The government's recent announcements regarding UK-wide school closures bring a new meaning to work-life balance. Many parents will need to start juggling their careers with family life more than ever. Noor Hibbert, a qualified celebrity life and business coach with Post-Graduate Certifications in Business & Executive Coaching and Coaching Psychology, re-wrote the book on being a stay at home mum. Many might feel that they will need to compromise on their career or family, or both in order to live up to today's ideal of the working mum.
1. Marinade the Day in positivity to the intention for that day - choose one intention for each family member for the day and infuse it with an emotion. When we say “I am going to have an amazing day” starts the day on a high. It’s a powerful brain reprogramming tool.
2. Don't think it, ink It - Write it down on a board or paper so everyone knows and sticks to it
3. Don’t put pressure to get it right - trying to homeschool and be a parent and manage self isolation is a lot. Be kind to yourself as parent and just do your best. Don’t add extra stress to a chaotic situation.
4. Schedule quiet and alone time for each family member. Time out from each other is healthy. Make it a clear intention that everyone is entitled to have time out to be alone and do their own thing if they wish. It’s perfectly fine to all have boundaries.
5. Communicate with honesty. Be open with how you are feeling with your children and ask them to share how they are. Let them know it’s ok for them to openly share if they feel scared or frustrated. Honesty is always the best policy.
6. If you are working from home. Be specific about what you want to achieve and schedule it into a diary - this allows your attention to be super-focused on what needs to be done in order to get there.
7. Be grateful and present. Enjoy this extra time with your family and when it’s in the schedule For you to be together, be together: play games, build dens, watch movies and get your children to share what they are grateful for during this time. This is a great tool for them to take forward in the rest of their life when dealing with the unknown and share what they are grateful for during this time.
8. Journal every day. Spend a few minutes every day writing down your thoughts and putting down anything that is frustrating you or that you’re grateful for. It will be an amazing thing to look back on in the future to show you how you dealt with a difficult situation when it comes to parenting. Encourage your children to keep a journal of their experiences as well-you could make it a fun task and a daily thing that they could do as part of their time at home. Self Isolation Scrap Book.
9. Remember that you aren’t alone, and that there is plenty of resources online to help support you through this time and don’t forget to connect with those that you love through things like FaceTime or Zoom conferencing. You’re allowed some adult time even if it is virtually!
If you don’t believe it you can get it straight from Noor herself! Either through her 1:1 personal coaching sessions or through her debut book, Just F*cking Do it, Noor is living proof that what you choose to believe about yourself or a situation is stronger than any ‘reality’.
About Noor:
Noor’s coaching, online programs and live events have helped people across the globe transform their mindset and reprogram them for success. She has been featured in media outlets such as Forbes, Psychologies Life Labs, Huffington Post, The Metro, MailOnline, Fabulous, Red and Cosmopolitan, and her TEDx talk can be found on YouTube.