Major media publications (Time Magazine, Newsweek, CBS, USA Today...) are starting to explain the scientific evidence behind how brain training can improve memory and concentration and help delay diseases such as Alzheimer's. We have engaged our neuroscience and health experts to prepare answers to these 7 Frequently Asked Questions:
1. Why is it so important to exercise our brains?
Answer: Our brains are composed of different areas or "mental muscles", and we can strengthen them through mental exercise- or they get atrophied for lack of practice. The benefits are both short-term (improved concentration and memory, sustained mental clarity under stressful situations...), and long-term (creation of a "brain reserve" that help protect us against potential problems such as Alzheimer's).
2. What are 1 or 2 things that are guaranteed "brain drains"?
Answer: High-levels of anxiety and stress are guaranteed to distract us from our main goals and waste our limited mental energies. A very repetitive and routine-driven life, lacking in novelty and stimulation, does too. Having a brain is what helps us learn and survive in new environments. The challenge, then, is to embark on new tasks that are not too difficult too early, and manage stress to prevent anxiety from appearing.
3. Tell us a few easy-to-do activities that we should all be doing often?
Answer: For stress management: a 5-minute visualization, combining deep and regular breathings with seeing in our mind's eye beautiful landscapes and/ or remembering times in our past when we have been successful at a tough task.
For short-term memory: try a series subtracting 7 from 200 (200 193 186 179...), or a series involving multiplication (2,3 4,6 6,9 8,12...) or exponential series (2 4 8 16 32 64...). The objective here is not to become a math genius, but to exercise and improve our short-term memory.
Another way is to try and remember our friends telephone numbers. In general: try something different every day, no matter how little. Take a different route to work. Talk to a different colleague. Ask an unexpected question. Approach every day as a living experiment, a learning opportunity.
4. Are crossword puzzles and sudoku really as great for exercising our brain as they are reported to be? Why? And what about activities like knitting?
Answer: "Use it or lose it" may be misleading if we think that "It" is just one thing. The brain is composed of many different areas that focus on different things. Doing a crossword puzzle only activates a small part of the brain. The 3 key principles for good brain exercises are: novelty, variety and constant challenge. Quite similar to cross-training our body muscles.
The first time we do a crossword, or sudoku or knitting, that is great, because it forces us to learn. But when doing it is completely routine, the marginal benefit is very limited. Nowadays neuropsychologists do not recommend paper-based activities but computer-based brain exercise software programs, since they can provide a variety of new activities all the time, always tailored with a proper increasing level of challenge.
5. Any foods that increase our brain fitness?
Answer: The main principle is that foods that are good for our body are also good for our brain. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in cold-water fish such as mackerel, herring, salmon, and tuna, also have shown some benefits. There is contradictory data on Ginkgo biloba. The best "brain food" is, literally, mental stimulation.
6. Does physical exercise also exercise our brains?
Answer: In summary, physical exercise is important because it influences the rate of creation of new neurons in our brains. Mental exercise is important because it helps determine how those new neurons are used-and how long they survive. Stress can reduce both the creation of new neurons and their lifetime, so stress management is important too.
7. Isn't active learning, that combines physical and mental exercise, the best way to stimulate the brain?
Answer: We are talking about 2 different things here: a) Habits for long-term good brain health: we usually mention the 4 pillars of nutrition, physical exercise, stress management and mental stimulation. Yes, constant active learning provides with great mental stimulation; b) Short-term Training and improvement of one specific area (memory,...): you need something more direct and well-targeted training experience such as that provided by a computer-based program, that assesses where you are today and "stretches" that specific capacity.
Both aspects are very important, in the same way that both walking often and going to the gym to do targeted workouts are complementary for physical fitness.
This article should have provided you with good information to reclaim your brain! remember, Use It and Improve It!
SharpBrains Brain Fitness Center provides the latest science-based information for Brain Exercise, the leading Brain Health blog, and reviews programs such as MindFit, Posit Science, emWave, IntelliGym, Cogmed, and more. Many publications, such as CBS, Scientific American Mind, Forbes, MSNBC, Birmingham News, San Francisco Examiner, and more, have featured our website.
Copyright (c) 2007 SharpBrains
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alvaro_Fernandez
Friday, October 5, 2007
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Time Management Strategies For Getting Organized
Do you constantly find yourself running out of time? Do you get everything done that you want to each day or do you find yourself with more activities then you are able to handle? If you can relate to these problems then you need some time management strategies for getting organized.
Before implementing any other time management strategies for getting organized you need to know what you want. If you have no goals and do not know what you actually want to achieve with the time you have been given then you will find yourself saying "yes" to everything, even where you should be saying "no". Knowing what you want to achieve keeps you disciplined in your time management.
Write down your Goals
In order to implement time management strategies you need to know what you want, but even people who know what they want do not always manage their time effectively. Strategies for getting organized also include writing down those goals. Take some time to write down what you want to achieve in life. What is it that you want people to say about you when you reach the end of your life? What dreams do you want to fulfill? Write them down and then set goals which say when you want to have achieved them by and how you are going to go about achieving them.
Prioritize
What are your priorities? When implementing time management strategies for getting organized you are going to need to think carefully about what is most important to you. Many possible activities will come your way each and every day and if you do not know what your priorities are then you may find yourself doing all the trivial things rather than those things that are really important for achieving your goals. Priorities should be worked out regularly with the help of a to-do list.
Create a To-Do List
Goals are extremely important in effective time management strategies but they can also be long term and if you do not have other strategies for getting organized then you may not accomplish those goals. Create a to-do list regularly and order it in terms of your priorities. Then you will have a workable plan for achieving your goals and can systematically work through your to-do list, accomplishing those things that are most important to you.
Categorize your activities
When looking at all the activities which occupy your day try to break them down into a number of categories. This categorization needs to be done on two levels. Firstly work out what activities you need to do, what activities you can delegate to others, and what activities are actually not important to be done at all. Delegate those activities that can be delegated, cut out the unimportant activities and then re-categorize the activities that only you can do and that are important for you to do. You may want to categorize this list into categories such as work, family, social, physical (health), spiritual, etc.
Use a Weekly Planner
Once you have categorized your activities the last of our time management strategies for getting organized is to use a weekly planner. Block out times on your weekly planner when you can do those activities that you need to and that you categorized above. Use different colors for different activity categories. Take time regularly to fill in your weekly planner and then review it daily to ensure that you do not miss any important events and that you stick to your goals.
Don't Procrastinate
One of the worst enemies of effective time management is procrastination. It is important that you start implementing these time management strategies for getting organized today. If you wait until tomorrow, you may never put them into practice so start today.
In conclusion, effective time management begins with strategies for getting organized such as knowing what you want, writing down your goals, prioritizing your to-do list, categorizing your activities and using a weekly planner. These time management strategies should be implemented regularly and begun immediately to ensure that you reach your goals and accomplish all that you want to with your life.
By: Toby Smith
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Manage your todo list. Get JetTask task list software from JetTask.com.
Before implementing any other time management strategies for getting organized you need to know what you want. If you have no goals and do not know what you actually want to achieve with the time you have been given then you will find yourself saying "yes" to everything, even where you should be saying "no". Knowing what you want to achieve keeps you disciplined in your time management.
Write down your Goals
In order to implement time management strategies you need to know what you want, but even people who know what they want do not always manage their time effectively. Strategies for getting organized also include writing down those goals. Take some time to write down what you want to achieve in life. What is it that you want people to say about you when you reach the end of your life? What dreams do you want to fulfill? Write them down and then set goals which say when you want to have achieved them by and how you are going to go about achieving them.
Prioritize
What are your priorities? When implementing time management strategies for getting organized you are going to need to think carefully about what is most important to you. Many possible activities will come your way each and every day and if you do not know what your priorities are then you may find yourself doing all the trivial things rather than those things that are really important for achieving your goals. Priorities should be worked out regularly with the help of a to-do list.
Create a To-Do List
Goals are extremely important in effective time management strategies but they can also be long term and if you do not have other strategies for getting organized then you may not accomplish those goals. Create a to-do list regularly and order it in terms of your priorities. Then you will have a workable plan for achieving your goals and can systematically work through your to-do list, accomplishing those things that are most important to you.
Categorize your activities
When looking at all the activities which occupy your day try to break them down into a number of categories. This categorization needs to be done on two levels. Firstly work out what activities you need to do, what activities you can delegate to others, and what activities are actually not important to be done at all. Delegate those activities that can be delegated, cut out the unimportant activities and then re-categorize the activities that only you can do and that are important for you to do. You may want to categorize this list into categories such as work, family, social, physical (health), spiritual, etc.
Use a Weekly Planner
Once you have categorized your activities the last of our time management strategies for getting organized is to use a weekly planner. Block out times on your weekly planner when you can do those activities that you need to and that you categorized above. Use different colors for different activity categories. Take time regularly to fill in your weekly planner and then review it daily to ensure that you do not miss any important events and that you stick to your goals.
Don't Procrastinate
One of the worst enemies of effective time management is procrastination. It is important that you start implementing these time management strategies for getting organized today. If you wait until tomorrow, you may never put them into practice so start today.
In conclusion, effective time management begins with strategies for getting organized such as knowing what you want, writing down your goals, prioritizing your to-do list, categorizing your activities and using a weekly planner. These time management strategies should be implemented regularly and begun immediately to ensure that you reach your goals and accomplish all that you want to with your life.
By: Toby Smith
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Manage your todo list. Get JetTask task list software from JetTask.com.
Achieving Efficient Time Management With Mindmapping
Time management is a subject that has been written about ad infinitum. Yet, still find it difficult to manage time efficiently and struggle to cope with their personal, business and social work and responsibilities. This imbalance of time accorded to different activities continues to be one main factor for causing stress syndromes.
The one most crucial aspect of time management is focusing on the main issues that will lead to achieving your desired goals and ambitions. Normally, we tend to spend a great deal of our time on unimportant issues that we end up spending 80% of our time for achieving 20% results, while giving just 20% of our time for achieving the remaining 80% of the results. This leads to wasteful spending of time and makes goal achievement a Herculean task. .
The first step for time management is splitting the most important from the unimportant and devoting your time and attention to the important issues, while delegating activities of less importance. One way is to maintain an activity logbook to examine time spent on different activities of the day, including time spent on errands, talking over the phone, reading paper, TV, etc. Your log book at the end of the day will reveal where you are wasting unnecessary time and where you need allocate more time for achieving your main goals.
‘Action Plan’ and ‘To Do List’ are renowned methods of time management. Apart from these, you can use Mindmapping to help manage time at every step in the process. Be it Action Plan, or To Do List, or Activity Log book or even Goal setting, Mind Maps are an excellent device for efficient use of your time and for attaining your larger goals.
Mind Maps offers a broad picture of your various activities and helps to keep you on course. While the other time management methods just lists activities needed to complete, Mind Maps you go beyond the mundane as it presents your larger goals and help to keep you in perspective and motivated. This kindles actions and leads to greater efficiency and application. Therein lies its efficacy and viability.
By bringing all the elements of your short, medium and long-term goals into a single Mind Map, it offers a comprehensive picture of the different levels of your activities. It helps you to see the relation between your different tasks and provides meaning and impetus to achieve your goals. It is a meaningful exercise that lends depth and action. It is an effective tool for increasing your efficiency and is a simple device for achieving your ambitions.
By: Mindmapper
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Are you struggling to keep up with the information glut in today’s business world? You need Avezah. Avezah is the world’s first and only company providing Mind Map summaries of Business Books. The innovative and powerful concept of Mind Mapping is based on fundamental principles of how our brain works. You are guaranteed to get the essence of latest business bestseller in 12 minutes or less. Visit our site now to learn more about our various Mind Mapped books. www.avezah.com
The one most crucial aspect of time management is focusing on the main issues that will lead to achieving your desired goals and ambitions. Normally, we tend to spend a great deal of our time on unimportant issues that we end up spending 80% of our time for achieving 20% results, while giving just 20% of our time for achieving the remaining 80% of the results. This leads to wasteful spending of time and makes goal achievement a Herculean task. .
The first step for time management is splitting the most important from the unimportant and devoting your time and attention to the important issues, while delegating activities of less importance. One way is to maintain an activity logbook to examine time spent on different activities of the day, including time spent on errands, talking over the phone, reading paper, TV, etc. Your log book at the end of the day will reveal where you are wasting unnecessary time and where you need allocate more time for achieving your main goals.
‘Action Plan’ and ‘To Do List’ are renowned methods of time management. Apart from these, you can use Mindmapping to help manage time at every step in the process. Be it Action Plan, or To Do List, or Activity Log book or even Goal setting, Mind Maps are an excellent device for efficient use of your time and for attaining your larger goals.
Mind Maps offers a broad picture of your various activities and helps to keep you on course. While the other time management methods just lists activities needed to complete, Mind Maps you go beyond the mundane as it presents your larger goals and help to keep you in perspective and motivated. This kindles actions and leads to greater efficiency and application. Therein lies its efficacy and viability.
By bringing all the elements of your short, medium and long-term goals into a single Mind Map, it offers a comprehensive picture of the different levels of your activities. It helps you to see the relation between your different tasks and provides meaning and impetus to achieve your goals. It is a meaningful exercise that lends depth and action. It is an effective tool for increasing your efficiency and is a simple device for achieving your ambitions.
By: Mindmapper
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Are you struggling to keep up with the information glut in today’s business world? You need Avezah. Avezah is the world’s first and only company providing Mind Map summaries of Business Books. The innovative and powerful concept of Mind Mapping is based on fundamental principles of how our brain works. You are guaranteed to get the essence of latest business bestseller in 12 minutes or less. Visit our site now to learn more about our various Mind Mapped books. www.avezah.com
Personal Development Plans And Nlp Techniques
Many life and personal growth coaches highly recommend creating a personal development plan to help you overcome limiting beliefs and start building a better life - but not many actually cover the steps you need to take to develop your plan. Which is a shame as it is a relatively easy and painless task - if you know how to go about it.
It may seem a strange way of doing things, but a good life coach will always ask you questions about the areas you are trying to improve. Like "Why do you think that everything in your life is not going as well as you would like it to?", or "Why do you think other people seem to find it easier to get what they want in life?"
The way I see it is this - the people who are able to achieve their goals and ambitions in life, with relative ease are much less inhibited, and even totally un-inhibited.
These people still get nervous and anxious when in demanding situations that take them outside of their comfort zone, but they have learnt how to control those limiting and dysfunctional emotions and behaviours and even eliminate them completely from their lives.
Successful people are constantly learning and adapting to methods that empower them. When they find something that works, especially where emotions and feelings are concerned, they repeat the behaviours that bring on those emotions until they become second nature.
If these people can learn how to not feel nervous and anxious in important situations, so can you.
If these people have learned how to remain calm and relaxed when they get into winning positions in sport, so can you.
If professional speakers can learn how to overcome their fear of public speaking, and present themselves in a manner which leaves their audience wanting more, so can you.
Successful people weren't always successful - they learnt how to become successful. So if people can learn how to overcome their frustrations and focus on the actions they need to achieve their ultimate goals and ambitions - so can you.
Learning to use NLP does not require hours on end of your time to make a difference in your life. If you can allocate 15 minutes a day to practice some very simple, and very rewarding techniques, you can immediately start to take control of your fears and frustrations and turn them into a winning and empowering attitude that will continue to take you closer to your goals and ambitions.
Before you turn tail and run at the thought of learning some NLP techniques, or if you're not really sure what it is, in it's simplest form, Neuro Linguistic Programming is basically a method of helping you change the way you habitually react to any given situation. When you experience anxiety or frustration, you are simply reacting negatively to the situation that is causing those emotions. NLP teaches you how you can easily change your reactions to be positive and empowering.
To help you get started, there are two very simple exercises that you can start practising right away:
1. You need to become aware of all the situations and environments that make you feel nervous, anxious and inhibited. Carry a little notebook in your pocket so that you can make note of them whenever they occur.
The reason behind this exercise is that you need to be aware of your barriers in order that you can start to break through them further down the road.
2. The second exercise is even easier - you simply need to write down how you would like to feel most of the time, and what feelings and behaviours you want to eliminate from your life.
Take you time to do step two thoroughly - the more detailed your list, the better you will be able to focus in on those areas, and create a personal development plan that supports your goals.
By: Wendy Jones
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Before you create your personal development plan, make sure you claim your free Building Confidence report and free video coaching from a renowned Master NLP practitioner and coach to top Fortune 500 companies.
It may seem a strange way of doing things, but a good life coach will always ask you questions about the areas you are trying to improve. Like "Why do you think that everything in your life is not going as well as you would like it to?", or "Why do you think other people seem to find it easier to get what they want in life?"
The way I see it is this - the people who are able to achieve their goals and ambitions in life, with relative ease are much less inhibited, and even totally un-inhibited.
These people still get nervous and anxious when in demanding situations that take them outside of their comfort zone, but they have learnt how to control those limiting and dysfunctional emotions and behaviours and even eliminate them completely from their lives.
Successful people are constantly learning and adapting to methods that empower them. When they find something that works, especially where emotions and feelings are concerned, they repeat the behaviours that bring on those emotions until they become second nature.
If these people can learn how to not feel nervous and anxious in important situations, so can you.
If these people have learned how to remain calm and relaxed when they get into winning positions in sport, so can you.
If professional speakers can learn how to overcome their fear of public speaking, and present themselves in a manner which leaves their audience wanting more, so can you.
Successful people weren't always successful - they learnt how to become successful. So if people can learn how to overcome their frustrations and focus on the actions they need to achieve their ultimate goals and ambitions - so can you.
Learning to use NLP does not require hours on end of your time to make a difference in your life. If you can allocate 15 minutes a day to practice some very simple, and very rewarding techniques, you can immediately start to take control of your fears and frustrations and turn them into a winning and empowering attitude that will continue to take you closer to your goals and ambitions.
Before you turn tail and run at the thought of learning some NLP techniques, or if you're not really sure what it is, in it's simplest form, Neuro Linguistic Programming is basically a method of helping you change the way you habitually react to any given situation. When you experience anxiety or frustration, you are simply reacting negatively to the situation that is causing those emotions. NLP teaches you how you can easily change your reactions to be positive and empowering.
To help you get started, there are two very simple exercises that you can start practising right away:
1. You need to become aware of all the situations and environments that make you feel nervous, anxious and inhibited. Carry a little notebook in your pocket so that you can make note of them whenever they occur.
The reason behind this exercise is that you need to be aware of your barriers in order that you can start to break through them further down the road.
2. The second exercise is even easier - you simply need to write down how you would like to feel most of the time, and what feelings and behaviours you want to eliminate from your life.
Take you time to do step two thoroughly - the more detailed your list, the better you will be able to focus in on those areas, and create a personal development plan that supports your goals.
By: Wendy Jones
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Before you create your personal development plan, make sure you claim your free Building Confidence report and free video coaching from a renowned Master NLP practitioner and coach to top Fortune 500 companies.
Monday, October 1, 2007
What Kind Of Learner Are You?
The learning process is incredibly complex and made up of many factors. We all have preferred ways of doing things. Evaluating what that is can help us influence our learning. As good as a course or training material is, the one unknown is the person taking that course or using that material. Let’s consider what determines the kind of learners we are.
What are your strongest memories?What can you remember most strongly about those memories?The answers that you give to these questions may give you an idea of the way you remember information.So what memory type are you?There are three basic memory types . Visual, aural and kinaesthetic, which includes senses like taste or smell. We tend to be a mix of memory styles but the one which most strongly influences how you remember things is what we are looking at here. I have a predominantly visual memory and I can vividly describe scenes from my past. Diagrams, pictures and other images help to reinforce the learning process for me. Others remember sounds, tastes, smells or other sensations.What kind of learning do you like?At its simplest level there are two ways of looking at it, instructor-dependent and instructor-independent, learning with a physical instructor or learning without one. Learners, who are more independent, are more likely to be comfortable learning on their own and can usually exploit online resources better. A more dependent learner favours the classroom and believes that they can learn best from an instructor.What motivates you to learn?There are also two ways of describing motivation; intrinsic or internal motivation - a strong internal desire to learn and extrinsic or external motivation where there is an outside pressure to learn. Often our motivation is a combination of both. There is external pressure to learn because of a job, study or something else. Internal motivation is what pushes us in that learning or study. People with strong internal motivation tend to learn better as they often have a clear answer to the next question.Why are you learning?Like anything else we do in life there should be a purpose. To sign up for a course or training programme without purpose is almost like setting ourselves up to fail. Even “just for fun” is a reason. Just because an organisation provides free courses there still needs to be a reason beyond the excuse of a day off work. Working out the type of learner you are and whether or not you will benefit from different types of training or study is not an easy thing to do. But at the very least, by asking questions about it, we may benefit a little more from it.
By: Ken O Brien
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Ken O’Brien has over 10 years experience in English language teaching and vocational training. Educated Links(www.educatedlinks.com) provides articles and other resources based around a range of education and training topics. It also includes a section on Irish resources. Ken was also part of the team that developed the Abacus Communications Business English courses (www.abacus-communications.com).
What are your strongest memories?What can you remember most strongly about those memories?The answers that you give to these questions may give you an idea of the way you remember information.So what memory type are you?There are three basic memory types . Visual, aural and kinaesthetic, which includes senses like taste or smell. We tend to be a mix of memory styles but the one which most strongly influences how you remember things is what we are looking at here. I have a predominantly visual memory and I can vividly describe scenes from my past. Diagrams, pictures and other images help to reinforce the learning process for me. Others remember sounds, tastes, smells or other sensations.What kind of learning do you like?At its simplest level there are two ways of looking at it, instructor-dependent and instructor-independent, learning with a physical instructor or learning without one. Learners, who are more independent, are more likely to be comfortable learning on their own and can usually exploit online resources better. A more dependent learner favours the classroom and believes that they can learn best from an instructor.What motivates you to learn?There are also two ways of describing motivation; intrinsic or internal motivation - a strong internal desire to learn and extrinsic or external motivation where there is an outside pressure to learn. Often our motivation is a combination of both. There is external pressure to learn because of a job, study or something else. Internal motivation is what pushes us in that learning or study. People with strong internal motivation tend to learn better as they often have a clear answer to the next question.Why are you learning?Like anything else we do in life there should be a purpose. To sign up for a course or training programme without purpose is almost like setting ourselves up to fail. Even “just for fun” is a reason. Just because an organisation provides free courses there still needs to be a reason beyond the excuse of a day off work. Working out the type of learner you are and whether or not you will benefit from different types of training or study is not an easy thing to do. But at the very least, by asking questions about it, we may benefit a little more from it.
By: Ken O Brien
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Ken O’Brien has over 10 years experience in English language teaching and vocational training. Educated Links(www.educatedlinks.com) provides articles and other resources based around a range of education and training topics. It also includes a section on Irish resources. Ken was also part of the team that developed the Abacus Communications Business English courses (www.abacus-communications.com).
Maintaining Motivation Whilst Distance Learning
For most students, whether studying in the classroom or by distance learning, their course of study is usually spread over many months, and in some cases, two or three years, and maintaining consistently high levels of motivation over such long periods is almost impossible. The reasons for this are many, and each of these reasons affects different individuals in different ways.Firstly, in general terms, once you have started your course of studies, this event itself changes the balance in your life. Study time has to be planned and fitted into a pattern of life where it didn’t exist before. Family, friends, and work colleagues are all affected, to a lesser or greater degree, by your decision to study. The demands of studying, the planning, the organising of facilities, the concentration needed, the pressure of coursework and-or examination deadlines – all add stresses to your life that have to be managed effectively. Once the initial excitement of starting the course and setting out on the road to achieving a new objective, has passed, then the pressures and the workload start to have more impact on your life.
Secondly, over these relatively long periods of study, you change. By this I mean that after one year, for example, you have gained more experience in your work role, you will have completed a large part of the course of studies. You may have been promoted, or been disappointed that you weren’t. Your work colleagues may have changed, or your manager may have been replaced with another. You may have changed jobs, moved to a new work location, or moved to a new home. You may have found new friends, or a new partner, be having relationship difficulties, or have become a father, or mother. You may feel unsure, albeit temporarily, that the course of studies is going to be as useful as you first thought, or the qualification as relevant to your career as you initially believed.Thirdly, the people in your life will have changed, perhaps in small ways, perhaps in significant, major ways. Your partner and family members will also have changed, at least in some ways. If you have children they will have grown older, and perhaps become more demanding of your time. Your friends may have developed new interests, or moved away, or changed jobs, and are not as close as before. Any one or more of your family, friends, work colleagues, may have themselves changed jobs or started a course of studies, and taken on the pressures that accompany these.Fourthly, a long course of studies will almost inevitably include areas of study that you are not excited about, or find boring, or which you can’t see the relevance of. Personally, I have always struggled with subjects like Statistics and Data Analysis, and motivating myself to study these was very difficult! Some of my colleagues love these subjects but dislike what they view as vague subjects such as those around managing people.Finally, studying for a professional development qualification is hard work. Very hard work. Working full time and also studying at professional level is the equivalent of having two jobs at the same time. This means that you will inevitably become tired and listless and probably irritable, at least on some occasions, as you work through a long course of studies.The result is that your motivation level will fall as it becomes more difficult to study effectively in this condition.The first, most important, most critical, step is to recognise and accept that maintaining a consistent level of motivation is impossible.The second, equally important step is to accept that although motivation levels will fluctuate, the extremes of high and low can be controlled.The third, equally critical step is to plan and take positive action to counter the influences that will be attacking your motivation levels.This action should be planned as early as possible, ideally at the very start of your studies, but it is never too late to implement such action. The specific actions are, individually, simple ones, and relatively easy to implement. The difficulty is in maintaining these actions, integrating them into your approach to your studies, to your work, and to your personal and home life, so that they become part of your lifestyle, rather than occasional, irregular activities. Before you start your studies, talk with your family or partner about the course of studies and why it is important to you, and to them. In some cases it will be appropriate to take their views into consideration before you decide to go ahead. Be as certain as you can be, through research, asking advice, consulting specialists, that the course, the qualification, is appropriate for your personal development, and that it fits in with your plans. Select a course provider, college, business school, university, that offers a format, a style, an approach, that you will enjoy being part of. Check with current and previous students. Ask colleagues and friends who have also studied by distance learning about their experiences.Set up a Personal Study Area, which you can organise and use for your studies. This should be a place where you will be comfortable, properly equipped, relatively undisturbed and where you can switch into “study” mode. Help yourself to avoid distractions occurring. Make it clear to family and friends, in the discussions you have with them, that once a timetable of study has been set and they have agreed that it is reasonable, they must not try to distract you. Turn off your mobile phone. Don’t have a television set visible from your personal study area. Take defensive action to prevent distractions occurring, such as contacting work colleagues before they contact you.Plan your studies so that you study at times that suit you, but also are times that don’t clash with times when it is important that you are with your family, partner, or friends. Keep your family, your friends, your partner, your work colleagues, your manager, appropriately up to date with your progress. Build in time for leisure and pleasure. Make sure that you take it! You will return to your studies fresh and re- invigorated. Plan your studies to take into account, and leave room for, working on tests, assignments, and revising for exams if required. Don’t set yourself unreasonable targets. If you can't study for more than an hour at a time, don’t plan to. Plan to work in 30 minute sessions. If you can't study effectively in the early morning, don’t plan to. Plan to study later in the day, or in the evening. If you can't actually manage to study for more than 8 hours a week, don’t plan to.Build some of your study activities into your everyday life. For example, if you are studying for a professional management qualification, read a business newspaper or journal instead of your usual newspaper, look out for business focused programmes on the television and radio, read business and management books to gain background knowledge and understanding, talk with your manager and specialists at work to see if you can be included, perhaps as an observer, in management meetings.Talk regularly with your Tutor. Good distance learning providers will have tutors who are accessible on a regular basis, and who will talk with you in the evening and weekends as well, at least for emergencies. Use email, instant messaging, and the telephone, appropriately but regularly.Equip yourself with the best study aids that you can afford. Your PC or Laptop doesn’t have to be the latest model, or the most powerful, and it’s not necessary to have the latest versions of software, but if it regularly crashes, or you lose valuable work, that can be very demotivating. Make sure that you have good quality anti-virus software (this should be kept up current through regular updates). Losing completed coursework and other files and folders because of a virus can make the most sane person suicidal! Don’t risk it, our own experiences and those of many of our students tell us that viruses are a real, ever-present danger.Keep fit and healthy. This is crucial. You need to take regular exercise, eat a balanced diet, try to avoid too much alcohol. It is well established knowledge that poor diet and lack of exercise has a very detrimental effect on concentration levels and on achievement levels.Reward yourself. When you meet a key target, submit an assignment on time, pass an examination, give yourself some time off, or a special treat. Be pleased with yourself.Finally, work at your studies to the best of your ability. Study hard. Study effectively. This will almost certainly guarantee that you will meet your deadlines and that the standard of your work will be high. The result will be that your progress will be successful and you will complete the course and achieve the qualification. Nothing is more powerful in raising morale and motivation levels than success.
By: CJ Williams
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
CJ Williams is a tutor and management consultant currently working with Brighton School of Business and Management in the UK, specialising in Business and Management courses taught via distance learning. The writer, CJ Williams, can be contacted at www.brightonsbm.com
Secondly, over these relatively long periods of study, you change. By this I mean that after one year, for example, you have gained more experience in your work role, you will have completed a large part of the course of studies. You may have been promoted, or been disappointed that you weren’t. Your work colleagues may have changed, or your manager may have been replaced with another. You may have changed jobs, moved to a new work location, or moved to a new home. You may have found new friends, or a new partner, be having relationship difficulties, or have become a father, or mother. You may feel unsure, albeit temporarily, that the course of studies is going to be as useful as you first thought, or the qualification as relevant to your career as you initially believed.Thirdly, the people in your life will have changed, perhaps in small ways, perhaps in significant, major ways. Your partner and family members will also have changed, at least in some ways. If you have children they will have grown older, and perhaps become more demanding of your time. Your friends may have developed new interests, or moved away, or changed jobs, and are not as close as before. Any one or more of your family, friends, work colleagues, may have themselves changed jobs or started a course of studies, and taken on the pressures that accompany these.Fourthly, a long course of studies will almost inevitably include areas of study that you are not excited about, or find boring, or which you can’t see the relevance of. Personally, I have always struggled with subjects like Statistics and Data Analysis, and motivating myself to study these was very difficult! Some of my colleagues love these subjects but dislike what they view as vague subjects such as those around managing people.Finally, studying for a professional development qualification is hard work. Very hard work. Working full time and also studying at professional level is the equivalent of having two jobs at the same time. This means that you will inevitably become tired and listless and probably irritable, at least on some occasions, as you work through a long course of studies.The result is that your motivation level will fall as it becomes more difficult to study effectively in this condition.The first, most important, most critical, step is to recognise and accept that maintaining a consistent level of motivation is impossible.The second, equally important step is to accept that although motivation levels will fluctuate, the extremes of high and low can be controlled.The third, equally critical step is to plan and take positive action to counter the influences that will be attacking your motivation levels.This action should be planned as early as possible, ideally at the very start of your studies, but it is never too late to implement such action. The specific actions are, individually, simple ones, and relatively easy to implement. The difficulty is in maintaining these actions, integrating them into your approach to your studies, to your work, and to your personal and home life, so that they become part of your lifestyle, rather than occasional, irregular activities. Before you start your studies, talk with your family or partner about the course of studies and why it is important to you, and to them. In some cases it will be appropriate to take their views into consideration before you decide to go ahead. Be as certain as you can be, through research, asking advice, consulting specialists, that the course, the qualification, is appropriate for your personal development, and that it fits in with your plans. Select a course provider, college, business school, university, that offers a format, a style, an approach, that you will enjoy being part of. Check with current and previous students. Ask colleagues and friends who have also studied by distance learning about their experiences.Set up a Personal Study Area, which you can organise and use for your studies. This should be a place where you will be comfortable, properly equipped, relatively undisturbed and where you can switch into “study” mode. Help yourself to avoid distractions occurring. Make it clear to family and friends, in the discussions you have with them, that once a timetable of study has been set and they have agreed that it is reasonable, they must not try to distract you. Turn off your mobile phone. Don’t have a television set visible from your personal study area. Take defensive action to prevent distractions occurring, such as contacting work colleagues before they contact you.Plan your studies so that you study at times that suit you, but also are times that don’t clash with times when it is important that you are with your family, partner, or friends. Keep your family, your friends, your partner, your work colleagues, your manager, appropriately up to date with your progress. Build in time for leisure and pleasure. Make sure that you take it! You will return to your studies fresh and re- invigorated. Plan your studies to take into account, and leave room for, working on tests, assignments, and revising for exams if required. Don’t set yourself unreasonable targets. If you can't study for more than an hour at a time, don’t plan to. Plan to work in 30 minute sessions. If you can't study effectively in the early morning, don’t plan to. Plan to study later in the day, or in the evening. If you can't actually manage to study for more than 8 hours a week, don’t plan to.Build some of your study activities into your everyday life. For example, if you are studying for a professional management qualification, read a business newspaper or journal instead of your usual newspaper, look out for business focused programmes on the television and radio, read business and management books to gain background knowledge and understanding, talk with your manager and specialists at work to see if you can be included, perhaps as an observer, in management meetings.Talk regularly with your Tutor. Good distance learning providers will have tutors who are accessible on a regular basis, and who will talk with you in the evening and weekends as well, at least for emergencies. Use email, instant messaging, and the telephone, appropriately but regularly.Equip yourself with the best study aids that you can afford. Your PC or Laptop doesn’t have to be the latest model, or the most powerful, and it’s not necessary to have the latest versions of software, but if it regularly crashes, or you lose valuable work, that can be very demotivating. Make sure that you have good quality anti-virus software (this should be kept up current through regular updates). Losing completed coursework and other files and folders because of a virus can make the most sane person suicidal! Don’t risk it, our own experiences and those of many of our students tell us that viruses are a real, ever-present danger.Keep fit and healthy. This is crucial. You need to take regular exercise, eat a balanced diet, try to avoid too much alcohol. It is well established knowledge that poor diet and lack of exercise has a very detrimental effect on concentration levels and on achievement levels.Reward yourself. When you meet a key target, submit an assignment on time, pass an examination, give yourself some time off, or a special treat. Be pleased with yourself.Finally, work at your studies to the best of your ability. Study hard. Study effectively. This will almost certainly guarantee that you will meet your deadlines and that the standard of your work will be high. The result will be that your progress will be successful and you will complete the course and achieve the qualification. Nothing is more powerful in raising morale and motivation levels than success.
By: CJ Williams
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
CJ Williams is a tutor and management consultant currently working with Brighton School of Business and Management in the UK, specialising in Business and Management courses taught via distance learning. The writer, CJ Williams, can be contacted at www.brightonsbm.com
How To Find The Time To Get The Skills You Need
“I know I need to know how to create spreadsheets and update my database, but I just can’t find the time!” Does this sound like you? So many small business owners need to learn more about computer applications in order to function more effectively in their jobs. Finding a good time to get the training you need to do your job can be challenging for many business owners and professionals.If you find yourself registering to attend computer classes, but then having to cancel because something always seems to come up at the last minute, you are not alone. Many business people have a hard time planning ahead of time to attend training sessions that are scheduled for specific times. However, finding training classes at the last minute is nearly impossible, because good classes fill up quickly. It can be very frustrating to know that you need to improve your skills, but to be unable to find time to do so.
That’s where online training comes in. E-learning classes are available in every topic imaginable, from basic computer skills through how to design and market your company’s website. By selecting an online training option, your computer can become your classroom. Instead of leaving work or home to go to class, literally your class can be delivered right to your desktop, any time that you want it. Whether you have time to work on developing your skills first think in the morning, last thing at night, or even in the airport between flights, you can fit e-learning into your schedule. According to Randall Olson, Mobile Technical Institute’s IT Director, “The main reason that MTI implemented its comprehensive online training program is to make high quality training accessible to clients who aren’t able to attend pre-scheduled classes. We offer instructor-led classes that are very well attended. However, we frequently received training requests from people who just cannot work out their schedules to attend the classes they need. I knew we needed to create a training option that would work for them, so we implemented an online curriculum.” The great thing about advanced e-learning technology is that people who want to learn new skills can do so in their own time and at their own pace. Online classes are the ideal solution for individuals who need to find a convenient, affordable, and easily accessible way to improve their skills. The beauty of the e-learning environment is that you can choose exactly what you need to learn, and complete your training at times convenient to you, in the locations of your choice. People from all backgrounds and all skill levels can benefit from online learning. According to Olson, “our online training clients range from people who are learning to use their first computer all the way through advanced computer professionals who would otherwise have to travel across the country to find live classes that meet their specialized, high-end training needs.”Whether your goal is to master the computer applications skills that will help you run your business more effectively, to earn your real estate license, or to complete continuing education licensing requirements for your profession, there is an excellent online training program that will meet your needs.
By: Mary Gormandy White
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Mary Gormandy White is a career and training expert who specializes in customer service, management, and career development training at Mobile Technical Institute www.mobiletechwebsite.com. She also works with MTI Business Solutions, providing marketing, writing, and SEO consulting services to a wide variety of clients. Stop by www.dailycareerconnection.com regularly to read more tips for improving your professional skills and career prospects.
That’s where online training comes in. E-learning classes are available in every topic imaginable, from basic computer skills through how to design and market your company’s website. By selecting an online training option, your computer can become your classroom. Instead of leaving work or home to go to class, literally your class can be delivered right to your desktop, any time that you want it. Whether you have time to work on developing your skills first think in the morning, last thing at night, or even in the airport between flights, you can fit e-learning into your schedule. According to Randall Olson, Mobile Technical Institute’s IT Director, “The main reason that MTI implemented its comprehensive online training program is to make high quality training accessible to clients who aren’t able to attend pre-scheduled classes. We offer instructor-led classes that are very well attended. However, we frequently received training requests from people who just cannot work out their schedules to attend the classes they need. I knew we needed to create a training option that would work for them, so we implemented an online curriculum.” The great thing about advanced e-learning technology is that people who want to learn new skills can do so in their own time and at their own pace. Online classes are the ideal solution for individuals who need to find a convenient, affordable, and easily accessible way to improve their skills. The beauty of the e-learning environment is that you can choose exactly what you need to learn, and complete your training at times convenient to you, in the locations of your choice. People from all backgrounds and all skill levels can benefit from online learning. According to Olson, “our online training clients range from people who are learning to use their first computer all the way through advanced computer professionals who would otherwise have to travel across the country to find live classes that meet their specialized, high-end training needs.”Whether your goal is to master the computer applications skills that will help you run your business more effectively, to earn your real estate license, or to complete continuing education licensing requirements for your profession, there is an excellent online training program that will meet your needs.
By: Mary Gormandy White
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Mary Gormandy White is a career and training expert who specializes in customer service, management, and career development training at Mobile Technical Institute www.mobiletechwebsite.com. She also works with MTI Business Solutions, providing marketing, writing, and SEO consulting services to a wide variety of clients. Stop by www.dailycareerconnection.com regularly to read more tips for improving your professional skills and career prospects.
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