Finding Your OFF Mode

Episode 233: Summer is the ideal time to recharge and take a mental break. In this lighthearted and fun podcast episode, Vonda and Lori explore the significance of disconnecting from work and offer practical examples to illustrate how it can be achieved. Tune in to learn how to put yourself in OFF Mode and embrace the benefits of giving your mind a well-deserved rest.

Sponsored by:
Flower Clique
Flower Clique Prep School
Real Life Retail Florist

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

It's so funny. And then I'm like that old 85-year-old woman, like, can you turn it down? Can you turn it down? Like, I just, I just want the bird.

SPEAKER_00 0:17

Welcome to the business and pleasure of flowers. We're your host, Vonda LaFever.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

And Lori Wilson. And we believe that business and fun are a perfect combination. Kind of like us, Vonda. Good morning or good afternoon, Vonda. I don't know what time. Whatever time of day it is. Happy day. Did you ever see that movie with Jim Carrey, The Truman Show? No. So good. You yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

Wait, who are you talking to recently about this? Actually, I was chatting with Elva Graham. Yes. On Facebook. Yes, I saw that. You always have those conversations, and people say, You haven't seen that movie? You haven't seen that show?

SPEAKER_01 1:03

And I'm like, yes, yes, I found somebody who's just like me. You are that person, the one friend in my life that every single time I was like, have you seen that? You don't quote movies. You have no idea what I'm talking about because I quote every single movie in the world, especially from the 80s. The Truman Show, such a good, I used to show it to my class. And have good lessons, huh? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, there was just a line in it. He would always say, Good morning, good afternoon, and good night to every time. It was very cheesy. Anyway, that's what I just thought of when I did that. Anybody listening that's seen that show is like, yep, yep, yeah, he did. So it's actually a good movie. It's a really good movie. You should watch it.

SPEAKER_00 1:53

I sh I'm sure I should put it on that long list of long list shows.

SPEAKER_01 1:57

How many times have I said you should watch that movie? A couple times a week, probably that series. Have you watched the Chosen series yet? God, Fonda.

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Lori, that takes sitting, I know, in front of a TV, I know, and focusing. I know.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

But the series you can watch, they're only like 40-50-minute episodes, and you like to watch your true crime stuff. I'm watching season four now of that. It's on Hulu. I'm watching on anyway. Okay, that has nothing to do with anything we're talking about today, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:44

That's okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Anyway, that's that's the pleasure. That's the pleasure. Yeah. A lot of it. I was reading an article this morning just randomly, and I started laughing because I was like, oh my gosh, this is like a game changer for me because you know, we are getting ready to embark on our world tour. I'm thinking because I feel like we have so many little trips planned between now and like Christmas almost. I mean, we're not going over Christmas, but like like flower things going on, which is fun and exciting. We're on a little marathon. We're gonna things going on, and we're gonna be meeting so many new people and people that we've met before, and some people that we've maybe only met one or two times that we're gonna, well, at least for me, that I'm gonna recognize, but like, oh no, what what's their name? I can't remember the name. I get so bad with names sometimes. So I was reading this article this morning. I was like, no way. This is a game changer, and it's called Whenever I Forget Someone's Name, I always use this brilliant hack. And I was like, What? There's a hack. I'm reading this, and so here's the hack. And then I was like, I'm gonna share this on the podcast. And then I as I'm saying all this at this very moment, the other part that's coming to mind is anybody listening, if I do this to you, you're gonna know. I they will don't know your name.

SPEAKER_00 4:21

I'm not sure you should be sharing this, Lori, because then that little light bulb will go off, and I'm like, oh, she doesn't remember who I am.

SPEAKER_01 4:31

Dang it. Oh, well, okay. Well, it's already out there. Just spell it. Spell it, it's already out there. So here's the first half. So let's pretend we're at AIFD, because we're we're gonna be there. Because you will be we were gonna be there. No, let's because you know everybody there. That's not a good example. Let's pretend we're at that our Texas State thing, that's our first thing here. And I am talking to someone there, and they come up and they're like, Hey, Lori, because we've already met, and they're really familiar to me, but their name is just not coming to my mind. And I'm like, ah, you know, I it's killing me. And then you come over to me and you don't know them, but you're waiting to be introduced. And you're looking at me, and they're looking at me like, are you gonna make the introduction? Because you're like, hey, Lori, and it's my job to introduce, and so there's that awkwardness, right? So I have a couple of choices. My choices are to just be the idiot and sit there until you finally introduce yourself and I'm rude and I sheepishly walk away, which usually is what happens because you don't know what else to do. Here's the hack. You say, This is how you get out of it. You you end up having to say, I'm sorry, I can't remember your name. Okay, so that's what you end up saying, and they're a little annoyed because you're like, Well, that's rude. And so let's say the guy's name is John Smith, and he says, My name's John, and you're like, Oh, I I remember your name is John, but I couldn't remember your last name. I see. So there he's like, Oh, it's Smith, Smith, or it's vice versa, vice versa.

SPEAKER_00 6:23

Is it vice versa or vice versa? I think it's vice versa.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

But I'm not sure. That's a whole nother conversation.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

That's a whole nother conversation. Second scenario is the other if he just says Smith. Oh, I knew that was your last name. I couldn't remember your first name.

SPEAKER_00 6:43

I see.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

So that's what they do, or if he does his whole name, my name's John Smith. Oh, I knew it was John, I just couldn't remember your last name. So which however they do it, you pick one and say you knew it was that one, you just didn't know it was the other one. So it makes it less embarrassing for you and less embarrassing and humiliating for the person.

unknown 7:11

That's the hack.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

That's a pretty cool hack. I think it is gonna have to say this, Lori. If you come up to me and I'm like, you could tell I'm not introducing you because maybe I forgot somebody's name. What I would want you to do, and this is what I would do for you as well, I would go up to whoever you're talking to, John, yeah, say, Hey, my name is Vonda LaFever. I don't believe we've met.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

And then right. But you you and I know each other really, really, really well. So you know John Smith really, really, really well. No, no, no, no, no, no. He was in a scenario. The guy talking was in a scenario where he didn't know John Smith very well. The other woman that he came up, what he called her Eleanor, he didn't know he knew her name, he didn't know her that well where they could breed each other. Oh, like she's sitting there, they were just colleagues, but they didn't know each other. She was waiting, like, it's your turn to introduce her. Her turn, you know what I mean? Like, I can feed off of you. You know me well enough that I'm not gonna know a name. You're gonna come up and you're gonna get immediately go, she doesn't know this person. Hi, I'm Vonda LaFever. I don't think I've met you. Like, you're gonna just go on in because you you can tell by the way I'm talking to them. I have no idea. And then I would just say, Lori, you forgot you've got to be here. And then we just hear their name, and I'm gonna go, Oh my gosh, it's Bob. So okay, nice hack. Anyway, I think that's good because you don't want to embarrass it's not their fault you didn't remember their name. Anyway, I think that's that's our etiquette for the day. It just softens the blow. Gotcha. Yeah, softens a blow. That's my hack. If it's a hack, I don't know. The guy goes, Thankfully, I have never seen Eleanor or John since then. There you go. There you go. Okay, we're moving on. We're moving on. It is summer. Yes, it is, and I have had a lot of our members email me to put like vacation time, you know, on their email, like we're out for a vacation, and and certain employees they can't scheduling, and it made me really, really happy. And I know a lot of our employees are taking, you know, we're all scheduling vacations and stuff. It just reminded me of the importance of, and you talk about this to our team quite a bit. Ellie does too, quite a bit, the importance of disconnecting, like intentional disconnecting from your job, whether it is for 30 minutes or for a full vacation, whatever, whatever you need to do. So I kind of wanted to talk about that. Like, how do we put ourselves in off mode for a mental break? And that looks different for everyone. And I am not by any means saying, oh, you need to go fly off to France. Oh, yes. You know what I mean? Like, I don't want to put that, but I'm like, what does that look like for you? So we kind of came up with some ideas that we like and that other people like, and and maybe it will inspire people.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

What's interesting to me though is sometimes when you're putting yourself in off mode, you're taking yourself off of work, right? So your day-to-day activities, but you're actually engaging in something else that other people would say, oh my God, that's so much work. Exactly. And I'm disconnecting from one thing, but I'm totally connecting to something else. Yet you know where I'm going with that. So I'm disconnecting from Flower Click and I'm jumping head first into AIFD and taking care of something there for 10 days. But I am off mode at Flower Click, right? And on mode somewhere else. Does that count? Well, here would be my question to you.

SPEAKER_01 11:38

I I mean, I don't know, that's kind of does it give you a mental break to do that? I mean, I'm gonna kind of call you out on that because it doesn't because and I'm calling you out in love, you know that, because a mental break is not to get all spiritual on you, is to be still. And you don't like to be still, that's why you don't watch a movie, uh even a movie, but to be still, to be quiet, and that's hard for a lot of us. I don't mean like in complete silence all the time, but a mental break, you're still working, but you're also doing something that you love, right? But you also do a lot of responsibility. Yeah, yeah. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

It's you it's really that's it's up to you. And so that's kind of what you're going over here is tips that you can disconnect normal people.

SPEAKER_01 12:58

Normal people. I don't I don't put you under normal, though. Okay, but so let's go through these, and I want you to sort of think. I'm hoping some of these will trigger, because I put all these on here, right? Like right, my hope is these will inspire some ideas that you already do. I think some of these you will you do like to do.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

I think it is important because whoever's listening, maybe they think, oh my gosh, I never disconnect. And you're gonna show them things that, yeah, you really are disconnecting in certain ways.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And I think you do, and I think that might happen to you. I don't I don't know. I don't know. I'm not sure about you. Okay, number one, and people know this about me swim playing in my swimming pool, my little swimming pool. You know, I love to do that, even if it's just for 30 minutes. There's something about water for me that is so healing and so playful, and I don't know, there's something about floating around on an air mattress or just swimming and just being, and you can't have technology in a swimming pool. True, that's true. You know, last weekend I was on a little inner tube and I had a little scrub brush, and I was just going around the side of my just kind of slightly, you know, cleaning, getting my pool ready. And I just love it. And it's funny because when my husband comes out to get in the pool with me, he always brings the little speaker because he likes the music. And I was like, I don't. Yeah, yeah, I don't have to have music by my I don't. I just I don't want anything, I just want peace. Silence. It's so funny. And then I'm like that old 85-year-old woman, like, can you turn it down? Can you just turn it down? Like, I just don't, I just want the burner.

SPEAKER_00 15:04

I'm gonna go off point here just a minute. When you're in the car driving by yourself to your store, do you have the radio on or off?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

A lot of times I'll be driving and I'll realize it's off. I was like, oh, I don't even have my music on. If I have it on, it's not very loud, or I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 15:25

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. That's time for me to disconnect because when I'm in the car, yeah, I I don't have music on or anything. Yeah, I don't have it.

SPEAKER_01 15:33

It's yeah, that's very good. That's a good point. I like I like a quiet car. I and a lot of people can't stand the silence in a car. My husband's out of it. You know what I can't stand staying on that point is the morning talk radios.

SPEAKER_00 15:51

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

You talk about high anxiety when they do like call in to prank people and stuff. Oh my gosh, it stresses me out. I can't stand it. I can't stand it. I feel so sorry for those people.

SPEAKER_00 16:10

I but I can see you not wanting to shut it off because you really want to hear what's coming.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Yeah, I'm so conflicted. I'm like, now I'm hooked. I I can't, I just need to know the outcome. I don't want to hear the whole thing because it's it's just horrible. And then I'm mad the whole rest of the day at my husband because he got me sucked in. So anyway, how we got from swimming to that, I don't know. But silence swimming, anything with water. The next thing is a gratitude journal. That's mindfulness, you know. And and I knew that. I mean, I've been writing in mine a lot, and it doesn't even have to make sense because it's only for you.

SPEAKER_00 16:54

Right. Um, and so okay, Lori, we're gonna take a quick break to hear a message from our sponsor. FlowerClick's expertise is your online store, your website. We create and professionally photograph current, trendy designs and add them to your website. Just like your physical shop, you have to change out the displays on your website. We do that for you. We merchandise the products on your website to entice customers to buy from you. It'll make you look great, you'll sell more at a higher price, and did I mention those are profitable designs. Your website is your best salesperson. And there's so much more to FlowerClick, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our tight-knit community of members. We have like-minded business owners who respect and really want to help one another. Our members are amazing, which drives us to do all we can for their success. Don't underestimate the power of what FlowerClick can do for you.

SPEAKER_01 17:59

Gardening, that's what I thought about for you. That does that's not good for me. Yeah, that's work, that's a chore, that's not fun for me at all. Power washing. Power washing. I love power washing.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

That is say that's mine. I gotta finish my power wash on this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 18:18

Turning off technology.

SPEAKER_00 18:21

Yeah. That that's hard. That's really hard.

SPEAKER_01 18:24

You know, it is, but I gotta tell you, when I was on vacation and we were in, you know, another country recently, and I did not have cell service unless we were in the hotel or at my son's place. At first I was a little bit panicked, but then it's weird. I kind of started loving it. Now, again, I was with my husband and my son, and my son had cell service. Um, and my husband had it because with his company's phone, he's got it, you know, and there was some sort of security in knowing, well, they have it. I'm safe if something I'm protected by them. I don't need it. I don't have access to the outside world. I can sit here with my cup of coffee and look at this ocean in my sweatshirt because I'm freezing, and that's okay. Like it was it was amazing, it was such a good feeling. Like, I almost didn't want to go back home to my phone. It was the weirdest thing. You know, it was almost like the opposite of what I have ever felt, and it showed me dang, I have been completely addicted. We we all, I mean, we're just so attached. So that was a big revelation to me.

SPEAKER_00 19:58

I and it should be to a lot of people. I think a lot of people would you you panic first.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

It was very hard, but then it like flipped one day, and I was like, I looked up, I just kept looking up and seeing so much beauty around me and people's faces instead of people looking down and always on that technology. Um just the next one, you know, getting out, escaping. I put escape to the countryside. We don't all have a countryside, just escaping somewhere, walking, hiking, you know, doing something remote if you can. Listening to yourself, that one that one is something I am practicing. And I don't mean like talking to yourself. I don't mean, but just like again, going back to the being quiet, being still, just listening, listening to your body, listening to yourself. That goes back. I think the more you journal, the more you can listen.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Yeah, there's an author I love as is Matthew Kelly, and he often talks about sitting in this classroom of silence. And I love that because that's exactly what you're saying. You're listening to yourself, you're listening to everything around you rather than trying to listen to the radio and listen to the news and listen to everything else. Just sitting in that classroom of silence. I mean, I just think I love that. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 21:39

And and again, doing all of these things to disconnect. My thought is if you can just do it 15 minutes, start with 15 minutes a day. That's it. Yeah. You know, it's it it's been become a game changer for me in my life.

SPEAKER_00 21:55

The other thing you mentioned is looking up, and I want everyone. Everyone to go out at night and just look up. I mean, just even lay in the grass or put a blanket down or whatever. But I think no matter where you are, as long as you know it's not raining and it's not totally cloudy, just looking up is like, wow, yeah, stars up there. There's there's something up there. I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 22:21

No, that's that's there is, there is the one of the other ones is get up early, you know, getting up early is always. And then I put or sleep late, you know, if that's your thing too. Sometimes it's kind of fun. If you can, if your body needs it, don't feel bad. Sleep in. There was one day not very long ago, it was a Saturday. I slept till almost nine o'clock. I was my body just needed it and just gotta listen to your body. Did it, you know, and I know that doesn't sound that late, but it is for us, right? For us kind of us kind of people, and I was like, that's okay. That is okay, and boy, it felt good. And you know, no shame. That's fine. That's it was a good day.

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Cooking you have, cooking, which is a good one.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

I love to cook, you know, it when I want to, not when I'm forced, not when I have people down my throat wants for dinner.

SPEAKER_00 23:28

But you know what mine is? One of those, what washing dishes, really? Ew. Is that crazy? I hate it when there's all those dishes in the city, and I really do just like that nice warm or hot water on my sink and sudsy and washing things. And yeah, I know it's crazy, but I really do enjoy that, and that's a way for me to get away.

SPEAKER_01 23:50

Kind of annoying. Well, again, Vonda, it's interesting because when you think about that, your hands are busy, you can't be with technology. There you go. It's just you and your mind. I think it would be interesting if I was a flower shop owner or a small business or whatever to talk about this sometime with my staff, like maybe in the summer, you know, and like what how do you practice mindfulness? Like, how do you get away? What what inspires you? What helps you and kind of it'd be interesting to hear from all of my employees? How do you how do you go to off mode? Right. Yeah, you know, and maybe be super mindful of helping each one of them be able to you know that's hard to do.

SPEAKER_00 24:41

That's hard to do if I'm an employee because I want my employees engaged.

SPEAKER_01 24:47

Yeah, but I mean, no, just check-in, like, hey, this week, were you able to be an off mode at home at some point? Or you know, were you able to go take a walk on Sunday? Were you able to or were you stressed all week? Were you stressed all week? Yeah, yeah, just a check-in, just part of a check-in. I'm not saying do it at work. No, not at work. No, no, no, but just to maybe put the bug in their ear. Hey, it's important that we do this so we can be bit productive, you know. I think it brings us back to being more productive and better workers.

SPEAKER_00 25:25

Well, we just had that on our call last week, right? Cammy had gone away for a long weekend, I think it was Memorial Day weekend, and she just said, I just feel so refreshed. Oh my gosh. And it was because she finally had an opportunity to walk away from technology, from the demands of you know, of the month of May with Flower Click and all that she does because she does it to perfection, and she just like felt like a new person just because of that break.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Yeah, well, and it's interesting because I was telling Audrey in on my all of the hiking we did in Ireland, where I had no cell service, uh, was looking up the whole time. I saw so many beautiful flowers and colors. Audrey and I spent 30 minutes googling these flowers because I didn't know what they were or what like you talk about inspired. So we were talking about all these things, and like it inspired me for my job because I didn't have technology and just like the color combinations of stuff, anyway.

SPEAKER_00 26:37

I was, you know, it all meshes together when we do go to off mode for a while. It does. We need that, and like you're saying, that summer's a perfect time to do that, you know, just really take some time. Here we say it's a perfect time, but then we always look at okay, we go from this place, we go to this place, we go to this place, you know.

SPEAKER_01 27:04

We do, but you know, we're different. We we are fortunate that we work from home. We can take a little time. I can take 20 minutes today and jump in my swimming pool. I mean, I I'm not saying I have to do it for five hours, that's the beauty of it. I exactly play around literally for 20 minutes and then hop back out and get back to work and refresh. I'm a whole new person.

SPEAKER_00 27:32

And a lot of times for a flower shop owner, what I found was hey guys, I'm going out and take this delivery.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yes, I hear that a lot from flower shops. Abby at Blake Moore's, she's the happiest person in the world when she has her window down and her arm out and is delivery driving.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Yeah, yeah. So sometimes, you know, it it it talk to you, like you were saying, talk to your employees. Maybe that would be a break that they would like. Hey, do you want to go take a delivery? And some of them will go, no way, I want to do that. But some might just say, you know what, I would. I'd really like that. And and then you might say, Hey, and do you want to run through Dairy Queen and pick us up some special treats? Yeah, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 28:13

Yeah, good. Hey, Dairy Queen has five new flavors of blizzards this summer, just FYI.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

Oh, okay, Lori, we might have to try that on our road trip. Sweet Houston down to uh San Antonio. We totally will. We'll have to Google where the nearest one is. I don't even know where one is. So speaking of San Antonio, though, if anyone is in the Texas area and would like to come see Lori and I, we will be at the Texas State Forum, which will be on the what 21st and 22nd, I think are the days that we're there. Here before and we would love to see you if you are around. Yep, very quickly. What is ours called? The $2,000 tulip. So it's all about the value of flowers and how to sell and sell and sales tips. So we'd like to see you there or AIFD symposium. Yep. That would be in Orlando and then SAF in August. So we have those things. If you're out and about, we'd love to see you. Hopefully, we'll see you soon. So take a break. Just take some type of a mental break and enjoy the summer.

SPEAKER_01 29:24

Thank you so much for listening to our podcast. We hope you enjoyed spending time with us because we enjoy spending time with you. If you did, make sure you hit that subscribe button or add the Business and Pleasure of Flowers to your Google morning routine or your flash briefing on Alexa. We look forward to seeing you next week.

SPEAKER_00 29:45

So please come back and join us and discover how a bit of knowledge and one small change in your mindset can take you to new levels in your life and business.