No Nonsense Essential Oils

Over the years, we’ve learned the hard way how important it is to take care of ourselves, especially when we need to travel for a project and during seasons of long research days. April introduced us to using health-promoting botanicals in the form of essential oils as a more natural approach to enhancing our general wellness by:

• Inspiring a positive emotional state

• Enhancing physical wellness

• Enhancing spiritual awareness

• Purifying the air

Since then, we’ve read more about how we can better use essential oils at work. In our continuous quest to lead a healthy life and create better moods during projects with clients, we’ve listed our favorite oils/blends brands and their uses:

• Peppermint by doTerra – to remove headaches, revive energy, freshens breath

• InTune by doTerra – to enhance the senses and sustain focus

• Digestzen by doTerra – for indigestion

• Stress Away by Young Living – to combat stress

• Thieves by Young Living – to purify

• Lavender by doTerra – for relaxation (and sleep)

• Lemon by doTerra – to cleanse

• Frankincense by doTerra – helps boost immunity

• Melaleuca by doTerra – fights bacteria and fungus

• Oregano by doTerra – helps relieve common seasonal threats

We keep a stash of these oils in the office and our travel bag together with a diffuser so we can diffuse away (e.g. Peppermint during intense research days) or apply topically (e.g. Stress Away during concept work sessions) when we most need them.

Recently, April shared with us an article that talks about becoming aware of our basic tendencies so we can make better choices to support the harmony in body and mind.  And this article which tells the story about how choosing nourishing smells will awaken the mind’s innate healing powers and experience a natural vitality and wholeness based on our dosha. What is dosha, you ask?  Dosha is a person’s “mind-body” type and there are 3 primary types: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. Are you curious what your dosha is?  Well, you can take a quiz here to find out! Briefly, these are what the doshas mean:

• Vata: Movement and Change

  • Tends to be always on the go with an energetic and creative mind

• Pitta: Transformation and Metabolism

  • Enjoy a strong appetite and ability to digest food, information, and experiences

• Kapha: Structure and Fluidity

  • Solid, reliable, contented souls

Based on your mind-body type (dosha), there are certain aromas (essential oils) that can help evoke states of well-being:

• Vata: floral, fruity, warm, sweet, and sour smells

  • Basil, Orange, Geranium, Clove, Vanilla, Patchouli

• Pitta: cooling and sweet smells

  • Sandalwood, Mint, Rose, Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Lavender

• Kapha: stimulating and spicy smells

  • Eucalyptus, Camphor, Juniper, Clove, Marjoram, Rosemary

We’re looking forward to taking the dosha quiz to understand which essential oils can support our goal of leading healthier lives!

Are you KIDding me: Designing a Kids Sensory Project

Last summer, one of our favorite clients commissioned us for a project where they needed reactions from both kids AND parents!

The problem we’ve found in the past is that kid’s reactions are somewhat biased by their parents (and sometimes, although not always), some parents want to influence their child’s reactions.  However, we needed to have parents’ perspective to get a holistic view.

Our goal is to design research as “efficiently” as possible so we worked side by side with our client partner to create research that would allow reactions from BOTH parents & children separately in the same group.

So we designed a process that will ensure the project will be a success: 

• The Problem: How do you design a kid’s research where you are able to get uninfluenced responses from both the kids AND their parents? Did I forget to mention that apart from talking to kids, we also wanted to get their parents’ reactions and inputs?
• The Solution: Create an environment where both the kids and parents would feel comfortable being separated in some parts of the research. Trust me, it’s not a logistical nightmare!
  • Set-up a movie room for kids
  • Explain logistics and timing to parents
  • Coordinate amongst ourselves when kids would be in and out of the focus group discussion

As soon as we figured out the rhythm to the process after the first group, everything was smooth sailing and we were able to implement our research design:

• Get kids’ taste preference while parents watched in the back room.
• Get parents’ interpretation of their kids’ food ratings.
• Understand how both the parent and kid come to an agreement and decide what to order.
• How to effectively get learnings/reactions/inputs with just 8 focus groups.

In the end, we were able to successfully conduct the research. And the bonus was we all had fun with the kids!

A Facility’s Art of “Hosting” Marketing Research

Yikes! Me welcoming people at a place I’m visiting for the first time too? “Oh, my. Please, no.”   Those were my exact thoughts when I first learned we would not only conduct research but also “host” the groups at our clients’ test kitchen some months ago.  

Fast forward to today, five months after my first panic attack - things aren’t only more comfortable – they can also be fun. 

One time, I had a respondent arrive 2 hours before the group and went to the bathroom at least 3 times???? Another time, a respondent literally asked me 1,000 questions about the “early bird drawing”. And the most interesting of all, I had a respondent who, after not being chosen for a group, stayed in the waiting room to catch some “ZZZzzzsss.”  I was thankful she left before the group discussion finished! Whew!!!

So many other respondent-related things can go wrong when you’re in charge of managing groups of respondents starting on time.  My pet peeves are: respondents not showing up on time and worse, not showing up at all. 

I noticed that in a 6 focus group study, you’ll have at least 1-2 groups that gives anxiety attacks because respondents aren’t picking up their phones when you try to reach them to check if they’re on their way while some just don’t show. And then you can only hope you have enough respondents who can clearly articulate their thinking in every group. 

And then, when you have to choose who will be selected and who will be paid and sent home - I always ask: “How can I turn these people away without them thinking something’s wrong with them?  I realized that being extra polite yet unruffled, and explaining each specific situation clearly helps when it’s time to send them off. 

We are so lucky to have long-term relationships with some of the best research facilities.  More than anything, this new experience of “hosting” respondents allowed our team to have a better appreciation for the facilities we hire!  It is definitely an “art” to recruit and host consistently great research projects, and to create a comfortable environment for our clients and respondents!

How a 1-Day Conference Helped Me Come to Grips with what Truly Matters

When you get an invitation to an event that promises to help you “live the life you love”, you would immediately say yes and pack your bags. And that’s what April Bell Research Group did last January to attend the "Think Better, Live Better” event in Austin.

We were invited to the event by one of our favorite online “productivity experts”, Asian Efficiency. The event was hosted by Marc and Angel Chernoff, professional coaches who “hack life”. They both have spent the past decade writing about and teaching proven strategies for finding lasting happiness, success, love, and peace.

The full day session was packed with topics and tools that reduce stress and increase positive results in 4 core areas:

- Personal/Professional Happiness
- Motivation/Focus
- Successful Results
- Life Balance and Relationships

Throughout the event, there were several key learnings that the team felt was relevant in our daily work-life.

The Beliefs that Hold You Back & The Questions that Will Set You Free (Marc & Angel Chernoff) We keep hearing people say that "questions become thoughts, thoughts become words, words become actions, and actions become character". And when we encounter challenges, it’s the strength of our character that sees us through. Now, who doesn’t experience obstacles in life? Marc and Angel shared Self-Inquiry Process tips to do a raw brain dump or questions to ask yourself when we feel we are in a bad space:

- Is it true? Can it be scientifically proven?

- When I think this thought, how:

        - Does it make me feel?
        - Do I treat others?
        - Does it make me deal with the situation?

- If I completely erase/remove this thought, how:
        - Do I feel?
        - Do I treat others?
        - Do I deal with the situation?

This session helped us become aware of our inner dialogue and attitudes - to stay positive and focused in challenging situations. It taught us a new way to think about our project work but also with our spouses!

Overcoming Procrastination & Roadblocks to Do What Matters (Joshua Becker) All too often, I find myself running out of time; I find myself saying that 24 hours isn’t enough and if I could just have 1 more hour to do this or that. This session talked about uncovering the secrets to "making time" vs. "finding time". Joshua shared tips on how to simplify life, eliminate excess, and rediscover lost time to focus on things that truly matter to you. Here are some of my biggest takeaways:

- Your Possessions - yes, having too many can complicate our lives. They drain our bank accounts, energy, and attention. Investing time to remove nonessential possession will considerably make us feel lighter.

- Your Time Commitments - if your calendar looks like a never-ending Gantt chart, it’s time to release yourself from time commitments that are not in line with your greatest values.

- Your Goals - yes, I thought that having a long list would make them more achievable. Reducing it to 1 or 2 will give you more focus and better success rates so list down things you want to accomplish and choose the 2 most important. When you finish 1, add another from your list.

- Your Connections to the World - yes, relationships with others are good but constant streams of distraction are bad. Learn to focus on the important, not the urgent.

Conquering Mental Fatigue (Courtney Carver) Growing up in an era of open innovation, I always found it very interesting how creative minds work but over the years, I realized that the market is complicated with so many new products and takes a toll on my decision making process. Not that innovation is bad but there are times when we just want one less decision to make in a day. Courtney shares some tips on how to minimize decision fatigue and help people make the right decisions.

- Simpler meals

- Perimeter grocery shopping (if you can!)

- Pretend the internet is broken (ha!)

- Her Project 333 helps create a decision free closet (33 items inclusive of clothes, shoes, jewelry to wear in 3 months). 

- Habit stack your morning routine

- Simplify! Just get rid of things that do not matter in your life.

The same holds true for work –to avoid that early morning stress of trying to figure out what task to complete first, create time blocks for when you want to focus on your task list and eat your frog too!

Indeed, choices can be debilitating rather than liberating so eliminate distractions to minimize decisions. It’s easier to make the right choices and decisions too if you only have a handful to choose from.

Living The Perfect Day (Karl Staib ) Who doesn’t want to do that? But with all the distractions, this seems unattainable. I used to think that perfect days don’t exist especially because so many things are just out of our control. Karl’s session made me realize that this mindset is causing my imperfect day. He says that to live a fulfilling life, we need to define what the ideal version of our life is, one day at a time. How? By:

- Designing our day

- Getting feedback

- Building on feedback

This session motivated our team at April Bell Research Group to improve each day and work like a well oiled machine by designing our days individually, respecting boundaries, and staying resilient when there are unexpected surprises.

At the end of the full day session, I realized that when you redefine what’s already in front of you (or what's possible), living the life you love isn’t farfetched at all. These topics have already paved the way to a more realistic plan to keep improving. They are indeed inspiring lessons to live a more positive and productive life!

The Productivity Blueprint by Asian Efficiency: Their Secret to Success

Working in Market Research means living a fast-paced work environment but also doing really focused work. It is easy to get sucked into a vortex, lose focus, and get bogged down. In our attempts to figure out “stress-coping” (productivity!) mechanisms for our “heaviest” days, April introduced us to Asian Efficiency.

Asian Efficiency is a team that has one specific goal – make the world a more efficient place – to go about doing things with the least amount of effort, delivering the maximum output.

During office training and staff development sessions, we have discussed their Productivity Blueprint and Rituals, mainly:

• Productivity Blueprint
  • Beating Procrastination
  • Focus & Self Discipline
  • Distraction & Interruption
• Rituals
  • Waking Up Earlier
  • Morning
  • Meditation
  • Exercise
  • Structural Productivity
  • Breaks & Downtime
  • Evening
  • Studying & Learning
  • Journaling
  • Uninterrupted Time

They have loads of great, free content, and I have purchased quite a few of their programs, and would highly recommend their Productivity course as well as their Rituals Course. They also have loads of good free content on their site. Two of the most helpful rituals we have been working on as a team are – Structural Productivity and Breaks & Downtime.

Structural Productivity is about maximizing your days by planning them in advance. In a way, this is deemed as the master ritual of the 10 listed above because it strings together all your other rituals. If you are able to plan your day ahead, there is less stress and less chance of beating yourself up thinking the day could have gone better. It also allows you to track progress day to day and monitor accomplishments. More importantly, you can iterate and correct problems with the day gone by and get to a point where your days are always productive – both at work and after work. This ritual, based on the premise of planning, also lessens decision fatigue, prioritization of important vs. urgent tasks, and respects time boundaries you have set.

Breaks & Downtime is all about consistently getting the breaks and downtime you need to remain alert and productive. To be honest, taking breaks is a personal challenge owing to the personal belief that taking a break = wasting time. Asian Efficiency tells us that taking breaks or short rests leads to:

• Increased productivity
• Controlled and consistent energy levels throughout the day
• Effective stress management
• Increased motivation 

April gave us timers for time intervals/timeboxes to structure our breaks. I haven’t used mine for fear of disturbing colleagues when it sounds off so I use my phone’s timer to signal if it’s time to break. This is still a challenge for me because I’ve been so used to just churning output however long it took without breaks to ensure I meet deadlines but when I do use “time boxing” or the Pomodoro Technique, I felt re-energized after the quick break and ready to tackle the beast again. You can time box in 2 ways – depending on what works for you:

• 25/5 – work 25 minutes and take a 5 minute break
• 50/10 – work 50 minutes and take a 10 minute break

If you’re interested in learning more about this concept, I recommend reading “The Pomodoro Technique” book by Francesco Cirillo.

Either way, the important thing is to take that quick break and by taking a quick break, it means that you physically have to stop what you are doing and do something else – walk away from your work location! And remember to go all-out on your break, go outside and get some air, get your favorite beverage, or even play your favorite game.

Note the importance of writing down what you’re currently thinking if your break comes up. It will help you to get back on track much faster after your 5 or 10 minute break. It’s just a matter of looking back at what you wrote and picking up that train of thought!