Balancing Productivity

Posted on April 4, 2014 by Jennifer

I didn’t realize how much harder it was to be productive in college. Distractions are everywhere. (Actually, though.) It’s definitely been hard to stay focused, but I luckily was able to find some sort of balance last semester. Here are a few things I did that helped me stay on top of my work.

Know what your day looks like

Whether it’s Wednesday or Saturday night, knowing what your day will consist of is great for planning out when to do homework and when to take a break and have fun. Having a mental note of when all your deadlines are helps you prioritize what needs to get done and by when. And, sticking to goals of finishing your work makes celebrating the completion of this work more worthwhile.

Figure out where you best focus

For me, this is in a completely silent room where there aren’t people walking around everywhere (read: not the Motley- but I love going there for drinks!) I usually study in the browsing room or my room because I know that I won’t be that distracted when my friends are around. I don’t typically work well with noise in the background because it prohibits me from thinking clearly. Some people work best in environments completely different from the one I just described. Knowing your own preferred style will help you be most productive.

Make the best use of your time

I run into this issue all the time. When I’m doing homework and simultaneously talking to friends, I’m thinking: If I continue to do this, this 30 minute reading will turn into 2 hours because I’m really not concentrating. (This also applies to social media sites. Leaving your computer and cell phone in another room works wonders.) Therefore, I won’t be able to finish my work before I go out with friends. BUT, that can be done if I spend the next 30 minutes of my life without talking to a single person. I think most people have a vague understanding of this, but the hard part is in actually doing this. I often fail at this, but when it’s worked, I’ve had a ton of fun.

If you continue to stay on top of your work, catching up will never be something that stresses you out. And, if you reward yourself with being productive, the incentive to work equally as hard in the future is undoubtedly more appealing.

Professional Online Presence

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Lauren

Ever since social media became “a thing” experts and parents alike have been telling us to “watch our online image.” There’s so much information getting put out there on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress, Instagram, and LinkedIn. But where’s the line between fun and professional? While I wish to explore the “professionality” of all of the social media sites, I think the most important at this point is LinkedIn.

When you start coming into CP&R on a somewhat regular basis, they’ll ask you about your LinkedIn profile. What does it mean to update that? What’s the conduct for connections? That dreaded LinkedIn photo? That’s what I want to explore.

LinkedIn helps to keep track of people you meet after attending networking events. It’s like an online folder for business cards. It can also be used as an informal and casual way to get advice from alumnae or other connections. It can also be used for your friends and colleagues to connect your with their connections for networking and getting internships and jobs. (If you don’t know how important these are, look back at my previous post.)

In my Core II class about gender and economics, we read a study that explored the implications of sending a photo along with your resume. The results explain that you should not submit a photo because women who are making decisions often feel jealous of an attractive woman and men who are making decisions feel that attractive women are less credible. As a result, when CP&R told me to start a LinkedIn I didn’t want to have a photo. Here’s why I finally gave in:

Despite my qualms about sending a photo with a resume that could potentially have employers make implicit judgments one way or the other, I realized that it’s also unprofessional to have a profile without a photograph. Even though they have the same implications for employers and employment, it is appropriate to include a photo on your LinkedIn page (almost inappropriate if you don’t) while I would highly suggest not including a photo with your resume at it seems as though you are trying to get by on your looks. On a more personal note, picking a LinkedIn photo is really important. You need to pick a photo with good lighting, you shouldn’t be making a weird face, you shouldn’t be sweaty and in work out clothes, etc. This may sound fairly obvious, but I can’t even tell you how many photos I’ve seen like this and it makes the rest of your profile seem less credible.

In terms of connections, don’t treat LinkedIn like Facebook and become friends with someone you were friends with at camp or in middle school or had class with last semester. You should only connect with friends who you can talk about in a professional capacity, speak to their character, work ethic. Think about it this way: connect with someone on LinkedIn if you feel comfortable being a reference for them during the job search process.

LinkedIn is an important aspect of your professional image and development and should be taken seriously, more seriously and with more intentionality than the other social media sites.

Life After Scripps, Version 3.0

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Megan

The problem I always have during Life After Scripps week, every year I’ve been here, is that I simply can’t go to all of the events I would like to attend. If you couldn’t tell already, I’m someone who likes to plan ahead and make lists, so a whole week devoted to encouraging students to think ahead to their lives post-Scripps is right up my alley. I’m the kind of person who procrastinates on homework by looking at graduate school programs. When we got the schedules in our mailbox the other week, I immediately marked it up with which events I really wanted to go to, but, no surprise, life and schoolwork got in the way. I only ended up making it to one of the events that I wanted to go to, but, as a friendly CP&R employee reminded me when I complained about a class conflict on Facebook – I can always make an appointment to talk about these things individually. That’s what CP&R is for!

The event I was able to make it to was titled “Crafting Your Identity: Personal Branding and the Post-Scripps Transition.” It was also part of CP&R’s new Emerging Professionals program (more information available here) which I’m excited to watch develop, and hope to participate in next year when I’ll actually be around for the whole year. The workshop was led by Char Booth, the Instruction Services Manager & E-Learning Librarian at Honnold-Mudd Library, and Booth openly admitted that a lot of what she was sharing with us about personal branding were things she had learned through her own life experiences. While a lot of the basics of the session were things I had heard before – don’t post inappropriate photographs all over Facebook, try to be aware of how much information is available about you through controlling your privacy settings across different social media – it was nice to have a whole workshop devoted to it, instead of someone mentioning it in passing. A top thing that Booth mentioned that I have been trying to remember to do regularly is “stalk yourself- but not in a narcissistic way.” Regular Google searches, or even setting up a Google alert on your name, can be quite eye-opening, and give you a better idea of the kinds of things a potential employer might find while trying to make a hiring decision.

Something we should all probably do more often…

Booth also gave a really impassioned explanation of why you 1) shouldn’t be afraid of networking, and 2) shouldn’t be afraid to ask for things from those you have networked with. Overall, the workshop got me thinking about some aspects of my own online presence, and wondering what, if anything, I should change. If you want to look over the presentation, you can do so here, but be aware that parts of it might not make sense unless you were there.

Who else went to Life After Scripps events last week? Which ones? Was anyone else as eager for it all as me and actually managed to get it all in? (And if you did, could I borrow your notes?) Let me know what Life After Scripps was like for you!

Expert for a Day

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Rachel

At college, every day we’re pushed to look towards the future. To consider what classes we have to take for our major. To apply for an internship that will push us to the next step in our career. Even something as simple as eating dinner has to be planned in advance here, with friends to be texted, a cafeteria to be chosen, and limited hours to do it all in.

At times, the future can be overwhelming, so this weekend was a welcome chance to spend some time thinking about the past. It’s hard to believe that more than a year has already passed since I flew down and saw Scripps for the first time during the JES (James E. Scripps) Scholars Weekend.

Just one short year ago, I was mostly silent on the bus ride from the airport to campus; too shy to try to forge connections with people I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see again. Today, I talked more than anyone else in my group of scholars, hailing from places as varied as Austin, Texas and Baltimore, Maryland.

This year I was the one answering questions, not asking them. I reassured scholars that, yes, there are guys on campus; I astounded them by commenting that actually, this sixty degree weather is pretty cold for us; I entertained them by pointing out the cupcake stores and the best boutiques on the drive through the village.

Last year, I was in their shoes, stressing about my interview with the professor who would become my adviser and, this semester, my Core teacher. Now, I find it strange that the constantly smiling Scripps professors ever intimidated me. Last year, when the admissions workers asked my major, I spurted out a top ten possibilities list. This year, when the prospies quizzed me, I calmly responded, “English dual major with Gender & Women’s Studies.”

Admittedly, I still had no answer when one girl from Chicago asked me what my concentration is, but I’m only a freshman. I’ll wait for another year or so to fly by before worrying about the answer to that question. In the meantime, I’ve learned that when stressing about the future, sometimes the best thing to do is to think about the past, because that, at least, is something we’re all experts in.

LinkedIn (Or, Feeling Like my Mom on Facebook)

Posted on February 8, 2012 by Rachel

In terms of social networks, I’ve never wandered beyond Facebook. Tumblr seems like a time trap, and I’d rather leave Tweeting for the birds. But it wasn’t until registering for LinkedIn that I doubted my ability to understand them.

I got confused on the second step of registration. Is my home zip code school, or my hometown? And step five completely threw me off: What’s my industry?

I scrolled through the options, and what kept running through my head was… I’m supposed to pick one of these? The last choice, writing and editing, seemed most accurate, but not particularly official. Newspapers was an option, I’ve worked at several, but magazine journalism or online blogs are more my style. Does that make me in Online Media? But oh, I love Libraries, and I haven’t ruled out Marketing… and what exactly does Media Production entail?

It was time to call in the expert.

“Mom?” I said as our Skype call connected. “Remember that time when I taught you what tagging was for on Facebook? It’s time for you to return the favor.”

For the next hour my mom patiently taught me all the tips and tricks of the website. No, you don’t have any friends on LinkedIn– you have connections. No, the art camp you worked at three years ago isn’t relevant. No, the picture of you in your bikini at the beach isn’t appropriate for your profile. (Okay, that one I figured out on my own.)

Despite the frustration of learning the LinkedIn interface, I came away with not just a better understanding of the website, but also a better understanding of how to market myself. I selected my most important achievements, linked to the articles I’ve written that demonstrate my versatility, and came away satisfied. Satisfied with my profile, and satisfied with all that I’ve achieved so far in my career – things I hadn’t even thought to be proud of until I laid them out for the world to see.

In that spirit, I entered my e-mail into LinkedIn’s search engine to see if there was anyone I wanted to invite to join my network. And then I somehow selected the setting that invited every contact in my address book. Which includes everyone I had ever emailed. My high school gym teacher, a realtor I’d interviewed last summer for an article on the role of Internet in real estate, even the Scripps alum who interviewed me for my Scripps application.

I guess I’m not an expert quite yet. I’ll have to take it one step at a time. And my next step will be searching through the help section to learn how to rescind an invitation.

P.S. Thank you, Mom, for being my first friend – er, “connection” – on LinkedIn.