Holiday Stress: 7 Tips to Help You Deal Do you become tense and overwhelmed when the holidays roll around? If you do, you're not alone. Indeed, the holidays can be a hectic and stressful time. The good news is that there are things you can do to prevent those holiday blues. Here are seven strategies to adopt: 1. Recognize and acknowledge your feelings. If you watch any of the holiday commercials and/or specials on TV, you may feel like you should be constantly jumping for joy" like these actors seem to do. However, you don't have to be happy just because it's the holiday season. It's OK to be sad, mad, or frustrated every now and then. Express your true feelings! 2. Adjust your holiday celebrations. We all know that the holiday season is different for healthcare employees. We can't just shut down the office like the rest of the world. If you're working on a holiday, adjust your family's schedule so you can all celebrate together. Perhaps you can celebrate before the holidays. If you have younger children, you can give them their presents the weekend before. They may get a kick out of getting their presents before everyone else! 3. Don't go it alone. Take advantage of social support. If you're feeling isolated or down, seek out family members, friends, religious or social services that can provide you with support and companionship. 4. Be realistic. As families change and grow, traditions may need to change as well. Hold on to the family rituals that you still can " a special food or holiday activity " but understand that some may no longer be possible. 5. Stick to a budget. Remember, you can't buy happiness with extravagant gifts. Before you go shopping, decide how much money you can afford to spend on gifts and other items, and then stick to your budget. If you don't, you could feel anxious and tense for months as you struggle to pay bills. 6. Just say no. Believe it or not, people will understand if you're unavailable for certain projects or activities. If you say yes only to what you really want to do, you'll avoid feeling resentful and overwhelmed. 7. Take a breather. Make sure to schedule some time for yourself. Take a walk. Listen to soothing music. Find something that clears your mind, slows your breathing, and restores your calm. Spending just 15 minutes alone, without distractions, may refresh you enough to handle everything you need to do. Remember, a key to minimizing the holiday blues is awareness that the holidays are stressful and can make you sad. Too often, we believe that the holidays are supposed to be a happy time, all the time. The reality is that it can be both happy and stressful. So, acknowledge this and take it in stride. How to Get the Respect You Deserve If you're a manager, you probably already know that being the boss and being respected don't always go hand-in-hand. In fact, gaining genuine respect from your employees may be one of the most difficult (as well as important) goals you pursue as a manager. So how do you go about attaining this respect? Essentially, garnering respect from your employees comes down to implementing the three R's: 1. Be reasonable when it comes to the rules. Rules and policies help ensure that your organization is running efficiently and complying with all applicable government regulations. A good leader will not coerce or threaten employees to obey policies. Rather, he/she will clearly explain the facts as well as the consequences. Let your employees know that following company policy is ultimately their choice, but if they do break the rules, they will be dealt with accordingly. Presenting the company's policies in this manner tells employees that you have confidence that they will make the right decisions on their own. Remember, you must give respect to receive it! 2. Reinforce practices and procedures. When it comes to effective leadership, your day-to-day practices indicate whether you actually "talk the talk" and "walk the walk." Poor and inconsistent practices on the part of managers cause poor morale, decreased productivity, higher turnover and increased employee misconduct. Most employees are good employees and understand discipline for violations of a policy or procedure that they were clearly aware of. However, what employees do not understand is why they have to follow the rules while others do not. Remember, without demonstrated accountability from management, there is no respect from employees. 3. Follow through on a regular basis. Do you remember a time as an employee when you were called into a meeting to be trained on a new program that you knew management would never really implement because of the organization's past track record? One of your co-workers was probably sitting next to you saying, "I'll believe it when I see it." It is our lack of follow through, as demonstrated by our practices and procedures, that causes employees to lose respect for us as leaders. Indeed, no one said that being a manager was easy. On top of all the duties and responsibilities you assume, you must also walk the fine line of getting your people to like you and respect you. While you can't force anyone to respect you, you can implement the three r's into your daily routine. And after some time and dedication, these three little r's will lead to one big R" Respect! "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito." " Anita Roddick The Art of Office Equipment Healthcare facilities are filled with equipment and gadgets. And it just wouldn't be a normal day if at least one of these devices didn't work, would it?! Certainly, it almost feels personal when the copy machine jams or your computer locks up. So how can you keep from melting down when the inevitable glitches pop up? Try these tactics:
Robert Frost A Manual for Life At birth, there is a manual for life that is given to each of us. Here it is: 1. You have received a body. It will be yours for the duration of your stay this time around. You may or may not like it, but it is yours. 2. Pay attention to the lessons to be learned. You are enrolled in a school that is full time and informal" it is called life. In your school, you will have chances to learn lessons. You are free to like the lessons or think that they are very stupid. 3. Keep in mind that there are no mistakes, just lessons to be learned. You will be involved with a process of trial and error, and this process will, with luck, incite growth. The "failures" you experience will be as much a part of your process as the parts of your life that "succeed." 4. You will repeat the same lesson, in its various forms, until it is learned. Then you will be free to go on to the next lesson. 5. Your learning in life is never over. As long as you are alive, there are lessons to be learned. There is no part of life that does not contain a lesson for you. 6. Places other than where you are will always look better to you, but this is a trick of the mind. It is never better to be other than what and where you are at the time. But it will always feel like you should be someplace else, be something else in order to find "happiness." 7. Your fellow beings are merely reflections of yourself. Whatever you love or hate about them is exactly what you love or hate about yourself. 8. What you make of life is up to you. You have everything you need to live life. What you do and how you live is up to you. 9. The answers to life's questions are within you. You just need to listen and trust your inner knowledge. 10. You will forget you have been told all of this. |