-Malcolm Forbes (1919 - 1990)


My son is 17 months old. (OK, all you seasoned parents out there, stop laughing!) I work full time, commute an hour to work each day, cook most meals, attempt other household chores and try to carve out a small amount of time for myself and my partner each day. Did I mention the 2 dogs and 5 cats? I understand lack of time. In today’s fast-paced, technology driven world, most of us feel stressed at not having enough time in each day to do what needs to be done. For parents, this pressure can be overwhelming. Not only are we trying to conduct our own lives in a manner that Oprah would be proud of (eating healthy, exercising daily, living our best life), and building relationships that even Dr. Phil couldn’t find fault with, but we’re also attempting to raise healthy, happy, well-adjusted children in a world that most often seems in direct opposition to those ideals. Where do we find time for family, work, personal development, the chores of daily living, oh, and sleep? The truth is, many of us don’t. We do the “have to’s”, an occasional “want to” and feel guilty about not doing the rest.


Focus on Your Accomplishments


It seems to be human nature to beat ourselves up over the things we didn’t get done, or didn’t do as well as we’d hoped. These negative thoughts do nothing to improve your life. Instead of lying in bed at night frustrated over the mountain of work left undone, reflect on the things you did do. They don’t have to be big things, even little things add up, and indeed, probably did add up to comprise the biggest portion of your day. A list might include:




made sure the kids ate breakfast


fed the dog


locked the front door


returned an important phone call


started a report


filled the car with gas


noticed that your child’s picture had a great-looking tree in it


wiped off the kitchen counter


made macaroni and cheese for dinner


let the dog outside before he peed on the carpet




You accomplished hundreds of things today, and probably did them all well. There is no use in poisoning the way you feel about yourself by focusing on the things you did not get around to today.


Let Go of the Guilt


This may sound strange, but guilt is selfish. It takes away time and energy from you, your family, and other priorities. Know that you are making the best decisions you know how to make, and are doing the best you know how to do at any given moment, and allow yourself to feel good about those facts. Release yourself from the grip of guilt and allow positive feelings to take its place. As you start feeling better about yourself and less guilty, you may even