The Occult

From time to time, we all need a bit of inspiration. Sometimes we can feel as if we are on our own in this difficult and demanding world. Are you the only working mum struggling to make sense of it all, juggling work, social life and the challenges of bringing up your children? If we are all honest, we all go through these ups and downs and question the meaning of it all, so it is good to see how others operate, to give us a little bit of extra motivation to shake it off and resume the battle!

Due to the social media revolution, we are able to interact with others in such a positive way. Now, we are able to take a glimpse into the lives of complete strangers and to really expand our social circles by interacting with other, like-minded mums.

One of the best social networks is, of course, Twitter and we have looked for some inspirational working mums within. Maybe you will find some inspiration from the writings of these women, but as you dive into the awesome power of the Internet, go a little further and line up some online coaching for your own inspiration. These days, professional coaching can really be the shot in the arm that you need.

Nadine Hill (@businessmum) from the north of England lists some of her talents as “plate spinner, fashion lover, biz owner” and she is also an entrepreneurial speaker. She has found that she is good at multitasking, balancing her roles of modern mum and business owner, as she writes a number of different books.

Carolyne Wahlen (@preventativehr) runs a business specialising in employment contracts, human resource outsourcing and measures to avoid those potentially damaging issues with employees. She is fluent in German, based in Reading and also juggles time as a working mum with Brownie duties.

Angie Stewart (@angiejstewart) operates a successful business consultancy with her husband. Somehow she is also able to manage the Live Covers Band and Kill The Jukebox, while also bringing up two boys.

Nobody is prouder than Brigitte Mehr (@brigittemehr) as we build our entrepreneurial dreams. She is involved in a great deal, writing a successful blog giving top Internet marketing strategies to us all, while collecting designer handbags on the one hand and promoting online coaching and mentoring on the other.

Astrology is a fascinating pastime, teaching us about the phases of the moon, asteroid identification, eclipses and the millions of stars in the sky. This outreaching Welsh mum (@serennu) also operates @astrologyblog and has an interest in music and comedy.

You may be familiar with Angela Griffin (@angela_griffin), the thirty-something mum of two who is a TV presenter and actress for Britain’s Sky TV. Fans of Coronation Street will remember her as the hairdresser Fiona.

Tina Weeks is a financial life planner, who wants to help people manage their money effectively, so they can live the life that they want. Based in Barnet, London, she is also known as the Finance Coach, (@thefinancecoach).

If you really want some inspiration, check out the real-life story of Sarah E Andrews (@sarahsaner), who documents her fight and victory over cancer, while being a busy mum and promoting her career as an aspiring fiction writer.

If you really want some freedom, you should aspire to be a digital nomad. Lea Woodward (@leawoodward) has been able to do just that, as she does not live in any one particular location. She is dedicated to this business model, while being a busy mum, helping others aspire to a similar life.

Michelle Dale (@miss_Friday) used her experience in career development and her passion for travel to help her establish a successful Virtual Assistance business. For the entrepreneur, she is the Girl Friday!

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

Summer is here and with it the call of the great outdoors. Before long, the memory of those elongated winter days will seem a distant memory. We really do look forward to the summer holidays and with every reason! This time, however, we are well aware how family budgets have taken a hammering due to the effects of the big economic recession. It is not easy to make ends meet, to pay the mortgage or rent and put food on the table, let alone find money to pay for those special summer trips.

It is traditionally very difficult to strike a balance when planning your budget and meeting family expectations and this is where professional coaching could help to put you on the right track. Everybody’s circumstances are, of course, different, so you should consult with your online coaching advisor to come up with the best plan for your situation. As you do this, we have called on our professional coaching expertise to look through the World Wide Web and find you ten excellent days out for you to think about this summer, each rather different from the other, but all for under a tenner.

Kids love models and grown-up kids do as well, so why not try Bekonskot Model Village in rural Buckinghamshire, where you can marvel at this “eccentric” recreation of a model Village, complete with mandatory model railway. Check it out online at: www.bekonscot.com.

Everybody is a fan of Harry Potter and you can see where they got the inspiration for Hogwarts at Alnwick Castle. This is the realm of dragons and medieval knights and can be a splendid place for children to release their imaginations. www.alnwickcastle.com/

Go way back in time by visiting Hadrian’s Wall, a place where you can view numerous artefacts from the Roman era and see some of the best preserved castles and forts. Visit www.hadrians-wall.org/ to get a list of all of the locations you can visit for less than a tenner.

Who would’ve thought that pleasant, rural Norfolk would have been the location for monstrous dinosaurs? Kids are guaranteed to love Dinosaur Adventure Park, where they can find out about the days when monsters roamed the earth. www.dinosauradventure.co.uk

If you believe in Harry Potter, you have to believe in the legend of wizards and it is said that the caves at picturesque Alderley Edge were once a mystical hangout. There is something for all the family here though as well, at this national trust designated site. www.alderleyedge.org.

There was a time when the Welsh relied on coal as one of their primary economic drivers. While this may well have been a very long time ago, the Big Pit National Mining Museum can still elicit a sense of excitement amongst the children as they journey down into an old mine shaft, dressing up as one of the miners and seeing how they lived. www.museumwales.ac.uk

Music is truly a universal language and we can all get great pleasure from going to one of the free events for families staged by BBC Proms Plus. Now is your chance to make sure that the kids know what “real” music is all about! BBC Proms Plus http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2010/whatson/plus.shtml

Kids love trains and even though today’s modern versions are not as evocative as the steam belching railway locomotives of old, just see how your kids are inspired when they see 100 or more of the old-timers at the National Railway Museum. www.NRM.org.uk

Take a journey down memory lane and indulge in your memories as well, as you give the children a glimpse of those far-off days. You can get free admission at the Museum of Childhood. www.museumofchildhood.org.uk (East London).

It’s not often that you can find things to do in London for free, but at the Tower of London, you can even take part in a treasure hunt on the beach! www.hrp.org.uk.

If some of these trips inspire you, consider making your life as a working mum more fun every day, not just during the summer holidays, by checking out online coaching options.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

For working parents and working mums, who tend to be the primary organisers, school holidays can represent a planning nightmare! You will have six weeks or more of time to fill for your children, well aware that this is quality family time, irreplaceable for family bonding purposes. You can’t help but think how the months and years are flying by and how, before you know it, the children will be all grown up and on their way. This makes you feel as if you want to spend the whole of the summer holidays with your children, as you soak in those summer rays. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could take a six-week holiday as well?!

Then reality strikes home. You could be self-employed, knowing that holidays are almost unheard of for you, as you put everything into the development of your business.

If you are within the ranks of the employed, you know only too well how your boss relies on you and cannot afford to be without you for that entire period, although you hope that he or she is flexible and at least a little accommodating, as this can make it all a lot easier.

Thankfully, professional coaching may well be able to help you to unravel all of your problems and make those critical decisions.

This will be the time to explore just how flexible your respective employers are, as mum and dad do their best to rearrange their time to accommodate all the demands. In certain circumstances, dad will take his two week holiday first and then when he gets back, mum will take her two week period. This could take care of four weeks, but it’s not really a palatable position to be in. Younger kids will find this very confusing and, as online coaching will remind you, you really need to try and maintain that family fabric as much as possible.

Maybe this is time to investigate the concept of telecommuting, which is becoming much more popular and might be a solution for you? If the boss will allow it, try and operate from home during the summer, at least part of the time, allowing you to be more flexible with your hours and more attentive to the kids. Plan in advance to show your supervisor how effective and efficient you can be, by trying this concept before the summer holidays come along.

If your children are a little older, why not consider enrolling them in holiday clubs, maybe a dance club, drama club or to play football? Plan as far in advance as you can as the best holiday clubs get snapped up relatively early.

The summer holidays call for a great deal of creativity on your part, when you have to fit in all your work duties and demands and make sure that you plan accordingly to make this time as smooth as possible. Now, more than ever, you need to look for professional coaching help to ensure that you are not out of your depth and remember that there are many online coaching resources available these days.

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

It doesn’t matter how busy you think you are, staying fit is so important when looking at your long-term health perspective.

Exercise is quite simply essential to our overall well-being, and you need to take time to plan your schedule.

If you have been putting it off, start right now! By exercising on a regular basis, you will be much more able to deal with the ups and downs of life, your stress level will be reduced and you can accomplish more without feeling wasted. Just think how productive you can be, in return for a regime that doesn’t need to take a lot of time from your schedule.

Get up earlier in the morning. Almost every fitness expert (you know, those people who like to tell us what to do) seem to agree that we do not need more than eight hours in bed each night. How many hours are you devoting? The chances are that you can cut back a little bit on your sleep and set the alarm clock to go 15 to 30 minutes earlier. Morning is definitely the best time to devote to exercise, as there is less to distract you and unless your time management skills are polished, evening time can quickly whittle way.

Use your lunch hour for something more productive. Most people enjoy an hour for their lunch. Trade in the traditional use of this time for time spent exercising. You might not be lucky enough to live near to a gym, but could take a brisk walk under most circumstances. Maybe this means you have to go out in inclement weather from time to time, but you will feel far more invigorated when it comes to tackling the afternoon’s work schedule. Walking is one of the simplest forms of exercise and as long as you remember to walk along briskly, so your heart rate is elevated, you will be able to get good exercise this way.

Don’t waste the time you sit in front of the TV. I am not suggesting that you ban your favourite shows on television, but while you are spending an hour or two, compose an area in front of the set so that you can do squats, crunches or some other kind of physical activity at the same time as you are watching the tube.

Always make sure that you concentrate on what you’re doing, as we are all capable of multitasking, after all. Figure out some simple exercises and do three sets of each. See how accomplished you feel?

When you have to do chores, take advantage of the situation. Chores are a necessary evil for sure, but they have to be done. This is the time to work out as well. Don’t opt for the easy way of cleaning, put some effort into it, even if this means that you need to get down on your hands and knees and start scrubbing! A physical approach to cleaning and work in the garden will all work for your health.

Plan some family activities. Working out with the family is sure to be a fun activity. A bicycle for each member of the family might well be a shrewd investment, as it will allow you to explore a lot of those local trails together. Now, instead of going to the movie cinema, indulge in a great family bonding exercise such as this.

These days, professional coaching experts reveal, via the web, a number of other areas for you to consider as part of online life coaching.

Explore specific coaching for women alternatives to help you make the most of the time available and to ensure that you maintain tiptop health.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

Self esteem and confidence can effect all areas of your life from your job and love life to simply finding the motivation to chase your dreams and goals. Lots of people are stuck in a career that they don’t really want to be in instead of following their dreams and going after what they really want.

Usually this is a result of a lack of confidence in their abilities and the fear of leaving a comfortable financial situation and leaping into the unknown. You will also find that people often feel uncomfortable about leaving what they know in exchange for a new work place and surroundings.

If you are unfortunate enough to find yourself stuck within a negative headset then there are a range of different things you can do in order to get out of it. Once you have done this you should be able to move on and achieve your goals. Here are 5 tips to help you gain more confidence and sort out your career.

1. Realise what you’re doing and stop it. It is very easy to slip into a negative state of mind and put yourself down. It is important to take note of when you do this and take control of it. Imagine a good friend is saying the same thing about themselves and then think of the advice that you would give them. Are you going to agree with what they’re saying? The answer is more than likely to be no.
2. Use The Services Of A Confidence Coach. If you have been struggling with your confidence for a long time then you might want to seek some help from a confidence coach. Confidence coaching is a great way of learning how best to overcome your problems and deal with them in a positive way.
3. Think Of What You Have Not What You Don’t. Don’t waste time thinking about where you have tried and failed. Learn from these experiences and focus on the great successes in your life. If you realise the good things you have then you’re more likely to stay positive.
4. Smile And Sit Up Straight. It sounds silly but sitting up and smiling gives the impression that you are confident and people will approach you as if you are. This makes life a lot easier as the first impression you will receive is going to be a good one.
5. Get A Better Idea Of How To Advance In Your Career. A good career coach will be able to help you get ahead in your current job or advise you on finding a new one. Career coaching can help you to sort out what skills you have, which you need to develop and how best to sell yourself at a job interview. It is easy to find a coach near you or you have to do is type in a phrase like Career Coaching London into a search engine.

These 5 basic tips for helping to improve your confidence are all great ways to begin. There are a number of different steps that you can use to help improve your confidence but one on one coaching will help.

The Work and Families Act was lauded as being advantageous to mums-to-be when it was introduced in 2007. After all, nine months of statutory maternity pay was available, with up to a year off work allowable. For the family, much more time and attention could be devoted to the task of getting ready, receiving and raising the child during these critical periods. Within the caring society that we live, maternity leave is seen as a human right, even though certain pressures can arise between the employee and the employer as part of the ongoing working arrangement. Employers must take into account that pregnancy is possible among the female employees and they must be able to work within the law, by taking on temporary staff as needed to cover for any women that might be on maternity leave. This is bound to cause a certain amount of disruption, but in the majority of situations, this is taken in stride.

There is a new clause available for the mum on maternity, allowing her to “keep in touch” through the allocation of 10 legislatively permitted days, during which she can attend work and receive a certain number of payments. This element of the legislation was introduced by Parliament to try and smooth over the disruption and the disconnection that could otherwise occur between employer and employee over this lengthy period of time.

There are many ways that Mum can take advantage of “keeping in touch” days, looking at it from different angles. Mum will be able to keep on top of those latest trend changes. It is certainly possible to do a lot of research while remaining at home and to get all kinds of e-mails and other notifications when on leave, but there is nothing to replace that feeling of actually being at your work place, talking and interacting with other staff members and seeing how new policies and procedures are actually working. By “keeping in touch” strategically this way, especially as time approaches to go back to work, the employee is more likely to be able to hit the ground running.

Mum may have been involved with a particularly challenging project when baby called. Those keeping in touch days would be particularly advantageous for her in this case, allowing her to continue to follow through and to impart her valued skills. In an ideal scenario, we would not want the business to suffer in any way and we would not want Mum to be at a disadvantage of any kind when it comes to her career, due to the fact that she was involved in a pivotal project. By using those keeping in touch days, she would just be “behind” in terms of her time spent moving forward.

Mum will be able to interact with her temporary replacement during the time that she is keeping in touch, able to see any issues or problems as they are arising and predicting situations that may have arisen without formal supervision, otherwise.

Each “keeping in touch” day is also paid by the employer and does not affect the amount of maternity leave pay that she may have. This can be a little boost, financially, when it is much needed.

As an extended period away from your work can be challenging indeed, you may well have to seek out professional coaching to give you a good idea how to approach it. These days, online life coaching, specifically online life coaching for women, is a service dedicated to helping us understand how to cope with every distinct phase of our personal lives and business careers.

Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!

For the busy mum who needs additional sources of income, self-employment may seem very palatable. If it were possible to set your own hours, keep up with all the household chores and family commitments and still get a meaningful income, this would be an ideal scenario! Many mums in this position turn to direct selling and of the more than 50 million people estimated to work in this style of business worldwide, almost 70% are women.

So many things can stand in the way of the mum when it comes to getting back to work after a pregnancy or achieving some additional income as a family grows, but professional coaching - particularly coaching for women, can help quickly make these things an achievable possibility. It’s difficult to set a fixed schedule with a family involved, as some of us who have been down that road can testify that any number of crises and last-minute panics can push us off track quite easily. Kids in school are so vulnerable to what seems to be the smallest virus and certainly the school hour-days you had set aside can be suddenly compromised. You might think about a part-time, flexible, direct selling business and if you do, online life coaching can definitely help you focus and get on the right track.

Think about some important aspects before you commit to starting your direct selling business.

- Firstly you must really ask yourself whether you are a socialite, are outgoing and love to meet people. Of course you aren’t a hermit, its just that the business needs you to be very astute in social environments and forward reaching. Search your soul for this answer and be sure that you are ready for this type of scenario before you proceed.

- How good is your research? As we know, the Internet can uncover a wealth of information about any subject. Look into the concept of direct selling and learn all you can about the companies you are considering an involvement with. Direct selling can be a minefield at times and you might come across some so-called opportunities that are very similar to pyramid schemes. Be careful if you come across a program that requires you to sign other people up for financial remuneration. Always check references and contact the testimonial givers as well.

- Direct sales opportunities abound in various industries. Maybe you have an existing hobby that you can set up a business around? Direct selling opportunities exist in childcare, book sales, clothing, beverages, cosmetics, supplements, party supplies, scrap booking, toys, weight management and a host of others. Try to get involved in something that you really like, this is surprisingly important.

- Be wary of any significant start up fees. Start up fees should only be relatively low, for example an initial kit of supplies to start you off. Are you happy with the quality of the product concerned? Would you buy it yourself - if not don’t think that you’ll be able to sell it to acquaintances, friends or friends of your friends without some repercussions!

- Maybe you know somebody who is already into direct selling? While you might not expect them to give away any trade secrets, why don’t you brainstorm with them and you will undoubtedly pick up some great tales from the sharp end to help you decide what to do.

Once you’ve thoroughly investigated a direct selling opportunity and you’re ready to invest in it, the next step is to develop a clear vision of what you want from your business. Set your income, lifestyle and contribution goals as a next step. Once you’ve written up your vision, start taking action by drawing up your first ten steps to getting your new direct selling business off to a flying start.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Sometimes you feel that pure adrenaline alone is keeping you going and you wonder how you are able to survive, let alone function well at work and juggle all the other requirements of being a busy mum.

You realise that you would do well if you could work to a schedule and manage things much more effectively, but your new arrival is not aware of your need to schedule things, at all! During these crucial formative years, the baby is entirely dependent on your response and it sometimes feels as if you are working a 9-to-5 shift in reverse at night, as you answer to your newborn baby’s requirements.

As a devoted mother, you are certainly enjoying your life in your new role, but from time to time you may feel as if you are at the end of your wits, calling on every element of your being to conquer what would otherwise seem to be perfectly mundane tasks. Isn’t in awful, when you can see the new work week approaching and not know how you’re going to cope?

It can be extraordinarily difficult to maintain a schedule and you may have heard the phrase “time management” many times from well-being people, but it is nevertheless essential that you maintain a routine of some kind as closely as possible.

Unless we have a routine, we will just bounce from one problem to another and build up an increasing level of stress, compounding and affecting other areas as we go. So, insofar as you will have to practice an element of damage control here, get into your routine!

In the mornings, keep your procedures as simple as possible. It can be very difficult to get going in the morning if your night’s rest has been disrupted by the needs of the baby. Nevertheless, there is much to do and if you do these items in the same order each day, it will be easier.

Your top priority must be your exercise regime. Don’t be tempted to take an extra 15 minutes in bed. While you’re on the treadmill, the coffee can be brewing and the early morning headlines, traffic and weather ahead of you on the TV. At the appropriate time, get the children out of bed and ensure that they do their own chores as well, to help you out.

After a while, you will get this procedure down to a finite science, every single day. This can be the most stressful time of the day as you are trying to wake yourself up and focus on what you have to do. If your routine is clockwork and all the other members of the family understand this and also do their bit, you’ll be better prepared to get out of the door running.

From time to time, you might think that you have nothing available when it comes to keeping up with your “me time” and enjoying your social life, having to concentrate so hard on work and the baby. Take time to foster a good relationship with a caregiver and understand how important this person can be to you.

You will hopefully have an understanding boss at work. Never take advantage of the situation though and only call in any favours or use any delay allowances or personal days if absolutely necessary. If you always play fair, whenever emergencies come along, you will be more able to deal with this situation and to meet with your boss’s favour.

At work, try not to schedule anything too technically demanding for first thing in the day and make sure you do not overload your schedule with unrealistic expectations.

During your 9-to-5 routine at work, time management is very important, as you don’t want your work requirements to spill over into your personal time.

In most cases, professional coaching can focus your attention on key areas of your life. Dedicated coaching for women is praised by many in your situation, who have turned to online life coaching to really help them get past “the wall.”

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.

There is little to match the exuberance or ecstatic feelings that you and your whole family share when a new arrival is on the way. You will be beside yourself with joy as an expectant mother and you can be sure that this will be one of the finest moments of your family’s life.

Friends and acquaintances will also be over the moon and will all look forward to the big day with much anticipation.

As your feelings of happiness know no bounds, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the World would be happy for you as well and while this is largely the case, certain elements of negativity may, however, still arise.

Surely, your boss is happy for you, but he or she may not be on quite the same level as everyone else and be particularly concerned with the operation of the business. In fact, in this case the business may come squarely in first place and you may have to be particularly persuasive if you are considering flexible working hours for your busy times ahead.

If your boss is something of a dinosaur when it comes to flexibility in these situations, then you will have to be creative if not very persuasive.

Seek out a co-worker or friend who has been in the position that you are in now and sit down to have a heart-to-heart conversation with her, to see how the two-way communication with her boss was initiated and how the situation panned out. While you are at this research stage, talk to other friends in other industries or professions and see what solutions they were able to come up with.

Your creativity may well unveil to you the idea of working from home or telecommuting, especially if you are forward thinking. The good news is that this is becoming more and more of a trend as companies seek to save overheads. If the type of work that you do can be handled in this way, this may well be an option for you.

Above all else, you must first decide what would be the absolutely ideal situation for you. In other words, be careful what you wish for!

Look for an ideal scenario and come up with options for less-than-perfect deals. Above all else, look at your home situation and understand what you will be able to accommodate before asking.

Be strategic, yet careful when you discuss ideas and options with colleagues. In a situation where you collectively share the workload in your office, see how you could come up with a more flexible schedule by dividing up the work creatively. You must be more than willing to pull your weight, of course, and before you consider approaching others or your boss with the idea, be fully confident that it will be a win/win/win position for everybody.

Some of us have jobs that expect us to complete certain tasks as part of a “job and finish” approach, regardless of the time that it takes and as part of your new schedule idea, contemplate whether you will be able to achieve this goal during your personal time.

The more you can show your boss that you would be equally as productive, if not more productive by working a flexible schedule, the more the dinosaur is likely to stop chewing the vegetation and listen to you!

Contemplate online life coaching as a valuable source of research. Luckily, coaching for women can generally help by suggesting various options for a variety of situations. In this day and age, professional coaching is not just for sports players or executives any more!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

Tens of thousands of applications are there to really help us enjoy our iPhones. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the iPhone has completely revolutionised the way that we communicate.

Other manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the popularity of the iPhone and much of its dominance appears to be associated with the sheer number of applications that we can enjoy.

There are applications for almost everything under the sun and you can do amazing things with your iPhone! As a working mum, here are some awesome iPhone apps that you should not be without.

The Baby Brain is an app for everyone with newcomers. This is an iPhone app that is designed to help you track sleeping patterns, breast-feeding time and diaper changes. It’s rather easy to set up and you can just tap the screen when an event starts and ends, as you record according to configured parameters. It even allows you to see which place the baby fed from previously, when you are breast-feeding. The app even has a timer which will alert you when you are breast-feeding; if for example you are working on a project at the same time.

If you are working on a budget, this one could be great - ShoppingPal prompts you to take a picture of an item that you might have your eye on, type in a few details - maybe the price, the size or other important details, and save for future use. Now when you comparison shop you don’t have to rely on your memory or rush back and forth between stores, trying to make up your mind. You know how stressful this can all be if you have kids in tow or have little time to spend anyway as you balance family issues with your work.

The people who design iPhone applications are certainly creative. You can even get an application to alert you to a crying baby, and all you need to do is to activate the app and put the phone next to the sleeper and when the sound rises above a certain, predetermined rate, the phone will automatically call you! Baby Phone Deluxe works great as a baby monitor.

If you are planning a lengthy journey, why not bring along Scribble Lite? This iPhone application allows the kids to paint, sketch or draw in different colours and, just like the Etch-a-Sketch games of the 60s, all you do is shake the phone to erase the masterful creation and start again.

When you have time to devote to reading, Kindle for iPhone can present you with full-length books for your consideration. You don’t have to worry about lugging around textbooks, or those books that you have to “absorb” yourself in for a work project. These apps allow you to pick the work up and put it down whenever you need to, inserting a virtual place-holder wherever you pause.

Technology is certainly making the life of a working mum much fairer. Consider also specific coaching for women as professional coaching becomes more and more popular. You can be far more productive and online life coaching may well be your gateway.

Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.