| How to Cope With Being Alone at Night Posted: 21 Dec 2016 04:00 PM PST Being alone in your house at night can be dull or frightening at times. You may have always been single, or maybe you're transitioning from a divorce or a death of a spouse. No matter your circumstances, you can confront the loneliness and fear that set in at night. If you make time to set healthy routines, entertain and distract yourself, ensure your safety, and connect with others during the day, you'll be able to cope with being alone at night much better. EditTaking Care of Yourself - Entertain yourself. To cope with feeling alone or lonely at night, find a way to entertain or distract yourself. If you truly enjoy your selected hobby, your time alone will be transformed from something you dread to something to look forward to. Consider the following activities to keep you busy:
- Reading
- Watching television
- Listening to music
- Writing
- Cope with sleeping alone. You may have a difficult time sleeping alone at night because of feeling lonely, missing the partner you used to sleep with, or hearing strange noises. To cope with sleeping alone, turn off your television, tablet, or computer about an hour before bedtime to prepare yourself for sleep. You can also make falling asleep easier by:[1]
- Avoiding alcohol, caffeine, and food too late in the day
- Avoiding stressful activities, like exercise, right before bed
- Keeping the room lights on low
- Playing soft music
- Using a sound machine or ear plugs to drown out other noises
- Keeping the room cool
- Using comfortable, soft bedding, like a body pillow
- Wearing a sleep mask or using curtains to block out light
- Getting up to read, take a bath, or drink hot tea if you find yourself tossing and turning
- Set a routine. Having a structured evening for yourself at home will help keep your thoughts from straying into loneliness when you're alone at night. Having a routine can also help keep you motivated and feel fulfilled while being alone.[2]
- For example, if you come home from work at 5 p.m., you can schedule time for relaxation, exercise, dinner, socialization, and perhaps a hobby before bedtime. It can be helpful to keep a regular bedtime, although a perk of being alone is that you can go to sleep whenever you want!
- Fix yourself regular meals. When you live alone or are alone at night, it may feel like a waste of time to make yourself a meal and sit down at the table to eat. However, making your meals special and keeping your mealtimes consistent is a good way to ward off loneliness at night.[3]
- For example, if you're alone at night on a holiday, fix yourself the meal you typically would have had with your family or others. As you eat, you can relive special memories you have of that holiday and feel less alone.
- Remind yourself of the positives of being alone. Although there may be many hardships or negatives to living alone and being alone at night, like having to take care of all the chores on your own, try not to dwell on those. Reminding yourself of the positives can help improve your state of mind. For example, being alone allows you to:[4]
- Play whatever music or television shows you want to
- Clean up how and when you want to
- Decorate your house how you want to
- Have silence and time to recharge the way you want to
- Recognize and embrace feelings of loneliness. Although being alone doesn't necessarily mean you're lonely, it's important to recognize and accept any feelings of loneliness or sadness you may be experiencing. Examine where they are coming from. Perhaps you're feeling lonely and alone because you're single, newly divorced, or widowed. It's important to express and understand these feelings so that you can then begin to feel more comfortable when you're at home by yourself. [5]
- Journal in a diary
- Talk with a trusted friend
- Seek counseling if you're struggling with significant grief or loneliness from a loss or divorce
EditKeeping Yourself Safe - Ensure your safety. If you fear being alone at night because of someone breaking in, because of a medical emergency, or because of a disaster like a fire, taking measures to ensure your safety will help ease some fear. You can take practical steps to prepare yourself in case an emergency occurs.[6]
- Lock all doors and windows before going to sleep
- Familiarize yourself with fire escape routes
- Consider getting a security alarm
- Make sure you have a working, charged phone nearby
- Take a self-defense course
- Know who to call in an emergency
- Confront your fears. It's easy to give in to your fears and imagine the worst-case scenario when you're at home alone. You may be tempted to keep the lights on, keep the TV on, always invite a friend over at night, or compulsively check your locks before you go to bed. These ritualized behaviors will increase your anxiety about being alone at night in the long-run.[7]
- Avoid asking someone to come stay with you too often
- Find rational explanations for noises you hear in the middle of the night
- Wear earplugs or use a sound machine to block out strange sounds
- Go to counseling if you start to obsess over your fears or if they interfere with sleep
- Befriend your neighbors. Getting to know your neighbors is a good way to make sure other people know who you are and can keep an eye out for you. Befriending your neighbors is good for social connection, too! You might meet other people who live alone and set up a system where each of you agrees to check up on each other if you haven't heard from each other in a few days.
- Know when to seek help. While you can learn to cope with any loneliness and frustration of being alone, there are some instances where being alone may start to be unsafe for you. This is especially true if you are an older adult or have any chronic health issues. Reach out to a trusted friend, loved one, or physician for help if you have:[8]
- Difficulty managing your medications
- Difficulty paying your bills
- Difficulty bathing
- Difficulty eating well
- Difficulty with balance and falls
- Difficulty keeping your house clean
- Difficulty getting out to connect with other people
EditConnecting with Others - Socialize regularly. Schedule regular social activities with friends throughout the week. This will give you structure, keep you connected to others, and help improve your mood. If you stay busy enough interacting with others during the weekday hours, chances are you'll be less likely to notice feeling alone at night.[9]
- Connect online or on the phone. Learn to get better with computers and other ways of connecting with people besides in-person. If you have friends who live far away, consider keeping in touch with them through email, Facebook, Twitter, or Skype. Schedule regular phone calls or text messages with friends for when you come home at night.
- If you don't know how to use a computer or internet-based services, libraries and community centers usually have classes to teach you the basic skills. This is also a good way to meet people in your community![10]
- Get involved. Consider getting more involved in your community by volunteering, taking a class, or joining a club. This could help keep you from feeling too lonely, give you more structure, shift your mood, give you increased self-confidence, and help you meet more diverse people in your community.[11] By the time you get home at night, you'll feel tired and less alone because you've spent the day meaningfully connecting with others.
- Be patient. This may feel uncomfortable at first and you might have to try several different clubs or organizations before you find one where you feel more at home.
- Adopt a pet. You might find connection and help coping at night if you have a pet with you at home. Pets bring companionship and joy. They're not only comforting and fun to interact with, but you can sleep with them if you're feeling lonely or unsafe at night.
- If you're not allowed to have a pet where you live, if you're allergic to cats or dogs, or you simply can't afford a pet, you can even do something as simple as having a fishbowl or a bird feeder nearby your house.[12]
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| How to Advertise Your Business for Free Posted: 21 Dec 2016 08:00 AM PST Most marketing experts recommend that businesses spend anywhere from 2 to 5 percent of their gross sales on advertising. But if you're still growing your business, you might not have the budget for large ad campaigns, or you might be focusing your capital on other areas. You too can take advantage of free ways to reach potential customers and advertise your business.[1] EditMarketing Online - Start a web presence. Harness the power of the Internet to draw attention to your business. The web is full of free outlets that can potentially reach hundreds of thousands of consumers .
- You can Make a Free Website to provide information about your business and market your products and services.
- A business email address is important. You can Make an Email Address for Free. On every email you send out for your business, have a small 3-4 line signature at the bottom (add this in Settings). Include links to your business' website, Facebook page, Twitter account or whatever other online presence you have.
- Use Twitter. Setting up a Twitter account is free, and it allows you to interact with customers on an immediate and personal level. See Twitter for Business for more information.[2]
- Choose a handle or username that's as close to your business' name as possible and tether your business email to the account.
- Use your logo as your avatar. Seeing your business logo with every tweet you publish can help strengthen your brand.
- Follow current customers, family members, friends and other businesses you admire or whose products your business uses.
- Promote your business in your tweets, but keep it fun, too - host giveaways or give shout outs to loyal customers. Give people a reason to follow your business.
- Create a Facebook page. Setting up a business page on Facebook is free, and allows you to interact with your customers and other businesses. See Facebook for Business for more information.[3]
- Host giveaways limited to people who "like" your profile or share one of your posts, and offer special Facebook-only deals via messages to customers who follow your activity.
- Many businesses forgo creating their own website and simply list their Facebook pages as their business sites. Consider if this might be the right course of action for your business.
- Get on Yelp. Yelp is a website where consumers can review and recommend businesses. Learn more at Yelp for Business Owners.[4]
- You can use your Yelp page to post information and special offers, as well as to gauge how well you're serving your customers.
- Some business owners respond to bad reviews on Yelp by contacting the Yelp user directly or posting a reply offering to remedy the situation. This allows you to let potential customers know you take their concerns seriously.
- Build your Google Places listing. List your business on Google Places so that it will pop up on Google Maps searches, and so people can share reviews and rate your business. Make sure you have a Gmail account specific to your business. Yahoo! Local hosts a similar service.[5]
- Create an account with a free online directory. Most online directories allow you to upload unlimited products, businesses and services with a detailed information about such product and also automatically provides a contact form for individual product where prospective customers can contact product owner one-on-one. [6]
- Create your listings. Listings are the products, business or services you or your company offers. A good online directory allows you to upload as many as possible listings so as to boost your target market reach.
- Your products will be stored in the database and will be displayed on their front page. All products uploaded are also search engine optimized after 24 hours.
- Join appropriate online communities. Many industries, especially those with special niches, have online communities where people discuss and share information. Joining and contributing to these online communities can be a valuable marketing tool.[7]
- It is important to be active in these online communities to build rapport with other members. If you only participate only intermittently, you may lose more customers than you gain.
- You also should not just blatantly advertise for your business in these communities. Make sure your contributions are valuable to the other members, but always put your business name, logo, and links to other web presences in your signature.
EditUsing Local Media - Write press releases. Did you just open your business? Are you supporting a charity drive around the holiday season? Did you just wrap up a special project? Pitch your story to your local media outlets and see if they're interested in covering you. [8]
- Try newspapers, broadcast news and radio shows. By using multiple media sources, you can reach more potential customers.
- You can write press releases for almost any event in your business. However, if you send too many press releases that are of little interest, the media may lose interest.
- Contact columnists. It is good to build relationships with as many columnists as possible. Sometimes, they may be looking for stories and may actually reach out to you.
- Some newspapers have columnist who specializes in writing about good deals and new businesses. Try them as a first point of contact.
- Look for columnists who reach your niche audience - for example, if you run a fishing tackle shop, get in touch with your local newspaper's outdoors columnist.
- Work for charity. Many newspapers will print special coverage of charity endeavors, particularly during holiday seasons. These charity events are often covered in the local media.
- You could host a small charity drive during which you accept canned food or used-good donations to give to your local shelters or assistance organizations.
- Be sure to contact the newspaper and other media outlets regarding the event and mention that your business is sponsoring it.
- Display your business logo as prominently as possible without overshadowing the event. You can have signs, banners, or even articles of clothing with your company name and logo.
- For even better publicity, offer a discount to customers who bring in an item to donate. This will increase revenue for both the charity and your business.
EditNetworking - Implement a referral program. Word of mouth can be an excellent way to grow your business, and you can increase word of mouth by seeking referrals from existing customers.
- Offer a discount or a freebie to current customers who send you referrals. You could hand out specialized referral cards for them to give to new customers.
- Be sure to advertise your referral program, so that existing customers know about the program and what they can gain from providing you with referrals.
- Build partnerships and alliances. Team up with other businesses that offer complementary services and refer customers to one another. For instance, if you sell greenhouses, network with fertilizer suppliers and floral shops.[9]
- Be sure to negotiate a deal that is beneficial to both organizations. This will increase buy-in for all involved, increasing success of the alliance.
- You will need to formalize your partnerships and alliances with contractual agreements. Seek legal advice as necessary.
- Join community organizations. Chambers of commerce, service organizations, and other groups are a great way to network with other business owners and potential customers.
- It is important to be an active member of the organizations you join. Just being a member will not be as effective as being a participating member. Attend meetings and events of these organizations, and speak with as many people as possible.
- Be sure to seek out mutually beneficial relationships. People are more likely to send customers your way, if you are returning the favor.
- Make sure you are not blatantly advertising for your business. You should contribute value to these organizations while sharing information about your business and your expertise when appropriate.
- Host seminars, workshops and other educational events. If you own a space that can accommodate several people at once, consider hosting an event to help familiarize people with your product. For instance, wine shops can host tastings and craft stores can host workshops on any number of crafting techniques.
- Offering good information and advice through social media, print or seminars, without constantly promoting your brand, is a great way to build trust with your client base. For instance, if you sell flowers, offer to help people decode the symbolic meanings of certain flowers for free around a holiday like Valentine's Day.
- For the USA: Contact your State's Statewide Classified Network (every state in the USA has one). Place an ad with them. They will run your ads for you in some or all of your State's newspapers for no cost.
- Choose a memorable phone number. Even if you don't have an 800 line, you can choose a simple local 7-digit number or one that spells a word related to your business.
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| How to Clip Dog Nails Posted: 21 Dec 2016 12:00 AM PST Take your dog's paw, and use a pair of dog nail clippers to trim the tip of the nail off, just below the quick. File the nail down to remove any roughness, and give your dog a treat. Be sure to have styptic powder on hand in case you nick the quick. EditPreparing to Clip Your Dog's Nails - Choose a pair of nail clippers. You have a couple of options. One type looks like a pair of scissors and works in the same way. You place the nail between the blades and squeeze the handles together. The other kind is a guillotine-style that has a hole where the nail is placed. A blade slides up and cuts the nail when you squeeze the handles.[1]
- Both types work well, but it may be hard to trim the very thick nails of some large dogs using the guillotine-style clippers.
- Gather other supplies. Have a styptic powder ready to stop the bleeding if you accidentally cut the nail too short and into the quick. Have treats ready to offer and give extra attention to reward your dog for cooperating both during and after the trimming. This can help to make this and future sessions a success.[2]
- Though you should always try your best to avoid cutting the nails too short, even the most experienced professionals will sometimes cut a nail too close.
- Choose the right time. Try to start the trimming sessions when your dog is relaxed and in a comfortable place. A good time might be after a meal or after he's tired from exercising or playing. Your dog will probably be too worn out to wiggle or struggle.
- Keep your dog calm. Talk in a calm and quiet voice to help him keep calm. If he's never had his nails trimmed, gradually get him used to having his feet handled. Sit with him a few times a day, for a few minutes, and gently rub his legs and feet. Once he seems comfortable with you touching and handling his feet you can begin touching the clippers to his nails.
- Use treats as rewards during these sessions to help your dog get comfortable with clipping.[3]
EditClipping Your Dog's Nails - Decide where to make the first cut. Identify the quick of the nail. It contains a blood vessel and a nerve, so avoid cutting it. If your dog has white, clear, or light colored nails then it may be easy to see the quick. It will look like a small, pink tube that runs inside the nail center and ends before the tip. With black or dark colored nails you will not be able to see the quick and will have to rely on other methods. Even if you can see the quick, it may extend further than it appears.[4]
- Always start by cutting less of the nail than you think you can. You can always cut more later, but cutting too much is painful, can cause bleeding, and will make your dog reluctant to have the rest of his nails trimmed.
- Grasp the foot in the palm of your hand, firmly but gently. Do this in a position that lets your hand face the same direction as the paw, toward the front of the dog. Gently wrap your fingers under the pads and use your thumb to stabilize along the top of the digit that you're working on.[5] This position works best for front paws.
- Try not to hold the foot between the pads since many dogs find this ticklish and involuntarily jerk.
- Lay your dog on his side to clip the back feet. You'll have an easier time if you lay your dog on his side. Place him on a table so that you don't have to bend and restrain the dog. Place your arms across his body so you can grasp the back foot and clip.[6]
- You may not need to do much more to restrain a small dog. But, you may want to use your body to help secure a larger dog. If your bigger dog tries to stand, lean your torso over the dog's body and keep one of your arms over his neck.[7]
- Pay attention to the shape of the nail. You will see that the bottom of the nail is relatively straight until it curves closer to the tip. Using the clippers, cut off the tip of the nail by continuing that straight line, avoiding the quick. Be sure where the actual blade will be cutting the nail. Some clippers may slightly hide the blade and make it seem like you are trimming less than you actually are.[8]
- Always cut from top to bottom and not side to side to avoid splitting the nail. Also, try to cut perpendicular to the nail, avoiding extreme angles.
- Begin by tipping the nails. Hold the digit being trimmed and cut only a very thin shaving off the nail at the tip. Keep removing small slices of the nail until the nail is the desired length or until you start to see an oval shape on the cut surface. This is the sign to stop cutting because you are getting close to the quick.[9]
- If your dog has dewclaws, be sure to cut them as well. These are the nails that are located higher up and on the inside of the leg. They may need to be trimmed more frequently than the other nails because they don't get any wear from contact when the dog walks.
- Reassure your dog if you've cut the quick. Accidents happen and you may cut the quick of the nail. If you do, stay calm and gently talk to your dog. Give him a treat right away to distract and pacify him.[10] It will be easier to calm your pet if you already have him in a good position when starting out. Keep your dog in place by standing over him and draping your arms over his body. This may keep him from squirming away if you accidentally cut the quick.[11]
- If your dog acts angry or aggressive when getting his nails clipped, you may just want to take him to the veterinarian for professional clipping.
- File the nails. Once trimmed, the nails will be rough along the edges. You can use a nail file to smooth these after clipping.[12]
- Some dogs may not need any or all of their nails trimmed because they will keep them worn down from their normal activity.
- Keep your dog calm. Your dog may instinctively pull away as you cut the nail. Quickly and calmly reassure him that this is what he should expect to happen. Using a treat can help with this. Dogs learn by our lead and if you reassure them and proceed to the next nail as matter-of-factly as possible, they will take their cue from you.[13]
- Depending on your dog, you may only be able to trim a few nails before needing to give him a break. Each session, try trimming more nails than the last and eventually you will be able to trim them all in one sitting.
EditHandling and Preventing Injuries - Take control. Remain calm and confident, but ready to treat any problems when trimming your dog's nails. If you happen to hit the quick of a nail and the nail starts to bleed, don't let your dog to wrench away from you and run around. This will help limit the pain and further damage to the nail. You can also calm your dog and control the bleeding.
- Stop the bleeding. Apply styptic powder to the area as quickly as possible. Keep hold of the paw and press the powder onto the end of the nail until the bleeding stops. You may have to keep packing the powder onto the nail for several minutes, but the longer you are able to apply steady pressure the more effectively you will stop the bleeding.[14]
- If you don't have styptic powder you can use cornstarch, flour, or even a bar of soap.
- Reassure your dog. Try to keep him quiet and calm. Give treats to distract and calm him. Prevent him from walking around or running for the next 15 minutes. This will help keep the nail from bleeding again and will also help to prevent further damage and mess.[15]
- Comfort your dog so that he continues to trust you and won't have negative associations with nail clipping.
- Grind the nails instead of trimming them. In the future,use a grinder, an electric tool that files the nail down instead of cutting it. This avoids the sharp edges and split nails that can occur when trimming. Some dogs prefer this, while others are resistant to the vibrations and noise made by these types of devices.[16]
- When using a grinder you have to be careful not to come in contact with pads. This can cause cuts or irritations, be very painful, and make your dog reluctant to allow this procedure in the future. Injuries to the pads can also be very slow in healing.
- Take your dog to the vet. If you do not have any styptic powder on hand or you are worried that you cannot properly cut the nail, let a vet or a groomer take care of the clipping. Dogs with darker nails will be very hard to clip and it's best left to someone confident and able to treat the dog if there is a problem.[17]
- If you still want to try to clip your dog's nails, many vets, vet techs, and groomers will be glad to show you the proper way to trim nails.
- To get the quicks to recede at a steady rate the nails should be clipped every ten to fourteen days.
- Puppies are easily adapted to this grooming step, but at times, older dogs will come to you with a past experience that was unpleasant to them. Most important for success, is patience and gentle handling.
- Tipping the nail will cause the quick to recede a bit more each time you do it. This is especially comforting if your dog has black nails.
- If you dog is being sedated for any procedure, it is a good idea to ask your vet to clip their nails at that time. Many vets will do this at no extra charge.
- Never clip the nail if you have anything short of a perfect view of it. Hair should not obscure your view in any way.
- If the dog won't sit quietly on his own, have an assistant squat behind the dog, wrap one arm around the dog's neck to control the head, and hold a paw in position with the other hand. This should prevent the dog from attempting to escape and keep him still enough to prevent injuries. However, this is a last resort and is likely to create a negative association with this routine, making it difficult in the future.
- If the nail is bleeding freely after thirty minutes of applying pressure and powder, call your veterinarian.
- If you have a dog who has been traumatized badly enough to try to bite when you grasp the paw, it is probably kinder and less traumatic for him to be taken to a vet. This way he can get professional treatment and sedation.
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