Relationships
lifestyle
THE 8 FRIENDSHIPS YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE by OLIVIA BRIDGEN Our friends are our chosen family; they share our highs and lows of life and we tend to choose different connections that offer something different to our lives. So, in celebration of this month’s International Friendship Day (30th July), here’s the eight types of friends you need in your life…
1. The fun one: We all need a fun friend to lighten the mood. When you need a little push, they will get you out of your comfort zone as life is all about taking risks and having a good time.
2. A loveable know-it-all: Those who have all the answers, a sense of humour, love to be right and hate to be wrong. Even so, they don’t take themselves too seriously.
3. The polar opposite: They are the yin to your yang and you bring out the best in each other, balancing each other out and somehow gelling.
4. The listener: We all need that someone who will lend us their ears. They are there to let you vent out your worries, frustrations and other feelings without
the fear of being judged or misunderstood.
5. The parent figure: Their parent-like attitude is one of the many things that makes them different. They can be annoying at times, but they are the ones who truly care for you and are a natural protector.
6. The lifelong friend: Lifelong friends are rare but truly special. They are not necessarily someone you see or talk to every day, but they are there when it matters most – and when you need them, even at 3am in the morning.
7. The honest friend: Friendships should be built on trust and these friends reinforce the message that it’s important to have a strong value of honesty by showing truth out of love and respect.
8. The navigator: This is someone who inspires you, gives you advice without making you feel inadequate and keeps you headed in the right direction. Have a think about the friends in your life. Let them know how much you appreciate them and that you wouldn’t be the same without them.
5 tips to help prioritise your family time by Ian Childs, author of Your Own Personal Time Machine
with one stone. Be sure to make it fun, though!
3. Homework
Have you noticed how you somehow manage to get everything done the day before you go on holiday? You never don’t go on holiday. If you can make a holiday an immovable object in your diary, why not do the same for more family time? Here are five tips to help you find more family time and take full advantage of it.
While you shouldn’t do your kid’s homework for them, you can certainly take the time to help them. Homework is a great opportunity for you to get involved in stuff that’s important to them and build a stronger bond.
1. Time journal
2. Chore sharing
You can easily save a couple of hours by grocery shopping online. Hiring a gardener or a cleaner might seem expensive, but if it gets you back some alltoo-precious family time, who’s to say it’s not a good investment? The trick is not to think you’re saving money by doing these things yourself but that instead, you’re buying back some family time.
It may be far more effective for you to whiz around and do everything yourself, but by making chores an event that involves the entire family, you’ll be killing two birds
Ian Child is the author of ‘Your Own Personal Time Machine, a guide to getting your life back’, available exclusively from amazon.co.uk. in paperback and e-book.
Try keeping an hourly, high-level journal for a fortnight, and you’ll quickly realise where your time is going, as well as how much you’re actually spending with your family.
lifeinmagazines.co.uk
4. Batch cooking Cooking twice as much doesn’t take twice as long. Freeze the extra to gain time on another day. You can also batch cook with your kids for a double slam-dunk.
5. Outsourcing
July 2022 Life in... BROMLEY 31
