Unstuck! Bust Your Rut And Experience Immediate Results

April 6, 2012 by Featured Author Leave a Comment

IN A RUT?

Hit a dry spell? Down on your luck? It’s time you get unstuck!

We all find ourselves in the doldrums from time to time. Sales slump? Lacking motivation? Feeling under appreciated? Enough with the pity-party. Let’s bust your rut!

Remedial Rut-Busting

Whether you’re in an interview slump or a sales slump, here are five basics for busting your rut:

Exercise! You’d be surprised how quickly your reality changes when you change your body chemistry. And that’s what exercise does. Be creative about they type of exercise you engage in. Sure laps on tracks and in pools qualify…as do the stairs in your office. But why not make it more fun? Create your own par course. Design your own mini-triathlon when you pick three favorite modes of exercise. Learn a new sport this year to exercise your body. Exercise can include activities as diverse as soul line dancing, Brazilian caparei or Bikram yoga.
Change your menu. Review your meal menus and make some healthy substitutions. Start with a breakfast that includes protein, fruits and yes — even vegetables. For lunch and dinner limit red meat, and avoid processed meat. Hydrate yourself throughout the day: aim for 6-8 glasses of water a day. Enjoy dinner before 7:00pm, to allow your body to digest and metabolize food fully before you hit the La-Z-Boy or go to bed. If you still crave alcohol, I recommend Loft Liqueur, an organic liqueur that’s healthy and mixes well with other beverages.
Alter your routine. Change your rote patterns and processes. Alter your timetable, change your mealtimes, commute route, etc. You can even alter your seat at your meal table to change your perspective and experience. The variation will refresh you and add more vitality to your daily experience.
Costume Change. Review and upgrade your wardrobe. Are you wearing the same ensembles, same shoes and same colors (hopefully not on the same days!)? Change your wardrobe, enjoy a new hair style or even consider a new fragrance.
Seek out new perspectives. Conferring with others can give you new perspectives on old problems. Whether you seek the counsel of a loved one, member of the clergy, your mentor or a subject matter expert, discussions with others will offer you fresh ideas and help you bust your rut. Dig out of your rut through dialog. [Read more…]

Creating YOUR Personal Stress Management Plan

April 3, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

by Elaine Dumler

Part 3 of 3 (part 2 can be found here)

Stress is very personal, and so are the things in your life that create your stress. First, identify what “stresses you out” and make a management plan that works for you and your family. Begin with your “To Do” list.

Prioritize

When your “To Do” list becomes overwhelming, the stress it causes seems unbearable. You need to get that list down to a manageable size and here’s how to do that:

1. Write down everything you need to get done on List #1.

2. Divide a 2nd sheet of paper into three categories:

Critical – These items must be completed immediately because people or deadlines are depending on them. Some tasks that create conflict or are emotionally difficult to do should be placed here too.

Important – These tasks are not as immediate as critical, yet still urgent.

Postpone/Delegate – This category is a true stress reliever because it lets you delegate tasks. These tasks can slide for a bit while you tend to those on the critical list. Is it a task you can hand off to someone else? That takes it from your plate and may even work into another’s specialty area.

3. Now, return to list #1 and go through each item one at a time. Honestly determine where to place each task on your category list. You should have a new priority list that is fairly evenly divided among the three categories. This is more manageable.

4. Begin to tackle your tasks with the list under “Critical.”

Try to set a few specific times during the day when you’ll respond to email.
At the start of each week, review what needs to be done so you have a good idea of what’s coming up.

Organize

You’ll find extra time in your day if you organize areas of your life to enable you to function more efficiently. [Read more…]

Video: Humorous Take on Procrastination

January 18, 2012 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

While procrastinating, I found this fun video about procrastination.

I can so relate. (By the way, if you’re watching this, you too are probably procrastinating.)

[Read more…]

Weight Watchers PowerStart Works Well: Lessons on Productivity

December 6, 2011 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Weight Watchers just introduced PointsPlus 2012.

The program has not changed a great deal. They’ve made some minor Points Plus target changes, giving some people the ability to go to a Points Plus Value as low as 26 (it used to be 29). They’ve instituted a range. In effect, they’ve made a flexible program even more flexible, which I think is good.

However, the biggest change (at least in my opinion) is how it’s explained to the new members (as well as returning members who would like to have it refreshed). It’s called PowerStart.

What is PowerStart?

Previously, new members would stay for a single “Getting Started Session,” where the concept of points (or points plus values) were explained. The weekly points plus allowance and activity points were also outlined, as well as the concept behind the Weight Watchers program in general. It took about 30 minutes, but was necessary if you wanted to be successful – as I’m sure people do when they join. However, one thing they found out is that in trying to take in that much information, especially while being a bit emotional at the time, people were overwhelmed.

Why emotional?

Think about it. Most people who join Weight Watchers – or any diet plan – are not in a good mood when they begin. They tend to be sad, feel guilty for putting on that much weight, or scared. After all, no one wakes up one morning and says,

“Yay! I finally put on enough weight that I can go to Weight Watchers!”

By the time they show up, they’ve tried everything; nothing has worked; so they broke through the veil of denial and decided to do something about their weight. But let’s face it, when you finally admit to yourself that you’ve “let yourself go,” you don’t feel so good about yourself. Therefore, when somebody starts a diet program, she usually feels bad about herself. Add to that feeling that they’re absorbing a lot of information and, well, what happens is they get distracted; they don’t learn it, and their heads explode.

What to do?

Weight Watchers has changed the game, so instead of one” getting started session,” they have introduced three PowerStart sessions; each one focuses on the basics of the program for just a few minutes but spends a lot of the time focusing on three different skills that will help the members actually make some helpful and healthy changes – and begin without delay.

[Read more…]

Overcome Procrastination by Overcoming Perfectionism

December 5, 2011 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Strive to get better – not perfect.

Perfection is an impossible goal.

Attempting to be perfect – in effect – trying to “do it all” is not only a barrier to actually getting things done, in many ways, it’s an excuse we use to avoid doing them.

After all, if you get up in the morning and are so overwhelmed with everything you have to accomplish, isn’t your first thought to pull the blankets back over your head and “wait until tomorrow?”

Beyond that, if we KNOW that our definition of success is to “get it all done” and we KNOW that objective is impossible, why would we even begin to move forward? The result of our “failure” is that we’ll get to feel bad in the end. Therefore, since we’re going to feel bad anyway, we might as well not go through the effort in the first place.

Set your goal to “do more,” not “do it all.” Find small measures of success and continue forward.

Forget perfectionism; it’s actually hurting you.

[Read more…]

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