It's time to slow the blog down...

It will come as no surprise to those of you who stumble across my blog that I have near as darnit fallen off the face of the planet.  My blogging mojo has unfortunately been a bit squashed under the pressure to produce informative and quirky posts a couple of times a week.

To be honest, I'm really not that interesting and although I do come up with the odd occasional gem, I don't really think I'm that funny; a little quirky but not one to send you into side splitting fits of laughter.  Do I capture the attention of my audience?  I'm not sure, as I write for myself and if anyone follows my blog and comes back for more, I see it as a happy little by-product of my ramblings.  It does, of course, make me feel just a teensy bit giddy with pride and joy at what I've created and that people can react positively to what I've written.  It's flattering and does spur me on to improve on this skill.

That naturally follows on to the topic that, like most people in the world, I would love to write a novel one day. So until the day that I can fully construct a decent sentence and put together at least one meaningful chapter, I'll carry on putting my rather random thoughts to online paper in my blog.

When I stumbled across the Tots100 Slow Blogging Manifesto earlier in April, I took a step back and realised that I was indeed turning into a (extremely) slow blogger.  It made me feel good instead of guilty for not blogging at each and every free nano second of the day.   I'm a working mom who juggles work, family and 'me time'.  Blogging is 'me time' and also needs to fit in with 'us time' for myself and my husband.  It's all about getting your priorities right and finding that near as perfect balance between it all.

I don't need to post something each and everyday and to be honest, some of my favourite posts are the ones where I took time to create and develop them into something that was meaningful to me; something that I could be proud of.  Creating pieces of writing in a rush just in order to draw in the masses and increase my ratings or follower list would end up leaving me feeling a bit flat, as if the creativity was being drained out of me, like a word sucking vampire.  I'd eventually run out of ideas anyway...

You may be hearing less from me but when I do have something to say, although not always extremely profound or earth shattering in it's delivery, you can be safe in the knowledge that I've put a small amount of thought and effort into what I've decided to put up for the world to see.  That's all I can commit to for now and to be truthful, I'm okay with that.

Happy slow blogging.

Ax

Viking Stress at Work Study

Stress.  The dreaded ‘s’ word.  Many of us feel this at some point in our work day or week.  This combined with juggling family and other social commitments can really take its toll on busy working Moms and Dads.

Two studies have recently been conducted by small business supplies company Viking to try and see exactly how stressed we all are and what (who?!) is at the route of it.  The first study was a survey in which 2,000 office workers across the UK noted down their stress levels and what  they thought caused it.  The other group were a group of 200 volunteers who took part in a ‘stress thermometer’ test where their body temperatures were taken over a five day period.  The findings have been illustrated in an infographic shown at the end of this post.

What came out of the ‘stress thermometer’ test was that 41% of the volunteers recorded stress temperatures of 18C to 24C which shows levels ranging from ‘highly stressed’ to ‘anxiety’.  That’s rather a lot of stressed people in any environment to be honest!  At least they were less stressed on a Wednesday with only 32% feeling strain and (un) surprisingly, only 11% recording feeling stressed on a Friday.  More than half of the individuals found the beginning and end of Monday the most stressful times of day.  It makes you wonder why some people pull a ‘sickie’ on a Monday?!

Almost a fifth of people live in fear of losing their jobs with everything that is happening in the current economic climate and a quarter generally feeling stressed each and every single day as a result of this.  Having to hold onto a job for dear life also gives people the urge to bite off more than they can chew with nearly two thirds of people blaming stress on their current workloads.  Most of these people work unpaid overtime to cope with the workload.  Stress + unpaid stress in order to do more work to be less stressed = a recipe for disaster!

This is all having a negative effect on just under half of the individual’s health with many people becoming stressed as a result of feeling that colleagues are not pulling their weight or are simply incompetent.  This also has a negative effect on general physical wellbeing as people ‘stress eat’ at night (the majority of them woman…I know that feeling!).  I however, prefer a glass of red, but even that needs to be had in moderation.

Thank goodness there seem to be more considerate bosses out there than irritating co-workers with a quarter of people saying that their boss, with their inconsiderate attitudes, stressed them out.   It's still quite a large percentage and maybe one that people in senior positions should look at rectifying and quickly.

Viking’s stress expert, Neil Shah, who conducted the secret tests with the volunteer office workers, said: “This research shows that many people in the UK today are working under some dangerous levels of stress – they may not even be aware of how stressed they are. Tension and stress can manifest themselves in many different ways, but can be linked to long term health problems such as headaches, heart problems and depression. From a business point of view a stress free worker is a more productive, proactive and valuable one. Ensuring really simple things like people taking a lunch break or doing exercises in the office can make a huge difference.”



I personally like to cope with stress by spending time with my daughter and husband, doing things that I enjoy such as reading, blogging (when my writer's block is disabled), running and enjoying the company of good friends.

Taking regular breaks in my day is absolutely vital.  Once office cabin fever sets in, it can make you into all sorts of crazy.  I sometimes get the urge to laugh uncontrollably or my legs begin to twitch and my eyes go squint and I can’t see the screen.  I can only imagine that it must be a rather bizarre sight if not somewhat scary.

Having a bit of a laugh or giggle at work really does help to lighten the mood and actually reduces stress levels.  It brings people closer together so who knows, maybe your colleagues may be slightly happier to help you with your workload if they feel happier with you and the general office environment?  Some companies even allow pets in the office as contact with animals is shown to reduce stress.  Maybe one to put into the staff room suggestion box?

I took Viking's quick and rather fun stress quiz which basically confirms that I'm slap bang in the middle of being stress free one day and a bit less on others, which I think is pretty normal.  Visit the Viking site for further information on stress and how to combat it.  

Ax

The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Toddler Truth...

My nearly three year old daughter is developing the most wonderful kind and caring nature.  She also has a strong sense of what is right and wrong and has developed the beautiful, although sometimes slightly embarrassing, trait of just saying how it is.

I sometimes wish I could get away with half the things that she says but the need to not tread on toes or get people's backs up is always at the forefront of my mind.  I can spend hours listening to her too because most of the things that she says actually makes so much sense.

I've written down a few of the gems that my daughter has come up with, both so that I never forget them an so that I can share her completely honest and innocent views and put a smile on a few more faces.

Little one's views on my driving...

"Phew! We made it".  

This said after I parked the car outside of her nursery before drop off.  I drive ridiculously carefully with her in the car so I think that this little seed may have been planted by my husband, but nevertheless, I drive even slower!

Little one's views on Mommy and Daddy working...

"Mommy, I miss you" and "Daddy, I miss you".

Said first thing in the morning just after she had climbed out of bed.  She didn't even say good morning to either of us but the smile and huge hug that she gave us when she said it in turn to myself and my husband made my heart smile and sink at the same time.  We are working to provide her with a wonderful life so when we aren't working, it need to make every single family moment as magical and memorable as possible.

Little one's views on surprises...

"Daddy, Mommy bought you chocolates".

Well, there you go honey! Happy Valentine's Day!

Little one's negotiating skills at bedtime...

"Okay, lie with me for just a little bit".

Fair enough.  It's a good middle ground.

Little one's views on whether she should do a task...

"Nooooooo way!" at the extreme or "Yes, please!" if it is agreeable.

Seriously?  You are nearly three, not thirteen, darling.

Little one's reasoning as to why I should sleep in her bed at night...

"Mommy, you are feeling poorly.  You need to come sleep in my bed".

Thanks sweetie, but the last time Mommy checked she was feeling 100%!

Little one on what her Grandfather in South Africa is called...

"No Mommy, it's not Grandpa, that is Oupa!".

About the only Afrikaans word that she knows, but at least it keeps her in touch with her South African roots.


The sheer honesty of it all is so incredibly beautiful and humbling; the fact that a two year old can make you see the world in such a wonderful and untainted way, as it should be.

Ax