The holidays are approaching fast and furiously. I noticed some retailers having their Christmas displays up along with the Halloween displays to get a jump-start. The only problem I see with this tactic is that people become stressed earlier and earlier.
There is so much to do and so little time. Many people have found ways to simplify the holidays. I personally refuse to alter too much from the traditions that I grew up with. Added to the mix of keeping the energy up some of us are having to adjust to the time change. It is getting darker out earlier and we go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. This routine doesn’t exactly make you feel energetic after a days work. If you are going to get in all the things that you want to do before the holidays you have to stay focused to stay on course. For me this means making up a “To Do List”.
Rather than just jumping into things from all angles it is worth taking the time to sit quietly and list out the things that you want to accomplish by order of priority. What can you do a month ahead of time, a week ahead and a day ahead. Who can you enlist to help you? What are the things that are the “extra nice to have’s” vs. those that you really need to accomplish. As a personal example, I know that I would love to make little home-made gifts for everyone that comes through our door this season. This for me is a true “nice to have” . However, if I stay focused and begin now and do a little toward the project each day, I will be on course to make this a reality. Additionally, I don’t doubt that my guests will appreciate my efforts, but I also know that if I don’t make gifts from my own little hands, they will not suffer because of it.
Much like preparing for a big meeting or event at work, you need to follow some basic project planning tips and tricks. Make a List (a project plan) determine where your resources are (what tools and equipment do you have or need) and determine who your resources are to help accomplish the task.
Start now to get focused and then stay on course. The holidays will be less stressful and more enjoyable.
My daughter held a garage sell this weekend. It was on a Sunday because she had to work on Saturday. She works in retail and like many other businesses, she has seen a drop in the amount of money people are spending on clothing. Of course this has had an affect on the number of hours she is scheduled to work and therefore her pocketbook is feeling a bit light. Since she has a closet full of cloths that she never wears it seemed like a good idea to sell some of them and make a bit of extra money.
Beside taking all of her unused cloths to sell she determined that I needed to clean my closet as well. She dutifully went through my closet with me and pulled hanger after hang off the rod and threw my clothes on a pile for sale. I had many suits that I no longer wear. Not because they don’t fit, but because the last company I worked for was business casual. The dust had settled on many a shoulder of many a suit. I kept a few because you always need a good suit, and told her she could sell the rest.
She set up shop in our driveway like she designs the shops she works in. She had made minnie departments, one for books (no one bought any of these) one for VHS Tapes (another no sell), one for shoes, a box for things for $1, $3, $5 and $10. She had a section for jeans, house goods and electronic. She saved the best spot for my work cloths. She hug them from poles in our front tree! (I know my neighbors loved the look of this).
The jeans were the first thing to go. Next the shoes. Shirts and skirts sold, but no suits. My daughter thought for sure with the economy the way is and people looking for work that they would be excited to purchase suits at such a reasonable price. You have to present yourself well for a job interview, she said.
There were a couple of lessons from this event. One being that garage sales are more profitable on Saturdays as she was told many times from people who came by. Second, people do buy things when they are displayed and packaged well and third, our society has gone so far into business casual that suits don’t sell! I wonder if the suit makers are hurting as well.
I was at my chiropractor this morning and as he adjusted and then rubbed menthol smelling cream into my neck, he let me know that I had a nice sized knot in my shoulders. He then went on to tell me that I hold all my stress inside while being so personable and bubbly on the outside. I personally don’t think I am bubbly, I just like people and make the choice to be happy and see things as good and exciting. I like to talk and engage with people. That’s not so bad is it? After all, I am a coach!
Obviously, like many of you I never really know when I am dealing with stress. Even those events that we look forward to with delight are at times stressful. So occasionally I find myself in Dr. T’s office while he shakes his head and asks me why I waited so long to come and see him. He has known me for about 10 years and knows that the only time I go to see him is when I have thrown out my back. Of course, I can never tell him how I did it because I don’t know myself. This time I kept on exercising and doing my normal crazy routines. I felt pain in my arm, lower back, upper foot, etc., but just told myself it would go away in time. I let all the little pains and twangs of my body go until one day at a meeting I felt my neck and shoulder go tingly. A pinched nerve perhaps? As it turns out, all my avoidance was worse than I thought. I ended up in traction three times a week, not being able to exercise and in pain. Thanks to Dr. T. I am on the mend.
Lesson to be learned here is listen to your body and have self-care. You do no one any good when you are not in full health. If you want to know where the title for this posting came from you will have to ask Dr. T.
I came across an interesting website the other day and thought I would share will all of you. Our health is so important. Now with the H1N1 flu and just plain old flu season is upon us, we can all benefit from a little refresher on how to stay healthy.
We know we should sneeze or cough into the crux of our arm rather than our hands. We know we should get plenty of rest which includes a good nights sleep. We need to drink lots of water (something I am bad at lately) and eat good food. The site I found was Good Guide. http://www.goodguide.com/
Do you want to know which hand sanitizer is the best and most effective, how about which foods you should buy that are organic and which ones are o.k. to buy regular, want to know if the toothpaste you are using is harmful, or how about how to leave a better footprint on our earth.
I found this site so interesting and could spend hours just browsing around. I bet you didn’t know that Kellogg has a cereal that will boost your child’s immunity! It is amazing the claims that are being made to sell products. Want to know more…. click here. I think you will find this article very interesting.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2009-11-02-cereal-immunity-claim_N.htm
In the spirit of continual learning I hope you will share your finds with me as well.
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The holidays are approaching fast and furiously. I noticed some retailers having their Christmas displays up along with the Halloween displays to get a jump-start. The only problem I see with this tactic is that people become stressed earlier and earlier.
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