Tips For Less Holiday Stress
Tips For Less Holiday Stress
Holiday Stress? Some Tips For Having LessWe all dream of having wonderful holidays. We start each day full of the spirit of the season. We look at the lovely fresh fallen snow, and marvel at the beauty of the world. But lets face it - life can be stressful. By the time we get the kids up, dressed, and fed, referee a few morning scuffles, find lost homework, binkies, and keys, field a few phone calls, dig out the car, make our way through morning traffic, and try to get some Christmas shopping done at the local Target, the good feeling is... well, gone. The joy and magic of the season can easily be overshadowed by obligations, responsibilities, credit card spending gone mad, and, of course, relatives. If any of this is sounding familiar, you might be asking yourself - How could we end the madness? Well, here are some tips to make the season a little jollier - or at least less cranky.* Adjust your outlook: Your perspective is the looking glass through which you see the world. It is central to how you experience emotions, situations, and life in general. By shifting your perspective you can, in effect, change you experience. This is your life - put a positive spin on things - what have you got to loose but the blues!* Simplify your life: Get organized, try to cut down on clutter, and prioritize your tasks. Many dreaded obligations are self-imposed. Remember you really don't have to do everything.* Practice extreme self care: Make time to do what you love - take in a movie, go to a museum, curl up with a book or take a long hot bubble bath. Pamper yourself! This is your life - enjoy it! Don't worry - the dishes aren't going to pack up and leave town. Get plenty of sleep - exhaustion is a main factor in stress - and don't over indulge. Enjoy all the holiday goodies, but do so in moderation. Add some moderate exercise and you'll be healthier and have more energy.* Be thankful for the little things: Practice loving the simple things in life; playing games with your children, taking a walk on a snowy winter morning, or cuddling with your honey after everyone's in bed. When we open our hearts to happiness, we often find that it's all around us.* Make peace with flexibility: Celebrate you successes and let the rest slide. Learn to go with the flow. Take a breath, relax. Don't sweat the small stuff.* Embrace the spirit of the holidays: Greet each day with the holiday spirit and fill your life with kindness, compassion, gratefulness and love.Yes, there will still be hectic moments and stressful events, but you control the extent to which you respond to them. Open yourself to the possibility that the holidays can be joyous, and you might just find yourself whistling along with some of those Christmas carols.Deborah Martin is a mother, writer, life coach, and co-founder of The Woman Project. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her partner & son.About The AuthorDeborah Martin is a mother, writer, life coach, and co-founder of The Woman Project. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her partner & son.www.rightpathcoaching.com; dm@rightpathcoaching.com
Holiday Expectations
Holiday Expectations
As the holidays approach, I find myself wondering how I'm going to accomplish all I expect of myself. I expect to have perfect presents under the tree for an astounding number of people who will be visiting from out of town, besides the usual round of gifts for my children, immediate family, close friends and significant others, such as teachers, school staff, hair dressers, manicurist, etc. Added to the gift buying frenzy are countless trips to the grocery and food specialty stores for the feasts I expect to prepare, again for countless people I am expected to entertain during these holidays.What's one person to do when it becomes overwhelming and seems there's never going to be enough time, resources or energy to cope? Well, I'm not sure I have the answer. What I'm longing to do is escape to an undisclosed location (me and Dick Cheney) to save my sanity, health and well-being. Naturally, this isn't an option ? I hold the holidays too dear and my daughters have come to expect huge fanfare on these special days. I have set up their expectations of me, just as I have set up the expectations of myself that I might not be able to pull off this year due to an unstable health condition and subsequent lack of mobility I've taken for granted in years past. Mostly, I just want to be able to get it all done, as I have every other year, which is no longer an option. I am left to ponder my upcoming fate with the dread of not performing or of falling short.I suspect the "expectations" will somehow be met, only because I
couldn't bear to let my children down during the most important season for meeting expectations. And I have set myself up for all of this, gladly, willingly, never expecting "ill health" to interfere with our rituals and festivities. Never mind that this health condition was caused primarily by trying to cram five weeks worth of expectations into a ten day period when I over-booked myself with work, volunteering at my children's schools at the same time I was expected to take care of many other obligations and promises to family and friends. I think the lesson here is to relinquish the expectations of myself and scale down to a more manageable holiday routine, like it or not.Alas, there will come a time when we parents are no longer able to perform the myriad duties and routines we've created for our families, for any number of reasons, and we will need to give up control of making sure everyone's holiday expectations are met. This could come in the form of a health crisis, monetary crisis, time-crunch crisis ? take your pick. This is the time to delegate the responsibility of the be-all, do-all parent and shift our focus to relishing time with family and friends more so than relishing the accomplishments of others and our own expectations of us.We are in the midst of a joyous and sacred time of year when our hearts and minds should be filled with love and good will, not with a frenzy of get-it-done anxiety.I wish you all a joyful, relaxed holiday season, filled with love and happiness. Give yourselves a break and allow one or more of the details to slip by or delegate if need be. Being there for your family in sound mind, body and spirit is ultimately more important.I have found that doing my Christmas shopping online is a lifesaver and any other task I can accomplish online is equally gratifying. Find ways to make your life a little easier during the busy days ahead.Copyright ? 2004-2005 - Rexanne ManciniRexanne Mancini is the mother of two daughters, Justice and Liberty. She is a novelist, freelance writer and maintains an extensive yet informal parenting and family web site, Rexanne.com ? http://www.rexanne.com -Visit her site for good advice, award-winning Internet holiday pages and some humor to help you cope. Subscribe to her free newsletter, Rexanne's Web Review, for a monthly dose of Rexanne: http://www.rexanne.com/rwr-archives.html
7 Tricks for More Holiday Web Sales – Internet-Marketing
7 Tricks for More Holiday Web Sales
"Black Friday" has just passed, marking the traditional start of the holiday shopping season. Web sales are already at a record high this year and the fourth quarter of 2004 is projected to bring in $22 billion in online sales alone ? a whole third of the sales for the entire year. (Source: eMarketer.com)And since Friday, your in-box has been overflowing with all those new orders... right?Or maybe not.If you're like many small retailers, you've waited until the last
minute to start thinking about your online holiday sales. You've been too busy, too short-staffed, too distracted, or perhaps even too confused to take the necessary steps to get your Web site ship-shape for the holidays.Don't despair! you can still take advantage of the holiday sales season ifyou take immediate action.Here are seven things you can do RIGHT NOW to boost your online holiday sales this year.1. "Hello, is anybody home?"
Update your Web site. If your home page still boasts "Summer
Specials," this means you! Put photos of your best sellers out front, and highlight any holiday specials.2. Use the power of suggestion.
Make it easy for shoppers to figure out what to buy. Try adding a
"Great Gift Ideas" list on your home page with links to each product. Better yet, organize the list into categories: "Gifts Under $20," "Stocking
Stuffers," "Gifts for Kids," "Gifts for Him/Her," etc.3. Bundle it.
Combine popular items into a "gift set" that shoppers can add to their carts with one click. Package them together in an attractive gift box or basket. Be sure to display a photo of the gift packaging.4. Sell the gift that always fits.
Offer gift certificates for the shopper that isn't sure what to buy, or who needs a last-minute gift. TIP: Make sure your shopping cart ships gift certificates free.5. Wrap it up.
Offer to wrap and ship a gift directly to the recipient for a small
fee. You'll earn loyalty from your customers if you can help them out during a busy, stressful time.6. "Will it get there on time?"
Concerns about delivery are at the top of Web shoppers' lists.
Overcome their uncertainty by posting information about shipping times, order cut-off dates for holiday delivery, and express delivery options in a conspicuous place.7. SHOUT!
NOW is the time to toot your own horn and help people remember that
your products and services make great gifts. Email the folks on your mailing list at least once a week until the end of the holiday season. Pick a different gift product to feature with each email, and be sure to include a direct link to the product page. Also, work the phones. Don't be afraid to be low-tech! Pick up the phone and call your 10 best customers to let them know about your great holiday deals.Although there are lots of things you can do to jumpstart your online holiday sales, there's one thing you *shouldn't* do right now.DON'T try to give your web site or e-commerce system a major overhaul during the peak season. The last thing you and your customers need is to deal with echnical glitches or lost orders during the holiday crunch. If you're panning a major upgrade, wait until January when things are a little slower and there will be minimal disruption to your customers.