Category: Self-Improvement

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How to Improve Your English Writing Skills even English is not Your Mother Tongue

English is not my first language, and English writing was among my communication fears. Unlike face-to-face communication methods, a reader cannot see my body language, accommodating my broken English. Despite the challenge, I wanted to write in English. I wrote a lot when I was younger in Japanese, my mother tongue. Soon after I migrated to North America, I tried to write in English. It was tough because I did not have enough knowledge of vocabulary or idioms. When you do not know which word to use, you end up using more words to explain. My sentences were wordy and hard to understand.

It was utterly inconvenient to be unable to communicate fluently. All of your communication is not as effective. Furthermore, some people treated me as an unintelligent person. I think many immigrants have a similar experience. When I was young, I even cried from the frustration caused by my broken English. Although, I was hesitant to improve my English writing skills because it was hard for me to write in English. Then, I finally started work on my writing seriously a little over a year ago.

First, I listed the item that I needed to improve to develop some strategies to work on them.

Spelling: Like most Japanese, I still have difficulty distinguishing between “R” and “L,” which negatively affects my spelling. I also mixed spelling conventions from multiple languages, such as German and French.

Preposition: My knowledge of idioms is still limited, and I have many preposition errors.

Syntax:  I have trouble finding the appropriate word to express something.

English Grammar: I still make many grammatical errors: such as missing articles and comma splices.

Fear of writing: My biggest block was my fear of writing.

I must be conscious of learning words, idioms, and spelling when I read. In terms of grammar, I need to be aware of making mistakes. So, I bought the Grammarly app subscription – this is the best purchase I ever made. My last obstacle, fear of writing, was a little tricky to overcome. I thought I had to write a lot in English to overcome the fear.

After activating the Grammarly subscription, I started to write a few paragraphs every day. The average word count of a piece was between 150 to 300. I knew my speed of writing was extremely slow when I was in a graduate program. Just as I suspected, it took me at least 3 hours to write 150-300 words.

One of the most significant pieces of help using Grammarly gave me immediate feedback on my grammatical errors. I already knew that I was terrible at using proper articles. I often misuse prepositions. Some prepositions don’t make sense to me at all. Grammarly gives me weekly feedback on how I am doing with my writing. I started to see improvements.

Despite these efforts, I faced another obstacle – I was too conscious of my grammatical errors to write a paragraph. As a result, I experienced something close to writer’s block. On some days, I might spend 4 hours writing merely one hundred words. Even I managed to produce a single paragraph in English, and my sentences are monotone – soulless sentences. As soon as I tried to write, my brain started rebelling– this was how I felt. With frustration, I stopped writing for a while.

Then, I read a book, The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. After reading the book, I started writing 2-3 pages on an A4 size notebook, anything that came to my mind every morning. According to the author, I am not supposed to be showing the notes to anyone. Since I was handwriting, I did not have to stop to correct errors. Then, I stopped caring about my English errors. Who cares? No one sees the book anyway. And this is the time I began to be able to write again. It took me about three months or so to get rid of the writer’s block. I assume that I was writing in my logical brain, which killed my creative brain, just like Julia Cameron pointed out in the book.

After few months, I began to share my writing with my husband. My husband is a native English speaker with good writing skills. He started giving me some advice by editing my essays. He also advised me on word choice. He majored in Rhetoric at University, so he gave me Rhetoric advice on my writing. Getting help from my husband was a big help.

I also started to highlight my kindle vocabulary, idioms, and expressions. I was not about to plagiarism them, but I wanted to use them in my writing. I tried to steal like a good artist, just like Austin Kleon wrote in his book, Steal Like an Artist.

Then, I started writing a blog in English last March. I committed to writing one English blog per week. I am aware that my English is nowhere near perfect. I cannot tell whether my English is truly improving; however, Grammarly’s weekly reports show I create much fewer errors than I used to make a year ago. Most importantly, I don’t hesitate to write in English. I sometimes even feel joy from writing.

1st week

1st week

1 year later

Grammarly after 1 year later

The last week (1 year & 4 months)

Grammarly Weekly Report

Of course, writing a lot is not the only solution to improving your writing. I am not going to say how many words you should be writing to improve your English. Great writers often write a lot. My husband loves to read Brandon Sanderson. According to Ang (Aug 2020), Sanderson writes 2,000-2,500 words per day. Faulkner wrote 3,000 – 10,000 words per day. So, I just wrote a lot. I wrote more English than when I was in a graduate program. There is no shortcut to improve writing skills. It is daunting to even think about investing a lot of time on something we cannot tell ourselves whether we improve or not.

An app like Grammarly helps get some qualitative measurement. There were weeks that my accuracy declined. There were weeks I could not write a lot because I was busy doing something else. Rather than focusing on the week’s result, I focused on how many words I had written since April 20th. I still make many grammatical errors, but I started to see substantial improvement in my grammar.

Most importantly, I have more confidence in my writing. I started submitting more business cases since I could write them in a shorter time. Any task that involves writing became easier to complete. There is no age limit to start improving your writing skill. If I can improve my language at my age, then so you can.

Creativity is a critical part of writing. Writing a lot may not help me much. Although, the morning page technique seems to work. So, I am still doing 2-3 morning pages of writing every morning because it helps me be more creative.

It is more important to understand how to use words, idioms, or expressions rather than knowing them. I try to use the word in any of my writing, idioms, and expressions I highlight from any reading I do. Then, I show it to my husband. He will tell me something if I misuse the word.

There is no shortcut to improving English writing skills – it seems. Although, I have great news. There is no age limit to start working on improving your writing skill. If I can improve my writing skill at my age, and so can you. It never is “too late” to start a project like this.

References

Ang, Alvin. (Aug 17, 2020). 10 Legendary Writers & Their Daily Word Counts.https://writingcooperative.com/10-legendary-writers-their-daily-word-counts-692c56cb97a5

Cameron, Julia (2016). The Artist’s Way. [Kindle Edition]. Penguin Random House

Kleon, Austin (2012). Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative. [Kindle Edition]. Workman Publishing Company.

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How to Learn in a Digital Environment

There are multiple ways to learn. The introduction of Internet technology enables us to gather knowledge online. When I was young, accessing the internet was expensive since we were charged by the minute. I still remember it took us almost 6 hours to download low-grade pictures. Although the internet was more accessible when I was in the university, the students used a hybrid way (library in person or online) to do their academic research. I still can’t forget how excited I was to access academic journals from the online library. By the time I was doing my MBA, most people exclusively used the internet for their research. 

We can gain many types of information from the internet. I do not have to physically go to a library to access journal or newspaper articles. You can quickly learn the name of a capital city of a country. I admit my life changed because of the internet; however, I sometimes fear I skipped a fundamental step of the learning process, such as creating my hypothesis or acquiring foundational knowledge of a subject. I admit that the internet enhanced our lives in many ways, yet I sometimes fear losing something due to acquiring convenience. 

When I was a child, we once had a big argument about why frogs lay eggs over the water surface. Most of us were eight-year-olds. Since we lived in a tiny city in Japan, we knew we could always find frog eggs over a still creek near our school. The argument started with a simple question from one of the children. We used to catch Tadpoles in the water; we all agreed that eggs must be over the water’s surface. But how do all frogs know where to lay eggs? We had an excellent, elementally teacher who encouraged us to discuss a child’s questions. Instead of answering the question, she told all of us to find out the reason. I checked the school library and my father’s library. I pulled out the encyclopedia and looked for the answer. I do not remember whether I found out the answer by myself this time. I do remember how hungry I was to find out the answers. I think the experience impacted me immensely later in my academic life. 

I found out later in my life that my school teacher guided us to understand why a frog lays eggs above the water surface by using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Bloom’s Taxonomy elaborates the framework of the six levels of learning stages. According to Bloom’s Taxonomy (as cited in Armstrong, n.d.), we go through six cognitive levels: Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. 

Figure 1. Bloom’s Taxonomy Vanderbilt Center for Teaching

Knowledge: Recognize or Remember facts, terms, or basic concepts without understanding why.

Comprehension: Demonstrate or Understand the reasons behind the facts, terms, or fundamental concepts.

Application: You can apply acquired knowledge to solve problems in a new situation.

Analysis: You can analyze and connect or differentiate the facts, terms, or basic concepts in a single dimension.

Synthesis: You can connect the facts, terms, or basic concepts with multiple dimensions.

Evaluation: You can evaluate ideas or create or plan a new idea or a product from facts, terms, or basic concepts.

It would be easier if the teacher just answered the children’s questions; however, we would have stopped at the first cognitive level, knowledge. A year before, we came up with an identical question with a different teacher. The teacher scolded us for discussing something irrelevant to the subject. I was fortunate to have a teacher who motivated us to think and research. Remembering my early school year learning experience prompted me to question whether current children get this learning experience since they can obtain answers very conveniently from the internet.

Finding quick answers from the internet can easily prevent us from progressing in our cognitive level of information if we are not careful. The use of the internet can make completing our assignments efficient; however, I am not sure of the effectiveness of the learning. I have no desire to quit using the internet since it is convenient; however, we must be mindful of how we integrate technology into our learning process. 

I understand the theory behind Bloom’s Taxonomy, yet, I caught myself getting easy answers from the internet. A YouTube channel shows dropping an ant from 10m, 20m, and 30m. The show was demonstrating terminal velocity, and nothing happened to the ant. I should have known the theory since I learned it in my undergrad. Instead of putting my effort into understanding the idea, I was satisfied finding the terminology. 

My husband, who teaches at a university, told me that finding out “what” from the internet would help us think about the idea or information ourselves. It would be ideal to think about the idea before finding out the “why”. Processing the information with the concept first helps us identify what we need to find out from further research. Now, you have more purposes or objectives, and you can progress into the 2nd cognitive level of comprehension. Of course, we still need to be careful about biases caused by doing so; but it still enables us to progress to a higher cognitive level. 

There is nothing wrong with using the internet, but we must be mindful of how we use it to acquire our knowledge. There are steps I use to prevent my experience of acquiring information from limiting my knowledge. Once I obtain the information, I rephrase the concept within one day. Then, I categorize the idea; then, I link it to other information I acquired previously. I used to do this process on paper with great difficulty. Now I use Zotero, a computer application, to do this process. It is a free app until you become a heavy user. I discovered this software from a book, How to Take Smart Notes from Sonke Ahrens. This made me re-think how I learn. If you get a chance, it is a good book to read.

References

Ahrens, S. (2017). How to take smart notes: one simple technique to boost writing, learning and thinking – for students, academics and nonfiction book writers. [Kindle Edition]. North Charleston

Armstrong, P. (n.d.). Bloom’s Taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/

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The Important Lesson I Learned from Losing Weight Quickly

Background

To improve my physical and mental condition, I decided to work on changing my lifestyle. I started with dancing Zumba on my switch, and I gradually made changes. My goal is to lose weight without losing my muscle mass. I implemented formal strength training offered by Les Mills into my exercise program in June. I have been exercising mindful eating for the last few months. Since the rate of losing weight was so slow, I decided to switch back to the calorie restriction. I started with creating 500 calories deficit per week.

My Exercise Program

 MONTUEWEDTHURFRISATSUN
MorningRestBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPBODYFLOW
Evening HIIT HIIT HIIT 
My Exercise Program (Les Mills On-Demand)

HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) – 17minutes training – generates 40-45 minutes of activity minutes

BODYPUMP – 30 minutes -> generates 22 minutes of activity minutes

BODYSTEPS – 30 minutes -> generates 60-65 minutes of activities minutes

BODYCOMBAT – 30 minutes -> generates 60-70 minutes of activities minutes

BODYATTACK – 30 minutes -> generates 65-75 minutes of activities minutes

Result

The biggest change I did this time was creating 400-500 calories deficits per day to lose weight. I lost a total weight of 4.4lb. (2.8lb, 1.4lb, 0.2, 0.2lb) over the four weeks. I also lost 0.6lb of muscles mass (-0.6, -0.2, 0, +0.2). I lost 2.8lb; however, I also lost 0.6lb of muscle mass. So, I changed my tactic immediately as I am eating too little for the activities level. In the 2nd week, I ate 1,300 calories per day, resulting in muscle loss of 0.2lb. So, I adjusted my calories intake to 1,400 – 1,500 per day, which stopped my muscle loss. I could not measure the muscle mass of the 4th week due to a technical issue with my phone app.

Analysis

If my primary goal were to lose weight, I would have been happy about the result. In reality, I was shocked by the loss of muscle mass from the first week. I have been working hard to gain muscle by doing strength exercises and yoga three times per week.

My immediate reaction was to investigate how much I must eat not to lose my muscle mass. With my level of activities, getting 1,200 -1,300 calories per day was too little. At least I know that 1,400 calories are my current floor for my calorie intake.

I felt a little lightheaded in the first week because I was not eating enough food. Since I was so hungry at night, and I had difficulties falling asleep at night. As a result, my sleep quality dropped. Increasing the calories intakes by 100 calories did not stop muscle loss or sleep quality problems. Rising to 1,400 calories stopped the issues. At least I know that 1,400 calories are my current floor for my calorie intake. The minimum calories intake changes with the muscle mass; therefore, regular monitoring is essential.

Technical Problems

During the 2nd day of the 4th week, my 4-year-old smartphone stopped uploading my digital weight. The only measurement I can take is weight. Therefore, I expect some challenges in controlling and monitoring. I ordered a new phone, and I should have a new smartphone by September 12th. Since I can no longer watch my muscle mass, I must maintain 1,400 – 1,500 Calories per day with the same exercise routine.

Expectation Gaps

I lost weight; however, I was not happy with the result because I lost muscle mass. I conclude what I want is not to lose weight. To discover the output I want, I decided to organize my thoughts.

What I want to Happen:

  • I want to lose FAT %. My aim is 25% for the moment. I want to fit into my clothing.
  • I want to increase my muscle mass to increase my metabolisms and muscle strengths. (Strong).
  • I want to lose weight.
  • I want to improve my cardio endurance.
  • I want to increase flexibility.
  • I want to decrease my stress.

GAP Analysis

With the five items I listed, I care a lot about retaining or increasing my muscle mass. There are multiple reasons why I want to maintain my muscles. Exercise promotes muscle gains, which helps to prevent diabetes and to improve metabolism (McPherron, Guo, Bond, Gavrilova, 2013). I enjoy many outdoor activities, and retaining my muscles is the key to sustain these activities I enjoy. Moderate exercise can prevent Aging. Naturally, we tend to lose muscle mass as we age. We can prevent muscle loss by doing adequate exercises. I wanted the first two items the most. Mathematically if I increase my muscle mass, I should lose my fat percentage. Thus, I think these goals can coexist easily.

The amount of calorie input is a key to recent unnecessary loss in muscles. In the results from this round, I noticed that eating less than 1,200 calories made my weight decrease. I also lost fat mass. After two weeks, I had to make immediate changes since I did not want to lose any more muscle. I increased to 1,400 – 1,500 calories which seems to prevent me from losing muscle mass; however, the rate of weight loss will slow.

Conclusions

I learned an important lesson. Do not rush my weight loss because I can lose muscle mass. Furthermore, I felt lightheaded, and I had no energy with only 1,200 calories. My muscle loss stopped at 1,400 calories. I seem to have enough energy and a clearer head. Therefore, my current minimum calories intake is 1,400 calories.

Due to technical issues, I do not have the tools to monitor my muscle mass until the 2nd week of September. Thus, I decided to maintain my current programs.

Daily Calories Intake: 1,400 Calories

Exercise: Strength Exercise (3 times) and a short HIIT, 2 Cardio, 1 Body Flow

My Exercise Programs

 MONTUEWEDTHURFRISATSUN
MorningRestBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPBODYFLOW
Evening HIIT HIIT HIIT 
My Exercise Program (Les Mills On-Demand)

When you know there are some expectation gaps, it will be good to organize your thoughts. For this round, I realize that I want to gain muscle and lose fat. Those measurements will be my primary monitoring inputs. I continue monitoring my total weight. Regular monitoring activities are crucial so that you can create timely corrective actions. The important thing is that I am improving little by little.

Reference

McPherron, A. C., Guo, T., Bond, N. D., & Gavrilova, O. (2013). Increasing muscle mass to improve metabolism. Adipocyte, 2(2), 92–98. https://doi.org/10.4161/adip.22500

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The Memo Technique to Remove the Worry

About a month ago, I watched an interesting YouTube video about a memo skill to solve your problems. The video introduced a book written by Yuji Akaba, who graduated from Stanford University and worked as a consultant with McKenzie for 14 years. The direct translation will be zero-second thinking. When I heard the title, I was skeptical. How can we find the solution to a problem in zero seconds because the only thing that can solve a problem that fast is a robot or computer? So, I was listening to the video for my entertainment.

He explains some people are never able to solve their problems. Those people will react to their situations in three patterns:

The first pattern is to ignore and endure the situation.

The second pattern is to sit with the problem with an uneasy feeling.

The third pattern is to think about the solution; however, not acting on it.

Despite there being three patterns, all people who use them sit with the problems. Thus, they all reach the same result – they all sit with the trouble forever.

Akaba explains this. There is an approach to solve our problems.

  1. You receive the information or fact
  2. You have felt toward the information or fact
  3. You contemplate on the information or fact
  4. You organize the thought
  5. You create a hypothesis or find the solutions to the problem
  6. You solve the problem

People with the first pattern stop at the first step. This type of person does not try to understand their feelings or ignores them when receiving the information. So, they stay with the issue. For example, they are told by the doctor that they have a weight problem. They may feel something about it, but they will ignore their feeling. They sit with the situation without doing anything about it. 

People with the second pattern cannot go beyond the second step. They have the information. They acknowledge their feeling about the information; however, they will sit with the sentiment. For example, they are told that they have a weight problem by their doctors. They may be angry at themselves or doctors that telling them they have a weight problem. They may be anxious because they may get health problems. These people worry about many issues; however, they also do not do anything about the problems.

People with the third pattern also cannot go beyond the second step. After they have the information, they acknowledge the feeling toward the information. They think about their problem, but they will stop there. They will think about it. For example, they found about their weight problem. They don’t like it. So, they will think about why they have the weight problem. They may research how to lose weight, but they stop there.

Organizing Our thoughts:

Smarter people can organize their thoughts. After finding out about a weight problem, they go beyond thinking about their weight problems. They identify the root causes of the issue. Then, they create hypotheses that they may be overeating or exercising too little. So, they make a goal to lose weight by creating a calorie deficit by exercising or eating less. They develop strategies to create a calorie deficit. They even think about any possible obstacles they may face. Some people even think about how to overcome those barriers.

Competent people put their strategies or plans into action. These people clear their controllable problems. These people can use the new information to innovate something new.

According to Akaba, we are stuck at the 3rd step because we don’t organize our thoughts. More competent people will go through the subsequent steps. People like Akaba, who a consultant from a vast consulting firm is. I imagine he could be consulted about many issues from his clients. He would need to deal with the problems promptly in the right way. Over the 14 years of working at McKenzie, he developed a memo technique.

If you want to acquire the skill to solve your problem, please exercise the memo technique he invented. If you want to acquire the skill to solve your problem, please exercise the memo technique he invented. There is no need to reinvent the method.

  • You will need the following:
    • A4 or letter size paper
    • Translucent Poly File Folders
    • White Label sticker for the clear file folders
    • A clipboard

Write down the following categories on the label stickers. (I used the below labeling, but you can create your labels. Just keep it to 5-7 categories.

  • Future
    • Communication
    • Teamwork
    • Information
    • Idea

Memo Steps

  1. You will write one idea per page. Put the title in the left-hand corner. Put the date in the right-hand corner. One page can contain one idea. Summarize the one idea in 4-6 sentences. You do write ten pages every day.
Memo Format: A4 or Letter Size (Landscape)

2. Every night, you file them in the clear file folders you made earlier. For example, if you think up a new idea during the day, the page is in the new idea folder.

3. Put them aside and review them in three months and then again in six months.

Important things to Remember

Only one idea per page

It is essential to use a physical paper and write it down. Don’t do this process on a PC or mobile device.

The paper orientation must be landscape so that your ideas can expand easier.

Use A4 or Letter size paper. You can expand your ideas better with a wider page.

Write and draw. Don’t limit yourself to using only words.

Use Large fonts.

Write down the idea as soon as you are able

Spend only 1 minute per page.

When you exercise this memo technique, you start worrying or thinking about the same things – money, Work, Family, Friends, etc. By categorizing your thought, you can push yourself beyond the 3rd step.  When you review the files in three months and six months, you notice that you worked on ideas or issues. You start to see the log of how you dealt with your problems. So, you will gain confidence.

Discussion

When I found out the technique, I thought. “what’s the hell….”.  What kind of person would do thing this every day?

I know I do struggle going beyond the 3rd step. What am I going to lose from this? I will probably lose nothing from doing this.  So, I followed his memo technique. I have been writing ten pages every day.

Initially, it was hard. Writing one idea in one minute was hard. I almost ditched this newly acquired habit once because it was hard. But I am still doing this.

I have not passed my first three months yet, so I cannot tell how I feel when reviewing my files. However, I noticed there are some changes in my thought process. My focus toward the idea and worry has shifted from being passive to being active.

I am more focused on my feelings, something I used to ignore or was oblivious about. Once I started paying attention to the little emotions or thoughts, I used to dismiss, the ideas repeatedly appeared on my page. It is interesting to find out how I continually worry about the same thing. So, I started to find the solution so I can get rid of them for good.

I am going to read the actual book which I just ordered from Amazon Japan. I will let you know after three months and six months.

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Completing Project Management Principles and Practices Specialization

I have led many financial transformation projects throughout my career. I gained knowledge from years of experience and certification courses provided by companies I worked with. I have been leading much more challenging projects at work last several years. So, I have been seriously considering becoming certified with a PMP certification. The objective of taking this course is to determine if I want to proceed with actual PMP certification.

This specialization consists of 4 Courses:

Initiating and Planning Projects: the key roles and responsibilities of the project manager and project team are to define the objectives for the project is the critical component of a project. In this course, you will also learn how to defines the goals of the projects.

Budgeting and Scheduling Projects: The project budget defines the constraints that can prevent a project team from completing the project. This course teaches you how to plan and monitor your schedule, costs, and any other constraint to ensure the success of your project.

Managing Project Risks and Changes: In this course, you will learn how to manage the risk of projects. You will learn the tools to monitor and manage the identified risks to minimize or mitigate risks for your team and other project stakeholders.

Project Management Project: Capstone course: In this course, you will create several key project planning deliverables using the knowledge you gained from the specialization courses.

Capstone:

  1. A narrative charter statements
  2. Work breakdown structure
  3. Sequence project activities
  4. A Project Schedule
  5. A Project Budget
  6. A responsibility assignment matrix
  7. Project risks and define responses for those risks

This course is offered by the University of California, Irvine. The courses consisted of videos, slides, reading materials, quizzes, and guided capstone for the last course. Additionally, there are optional reading materials:  I obtained the suggested reading materials: a guide to the project management body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) and Fast Forward MBA in Project Management. They are optional reading materials, but those books helped me a lot in completing these courses.  Since I decided to read all the suggested materials, completing each course took longer than recommended.

Paid courses in COURSERA have multiple choice quizzes or Peer graded assignments. The first three courses had quizzes, and the capstone had peer-graded assignments and a guided project. Make sure to read the requirements. I found that it is easier to find reviewers if you submit the assignment on Friday night. Many students seem to work on their course from Friday to Sunday.

You can start a course any day of the week for this course. The good thing was you could begin the capstone as soon as you complete all prerequisite courses. In the past, I had to wait a few months to take the capstone course because it started on a specific day.

Challenges

I did not have a lot of time to study. So, I spent at least 30 – 45 minutes working on this course every day. It can be hard to complete courses if you sorely relied on your motivation. Once I started studying for 10 minutes, I found it was easy to continue for another 20-30 minutes.

The Specialization course in 3 Sentences:

This specialization course teaches the most effective method to deliver the required product or function within the target cost and schedule. You will gain the fundamental knowledge to manage a project after taking these courses. You will produce a project plan that includes the product scope, a work breakdown structure, a project plan, a project schedule, budget, and risk management for the capstone course.

Impressions

Most videos are short; however, they are clear and concise. The videos and reading materials provide essential knowledge, and they are easy to understand. There are two optional reading materials for this course. If you want to take your learning to a higher level, these optional reading materials help. There is no limit on how much you can learn from the courses.

** Make sure to check the current PMBOK edition. This course recommends the 6th edition, but there is the 7th edition. 

How I Discovered It

I discovered this course from Coursera. I have a subscription from Coursera, and I am always taking courses from their website. I decided to take this course because I want to refine my project management skills. I also want to determine whether I want to obtain professional certification.

Who should take this course?

You do not have to own a title in project management to do these specialization courses. Anyone should take this course. We are often working on projects at work and personal life. You can apply the project management skills gained from these courses for your projects, such as wedding planning or home renovations.

I do not think this counts toward the required 35 PMP contract hours; however, the course gives you an idea of whether you want to proceed with the PMP certification.

How this Course Changed Me

I decided to proceed with PMP certifications, and then I will get a SCRUM master certification. Since most project leading involves change management or continuous improvement, I hardly use the SCRUM technique to manage a project. First, it would be better for me to learn the traditional method because the methods used for SCRUM are based on the traditional project management approach.

I found a great project plan that was submitted by one of the students. The project plan was clear and concise. Many stakeholders (especially sponsors) do not want to spend time figuring out the details of the project. I was fortunate to see his assignment, and I applied some of his techniques to improve my future project plans.

During this course, I realized the APA format changed again. Not to promoting my university but use Purdue OWL if you do not know how to style your academic paper.

About Coursera Courses

Finally, I want to mention few things about the courses offered in Coursera. Generally, there are optional reading materials recommended by instructors. You can adjust the depth of learning by reading optional reading material. If you want more intensity, don’t stop at just optional reading—research external academic journals for the assignments. I use JSTOR, Scientific Research, and Academia since I can read some free journals. There are also YouTube courses. Since I have a Skillsoft account, I use it for some business-related research. It takes me longer to complete courses, but I end up acquiring more knowledge than it offers. I have a subscription to Coursera because I can access more courses with the subscription. If you do not care for assignments or certifications, you can audit courses for free.

Interested in taking this specialization course? Check the link below.

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/project-management

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Does It Matter When I Exercise?

For the last few weeks, I changed my workout time to the early morning, 5:30 AM. On day one of the new exercise programs, I felt all workout routines feel much more challenging than when I do them at lunchtime or early evening.

Since I did not have a good sleep that day, I thought I was just tired. The following day, I did a cardio, BODYATTACK. I felt so pitiful that it was near impossible to bring my heart rate above 140 in the early morning than later in the day. I had 8.5 hours of sleep with a sleep score of 90 the day. So, it was nothing to do with the duration or quality of the sleep. I was curious about this phenomenon, so I continued the morning exercises every single day of the rest of the week and monitored my heart rates. I made changes to the intended exercise, but I wanted to check them all. So, I tried30 minutes BODYCOMBAT (Kickboxing), BODYATTACK (Bootcamp), BODYPUMP (Strength exercise), and GRIT (HIIT).

When I wake up, my heart rate is about 65. Usually, I move around the house for 15-20 minutes before exercising. The interesting part of this morning exercise was that I still felt as if I exercised at 90% of my max heart rate at the actual heart rate is just 135-140. GRIT was the worst one, and I had to give up at 17 minutes. Consequently, my calories output was lower by 100 calories for morning cardio exercises.

After one week of the observation, I made the following hypotheses.

The morning exercise feel harder because

  1. My starting heart rate is lower in the morning. I suspect that that is something to do with my heart rate being so low in the early morning. My resting heart rate is 63-65, and it can be a lot of stress to push it up to almost double.
  1. Since I am on intermittent fasting, my body does not have energy in the morning. I exercised at lunch during the fasting before. I have no problem reaching 90% of my max heart. Thus, the 2nd hypothesis is incorrect. 
  2. My muscles are not ready for a workout. I felt this when I was doing BODYPUMP (Strength Exercise) and GRIT (HIIT). I had difficulties keep my squats low.

I suspect that that is something to do with lower heart rates and stiffer muscles. Since my starting heart rate is so low, it can be a lot of stress to push it up to almost double in a short time. Interesting, right? I put my researcher’s hat on, and I investigated some.

If the primary objective is to have the best performance, the morning is not the right time to exercise.

As I suspected, the primary reason is the lower max heart rates in the morning. Thomas Reilly and his colleagues at the Research Institute for Sport and Exercise Sciences at Liverpool John Moore University (as cited in the New York Times, Dec 9, 2009) found that our maximum heart rate is lower in the morning. However, the perception of how hard they were working was the same for morning and evening. Our body has a circadian rhythm that controls the hormones in our body to have a regular sleep-wake schedule. Our blood pressure, metabolism, energy level, and heart rates are lower in the early morning.

He and his colleagues also mentioned that our bodies are not as well prepared to exercise in the morning because our muscles tend to be less flexible. The athlete’s best performance is set in the late afternoon or the early evening (as cited in the New York Times, Dec 9, 2009).

Is morning exercise being all that bad? Despite my findings, there are some benefits to exercising in the morning.

Dietary Choices for the day

The people who work out in the morning tend to make healthier food choices for the day. After observing 2,680 young adults for 15-week cardio exercise in the morning, the young adults who work out in the morning tend to pursue healthier dietary preferences and habits (Joo, Willamson, Vazquez, Fernandez, and Bray, 2018). The study did not particularly seek to find the best time to exercise; however, the morning exercise motivated them to make healthier eating throughout the day. Since I started the training in the morning, I feel it has gotten easier to regulate my foods intake for the day.

More energy and higher productivity

I felt dreadful during my morning workout; however, I felt more energy when I did the morning exercises. My heart rate is higher after the training. My body is warmer. I even felt more alert and focused on my work. I usually do 1 hour of continuing education in the morning. I noticed my focus was higher after the morning exercise. The best part was I felt so good the whole day because I did a workout in the morning. So, I was more productive.

The choice is all about what you want to accomplish and your preference.

I prefer to work out in the morning because I must go to bed early at night. I have never liked to wake up early; however, I hated the morning traffic even more than waking early in the morning. For the last year, I have been working remotely. My work would like me to go to the office three times a week soon. So, I decided to adjust my schedule. Furthermore, I enjoyed the higher productivity due to the morning workout.

Discussion

The following week, I found out few things to minimize the loss. For example, a light intensity cardio before the strength exercise can help with the workout. BODYPUMP also has a warmup. After a short, low-intensity cardio session, my body is more prepared to do more strenuous strength training.

The Starting Exercise Program

 MONTUEWEDTHURFRISATSUN
MorningRestBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPAny cardioBODYPUMPBODYFLOW
Evening HIIT HIIT HIIT 

For one week, I did GRIT, BODYPUMP, BODYCOMBAT, BODYATTACK, and BODYSTEP all six mornings to satisfy my curiosity. After some investigation, I modified it a little bit. I kept a short GRIT (HIIT) exercise either on my lunch (when I was working remotely) or in the early evening (if I go into the office as I plan). The addition of HIIT exercises changed made a significant difference to my body weight. I started to lose weight again without losing my muscle mass.

I added a 5–10-minute low-intensity cardio before BODYPUMP so that my strength training has the intended effectiveness. This change is helping my strength workout.

Despite the lower-calorie output, I still prefer some cardio in the morning because of the productivity gain. So, I added another Cardio session on one of the weekends to accommodate the loss of 100 calories.

A New Modified Exercise Program

 MONTUEWEDTHURFRISATSUN
MorningRestBODYPUMP*CardioBODYPUMP*CardioBODYPUMP*BODYFLOW
Evening GRIT – Short GRIT – Short GRIT – Short Cardio

*A 5–10-minute light cardio before BODYPUMP

** GRIT – only short version (15-18 minutes)

What’s next

Initially, I thought of doing GRIT even on a Cardio day instead; however, I decided to add another cardio day on the weekend. I am finding out too much GRIT can cause mitochondria dysfunctions due to the stress caused by its strenuousness. You can reduce the damage by taking mitochondrial regulators and protector nutrients such as 5 grams of Leucine, 5 grams of creatine monohydrate, and 2.5 grams of betaine (Blechman, April 12, 2021). He is citing a lot of journals, so that I will check them out. For now, I am going to keep my new modified exercise program without taking these mitochondrial regulators and protector nutrients.

References

Blechman, S. (April 12, 2021). New Study Says High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Can Cause Mitochondrial Dysfunction.https://advancedmolecularlabs.com/blogs/news/new-study-says-high-intensity-interval-training-hiit-can-cause-mitochondrial-dysfunction

Joo, J., Williamson, S. A., Vazquez, A. I., Fernandez, J. R., & Bray, M. S. (2019). The influence of 15-week exercise training on dietary patterns among young adults. International Journal of Obesity, 43(9), 1681–1690. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-018-0299-3

New York Times. (December 9, 2009). Ready to Exercise? Check Your Watch.https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/10/health/nutrition/10best.html

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Am I Sleeping Enough?

Over the last few weeks, my sleep patterns have grown sloppier. My sleep quality is still high; however, I have not slept an adequate number of hours. In the last two weeks, I had two days in which I slept less than 7 hours. One day, I could not sleep because I was too excited to sleep.

Sleep is an essential function of our body. Lack of sleep causes both short-term and long-term consequences. According to Harvard Medical school (n.d.), lack of sleep affects our judgment, mood, ability to learn or retain information, resulting in an accident. In the long term, inadequate sleep can cause weight problems and many other health risks such as high blood pressure, impaired control of blood glucose, and inflammation (para. 2 – 4). Researchers are discovering that REM sleep has a critical role in the body and cognitive functions. Insufficient REM sleep also increased the risk of death. The study found that for every 5% reduction of REM sleep, there is a corresponding 13% to 17% increase in death rates among middle-aged men (NHLBI, n.d.). Short REM sleeps also impacts our memory because it has a critical role in memory and homeostasis (Watson & Busaki, 2015, p. 68). So, sleep has a vital function in our lives in many ways.

If I maintain my sleep habit, I will continue to have weight problems and increased health risks. As I recognize the importance of having adequate sleep duration and quality, I decided to implement changes to improve my sleeping to have 8 hours of high-quality sleep.

Causes of Problem

The cause of my sleeping problem is that I go to bed at an inconsistent time. I am too excited to sleep most days because I read books, play the piano, learn, or write near bedtime. I don’t feel like sleeping. So, I end up going to bed later than I should. An irregular sleep schedule decreases the quality and duration of sleep. According to Kang and Chen (2009), irregular sleep can affect sleep duration and sleep quality. In the study, there were 160 students divided into three groups by frequency of irregular bedtime and had their sleep time, and quality of sleep monitored. The group with higher inconsistent bedtime schedule frequency had a shorter average sleep duration with lower sleep quality compared to the low-frequency group. Homeostasis and circadian rhythm affect the quality of our sleep. Circadian rhythm is like our biological clock. An irregular schedule confuses our bodies. So, even a day of altered sleep schedule results in a significant decrease in sleep quality. Two hours of alteration of sleep schedule decreases cognitive and psychological function even with the same sleep duration (p.2). My sleep schedule has been irregular, so my circadian rhythm is messed up. My sleep duration has been shorter than when I followed a strict sleep schedule, and I have days with poor sleep quality. So, I must set a regular sleep schedule to improve my sleep quality.

Solutions

From my research, I learned to set a body clock to tackle my sleep problems. The primary correction I need to make is to have a rigid sleeping schedule. As I identified earlier, I am more likely to engage in too much mental or physical activities too close to my bedtime. I may need to stop doing all such activities for 60 minutes before going to bed. I may need to shift my workout time or learn in the morning.

Mental stress can disrupt our sleeping schedule. Mental stress can be caused by high fatigue, disturbed mood, and reduced quality of life, which could be ameliorated with mindful activities such as meditation (Black, O’Reilly, Olmstead, Breen, & Irwin, 2015). I do a 2- minute breathing exercise; however, it may be time to extend to 5 minutes – eventually 20 minutes per session.

I also need to use glasses that block blue light while I am using a computer. I engage in activities that use a computer for over 10 hours, which is most likely one of the causes of mental fatigue. Fortunately, I already have a pair of glasses I purchased a few years ago, so I need to start using them again.

Finally, I am considering wearing a black eye mask. My husband sometimes goes to bed later than I would like to. I wake with the light. My eye mask should block out any light that makes me wake.

Preparation

I put to sleep an absolute priority than anything else. First, I need to tweak my schedule. I want to maintain a healthy lifestyle, so I prioritize exercising and eating highly. I blocked off these activities from my schedule completely. I will be home by 5:30, so I have only 90 minutes before 8 pm. If I schedule blogging and practicing piano, I will use up the remaining 90 minutes. I could utilize my morning for learning and reading or my continuing education curriculum, which allows me to stop reading or writing by 8:00. The new schedule will allow me to have a strict sleeping time. My weekend will be busy, but I would rather be healthy and productive than sick or tired.  

Focuses

  • Stop any high energetic activities by 8 pm.
  • Stop drinking or eating by 7:30 pm.
  • Sleep duration: 9:00 pm. to 5:30 am.

In addition, I am considering the following changes to improve my sleep quality. For example, I increase pre-bedtime meditation time to 5 minutes which I will save on my Kindle Fire. I also prepared a black eye mask for sleeping, which should help me with light problems. I also purchased a good-quality pillow. Better mattresses and pillows impact sleep quality significantly (Jacobson, Boolani, Dunklee, Shepardson & Achara, 20210). Finally, I will keep the pair of eyeglasses to block blue light in my office.

Monitoring

I use my Fitbit to monitor my sleep duration and quality because it logs when I went to bed and got out of bed. I can set the alarm. This time, I decided to introduce consequences for not following my new sleeping schedule to be painful for me. I will give three audible credits to my husband from my book allowance every three times I did not go to bed on time. I love reading books, so this will be a significant punishment for me. Every week, I will check my progress and make corrections so it works better for me.

Discussion

I am desperate to correct my sleep situation because it will impact my cognitive skills and my health. Unfortunately, it will take some time to fix. I should accept that it was my fault for not working on it fast enough, and I will never repeat the same mistake.

References

Black, D. S., O’Reilly, G. A., Olmstead, R., Breen, E. C., & Irwin, M. R. (2015). Mindfulness Meditation and Improvement in Sleep Quality and Daytime Impairment Among Older Adults With Sleep Disturbances: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Internal Medicine, 175(4), 494. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.8081

Harvard Medical School (n.d.). Consequences of Insufficient Sleep.https://healthysleep.med.harvard.edu/healthy/matters/consequences

Jacobson, B. H., Boolani, A., Dunklee, G., Shepardson, A., & Acharya, H. (2010). Effect of prescribed sleep surfaces on back pain and sleep quality in patients diagnosed with low back and shoulder pain. Applied Ergonomics, 42(1), 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2010.05.004

Kang, J.-H., & Chen, S.-C. (2009). Effects of an irregular bedtime schedule on sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue among university students in Taiwan. BMC Public Health, 9, 248. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-9-248

Study links poor dream-stage REM sleep to a higher risk of death | NHLBI, NIH. (n.d.). Retrieved July 13, 2021, from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/news/2020/study-links-poor-dream-stage-rem-sleep-higher-risk-death

Watson, B. O., &Buzsáki, G. (2015). Sleep, Memory & Brain Rhythms. Daedalus, 144(1), 67–82.

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My First Project in Literary Analysis: The Masque of the Red Death

It was not so long ago when I started reading fiction books. I have hardly read any fictions books for the last 15 years because I thought I would learn more from non-fiction books. The one book changed my mind 180 degrees. Last Christmas, I read “How to Read Literature Like a Professor Revised: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines” by Thomas Foster. Foster (2014) explained that literary analysis is like pattern recognition. It sounded interesting. So, I tried literary analysis on my own. 

For my first literary analysis project, I selected a chilling story from Edgar Allan Poe, the masque of the red death. I liked his writing style because it reminds me of Ryunosuke Akutagawa, a Japanese author known for “Rashomon.” Summer in Tennessee is hot. So, a chilling story would be nice to ease this heat. It is a six-page short story, yet it contains Poe’s tactical usages of Symbolism and Metaphors.

The Plot Summary

The fatal outbreak, the “Red Death,” ravaged the country. The plague was so deadly that the population of the country dropped nearly by half. The horrible pandemic caused a patient sharp pain, sudden dizziness, and profuse bleeding from pores. The scarlet stains appear on the patient’s body – especially on the face, which scared away the sympathetic fellow men.

Due to the outbreak, Prince Prospero secluded himself from the pandemic in the abbey with a thousand knights and their spouses to continue to live a lavish lifestyle until the outbreak was over. An iron gate, welded from weapons the courtiers brought, should protect prince Prospero and his courtier from the red death. There were enough supplies. All they needed to do is to pass the time with lavish parties until the outbreak was over.

At the 5th or 6th month of the seclusion, the prince and his friends held a masked ball held in seven imperial suites. The apartments were so irregularly arranged that people could see only one apartment at a time. There were sharp turns every twenty or thirty yards, and each turn created a novel effect. Each room was coordinated with color and located in the following order: blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and finally, black. All rooms were coordinated with the decoration of the chamber, except for the last black one. The room had black velvet tapestries and black carpet; however, the windows’ color failed to match the decorations. The windows were scarlet that resembled a deep blood color. No one except a few entered the room during the party.

There was a giant clock made from ebony in the black chamber, which pendulum swung with a dull, heavy, and monotonous clang. The clock strikes a chime each hour, which interrupts people from whatever joy they were experiencing. Then, people go back partying after the chime is over.

Around midnight, guests started noticing a masked individual wearing a dark, blood-splattered robe, resembling a corpse from the red death. The insulted prince demanded the identity of this stranger. The guests were too scared to stop this intruder. This nameless intruder made his way from the blue room, the purple, the green, the orange, the white, and the violet room without interruption. Finally, the prince drew his dagger and charged toward this stranger. As the stranger faced the prince, the prince fell dead with a sharp cry. The people surged into a 7th chamber and pulled the mask and robe from the stranger. There was nothing underneath. The guests at the party fell sick. The story ended with the sentence, “Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all.

Analysis

Poe’s novels are all poetic. All sections of the novel are equally essential to the novel, and they are entangled in a complex manner to create such a beautiful novel. There would be many symbolic language and metaphors. I started highlighting any suspected symbols and metaphors and started to analyze them.

Instinctively, I thought the seven imperial suites and the structure of the halls represent something; however, I did not know what they meant. The key was the order of the color of the rooms – blue, purple, green, orange, white, violet, and black. The black room seemed a key because it was different from other rooms. This was the room people avoided – were people afraid to step into the room? When I was talking to my husband, he mentioned that blue is often associated with birth. So, we hypothesized that rooms representing the stage of life: blue as the birth, purple as a youth, green as adolescence, orange as adulthood, white as old, violet as illness, then black as death.

If colored rooms were representing stages of life, the structure of the house would make sense. The hallways to each room have sharp turns every 20 or 30 feet between the rooms. The views were so limited that people could see one room at a time. Each turn, people could feel a novel effect. The structures of the hallways represent the way through each life stage.

The gigantic ebony clock that in the black room represents the time of people’s life. The clock is ticking equally to everyone until you would die. The clock kept reminding all people in the spaces that their time would eventually come.

The story reached a climax when the masked stranger made his appearance in the easternmost room, the blue room – representing birth. It wore the costume of the red death. Since people feared his presence, it moved toward the black rooms uninterrupted until prince Prospero charged at it with a dagger.

Initially, I thought Prince Prospero represented Poe himself. Although, I could not understand why Poe selected this name for the prince in this story. This is the name of a character from The Tempest by William Shakespeare. Prospero in The Tempest won. Instead of winning, Prince Prospero in Poe’s novel charged into the masked stranger and died. The tempest is a carefully developed drama portraying the ultimate triumph of ethical control over passion, and Prospero represents with “Noble Reason” (Phillips, 1964, P147). Prospero was an analogy in Poe’s novel representing reasoning or control. The masked individual represents fatal illness. Now, I think the prince Prospero represents Poe’s ability to control, which was destroyed by the plague, his wife’s consumption. Later, Poe wrote to his friend, George W. Eveleth, explaining his mental state.

Each time I felt all the agonies of her death — and at each accession of the disorder I loved her more dearly & clung to her life with more desperate pertinacity. But I am constitutionally sensitive — nervous in a very unusual degree. I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity. During these fits of absolute unconsciousness I drank, God only knows how often or how much. As a matter of course, my enemies referred the insanity to the drink rather than the drink to the insanity. I had indeed, nearly abandoned all hope of a permanent cure when I found one in the death of my wife.

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore—Works—Letters—E. A. Poe to G. W. Eveleth (January 4, 1848). (n.d.).

Pulmonary tuberculosis claimed many lives in the United States. In the 1800s, as many as one in seven Americans (Fay, April 1, 2020, para 7-8). Poe himself lost many loved one from the illness. Virginia, his beloved wife, was not excluded. In January 1942, Poe’s wife, Virginia, was diagnosed with Pulmonary tuberculosis. Despite the protection (iron gate) he put against the illness. Pulmonary tuberculosis slowly kills people. How painful it must have been for Poe to watch his wife waste away from such an illness. As his wife was getting sicker, he was more drawn to liquor. Despite the wealthy household or “iron gate,” Poe explained nothing could protect your loved one from illness or death. To me, this story represents the inescapable nature of death and the futility of trying to keep it at bay. I sensed Poe’s Agony and sorrow which was expressed so beautifully with this short novel that it took my breath away.

Lessons Learned

This was the first time I did Literary Analysis. It took me longer than planned because I had to research the author to understand the story better. I still feel that I needed to improve on the techniques in analyzing metaphors. I will be planning to read on Literary analysis in the future. I felt fifteen years of not reading any fiction hurting me somehow as I could not remember the novels or poems I should be compared with. I am surprised at finding pleasure in the process of literary analysis. Not only I learned more about Poe, but I also stepped into a new field of gaining skills in analyzing literature. I will be more likely to do more literary analysis in the future.

References

Edgar Allan Poe. (1842). The Masque of the Red Death. [Kindle Edition]. A public Domain Book.

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore—Works—Letters—E. A. Poe to G. W. Eveleth (January 4, 1848). (n.d.). Retrieved July 9, 2021, from https://www.eapoe.org/works/letters/p4801040.htm

Fay, Glenn J. (Apr 1, 2020). The White Plague: Tuberculosis in Early America.https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-white-plague-tuberculosis-in-early-america-954f47e9675f

Foster, T., (2014). How to Read Literature Like a Professor. [Kindle Edition]. Harper Perennial.

Phillips, J. E. (1964). The Tempest and the Renaissance Idea of Man. Shakespeare Quarterly, 15(2), 147–159. https://doi.org/10.2307/2867886

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Are We Curious Enough?

I attended a funeral. Since we arrived a few hours earlier, only a few were preparing for the service about to be held. Among those people, an organist was preparing the pipe organ for the service. I have never seen a pipe organ before, so I was watching him play the pipe organ. My husband asked the organist if he could show the mechanism of the pipe organ. He showed me how the pipe organ worked, and he played us some music pieces from Bach and Scarlatti. After some talks, he asked me whether I wanted to play the harpsichord. So, I got to play the harpsichord. I played Bach’s Partita. The feel of the harpsichord was different from that of a piano. At the midway point, depressing a key, I feel a little pressure against my finger. I had to smear my finger against keys to make a pretty sound. Soon I realized, I had to curl my fingers more to play on the harpsichord. Suddenly, I understood why my piano teacher made me curl my fingers to play Bach or Scarlatti. This experience will undoubtedly impact my future piano practice.

I was excited about this experience; at the same time, it made me wonder how many potentially great experiences I have missed. It was my husband who asked the organist to show us the pipe organ. Despite my curiosity toward the instrument, I hesitated. Am I not curious enough to ask anymore?

Generally, many kids are curious. My nephew and nieces ask me many questions or try to copy what I do. My nephew and niece got to play with the harpsichord without any hesitation because they asked us whether they could also play. I remember being curious about everything when I was young. I used to climb a tree to see the view from the tree. I worked so hard to figure out how to catch crayfish or insects only with the available tools. One day, my friends and I followed around city workers who were maintenance sewer utility holes. The city workers explained to us why they need to perform maintenance. I don’t remember details, but I was excited about our little job shadowing. I was curious, too. As I get old, I become more hesitant to ask people about anything resulting in missing meaningful experiences.

I think we hesitate to ask other people despite being curious because sometimes we get into trouble for it. Or we feel shy to ask such silly questions. I still remember how scared my parents got when I dipped my finger into a hot spring near some volcanic mountains. I remember being screamed at by a pilot when I was trying to hear what it was mumbling. The pilot called so hard directly to my ear that I felt as if my eardrum broken. I also got trouble for asking too many questions to my elementary school teacher. In our science class, I asked my teacher was showing the frog eggs on the tree above the water. So, I asked her how the frog knows where to lay eggs. My questions caused other students to guess the answer, so I interrupted the class. Then, we learned some unspoken rules as we grew, such as not asking too personal questions. Over time, we become shy to ask questions because we can cause trouble to others. I was afraid to be perceived as a dimwit. Some actions driven by curiosity led to injury or painful experiences. Our interest does not always necessarily result in a good experience or result. But I think I may be losing great opportunities because I am too hesitant to ask.

I read few mythologies presenting negative connotations toward being curious such as Pandora’s Box. We even have a proverb, “Curiosity killed the cat.” However, modern psychology views curiosity as a drive that results in positive results like success or learning.

Despite the interests showed by some historical psychologists such as James, Pavlov, and Skinner, scientists have not been investigating the mystery until recently. We refer to curiosity as a broader category of information-seeking. According to the Oxford university definition, curiosity is a strong desire to know about something (Oxford Dictionary, n.d.). Non-human animals also show curiosity. My cat always investigates new items we bring into the house. Psychologists such as Daniel Berlyne explained (as cited in Kidd & Hayden, 2015) the dimension of curiosity as perceptual versus epistemic and specific versus divertive. Perceptual curiosity is the driving force seeking out novel stimuli, while epistemic curiosity is the driving force for seeking knowledge. Some modern psychologists have created additional dimensions based on why people or non-human animals seek knowledge (p. 3). I think the intensity of the curiosity is more significant when there is a greater information gap.

As I gained insight by playing the harpsichord, there is a benefit for being curious, especially with the capacity to use the information we gain by investigating. George Loewenstein (as cited in Kidd & Hayden, 2015) defined curiosity as a cognitive induced deprivation from our perception in knowledge gap (p. 4). Some info-seeking activity requires some period of learning; therefore, we do not see the benefits immediately. So, the intensity of curiosity matters for learning. As we acquire the knowledge, we gain satisfaction resulting from declining our curiosity about a particular subject. At a glance, It seems the amount of knowledge and intensity have an inverse relationship. I started to realize it is not the case. The more I read or learn, discover more things I want to know. I even feel that I am more curious than when I was 20.

Aside from learning, research suggests that curiosity could make us more successful and even prolong our life. Ian Robertson, professor of psychology, explained (as cited in Freyne, Jul 24, 2013) that intellectually curious people achieve more in life and tend to live longer. They do not know why intellectually curious people live longer, but they hypothesized that repeated infusion of noradrenaline provides protective effects to the brain structure. It also fosters plasticity in the brain (Para. 11-12). Since I understand the function of noradrenalin as a hormone that makes us excited (stressful), maybe it helps us maintain healthy cognitive functions. I think it is the internal drives that keep curious people live longer. When people are intellectually curious, they develop the purpose to live.

I always thought I was curious because I read and researched various topics; however, you cannot learn everything from just reading. Interacting with other people gain insight. Physical experience can lead to different levels of learning. This incident with the pipe organ and the harpsichord made me rethink my curiosity. As I was talking to the organist, I sensed he enjoyed introducing us to the pipe organ. I felt his joy in playing the music pieces for us. I gained a meaningful experience, which will enhance my learning of baroque music. Sometimes, I am too shy to talk to people despite my curiosity to miss out on great learning opportunities. Occasionally, we may need a little courage to ask a silly question.

References

Freyne, Patric. (July 24, 2013). Curiouser and curiouser: the key to health and happiness?https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/curiouser-and-curiouser-the-key-to-health-and-happiness-1.1472714

Kidd, C., & Hayden, B. Y. (2015). The psychology and neuroscience of curiosity. Neuron, 88(3), 449–460. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2015.09.010

Oxford Dictionary. (n.d.). Curiosity.https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/us/definition/english/curiosity?q=curiosity

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How to Combat with Negative Effects of Remote Work

Back in February 2020, we were hearing about the outbreak happening in China. Since no one, even U.S. officials, seems to worry about the outbreak, I had never thought that we would be closing the whole town. In June, our president announced that all of the U.S. must work from home. By June, there were hardly any commuters near our office, so that I saw deer sleeping in our office courtyard. I was happy to convert to a remote environment because I never liked losing my time commuting. I still went to my office a few times per week because not all jobs can be completed remotely.

I can maintain a work and personal life balance better now; however, it was not always like this. I felt exhausted more from working from the office. When I completed the project at the beginning of October, I started feeling ill. I did not realize what was happening to my body. I began to have stomach and sleeping problems soon after I completed the project. I started having so many issues that I spent most of my thanksgiving day’s holiday in bed. After the last thanksgiving days, I was wondering why I was so exhausted.

I realized that I was not the only one feeling some remote fatigue. Stratton (as cited in Younghans, September 02, 2020) explained that many remote workers have experienced fatigue and burned out because many of us rely solely on technology to stay in touch with others (para. 3). Some of our customers, vendor, or auditors mentioned that they also observed their remote employees burning out.  Some found remote work too challenging. Some auditors reported working harder in the remote environment because they lost traveling time to their clients. In virtual environments, auditors had no breaks between different projects. Some felt stressed from needing to relearn how to work virtually. Many reported that it was challenging to train subordinates.

Any change is stressful, but we must adapt to changes. Besides, I also saw significant benefits in working remotely. So, I thought the best way to deal with this problem was to do a root-cause analysis to identify the potential causes of my exhaustion. Then, I would come up with corrective action and preventative action.

Issues

(1)  As a remote worker, I felt my working environment invaded my personal life because I did not draw a clear line between work and personal life. Your home office (personal space) is also an office space when you are working remotely. –  caused by mobile phone or emails after working hours. – no change of physical environment.

(2)  I felt like people expected me to work more hours since I was not at the office. I sometimes worked on the weekends because I was leading a big project. – stress created by me. Does my manager expect me to work long hours?

(3)  Some people demand phone calls or video conferences on short notice, which can interrupt my work. – caused by mobile phone or emails

(4)  It can be challenging to manage people virtually. People miss their emails, task requirements, or phone calls. Some tasks are interdependent to my tasks or part of the project activities, which affected my work. – ineffective virtual communication

(5)  Since the pandemic started, I had an unhealthy lifestyle. – lack of exercise, sleep, and too much stress.

Since I have the list of the problems, I should be able to develop the solutions. Some are preventative, and some are permanent solutions.

Solutions

  • I put away all my office equipment after working. I also turned off my mobile and P.C. after working hours.
  • I became selective about taking on projects. Now I accept projects which only I can do. I handle projects which increase benefit to the company. I delegated some work that others could perform.
  • I had requested my boss give feedback on my performance and clarify the job assignments and expectations, which helped because my boss thought I was working too much. No one expected me to work harder. I was stressing out myself from self-created pressure.  
  • To avoid sudden interruption of work, I blocked out 3 hours of my morning completely. I turn off my Email and Mobile phone. During these three hours, I complete essential tasks. Since all critical tasks are completed, I did not get stressed out even when I get a sudden phone call or video conference during the rest of the day.
  • I made a commitment to exercise, sleep, and eat well. I take a frequent break.
  • The 4th problem was a little tricky because it involves other people who were working remotely. Initially, I was dealing with them by communicating or following up with them more than others. When my boss decided to implement a 15-minute morning meeting, it seemed to work out because I use the meeting to remind others of the tasks a few days before the due date.

I was busy moping about the new environment; however, these corrective actions permanently resolved the problem. In addition, changing my lifestyle prevents the recurrence of undesirable events such as becoming ill.

I prefer remote work because I have started to see significant benefits from a remote work environment. Although, it took me several months to figure out how to work remotely without getting remote work fatigue. I found myself to be more productive when I am working from a home office. I got a much better review than in previous years because I could complete multiple additional projects. Additionally, I started to use the extra time for exercising, family time, and skill improvements.

I suspect more companies will offer remote work after this pandemic. Just like I did, I noticed more people started seeing more benefits in remote work environments. According to PwC (January 12, 2021), the shift in positive attitude toward remote work increased to 83% from 73% in June 2020. 55% of employees prefer to work remotely at least three days per week. 87% of executives expect to make changes to their real estate strategy, and there will be more satellite offices. Some companies are started to invest in remote work (para. 4-9). According to Zurich North America Insurance poll conducted in May 2021 (as cited in Murray, June 2021), 53% of CEO views 2-3 days of remote work per week the best (p. 41). I was not surprised at these findings. There are some benefits for both employers and employees in remote environments. Eliminating commuting time is one of the benefits people will point out. Employers can change their real estate strategy by having employees working from home. Employers can save salary by hiring people from areas where the cost of living is much cheaper.

The main benefit I earned from this experience was that I am confident in working remotely. As a result, I am seriously considering finding permanent remote work.

References

Murray, Alan. (Jun, 2021). The CEO Outlook: Upbeat in the C-Suite. Fortune. 183(3), 4.

PWC. (January 12, 2021). Business needs a tighter strategy for remote work.https://www.pwc.com/us/remotework?WT.mc_id=CT10-PL102-DM2-TR1-LS3-ND30-PR4-CN_ViewpointHighlights-

Younghans, Johanna. (September 02, 2020). 6 Ways to Relieve Your Work from Home Fatigue.https://healthblog.uofmhealth.org/health-management/6-ways-to-relieve-your-work-from-home-fatigue