Monthly Archives: May 2020

How to Stay Motivated at Work and Avoid Quiet Quitting

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By Fiction Author Denise Turney

organized work desk to stay motivated
Motivation for Work Picture

Changing career landscapes, economic shifts and challenges disconnecting from the office make it hard to stay motivated at work. Information overload is real, potentially putting you at risk of burnout. If you’re not careful, you could slip into quiet quitting.

Whether you work from home or at the office, you might feel like quitting. That or you might want to invest less time or energy into your job. It makes good sense. Long work hours, challenges setting clear boundaries, procrastination or perfectionism could sap your daily motivation pretty quickly. But you know your rent, mortgage, utility bills, car note and insurance premiums are not going to stop coming just because you’re having a hard time finding motivation for work.

Ways to Stay Motivated at Work

On the other hand, burnout doesn’t give two cents about your bills. That’s why you need to get in front of this type of lack of motivation early. So, if giving yourself an early morning pep talk after you climb out of bed in the morning is no longer helping you to shift upward, consider:

  • Establishing start and end times for when you’ll invest in work. This includes getting clear about the days of the week that you’ll work. Of course, there may be instances when you’ll have to work six days a week. But these instances should be rare if you’re committed to setting clear boundaries.
  • Discuss time off requests, special work arrangements and unique work hours with your supervisor. Get that person’s green light. That way, you’ll relax and not push yourself too hard out of fear that your supervisor will think you’re slacking. For example, if you need to wait until 10am to start work and you need to stop work at 5:30pm to care for a sick parent or young child, let your supervisor know.
  • Get smart about juggling multiple projects.
  • Communicate your work schedule to your team. Let go of guilt and focus on your work without feeling like you have to be Superwoman or Superman.
  • If your supervisor keeps pushing you to do more, consider seeking another job. Your mental, physical and emotional health matter.
  • Give yourself room to make mistakes. After all, staying motivated through failure is part of success, at work and at home.
  • Take breaks throughout the workday.
  • Definitely take your full lunch break.

How To Be More Motivated At Work

Also, let your supervisor know the projects you’re working on. If your workload is light, communicate that. But don’t keep pushing to receive more work as if working will reduce inner guilt.

And guilt may be the biggest culprit when it comes to setting shabby work boundaries. To avoid guilt, actually look at how much work you’re doing. Also, consider your work habits. You know if you’re a go-getter. You know if you keep commitments. Don’t play yourself small.

While you work, listen to motivational messages and read motivational quotes. For example, if you’re working on a project, you could pop in your ear buds and listen to online motivational messages. Before and after work, consider developing hobbies or investing in creative endeavors.

For instance, you could start writing on that novel. Or you could start on that abstract painting, wood table, ceramic dish set or pottery pieces. Also, invest in yourself by getting outdoors and enjoying, absolutely enjoying, a walk, run or bike ride.

Motivational Factors At Work

If you need motivation to work, take advantage of employee perks offered at the company where you work. Most human resources departments have a list of employee perks, things like computer discounts, travel savings and vacation packages that you can take advantage of.

In addition to becoming familiar with these employee perks, get clear on the number of vacation days that you have left. Forget carrying these days over to the new year. Instead, take a day off one to two times a month until you stop feeling de-motivated or burned out.

Definitely, get enough deep sleep. Reading a book before bed and avoiding caffeine are ways to set yourself up for a good night of sleep. And solicit the help of family and friends, people who are trustworthy. Also, spend time with people who practice healthy work boundaries.

Accept Help To Get Motivated Again

Let these people babysit so that you can get a break if you have young children. If you have a partner, ask your partner to help around the house. Don’t try to do everything yourself. Again, you’re not trying to be Superman or Superwoman.

That shared, be open to seeking help from a professional counselor if you’re still struggling as it regards finding motivation. You might even be able to get your counseling paid for through your employer. Bottom line, no one is going to look out for you better than you will, not if you love yourself.

Another thing – spend time with family and friends. At the least, speak with loved ones on the phone once a day or twice a week. Stay connected. Combined it all helps you to stay motivated at work and maintain a healthy motivation in and outside of the office. Oh. And one last thing – read a good book to stay motivated!

Book Marketing Platforms that Work

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book marketing books on shelf

By Books Author Denise Turney

Book marketing is a long, ongoing process. If you want a sustainable career as a writer, you need to learn and start practicing smart marketing techniques. Fortunately, there are technology tools to help.

For starters, you can get real traction at the right book marketing platforms using two strategies. One approach requires more of your time. The other approach requires more money.

Types of Book Marketing Platforms

AALBC.com, Book Daily, Artist First and Good Reads are types of marketing platforms. So too are TED Talk, Mosaic, podcasts and social media.

Book clubs, television programs that focus on books, press release distribution services and bookstores are also types of marketing platforms. But it’s your book blog and author website that are your primary platforms.

Each platform that you work should point back to either your author website or your book order page. If your only book order page is at Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com, point platforms to your custom sales pages at those bookseller websites.

Getting Platform Results Is Not Free

That means that your social media profiles should include the link to either your author website or book order page. When you run ads through marketing agencies like Book Daily, add a link to your book order page in your profile.

If you have the time, schedule at least an hour a day to work book marketing platforms. The more time you invest at the platforms, the better. But don’t just posts. Find out who platform influencers are. Ask influencers questions, “like” what they share and follow them.

I’m a fan of social media posts schedulers like Buffer and Hootsuite. Just log into social media accounts and posts live once a day. You can get results with 5 to 10 minutes of work per social media platform.

Social Media and More Marketing Platforms

Pick two to three social media platforms to actively posts comments, ask questions and share motivational quotes on. See if your followers, shares, likes and overall engagement don’t go up.

Build your marketing platforms by:

  • Blogging once a week or more (add keywords into your blog posts)
  • Sending direct mail to book lovers
  • Creating and distributing a weekly or a monthly book newsletter
  • Scheduling at least one YouTube or Vimeo video posts a week
  • Guest posting on high traffic websites like Huffington Post, Forbes and Entrepreneur. Include a link to your author website in your bio.
  • Attending large book club events and cultural festivals. Pass out free bookmarks or book excerpts. Stamp your author website URL on all handouts.

Take two to three of the above steps at least once a week. If you’re short on time, pay marketing agencies to do your heavy lifting. Start small with spending. Avoid giving into smooth sales pitches and getting pulled into expensive marketing deals.

Measure Book Marketing Results

Make sure that you see measurable results, and not just an increase in traffic. Why is this important? Computer bots can send loads of traffic your way, lending the appearance that tons of people are truly interested in your book, when that’s not the case.

Don’t assume that just because your profile, website URL or book cover is at book marketing platforms that you’re pulling in the right traffic. An increase in book sales is a sure sign that book marketing platforms are working.

Requests for book excerpts, author interviews, more social media followers and increased reader engagement are other signs that book marketing platforms are yielding good results. If you receive more comments that focus on your book or its topics at your book blog after launching a book marketing campaign, it could be an additional indicator that platforms you’re on are pulling in your target audience.

Growing Up A Motherless Child

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candle lit for motherless child

By Book Author Denise Turney

Growing up a motherless child leaves a lasting imprint. It doesn’t matter how or why your mother left. Lose your mother and you just lost an entire half of the coupling that helped to bring you into physical being. Even if you are emotionally or psychologically detached, the loss of your mother will leave a lasting and powerful impact on you. How do I know? My mother exited this world before I turned eight years old.

Struggles Motherless Children Face

Abandonment issues are just the start. Should you not receive sufficient nurturing from your father and other women (e.g. aunt, grandmother), you may spend the rest of your physical days seeking approval and validation. Months after your mother exits her body, you might identify someone (an entertainer, athlete, schoolteacher, neighbor, another adult or peer) to transfer your nurturing needs onto.

Signs that you have transferred the need for nurturing from your deceased mother to someone else include thinking that this person has been sent to you from God. Other signs of this transference include idealizing the person, overlooking or mentally erasing the person’s mistakes or wrongs and telling yourself that your life would be perfect or at least much, much better if this person were in it.

Unfortunately, even if this magical person came into your life, you wouldn’t feel whole or complete. You would still be a motherless child. Path away from the pain of being a motherless child could come through detachment.

Moving Away from Motherless Child Pain

If you detach, you may not feel sadness, anger or afraid. Detachment could last a lifetime. For example, you might struggle to feel deep, raw emotion if your father, grandparent, sibling or child exits her or his body. But that doesn’t mean that the pain of being in the world without your mother is gone. All you have done in this case is to push the pain down, to repress the pain.

This type of avoidance will show up in future relationships. You might have a difficult time connecting with lovers or a spouse. Your ability to deeply nurture your own children could also be hampered. Trouble developing deep, authentic friendships is another challenge that you may face as a motherless child who has detached from the pain of losing your mother.

The road to opening your heart may take you down even more painful pathways. These pathways could come in the form of a job layoff, a divorce, a broken friendship or the loss of someone you have developed a strong psychological or emotional attachment to.

Revisiting Your Mother’s Exit

Let this happen and you may have no choice except to revisit the day that your mother exited her body. You might have to work through that early trauma in a way that you never have before. This work might be done in a group setting, individual therapy sessions or during focused, internal work (as a tip, working and talking with others can be tremendously powerful). If you don’t work through the early trauma of losing your mother, you might not move forward when the next unexpected loss occurs.

Some actions that might help you to work through the trauma of being a motherless child include writing a list of the top 10 things that you love about your mother, slowly looking at pictures of your mother, listing five ways your mother made you laugh and re-reading letters that your mother wrote.

If your mother kept a journal, it may also prove therapeutic to read her journal. Talking with family members about your mother, asking relatives questions about your mother and writing a letter to your mother may also prove beneficial.

Road Toward Healing as a Motherless Child Could Take a Lifetime to Complete

Take your time. Complete one activity at a time. See if you don’t start to feel more connected to your mother. Go slowly. If it feels traumatic when you look at your mother’s picture, do a few other activities around your mother before you start putting pictures of her up around your house. The same applies for young children.

Be patient with yourself and others. Take your time. Everyone processes loss differently and at a different pace.

At the least, don’t expect to return to the way that you felt before your mother exited her body. Be kind to yourself. You experienced a major life change. It is going to do just that — change you. What it can’t take away is your ability to love yourself, love your mother, love your surviving father and love others. It’s these truths that Raymond Clarke learns in the book, Love Pour Over Me.

Great Mother’s Day Gifts 4 Writer Moms

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happy mother's day card picture

By Books Writer Denise Turney

Globally, celebrating Mother’s Day dates back to the ancient Romans and ancient Greeks. In those days, festivals honored the goddesses Cybele and Rhea. Fast forward to more modern times. And it is Anna Jarvis who is credited with hosting the first American Mother’s Day celebration in May 1908. President Woodrow Wilson established the second Sunday in May as the official national Mother’s Day in 1914.

Honor Moms In Your Life

Mother’s Day is a time when people treat their mothers, grandmothers, wives, aunts and friends to a home cooked breakfast. Talk about homemade luxury, having a meal served to you while you’re relaxing in bed.

It’s also the day when family and friends visit restaurants and gift the moms in their lives with gorgeous bouquets, cards and creative gifts. For moms, it’s the chance to be surrounded by family and friends that makes this day sweet.

If you have a mother who invested her all into you, flowers and brunch at a popular restaurant may not feel like enough. After all, you want to shower your mom with as much love, warmth and appreciation as you can. You want her to know how much you appreciate her seemingly endless patience, physical presence, listening ear, comfort, love and ongoing support.

Great Gifts for Writer Moms

Who could blame you? Yours is a warm heart. Yet, there are so many Mother’s Day gift ads to wade through that picking out a gift could take more time than you’d like, especially if you’re buying gifts for writer moms. Here are great gifts that you could celebrate the writer moms in your life with:

  • Ceramic drinking mug with covers of books your mom authored. Forget buying the ceramic mug. Instead, take an arts class and create the ceramic Mother’s Day gift yourself.
  • Handmade Mother’s Day card. Fill the card with pictures of fun events that the writer moms in your life had a blast attending.
  • Bookstore gift card that’s tucked inside a bouquet of fresh flowers
  • Spa day gift certificate – But don’t just give writer moms spa day gift certificates for Mother’s Day. Gift them with certificates that allow them to get pampered from head-to-toe year-round.
  • Supply of organic home delivery meals – Writer moms working under a tight deadline may especially appreciate this Mother’s Day gift.
  • Airline ticket to the location in a writer mom’s favorite novel.
  • Year of decorative writing journals. You got it! Writer moms love to write so much that they may capture their dreams, creative ideas and more in a journal.
  • Sweet, gentle smelling bubble bath gift set. This one’s hard to beat, especially considering how relaxing a warm bubble bath is.

Mother’s Day Gifts Delight Writer Moms

Writers aren’t always the easiest people to buy gifts for. Fortunately, writers are creative who love artwork. That’s why they appreciate homemade gifts like journal covers, picture frames and silk floral arrangements that you make yourself.

Of course, writer moms enjoy spring fashions, lunch at a chic restaurant and an afternoon with family and friends. But, if you want to give writer moms gifts that they’ll remember for years, get creative. Also, days leading up to Mother’s Day, surprise writer moms with a phone call. Tell them you were thinking of them and just wanted to say “Hello!”

You can’t go wrong with that choice. After all, writer moms are really in tune with emotion. They work with emotions to create characters and stories you love to read. So, this Mother’s Day, gift writer moms with experiences and treats that cause them to feel wanted, appreciated and valued. This list is a wonderful start.