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The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Single Working Mums

By Amanda Alexander

Republish: EasyPublish™ Published: 12Feb2010 Word count: 833 Viewed: 261 time(s) Get Free Content For Your Site

Whilst Stephen Covey may have outlined seven habits of effective people, especially from a business perspective, specific coaching for women can help us interpret these seven habits for single mums - mums who are able to overcome significant obstacles and become highly effective in their day-to-day living.

Some of these habits overlap or could be reinterpreted in a different fashion, but these principles should be adopted as soon as possible if you are new to being a single mum, or beginning to feel harried beyond belief.

Habit one - Master the clock.

We all have the same amount of time in a given day, but how we use it dictates how we will feel after the sun goes down. Will we feel that we have been productive and are thereby refreshed, or will we feel that we have been bouncing from pillar to post and still seem to have little achieved?

Those who fall into the first category are generally masters of time and have itemised what they need to do in any given day to get through. It is important to take baby steps and not to look too far ahead when you have a busy schedule, as this will appear so daunting that it may compromise your ability to succeed.

Just dump everything out onto paper, all the tasks that you need to achieve on an hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis and marshal all this information together. Have you ever considered professional coaching to help you control your time?

Habit two - Be habitual.

Your highly effective timetable will be no good unless you get into the habit. You may have to set up some triggers to start off with and have some fundamental goal posts to aim for as you go through each day, but through a process of repetition you will find that you get those more mundane yet necessary tasks achieved this way.

You'll also find that as you stick to your timetable you become more used to these tasks; you will achieve them in less time and free up a bit more personal space at the end of each day.

Habit three - Set up your voice-mail.

Distractions are the enemy, unfortunately, even though we would wish to down tools to catch up on the latest gossip with a neighbour.

The most effective businessmen or women do not allow themselves to be distracted by random phone calls and while you may not be able to employ the services of a personal secretary, you should ensure that you maintain your focus and don't let your guard down to the temptations!

Habit four - Plan for the rainy day.

You know that rainy days will come and that family issues will sometimes trump what is going on at work. Look after your personal days at work and only use them for emergency purposes. See if your schedule at work will allow you to play catch-up here or there, maybe working Saturday mornings or one evening per week, so that the inevitable issue at school for the kids can be addressed without it becoming a major concern.

While these rainy days may certainly throw your clock mastery out of sync, the highly effective single mum has planned in advance as best she can.

Habit five - It's all about me.

No amount of efficiency and dedication to what you have to do for your family and your work will count if you do not allow time for personal re-invigoration.

There is a time for delegation, to get away from it all to recharge your batteries, so you can come back refreshed and be able to take it all on again.

Habit six - Be fit.

Health is everything, for you and your family. Never be tempted to sleep in for an extra 15 minutes at the expense of your daily walk on the treadmill. This should be an A-list priority and if you do not make it so, over a period of time your efficiency will suffer and your ability to be highly effective, will be compromised.

Habit seven - Scratch a back.

If you are smart, you will realise that while you may be able to manage as a single mum most of the time, there will be times when you must call in for help. If you have a network of friends, good acquaintances and other family members you can turn to, you should invest a little in this support group by planning time within your schedule to help them out first. Covey talked about a "win-win" situation when he was outlining his seven habits and this is what you are doing here. By donating your time or other resources to help one of your contacts, you will have kept your side of the win-win bargain.

Yes, there's a lot to it, but don't despair. Online life coaching can help you drill even further into those seven habits and come up with your action plan for the future.

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