4 Surefire Ways To Create Better Study Habits At Home

Ministry of Education announced that lower primary and lower secondary students will continue with home-based learning (HBL) after June holidays. These arrangements were made to “ease into full resumption of school” when Term 3 starts on June 28.

Studying from home can be challenging! All of us have study habits that we would like to break and others that we would like to develop. People often blame these unpleasant habits to laziness or unhealthy personality. However, Behaviorism dictates that we can learn and unlearn these habits.

Effectively reinforcing a positive behavior and not rewarding a negative one can help change various areas in one’s life. With this principle in mind, here are 4 things that you can do create better study habits at home.

#1: SET YOUR STUDY GOALS

It is not enough to say that you want to study more! You must set quantifiable and realistic goals to meet your objectives for the day. Setting your study goals includes two things – identifying your goals and knowing which resources you will need.

For instance, you want to study for 3 hours daily (i.e., quantifiable and realistic). You successfully meet this study goal by utilizing a conducive study space and by having school supplies on-hand.

#2: TAKE ACTION

After clearly setting your goals, you must bravely take your first attempt. If it is too much to drastically start with 3 hours of study time per day, you can start with at least 45 minutes daily. Gradually increase your study time as the weeks pass by.

Having a physical boundary between your study area and your relaxation area could be very helpful. This can also help you to contain your academic stress within the study space. Furthermore, you can stay focused when studying from home by following a routine. Establishing a routine will provide more structure to your life and more cues to your brain.

#3: MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS

Monitoring your progress includes tracking your milestones and altering your goals based on your evaluation of the current situation. To illustrate this, you can have a study log to record your study time and daily assignments.

You can also analyze the factors that hinder you from studying, such as distractions from external noises or social media. Then, add another goal that is fit to counteract these distractions such turning your handphone off for 3 hours. Use this time to take down notes during your online classes.

#4: REWARD YOURSELF

Positive reinforcement such as entertaining or monetary compensation can increase the repetition of the desired behavior. Therefore, different companies use positive reinforcement to attract you into purchasing more of their products.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

You must figure out a well-deserved reward for successfully studying during the allotted amount of time. You can indulge in your favorite dessert, have a relaxing bath, or call your friends via Zoom. For optimum results, keep the reward scheme consistent each time you reach a study goal.

Sources: 1 & 2

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Avoid These 5 Job Search Mistakes

Landing a decent job is harder than before. In fact, it can take approximately 7.4 months of full-time job hunting to acquire a job. It all falls down to the details of the application process.

If you have been searching for jobs for a while but have not had as much success as you would like, you might succumb to frustration. Perhaps, a change in your current approach is needed. Let us explore other ways to strengthen your job search.

#1: SENDING A GENERIC COVER LETTER AND CV

Hiring managers or recruiters spend an average of six seconds on a CV or Curriculum Vitae. You read that right! Therefore, you must focus on the contents of your cover letter and your CV to make it shine. Each institution will show interest in various aspects of your past work experiences. Highlight the experiences and skills that are related to the job vacancy.

Create a simple, organized, and concise CV/cover letter. Demonstrating your performance by adding measurable metrics such as your previous sales is another factor that many employers look at. Adding measurable metrics can give the hiring manager a clearer picture of your capabilities.

#2: NOT FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS

Many employers assess how applicants follow simple directions. The application process itself may have directions to test the applicants such as underlining certain words or answering an essay. Knowing if the applicant can follow orders is crucial to know whether he or she has a keen eye for detail.

Take your time in reading and following the instructions. Otherwise, you run the risk of your application being considered. This happens when there is a high-volume of applicants.

#3: HAVING NUMEROUS SPELLING AND GRAMMATICAL ERRORS

Employers will evaluate your linguistic skills both in written and verbal format. If you are eyeing on a specific position, you can impress the hiring managers with flawless CV and cover letter.

Proofread your documents twice or more. You can check your grammar and spelling through websites such as Grammarly and WordCounter.

#4: KEEPING IT A SECRET

It is more advantageous for you to tell others that you are on the market for a new job. You need to get the word out so people can recommend you for suitable job vacancies. You will never know how far your professional and social network extends!

For instance, Banking and Finance is one of the most in-demand industries in Singapore. If you are looking for a position in this field, you are likely to know some friends or relatives who can help you out. While you want to be more subtle during your job search, consider personally asking people if they know any related positions that you could fill. They might even get compensated for referring you.

#5: SKIPPING THE FOLLOW-UPS

In the initial stages of your job search, you have done everything to make sure that things are playing in your favor. You proofread your cover letters diligently and you sent them out to various prospective employers. However, you did not get a response. What went wrong?

In many cases, if your application fulfills all the requirements of the job and leaves a good impression, the problem could simply be a lack of follow-up messages. The HR personnel might have forgotten to get back to you. Thus, it is important to send out a batch of follow-up emails. You can send these a week after you sent the set of applications. You will be surprised to see how many employers will respond after sending your follow-up emails.

Image Credits: unsplash.com

Applying for a new position is always challenging and requires a great deal of preparation and confidence. While CV and cover letters mark the start of your journey – ensuring these are well-crafted is half the battle.

We wish you the best of luck!

Sources: 1 & 2

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How to beat “coronasomnia” with CBT-inspired ways

insomnia

Way before the pandemic started, people have been trying to overcome insomnia. But coupled with the stress, changes, and uncertainty of COVID-19, more people are facing sleep deprivation. Simply put, the world has termed it as “coronasomnia”.

Chronically bad sleep is not just a condition that disrupts your rest pattern. It’s capable of attacking the immune system and affect memory and attention span. Furthermore, it could increase your chances of getting depression, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease.

Studies have even shown that your sleep corresponds with your life span. This means that the shorter your rest is, the shorter your time in life would be. In fact, folks over 50 years of age have a higher risk of getting dementia if they sleep less than 6 hours per night.

Considering these negative consequences, maybe it’s time that we do something about it. So here’s how to beat “coronasomnia” with cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)-inspired ways.

#1: Chuck your worries into the bin

When we say to chuck your worries into the bin, you can take our word literally for it.

You can do so by sitting down an hour or two before bed with a blank piece of paper. Then, pen down all your worries or the tasks that are creeping into your mind. It could be the urgent emails you have to reply to in the morning or the presentation at noon.

“If most of what you’ve written down is stuff that you’re worried about, then crumple up the paper and throw it in the trash – that’s called discharging your thoughts,” said Dr Ilene M Rosen, a sleep medicine doctor and associate professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

#2: 25 minutes’ the limit

The above symbolic dumping act should help you clear your mind and prepare your body for rest. However, don’t stay in bed forever just to try to fall asleep if you can’t.

“If you stay in bed awake for long periods of time, your brain thinks, ‘Every time I get into bed, this is the place where I should be awake.’ And you need to break that association,” said Matthew Walker, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dr Walker is also the author of the best-selling book Why We Sleep. He advises us to get up if we can’t fall asleep within 25 minutes or get back into slumber after waking in the night. 

Once you’re up, find a relaxing activity to do. It could be reading a book, engaging in a short meditation session, or simply listening to a calming podcast. Once you feel a little sleepy, slowly ease yourself back into bed and rest.

#3: Away with those screens

It has almost become a standardised habit for many to use their phones while lying in bed. But we all know it harms our bodies thanks to the blue light it emits. So instead of signalling your brain that it’s time to rest, your brain is mistaken that it should be awake.

Therefore, set rules to be away from those bright screens when you hit the sack. Or a good guideline could be to use it while standing up if you have to use your phone past bedtime.

“You’ll find after about 10 minutes of standing up at your normal bedtime that you’re going to say, ‘I need to lie down,’ – and that’s your body telling you that you need to put the phone away and get to sleep,” said Dr Walker.

Final thoughts
Smiling-doctor-looking-at-patient-lying-in-bed

Image Credits: eossleep.com

Be mindful that the above CBT-inspired methods are just ways to cope with occasional bouts of insomnia. But for peeps suffering from long-term sleep issues and can’t function normally, do seek professional opinions.

“Don’t suffer in silence. Ask for help if you need it. There are sleep physicians everywhere, and that’s what we’re here for,” noted Dr Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg, a sleep medicine specialist and spokeswoman for the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

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Tips to mind your body language for that upcoming interview

a job interview session

Most of us would probably agree that first impressions matter. What we may not know is that the opinion we get from someone we’ve just met is often thanks to the concept of body language.

Muse’s career coach Eloise Eonnet shares that humans read each other’s body language and vocal delivery to make fast conclusions about whether we like, trust, or respect a person. Similarly, these snap judgments significantly affect the hiring decision of an interviewer.

Thus, while what you’ve prepared verbally plays an important part, what you do not say but reveal is equally weighty. In fact, studies have shown that facial behaviours like smiles and eye contact are considerable factors for employers.

“Facial expressions can be the most misunderstood nonverbal cue. Our faces tell more of the story than any words we use. Being mindful of how you express emotion when speaking (or when not) is important when interviewing,” says Monique Sample, a Virginia Commonwealth University Career Services representative.

With so much at stake, here are some tips to mind your body language for that upcoming interview.

#1: Enter strong

If you believe you’re being watched the moment you step into the company building, be sure to enter strong. Your communication with the secretary, receptionist, or HR assistant is as crucial as meeting with the hiring manager.

Be polite, confident, and maintain eye contact as you speak or introduce yourself. Nod or smile at your potential future colleagues should you meet them by the hallway to your waiting or interview room.

#2: Watch your wandering eyes

How would you feel if you’re conversing with someone, but the other party’s eyes are just wandering all over the place? Would you want to continue the conversation? Or would you attempt to end the conversation quickly?

As Eonnet rightly points out, your listener will only feel genuinely engaged with you if you are looking at them. Even if they do not respond verbally to your output, an internal response is sufficient to feel a connection.

#3: Pay attention to your arms & posture

Peeps who tend to slouch can try resting their arms on the table or desk. This will also prevent excessive gesturing, which can be a distraction. It also allows your body to lean a little forward, showing that you’re listening attentively to the hiring manager as they speak.

While paying attention to too many hand motions is essential, don’t let that bother you too much. You don’t want to appear too stiff in front of your interviewers, or worse still, develop fidgeting in other areas because your natural hand movements are forcefully curbed.

Final thoughts
a woman recording herself

Image Credits: premiumbeat.com

The wise old saying still stands – practice makes perfect. But to practise, you will need to find out how you behave in a mock interview.

Record yourself as you speak to an imaginary person or ask a close friend to observe you as you answer some sample interview questions. Get sufficient rest before your interview day, and don’t bash yourself up even if you didn’t get to show all that you’ve prepared.

Do your best and let fate handle the rest! Good luck.

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S’pore Chosen As BioNTech’s New Regional Headquarters

Since vaccination against COVID-19 began, countries have exhausted their efforts to secure sufficient doses that will inoculate their population. Securing enough doses to cover the population is not an easy feat. Manufacturing setbacks, travel limitations, and other factors have slowed down the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in some countries.

The World Health Organization explained that the vast majority of COVID-19 shots have been received by developed countries, while developing countries have obtained less than 1% (as of April 2021). In Singapore, a total of 4,047,651 vaccine doses have been administered as of May 30, 2021.

To further increase the production of vaccines and to address the current situation, BioNTech announced that it will open a manufacturing site in Singapore. BioNTech has chosen the country as its new regional headquarters. It is going to be its first manufacturing facility outside of Germany.

This venture is supported by Singapore Economic Development Board — a government agency under the trade ministry. Moreover, this expansion initiative is expected to create up to 80 additional jobs.

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BioNTech (Biopharmaceutical New Technologies) is a German biotechnology company that manufactures and developes active immunotherapies for patient-specific approaches. It was founded in the city of Mainz in 2008. In 2020, it participated in the global fight against the pandemic by developing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

According to BioNTech, the Singapore manufacturing site will “address potential pandemic threats in Southeast Asia and will increase BioNTech’s global supply capacity of product candidates – also beyond vaccines – based on messenger RNA (mRNA) technology”.

Image Credits: pixabay.com

The mRNA vaccines, like the Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, prompt the body to make a protein that is part of the virus. This aims to trigger an immune response.

The new manufacturing site will be able to produce hundreds of million doses of mRNA-based vaccines each year, depending on the specific vaccine. BioNTech projects that its Singapore facility could be operational as early as 2023.

Sources: 1, 2, & 3

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