Into Motivation

Whilst Stephen Covey may have outlined seven habits of effective people, especially from a business perspective, specific coaching for women can help us interpret these seven habits for single mums – mums who are able to overcome significant obstacles and become highly effective in their day-to-day living.

Some of these habits overlap or could be reinterpreted in a different fashion, but these principles should be adopted as soon as possible if you are new to being a single mum, or beginning to feel harried beyond belief.

Habit number one – Master the clock.

There are only a certain number of hours in a given day, but how we use them dictates how we really feel when all is said and done. Will we have been productive and feel good about ourselves, or will we feel as if we have been bouncing back and forth with little to show for our efforts?

Those who are very effective and fall into the first category are time masters and have set out everything they need to achieve in a given day. It is important to take baby steps and not to look too far ahead when you have a busy schedule, as this will appear so daunting that it may compromise your ability to succeed.

Just dump everything out onto paper, all the tasks that you need to achieve on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis and marshal all this information together. Now may be the time to consider professional coaching to help you master this.

Habit number two – Be habitual.

Your highly effective timetable will be no good unless you get into the habit. When you start out you will probably have to initiate some triggers and have to set a goalpost to aim for as you progress, but through repetition you will achieve these mundane but necessary tasks and get them out of the way.

You’ll also find that as you stick to your timetable you become more used to these tasks; you will achieve them in less time and free up a bit more personal space at the end of each day.

Habit number three – Set up voicemail.

It is easy enough to set everything down to enjoy the latest gossip with the neighbour, but distractions are definitely your enemy.

You may not have the luxury of a personal secretary to answer your random phone calls and the most effective businessmen or women do not become distracted, so you must maintain your focus and don’t be tempted.

Habit four – Plan for the rainy day.

Those rainy days will come

of course and family issues may overtake what you had planned. Look after your personal days at work and only use them for emergency purposes. See if your schedule at work will allow you to play catch-up here or there, maybe working Saturday mornings or one evening per week, so that the inevitable issue at school for the kids can be addressed without it becoming a major concern.

While these rainy days may certainly throw your clock mastery out of sync, the highly effective single mum has planned in advance as best she can.

Habit five – It’s all about me.

It doesn’t matter how efficient or dedicated you are to what you have to do for your family and your work, if you don’t allow time for reinvigorating yourself, you will suffer.

There is a time for delegation, to get away from it all to recharge your batteries, so you can come back refreshed and be able to take it all on again.

Habit number six – Be fit.

Health is everything, for you and your family. Never be tempted to sleep in for an extra 15 minutes at the expense of your daily walk on the treadmill. This absolutely must be at the top of the list of priorities and if you don’t do this, over a period of time efficiency will suffer and you will not be able to be as effective as you might otherwise have been.

Habit number seven – Scratch a back.

If you are smart, you will realise that while you may be able to manage as a single mum most of the time, there will be times when you must call in for help. Hopefully you will have a good network of acquaintances, friends and other family members and should nurture this support group by putting time into your schedule to help them out in advance. Covey talked about a “win-win” situation when he was outlining his seven habits and this is what you are doing here. Help each one of your contacts by donating your resources or time and you will have kept your side of the “win-win” equation.

Yes, there’s a lot to it, but don’t despair. These days, online life coaching can help you drill even further into those seven habits and come up with your action plan for the future.

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.