Social Media Strategy, Training & Management for Small Business
All small business owners and entrepreneurs experience frustration with business goals at some point – think of it as a part of the learning process! But it’s important to find a way to keep a positive attitude.
Continue reading “How to Keep a Positive Attitude (in Your Business)”
“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” ~Pooh’s Little Instruction Book, inspired by A.A. Milne
Although I don’t recall that Winnie the Pooh was well-known for wisdom,
this quote offers some very good advice for relieving stress. It’s important to take time away from our busy schedule just to do “nothing”. No distractions, no cell phone, no email…taking a break from our daily routine can help keep a balance and reduce stress.
While Pooh’s favorite way to do nothing may amount to sitting under a tree with a honey pot, one of my favorite ways to do nothing is to visit the beach. I’ve found that just being outside in general, whether it’s the beach or the backyard, puts all the things that are causing stress into the right perspective. I’m reminded of how “insignificant” most of my problems really are in the bigger world around me.
How many of us take time out to do nothing, especially with today’s technology? As I watch my three children grow up, I wonder if their generation is losing the whole concept of “down” time. Between cell phones and the internet…it’s become much harder to escape the demands of work, school, family, friends…and just find time to do nothing. I’m not sure it’s such a great “advancement” to be accessible 24/7, from anywhere in the world – unless we consciously make an effort to take a break from it all and learn to balance the time we spend on our commitments to others and the commitment to ourselves.
Having a home office creates the temptation to work 7 days a week and never really “stop” working. It can be difficult to leave the stress at the office when your office is located 3 feet from your bedroom. For many of us who work at home, taking the time to do nothing sometimes means leaving the house to accomplish it. I’m fortunate to have my favorite do-nothing place – the beach – only a few miles away.
In fact, I’m making a promise to myself to visit the beach more in the next few months…to do nothing, listen to the things I can’t hear and not bother with the stress in my life during those moments.
Who would think a “silly old bear” could give such great advice?
Staying productive and keeping your home office running smoothly can be a challenge during the holiday season. It may be your favorite time of year, but balancing home and career requires a dedicated focus when most of us have a busier schedule and more family commitments.
Out of town guests or family may be staying with you and may even sleep in the room dedicated for your home office. Additional activities on the calendar can also result in you spending less time in your home office than you’d like.
But planning ahead and staying organized can keep that balance between your home office and your family commitments a happy one. And learning how to manage the stress in your life will help you be more productive any time of the year.
Managing stress really means that you are managing your reaction to events or situations. You have no control over the unexpected, so use strategies like the ones below to help create a more positive reaction to the increased demands on your time during the holidays.
Put every upcoming holiday event on your calendar now. Get your spouse or family on-board when prioritizing holiday events. If you have kids, then expect the unexpected during the holiday season. Last minute gifts, treats for the school party, costume emergencies for the holiday play…know that things will come up, schedules will get interrupted or your well-planned day may take a detour. But if you focus on your long-term business goals and getting the most important things done, you can address these family emergencies, stay productive and keep your sense of humor.
When you feel stress building up, have a method ready to deal with it. Whether it’s meditation, blasting music and dancing around the house, reading a self-help book or taking a jog around the block…have something in place to turn to when you feel the physical symptoms of stress.
Focusing on how overwhelmed you feel is not going to help you accomplish what needs to be done. So instead, think about what you have accomplished already, the success you’ve had in other areas of your life and give yourself a “pat on the back”. Give yourself the same positive advice that you’d offer a friend or family member who feels overwhelmed. Be your own cheerleader.
No matter how stressed you are feeling, there is always someone out there with bigger problems than you. The holiday season gives us even more chances to help others. Either through your church, local community or online community – step outside of your own circumstances and do something good for someone else. You’ll make a difference in someone’s life and get a better perspective on your own life (maybe your situation won’t seem so “stressful” now compared to the world around you).
The holiday season can mean fast food dinners on the run or ordering more take-out, neither of which is healthy or cheap. Plan quick, healthy dinners now for the upcoming busy season: freeze dinners or keep “emergency meal” items on hand in the pantry so you can prepare a dinner with just a few ingredients when time is crunched. Don’t stop your normal exercise routine. If you don’t exercise already, make time for it. Just 30 minutes a day can make a big difference and keep you feeling better when things get stressful.
Prepare a few strategies now that will help when the stress of the holiday season inevitably occurs. That way, you can enjoy the time with family and friends, knowing you are maintaining a good balance between your career and home.
Multi-tasking is normally one of my strengths. Juggling major projects and deadlines in the corporate world was exciting and I enjoyed the challenge.
After I had children, I took my multi-tasking to new heights – maybe the demands of my new job as a mom weren’t quite as intellectually stimulating as my old job, but I became an expert at doing more than 2 things at once, while taking care of 3 kids. Making dinner, feeding a baby and explaining “why the sky was blue” to another child at the same time were all just parts of my normal balancing act.
As the kids got older and I started working from home, I fine-tuned my multi-tasking skills even more. You really learn to get organized when you have to, and I developed systems for keeping up with things at home: meal planning, grocery shopping, housework, scheduling – while keeping my business “to-do” lists separate from home life.
So why do I feel like I just can’t juggle as many things now? My kids are older and more independent (my oldest doesn’t even live at home full-time), I’m not as involved in their school activities (no classroom moms in high school), two of my three kids drive so I’m not playing “chauffeur” as much…what happened to my multi-tasking skills?
Yes, I have to admit I’m getting older so maybe I can blame a mid-life crisis. But I think the real culprit is – the Internet.
As the Internet continues to grow and more of my business takes place online, my ability to multi-task is just not keeping up! I think it’s because the Internet and social media require an entirely new set of multi-tasking skills – and I certainly haven’t mastered those yet!
Between email, friend requests, online advertising, tweets, blogging, forums, connections…I’m feeling just a bit overwhelmed on what to do first and how much time to spend on every social media platform out there!
I remind my (laughing) kids that when I was growing up, there were only a few ways to communicate with people: face-to-face, phone calls (1 land line, no call waiting, no cordless handset) and written letters. That was it! Now I realize just how many different ways I can communicate with people and keeping up with all those different outlets has my head spinning!
So I’ve realized that I’m going to have to develop a system and strategy for managing my online communication, just like I have strategies for handling other parts of my business, my home and my family’s school, sports and social schedules.
Here are a few strategies I’ve come up with so far:
Maybe just the realization that I’ve got to take my multi-tasking skills up a notch with the Internet and social media will be a great start for taking control of the many new responsibilities I find myself balancing now.
Let me know if you’ve got any good strategies for multi-tasking!