Bellissimo

Reducing Stress: Part V

And here's the last in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:

You Are Your Most Important Customer
?Yeah, right?, you might be saying. Yes, it?s true. And if you aren?t taking care of your most important customer, your business won?t be as successful as it could be. Making sure you get everything you need (sleep, proper diet, exercise, alone time, etc.) really pays off. You?ll constantly be putting your best face forward, and any resentment you may have been feeling will dissipate. You?ll be able to provide all your other customers with the best experience and service possible. Which can do nothing but good for your business!

Remember, you can get access to all of my Top Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season by signing up for my no-cost e-course. Click here to sign up.

Leave a comment »

Reducing Stress: Part IV

Hope you all had a great weekend! Here's the fourth in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:

Remember ?I Live Here?
This is one of the most difficult things to do in the height of the season. Each day, try to remember that you are one of the lucky ones?you get to live here. So much seasonal stress comes from visitors trying to cram in as much activity as possible while they?re here; and that can spill over into your life as well. If you?re like me, you have a few special, ?secret? places, where you can get away from all the hubbub and the crowds. Pictures of these places?on your bulletin board, as your screen saver, in your wallet?can really help you remember that you live in paradise. And you don?t have to leave it at the end of the season!

During our busy season, I find myself chanting this often. Especially when I'm sitting in mid-summer traffic...

Leave a comment »

Reducing Stress: Part III

Ready for the third in my top five ways to reduce your stress during your busy season? Here you go...

Take a Walk
Sound too simple? It is simple. One of the best ways to relieve stress is to get outside, breathe and move around a bit. It can be as quick as a walk around the block, or as complex as driving to a remote spot and hiking for an hour.

There are many benefits from removing yourself, even for a short time, from the physical environment where you are experiencing stress. You allow your internal ?stress meter? to automatically reset. You gain a bit of perspective. You do something great for yourself, even if no one else is treating you well that day.

If you'd like to experience the entire top ten ways to reduce your stress this season, sign up for my no-cost e-course, Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season.

Leave a comment »

Reducing Stress: Part II

Today I give you the second in my top five ways to reduce your stress this season:

Notice Your Stress and What?s Causing It
Are you stressed out by the increased traffic in your town? Do the longer lines at the grocery store really get to you? Or does the ?you exist to serve me? attitude of some seasonal visitors set you off?

For a day or two, pay special attention to what really pushes your stress button during the high season. Once you know what?s really causing your stress, you can come up with strategies to minimize and/or avoid it. For example, finding a different or ?secret? way to work. Or shopping at off hours. Or smiling and saying hello to everyone you pass?you?ll be amazed at how many return the favor!

Leave a comment »

Reducing Stress: Part I

Are you already worried about how you?re going to handle the upcoming season? Are you dreading another season of being overworked, out-of-balance, frustrated with your life or your business, and shortchanging your personal relationships? Here are ten quick and easy ways to reduce the stress we feel during the high season. What would happen if you ended up enjoying the season just as much as all those visitors do?

Over the next few days, I'll share my top five ways to reduce your seasonal stress. Here's the first one:

Remember...It?s Not Forever
One of the great things about a season is that it?s finite?it has a definite end. Your world may seem crazy, but you know that all these cars, people, demands, etc. will go away at the end of the season. Create a picture in your mind of what your life will be like at the end of the season?the relaxation, the pride of a successful season, the ability to truly enjoy this place that you love. Is there a picture of you that captures this feeling? Keep it posted near your workspace and remember to look at it every day. And remember that each day, you are one day closer to this perfect picture!

1 comment »

Ramping Up

For those of us living in summer communities, now is the time when we start to see activity ramping up. Our businesses are re-opening if they've been closed for the winter. Visitors come for long weekends, and for school break weeks. Many of us start thinking about ways we can reduce the stress this time of year usually brings, and ways to avoid the stress that high season can cause. Over the next several days, I'll be sharing my top five ways you can reduce your stress this season. You can also sign up for my f.r.e.e e-course, Ten Ways to Reduce Your Stress This Season, at my website.

2 comments »

Birthday Wishes Do Come True!

I am so proud to announce Audiences with Queens first two audiences are up, with eight more to come in the next 30 days! And, I've launched the Audiences with Queens podcast so you can try out each new Audience as it's available.

Try them out while I'm off next week...

Leave a comment »

Rules for Leaving Your Business Home Alone

Here are the rules I have for when I have to leave my business home alone.

Answer the door. Let callers and emailers know you're away (via your voicemail greeting and an email responder), and set expectations around when you'll get back to them.

Don't eat too much. Turn off all listservs/email lists, or set them to daily digest. Otherwise, your email box will be so full of messages, you'll get overwhelmed. You may even miss something important.

Have fun. Let your business enjoy the fact that no one's around to poke, push and pull it. See what happens if you leave things alone for a week.

Remember, these are for a business, not for your teenagers!

Leave a comment »

Vacation Planning

Are you sensing a theme this week? Yes, I am leaving for vacation on Friday. I actually haven't had a true vacation (no computer, no email, no cell phone) in over two years. The goal is to have no decision be more difficult than, "Umbrella in the drink, or not?"

I'm heading to Puerto Rico with my husband and daughter. Looking forward to practicing my Spanish, and to judging the "Who's More Tan?" contest between the two of them. I always lose, since I'm the one with no Italian blood at all.

Before I can truly relax, though, I must make sure that the family members staying behind will be OK. The dog's all booked at the kennel, so that leaves my other baby--my business. Can it possibly survive without me for a whole week? I sure am scrambling this week to make sure it will!

Leave a comment »

A Real Day Off

Today I'm taking a real day off. OK, so I'm blogging and I checked my email (only once!) early this morning. Otherwise, I really am trying to take today off. Those of you who own your own businesses know how hard this can be.

I find myself fidgeting around, setting time limits on my activities--I'll knit for an hour, then I'll read for an hour, then write for a bit.

I know that taking some time off will be good for me (see Suzanne Falter-Barns' blog entry on "Miller Time"). I just don't know how I'll know it was good for me. Will I have more energy? Will I finally get the idea that will solve all my branding problems? I don't know...

Well, enough blogging for today. I'm taking the day off.

1 comment »