Can't find a minute for yourself? Have you thought of hiring a 'life coach' or 'lifestyle manager'? Maxine Gordon finds out more.

The life coach

IF there was an Oscar for 'busiest mum' then surely Marie Steenson would be a contender.

With four children aged from 11 months to nine years, a husband, and a full-time job which involved commuting from home in York to Wetherby and Leeds, it's not surprising Marie felt there weren't enough hours in the day.

Quality time with her husband and children were rare while DIY jobs and general housework seemed like an insurmountable challenge.

Marie, 28, of Heworth, decided to call time on her hectic schedule and turned to personal life coach Mel Bligh for help.

"I felt the time was right to make some improvement in the relationship with my family and myself," said Marie, who works as a practice manager for a financial consultant. "I love my job but I needed to get work back in control because it was starting to take over my life."

Mel Bligh's job is to help people identify goals in their life and work out the stepping stones towards achieving them.

For Marie, one of the first things to tackle was her long hours at work. "With my commuting, I was working 12-hour days. I'd leave home before the children woke up and be back in time to kiss them goodnight," she said.

Through the coaching - mostly over the telephone - Marie built up the confidence to talk to her bosses about changing her work patterns. The result was more than she could have hoped for - the end of commuting and a permanent post in York.

Another goal was to spend more quality time with her husband John. Now once a week, they cook a meal for each other and watch a DVD after the children have gone to bed.

Finding time for her own hobbies was nigh on impossible, but Marie was determined to change that too.

"As a child, I was very into horse riding. Now I am looking into taking my British Horse Riding exams so I could perhaps look after horses or teach my children to ride," she said. "Like most mothers I feel guilty about spending time on myself. But I have drawn up a rota for housework and my older daughters help me a bit. By just doing a simple task like designating where coats and shoes go, that has freed up enough time for me to do the studying for my financial planning exam."

Marie says you don't have to be a high-powered business person to benefit from personal coaching. "It's easy to allow your life to overtake you entirely. It's all about creating an improvement. I calculate my progress on an emotional scale. I have gone from being very pressurised and tense and nervy to being more relaxed and far happier with how things are."

Mel, who works with individuals as well as corporate clients, said her aim is to help people find the correct balance in their work and personal lives.

She said: "I can help where people are feeling not fulfilled or where something is out of whack. It could be someone who has lost direction, or who is very successful in business but feels their family life is suffering.

"I look at their values, work out what is important to them and how we can move them towards that."

The lifestyle manager

KEELEY Shaw is one of those no-nonsense, straight-talking Yorkshire women who know how to get a job done.

"I like organising and I am fairly bossy," says the mum-of-two. "I enjoy organising everybody else, so much so that my friends take the mickey out of me. But I get things done."

Keeley, 34, of Sheriff Hutton found the perfect outlet for her skills when she was a PA for a London businessman.

"I had to organise his life," she says. And now she wants to organises yours. She has set up a business, ASAP (All Systems Are Provided) which aims to sort out your 'to do' list.

Besides looking after your children ("I'm not a nanny"), Keeley is willing to do pretty much anything to make your life easier. In London, people such as Keeley call themselves 'lifestyle managers'. In Yorkshire, Keeley likes to describe herself as 'an extra pair of hands'.

She said: "My home services range from finding a cleaner or booking tickets for events to planning and organising parties, weddings and dinner parties.

"In the office I can provide secretarial support to any level, cover for a PA's absence, upgrade office systems, organise product launches. The list is endless."

She added: "As well as providing services for people I also help them prioritise and plan their time.

"The aim is to sort the 'to do' list - freeing up quality time that can be better spent with family, friends or simply chilling out."

Keeley's extra pair of hands cost around £12-£15 an hour, or if working on a large event, she charges a percentage of the budget.

Keeley is mum to Abigail, three, and Joshua, nine months, and her husband Harvey works in London during the week, so she knows all about the fine art of juggling responsibilities.

She said: "I know how difficult it is to work, run a home and look after the children. A lot of people will go to different agencies to get help running their house or office, but now they can just come to me."

For more information about ASAP, contact Keeley Shaw on 01347 878524 or visit www.asapyork.co.uk

Updated: 11:07 Tuesday, July 12, 2005