03May 2020 by CJ
What I’ve learned about myself being quarantined at home

What I’ve learned about myself being quarantined at home

Information & Education, Life & Living
Recently, I was asked what I’ve learned about myself while being quarantined at home away from a life of regularity. Many will inevitably see this question as odd or not pertaining to them, for the subject of self-reflection is often believed to be limited to those who seek the guidance of counselors or psychologists. But in reality, we all could benefit from such observations. I’ve always been a rather self-reflective individual, therefore, I suspected I’d have no trouble discovering a few things I’ve learned about myself recently. What was surprising however were the things I learned. I’m far more adaptable than previously thought “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” - Charles Darwin I…
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07Apr 2020 by CJ
Online learning shows parents just how hard teachers work

Online learning shows parents just how hard teachers work

Information & Education
As the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States (and the world) education has shifted to a virtual classroom environment through online learning – protecting the lives of students, teachers and both their families. While many colleges today already utilize online learning as an option for course credits throughout any given semester, grades K-12 still rely on face-to-face engagement for effective learning. After all, those formative years are when children and adolescents build their interpersonal skills, strengthen memory and learning development and find motivation from others to challenge themselves to work harder and go further. Still, online learning helps to keep students engaged during this pandemic – reinforcing concepts and techniques, while providing some the routine they sadly miss. If K-12’s recent migration to online learning has perhaps taught…
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01Apr 2020 by CJ
3 working from home tips that will help you adjust

3 working from home tips that will help you adjust

Information & Education, Life & Living
“Successfully working from home is a skill, just like programming, designing or writing. It takes time and commitment to develop that skill, and the traditional office culture doesn’t give us any reason to do that.” – Alex Turnbull, Founder and CEO of Groove I started working from home a little over two years ago. As a highly social and team-oriented individual, I questioned how successful (and ultimately how happy) I’d be sitting in my home office alone during any given 40-hour work week. But two years in, I’m still very happy with the choice. Many organizations condition us to believe that success is only achievable in an office environment where ideas and engagement theoretically thrive. While there is some truth to that, success in business today is not contingent upon…
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29Oct 2019 by CJ
Email etiquette is all about respecting other’s time

Email etiquette is all about respecting other’s time

Information & Education, Life & Living
The other day I realized that we all learned reading, writing and arithmetic from our wonderful teachers across the United States. But when were we ever taught email etiquette? If you can believe it, the very first network email was sent back in 1971 – invented by American computer programmer Ray Tomlinson. It’s been almost 50 years and the technology has revolutionized the way in which we interact, both professionally and personally. Admittedly, email etiquette (as it pertains to business) is nothing more than common sense.  Keep your tone professional, practice proper grammar and punctuation, make subject lines clear, re-read before hitting send, and the list goes on and on. Honestly, I’ll forgive bad grammar and even vague subject lines in favor of what I believe is the number one…
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03Aug 2019 by CJ
Mowing the grass – 3 really good reasons to keep on doing it

Mowing the grass – 3 really good reasons to keep on doing it

Information & Education, Life & Living, Youth
I’ve been mowing the grass since I was about twelve-years-old, when my father finally deemed me tall enough to push our gas-powered lawn mower on my own. Soon, every Saturday and throughout my summer vacation, keeping our lawn perfectly manicured was now my job. While this might sound a bit like child labor to you, in truth it provided me with a sense of responsibility and even helped me build the strong worth ethic I still have today. Fast forward a few years and not only was I mowing my parents’ grass, but my grandparents on occasion as well. Though admittedly I never really minded mowing their lawn for my grandmother would always dote on me and feed me something wonderful afterwards. But I digress. I’m now 44 years old…
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