Overcoming Distractions

This week we talk with Lysa Miller, cofounder of 3 Media Web, a digital marketing agency based in Hudson Massachusetts. We talk with Lysa about running and growing a digital marketing agency in a fast-paced industry, taking into consideration the constant changes in the world of marketing and PR. Lysa offers her advice and tips for creating systems that work for everyone on the team and how to manage the distractions of a digital world.

Some of the other topics we discuss are:

Running a fast-paced company in a rapidly changing industry. How do her and her team keep on top of the changing digital marketing landscape.

Social media is a big part of her business, so we discuss how they make it work in their favor.

Lysa likes to keep busy and we discuss why this is such an important part of how she manages her day and how it works in her favor when staying productive. She also keeps her team busy as well in the community and she speaks about the culture they have established by getting involved in the local community.

And she shares her tips for those that need a little help in staying on track, focused in business and need to minimize distractions.

You can find Lysa at: https://www.3mediaweb.com/

Instagram: @lysapreneaur

One major distraction in any size organization is when there is workplace conflict. When your team is not getting along, getting on the same page or working together as a team, conflict arises, and distractions become part of the workplace.

This time we chat with Carol Marzouk, “executive lion tamer” with Leadership N Soul. Carol gives us some great insight into what happens in any size organization when conflict comes into play.

Here is what we discuss:

Some of the main reasons for workplace conflict?

How does someone recognize that conflict is becoming a problem?

Is there good conflict? If so, how can that be productive?

Is conflict worse in a small business rather than a larger organization?

How does constant conflict distract us as well as the overall business?

How do you work to align an organization?

What if we just can’t get along?

Carol’s top tips for “taming the lions”

Learn more about carol here; https://leadershipnsoul.com/index.html

How to manage a crisis in your business.

There is one distraction that takes on a life of its own sometimes and it is a crisis in a business. Having a public relations crisis can not only distract you, it can stop you dead in your tracks if not handled properly.

You may say, this will never happen to me. But guess what, you would be wrong. It can happen to anyone in business. And in this world of social media, it is very different than when the only way to get news out was TV, radio and newspapers. News travels faster than at any time in our history.

We talk with Judy Rakowsky of Liberty Square Group in Boston about how to prepare, handle and mitigate the effects of a business crisis. Judy is the Senior Vice President of the firm and works with many organizations in managing and planning for a crisis.

Our discussion includes:

• We define a crisis.
• A crisis is the ultimate distraction in an organization. Why does it disrupt so much?
• Why does Judy think many in business are unprepared?
• We talk about how a crisis in this digital/social media world is a different event.
• Does Judy feel there are always advance signs of a crisis?
• In this digital age with social media, can we adequately create a crisis plan?
• What are the first few things a business should do when presented with a crisis?
• Judy’s top tips for staying out of or managing a crisis.

Find out more about Judy and Liberty Square Group at: https://libertysquaregroup.com/

What makes a great place to work? We are going to find out this week with our guest Mari Ryan. Mari is the founder and CEO of Advancing Wellness and the author of The Thriving Hive; How People-Centric Workplaces Ignite Engagement and Fuel Results.

Advancing Wellness is a workplace wellness consultancy based just outside of Boston. Mari and her team help build cultures of wellbeing in organizations.

We talk about what makes a company a great place to work and how an organization can build that culture of wellbeing so everyone can thrive. Even those of us who are prone to distractions.

Some of our conversation points include.

• What makes a great place to work?
• What are the items people should keep in mind when looking for a great place to work?
• What contributes to a culture of well being?
• Is work-life balance a fad, a real issue or something that many need and want?
• Does the corporate world understand the importance of work-life balance?
• Distractions- What should a person that could be prone to distractions look for in a workplace? Even in the interview.
• And, how does a person with other gifts or abilities find the right work environment? What’s the best way to work with management, your boss? Etc…
• Mari talks about her book and why she wrote it the way she did in story form.

Learn more about Mari Ryan and Advancing Wellness Here: http://www.advwellness.com/

Find Mari’s book here; https://www.amazon.com/Thriving-Hive-People-Centric-Workplaces-Engagement-ebook/dp/B07H3879LT/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1537111671&sr=8-1&keywords=the+thriving+hive

This week we have a great chat with Sarah Reiff-Hekking, Ph.D, and Founder of True Focus Coaching, Inc. based just outside of Boston. Sarah works with professionals at all levels to help them overcome procrastination and overwhelm and prioritize all the important tasks in their life.

If you are professional in the business world then you have no doubt experienced, overwhelm, distractions and have even procrastinated on various tasks. Sarah walks us through how to overcome various distractions in our business life and gives us actionable tips on how to be more productive.

Our conversation:

• How Sarah worked on her own struggles with procrastination and overwhelm.
• We talk about why procrastination is such a big issue with those in business
• Sarah walks us through the four issues we struggle with when it comes to time management
• Sarah’s three core philosophies when it comes to time management
• Fives step to busting through our own procrastination and overwhelm.
• The power of positive self-talk but understanding it is not the only solution

Sarah runs coaching programs as well as time management boot camps. Learn more about Sarah Reiff-Hekking here; https://www.truefocuscoaching.com/

Find Sarah’s eBook, 5 Steps to Bust Through Procrastination & Overwhelm at www.Truefocustips.com

In this episode we talk about kindness and we touch upon the related item of respect. We discuss why kindness matters in life, your business world and more importantly, kindness to yourself.

This week’s guest is Tara Cousineau, PhD and author of the book The Kindness Cure; How the Science of Compassion Can Heal Your Heart and Your World. Tara is a clinical psychologist a meditation teacher and is connected with Harvard University.

In her book she talks about the many subjects related to kindness including, stress, compassion, emotions and gratitude.

On the podcast we discuss

• The definition of kindness
• In 2019, is kindness is lacking in our society?
• She explains why kindness takes effort.
• What does stress have to do with kindness or lack of kindness?
• How do we be kind to ourselves? Despite our past experiences, etc…
• Is kindness being embraced in business culture?  
• The benefits of meditation both personally and in the business world.

You can find out more about Tara and her work at: https://www.taracousineau.com/

Her book The Kindness Cure can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Kindness-Cure-Science-Compassion-Heart/dp/1626259690/

The Ted talk she refers to in our discussion with Rick Hanson can be found here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpuDyGgIeh0

The practice of marketing and public relations in a business has fundamentally changed in the past decade. When social media came into our landscape and began to take shape, it changed the way we did business on a number of levels. Those in business were left scrambling to make the best use of these new platforms. And that continues today as the rules keep changing.

In this podcast, we chat with Louis Gudema, author of the book, Bullseye Marketing. Louis helps us understanding the marketing trends in 2019 and beyond. We talk about how public relations and marketing has changed, what has stayed the same and how those in business can continue to create valuable and effective marketing and PR plans without letting is distract us into frustration.

Some points we discuss are:

• Has marketing always been a somewhat confusing part of an organization?
• Does Louis feel that marketing and PR frustrates certain people? Even marketers…
• How has marketing changed over the past decade?
• What are companies doing wrong in this digital age or marketing and PR?
• Have marketing, PR and advertising become just the same thing in this digital world?
• How do we begin to make our marketing less of a distraction and bring in more ROI?

And we have Louis Gudema’s top tips for getting an organization of any size on the right track in their marketing and PR.

You can find out more about Louis Gudema at: http://revenueassociates.biz/

And find the book Bullseye Marketing here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/173220361X