I would love to welcome you to the very first edition of my Newsletter. I wanted to start them for a while and during my 2020 planning I set the date for my 35th birthday, which is precisely today (happy birthday to me!).
But, oh man, I did not expect the current development.. I started gathering ideas for this email in the early February and every week the focus shifted. So many things now seem irrelevant. What is on my mind these days is the Social Isolation topic.
Social Isolation
In my experience the social isolation is not difficult per se. I have been practicing it myself since the birth of my baby. Not for a specific reason, it just happened due to circumstances. On one hand, I prefer flexibility in activities with my kid, so I struggle to arrive anywhere at fixed time. On the other hand, I choose to invest all available time into my work projects instead of socializing.
For me the solution has been twofold. First, to have interesting and challenging projects that I can focus on and feel fulfilled. Second, to stay in touch with my friends and family through messaging, voice and video calls. I have been maintaining distance relationship with my loved ones for the last 15 years. And I have to tell you - it has never been easier than today.
However, I do struggle a lot these days too... My mind wonders thinking about the coronavirus and all the related uncertainty. When the first cases were registered in Mexico I managed to put my mind at ease by stocking some food. Now there is not much to do: just wash hands and wait.
Occupy your mind to stay sane
Since the best thing we can do is to stay home, it is important to keep your mind occupied. I go myself back to basics and remind myself to focus on one project and do one smallest step at a time.
Check out my new blog post with specific tips on Task Management: How to Focus When You Are Worried: Part 1
Stay safe!
Alina
P.S. I would love you to visit my new personal web page! I am still updating it, but you can get already quite a good grasp of what I am up to these days.
Interesting things on internet
Great tips for using ZOOM from Robbie on LinkedIn:
OPEN MIND. This is the most important tip. It's super disappointing to go to plan B. You might be thinking "but I don't want to learn a digital platform" or "but I am trained to present in a classroom". But this is a perfect time for a growth mindset.
TEAM. Have a presenter, a tech "backup" lead, and a moderator to manage questions and chat. If you're doing a big talk, it's great to have more than one person managing the meeting. Consider bringing in a student to help - it might be a learning opportunity or even an internship.
INCLUSION. Make sure all participants feel included. Welcome them by name as they join, ask participants for their thoughts (if cold calling is a fit), and use polling to get quick feedback.
BREAKOUTS. Zoom Webinar has a feature that allows you to create and program small groups in advance of your webinar. Then at the right slide, you can press a button and send all of your participants into small breakouts where they can collaborate.
HANDOUTS. Give participants copies of the materials immediately following the event (or before if you want them to take notes as they go)
RECORD & TRANSCRIBE. Some accounts allow you to record and transcribe meetings, which can be very helpful for people who attend to fully understand - they may want to review these assets after the initial presentation.
Another important Zoom notice. For public calls be aware of Trolls who might freely enter and share their screen with some nasty stuff.. Zoombombing has been happening recent days.
Learning resources for kids:
And a viral Vietnamese video teaching how to wash correctly your hands. As one commentator on YouTube said:
Never thought I would dance to Baby Sharks in 2019 and hand washing in 2020!