Work Smart Live Smart with Beverly Beuermann-King

EP 171 – Less Clutter, Less Stress

I admit that I love the satisfaction after I have cleaned my office or purged my files.

You don’t have to be self-employed or work from home to have a home office. It’s easy for this workspace to become messy, dusty, cluttered, and disorganized. As you work in your home office, things stack and layer around until one day, you realize that it has gotten way out of hand.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Organizing Your Home Office Day:

Start off small. Pick five things and throw them out or return them to their proper location.

File, Shred or recycle unwanted paperwork that is sitting on your desk.

Attack one file drawer at a time. Purge out-dated documents or notes.

Take stock of those things in your office of everything you're no longer using, especially unused or broken office equipment, and cut back to only the essentials.

Curb Cable Clutter. Use a surge-protected power bar to prevent your computers and other equipment from frying during an electrical storm or other power surge. Bind the remaining cables together with cable ties, so they stay out of your way.

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 170 – Sleep Deprived

Millions are too sleepy for sex, according to a poll by the National Sleep Foundation.

Many of us are sleeping poorly which is causing us to be sleep deprived, and it’s taking a serious toll on professional relationships, productivity, public safety and even the most intimate aspects of our lives.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Napping Day:

A short nap of 20 minutes can help to improve mood, alertness and performance. It can be extremely effective at eliminating fatigue-related accidents and injuries. A 90-minute nap can be extremely effective, if you can schedule it into your day.

Naps can be typed into three different categories:

1. Planned napping involves taking a nap before you actually get sleepy.
2. Emergency napping occurs when you are suddenly very tired and cannot continue with the activity you were originally engaged in.
3. Habitual napping is practiced when a person takes a nap at the same time each day.

I love my naps and I need my naps. They help me through my afternoon slump and allow me to carry on with my projects in a more productive and creative way afterwards.

Discover how to take small steps towards a healthier, happier, less-stressed you by visiting my website at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 169 – Be Awesome

Today is the International Day of Awesomeness! This day gives us the opportunity to celebrate every person, place, thing, or idea in the world that is awesome. I encourage all of the participants in my workshops to look for the awesome. As the official tag line points out, “No one’s perfect, but everyone can be awesome.”

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating International Day Of Awesomeness:

Today is the day to both perform and celebrate feats of awesomeness.

Celebrate by posting about someone who epitomizes the ideals of awesomeness. It may be a family member, friend, or colleague who receive this special recognition.

Be curious. Start a conversation with someone that you have seen everyday, but have not talked to. You may be surprised by their story or by the things that you have in common.  It will brighten their day — and yours.

Build an awesome workplace, one smile at a time.

Explore the “What If”. What if we didn’t do blank anymore? What if we changed blank? What if we started blank. See where the answers take you. This simple exploration could improve your relationships or your workplace.

Wishing you an awesome day!

EP 168 – Don’t Panic

Help! It’s Panic Day.

This awareness day is not about panic attacks or panic disorder which is serious and affects 2-3% of the population. Today is the day to examine how we may over-react to the stress in our everyday lives and to find strategies that will keep us focused and healthy.

You know the over-reactions that we are talking about.  We even have sayings that go with them… such as don’t cry over spilled milk… Or don’t make mountains out of mole hills.

Anxiety and stress have their place in our life. They help us to avoid danger. They keeps us thinking and being creative. And they keep us on our toes so that we don’t become complacent.

The point at which worry becomes unhealthy is when it stops pushing us to act and move forward.  This panic can be paralyzing and prevent us from thinking clearly enough to find the best strategies to deal with the source of our anxiety.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Panic Awareness Day:

Listen to the way that you describe the situations that you find yourself in.  Do you use extreme-type words?  Do you awfulize everything?  Choose the words carefully. 

Evaluate how you are feeling in relation to the situation.  Are you feeling helpless or hopeless? 

Notice what happens to your body when you feel this way.  Where does it hit you the most? 

Try different relaxation techniques to combat those anxious feeling.

Evaluate the situation to see what options you have.  Keep yourself moving forward in the problem solving mode and the anxiety will be kept in check.

What is your release?  Sometimes we need a quick strategy to release the anxiety so that we can start to problem solve.  This may include a good scream, a run, or a round or two on the punching bag.

For more information on coping with mental health issues, sign up for one of my on-line courses at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 167 – How Not To Procrastinate

How many of us couldn’t use an extra hour each day? Planning before starting each day, is said to save us this hour, as we are more effective at using the time that we have. Sometimes though we just can’t seem to get our act together.

Maybe we just can’t seem to get past our urge to procrastinate. It may be that we are being too perfectionistic, or we dislike the task or person that we have to work with. We could be too tired or fear that we might fail. Sometimes it is just a matter of the task not being a part of our goals and priorities.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Procrastination Week:

To Avoid Procrastination, we need to:

Find the answer to ‘What’s In It For Me”. Why do I need to accomplish the task at hand and what benefit will there be for me when I finish it?

Chunk your time – set a timer. The timer helps you to become more realistic about how long various tasks take.

Watch out for time gobblers – internet, email, TV, phone, socializing, unimportant notices and forwards

Delegate when the task is not part of your priority. Not everything has to be done or should be done by you. Let go of your need to control everything.

Make it fun by rewarding yourself. It is easier to start and finish a task if there is a reward at the end of it…by the way, my chocolate covered almonds are waiting for me as soon as I finish this flash briefing. Till tomorrow have a wonderful day!

EP 166 – How To Be Heard

Running a small business can be very stressful. One of the keys to success, is to be able to reach your customers. But it can be difficult to break through the noise, so that your customers know that you even exist.

It can be just as difficult to be heard at work by your boss, or even within your family.

Our minds are being constantly bombarded by messaging from other brands and social media, from colleagues and from friends and family.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Be Heard Day:

Get to the point…you have 8 seconds! One website suggests that we are exposed to around 4,000 to 10,000 messages per day and less than 100 of those messages will be remembered. Human attentions spans are at an all-time low dropping from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. The key to cutting through the noise is through short messages.

Use visuals. We process visuals faster than text and we remember visuals more than text. Create a picture in the mind of your listener if you can’t use a visual.

Provide value first. People are most engrossed in their own self-interest, so play into that. Make it about them, their needs, goals, wants and desires. Relate it to their own history, situation, reputation and behavior. As a small company, what do you do to make it easy to work with you? How do you assist your boss or colleagues before presenting issues or problems? Do they only hear negative comments or issues from you? In your family, do praise and recognize the positives or is all your communication negative?

Want to check out more health and wellness related celebrations, visit my wellness calendars under the resources and courses tab at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 165 – Customer Service Matters

What kind of customer service do you give? You might be thinking, “I don’t do customer service”.

The reality is that we all DO customer service. Most interactions that we have today are ones where someone is supplying another person, with something.

Customer service is the act of satisfying anothers needs through assistance or service. Some of us deal with external to our company customers, some of us deal with internal to our company customers.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Stop Bad Service Day:

We interact with a company because it delivers quality products, great value, or a compelling brand. We leave one, more often than not, because it fails to deliver on customer service.

Whether you are dealing with external or internal customers, know that:

The Customer is not dependant on you - you are dependant on the Customer

The Customer is not an interruption to your work, they are the purpose of your work.

You are not doing the Customer a favour by serving them.

The Customer is deserving of the most courteous and attentive treatment you can provide.  They are not someone to argue with.

Research shows that delighting customers, doesn’t build loyalty.

Reducing their effort and the work they must do to get their problem solved, does. If we keep at least these four rules in mind, we will be able to stop bad service from ruining ours, or someone else’s day.

Looking for resources to build your resiliency? Check out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 164 – Telecommuting May Be The Answer

It’s not a bird. Nor a plane…It’s the Telecommuter!

A survey of employees who telecommute three days a week experienced a

• 46% decrease in stress,
• 45% increase in job satisfaction, and
• 30% increase in job productivity.

In addition, telecommuting provides an opportunity to create a more harmonious balance between home and work commitments. Three-quarters of employees polled said the ability to work from home was their most desired family-friendly job perk.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Telecommuter Appreciation Week:

For some, telecommuting may be a viable option that allows for an increase in productivity and more sense of control over when tasks get accomplished.

If you think that this is for you, sit down with your work team and discuss how this may be implemented.  If telecommuting isn’t the answer, at least you have opened the door to looking for other alternatives to maintaining work and life balance.

Though I am not a true telecommuter, I am an entrepreneur with a home-based office.  I appreciate the flexible work arrangements that I have.  Some days, I work all day and into the evening.  On other days, I may find myself helping out a family member or pulling the weeds from my gardens.  This flexibility gives me the balance that I want and need.

Want to find more strategies to coping with stress, check out my website at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 163 – Just Do It

Everyone has problems that they need to deal with. Because problems can cause anxiety, many people will try to avoid, ignore or procrastinate when dealing with difficult issues in their lives. Ignoring them is useful sometimes. Unfortunately, with most problems, avoiding them just causes them to come back, and a small problem can become a big problem over time.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Do Something Day:

The most difficult step in problem solving is getting to the doing part. To help you carry out your solution, make an action plan. If you know how you are going to carry out your solution, you are more likely to follow through.

Don’t let your own voice derail you. Be aware of and challenge negative self-talk that can stop you from moving forward.

List all the obstacles. Great problem solvers take a high-level view of the issues and list of all the potential factors that could get in the way of implementing their solution so that they don’t get taken off task.

Want to find more strategies to coping with stress, check out my website at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 162 – Send Out Happiness

Today is the day to encourage each other, to avoid selfishness, and do something to make other people happy.

I know that you can’t make someone happy, but you can remind them of their value and you can help change their focus, all of which can allow their happiness to flourish.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating I Want You To Be Happy Day:

Buy a friend a flower to brighten up their day.

Remind your kids how much you love them and how proud of them you are. 

Leave a sticky note for a co-worker letting them know something that you appreciate about them. Compliments make us feel valued, and they give us a positive boost to our thoughts and self-esteem.

Smile. Research has shown that a smile is constantly rated as the number one thing that makes other people feel emotionally better.

This day was created as a day encouraging us to do something to make others happy.  The benefit is that putting a smile on someone’s face tends to put one on ours, too. 

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 161 – Tech Detox

We are missing out on living life, the more we have our noses buried in our phones or spend time chronicling our every move through Facebook and Instagram. Not to mention that constant connectivity negatively affects your sleep, takes a toll on your mental health and can lead to burnout. Ditching your devices gives your brain a much-needed rest.

Have you tried to disconnect, but FOMO took over? Could you go unplugged for 24 hours? Do you check your phone or social media out of boredom or procrastination?

Maybe it is time for a detox?

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Day Of Unplugging:

Unplugging allows us to connect with ourselves, our loved ones and our communities in real time. 

Take a walk out in nature today. Check out the parks, country side or stroll along a beach, even if there is still snow on it.

Share a meal with friends or family.

Play together. Try a board game or use conversation starters like ‘would you rather’ to create some fun.

Write a gratitude list.

Meditate and fully relax. This can leave you feeling less stressed, and positively change your brain.

Immerse yourself in the moment. Take in the awesomeness of a sunset without Instagramming it.

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 160 – Appreciation Increases Engagement

An effective leader shows their employees and their team that they appreciate all their hard work and loyalty. When an employee goes above and beyond on a project, a supportive leader shows their appreciation. When the team achieves a difficult objective, a great leader celebrates
their accomplishment.

Wondering what you can do for your staff to thank them for all their efforts?

Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Employee Appreciation Day:

Celebrate with food. It may be a breakfast, a catered lunch, or a smoothie break during the afternoon slump. What about a team cooking challenge? Provide each team with various ingredients and see what they can put together and enjoy the fun.

Give the gift of time. Give your team a time off coupon that they can use at their choosing.

Shout it out. Give a shoutout to a member who has completed a task or gone above and beyond to meet a deadline.

Send it. A hand-written note, sent to the employee’s home, is an unexpected and genuine way of showing appreciation.

Bring in a massage therapist to do 15-minute chair massages. A little bit of pampering goes along way.

Your employees are your most precious asset, let them know that they are valued and appreciated!

Looking for resources to build your healthy workplace? Check out my top 10 tips under Resources and Courses at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 159 – Foiling The February Blahs

I am really glad that February is the shortest month of the year, as it always seems tough to get through. I often get hit with the blahs during this time. Sometimes it is because of the busyness around me and sometimes it is weather related. Sometimes it is both.

Have you ever been caught up in the blahs and you aren’t sure that things are going to ever pick back up? Do you worry that you may feel this way forever?

Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Blah Buster Month:

Getting together with a friend is a sure way to put the blahs at bay. Social connections ground us.

Declutter Your Closet. Go through your clothes and pull out the things you no longer wear. Donate those items. Organizing and Decluttering open up space in our environment and our minds.

Get Active. Exercise is a mood enhancer and will naturally lift your spirits.

Go to the light. I often get caught staying indoors during this month, but the more I get outside the better I feel.

Finally, try something new. A new activity. A new recipe. A new technology. All of these can increase your brain’s plasticity and add a bit of a spark to a tough month.

For more information on coping with mental health issues, sign up for one of my on-line courses at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 158 – Can’t Find The Time

We never seem to be able to find ‘the time’.  Stop looking.  You will never find it.  It isn’t lost.  You are living in it.

So what kinds of things waste our time?

44.7% of the more than 10,000 people polled cited personal internet use as their #1 distraction at work.

Today’s Time Truth:

If we fail to control the events in our life, then the events in our life will control us. Planning is key to performance. Not planning wastes time and energy.

According to one survey the average worker admits to wasting away 2.09 hours per 8-hour workday, which is twice as much time as their employers expect.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Time Management Month:

Eliminate useless meetings. Insist on short, well-planned, morning stand-up meetings. They are the least likely to waste your time and interfere with your work.

Stop thinking that you can multi-task. Prioritize and then break up your day accordingly. Don’t move on to the next task until you’ve really completed the previous one. Not only will you do a better job when you’re focused, you’ll also force yourself to finish something within the time allotted.

Come up for air. Productivity declines after a certain period, so pump up your productivity with scheduled breaks.

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

EP 157 – SOB Spunky Old Broads

Have you met any S.O.B’s lately?  I mean the good kind.  The feisty, spirited ones kindly referred to as, Spunky Old Broads.

These are the ladies who live life to the fullest, regardless of their circumstances.  They have learned to push forward, find humour and share their spirit with those around them.

I’ve been fortunate to meet some very Spunky ladies – Liked my mom’s cousin Linda, who makes me laugh every time I see her, Virginia who ran her first marathon at the age of 50 and who shared her message of hope with those who were also dealing with severe depression and Shelle who travels the world for business and still takes the time to make me laugh and be my mentor.

SOB Month celebrates all women over 50, who believe it is never too late to live your dream, be who you want to be, and create and do whatever you want to do.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Spunky Old Broads Month:

I want to be a spunky old broad.  I’m not there yet.  For me, I take things way too seriously and I fret about the little things.  But I believe that it is never too late to learn something new, try something different and strive for all that life has to offer.  So I am going to remind myself to let go and laugh a little more and maybe one day I will be known as a SOB.

Looking for more tips to build your resiliency? Look for my book on Amazon called Stress Out. 52 Weeks To Letting More Life In.

EP 156 – Appreciate The Silence

“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.”  Anne Frank

Studies show that even low-level chronic noise increases aggression and decreases cooperation and is associated with increased risk for peptic ulcers, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and stroke.

Today is the day to lower the noise level. Being quiet reduces your stress.

It allows the mind to focus and be more creative. It can boost your immune system.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Quiet Day:

Breathe: Become aware of your breath and inhale and exhale slowly and deeply inhale for 5 minutes.

Try this meditation: Turn off the lights, light a small candle and watch the flame. This stills the optic nerve, and calms the nervous system.

At work, take advantage of a quiet room.  Many companies have developed quiet spaces where employees can take a moment or two during the working day to relax, have a break, meditate, pray or simply ‘take stock’ without the distractions and interruptions of office life.

Get out into nature:  Taking a walk along a park path or country road early in the morning or before bed can bring focus and serenity to one’s mind. 

Looking for resources to build your resiliency? Check out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

 

 

EP 155 – Making The Time

There are so many different aspects to health.

We hear daily about eating right and exercising, but health also involves our relationships.  

February is Relationship Wellness Month and it reminds us that we need to reach out to others and build stronger social ties with family and friends.

One key to happy, healthy relationships is the opportunity to spend quality time with the people you care about. Relationship Wellness encourages us to develop better communications with those around us including the ability to share our feelings and needs.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating During Relationship Wellness Month:

Relationships take time. Time to develop. Time to nurture. Time to sustain.

Spend time really listening to your family and friends.  Find out what is important to them.  What issues are they facing?  Listening to someone else is one of the best things that we can do for them and it allows us to keep our own issues and challenges in perspective.

What is the one thing that you can do this month to pump up your relationships, on your road to a healthier you?

Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

 

 

EP 154 Are You Winter Active?

We know that we are not active enough, especially during the winter months.

Did you know that almost two thirds of us are not active enough to achieve the health benefits we need from physical activity.

What Is WinterActive? WinterActive was designed to help Canadians of all ages improve their health and quality of life through healthy living. 

Do You Get As Much Physical Activity As You Need?

One of the campaigns that I like was called Live Outside the Box which encourages us to not be caught in a lifestyle dominated by the television or computer.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating WinterActive Month:

Be a role model. Children learn more from our actions than our words.

Be realistic about your children’s activity level.  88% of parents said that their kids were physically active, yet measures indicated that 87% were not meeting physical activity guidelines.

Start your day with 10 minutes of movement.

At work, get active by taking stretch breaks during meetings, or have a “walking” meeting

As for me, Off I go to shovel the sidewalk and take my dogs out. 

Don’t forget that you can find more tips for coping with mental health issues, by checking out my Live Smart blog at worksmartlivesmart.com

EP 153 – Keep Focused

Do You Find It Hard To Stay Focused?

Have you ever had your computer lock up when you have opened too many files or programs at once? 

Sometimes when we try to multi-task, we may actually freeze up, lock up or quit performing at our peak. 

Researchers have studied human multi-tasking for the past 25 years or so and have found that the brain cannot fully focus when multi-tasking.  We take longer to complete tasks, and are predisposed to error. 

The pressure to get more and more done, and toggle between one task and another creates a great deal of stress and pressure on the mind and body. Developing the ability to focus completely on a single task can help in our energy management.  

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Single Tasking Day:

Single-Tasking should be our main way of operating when needing to accomplish important tasks

Let go of the idea that the more we tackle at any given time, the more productive we are or will be

We have become like junkies in many ways, by needing a ‘fix’.  We check our emails, notices and webpages out of curiosity.  By setting time aside for these activities, we fill our curiosity, yet we are more likely to stay on task and complete that task more efficiently and effectively

 Looking for more ways to build your resiliency, take my free on-line vulnerability test at worksmartlivesmart.com under the resources and courses tab.

 

 

EP 152 – Happy Snacking

Grumble. Grumble. It is 2:00 in the afternoon and you find that your stomach is growling and your energy is fading. Time for a snack.

Snacks provide you with an extra little boost. If done right, they can help to keep energy levels going, and avoid weight gain.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating National Snack Food Month:

Get good at reading. Don’t trust the claims of the food’s manufacturer on the front of the package.  Judge whether a food is healthy for you by reading the ingredients and the nutrition information on the food label.

Prepare healthy snacks in advance. When you make something yourself, you get to control the ingredients.  Keep plenty of fresh fruit and veggies in the refrigerator. Cut up melons or vegetables like celery and carrots in advance.

Healthy snacking doesn’t have to be boring. Make it interesting.

Go the caveman way. Try:  Fresh Fruit, Salad & Vegetables. You can also add fish, eggs or meat, or dried Nuts & Fruits

Research shows that people who eat regular meals and healthy snacks are less likely to overeat and gain weight than people who skip meals or go for long periods without eating. Thinking ahead is the key to smart snacking.  So…happy snacking.

Looking for more tips to build your resiliency? Look for my book on Amazon called Stress Out. 52 Weeks To Letting More Life In