Three Productivity Book Suggestions

By Roz Jones

One way to increase your productivity is to read about how others do it. These three books are some of the best books about productivity that give you some out of the box ideas, as well as some science-tested ideas that will help you get more done each day.

Any time you want to improve something in your life, reading about it is a great way to do so. It can motivate you to learn about whatever it is that you’re trying to change. These three books are all about how to stop procrastinating, create habits, and get more done in the time you have.

Eat That Frog by Brian Tracy

This book has 21 ways for you to stop procrastinating so that you can get more done. He uses the frog metaphor to teach you to do that thing you don’t want to do to get it out of the way to stop procrastination so you can get more done each day.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

One of the ways to be more productive is to create good habits. This book helps you learn about how you can use habits to create an almost automatic way to succeed at what you want to do in life. Whether it’s weight loss, business success, or parenting, you can automate success through habits.

168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam

Laura shows you that while we are all given the same amount of daily time at birth, you can choose to spend your time in ways that increase your productivity. You can have enough time to do all the things you need to do and want to do if you know how to plan it. You don’t have to do without.

Taking the time to read books about productivity is a great way to help yourself get on board with increasing your productivity with little tweaks to how you do things. You may decide to get up thirty minutes earlier. You may choose to go to bed later instead. It’s up to you, but you can increase your productivity if you want to.

I’ve just launched Shop With Roz, my online store filled with supplies and gifts for every caregiver. You can find a wide variety of products in the store to help yourself and your loved one. Check it out here!

After you have a look through the store, see any products you use and love as a caregiver, and think we should share them with everyone? Let me know!

It’s here, I am so excited to share a new caregiver app called CircleOf….This app will allow you to surround yourself with resources and experts from your community including ME!!!! As you are looking through the app, you will see my familiar face. I’m excited about this partnership and new ways to support you as you support your loved one. Here’s the link so you can explore the app. I would love your feedback and spread the word by sharing the link to family and friends.

Visit http://www.rozjonesent.com for more information on addressing mental health as a caregiver and check out my upcoming book!

The Four Ds of Time Management

By Roz Jones

The 4 D’s of Time Management made popular by several time management experts like Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen, Less Hewitt, and others offer a simple way to think about the tasks you need to do and organize them accordingly.

Assess each task that you think you need to accomplish and then give it one of four destinations so that you know how best to deal with it.

Delete

You don’t need to check your email continually to be successful. There are so many things that you don’t even need to do that you probably do because it makes you feel like you’re busy. The way to determine whether you should do something or not is to determine what the impact of not doing it is versus doing it.

Delegate

Some things that you don’t want to do still need to be completed. If someone can do it better than you, often less expensively timewise than you can, see if you can find someone else to do it. That might mean delegating the task to your spouse, kids, or to someone that you pay. You can also pay your spouse and kids, if it’s work-related or worth it to you to transfer some money to them to avoid that task.

Defer

Not every task has to be done now. It’s best to put your tasks into chronological order, as well as batch them to save time, and again look at the impact the task has on your life. If it can be deferred without impact, go ahead and do that so that you can focus on the things that are impactful now.

Now your task list should be much more manageable. When you prioritize tasks and do the ones that are most impactful each day first, you’ll start discovering that you have a lot more time than you thought, plus the things you choose to spend valuable time on are actually productive and not just busywork.

This is a simple method to use to get control of your day and become more productive. Remember, being productive is about doing things that impact your goals by moving you forward so that you’ll be successful, realizing all your objectives.

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After you have a look through the store, see any products you use and love as a caregiver, and think we should share them with everyone? Let me know!

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Visit http://www.rozjonesent.com for more information on addressing mental health as a caregiver and check out my upcoming book!

3 Ways to Become Disciplined

By Roz Jones

There are many ways that can contribute to becoming self-disciplined and being successful in all aspects of your life. Whether in terms of your fitness, relationships, or work ethic, self-discipline is the most important trait that you need, in order to be able to accomplish whatever you want. For example, a lot of successful people understand that discipline is the gateway to the achievement of their work or personal goals. In fact, they learned how to use discipline in their favor and be successful. The following are 3 more ways to become disciplined.

Set active goals

Active goal setting is a very important skill, if you want to become disciplined. In fact, it’s quite different than passive goal setting; with passive goal setting, you just set goals in your mind without properly defining them. But active goals have a profound meaning; you make plans and maybe you have already found some strategies, in order to be able to achieve them as soon as possible. So, you need to set some long-term goals, and you also have to actively track your progress towards your specific goals in life.

Ignore negativity

There may be people around you that can exert an immensely negative effect on you. But you don’t have to let them. More specifically, you don’t have to let words or even their expressions deter you. If you can not accomplish it, you can always seek advice from experts, in order to learn how to avoid negativity. For example, if people say what you want to accomplish is not possible or even sneer at your efforts, you should try to avoid them. Instead, you need to use your energy and strength and try to interact with positive people.

Practice Gratitude

You may spend too much time wanting a lot of things in your life. The habit of gratitude can help you move away from constantly wanting what you really don’t have. It’s time for you to start appreciating what you do have in your life and be happy about it. When you do this, you will begin to see some remarkable shifts in your life. Actually, the effects of gratitude are far-reaching. From improving your emotional well-being, to your mental health and spirituality, gratitude can offer you a lot. The most important thing is that gratitude can help you move from a state of lack towards a state of abundance. For instance, when you live in a state of lack, it’s impossible to focus on achieving your goals and being disciplined. So, you need to focus on positive things and try to succeed in your goals, without having stress.

After you have a look through the store, see any products you use and love as a caregiver, and think we should share them with everyone? Let me know!

Visit http://www.rozjonesent.com for more information on addressing mental health as a caregiver and check out my upcoming book!

How to Balance Practicing Self Care with a Busy Life

By Roz Jones

One of the most difficult challenges a lot of people face with self-care is finding the time to fit it in. When you live a busy lifestyle, it can seem almost impossible to find extra time to look after you.

So, how can you balance practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle? Below you’ll discover some more great tips you can follow. Take a look back at my last post here with other ways to integrate self-care into your routine over the holidays.

Schedule it in

A good tip you can follow to ensure you can fit self-care into your busy routine is to schedule it in. Think about it, you schedule in everything else, so why not self-care? When you set a time to focus on yourself, you are much more likely to stick to it. No matter how busy you think you are, there will always be time for self-care somewhere in your schedule.

Establish a morning routine

If you are struggling to find the best time of day to practice self-care, you might find it easier in the morning. If you’re a busy parent, you might disagree here but think about it. In the morning, you could get up just 30 minutes earlier, or 15 minutes if you want. This can be the perfect opportunity to practice self-care.

Alternatively, if you are a parent you could focus on self-care in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed. It doesn’t take long to practice self-care so you should always be able to squeeze it in somewhere.

Look at automating daily tasks

There are all kinds of tools and gadgets that can automate various aspects of our lives. If you are constantly busy, you’ll find automating certain tasks can be a game changer.

For example, you could switch from going to the grocery store, to ordering groceries online. If you have items you frequently purchase, these can be added to your favorites list, making it easier to add them to your order next time. Doing your grocery shopping online can free up a lot of free time during the week that can be used on self-care.

Start small

You don’t have to start by completely overhauling your lifestyle. Instead, you can start small with self-care. Begin by taking just 10 minutes out of each day to focus on a self-care activity. Focus on developing one positive self-care habit at a time. Once you have mastered that, you can move on to the next task.

By starting small, it makes it easier to fit self-care into your busy life. Many people mistakenly think they need to begin with at least 30 minutes a day. The truth is, however much time you can free up for self-care is enough. Once you get started, you’ll find it easier to start focusing more on self-care due to the benefits you experience.

Overall, balancing practicing self-care with a busy lifestyle isn’t easy. However, the tips above can really help. You’ll find a lot of tips online too from busy people just like you. Remember, self-care is essential to your health and wellbeing. So, no matter how busy you are, you should always try and make time for self-care daily.

After you have a look through the store, see any products you use and love as a caregiver, and think we should share them with everyone? Let me know!

Medicare Open Enrollment ends December 7th!

Navigating the Medicare Open Enrollment process can be confusing and difficult your first time, and I want to help out! For caregivers and their loved ones who are in need of advice and help planning their Medicare enrollment, I’m offering a discounted counseling session for just $97! Go to https://rozjonesent.com to sign up!

Interested in making your own contribution to the Caregiver Cafe? There are guest blog spots open for November and December. Email assistrozjones@gmail.com for more info!

Visit http://www.rozjonesent.com for more information on addressing mental health as a caregiver and check out my upcoming book!

Conquering Fear – How To Fight Your Phobia

By Roz Jones

Being a caregiver can be a scary thing, especially when we are new to the field. The guide shares a few ideas for conquering some of those fears and phobias when taking care of a loved one once and for all! Please note, the fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia) is used as an example – though the steps are applicable to any fear.

1. Expose yourself to fear.

If you have a phobia, you probably go out of your way to avoid the thing that causes you to feel afraid. In the claustrophobia example, you may refuse to use lifts, as they make you feel uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, by avoiding the scenario you fear – the lift – you are actually increasing your overall fear. Avoidance does nothing but make a situation worse, and you need to face the fear before you can conquer it. That means getting into a lift, even if just for one floor. Make yourself do it.

2. Positive reinforcement.

After you have forced yourself to confront your fear once, you need to make it a positive experience. This can be having a dessert you enjoy following your ordeal, or buying something nice from your favorite store. Do this as soon as possible following your first attempt to confront the fear – in the example, you should dive into a cupcake the second you step out of the lift. As a caregiver, you should always show your support to your loved one as much as possible. Let them know you understand their fear, and that you are there to help them conquer it. If you are the one experiencing fear, let your loved one know and ask them for their love and support while you conquer it.

3. Rinse, and repeat.

The way to conquer a phobia is to do the above, over and over again. As you do so, you will learn to manage the fear, and you will also learn that there really is no danger in what panicked you. By continuing to deliberately expose yourself to your fear, and then allowing a congratulatory moment when you succeed, over time, you will rid yourself of the fear forever. Be a team! The caregiver and the loved one receiving care can help each other conquer their fears, together.

Overcoming fear can be intimidating. In order to be the best caregiver you can be, conquering your fears are a must! If you need guidance on how to do this, you need to pre-order my new book, Lifted. It will include a workbook that will help you work through each step.