That’s Life

24 June 2015

Time For A Digital Detox

I went out to Iftar dinner at a restaurant last week with a group of friends to celebrate Ramadan. About an hour into the meal, we were having a great conversation about why we still like to have face to face interaction in the new “digital me” age. It was then I realized that we were the only people in the restaurant actually talking to each other.

The other patrons were all sitting quietly eating their meals while gazing at their mobile devices. Even the waiters were taking out their mobiles in between busing tables. Now mind you, I am guilty of looking at my mobile when I am in restaurants too, but that is usually if I am eating out by myself, and not when I am with someone. There were groups of people sitting at these tables last week looking at phones instead of talking to each other. Who knows, maybe they were texting each other! I would much rather talk to the actual human being in front of me than be on the mobile. I love technology as much as the next person, but even I have my limits. With all the good that technology and the Internet has done for the world,there have also been some bad things to come out of it as well, namely the decrease in face to face social interaction.

There are a lot of people today who have so immersed themselves in the digital world that they have forgotten how to interact with other in the analog world. I remember back in the “old days” of 10 years ago when you could strike up a conversation with someone on a train or bus. Now when you travel on public transportation, there is complete silence because everyone is plugged into their headsets and phones.

A couple of months ago I was in Washington DC for a client meeting. I got lost while walking to meet the client, and I asked the first guy I saw on the street for directions. “Don’t you have GPS on your phone,” he said. Yeah, I guess I could have used my mobile to find the location, but my first instinct was to ask an actual human being first.

And then you have the people who think you are suppose to live 24/7 online, like the ones who get mad if you don’t respond to their email, text or Facebook messages as soon as they are received. Or the people who get upset when you don’t post every single thing you are doing in your life online.

I recently discovered this show on MTV called Catfish, which delves into the fascinating fake world of online dating. There are people on this show who have significant others they have only met through Facebook!

This unhealthy relationship we have with our digital devices is actually creating more stress on our social and cultural interactions. I do a digital detox regularly just so I keep my life in check. Here’s what I do:

Turn off your phone: I tell clients, friends and family that my mobile is turned off at 7pm ET daily and turned back on at 7am ET the next day. If it is an emergency, clients can call my business line and family and friends call the landline (yeah, I still have one of those things…) As a sidenote, it’s a good idea to shut down mobiles regularly to preserve the battery and extend the life of the phone.

Limit your social media use: The constant stream of tweets, Instagram images and blog posts can become a distraction and limit your ability to do other things effectively. Schedule time to do the social media stuff for 30 minutes a day and get on with your life.

Limit your email use: The same thing goes for email. Unless it is work-related, put a daily intake limit on email communications. Even if it is work-related email, only respond to time sensitive messages first.

Limit your screen viewing: If you have a job where you have to be in front of a computer all day like me, that can be tough, but you can always take a coffee or lunch break away from your desk. But what about when you are at home doing a binge marathon of the latest Netflix series. As much as I like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, I limit myself to two or three hours of screen viewing a day on TVs and computers.

Read a print book: I only use my tablet for reading books that are 500 pages or more, and even then I limit my digital reading to a couple of hours to reduce eye strain. If it is a small print book, I don’t mind carrying it in my bag. Also, unlike tablets, print books are crash-proof.

Set up a detox event: Arrange a time to do something non-techie with family or friends where they have to surrender their devices for a few hours, like going for a jog, bike riding, or a picnic. It’s time to put the real social back into social networking!

20 May 2015

Why Open Textbooks Are Better

Talia Whyte That's Life open education

After being out of school for 13 years, I decided to go back to gain new programming skills. When I registered for my classes, I looked up the textbooks the instructors assigned. To my amazement, the cost of textbooks were astronomical. Sure, textbooks were expensive over a decade ago, but I didn’t have to spend a whole paycheck on one book!

I have also had the unique experience of working in a college bookstore. I would see students come into the store, look at the price of their books, and walk right out. I have had parent of students yell at me about the expensive books, as if I actually set the prices. I have also seen students or parents have their credit cards declined because they can’t afford the books.

The growing cost of tuition is difficult enough, but when you add in textbook costs, that can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Unfortunately, I have seen students drop out of classes because of book costs. Then there are students who attempt to do the class without the textbook and end up failing the class.

Sometimes I would recommend that the parents or students try to find the book for cheaper online. However, more than likely the cheaper books online are older editions, and usually the professor wants to use the most recent edition. You just can’t win here…

Why are textbooks so expensive?

Monopoly – Technically five publishers in the United States have a monopoly on the $7 billion college textbook industry, so they can get away with setting higher prices. According to Textbook Equity, “the top three parent publishers, Pearson, Cengage, and McGraw-Hill accounted for 74% of the textbooks sold, each with over a 20% share. This is why they can get away with charging nearly $300 for a French book!
Under the table – Some publishers “pay” professors under the table to use their textbooks in classes. Compensation doesn’t necessarily mean money exchanged. I had a professor tell me once that he was using a particular textbook because the publisher offered him discounts for a new laptop and credit on professional development certification. It turns out that the textbook he used is not the best book on the market for teaching that particular subject, but it offered him incentives. Maybe that’s great for the instructor, but not for the students.
Unaware Professors – Some professors are just unaware and are not in touch with their students’ financial limitations. This is more true at expensive private schools where tuition is 50 or 60K a year and the professors are given a couple hundred thousand dollars in yearly tenured salary. If a professor is “teaching” a class with a couple hundred students in the room, but their graduate assistants are doing all the teaching, they are most likely have no idea how much students are suffering financially.
School Policy – A school might have a long-term contract with a particular publisher and is not willing to change policy. This is seen especially at public colleges and universities.

So there is this growing movement to bring “open textbooks” to campus. Open textbooks are are the same as commercial textbooks, but they have an open copyright license that can be accessed and shared by both students and professors. You can either get the e-textbook for free online or purchase the hardcover for very little money. They are written and reviewed by other professors. Instructors can adapt it for their class, add or change material and remove unnecessary chapters that won’t be used in class. According to Student PIRG, students save on average 80 percent on textbook costs when they use open materials. A growing number of schools are going this route as an alternative to pricey textbooks.

Open textbooks also fits in perfectly with the larger open education community, which is being led by Khan Academy and MIT’s OpenCourseWare.

David Wiley is one of the most visible college professors leading the open education movement. He gave an interesting talk on this subject at TED a few years ago.

It’s time to make education a priority, not money.

13 May 2015

How To Better Manage Your Time

Talia Whyte Business, That's Life time managment

We all have busy lives. I know I certainly do. Between all the different media and GWA projects I’m dealing with, maneuvering family obligations, going back to school and trying to have something that resembles a social life, time management can be quite daunting sometimes. My day usually starts at 4:30am with some type of exercise (jogging, yoga or cycling) and whines down around 10pm.

I was never really a very organized person until I started running a business, and quickly realized that I had to learn how to manage my time and resources better. Over the last fifteen years, I have tried different techniques that have worked well for me, and I would like to share with you.

Do a time audit: I like doing a time audit at least once a month. Write down all the activities you do on a regular basis at work, home, school etc in a chart. Are there things you could do in less time or do you need to dedicate more time to that activity? Are there certain activities that can be done in the evening or weekends? Can you delegate it to someone else? Putting your activities on paper and strategizing them will give you a better perspective of how your use your time.
Create a daily to-do list: Everyday I write down a list of activities that I need to get done that day, with the most important items at the top of the list. Again, I am better at getting things done when it is written down on paper. It is almost like creating a contract for myself, because if I don’t do things on the list, I feel guilty at the end of the day.
Do the most important activities first thing in the morning: If you have daily routines that are important for you to do, do it first thing in the morning. This is why I do my exercises really early. Also, while Global Wire Associates officially starts business operations at 8am ET, I like to get started on important, time-sensitive client work and administrative duties before I get deluged in phone calls and emails from clients and staff.
Schedule appointments with yourself for high-priority actions: If I can’t do something in the morning, I block off time in my calendar for that activities. Most of the time this is done for family obligations.
Set reminders in the calendar: I set reminders in my calendar for when certain activities are due, like paying bills and doing client follow-up.
It’s better to be early than late: I hate having to work on a close deadline; I get really stressed out and end up not doing my best work. Instead, I strive to get projects done ahead of schedule. No client has ever complained about a project getting done early.
Don’t answer the phone at certain times: I tell my clients to only call between 8am and 7pm. After 7pm, I turn my business phone off for the day. Unless there is a highly unlikely emergency, it can wait until the next day. If you allow yourself to be a slave to your phone, you will never get anything done.
Block out time for emails, text, and social media: It is pretty standard today that we constantly look at our mobiles or tablets for incoming communications nonstop. I find that I never get anything done when I am on Twitter, Facebook, the blogs and reading non-business related email and texts all day long. I block out time to do this in the evening instead.
Batch similar tasks together: If I have to update one website for a client, why not update all the client websites with that same procedure at the same time. Again, it better to do it now when you are thinking about than doing it later.
Delegate your work: Are there home or work activities that you can delegate to an employee, spouse, friend or your kids? I know I do this often. You should do this too. With that said…
It’s okay to say “no”: Sometimes you want to impress clients, or be a great friend or significant other, or do good by the people you care about in your life. But the reality here is that there is only so much time in a day, and if you don’t have the time to do something, sometimes it is best to be honest with yourself and tell others “no.”
Schedule time for breaks and interruptions: Sure, you should take a tea time and lunch because we are human and we need a break sometimes. Also, because we are human, life happens and things can go left or right unexpectedly. Sometimes you have to stop what you are doing to deal with a sick family member or fix a client’s problem. We always have to be ready for life interrupted.

Sometimes even with the best of intentions, we still can’t get everything done when we need it done. However, having a plan for dealing with time management can make life a little easier.

4 February 2015

How to Make Exercise Part of Your Daily Life

Talia Whyte That's Life cycling, exercise, running, yoga

We are one month into 2015, and many of you may have already given up on your New Year’s resolution to hit the gym and lose weight. Getting into the routine of physical activity can be difficult for many of us. I have a family member who has finally started going to the gym regularly after many years of dragging his feet to make the better health commitment.

I only got serious myself about exercise after learning that diabetes runs in my family about 10 years ago. At the time, I got a membership at my local YMCA, but I think I only went once a month. I would walk for a while on the treadmill and maybe jump on the bike, but then went home feeling like I didn’t really accomplish much.

Then I spoke to one of the personal trainers at the gym who told me that I had to find an activity that I enjoyed doing; so it wouldn’t feel like it was work, but rather a fun activity. He also said that when you feel good after that activity, then you have found the exercise that works for you. “It will be hard to do, but you will know when you found that sweet spot,” he said.

I tried a variety of group exercise classes at the gym, from Zumba to spinning, and none of them appealed to me.

So then I tried running for 10 minutes outside in my neighborhood. It was hard to do at first, but I actually felt good afterwards. For the next few weeks, I ran for 20 minutes three times a week. Over the course of the next year, I noticed I was losing weight and toning muscles. So I ran longer distances, running up to 15 miles in a week.

About five years ago I wanted to diversify my exercise regimen, so I tried yoga. I had read that yoga was a great compliment to running. Again, it was hard to do the first class, especially downward facing dog and crow, but at the end of the class I did feel energized and willing to come to another class. Since then I either go to a vinyasa yoga class or practice at home twice a week.

This summer I took up outdoor cycling again in earnest. What sparked my interest after all these years? I wanted to try something different that I might enjoy. And, yes, I did enjoy riding with my friends along the Charles River and just around my neighborhood.

So just to recap how I exercise during the week these days:

Running: I run about 5-7 miles a day, three times a week – regardless of weather – and after a meditation session. Because of the dreadful New England weather, I have to run on a gym treadmill, but I long for outdoor running and nicer weather. Running outdoors and indoors are two completely different experiences. I also run first thing in the morning, like 4:30 or 5, because that is when the body has the most natural energy stored up for use. Furthermore, I also feel like I have accomplished something before the day has really begun!

Yoga: I practice yoga for 30 minutes a day, twice a week, after a meditation sessions and also first thing in the morning. And, yes, I can do a crow pose now without falling on my face!

Cycling: Since I don’t try to bike on top of all the snow we have been getting lately in Boston, I started taking spinning classes again at the Y. Not sure I will keep doing this, since outdoor cycling is a way better experience. But then again, I don’t have to worry about a car mowing me down on the street either, so I will see.

Also, exercising in the morning has worked best for my hectic work schedule. I have become so used to exercising that I feel guilty when I don’t exercise on schedule.

Just to reiterate, exercise should be something that you enjoy doing, so running, yoga or cycling may not be your thing, and that’s okay. That is how you make exercise part of your daily life. Even if you don’t have time to participate in an exercise session, there are many ways to incorporate physical activity into your day, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator or walking somewhere instead of driving a car. What matters at the end of the day is that you are physically active and staying healthy.

«< 3 4 5 6 7 >