Skin care routines are so important for winter and they are an overall important aspect of a mother's daily routine. 

If you are good at time management and have nutrition taken care of, then you can benefit from these self-development tips and tricks. 

We wrote another article for five simple, easy and healthy breakfast recipes for you and your loved ones. 

If you are working from home, then you will benefit from this article about tips for work-life balance and balancing working from home. 

In this weekly blog post, we'll talk about the importance of time management and nutritional habits. It will provide you with some advice and tips to manage your time better and commit to a healthy lifestyle. We can all agree that time and energy are scarce and managing time plus eating healthy will give you more time and energy. 

We live in a complex world filled with uncertainties; however, there are some things you can practice for taking complete control of your time. Time management is the procedure of controlling the time you spend on specific activities. Good management of time allows you to complete more in a shorter amount of time and leads to career success. Here are the 7 tips to take control of your time.

Time Management for Mothers 

Time seems to fly when you are a mother; working or not, because let's agree to the fact that motherhood is a 24/7 job already. Time management can be tricky, but is there really a job a mother can't do. Here are a few tips to help you manage time well while being supermom.

Keep a daily or weekly journal: As much as it seems a luxury to have enough time for journal-keeping by a mom, let's reason with you. The more complex the job gets, the better planning it needs. So having an organized plan is a must, especially for you because let's be honest, what other tasks can get more involved than motherhood. Plan out your daily activities and keep a daily or weekly checklist. Nothing can be more satisfying than check-marking every item on that list at the end of the day. And hey, don't forget your end of day herbal tea because what is a good day without herbal tea.

Here are a few good daily journal options to help you get started and you can order online so more time for you to get other tasks completed: 

Good Days Start With Gratitude: A 52 Week Guide To Cultivate An Attitude Of Gratitude: Gratitude Journal

The Five Minute Journal: A Happier You in 5 Minutes a Day 

Utilize the morning hours productively: Mornings are hectic. From making breakfast, convincing the kids to get ready for school, preparing for work and etc. It feels like everything and everyone is in a rush because there just isn't enough time to get everything done. It gets even worse if you accidentally miss your alarm and wake up late for your workday. The best solution is to reschedule your sleep cycle so that you can wake up before the Fajr prayer. That time, believe it, passes very slowly. You have time for fajr prayer, morning adhkar, yoga, detoxifying tea, making breakfast, preparing lunch and hearing your kids discuss their plans about school. The goal is to have more time to prepare yourself and your husband for work.  

The critical ingredient is the Fajr prayers on time and doing your morning daily adhkar. Just take a look at the immense rewards and blessings for completing fajr prayer on time: 

The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) advised adhering to prayer times, particularly Fajr and Isha.

"If they [the people] knew the reward for the Isha and the Fajr prayers in congregation, they would join them even if they had to crawl [to attend it]," 

I have been using the Islamawareness website for my daily morning and evening adhkar. The duas are taken from a book called Fortress of the Muslim, which is a book full of invocations from the Quran and Sunnah. Here is a link to one of my favourite websites for daily morning adhkar which includes transliteration and translation of the duas and remembrance: 

https://www.islamawareness.net/Dua/Fortress/027.html

Once you have implemented these two critical ingredients in your daily routine, you'll immediately notice the changes and barakah in your morning and day. 

Manage shopping time well: Oh here, the advice is crystal clear. The goal should be to buy necessary items. It is hard in the beginning, but practice makes perfect. Since you can get everything online, you really don't need to leave the house for shopping so you could save some time by ordering small or necessary items online. Another great tip is to prepare a shopping list and if you can manage, look up your listed items on the internet as well before going to the mall. It will help you choose quickly. Be aware of the time-waster: window shopping could take a lot of time and end up leaving you feeling unproductive for the rest of the day. 

Don't over socialize: The trick is to give yourself a proper talk about your social life. Not only does it save much of your time but also very much of your energy. Confused? Introspect on how you interact with people and what kind of discussion you participate in affects your mood and energy. If you spend time in gossiping and useless activities within your social circle, it will cost you much regarding your physical and psychological health. If you shun it, the first blessing will be enough time to manage your life correctly that eventually helps better managing your home life also.

Involve family: Mother usually acts as an anchor in a family. Make it your strength and involve all family members in managing the household. As a mother, it will not only help you to sort your house better but also train your kids to be responsible adults in the future. If you mother an infant currently, make sure your husband participates in childcare as much as he can. Distributing and delegating tasks and chores in the household will get easier as your kids and spouse receive the necessary training to complete those chores. It will save you time, stress, money and energy for the rest of the week and month.  

You can get a lot of healthy nutrition and energy from eating good food.  For example, below are some nutritional facts about bananas, avocados and eggs: 

Nutrition in banana: One serving, or one medium ripe banana, provides about 110 calories, 0 gram fat, 1 gram protein, 28 grams carbohydrate, 15 grams sugar (naturally occurring), 3 grams fibre, and 450 mg potassium.

Nutrition in eggs: One egg has only 75 calories but 7 grams of high-quality protein, 5 grams of fat, and 1.6 grams of saturated fat, along with iron, vitamins, minerals, and carotenoids.

Nutrition in avocado: One-third of a medium avocado (50 g) has 80 calories and contributes nearly 20 vitamins and minerals, making it a great nutrient-dense food choice. The avocado is virtually the only fruit that contains heart-healthy monounsaturated fat – good fat! California Avocados are naturally sodium-, sugar- and cholesterol-free.

To read another great article about a morning routine of successful women, check out a previous blog post on the following link:  

https://www.hijabsandmore.ca/blogs/hijab-fashion-blog/what-is-the-benefit-of-a-good-morning-routine

Importance of Healthy Nutrition in Daily Life

What you eat is what you become. The statement seems way too vague unless you think about what can junk food do to your body in a year. Ever thought about having healthy nutrition in life? Well, now is the time to change and commit to a healthy lifestyle.

Healthy nutrition keeps you away from illnesses, unnecessary absence from school, work or from participating in the daily activities that you love. If that doesn't sound motivating, proper nutrition daily allows you to enjoy occasional cheat days on your favourite meal.

A healthy, fresh and nutritionally sound food and better eating habits is a man's primary responsibility towards himself. Healthy food will make you healthy, and good eating habits will help you maintain that health. Consistency is the key to lead a successful life. The same applies to your health. A good diet plan followed for a few days and then going back to old unchecked eating habits will definitely leave you lazy, lethargic, and confused. You might well be thinking that diet plans are fraud or something when actually it's not the diet plan but your habits that are making it difficult to commit to a dietary plan. This is the time to invest in healthy living and improve your diet. 

Here are a few tips to help you to get a head start on your day: 

From east to west, everyone today agrees to the magical wonders to warm water taken in the morning with lemon and honey. The detoxifying effects of this elixir are miraculous. No wonder it acts as an anti-ageing syrup. In general, drinking water has numerous health benefits, and it is highly recommended by physicians. A properly hydrated body is necessary to assimilate food best to give a boost to the metabolism.

I usually don't recommend products but this liquid honey by Miel is just wonderful. It tastes so good and does the job for me. I would highly recommend trying it out and to make it easier for you, click below to see the product on Amazon: 

There are certain foods with nutritional benefits that have an enormous impact on your health. Mineral and vitamin-rich foods are necessary for the body because these do not make the body fat but help in digesting and assimilating food properly in the body. In other words, they are the knights in shining armour as far as food is concerned. 

Now we move to daily life essentials that do leave an impression on your body in the form of healthy fats and proteins. One must make sure to have as much organic food as possible because processed foods are just not that great for your body in the long run. Those are not only unhealthy but could potentially contribute to illnesses in the long term. So no matter how much life seems natural because of processed food, it really isn't that great for your body. You may be thinking, what is the reason? The food that is preserved for long eventually loses its nutritional value so you can pat yourself for eating canned fruits every day, but the fact is, you are not getting the same nutrition as fresh fruits. Go for seasonal stuff; fruits, vegetables, meat. Anything taken purely will serve your body well.

To promote your health, eat a variety of fruits and vegetables—at least 2 servings of fruits and 3 servings of vegetables—each day.

Always remember to have a healthy snack and try to substitute the spicy chips or sugary biscuits with something like the snack bar below: 

You can find these snack bars on Amazon at the lowest prices, even cheaper than other big brand grocery stores. Click on the picture to scroll over to Amazon.

There are so many ways to manage your time and make the most of your day. 

1. Define a time limit for every task

Defining time limits to complete tasks helps you stay focused and efficient. Going a little extra effort to figure out how much time you need for each task can also help you identify potential issues before they arise. This way, you can make plans to deal with it. You will be more efficient if you work when you are at your best. The best way to do is to work backwards.

For example, if you have a task that is due on November 30^th, break it down into little chunks and set a time limit for each sub-task to help you achieve your deadline. It is a trick that works for me and makes it easier for me to complete my projects on time.

If you have a project where there is no deadline – then set a realistic timeline for yourself which aligns with your other tasks so you are not stressed out and can complete them easily. Remember, it is about the quality of your work as much as it is about meeting the deadline. Set a timeline that will work for you, your clients, your manager and any other stakeholders at the company.

2. Take a break before starting another task

When multitasking without rest, it cannot be easy to stay focused and motivated. Allow sometime between tasks to clear your mind and refresh yourself. Consider taking a nap, meditating, or going for a walk. Meditation is a great way to relax your mind, body and focus on tasks that are important.

Our mind wanders or starts thinking about other ideas, and meditation gives it a break that you need. You can use options such as YouTube, the Calm app or any other podcast that are available for free. Meditation may feel difficult in the beginning but it gets easier as you continue with the practice. If you recently started meditating, then I would start with a five minute practice and would increase in five minute increments as you get used to it.

You can also go for shopping if you are a shopaholic. Visit Hijab stores Toronto or order your favorite hijabs from an online hijab store in Canada. If you have extra cash, have an event coming up then shopping can take your mind off work and give you a little mood booster. 

3. Accept the facts

When your plans are unfulfilled, practice acceptance. Acceptance is about doing and recognizing the experience without judgment or resistance. Once you accept something, you won't waste your energy and time denying or fighting it.

Instead, put yourself in the best possible position to start planning your next move. When you accept it, you can focus on finding the solution rather than focusing on the problem. When you focus on finding a solution, you get the focus and clarity to accomplish this task and save a lot of time without worrying about the problem.

4. Avoid making excuses

The first step in making a good change in the use of time is to take responsibility for contributing to the problem. Look around you. There are people with demanding jobs; however, they are still living a satisfying life. These people have more energy, need less sleep, or don't suffer from anxiety. But the truth is, there are people like living balanced lives than you because they don't make excuses.

When you are busy making excuses or justifying why you cannot do something then you are wasting the time, mental energy, physical ability and emotional capability that can be used to accomplish your goal and tasks. When you start focusing on your priorities then it will be easier to accomplish those tasks and move towards your goals.

5. Plan your moves

Make a to-do list of all the tasks, whether it's submitting a task or visiting hijab stores to buy the best hijabs in Canada. Planning and taking a step or two make you feel better about yourself. Pick an option or two that you can take right now to get closer to being responsible for your time and life.

Be aware of the actual limits and plan your moves keeping the exact limits in mind. As I mentioned in the article, if you breakdown the bigger task into sub tasks then you will be more motivated to complete the task and it will not be overwhelming for you.

In terms of planning, try to plan your day around the five daily prayers (salah). This method will allow you to complete a task or meeting before duhr, asr or maghrib. This method will also allow you to prioritize your important tasks in your most energetic part of the day and you will be able to complete your salah on time.

6. Practice positive thinking

Positive thinking allows you to focus on your strengths and achievements, thereby increasing motivation and happiness. Practicing positive thinking will allow you to spend more time progressing and less time feeling depressed and helpless.  

It is easy to say to practice positive thinking, but like everything else, start small before you go too big. If you can do the small things right, then the big things will automatically take care of themselves. Start positive thinking by changing your perspective and how you view the world. Start by listening to audiobooks, YouTube lectures or podcasts.

Happiness just doesn’t come and it is a choice. Make the choice and intention to look at the positive in all situations. Another practice that works for people is to write down five things that you are grateful for on a daily basis. This practice will help you see the positive things in your life and avoid dwelling on the negatives.

7. Learn to say no

You can say no if your friends ask you for a dinner or movie plan while you have an important meeting the next day. Remember that your priority is your goals. The inability to say no can make you stressed and exhausted. You can undermine any effort you make to improve your quality of life if you spend hours worrying about saying no or dealing with this.

If you are over working yourself or feeling stressed out then any given task will take you long to complete. Say no to things that are not a priority or important – but if you have time then go ahead do the good deed and help others!

Taking control of your time in a better way is quite difficult; however, it's not impossible. It's important to remember that all that is important requires a willingness to feel uncomfortable for a while and a commitment to persistence.  

Time management, nutrition and mental health are all important for your overall health. We wrote an article to take care of your mental health - please let us know if you find these articles beneficial. Leave a comment below or on our social media pages!

So taking care of your time and eating well can have lasting impacts on your day and for the rest of your life because these are good habits. Do not give up if you fall short of your diet plan or daily routine but get back up and try again. It is your consistent effort that will lead you to success!

“Success is the sum of small efforts—repeated day-in and day-out.”  — Robert Collier

“By choosing healthy over skinny, you are choosing self-love over self-judgement.”  — Steve Maraboli

The information relayed is for entertainment and/or informational purposes only, and it shouldn't be seen as any kind of advice, such as medical, legal, tax, emotional or other types of help. Please consult with a doctor, nutritionist, professional, personal trainer before taking any sort of action.