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academiaipromise · 5 years ago

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Hello!

This is a series that was inspired by some stressed-filled Zoom calls that I’ve been having with some underclassmen for both my extracurricular organizations and peer mentoring programs. If you’re still reading this, chances are, you’re either going back to college soon or starting college for the first time in the year that is 2020. While we all are probably focusing on the safety of ourselves and our loved ones (as we arguably should), many incoming freshmen I’ve been talking to are also stressed about college things: emailing professors, study tips, how to balance virtual classes. So, in case you feel like reading a series of tips written by a 4th year undergrad who at least pretends to know what she’s doing, click below to read the second entry. Click here for the first.

Tip #2: Zoomin’, or Keeping a Life/Work Balance During Online or Hybrid Courses

When trying to figure out the order in which to post these tips, I was struck with the realization that I start school in a little over a week. So, if anyone is in this same boat, I figured it would be important to talk about class registration tips when there’s still time for you do something about it. This post is a long one, but here’s hoping you can find some advice in it.

So something to clarify right off the bat: when everything started moving to a virtual format, everybody and their mother on the Internet starting coming forward with tips on how to work from home. And while that’s kind of what’s happening here, I take issue with two things: working from home is not the same as working from home during a global crisis, and working from home is not the same as virtual college. So I’ll try to get as specific as I can, but also try to throw in some tips that might work better for you than they do for me.

Part One: Registering for Classes

Okay so this part you might have already done, but it’s good to keep in mind. While the recommended hours at every university is different, in my experience the average recommendation is 15 credits hours per semester. It’s important to note though that this is only an average: if you plan on taking courses in the summer, graduating early/later than 4 years, or taking on multiple majors, all of these things affect the credit hours you should be taking.

The unpleasant reality of registering for courses is there’s really no way to know how a specific class will be. There’s always RateMyProfessor.com or other tools, but who’s to say that professors will be like they normally are if they’re trying to figure out how to teach online/hybrid classes? Also, it’s a good thought to keep in mind that typically only two kinds of people leave public reviews of a professor/course: those who really loved the class, and those who really hated the class. So read and figure out what exactly they’re saying, not just how they feel about the course. And just know yourself - if someone from a humanities background says a statistics class is too hard, but you're great with numbers, that’s not always the best advice to heed. Listen to your gut instinct, both when registering and during drop/add week.

My advice for registering for classes right now? Whatever your instinct is, go a little less if you’re able. The reason I say this is because studying in 2020 can be...a lot, in the same way doing anything in 2020 is. I was only registered for 12 credit hours last semester, and even that became difficult to manage toward the end (moving back home suddenly, people you know getting sick, trying to protect high risk loved ones/yourself, all of which can and probably will happen again this semester). I would just say to go in overestimating how much time you need for yourself vs classes - there will be other semesters, and it’s better to take less classes now and not burn out or struggle mentally (or even just academically) in your first semester of college. Please just be kind to yourself.

Part Two: Zoom, or the True Necessary Evil

Maybe you used Zoom all throughout your last months of high school; maybe your university is using Microsoft Teams or something to that effect. Either way, here is what I’ve found to be helpful during my unforeseen five month foray into Zoom, seemingly with no end in sight.

1. Zoom is a tool. Yes, I kind of hate Zoom, and you may also come to hate Zoom if you don’t already, but there are benefits. You can send in written questions or raise your hand through Zoom if your professor allows that feature, both of which are very helpful in trying to show engagement while also trying to respect any kind of Zoom decorum. This post is going to be long enough, and my next post will have more to do with extracurriculars and virtual opportunities, but if you ever need to host a Zoom and want to just use all of its features, I’m more than happy to answer DMs. I’ve had to sit through so many Zoom tutorials for Student Involvement, and if I can spare anyone from that, I would love to.

2. Balance what you keep digitally versus what’s on paper. Okay, so this is definitely, definitely up to personal preference, but speaking from experience, I just don’t view online or hybrid classes as the opportunity to go fully digital if you’ve never been fully digital before. For me, I always take handwritten notes, mainly because when it comes to remembering things, I either have more of an auditory memory, or I can remember the way that I wrote something when I was taking notes. Considering online classes usually decrease the auditory memory aspect a lot, when things moved virtual I made a point to keep taking handwritten notes. However, something that I’ve found particularly appealing is using Google Calendar (or iCal, Outlook, whatever it is you prefer) to an excess. When scheduling Zoom calls, I always save the Zoom link in the description of the event on my Google Calendar. Trust me, this is a lot better than trying to go through your email to find the link that professor sent. So I would advice to think about your learning preferences and figure out a way to still play to your strengths, even if it might technically be a little less convenient.

3. Schedule screen breaks. This is so important for so many reasons. While I’ve invested in some blue light glasses because I am slowly losing my vision after years of reading books by flashlight or AO3 fics on my phone until late at night, I still get fatigued being on a screen for so long. Because it’s not just school that’s on the screen; it’s your clubs, your social interactions, maybe your job. I would recommend scheduling screen breaks that coincide with some sort of physical activity (I don’t necessarily mean an intensive physical activity, although if you want to feel free; I more am referring to getting up out of your chair and walking around your room or apartment. Or going outside. Ride your bike. Do some yoga. Eat some food. Etc.), but if you’re feeling particularly busy or overwhelmed, taking notes from a physical book works just as well. Even if you feel okay at the moment, scheduling breaks and following that schedule can save you from screen fatigue hitting all at once - it will take a lot longer to get over a headache between your eyes/your eye twitching or your neck and/or shoulder locking up than just allowing simple short breaks throughout your day.

4. Schedule time between Zooms. This may sound like the same thing as taking screen breaks, but what I’ve found is that Zoom is a lot more draining that in person classes. I used to schedule Zoom calls back to back like I would classes (again, personal preference, but I was always the person who would take all of their classes from 9:30-3:30 on Tuesday/Thursday, and no classes on Monday/Wednesday/Friday), but found out pretty quickly that I was wrecked after two or more Zoom calls in a row. Honestly, now I won’t schedule any two Zoom calls within a half an hour of each other - between calls, I like to walk around, grab a snack, stretch, close my eyes and try and suppress the social anxiety that seems to accompany every Zoom class or meeting I’ve ever had. (Tangent: I’m thoroughly convinced southerners were not meant to operate Zoom calls. No one knows how to hang up the dang call without being rude because we were taught to have 30 minute conversations in a doorway on our way out.) Maybe there are people who can go on Zoom calls for three hours or so (and I’ve done that with friends, whether just working on group projects or hanging out), but my personal recommendation would be just to space it out more than normal if you’re able.

5. Create an ideal weekly schedule. This is not “your most productive week ever,” or “this is the rigid schedule you will follow for eternity with no deviations.” One of my most difficult adjustments in college was the changing schedules; maybe you were planning on finishing an important paper on Thursday night, only for your group project to decide to meet that night instead. And that will happen, even with virtual meetings (maybe especially with virtual meetings, as people definitely tend to overestimate your availability when it’s digital). What I’ve found that helps is to create an ideal weekly schedule, both in general and a more specific one at the start of the week, because that means that when things get shuffled around, you actually reschedule that thing that you wanted to do, whether it’s homework, yoga, or just...being alone for a bit. It allows you to still feel like you’re prioritizing your time and activities, even when your schedule changes with little to no warning.

Part Three: Some Final Thoughts

If you can invest in a second monitor, now might really be the time to do it. If you’d prefer, I used a laptop riser for most of college before this all happened (yay nerve damage in my neck!) and an external keyboard and mouse. I would just compare models and figure out what works best financially if that’s something you want to do.

Ultimately, if this doesn’t come across in every tip I post, please just be patient with yourself this semester. This is a weird time, and I know that starting your first semester you might be 100% committed to starting off strong or making a great first impression. And that’s awesome, but sometimes that just might not be realistic. Look at last week’s post on contacting your professor, and reach out early just to introduce yourself. Establishing a relationship early on is always good, but especially considering that this semester really might have moments where you need some extra time or grace from them. Can’t focus? Can’t find motivation? That’s understandable; we’re in a global crisis right now. Just listen to yourself and always put your health and the health of your loved ones before school. I hope that these tips can at least help you navigate your first year with a little less trepidation.

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So that’s it for this entry! As always, if you have specific questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. Again, I am a student at an SEC university in the United States, so I’m not claiming to be an expert in all things, but I have TA'ed multiple freshman seminars, and will be making this series for the freshmen that I know starting at my school this year anyways, so putting them on this blog is no big deal. Next post (which will hopefully be up sooner than this one was) will specifically be on extracurriculars and virtual opportunities, so if you have specific questions on that as well, I’m all ears.

#studyblr #college tips #study tips #academia #first year of college #first year advice #first year tips #academiaipromise #zoom tips

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lucarioisinthevoid · 5 years ago

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So going back to the Henry being a teacher idea, what would it be like if while Henry was teaching, one of his students was sleeping under a book, or something?

"Why, of course I would use the best and most efficient didactic tool- public humiliation." I don't like your tone, Henry. "That sounds like a problem you should figure out in your own time. Meanwhile I will return to this hypothetical scenario." Turning back, he continued on. "I am not going to let something like that happen in my classroom. I know what people are doing, I know what people are planning and I undercut things like that quickly. Sleeping might be a minor offense, but still, those kind of behaviors are not tolerated." Something like that was no small deal in Henry's eyes. Not at all. Sleeping in the classroom of all places was a sign of something going wrong. Insomnia? Sneaking out at night? Having to deal with fights? Sleep-deprivation as a form of self-harm? Staying up late out of desperation, because it seems to be the only time you truly have for yourself? Everyone has issues, some way or another. Especially when growing up. And issues make people weak and easy to manipulate. No, Henry wouldn't consider himself a bad guy, not at all. He was simply more realistic. His students expected entertainment from him and that was alright in his eyes, because it was natural. You cannot focus on things if they are boring, you cannot stay quiet if you are not engaged. But in turn he felt it was well within his right to derive entertainment from his students as well. You can mouth off in his class, if you have the skill to back it up. You may talk with your friends, quietly, if you can show you are done and are willing to present your findings. Getting some extra credit was always possible in the latter half of the year, if you were to ask for it politely and do a good job. It was to him less of "what do they need to learn this year?" but a sense of "what can they learn this year, which part will actually be interesting to them?" Knowledge about multiple different subjects and their current stand on it made it easier to create rather interesting possibilities for his work. And now there was this student who thought they could nap through his carefully crafted work. Well. He would call out that student, immediately, loudly, in front of everyone. "It is clear SOMEONE here has the expertise with this subject, enough that they are capable of doing it in their sleep. I always was quite skeptical about the concept of sleep-learning, but I am willing to be proven wrong. Would you mind sharing the answer that your subconscious has given you?" Of course, there would only ever be stuttering and stammering. What else can you say after being awoken from a probably very much needed nap? "One point for me, zero point for those crazy sleep-scientists. Alas, could someone else explain the situation to our sleepy friend here? It could have been very well you sleeping, so show them some cooperation. Oh- before that- we will speak after class, I hope you are aware of that." It's not rare for students to be asked to stay behind after class. Sometimes it seemed almost randomly. That was the way Dr. Miller was. But nobody ever came out of the class crying- even if they said they didn't want to talk about what he wanted. Because that was half of the fun. Still, staying later when everyone else runs off to enjoy the break is still pretty uneasy. "Sit down." He signs at a chair the seems to always stand besides the teacher's desk. Close enough to be properly stared down in. Now, some people would sit down in that chair, some people would pick a random chair where they had been standing. It depends, but makes no real difference. "You see, I must be honest with you here. I do not doubt your intelligence. That is why it is even more confusing to me that you chose to slack off like this. A bad look indeed. Now, I can probably say what I want here, you will ignore it. You know as well as I do, really NECESSARY are none of these subjects. Depending on where you want to go in life, more than half of what you are currently studying is going to waste- and that is only in an ideal scenario, where you aim for higher education. And even then! No door closes forever. Whatever you are missing here you can eventually learn later in life. Sure, it will cost you, time and money, but you can do it. You will hate yourself for having wasted your youth, but you can do it. Some unlucky children are not in the position to spend their childhood learning and focusing, instead they are forced to ensure their own mental and physical survival. I cannot say if it is the case for you." Henry's expression doesn't changes a lot during private talk, at least not in the way the well-trained expressions came on during class. "What you miss now you can repeat. If you manage to improve your situation that is. I do wonder, what could cause you to try to sleep during class? This is not a comfortable spot to sleep in for sure. Even drawing, looking at different pages in the book or spacing out tends to be more entertaining than attempting sleep. Are my lessons boring you? Or is something else going on? What kept you from sleeping last night? Please share the reason, no matter which- I am deeply curious." What kind of answer could come? It was okay to deny his attempt at prying, his gross overstepping of teacherly duties. He was offering help and he knew he was offering help. There was, for him, nothing to feel guilty about. Whatever it was, he would listen- if needed he would offer help. But if nothing came, he would dismiss it. "I hope you know you can talk to me about any further development on this issue. And I hope you will not fall asleep again. You will be surprised how useful this knowledge it, even if not necessary. Do you understand me?" After getting an answer, he would nod. "... good. You may leave now. Oh, and I expect you to keep this talk private- as I myself will do. It always amuses me when the other students wonder what happens when one gets asked to stay behind." No, Henry wasn't a good person. But some people can mask their unhealthy curiosity with empathy. And it doesn't hurt anyone. Surely.

#henry miller #daily reminder that Henry is a pretty uncomfortable guy #who is at most likeable in a 'oh I need to keep my distance' kinda way

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aarjav-jain · 5 years ago

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Complete course on Digital Marketing

Well, I know everything about this course. As I am the curator of one of these courses :-)

First I want to thank all my Tumblr readers, as of now we got 450+ enrollment from Tumblr.

And, I would like to write everything about this course here on Tumblr. So, I have asked the question myself.

First thing first, the story behind this course creation.

I was the school topper in my 12th grade from Guru Tegh Bahadur Public School, I got 96%. I was excited after that, as I got admission in Delhi University based on my marks.

Since after scoring such good marks and getting admission to Delhi University, I was hoping that now things will get easy in life.

But that sweet shell was broken on the day of orientation in the college, that day I saw more than 1500 students with the same marks and college in their hands.

And then I knew that this place is not for me, I can not achieve my dreams by following a regular path.

After reading hundreds of the article and watching hundreds of the video I came to know about Digital marketing and found that the scope of digital marketing has increased in the past at a faster rate and will be growing drastically in future also.

Then I decided to learn digital marketing, I joined a course for digital marketing in Delhi by paying 50,000, and after I was done with the course I was having good theoretical knowledge but no practical knowledge.

I started to watch Youtube videos and started reading Neil Patel's articles to brush up my skills and to gain some practical knowledge I go for 2 internships in Delhi and Noida. After 1 year I decided to launch a digital marketing agency, we started well with some potential clients.

Suddenly I clicked with an idea of starting some webinars to share knowledge of digital marketing, the motive of those webinars was to get digital marketing clients.

But instead of people asking for digital marketing services, people start asking whether we provide digital marketing course, that was the moment I decided to launch a course on Digital Marketing.

But there was one big hurdle that more than 50 institutions in Delhi are providing digital marketing courses from the last 5 years. The question was-

How to differentiate us from others?

To find the answer, I started enrolling for online courses at these institutions. I came up with 2 things that these institutes were not providing that was-

1. Practical knowledge

2. Marketing knowledge

3. Mentorship

By marketing knowledge here I mean is in the whole course the instructors did not explain what is marketing, they did not tell me what is consumer behavior, no one explains to me how reputed companies market themselves on different platforms. Instructors were only focusing on digital aspects of the course like website development, social media marketing, or SEO.

Digital marketing can not be learned by only watching the video and reading blogs. Mentorship is very important to learn digital marketing.

So once you will enroll in this course, you will be directly in contact with me. In the first lecture I clearly state that you need to implement everything that you are learning and when you find any queries or doubts, you will be directly contacting me for that. There will no online portal where you have to add your question and wait for the answer.

During the whole course, you will be only in contact with me not with my team members :-)

That was the answer to my question "How to differentiate us from others?". We decided to launch Digital marketing that will cover all the aspects of the Digital part as well as the marketing part. That is why name it as "A complete course on digital marketing".

In this course, we teach our students with a practical approach. We make sure that the marketing part is been covered in the course. In the course, there are 20+ marketing case studies of companies like Coke, Uber, and Starbucks that how these companies use marketing as their growth tool. Ever concepts of marketing like season marketing, cause marketing, emotion marketing is been discussed in detail, and many time in the course.

Now let's understand some other aspects of the course-

Course Audience (Basically who can enroll):-

I have developed the course keeping three types of audience in considerations.

This course is for:-

Marketer:- It is been said that one should always brush up their skills, if you are already in the marketing field and working as a marketing head, you should enroll in this course. Now the time is changing and the same with the demand for digital marketing over traditional marketing.

Business Owner/ Entrepreneur:- More than 120+ business owners enroll in this course and make their business online. It is a better option than hiring an agency and giving them at least 50,000 for doing your digital marketing. If you are having the time to learn from the course and implement, it is the best option you can get to make your business online.

Career seeker:- We help you to make your career in Digital marketing, you can enter into this field as a freelancer, affiliate marketer, have your own digital marketing agency, build your personal brand as an influencer or can apply for jobs at various positions like website developer, SMM expert, SEO expert.

Students:- Students enrolled in graduate programs like BCom, BA(Economics), BBA, BBM, BSc( Maths), BSc (Statistics) can always consider the digital marketing industry as their career choice. Every topic is explained from the beginning and we will be taking you to an advanced level step by step.

Though the course is made for the above four audiences, certain sections are focussed on just one of the above. But, since the course will progress in a systematic manner where the participant will get one video class a day, everyone has to complete all the sections.

COURSE FEE - Why not free?:-

1990/- Rs Though, we have distributed free copies of this course to many college students. We couldn’t make it free for all.

We did keep it free for 1 week and told everyone I knew about this course. But, they were 5 to 10 takers of this course.

Then we ran ads. Targeted ads to people looking for Digital marketing courses. And, we did 27 sales in three weeks.

I and my team decided to keep a price for the course to cover the cost of the website and video hosting and advertising.

Whatever we earn, we invest back in this website and ads.

In this course, I will be sharing my personal methods and experience that will help you to get digital marketing clients, getting jobs, working as an affiliate marketer. I helped a lot to the businessmen to take their businesses online with the help of this course.

All the experiences are shared :-)

Certificates along with the course:-

6 certificates from Google, that includes Google Analytics for beginners, advance and google ads, etc.

2 certificates from Hubspot that includes Email marketing and Hubspot marketing.

2 certificates from Facebook Blueprint.

I certificate from our organization for completion of course.

Idea is to reach out to a minimum of a million live in India and teach them digital marketing in common and simple language videos. There is a very high chance that when you are reading this answer, even this post is sponsored :-) And if you are interested in buying this USE QUORA5 as coupon code to buy the course. You will get a 5% discount.

What we offer:-

In this course, you will learn- Website development, Facebook Marketing, YouTube Marketing, Linked In marketing, SEO, Google Analytics, Affiliate marketing, Video Editing(Advance), Graphic designing(Basic), Analytical marketing, Google Ads, Social Ads, Google tag manager, E-commerce website development and marketing, E-mail Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing strategies insights.

I mean everything about DIGITAL MARKETING :-)

We will be providing you Elementor pro( page building software) free along with the course, worth Rs.14000/- and advance video editing software, worth Rs. 3000/-. These are provided so that you can learn digital marketing on the premium platforms. Please search them on Google :-). We are able to provide you these plugins at such a low cost because we use this software in our digital marketing agency.

You will be getting access to all the pre-recorded 90 lectures and software lifetime.

We also conduct 2 webinars every month, so that I can share the practical problem that I face in the digital marketing agency and share with you my real projects.

In the webinar, we focus on 2 things:-

The real-life digital marketing problems that I face working with my clients and ask my student in the webinar that what will you do if you were at my place. This actually gives them practical knowledge.

I work on my client's project in front of all of my students on the webinar. So that they will have knowledge that how to work at a professional level in this field and we provide the maximum level of practical knowledge to all our students.

The best part about these webinars is that you will be getting a webinar link in every 15 days so that you can learn digital marketing as long as you want. So learning never stops. 80% of the student continues watching these webinars even after completion of this course.

What you can do after the completion of this course?

After the completion of this course, you can get a chance of working as an intern in our Digital Marketing Agency and can earn some experience.

You can work as a Freelancer, many learners are working as a freelancer and earning 20,000–25,000 per month. One difficulty that you have to face working as a freelancer is getting the first 2 clients. After that things get easy.

You can have your own Affiliate website and can earn passive income from the Amazon Affiliate program in the form of commission. 20% of the learners are having their own websites and are on a path to build their own brand.

Start your own Digital Marketing Agency, this may seem a hectic task, but lot’s of methods are told in this course through with you can start your successful agency.

Apply for a job at various positions like website developer, SMM expert, SEO expert, and can have a stable job.

After this lockdown digitalization has become an obligation, nothing can stop you to get excel in this field. But with a single contingency “Will to work”

No knowledge is bad knowledge. :-) And, I had to make just one course for all. That's why I named it also “A complete course on Digital Marketing”

Thanks.

#marketing entrepreneurship business digitalmarketing

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happily-studious · 7 years ago

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College Success: How to keep up with your work.

I created this guide for college students, but it works for high school, too. This guide is designed to help all students, no matter your health status or major. I took care to include a couple tips for maintaining your mental and physical health while managing a college course load. I hope you enjoy, and I hope this helps!!!

1. Don't force yourself.

This is the most important tip. Self care is vital. When you're dealing with a fever, the flu, chronic pain, a stomach bug, or even major depression, it can be difficult to study effectively. Don't force yourself to study if you're not feeling well enough to get out of bed and do things. Making yourself get up to study helps nobody if you really aren't feeling well. You will only feel distracted and you won't be able to remember much of what you worked toward. Remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day to be productive, and if you're really feeling guilty for not doing anything, you can restart your day at 2 PM. Now, this isn't an excuse to procrastinate. You should still get up and do your work if you have a chest cold, are suffering from allergies, or even if you're just having a plain old bad day. Monitor how you feel and ask yourself if you're feeling well enough to study or not.

2. Divide large workloads into smaller tasks.

Having a big project to do or having a major exam to study for can be very overwhelming to the point of wanting to cram it all into one day. Here's a tip: DON'T do this. Your work won't be it's best and your grade may suffer. Instead, pull out your planner. Write down the date that the assignment is due. Write down your exam dates. Highlight it or put a star next to it to symbolize it's importance and to remind you of what you're working toward. Then, you may want to turn to the notes section or pull out a piece of paper. Some planners have sections where the month has individual days where you can write extended information. Go day by day. Start with the day the work was assigned to you. Create small goals to complete every day leading up to the due date of the assignment. For example, if a big research paper is due: day 1 may be spent searching for a topic, days 2 & 3 can be spent researching the topic and collecting information, day 4 will be planning and drafting the paper, day 5 will be actually writing the paper, day 6 will be editing and revising, and day 7 will be submitting the assignment. Chunking large workloads into easy to manage, bite-sized tasks will reduce the amount of stress you experience and allow you to to focus better.

3. Develop a growth mindset.

In my student success class, we watched a TedTalk by Carol Dweck. She talked about developing a growth mindset in order raise your grades and accomplish your goals more effectively. Basically, a fixed mindset looks like this: "I got a 67% on this test, I thought I did better, I'm a failure, I'm either good at it or I'm not, I hate challenges". A growth mindset, on the other hand, looks like this: "I got a 67% on this test, so what did I do wrong? Failure is an opportunity to grow and do better next time, I should try new study tactics, I like challenges, feedback is constructive". Having a growth mindset highlights the idea that failure isn't permanent, and that you can become better at something through hard work and a good attitude.

4. Develop a schedule.

To combat procrastination, you can develop a study schedule. Reserve time during the day, maybe an hour or two, to dedicate to a specific study activity. Write it down in your planner. For example, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 3 PM-4 PM, I like to copy down my notes from my laptop onto paper. This is my time to make my notes more understandable, and I can also convert information into visual charts and graphs to better see the material. This time is your own to catch up on work, review your notes, and focus on your academic goals. Use this time wisely.

5. Don't expect instructions.

Many college professors will expect you to come to class having already read the chapters and have notes taken. Their job is to teach you, not baby sit you to make sure you're coming to class prepared. Some professors will remind you to keep up with your assigned readings. Others will expect you to do it on your own. It's up to you to learn how your professor works, and to refer to your syllibi to stay on track. Do what you have to do to keep track of your syllibi; set reminders on your phone to check up with your syllibi, put your syllibi in a safe and easy to access place, just do what you think is best.

6. Don't stop studying.

A well-exercised brain stores information longer and learns how to process it using different strategies. In order to give your brain the exercise it needs, review your materials often and in different ways. For instance, rewriting your notes helps for one occasion, but next time create and use flashcards. Use different techniques for studying the same topic. This will teach your brain how to use the information you study in different situations so you'll do better on tests. Also, do not quit studying certain topics. If you completed the chapter on the cardiovascular system, for example, don't stop studying it just because you finished that chapter. Return to the information every week or two so that your brain retains what you've learned. You'll thank me when that topic from the beginning of the semester ends up on final exams.

7. Flash cards, flash cards, flash cards.

Ah, yes. Flash cards. The tool every studyblr swears by. But, they work! Now, how do you use this marvelous invention? Well, there's several different ways. They can be used for everything, from vocabulary terms to mathematical equations & properties. They're also reversible. For example, instead of reading the word then flipping over to see the definition, you can do the exact opposite. Start with the definition, then try to figure out the word. Flip the card over to see if you were correct. Cross-checking yourself in this manner also exercises your brain more! Another reason flash cards are adored so much is for their portability. Seriously, stuff them in your pocket or in your purse or laptop case and pull them out wherever you go if you find idle time. Review them at the doctor's office, babysitting your cousin, between tv commercials, waiting in line at the grocery store, walking between classes, or even during long car rides (as long as you're not driving!).

8. Know how you work best.

Assess yourself to see what conditions are best (or worst) for you to work in. Do you work better with bright light? Dim light? Do you focus better in the early morning, late morning/early afternoon, early evening, or late at night? Are you more efficient when you study alone or in small groups? Can you focus in large groups or not? Do you tend to procrastinate? Does music help you focus, or does it just hinder your progress? All of these factors are essential to creating an ideal study environment. You know yourself best. See what works best for you and try to create a comfortable study space for yourself.

9. Never settle for taking notes once.

If you take notes one time, sure they might be organized in a way that works for you, but are you going to be able to remember what you wrote? If you type your notes on your computer, make sure to write them down in a notebook later. If the notes you recorded during lecture are sloppy, rewrite them. Then, go back and highlight the essentials. Some important things to highlight include new terms and ideas, dates and names, and key concepts. Rewriting your notes is proven to boost memory. Plus, you get to make them pretty!

10. Remember to treat yourself.

After a long, hard day of studying, get up and stretch. You can breathe now, you did it! Reward yourself with some ice cream, a warm bath, some Netflix time, or whatever you enjoy! Rewarding yourself after doing hard work also teaches your brain to associate studying with a reward at the end, so you'll be more likely to want to work hard!

Good luck pursuing your dreams! ��

#studyblr #studyspo #study #study tips #study motivation #study notes #how to study #college success #college #university #student life #student #student success #mine

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theonecndonly-blog · 6 years ago

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hey there, hi there, ho there~ just your friendly neighborhood blob, Bloo (23, she/they, CST). got stuck at work all day but I’m finally around to introduce myself and one of my oldest muses tbh. Flynn here has been wandering from home to home, but hopefully we’ve finally found a place for him to stay for a long while! I’m already super excited to get to interacting with you guys -- there are some seriously great characters in here like. holy shit, I love them all. well, enough of me gushing, here’s my ice king of a romantic!!

(GASPARD ULLIEL, 32, HE/HIM/HIS, CISGENDER MALE) BILLY FLYNN MOTIER joined the trip! exciting right? they’re usually known for being a MECHANIC SHOP OWNER and people have definitely described them as PASSIONATE and CYNICAL before. apparently OH DARLING by PLUG IN STEREO currently describes their relationship status too. i don’t know about you, but CALLUSED HANDS COVERED IN GREASE, FADED BLUE JEANS WITH THE HEMS ROLLED UP, and WORN-IN TAP SHOES CLATTERING EXCITEDLY AGAINST WOODEN FLOORBOARDS makes me think of them. can’t wait to see what they get into! (BLOO, 23, CST, SHE/THEY)

whoa, whoa, whoa. what’s this? a very detailed statistics page??? heck yes!

HISTORICAL RUNDOWN:

trigger warnings: alcohol mention, traumatic experience (drunk driving), death

the elder child of a humble mechanic and his Broadway superstar wife, who’s actually the daughter of the first iteration of Billy Flynn in Chicago -- Jerry Orbach. more of a fun fact really but, needless to say, performing might as well be genetic.

his family moved down to Louisiana where his pop’s from and lived rather modestly there while their names were big and they even had a seat amongst the B-list of Hollywood, Broadway wasn’t making as much as it used to by the early 90s. high-cost productions didn’t mean high-profit margins, after all.

his mama was gone every other season for the first 10 years of his life, usually falls and springs so she’d be there when her kids were on break from school. while some may say she was “absent,” Flynn didn’t mind too much since he knew she was pursuing what she loved and he greatly respected that aspect about her.

eventually, his pop decided to move the shop up to New York City so she could take it easy and didn’t have to waste money and time moving places. this was the perfect excuse for him to go out and see his mama perform sometimes, really see her sparkle and inspire him.

while he dreamed wholeheartedly of his name in lights just like his grandpa and mama before him, Flynn spent his afternoons when not rehearsing for a school play at his pop’s shop if not helping around the house, fully expected to know how to take care of himself and not rely on someone else to do shit for him.

though he nailed his first audition and was cast as Lumiere on Broadway’s Beauty and The Beast almost immediately after getting his Bachelors at Yale, his parents encouraged him to continue his studies.

he transferred to Tisch so he could be in the city where his new job was. he lived with his childhood friend, Helen Edwards, who was between waiting tables and doing small indie projects to fill her acting resume. though they’d always been close, they grew infinitely closer and eventually eloped.

it was a New Yorker socialite scandal the moment they announced their engagement all over again, just like with Flynn’s parents before them. after all, a natural-born big shot and a nobody? how dare he. they soon shut up when she got her chance to shine in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

were quietly and happily wed in 2013 once the attention died down, and they moved to Los Angeles, California since she was due for a new acting project next spring. however, in early 2014, they fell victim to a drunk driver’s mistakes... and only he made it out alive.

trying to run from the memories and the paparazzi asap, he made his way back to New York City, where he spent some time moping and hiding away at his parents’ home. ofc his pop wasn’t going to let him take it sitting down and got Flynn to work at the shop to take the frustrations out on the cars instead of keeping it all in his head. so when his pop retired, it wasn’t a surprise that he transferred ownership to his son.

hasn’t managed to escape his own grief sooo his sister decided “fuck it, we’re going on vacation.” and here he is now!! stuck with darling Roxie and her best friend who, well. he kinda likes but also doesn’t really know how to get out of his rut and get over his nerves so he can admit it. fun times.

PERSONAL TOUCHES:

he can hold friendly enough conversations, but it doesn't take much for the cynic to come out and make sarcastic, self-deprecating remarks. especially when alcohol’s involved.

though he used to wear his heart on his sleeve, Flynn has since taken it and shoved it deep, deep down in his chest. that doesn’t mean it’s not there, it’s just hard to get to with his ribs like an iron cage around it to deflect all the potential hurt.

however, there are few ways to slip between the bars and get it into making an appearance -- namely dance, film, music, theatre. karaoke’s a guilty pleasure. he gets both the classics and more pop culture, modern stuff. Flynn’s so big on fine arts that he’s probably put money where his mouth is and donated a big chunk of his Broadway earnings to fund schools and recreational programs in New York City. not that he’s gonna boast about it, ofc. he keeps them anonymous.

definitely can be summarized as a diamond in the rough who tries to dress to intimidate others in keeping away. it may take a lil while for him to warm up to someone but, once they’re there, he’s a real gentleman. got a super soft center.

if he views anyone as part of his family, do not fuck with them. especially friends that he sees as being like his children (cuz spoiler alert: he lost his unborn child that fateful accident, so now he really feels the extra need to protect young ones).

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

Roxanne “Roxie” Motier. his younger sister is a pain in his ass, first of all. she’s everything he used to be with the addition of extraverted as heck -- he was the quieter, laidback one. she’s the reason why he’s even on this “all expenses paid” (press X to Doubt) vacation. but I guess Flynn can’t complain too much since he’s not at the shop for once in his lifetime, and he finally gets to accomplish some bucket list things by exploring new places.

Roxie’s Best Friend. she’s been with her soul sister for years now and has known the family since they moved to New York City. she’s just as dedicated to the fine arts as him with the difference that she’s never lost their spark; something that Flynn envies and yet also can’t help but be pulled in by. whenever they’re in a room together, they’re almost inseparable, with or without Roxie’s influence. she wants him to let her in, and he wants her to stay, but it’s difficult for either to actually say so cuz of him with his PTSD and related trauma, her with whatever pain’s she’s been through~

Peas in a Pod. someone who can vibe with him as far as heartaches go. or at least with romance- and relationship-based complaints. a fellow pessimist that he can forget about the hurt with late at night, drinking and eating/making good greasy food. classically smashed burgers and pinot noir go together, right?

Honorary Motiers. at some point, were graced with the title of being sibling-like to Flynn and now will always have to deal with a highly protective but also very worldly mentor figure. he might not be able to physically outfit you with anything, but he can teach someone how to do a perfect triple pirouette or how to find their vocal sweet spot (which he’d like to note is called a person’s prime voice, thank you and good day). you know, tools of the trade from a person who studied or 6-7 years in the fine arts.

#delicateintro #delicateooc #— HEADCANONS;

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fck-dis-shit-im-out · 6 years ago

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Fourteen Breathtaking Details About Digital Marketing

As long as you have an internet connection, you can legally generate income online from throughout the world. In this short article, we're sharing all of our best concepts to assist you do simply that. Instead of utilizing the internet to browse Facebook, stalk your ex on Instagram, or discover what type of bread you are through a Buzzfeed quiz, you can do something more efficient with your time! Whether you're a remain at house mommy, a college student, or simply working part-time, you can take advantage of even the smallest window of opportunity to make money online. Our team searched the web, wracked our brains, and consulted opposite hustle professionals to create this genius list of ideas so you can make money online beginning today. 1. Take Part In Marketing Research (Up to $100+ Monthly). Market research business like to collect data on customer interests, and spending practices, so brand names can discover how to make money online their products. They mostly do this research study this via online questionnaires, and they're constantly on the lookout for brand-new study participants. And yes, they'll pay you. If you've ever hung out taking paid online studies, you know that you can make money online monthly while sitting at home in your PJs. If you're a first-time survey taker, we advise beginning with Study Junkie.

How to earn money online

No-risk matched betting. Hands down the quickest method to make a great deal of money. Online studies. Spent for searching the web. Online market trading. Start your own website. Evaluation sites & apps for cash. The 'Disney Vault' trick. ' Make money To' websites. Here's how Study Junkie works:. Take Studies: Build your profile (takes less than 5 minutes) and you'll be matched with studies. Earn Benefits: Total surveys and make virtual points. Get Paid: Redeem virtual points for Paypal money deposits or e-Gift cards. DollarSprout's Study Addict Evaluation. 2. Benefit From Cash Back Signup Perks. Want $15 for a few minutes of your time? Obviously you do! Lucky for you, there are websites like Ebates and DOSH that are providing cash incentives for individuals like you to join their sites.

What's the catch? None, really. Cash back apps function as affiliates for numerous online merchants, which suggests that whenever you make a purchase through among the apps, they get a little commission-- but then, they give you a part of that commission as "cash back". For example, if I buy a set of Nike shoes through the Ebates app (or website) and spend $75, Ebates may get a $10 commission but then they'll pass $7 back to me. It's essentially a method to get price on things that isn't on sale! Ebates: $10 signup benefit after making $25 of certifying purchases within 90 days. DOSH: $5 bonus provided instantly after you connect a credit or debit card to the app. (Note: In some cases they bump the signup bonus to $10). Considering that they're complimentary, we advise registering for both. Whenever you are online shopping, simply compare offers in between the apps to find the best one. 3. Open a High-Yield Online Savings Account. Do you have money sitting in a savings account that's paying.05% interest? If so (or if you don't have a savings account at all), it deserves your time to invest a couple of minutes opening an online savings account. Here's why:. Online savings accounts normally come with insane great rates of interest to help you grow your money faster (regular in-person banks can't provide rates as high). We're fans of CIT Bank and Discover Bank (among others) since their rate of interest are typically over 25 times the nationwide average. That indicates the cash in your savings account will grow 25 times faster than the pace it's probably growing at now. Actually, though, you can't fail with pretty much any online savings account that uses over 1.50% APY. 4. Earn Money by Watching Videos on Your Phone. I mentioned Swagbucks earlier as a trusted study site, but it ends up that's not the only thing they'll pay you for. You can likewise earn money online with Swagbucks by enjoying short videos in whatever category you choose, like entertainment, news, or fitness. $ 5 Signup Perk for brand-new users. Select videos to see on your computer system, tablet, or cellphone. Hundreds of terrific videos from leading content sites. DollarSprout's Swagbucks Review. 5. Download the Nielsen App and Gather $50 Each Year. Have you heard of Nielsen, the company that tracks TELEVISION rankings? Ends up they collect information on a lot more than just TELEVISION. One area they're really into is internet usage research study. What does that mean for you? It suggests Nielsen will pay you $50 a year to keep their app on your preferred internet searching gadget. The app itself gathers stats on your internet usage anonymously, so you never ever need to worry about any data being connected to you. And the very best part is, the app takes up hardly any space and does not slow down your phone or tablet at all! Here's how Nielsen Computer System & Mobile Panel works:. It is noninvasive and won't impact gadget performance. After you've installed the app, simply use the internet as typical. You'll earn $50 for the first year you have actually the app set up. 6. Earn Money Online by Surfing the Web. InboxDollars is another market research business that pays you to use their search engine instead of some of the more popular ones like Google and Bing. The idea here is that they will find out more about people search routines and reveal patterns that may be important to companies attempting to much better understand consumers. InboxDollars isn't a get-rich-quick plan, however if you're wondering how to generate income online free of charge, you may as well make a couple of extra bucks for searching the web like you generally would. Here's how InboxDollars works:. $ 5 Signup Reward for brand-new users. You get $0.15 for every single 4 certified searches you total. Get $0.05 each time you total 4 or more searches in a week. See our full InboxDollars evaluation. 7. Earn Money to Evaluate Websites. Website testers provide their viewpoints on websites, consisting of the design, quality, and ease of use of a site. This allows business to make changes to their websites in order to provide a better experience for their users (and hopefully increase sales). Obviously, they want to spend for your feedback, which makes this one of the most convenient methods to mlm without paying anything yourself. UserTesting: $10 for each 10-15 minute test completed. No web cam required. WhatUsersDo: $8+ for 15-20 minute tests. You'll require a microphone. UserTest: $10.50 per research study. Get started in as little as 5 minutes. 8. Freelance Author. The term "starving artist" definitely does not apply here. There are lots of successful freelance authors out there who have actually used their business to change their full-time task. You do not require a background in English or writing to make it as an effective freelance author. For example, Holly Johnson from Club Thrifty began doing freelance composing on the side without any real background, and now makes over $200,000 each year from her writing! She just recently assembled a complimentary workshop where she teaches others how to get going generating income online with composing. See listed below:. How to Construct a Six-Figure Composing Career [Workshop]:. Learn the techniques Holly's utilized to construct her writing earnings to over $200,000/ yr. Tips to get your foot in the door and increase your income with time. Register here free of charge. 9. Freelance Proofreader. Put your eagle eyes to good usage by generating income as a proofreader. Caitlin Pyle of Proofread Anyplace made $43,000 in her first year checking while working part time studying abroad. Outstanding, ideal? As soon as she recognized the demand was so high for proofreaders-- far expensive for one proofreader to fill-- she developed an online course to assist others start their own proofreading service. She also has complimentary workshops practically every day. In Caitlin's Free Workshop, you'll find out:. What an effective proofreader does (and does not do)! How to elevate your abilities to end up being a FANTASTIC proofreader. How to utilize among the most popular checking tools out there ... and where to a find clients!

10. Virtual Assistant (VA). Composing and proofreading aren't for everybody. Some people prefer more administrative or data-oriented jobs, which is precisely the role of a virtual assistant. Services use virtual assistants for things like reserving travel, responding to emails, social media management, e-mail management, and more. As a virtual assistant, you can pick which services to use customers and at what rates. The more worth you can offer, the more you can charge. Some stats about VAs:. The average North American virtual assistant makes $35 to $50 per hour. There has been a 95% boost in demand for VAs in the last 3 years. There are over 150 various services you can use as a VA. 11. Online English Teacher. Have you become aware of VIPKID? Here's a snippet from their site:. VIPKID supplies an international knowing experience to children in China in between the ages 4-12. Headquartered in Beijing, the business uses fully immersive one-on-one English language guideline offered online by highly qualified instructors. The curriculum is based upon the U.S. Typical Core State Standards and uses a flipped-classroom technique to foster imagination and crucial thinking skills. For simply 90 minutes a day, you can quickly make over $500 monthly. All you need is a Bachelor's degree and English classroom experience. More info on VIPKID:. VIPKID instructors make $14-22/ hr. All classes are taught online by means of cam. Bachelor's degree required for all teachers. There is a 5 step application process to become a teacher. 12. Website Designer. If you have a flair for computers and an eye for design, you can easily make $1,000 or more a month by building sites for services. Want evidence? We paid a designer over $6,000 to custom-made style our style! There is serious money to be made in freelance website design work. If you aren't rather sure where to start, have a look at this post by Creative Market on how to become a web designer. If you are looking to earn serious earnings online, you may wish to consider going all out and starting your own online company.

How to make passive earnings online

Buy Crowdfunded Property. Property can be a fantastic way to make money while you sleep. Dividend Income. Peer-to-Peer Loaning. Leave Financial obligation. Open a High-Yield Account. Write a Book. Lease a Space in Your Home. Affiliate Marketing. For the most part, owning an online organisation will not help you get rich overnight-- it'll need genuine skills in addition to a considerable time financial investment (and most likely some money investment, too). Here are a couple of alternatives that can ultimately cause a full time income online. 13. Start a Blog. Do you feel like you have a message to the world, but you don't have a platform to provide it? Maybe it's time for you to begin a blog site. DollarSprout started out just as two college pals who liked to speak about money. A couple years later on, and now we have a growing group of entrepreneurial money-nerds on board to assist spread our message. What started as an online side hustle has actually developed into a full-blown service! Here are some manner ins which blog writers generate income online:.

Offering make passive income area on their blog. Promoting affiliate items and earning commissions. Selling their own products and courses. and more! Beginning a blog is easy, however turning your blog site into a successful business-- that's difficult! If blogging is the side hustle OR full-time organisation of your dreams, we have actually created a helpful guide to help you get started. Here's a quick rundown of the procedure:.

youtube

- Discover your specific niche: something you are interested in discussing (you do not require to be a world class expert). - Set up your blog site: We recommend Hostgator for brand-new blog writers (expenses as low as $2.75/ mo). - Start composing material that assists readers resolve a problem. - Develop an audience. Pinterest is a great starting point. - Monetize. Advertisements, affiliate marketing, items-- it's up to you! 14. Start a Drop Shipping Site. The drop shipping company model is taking the internet by storm right now, and for good reason. It's a genuine way to make money online, and requires very little start-up cost. What is drop shipping? In the words of Shopify,. Dropshipping is a retail fulfillment method where a shop doesn't keep the products it offers in stock. Instead, when a shop offers a product, it buys the item from a 3rd party and has it shipped straight to the customer. As a result, the merchant never ever sees or manages the item. If blogging isn't your thing but you still want to start an online service, beginning an e-commerce website might be your best choice. Similar to any brand-new service, there is a lot to discover. Shopify provides totally free workshops all the time that are designed to teach you all the basics. 15. Produce and Sell How-To Courses. If you have proficiency in a particular area, plan up your knowledge into an online course and offer it. This has actually become a popular business model for online entrepreneurs over the past numerous years, and will probably simply continue to grow in appeal. The very best feature of selling online courses is that as soon as you do the up-front work in producing the course and establishing your mlm technique, you can earn money repeatedly once again for work you do once. The products in this section all need an up-front money investment, but use the opportunity for your money to make you much more money-- all online. If you are economically able to, building up passive streams of income is a crucial part of accumulating wealth. 16. Lease Your Cars and truck While You're Not Using It. How much downtime would you state your vehicle has weekly while you're traveling, at work, sleeping, or simply hanging out at home?

According to Getaround, a lot of cars in the U.S. sit idle for as much as 22 hours per day. Now, you can utilize that time to put your car to work and make passive income by sharing your ride. As a Getaround vehicle owner, you get access to premium parking in addition to a $50 regular monthly rental credit. And with $1 million insurance protection, you can rest assured your home remains in great hands. Not to mention, less cars and trucks on the road means less contamination, less traffic, and more parking for everyone. That means you'll generate income online while adding to a greener planet. It just takes a few clicks to put your vehicle to deal with Getaround. Simply sign up for a free account, name your cars and truck, set the place and schedule, and go into a description. If you choose to stick to Getaround after the 30-day complimentary trial, you'll be charged a one-time charge of $99 for a Link ™ installation in addition to a flat fee of $20 monthly. The Link ™ permits renters to find and unlock your cars and truck straight from the app so you don't need to deal with lost or taken secrets. It likewise comes with added security functions like tamper detection, GPS tracking, and engine lock. Naturally, you get a digital secret so you can access your automobile any time and unlock it from your phone. If you ever have problems, Getaround is there for you with 24/7 roadside assistance and client assistance.

How to earn money on internet

Open an Etsy store. Total studies online. Earn money to browse the Web. Examine search engines. Start a blog. Compose and publish an eBook. End up being a freelance writer or editor. Enter into affiliate marketing. Rental incomes accrue on a monthly basis and are paid on the 15th of the following month. Getaround keeps 40% of all revenues to cover the costs of insurance, 24/7 support, and other advantages. 17. Peer-to-Peer Loaning If you've got some cash on hand and are trying to find a high rate of interest financial investment (more than an online bank), consider putting some money into peer-to-peer lending (aka P2P Lending). What is peer-to-peer loaning? It's a financial system that matches prospective borrowers with investors that are willing to money their loans. It resembles conventional lending, but without a bank as the middle man. As a financier, basically you are functioning as the bank (and collecting interest payments while doing so). How much money can you make? It depends upon what types of loans you purchase and how much money you invest with. If you play it safe, you can expect to make 2-5% annually, whereas riskier loans can pay as high as 12% or more. Providing Club is among the largest online P2P Loaning markets: Open an account and transfer as low as a $0.01 minimum preliminary deposit. Construct your portfolio: Invest in a range of loans in increments just $25. Get paid: Receive monthly payments as borrowers repay their loans. 99% of Loaning Club investors with a 100+ note portfolios make positive returns. 18. Buy Crowdfunded Realty

Many people consider property investing as one of the very best methods to collect wealth. The problem is, it usually takes a great deal of money to start, which puts it out of reach for many people. Luckily, there's a method to buy real estate without buying entire properties yourself. Introducing: Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS). A REIT is a pool of money, managed by financial specialists, that goes towards buying property. Financiers put money into the REIT, the REIT purchases homes, and the returns are disbursed back to financiers. The best part? You do not need to fret about handling the property owner duties. A lot of REITS still require a hefty investment to get in, but we discovered a location that has simply a $500 minimum investment. With Fundrise you can get access to dozens of solid, value-producing possessions. Here's how Fundrise works:. Invest straight in a property portfolio that a team of specialists recognizes, obtains, and handles on your behalf. 8-- 11% expected annual returns. 9. Earn Money as an Airbnb Host. If you want to get your feet wet in the leasing business, Airbnb is a terrific website to begin. If you own your home or your landlord permits it, you can generate income online by sharing your home with others. Here's how it works:. Produce your complimentary listing: Describe your space, the number of guests you can accommodate, and add pictures and information. Pick your price: What you charge is constantly up to you. Make money: You can be paid through PayPal, direct deposit, or wire, to name a few methods. DollarSprout's Complete Guide to Profitable Airbnb Hosting. 20. Purchase Dividend Paying Stocks. It's been stated that the average millionaire has seven streams of earnings. Dividend stocks are typically one of them. What are dividend stocks? Normally when you buy stocks, you do it with the intent to purchase low and sell high. Dividend stocks work the same way, but with one other advantage: just for owning the stock, you are paid a small portion of the business's earnings. So with dividend stocks, you make money when the stock increases in value, and when dividends are paid. If you are looking to get started with dividend investing (or any kind of stock market investing), think about checking out Acorns. This is a beginner-friendly app that can assist you get started with investing utilizing simply your mobile phone. You can read our full Acorns Review here. It's a new age, and there's never been more opportunities to work from home and earn money online. But you can't simply leave your laptop in the corner of your room and expect your checking account to explode. Unless you have money to invest, you're going to need to put in some old-fashioned hard work. One last thing to keep in mind: If you are trying to generate income on the internet, possibilities are you will not get it right on your first try. That's alright. Keep experimenting, keep finding out, keep putting yourself out there, and ultimately you will discover the ideal online money making opportunity for you.

#money #cash #dollar #dollars #internet #online #digital #marketing #market #mlm #income #passive

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talabib · 4 years ago

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How Meditation Can Make You Happier.

Are you a happy, joyful person? It’s perhaps not the easiest question to answer. And indeed, your answer might even change over time. But whatever your current status, there is a foolproof way to feel happier and more joyful, and it doesn’t require any money or expensive tools.

You probably already know that meditation can help you manage stress and boost your performance, but in fact, it goes much deeper and can have a profound impact on your well-being and happiness, too.

A person’s level of happiness tends to remain static unless improved through regular meditation practice.

There was once a Chinese man who visited a palm reader. After examining the man’s hands, the palm reader told him he was miserable and would remain that way until he turned forty. The man was thrilled by this information, assuming that he simply had to hold out till he turned forty, at which point he would finally be happy. However, he had misunderstood; the palm reader clarified that, at forty, the man would finally become accustomed to his misery.

For the man in the example, and most people worldwide, happiness remains stable over their lifetimes. Studies have even shown that humans are highly adaptable to both negative and positive life circumstances; we return to our base level of happiness, or unhappiness, with relative ease.

Just take a 1978 study by the psychologist Philip Brickman, which found that neither winning the lottery nor being paralyzed in an accident had a long-term impact on a person’s happiness level. Following the initial elation or shock, a person will adapt to the momentous change, going back to feeling the way he did before the event.

Or consider a 1996 study of twins done by the psychologist David Lykken, which concluded that at least 50 percent of the human ability to remain happy depends on genetics. Surprisingly enough, external factors like money and education only account for about 3 percent of this ability.

The implication here is that, if a person is born unhappy, she simply has to suck it up. But, actually, there is something you can do about it; mental strengths, like joy and resilience, can be increased through practice.

In fact, just as working out can strengthen one’s muscles, mental exercises can increase one’s happiness. How come?

Well, when the mind is strengthened, it becomes more capable of achieving certain results – say, the experience of joy. But this requires regular meditation, which can be difficult to commit to.

Meditation has much to offer, from a renewed sense of calm to the development of emotional strength.

If you’ve ever exercised, you know how difficult it can be to get started and how fulfilling it usually is once you do. Well, the same goes for meditation. This mental practice is initially challenging, but it comes with innumerable benefits, the first of which is an experience of profound calm.

In fact, through regular meditation, you can learn how to actively calm your mind. Naturally, this doesn’t happen overnight. At first, your mind will be susceptible to the same incessant thoughts that it’s prone to now. But as you practice, you’ll be able to reliably calm your thoughts during meditation.

Soon after attaining this ability, you’ll be able to put it into practice in real-life situations. For instance, after just a few weeks of meditating, jack gained the discipline to prevent himself from making snide remarks to his in-laws, dramatically improving his life.

But that’s not the only benefit of meditation. It can also develop emotional resilience, or the ability to recover from setbacks. This skill can be especially useful when you face emotional strife.

For example, imagine you get fired. For many people, this would cause a great deal of emotional suffering that could lead to anxiety, worry and maybe some binge drinking, none of which are great coping strategies. Meditation, in contrast, will teach you to respond to distress by calming your mind. And this will allow you to pay attention to emotions as they arise and help you realize that they are all fleeting. With this new skill, you’ll soon be able to befriend those emotions, accepting them for what they are.

Once you’ve done this, your emotions won’t yank you around as much, and you’ll be left free to consider constructive next steps, like using your new free time to find another job or change careers.

Meditation can bring you rapid joy if you commit to your practice.

Before we get into the mechanics of exactly how meditation works, it’s important to understand how you can make it a daily practice. It may be tricky, but it’s likely not as difficult as you think. In fact, you can easily make meditation more accessible by harnessing the power of joy. Here’s how:

There comes a clear turning point in every meditation practice that experts refers to as the Joy Point. Once this point is reached, the meditation student can easily access joy during practice, basically at will. The nice thing about the Joy Point is that, once you’re there, your practice will develop its own momentum.

After all, being able to access joy through your practice will incentivize more meditation, ever increasing your ability to attain joy and launching an upward spiral of success. Because of this incredible benefit, the key is to get to this point quickly, before you get discouraged.

The Joy Point may sound far off, but the truth is, it takes much less time to reap the joyful benefits of meditation than you think. For instance, many people who participate in mindfulness-based meditation courses see positive changes within just a few weeks.

The exact figures vary from person to person, but it’s clear that benefits can be attained in a relatively short period of time. Based expert experiences with students, they estimates that it takes one hundred hours of meditation for a practitioner to first feel benefits. An even more generous assessment is offered by the Dalai Lama himself, who says just fifty hours are sufficient to see positive changes!

And, finally, a 2007 study done by the Chinese psychologist Y.Y. Tan found that a mere one hundred minutes of meditation were sufficient to increase concentration, calm and everyday happiness.

To put it simply, meditation can make you happier – and it can do this quickly.

In one breath, you can feel the life-changing benefits of meditation.

If you’re like most people, this post probably made you wonder how little effort you can put in while still deriving benefits from your meditation practice. It’s a natural question, and the answer is sure to take your breath away.

Quite literally, a single inhalation and exhalation are enough to experience some of the benefits meditation has to offer. Don’t buy it? Just try this exercise out for yourself:

With your eyes either closed or open, take a slow, deep breath. While inhaling and exhaling, pay close, yet gentle attention to the flow of your breath. Many people find that, after just this one breath, they feel much calmer and more relaxed. But how’s that possible?

It’s simple, really. First, mindful breathing tends to be longer and deeper than your normal respiration, thereby activating your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for regeneration and rest.

Second, when you pay attention to your breath, you bring yourself into the present moment. As a result, for a few seconds you stop worrying about what happened before or what’s to come, experiencing tremendous relief.

Such simple benefits of meditation can in fact have truly life-altering effects. The ability to trigger regeneration and rejuvenation can be especially impactful.

For instance, the greatest tennis players on Earth depend on the ability to recover their bodies in the short period of time between each point, which amounts to just ten or fifteen seconds. Novak Djokovic, one of the best players of the past few decades, says that through mindful meditation during these brief interludes he can dramatically boost his performance on the court. It might just be one of the best-kept secrets on the road to becoming a Grand Slam champion.

A single breath is enough to notice results. But how can you take it further? A meditative state can be achieved by focusing on a particular object or sensation or even by simply taking a moment for rest.

Imagine walking into a room full of cash and being told you could take home as much money as you could carry. You probably wouldn’t settle for some spare change, right? Well, the same thing goes for meditation.

The breath you learned about in this post is the equivalent of spare change – and you can easily have much more than that. But to advance beyond this basic point, you first need to establish the foundation of meditation: settling the mind through anchoring.

This describes the practice of gently returning the attention of the mind to a given object or action. Your breath is perhaps the best anchor at your disposal. After all, it’s ever-present and offers a continuous, calming point on which to focus. If your thoughts begin to wonder, bring them back to your breath – the inhalation and exhalation.

That being said, you can choose any number of other anchors, like your body or something you hear, see or touch.

The idea is to get your thoughts to settle, like snowflakes in a snow globe. Once they have, you’ll get a clear view of the entire scene. This – clarity, perspective – is what meditation has to offer.

So anchoring is the goal, but if it’s initially too challenging you can take it more slowly. Just practice resting instead. That’s right; you can rest and call it practice. However, don’t be fooled. For many people, truly resting isn’t actually that easy; most people aren’t used to doing nothing. Resting can be a neat challenge.

When attempting this, simply allow your mind to relax. Think of soothing imagery like waves on a beach, or the fluttering wings of a butterfly. Or, if you prefer, repeat a mantra, a short meditative sentence, like, “I don’t need to go anywhere or do anything. In this moment, all I need to do is rest.”

Whichever method you initially adopt, anchoring or resting, you’ll find yourself on the path to calm.

Joy is all around you and, by noticing it in its small instances, you can take steps toward happiness.

Pour water out onto a downward slope, and it will effortlessly flow down it, following its natural inclination. In the same way, for you to flow toward joy, you must become naturally inclined to feel happiness.

The first step is to make your mind more familiar with joy. This is a simple principle but a logical one as well. After all, when the mind becomes acquainted with the experience of joy, it simultaneously learns to notice it more easily. From there, the mind even begins to seek out joy and works to create the conditions under which it will occur.

In fact, the word “familiar” comes from the same root as the word “family.” This is no coincidence, and by making joy as close and intimate to you as a family member, you can come to truly know this experience.

To create familiarity, you must first notice when you’re happy. As you attempt to do this, remember that feelings of joy can at first be quite fleeting and easily overlooked. For instance, when you’re driving on the highway, do you notice every blue car that passes you? More likely, the blue cars blend in with those of every other color. Well, the same is true for small moments of joy, which initially are hard to pick out from the others.

Because of this, it’s essential to practice noticing such thin slices of joy. Just take a moment when you get into a warm shower to feel the soothing water hit your skin. This experience is often one of pure joy, but rarely do people take the time to let it sink in. Instead, they quickly get used to it, and the feeling passes.

Cherish these small moments and keep in mind that noticing all the joy you’re already experiencing is the first step toward happiness. But this isn’t the only tool at your disposal. Next, you’ll learn about another practice to help increase your experience of joy.

Meditation can soothe negative emotions through love and compassion.

Just about everybody has experienced a bad day at work. But did you know that you can turn such an experience around by employing a simple mental exercise?

Well, you can. Just by thinking thoughts of loving-kindness, you can transform your mood into one of great happiness. Here’s how:

In a public space, with other people present, choose two people from the crowd and wish upon them the experience of real happiness. It sounds simple, but you’ll be amazed at the results.

For instance, experts once got a group of people to perform this exercise at least once every hour during a normal workday. After the experiment, they received an email from one participant who said that, while she normally hates her work and her job, doing this exercise made that day one of her happiest in the past seven years. This is one way that a meditative practice can make you happy. Yet another can help deter negative emotions.

The next time you feel upset, begin to calm your mind using the basic mindfulness exercises you learned in this post. Just keep bringing your attention back to an anchor, like say your breath. Once you feel calm, you can begin working to heal the emotional pain.

To do so, recognize what emotion you’re feeling and then feed it its opposite. For instance, if you’re feeling anger, you might imagine your rage as a monster inside of you. The more angry thoughts you have, the stronger the monster gets and, if you try to push it away, it only grows bigger.

The only thing to do in this situation is to befriend the monster and nourish it with kindness and gentle thoughts. As you do so, imagine the monster, and your anger, shrinking away and becoming your friend.

With this last piece in place, you have a comprehensive set of simple tools to maximize joy in your life. Just stay mindful, keep yourself anchored and approach bad feelings with soothing compassion.

For most people, joy is a distant blip on the horizon, but it doesn’t need to be. In fact, true happiness is probably closer than you believe. By developing a meditation practice, based on a consistent commitment to being present and grounded, you can find joy on Earth.

Action plan: Don’t overstrain yourself during meditation.

It’s common for people to think they should approach meditation with iron discipline, exerting tremendous effort to keep themselves on task. However, such an approach can actually be quite harmful. While some discipline is useful – say, a commitment to daily practice – it can also easily become counterproductive. So, when meditating, prevent yourself from working to attain anything. Such exertion is just another activity of the mind that will distract you from your practice. Instead, gently notice your thoughts, relax and let them go.

#How Meditation Can Make You Happier.

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jamiekturner · 7 years ago

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The Best Drawing Tutorials: Learn How To Draw

Good drawing tutorials teaching you the simple steps of how to draw a face or how to draw a person are not easy to find. Everybody wants to learn to draw realistic portraits, but good tutorials are unfortunately scattered on the Internet.

In this article, you will find some of the best tutorials about how to draw step by step.

Digital artwork is so common nowadays that we consider it as something natural, and we almost don’t remember how it began.

The main reason for its success is that it takes traditional realistic drawings to the next level.

-> Click here to skip to the actual drawing tutorials.

Drawing human anatomy, especially how to draw faces may be the biggest challenge of traditional drawing, especially if you don’t have the right approach.

Image source: Arman Akopian

It will take a lot of practice and time before you learn how to draw a head and how to draw a human in general, paying the necessary attention to every part before you’ve finished the entire figure.

Interestingly enough, artists that know how to draw a realistic face or person are in demand on the market regardless of their digital skills.

That’s why we encourage you to learn how to draw realistic people too, practicing drawing with the help of many advanced sketching tutorials, universally applicable theories, techniques, comic arts, tips, and methods which will later on converting your traditional creation into a digital format.

Image source: WL OP

What your easy drawing tutorials will reveal first and foremost is that traditional realist drawing requires much more effort than its digital counterpart, which is why artists often fall behind.

We’re not saying there are no people whose drawing doesn’t go further than the screen, but the recommended drawing tips are to still follow some old school painting before going into digital design. For instance, for drawing faces, the classical standards always apply.

Therefore, we’ve decided to share some of the most interesting tutorials about how to draw a person step by step for beginners, where the most important traditional drawing techniques and methods are mixed with digital tricks aimed at bringing life and dynamism to the creations on the screen.

Image source: Esben Lash Rasmussen

There is a variety of intermediate and advanced level learning to draw tutorials that can provide you some helpful tips, teach you how to do a pencil drawing, human sketching, color processing, or how to handle perspectives, shapes, and proportions. For now, we hope we’ve shared enough techniques and practices helping you to overcome the initial drawing difficulties.

Is never easy learning how to draw. It takes a lot of time to practice and you need to have good guidelines and easy step by step drawings tutorials to follow. Finding the right sketching tutorials hasn’t been easy but I’ve managed to make a pretty good list of drawing tutorials that would help you in your quest for becoming a master of drawing.

I’ve sorted them in six categories: the drawing of a face, the human body, hands, hair, animals and caricatures and also added at the end other resources where you can find lots and lots of drawing tutorials.

Drawing humans

Image source: Deryl Braun

The nose of the character you just drew looks like anything but a real nose? We understand your distress!

Before you’ve actually started to recreate humans as they really are, you have to learn how to do realistic faces, but there is no need to worry – Soon, you will be able to easily recreate your favorite characters.

The trick is to learn how to do blending – take a pencil and a piece of paper, and use the tutorial to learn how to shade light and dark gradually. This is the first step towards replicating essential skin contours.

In fact, shading is the first thing you need to learn in order to make shapes look three-dimensional and part of the lesson about how to draw a face step by step.

Once you’ve adopted the basics, proceed with face drawing. The secret of drawing a face is to look at features carefully, paying special attention to interlocking shapes in order to apply shadows and highlights in the right places.

Next thing you need know, is learning of drawing heads. Soon, by daily practice, you’ll be an expert in drawing facial expressions, and combining elements in incredibly realistic portrait drawing having a lot to do with the character you are trying to recreate. Let us guide you through the process of drawing step by step:

Drawing faces

The most difficult, yet most rewarding part of your drawing experience will be learning how to draw realistic faces, as this is something even experienced artists are struggling with.

Our purpose here is to teach you how to make pencil portraits, where the steepest learning curve is of natural expressions.

How to Draw the Head from Any Angle

In this tutorial, you’ll see Andrew Loomis’s approach to drawing heads. It’s a great method for head drawing from various angles, learning the details of head proportions.

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How To Draw A Female Face: Step By Step

There are many ways to draw. In this art video, the author shows some of the tricks he has discovered over the years that he uses in his own art and art teaching.

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Drawing, shading and blending a face

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How to Draw a Face Accurately – Exercises to Improve Your Drawing

Learn how to draw with pencils with this guy’s step by step drawing tutorials. He’ll show you how to draw anything from beginning to the end, but especially a portrait reference.

For some subjects like drawing animals, getting used with the basic shapes first is a useful practice. For human face drawing, the preferred method is of starting with the eye. But whatever the subject matter or method, he will always show you the easiest and most effective way how to draw realistic images.

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How to Draw a Pretty Face with Pencil

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Basic Anatomy for the Artist – Lesson 2

Drawing the Human Eye

How to Draw Eyes

How to Draw a mouth and teeth

How to Draw a Realistic Eye

How to draw ears

Lackadaisy Expressions

Facial Aging

How to draw lips

Eye-drawing tutorial

Drawing a facial expression

Facial expressions are an important part of how to draw a human face experience. It helps to understand how people are feeling or what they want and expect you to do. The information they provide for drawing people is vital, the same as the experience artists glean by simply looking at random people.

When learning how to draw face, the best source of inspiration is looking at people while they’re relaxing.

Part of the process of how to draw a person step by step is letting them share their emotions with you, paying specific attention to every detail. It is considerably easy to understand how to draw a face when people are comfortable and keep theirs in a comfortable position.

Besides, it is critical for them to look at you without a specific emotion so that you can pull out the perfect eye scratch, and translate every detail to the portrait sketch.

As you can see, the basics of drawing a person are really simple. It takes only to ‘spice them up’ with a pinch of your own creativity, and you’ll have the best step-by-step drawings at your little finger.

How to draw Various Expressions

In this video you will see learn to draw 5 different types of expressions and the principles of creating these shapes. The author will also explain how the art of cartooning is perfect for learning how to sketch a face and various facial expressions.

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Facial Expressions in Comics: 10 Tips to Help You

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How to draw 4 types of facial expressions

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Drawing human body

How to draw the Human Figure – Body Construction tutorial

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How To Draw Characters in Perspective: Bird’s Eye View

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How to Draw Gesture

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Female body study

Clothes study

Clothing Tutorial

Drawing hands

Don’t worry about being unable to recreate hands and legs, as both are perceived to be the most difficult body parts to portray on a drawing or a sculpture.

Keeping the focus on faces as the most challenging parts, we’d consider their connection to emotional states for the second position on our ‘difficulty list’. Part of the larger anatomy drawing tutorial, hands are the perfect tool to showcase fear, anger, serenity, resignation, or even surprise.

These tutorials of how to learn to draw will also teach you to recreate the hand’s anatomy: you need to consider the basic bone framework first, and work around it with the right proportions for further drawing the muscles’ actions. Not an easy draw, anyway, but an important stage of the process of learning how to draw good.

Draw arms and hands

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How to Draw HANDS and HAND POSES

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How to Draw Hands, 2 Different Ways

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How to Draw Hands – 5 Different Ways

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Tutorial: Drawing Hands

Drawing Hands and Feet

Basic Anatomy for the Artist – Lesson 6

Drawing hair

Drawing hair won’t make the ‘human challenge’ any easier, and will be particularly intimidating for beginners already fighting hard to manage drawing the head techniques.

Usually, some serious commitment to detail is required, which explains more or less why some artists gave up on their dream and preferred sloppy scribbles instead.

Even for those who’re in the branch for years, drawing hair is still a daunting experience. That, however, is because they didn’t adopt the right approach to overcome their fears. Drawing hair will require you to pay attention to three specific details: the strands, the structure, and the tone of the hair. You need to practice this is you want to learn how to draw people step by step.

Image source: Serge Birault

First and foremost, you have to make hair look shiny, which can be easily achieved by shadowing and highlighting certain parts with a wide loose pencil. Start with the lighter tones first, in order to reveal the structure. Once that’s done, proceed with the darker strips.

Don’t be afraid to do strand by strand, even if it takes a lot of time, but it will help to maintain certain drawing proportions. Of course, we’re not saying each and every hair has to be depicted, rather that the hair needs to appear rich, crispy, and highlighted with light and mid tones in certain areas.

An important rule you shouldn’t forget for completing your face drawing tutorial is avoiding too many dark tones, as they can affect the shine of the hair.

You’ll be required to do some highlighting even when the hair of the original character is really dark, by simply applying more mid-tones than the ones usually used for lighter hair. In that case, you better stick to medium gray as the darkest tone you’re allowed to use.

How to Draw Hair the Easy Way

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Emily’s Tutorials: How to draw realistic hair!

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Drawing hair demonstration

Need tips on how to draw hair? The author is walking you through her tips for creating realistic hair texture. The tips apply no matter what medium you’re working in for drawing portraits.

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Detailed Hair part 1

Hair drawing tutorial

Drawing animals

Drawing animals is as challenging as drawing people, even more, if you may think you’re less familiar with them than you are with human nature.

Once again, there will be a variety of lifelike reproduction details to pay attention to, and a large effort to make the drawing unique instead of simply duplicating someone’s previous work.

Luckily, there are many animal-inspired artists and admirers who prepare in-depth tutorials and provide rich illustrations teach you how to recreate these charming creatures in easy realistic drawings.

How to Draw Animals

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Dog portrait

Drawing caricatures

How to Draw Caricatures: The 5 Shapes

How to Draw Caricatures: Head Shapes

The post The Best Drawing Tutorials: Learn How To Draw appeared first on Design your way.

from Web Development & Designing http://www.designyourway.net/blog/resources/tutorials/drawing/the-most-comprehensive-drawing-tutorials-collection/

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agape-l0ve · 4 years ago

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hello i am back lol

I think the last few times I wrote out a blog was when jj was deployed. tumblr was a really helpful tool for me at that time because it allowed me to be completely vulnerable without having to burden anyone else!

I was looking back at my old posts and it’s so interesting to read where I was back then and to see the progression of how much life changes in such short bursts of time! So here’s just an update for my future self -- warning, it’s not very exciting hahaha

So, since jj returned in dec 2018, it’s honestly been great! We saw 2019 and 2020 as a time to catch up on all the lost time we had in the previous years. No more exercises, training, or trips away, life actually went back to normal - which was weird. I look back and think about how we’ve only been in this lifestyle since 2016, but so much can happen within a span of 4-5 years. I’ve finally graduated from CFCC’s OTA program, which was honestly such a blessing because our class was able to complete our requirements before COVID got really bad. Well, I should say most of our class. As of right now, I think only one more person is finishing up their FW II, which is crazy because these days, I find myself thinking about how I was just finishing up HH and transitioning into peds outpatient in FW II exactly one year ago.

I’ll talk a bit about my FW II experiences.. since they were not the greatest lol.

Home health was really interesting. I was honestly DREADING it because 1, I don’t like spending long amounts of time in the car and 2, I hate being in the car with just one other person - especially someone I don’t feel100% comfortable with. Also, I wasn’t too fond of the idea of going to people’s homes either. I think this placement really stretched me and pushed me out of my comfort zone in every aspect. Looking back now, I genuinely enjoyed the experience for what it was! Would I voluntarily do it again? It depends! (which is a step up from a solid no)

Our area covered the extremely rural areas of our surrounding counties and it definitely served as a huge culture shock. But everyone was so sweet and grateful for any help they could get and I will always remember some of the most awesome patients I got to meet. The negative effects of this rotation mostly came from my supervisor. She was an awful human being, but thankfully, she was at least a good OTR. However, that being said, I saw ZERO treatments! Even when I tried to tell my professor, NO ONE LISTENED OR BELIEVED ME. It was extremely frustrating because I had all of these assignments to do and all of them were about mf interventions. Anyways, my OTR was untimely, rude, unapologetic, and lacked empathy out of her ass. I was so ready to be done with her and thankfully, she didn’t ruin HH as an option for me - just wasted my time with her. If someone could win an award for the amount of countless hours they could talk about themselves, it would be her. 9 hours every day, non-stop, talking about herself and how great she is and her bf. omfg JUST GET ME OUT OF THE CAR

FW II was supposed to be really exciting for me. I was done with HH and moving onto what I cared about the most and what I really felt passionate about. Helping children in clinic! It was honestly my dream. It was a multi-disciplinary site with SLP, PT, and OT. Everyone seemed nice and it just so happens that my OTR at this placement was a former Marine and he and I had a lot in common paper. Boy, was I in for it. He turned out to be an extremely narcissistic man who thought the world of only himself. He shit talked EVERYONE behind their backs, but was extremely fake to their face. Him and the front office administrator would gossip every moment they got, like they were 13 year old bullies. He suffered from several TBIs when he was enlisted, so it’s safe to say that his temperament issues and memory loss were definitely a result of those. But the worst part is, he refused to admit it. He would shit talk the boss, the PR manager, the PTs, the clients, and just about everyone in between. And he brought 100% of his personal life into this, which I get if we’re co-workers, that’s fine. But as your student, I don’t need to know about that kind of crap. On top of that, I was his first FW II student... lol of course I was. So he knew nothing about how to help me, guide me, or teach me. Instead of looking at the informational packed my professor handed to him, he puts that in the closet the entire 9 weeks I’m with him and proceeds to continuously throw me under the bus when it came to doing my assignments and treating patients. Mind you, I didn’t get to treat anyone in HH, so this is now my first real opportunity to start treating patients throughout the entirety of my program. Safe to say, I was nervous. But I pulled through and did my best and I forced myself to become really confident really quickly. I was awesome at it and I was honestly very proud of the practitioner I was striving to be. He did help me from time to time and I’d like to believe there were moments where he was genuine and tried his best to help me. But none of those times outweigh the flustercluck that was that clinic. Anyways, I came out pretty salty about the whole thing, but I didn’t let it ruin my passion for helping children, as that is what I aspire to do in the future. I made strides with kids my OTR wasn’t able to connect with for months. And instead of encouraging me and allowing me to fulfill my duty as a student, he re-books them with another therapist and anyone in healthcare knows how that detrimental that process is to their progression and tells me that he’s just trying to be nice and share his case-load with other people. No, you’re purposefully taking them away from me because you can’t stand the thought of someone being better than you at something. His pride and arrogance will forever taint my experience there and I have no intention of going back - which is a true shame because I absolutely fell in love with the kids and some of the other therapists there. Oh well, good riddance to both my HH OTR and my peds OTR.

Luckily through it all, COVID was just beginning and it only delayed my graduation process a few weeks. I was extremely fortunate to be one of the first few in my class to finish up and start studying for my NNCOT exam!

Studying for my exam was a time and a half. I honestly had -0% confidence in myself to pass this test. I knew it was coming, I knew I had to eventually take it.. but time just snuck up on me so quickly and before I realized, it was my time. I studied for about 3 months, graduating in June and taking my exam in Sept. I took a short break immediately following graduation and then read an entire 3,000 page textbook, took over 300 pages of notes, and took practice tests and listened to podcasts/watched youtube videos. It was a lot of information but it was honestly so rewarding to think about how much knowledge I’ve truly gained from these past few years. Fast forward, Sept 23, 2020 was the day I took my test and it was great! A lot less structured of a process than they make it sound and I was able to complete my exam in about 2 hours and passed a few weeks later! I got my license and everything was great!

For whatever reason, during this time, I felt in my heart that it was time to get another dog. This topic kept coming up un-provoked in EVERY single conversation we had with others and it just felt right. Being home now, I was able to spend every day with Teddy, rather than taking him to daycare. Because of the uncertainties of COVID at the time, I didn’t feel comfortable taking him in, nor did I want to drive if I didn’t have to. Teddy became extremely depressed, always sleeping in the closet or between the toilet and wall, which are places he goes only when he’s hurt or sick. I would try to play with him and take him out, but he had lost all motivation to do anything. It hurt my heart that I couldn’t give him what he wanted or what he needed. So, after a lot of thought and research, Chester came into our lives! Teddy’s breeder had JUST had a litter of puppies (on the same day I took my exam!) and I figured it was a good time to raise another puppy, since I have the time and no outstanding commitments right now. We picked him up in Nov, right before Thanksgiving and jj’s brother was in town to help us. It was a looooong day, 5 hours there and 5 hours back. I think we got home around 2am, but since then, my life has just been on hold while I raise Chester.

Teddy was not happy at first. I could tell he was confused and upset that another dog was here. But over time, they have become much closer and share experiences that has helped him become a better brother. Chester is a lot of work lol but he’s brought so much joy to all of us and I love him so much. He’s currently 5 months, losing all his baby teeth, and getting into everything and Teddy has been enjoying the company (in moderation lol).

In regards to our life, we were really hoping to PCS back home summer of 2020, but it didn’t happen. It was pretty disappointing because we’ve been on the east coast the whole time we’ve been active duty. A lot of our friends moved either back to their hometowns or to the west coast and it felt really unjustified that we were stuck here, but even so, we are making the most of it. We would have had to move through COVID and we wouldn’t have gotten Chester, so those are definitely some benefits of staying put. Since we’re here for a bit, we’ve decided to purchase a house! Our friends down the street are selling theirs and we figured it’d be a good financial idea to start allocating our rent into a cheaper mortgage. It has a double yard and it’s a bit newer than our current rental. So we are hoping to move around June! I’m excited, it’s kind of a fresh new start without having to be too big of a move for now.

Mentally, I’ve been fluctuating. I have a lot of self-inflicted guilt from not working at the moment. And yes, I agreed to get Chester and it’s a full-time job to watch him and not have to crate him all day. I want him to enjoy his puppyhood and I want to be here with him as well, so I do cherish these moments that I can have with both him and Teddy. However, I just feel like it’s the right thing to do or it’s what I’m supposed to do. I graduate and then I work! But being here, it’s just not the path for me. Besides, I keep reminding myself that there are no job openings in my immediate area right now anyways. So for now, I’m just spending my days with the pups and working on keeping the house clean, which does bring me a lot of joy. I need to learn to enjoy life and not worry about what I’m not doing. To help myself, I signed up for transcription services again, so hopefully that’ll bring in some money and take up some time. I think it’s the need to feel productive and I haven’t had that in a while. But with COVID, I’m sure that’s a very popular feeling.

I think that’s about it for now, that’s what’s been going with me the past few years! I can’t wait to read this in 2 years and hopefully, I won’t be in the same place lol

byee

#sarah's ramblings

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jimgim-blog · 5 years ago

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Striving

As always, I begin with an apology. It doesn’t matter who or when. “Sorry, but--” is how I always begin any dialogue, whether it’s with my best friends who I haven’t called in over 2 months or with me, because everybody has to figure out which version of himself he wants to side with.

First, prose. Paul Kalanithi in “When Breath Becomes Air” sparked again, my love for literature. Perhaps unfounded, based on the fact that I’ve tried to read “Crime and Punishment” over five times, but still, a love that remains. His prose can only be described as leaping off the pages. It’s music. Especially towards the later chapters, when the “urgency of racing against time” is evident. He really poured his life out in the face of certain death. Although the vocabulary, syntax, structure and fluidity of his sentences elude my Reddit-level capacity to really appreciate them, I can tell its potential, similar to a tone-deaf drunkard happily sounding out half-flat drum beats because he can attest to the feeling the music produces.

There’s a list of quotes that I bookmarked but two that carry importance.

You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving - pg. 115

Lucy and I both felt that life wasn’t about avoiding suffering...Darwin and Nietzsche agreed on one thing: the defining characteristic of the organism is striving - pg. 143

During COVID-19, one prominent lesson I’ve learned is that life hangs in a precarious balance between suffering and pleasure and that our job is to find out where that tipping point is for us. If you’re good at reading people, you can see where their limit is and can carefully guide them there (that’s what a good manager does). It came at a point when I was watching an episode of The Top Gear with a glass of beer. I thought it well-deserved since I had just finished a coding project that took way too long of a time. But by the time I had finished it, it was 2 AM. And I just felt this tremendous wave of sadness. It’s as if I had crossed the point a tad too much and the yin-and-yang of my personal universe was whipping me back into shape.

But, I argued back. Didn’t I deserve it? Isn’t the whole point of crunching numbers to relax afterwards? I mean, who actually likes writing out reports to projects that have no real value? (The premise that engineering at the Master-level study program has no real value, I probably should confront at some point, preferably before I delve into a career). Isn’t life all about the reward?

Besides the rush of dopamine which evolution has carefully produced to enable the continuation of the human species, I’m starting to realize the answer to the question lies in my upbringing. The Christian life to any person with a basic knowledge of the Bible is a life of delayed gratification. Confess now and you can go to heaven. Resist the temptation and you shall receive reward in heaven. Well, that’s incorrect. The Bible reveals the Christian life as one lived with Christ, in Christ and out of Christ. It’s a life of loving Christ, having Christ love you more than you can possibly imagine, and simply telling that to anybody else you know. But, to realize that--and even the more, live that out--requires maturity.

It helps that I went to a Bible seminary, but there are stages to a Christian life. In the initial stages, you find out what it means to deal with outward things like sins, the world, unrighteousness--things that most people can easily identify as those evil in the eyes of a Christian. But, at some point, you read Romans carefully and discover that God never expected you to perfect your resolve to never sin again. In fact, that was never His intention at all. His intention is that you would get to know Him more. To love Him more. To care about Him. The end game is when you realize that there’s really nothing more that pleases Him than Him giving Himself to you, and you allowing that.

There’s many obstacles like, your thoughts about what God is doing, who God is, or why God made things the way they are, but the point of the Christian life is to let those things go so that you would know Him.

That’s why the Bible doesn’t have any explicit answers to the problems of world poverty, hunger, unfair suffering and general illogical and incomprehensible ways that each individual life turns out; that’s not His focus. Neither does He actually owe it to you to solve all those things.

And here comes the point. Suffering is a part of human life because Adam fell. Christians suffer (arguably more than the unbeliever because of the fact that now he’s aware of not just one person, but several persons who lives within him--Satan, God and himself) and it’s just a part of life. Whoever came up with the idea that the good Christian goes to heaven has probably given Christianity a lot of thought. Philosophically, it's a satisfactory explanation for the impossible lives certain Christian biographies attest to. Politically, it’s a great tool for crowd control (Caesar Augustus). But it fails to hide the meaninglessness of it all that cloaks its happy ending. And look at the consequences! It’s become categorically almost taboo for a Catholic priest to be convicted of child molestation or some other gross sin for which he would be by the Catholic addendum to the Bible, responsible for help purging at the confession altar. The walls of Sardis and Thyatira echo with words of twisted teachings. How frustrated God must be that we’re just not getting it!

I think I’ve arrived at the cusp of understanding it. Not the point of it all, but why it’s meaningful to live in the faith. And what part suffering has in all of it. Because it’s not dissimilar to what I consider a life worth living outside of the bounds of Christian law. It’s exactly what Dr. Kalanithi wrote. Striving. That’s the whole point. Or, in layman terms, the pursuit of happiness.

When I watched Will Smith explain it to his kid (oh please, that scene was basically made for him and his actual kid) that nobody should strip his dreams away, I could resonate as an immigrant because that’s what my parents embodied in their ever-sacrificing life for me. They never said it, but I could tell. And striving was simply a part of it. They never questioned why they should strive because it was ingrained into their bones as they did everything they could to survive in the teenage stages of the miracle on the Han. But me, I have the pleasure of enjoying the fruits of their labor, never having to worry about having enough to eat. Instead, I have to re-discover why I should strive at all to find a meaning in life that they never had to question (presumably. I never asked them). But, it’s finally start to click: the pursuit is the happiness.

Like donkeys, we need the carrot at the end of the stick. I generally agree with the capitalist notion that humans need incentive to progress (or to work, for that matter). North Korean defectors have the hardest time integrating into South Korea because working is purely a status from 9 to 5, not a gateway into a better life. And look where North Korea is today; isolated, whining and throwing a tantrum every couple of months so people would notice them. So, we desperately need the idea of perfection. We admire those who have seemingly achieved it. We cling to the ideals and lift them up because it incentivizes us. “A perfect life exists and I’m going to get after it.” And, that’s really what the economy thrives on. Without grandeur ideals of a large house by the lakeside with a collection of supercars in the garage, Wall Street would collapse. Sure, some are more driven by the fact that their childhood was deprived of any sense of normalcy. I can’t say anything to that. But, the point is that normalcy is the ideal of “perfection”.

But if you see any interview of the person who’s “done it all”--I recommend for all the Asians, Johnny Kim (it hurts because my name is so similar)-- you never get the sense that they are exuberant beyond measure. Least of all, there is rarely a sense of absolute pride that they’re done it the way they wanted to and that was the end of it. The common thread is sacrifice and a bit of luck. The more they gave for their goals, the less they had time to think about if they’re happy at the moment. It’s in that precise moment of the present, when no thought of anxiety over the status of their happy-barometer is looming, that they’re actually, happy.

Perfection doesn’t exist. But if you don’t strive for it, there’s hardly any meaning at all. A perfect Christian life isn’t a life without suffering. It’s a life with, in and through Christ. But it’s unattainable, impossible. And maybe that’s the whole point.

p.s. There’s another dimension to the concept of “striving” in the Bible. It’s usually in a negative light because the entire medium through which we can live the normal Christian life is through faith and striving, on the contrary, implies work of our own merit. Here, striving is meant in a positive way, in the sense of pressing forward, of devoting serious energy into a matter that is near to the heart. Instead of a perfectionist foolishly striving for a goal that to him is naively reachable, I think of Luganksy playing Rachmaninoff Concert No. 2 in a recording that undoubtedly is one of the greatest performances of his life but riddled with miss-hits and asynchronous crescendo into the cadenza. It captures the beauty of irony; that only imperfection can bring solace to the troubled soul, keeping it afloat amidst the chaos of life. There is no perfect anything, but striving for it, whatever it may be or to whom the conceived idea belongs, is undoubtedly the greatest blessing to life.

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holytheoristtastemaker · 5 years ago

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Before COVID-19 hit, the option of working from home was available to only 7 percent of the U.S. workforce, mostly highly paid white collar workers. That percentage has increased more than nine-fold to 66 percent of employees in the weeks since the pandemic barred everyone not designated an essential worker from going to their jobs. This abrupt change means that a lot of people accustomed to working in their offices are finding new ways of doing their jobs.

Working from home isn’t easy, even for those who have been doing it for years. There are distractions, from chores to pets, that you used to leave behind when you “went to work.” It’s also difficult to develop, and stick to, a new routine.

Collaborating with coworkers you’ve shared offices with for years is a challenge now that you’re no longer talking face to face. There are no more casual lunchroom conversations. Working from home can be lonely.

We’ve written this guide to help you successfully make the adjustment to working from home, whether you run a business or work for someone else. Here’s what you’ll learn:

What is working from home? This chapter will explain what working from home actually means, why it was already becoming more common even before the pandemic, and current trends and statistics.

Remote work vs working from home. There are some differences between remote work and working from home, and this chapter gives you a brief overview.

Advantages and disadvantages of working from home. Like everything else, there are upsides and downsides to working from home.

How to create an effective work-from-home policy. This chapter teaches employers how to set employee expectations, determine which positions are eligible to work from home, and decide on prudent security measures.

How to work from home successfully. This chapter gives employees tips on staying focused, establishing a routine, communicating with coworkers, and managing distractions. You’ll also learn how to set up a home office.

Best work-from-home software. Technology makes it possible to work from home. This chapter covers the software you’ll need to succeed.

Though this guide is intended for both managers and employees who are making the switch to working from home, there’s a lot here that can be valuable to work-from-home veterans, too. Whether you’re an employee, a manager, or a WFH vet, these tips can help you be more efficient and get more out of the experience.

What is working from home?

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the average American worker spent 4.35 hours per week, or 26.1 minutes each way, commuting to and from work. The commute in the notoriously congested Washington, D.C. metro area averages 43.6 minutes, one way. The productivity argument for working from home has gained a lot more traction now that “shelter in place” orders have limited the choices to working from home or not at all.

Working from home (WFH), also known as teleworking, remote working, or flexible workplace, has long been viewed as a benefit for a small percentage of employees. Many people think it’s an option made possible by the internet, but it’s actually been around for almost 50 years.

The history of working from home

The first work-from-home experiment involved 30 federal government workers in the 1970s, when the oil supply crisis resulted in long gas lines and expensive fuel. Farsighted employers considered ways to shorten commutes, such as building satellite offices instead of everyone commuting to headquarters, or eliminating commutes altogether. In the 1980s, JCPenney began hiring home-based call center workers.

Telecommuting grew after passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 prodded large businesses to address long commutes. In 1996, the federal government implemented the National Telecommuting Initiative to demonstrate its commitment to more teleworking opportunities.

Working from home today

Thanks to widespread high-speed internet access, video conferencing, and collaboration apps, a laptop is all an employee needs to do their job and stay in touch with colleagues.

Working from home today typically begins when employees set up a workspace in their homes where they can do their jobs — including everything from preparing presentations and reports to conducting phone interviews and developing software.

Many jobs lend themselves well to a work-from-home arrangement. Virtual assistants, for instance, communicate with their employers via communication apps to complete many of the duties an onsite administrative assistant would.

Well-trained customer service representatives were some of the original work-from-home employees. Now many companies use a browser-based interface that enables home-based customer service representatives to answer calls and troubleshoot problems via live chat.

Technology is rapidly expanding the jobs that can now be done from home. Lawyers and paralegals have access to online databases like Westlaw to look up cases, as well as electronic case management systems, for example.

Home offices vary. Employees who primarily work from home typically have a dedicated home office space in a spare room. Those who work from home occasionally often improvise, using whatever desk or table is available. They might also set up on their couch and use a coffee table, or create a standing desk.

Why work from home

Working from home has become more common in recent years as technology has improved and more employers recognize the moral value of trusting employees. Employees treasure the flexibility and work-life balance.

A Future of Work survey of managers found that 78 percent ranked telecommuting and flexible schedules as two of the most valuable benefits for retaining employees. More than half of employers provide their employees with the necessary devices for working remotely, while 36 percent facilitate working from home by using cloud-based file management tools.

Businesses and employees both see the benefits of working from home. Employees appreciate the hours they gain from not commuting, while employers recognize savings when they don’t have to provide dedicated office space. Studies have found that office desks are vacant 50–60 percent of the time.

Working from home gives employees time to attend to their health, like exercising before or after work, instead of sitting in traffic. Employees appreciate the flexibility that working from home gives them; they can pick up their child from school, go grocery shopping, or start a load of laundry between client calls. The money they save on commuting costs is basically a raise that costs the company nothing.

Work-from-home trends

While COVID-19 has accelerated the adoption of working from home, it was already on the rise. From 2005 to 2018, the number of employees who regularly work from home grew 173 percent.

Employees increasingly want to work from home. The vast majority (80 percent) want to work from home at least some time, and 35 percent would leave their employer for another job if they could work from home full time.

Larger companies have long been more likely to offer employees the chance to work from home, but small businesses are increasingly allowing employees to work from home as well. Smaller businesses often look for remote employees for bookkeeping, human resources, marketing, web development, and information technology to reduce overhead.

Access to work-from-home opportunities varies by the type of position and the industry. Management, business, and financial employees have the greatest ability to work remotely, as do those who work for insurance carriers and professional services firms like advertising agencies and law firms. These tend to be knowledge workers who do most of their work on computers.

Five of the fastest growing work-from-home positions are therapists, virtual assistants, client services professionals, tutors, and state and local government workers. Some other common positions are teachers, writers, developers, analysts, sales representatives, and nurses.

Working from home is on the rise across a variety of occupations. The COVID-19 pandemic is showing employers that workers can be productive in a setting other than the office. It’s likely that working from home is here to stay for a lot more people.

Remote work vs working from home

The number of people working remotely increased 159 percent between 2008 and 2020. Many people use the terms “remote working” and “working from home” interchangeably for employees who don’t commute to work at the company offices, but remote work and working from home are not identical.

The two aren’t mutually exclusive, either. Someone who works from home can also work remotely, and vice versa, but both remote work and working from home are here to stay. Polling shows 80 percent of employees want to work from home, at least some of the time.

Here’s how remote work vs working from home stack up.

Working from home

Working from home is exactly what it sounds like: work that you do where you live, whether in a dedicated home office or at an improvised location, such as your kitchen table or out on the patio on a nice day.

Some people work from home because they’re caretakers of children or older relatives. Working from home lets them meet the needs of the people they’re responsible for while still doing their jobs.

Others work from home occasionally as a respite from the commute to a distant office. They can take care of personal responsibilities, like being home for their child when there’s an early school dismissal or letting in a repair person without taking a day off.

Working from home often describes a temporary situation, like what we’ve seen to comply with orders closing “non-essential” businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, or in ordinary times when an employee needs to be at home for a specific reason that day. For example, an employee might opt to work from home when they need time without distraction to complete a big project.

Remote work

Remote work typically refers to an employee who mostly, or entirely, works outside the company’s established offices. Usually the employee lives too far from the company’s actual location to commute daily. The employee may, or may not, work from their home, but they primarily work at a location other than the company offices.

Unlike working from home, however, remote work can be a little bit more like going to a traditional workplace. For example, some remote employees work from coworking spaces. This requires them to be in a semi-public environment and travel to the coworking space, which means some kind of commute and casual dress code.

Another type of remote work is when employees who work from home leave for awhile to work at a coffee shop or other public space. This is a more relaxed environment than a coworking space, but it does require leaving the house.

There are the employees, like field sales representatives, who have been doing remote work for years. They’re the “road warriors” or digital nomads who use their laptops and cell phones to work from diners and airport lounges between sales calls.

While it’s fine to use remote work and working from home interchangeably, it’s important to note the subtle differences between them. Working from home typically describes a situation where someone doesn’t work in the office, either for a day or more regularly. Remote work is done away from the office, but not necessarily at home. Remote workers often live too far away from the company’s offices to commute on a daily basis.

Both remote work and working from home can be used to increase employee satisfaction and possibly decrease overhead.

Advantages and disadvantages of working from home

Working from home can be both a blessing and a curse for companies and employees alike. On the one hand, employers can reduce turnover by 25 percent, saving $10,000 per year, and reduce unscheduled absences by 63 percent. On the other hand, 22 percent of employees believe some people will abuse the privilege and get less work done.

But as telecommuting and remote work become easier and more economical, both companies and employees need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages to determine if it’s a good fit for them. While 35 percent of employees would quit their job if they were offered a job that allowed them to work from home full time, only 27 percent of companies offer this option.

As you’re weighing whether or not to implement a permanent work-from-home policy, here are some of the pros and cons for both employees and employers.

Pro: Employees save money and time

Probably the biggest advantage for employees who work from home is how much money and time they save by not commuting. An employee can save between $2,500 and $4,000 per year when they don’t have to travel, park, or buy food during the workday. (In Manhattan, a sandwich can cost $15.)

Employees who work from home have a lot more free time. Working remotely even half time saves an employee, on average, 11 work days per year they would have otherwise spent commuting. If an employee has a very long commute, that time can triple. The time not spent commuting is time they have for personal care and family, and they can still get their work done.

Remote employees also save money on their wardrobe. Instead of dressing up for the office and spending money on dry cleaning, they can work in casual (and machine washable) clothes, and save their professional wardrobe for meetings with clients.

Pro: Employees are more productive

While some associates who work from home take naps (not that there’s anything wrong with napping) and binge-watch television, good employees tend to buckle down and manage their time well. Remote workers are often more productive, and less distracted, at home than they are at the office.

Workers who don’t spend hours commuting can start work earlier and manage their time to work when they are most productive. Employees who are at their best first thing in the morning can log in while they’re drinking coffee and get started on the big tasks for the day when most people are still commuting to the office.

Pro: Employers can boost green initiatives

In 2018, 28.2 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions came from transportation. Companies that allow working from home help reduce emissions, a significant green initiative that resonates with employees.

Additionally, the energy used to keep offices lighted, ventilated, and climate controlled is another significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. As more employees work from home, employers can reduce the size of offices, reducing emissions and rental costs.

Pro: Employees have flexibility

Many employees want to work from home so they have more time for their other responsibilities, like caring for children or an elderly relative, or simply getting their grocery shopping and household chores done. Working from home basically gives the employee the time they would have spent commuting to deal with the rest of their lives. Allowing remote employees to manage their time lets those who want to start earlier have more time in the late afternoon to do homework with their kids or drive an elderly relative to a medical appointment.

Perhaps the biggest single benefit of working from home is the flexibility it gives employees to attend to their own needs. They can schedule their regular dental checkup or just pop out to the grocery store to grab some things for dinner, instead of spending that time commuting.

Pro: Employers can draw from a larger talent pool

Companies with work-from-home or remote work policies aren’t restricted to the talent pool that’s within driving distance of their offices. Those companies can tap into talent from anywhere.

This is an immense advantage if you’re located where the unemployment rate is low. You can recruit and hire far from your headquarters. You can also diversify your workforce. A good work-from-home policy opens opportunities to talented people who might otherwise be unable to commute to your location.

Con: Employees may work too much

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many companies abruptly allowing employees to work from home, often because the only alternative is to temporarily shut down entirely.

Many have found that employees are working longer days. One study found U.S. employees were logged on for an additional three hours per day compared to pre-COVID-19 shutdowns. While this might sound like a boon for employers, it risks a burned out team that’s less productive in the long run.

One reason for the long hours could be that employees want the boss to see they are still productive when they work from home. However, working too much leads to employees making mistakes or burning out, which defeats the purpose of allowing them to work in an environment of their choosing.

Con: The line between work and home gets blurry

One advantage of commuting to an office is that you have a well-defined boundary between work and home. Sure, an employee might check their email from their phone in the evening, but for the most part, they leave their work on their desk when they go home.

Working from home blurs that line. For remote employees, and particularly those living in a small space, their “office’’ might be a table in a corner with their laptop that’s always in their line of sight, even when they’re trying to relax. The employee never feels they are really done for the day.

The result too often is an employee who works harder than anybody expects, and is stressed out and less productive because they are burned out.

Con: Less face time, less teamwork

Employees working from home simply don’t have as much face time with their coworkers as they do when the team is at the same location every day.

One survey found that 22 percent of telecommuters felt isolated and missed the company of their team. Another 17 percent said their interpersonal relationships suffered because they didn’t have face-to-face interaction with their coworkers. It’s hard to read another person’s nonverbal cues when you’re not in the same room.

Loneliness increases stress, harming mental health in a way that can result in depression, anxiety, and sleep problems.

Con: Employees may have technology issues

Don’t assume employees will have all the tech tools at home they need to be successful. They may not have second monitors and higher definition webcams that we take for granted at the office.

There may also be issues with the employee’s internet connection at home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, broadband internet service providers saw a 27 percent surge in core network traffic. In dense residential areas, these traffic spikes can strain the networks and cause connections to slow down.

Con: Employers may think employees are slacking

When an employee working in the office doesn’t answer a call or email right away, we assume they are in a meeting or otherwise busy. When an employee who works from home doesn’t answer the phone on the first ring, or doesn’t answer an email for an hour, coworkers and managers wonder if the employee is really working or just slacking off.

For every employee who slacks off while working from home, there are 10 who put in extra time at night. People who primarily work from home have the same engagement rate as the overall employee population, which hovers at 30 percent. Engagement has little to do with whether the person works from home or at the office, and far more to do with opportunities for professional development and the quality of their relationships with coworkers.

Working from home has its advantages and disadvantages, both of which are important as you explore allowing your team to work from home. Carefully consider whether the pros outweigh the cons for your company, and how your employees will adapt and perform if the situation is permanent.

How to create an effective work-from-home policy

Though the option to work from home has long been a coveted employee benefit, just 7 percent of employees enjoyed this benefit prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

The pandemic led to “shelter in place” orders that effectively forced companies to choose between shutting down entirely or shifting their teams to working from home. In the space of just a few weeks, 67 percent of companies began allowing employees to work from home. Millions of employees got a laptop, instructions on how to log in, and not much else from their employers.

Fewer than half of companies have work-from-home policies in place for their newly remote workers. The result is confusion and frustration as employees try to determine what’s expected of them. Work-from-home policies guide both companies and employees for the long term. Post-pandemic, employees may want to continue working from home occasionally, and a well-considered policy can help foster that.

What is a work-from-home policy?

A work-from-home policy defines what’s expected of both the employer and the employee when employees work from home. It covers the needed company-issued equipment and clarifies what positions are eligible to work from home, how to request that benefit, and how it gets approved.

The purpose of setting up this policy, like any other workplace policy, is to provide employees with what they need to successfully work from home. A good policy mitigates the disadvantages of working from home while making this option available to as many employees as practical.

How to set expectations for employees

Everyone who works from home will need to know what’s expected of them. When you create your work-from-home policy guidelines, make clear how many hours employees should put in, the communication apps they need to use, and how often they must check in.

Additionally, tell employees about mandatory meetings that they will have to attend. For example, you might set up a Monday morning check-in video call with your remote team to clarify the goals for that week.

The policy should specify the output you expect from employees who work from home. This should correlate with what the employees already produce, like the number of contracts a paralegal usually drafts per day when working in the office. A work-from-home policy should specify the technology employees will need to be trained to use, such as video conferencing and collaboration applications.

Make clear which expenses — such as upgrading home internet connections for employees — you’ll cover, so that employees can include them on their monthly expense reports.

Determining work-from-home eligibility

Not every employee is a good candidate to work from home. For starters, there are some occupations that require you to be in a physical location, like on the manufacturing floor. Others work in teams that require a higher degree of team collaboration than possible when they work from home. Some employees might handle sensitive information, raising cybersecurity and data privacy concerns if they work from home.

Finally, there’s also the question of how suitable the employee’s home environment is for work. How quiet is their home? If their job requires them to be on a lot of conference calls, they’ll need a space where they can be on these calls without being interrupted and, if they’re dealing with sensitive information, overheard.

Work-from-home security

Cybersecurity and data privacy are bigger concerns when employees work from home. All organizations need to institute security measures to protect both employees working from home and the company from potential data breaches.

A company’s virtual private network (VPN) can give users a false sense of security. Even if a VPN is installed, hackers can still manipulate it if there’s already malware on the home network. Consider how to protect all the data transmitted using security tools besides VPNs, like endpoint security software.

Secure forms for internal data collection, like forms created with JotForm, add an important layer of protection. For example, an employee might collect customer payment information during a video conference. That information needs to be encrypted so that the company complies with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

The importance of trust for successful remote workers

If working from home is new to you and your employees, you may wonder if they’re actually working. It’s tempting to install software on their company-issued devices to monitor them, or require them to check in repeatedly, but micromanaging often backfires.

It’s much better to build trust by setting clear expectations for your employees and giving them the autonomy to get their work done when they work from home. Tell employees how you want them to communicate their progress on different projects, like an end-of-the week email or a one-on-one call on Monday morning, and then trust them to do so.

Focus on the employee’s work product, not necessarily how much time they’re spending in front of their computer. Understand that employees who work from home will need to attend to other responsibilities. But if they’re still doing their work well, it shouldn’t matter if they’re parked in their chair from 9 to 5 with a lunch break at noon.

Establishing a work-from-home schedule

Remote employees still need normal working hours so that, for example, they’re available for meetings or to answer questions.

A work-from-home schedule will keep you on the right side of the U.S. Department of Labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires you to pay overtime if nonexempt employees work more than 40 hours per week. If your hourly employees are working from home, this can add up quickly.

Employees who work from home tend to work more hours, not fewer, than those working at the office. A work-from-home schedule gives them clear guidelines so they know when they are really off work. This is important for avoiding burnout.

Consider letting your employees guide some of their schedules. For example, they can be available for calls between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., and have a hard stop on their workday at 5 p.m.

The post-COVID-19 WFH world

If you find that employees successfully complete their work while working from home during the pandemic, you may want to consider making the policy permanent. You can ease into this by allowing employees to work from home on specified days of the week or allowing employees to telecommute one or two days of their choosing.

You could also create a policy allowing them to work from home as needed, like on school holidays when their kids are home or when they’re not feeling well enough to come into the office but aren’t sick enough to justify taking a day off.

Ultimately, a good work-from-home policy will help both you and your employees succeed when they’re not in the office. Be thorough, and use the policy to build trust with your employees by setting expectations. Make sure there are security protections so that your data isn’t compromised, and help them establish working hours. This will be beneficial for everyone involved.

How to work from home successfully

Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit, 42 percent of Americans have begun working from home. And now that they’ve gotten a taste of it, 24 percent say they want to keep working from home, either entirely or more often. Sixty percent of them say they’re just as productive — or even more productive — working from home.

But for those who are struggling to work from home successfully, or once the novelty wears off, it can be difficult to maintain the same level of productivity. Whether it’s a stack of dishes begging to be washed or difficulty collaborating with teammates, here are some tips for making the most out of working from home.

Set up for work-from-home success

Staying focused is a challenge when you’re working from home. Chores, pets, and other distractions abound. That’s why it’s so important to put in place a framework that will boost your productivity.

A basic way to do this is to make an action plan every day, separate from your list of projects. This is where you drill down on what you will accomplish just this one day. Break your big projects into discrete tasks you can do in daily increments. That way, you know what to work on every day and why it matters.

Build rewards into your daily action plan to make tasks more enjoyable and help you get them done faster. For example, if you have a tedious task on your list, “reward” yourself with your favorite coffee once you’ve completed it.

Establish work hours

Flexibility is one of the biggest perks of working from home, but it’s also one of the biggest pitfalls. Your employer’s work-from-home policy may require you to be available for certain hours of the day. But if not, or if those hours your employer specifies aren’t enough, you’ll need to establish work hours to stay productive.

One tip for establishing work hours is to consider when you’re at your most productive. For example, if you’re a morning person, you might start your workday at 7 a.m., then work until lunch and take a long break.

Also consider your other responsibilities. If you have children at home, your work-from-home hours need to accommodate their schedules. You might start your workday after you’ve gotten them on the school bus, then take a long break when they get home.

Maintain a work-from-home schedule

Set a work-from-home schedule that details what you do during working hours, including your start time, breaks, and when you end your workday. It helps to establish rituals that signal the beginning and the end of the workday.

For example, your workday startup and workday shut down routine can involve simple but necessary tasks, such as reviewing your calendar, responding to email and other communications, and making your preliminary list for the next day.

Start your workday at a set time, just as you would if you were going to the office. You don’t need to wear office attire, but dress in a way that signals you’re working. This can start another ritual, of dressing for work but also changing into casual clothes when you’re done for the day.

As you head to your work-from-home space, tell everyone you live with that you are at work and shouldn’t be interrupted unless it’s important.

Leverage remote communication tools

Collaborating on projects and staying connected with coworkers is what makes teams effective, but you can’t pop over to a coworker’s desk to ask for a second opinion on that client presentation when you’re working from home. Email is often clunky, and you don’t know when someone will read your message.

Fortunately, high-speed internet connections make this a bit easier with tools like Slack, which let you ping a coworker with a question or join a water cooler-type channel to discuss the latest binge-worthy streaming show.

Video conferencing software makes meetings far more interactive than telephone conferences. You don’t have to play “guess the voice” when you can see your coworkers’ faces. Some software, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet, allow you to run presentations and share your screens.

Forms are a much more efficient way to collect end-of-the-day (or week) reports than email. Forms also are more efficient for requesting office supplies or IT help. Many employers use remote life surveys to see how their employees are adjusting to working from home.

Avoid distractions at work

Working from home comes with its own set of distractions: household chores, family members, and the temptation to take a short break that extends for hours. The flexibility of working from home can reduce the productivity you had when a manager was looking over your shoulder.

One source of distraction is the computer. No one is watching you check Facebook for the umpteenth time or read the latest celebrity gossip instead of working on a spreadsheet.

Fortunately, there are tools you can download to block distracting websites. Strict Workflow is a free plug-in on Google Chrome that blocks specific websites for 25-minute blocks of distraction-free work. Similarly, StayFocusd limits the time you spend overall on distracting websites. Once you’ve reached your time limit, you’re done for the day.

Another trick is to turn on the “do not disturb” feature on your mobile phone, then put it out of sight. This will help you resist the temptation to check social media or text messages while you’re working.

Earplugs are an inexpensive way to minimize distracting outside noise, or you can invest in a set of noise-canceling headphones. Many people find listening to music distracting, so a white noise app or a site like Coffivity that plays café sounds on a loop can help you focus.

Set up a home workspace

It’s tempting to curl up on the couch in your pajamas with your laptop, but that’s more conducive to taking a nap or watching TV than working. To be productive when working from home, you need a home workspace where you can get down to business.

A spare room set up as a full home office is ideal. You can bring in tools that help you stay productive, like a second monitor, a whiteboard, or a white noise machine. You can shut the door to enforce boundaries.

If that’s not an option, establish a discrete area where you work and only work. This can be as simple as a small desk in a corner of your home exclusively for remote work. If you can, get a roll-top desk you can close so that, once you’re done for the day, your work is out of sight and out of mind.

Get the right work-from-home equipment

A laptop and an internet connection are the basic tools you’ll need, but they probably won’t be sufficient. You should have the communications tools and productivity software you normally use at work. Check with your company’s IT team to make sure you have access to them, as well as security software to protect company data.

Make sure your home computer is fast enough to handle the software tools you’re using. Your company should issue you a device that meets this need. You need a reliable internet connection and a good wireless router to stay connected.

Comfortable work-from-home office equipment is well worth the investment. Treat yourself to an ergonomically friendly space, with a comfortable office chair and keyboard.

Working from home successfully will take planning. Set a schedule, manage distractions, and establish a workspace. Once you do, you’ll maintain or even exceed the productivity you achieved in your company’s physical office.

Best work-from-home software

The hardware that makes it possible for many to work from home becomes far more useful when paired with the best available work-from-home software. If you’ve suddenly found yourself working from home, you have a lot to choose from. The market for collaboration and social software, including messaging apps and collaboration in cloud office suites, is projected to reach $4.8 billion by 2023, according to Gartner.

Using the right work-from-home software improves the performance of each team member and helps managers keep teams on track. These tools make it possible for employees who work from home to collaborate, share documents, and manage projects.

Working from home has many advantages, but you can’t drop by the desk of a coworker to chat about the status of an assignment. These work-from-home software tools fill the gap.

JotForm

JotForm is unrivaled for ease of use and versatility. It allows you to quickly design forms for employees to request the support and resources they need. JotForm makes it easy for employees who work from home to submit help tickets to the IT department or file end-of-the-week reports.

JotForm includes powerful collaboration features. Multiple team members can work on the same form simultaneously, and all changes are saved automatically. You can also Assign Forms to teammates.

JotForm integrates with nearly all work-from-home software, including tools like Google Drive and Slack as well as the software mentioned below. It’s easy for employees to use JotForm alongside the tools they already use.

monday.com

monday.com is a team management platform that lets you use templates and building blocks to set up boards to manage projects and workflows. You can use it to track project status and create action items from video chats.

monday.com offers board templates for daily task tracking, creating a company knowledge library, and resource management, among many others. The company also created communications planning and risk assessment templates for organizations to use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

monday.com includes automation capabilities for many routine tasks, such sending automatic email alerts when the status of a task changes.

Dropbox

Collaborating with team members remotely requires secure access to files and the ability to work on those files together. Dropbox is a cloud storage service that provides access to your files no matter where you are.

You can also make files available offline so that you can work on them without an internet connection, if necessary. Once you’re reconnected to the internet, Dropbox will automatically update your files.

Paper is a great collaboration feature baked into Dropbox. It lets you organize projects using to-do lists, timelines, and tables. You can add relevant files so that all the content you need for the project, like PowerPoint presentations and Word documents, is in one place.

Dropbox also lets you make notes directly on files and share feedback without downloading additional software.

DocuSign

Even companies working remotely require signed contracts before they will begin work. DocuSign integrates with JotForm so you can easily send forms to be signed by employees, vendors, or customers.

This saves time and money for everyone involved. Because the extra steps involved in printing contracts are eliminated, contracts are signed faster, and employees can start working on projects sooner.

Asana

Asana is a project management app that lets you create checklists, calendars, and boards to manage projects. You can choose the structure that works best for your team and set deadlines and priorities for different tasks.

Asana has features that track the status of projects and tasks. It also enables you to create visual product plans that help you map out each step and identify potential roadblocks.

Asana offers workflow automation tools as well. You can create rules for tasks, like assigning work and due dates. You can write your own rules or use automation templates, as well as create templates from projects that you do regularly.

Choosing work-from-home software

These are just five of the many work-from-home software tools available to help employees and teams collaborate and stay engaged.

When you’re choosing work-from-home software, consider what you’ll be integrating it with, the comfort level of your employees, and your own personal preferences. For example, both Asana and monday.com are project management tools. They have many similar features, so explore both to determine which you prefer, like checklists or boards to organize projects.

All of these tools minimize confusion so that, even if someone isn’t in the office, they have the same information as everyone who is. They can access the files they need to work and collaborate with their teams.

This software can help employees who work from home be as productive as they were in the office.

Conclusion

Working from home can keep a business operating during a pandemic, weather interruption, or any other situation that closes down headquarters. It can also help employees handle other responsibilities and perhaps be even more productive.

While working from home was gaining in popularity before the COVID-19 pandemic, very few employees worked from home routinely and few employers were prepared for the shift required to make working from home a success.

One way employers can set up their employees for WFH success is by creating a work-from-home policy. This provides expectations for employees, and helps them set their own working hours and establish a viable home workspace, as well as communicate and collaborate with their teams.

Technology is essential, and that means more than just a laptop. Collaboration, project management, and file sharing applications are critical WFH software. Providing employees with these tools will help them be more productive, regardless of their location.

Working from home is likely to be an important employee benefit after the coronavirus pandemic passes. As long as employees know what you expect from them and have the right resources, it can be a success for everyone involved.

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educationtech · 5 years ago

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7 daily habits of successful lifelong learners | Arya College

Success Mantra for Super Learners

Super Learners – In order to become a super learner in the world that is changing quickly, it is one of the important tasks to succeed. In a world of a new age of technological change, the capability to find out a new ability is rapidly becoming a requirement. It is easy to go on auto-pilot, but learning new things brings many benefits for the students of Top Engineering Colleges. When they commit to learning, they must set themselves towards success, no matter whether they want to enhance their current skills or embrace a new challenge. This opens the door to personal and professional growth.

Experts believe that every person has the brainpower to master a new discipline with the right technique. If students of Engineering Colleges in Jaipur want to learn something new or brush up their current skills, they must keep reading. Under given are some popular habits of super learners. Most of them have enough brainpower to learn a new subject. They just need to utilize the ideal tools, strategies, or use what they know properly.

Strategies of Super Learners

Super learners read a lot. Successful learning strategies could make the process enjoyable. The trick to skill acquisition is not complex. In order to increase your career, students of B Tech Colleges in Jaipur should learn a skill this season. A few of those habits can be practical for you. A Good learner read a lot. It provides learners the freedom to roam the expanse of knowledge of space, history, time, thoughts, ideas, emotions, and more.

Actually, reading is the best source of continuous learning, knowledge, and acquiring more of that money. Many of the very prosperous men and women share this admiration for studying. They do not see reading as a chore but as a chance to enhance their lives, professions, and companies.

View learning as a habit

Learning is a lifelong process. Super learners make this lifelong process as fun. It is a self-indulgent and self-paced journey of discovery. The mindset, idea, or any subject of super learners of best engineering colleges requires not just monitoring but more basically, the curiosity that is ongoing.

Super learners appreciate the procedure. They do not have an end purpose; instead they search advancement that is consistent. Also, learners of Top B Tech Colleges should maintain mastering new fundamentals, procedures, worldviews, believing versions, etc. The continuing, spiritual, and self-motivated, the pursuit of knowledge is equally very important to their adulthood.

The mindset of super learners to Explore

The illiterate of the 21st century is not those who cannot read and write. Cultivating an expansion or elastic mindset can help students of Top Engineering Colleges in Jaipur to concentrate more on their desirable aims in life. It may make them able to find chances to learn and expand their skills and could affect their motivation.

The capability to maintain an open mind, get a better understanding and apply it. It required may significantly enhance your life and livelihood.

Share with others what they know

Based on the study, Super learners of Top Engineering Colleges in Rajasthan retain approximately 90 percent of what they understand when they explain the idea to somebody else or use it instantly. Educating others, what you understand is among the best techniques to learn, recall, and remember new information. This process is also called as recovery practice. It is among the methods of creating memory traces.

Understand an issue by teaching somebody else in easy terms so that they can quickly pinpoint the holes in their understanding. The greatest test of your understanding is the capability to move it into another. A better process to understand, keeps, and recall advice is to learn the time and discuss the time. Instead of finishing a publication, goal to read 50 percentage and attempt sharing remembering, or writing down.

Breaks are taken by them, frequently and early

Downtime is essential to keep whatever you decide to learn. According to the study, taking breaks, frequently and early, can assist students in the list of engineering colleges to enhance their retention rate and understand things.

Better fractures assist the mind; solidify memories throughout the rest periods. Whatever a person decides to learn over time, it is important to reevaluate the time of rest periods for outcomes that are greater. Our brains’ neural networks will need to time procedure data, so spacing out their learning makes it possible to memorize new information more effectively provide their brain time to rest and recuperate.

Manage & control their brains

Maintaining your mind healthy keeps it sharp. Everything a person does or does not do to their mind can change the way they document, process, and retrieve information. For as long as an individual can, everybody would like to live a busy lifestyle. And that goal is dependent upon strong brain health.

Students of top b tech colleges should intervene early. The reduction procedure can slow than to attempt to fix the damage once it is extensive; it is a lot easier to protect a wholesome mind.

Conclusion

The world is changing fast. When an individual maintains an open mind and an enthusiasm to learn new skills, they set their self apart with someone who is knowledgeable and curious. The more they learn, the more confident they become in sharing their ideas and contributing valuable insight. Also, a person need not have to be naturally gifted to be a super learner; they just need the right habits.

Thanks for Read our blog, you can check out full blog on official Page Arya College, Arya College is one of the Best Engineering College In Jaipur Rajasthan. In This College Many Branches for Engineering you can make great future with us. Arya College Provides Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Electronics Engineering’s Branch for our Engineering students with top companies placements in campus.

#success mantra #engineering #engineering colleges #arya college #technology #super learners

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heartsofstrangers · 8 years ago

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What has been one of the most challenging things you have experienced, or are currently experiencing?

“Let me think about that. I think, sort of dealing with, it’s very broad, but your place in the world. Just trying to understand who you are, and not comparing yourself to other people. To understand that you’re your own special snowflake. I think it’s easy for people—I don’t think it’s unique to artists—to think that ‘Well, that person’s really good at what they do, and that person is better than me, and I’ll never be that good.’ You’re constantly trying to push yourself, and constantly trying to practice, and get better, and there’s always somebody who’s going to be better than you. There’s no point in even thinking about who’s better than you. It’s just about your journey and where you’re going. So that’s one of the most challenging things for me, always trying to remind myself that it doesn’t matter what level someone else is at or where they work or what they do, it’s just about me and understanding myself and what I am trying to do with my work.”

Has that comparing ever beaten you down to a place where you’ve sort of questioned who you are or what you’re doing, or discouraged you in some way?

“Yeah, definitely discouraging. I try not to let it get to the point of beating me down, but the feeling of despair—you hop on the Internet and there’s this 13-year-old prodigy who’s amazing, and what am I doing? Nobody wants to think that way or have that kind of conversation, but it’s this inevitable kind of feeling that creeps in every once in a while. So I think that’s a big challenge. I try not to let it get the best of me.”

What do you do when it does creep in, and how do you get yourself out of that mode?

“I think the best thing to do is focus on my own work, and my own things that I really enjoy doing, instead of staring for hours at the computer screen and someone else and this amazing thing they can produce. Focus inward and just look at what I really like doing, and why I am doing it and why it makes me happy. I create art because I want to transport people to other places. I want to create things they have never seen. I want them to be happy and have emotions pulled from my work, and I think if I can accomplish that then it doesn’t really matter what anyone else is doing.”

How did you find yourself as being an artist? Is that something that came about at an early age?

“Yeah. My older sister, Merideth, was a big artist and did art all the time. I think every kid wants to emulate their older sibling, so I always wanted to do art because she was doing art, and I thought that was really cool. My parents were able to embrace that and encouraged it a lot, and they signed me up for art classes. I got to do all sorts of fun things, and made friends with other people who were artists. We pushed each other and encouraged each other to do art, and I found that community to be very welcoming, a good group of people for the most part. They are very friendly and very happy to share their knowledge and help younger artists develop. It was from a pretty young age.”

Were there times in your life where you felt like people didn’t accept or understand you as an artist? I know for myself growing up, I think there was a mentality that art is an extracurricular activity and you’re never going to make a living of that, so why don’t you do something more realistic? Did you experience that as well?

“Yeah, yeah. I think as much as my parents encouraged me and were very, very helpful, when it came to college time I think my dad would have preferred for me to study something like medicine and do something very reliable. They were right in that they saw college as an investment, like we’re going to put a whole bunch of money into your education, it should bring money out on the other side. But I didn’t really think of it that way. I didn’t ever have a fear that I was going to go hungry as an artist. I always knew that I am a hard worker and I’m a hustler in some ways. I will make money one way or the other, and I’ll make art too. So I wasn’t really concerned about the financial side of stuff. I don’t think there were too many people who ever tried to discourage me from doing art because it was not worthwhile, luckily. There are definitely people out there who don’t see it as a worthy thing to spend your time doing all the time. But luckily I didn’t run into too many of those people.”

What are you doing with your art today?

“Today I do a variety of art, from children’s books to video games, animation, character design, and environment design. I also do interface design, working on overall game design. I try to branch out and do as many different areas of art as I can. I don’t consider myself just one thing. Right now I’m working at Disney, and that’s great. They’re a really cool company, and I always wanted to work for them since I was a kid. That’s fun.”

What brought you to L.A.?

“The people and work in L.A. I had heard so many stories about it. Everybody who’s worked here has their own L.A. story, and I know it can be a rough place for people who maybe don’t have a support network and place and kind of just come on their own trying to make it big. That’s why I avoided it for a really long time. When I was younger I just didn’t feel ready. But now that I’m married and a have a lot of friends here and have a job, it’s all not as scary, which is good. It was the work and the community of people and artists, and the feeling that art is integral to the town here. Everybody is a performer or a musician or an artist or creating something in some way which is a great vibe to be around.”

What would your life look like if you didn’t have access to art, if you didn’t have the freedom and the space to create it? Do you think that would impact you?

“It would be sad. I often think that is one of the worst-case scenarios in my head, like what if I cut off my hands tomorrow or something. I would find a way, I would draw with my toes or my mouth or something. I would find a way. I feel like I had completely no access, nothing to draw on and no computer and no anything, I would be pretty depressed I think. I often say, in my head, if I went to prison or something, I would have a lot of time to draw. If I could get my hands on some paper and a pencil, I feel like I could pass the time pretty well.”

Would it be fair to say that art is a tool to express yourself? It’s a survival tool, it’s something intrinsic inside you? It’s something that you’re born with and you just need to communicate it?

“Yeah. Absolutely. I think the idea that it’s just born with you and a part of you is true, but a lot of people are born with it and then they don’t nurture it. Every kid is an artist, and then at a certain point, around age 10 or something, people start to compare themselves to other kids. So I think it’s really important that kids stick with it and don’t get into that mindset.”

Would you say that we all have something to create here?

“Yeah! Definitely. I think that to some degree, whether you’re an artist or any other kind of creator, everybody has something to add. Give back to the world.”

What other advice would you offer to someone else who is an artist, and sort of finding their niche in the world?

“I would say, stick with it. If you really love it, if you really want to be an artist, there’s not really any other choice. When I meet people that are like ‘Oh well, I might do this other thing,’ then I say, ‘Well, you should just do the other thing.’ Because clearly it’s not going to be an easy road. But if they are truly an artist and in love with it, there’s no question in their mind. They will do it. The advice I would give is to just absolutely stick with it, believe in yourself, and learn as much as you can, because there is so much to learn. If you ever feel like you’ve learned everything, and that you’re done with school because you’ve finished your art class or whatever class you were taking and you don’t have to learn anything else, you’re wrong. There’s way more to learn, always more to learn.

“So just always be open to whatever is coming your way. If you can meet more experienced artists, people who have been through it before, talk to them. Learn from them. Take classes from them. Try to learn on the job. If you don’t have the money for college, there are other ways out there. The Internet is full of amazing information. These days you can find anything on there. Go to YouTube, watch tutorials, and learn how to do anything you want. It’s all there at your fingertips.”

Is it possible that you can be an artist without going to school to get a degree?

"Oh absolutely, yes. I think the degree teaches you a lot of other things like how to work with people and how to handle projects and schedule your time, manage all sorts of things that are really useful when you hit the job market. But the actual process of learning art is very internal. I feel like someone can stand over your shoulder and tell you concepts of art all day long, and if you don’t stop to internalize it and go back to your sketchbook, go back to your canvas and practice and learn it, nothing’s going to happen. You can’t just take in data and not translate it into something else. Going to school and going to class is not the only way to take in data. There are all sorts of other materials out there in the world: books and workshops and apprenticeships and other things you can try.”

How do you feel when you are creating art? Do you feel a sense of connection to something beyond yourself?

"Yeah, that’s actually an interesting way of putting it. I think there’s a feeling that you’re tapping into this larger well of ideas and information. I think you were talking about inspiration earlier. It kind of feels like that. You will often look at other work that inspires you and you will think, ‘why is that great?’ What is it about that? I really like that line or the way colors work in this picture or the shapes or whatever, and all of that seems to be coming from somewhere. You know, everybody is tapped into the same feelings and emotions that come from art. If you can tap into that same reservoir, it’s where the ideas come from, and you feel connected to all the other people who are doing it.”

Is creating art ever an emotional or a vulnerable experience?

“Yeah. Well, definitely in terms of art that you show other people, I think it’s emotional in that I feel the character when I’m drawing it. My expressions will change, my stance will change, I’ll put my shoulders up and I’ll become the character as I’m drawing them. That is emotional, and sometimes I’ll draw something that is so sad or so angry, or whatever, that I’ll get out from my desk feeling like I’ve just been in that for that last hour that I’ve been drawing it, and feeling it. And then it’s emotional on the other side, when you present it to the world. You put it online or you put it in a gallery show, or even just show your mom to put on the refrigerator. All of that’s emotional. You’re looking for some sort of feedback, you’re looking for something that’s going to validate you or make you feel accepted and worthy of the rest of the world’s attention.”

It seems like it would take a fair amount of courage to create something and say to the world, “This is what I’ve made.”

“Yeah, courage a little bit, but also maybe just fearlessness. You can’t worry about what everybody’s going to say because that’s not why you made it. If you’re making art just for other people, then you’re going to be a miserable artist. You will not be very happy.”

Why do you make it? Do you make it for the process or for the other side of the fame or the money?

“It’s certainly not fame and money. That has yet to come! I think there is some, like if you just consider I am going to put this on the Internet and people are going to hit the Like button or something, there’s something mildly satisfying about that. But it doesn’t come close to the satisfaction you bring yourself when you create something that you saw in your head. That is such a satisfying point, and I think most artists will point to the time they got it good enough of what they had envisioned came out on the paper. And that is hard. It is really hard to get to that point. A lot of people will spend their whole lives being like ‘Oh, I saw this really cool thing in my head, and then I went to draw it and it just looked awful, or it was totally not what I wanted it to be.’ And when you actually get to the point where you are either as happy as what you saw in your mind, or even happier, that’s just so satisfying, it’s like you scratched an itch that really needed to be scratched. Of course, you’ll hate it the next day. It’s a very small amount of time that you’ll enjoy that, so be aware. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it doesn’t last long.”

What happens after you have created art? Do you look at it and say, “Well I could have done this better,” or “I could have done that better.” Is that sort of what you do?

“Yeah, yeah. Definitely. You immediately start to pick out the things that are wrong with it. One of the things they tell you to do in art school is to flip your drawing. So you’ll do a drawing and you’ll think it all looks perfect from that one perspective, from left to right, and then you put it in front of a mirror or on the computer you can just flip it and create a mirror image, and suddenly all the imperfections pop out to you. And you think, ‘Oh, the eye is high on the left side and I need to adjust that hand on this side.’ It’s strange because the more you look at something, the more you become used to it and you think it’s all perfect. It’s almost like memories: every time you recall a memory you are actually changing it. Even looking at a drawing, every time you are looking at it you’re mentally verifying that what you did was correct. You’re like, ‘Okay, that line goes there, and that line goes there.’ And then you have a shift in perspective and it’s as if everything was a little off. It’s important to keep looking at everything from another angle.”

Have you been able to apply any of those concepts in art to life?

“Yeah. As I was describing it, I was like that’s a good life lesson. That’s definitely important. I mean, you definitely have to try to look at every situation from another angle, because you’re never right all the time. That’s not going to happen. I do try to bring over some of the lessons from art and from creating art and sharing art and stuff to other aspects of my life.”

Do you have a favorite quote that you’d like to share?

“Oh, something that’s not corny. There was one from John Lennon that I thought was really good along the lines of, ‘Life is what happens while you’re busy doing other things.’”

What does that mean to you personally?

“I think that’s great because it’s so true. It’s as if you have all these plans in your life about what you’re going to do and where you’re going to go and who you’re going to be and what you’re going to accomplish, and meanwhile you’re doing other things. You’re moving your house, or meeting people or having a party, and you have all these strange preconceptions of what you’re going to do. Meanwhile, you have no real control over it. You can’t force your life to be one thing or another, really. Your life is all the things you do on a daily basis. You can’t just sit there thinking about what the future is going to be. You have to think about now.”

So, life is in the present moment, it’s in the daily routine?

“Absolutely, yeah.”

How has it felt to talk about these thoughts and feelings with me?

“Good, good. It became more of a conversation, so it felt good to talk about those things.”

Why did you agree to this interview?

“I don’t know. I don’t really like interviews in general. I did one a while ago and it was fine. I agreed just because I think your project is cool and I think that the questions you ask are not the types of questions I am usually asked. I think it’s good for me to push the comfort zone a little bit and think about things I wouldn’t normally have to think about.”

Do you think it’s possible by opening up and sharing some of these thoughts and ideas with me, you could be benefiting someone else who may be reading this?

“Oh I hope so. Definitely. Yeah, if there are any other creators and artists out there, maybe they’ll get something out of it. Maybe other people who aren’t creators and artists will get something out of it. I don’t know.”

#artist #disney #animation #heartsofstrangers #everyhearthasastorytotell #yourstorywillinspireothers #courage #vulnerability #losangeles #photojournalism

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codword · 5 years ago

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Is Switching from Subdomain to Subfolder Improves SEO? A Quick Discussion.

Subdomains and subfolders are similar in a ton of ways. They're both document locations inside of a server's 'Home' directory structure and the Home directory for our motivations happens to be a URL. Switching From Subdomains to Subfolders is actually the uncertainty that continues arising amongst the individuals as they are not able to take the correct decision

A subfolder is a 'kid directory' (an envelope beneath another organizer) that lives under a parent (Home) directory, as is a Subdomain. Be that as it may, the unpretentious differences that become possibly the most important factor here are the place things start to get interesting.

While both are content repositories, subdomains are also URLs which means you can access them simply like a regular website address. They're not only paths within a domain as are subfolders. It's this difference that affects your website's ability to gather and rank keywords. We should plunge further into that difference so we understand what it means for content indexing and its impact on SEO for your domain.

A subdomain is a partition of a website that operates almost as an independent element. It is distinct from the remainder of a website and typically, its address is to one side of the root URL.

Subdomains are generally utilized when a segment of a website requires its own server. In the early days of the internet, server space and memory cost more than today's Bitcoin costs. Server admins would create subdomains to allocate assets across all the machines they had capacity on.

Is subdomain Bad for SEO?

Many web clients have questions like "Is subdomain bad for SEO?" The answer is no. There are several marketing advantages of website subdomain and some of them are listed beneath:

Search Engine Ranking

All things considered, for one thing, a subdomain will in general gather keywords independently of your root URL. This means that accounting.yourdomain.com has its own heap of keywords, separate from yourdomain.com.

In other words, on the off chance that you are trying to rank for the watchword "marketing KPIs" with a page facilitated on your subdomain, your main domain may not rank for it, and the other way around, a catchphrase accounting.yourdomain.com ranks for, your subdomain won't necessarily rank for.

Audience Segmentation

Subdomains are helpful for audience segmentation as well. Suppose you run a web-based business webpage that sells shirts, and you have a week by week podcast that teaches individuals how to start and maintain an online shirt business.

The audiences for each business are altogether different, regardless of whether they are related to the same theme. The podcast listeners want to learn about the shirt business, while the customers are looking for their favorite Avengers gear.

Putting the podcast listeners' website under a "podcast" subdomain keeps the business-related keywords separate from the online store phrases you're trying to rank for.

Clarity

At the point when planned strategically, a subdomain is also clear and to the point, in turn improving client experience. They advise a client exactly what to expect while clicking that link. In any case, before that, it is essential to realize what is the difference between a domain and a subdomain?

For example, a country.yourdomain.com URL like those utilized by multinational companies makes the distinction for clients that what they're accessing is explicit to their location and may contrast in other nations.

Each franchise location has its very own address, telephone number, and substance. Similarly, it can have its own subdomain.

This can be amazingly useful in letting visitors know whether the substance they're viewing is relevant to them. That's the reason there is a constructive answer for the questions being set up by individuals "Is subdomain better for SEO?"

All in all, What About a Subfolder?

Subfolders are the easier webpage structure to set up and understand as they are the same as setting up any other envelope on a website. A subfolder is similar to a subdomain in that it allows you to create categories of substance, yet they are set up diversely on servers.

Not at all like subdomains, there is no server partitioning involved with subfolders. A subfolder is housed on the same server and any of its link juice returns to the domain.

The Marketing Benefits of Subfolders

The greatest marketing advantage of subfolders comes in the form of catchphrase thickness. As referenced above, the keywords of a subfolder are claimed (gather beneath) your main domain which makes them an amazing decision in the event that you want all the keywords on those pages attached to your main URL.

Most technical SEO tools report keywords assuming this. In the tool, you type in a domain name, and they tally up all the phrases the site ranks for to give you an estimated month to month traffic value.

In many cases, this is exactly what you want; All your naturally baked catchphrase treats in a single URL basket. Why? Because the words and phrases you use across the pages of your website send signals to search engines that disclose to it what your webpage is all about.

In technical terms it's called Latent Semantic Indexing, which is only a fancy way of saying "what are the related keywords of the main theme this destination should rank for" and "how often do they repeat across the site."

Subdomains vs. Subfolders - Which is better for SEO

One reason the Subdomain vs. Subdirectory SEO Strategy is an irritating topic in SEO hovers originates from remarks made by Google itself.

Want to realize the difference between placing a blog at blog.brand.com or brand.com/blog appears to be insignificant. We're putting a blog at the finish of the URL instead of the beginning, correct? The decision for Subdomains vs. Subfolders for SEO has to be taken after considering certain protocols.

The distinction returns to the early days of the internet before the web existed. It was conventional for framework administrators to have additional administrations on subdomains, as mail.domain.com for the email server, or ftp.domain.com to filesystem access.

For the web to appear, servers should have been able to convey HTML records to remote clients, so framework administrators added web servers to the system and made them available from the www subdomain. That's the reason everybody's URL is www.brand.com. So you're probably hosting your substance on a subdomain already, yet it's your primary subdomain.

What this blog investigates is whether you should put things like your blog or international substance on subdomains other than your primary. Presently the inquiry arises "Does Switching From a Subdomain to a Subfolder Improve SEO"

Subdomains vs Subdirectories, which is better for SEO?

Case Study: How a single change helped organic traffic by 40%

There's even an example of a brand moving their blog to a subdomain and seeing a performance drop.

Okay, observe a similar impact on the off chance that you moved your blog from blog.brand.com to brand.com/blog? Hard to say. Each case is extraordinary, and migrating content is rarely the main change being made in these examples.

Keep Your Link Authority in One Place

The case against subdomains is not just about immediate rankings; it's also about guiding your SEO strategy into what's to come. This is the main reason why I suggest keeping content on the primary domain at whatever point conceivable.

Where might you rather have your substance, on two domains with 1,000 backlinks each, or one domain with 2,000 backlinks?

These are the potential prospects you're choosing between when considering using a subdomain for your substance. Throughout the years, your substance is going to earn backlinks from all over the web. On the off chance that your substance is in a separate location, similar to a blog subdomain, you're splitting your backlinks between the two.

Assume five years down the line your website is updated, and you resign the subdomain and change to a subdirectory structure for your blog. You'll be in a situation where you have to divert all those links from the subdomain to the primary domain, and as we probably are aware, diverts waste link authority.

Having to divert a ton of backlinks is not a great situation to be in. You would have been better off if those links pointed to the primary domain in any case.

Minimize Your Overhead

What number of websites would you like to pay for? What number of web applications do you want your engineers to maintain? Each subdomain you add to your website introduces another hosting condition to your innovation stack and all the business worries that accompany it.

A new subdomain could mean additional expenses for any of these:

3rd party hosting or membership charges

Additional SSL certificates or a wildcard certificate

Developer hours for the subdomain CMS

Additional colocation space or system hardware

You would also have to manage login credentials, analytics, security, and webmaster supports for the subdomain. On the off chance that you have regulatory compliance to stress over, these headaches add up fast.

Plan Ahead

The most ideal way to avoid having to deal with the subdomain question at all is starting with a website that does everything you want. All the time, I'll find brands that attempt to tack on the functionality later because of a lack of foresight.

Begin with an infrastructure that will do everything you need. In case you're going to require a blog or eCommerce experience, pick a CMS with those incorporated with the app. Or then again you could even go with an extensible CMS, like WordPress or Drupal.

Planning ahead also includes anything you're going to test for your digital strategy. In case you're considering trying out blogging, and I suggest you do on the off chance that you aren't, plan how you're going to continue after a fruitful test. You should find a way to add a blog to the main domain if the substance strategy test works (and it probably will.)

Now and again a Subdomain is a Right Choice

There are a couple of cases where a subdomain makes the most sense for your brand outside of technical need. Usually, it's for a sub-brand or an item that is substantially unique in relation to what the brand normally sells.

In the event that your substance satisfies a large portion of these criteria, then you ought to probably utilize a subdomain:

The substance or branding isn't sufficiently diverse to legitimize a totally unique domain

Users would be confounded on the off chance that they navigated between the two substance encounters

The content sells a totally independent item or is part of an arrangement of items

Google itself is quite great at this. They have developers.google.com, assistant.google.com, cloud.google.com, store.google.com… and the list goes on. Each subdomain is an aspect of Google, however totally independent and hosts its very own thing.

Another valid case for a subdomain is content that will never be indexed by a search engine. Paid landing pages, the content behind login screens, and company intranets are all genuine examples. Web development company in New York, USA is the best alternative to avail truly necessary assistance as the specialists have total information to insert the landing pages in the subdomain envelope and get it accessible

Versatile and International Considerations

We've seen a lot of brands create inconvenience for themselves by adopting subdomains for portable and international adaptations of their websites. They're the most noticeably awful alternative for either strategy and create a lot of headaches for your SEO team down the line.

The fate of the web is responsive and portable first. It's the easiest and least complex way to adapt to current internet usage. Brands that disregard this will in general tack on versatile subdomains that plague their technical teams with issues like:

Wasted crawl spending plan and canonicalization issues

Server-side gadget discovery and divert handling

Maintaining content parity between versatile and desktop locales

Shrinking substance and navigation to fit versatile screens

International websites are usually executed in three ways: ccTLDs, subdirectories, and subdomains. Subdirectories have no upsides over the other two choices. ccTLD's aren't optimal either, yet at least they contain a solid signal about which nation they're targeting.

Using a subdirectory strategy for international websites is something I see more brands using each year. It appears realizing the advantages of having everything in one place: one CMS, one development team, better substance parity, and easier management of hreflang tags. Well, versed coordination with seo company in New York, USA to take a lot of necessary assistance from digital marketing professionals can be great assistance indeed with an aim to change from subdomain to sub envelope and the other way around according to the prerequisite.

Read more:- Seasonal or Evergreen Content!! What Drives More website traffic?

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