Month: August 2017
The Highest Form of Flattery
Like the nineteenth century, our own moment is one at which the expansion of museums and new technologies for the dissemination of images have combined to make the history of art-making seem open to view as never before. Elizabeth Prettejohn’s elegant new book reminds us that pastiche and ironic “appropriation” are not the only possible responses to that experience.
For National Lighthouse Day, we’re featuring the Cape Hatteras…
For National Lighthouse Day, we’re featuring the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse at Cape Hatteras National Seashore in North Carolina. Protecting mariners in an area known as the “Graveyard of the Atlantic,” the lighthouse was built in 1870 and is distinctive for its spiral black and white paint pattern. It remains the tallest brick lighthouse in America and is a favorite subject of visiting photographers. Photo by Stacy Abbott (http://ift.tt/18oFfjl).
Learn more about the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse: http://ift.tt/2byLo89
How To Start Balancing Life And Work Without Getting Fired
As communications become more convenient, it also becomes easier to immerse yourself in work and never look up from it.
If you are like me, you find yourself checking e-mail at all hours and addressing mid-level professional concerns via email or on the phone when on vacation, out with friends or even playing with the kids. This is not just a bad habit but it is detrimental professionally, psychologically and physically, too.
Who is to blame for this condition?
Is it your superiors who need your council at all hours of day and night? Is it your own sense of inflated worth? Are you really needed every moment? Or is it your needless guilt in saying no to projects that you should really decline?
At this point, you are probably cursing under your breath at an article like this, thinking that as part of the gig economy. You can’t just stop and unplug because you might jeopardize your livelihood. Perhaps, you are working several jobs and need that financial support to survive.
Though that may be true, overwork is actually setting you up for failure. Creating positive and selective work habits, however, will allow you to reduce stress and be more successful.
Overworking is Bad for Business
Ultimately, it has been shown that those that claim to work huge volumes of overtime are less productive than those that work less hours but with more sustained and focused time.
The 40-hour work week was originally put in place because it allowed for the best possible work to get done without jeopardizing products. Studies showed that workers who toiled for ten hours a day compared with eight had the same level of output. Basically, that means that employers were paying overtime for no return.
The same is true of any job. We only have so much ability to get things done before losing focus or being dazed by overwork and lack of sleep.
What To Do
To make sure that your work time will be productive, take the hours off that you are supposed to.
• Lunch away
Be sure to take your lunch away from your computer and plan to leave work on time. Setting that deadline for yourself will force you to stay on task rather than procrastinate.
• Take vacation
You are more productive if you have time to unwind and return to work fresh. Do not leave your vacation time on the table.
• Keep personal time personal
To keep professional resentment at bay, make sure that you have the time you need for your family.
• Ask about a revised schedule
In the digital age, more people are working on a flexible schedule. See if this is something your employer would consider for you. After all, who cares when your work gets done as long as it’s done?
Overworking is Bad for Your Brain
Psychologically, working without a break can lead to depression, sleep deprivation and even cause memory loss. These things can surely affect your effectiveness at work. Research into this phenomenon have revealed even more unsettling results.
For example, a Norwegian study from 2014 looked deeply at the relationship between psychological disorders and overwork in over 16 thousand workers . It found out that those that were classified as workaholics were about three times as likely to show symptoms of ADHD, OCD and clinical anxiety and four times as likely to show signs of depression.
What to do
If you find yourself feeling off because of overwork, take some immediate steps.
• Catch more sleep
Want to be more useful at work? Sleep is key. Though this may cut into your “leisure time” a bit, more sleep will allow you to process effectively, help your memory and keep you focused. Think you are just one of those people who don’t need as much sleep and can go on 4-5 hours or so and be productive? Think again!
See Also: Get Strong, Sleep, Repeat: The Importance Of Sleeping
• Get deep
Deep work is a strategy that actively cuts down on distractions in favor of a protracted amount of focused time. If you feel like your multi-tasking is out of control, it might be time to detox on distractions and see if deep work concepts are right for you.
• Ask yourself if there may be a larger problem
If you find yourself increasing your workload, make sure you ask the question: Is this because of drive or a more deep-seated psychological issue?
Overworking is Bad for Your Health
There are many studies that show that overwork is bad for you physically. It can increase your likelihood of causing conditions like diabetes, heart disease, stroke and increased fatality. Like a watch, we need to be wound down or our springs will start popping out.
Working more than 55 hours a week, says one study, gives you a 30% higher risk of stroke and 13% higher risk of heart disease as well as increased dangers for diabetes.
What to do
To protect your health, consider the following actions.
• Find time for exercise
Obviously, this is easier said than done. Make sure you take time, even if it’s just a walk at lunchtime or getting up to talk to someone on another floor rather than sending an email. And when you go there, take the stairs.
• Stand up for yourself
Prolonged sitting is pretty bad for your cardiovascular health – make sure you take a couple of minutes every hour or so to move your joints and get your blood flowing.
• Eat right
Overwork can lead to some strange eating habits (ever heard of Soylent, for example?). By planning your meals and investing in bringing healthy snacks, like fruits and veggies, to work, you’ll be able to lower your cholesterol.
Perhaps the best way to start balancing life and work is to be honest with yourself about what is possible to accomplish in the time you have allotted for work.
Most of those who end up being overworked do so because they have said “Yes” to too many projects. However, there are ways to say no to your boss or peers that will make you look both smart and sensitive, rather than a basket case or a slacker.
See Also: 7 Signs Of Overworking (And What To Do About Them)
Check out this infographic from GetVoIP to learn more about how to respectfully say no at work and avoid overworking yourself.
SOURCE
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Home designed by Budi Pradono Architects (BPA) on the Island of Lombok in Indonesia
This wonderful construction is located at the top of a hill and completely surrounded by lush green vegetation typical of the area. It was designed by the architectural firm Budi Pradono Architects (BPA)and is located on the Indonesian Island of Lombok, in the province of West Nusa Tenggara, in Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to..
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Wonderful Resort in the Mountains of Breuil-Cervinia, Italy
This fantastic Hotel-Resort, located in the sunny Breuil-Cervinia Mountains, Italy, is for many people, without a doubt, a paradise for skiing. It is located in a valley surrounded by high glacier-covered mountains and the bare rock face of the Jumeaux. There, guests can enjoy wonderful gourmet cuisine, a luxurious Spa, as well as delicious drinks, live music, and movies in high definition, not to mention that they can go skiing,..
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How to Start a Proofreading Business At Home
Do you get annoyed when people keep writing “there” instead of “their,” “its” instead of “it’s” or “ affect” instead of “effect”? Do your friends sometimes call you a “grammar Nazi” (in the sweetest way)?
If so, then you are probably the right person to start a proofreading business at home.
Before you entertain this thought, it should be something that you really want to do. This is because this business is only for those who truly enjoy looking into little details, bugging people about word order or reading the same text over and over just to make sure that “it flows.”
Otherwise, you won’t survive there for too long!
Now, you might be wondering about one thing: How can you start a proofreading business at home?
We know the answer and we will show it to you in a second. But, before that, make sure you know these things about the market:
1. Getting into the market will take some time as there are many people like you trying to top the list of successful business owners in this niche.
2. You will need much patience when trying to build your own network and get your first orders.
3. People in this niche need to take courses and do research on their own to make sure their knowledge is still relevant.
4. You will have to start at a lower rate, so don’t expect high revenue at first.
5. All business people need to be good marketers (or hire the latter to work for them), as that’s the only way, besides networking, to land new orders.
6. This market changes a lot and you will have to catch up with it all the time.
7. Select your specialization as an “I will proofread anything” approach does not sound professional enough to attract new customers.
We hope we painted quite a picture for you here. Now, let’s move to the actual steps on how to start a proofreading business at home.
See Also: 9 Ways How To Earn Money Online
How to start up your own business in proofreading niche
Develop a proper mindset
When you start a business, remember that it is YOUR business. You do not have a boss to blame for a weak marketing strategy, a supervisor to delegate all tasks to, or a director who will cover any financial loss.
You are in charge of all these things. So, before you start acting, think twice. Choose targets carefully, research every step before even making it and search for solutions only after seeking the assistance of experienced business people.
And also, start with a professional business plan, license, checking account, email and a phone number. Be professional on all stages!
Evaluate your financial situation
You need to make sure that you have the funds to start your own business. You will need to support yourself for some time, purchase professional tools and pay salaries if you want to hire more employees to work for you.
So, be realistic when it comes to your financial state and calculate all the possible outcomes before even starting.
Polish your skills
As a proofreader and an editor, you will have to work hard not to lose your skills in the midst of all the marketing campaigns, networking and other business issues that are not particularly related to the actual proofreading.
Besides, there are so many freelancers out there so you will have to work hard to strengthen your presence in the market.
Analyze your target audience
Who are the people you want to deliver your services to? What are they genuinely interested in? What are their core values?
It is important to have a clear customer’s portrait from the start. It is a huge help both to your marketing strategies and customer satisfaction.
Know who you are aiming to reach out to and adapt your strategies exactly to their needs. For instance, students might need an additional plagiarism checker and if you offer this service for free, they will be very grateful. Your success is only one market research away.
Build your portfolio
People want to see results. Therefore, getting testimonials from your former employers, clients or the people you helped before can be a huge step forward.
Boast.io states that “Customer testimonials and case studies are considered the most effective content marketing tactics, identified by 89% and 88%, respectively, of B2B marketers.”
Besides, remember that competition is huge and to have new customers come and tell you to just take their money, you need to go over and beyond with your business ideas.
Establish your rate
Yes, you need to establish your rate. There is no one common formula to help you calculate a perfect rate. However, you need to remember that as your reputation and skills grow, your rate will grow, too.
Research the pricing of your business rivals in the same services and make your rate somehow close to theirs. Remember that you should also have a loyalty program and bonuses to those who leave their testimonials, bring friends, or recommend your services.
Have a set of essential tools to use
Before you launch your business or start your first marketing campaign, you need to ensure that you have all the necessary tools you need to run the business. Thus, you might want to buy some grammar checkers to save your time or your own domain to run the business on.
All this has to be established and tuned up before the first clients fly in, as managing organizational things on the go is not easy if you are a newbie to this area.
Start the advertising campaign
Finally, the time has come to launch those marketing campaigns. Start with Facebook ads as that is where most people spend time daily. Besides, they are easy to set up and analyze so not using them is almost a crime!
Then, consider running special campaigns on Google or elsewhere. You will probably need help with writing all the texts right and pushing the right triggers there so be ready to pay for the services of real professionals here.
See Also: The 5 Internet Marketing Trends That Will Dominate in 2017
Network
Networking is powerful. People find jobs with the help of their friends’ recommendations and you can easily find new customers in the same way. Simply ask your friends if they know anyone looking for proofreading services. It never hurts to ask and you might get new clients in no time.
And also, leave your business cards wherever you go. They might do the job for you, too.
Work on your people skills
Every business is all about relationship. Unless you know how to find a key to every individual person out there, you are at a risk to fail.
So, master the art of being a friendly business as that is your key to success. People like businesses with a soul behind it. Be that kind of business!
Learn how to deliver the best client service
Finally, you need to be ready to deal with the complaints of any frustrated customers. Make sure that they will be left with nothing but a good impression of your business in the end. You can either hire a professional to deal with frustrated customers or learn how to be the perfect fit yourself.
In summary
Running a personal business is a dream come true for many. However, to make sure that your home-based proofreading business will last and prosper after years of struggles in the market, follow our simple tips.
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House with a Tree Designed by Sauter Von Moos in Basel, Switzerland
This old home, covering an area of 280 square meters, was renovated in the year 2013 by Charlotte von Moos and Florian Sauter from the architectural firm Sauter von Moos. The home is located in Basel, a city on the shores of the Rhine River, in northwestern Switzerland. Basel is a uniquely multicultural town due to its location – located where the Swiss, French, and German borders meet, it also..
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The Blinds
Practically by design, novelists are people who honor the feelings and behaviors that connect us. But few things make them more skeptical than a community. The just-so surfaces of suburbia were a favorite target in postwar American fiction, from Peyton Place to “The Lottery” to the Rabbit novels. A small castle can be constructed out of novels satirizing the degradations of Marxist central planning. Postapocalyptic novels from YA (The Hunger Games) to literary fiction (Chang-rae Lee’s On Such a Full Sea) reveal the folly of attempts to maintain order amid social chaos. Utopian societies? The only way those succeed is as a story prompt. T. C. Boyle (Drop City) and Lauren Groff (Arcadia) have set novels in such places only to collapse them, turn them into hubristic symbols of our inability to keep our reckless selves in check.
Adam Sternbergh feels no differently. But the neat trick of his third novel, The Blinds, is that he builds a smart, pulpy crime novel out of that material — it’s a critique of our best-intentioned it-takes-a-village sentiments that’s both more realistic and more weaponized than similar treatments. Calvin Cooper is the ad hoc sheriff in a West Texas community called the Blinds, founded by a well-funded institute that’s experimenting in erasing memories. Criminals and those who’ve suffered traumas have the uglier proteins in their brains zapped; in exchange for not being stalked by their memories of the havoc they wreaked (or experienced) in the outside world, the seventy-odd residents must stay within the town limits. “You are not in jail. You are not in hell,” a deputy explains to some new arrivals. “You are in Texas.”
The premise of the Blinds is so intriguing that you don’t dwell too much on that erasing-memories business, even though it’s the most volatile material you can pick up at the Hubristic Tropes Store. Sternbergh helps his cause by treating the matter gently, at least at first. The people responsible for doing the erasing are at a distance, genially described as “head scrubbers,” and the official name for the Blinds is Caesura — just a short pause, a tiny gap. Caesura is framed as an advanced version of the federal witness program, “a way to deal with . . . the killers, the serial rapists, the child predators, the ones who had knowledge and leverage.” Besides, too much else is going on with the plot to consider ethical consequences too closely. The supposedly gun-free town has experienced two gun deaths in a matter of weeks; residents are chafing against the lack of information in their Internet-free haven; and one resident, Fran, has become understandably concerned for the safety of her eight-year-old son — the only child in the Blinds.
“This is a fragile ecosystem we live in here,” Calvin informs the town, and there’s no clearer symbol of that fragility than Calvin himself, a lawman with no true authority except the trust he’s been given, and which is rapidly eroding. That fragility is also clear in the fake names that residents are forced to take as soon as they arrive, pulling one name from a list of old-school movie stars and another from a list of vice presidents. This gives reading The Blinds the pleasurable sense that its characters are populating a Turner Classic Movies marathon — Spiro Mitchum, Fran Adams, Hubert Gable, Hannibal Cagney. But the names are veneers. In time, it’s clear that the stories the residents are hiding are so brutal that they can’t help but force themselves to the surface. And Sternbergh isn’t polite about shocking us out of our hope for the community. How do you feel about animals set on fire? Or mass murder? (One resident, it turns out, was a gangster nicknamed “Costco,” because “he liked to kill in bulk.”)
Grand Guignol gestures like those are easier to swallow than the convoluted path Fran takes to learn the truth about the Blinds and her son. (It involves a tattoo and likely the only time in fiction or real life that a Susan Sontag book will be used to help solve a crime.) And the implications of the concept get a little messy in the telling in the closing chapters. Erasing memories: bad. OK. But recovering from that erasure, in The Blinds, can alternately endow you with newfound moral strength, resurface your old malevolence, or flood you with guilt. This range of behaviors might seem to speak to our messy humanity, too, if they didn’t seem like matters of plot mechanics, a way to ensure the appropriate person gets saved and/or gets a claw hammer lodged in their noggin.
But Sternbergh sells the basic point: We mess with our psyches at our peril, and one way we mess with our psyches is persuading ourselves that we’re just a few regulations away from maintaining order. “The minds of the guilty . . . are endlessly fascinating, once you really roll up your sleeves,” Sternbergh writes. Guilty of crimes, he means, but there are so many other kinds of guilt a novelist can play with, so many ways for a community to interestingly fail. Sternbergh may not even have to leave West Texas to keep exploring that idea. Every dystopian story, Margaret Atwood once wrote, ends with the suggestion of a possible utopia, and The Blinds closes with a reminder that the planned-community dream hasn’t die. “They only face the same challenges of every new hopeful settlement that’s ever been established in human history,” he writes. It’s a cautionary message. But it’s a pretty good setup for a sequel, too.
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Sig Nordal 