Jul

4

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-04

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  • Upon deeper reflection, it would appear that most of this book has been written. I just need to fill in the gaps and style it. #

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Jul

3

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-03

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  • All right…I believe I have now brought all of my eHow articles up to meet the new guidelines. I'm sure they'll tell me if I haven't. #

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Jul

2

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-02

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Jun

29

Man, check out that Cover Girl

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While attending voiceover workshops last summer, one of the things I learned is that the voiceover industry tends to be male-dominated. Despite the fact I noticed both workshops had more women attending, I really didn’t think much about it until I was watching TV last night. I had just finished watching one of the America’s Next Top Model cycles, had just finished watching a young woman win a Cover Girl contract (based in part on a commercial she shot during the competition)…and listened to a man announce a Cover Girl commercial.

Somehow, that just seems wrong to me. It’s a product for women. Women are featured in the ads. Why isn’t a woman narrating those commercials?

I started digging around, and while I didn’t find much I did find that studies have discovered that we tend to find women believable and men authoritative when we listen to voiceovers. I also discovered how much I don’t pay attention to movie trailers. I think in the back of my mind I’ve always recognized that movie trailers are narrated by men, but with Don LaFontaine’s passing last year there has been a slow, subtle movement to hire women to do these trailers. It hasn’t always been successful because of the movies involved, but there has still at last been an effort.

It’s something I want to start paying more attention to. Does it matter whether the material needs to be believable or come from an authority figure? Is the right gender advertising the product? Are women really not well-represented in the voiceover industry?

Jun

29

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-29

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  • I used the words "vision" and "direction" while talking about my work tonight. I hope I'm ready for that kind of responsibility. #

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Jun

27

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-27

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Jun

26

Relaxing with a good project

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One way to reduce stress is to do things you enjoy. The idea is if you enjoy what you’re doing, then it will be less likely to add to your stress.

Unless you’re like me. I keep a master to-do list of various projects I need and want to get through, many of which involve activities I enjoy. Then, I select a few to work on for the time being. On the surface, this looks like a great idea. When I need to unwind, I have a selection of ways to chill out and do something I enjoy.

Instead, what happens sometimes is that I’ve become so overwhelmed that those few choices feel overwhelming and I can’t do anything until I’ve resolved some of that stress. Then, I can narrow down my choices and start getting things done.

Sometimes, I”ll set a deadline for parts of projects I’m working on and that works well for me. I can work to a deadline and not get stressed out about it. Except there are times I can’t meet my own deadline for whatever reason. When I’m just juggling projects, I’ll often shift around deadlines so I can finish what I’m working on. But when that sense of being overwhelmed kicks in, I become annoyed that I missed the deadline, which adds to my stress, and I have to take a step back, relax, and then shuffle the current deadlines.

Lesson learned: Working on projects or activities you enjoy can be a great way to relax. Just make sure the project or activity isn’t adding to your stress level.

Jun

26

Twitter Updates for 2009-06-26

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Jun

24

Taming Stress

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You’re back! I guess some of the symptoms from Monday’s post resonated with you and now you’re wondering how stand tall without feeling a lot of pain in your back or looking like a hunchback.

A good place to start is with some of the lifestyle choices I illustrated on Monday.

  • Exercise. Walking is a great way to reduce stress because it’s active, it allows you to change your scenery, and you can walk at a speed that suits your mood. When I’m thinking a lot, I walk quickly. When I’m working out something, I walk a little more slowly. Yoga is also good because it forces you to slow down and just enjoy the moment.
  • Color Therapy. Surrounding yourself with colors that sooth can actually encourage you to calm down and relax. Usually softer shades of blue and green are recommended, but tailoring it to your tastes can be beneficial. For example, my sanctuary is lilac, sage, and taupe, and I find it very soothing after a rough day.
  • Aromatherapy. It sounds a little new age, but if you think about it, emotions are triggered by smells all the time. Think about the way you feel when you first smell that turkey at Thanksgiving or when you smell cookies fresh out of the oven. They both affect you. A scented candle or incense can affect you the same way if you pick smells you like. Scents commonly suggested to relax include vanilla, lavender, sandalwood, and ocean or rain. I commonly have a vanilla-sandalwood blend going in my room. One warning, though: If you are allergic to perfumes, try to find a candle with essential oils. Your head will thank you.

Really, reducing your stress is more about removing those things that cause you stress, but anything that relaxes you will work. For example, I’ll read, sing, or play video games if I just need to relax. I know people who craft or write code to relax. If you enjoy it and don’t perceive it as something stressful, it is beneficial.

Of course, we learned on Monday that reading, singing, and playing video games (along with all the relaxing choices I’ve made for my living space) aren’t reducing my stress level much, if at all. Recently, I was encouraged to take up kickboxing, tae-bo, or the martial arts because I need to be more aggressive. The idea is that once I’m releasing whatever it is I’m bottling up, I’ll be more able to relax.

I’m really more of a relaxing sports kind of girl, but I’m trying to figure out how to work one of these aggressive sports into my routine. If none of the above works for you, you might also consider taking up a very physical sport.

Jun

22

Recognizing Stress

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My job is pretty stressful. I like to pretend it’s not, but sixteen months of frustrating my LMP (licensed massage practitioner) has convinced me that maybe it really is. There’s even evidence to suggest my personal life has a bit of stress to it, but I try not to think about that.

I walk to wake myself up in the mornings. I do yoga because it reminds me of ballet class. I decorated my living space in soothing colors because they’re the colors I gravitate toward naturally. I drink herbal and green teas because I love the taste. I even burn aromatherapy candles and incense because I love the smells. Right now, I have a mug of green tea sweetened with locally produced honey on my desk and a Tuscan orange tart in the wax burner because they’re part of my routine.

By all rights, I should be completely relaxed.

However, I’ve been fighting various illnesses over the last year or so. I’ve been sleeping. (For an insomniac, suddenly getting eight or nine hours of sleep is just devastating.) My LMP spent the better part of the first year I saw her trying to get my back to feel like something other than a brick wall. A few months ago, she noticed I was no longer standing straight and discovered I’d compacted part of my rib cage. (Working on stretching that has been painful, for the record.) Someone at work noticed recently that I’ve all but stopped talking about my personal projects, and I had to realize it was because I’m just not spending as much time on them as I used to.

A little bit of stress, a brief slump, is fine once in a while because the tension helps push you a little bit and the slump forces you to stop and reflect on what’s really important to you.

A lot of stress, a long slump, for an extended period of time, can be deadly. It can affect your health. It can affect your productivity.

If you’ve read this and you find yourself identifying with it, maybe you’ve got just a little bit more stress than you need right now. On Wednesday, I’ll share some of the more traditional tips for reducing stress, and then I’ll tell you how my LMP now wants me to deal with mine.

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