Woman working on computer with work life balance and happy

From Stressed to Best: How Work-Life Balance Can Boost Your Health and Happiness

November 13, 2024

In today’s fast-paced world, having a solid work-life balance isn’t just nice—it’s essential. Striking that balance helps you do well at work, grow personally, and keep your health in check. Managing your time wisely makes you more productive and leaves you with enough energy to enjoy life outside the office. Not sure how to achieve more balance? Here are some ideas.

Coaching is a great way to achieve better balance. As a coach, Jenny serves as a success partner, strategist, and personal advocate. We focus on YOU and on being proactive.

How Balance Improves Your Work Quality

Creating balance isn’t only about cutting back on work hours; it’s about using your time off in a way that keeps you feeling refreshed. By setting manageable hours and making room for downtime, you can avoid burnout and stay mentally sharp. This extra mental clarity lets you tackle work with a fresh perspective and makes problem-solving and creativity a lot easier—skills that are valuable in any career.

You may have noticed a renewed energy and motivation after a weekend. We aren’t machines; we need downtime!

Coaching is a great way to impact your work-life balance. It brings clarity, vision, and prevents burnout. As a coach, Jenny serves as a success partner, strategist, and personal advocate. She focuses on YOU and on being proactive.

Thriving Through Free Time

More free time opens doors to personal growth you might miss with a packed work schedule. Picking up a hobby, learning something new, or even just catching up on reading can have a big impact. These activities provide a refreshing counterbalance to work. They can actually make you better at your job by boosting your mental health and giving you a broader perspective.

Being well-rounded isn’t just rewarding; it also makes you better equipped to handle challenges in both work and life. It enriches your life. Especially hobbies you can share with others like music, art and dance.

Boosting Career Prospects through Education

Earning a degree can be a game-changer for your career, leading to a less stressful, more fulfilling work life. Online degrees give you the flexibility to continue your education while balancing work and family.

Specializations like managerial accounting or learning a computer programming language offer skills that are in demand, equipping you for roles in structured, intellectually engaging fields. Continuing your education doesn’t just elevate your qualifications; it also helps you maintain a healthy balance between career and personal life.

Time Management: The Key to Balance

Good time management is a huge part of work-life balance. By organizing your tasks and setting priorities, you can keep work from creeping into your personal time. Setting realistic goals, focusing on priorities, and delegating where possible are all time-savers.

Mastering these skills means less wasted time and more productive work hours, leaving room for the rest and relaxation you need for a balanced life. Trainings like Jenny’s Make Time Your Ally workshop will help you sharpen these skills.

Avoiding Burnout to Boost Health

Keeping a work-life balance can reduce the risk of burnout, which is physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion from prolonged stress. Setting boundaries between work and personal time protects your health, allowing you to handle responsibilities on both fronts with a clear mind. Reducing burnout isn’t just about feeling better; it also boosts your productivity and helps you stay engaged with your work over the long haul.

Stay Focused with Regular Breaks

Regular breaks are essential to staying focused. When you balance work with downtime, you give your brain the rest it needs to recharge, which helps you stay sharp during work hours. This improved focus translates to higher productivity and better work quality, linking a balanced lifestyle directly to career success.

Work-life balance is the key to a happy and successful life. By making it a priority, you’ll boost your productivity, improve your health, and create time for personal growth. Recognize the benefits of a well-rounded lifestyle to avoid burnout and bring out your best in all areas. Managing your time effectively is what allows you to succeed both at work and at home.

Jenny completes her executive coaching ACC accreditation in January 2025. She is currently accepting clients who want to thrive!

by Jennifer Morin

vintage drawing of girl wrapping holiday presents

Cherished Holiday Traditions: 10 Fun Ideas to Bring Joy

December 5, 2023

Tradition is how the vitality of the past

enriches the life of the present.”
T.S. Eliot

I look forward to our Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions every year. I reminisce about childhood Christmases when my mother created a magical Christmas out of thin air.

What family traditions do you look forward to for the holidays? What brings you the most joy? Is it the food, the fun, the family time, the parties, or the music?

“I love to experience the smells, sights and sounds of Christmas,” said Pat Berg, a grandmother of 19 from Grants Pass.

P.S. I saved my favorite family tradition for #10, in case you’re wondering.

10 Ideas to Bring More Fun to Your Holidays

One: Ask Grown Children what their family would like.

“What I don’t like is the stress of trying figure out what to buy. Did they already have that Lego set, is this the right size, will they like this? That’s what takes the joy out of Christmas giving for me,” Pat said.

Two: Bring Happiness to Others

Reach out to someone lonely. Call them, take them to a Christmas bazaar or concert, invite them to dinner, or visit and sing them carols.

My friend Lynn Hopson invites friends to a cookie bazaar every year. Some of our friends bring food to the homeless. As a family, we put money in a Christmas jar all year, then anonymously give the money to someone.

The book Christmas Jars gave us this idea!

This is my family in 2011 decorating our tree. We had such a great time! One of our fun traditions is a different child gets to put the angel on the tree each year.

Another fun holiday tradition is having one person play “Santa” each year and hand out presents.

Three. Stick to Your Budget

My friend Pat has a budget for each family. I do too. Going into debt for Christmas presents doesn’t make anyone happier. It just causes unnecessary stress.

This year, she told me, one of her sons asked for museum passes as their family gift. A simple, stress-free present to bring Christmas joy!

Four: Recreate Your Parents Traditions With Your Family

I loved putting on puppet shows with my brothers and sister as a kid. One year, my Mom made a puppet theater out of plywood, then sewed Muppet-like puppets for us to play with. I started writing plays and the 4 of us would perform them for our parents. I continued the tradition when my children were young.

Another fun tradition I’ve continued is to make a new ornament for the tree each year. Crafts are a great way to bond as a family and make memories.

Other Fun Holiday Traditions

Many families have the fun tradition of giving out matching PJ’s. My friends Donna and Mike Staker started this tradition when their kids were small. It sure produces cute pictures!

Taking a drive to look at the lights near your house is a great break. It’s always fun. On my street in Grants Pass, two houses have a running competition to see who can fit the most lights on their house each year. It’s pretty comical to see. Now they’ve added inflatables, so their lawns are even more crowded!

Remember this? My 2018 blog contained some creative family traditions. Click here for ‘Keep Calm & Prepare Early for the Holidays.’

Five: Cultivate Joy by Doing Activities that Make You Happy.

Does baking make you happy? When I called, my friend Pat was making rolls for Thanksgiving and listening to Christmas music. How inspiring!

Other holiday traditions for fun times:

Attending concerts
Watching Hallmark movies
Surprising a child and watching their face light up with joy
Call an old friend to catch up

Mother baking Christmas cookies with her two daughters.

Six: Focus on the Spiritual

Take time to read scripture, pray, sing and meditate. Spirit-filled Christmas activities help us all feel peace and more joy at this hectic time of year. For me personally, music brings Christmas joy.

I love the carols, cantatas, the Messiah, and other inspiring music that makes my heart light. When I sing, I get wrapped up in the music and feel joy.

Seven: Give experiences or time, not things.

Write a story, make some music together, give tickets to a show.

My friend Lynn wrote a story and gave it to her grandkids one Christmas. “When my daughter told me (grandson) Peyton fell asleep with it under his pillow, I just cried.” Tears of joy, she means!

Eight: Read a Christmas Book

One of my favorite holiday traditions is to read a short Christmas book. My favorite author is Debbie Macomber, who seems to come out with a charming, nostalgic story every year. Everyone has their favorite! If you think you don’t have time to read, then the answer is simple: listen to the book instead. It’s a great way to do something for yourself while doing dishes, making cookies, food shopping, etc. I know it makes me more cheerful!

Nine: Get Outside.

Another fun tradition I had as a child was going to cut the Christmas tree down with my Dad, a forester. (We lived in Maine.) Now, if we can, we get out into the mountains or woods of Oregon to find a tree. The tree permit is only $5.

It’s a lot of fun even if there isn’t snow. You get to see sweeping vistas on your way to the hills, and smell the wonderful forest. Just don’t do what we did one year. . . we walked downhill to find a tree and had to pull the heavy tree uphill to the truck.

Studies have shown that being in green spaces reduces stress and helps us to be happier!

Now, what you’ve all been waiting for. . . . Drumroll, please!

Ten

My all-time favorite tradition is the family treasure hunt!

When we still lived in Vermont and the kids were small, my husband Frank started writing riddles for the kids, then hiding them.

We turned to this after Frank’s sewing debut had disastrous results.

Frank has a great time giving clues when he stumps the kids with his riddles. The cool thing is, even if you’re not good at writing riddles, you can find some pretty funny Christmas verse online, which he uses to make the treasure hunt more fun.

And at the end of the treasure hunt the kids collect their prize. Usually, it is four pomegranates. The joy is not in the prize, but in the challenge of the hunt!

Remembering childhood Christmases through a haze of nostalgia brings joy to me, as does continuing the traditions I’ve started with my family. What brings me the most joy is sharing experiences and traditions with the people I care about. I have to be careful, as we all do, not to overspend on massive amounts of presents in an attempt to re-create the holiday magic.

I have learned it’s truly not about the stuff.

by Jennifer Morin

How to Organize Food Storage – So Nothing goes to Waste!

April 3, 2020

5 Food Storage Basics

“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing.” *

The point of food storage is to have food storage in place BEFORE an emergency strikes.

I just made a trip to a warehouse (owned by my church) to purchase a bunch of staples like flour, sugar, wheat, salt, etc. Back in February, I had the thought: I need to beef up our food storage! Organizing your food storage is so important for peace of mind when disaster strikes.

The reason: partly inspiration, partly because we had used a lot of flour and sugar last December. My son Jacob and I had baked and sold cookies to raise money for a school trip. So, I thought we were running low. (Turns out, we still had enough flour for 6 months in our storage.)

That brings me to the first step in organizing your food storage.

One: Know what you have.

Have you ever gone to the grocery store and bought ketchup because you thought you were almost out, only to find you have 3 bottles of ketchup in your pantry?

It’s crucial to know what you already have stored. Not taking an inventory before you go to the store or get online leads to waste, because your family won’t be able to consume it before it spoils.

On the other hand, when you DO take an inventory of how much flour, sugar, yeast, oil, milk powder, salt, etc. you have stored, you won’t end up with waaay too much of one item. Or too little of another staple food. You might be surprised how fast you’ve used up the flour, for example.

Here’s what I do when I purchase food to put in storage: I put the date of purchase on the container. It’s helpful to keep records and to inventory your storage at least once a year.

Two: Track how fast you consume the food.

If you want to know how fast your family uses up 10 pounds of flour, for example, there is an easy way to figure that out. Simply label the container with an “open date,” which is the date you started consuming the flour. A piece of masking tape or white duct tape works well.

Then, when you use the last of it, note the date on the tape. It’s a great trick. Just make sure to plan for extra usage during holidays like Christmas, when you’ll do a lot more baking.

Three: Figure out what your gaps are.

What do you still need to “round out” your food storage? Do you have everything you need to make bread, for example? What about soup? How many different meals could you make with the food you already have on hand? If you only have the ingredients for 3 different meals during an emergency, you will get mighty tired of eating those 3 meals!

One thing we like to do for variety: purchase hiking meals and MREs. It provides us great choices without having to purchase a bunch of perishable ingredients for our food storage. And they last about 10 years! They are packaged in a pouch and quite light, especially the hiking meals. Everything you need to cook the meal is inside. Super efficient!

Four: Research how much food and water to store.

“If you are prepared you shall not fear”. *

Being prepared will save you from fear, because you will rest easy knowing you have enough food, water and fuel to provide for your family.

I have not worried about food, or even toilet paper, since this pandemic struck the world. Why? Because I had prepared for a disaster. I was surprised it came this soon, but that didn’t matter. The essential matter is to be ready for anything.

If an emergency like the Covid-19 virus comes around again, plan for married children returning home to wait it out with you. Currently, we have 2 adult children home with us, plus one teenager. And we have plenty because we have enough food storage to feed 5 people that will last 6 months.

Definitely plan for the worst-case scenario. Purchase the food that will fill in your gaps. You can do this bit by bit, purchasing some supplies every month. Or you can buy it all at once.

Five: Finally, prepare in advance.

You saw what happened during the COVID-19 scare when everyone tried to get their food storage at the same time. It’s chaotic and a bit scary. Stores started running out of many items like toilet paper, paper towels, bleach, flour, sugar, survival foods and foods with a long shelf-life.

Q: When is the time to get your food storage together?

A: Gather food storage BEFORE disaster strikes—not after!

Be part of the solution, instead of part of the panicking masses.

Resources:

President Gordon B. Hinckley, “If ye are Prepared ye Shall Not Fear,” Oct. 2005.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2005/10/if-ye-are-prepared-ye-shall-not-fear?lang=eng

*Doctrine and Covenants 109:8 https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/109.8?lang=eng#p8 D&C 109:8

**Doctrine and Covenants 38:30, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/38?lang=eng

Providentliving.org: https://providentliving.churchofjesuschrist.org/?lang=eng

Building a 6-month Food Storage Supply (with table listing foods and amounts) https://actionecon.com/building-a-6-month-food-storage-supply/

1 Year food Supply for a Family of 4 http://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/feed-a-family-of-4-for-1-year-for-less-than-300/

by Jenny Morin

Workshop: Get Back in the Game

January 10, 2017

Create your Life Vision & Fitness Plan for 2017

January is here, and it’s time to get back in the game!

Date: Wednesday, January 18 from noon to 2 p.m.

Location: True Juice, 124 NW ‘D’ Street, Grants Pass. Bring lunch or order one here.

Cost: $20 for this AMAZING 2-hour workshop! 2 for 1 offer: bring a friend and each get both workshops for $10! If you come solo and want just one workshop, it’s $10.

Speakers: (at 1 pm) Jenny Morin, Organizer & Coach; (at Noon) Doranne Long, Physical Therapist.

Get clear on your burning desire & VISION for 2017
Learn 5 steps to SUCCEED with your goals
Get INSPIRED for the year & start your vision board
Get a copy of Get Organized Quick! Price: $7.99

From Doranne:

Use it, don’t lose it
Less pain, more FUN!
Better physical, emotional, mental and spiritual HEALTH

Get a copy of Your Body Book! Price: $ 16.99