#I don’t track my period with a calendar or an app I simply

[sassmill]

Hm think I might go nuts for a bit

[squireren-blog]

“Advice” for Women Suffering Period “Discomfort” with Commentary (or How I Learned to Want a Menstruation Hut)

Source: “Can’t Sleep While You’re On You’re Period? Here’s Why  from The Huffington Post

Your body temperature rises over the course of your menstrual cycle

Your core body temperature rises between a half and a whole degree during your period. This can be a problem because an evening drop in body temperature is one of the main biological triggers that makes you feel sleepy.

How to fix it: Make sure your bedroom is cooled to optimal sleeping temperature: about 60-67 degrees Fahrenheit. ….[Trick] your body into drowsiness with a warm bath or shower, because moving from warm water to your cool bedroom will make your body temperature drop. And consider sleeping with fewer covers.

Take a warm, soothing, comforting shower then expose yourself to un-comforting cold. Just stop feeling so icky; just take off the blanket and the other blanket and the other one.

Mood swings make you feel anxious or depressed  

Period-related mood swings are very normal; hormones like estrogen and progesterone drop right before your period, making you experience negative emotions more strongly. And anxiety and depression make it tough to fall asleep at night.

How to fix it: First, just being aware that some of your mood swings can be attributed to hormones can help ease the problem, by untangling your mind-body matrix. So consider tracking your period with an app or on a calendar. During your period itself, you can try deep breathing, meditation or yoga to relax and unwind before bedtime.

NO FUCKING SHIT! Mood swings make you feel anxious or depressed or both! But just think it away. Simply tell yourself, “eh, I’m on my period. That’s why I’m moody. Ok. Back to being well-adjusted.” Let me just set up an app or calendar so I can have alerts for these miserable days. Being aware will make it all better.

Then take your period achy body and contort it into positions that might not feel natural to your inflexible corporeal self. Obsess further on the negative thoughts that will send you spiraling into a deeper depression.

Nausea, indigestion, and other stomach issues make it tough to fall or stay asleep.

You may have noticed digestive upsets during menstruation such as indigestion, nausea or diarrhea, all of which can disrupt sleep.

How to fix it: Although you may be tempted by ice cream, chocolate or other comfort foods…[avoid] heavy meals before bedtime. Instead, try one of these snacks that can actually help you sleep, like toast, trail mix or plain rice.

Yummmmmmmmmmmy! Browned bread, nuts and raisins or the stuff my raw fish lays on in my sushi instead of creamy ice cream or sweet, comforting chocolate. Why does anyone suffer from period pain when these delicious foods are available? After all, these are same tasty foods that are recommended to people who are nauseous or have diarrhea.  

Cramps, headaches and muscle pain can make it hard to get comfortable.

This one’s a no-brainer: For many women, periods = pain, whether that’s through cramps or generalized muscle pain. Left untreated, this pain can make it hard to get comfortable enough to fall asleep.

How to fix it: Try changing your sleep position, adding or subtracting pillows, or using a heating pad to relieve pressure. You can also pop a mild painkiller like Tylenol or Advil to relieve discomfort. But, Dr. Duncan cautions, don’t overdo it: If you regularly take Advil or other painkillers, you can actually experience withdrawal when you quit, which can make the problem worse. “Know your own body,” Duncan says.

When it comes to headaches, a small amount of caffeine can be helpful, but overdoing it can have the opposite effect. To make sure you’re tired enough to fall asleep, Duncan recommends cutting caffeine out altogether in the afternoon.

Can’t sleep? Toss and turn. Move the pillows around in various places in and around under and between body parts (Are you still trying to sleep with the blankets on? Tsk. Tsk.) 

Take a painkiller…but wait, not too many. You don’t want to make your period give you withdrawal symptoms or liver damage now do you? 

Didn’t we mention earlier that your period will make you tired? Okay because don’t try to use caffeine to help you get through your day if it’s already the afternoon. 

And for pain, wait, I have the blanket off to keep cool, but should I use a heating pad?

Your cycle actually causes insomnia

During your period, your body’s levels of the hormone progesterone drop dramatically. This can make it hard to sleep because progesterone is a “soporific” hormone, meaning it has a mild sedative effect. (Higher-than-usual progesterone is also why you may feel sleepy the week before your period, during PMS.)

The fix: Again, Duncan recommends avoiding caffeine for several hours before bed because it will exacerbate the issue. And the week before your period, recognize the fact that increased progesterone increases your need for sleep, and try going to bed 30 minutes earlier. Or take a 20 minute power nap, suggests Duncan. You can also keep a sleep log or make a sleep schedule to regularize your bedtime, and note any fluctuations in sleep behavior for next month.

Duncan suggests one thing that can blunt many of these symptoms: any type of hormonal birth control (like the pill or a certain IUDs). “Any hormonal birth control decreases the fluctuation in estrogen and progesterone that is responsible for nearly all of these symptoms,” says Duncan. “So an added benefit of these forms of contraception can be better sleep!”

While you’re deep in the pit of despair from depression and bawling uncontrollably because your crush doesn’t exist in real life or simply because you dropped your child off at school, or you yell at the CVS cashier because he’s trying to save you money on your feminine hygiene needs, sure, take a moment to just be logical and recognize that your progesterone is increasing and you should take a nap or go to bed early. 

So what if you’re a single mother who has to work 2 jobs or stay up late grading papers or have a child who broke out in hives – forget all that. Throw in a power nap that you usually askew on non-PMS or period days simply because you don’t need it, not because you have absolutely no free time. Do laundry or power nap because I’m on my period? Shower or power nap because I’m on my period? Leave my child unsupervised because I need to get to bed early? 

Go on the pill? Bitch, this is all happening and I’m already on the pill!

Isn’t there just a magic pill? One thing I can take to help to make this all go away? 

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Having a period is a natural thing. Didn’t mother nature make sure there were things in nature that can help relieve this. What about supplements? Hold on. Let me try another source.

Source: unknown

So, shit, being on my period, my memory is impaired, and I forgot to keep track of where the following information on supplements came from. Being certain I will be busted for plagiarism will give me something to fixate my sharpened anxiety on as I lay awake from insomnia.

A number of supplements have been shown to help ease PMS symptoms by improving metabolic function and hormone metabolism. Here are the superstars:

Magnesium citrate or glycinate — Take 400 to 600 mg a day.

Calcium citrate — Take 600 mg a day.

Vitamin B6 — Take 50 to 100 mg a day along with 800 mcg of folate and 1,000 mcg of vitamin B12.

Evening primrose oil — Take two 500mg capsules twice a day.

EPA/DHA (omega 3 fats) — Take 1,000 mg once or twice a day.

Taurine — Take 500 mg a day to help liver detoxification.

A good daily multivitamin (all the nutrients work together)

Herbs and phytonutrients can also be very helpful. Here are the best studied and most effective:

Chasteberry fruit extract (Vitex Agnus-astus) can help balance the hormones released by the pituitary gland that control your overall hormone function. Studies of over 5,000 women have found it effective. Take 100 mg twice a day of a 10:1 extract.

Wild yam (Dioscorea villosa) and cramp bark (Viburum opulus) can help regulate cycles and relieve menstrual cramps.

Dandelion root can help with liver detoxification and works as a diuretic.

Isoflavones from soy, red clover, or kudzu root improve estrogen detoxification by boosting the activity of specific detox enzymes. They can be taken as supplements or consumed in the diet.

Flax seeds contain lignans that help balance hormone metabolism and block the negative effects of excess estrogens.

Chinese herbal formulas may also help. One of the most effective is Xiao Yao San, or Rambling Powder. It contains: Bupleurum Root (Bupleurum chinense), Chinese Peony Root (Paeonia lactiflora), Dong Quai Root (Angelica sinensis), Bai-Zhu Atractylodes Root (Atractylodes macrocephala), Poria Sclerotium (Poria cocos), Ginger Rhizome (Zingiber officinale), Chinese Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza uralensis),and Chinese Mint Leaf (Mentha haplocalyx)

Replacing healthy bacteria in the gut also helps normalize estrogen and hormone metabolism. Take 5 to 10 billion live organisms in a daily probiotic supplement.

For intractable cases, I will occasionally use topical, natural bioidentical progesterone in the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle. The usual dose is ½ tsp (20 to 40 mg) applied at night to thin skin areas for the last two weeks of the menstrual cycle.

Oh, good, only 15 – FIF-TEEN! – supplements, herbs, and phytonutrients to take. Do I fucking use all of them? Where the fuck do I even get these? 

Source: “13 Ways to Deal with Menstrual Insomnia” from Reader’s Digest

Adjust your pill times

On the other hand, if you’re already taking another medication that has drowsiness as a side effect, ask your doctor if you can take that drug an hour before bed instead of whenever you’ve been taking it. A side effect like drowsiness can work against you during the day, but you can use it to your advantage at night.

Oh shit! Which one of those 15 supplements will make me drowsy and which will keep me awake so I can follow advice about not taking medications that might keep me awake?

Watch out for wild cards

“Some women may have other conditions that worsen during their cycle,” says Dr. Moline, and any associated sleepiness may become exaggerated, possibly because of changes in blood volume. When blood volume increases, your blood levels of medication may drop outside the therapeutic window.  

If sleepiness may become exaggerated then why is there insomnia still a symptom?  As for the blood level thing, do I need to take extra doses of supplements for them to have an effect?

Kill the pain

If pelvic pain keeps you up during your period, talk to your doctor about taking an over-the-counter NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) like ibuprofen, plus a vitamin B complex and magnesium supplement. And don’t forget the old remedies of a heating pad or sex to relieve the pain. You can also often block the chemicals that produce pain with a daily aerobic workout. 

Again with a heating pad but try to stay cool by keeping off the covers. Oh, aerobic exercise! Sure that’s what I’m motivated to do when it feels like my uterus is being inflated into an iron maiden, and I’m tired because the other source told me that I might be so tired that I should take a power nap. Should I schedule the aerobic exercise before of after the power nap that I squeeze in by avoiding eating or spending time with my child? 

And kill the pain with sex? Well, I ruined that possibility while I was PMS-ing. The guy I might consider having sex with almost lost his head when I tried to bite it off after I misinterpreted something he said the other day. This was after I threw my drink in his face. After my PMS-yelling-and-sobbing-for-forgiveness fit, I did straddle him, but for some reason, he wasn’t interested in sex, then, so I’m not so sure he’d be willing now. Besides, I’m too damn tired to fuck because my god-damned period causes fatigue.

Pay Attention To Basics

Increase the likelihood you’ll sleep by creating a restful environment. Make your sleep area a comfortable, dark place in which you feel safe. Keep soothing teas and herbal hot packs within reach.

Wait, keep hot drinks and hot packs near me while I sleep when I’m supposed to try to keep myself cool, kicking off the blankets? What? I’m so fucking confused and more irritable from this advice than I was when I desperately began seeking advice for relief of this misery of menstruation.  

Stick with just a nibble

Menstruating women sometimes get so hungry they seem to eat every couple of hours. But eating heavily right before bed could leave you wide awake with an overly full belly. If you’re hungry close to bedtime, stick with just a bite or two of something light, like a few nuts. Find out the best foods to eat during your period here.

So this is even more restrictive than the other source’s advice. Just nuts. Not even the toast or rice. But like the other advice: No chocolate. No ice cream. No bag of chicharrones. No cans of frosting. What about all those 15 supplements suggested by that other source? That’s more than a nibble…

Channel your thoughts

Focus on things you love, like the flowers you might put in the garden next spring or remembering taking your kids to see the ocean for the first time. Trying to work out problems right now will only leave you wide-eyed and anxious.

Oh, my fucking god! Shut the fuck up! Fucking, fuck are you fucking kidding me? Flowers? Kids? Yes that is all those of us with a uterus love: Flowers and kids. Fuck! Are you fucking kidding me? Seriously? Fuck! 

My advice: Menstruation Hut

I know, I know that the idea of hiding away women in a menstruation hut is a horrible, deadly reality for some women around the world, and the Red Tent effort to make the menstruation hut a positive experience by bringing women together in this small shelter is not my idea of a good time, even when not on my period. 

However, my version of a menstruation hut would be to isolate myself for the safety of others and myself. No way do I want a bunch of other women in there bugging the shit out of me. It would be a place I could go to upon the onset of PMS and through the end of bleeding. I would need to have someone lock me in there, cut off my access to social media, stock it with lots of Kleenex, a heavy bag, a baseball bat, padded walls, a soaker tub and shower, comfort foods and sedatives, lots and lots of sedatives. 

My menstruation hut could, hell, should really just be a state of unconsciousness. My worst PMS is usually on Saturday and I’m done bleeding by Thursday. So once a month, just knock me unconscious from Sunday to Thursday. And I, and the world, will be better for it.

[wmshappen]

How are those resolutions going?

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

At the start of every year, nearly everyone eagerly runs to set up new year’s resolutions, whether it’s to cut back on meat or start running more. Some people will not set them, as maybe they think they are setting themselves up to fail, but perhaps a better way to look at new year’s resolutions would simply be – ‘what are your personal goals right now?’…and what better time to reset, and reassess these goals, than with the resetting of the calendar?

But the question is, 3 months into the year…have the WMSH team stuck to their resolutions (official or otherwise)? If not, why not? Also, if they haven’t stuck to them…are they going to restart this month? There is still 10 months left of the year, so why not?! So I asked the WMSH team if they had any new year’s resolutions, and how they were going…

Alice

Around new year, I did start thinking about ways to re-ignite my fitness regime. Pre-Covid I played netball twice a week, as part of a local league, and got into working out for the purpose of improving my game play - getting those killer intercepts by generally being harder, better, faster, stronger (as Daft Punk would say). But I grew to really enjoy working out for itself. I find it great for my mental health, and regularly working out at home has been one of my main hobbies since Covid hit, and Netball has been off.

I did however, before Christmas, start struggling with the lack of direction my workouts had. Once it became clear netball wasn't going to start again anytime soon, I was just kind of fumbling about, and starting to lack the motivation to work out as often as I was, despite always feeling better when I did do it. So since new year’s - I decided to pick a workout plan, and commit to it. My new goal 'Become Captain Marvel' (aka - get strong/toned/pumped). My new trainer - Jeff Cavaliere of YouTube's 'Athlean X'. It gives me a plan to stick to, he tells me what to do at each workout session, and how to progress. Aside from my lofty and somewhat vague desire to be as strong as a superhero, right now I'm focusing on a few simple, more specific goals - workout 3 times a week, every week, work towards being able to do a pull up, and work towards being able to do 30 press ups in a row. So far I've managed to stick to my 3 times a week goal...which should set me up to meet the other ones over the next few months.

I would say my one tip for keeping new year’s resolutions or working towards personal goals - to paraphrase Tim Michin - "be 'micro-ambitious'...focus on the "passionate-dedication to the pursuit of short-term goals". Now you might rightly ask, is being able to do a pull up going to change my life? Honestly - probably not. My ultimate, underlying goal is to ‘stay fit and stay sane’…but that has no parameters to work towards. It’s not very motivating. It's the short term goal, that motivates me along the track towards the overarching goal - stay fit, stay sane...and become Captain Marvel.

Lewis

My new years resoloutions were quite simple I think and were things such as, drink more water which will help me look after my skin and also things such as eating healthier. Most of my resolutions fit well together and to make me eat healthier I also said I wanted to start to learn how to cook, so I am not eating takeaways all the time or just frozen food. On top of this I want to run half a marathon by the end of the year, which means I have to start running to work up to it.

I would say I have done relatively well with sticking to my resolutions, as I have been cooking most nights and also drinking lots of fluids to keep me hydrated but I did not run in January, so I am going to start this month to make sure I don’t break my new year’s resolution of running half a marathon. I have only ordered 3 takeaways in the last 4 weeks, which is a lot better than what I was doing last year so I would also say I have done pretty well with keeping that resolution so hopefully I can stick to that for the rest of the year. One month down and ten more to go!

JD

I don’t make resolutions but I do spend the period between Boxing Day and NYE engaging in ‘romjul’, which is a Norwegian concept based on enjoying the slower pace of life and embracing the cosiness of the longer nights, reflecting on the year that’s been and thinking about intentions for the year to come. I use this to remind myself of things like ‘yoga helps me be less stressed’, ‘get out in nature when you can, it makes you feel better’ rather than setting qualitative goals, otherwise meeting objectives during my leisure time starts to be a source of anxiety. This year I decided to spend more time reading philosophy. A lot of mental health advice is rooted in stoicism and I’ve found it full of surprisingly practical advice for, among other things, living through a pandemic (Derren Brown’s Happy is a fantastic starting place and Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is also more accessible than you think it would be, if you go into it reading it as if it’s his blog rather than a classic philosophy tome). Slow start on that owing to a lot of too-tempting fiction. I also decided to devote more time to writing. So far (thanks to lockdown and not much else to do) I’ve written 90,000 words which feels a bit over-achievey and if I keep that pace up I’ll definitely wear out my laptop keys.

Forest app is great for helping diminish the power of distractions like doomscrolling. You set a timer and grow trees when you put your phone down, and I make patterns with my forests to help me stay motivated. You can also donate real trees when you rack up enough focussed time, I’m about to get my first one.

Megan

I never make them for fear of disappointment if I break them.  Overriding focus of the year though is just to be happy and healthy.

Lorna

My New Year’s resolution was to get back into yoga. I think are all a bit stiffer than normal after a year of living and working from our houses. So far, I have stuck to this resolution and do feel a lot better for it!

Some tips I would give for keeping up this resolution, and others, is to not be too hard on yourself, especially this year. If I have a day where I really don’t feel like pulling the yoga mat out, I jump on to the sofa and chill out instead, then try again the next day! For me, keeping a routine with my yoga resolution has made me keep it up. I use YouTube yoga videos to help me, a tip I have here is to find a yoga instructor on there that you like, some of them can be rather annoying which is not encouraging!

Lewis Forster

[treadawaytraining]

How to Stay Organized During the Holidays to Keep SMASHING Your Fat Loss Goals

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Word Count: 1,115 Average Read Time: 4 minutes 3 seconds

It's usually around this time of year when most people are easing back on their fitness efforts. As soon as Thanksgiving hits, it's one feast after another until it's the new year, and you've gained more weight than you lost in the first place. What if this year, you did things a little differently?

Imagine if there was a way to manage your schedule during this busy time of year to ensure you're able to get your workouts and meal preps finished while still including those important gatherings with friends and family? Could it just be a simple case of getting organized to make incredible progress?

How To Get And Stay Organized

During the holidays, there's a lot more going on than usual. Unless you're organized, making good choices around your diet will be the last thing on your mind.

In Brian Tracey's best selling classic book, "Eat that Frog" he suggests that if you have a frog to eat (like a task that is hard but would have a significant impact on your life), it's best to get on with it right away. It won't be any easier to sit and think about it.

For most people, organization around food preparation and exercise is like that frog - something that needs to be done but that they've not yet found a way to enjoy.

Simple Tips That Cost Nothing To Implement

In this post, I’ll give you strategies on how to manage your time, tasks, and schedule in busy December, so you don't end up regretting your choices when January 1st comes. Let's dig in.

#1. Keep Tracking Food Even When Off-Plan

Over the festive season, there are lots of opportunities to go off plan, and while you may want to say "no" to some of them, you probably don't want to miss out on all of them.

That's where tracking all your food comes into its own. Getting into the habit of tracking your nutrition using an app like MyFitnessPal is helpful when you're aiming to lose weight because it has such a massive database of foods. You can choose to track in any other way, like taking pictures of everything you eat and drink, and if you work with a coach, they’ll likely have a certain way they want you to do it and will help you with it.

The simple act of tracking can be enough to keep you under your calorie target. However, many people make a mistake to stop tracking when they've eaten something that's off-plan. Arguably this is the most critical time to be monitoring your food intake because it helps you get back on track more quickly. That could mean that you do less damage, and often you see that you've not gone over your calories by that much.

#2. Put Your Workouts into Your Calendar

Ideally, you'd like them to be shown in your work calendar, too, so you can see them during office hours and organize your workload in a way so that you can make it. This practice costs nothing and serves two essential functions. First, it is a way to consciously and unconsciously make exercise and time for yourself a priority. This is important because while it feels like an effort to complete, you're still finding a way to absorb regular exercise into your identity.

Secondly, it's time that no one else can book you. This is key if you have a busy and demanding lifestyle, and it can sometimes feel like there aren't enough hours in the day. Treat your exercise time like an appointment that can't be moved.

#3. Schedule Workouts Early in Your Day

Remember that frog we mentioned earlier? If completing your workouts feels like a drag in December, get it done before your brain can realize what's happening. Right after getting up. At first, it may feel tough for people that aren't used to getting up early to complete their work out, but if you're short on time as the day continues, this can be a genuine game-changer for "creating" more time.

Alternatively, another option that works well is stopping by the gym on the way home from work. Once you make it home in the afternoon, the odds of you leaving the house again drops drastically so workout before you go home. This is what I used to do when I was still an electrical engineer.

#4. Write To-Do Lists Daily

Take the time to write your to-do list for the next day the night before to give yourself a clear focus and objective when you wake up. It feels great to tick off the tasks as you complete them during the day, and this sense of achievement can give you the motivation to keep working hard. This practice isn't limited to workouts either. You can include the extra chores and tasks that the festive season can demand or even put together your work task list for the day ahead.

#5. Work in 30 Min Time Periods

This can be a great way to track what you're spending the most time on, and if a task in your calendar doesn't need to take a whole hour (like a gym session), you don't have to find as much time to get things done. Finding 30 minutes for a task feels much more manageable than finding an hour.

#6. Don't Forget About Relaxation and Recovery

Christmas time can feel like you are running around for 24 days, then finally stopping and not doing anything for a week. The issue is, by the time you get to celebrate, you are beat. If you'd like to arrive at the magical time of the year with some energy left to spend quality time with your loved ones, keeping recovery and relaxation time in mind is paramount.

It's the same drill as with any other task. If you put it in your schedule like an appointment you can't skip, it will happen. The holidays are about spending time with loved ones but recharging yourself and making sure you're getting what you need is essential too.

Takeaway

Just like any other area of your life during your holiday season, your fitness progress will significantly benefit from staying more organized as well. Is pressure building up because you are trying to get everything done, meet social and family expectations during these busy times, and stay on track with your food and workouts?

It may be time for you to promptly set a few hours aside and create a dedicated holiday calendar that includes all your food prep and exercise while allowing enjoyment. Ever heard the quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."? If you don't want to feel like you failed in the first week of January, it's still not late to start planning.

Check this out next:

Exercise Tutorial Playlist

Thank you so much for reading! If you found this information helpful and want to help the Treadaway Training blogcast grow, simply share this post with a friend. If you like what I have to say, join the Skinny-to-Jacked Society Facebook group or check out my YouTube channel. I will be back here Saturday with another body transformation topic. As always, God bless you AND your family and I'll see you Saturday.

[visawords]

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[ittakesrain]

I didn’t make the bed today. I did yesterday. And the day before. I’d made the bed pretty much every day since getting home from the mental hospital, since I discovered for the first time in fourteen years what it feels like to be unburdened, to be free from constant depression and anxiety and chaotic, crazy thoughts. It’s fuckin’ enjoyable, that freedom. And while I’m enjoying it, I’ve been making the bed because why not feel like I’ve really got it all together?

That’s not the only thing to happen since my discharge, though. I could list a few key things, but the most pressing is that basically the entire planet is in quarantine. Maybe you’ve heard?

I’ve felt like I’m in a movie montage, with the days blending together and time passing quickly but also inexplicably slowly, but I think it’s all come grinding to a halt. Maybe there was no grinding; I’ve been feeling the effects of the semi-isolated boredom grow steadily each day. But regardless, today is different: I didn’t make the bed.

I’m sitting here on a mess of blankets and pillows, my stuffed elephant sitting haphazardly where I left him this morning. I’m thinking: I was doing okay with this lockdown for the most part until recently, I think. And now, I just don’t know what to do with myself. It’s the lack of structure that’s getting to me. This beats being at work, there’s no doubt about that. I’m going stir-crazy, though, and I don’t know how to fight back against the boredom.

My only real defense is routine, so I try to stick to one in the morning as rigidly as possible (though I’m not really sure that’s the right thing to do). I wake up early, wash my face, take meds and drink water, get dressed, brush my teeth, make coffee, scroll Pinterest for motivation and ideas, record my moods and meds and sleep, write a journal entry, make a healthy breakfast, take my vitamins, go for a walk. That’s me doing what I can to make the most of this situation (since I’m lucky enough to not be affected by this in a more negative way).

I just want to feel productive and accomplished and proud of myself. That’s basically what I always want anyway. I want to feel like I’m doing things that are important. Like I matter.

Yeah, that’s a bit of a dramatic leap, I know. It makes sense in my head.

Before my hospitalization, boredom and emptiness seemed to be predominant in my life, so much so that it made me begin to question my identity. My therapist and I had spoken about how boredom was a sign that I wasn’t doing anything I felt was meaningful. In a journal from that week, I wrote that “being bored means I’m not being crazy, meaning I’m not in the middle of an episode, meaning I’m really not sure about anything.” That still seems dramatic. Existential. But put simply, boredom is a trigger. Too much time to think, too much time to be unsure. To combat it, I have to “find my why” and “work toward my purpose.” That obviously seems difficult. Do I even know what’s really meaningful to me?

I haven’t spent too much time working to figure it out because I’ve been trying to fill my days will as much good as possible in a more immediate way; while I certainly see the value in looking at the big picture, I’ve felt that throughout this period of uncertainty, it’s better not to zoom out too far.

I’ve had the topic of uncertainty on my mind for a while. Since I was in the mental hospital, actually. So maybe I’m at a particular advantage since I’m a step ahead of most people. Then again, maybe I’m at a disadvantage because I’m crazy enough to have been in a mental hospital (the way I write and speak about my mental illnesses applies only to me, by the mean, and I don’t mean to call anyone else crazy; I identify with it in a very positive way, but that’s just me). But my point is that I already knew I had to find a new normal. I didn’t want to go back to the life marked with such extreme mood fluctuations that I endured before. I couldn’t have gone back even if I wanted to (thanks to lots of new insight and a cocktail of meds that actually work for me). My mood has been stable, my anxiety has been minor if I have it at all. Things are different (and thankfully better!) and I have to start from here now. It’s like when I was recovering from anorexia in high school; I couldn’t return to my previous “normal,” so I had to find a new one.

That’s what all of us have to do now. We have to find a way to gain some sense of normalcy now. And if we can’t find normal, we have to create it. We have to determine how we’re going to survive this…and then survive. It’s scary to not know how, I know that. But I’ve been thinking about that, too (I guess I’m doing more than I think I’ve been doing, because processing feelings and ideas seems to be something I’ve done a lot of).

Fear of the unknown is a unique feature of people with anxiety. I’ve definitely wished that I had the power to know more things with certainty, but I’ve learned the hard way that that’s not how it works. Life wouldn’t be what it is if we had all the answers, anyway. Uncertainty, unpredictability, and doubt are not awful things.

But right now, during a worldwide pandemic, when the death count is rising and there’s still no vaccine, when our lives are disrupted and we’ve had to adjust to working or learning from home, when we’re concerned about our health, our loved ones, our financial status? It’s difficult to think otherwise. We’re living through a historic event. This is huge. And quite frankly it sucks.

I know I’m not alone in the panic-scrolling of my social media and news feeds. It feels like there’s nothing else to do. It feels like at least if I’m updated on what’s happening, I’m doing something. It affects my mental health, though.

And as it is, April has been a little been more varied in terms of my moods. The boredom from the quarantine is getting to me, which is normal, and to be expected. I don’t want to say I’m anxious because this by no means compares to the anxiety I’m unfortunately accustomed to, but there’s a definite increase in that “iffy” and uncomfortable feeling of “what the fuck do I do with myself?” I’m having this back and forth motivation. And when I’m not focused and motivated, I feel this vague sense of “what’s the point?” It’s like the ghost of my depression, something that’s recently become a thing of the past but that I still remember clearly enough to be like “yup, that’s it, that’s the ghost of it.”

It’s worse when I don’t take my ADHD medication (that’s become a complicated issue thanks to my new psychiatrist, who I saw virtually for the first time last week) but it makes sense that the Vyvanse helps my moods; ADHD makes everything more overwhelming and being overwhelmed makes everyone more emotional.

Other than that, my mood is low but it’s probably unrelated to bipolar disorder. It’s definitely normal to be mopier these days. It’s new territory for me to feel emotionally dull, or even sad, and not have it be a warning sign for a major depressive or mixed episode to come. But then again, I still have to keep at eye on things, keep track of my moods, do what’s best for my physical and mental health, and be proactive.

Right now I’m just doing what I can to get by. Like, I’m using technology to its fullest. I video call friends and family frequently. I go for virtual walks with my cousin every day, and I use FaceTime for my therapy sessions now. I’m trying to stay connected emotionally, even though we’re all physically apart. A video call does wonders to ease the loneliness that this situation is causing. I’d include texting in this, but I can’t focus on texting people lately. It’s weird. But I’m dealing with it.

I’m using Hulu to live stream the news (although I’m trying to limit the amount of news I consume because too much is just bad for my mental health). Sometimes I download to podcasts so I have something to listen to while I walk. They’re usually news-related, but I have some in other genres. I downloaded the CDC app too, which I scroll through every now and then for added info.

I use Google calendar to stay organized and track my writing deadlines, as well as plan out a schedule so I can have personal accountability. I’m continuing to track my moods, anxiety, meds, sleep, and habits on my phone, which is important with bipolar anyway, but it also makes me feel kind of like I accomplished something. I’m trying to stick with my goal of drinking enough water. I might as well work on it now, and crossing off the cups I’ve had is a definite happiness booster.

A quick aside about goals right now: So many people have these big plans to use this time to get in shape or start their dream business or begin some sort of tremendous undertaking. And that’s wonderful for those so inclined. But not everyone has the luxury of having that option. Some people have been impacted by the coronavirus more than others. Essential workers are busting their butts every day still. Some people have family who’ve caught coronavirus. Some people have gotten sick themselves. But even people not in those circumstances don’t need to feel guilty for just getting through this time however they can, even if it’s just struggling to stay entertained.

I made a list of how to entertain myself, way back when this thing started. I wanted to stay busy, since boredom has proven itself one of my triggers. So I listed as many things as I could think of, and I planned on referring back to it if the excessive free time started to get to me. There weren’t very many things on the list (read, play video games, puzzles, etc), but I found myself unable to do most of the things on it anyway. It was almost like a depression thing, when you want to do something but can’t bring yourself to do the thing. But either wat, I don’t know if my old method of frantically distracting myself to run from boredom and the eventual mood episode it brings is the right one to use. I need to find and keep a sense of balance. I need to let go of what I can’t control but work on what I can. I need to recharge. I want to recharge.

My plan to do that will involve setting guidelines. I only want to watch or read the news in the morning, and not for too long. It will involve doing things I haven’t been doing lately, any things, just to get myself a change. Maybe I’ll crochet some hats (even though it’s spring now). Because maybe it’ll help relax my brain, help me heal even more. Maybe I’ll be struck with brilliant inspiration while mindlessly crocheting. Basically, my plan is to do stuff that’s helpful and then enjoy the good feelings after.

[humaniores]

the ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in school | by meliaora

since i’m beginning college this september, i wanted to share my ultimate guide to surviving and thriving in school this academic year. in my GCSE’s, i received three 9s (A**s), five A*s and one B. i used to help fellow students in their studies and i thought i might help any students approaching a new year at school and wanting to succeed. i know the studyblr community is all about sharing advice, so i thought i’d create my own comprehensive guide to becoming the best student you can be this autumn! strap in, folks: this is going to be a long one! 

1. PREPARING FOR SCHOOL during summertime, it’s important to take the opportunity to rest up and have fun before the new school year. however, you should also set aside time to complete any preparatory tasks set either by your teachers or yourself. always get this out of the way first so you can enjoy your summer fully and not worry about getting things done in the last week of august. for example, if you need a new uniform, go shopping in the weeks after you break up as the lines will be shorter. watch out for back to school offers on stationery and never procrastinate your summer homework. my advice is always read at least one of the books on your ‘further reading’ lists - these will come in handy especially in the english and humanities subjects when writing essays. summer homework should help introduce you into what your classes will be like come autumn and are a chance to show off what you already know, so do a fair amount of research and try your best!

2. PACKING YOUR BAG it may not seem like it, but being fully equipped can really affect how well you do in your studies. if you don’t have something as simple as lunch money, a sanitary pad or a red pen, your day might not be as productive as it should be. here’s a short list of things i’d recommend to keep handy in your bag:

composition books for the day’s classes

textbooks

bullet journal / school planner

notebook

pencil case / pen case

binder

reading book / library book

sanitary pads / tampons*

keys

travelcard *

lunch money *

lip balm

tissues *

medication, for allergies and pain relief

prescribed glasses *

scissors & tape

it’s also key to have the right stationery in your pencil case. i know it’s tempting to buy out the entirety of the nearest stationery shop, but really, you only need to get what you know you’ll need. personally, i keep the following with me:

black pen (two if it’s exam season)

red pen for underlining / important notes

green pen for self assessments

ruler (15cm)

a highlighter *

a pencil

a rubber

a sharpener

maths equipment *

index notes *

for both lists, i’ve added a * for any items i think depend on the student. if you don’t have allergies, tissues aren’t a priority. if you walk to school, a travelcard is naturally out of the question. so tailor the list to your personal needs, and you’ll be sure to be equipped for anything school throws your way!

3. MORNING ROUTINE it’s important to start every morning off right, and this includes weekends. try not to press snooze on your alarm - this will make it harder to get up and out of bed. if it helps, try to put your phone or alarm clock on the other side of the room: by the time you’ve gotten out of bed to stop it, you might as well get up anyway. open up your curtains wide and open the windows if it’s nice outside. drink a cold glass of water and stretch a bit. make sure to always eat something before you start the day - it doesn’t have to be a ‘proper’ breakfast like cereal or toast, but it should be enough to get you through to lunchtime. 

once you’ve eaten, wash your face, brush your teeth and brush your hair. even on days when you plan on taking a break and just watching netflix, you should do these little things to get alert and feel happy to start the day. if it’s a school day, get dressed and leave home early - punctuality is key and allows time for you to organise yourself before your first class. if it’s a rest day, plan out what you want to get done and get set on your tasks; sometimes the tasks can be as simple as relax for an hour or listen to music, or you could choose to get an assignment done and read 50 pages of a novel. it’s up to you, but you should always try to start right away. use the 5 second rule - count down from 5 and start after 1. counting down means you can’t procrastinate the task any further and 5 seconds is so quick, you’ll get started in no time.

4. ORGANISATION one thing i find incredibly important is organisation. whether you’re a bit messy and never know when class is or you’re already quite on top of things - organising your life even better will always improve your performance and the way you view the school experience. the key to getting everything in order is making sure each item and activity has a time and a place.

let’s start with places. you’ll need to know where all of your textbooks and exercise books are when you pack your bag, so keep them all together - in a drawer, on a shelf, by your bed, it doesn’t matter. just make sure they have a designated area and return to it. all of your homework and notes that don’t go into your exercise book should stay in a file. i personally keep one folder at home for each subject and then transfer the necessary sheets into the one binder i keep in my bag when i need them. this way i can free up space in my bag - though this technique is for those with sharp memories (and the daring).

then, of course, it is important that each task and event has a time. this is really the most important part of organising in my opinion, because time management is a skill that you will need up to university and beyond. first, you need to set a timetable - make a physical copy if you want to! i prefer having a reference to stick up on my wall (and it’s really fun to colour code each class and activity). fill in all your classes and extracurriculars, then fill in the times it takes you to travel, get ready in the mornings and prepare for school in the evenings. when that is done, fill in the gaps! you don’t need to be too specific; i classify mine quite simply into breaks, rests, study periods and exercise. so long as you designate appropriate times to valuable activities, you should be fine!

you also need a journal or planner of some kind. i swear by my bullet journal, but apps such as ‘school planner’ on android are an actual godsend. this is where you will jot down deadlines, tasks, events and exams. apps are really good for this because they will automatically sync everything onto one calendar, but the good old fashioned paper planner is wonderful too - it really depends on your style! every evening you should be able to glance at your planner, pick your outfit and pack your bag, all ready for the next day.

5. FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL whether you’re off at a new school or this is your last year, every september is an opportunity to change your approach to education. my biggest piece of advice is to be someone you’re happy and comfortable with. you may want to reinvent yourself completely - and that’s fine - but don’t strive to be something you’re not. if you’re quiet and comtemplative, there is no pressure to be the loudest one in class; the same goes the other way around. you’ll probably be much happier being yourself, and people will definitely love you for who you are.

having said this, you can always use september as a fresh start if you were unhappy with your past years in education. the best way to get off on the right foot is to be prepared, punctual and positive: have all of the materials required, always be early and try to keep a positive outlook on anything you’re asked to do. this way all of your teachers will know that you want to do well in their classes and you will attract others who also value their success this year. if you remember this approach during your first week (even if it is really scary!), you’ll begin your year perfectly.

6. SCHOOL LIFE before we get into the real study tips, we should quickly touch upon the other aspects of life at school: 

friendship - this is something that a lot of people struggle with at school. not necessarily making friends; everyone finds friends eventually. what people often find difficult is making the right friends. i’ve known a lot of people who want to do well but their friends don’t, so they find it holds them back. or they might really like their friends but have disagreements or fights that make them stress out and lose concentration. the fact is, finding friends who you can love and rely on is an important part of school life and you will experience problems with them. but don’t let this deter you! your real friends will stick with you through the good and the bad, and when worst comes to worst, you might split up. but that’s a part of growing up. if you outgrow someone - that’s fine. if you want a different type of friendship (or relationship), that’s fine too. do what is best for yourself and you’ll never go wrong.

extracurriculars - oftentimes an optional choice for students but vital nonetheless. if this is your final exam year and you’ll need all the time you can get, i wouldn’t stress over any clubs or classes besides booster sessions. however, if that’s not the case, i would seriously recommend taking an extracurricular for the first term at least. not only are they great for university applications, they will help relieve the stress of schoolwork and serve as a fast-track to making friends when you don’t know that many people. you could take something that links to your chosen subjects or aspirations, or just try something new. if you aren’t sure about commitment, take a club or class that only lasts a set number of weeks or just one term. that way you can drop it when the time is up without disappointing any teachers or peers. however, if you pick something you know you’ll really enjoy, you’ll hopefully keep the club all the way until summer! 

finally, teachers - the worst part of school for some and the best for others. i really have only one piece of advice: make friends with your teachers! not only will this help you when you’re struggling with an assignment or do poorly in an exam, a teacher can be one of the kindest and most interesting people you’ll meet at school. i’ve always had good relationships with my teachers and i have had no regrets. you can tall about the subject further or just get support with personal issues - sometimes, my teachers have honestly saved my life. so try to get to know your teachers and keep your mind open. you never know what you might learn!

7. IN CLASS okay, now we get to the real studying tips! when in class, it's important to transfer all the important information being discussed or presented into your book. this doesn't necessarily have to be exhaustive - if you write in length about one point, you'll miss out on the rest of the learning! instead, try to make brief but understandable notes using abbreviations or symbols; bullet pointing under different headers can help to separate ideas clearly. some teachers will pause to let you take down what is on their slides, but others will continue. try to prepare for the latter by writing as they talk. keep your class notes as minimalist as possible: this is where you are most information-based, so time spent on making them pretty is time wasted. most importantly, self assess any quizzes or written work - if you don't know where you went wrong, you can't grow.

during class, your teacher might hand out materials that they want you to read. if it helps, highlight all the key terminology and phrases as you go along (i find this especially helpful when reading rather large blocks of text). look up any words you don't understand, or if there isn't a dictionary, discuss it with a peer before asking the teacher. when reading, try to figure out the purpose of being given the text. is it simply information your teacher wants you to learn? do they want you to form an opinion, or analyse the author's opinions? sometimes they might want you to complete a task or talk about it with a partner. always try to understand what you are supposed to learn from what you are doing, or else you are just following instructions blindly.

class discussions are always my favourite part of any lesson. challenge yourself to participate - a lot of exam spec. calls for a clear opinion on the material and you can gain this from listening to and debating with other students. get into the habit of engaging with your classmates because they might approach the work in a way you haven't. this applies to the STEM subjects too; sometimes you might disagree on what the right answer is, or they might show you another way to work something out. it's very possible that they know something you don't, so take advantage of that! the only way to learn is to interact, so get involved.

8. STUDYING AT HOME ok, time to study. open your curtains, clear your workspace and lay out your equipment. try and keep a glass of water or another healthy drink of your choice on your desk for you to sip as you work. set your pomodoro timer or listen to some background noise - the 'tide' app and 'noisli' website work well for both - and turn to a fresh page. then get started…

the first step of learning at home is doing your homework. this could be prep work for your next lesson, reading or just a task set by your teacher to complete by a certain deadline. whatever it is, make sure it's recorded in your planner or on your phone, including any details and due dates. then, whenever you get study time, attempt it straight away. my theory is that waiting until a later date means you don't get any time to relax properly, and also leaves you unable to seek help if you don't understand or something is wrong. doing it right away gets rid of so much anxiety and allows you to get the well needed rest you deserve, rather than wasting time worrying about what is due when. when it comes to tasks, present your work neatly and treat it like classwork that is going to be marked. many people don't take homework seriously, but it can demonstrate to your teacher what you know and what you are struggling with. and always, always, get any readings done. not online summaries - the actual book. the teacher will know, trust me.

the next step is to start studying. this is going over your classwork at home, reading outside of your material or creating revision notes. you should try to read over your classwork at least once a week to make sure you remember what you've learnt and clear up any issues with understanding. once you know you understand what is taught in class, you could look into the work on a deeper level: in the sciences, this might mean learning the concept in more detail; in the humanities, it could mean reading about context. whenever you feel like you've learnt all that you have to - and want to - learn, you should start to revise. revision is more helpful at the end of a module because you will be able to fully summarise the information. at the beginning, you will probably want to work through each individual lesson and this is too much to read through and revise from effectively. for one subject, i turned 2 years worth of learning into a 4 or 5 page booklet that i revised from, and i was able to get full marks in the exam. essentially, studying really comes down to you, but you have to tailor it to your needs and abilities - and the subject you're doing. i'll talk more about that later.

9. DREAM TEAM / STUDY BUDDY before i talk about exams, i thought i might mention 'dream teams' and 'study buddies'. at my school, a motivational speaker came and talked to us about the value of having a team of people around you who can ensure you keep up with school and work hard. these will usually be people in your classes who you might check up with from time to time to make sure that you are all completing assignments and staying on top of things. i actually took this advice and it was genuinely helpful during exam time - we would meet up some weekends at the library and tutor one another, working through different subjects depending on who was best at what. eventually, we'd even stop other people distracting people in our dream teams in class because we were genuinely wanting one another to succeed. however, finding a whole team of people who can meet up regularly could prove very difficult. this is why you might decide to have a study buddy instead. they serve the same role as a dream team but you can talk to or meet up with them more since it's only the two of you. you might not even see each other most of the time - my study buddy goes to a different school and studies different subjects. but so long as you keep each other going and genuinely want them to do well too, you should both really succeed.

10. EXAM TIME aah! exams! this is obviously the part most people worry about and usually where most people want advice. when it comes to exam revision, you have to figure out what makes you work best. this means you need to know what types of learning are effective for you. if you prefer to watch videos or see what is going on for yourself, you're a visual learner. or you might need to do experiments and make models if you're more hands-on. it doesn't matter if you remember information in a less conventional way; what does matter is that you are able to find out what way that is.

then you need to base your revision based off of what subject you are doing and what type of exam it is. if it's an oral exam, there is no use practising essay writing; if it's an art exam, you might not need to stack up on flashcards. once you've matched everything up - subject, exam and technique - here are some methods i'd recommend using to revise.

a) flashcards have a lot of information to remember? does the subject involve a bunch of specific details or topics, for example, a science like chem or bio? then flashcards are the right choice for you! get your revision guide, textbook or class notes together and read through them. jot down only the most important parts - cut out any filler words or sentences that you know you don't need to understand the concepts. do this for each chapter and then use these to make your flashcards. split up all your cards so that you have an equal amount of cards per chapter. then for each chapter, use one side of a card for each topic. (note: you may need a lot of flashcards if there are many topics, but try not to use more than a side a topic. be short and simple - this is the point!) once you have finished, collect them all together in order and read through them whenever you need to jog your memory. try to test yourself on any parts you don't remember after you read through. these are really helpful for reminding yourself of content before attempting past papers! an online alternative like quizlet is also super helpful for quotes if you studying subjects like english, as you can look over them on the way to and from school with ease.

b) timelines, mindmaps & posters if you study a subject where lots of information is centred around certain themes or ideas, a mindmap or poster might be the best technique to use. it is also really helpful for people who learn visually. to make a timeline, draw a line down the centre of your paper and pick a start and end point - in subjects like history, they usually provide these in the spec. then write down all the events that happened in the timeframe, connecting each one to the line so it meets it at the correct year. you could even colour-code events into groups (like social, political and economic events) so you can make connections at a glance. a mindmap can be made by writing the theme or topic in the centre of the page, then creating branches for each sub-topic. each sub-topic usually extends out even further, with three or more branches being connected. once this is done, you could link bits of information using coloured pens or highlighters. finally, a poster is usually about one particular sub-topic that you could go into detail about. it could include pictures, diagrams, fancy headers - you name it! this is more of a creative task, so if you like art, you might prefer this type of revision.

c) post-it notes a shorter and simpler method is to use post-it notes. these are best for small bites of information - key words, quotes, etc. write down a bunch of post-it notes and stick them all over your room (or better yet, your house - with everyone else's permission) in places that you frequent often. you'll see the note and likely read it without thinking, helping jog your memory through repetition. could be very helpful in the language subjects if you need to know items and rooms! my friend has german parents so they labelled different household items in german so she could practise for her exam - why not try it too?

d) past papers it is always a good idea to try past papers as part of revision. not only does it help you get used to the formula of the paper, you can test your knowledge and skills so you know what you need to strengthen as part of your studying. you will probably attempt past papers in class buy definitely do them at home also. this technique is pretty straight-forward, but i still have a couple tips to make sure you get something out of it. first of all, practise it within the time limit. if you run out of time, draw a line under your work or swap pen colours, then complete the paper when you find the time. unless you get used to the timings, your time management in the actual exam will fail you and you won't show your full potential. secondly, mark harshly. if you aren't sure if you deserved that mark, don't give it a tick or a half mark. scrutinise your work so that you know the minimum grade you could get if you keep working at your level; it's better to mark under than over. finally, always try your very best. i knew too many people who would give 50% and claim they'd "actually try" in the real exams: this will not work out! don't be afraid to try your best and fail - this is how you get better. if you don't try your best and you do poorly, you'll never know if your best is good enough to pass.

e) summaries this technique is somewhat similar to flashcards, but for those who prefer notes that stay together so you can revise whole topics really quickly. divide everything into topics again, as you did for the flashcards, but this time, choose the key trigger words that make up each section. essentially, it's like making bullet point notes but even more minimalist - use words, acronyms, symbols, anything to explain bits of information in the smallest space possible. write everything down from each topic in this way - you should be left with a booklet of a few pages that will trigger your memory of the details. this is for when you really know the content though - beware if you haven't fully learnt it!

f) revision guide naturally, you should use your revision guide to study for your exams. however, you could also misuse them in revision, which could easily waste your time and effort. don't just simply read through your revision guide - not only will you probably fall asleep, you probably won't retain most of the information. try to engage with the text - highlight keywords and phrases (only important ones - don't highlight the whole book) or underline important passages in red pen. when you highlight certain words, you will automatically read them when you see the page, making your revision much quicker. when you underline sentences in a bright colour like red, you're forced to actually read the text and understand it instead of skimming absent-mindedly. complete the activities in your revision guides and try to get any revision workbooks available too. active revision is the best revision. when you've finished a session, write down everything you can remember about what you've read, then compare it to the actual content. whatever you've forgotten, revise next time.

g) videos need more visual revision techniques? videos can be really helpful if you can't really grasp a concept. there are channels on youtube like crash course that provide educational content that might tie into your course. type in the topic you're studying and voila - loads of videos that can explain it for you. pick ones that you know you can access mentally - sometimes a university-level lecture on derivatives isn't actually going to help you more than a 5 minute video with diagrams and bright graphics. don't bother watching something too hard or too easy - click off as soon as you know it isn't right. if you do find a good video, try to engage with it as much as possible - take notes, test yourself, etc. you never know, you might learn something new to use in your exam!

h) quote competitions this is a bit of an unusual one but it's one i liked the most before my english exams. once you have learnt the key quotes from your text, challenge a friend to a quote competition. you start by giving a quotation and they have to respond with a different one. keep going until someone repeats a quotation, says one incorrectly or simply runs out. these can go on for quite long if you have both revised well - me and my friend would practise while lining up for the exams and neither of us would lose by the time we had to go inside. you can also up the ante a little by adding extra rules: make them say the scene or chapter, the speaker or the context. this is a nice competitive way to check your knowledge and a good way to show off your memory of 'macbeth' or 'the great gatsby', if that's something you'd like to do.

i) teaching someone else my last tip is, in my opinion, my best tip: teach someone else! find someone that either knows nothing about it or doesn't understand it yet and explain it to them. this doesn't even have to be someone who can understand you - tell your phone, your dog, your baby sister… it doesn't matter! your teachers only know the material so well because they have to understand it well enough to explain it to someone else. so become a teacher yourself! i ended up teaching a lot of peers in all of my subjects; i even set up a temporary revision booster for classmates about 'macbeth' because i'd studied shakespeare for so long. it's good for your cv, it's good for the people you help and it's good for you, because that way you are making sure you understand and remember the material while you do the same for them. anyway, who knows when you might need help? when you've been revising well enough according to a regular timetable, you will be 100% ready to ace all your tests. breathe regularly before your exam, smile and tell yourself that you will do amazingly - this is proven to improve your performance - then walk in and take your seat. while in the exam, work quickly and neatly, thoroughly read through and attempt all questions, then check your work at the end. so long as you know the content, the skills and the timings, you should be able to really succeed. and if you feel like you're lacking confidence, know that everyone here online believes in you and wants you to do well.

CLOSING THOUGHTS doing well at school is a big task and it can be a lot to undertake even though it comes with a large reward. if you're struggling, then talk to someone about it. a friend, a teacher, a guardian - anyone who will listen. you may think that you can't do it because of this illness or that problem, etc. etc., but trust me, you can. it's not going to be easy; "if it was easy," eric thomas once remarked, "everyone would do it." let me let you in on a little secret: during my time at school i was in and out of hospital, had to bury a close friend and once had a year-long attendance of around 80-something percent. i had a really difficult time, especially in my final year when i took my exams. but i walked away with amazing results and that was because of one thing - i wanted to do it and i knew i could. so if you don't feel that way yet, i'll do it for you. i want you to do it and i know you can. so good luck this year, and i hope you all tell me about your amazing results in the summer!

[acdemic]

hey hello hi!!! it’s been ages (6 months?!) since my last masterpost, and i’ve been seeing so many great educational apps on the google play store. so here’s a list of some educational smartphone apps that you should check out! 

disclaimer: i have not used most of these applications (i generally don’t use study or even productivity apps), so i’m recommending them based on reviews!

general education

curiosity [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] curiosity is a super cool app that’s all about learning new quirky facts! every 24 hours new content is released, including mind-blowing science, history and technology facts. it’s like having the best museum and the most fascinating library at your disposal.

coursera [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] with coursera, you can access more than 1,000 courses and specializations developed by 140+ of the best colleges and universities in the world, and master subjects from python programming and data science to photography and music.

edx [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] edx provides free online courses from the world’s best universities and institutions. there are so many topics to discover, including computer science, engineering, history, psychology, nutrition, big data, statistics and hundreds more. with edx, you have the flexibility to learn on your schedule. it is free education, when and where you want it.

khan academy [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] khan academy allows you to learn (almost) anything for free. browse over 10,000 videos and explanations at your fingertips in math, science, economics, history, and much, much more. sharpen your skills with over 40,000 interactive practice questions with instant feedback and step-by-step hints. khan academy is a wealth of resources and it’s all free!  note: i really really recommend khan academy! it is super helpful and there’s also the free sat prep (and the upcoming free lsat prep for people interested in law school)!!

udemy [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] udemy is your place to learn real world skills online. with over 32,000 online courses and tutorials, offered in more than 80 languages, you can choose from a wide range of topics to inspire creativity, hone your skills, be your own boss, and more. courses in everything from programming, it & software, business, marketing and entrepreneurship, health, design, languages, music, and much more.

goodwall [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] goodwall is basically a social network for students - you can share your skills and achievements and win scholarships (and even be recognized by colleges and universities!) when you join, you are eligible for a $500 weekly new student award, in addition to the $1000 student of the month scholarship. people seem to think that it’s a great way to connect to other motivated students throughout the world (obviously the studyblr community is The Best ;) but here’s an awesome alternative!)

schoold [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] schoold is a super cool app that allows you to find information on 3000+ colleges and 25k+ scholarships by major and admission chance. It also offers free college counseling (advice on applications, financial aid, majors, and careers) and future planning tools! 

science

phywiz [ play store, free ] need help with your physics homework? phywiz provides step by step solutions for questions in over 30 physics topics, including kinematics, forces, gravity, and quantum physics. ask phywiz a question like "if mass is 6 and velocity is 7, what is momentum?" and get your answer immediately. many of the positive reviews call it “one of the best apps i’ve ever used”.

little alchemy [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] [ website ] this is such a cute game where you start with four elements and combine them to create interesting, fun and surprising items. it’s definitely addictive!

chemistry quiz [ play store, free ]  500+ quiz questions covering the elements, the periodic table, bonding and interactions, matter and mixtures, chemical reactions, acids and bases, organic chemistry, nuclear chemistry, history of chemistry, and labs.

skyview [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] a beautiful and intuitive stargazing app that uses your camera to precisely spot and identify celestial objects in sky, day or night. it’s a great app for people who love space but don’t want to purchase fancy equipment to enjoy its beauty. you can see what each star and planet is and where it’s going. be sure to calibrate it first!

coding

encode [ play store, free ] encode is packed with bite-sized coding lessons that combine succinct explanations and clear real-code examples. it is a wonderful way for beginners to start programming.

sololearn has a ton of apps that are all about learning to code: java, c#, python, javascript, c++, etc.!

programming hub [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] your one-stop solution to learn all of the top programming languages! you can learn c, c++, java, html, javascript, r, css, vb.net, c#, python 2.7, python 3, linux shell scripting, swift, sql, jquery, and assembly 8086. there are over 1800+ pre-compiled programs with output for practice and learning. a new feature seems to be the programming-related interview questions that can help you prepare for a job interview!

codenza [ play store, free ] codenza is a dictionary of 3000+ ready-made computer programs: the ultimate coding encyclopedia for university curriculum. codenza covers everything from computer graphs to artificial intelligence! note: codenza does not teach programming. it only provides programs and offers explanations for the more complex programs.

math

cymath [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] [ website ] stuck on a math problem? cymath allows you to enter your problem, and helps you to solve it step-by-step. topics include pre-algebra, algebra (equation solving, factoring, logarithms, exponents, complex numbers, quadratic equations, trigonometry, partial fraction, polynomial division, etc.), and calculus (product rule, quotient rule, chain rule, u-substitution, integration by parts, integration by partial fraction, trigonometric substitution, rationalizing substitution, etc.)

photomath [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] math is full of symbols that we are inconvenient to type, and photomath solves that problem: simply point your camera toward a math problem and photomath will show the result with detailed step-by-step instructions. there is a new feature of handwriting recognition as well!

mathway [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] [ website ] yet another math problem solver! this one allows you to type your problem or scan a picture of your problem. mathway covers basic math, pre-algebra, algebra, trigonometry, precalculus, calculus, statistics, finite math, linear algebra, chemistry, and graphing. one flaw seems to be that you need to be online for it to work, but otherwise, it’s a fantastic tool!

history

history timeline [ play store, free ] okay, woah. this is a detailed timeline of world history with thousands of entries! it includes world history (events, nations, leaders, and wars) AND history of science, art, literature, music, and philosophy.

today in history [ play store, free ] [ similar apple, free ] for the history enthusiast who wants to learn something new every day: today in history tells you what historical events happened on that day! it works offline and you can choose from over 50 languages.

ancient history encyclopedia [ play store, free ] [ website ] thousands of informative and reliable articles on ancient history. articles are written with students in mind and are carefully reviewed to ensure accuracy, and are easy to read. 

languages

duolingo [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] one of the leading language learning apps, duolingo gives you the ability to learn english, spanish, french, german, italian, portuguese, dutch, irish, danish, swedish, russian, ukrainian, esperanto, polish, and turkish for free. you can practice your speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills and improve your vocabulary and grammar.

productivity

forest [ play store, free ] [ apple, $1.99 ] forest is a cute productivity app that keeps you off of your phone! you set a certain amount of time, and during that time a tree ‘grows’, but if you use your phone before the times up, the tree dies. :( 

habitica [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] have you heard of ‘gamification’? habitica is an app that allows you to gamify your tasks! check off tasks to level up your avatar and unlock features such as armor, pets, skills, and even quests! it’s a great way to have fun while being productive! note: habitica is another one of these apps that i’ve actually attempted to use - it is super cute and it’s definitely a great way to stay on track!

timetune [ play store, free ] timetune is a great app for people who have established a daily routine or would like to. you can set up a routine (or multiple routines) and add your daily tasks. it can be used as a daily task reminder, student calendar, timetable planner, routine schedule organizer, routine optimizer, habit creation tool, daily time manager, or daily planner.

ike [ play store, free ]  ike is a to-do list that uses eisenhower’s priority matrix. you can organize your tasks by importance and urgency, and add all sorts of details such as due dates and location reminders.

habithub [ play store, free ] habithub is based on seinfeld’s productivity secret, which involves building long streaks of days that will motivate you to keep moving forward. (snapchat for habits? i think yes!) it includes a full calendar view for every habit, reminders, compatibility with smartwatches, the option to write notes every day, more flexible goals, the ability to categorize your habits, and graphs that show you how you’re doing. the interface looks beautiful and people seem to love the abundance of settings.

pomotodo [ play store, free ] [ apple, free ] there is an abundance of pomodoro timers in the app store, and pomotodo is one of them! pomotodo easily syncs across platforms, has advanced to-do list options, the ability to customize pomo and break times, offers background noise to keep you focused, and sends you weekly email reports to help you track your productivity. i don’t want to list a ton pomodoro apps in this masterpost, but here are the many options on google play store!

alright, that’s all i’ve got for you today !! i hope that this was helpful, and feel free to send me an ask with any questions, suggestions for future masterposts, or your recommendations for other study apps/websites!! :) have a great day!

icon by madebyoliver

[horribleblogwhichsucks]

4 Should-Inquire Questions When Picking a Totally free CRM Platform

As well usually throughout my profession I have seen buyers more than-emphasize person interface experience and practical characteristics when creating a CRM vendor decision. Although each components are important, they can not outweigh the lengthy-time period balance and functionality of the system, which equally are built on. Think of it this way — if you had been acquiring a property you are likely going to focus on what the residence looks like, simply because that is what you will see every day as long as you live there. You are also very likely to appear at how the residence will operate, this sort of as area format, bathroom places, kitchen area size, etc. But if this residence is developed on a basis that will crack in four several years, regardless of the appearance or structure your expense will be formally acknowledged as the cash pit. In my around-twenty-calendar year profession of masking distributors I too usually saw too several platform shifts result in sudden migration expenses, or even worse situation, result in main organization disruption. I are unable to tell you how several times a buyer would phone me saying a vendor declared they are going to Conclude of Life the existing edition of their cloud offering and now the customers are compelled to migrate and absorb the expense or kick off an RFP procedure to evaluate new suppliers. Most, if not all, of theses situations resulted from the buyer not undertaking the suitable because of diligence on the system in the course of their preliminary analysis method. This is a immediate symptom of a vendor's CRM growth methods currently being shifted to developing a new CRM software on the shiny new platform because the aged one particular had designed cracks. This state of affairs often plays out since an on-premise seller rushed to the cloud with their preliminary providing. This will come about because a vendor goes by way of the subsequent 6 levels: 1) Denial - The on-premise vendor denies the price and power of the cloud since the seller does not have an giving and it is the only way to protect their earnings stream. 2) Discomfort - The seller comes to the conclusion that denial will not work and their company starts off getting negatively impacted. 3) Anger - Management gets indignant with competition and places blame on the revenue business because they are not meeting their figures. 4) Melancholy - Management now realizes they are in trouble and they someway have to get to the cloud in some way, rapidly, and fake it has always been on their roadmap. 5) Bogus Hope - The seller quickly develops a cloud edition of their on-premise merchandise or results in a new version of their present product on a new system that will trigger recent clients discomfort when they will be forced to migrate (did I also point out the clients don't constantly know they will need to migrate to a new platform?) 6) Instability - The vendor is now forced to assist a number of versions of the "exact same solution" on numerous distinct platforms, leading to constrained innovation that starts a downward spiral as present customers get disappointed and new buyers do not have the functions and features in the new solution that will assist them be productive. Each and every CRM seller I tracked in my job who started in the on-premise world went by means of these 6 phases. It is remarkable the consistency. Some sellers would launch up to a few goods in a 10-calendar year interval, other folks would develop a independent cloud platform outdoors of the company's overall cloud system strategy. This is why I would often tell buyers to make sure they inspected the balance of the platform (aka, the foundation) or else they would confront migration costs, or even worse however, company disruption in the future. Listed here are the four basic concerns I recommended clients to inquire vendors for the duration of their evaluations: 1) Did the vendor port and keep on to support their conventional on premise software? The primary problem here is the seller is using a legacy database centric model as opposed to a meta-information multi-tenant product technique. This right goes to the coronary heart of restricting the velocity of innovation in the product, often necessitating buyers to use specific tools to test customizations and configurations prior to upgrade. Cloud-very first CRM platform apps basically upgrade without disruption, reducing any chance for enterprise disruption and reduced TCO. 2) Is the vendor's CRM software on the vendor's main cloud primarily based application platform, or do they generate a one off platform just for the CRM software? It is not if but when the seller will be pressured to shift platforms. This typically occurs when a CRM team was compelled to have a cloud providing just before the vendor's system group developed their main growth platform. Eventually, and this has been confirmed in every seller I covered, the CRM development crew will be forced to port off of their legacy system they constructed for pace to market place factors to the new main advancement system of the firm. This leads to Stop of Life for the CRM application created on the legacy platform and straight qualified prospects to business disruption for the buyer and unexpected fees for migrating to the new platform. 3) Does the vendor have a 5 - 10 12 months track record of clients upgrading on their CRM app system with no any important migration troubles? For people of you that are not specialized there is an even less complicated way to consider a CRM vendor's platform. If a seller does not have at minimum a 5-to-ten-calendar year keep track of report of the exact same cloud consumers on their platform, they are likely at chance for a port in the foreseeable future. The reason is sellers who ended up not cloud-first often confront a 5-calendar year re-platforming cycle. This, once more, is supported by information in excess of the past 15 several years that I have accrued in my protection of 100's of CRM distributors. Cloud-very first vendors do not confront they very same system recycle issues, therefor give clients with a secure environment that is confirmed by strong renewal prices. 4) Is a seller transparent on their product roadmap? Vendors who are in the middle of porting to a new system are typically hesitant or obscure in the product road map commitments. The purpose is since they are continuously battling how much growth methods are devoted to porting vs . building new abilities. The base line is that when you buy a home, you examine the basis and you ask the inquiries until you know it is trusted. When you buy a CRM software, you require to adhere to the same approach and begin with an evaluation of the system. Your stability, long term costs, and sanity will depend on it.

[freshcodeit-blog]

Time management for business. Effective hacks from IT company owner

Self-organizational skills help to stay competitive and feel better in spite of all the present-day challenges. It's especially important for business owners, who need to constantly improve both themselves and their companies. Using my 12-years experience in practicing time management techniques, I prepared an article with the most effective and workable hacks.

How do you think, is a week a long or a short period of time? How fruitful were the last 7 days of your life? Do you want to make yourself more productive? If yes, you may search for “time management tips”. And feel a little bit frustrated. Firstly, because Google asserts that the phrase time management is an oxymoron. Actually, you can’t control your time, the duration of seconds and hours, as well as of your own life. You can only decide where to put your energy, efforts and attention at each certain minute. The second reason for your potential regret is the amount of information on this mainstream topic. There are thousands of books, courses and recommendations, but I will show you those, that work for me.

Happiness, productivity, presence, and fulfillment all find their roots in your ability to proactively control where you direct your mental energy. (Zat Rana, Medium)

This statement tells us about the significance of prioritizing and the ability to control attention. What you concentrate on at the moment, that you will get in the future. How to gain these time management skills? Let’s see.

The history of time management

My introduction to the topic started when I was a student. I’ve read a book by Gleb Arkhangelsky called “Time drive”. The author explains the basis of self-management and shares tricks on how to do everything on time. It’s a nice option for beginners, who only start to discover this approach.

The next book was “This strange life” by Daniil Granin. It tells a story of biologist Alexander Lyubischev, who has developed his own system of time management. It was based on the understanding that personal time is as valuable, as money. And it should be controlled in the same way. The scientist not only focused on the prioritization and effective thinking, but also was quite pedantic following his chronometry technique. He tracked each minute of his life by writing special notes on an everyday basis. It doesn’t mean you should follow his steps, because it may be very challenging. But the case shows how crucial is time management for successful professional results, long and fruitful life.

Many famous personalities used self-organizational techniques and reflected on the importance of time. One of the first of them was Greek philosopher Socrates, who said: “While we wait for life, life passes”.

The main opponent of time management, its worst enemy, is procrastination. But you shouldn’t blame yourself too much on spending time in easy, but meaningless ways. Procrastination is common to all people on the planet. No matter how significant and respectful are their professional achievements and posts.

Not only humans procrastinate their tasks. Animals also demonstrate such behavior. It’s a phenomenon of “shifted activity”, which can be caused by 2 factors:

frustration due to a challenging situation

the inner conflict caused by some controversies

Let’s look at a seagull that sets on a nest and lays eggs. Suddenly, it notices a danger. For example, a polar scientist. The seagull wants to escape, but can’t because of the nest. So, it feels the inner conflict and decides to clean feathers. It an irrational action, which can’t help to avoid the danger, but the bird acts this way.

Now, let’s imagine a journalist who is writing an important article. Suddenly, he hears about breaking news. An editor says he must write a note about them. What then the journalist does? He opens Facebook and surfs the Internet for the whole day. The thing is he simply can’t decide what of these 2 important tasks should be done earlier.

Do you notice the similarity of the 2 cases? Procrastination is an ancient way in which nature saves us from unpleasant and difficult situations. On the other hand, humans need to cope with it, if they want to make their everyday life more effective and interesting.

How can we deal with procrastination?

In my experience, the best way is to use the Japanese approach “Ikigai”. In a few words, it’s an answer to the question: “what makes your life meaningful?”. The concept has special meaning for each person and depends on 4 criteria:

passion (what you love to do)

mission (how can you help others)

vocation (what you are good at)

profession (what brings you money)

Procrastination is also known as a conflict between undervalued tasks and overvalued. Ikigai helps to find the needed balance and simplifies the concentration on one single goal. I want to emphasize this, because the more tasks and issues you have, the higher is the risk to face a conflict between them. So, you will spend more time on procrastination. Some people say that multi-tasking influences us worse, than alcohol. You just get lost among many projects and start to do something unnecessary.

Setting goals as a powerful time management method

Like Ikigai, this technique requires a deep understanding of your personality, values and beliefs. Defining your goals for years isn’t a simple thing. I usually write my plans for a month and then check what I’ve done. Sometimes I put a goal to the next month, or just delete it, realizing it isn’t valuable for me. Ikigai helps not only to focus on the personal aims, but also to know your priorities better and view yourselves from the outside.

As for prioritizing, I recommend a simple scheme. It’s the matrix by David Eisenhower, who proposed to divide everyday tasks into 4 sections:

important and urgent

not important and urgent

important and not urgent

not important and not urgent

Usually people forget about the third point because the urgent issues take all their time. It’s an endless stream of problems that require your attention. But important and not urgent goals have the greatest influence on your life in a long time perspective. By the way, most of the not important and not urgent tasks can be simply skipped.

GTD as the best way of self-management

Getting Things Done is a system, created by David Allen, an American business consultant. Entrepreneurs and top managers are those, who really feel the lack of time. David Allen helped them by creating these simple rules. Let’s look at them:

Inbox (the technique of empty head)

Never keep all tasks in your mind. Use your smartphone to write down all new plans and ideas. This rule is also connected with the famous Zeigarnik effect. Psychological experiments show that people are more likely to remember uncompleted processes, than completed ones. So, if you just stop working at 5 p.m., you may all evening worry about things you had to do. It’s better to finish at least some little tasks, and then have a rest.

2. Weekly review

If you just put everything into the inbox, one day you will find it confusing and messy. So, once a week you should make time for review. I usually divide all tasks to separate projects, check the completed and the planned ones. Some of them can be paused, others can be transformed. The review guarantees your trust in the system, because you are sure that you will see all the tasks, not forget them.

3. Define the next steps

Everyday hustle spits your focus and you start to react without thinking and analyzing a situation. To avoid impulsive decisions and time wasting, it’s better to plan your actions in advance. At weekends, when you feel safe and peaceful, sit and think about the further tasks. You can spend an hour, two or three, as much time, as you need for long perspective planning. Then, write specific steps for each task. It’s the simplest way to move your goals forward. The steps should be SMART:

specific

measurable

achievable

realistic

time-bounded

Using this personal time management technique you will see the progress. Because you don’t need to think, reflect and doubt. Just do.

4. Rely on your calendar

As for the agenda, I fully trust my personal calendar. It shows me all of the planned meetings and events. So, I see when I can complete the urgent and important tasks. They are estimated and have planned next steps. It makes me more calm and effective. As for time management apps, I like OmniFocus, but there are lots of alternatives.

Principles of time management

Define one main task for the day that will make you close to your goal. You may have other things to do, but this one should be in the first place.

Notice everything that distracts you. I mean random thoughts, new ideas, social networks. When you notice them, you can control them.

Filter information to get rid of unimportant facts. Be mindful of chronofags that cause addiction by providing unexpected content (YouTube, Facebook, news).

Be ready to say NO, because only you can organize your time. Divide big tasks into smaller parts. Do them in several steps. I call this “to eat elephants”.

Start to delegate your tasks, especially if you have a lot of them. Teach members of your team, so you will be able to rely on them. Let others help you.

Deep work is a key for productivity improvement

One of my favorite books about productivity is “Deep work”. It includes immersion methods that help to achieve incredible results. Actually, anyone can work only for 4 hours a day and complete the whole scope of tasks. The most important thing here is to avoid any distractions: unnecessary internet searching, social media, private and corporate messengers, etc. You should focus on the tasks and pay all your attention, all mental energy in doing them.

You can also use a method of a “nice gesture”. For example, you can work in an extraordinary, luxury place, or do something else unusual. Some writers who can’t complete a novel, take a ticket on a flight or book an expensive hotel room for working there. As for me, I prefer to do my businesses not at the office, but at coworking on the other side of the city. Nobody knows me there, so nobody distracts me with the endless flow of questions, talks and unimportant tasks.

I also like one of the most famous time management methods, called Pomodoro. It’s really helpful for people, who can’t be concentrated on something for a long time. In a few words, you should divide your time to intervals. For example, you work constantly without distractions, during 20 or 25 minutes. Then, you have breaks of 5–15 minutes.

Just like sportsmen train their physical strengths and grow muscles, you can improve your ability to keep attention on one thing. Regular practice is the most important factor in developing concentration. But except for focused work, you also need mind-wandering thinking. It’s responsible for your creativity and the ability to find extraordinary solutions.

Other time management tips and notes:

remember that improving yourself at least 1% every day, you can get incredible results in a year

try the self-qualified method, which can be really helpful for analyzing different aspects of your life

start to write a diary or self-gratitude notes to see what you’ve done and how productive was the day

I should mention that all of these time management techniques are meaningless without your full trust in the system you’ve built. It’s of vital importance. So, you should try different methods and choose the most suitable for you.

To sum up, here are the most important takeaways:

If you want time management to work, create habits and rituals.

Find and follow your global goal, the Japanese concept IKIGAI.

Try to understand yourself better, analyze your life, think about values.

Remember that your attention determines where you go and what achieve.

Deep work is the best method to get the desired results in a short time.

I hope my article was useful for you, inspiring to make at least a small step for improving yourself. Subscribe to FreshCode blog to get more interesting articles by business owners, programmers, project managers and other IT specialists. If you already have an idea of your startup, we are always here to make it happen.

Original article Time management for business. Effective hacks from IT company owner published at freshcodeit.com.

[unixcommerce]

How to Stay Focused at Work

Staying on task can be a challenge at home or at work, and sometimes even more difficult when you’re working from home. In this article, you’ll get 15 tips on how to stay focused at work…

Wait! First I want to watch a video of a honey badger fighting off an anaconda, and a couple of jackals. After that, I’ll get right back to writing about how to stay focused at work.

The lure of interesting things on social media is just one of the challenges to overcome. Here’s how to best that challenge, and others, to stay focused.

15 Ways to Stay Focused at Work

Here are 15 of the best ways to focus at work — especially when you can’t focus!

1. Take Breaks

Sounds counterproductive, right? Shouldn’t you dig in, nose to the grindstone and all that, until the task or project is complete?

Wrong. We are more productive when we take breaks. This is particularly true if the work and breaks are structured. That removes the risk of extending a break. Working towards a scheduled break helps keep your stress levels at bay.

2. Plan Ahead

Having a plan for your workday, and workweek will help you stay on track for the task at hand. Some projects may take half a day, some, half a month. Taking time at the outset to make a plan for the work will help you keep your eye on the prize.

3. Put it on a Calendar

Does the work need to be finished by Thursday at the latest, so it can be shipping Friday morning? With a lengthy project, are there certain target dates within the work? Post it on a calendar, at your desk or on a wall, if multiple employees are involved.

4. Organize Your Work Station

This is key. The time you spend straightening up your work station will pay back in dividends. Organizing your work station will help keep you focused at work.

It can be very distracting to stop working to search for a document or some needed supplies throughout the day. A clean workspace sets the tone for the workday, every day.

5. Reduce Distractions

At work, you can reduce distractions by letting coworkers know that you don’t wish to be disturbed for specified periods of time. You’re free only for emergency calls. If you’re in a busy office, you may have to vacate your desk and find a quiet place to work. Is there an unused meeting room or board room?

If you’re working from home, and you’re home alone, you can take steps as needed to reduce distractions. But if you’re a working parent, working from home with a child who is learning virtually, you are tasked with trying to find a balance.

How can you keep an eye on the kids and be a productive worker at the same time? As advised earlier, schedule break and work time. Make that schedule identical for all who are working from home.

6. Lock Down Social Media

C’mon, admit it. You’ve already watched the video of the honey badger fighting off the anaconda…

FB can help us feel connected, even during this social distancing era. But it can also be a time sucker, keeping you from the tasks of the day and staying focused.

Just as you’ve made a schedule for break and work time, schedule social media or internet surfing time. The best time for that is when the tasks for the day have been completed.

7. Schedule Blocks of Time for Tasks

Each work assignment or project is predicted to be completed in a certain amount of time. As you make a plan for the day or week, block out the anticipated start and completion times of the tasks.

This simple exercise will do more than help you stay focused. It can help reduce your stress level. It can help you find it easier to “turn off your mind” and fall asleep at bedtime.

8. Get Enough Sleep

For all adults between 20 and 60, the recommended amount of sleep per night is 7 hours. Studies have proven that sleep deprivation makes it much, much harder to focus.

Without enough sleep, you’re likely to get angry and frustrated throughout the day. If you haven’t gotten enough sleep, you can recharge with a short – no longer than 20 minutes – power nap.

9. Graze, Eat

See above, “angry and frustrated throughout the day.” There’s a word for it – Hangry, the combo of hungry and angry. You won’t be able to stay focused at work if you don’t take the time to eat, and snack.

But, not just any snack or meal will cut it. Foods high in carbohydrates, sugar and sodium may give you a quick boost. But the quick boost will be followed by a crash.

All things in moderation. Eat and snack sensibly. Stay hydrated with plenty of water. If you’re a coffee drinker, have at it. Studies have shown that small cups of coffee spaced over the workday will help you stay focused.

10. Break Large Projects into Segments

You can lose focus if you feel that you’re not making progress. Rather than simply write down the end goal, break it down into separate parts.

For example, let’s go back to school days and use “Turn in Term Paper” as the end goal. But it seemed to be an overwhelming goal, 20 pages, how could you do it? Well, you did it by doing it in pieces. You organized the main points, you did the research. Then you wrote a draft, worked on that, and finally turned it in.

It’s no different in the workplace. A seemingly insurmountable task looms large. It’s unwieldy, complicated, in the sum of its parts. But if you take those parts one by one, and steadily get each part out of the way, suddenly it’s doable.

11. To-Do List, with Priorities

This fits hand-in-hand with breaking a large project into segments. Making a list is extremely helpful and possibly the one thing that is the most effective tool for staying focused.

Mentally, a detailed list can become a form of reward. One by one, as tasks are accomplished, you get to draw a line through them. Then, with one step of the work done, you can turn your focus to the next task on the list.

12. Know Yourself

Are you a morning person or a night owl? Do you find yourself having more trouble focusing at certain times of the day? Do you seem to lose focus at the same time every day?

One way to find the answer to how to be focused is to recognize your personal strengths and weaknesses. If you know you do your best work first thing in the morning, take advantage of that. Plan to focus on the most complicated or difficult part of your task during your most productive time.

13. Work and No Work Zones

Scheduled work and break times are important. And it’s also important to separate those areas.

Here’s a for instance: You’re working from home and after a couple of hours, head to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. You take that steaming mug back to your work area, sipping away at it as you review your work.

Well, that’s not a break. Sitting down in the kitchen for 15 minutes to drink the coffee is a break. In order to get full advantage of a break, it needs to be a full break away from work. Keep those zones separate.

14. Pictures and Words

Remember that organized work area? Now add some bling, in the form of inspirational photographs and words.

The photographs can be family members or pets – to remind yourself who your work is supporting. Or you might display a photograph of someone in your field who you admire.

What about words? Inspirational quotes can be a way to boost your spirits when the way gets challenging.

“It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste.” Henry Ford

“Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” Helen Keller.

You can choose any pictures and words for workspace inspiration. You can change them freely, as you wish. Reminding yourself of key people and thoughts/ideas is one of the ways to stay focused on the importance of your tasks.

Discover our Motivational Quotes for Business.

15. Reward

One sure way to lose your focus for new tasks is to skip taking time to enjoy the completed task. You did it! You’re not resting on your laurels, but you’re savoring the moment.

If you’re a manager or boss, this is the time to acknowledge and thank the team of workers, who stayed focused right along with you. Before you turn everyone’s eyes to the next project, take time to reward yourself and others for a job well done.

Mental Focus FAQs

People often ask questions about specific things that can help them focus. In general, mental focus is tied to the ability to withstand distractions. You can either remove distractions or learn to focus despite distractions.

What are some foods that help you focus?

Several foods can improve focus and mental alertness. Those foods include blueberries, fatty fish, green tea, flaxseed, nuts, and dark chocolate. But it’s important to note chowing down on blueberries and nuts during a break at work might not help – to aid with focus, these foods need to be part of a person’s regular diet.

Will meditation help me focus?

Yes, meditation can improve focus. Here’s why. During meditation, a person learns to relax, remain calm, and focus the mind on a simple activity, such as deep breathing. In other words, meditation helps train your mind to focus.

Here are the Best 10 Meditation Apps for Stressed Out Entrepreneurs.

How many hours of sleep do I need to work productively?

Experts say humans need 7 hours of sleep a night. That’s the figure for all adults between the ages of 20 and 60.

Here are our Top Tips for a Better Night’s Sleep and Increased Work Productivity.

Does music help you focus?

Learning to play a musical instrument helps a person learn to focus. Learning to play an instrument requires training, concentration and focus – all things that can carry over into career achievement.

The answer to whether listening to music helps you focus depends on an individual’s feelings. For some, music is soothing and is little more than background sounds. For others, music can be distracting and take away from the ability to focus.

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “How to Stay Focused at Work” was first published on Small Business Trends

https://smallbiztrends.com/

The post How to Stay Focused at Work appeared first on Unix Commerce.

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[jamesgregoruk]

Restaurant Marketing Growth Plan for 2020 

When most people think of owning a restaurant, they imagine a place packed with customers, long queues, and the continuous ringing of takeaway orders. However, the reality for most restaurants is very different. They struggle to get a consistent flow of customers, and instead of turning substantial profits, they make significant losses. As a result, they often have no option than to shut down. 

It isn’t because their food or service was terrible. They simply didn’t have a restaurant marketing plan in place to attract and retain customers for the long term. 

In this article, we will cover: 

How to build a big buzz for my restaurant using social media

Leveraging events to get a flood of people through the door

How to attract customers to my restaurant

How to track and improve your restaurant marketing efforts

A simple SEO technique for high rankings on Google 

Using data to amplify growth

 Restaurant Marketing Plan to Grow Business

Before we delve into the various techniques, it is important to set a foundation for your marketing efforts. Contrary to popular belief, people don’t visit restaurants just because of the quality of food. They could order a microwaveable dinner from the supermarket or cook at home. They visit for an experience they can talk about with friends the next day. 

You could serve amazing food; however, if you don’t go above and beyond for your customers, they will just visit a different restaurant. Plus, they are likely to tell their friends about it. A university professor identified four primary reasons why people visit and recommend restaurants. 

Food: This needs to be outstanding and well presented. A good marketing strategy for food and beverages is to visit/order takeaways from competitors just to compare. 

Service: Your customers visit for the experience. Treat them with importance, and they will keep coming back. 

Design: Does the design of your restaurant fit the theme? Sometimes less is more. Pinterest is an excellent place to find ideas. 

X factor: What does your restaurant do better than other places? What would a customer tell their friends about with excitement? It could be something simple like offering a free drink and an apology to customers who have waited too long for their food. 

 Consistency

When I speak to restaurant owners I always ask about their food and beverage marketing ideas and current restaurant promotions. Most widen their eyes with amazement. The restaurant marker is fierce. Therefore, you must get into the mindset of ‘fighting’ to attract and keep customers. For every output, there is an input. You can’t get more customers (output) without an effective restaurant marketing strategy (input). 

The easiest way to be consistent is to create a food service marketing plan calendar which marks essential national and local events. Here are some event types you would want to include and why: 

Local sporting events: You can engage with fans using Facebook ads and do a few fun restaurant promotion ideas by presenting an ‘exclusive’ offer, such as 2-for-1 on pre-match drinks. Most teams have a supporters club. Reach out to them on social media or via email to promote this offer. Don’t just restrict this offer to football fans. Remember that there are a lot of local fitness clubs around the country who would appreciate unique restaurant ideas like an exclusive deal. 

Public holidays: This is an opportunity to get families into your restaurant. Therefore, it is worth creating Instagram posts and promotions around public holidays. 

Local partnerships: If your city has a university or sixth form, it is key that you engage with their societies. You can partner up with student unions to launch promotions during the beginning of the new academic year and post-exams period. This enables you to attract a lot of new customers. The more local partnerships you create, the more opportunities you have for a flood of new customers. 

Street team: The most convincing way to exhibit your food is to let people have a taste of it. A few local restaurants offered free ice cream on a hot summer’s day in the middle of Manchester City Centre. Who would say no to free ice cream? Each small tub of ice cream also had their branding, opening times, location etc. In fact, the exhibit and tubs of ice cream got shared thousands of times on Instagram. In one afternoon, they had announced their arrival with a bang! 

It is worth organising a street team campaign during quieter months. Be creative about the execution and weather conditions. For instance, offer a sample of soup during the winter months and ice cream during the summer. 

Each method will bring in new customers. The key to long term growth is to be consistent with your efforts. 

 Reputation Management & Customer Service

What do people see when they type your restaurant’s name into Google? In this day-and-age, a website and regularly updated social media profiles are a necessity. If they can’t find you, or reviews aren’t favourable, they will simply visit a competitor. 

No matter how hard you try, some people will have something negative to say about your business. Competitors might even leave some. Don’t reply angrily. Potential customers would be able to see it. Therefore, you must respond in a certain way. 

Address their complaint and apologise for not meeting your exceptionally high standards during their visit. 

Offer to make it right and provide your contact information. Most of the time, people just want to complain, and Google reviews or Yelp are the quickest way to do so. 

If possible, communicate with them privately. In most cases you can learn something which will help to fix your business which is a key in social media marketing for restaurants. 

If the review was clearly left by a competitor or someone who has never visited your restaurant, mention it in your response. Politely state that “We can’t seem to find you in our records as having been a previous customer.” 

Notably, you can have fraudulent reviews removed. To do this, you will need to get a Google My Business account. This enables you to flag reviews for removal. Besides this, Google My Business allows you to post offers, pictures and control how your restaurant appears on the search results. Make your first impression great. 

 SEO for Restaurants

Using Google My Business helps your restaurant to appear in position 1 when people search for your name. However, what if people in your local area are just looking for a place to eat? They are likely to type in terms such as [Your city] + best restaurant. Competitors with better SEO and better restaurant marketing strategies are likely to hit the number 1 spot. As a result, they can attract many customers without spending any money on the best advertising for restaurants. 

Here are eight ways to quickly get an SEO boost: 

Ensure that all your social media accounts are linked back to your website. This marketing strategy for restaurant business sends out positive signals to search engines because their algorithms gain more context. 

Speed is a ranking factor. From experience, restaurant sites tend to be small due to having too many graphical elements. Owners also buy the cheapest hosting package to cut costs and disregard writing a business plan for a restaurant. A great restaurant business plan sample would include efficient food marketing strategies.

Localise your content. Instead of trying to rank for a broad term such as restaurant, which will be owned by large chains and apps such as Deliveroo, aim to rank in your local area. You can do this by having a blog and creating content targeted at your local area. For instance: “10 best places to visit in [city name]” and then add your restaurant as one of the 10 best places. Content like this will ‘force’ you to mention local landmarks. This sends out ‘relevancy’ signals to search engines. 

Create video content. Video is one of a few unique restaurant promotion ideas, and it can also help with SEO. Include your city/town in your video title and add a link to your website in the description. Share it on social media to get some views. Showcase the food on offer, and end with your contact details and location. For restaurants I have consulted with, we find that the best restaurant ads end up on page one within a short space of time. 

If your restaurant site runs on WordPress, use Yoast SEO and install the local extension. This best restaurant marketing strategy helps to improve SEO by localising your website.

Relevant backlinks are a ranking factor. Therefore, you can begin by submitting the site to directories such as Yell, your local council and restaurant directories. 

Stick with the best restaurant promotions. Great content + promotion = results. Therefore, it is worth reaching out to local bloggers, instagram influencers and Youtubers. They might be willing to link out to your site or share their visit with followers. All of this activity helps with SEO. 

The time spent on your site is an SEO ranking factor. Far too often, I see badly designed restaurant websites. It is worth revisiting your site to see whether a redesign is needed. Your business depends on it. 

 Improving the Restaurant’s In-Store and Online Ordering Process

You can have the best restaurant growth plan in the world. However, without data and excellent ordering experience, it won’t matter. That is why we built etakeawaymax to put you in total control of your restaurant business and give you creative restaurant marketing ideas. Why pay massive commissions, and lose the functionality to follow up with customers?

With our easy-to-use service and carefully built marketing strategies for restaurants and owners, you get the following: 

A custom mobile ordering app and website. Make your first impression magnificent. 

Get analytics on every part of your business so that you can take revenue-generating decisions. 

A built-in database so that you can follow up with customers. 

Automatically suggest drinks and sides to increase order value. 

Join the giants of the restaurant advertising industry by letting customers order using a tablet. 

A built-in feedback system for real-time customer service management. 

We have taken the very best from giants of the food industry and brought it to businesses big and small. Usually, a restaurant marketing plan like this would cost a small fortune. Our packages start from £149 – including setup. Our more than 200 happy customers have changed how their business runs. We are so confident that we even included a 90-day money-back guarantee. 

source https://www.etakeawaymax.co.uk/restaurant-marketing-plan/ source https://etakeawaymax.blogspot.com/2020/01/restaurant-marketing-growth-plan-for.html

[brandonsmithuk]

Restaurant Marketing Growth Plan for 2020

When most people think of owning a restaurant, they imagine a place packed with customers, long queues, and the continuous ringing of takeaway orders. However, the reality for most restaurants is very different. They struggle to get a consistent flow of customers, and instead of turning substantial profits, they make significant losses. As a result, they often have no option than to shut down. 

It isn’t because their food or service was terrible. They simply didn’t have a restaurant marketing plan in place to attract and retain customers for the long term. 

In this article, we will cover: 

How to build a big buzz for my restaurant using social media

Leveraging events to get a flood of people through the door

How to attract customers to my restaurant

How to track and improve your restaurant marketing efforts

A simple SEO technique for high rankings on Google 

Using data to amplify growth

 Restaurant Marketing Plan to Grow Business

Before we delve into the various techniques, it is important to set a foundation for your marketing efforts. Contrary to popular belief, people don’t visit restaurants just because of the quality of food. They could order a microwaveable dinner from the supermarket or cook at home. They visit for an experience they can talk about with friends the next day. 

You could serve amazing food; however, if you don’t go above and beyond for your customers, they will just visit a different restaurant. Plus, they are likely to tell their friends about it. A university professor identified four primary reasons why people visit and recommend restaurants. 

Food: This needs to be outstanding and well presented. A good marketing strategy for food and beverages is to visit/order takeaways from competitors just to compare. 

Service: Your customers visit for the experience. Treat them with importance, and they will keep coming back. 

Design: Does the design of your restaurant fit the theme? Sometimes less is more. Pinterest is an excellent place to find ideas. 

X factor: What does your restaurant do better than other places? What would a customer tell their friends about with excitement? It could be something simple like offering a free drink and an apology to customers who have waited too long for their food. 

 Consistency

When I speak to restaurant owners I always ask about their food and beverage marketing ideas and current restaurant promotions. Most widen their eyes with amazement. The restaurant marker is fierce. Therefore, you must get into the mindset of ‘fighting’ to attract and keep customers. For every output, there is an input. You can’t get more customers (output) without an effective restaurant marketing strategy (input). 

The easiest way to be consistent is to create a food service marketing plan calendar which marks essential national and local events. Here are some event types you would want to include and why: 

Local sporting events: You can engage with fans using Facebook ads and do a few fun restaurant promotion ideas by presenting an ‘exclusive’ offer, such as 2-for-1 on pre-match drinks. Most teams have a supporters club. Reach out to them on social media or via email to promote this offer. Don’t just restrict this offer to football fans. Remember that there are a lot of local fitness clubs around the country who would appreciate unique restaurant ideas like an exclusive deal. 

Public holidays: This is an opportunity to get families into your restaurant. Therefore, it is worth creating Instagram posts and promotions around public holidays. 

Local partnerships: If your city has a university or sixth form, it is key that you engage with their societies. You can partner up with student unions to launch promotions during the beginning of the new academic year and post-exams period. This enables you to attract a lot of new customers. The more local partnerships you create, the more opportunities you have for a flood of new customers. 

Street team: The most convincing way to exhibit your food is to let people have a taste of it. A few local restaurants offered free ice cream on a hot summer’s day in the middle of Manchester City Centre. Who would say no to free ice cream? Each small tub of ice cream also had their branding, opening times, location etc. In fact, the exhibit and tubs of ice cream got shared thousands of times on Instagram. In one afternoon, they had announced their arrival with a bang! 

It is worth organising a street team campaign during quieter months. Be creative about the execution and weather conditions. For instance, offer a sample of soup during the winter months and ice cream during the summer. 

Each method will bring in new customers. The key to long term growth is to be consistent with your efforts. 

 Reputation Management & Customer Service

What do people see when they type your restaurant’s name into Google? In this day-and-age, a website and regularly updated social media profiles are a necessity. If they can’t find you, or reviews aren’t favourable, they will simply visit a competitor. 

No matter how hard you try, some people will have something negative to say about your business. Competitors might even leave some. Don’t reply angrily. Potential customers would be able to see it. Therefore, you must respond in a certain way. 

Address their complaint and apologise for not meeting your exceptionally high standards during their visit. 

Offer to make it right and provide your contact information. Most of the time, people just want to complain, and Google reviews or Yelp are the quickest way to do so. 

If possible, communicate with them privately. In most cases you can learn something which will help to fix your business which is a key in social media marketing for restaurants. 

If the review was clearly left by a competitor or someone who has never visited your restaurant, mention it in your response. Politely state that “We can’t seem to find you in our records as having been a previous customer.” 

Notably, you can have fraudulent reviews removed. To do this, you will need to get a Google My Business account. This enables you to flag reviews for removal. Besides this, Google My Business allows you to post offers, pictures and control how your restaurant appears on the search results. Make your first impression great. 

 SEO for Restaurants

Using Google My Business helps your restaurant to appear in position 1 when people search for your name. However, what if people in your local area are just looking for a place to eat? They are likely to type in terms such as [Your city] + best restaurant. Competitors with better SEO and better restaurant marketing strategies are likely to hit the number 1 spot. As a result, they can attract many customers without spending any money on the best advertising for restaurants. 

Here are eight ways to quickly get an SEO boost: 

Ensure that all your social media accounts are linked back to your website. This marketing strategy for restaurant business sends out positive signals to search engines because their algorithms gain more context. 

Speed is a ranking factor. From experience, restaurant sites tend to be small due to having too many graphical elements. Owners also buy the cheapest hosting package to cut costs and disregard writing a business plan for a restaurant. A great restaurant business plan sample would include efficient food marketing strategies.

Localise your content. Instead of trying to rank for a broad term such as restaurant, which will be owned by large chains and apps such as Deliveroo, aim to rank in your local area. You can do this by having a blog and creating content targeted at your local area. For instance: “10 best places to visit in [city name]” and then add your restaurant as one of the 10 best places. Content like this will ‘force’ you to mention local landmarks. This sends out ‘relevancy’ signals to search engines. 

Create video content. Video is one of a few unique restaurant promotion ideas, and it can also help with SEO. Include your city/town in your video title and add a link to your website in the description. Share it on social media to get some views. Showcase the food on offer, and end with your contact details and location. For restaurants I have consulted with, we find that the best restaurant ads end up on page one within a short space of time. 

If your restaurant site runs on WordPress, use Yoast SEO and install the local extension. This best restaurant marketing strategy helps to improve SEO by localising your website.

Relevant backlinks are a ranking factor. Therefore, you can begin by submitting the site to directories such as Yell, your local council and restaurant directories. 

Stick with the best restaurant promotions. Great content + promotion = results. Therefore, it is worth reaching out to local bloggers, instagram influencers and Youtubers. They might be willing to link out to your site or share their visit with followers. All of this activity helps with SEO. 

The time spent on your site is an SEO ranking factor. Far too often, I see badly designed restaurant websites. It is worth revisiting your site to see whether a redesign is needed. Your business depends on it. 

 Improving the Restaurant’s In-Store and Online Ordering Process

You can have the best restaurant growth plan in the world. However, without data and excellent ordering experience, it won’t matter. That is why we built etakeawaymax to put you in total control of your restaurant business and give you creative restaurant marketing ideas. Why pay massive commissions, and lose the functionality to follow up with customers?

With our easy-to-use service and carefully built marketing strategies for restaurants and owners, you get the following: 

A custom mobile ordering app and website. Make your first impression magnificent. 

Get analytics on every part of your business so that you can take revenue-generating decisions. 

A built-in database so that you can follow up with customers. 

Automatically suggest drinks and sides to increase order value. 

Join the giants of the restaurant advertising industry by letting customers order using a tablet. 

A built-in feedback system for real-time customer service management. 

We have taken the very best from giants of the food industry and brought it to businesses big and small. Usually, a restaurant marketing plan like this would cost a small fortune. Our packages start from £149 – including setup. Our more than 200 happy customers have changed how their business runs. We are so confident that we even included a 90-day money-back guarantee. 

Via https://www.etakeawaymax.co.uk/restaurant-marketing-plan/

source https://etakeawaymax.weebly.com/blog/restaurant-marketing-growth-plan-for-2020

[topicprinter]

It is time! 🎉🎉 🔥🔥 Version 1.0.0 of ServerMonitor is officially released and it feels awesome!💪ServerMonitor V1.0.0Introduction 🤝In this article, I want to tell you about my process of developing my first real project from start to finish. Far too often I had the problem of never finishing any project I have started.Maybe this article motivates you to get through the process of starting your own project and working on it until it's finished.How the project got started? 🙋ServerMonitor started as a simple idea to check if a website is online or not. My goal for this project was to start as simple as it gets. On previous attempts, my idea for a web application was way too big to finish it in a manageable time. The approach of starting as small as you can imagine is crucial if you want to finish your project successfully.Planning 📝To get an idea of how a website monitoring web app looks like, I searched for other websites that do this already. After some search I found isitdown.site. This website already does everything what I wanted to have in my web app too. The best part of it was, it is created with Flask and is open source. The source code of this website was helpful some times if I did not know any further.Now I knew how my project should look and behave. This helped me to find the first task I had to do.Developing! 💻Starting phase 🚲The first task I had to do was obviously to create a new Flask project. After that, I started to code the basic function of the web app. Which does mean: Creating a function that checks the response of a website and print it on the screen.First resultSo far so good. After the basic function was implemented, I became even more motivated to work on my project. The next step was also clear. This app requires a user interface so that you can also check other websites.Added UIHalf time 🚗I think around the half time of the development phase, I started making plans for what I have to do next. So I set up a "Projects" panel on Github to get a better overview of the next steps I have to do.Breaking up the next bigger goals in small parts and writing them down in a Kanban board helped me a lot to stay focused on the goal. This approach of working is very rewarding because every time you finished something, you can move the card over to "Done".Kanban BoardAt the half time of my development process, my web app looked like that. You can see, the design was not much different compared to the current version. Only the colors have changed.Half time versionOf course, the web app could do a bit more in this development phase than the first version. I implemented a history to see the last 10 checked websites and some additional information about the checked website itself.Finish line ✈️At this period of the development process - talking about calendar week 16 and 17 - a lot of work was done.I ... ... changed the UI to the current version. ... added more rows for additional information about the checked website. ... reworked the monitoring function. ... added an explanation of what this web app is about and how to use it. ... reworked the "Info" page - Means adding a changelog and a "Contact Me" form.Aaand I fixed bugs.My motivation to keep going at this time came right out of my ❤️. I wanted to bring this project to an end I can be proud of. Working on a project get a lot easier if there is a foundation to build on. Everything you work on for now expands your web app.Deploying to DigitalOcean 🤓The first time I have deployed a version of my web app was on April 20th. Exactly in the "finish line" week. That means, working on the project and deploying took place at the same time.Working this way was a good idea. Some of the problems I had with my code only appeared after deploying it to the web server. I also created a new Kanban board on Github called "Release sprint" and added all the todo's I had to do for release.Release sprint KanbanWorking with a web server is a lot of work but it makes fun. I learned a lot about bash and all this server stuff. Don't underestimate the time which you have to spend to solve problems. Often I searched for a solution until two o'clock in the morning.Why DigitalOcean?Some of you may be asking why I use DigitalOcean and why I like it so much.Before I opted for DigitalOcean, I tested Heroku and AWS. After all this testing, my conclusion was, DigitalOcean simply does everything the right way I wanted it to. The payment options, the selection of servers, the simple UI and all the well-written tutorials have convinced me.Last but not least, they will give you a 100$ credit if you create an account after clicking this link.Conclusion 😎I learned a lot. From finding an idea over to planning and working on it. I have learned, how to break up the big steps in smaller ones, using the Kanban board to track my progress and stay motivated.Finishing and releasing a project feels rewarding. Everything you code should be released to the public in some way.Only then, writing code makes sense.If you want to follow me in some way on Twitter or Instagram, just do it. You will get some further updates about the development of ServerMonitor in the future and also other interesting topics.I would be happy to talk to you about every tech-related topic on Twitter, Instagram or here on dev.to.Thanks for reading and happy coding!

[financingideas-blog]

Best money manager apps in India

New Post has been published on https://financeqia.com/awesome/best-money-manager-apps-in-india/

Best money manager apps in India

For a lot of us, smartphones have replaced a lot of gadgets we used to use. It’s a camera, a music and video player, a gaming device, and even something as simple as a flashlight. You’ve saved a lot of money by get a smartphone instead of all those devices, but can it manage other expenses as well? As the saying runs, if specific features isn’t already built in, there’s probably an app for it. So, of course you are able to! Here are some of the best money administrator apps in India.

How they run

You may understandably be a bit hesitating about giving access to your bank account to a third-party app, so let’s take a look at exactly how these apps work before diving into what the best money director apps in India are.

Don’t worry, you won’t have to log in to your online banking in any way, or provide sensitive information like your net banking ID or password( and you should NEVER share that with anyone ). If an app other than government officials bank app asks for that info, stay as far away from it as possible. These apps require access to the SMS app and build your profile and expense reports from any business or service SMS you receive.

Since it’s mandatory to have a mobile phone linked to your bank account and you always get these messages, the reports are pretty accurate. You also have to log in to these money administrator apps with a phone number or email address. These don’t have to be linked to your bank account though, since the money administrator utilizes your SMS app and nothing else.

Granted, this isn’t a perfect answer and some expenditures may fall through the fissures. When I was traveling outside India last month and using a different phone number, I wasn’t receiving any transaction messages because my bank cards are are connected to my Indian phone number. Luckily, all these apps let you manually add expenditures too.

FinArt

FinArt is the simplest app on such lists. If you are looking for a quick and easy route to keep a way of your expenditures with no additional bells and whistles, this is one of the best money administrator apps in India you can get.

After downloading the app and logging in, all your expenditure information is available on the first page. The expenditures are sorted into various categories like travel, bills, dining, shopping, and more, and showcased in handy tart or bar charts. The pie chart transgresses the info down based on percentages, while the bar chart tells you exactly you much you’ve spent across the different categories. Tapping on a category gives you a listing of individual expenses.

Below the chart, a graph shows you the total monthly expenses for the last six months. Tap on the large plus icon in between them to manually add an expense, which is ideal for cash transactions or things you are not able to have received an SMS for. The alarm icon at the top houses all your bills — paid and upcoming — and the icon next to it opens the budget dashboard. This lets you set an overall monthly budget, as well as restrictions for individual category transactions.

The hamburger menu is where you’ll find the Settings page. Apart from changing the decideds, you can also make a backup of the info, which will be necessary when you switch to a new phone( unless you back up your SMS as well ). Other decideds include the ability to exclude certain accounts, put in and sync the app with family members, and enable a privacy mode. The Account Balance section in the hamburger menu lets you know how much cash you have available across various accounts like PayTM, Amazon Pay, and other services you may have signed up for.

FinArt is an extremely useful app to stay on top of all your expenses and define budget limits for future transactions. The free version offer basic information like the expense charts and graphs, upcoming bills, and the budget dashboard. For most, the free version of the app should be more than enough to keep track of your expenditure.

The premium subscription expenses 499 rupees (~$ 7.25) a year. This allows for an ad-free experience, lets you keep a backup on Google Drive instead of third-party servers, and lets you sync data across multiple accounts and devices.

Download from the Google Play Store

Walnut

The Walnut app provides a lot more information than FinArt, and a few of its extra features that make it one of the best money administrator apps in India. If you’re looking for more than merely a simple breakdown of your expenses, this is the app for you.

On the front page of the app you’ll find your total expenditure for the month up top, together with short summaries of your most recent expenses, a reminder of upcoming bills and pays, and the accounts and cards that are linked to your phone number. Like FinArt, the Walnut app get the information collected by accessing the SMS app on your phone, and no sensitive bank datum is required.

Tapping on the tart icon opens up a pie chart with a percentage breakdown of your monthly expenditures across different categories like travelling, food, bills, shopping, amusement, and more. You also assure a list of exactly how much you’ve spent. You can find a merchant-based listing in the Merchants tab, while the Spends tab simply lists the most recent expenses. Apart from the monthly expenditure sum, you will also find a daily average up top, and you can easily set a budget from this page as well.

Tapping on the bar icon on the main page( next to the pie chart icon) gives you the total expenditures on a daily basis, and per month for six months, a year, or all hour. The plus icon at the bottom left of the main page lets you manually add cash expenditures. In fact, the app doesn’t count cash withdrawals when creating your expenditure report, with the assumption that this is something that will be manually added, to avoid duplicates.

Tapping anywhere at the bottom of the app, next to the plus icon, opens up one of the extremely useful additional features that are available. Apart from maintaining a way of your expenses, the Walnut app also lets you split bills with friends, and even pay or request payment via the app. Money transfers are done using BHIM UPI, so you will need to have a virtual payment address put up. Any transaction is automatically updated in the expense report as well.

The Settings page is available via the profile icon at the top right of the main page. Apart from app preferences, you can also look at a weekly expense summing-up, recurring expends( like rent ), and email statements.

Another very useful feature that shouldn’t be tucked away in the Settings menu is the Active ATMs Around section. While get money from an ATM isn’t nearly as much of a hassle as it was a year or so ago when demonetization was at its peak, it’s still great to have a map of ATMs available that have cash in them. The datum is reported by users of the Walnut app.

Finally, there’s Walnut Prime, but unlike what its name wished to suggest, this isn’t a premium subscription to use the app or unlock features. Instead, you get access to a credit line of up to 5 lakh rupees (~$ 7260 ), with EMI schemes between three and 36 months for refund. Of course, you will have to submit your PAN card information to check eligibility and the credit limit available to you.

Download from the Google Play Store

ETMoney

ETMoney is the country’s highest rated personal finance app, so it’s no surprise that it is on a listing of the best money manager apps in India. Unlike FinArt and Walnut, ETMoney does a lot more than a simple expense tracker and can truly be the one and only app to cover all your finance tracking needs.

However, to start with, let’s look at the expense tracking features the app offers. Tapping on Spends takes you to the expense tracker. Your monthly expenditures are sorted into various categories like Feeing Out, Shopping, ATM Withdrawal, Entertainment, and more. Tapping on an individual category provides a more detailed breakdown of expenditures in that category. You can also sort through your expenditures based on merchants or accounts connected with the app.

The graph icon at the top right corner opens a weekly expenditure report with the total daily expenditures listed. Tapping on Know More dedicates even more detail — you can see your expenditures on weekdays and over the weekend, along with the top categories, merchants, and accounts.

ETMoney is great for detailed daily, weekly, and monthly reports, but if you’re hoping to track spending tendencies over a longer period of time, like six months to a year, this app isn’t for you. The Bill Calendar lets you are aware of all the pending bills due or delayed.

However, expenditure tracking is only one facet of its money managing features. The app actively fosters saving with SmartDeposit, which lets you set up one-time or recurring deposits with the Reliance Liquid Fund Direct-Growth. You can start with a deposit of as low as 500 rupees (~$ 7.26) and there’s a promise of better returns when compared to merely maintaining the money in your savings account. Often, knowing where to keep your savings is the biggest issue, and ETMoney takes the guesswork out of the equation.

If you’re looking to diversify your portfolio and want greater investment options, ETMoney provides an excellent mutual fund guide. Categories include Tax Saver, Aggressive funds, Safe monies, and even more detailed categories like Best Large Cap monies, Top Rated Multi-Cap monies, and a whole lot more. Not only do you have all the research — marketplace trends, fund performance, and more — at your fingertips, but you are able to invest in funds you’ve selected immediately from the app.

If you’re in a bit of a crunch, ETMoney also provides Personal Loans. Pending eligibility, you can borrow any amount up to 20 lakhs (~$ 29,032) with ETMoney’s LoanPass( for small loans) and Personal Loan( for larger sums ). You can also buy health, life, automobile, and two-wheeler insurance and also invest in gold deposits directly from the app.

There are a slew of finance management apps on the Google Play Store. Some are expense trackers. Others help with investments. Many offer loan and insurance services. ETMoney brings all that together. It’s a one-stop answer provider for all your financial needs.

Download from the Google Play Store

Which is the right money administrator for you?

All three apps are some of the best money director apps in India right now. It ultimately comes down to how much they can do. FinArt and Walnut are fantastic expenditure trackers. The former is the simpler of the two though and requires a subscription to unlock all its features, and the latter comes with additional features like money transfers, bill splitting, and an option to get a credit line.

ETMoney offers truly detailed daily and weekly reports, but isn’t much assist if you want to track long term spending trends. However, if you want a single app for all, and I do mean all, your financial needs, ETMoney is the way to go. From mutual fund and gold investments, to getting personal loans and insurance, ETMoney lets you do everything.

What money manager app do you use? Are there others that deserve to be on this list? Let us know in the comments segment below!

Read more: androidauthority.com

[gethealthy18-blog]

Dear Moms, Let’s Simplify Christmas (& Enjoy It) This Year!

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/dear-moms-lets-simplify-christmas-enjoy-it-this-year/

Dear Moms, Let’s Simplify Christmas (& Enjoy It) This Year!

Let’s face it, while the movies portray images of happy families laughing around the kitchen table or in front of the fireplace during the Christmas season, often moms end up more stressed out and busier than ever. I know I fall into the trap, and each year I have to try again to stay focused on what matters and simplify Christmas.

We want this time of year to be filled with warm memories for our families and friends, and it is so easy to get wrapped up (pun intended) in the business of the season. It’s easy to want to be present and enjoy the moment, but there is often so much to do that this is difficult to accomplish.

There must be a better way!

Can We Simplify Christmas?

Over the years, our family (like many) has searched for ways to simplify Christmas while still giving our kids the traditions and memories that bring joy and happy memories.

I’ve written about some of the things that have worked for us, like prioritizing experiences over material gifts, limiting the number of presents per person, and focusing on a spirit of giving instead of receiving.

All that aside, it’s tough to recognize all of the outside forces that act on us despite our best intentions … and we wonder why we are again in Target on Christmas Eve at 10 P.M., when we really were going to be so intentional and simple this year!

Rejecting the Christmas Crisis

The ads, Facebook posts, and store displays seem to begin earlier every year exclaiming (I saw a store with a Christmas display in early October this year!): “There’s X number of days left until Christmas!”

Translation: “Hurry up! Only a few shopping days left!”

We all know this isn’t what the holidays should be about. It’s not what any of us wants for ourselves or our families. But somehow it just creeps in. The sense that we’re not giving enough … or doing the right things …

It’s time to take back Christmas! And yes, this may not be the year when you magically transform into the living embodiment of a Real Simple magazine article. (Wouldn’t we all love it if it was actually that easy?)

This may not be the year when you Konmari your house to perfection before placing carefully chosen (and of course eco-friendly) presents under the tree.

But this can be the year when you create enough space for you and your family to continue to shape and enjoy your traditions. The year when your picture of “the perfect Christmas” becomes a little clearer and a little more real.

And chances are it won’t take much!

Minimalism … Can It Go with Christmas?

Merriam Webster defines “minimalism” as “a style or technique that is characterized by extreme spareness and simplicity.” This buzzword has enjoyed a lot of popularity in recent years, especially since the bestselling book The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up came around.

I can buy simplicity, but “spareness”? Does this really go along with our idea of Christmas?

I have to believe there’s a way to be mindful and peaceful about Christmas without going to extremes. Maybe it’s more about a shift of mindset than going bare bones. About asking yourself — and your family — what is really important and crossing the rest off the list.

Our family tries to give only one material present per person. That may seem extreme to some. But over the years we’ve realized that experiences mean more to us (and our kids) than material presents, and we’ve moved toward a kind of Christmas that emphasizes quality over quantity.

That feels like the right kind of “minimalism” for us … but what is right for you? Here are a few ideas to try if you feel like you need to hit the pause button this holiday season.

Simplify Christmas by Finding Your Sweet Spot

These are the things I’ve found most helpful in simplifying Christmas. I try to hold on to these to help me focus on my family and not everything that needs to “get done” this year.

Evaluate Your Favorite Christmas Traditions

Think back on Christmases past. What are your most cherished memories? What should Christmas really be about? These could be from when you were a child or from times with your own children.

Chances are your best memories aren’t about stuff, but about time spent with others.

Take note of everything that stands out to you as a tradition you want to recreate. Write it down. Talk to the family about it.

Schedule the Essentials

Make a list of “must-dos” using the list of favorite Christmas memories for inspiration. Keep this list short — three or maybe five items at most. Pare it down to what really matters the most (spareness and simplicity!).

These must-do traditions will of course change over the years as a family grows. That’s the beauty of it.

You may have a special circumstance to navigate (a new baby, travel plans, a sick relative, a tight budget). Reevaluate and adjust, limiting yourself to what will give the most joy this year.

Maybe cooking is really important to your family. Maybe the annual shopping trip with your sisters gives the most joy. Maybe it’s time to try a new tradition like a family Christmas movie marathon, or singing in the choir at Midnight Mass.

Give priority to traditions that help you connect with friends and family. Put them on the calendar now and schedule the downtime to do them.

Bottom line, Konmari-style, say “yes” to what brings you joy.

And that means saying “no” to what doesn’t!

Review Christmases Past for Pitfalls That Stress You Out

We all have our little habits that rob us of our joy.

It could be overspending, overeating, or overdoing. It could be online shopping in the dead of night when we can’t sleep. It could be that urge to rush out two days before Christmas and buy just a little bit more.

All this leads to additional stress. More to store, more to return, more to clean up, and more post-holiday bills to pay.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not against giving gifts. I love the feeling of giving and receiving a well-chosen gift on Christmas. But I had to learn the hard way that I needed to simplify Christmas in order to preserve the meaning of the season.

If we can identify just one or two or three things that stress us out each year and eliminate it, that seems like a good kind of minimalism. Decide what you will say “no” to this year (and tell someone to keep you accountable). Maybe ask your spouse to do this with you!

Which goes with the next step …

Set a Budget and Number of Gifts

This is pretty generic advice, I know. But I can think back to plenty of years when I didn’t do it, or at least never committed to more than a vague idea of how much was “too much.”

Gift-giving gives joy and is a worthy tradition. Just look at the Three Kings who traveled so far to give their gifts to the Christ Child. But they could only carry so much with them.

It’s a rather shocking statistic that in the U.S., only 1% of the goods we buy are still in use 6 months later. Yes… only 1%! And it makes sense, doesn’t it? New things thrill us only for a little while.

“One of the enemies of happiness is adaptation,” says Dr. Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University who has been studying the question of money and happiness for over two decades. “We buy things to make us happy, and we succeed. But only for a while. New things are exciting to us at first, but then we adapt to them.”

In fact we are more likely to remember and cherish experiences rather than material things. These become the stories we tell and relive.

Setting a budget and being choosy about the kinds of gifts we give helps us learn when to say “just right.”

Designate a “Give Back” Day or Week

Making room for what we receive often pains kids especially. Mention you’re about to get rid of something, and suddenly that thing is their “favorite.”

Am I right?

Designating a “Give Back” day (or even a week if you need it) gives everyone a chance to get in the right mindset and know the expectations. Read a book or watch a movie about the generosity of St. Nicholas to set the mood. This article has some helpful tips too for helping kids get on board.

Although we can certainly give back any time of year, I find it’s best to do this before Christmas so it doesn’t get forgotten.

Take a Picture of Each Gift to Review (Before Buying Anything Else)

It’s so easy to simply lose track of what we intend to give and what we already bought when it’s hidden away in the back of the closet!

Keep a digital record by snapping a pic and keeping an album in a secure spot. You can use apps like Evernote, Remember the Milk, or a Dropbox or Google Keep folder. Keep track of even small items like stocking stuffers. You can even screenshot a website to keep track of experience gifts.

Before you buy, take a look at the album and give yourself a cooling-off period to decide if it’s the right choice.

You can even move images to a new album or folder to keep track of returns or presents that didn’t make the cut but you might consider for next year.

When Things Go Wrong, Make An Act of Gratitude

G. K. Chesterton wrote, “I would maintain that thanks is the highest form of thought.” When things don’t go according to plan, control what you can: your thoughts.

Christmas traditions develop little by little, year by year, and sometimes with no advance planning. By learning to let go and let the memories happen we make room for shared experiences with the ones we love the most.

Show gratitude for what you have and give your kids and yourself the greatest gift of all this Christmas — a contented and present parent.

How do you stay grounded during the holidays? What are the traditions you want to make room for?

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/130653/simplify-christmas/