If only every day was casual Friday and you could wear flats and sneakers.  Sadly, most nine-to-five’s require you to put on your big girl pants and strap on some heels.  To make your work day a little less painful, we’ve compiled some tips and accessories you can buy to keep your feet feeling fine.

Inserts & Moleskin

Moleskin pads and shoe inserts should be every working lady’s best friend (next to things like email, your phone, and the snack machine, obviously).  They can help prevent painful blisters from forming, the inevitable ball-of-you-foot pain, and many other common foot ailments common in women who wear high heels.  Find the right supportive inserts to keep your heels comfortable (even if you have to stay late)!

No-Show Socks

If you’re wearing a classic pump or a slightly more covered shoe, you may be able to get away with wearing no-show socks.  These tiny socks cover the bottom of your feet, the back of your heels, and your toes so they’re invisible when wearing most shoes.  Plus, no more smelly heels!  Socks will absorb your sweat, also reducing the chance of friction blisters.

Switch Up the Heel

Sometimes the pain is stemming not from blisters or rubbing, but from the actual type of shoe you’re wearing.  Thin-heeled shoes, while fashionable, generally hurt more than shoes with thicker heels or wedge shoes.  If your office allows it, try purchasing a pair of wedges or trendier thick heeled pumps.  You can look just as chic and professional as you would in your go-to office pumps, but your feet will be thanking you at the end of the day!

Covered Shoes

While this might not be applicable for all offices, but most will let you wear some type of heeled boot as long as you’re not trying to walk into the office in straight-up motorcycle boots.  The benefit of wearing a covered shoe like a heeled boot is that it keeps your foot more steady in the shoe, so there’s less chance of slippage and friction.

Heel Height

Sometimes the best solution is to just wear a lower heel.  You don’t need to walk around the office in 4 inch heels when there are some midi and kitten heels that are just as stylish.  Wearing lower heels reduced the pressure you put on the balls of your feet and more evenly distributes your weight.  You still get some of the leg flattering and height boosting benefits of wearing heels, but you don’t have the discomfort that the higher heels bring.

Antiperspirant Spray

This may sound weird, but antiperspirant sprayed in your heels before heading out for the day can really help with blisters and rubbing.  Moist skin due to sweat rubs and chaffs against the material of your heels, but if you spray a layer of antiperspirant on your foot, it forms a layer that can protect your feet while stopping the sweat from even forming.  Voila!  No more blisters!

Whether you try all these tips or just some is up to you.  While “pain is beauty” may be some women’s motto’s when it comes to wearing heels, it doesn’t have to be yours.  You can still look professional and stylish at work without having to suffer for your shoes.

The work wardrobe has always been a toughie.  We struggle with the term smart casual on a daily basis and this tends to be the attire for most businesses nowadays.  However, regardless of your work’s clothing requirement (albeit smart, smart casual or extremely casual) there are five essentials you should have in your wardrobe.

Thanks to Motilo’s style tips, and a little imagination, you will forever be ahead of the fashion pack when it comes to your work attire:

The White Blouse

The white blouse is an absolute must!  Whether you team yours with boyfriend jeans and white courts or tucked it into your favourite floral formal skirt, it will go with everything.  So hassle free and a timeless classic, every fashionista should have the white blouse in her wardrobe, regardless of your work setting.

image via glamour.com

For curvy hourglass figures, aim for a fitted wrap style to accentuate your fabulous figure and for slimmer shapes – silk flowing fabrics look perfection.

The Bold Accessories

You can spend a small fortune on your work attire, and it’s an absolute minefield.  By opting for simple classic option like the white blouse, you can invest in some bold accessories to bring your outfits to life.  Chunky wood jewelry gives you an earthy look whilst jewels embody the vintage style.

And it doesn’t stop at jewelry.  Mix & match your jewelry with other accessories to look like the professional you are.  We love teaming the bland white blouse/black pencil skirt combo with bright red accessories all over, including your nails.

The Black Trousers

We’re not talking about the boring black school trousers that do nothing for your shape or confidence, oh no.  The black trouser comes in many shapes and sizes, and you need the style best suited to your shape and attitude.  Cigarette style trousers are super stylish and super flattering too for summer.  Opt for ones that show off your ankles to elongate your figure and tick all that tricky smart casual box too.

The Loafer

A cross between the sturdy brogue and the flirty ballet pump, the loafer has the smart formal look whilst being a bit of fun too.  Available in so many shapes and shapes, we love all the suede loafers on the market especially in fun summer colors out there at the moment like pastel pink and cool blue.  Remember to team your shoes with a matching top to complete the look.

The Chic Handbag

To finish it all off, you need the ultimate handbag complete with your make-up essentials, ample stationary, notepad, mini perfume and business cards.  The designer brand of the moment is Micheal Kors and their bags are stunning.  Various sizes and just a handful of exquisite colors. However, you don’t have to be drawn in by the fashion phase of the moment.

Mulberrys are still lusted over and Louis Vuittons have a fantastic fashion edge about them. However, we don’t all have the couple of hundred lying around for such luxury, try online.  Whether it’s a designer classic on EBay or an affordable gem form the high street, your work wardrobe needs one killer handbag!

Here is a really neat item I came across earlier at QVC (was on Today’s Special)  ~ the Aqua Flame Flameless Candle from Bethlehem Lights.  Enjoy two relaxing elements in one, water & light.  And yes, these belong in my office!

The soothing sound of water provides a tranquil mood as I go about doing my daily work while the candle light brings out a romantic ambiance on the dinner table at night.  Don’t you love the versatility of this candle?  I will take the lavender one please.

Other items coming my way are these Pineapples with Flameless Candles to spruce up both indoor and outdoor decor this season.  Pineapples are always a sweet reminder of my family’s Kauai trip years back so very nostalgic for me.  These sure are a great steal compared to similar ones at triple the price.

This post brought to you by BIC 4-Color pen. All opinions are 100% mine.

Living at your optimal potential often means walking the tightrope between constant, unrelenting work or catching up with friends and family.  When you devote too much time and energy into pure productivity, you’ll burn out pretty quickly and your motivation to succeed will fall rapidly.

On the other hand, you won’t be getting any closer to your ambitions if you spend too much time on yourself and don’t take your work seriously.  Instead of adhering to one of these two extremes, you need to strike the right balance between your career and your non-workday life.

In other words, what you need is balance.  With a bit of strategy and compromise, you will be able to do your work well and have enough time to train for your 5K run, make your significant other’s birthday extra special, and help mom and dad get on Facebook.  To ensure that you make the most of your time, steer clear of the following traps:

Unhealthy Sleeping Habits

It’s no secret, we all need a healthy dose of sleep in order to be both productive and happy (recent studies suggest an average of eight hours is necessary for normal adults).  If you go through your day feeling tired and lethargic, you certainly haven’t been getting the optimal amount of sleep.  Not only will this affect your working habits (decreased productivity and increased errors), but it also effects your health and stress levels – one of the most important aspects of having a successful work-life balance.

If you find you are getting into bed at a decent hour, but just counting sheep isn’t quite working, you may need to change your bedtime routine.  Instead of check emails right before getting into bed, do this an hour before you lay your head down, no excuses!  Get rid of the electronics altogether before you get into bed.  Instead of playing Flappy Bird on your phone, pick up a book. This has been shown to promote sleep.

If changing your routine doesn’t seem to be working, your sleep environment may be the problem.  If your budget and space permits, change up your bedroom.  Rearrange your furniture, change your linens (cheap dorm room bedding here, more expensive Italian linens here), strip your wall decorations, and paint your room a cool, calming shade of blue.  These elements could be the only thing standing in the way of a great night’s sleep to rev you up for the next day in the office.

Overworking to Pay for Unnecessary Spending Habits

Working overtime during the holidays or when you’re saving up for a big purchase is a great thing – it not only shows your employer that you’re willing to work hard, but I also shows you have the ability to see long term.  However, if you’re overworking to pay for bad habits or pointless spending you can cut, this can not only be having an adverse effect on your bank account, but also your working life.

Not only could the extra money be used for more important purchases or be put into savings, the time you spend working could be spent for some much needed “me time”.  Consider using apps or services like Mint to keep track of the extra money you make working overtime or odd jobs. Don’t spend the extra money you make and record the time it takes you to make that money. Visualize what that dollars could be used for or what you could do with the extra time over a two month period, and you’ll begin to see the potential in thinking twice of the extra spending.

Failure to Set Boundaries with Co-Workers and Boss

Are you constantly volunteering to take on new projects or help out co-workers?  While this may show that you are a dedicated and empathetic worker, you could also be sending the wrong message.  Having a reputation as the workhorse of the office could lead to having too big of a workload on your back, causing extra stress.  What’s more, if you are loaded with too much work and fail to meet increasingly difficult goals or deadlines, it will only make you look worse.

DO offer help and volunteer to try one-off projects at work, but DON’T forget to set boundaries and make it clear that you can’t be constantly be responsible for areas outside of your expertise. Setting boundaries will ease stress at work and free up time to focus on your personal life and goals.

Allowing Your Work to Follow You Around

Are you still working after you leave the office?  Does your work follow you wherever you go?  If this is indeed the case, you it’s obvious that your period for rest and leisure is obviously tainted. Even though it’s important to keep track of what’s happening with your clients on the weekends, devoting your limited time off to emails does not make for a healthy work-life balance.  Try limiting looking at your email to once a day.

If you’re aware there will be issues brought up during the weekend, devote a certain period of time to your work (for example, from 12 PM until 2 PM on Saturday), and commit to not exceeding this specified stretch of hours.

No clear goals

If your goals for the next year – or for the following few years – aren’t clear, you’ll get stuck in the rut of working aimlessly and to no purpose. This, in turn, will mean that you will be less energetic and not as ready to take on the day.  Concisely define what you’re working towards such that you have a driving reason to go to work – beyond just paying the bills and buying tickets for that football game.

Consider these possible traps that you may have fallen into, and take the steps to escape from a work-life cycle that is negatively impacting your overall well-being.  Remember, if you don’t take the right steps now, you’ll keep digging yourself deeper in.  Keep in mind, too, that an optimal work-life balance will allow you to take in every moment and have a healthy mental attitude.