Expert: Jan Hayner - 9/7/2007

Question
I miss my family but we need the money daughter going to college three kids I make 57,000 wife makes 60 I need to find a job near by my home but have little time to look and exercise is non existing

Answer
Hi Jeff, I hope I can help:
You sure are overworked, I am thinking that you are also including travel time to and from work in that list of hours too. However, it is a long time to be away from your family. At those hours, you have to 'meet yourself coming and going' as they say. By the time you get home, it is almost time to go to bed!

I can see with the child that is going to college (expenses are high) and the other three that money can be an issue, but is it worth the loss of a family life.

I commend you for being such a great provider, father and husband and really caring about your family and increasing your quality of life.

I have several suggestions for you that may help you to put things into perspective a little and may even straighten out the problem.

1. Evaluate just how much money it is that you need and cut back wherever possible. Look at it as not being for a lifetime, only for a short period of your life.

2. If possible, invest some so that your money makes more money for you.

3. Go to careerbuilder.com and set up an account (doesn't cost anything) and write a resume and file it. Then you can put it for jobs in your area and when you find one, automatically send them your resume. On a nightly basis this will only take a few minutes and will save you tons of running around.

4. There are exercises that you can do while sitting at a desk, in your easy chair or driving in a car. It may sound funny, but heck, nowadays you have to think of anything you can to add a little exercise to your life.

Such as:
Driving in a car- facial exercises to stretch the face, jaw and neck. Breathing in deeply and exhaling to stretch and tighten stomach muscles etc.

Sitting in a chair- Use a dumb bell to lift and lower with your feet, ankles and leg movements. Also if you are sitting and watching TV you can do this with your arms for biceps etc. Put a tennis ball under your chin and slide it from shoulder to shoulder using your chin and neck muscles.
Arm exercises work well too, if it means sitting and bending over to touch your toes.

Get on the floor- Sit ups, leg stretches, deep knee bends, etc.

Watching TV- put a stationary bike in the living room and go for a ride while watching. Or improvise and get an exercise pedaler that they use for therapy (about $15.00) it is something you use while sitting and you just put your feet on it and pedal!

Not all exercises have to have equipment to do, improvising sometimes works better, is faster and does the job just as well.

Some of these exercises you can also do as a family and you could have a contest to see who loses the most pounds, who trims down the most or who can come up with the best 'new' exercise. That way the whole family would benefit!


You don't say what kind of work that you do, so it is hard to incorporate ideas on that level.
Also, you don't mention if you work on the weekends and that would also help to give you some more ideas.

If you want to, just send more information in another letter and I may be able to come up with some more ideas for you.

Good luck and give your family a picture of yourself, so they don't forget what you look like.
I bet that you find a new job in no time at all by going through careerbuilder.com.

Good Luck and Best Wishes,
Jan Hayner