Never Stop Learning

We have all heard that continual learning is important to your mental and even physical well-being.  We all know the excuses for not learning (and trust me, I use them myself): finding time is tough, life is busy, it’s boring, I don’t know how to start.  The list goes on and on.

These excuses really should not relate to learning (use them for those chores you really hate, like cleaning that junk drawer or filing your taxes).

Remember:

• You don’t need to commit a huge block of time to learning; customize your learning to fit your schedule.
• Learning can be a full class, a fun fact or just a necessary skill.
• Learning doesn’t have to be productive or useful. It can be fun and silly. 
• Stretch your mind as often as you can.

Over the years, I have implemented some things to help me learn new things every day.  And, all of these are free. Learning does not need to be a financial investment, just a time investment. 

• Find free webinars, lunch-n-learns or instructional videos. 
• Most trainers or professionals offer free learning. Sign up for those. Try and find a few each month. Keep them on your calendar no matter what meeting or social commitments come up (meetings and events get canceled or end early and you can jump on to the learning opportunity).  
• For instance, I sign up for about four webinars or lunch-n-learns a month. I can usually attend half of these. I always find at least one golden gem to take away from the webinar so I consider that a true “win” for my learning goal. Sometimes the webinar is also a great refresher of skills I have let slip.
• There are great online classes that cover a few weeks. Many of these are free now, due to Covid19. I am taking a friend-recommended, self-paced, ten week coursera class on “The Science of Well-Being”.  It takes about one hour a week.  I don’t do all the related learning or tasks, but I do listen to the lecture and usually take the quiz. I have gotten a lot out of the first three weeks.
• Embrace TedTalks. 
• If a week has no webinars that interest me, I try to find a TedTalk. Most of these are shorter options, but always include a gem or refresher.
• And… I totally love instructables.  What a great way to learn making a mushroom house out of cardboard or creating a unicycle clock.
• Sign up for a newsletter or blog that is different from what you normally read.  
• Currently, I receive The Hustle. It has varied articles on business, technology and sometimes just fun things. I try and read this a few times a week. These are quick learning opportunities, normally just a few minutes. If I read an article that really interests me, I might do a wiki search or see what more information I can find out about the topic. 
• In the past, I have read different sections of Google News (science, space, health, etc).
• I also follow the unusual facebook or LinkedIn posting if I realize I don’t know anything about the post’s topic. Some of these contain fun facts I never knew.
• Watch interesting TV shows that are related to learning. 
• National Geographic, History  and similar channels have great shows. On Netflix, I have enjoyed 100 Humans and BrainGames. I also enjoy a good gardening, diy or home remodeling show.
• Listen to someone tell a story about something they have learned.  I am always amazed at how much I have learned listening to my family and friends.  
• Along this same vein, share the things you learned with people you know would find it interesting.
• Final bit of advice… document your learning experiences.
• I keep a quick list of the major things I learn.  If I complete a longer class or a very informative webinar, I add it to my list of self-learning.  Reviewing this list occasionally not only makes me feel better about my learning accomplishments, but reminds me of other things I wanted to learn, which re-excites me about new learning.

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Working From Home - Simple Helpful Hints

In the 1990s, I was fortunate enough to take my husband’s and I’s hobby of buying and selling collectible toys, and move it to an internet business, which I ran out of my home. Before I left my previous job, I researched the best ways to create a successful home business.  You have to remember, there was no all-knowing Google at that time, so I did the next best thing… I reached out to other small business owners and friends that had their own home businesses. They gave me excellent advice.

Fast forward to the present. I am again working from home, but now for a company. Much of the advice I received back then, still holds true.  I am sure you have heard some of these before, but hopefully one of these helps and is a good reminder for you.

• Find a place that is away from your home life and create an office for yourself.
• This can be a spare bedroom, sitting room or basement, if you have that available.
• If not, create a space in your bedroom or in a living space you seldom use.  
• Try not to use the kitchen or living room.  The rooms you and your family utilize most often will distract you and allow your housemates to think you are available to them at any time.
• Create a signal that you can turn on or display, which alerts the others in your house that you are doing something important or on a call and should not be disturbed.
• My husband and I use a light.  His office is upstairs and mine is on the main floor.  I put a little light at the base of the stairs that I can turn on when I need to be undisturbed. He has a door on his office, so he just shuts the door.
• Create work hours.
• If your work allows, create set hours.  I generally work 7 am - 4 pm.  This has many positive effects:
• People within my organization know a standard time that I can be reached easily, whereas after hours I can be harder to reach.
• My friends and family have learned when I am working and only to disturb me in cases of emergency or after work.
• You maintain a home life.  To avoid burnout, you never want to get in the habit of working all the time just because the laptop is sitting there.  Trust me, things can wait till tomorrow morning or even Monday morning.  If it is life or death, people will find a way to let you know that.
• You will be more focused on work when it is work time and more able to enjoy home time when you disconnect from work.  You shouldn’t be cleaning junk drawers in your kitchen during work hours or updating that work spreadsheet during home hours.  Keep a separate routine as much as possible.
• Pay back your time. 
• If you need to deal with the sprinkler company during work hours, that is usually okay.  Just remember to pay back that work time back. And, if you work late one night on a project that must be completed, consider taking a longer lunch one day.  

Remember: 

• Your company is serious enough to pay you for the work you are doing, you should be serious enough to earn that pay.  
• Even though you’re working from home, this is still a job.  You would not (or should not) sit in an office 12-14 hours a day, so you don’t need to do it just because your office is in your home.

Share a Smile - Lift Yourself Up

I decided to restart my blog, to force my mind to do some original writing again. My executives and my teammates' roles have changed during the Covid-19 crisis.  As a result, my job is not as fast-paced and the need for creativity is not as it once was.  Much of my work these days has been more data entry focused and less right brain focused. Don’t get me wrong, I am deeply grateful to still have a job. I feel fortunate to be working on the projects I am working on, as the projects are helping others in the healthcare industry. 

The topic of this post is sharing a smile.  As some of you might have read in my prior blog post “My journey to be “Smiley” again”, I brought smiling back to my career. This positive attitude, personally serves me well. 

Now… enter Covid-19 and shelter-at-home.  I could see that this “new norm” was quickly taking its toll on my more social friends, family and colleagues. I knew it would also take its toll on me as the days rolled on. I wondered what I could do about it. I saw so many people on FB and on the news doing amazing things for the people around them. I watched inspirational videos.  I laughed at the clever memes.  I marveled at the free things to do to help occupy our time.  I just kept wondering how I could do my little part to help the people I care about.

Then, it hit me.  I dusted off my Daily Smile concept.  But, I realized it needed to be more than just a joke or a meme.  It had to help the wide variety of people I wanted to include in the daily email. I added a quote, a helpful hint and a funny link to my daily joke. I created a mailing list of about 100 friends, family and coworkers and sent it out for a few days to see if it would really help. I offered to remove people if they felt that receiving one more piece of email in their inbox was just annoying. As of today, no one has asked to be removed. Some people have been sharing it with their family, friends and coworkers. Many people have been sending me items I can use in future emails.  And, most inspiring is that almost daily, I get a reply from a person that tells me how I made their day with the helpful link, the quote or some random part of the email.

I quickly became aware that this daily email was also helping me. Looking for new material to share or reading what others are sending me, has been a huge daily smile for me.  I noticed that the littlest thing can truly change my day from sad to glad. 

I know I am not saving lives.  I am not moving my community to do something amazing. But, in my own little way, I believe I am helping people I care about, a little bit each day. 

So… please share a little smile each day. Send a letter to a friend. Post a nice note or fun link. Put a chalk drawing on your driveway for walkers to see. It will improve your outlook on things.