of frogspawn and croaks from the frogs, I have spotted a couple of newts too and I heard a big beautiful bumble bee foraging in and out of the spring flowers. The birds have started to get their nest boxes ready and I have seen signs of a hedgehog, I dont know about you but my heart bursts with joy. I have not cut anything back yet as I am sure that ladybrids and other insects are still tucked up until the weather is warmer and theres no risk of frosts. But make sure theres plenty of fresh water and natural food for everything.
I never dig my garden as there may be bees nesting and also I want to protect the soil structure, I leave all of the digging to the worms, they drag leaves etc into the soil to nourish it. I also never use fish, blood and bonemeal as its awful to think of where its come from and as a veggie, the thought of putting a part of a poor animal upsets me so I use chicken poop and a mix of dried nettle powder.
This year, I grew vegetables in my trug all winter, covered by a cloche, the trug is full of purple sprouted broccoli, kale, chicory, garlic, onions and broad beans, we should be eating them very soon. With the price of vegetables rising, I wanted to try and help, obviously on a small scale but they will provide a meal or two. I have also decided to grow more wild flowers and single flowers for the insects, my mission is to create a safe space as sadly my neighbours have all removed their hedges, trees and shrubs, come a hot summers day though, The shade from our trees will make it cool for us and the wildlife.
A Balancing Meditation for you
Find a comfortable space, ideally you would be lying down but if you prefer, you can do this sitting in a chair.
Place one hand on your chest and the other hand on your belly (just under the rib cage)
Inhale slowly through your nose, send the breath down into the belly and feel the expansion (keeping chest as still as possible)
Exhale slowly through pursed lips, and notice the contracted belly muscles release and soften
Repeat for a couple of cycles to begin with and increase slowly.
As you breathe out, visualise all your tension, worries and stress leave your body with each exhale
As you breathe in, visualise a soft green colour gently move around your body, soothing and calming as you breathe.
Spend a little time, noticing how your body feels.
You can add scent to this meditation, we suggest using either “help me have a mindful of calm” or “help me, apparently i need to chill out” blends. Pop 2 drops onto a tissue, aromastone diffuser or in a bowl of water and have it next to you so you inhale the calming relaxing fragrance.
This months blend in focus is “help me, apparently i need to chill out”
I created this blend to help you unwind after a busy day or for times when you just want time to ground yourself and for those times of the month when hormones are in control. This blend of organic essential oils will calm your thoughts, relax your tense mind and body and allow pure relaxation to happen. The scent is spicy floral and I am told that it has the scent of a spa!
You can enjoy it with a soy candle in the living room, a room spray in the bedroom, a reed diffuser in the hallway, a massage oil after your evening bath or morning shower, and an essential oil to sit next to you at work, in the car, and at home. You can send gifts to someone who struggles to relax and to a close friend who is going through PMT, menopause, or has recently had a baby.
And finally …….
April is a beautiful month, with Easter to celebrate and the activity of nature to champion and enjoy, this is a very optimistic time of year.
Try and get out into the fresh air as possible, it is so good for us and we all need to connect with nature. Im sure that everyone who has read this blog already does this but we are now in a battle so everyone needs to be proactive and stand up for every insect, mammal, birds, fish, tree, hedge, wildflower, worm, slug, bee, wasp, butterfly, nightsky, rive, stream, field, woodland and ocean.
Have a wonderful month, keep in touch and don’t eat too many easter eggs, o okay go for it!!
“April showers do May bring flowers”
