Author Archives: kate

Jan4

How To Build An Emergency Fund

Posted on January 4, 2021 by kate

Happy new year everyone! We hope you had peaceful and insightful celebrations. Here at The Help, we’re gearing up for another year of helping businesses grow and flourish. It has been an honor to serve you and support your business and we look forward to more years working with you.

Every year, a lot of people (whether they admit it or not) make new year resolutions. That’s basically us telling ourselves that (perfect as we are) there could be changes to be made in order to be better versions of ourselves. That’s a good thing, right? There’s always room for improvement. Most resolutions revolve around health and happiness with a few dashes of altruism. The most popular new year’s resolutions include^[1]:

Exercising more
Eating healthier
Spending more time with loved ones
Losing weight
Living more economically
Spending less time on social media
Improving job performance
Reducing stress
Quitting smoking
Cutting down on alcohol

We’re walking into the new year tentatively, with a lot of things still up in the air. It’s no wonder why the top 5 resolutions are all about “future-proofing”. We want to be ready for what’s coming.

The whole world is still trying to get back its rhythm. Everyone is still trying to rebuild. Economies around the globe are still unstable and job markets have minimal movement. It’s best to be prepared and to have an emergency fund built up just in case of unforeseen events. It’s time we learn to secure our finances, here are a few tips:

Same bank, different accounts

Open a savings account in the same bank as where you get your pay. This gives you easier mobility to move your money between your payroll and your savings account. If you can, arrange for automatic funds transfers so you can be sure that you’ve saved money before you even get the chance to spend it.

Have a budget

First, you have to compute how much it costs to support yourself: that’s your income minus your expenses. Draft a working budget and try to keep within that. Don’t forget to include savings into the computation. Extra money can go into non-essentials, wants, or more savings.

Keep a record

It’s easier to spend money if you can’t see it. That’s how people get into credit card debt. Having a visual reference of how much you earn vs how much you spend will give you more visibility over your spending habits and more control over your finances.

6 months worth of emergency funds

Start building an emergency fund. A good number is about 6 months worth of salary. This means that your emergency fund can tide you and your family over for about half a year.

50/30/20 rule

Some people set up rules for how to spend their money. The 50/30/20 rule says that 50% of your income goes to basic needs, 30% for personal wants, and 20% for savings. There are varieties to this rule, but 20% of your income going to savings makes it easier for you to build that emergency fund we talked about earlier.

What are your new year’s resolutions? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

^[1] Statista.com

Dec22

How To Organize A Remote Worker Inclusive Holiday Party

Posted on December 22, 2020 by kate

How To Organize A Remote Worker Inclusive Holiday Party

At this point in the year, companies are extremely busy. This is when businesses feel the pressure of delivering to customers and hitting their financial targets. On top of that, employees are on a mad scramble to finish all pending reports and rushing to cap off the year. This is also the time when companies plan and execute all holiday-related activities, including parties, games, giveaways, Christmas baskets, and year-enders.

That was pre-pandemic. Nowadays, things are a bit slower and more socially distant. Remote working teams are scattered across different locations and sometimes, different time zones, transforming how we celebrate the traditional office Christmas party. A majority of the workforce is still working from home and it’s easy to forget to include remote workers in office parties or to even organize an office party because, well, you don’t see each other face to face. However, this is the time to be inclusive of everyone and to make sure that nobody gets left out. We must not let recent circumstances get us down. Companies can still hold holiday celebrations. Here’s how you can still celebrate the holidays to include the part of your workforce who are working from home:

Personalized greetings

Take the time to send personalized notes, thank you cards, or holiday greetings. A personalized letter is more sincere and will be appreciated more than you know. Some ideas include: a framed greeting, motto, or mission vision, personal notes, or a video greeting.

Take advantage of video conferencing technology

Make sure to include remote workers in your holiday festivities. Take advantage of video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Skype, Teams, Google Meet, etc. Some platforms allow you to share music, so put on Christmas songs (hello, Mariah and Wham). Prepare games. I’ve recently hosted a Zoom trivia night with the help of Canva (for creating the questions and cue cards) and Spotify (for the “name That Tune” part). Invite everyone to wear holiday-themed headgear, Christmas costumes, Holiday Pajamas, or ugly sweaters. Aside from awarding the best in the costume, you can even have an award for the best-decorated tree or most festive background.

Gifts

Some companies send Christmas baskets to their employees. Some send gift cards, electronic cards, event tickets, etc. that people can use for online purchases so minimize going out. Some companies even make charitable donations in the employees’ name. Tangible gifts are great, too. Remember, it’s the thought that counts.

Peer recognition

The end of the year is the perfect time to acknowledge your team’s contributions and accomplishments. Use the opportunity to publicly recognize each other’s great work and their trellis effort in making the team a success.

These might be trying times, but we can still uphold traditions and make it special for the entire company. With a bit of effort, we can still celebrate the holidays with each other. How do you celebrate the holidays at your company? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Dec14

How To Come Back From A Holiday Break Feeling More Productive

Posted on December 14, 2020 by kate

How To Come Back From A Holiday Break Feeling More Productive

A few days more and it’s Christmas. It’s been an odd year but people still haven’t lost the festive holiday spirit. Just now, I saw some holiday decor up at my favorite coffee shop. Everything looks normal, right?

A Healthline survey in 2015 reports that 44% of people say that they are stressed during the holidays, with approximately 18% of those respondents reporting that they’re “very stressed.” While the holidays should be a time of joy, it can also be a time of stress. Respondents of that survey cite finances as the main reason for being stressed followed by being overscheduled.

If you are working up until the last minute, the holidays can be even more stressful. Employees have a hard time staying productive in mid-December, because they have the holidays at the back of their mind. Working professionals tend to fall into one of these categories:

They completely disengage after finishing the last work-related task and start engaging in not very meaningful activities like binge-watching.
They keep working straight through the holidays and use work to get out of personal commitments.
They do the opposite and cram as many holiday activities as they can into their schedules.

The problem here is obvious. None of these categories have a healthy work-life balance in them. To be more productive, you need to have a healthy balance of work and personal time.

How To Spend Your Holidays Intentionally

Set healthy holiday goals – set goals around what is important to you like how much sleep you want to get, how much exercise you want to do, etc. Stick to these goals. Remember that you’re trying to keep a healthy balance so don’t set a holiday goal to “do more work”. Instead, a healthy goal would be setting how much time will you allow yourself to work over the holidays.
Create and uphold holiday traditions – Family dinner on Christmas is a good tradition to uphold. Social distancing might prevent you from organizing a sit-down dinner with the whole family, but you can do it via video conferencing apps. Exchanging Christmas gifts is another tradition to uphold that almost everyone can look forward to.
Set goals for next year – take advantage of the holidays by setting goals for the year ahead. Making sure you have something to look forward to and something to work on will ensure that you keep a healthy, balanced, and productive mindset.
Prioritize downtime – find a quiet place to reflect. You can also write in a journal or have a meaningful conversation about how your year went with a loved one. This helps you take stock of the year that was and helps you process everything that happened. It’s like clearing your mental inbox so that you are ready for new experiences.

What are your tips on how to come back from the holidays feeling more productive? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

Dec7

Practical Ways To Really Beat The Burnout Blues

Posted on December 7, 2020 by kate

Practical Ways To Really Beat The Burnout Blues

The past few months have been a struggle for everyone. Together, we have faced many adversities. With the holidays coming up, everyone is looking forward to taking a breather. We are all telling ourselves a version of: “if I can just get a holiday, I can shed off this burden of stress and escape burnout.” If only it were that simple.

Unusual Circumstances

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit globally, all forms of social gatherings were staunchly banned and nations were sent on lockdown. Getting together with family and friends was discouraged. So was travelling. That meant that taking vacations was off of our list of things to do while the world was on lockdown.

Hope Against Hope

Travel bans were in place internationally and even domestically. There goes our hope of taking that much-awaited vacation in the hopes escaping burnout and stress. However, hinging your strategy on a getaway in order to solve your burnout problems isn’t such a sound plan after all. Burnout is defined as “a reaction to prolonged or chronic job stress and is characterized by three main dimensions: exhaustion, cynicism (less identification with the job), and feelings of reduced professional ability.^[1]” While we are all hopeful that a break might chase those burnout blues away. The only real solution is change. Two in particular: a change in environment and a change in behaviour.

How Are You Feeling

Here are some common signs of burnout:

Feelings of alienation and exhaustion – sure physical distancing is the IN thing nowadays. But if you are experiencing emotional distance and growing cynical about your outlook in life, you might be experiencing burnout. If you feel way beyond tired, and feel emotionally exhausted, numb, and drained, you might be experiencing burnout.
Physical symptoms – headaches, stomachaches, and gastrointestinal issues are common symptoms of stress and burnout.
Performance dip – having negative feelings about tasks and responsibilities that you once enjoyed doing are surefire signs of burnout. Dips in productivity and creativity, as well as lack of concentration, are signs as well.

Change In Environment

While a vacation or some time off can and will offer you some temporary relief from stress and burnout, it won’t be a permanent solution to your problem. Take regular scheduled breaks from work along with a change of pace or routine. In rare cases, a change in position or a new job altogether might be necessary for severe burnout.

Change In Behaviour

Developing a clear action plan involves making changes in behaviour as well. Prioritizing self-care is one of the surefire ways to reduce stress and burnout. Eat a healthy diet, exercise, and monitor your sleep habits so you can make changes for the better will contribute a lot to reducing stress and burnout.

If you have exhausted all these options and feel that they are not working, try to seek the help of a mental health professional to discover what you need to create a personalized action plan. What are your tips to combat burnout? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp

^[1] Burnout Sym ptoms and Treatment

Nov30

To Make a Difference, Always Choose To Be Kind

Posted on November 30, 2020 by kate

To Make a Difference, Always Choose To Be Kind

The past thanksgiving has made us realize that we have a lot to be grateful for. It also made us realize that the world needs a lot more kindness going on: kindness not only to others, but also to ourselves. More than ever, practicing self-kindness is to be necessary in order for us to be able to help other people. Big or small acts of kindness help create ripples of happiness that people can take with them and pay forward. One simple act goes a long way.

We all have different ways to show kindness. Some show it by lending a helping hand, others by lending an ear. Others show it by doing volunteer work, while others show it by helping out in the house. Practice kindness triggers a chain reaction: make someone else’s day better, and they in turn feel good about themselves and try to make someone else’s day better. Here are some ways you can practice kindness.

Be generous – it doesn’t have to be a grand gesture of generosity. Making the family’s favorite dinner. It can also be giving a bit of your time to a neighbor or a friend to help out where you can.
Compliment someone – pick a trait that you admire in someone and tell them what you admire about them. Watch them glow in appreciation.
Practice gratitude – we take for granted the words “thank you” and we don’t say it enough. Always say thank you whenever you can and show others how grateful you are for their presence in your life. Also practice gratitude for simple things, such as good food, great friends, and good health.
Lend a helping hand – don’t think twice, offer to help. Helping others has a twofold effect. It benefits the recipient and also makes us release feel-good hormones, so we actually do feel good about helping. If you’re feeling a little blue, try lending a helping hand.
Be a good listener – these are trying times for everybody. If you feel that you are just one person who can’t make a difference, start with being a good listener to someone who is struggling. You might not know it, but it makes a huge difference and that person will appreciate you for it.
Tell a joke – lighten the mood whenever you can. It won’t hurt to crack a joke or two, nobody needs to be serious and talk about gloom and doom all the time. We get it, there’s a pandemic. But a little laughter would go a long way. We’re all stressed enough.
Rally behind a good cause – pick a cause, organization, or movement that you really believe in and get behind it.
Show appreciation – when someone does something good for you, don’t forget to tell them that you appreciate it.

We need more kindness in the world, don’t you think so? Have you seen extraordinary acts of kindness going around? Share them with us in the comments. Remember to work smart and be a blessing to someone today. Stay safe and healthy!

Written by Jaie O. TheHelp