Working from Home- Tips for Success

Working from Home-  Tips for Success

Recently people and businesses all around the world have been restructuring their lives with the recent quick shifts to maintain the health of people and communities. Many of us are all settling into new routines while being homebound. One of the new challenges most of us are facing is how to set ourselves up for balance and success while working from home? We at Unified Caring Association (UCA) are sharing caring information to help people who are working from home.

Create the Environment

The first step on this new journey is to create a productive and comfortable environment at home to work in. While working from home you will need a space to call an office. Set up a desk or office space to be your zone for work. Set up all of the technology and tools you will need. Some of these tools, like a laptop or printer, you might have at home or brought to us from our office. If you have a window, try opening it up for fresh air to keep you alert. A bonus to having a window is that you can look outside. Greenery helps us feel more relaxed and stay healthy. Lastly, when setting up your work environment, limit any distractions. This means turning off unnecessary technology, such as the television or silencing notifications for social media, keeping your work space clutter free, and letting your family and roommates know that you are working. Limiting the interruptions can help boost your productivity.

Scheduling Your Week and Day

Now that you have space to work and be productive in, it is time to set yourself up for success. Setting goals and scheduling your time becomes very important. (Trust us, it is easy to bake cookies while answering work emails!) Think about what days of the week you will be working; many of us it is Monday-Friday from about 9 am to 5 pm. Be sure to include untouchable days or days off to recharge and spend quality time socializing with loved ones. Goals help us plan our lives, and setting good goals throughout the week help us with our success. Goals also help us build habits. For example, setting a goal of taking a lunch break each work day to clear your mind, and say hi to your family. Each day’s schedule should include a healthy chunk of time around lunch where you are away from your office/desk and your computer. During this time you can do anything else, like go on a virtual museum tour with your kids!

An interesting thing that can be carried into each day is setting up a morning routine. Get yourself up at a decent hour, brush your teeth, eat, and get dressed in something other than pj’s to rev up your mind and get those brain cells going. Healthy habits help us feel in control and less stress over time.When you review your schedule for the day, tackle big tasks first thing in the morning. Maybe that big task is writing annual reviews for your team, or an important meeting with board members for a new project. Once that daunting task is over, the rest of the day will feel like a snap. The rest of the day’s schedule should be set up by grouping related tasks together. One example is to have the hour between 2 pm and 3 pm for responding to emails. Or 10 am to 11 am checking in with your team for the day. Overall, know your productive times of the day. Each person is unique, and setting a schedule should reflect that. One key is to adjust your schedule as needed; especially these days, we might need to adjust our schedule midday due to telecommuting or global events.

Caring together

We are all being called to do extraordinary things for the collective caring of our families, communities and the world in response to the unique coronavirus pandemic. Whether homebound or providing critical services, everyone is stretched to adapt like never before.  All of us are in this together. Now more than ever, caring is what we need most. Caring for our self. Caring for others around us. Life is going to require new routines, resilience and compassion. We invite you to join us in creating a caring movement to respond to local needs.

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way! If you would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter!

Taking a Break to Recharge

Taking a Break to Recharge

In a world where many of us are running around and working hard, we are more prone to being burned out. What can we do to prevent this from happening? Well, Unified Caring Association (UCA) is here to share caring resources to help out our members and community. One way we have found that helps us become more resilient is taking a break to recharge our batteries.

Work to the bone no more!

Most of us learned that the harder we work the more success we have. The secret is, that this is not the best way to travel our life’s journey. What we tend to do after working this hard is shutdown when we get home. However, when getting home after work, many of us want to soak in time with family, friends, and hobbies. Not to mention, when we are burned out we are far less productive. This feels like running harder up a slippery hill and getting nowhere fast. For Harvard Business Review’s Neil Pasricha, what most people “…needed was a practical way to get more work done without taking more time.”

“Untouchable Days”

Enter a revolutionary self-care concept, untouchable days. “These are days when I am literally 100% unreachable in any way…by anyone…I look at my calendar sixteen weeks ahead of time, and for each week, I block out an entire day as UNTOUCHABLE.” This gives us time to unplug, journal, and recharge to be better able to tackle our work, and be more present in our lives.

Pasricha comments on his ‘untouchable days’ and what he gets from them. “I think of them as having two components. There is the deep creative work. When you’re in the zone, you’re in a state of flow, and the big project you’re working on is getting accomplished step by step by step. And then there are the nitros — little blasts of fuel you can use to prime your own pump if you hit a wall. These unproductive moments of frustration happen to all of us, and it’s less important to avoid them than to simply have a mental toolkit you can whip out when they happen.” 

Being 100% out of reach is not for everyone. However, the concept of getting up and taking a break from work or a frustrating situation holds true. We often can compose ourselves with deep breaths or mindfulness activities. Then we can return to our day with new eyes and a can-do attitude. Ultimately, taking time to unwind is key for achieving self-care and success in all areas of life!

Would you like to read more about UCA caring resources? We have other blogs on Unified Caring Association, caring in our communities, and caring the UCA way! If you would like caring messages throughout the week, follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter!

Caring Cookbook

Caring Cookbook
cooking poem

Most of us love to cook with care. We gently wash the produce, plucking leaves off mint for tea, or even the act of folding whipped cream into a rich chocolate mousse bring joy into the world. With the holiday season in full swing, most of us are taking up our spatulas and pans to create scrumptious meals for ourselves and those we love. Just one trick to overcome… when will we have the time to cook a feast?! Unified Caring Association (UCA) has a solution for you! We have just put together a cookbook titled Care to Cook: Casually & Quickly. This cookbook is filled with caring recipes that are simple to make and delicious to eat!

Care to Cook Casually & Quickly

Our Goal

Nutrition is important for everyone, and can be overlooked in our busy lives. We want to  help people in our caring community plan meals to be healthier. This cookbook was created with those of us who are strapped for time. (Think about people who work two to three jobs, have families and have no time to dilly dally. Yet, they love home cooked food that is  flavorful and a delight to the pallet.) This cookbook is designed to provide recipes that are uncomplicated, yet delicious. Unified Caring Association members have access to this cookbook under the benefits tab for nutrition. AND soon to come, UCA will have a printed copy available for purchase in the Caring Community Store for all who visit to buy!

The Layout

At the beginning of the cookbook there is a short introduction and index. It is here that we can find suggestions for substitute for butter, salt, and more. Also there are suggestions for appreciation and gratitude for the food we eat. Following this is a nifty cheat-sheet for cooking times that are needed for produce, meat, poultry, etc. This sheet comes in handy at any point during a cooking adventure! Now we get into the index proper. We see a list of a variety of entrees, appetizers, desserts, and more. We just start to practically drool when we read over these recipes, and know that our caring cooks will too!

Taking a Sweet Sneak Peek

Below is a preview of one of the recipes that is in our caring cookbook, Care to Cook: Casually & Quickly. Try these candied pecans as a fun thank you holiday gift for those you care about. Whether they are your family, friends, or coworkers, they are sure to enjoy the gift given with kindness.

Candied Pecans

Whether you are heading to a party or just getting home from a long day at work, these recipes are a great way to take care of yourself and the ones you care for. We are glad to have this caring cookbook to help fuel our caring community. With the nutrition and TLC that comes from our food, we can continue sharing caring around the world.

Would you like to read more about Unified Caring Association? Caring Connection 24-7, UCA & Scholarships, How to Improve the World By Caring, and It All Starts With Self-Care are just some of our other blogs that are wonderful, quick reads. Or, check out our website to read more about Unified Caring Association memberships, caring communities, our Caring Challenge and more! We also love connecting with our followers on social media (Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter) to share caring throughout the week!

Themes from Essays – Gratitude, The Little Things Count

gratitude

Themes-gratitude

Unified Caring Association (UCA) has multiple scholarships available during the year to help children with funds for schooling. Each time we read these submissions we are moved and excited, especially when we notice themes in the submissions. Recently we wrote a blog about one theme, empathy. We want to celebrate the other themes these essays touch upon, such as gratitude.

Gratitude is as gratitude does…

Gratitude is a topic we touch on often. Such as our other blogs titled Wired for Gratitude and Caring Through The Gift of Time.  In these topics we have compiled and shared information about how acts of gratitude promote self-care and caring for others. Adopting a mindset of gratitude ultimately promotes health and healthy lifestyles while encouraging others to do the same. We are bursting with joy to see that the upcoming generations are taking steps to promote gratitude in their lives and the lives they touch as well.

Nadia Finley-Gratitude -Strength From Challenges

We all have many challenges we face in our lives. How we respond during and after these challenges make a difference. UCA loves to hear when the response is with care, positivity, and gratitude. Nadia wrote a unique essay on how she is grateful for all of the challenges that have made her who she is today. Stronger, empowered, and more grateful for all that happens in her life. She shares her journey with us by speaking with emotion to someone who bullied her, moving through levels of gratitude: “Thank you! Because I realize the discrimination I suffered only made me stronger. Thank you! I learned where there is adversity, there is an opportunity to show unconditional love. Thank you! For not realizing my worth, it forced me to value my own unique beauty, without your approval. Thank you! I own this experience in pain, which in turn is more powerful than living in the illusion where you tried to keep me… Now I am grateful for my challenges.” Thank you for sharing with us Nadia, we are grateful for you, and all you do!

Faith Lovato- Gratitude, A New Perspective

“If I could change one thing in this world to make it a more caring place, I would change the way people view their lives.” This is the topic of Faith’s essay. She remarks about how most people are ‘normally’ “…ungrateful, unsatisfied, undetermined, content and unaware of how blessed they are.” Faith wants to change this and promote a new perspective on life. This is a perspective of gratitude, positivity and realizing that the little things add up. “Focus your attention to the little things in life. Because the little things are what matter in life.” Faith would like for us to stop spending time on what we lack. Exchanging that time for appreciating what we have. She echoes other comments we have read that time spent on technological devices can promote a view of lacking and unappreciation. Spending time with others, sharing your gratitude, and striving for a positive perspective on life makes all of the small things we experience add up to the larger good in our lives.

Allison Jarman- The Little Things Can Make the Biggest Impacts

Remember Faith’s essay mentions how all of the little things in life add up? Allison wrote a moving essay with the focus on “…helping people to see that we change the world by doing small things.” She tells us about her life experiences through her interactions and time spent with a friend who has down syndrome. “It always made me so happy when I would come over. My friend showed her happiness by waiting for me outside and being very grateful. With very minimal effort, I was able to show my friend that I cared and help bring her some happiness.” Allison shares that her friend’s mother too is grateful for the friendship and time spent with her daughter. This makes three direct moments of gratitude and joy. We can picture them spending time together, laughing and playing.

Allison states, “I would like to help others experience the joy and happiness I have experienced through small acts. It does not take giant acts of kindness to make the world a better place, small acts of kindness and love will make it a more caring place.”  This is wonderful to read because there is more impact when real actions support our words; a.k.a. actions can speak louder than words. Allison wants to lead by example by teaching “…others that simple things such as checking up on a friend, giving compliments and using patience while driving are all simple acts of service.” In her finishing comments she states that  “if we all worked on at least these three areas the world would be a much better place.”

quote...-sm-things

We have been so excited to share themes from our scholarships, that we wanted to take the time to say thank you to all of the applicants. We are filled with joy when we read all of your caring essays. Without a doubt gratitude is a strong way to go forward to help create a more caring world.

Want to read more about UCA and get an extra dose of positivity on you news feeds? Read our other blogs on caring, member benefits, and or follow us on social media: Pinterest, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram. We are looking forward to sharing more with you!

Caring Through the Gift of Time

Caring

What is one of the purest caring acts a person can give? Is it a job where you get money? A trip around the world? Or is it a piece of jewelry, costing a lot of money? It’s hard to say, because every person is different and perceives acts of kindness a little bit differently. But when breaking down any example of what a person has done that is an act of caring we can follow the metaphorical bread crumb trail to arrive at the core. The gift given was the gift of time. Many people today are on the go, moving from one place to the other. Their faces in smartphones with eyes scanning the pages fluttering by with the flick of a fingertip.  It has become more rare to pause and take a moment to share our gratitude with others.

In an article written by Harvey B. Simon, M.D. and published by Harvard Health Publishing, there is a great description of what the word gratitude means. “The word gratitude is derived from the Latin word gratia, which means grace, graciousness, or gratefulness (depending on the context). In some ways gratitude encompasses all of these meanings. Gratitude is a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible.” (https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier) We heard a great memory one time. Growing up, they were always reminded that if a person gives you five minutes or more of their time, thank them. This can be done verbally on the phone, by email, or even through “snail mail” as a written letter. (Bonus points if it is written legibly by hand). This personal touch and the gift of your time to those that have spent precious moments connecting with you goes a long way.

Acts of gratitude have been shown to have many benefits including improving your health. One such example of this is talked about in an article titled How Gratitude Changes You and Your Brain, written by Joel Wong and Joshua Brown for Greater Good Magazine, Science-Based Insights for Meaningful Life. It is here that we see a study on sharing gratitude through writing letters. What was found was that “…when [they] compared those who wrote the gratitude letters with those who didn’t, the gratitude letter writers showed greater activation in the medial prefrontal cortex when they experienced gratitude in the fMRI scanner. This is striking as this effect was found three months after the letter writing began. This indicates that simply expressing gratitude may have lasting effects on the brain. While not conclusive, this finding suggests that practicing gratitude may help train the brain to be more sensitive to the experience of gratitude down the line, and this could contribute to improved mental health over time.” (https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/how_gratitude_changes_you_and_your_brain)

One other note about sharing your gratitude is it is self-perpetuating and a self-fulfilling prophecy. We have spent many hours observing how others and myself are affected by the simple genuine thank you. Often there is a smile and a warming of the eyes that accompanies a thank you in return. Think about the last time you were thanked. How did that made you feel. We bet you are smiling now as you replay that memory.

Unified Caring Association has a history of promoting acts of kindness in their CARE program that helps others share their thanks and gratitude for others. One of these was in response to a natural disaster in California, where many upon many lost their homes and possessions. UCA helped with gathering of donations for the people and their families that were affected. (UCA members can read the full article HERE.) There are so many other articles like this on the UCA’s website. If you want to read more about UCA’s caring acts, there is a snapshot in Caring Actions! Also, UCA has a Caring Challenge where each day has a prompt for a caring act such as thanking someone!

How do we summarize all of this information about gratitude and taking the time to share it? By simply taking that small but important moment to say thank you. Thank you for your time, your attention, and your kindness. Your time is precious, and it is honored with gratitude.

Love our blogs and want to read more? Unified Caring Association has other caring blogs that inspire us all such as Unified Caring Association – Your Life is What We Care About!

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