Following on from last week’s “me time” activities, I wanted to pick up on another of the things I do (and rejoice in) to make sure I’m on track to balancing the musts and shoulds with the a big of stretch and fun.

I LOVE PLANNING.

There I said it. Give me a wall planner, family calendar, diary or online app. I just love planning! (And don’t forget, I always gift you a series of day, week, monthly and year planners to print and share for Christmas!)Balancing my various work and life activities, I needed to upgrade my planning this year.

At my side, come rain or shine is my lovely Erin Condren planner. I introduce you to these last year in my planner review and took the plunge this year and invested in a tailored, eye-candy pleasing life planner. It’s a heavyweight holistic book of loveliness – offering uplifting quotes, gratitude reminders and a wealth of repositionable stickers.

I love Whitney English’s printables for plotting out hour by hour tasks such as writing up coaching notes, report editing, b-mail drafting and so on. Time boxing is effective for me to push through and achieve more. I print two side by side on an A4 page, block out my plans on the left and my actual outcomes on the right. Whitney’s well known day planners have also been revamped for 2016 and are well worth checking out.

Building on last year’s successful Kickstarter campaign, the Passion Planner is due to December dispatch dates! Again like last year, you can trial the different sizes and layouts here. I’m still a big fan of the insightful goal and purpose worksheets included in the planner.

Need something more handbag friendly (aka light) I like how Inkwell Press lets you order their planner in one book or 4 quarters.

I’m massively drawn to colour and layout, but also need to be able to flex my plans as life whirls around me. To do this, I’ve got a colour coded breakdown on the inside cover of my EC planner – red for deadlines, blue for clients, baby blue for family, limey green for friends, orange for things just for me and so on. I use Frixion erasable pens – the roller ball gels are neat and tidy, but the felt tip ones are bolder and more playful.

Etsy is a brilliant source of dashboards, sticker and page markers. Fave shops for me are: Crossbow Printables, Dubu Dumo and Planneresque.

Looking at my iphone and ipad, I’m falling out of love with the Apple options and toying with trialing Planner Plus, Pocket Informant HD or Daily notes apps. I’m not sure how I might use these yet and key features for me are easy to use, shareable calenders and colour coding.

OK enough about me and my planning goodies. I’d really like to hear how you’ve used the 2015 planners and what you’d like from the 2016 ones. Drop me a line or add a comment below and I’ll be sure to try to better make them serve you and your stretch in 2016.

Credit: Post image from Erin Condren site. (Just soooo beautiful)

Creating change and experiencing elements of stretch in our lives, relationship, bodies and work is great. And it’s can also be energy consuming, brain-achy, nerve-jangling, pulse-raising…….oh how I could continue.

It can be tough going.

You need to take time out of change. Just like an elite runner takes time off the track, hangs up their spikes and does other things to promote mental and physical wellbeing. These might be related to their specialism or not.

Those who go hard day in, day out – without listening to their body, mind or feelings – tend to end up with long-term damage to their joints or muscles and lose their drive to compete or simply participate. They get switched off from their goals and their performance drops off.

Recharging and recovering also need to be a part of your journey, if you want to make it with your motivation and well-being intact.

And here is where your personal preferences, your self-awareness and your self-compassion come in.

Personal preference as to what your perfect “me time” activity is – time off with family, cycling class, baking cookies or a long soak. I’ve even been known to choose to do a batch of ironing.

“WHAT!!” I heard you cry. “Ironing?”

Yep. My “me time” activities include ironing. I like the sense of achievement I get producing a line up of perfectly ironed shirts. for me, it works on those days when everything isn’t going well, I’m not making progress and I’m frustrated. Getting hot and focused on the crease on the back of the arms, neatening out the pockets and soon bring my mind back to a sense of calm, displacing any other thoughts.

Pilates classes or a good read. Playing a monster game with my step kids. Swimming lengths back and forth. A glass of champagne. Laughing on the phone to a friend. All work for me in different moments. If I need to create a space to absorb a setback. If I need to empty my mind. If I need new inspiration. If I need reminding that I’m doing alright. I pick my perfect “me time” activity.

Spotting those moments is where developing your self-awareness is key. Recognising that tension in your neck, the shortening of your temper, when you’re fidgety or just can’t concentrate. Knowing your reactions in adversity or how you show fatigue are essential to putting in “me time”. This balances your determination, hard work and resilience for achieving your new life and stretch. Keep a journal, record your daily gratitude practices, reflect on your plans and progress. Check in with how you feel, as well as how you are doing, to connect your physical and emotional reactions to your actions.

And here’s where self-compassion becomes the permission to step off your change action plan. It’s oh so easy to fall into the trap of keep pushing, keep striving on, keep going until we break. Allow yourself some downtime. Allow yourself the chance to break off and do something from your “me time” list. Allow yourself to invest in maintaining your well-being, your mind and your planned change.

Take a moment or two now to think about how you balance striving for your desired outcomes and your perfect “me time” activity. Are you at risk of pushing to breaking? How do you spot those moments and what are your “me time” revitalising activities?

PS looking for a good fiction read? Two books, I’ve recently loved, are “A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel” by Ruth Ozeki and “Secret Life of Bees” by Sue Monk Kidd. Got any recommendations for me?

Two years ago, I discovered a hard lump in my breast. It showed up on an MRI of my shoulder as a jelly bean sized white shape.

Both my shoulder doctor and I stared at the screen. Shock. Horror. Gulp.

Within a week, I was visiting another specialist consultant, having my first mammogram and being reviewed by specialists in a one-stop breast clinic. After what seemed like the longest afternoon I’ve ever had, I got the all clear. I don’t think I really heard the rest of the conversation.

I was lucky, but too many of my family and friends haven’t been. Who will be #thelastone?

Breast Cancer hits men and women. It doesn’t care who you are, the life you’ve led or what your future holds. Treatments and diagnosis have come a long way since my great grandmother’s breast cancer journey and awareness of how to check yourself is much improved.

Why am I sharing this, instead of the usual #lifechanger or #careerchanger b-mails? October is Breast Cancer Month in the UK – I want you to make sure you know what to look for, what to feel for and if, God forbid, you find anything unusual, to go and get it checked.

Please take time out today to learn or refresh your knowledge on how to check your breasts – this Give your breasts a little TLC video from Breast Care Now makes it simple. Then make it a habit to regularly check and recheck yourself.

While you’re there, Please donate now Even the smallest amount makes a real difference.

If you or someone close to you is affected by breast cancer, my heart goes out to you. I know your pain, frustration and angst. Let’s beat this cruel disease today.

My ask of you this week – share this b-mail and help spread this knowledge now. Post it on your Facebook page or tweet a link (Heck the little buttons below make it easy.)