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Knowing what is up during the holiday season is a very important part of getting through the holiday season. There is much to consider when managing your workload and arranging time off. You may need days off that others do not because of your religious belief. It is your responsibility to ensure that your work load will not be stopped or stalled and that your time off does not affect others adversely.

First there is the recognition of what is classified as the holiday season: Typically the holiday season begins with Thanksgiving and ends with the completion of the New Years Celebration. There are actually a number of different religious activities celebrated during this time.

For the employer, there is the recognition that each person’s religious holiday is not necessarily going to be when he is celebrating his religious holiday. The wise and respectful employer will take a moment to learn what the needs of his staff are and attempt to arrange workloads and schedules accordingly. If he does not, please remember to advise him of your holiday time needs.

It is not just about religious holidays either, there can be variations in national holidays, such as we find with Thanksgiving. That is a national holiday that many people from other countries don’t really feel a need to participate in. They may become the ideal work team for keeping the retail aspects of the company open during that time. The important thing to understand and adhere to is that there will be a national holiday they do practice, which they have brought with them from their homeland. The wise employer gets this date known and makes sure he provides the time off. The wise employee makes sure his employer knows this important date.

Also, if you are a manager with a diverse work force, make sure you provide a time for all the company to come together and enjoy the good will of each other. Some type of staff party that can be identified as a seasonal party to show respect for all people’s beliefs. Don’t try to lump it and group it. Bring them together as a group, while keeping their individual beliefs acknowledged.

If your group of workers is not diverse, then give them the celebration that is appropriate for their belief – at work. In essence, if all are Christians who work for you, put up a Christmas tree, have a Christmas party, and even play a game of Kris Kringle. There is no sense in not recognizing that which is, or attempting to rename it to something it is not.

Mostly remember to honor the holiday season, keeping its individuality intact for the group. Try to manage your workers schedules to the benefit of the group and the company. Keep in mind that various people will need various days off to address what is required of them.

The employee has an obligation to give his manager as much information about scheduling and days off as he can. He has also an obligation to do whatever he can to help keep the company going strong during a holiday time.

Ultimately the holidays are a time of joy and celebration, but the company does not close its doors and both must operate smoothly and happily.

If you work phone sales, customer service, or some other telephone intensive job, you have more than likely had “one of those days”. It seems with every call you take or make, somebody is chewing you up and spitting you out. You get to the point where you dread picking the phone up again. If it is a sales position, you start worrying if the manager is aware of how badly you are doing, and the more you worry, the worse it gets.

If it is a customer service call, you find yourself escalating your third call in a row and you just know that any minute the team leader is going to be down at your desk demanding to know what is going on.

And it seems that no matter how you bolster courage and pep talk yourself, you just can’t pull yourself out of it.

How do you turn it around?

1. Take a walk. But don’t walk and smoke and talk and think and walk and drink sodas and talk and think. Just walk and look at things. Keep at it, doing nothing but walking and looking at things, trees, bushes, buildings, sidewalks, the sky, the clouds in the sky, buses and cars, anything you can look at, just keep at it. Soon you will start to feel a sense of calm return to you. You’ll experience a refreshed feeling.

2. Remember that you create your emotions state, your emotions don’t create you. After your walk, return to your work space, and enjoy some creating. Create a smile on your face, create an attitude of fun for yourself. Take a moment to look around in your immediate work space and find a few things that you personally like and enjoy using, your headset, your “cool new pen” that you just picked up last week, your chair that doesn’t hurt your back, etc. Just find the pleasure in the simple little things that help to make your work space a pleasurable place to be. Enjoy creating the sense of comfort with those familiar items. If your work space is untidy, take a few minutes to neaten it up and make it even more comfortable for you.

3. Talk to somebody you enjoy talking to. We’ve all got a favorite customer or client that we can check in with from time to time. Just a short call to say hello and how are things going. No need to sell them anything. Just give them some pleasant communication and receive some pleasant communication back. If you are inbound only – then use your cell phone and do this simple action with a friend – but keep it short you are on the clock.

4. Decide that you can take or make any kind of a call go well. This is a simple decision. Not a big elaborate affirmation. You just decide that you can make it go well and you do so. Remember, point number two – you create your own emotions – you also create your own actions. So things are going well now. That is all.

5. Take or Make a call and be happy about it! You will find that your happiness exudes through that phone to the recipient and they will immediately be at ease and enjoy talking with you.

These simple steps will get you back on track. You will have successfully restored your own ability to communicate and put an end to your “bad day on the phones” because you got on top of you!