Blog- Jill Avey Coaching

You wonder why you don’t feel like celebrating.

Instead, you just feel exhausted.

You had some success this week but…

Another week is over and you wonder where all the time went. This month is flying by.

You spent your last 5 days running from meeting to meeting, staying late to get your own work done. Where did all the time go?

It’s overwhelming. Somehow, you ended up doing the lion’s share of the work again. And, you wonder why the others can’t pick up the weight when they don’t have nearly as much on their plate as you. Their teams are smaller, they have fewer projects and yet, you keep getting more work.

While it feels good to be the one getting the new responsibilities, sometimes it makes you mad that others don’t seem to work as hard or produce as much as you do. Yet, they get the promotions and here you are, the one getting everything done.

If only you could find a way to get it all done without disappointing your boss, your team or...

It’s January again and everyone is talking about their resolutions. Maybe you feel like you should be making some too. But, how can you set a goal that really works? One that you don’t quit in 2 weeks. 

You might feel like you are falling behind your peers and your potential. Life is flying by and here you are in the same spot you were last year. You tell yourself that you should have goals but you aren’t inspired. Yet, you want more…

You want to get somewhere in life.

Except working towards goals feels like drudgery, something you should do, and would do if could only make yourself sit down and pencil them out. You are wondering if you are just lazy…

You don’t need to feel judged or ashamed because you don’t have goals. You aren’t lazy and you aren’t flawed. 

The problem is with how you have been thinking about goals and how you might have set them in the past. This year, try setting your goals with the SMART-ER...

You’ve noticed that your team isn’t working together well lately and they are complaining about each other to you. Or, maybe one of your stars isn’t hitting the mark anymore. That new hire hasn’t hit their stride as you thought they would by now. Your detail person has been making mistakes lately. Perhaps you’ve noticed the office is pretty quiet at 5 o’clock.

These are all signs of trouble, signals your employees are disconnected from their jobs. These are all signs of weak engagement.

Engagement can be low for many reasons. The person could be the wrong fit for the company or the manager. They could be going through a life change. A wedding, baby, divorce, death in family, new home, side gig, even a new pet can cause someone to be distracted at work or have other priorities.

But many times, it’s the job itself that has caused the lack of enthusiasm. And um, sometimes as the manager, whether you like to admit or not, you are even the cause....

You’ve heard people say it, “to meditate, just clear your mind”.

When you have tried to meditate, you had high hopes of reaching that deep, peaceful, distraction-free space people talk about. Maybe you even felt it yesterday or last week. But this time, it didn’t happen.

Then you felt like a failure and maybe even that you weren’t cut out for meditation. You might have criticized yourself a little.

What happened instead was that you kept thinking about things; your upcoming day, the meeting you just had, when to pick the kids up, the game your team lost last weekend, and on and on and on. In fact, you might even have forgotten to focus at all. It might have felt like all you did was sit down and think.

If you have ever felt this way, you are not alone. All of these feelings are completely normal. Every meditator feels this way sometimes. It doesn’t mean you are bad at meditation at all. Talk to any seasoned meditator and they will tell you they...

One popular definition of mindset is "a disposition, attitude or mood." That being said, it makes sense that clearing your mind of clutter goes a long way in helping you get more organized.

When you're not clear-headed, it's very difficult to practice organizational skills.

Write Down Your Feelings

One of the best ways to clear your mind of clutter is to take the time to write down your feelings. You can either do this in a journal that you keep, or a piece of paper that you throw away once you're finished. Recent studies indicate that jotting down negative thoughts really does help to clear your mind and make you feel better. Create a daily practice of journaling to regularly clear your mind.

Meditate

More and more stressed-out individuals are using meditation to clear the clutter in their heads. When life is hectic, do you ever feel as though you're having a non-stop conversation (with yourself) in your head? If so, it's nothing to worry about.

Many people experience the same...

Everyone thinks they’re good multitaskers. But, the truth is, no one is good at multitasking. The human brain is not designed for it. Sure, we can chew gum, walk and talk and so forth, but when your brain needs to focus on a task such as reading, driving, learning, writing and that type of thing, it’s not a good idea to try to multitask.

There Is No Such Thing as Multitasking

The truth is, what we call multitasking is really what is termed "task switching". This means that you can go back and forth between tasks such as watching TV and reading, for example, but you’re not really doing both at the same time.

Trying It Causes You to Be Slow

When you don’t give 100 percent of your focus to the task at hand, it will take longer. Try it for yourself:

The next time you need to get something done, set a timer for 30 minutes. Do only that task. Don’t watch TV, listen to the radio, check your phone or anything. Then do the same task again for the same amount of...

Interviewing is a tough time in a person’s life. You are nervous because you want to be asked to the next stage of the process. Maybe you've already tried on this job mentally and have a certain vision for how it would be if you get the job. You want to give a good first impression while at the same time learn more about the potential opportunity, company culture, and people you might be working with. The tips below will help you on your way to mastering job interviews.

10 tips for mastering job interviews:

1.) Research the company

There are many resources available for you to research the company and opportunity. Search them online, review periodicals, check LinkedIn and Glassdoor, and network to find out what there is to know about the company. This will make you look knowledgable and will help you feel more confident.

2.) Prepare a list of questions to ask

What do you want to know about the company and the opportunity? What did your research tell you about where...

If you've been needing an extra pick-me-up in the afternoons, or a second cup of coffee to even get going in the morning, you might be sleep deprived. Even if you think you're getting enough sleep, you may be suffering from sleep deprivation without knowing it. The symptoms of sleep deprivation are not necessarily as clear-cut as you might think; in other words, it's not just feeling sleepy all the time that is your cue that you're short on sleep. So how do you know? Here are some tips.

Regularity

Everyone has trouble sleeping now and then. We all experience the occasional sleepless night and groggy morning. We may even go through a period when we experience these things more frequently, such as during life transitions and stresses. But when sleep deprivation may be a problem is when it is a regular occurrence and is unrelated to circumstances.

Sleep Debt

Experts point out "sleep debt" as a way in which sleep deprivation can enter your life without you necessarily...