Work Smart Live Smart with Beverly Beuermann-King

Taste, touch, sight, sound and smell.

We are often bombarded and feel that we are on sensory overload.

Most everything we know, feel, understand, and struggle with comes through our senses, including pain and pleasure. But how often do you actually pay attention to your specific senses?

By focusing on all five of our senses, we can promote health and wellbeing in our workplace. We can use these individual senses to boost our creativity, productivity and happiness.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Celebration Of The Senses Day:

Look for ways to boost each of the five senses in your workplace.

Taste. Did you know that chewing gum can help you stay focused for longer on tasks that require continuous monitoring? And that chewing gum can improve concentration in visual memory tasks?

Touch. I like having squish toys to play with while I am on the phone or listening to an on-line learning course. It helps me to concentrate more on what is being said. And research has found that these fidget toys are most beneficial to those who are more kinesthetic learners.

Sight. Try adding a bouquet of flowers. One study found that including plants and flowers in your work environment improved productivity and creativity.

Sound. Research from Cornell University found that employees who listened to happy music were able to cooperate and make group decisions better than employees who worked without a background soundtrack. If you’re going to play music in your workplace, the most important thing you need to do is match the type and tempo of the music to the task and level of concentration required.

Smell. Scents are tied directly to the part of the brain that is linked to memory and emotion, so scents can influence both. Some scents are known to reduce stress, others are known to improve productivity. Play around with mild scents in your workspace to see what you prefer, just remember not to interfere with your colleagues and their ability to enjoy their workspace.

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

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

Make it a point to never regret. Regret is an appalling waste of energy. It is only good for wallowing in.

Regretful Situations and Difficult People.

These can play on our minds and lead us to becoming angry, frustrated, hurt, guilt-ridden or even embarrassed.

Moving past these situations can be difficult. Your logical mind wants to work it out so that it doesn't happen again. You focus on the “what if’s” and “if only’s”. You replay the situation over and over. Letting go feels like we are admitting that we were wrong in some way.

Holding on to pain doesn’t fix anything. Replaying the past over and over again, doesn’t change it, and wishing things were different, doesn’t make it so.

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Let It Go Day:

Identify those situations or people that pushed your ‘buttons’

Try to look at the situation or person without judgement. What lesson can you learn, and appreciate that you have learned that lesson

Recognize the emotions behind these situations and then do something to relieve the tension. Try deep breathing, a hobby or exercise

Positive self-talk. Reaffirm that you are doing the best that you can and that letting go is not 'wrong'

Finally, rely on your positive supports to keep the situation in perspective

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

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

Some days when things are so hectic, I forget where I am supposed to be or I leave important notes and items back at my office. I struggle daily with trying not to be a perfectionist.  Sometimes my total focus is on family issues and I haven’t tackled any of the jobs on my desk.  Other times when I am so pressured to meet a deadline, that even saying good night to my family seems too much of a distraction.

There are habits and strategies that I use to keep me, and my family organized, and to maintain my health.  My afternoon nap allows me to recoup from my working day and gear up for my evenings spent teaching karate. Spring and summer are my favourite time of year and there is nothing better than a day spent away from my office gardening, cutting the grass, or just sitting on the patio. 

So Here are today’s Hot Tips For Building Resiliency and Celebrating Rebuild Your Life Month:

Finding the right balance is important for ourselves and for our organizations.

Life is busy and often we are pulled in many directions.  Balance is not about equality in all areas of life.  It is about making choices and living in a way in which you feel motivated and satisfied with the way your life is going.

If your life is not exactly how you want it to be, take the time to rethink your strategies and look for ways to rebuild your resiliency.

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

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

How ironic that today we are to be celebrating one of the most common greetings between two people.

The handshake was a gesture of peace, demonstrated by the fact that the hands held no weapons.

Today, a handshake is offered upon meeting or parting. It is an expression of goodwill, gratitude and congratulations. Sometimes it is used in making a bet and confirming the bet with a handshake. There are also secret handshakes, those elaborate greetings signalling membership in a group or society.

Research shows people with firmer handshakes are viewed as more positive and outgoing and less socially anxious.

Do you dislike the thought of shaking another person’s hand or feel that we should do away with this handshake all together especially in light of current health issues? Many people do.

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

When and if we ever get back to feeling comfortable using the handshake again, remember that it should be positive, friendly, warm, and welcoming. A handshake is a way of creating and sustaining relationships. Avoid using the crushing alpha handshake or the flaccid dead fish handshake.

During these current times you can replace the handshake with these acceptable greetings in addition to the popular foot tap or the elbow touch.

The Namaste which is a traditional Hindu greeting, is done by bowing slightly, palms pressed together toward your chest, with your fingertips pointing up.

Just like the foot tap, don't say "hello" with your hands – when you can say it with your brows. Greet your colleague with a raise brows and smile

Another popular way to greet someone is by bringing your hand to your heart.

Finally, you can replace the handshake with the sign language wave. Bring one hand to the top of your forehead, then flick your wrist away from your head like a small wave or with the Shaka sign which you may also know as the wave of the surfer dude.

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

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

As a leader, are you having trouble adjusting to your team working remotely?

We know that how we do our work is changing and so is the way that we are working as a team.

As a leader, you may be biased against having your team work remotely and this may be causing them and you more stress than it needs to.

Do you find yourself thinking that your team is not as productive as they would be if they were all in one location?

This bias may be from thinking that it is difficult to confirm if an employee is performing adequately – if I can see them, then how do I know what they are doing?

Or, it may be around inconveniences in communication. What if there is a problem, how will I get a hold of them?

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

Start by asking yourself a few basic questions.

What do I need to let go of to see this as an opportunity for my team and myself?

Is a lack of trust or the need for control possibly holding me back from fully embracing this opportunity?

And if the answer is yes, how can I build more trust within my team or how can I satisfy my need for control while making the need for working remotely work for everyone?

What are the resources that will make working from home more effective and efficient for my team? It may take a bit of a learning curve, but the time investment in these resources, can dramatically increase productivity.

What guidelines do we need to ensure that we have effective communication, without losing the opportunity for informal collaboration and brainstorming?

Finally, ask yourself if I am creating an environment were my team feels safe in bringing up challenges and voicing an alternate opinion.

If you’ve been reluctant in embracing the opportunities that come from working from home, you may owe it to your team to address these biases.

Remember, If you like today’s wellness tips, let me know. You can leave me a review on amazon or through your #alexa app.

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