Archive for May, 2010

Three Tips on How to Make Your House a Home

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Our home may be the place of ultimate joy or the most pain in our lives. There are many days when I feel that I’m in heaven when I am at home — a place full of peace, love, and joy. It takes daily nurturing and caring to make this happen, but bloom by bloom you can build a literal indoor garden at home. A few days ago, I came back from taking a yoga class, cooked a fresh vegetable entree, and sat down for dinner with just a few close friends. We opened a 1999 Robert Mondovi reserve and chatted and laughed for hours.

It was a rainy, cold, day outside; however, my house was filled with warmth, good food, and had everything in order. All our LifeWorx clients deserve to feel about their home like this every day, and we do our best to help them achieve this by providing premiere child care, elder care, nanny, and chef services. But you can do your part too — try to recharge your batteries at home and take a mini vacation. Here are some tips to help you achieve feeling centered and fulfilled:

Find a few hours a week to do what you love to rejuvenate. Watching your kids play soccer, a date night with your husband, or time with a friend doesn’t count. This is about doing things by yourself that recharge you, such as listening to music, taking a walk, doing yoga, or reading a good book. It might be as simple as taking some time to daydream and relax with some breathing exercises.

Reduce chatter by 50 percent. All of the stuff on television, radio, Facebook, Twitter, and e-mails is just chatter most of the time. All of these tools have value, but use them wisely — only watch, hear and use what you need; and make time for important one-on-one interactions with friends and family members.

Be in the moment. If you are always where you want to be and doing what you love, you will be in the moment and have a happy fulfilling day. Yet it’s so easy to get distracted, and we have to try to get better at being in the moment every day. If it is hard for you to remember, write “Be in the moment!” on some sticky notes and stick them to a few key items (like the fridge, the dining table, and the play room) throughout the house. It takes about one hundred days to really change a habit and to retrain your thinking, so be patient with yourself. If you need help to make your home a place where you can recharge and relax, we at LifeWorx are here to help!

Some Fun Experiences We Have Had Here at LifeWorx

Thursday, May 13th, 2010
  • When interviewing a potential candidate we asked, “What do you read?” to get a feel for her breadth of interests. She said, “Everything!” and pointed to a calendar.
  • We once helped an elderly couple from White Plains, NY, get their house staged. There was 30-year-old gold wallpaper on the ceiling in the master bedroom. The lady was in tears (maybe tears of joy?) when we took it down so that the house could be sold. And the house did sell in a week, with de-cluttering, neutral colors, and an aesthetically pleasing setup of all the furniture LifeWorx provided.
  • A chocolate maker in Mount Kisco, NY, asks us to organize her thousands of chocolate molds, and just being in that room made our organizers euphoric!
  • A while ago we helped out a couple in Bronxville, NY. They had skated for fun throughout their life and had even skated at Rockefeller Center when in their ’80s. Unfortunately, the husband passed away and his wife was depressed, naturally. To everyone’s surprise, a couple of weeks after he passed away, she said, “I’m going to live to be 100!”
  • Growing old gracefully is not without its challenges, and we at LifeWorx are always happy to work with whatever life situation our clients find themselves in. We are here to make your life easier, no matter what age you are.

Market Research is Vital to LifeWorx’s Success

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

There is nothing like market research to find out the real needs of consumers. So when we started LifeWorx, we decided to do market research at train stations in the mornings to find out the in-home needs of the commuters. We walked the platforms of the Katonah and Scarsdale, NY, train stations to ask commuters a few basic questions about their needs. It was as much fun to observe the behavior as it was to listen to the answers. We found that most commuters have a need for a housekeeper, a chef, an organizer, etc., but they haven’t sought out help due to the effort it takes to find good help or because they didn’t think these services are affordable. They kept managing their responsibilities at home by themselves, while also often having to take on more work in today’s economic situation, which leaves no time for family or fun.

One lady in Katonah shared a whole list of things she needed to get done. When the train came, she jumped on, yelling out her phone number so we could contact her to provide her with the chef, housekeeper, and organizer she required. A gentleman I sat down with said he’d be happy to answer some questions as he sipped his fresh coffee. I asked, “Who buys the groceries for your home?” His answer was, “I do not give out personal information.”

Market research can be challenging, but it is the lifeblood of a successful business. We here at LifeWorx do quality feedback work and research on a weekly basis and encourage clients to be as open as possible with us so we can find out their needs and wants and provide them with the best help that fits their lifestyle.