When you work from home it can be very easy to spend the day attached to your computer and not get enough fresh air nor exercise.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been experimenting with going for a walk before I start my work and I have been thoroughly enjoying it. I go out for anything between forty minutes and an hour and I leave my mobile phone and handbag at home. It is really pleasurable to stride along unencumbered by any bags and general clap-trap. This also leaves you free to swing your arms as you walk which increases your heart rate and thus gives you a fitness benefit too.

When I get back home I have the same buzz as if I had just worked out at the gym. Even though the walk makes my start time a little later, I feel that I work more productively.

I’m doing a lot of writing at the moment so my day at the computer is quite an intense activity. However, it definitely helps to know that I have had sufficient exercise before I get lost in the creative process.

A couple of weeks ago I heard the most brilliant tip to help me keep my writing on track. All you need is a calendar or wall chart. I was told that for every day that I write I need to put a big ‘W’ on that day on the calendar.

Initially I mis-heard the advice and thought it meant that you used the calendar and the ‘W’ to plan the days when you intended to write. But then I realised that you placed the ‘W’ on the calendar after you have written.

So I have tried out this technique and found that it is really good to see exactly how often I have been committed to my writing. This highly visual record is motivating me to have as many ‘W’s as I can.

How can you adapt this method for your creative pursuits or business aims? If for example you decide that you are going to do some painting twice a week then perhaps you need to mark your calendar with a ‘P’ when you’ve done your painting and review at the end of the month whether you’ve hit your twice weekly target.

You could mark the calendar with an ‘E’ for exercise or an ‘M’ for marketing or an ‘S’ for study, depending on whatever it is to which you need to be regularly committed. The possibilities are endless.

Happy New Year!

Here we are – the beginning of January, that hangover time of year where all the fun relaxing time has gone and another year of hard work beckons! It is also a time when we are bombarded with messages of get fit, lose weight, stop smoking, start detoxing and get success in 2008 beginning right now. It is no wonder that most people in the northern hemisphere hate January!

I am one of those people who find January (and February) difficult. It is winter, daylight is in short supply and our bodies naturally want to curl up and hibernate for a few weeks. So this puts us in conflict with the messages I’ve described above where society wants us to work hard, be dynamic and solve every personal flaw overnight!

For many years I coerced myself into this January bandwagon and just found myself even more worn out and depressed than when I started. Why do we force ourselves against our natural flow? When it is summer time, the weather is warm and the days are long we don’t make ourselves sit inside, curled up with a movie and stuff ourselves with mashed potato. So why do we expect and demand an unnatural level of activity in this cosier time of year?

Last year I started to experiment with following my natural rhythms and honouring the fact that at this time of year our bodies want to be slower. I learned that it was harder to promote myself and my business in these few weeks and so changed the rhythm of events and activities that I was undertaking. I also let myself off the hook in my personal life and allowed myself to enjoy spending time alone at home pottering about doing nothing much, rather than being the social queen that I sometimes am. I found that I was happy doing quiet activities at home and as soon as spring started to make an appearance with the longer days in March then I naturally came out of my shell again.

This year I am doing the same. My most important activity at the moment is completing the draft of my novel – this is perfect ‘at home’ cosy work. Of course I am still seeing my clients, doing a bit of marketing and anything else that must be done but I won’t gear up and do anything powerfully dynamic until March or April.

In the last two years of being a life coach I have also found that my also business takes on this same rhythm. My busiest time of year when new people come to me for coaching is not January but April and May. Whilst we are bombarded at this time of year with what we should be doing, it is often easier to act on these goals in spring.

So here comes some radical words from a life coach – don’t flog yourself too hard at the moment to achieve your goals. Honour whatever your natural rhythms are and enjoy the quietness of winter if that feels right to you. It might be a perfect time of reflection to formulate what you want from your life but don’t thrash yourself to achieve it immediately. Take small steps and leave some time for relaxation. Make sure you do get outside and get some daylight everyday and then enjoy spending time with yourself at home.

Happy winter!