Judy's and Sally's Blog

Four ways to de-tox and get rid of the Blahs, the Blues and the Stresses in the Contact Center.

Everything seems to depend on time in the call center.  No time to eat, no time to talk to your neighbor in the next cubicle, no time for a break outside by the back door, no time to be friendly. That is because time is only used to crunch numbers, check ratios from call to sale or shorten call time and lower the abandonment rate.   This sounds like no fun at all.  So, let’s see if we can open that door of opportunity even if the knocking you hear is the person in the next cube banging their head against the wall.

1 Minute

If you have only one minute to spare, you can:

• Subscribe to Comics on the Internet and read 2-3 of them – laugh – laugh – laugh!
• Spritz some Citrus Scent around you and breathe in calmly for one full minute.
• Move your shoulders up and down in a vertical motion to release tension on neck and back
• Check posture, sit up straight. Your back deserves a break, too.
• Drink a glass of water for your voice. Your body is a sponge and needs hydration.
• Make a secret list of two things that really make you mad – tear it up and throw it away.
• Billy Joel said: “she never gives in, she never gives up, she just changes her mind.”  You can too, take a moment and “Lighten Up!”  That’s what enlightenment is all about.

8 Minutes

• If you have two or three or four minutes – really eight minutes – Listen to a CD of calming music, no rap or angry stuff.  OR, put a recording on your i-pod of  soothing affirmations or positive sounds,  relax and you will handle the stress better. You can buy these kinds of CDs. (Call me.)  It’s very inexpensive and they work.  You go back to work cheerful and energized.  Why doesn’t everybody do this?
• Go outside and sit on a bench and just BE….no talking, no thinking, just SIT and BE.

4 Minutes

• Ask someone for direction.  Ask people what you should do with your life and Listen.
• If you are angry, sad, lonely, or depressed, Put on a Happy Face and pay it forward.
• Buy a candy bar and give it to someone else.
• Call a friend and say: “I miss you.”  Remember you only have 4 minutes but that’s all it takes.
• If you are worried, sit in a chair and try very hard to worry, for 4 minutes…bet you can’t do it!

Merry Christmas everybody, People seem to like my stories, I can hardly get through a training program anymore without telling a few. This story is true and I used it in a newsletter this Christmas. (Maybe I will put it in my next book. that’s the one I am writing for Oprah so I can get on the show with my LAMA Technique) Here is a sample. After you read it, share your “how did you handle hard times at Christmas?” Inspire us all. We all love to hear a real true hard luck story with a happy ending. Please, will you write one for us all? Maybe I’ll put your story in there, too. I know you have one….put it down on paper.

Dear Judy,
Everybody is so plugged in about money. Is that all there is? Everybody talks about it but like the weather they don’t do anything about it. Here is the Christmas Season, we are supposed to be Happy but all I hear is “I hate this, and I don’t have that…I have to pay this, my check is too small and my pocketbook is empty.” “They” blame the President, the mortgage companies and the banks, etc. yada yada. You get it? Don’t you? How can we have the Christmas spirit when it’s hard out there and everybody is scared?
Yours truly,
Down and out in Beverly Hills

Dear Down and Out,
It is hard out there and that is why you have to look in here…..(point to your heart) Do you know the only Christmas my kids remember is the one we made candles ? (yes, they were big in the 70’s. too, we also had madras blankets over our bare light bulbs) They remember the fun of using old crayons to color the wax we put in empty milk cartons, the fun we had and it cost practically nothing. We decorated a rubber tree plant with the old lights from the year before and went to Grandma’s for Christmas Dinner.

I was making about $108 a week with three kids . I was one of those single, working MOMs they all talk about. We got some food stamps and my eldest is still embarrassed about that. Anyway, it is still the only really meaningful Christmas absolutely all of us remembers vividly. Why is that?

Because we didn’t stress over money, we worried about if we had enough old crayolas to color the candles with multiple colors. We were too broke to worry about it and so we created a mood of giving. We created a plan of making gifts. It’s always hard out there for somebody, so instead of hoping “they” will all change, you do it. YOU CHANGE and you will see that the world will reflect it immediately. Your happiness doesn’t’ come from out there, it never has, it never will, it always comes from in here, (point to your heart again.) So start pointing and stop complaining that the world will not align itself to make you happy. Bring the HAPPY to It. What’s your Christmas memory? Let us all know how you made it in tough times, it may be an inspiration to someone. M e r r y C h r i s t m a s – Happy Holidays

I get letters….Here are some from the past.
“They shoot trainers don’t they?”

Dear Sage Judy,

Do they really “Shoot the Trainers?” Someone said they do and I wanted to become a trainer. After overhearing that remark from one of the Call Center Representatives…I thought. Oh.Oh. Maybe I picked the wrong place to be. Is it true? You ought to know, you have been there long enough.

Sincerely,
Don’t Shoot Me
Baltimore Md.

Dear “Don’t Shoot”,
I have heard that several times in my life but it never seemed to be addressed to me. It was either an innocent person who didn’t know I was the trainer or someone not smart enough to kiss up to the teacher. Given that, you chose the right career if you like the following things:
• Watching the “light bulb over the head” go on. It’s worth every insult.
• Hearing stories about how you changed someone’s business career – feels good.
• Teaching and Training others in a way the gives them skills and builds their self esteem at the same time.
“Happy, you will be.” like YODA would say. Tears of joy to your eyes – It will bring. Do it! It’s worth every shot they take. Sage maybe, been there for a long time…for sure!

More tomorrow. I know you can’t have time to read all this now…Go Coach Somebody!

Judy