by Kirby Hasseman
I don’t know about your, but I have good days and bad days. Sometimes during the past few weeks, I have been calm and grateful for the opportunity to stay at home, safe with my family. Then on other days, I run as fast as I can through the front door of my house (leaving a Kirby-sized hole in it).
Some days I am the voice of reason saying ” We are doing great! There is a light at the end of the tunnel.” And then other times, I am the one that is near tears saying “Oh my God! When will this end? I miss eating out!”
During the times of stress and internal turmoil, I have come up with a few techniques that have helped get my mind right. They are not fool proof. But I do find they help me. So here are 5 techniques for curing the Quarantine blahs.
Create A Revised Routine
Despite the fact that many of us are either working from home, or not working at all, I think routines are still incredibly important. During normal times, I have a very specific routine to help keep me productive (I talk about that here). Now that things are different, I still have my routine, but I have modified it so I can have a bit more freedom…but still stay on track. On many days, I get up a bit later. I watch a different morning show while I am on the treadmill. Little things, sure. But if you get rid of your routine completely, it can hijack your sense of purpose.
Have A Purpose Each Day
That leads nicely to, have a small purpose each day. This does not have to equate to your purpose in life. It can be small. Your purpose for today might be simple. But it gives you something to do for the day. I think we often think we want “nothing” to do all day. But this is what (I think) is creating the blah we are trying to escape. Create a little goal each day. You can spend an hour working to learn a language, write a blog, create a video, or choreograph a family dance. Whatever your purpose or goal is, it can help you stay up and look forward to the new day.
Exercise
Keep this simple my friends. This does not mean you need to start a new Beachbody workout. Just take the time to get your blood flowing. Exercise helps to reduce stress, increase brain function, and makes you feel better. It can be as simple as a short run or a walk. Don’t overthink this. Get your blood pumping each day. You will thank me.
BE A Friend
During times of stress, we often look for people to be good friends to us. It’s great when that happens, but it’s not in our control. Instead, take a bit of time to BE a good friend to someone. It might not get returned. Not everyone will be a good friend back. It’s okay. Make a phone call to check in. Send a text or an email. Do something nice for your neighbor. Most people will appreciate it…and the world will be better for it.
Meditate or Prayer
One of the tough things about times like this is, our mind seems to be running around looking for reasons to stress and panic. When I feel overwhelmed, this is when I know it’s time to control my thoughts. For me, this comes in the form of some meditation. I am hardly an expert. But this act of controlling my thoughts and quieting my mind can have a profound effect on my day and my mental state.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I am hardly an expert in dealing with a pandemic in isolation. These are just a few techniques that are helping me deal with the quarantine blahs. I hope they help you in some way!
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by Kirby Hasseman
I was a terrible college student…when it came to education. As it turns out though, I learned a lot. You see, there is a difference between education and learning…and that is more apparent today than ever before.
Education is a form of teaching that happens TO you. It is often forced upon you. Education often includes vocabulary words, essays and pop quizzes. While most people would contend that education is important, I never really enjoyed it. I would do what I had to do (and nothing more) to fulfill the obligations of education. Often, I went to class less than I should have. I studied just as much as I needed to to get by. And to be honest, I don’t remember very much of what I learned during my “education” in college..
I was much more interested in staying in my dorm room, playing guitar, writing lyrics and performing my amateur songs for anyone who would listen. There was nothing formal about it. I did not have to take any tests. No one was looking over my shoulder. But I was insatiable about listening or reading anything I could on the subject. It had nothing to do with my education.
I was just learning.
As it turns out, the learning I was doing, while college professors saw me blowing off their education DOES have value. I was working to learn and improve my craft of playing guitar and songwriting. In addition, by using those skills to create and write, I was forced to put myself “out there” regularly. Sometimes the song was really well-received. Sometimes it was a total flop. It helped me to flex my creative muscle and be willing to try things that might not work with no guarantees.
It’s very similar, in fact, to what I do when I create content today. It takes some creativity. It takes some courage. And it is all done with the idea that, if I keep doing it, I might get better.
So while I was struggling through education, I enjoyed learning very much.
That brings me to today.
We are living in a weird and different time. Many people are working remote, and have more time on our hands. But what are you going to do with it? You can learn to speak a new language. Maybe you can take the time to learn to play an instrument. It’s your choice if you want to learn something new.
And if you want to grow your understanding of marketing your organization, we would love to help. We have created a 5 Day Marketing Course designed to help you create more effective and targeted marketing. It’s free. You can find the course here. Â
We hope you will take the chance to learn…and let us know what you think! Oh, and as always, feel free to keep up with all of our content on our blog here.
by Kirby Hasseman
As I thought about what I could share in today’s blog, I continually asked myself a simple question. “During this uneasy time, what does everyone need to read? What do we need to hear?” As I sat there thinking about it, I wondered the same for myself. What do I need to hear? Though I don’t have a definitive answer, and I don’t have a magic pill to make us all feel better, three things came to mind. These are the things I long for each day. I want these three things every day…but certainly now.
I want something to motivate me.
I need something to make me laugh.
I long for something to inspire me.
While we certainly try to create content that hits each of these marks sometimes, my goal today is to do all three!
Motivate Me
We find ourselves in a new world where it’s hard to know what to do next. Sure, we can work from home. But are we really creating value? Plus, working in this new normal seems so much harder (for some). But during this strange and uncomfortable time, we have the ability to be pro-active in ways we might not have been able to do at the office. Now is a great time to get after it, when your competitors are not. You can come out of this stronger, if you are willing to get uncomfortable now.
And if that is not enough, how about Rocky Balboa giving a motivational speech? Here you go!
Make Me Laugh
The good news, I think, is there is plenty on the internet that can make you smile. The challenge is to find that content while avoiding the negativity. It can be a daunting challenge to say the least. (Hence this post). Even in trying times we can maintain our sense of humor. As a matter of fact, it’s more important than ever. With that in mind, feel free to watch this fun video of my daughter trying to teach me a basic “jazz combo” she was teaching her dance students online. It’s so silly…and that is the point.
Oh…and more silly is coming soon…so feel free to subscribe to the Youtube channel if you like that one!
Inspire Me
Despite the fact that the Coronavirus has been a crazy time, there has been countless stories that inspire me. The best ones, I think, are the most simple. After the silliness over toilet paper, I hear plenty of stories of neighbors helping neighbors with groceries, or work around their house. Most of us have seen social media posts about young people helping seniors with things that needed done. But the best way to inspire is to act. Please be on the look out for ways to help in your area. If you want to feel inspired, today is a great day to DO SOMETHING inspiring.
That might mean you need to help a neighbor. It might be as simple as sending a note. Or it might be sharing an inspiring story in the comments. Let’s help to spread that inspiration today. We can all use a splash of it!
The goal was to motivate, make you life (or at least smile), and inspire. I hope you found a little of each in this post.  More importantly, I hope you ARE a little of each this week.
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by Kirby Hasseman
I had an “aha” moment this morning. Let me explain as I tell on myself a bit here.
Last week I told my team that, since we were in unpredictable times, focusing only on sales was misguided. Sales goals are important, but they are what The 4 Disciplines of Execution calls a “Lag Goal.” They are important. They are great to shoot for. But they are not something that you control completely. That is why it is important to create “Lead Goals.” These are things that, when you do them consistently, LEAD you to your goals. I talk about this here.Â
That is why I told the team last week that we needed to focus on our activity level…not only our sales. We can control our activity level. We can decide and execute on it. We use a software called Commonsku that allows us to track these sales activities easily. So I told everyone that I would report how we were doing on activity this week. Then, when I logged in this morning to see how I was doing, I noticed something alarming.
According to the activity that I logged, my actual pro-active activity kind of sucked.
How can that be? I have been working hard all week! I have created content. I have been working in my office. I have had contact with clients, right? So, I went back through my calendar. I look back at emails. I racked my brain for calls and activity that was not logged. But this tracking showed me something VERY important. While I felt busy (you know how I feel about that word right?), I was not productive. I was not nearly as awesome as I felt I was.
And that is why it’s important to track your activity. It reveals the truth.
Taking the time to track your real activity is not just busy work. It helps you understand your behavior and it helps to modify it. It’s the reason, when you start a new diet, they often ask you to track what you are eating. First, you start to get a real idea of what you are ingesting. It also makes you think first before putting something in your mouth! “Do I really want to write that down?”
Tracking your activity gives you the real truth and it helps you focus on things you can actually control. Oh, and it gives you information that can help you get back on track. I for one am going to make sure I increase my activity today. I can’t embarrass myself in front of my team! But it’s important to note that I would not have known that I needed to modify my behavior unless I tracked it!
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by Kirby Hasseman
I saw a post on Facebook the other day that made me smile. It read “After years of wanting to thoroughly clean my house but lacking the time, now I discovered that wasn’t the reason.” It’s funny because we can all relate. It’s the idea of something we know we should do, but most of us don’t do. We might even want to do it, but don’t have the desire or discipline.
During this strange time, many of us are coming face to face with the “busy” excuse.
I have said for years that we are not “too busy” to do the things we want. For most of us, we simply don’t prioritize what we say we want. We just don’t make the time to execute. Busy is just an excuse. And now, with more time on our hands than we are used to, some of us are finding that out. But instead of taking advantage of the time, we are taking to social media to complain that we are bored.
For the last several years, busy has been the most over-used word in the English language. It was the answer to nearly every question in small talk (How are the kids? Busy!). But more importantly, it became the excuse for not being able to work on yourself, chase your dreams, or do the things you knew you should do.
And now…busy is not your excuse.
How do you make time to create content? I am too busy!
I can’t carve out the time to exercise…too busy.
I wish I had time to meditate, learn a language, or read a book. My life is just too busy.
There is plenty to be anxious about during this new time we are living in. But the good news, if you choose to look at it this way, is that you have gotten your time back. You are not “too busy.” So what will you do with it? Will you binge watch a new series on Netflix? Will you spend even more time on social media mindlessly scrolling your life away?
Or will you take the time to work on something that will give you purpose and growth? It’s your call. You are not “too busy.”
Thanks for reading! I am taking this time to write more and create more content. You can find most of it here on our blog page. And please feel free to sign up for our VIP list. We send out one email each week with all of the content in one place.
