Cosa sto imparando vivendo la Rete (I)

Da circa tre mesi sto portando avanti un esperimento che ho iniziato un po’ per gioco, un po’ per emulazione e un po’ per curiosità.

Ho deciso di testare i vari canali attraverso cui è possibile aumentare la propria visibilità e rendere proficua la presenza sul web.
Non sapendo da dove cominciare, ho preso spunto da alcuni professionisti che seguo tramite WordPress, Facebook e Twitter. Mi sono permessa di seguire per qualche settimana i loro aggiornamenti e il loro modo di interagire con colleghi, amici e followers.

✎ La prima cosa chiara ed evidente è la costanza. Occorre essere attivi nel vero senso della parola. Ogni giorno, la propria presenza va confermata condividendo articoli, immagini, foto, citazioni, chiacchierando con chi è interessato al tuo lavoro ed esprimendo le proprie idee in tutti i modi possibili.
✎ Infatti, un importante fattore è l’interazione con gli altri utenti. Tutte le persone che ti seguono (ed anche quelle che capitano casualmente nelle tue pagine) sono ugualmente fondamentali per la creazione di una rete di contatti efficiente ed attiva (oltre che reattiva). Il ruolo cruciale è sempre il tuo, perché sta a te interagire e conversare con gli altri iscritti in modo da riuscire ad allacciare rapporti, trovare persone che abbiano i tuoi stessi interessi o che siano capaci di aprire le tue conoscenze verso nuovi orizzonti.
✎ A ciò fa seguito l’importanza della condivisione. È davvero importante imparare a parlare con gli altri senza paura, riuscire ad uscire dal proprio guscio e condividere con gli altri le esperienze pregresse, sia belle che brutte. Il nostro piccolo bagaglio ci ha resi i professionisti che siamo oggi e questo potrebbe essere d’aiuto ad altri, così come l’esperienza di chi lavora da più anni in un settore potrebbe essere d’aiuto per noi.
✎ E qui si collega l’ultimo punto fondamentale, cioè la necessità di essere catchy a 360°, Non c’è nulla di più vero e importante dell’essere completamente se stessi. Infatti, la chiave per aprire tutte le porte della Rete è utilizzare la propria personalità mettendo in risalto i propri punti di forza, gli interessi e le conoscenze. Attraverso i post scritti nei blog, oppure i 160 caratteri di cui sono composti i tweet, possiamo realmente diversificarci dagli altri creando un nostro codice, condivisibile, che ci aiuti ad uscire dall’anonimato e, allo stesso tempo, renderci interessanti verso i nostri lettori.

Nel flusso continuo di informazioni che attraversa il web e si getta senza argini tra le righe dei social media, emerge chi riesce a veicolare un messaggio facilmente accessibile ed al tempo stesso creativo – cercando, però, di non sfociare in esagerazioni o mancanza di professionalità. Perciò, quando si scrive per la Rete, occorre fornire dati e tesi opportunamente corredati da immagini e testi semplici ma esaustivi, utilizzando strategie innovative e fresche. Inoltre, quando si scrive un articolo da pubblicare nel proprio blog, la scelta delle parole chiave è fondamentale in quanto aiutano la ricerca dei post ed anche l’individuazione dei principali punti trattati. Lo stesso discorso vale per i social network, dove le stesse key words sono equiparabili agli hashtags.

Seguendo queste prime semplici considerazioni, ho pensato di iniziare a condividere nel mio blog le ecards create per smorzare un po’ lo stress lavorativo, citazioni e articoli scritti di mio pugno. Purtroppo, finora, ho pubblicato un solo articolo completo. Mi è capitato di incorrere nello smarrimento di una scrittrice che si ritrova in una piazza affollata e non sa più dove guardare e chi ascoltare.

Ciò è sicuramente dovuto all’inesperienza e alla mancanza di organizzazione. Hai delle idee, sapresti anche che contenuti sviluppare e come svilupparli, ma ti sembra sempre di non avere il tempo necessario. Le settimane passano e le tue bozze restano là, salvate e destinate a non vedere mai il punto finale ed il fatidico click sul tasto “Pubblica”. Nonostante questo, non demordo. Continuerò a pianificare e cercare di scrivere altri post come quello di oggi. In fondo, ho tantissimo da imparare e l’unico modo che conosco per migliorare è sperimentare. Se non dai sfogo alla tua creatività buttandoti nella mischia, non saprai mai cosa puoi e non puoi fare. 🙂

Una cosa che ho sicuramente imparato, e che a parer mio è assolutamente da evitare, consiste nel reblogging selvaggio.
Questa tecnica somiglia ad un retweet o uno share su facebook, ma permette di copiare ed incollare gli articoli altrui nel proprio blog (o sito). Purtroppo, seppur appropriatamente citati e forniti di tutti i riferimenti che rimandano all’autore originale, non possono sostituire un bel post scritto con impegno di proprio pugno. L’ho sperimentata per un po’, ma anche se accompagnato da qualche commento sporadico come introduzione all’articolo da condividere, oppure da un’emoticon e una frase per non sembrare maleducati nel riprendere testualmente il lavoro di altri, non è assolutamente utile e tanto meno professionale. Assolutamente da evitare.

Se un articolo è particolarmente interessante o ci ha colpito in qualche modo, le modalità di utilizzo di quel pezzo possono essere molteplici e diverse, a seconda di cosa pensiamo di farne. Se vogliamo, possiamo condividerlo attraverso i social network che sono più immediati e permettono di avere l’informazione a disposizione in tempo reale e possono essere opportunamente taggati per dare visibilità anche a chi l’ha scritto e, anche a chi l’ha condiviso prima di noi.

Per i social network che sto sperimentando in questo momento, occorre tenere presente alcuni accorgimenti:

TWITTER: Twitter è una piattaforma veloce, la TL (ndt: tweet line / time line) si aggiorna continuamente e i nostri followers (seguaci) non vivono costantemente con la pagina aperta o con il cellulare piantato su un solo social, perciò, occorre postare in maniera mirata in determinati orari ed essere concisi. Per fare ciò siamo facilitati dagli hashtag, cioè quelle parole che vengono precedute dal # (cancelletto) e che servono per indicizzare tutti i cinguettii relativi ad uno stesso argomento. Utilizzandoli, chi è interessato a determinati argomenti, cercherà gli hashtag più comuni di riferimento e troverà anche l’articolo che vogliamo condividere (se corredato di quell’hashtag).

FACEBOOK: Facebook è una piattaforma dove gli utenti sono tutti interconnessi sia per essere informati sugli ultimi fatti, sia per scambiare opinioni e fare un break mentre si sta lavorando. I post su facebook sono più argomentativi. E’ importante dare informazioni abbastanza dettagliate su ciò che si sta per pubblicare, ma al tempo stesso bisogna incuriosire il lettore. Le immagini sono molto importanti, perché attirano l’attenzione di chi sta leggendo. Il fatto di avere la possibilità di commentare “a vista”, aiuta l’interazione e anche nei commenti si possono inserire ulteriori informazioni che invoglino il lettore ad iniziare o continuare un’eventuale conversazione.

Se ciò a cui si punta è la diffusione di contenuti per immagini, possiamo usufruire di altri canali come Instagram e Pinterest.

INSTAGRAM: è una grande piazza dove ognuno condivide in maniera visuale le proprie idee. E’ importante scegliere il giusto soggetto da ritrarre e da condividere con gli altri igers (ndt: le persone che pubblicano su Instagram, anche detti Instagramers) ed accompagnarlo con una descrizione accattivante che invogli l’utente a “cuorare” (ndt: l’equivalente del “mi piace” di facebook) l’immagine o commentarla. Inoltre, è fondamentale utilizzare i giusti hashtag, perché anche qui – come accade per twitter – le foto vengono indicizzate in base alla parola che viene scelta per effettuare la ricerca delle immagini.

PINTEREST: Pinterest è un social network molto particolare, che permette di seguire le bacheche di immagini create da ogni utente. E’ un sistema molto semplice e snello mediante il quale si possono creare piccole (o grandi) collezioni di immagini suddivise per categorie o settori. Qui il termine da usare è “pin”, cioè la puntina che viene spesso utilizzata per fissare un pezzo di carta o un qualsiasi documento o foto su una bacheca (ndt: ricordate le bacheche in sughero nelle vostre scuole?). Ogni pin equivale ad un’immagine che viene inglobata nella propria bacheca. E’ possibile anche qui “cuorare” per mostrare gradimento verso le immagini postate dagli altri utenti.

Per avere un’idea degli orari ideali in cui diffondere i propri post, potete fare riferimento all’infografica qui sotto. Ho tradotto ed adattato alcuni dati che ho trovato girovagando per la rete. (NB: è la mia prima infografica, mi scuso con chi la troverà un po’ grezza, ma sto ancora sperimentando e sono stata già fortunata, perché c’è lo zampino di mia sorella, che mi ha dato una mano ad organizzare le idee. 🙂 )

 

Quando postare sui Social Media

Lasciatemi pure i vostri commenti se volete. Sarò felice di ascoltare suggerimenti, critiche e scambiare opinioni a proposito di social media e scrittura di post. Grazie! 🙂

#translatorsgonnatranslate
#perlediunatraduttrice
#keepgoing

[Repost] Of Cabbages and Kings: five ways to talk about translation (on Oxford Dictionaries)

Of Cabbages and Kings: five ways to talk about translation

 

Translation has been a crucial part of Anglophone culture from its very beginnings. The earliest English writers knew that the state of learning in England, with knowledge of Latin far from universal, meant a need for translations. Everything necessary for a rounded education was written in Latin, and so King Alfred the Great introduced a programme of translating “certain books, which are most needful for all men to know, into that language that we all can understand”. Alfred’s list of necessary books was very specific, and encompassed classics of theology and philosophy, rather than the Greek and Roman classics which were to torture school boys nearly a millennium later. These poor beleaguered boys, struggling with their Homer and Virgil, would often use a crib, a translation that provided them with illegitimate help in their studies. This might also be called a cabbage in the school slang of the nineteenth century; nobody’s sure where the term comes from, though it might be that the strips of paper looked like strips of cloth which tailors rolled up into shapes resembling cabbages (etymologies can be a bit labyrinthine at times!).

Like most linguistic concepts, translation has been described using a wide range of words. Here are some notes on five of my favourites.

Translate

Let’s start with the basics! The verb translate goes back to at least the early thirteen hundreds, when the author of the religious poem Cursor Mundi tells his readers that:

Þis ilk bok es translate into Inglis tong

to rede for the love of Inglis lede,

(This book is translated into the English language as advice, for the love of the English people.)

Translation was an important art in the medieval period, perhaps even more so than in King Alfred’s day, since the people of England now had to deal with both Latin and Norman French as commonly-used languages as well as the English vernacular. The verb comes from the Latin translatus, the past participle of transferre, meaning “to transfer”, hence the use of translate to refer to physical transferral. It‘s often used to describe the moving of a saint’s remains to a new resting place.

Paraphrase

The mythic first poem in English, Caedmon’s Hymn, was a paraphrase. Legend has it that Caedmon, a simple cowherd in the monastery at Whitby, was visited by an angel who inspired him to compose poems on scriptural themes. The Latin scripture would be read to him, and he would produce beautiful paraphrases in the intricate Old English verse form. The verbparaphrase, however, comes a long time after Caedmon: the Oxford English Dictionary’s first evidence is from 1593 (the noun is attested a little earlier). It comes, via French and Latin, from a Greek root: para (“alongside”) and phrasis (“diction, speech”). So, whereas to translate is to transfer from one language to the other, to paraphrase is to speak in the new language alongside the original.

Englify

The delightful verb Englify was first used, according to the OED’s evidence, in 1688, when the writer Randle Holme referred to “a Welsh name Englified”. It is one of a set of words describing translation into English. Englishizeappears around a hundred years later, not long after anglicize was first used in this sense (in 1711 according to current research), whereas the simple verb English is the earliest of the trio, first appearing in the Wycliffite translation of the Bible in the 1400s: “I Englishe it thus”, the translator tells us. Other language names have been used in the same way: in 1868, Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote that “We clothe the nude word by Frenching it”, andFrenchize has also been used for translation into French.

Traduce

Coming from the Latin traducere, meaning “to bring across” or “to transfer”,traduce was used to mean “translate” from at least the fifteen hundreds, and was still in use when Charles Kingsley wrote his novel Alton Locke in 1850: the title character will be allowed no more books to read “If ye canna traduce to me a page o’ Virgil”, so the Scotsman Sandy Mackaye threatens him. The verb is related to words for “translation” in a number of Romance languages: French traduction and Italian traduzzione, for example. The more common sense of traduce now is to slander or disgrace a person. It seems a bit of a leap from “transfer” to “slander”, but the classical Latin traducere could also mean “to lead along (as a spectacle)”, as one might do to a criminal, and in later Latin it carried the sense “to lead astray”, “to corrupt”, and “to blame”. It’s a verb of many talents, and it seems quite fitting that a word for translation should itself have such a variety of possible translations.

Wend

This is my favourite translation verb, and the oldest of our five. Indeed, this meaning of the word seems to have died out in the twelve hundreds, remembered now only by students of Old English who read King Alfred’s accounts of his efforts at translation: “Ða ongan ic..ða boc wendan on Englisc”; “Then I began to translate that book into English”. The range of meanings that wend had even in those days tells us something about how the Anglo-Saxons thought about translation. It could mean altering your course, changing your mind, travelling, or taking the final journey of death. Translation was a slippery thing, and it could fatally change the meaning of the original text unless great care was taken by a skilful translator.

These are just a few of the many verbs that are or have been used for translation; there was no space to talk about convert, render, interpret, orthrow, to name just a few. Dub also lost out in my list of five, though it has the neatest etymology, being a simple shortening of the word double. So there is still plenty to explore in the world of translation; but, for now, I shall wend my way.

Cf. original: http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2013/10/five-ways-to-talk-about-translation/#.U117FOTRzCU.twitter (previously shared by TransGALAtor)

[Repost] Why Distractions Are Actually Good (by Ilya Pozin)

written by Ilya Pozin (shared on LinkedIn)

April 15, 2014

We all know distractions in the workplace are terrible…right? As it turns out, scientific research shows distraction might actually be good for decision making and creativity.

More broadly, the same distractions you worry are hurting your productivity might actually help you develop better leadership skills and form valuable connections with your coworkers.

Everyone has had a work day which started out humming along on track and ended up somehow off the rails. A chance encounter with a team member leads to an afternoon of troubleshooting a huge problem. When you get back to your desk, you might feel demoralized by the distraction — but the time you lost to a distraction might be offset by the valuable skills and mental rejuvenation you gain.

Here are just a few reasons workplace distractions are fruitful:

Distractions Can Make You a Better Leader

Meetings, emails, and problems to solve might seemingly take you away from the important work you think you should be doing. Being open and communicative with your coworkers, however, just might be the perfect way to develop the leadership skills you’ll need later in your career.

In a recent article on Harvard Business Review, author Douglas R. Conant referred to these human distractions as “touchpoints” throughout your business day. Instead of seeing these alterations to your work day as setting you back, look at them as opportunities to solve new problems, collaborate in new ways, and touch base with others on your team.

Your willingness and ability to lend a helping hand will make you stand out from the crowd and show off your leadership abilities in a collaborative environment. These human connections you make during moments of “distraction” can help you learn more about your company, your coworkers, and teach you how to lead effectively.

Distractions Can Make You More Creative

Have you ever noticed you get your best creative ideas in the weirdest places, like the shower or while taking a walk through the park? Sometimes, the harder we focus on trying to solve a problem, the more elusive the answer. When our brain is preoccupied with other stimuli, however, our minds are free to wander and make free associations.

This is the time when our brains can make the connections you were too focused to notice before. According to Harvard University Scientist Shelley H. Carson, distractions can force an “incubation period” where the brain continues to subconsciously work away on the problem.

This probably explains why our optimal productivity times are actually not our greatest moments for creative thinking. As our brains get tired and we get distracted, novel information has the ability to seep in and lead to your coveted “Aha!” moment.

In fact, a 2003 study of Carson’s found students with a weaker ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli and high IQs were more creative than their focused peers. Giving into distractions can work wonders to get your one-track mind off the rails and think up something truly outside-of-the-box.

Distractions Can Lead to Problem Solving

Conventional wisdom tells us distraction is a bad thing because the distracting influence, whether it be a phone call, email, or tweet, is taking our attention away from the work at hand. But what if our brain is still busy processing our original workload, even while distracted?

This is exactly what a research team from Carnegie Mellon University discovered when studying the effects of distraction on the brain. Using brain imaging, researchers found brain areas responsible for decision making were still lit up, even when the conscious mind was distracted with a more routine task. This means while you’re chatting with a coworker, answering an email, or helping troubleshoot a problem, your brain is still hard at work on the big project sitting on your desk.

This explains why after a distraction you can often return back to your workload with a renewed perspective, or why you just might stumble upon the solution to a big problem while working on something completely different. It also explains why research has found we’re more productive in vaguely distracting settings like a coffee shop. The ambient noise at your local Starbucks is just enough distraction to keep you on your toes and keep your brain working.

Distractions Can Help You Prioritize

Thanks to limited hours in the work day and limited brain power, you’ll need to learn to make decisions about what problems you expend your mental energy solving. This can help you focus on the most pressing issues, instead of letting the smaller concerns like your filling inbox or messy desk get in the way.

Few of us have time in the day to get everything crossed off our to-do lists, and distractions make this even more difficult to achieve. The silver lining, however, is that distractions help us hone our abilities to properly prioritize our tasks and take ownership over our own workflow.

Throughout the years, distractions have gotten a bum rap among workers trying to maximize productivity. Truthfully though, you need distractions to connect with coworkers, give your brain a reboot, and get creative. So don’t sigh sadly the next time a distraction keeps you from your pile of work, embrace the chance to make distractions work in your favor.

What do you think? How can you use distractions to be more effective on the job? Share in the comments!

Image courtesy of Rachel Titiriga; Flickr

About Ilya Pozin:

Founder of Open Me and Ciplex. Columnist for Inc, Forbes & LinkedIn. Gadget lover, investor, mentor, husband, father, and ’30 Under 30′ entrepreneur. Follow Ilya below to stay up-to-date with his articles and updates!

[Repost] How to keep an English conversation going (by Clare from english-at-home)

How to keep an English conversation going

It can be difficult to keep a conversation going. Even if you understand what the other person is saying, you can feel “blocked” or “frozen” when it’s your turn to speak. The words or phrases you need don’t often come quickly enough to mind.

The more opportunities you can get to use and speak English, the easier it is to find the right words when you need them. Take every chance you get to use your English! See How to practise your English for lots of ideas to find speaking opportunities.

Sounding fluent and confident in a few words

Here are some useful ways to keep the conversation going. The “secret” is that you don’t actually need many words to do this!

1. Show interest in the other speaker
You don’t need to say much. Often just one word is needed to show you are interested and listening. Try “Really?” (with a rising intonation), “Right” or “Sure”. You could even show you are listening with a non-word such as “Mmm” or Uh-huh”.

“I hate watching rubbish on the TV.”
“Right.”

2. Use a short phrase to show your feelings
For example, “How awful”, “Oh no!”, “You’re joking”, “What a pity” etc.

“My neighbour had a car accident yesterday.”
“Oh no!”
“Yes, but thankfully he wasn’t hurt.”
“Mmm.”

3. Ask a short question 
You can use an auxiliary verb to make a short question which will encourage the other speaker to keep talking:

“We tried out the new Chinese restaurant last night.”
“Did you?”

“I’m going to Barbados next week on holiday.”
“Are you? Lucky you!”

“It’s snowing again.”
“Is it?”

4. Repeat what the other person said
Do this especially if the other person has said something surprising.

“He won £200 on the lottery.”
“£200!”

“I’m going to Barbados next week.”
“Barbados!”

Other ways to avoid silence

Here are some more tips to help you say something – even if you haven’t understood the other person or there’s nothing else to say.

If you don’t understand

“Sorry, I don’t understand.”
“Sorry, could you repeat that?”
“Sorry? I didn’t get that.”

If you don’t know the word

“I can’t find the word I’m looking for…”
“I’m not sure that this is the right word, but…”
“What I want to say is…”

If you can’t find the word immediately

You don’t want to be completely silent, but you need time to find the words.

“Well…”
“OK…”
“So…”

You can even make some “noises”

“Hmmm…”
“Uh-huh”
“Umm…”

Agreeing with the other person

You want to show that you agree, but you don’t have anything else to say.

“Yeah.”
“Right.”

Changing the subject

Everyone in the conversation has given an opinion, and now you want to talk about something else.

“Anyway,…”
“Well, as I was saying…”
“So, back to …”
“So, we were saying …”

Rephrase

Sometimes we say things that other people don’t understand, or we give the wrong impression. Here are some expressions you can use to say something again.

“What I meant to say was…”
“Let me rephrase that…”
“Let me put this another way…”
“Perhaps I’m not making myself clear…”

Go back to the beginning

If you’re explaining something, and you realise that the other person doesn’t understand, you can use the following phrases:

“If we go back to the beginning…”
“The basic idea is…”
“One way of looking at it is…”
“Another way of looking at it is…”

For more help with English conversations and speaking, see Better English speaking skills.

[Repost] A Scientific Guide to Saying “No”: How to Avoid Temptation and Distraction (by James Clear)

A Scientific Guide to Saying “No”: How to Avoid Temptation and Distraction

Posted on Thursday, March 28th, 2013

Written by James Clear

Learning how to say no is one of the most useful skills you can develop I found, especially when it comes to living a more productive and healthy life.

Saying no to unnecessary commitments can give you the time you need to recover and rejuvenate. Saying no to daily distractions can give you the space you need to focus on what is important to you. And saying no to temptation can help you stay on track and achieve your health goals. In fact not being able to say no, is one of the most biggest downfalls that successful entrepreneurs claim as their own key mistakes.

But how do we actually get past the urgencies of everyday life and avoid distraction, so that we can focus the things that are really important to us?

It seems like a big task, I wholeheartedly agree. And yet, research is starting to show that even small changes can make a significant impact for a better way of saying no. In fact, here’s one change you can make right now that will make it easier for you to say no, resist temptation and improve your productivity and your health:

How to Say No: Research Reveals the Best Way

In a research study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, 120 students were split into two different groups.

The difference between these two groups was saying “I can’t” compared to “I don’t.”

One group was told that each time they were faced with a temptation, they would tell themselves “I can’t do X.” For example, when tempted with ice cream, they would say, “I can’t eat ice cream.”

When the second group was faced with a temptation, they were told to say “I don’t do X.” For example, when tempted with ice cream, they would say, “I don’t eat ice cream.”

After repeating these phrases, each student answered a set of questions unrelated to the study. Once they finished answering their questions, the students went to hand in their answer sheet, thinking that the study was over. In reality, it was just beginning.

As each student walked out of the room and handed in their answer sheet, they were offered a complimentary treat. The student could choose between a chocolate candy bar or a granola health bar. As the student walked away, the researcher would mark their snack choice on the answer sheet.

Here’s what happened:

The students who told themselves “I can’t eat X” chose to eat the chocolate candy bar 61% of the time. Meanwhile, the students who told themselves “I don’t eat X” chose to eat the chocolate candy bars only 36% of the time. This simple change in terminology significantly improved the odds that each person would make a more healthy food choice.

Makes sense right? Now the findings didn’t stop there, here is what happened next:

How the “Right Words” Make It Easier to Say No

The same researchers were also interested in how the words “can’t” and “don’t” affect our willingness to say no when faced with repeated temptations and distractions. After all, most of us can turn down a candy bar once, but eventually we slip up. Similarly, you might be able to focus on your work when you’re pressed for time, but what about avoiding unproductive behaviors on a daily basis?

In other words, is there a way to say no that makes it more likely that we’ll stick to good habits and avoid bad ones? You bet!

The researchers designed a new study by asking 30 working women to sign up for a “health and wellness seminar.” All of the women were told to think of a long–term health and wellness goal that was important to them. Then, the researchers split the women into three groups of 10.

Group 1 was told that anytime they felt tempted to lapse on their goals they should “just say no.”This group was the control group because they were given no specific strategy.

Group 2 was told that anytime they felt tempted to lapse on their goals, they should implement the “can’t” strategy. For example, “I can’t miss my workout today.”

Group 3 was told that anytime they felt tempted to lapse on their goals, they should implement the “don’t” strategy. For example, “I don’t miss workouts.”

For the next 10 days, each woman received an email asking to report her progress. They were specifically told, “During the 10–day window you will receive emails to remind you to use the strategy and to report instances in which it worked or did not work. If the strategy is not working for you, just drop us a line and say so and you can stop responding to the emails.”

Here’s what the results looked like 10 days later…

• Group 1 (the “just say no” group) had 3 out of 10 members who persisted with their goals for the entire 10 days.
• Group 2 (the “can’t” group) had 1 out of 10 members who persisted with her goal for the entire 10 days.
• Group 3 (the “don’t” group) had an incredible 8 out of 10 members who persisted with their goals for the entire 10 days.

The words that you use not only help you to make better choices on an individual basis, but also make it easier to stay on track with your long–term goals.

Why “I Don’t” Works Better Than “I Can’t”

Your words help to frame your sense of empowerment and control. Furthermore, the words that you use create a feedback loop in your brain that impacts your future behaviors.

For example, every time you tell yourself “I can’t”, you’re creating a feedback loop that is a reminder of your limitations. This terminology indicates that you’re forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do.

In comparison, when you tell yourself “I don’t”, you’re creating a feedback loop that reminds you of your control and power over the situation. It’s a phrase that can propel you towards breaking your bad habits and following your good ones.

Heidi Grant Halvorson is the director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University. Here’s how she explains the difference between saying “I don’t” compared to “I can’t”:

“I don’t” is experienced as a choice, so it feels empowering. It’s an affirmation of your determination and willpower. “I can’t” isn’t a choice. It’s a restriction, it’s being imposed upon you. So thinking “I can’t” undermines your sense of power and personal agency.

In other words, the phrase “I don’t” is a psychologically empowering way to say no, while the phrase “I can’t” is a psychologically draining way to say no.

How You Can Apply This To Your Life

One can have no smaller or greater mastery than mastery of oneself.
—Leonardo Da Vinci

There are situations everyday when you need to say no to something. For example, the waiter who offers you a dessert menu… or the urge to skip a workout and stay home… or the distracting call of texts, tweets, and updates when you should be focusing on something important.

Individually, our responses to these little choices seem insignificant, which is why we don’t make a big deal about telling ourselves that we “can’t” do something. But imagine the cumulative effect ofchoosing more empowering words on a consistent basis.

“I can’t” and “I don’t” are words that seem similar and we often interchange them for one another, but psychologically they can provide very different feedback and, ultimately, result in very different actions. They aren’t just words and phrases. They are affirmations of what you believe, reasons for why you do what you do, and reminders of where you want to go.

The ability to overcome temptation and effectively say no is critical not only to your physical health, but also for your daily productivity and mental health.

To put it simply: you can either be the victim of your words or the architect of them. Which one would you prefer?

–

About the Author: James Clear is an entrepreneur, weightlifter, and travel photographer in 18 countries. He writes at JamesClear.com, where he uses proven research and real-world experiences to share practical ideas for living a healthy life. You can get new strategies for sticking to healthy habits, losing weight, gaining muscle, and more by joining his free newsletter.

About the Author

James Clear

James Clear writes at JamesClear.com, where he uses behavior science to help you master your habits and improve your health. For useful ideas on improving your mental and physical performance, join his free newsletter. Or, download his free guide: Transform Your Habits.

• James’s Website →

[Repost] Social Media Terminology for Any Social Media Plan (by Yasheaka Oakley)

Social Media Terminology for Any Social Media Plan

For your convenience, this list of social media terms used in reporting and measurement will be updated when new standards are released from credible resources that specialize in research, measurement standardization, and training for public relations and marketing professionals, such as (but not limited to) the Coalition for Public Relations Research, the Institute for Public Relations, and other industry leaders.

You may be familiar with some of these terms if you use social media channels, such as, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+ or LinkedIn for business purposes. Using these terms or similar terms can help small businesses or nonprofit organizations gain a basic understanding of social media reporting, and it is suggested that professionals interested in public relations, social media, and marketing become familiar with them, and empower their clients to understand the importance of metrics other than “Likes” and “followers,” so please feel free to bookmark this page and revisit this list often as updates become available.

Items
An item of content is a post, micro-post, Tweet, article, or other instance appearing for the first time in a digital medium.

Total Count
Used to identify instances where data is based on the total / aggregated amount of occurrences.

Unique Users
Used to identify instances where data is based on an individual user, visitor, or recipient of an item or specific content.

Mention
A mention refers to a specific reference in an item of a brand, organization, campaign, or other entity that is being measured or analyzed.

Target Audience
A specific group of consumers from your target market that is being targeted during a specific campaign. The target audience can be the same as a brand’s target market, but a target audience can be more defined to include demographics and segmentation criteria, such as: age, location, gender, income level, education level, ethnic background, lifestyle, etc.

Engagement
This term addresses the questions of how many individuals were exposed to an item and then took some additional action. Engagement is defined as some action beyond exposure and typically occurs in response to an item published on an owned channel. This metric could be related to clicks, likes, comments, shares, votes, +1s, retweets, video views, content embeds, etc.

Reach
This term addresses the number of individuals that might have been able to see, read, or hear a communications item. It represents the total number of unique users who had an opportunity to see an item or a valid reproduction of that item across digital media. Includes the number of people who visited your page, or saw your page, or one of its posts in news feed or ticker. These can be people who have liked your Page and people who haven’t. (Unique Users)

Impressions
The number of people who might have had the opportunity to be exposed to a story that has appeared in the media. Impressions are also known as an “opportunity to see” (OTS) and do not equal awareness since it relates to the number of times and item was displayed or the number of individuals who may have viewed or been exposed to an item and isn’t based on an action taken by the message recipient. Includes the number of times your posts were seen in news feeds or ticker or on visits to your page. These impressions can be by people who have liked your page and people who haven’t. (Total Count)

Page Stories
The number of stories created about your Facebook page. (Total Count)

Total Likes
The total number of people who have liked your Facebook page. (Unique Users)

Suggested Reading

• PRSA | Social Media and Digital Media Measurement Standardization
• HubSpot | The Ultimate Glossary: 120 Social Media Marketing Terms Explained

Image via

Cf. original: http://yoakleypr.com/wp/social-media/social-media-terminology/#.U0uTcPl_s-E

Yasheaka Oakley

With years of experience in the higher education and nonprofit sectors, Yasheaka Oakley is the owner of YOakleyPR, a woman-owned small business that provides public relations, social media, and online marketing support services to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware.

More Posts – Website

[Repost] Clearing up the Top 10 Myths About Translation (by Nataly Kelly)

Nataly Kelly

Co-Author, Found in Translation and Chief Research Officer, Common Sense Advisory

Clearing up the Top 10 Myths About Translation

Posted: 06/13/2012 11:06 am

Careers , Careers , Politics , Fortune 500 , Economics , Global Economy , Language ,Translation , Business News

 

Translation has an impact on virtually every aspect of society, politics, and economics, but how much of what you know about translation is really true? You might be surprised to learn that translation is a highly diverse and complex market — and one that’s bigger than you might think. Here are ten of the most widely held myths about translation:

1. Translation is a small, niche market. The global market for outsourced language services is worth more than US$33 billion in 2012. The largest segment of the market is written translation, followed by on-site interpreting and software localization. The vast majority of these translation services are provided by small agencies — there are more than 26,000 of them throughout the world. These companies coordinate translation projects in multiple languages simultaneously, often involving many different file types, processes, and technology tools. The words themselves are translated and interpreted by the hundreds of thousands of language professionals scattered all across the globe. Many translators and interpreters also have direct clients, but most are freelancers whose work comes from agencies.

2. The need for translation is fading away. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statisticsestimates that there will be 83,000 jobs for interpreters and translators by 2020 in the United States alone. This job market is expected to grow by 42 percent from 2010 to 2020, significantly higher than the average of 14 percent for all professions. Data from Common Sense Advisory shows that globally, the market has a compound annual growth rate of 12.17 percent.

3. Most translators translate books; most interpreters work at the United Nations. Literary translation and conference interpreting are two of the most visible specializations, but they actually represent very tiny segments of the market at large. Who are the biggest translation spenders? Military and defense agencies spend the most on translation, with the United States routinely spending billions on language services for defense and intelligence initiatives. On the commercial side, some of the largest segments of the translation market are manufacturing, software, health care, legal, and financial services. As a result, freelancers often work in these specialty areas — as financial translators, medical interpreters, legal translators, and court interpreters.

4. Any bilingual can be a translator or an interpreter. The ability to write in English does not make a person a professional writer. The ability to speak English does not make a person a professional speaker. Likewise, the ability to write or speak two languages does not mean that a person can translate or interpret. Plenty of people who are perfectly fluent in two languages fail professional exams for translation and interpreting. Why? Being bilingual does not guarantee that a person will be able to transport meaning from one language and culture to another without inflicting harm in the process. Most translators and interpreters are highly educated, with advanced degrees and training in either translation, linguistics, or a specialty field. Also, while not mandatory, professional certifications are widely recognized and strongly encouraged. In the U.S., translators are certified by the American Translators Association, and a variety of certifications exist for interpreters.

5. Interpreters and translators do the same thing. The all-encompassing term that the general public uses to refer to language professionals is “translators,” but the reality is that translators and interpreters have very different job skills. Translation refers to written language, while interpreting refers to spoken language. Translators must have great writing skills and training in translation, but they must also be adept at using computer-assisted translation tools and terminology databases. Interpreters, on the other hand, have to develop their short-term memory retention and note-taking skills as well as memorizing specialized terminology for instant recall.

6. Translators and interpreters work in more than two languages. One of the most common questions translators and interpreters are asked is, “How many languages do you speak?” In reality, many translators work in only one direction — from one language into another, but not in the reverse. For translators and interpreters, it is better to have in-depth knowledge of just two languages than to have surface-level knowledge of several. Why? Of approximately one million words in English, the average person uses only 4,000 to 5,000 words on a regular basis. People who are “educated” know between 8,000 and 10,000 words. The professions with the widest vocabulary, such as doctors and lawyers, use about 23,000 words. Interpreters and translators who work for these specialized professions often use this kind of advanced technical vocabulary in two languages. Some translators and interpreters do work in more than one language combination — for example, conference interpreters often have several “passive” languages that they can understand. However, translators and interpreters are not usually hyperpolyglots.

7. Translation only matters to “language people.” The need for translation crosses both the public and private sectors. In the business world, executives at companies of all sizes are beginning to recognize that translation is a pathway to enabling more revenue and entering new markets. A recent study found that Fortune 500 companies that augmented their translation budget were 1.5 times more likely than their Fortune 500 peers to report an increase in total revenue. Also, government bodies are increasingly taking an interest in translation. Indeed, even those involved in development and non-profit work need to pay attention to translation. A report on translation in Africa conducted for Translators without Borders in May 2012 showed that greater access to translated information would improve political inclusion, health care, human rights, and even save lives of citizens of African countries.

8. Crowdsourcing puts professional translators out of work. As online communities have become more popular, so has something called “crowdsourced translation.” This phenomenon typically emerges when online community members get excited about a product and want to use it in their native languages. Sometimes, these customers and fans even begin creating their own translations and posting them in user forums. Instead of leaving their customers to pontificate on the best translations amongst themselves, smart companies are giving these communities the ability to easily suggest their translations. Are companies harnessing the work of these volunteers to obtain free labor? Actually, as the research shows, saving money is not a primary motivation — setting up these kinds of platforms can cost companies more time and money than just paying for traditional human translation. They typically pay human translators and translation companies to edit the group-translated content anyway, but they believe the collective approach gives power directly to customers and users, enabling them to have a say in which translations they like best.

9. Machine translation is crushing the demand for human translation. The opposite is true. Machine translation is actually expanding the demand for human translation and fueling the market at large. How? Machine translation — especially the free online kind — serves as an awareness campaign, putting translation squarely in front of the average person. Translating large volumes of information is never free — it comes at a cost, even with machine translation. Machine translation technology and related services make up a tiny percentage of the total translation market. Of course, machine translation can achieve some feats that humans cannot, such as quickly scanning large bodies of text and provide summaries of the information contained within them. However, as with most technologies, humans are needed to use machine translation intelligently. As Ray Kurzweil points out, technologies typically don’t replace whole fields — rather, they more often help fields to evolve.

10. All translation will someday be free. The translation and interpreting industry adds tens of thousands of new jobs to the global economy each year and there is no slowdown in sight. Translators and interpreters are extremely important members of this industry — in fact, they are the very heart of it. However, much like other professional service industries, the translation industry also relies on countless other professionals: project managers, account managers, vendor managers, production managers, schedulers, trainers, quality assurance teams, proofreaders, desktop publishing professionals, engineers, product managers, salespeople, marketers, technicians, and even people who work in procurement, human resources, billing, and IT. Research from Common Sense Advisory shows thatdemand for translation is outpacing supply — so if anything, human translators are becoming even more important. However, they are part of a much larger ecosystem, one that keeps global business churning and international communication flowing.

Follow Nataly Kelly on Twitter: www.twitter.com/natalykelly

[Repost] Six Ways to Increase your Productivity as a Translator (by Dana Shannak)

Six Ways to Increase your Productivity as a Translator

Details

Published: Monday, 03 February 2014 12:33

Written by Dana Shannak

Hits: 3264

Freelance translators work hard, but sometimes feel that their productivity is slipping for one reason or another. These are routines that I find help me to be more productive:

1. Sufficient sleep. People need different amounts of sleep to function at their best. I find that if I am tired, I don’t work as quickly and efficiently as I do when I’m fully rested. Listen to your body, and make sure that you’re getting the correct amount of sleep. Remember that exercise helps your body to sleep, so spend a certain amount of time each day doing your favorite workout. One way to make sure that your brain is ready to rest is to feel that you’re in control of your work situation. Deciding at the end of the day what you’re going to do the next day helps. Which brings us to the next productivity tip.
2. To-do lists. Setting goals is an extremely important part of freelance translation work. These goals may be how much money you need to earn per day/week/month or how many words you want to translate per hour/day. Once you know your goals, draw up your to-do list, breaking it into manageable sections. For example, before I tackle a job, I will do any research required—my to-do list entries state “research” and “translate.” Obviously, all translators have different goals and to-do lists, but the general idea is the same.
3. Prioritization. Deadlines rule the lives of freelance translators. Usually, you’ll have jobs due at different times, so it’s important to work on them according to due date, rather than starting with the tasks that you prefer doing. I adore translating press releases, but I also do other types of translation work, so I have to be disciplined and make sure I don’t favor one over the other.
4. Sprint short distances. Take breaks during the day when you start to tire. The human mind can only absorb so much information at a time and the body needs fuel to keep it going. Fifteen minute breaks for some fresh air, a beverage and snack, or to move away from your work station does wonders, and you’ll be able to work faster and increase your productivity when you return to the task in hand.
5. Learn to say “No.” Discernment about jobs comes with experience. If a job offer raises red flags such as the amount of time allowed or the rate of pay being too low, then don’t take on that work. It’s all right to refuse work—if it’s for a regular client, it’s likely that they will be prepared to negotiate timing and fees.
6. Rewards. It’s sometimes a good motivator to give yourself rewards when you’re working. Things like checking out social media and personal emails can be a good reward. Or, you may prefer rewards such as playtime with your pet or a walk in the park. Once you’ve finished a large job, taking time out to watch a movie or spending a morning with friends is great. In other words, pick a reward that will motivate you and aim to get there!

Some tips from other translators:

I wake up very early in the morning because it’s the quietest time of day. I can focus better and nobody is emailing me constantly. I enabled the pop-up feature of Gmail and it annoys me more than anything else because it breaks my concentration, although sometimes it’s handy for urgent matters.

Mar Saumell from MS Translation & Localization 

Creating and updating my glossaries (French, English, Spanish, Italian). Listening to the news in French, English, Spanish, and Italian. Reading a little bit (subjects/areas of interest, and articles in my field/industry-translation and consecutive interpreting), networking online and off-line.

– Nellie Anne Kafui Adaba

 

I’d love to hear your ideas about how you increase your productivity as freelance translators, so feel free to add your comments below.

Read more: http://www.danatranslation.com/index.php/dana-translation-blog/98-six-ways-to-increase-your-productivity-as-a-translator#ixzz2yqQgGXSB
Follow us: @DanaTranslation on Twitter

[Repost] 5 stupid things I did to get clients when I started my consulting business (by Greg Miliates)

5 stupid things I did to get clients when I started my consulting business

by Greg Miliates

Apparently I hit a nerve with last week’s 3 Huge Mistakes post: a lot of you said you’ve been wasting time on busyness instead of business, and as a result haven’t been able to get clients. In today’s post, I’ll share 5 stupid things I did to get clients when I started my consulting business.

We all make stupid mistakes, and few “gurus” and self-proclaimed “experts” talk about their failures. Why not? Well, who cares whether an “expert” talks about their failures? What you care about is how YOU can achieve your dreams, your goals, your “secret plan”. (Yes, I bet you have a secret plan. For many of you, that may be quitting your day job.)

I’m not afraid to talk about how I’ve failed, because I know that many of you have experienced the same things. Yes, it can be embarrassing. But it’s also liberating, because we ALL fail sometimes.

And failure is actually a step toward success.

So long as you don’t crawl under a rock in abject shame after failing, you dust yourself off, and figure out what the lesson was. Then you go out and do things a bit better.

5 stupid things I did to get clients when I started my consulting business

Yes, there were a lot more than just 5 stupid things I did when starting out, but I’ll limit this post to the top 5.

Here they are:

Stupid thing #1: wasting time on marketing materials

I had some pretty novice ideas about how to get clients when I started out, and I pursued them in earnest.

I created a brochure, a business card, and a website. But I didn’t draft anything quick and start getting feedback. Nope.

Instead, I spent about 3 MONTHS drafting copy for them, and hired a graphic designer to help with the layout. I revised the copy, the wording, the layout, the fonts, the colors, even what the bullet points looked like.

I showed it to handful of close friends, got feedback, and kept revising and tweaking. (Never mind the fact that no one who I showed these things to were in my market, and therefore had no idea what my prospects cared about).

So, yes, I spent a solid 3 months on these things.

And those brochures? I only sent out a couple dozen, and of those, I never called to follow up.

Completely stupid.

I had no idea about marketing channels when I started out.

Now that I’ve learned from my mistakes, I’d ask my newbie self questions like:

• Where were my prospects?
• How can I systematically reach them?
• Which are the most promising channels?
• Which have the best likelihood of sourcing high-value clients?
• What do my prospects actually care about? What value can I provide them right now?

Stupid thing #2: building a list of prospects, but taking virtually no action

Building a list of prospects sounds like a good idea, and it is. But I actually did 2 stupid things here:

• I spent a shit ton of time building this list. I’m talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-60 hours over a period of months.
• I didn’t DO anything with this list–except to delude myself into thinking I was working on my business.

Yes, a prospect list is a great idea, but not when you spend all your free time doing it, and especially not if you don’t do anything with it.

How many prospects did that list include? About 70.

How many did I actually contact? 4.

Stupid.

How did I expect to get results?

And yet when I sat down to “work on my business,” I gravitated to that damn spreadsheet, adding new prospects, and adding details for each.

Why didn’t I call more prospects? Because it was hard.

Calling prospects made me anxious, and I didn’t want to get rejected. Besides, I wasn’t sure what to say, how to have a conversation with them.

And I certainly didn’t think of myself as a salesperson. I had no idea how to sell.

So, the thought of calling prospects (even though I actually knew many of them) was scary. And instead of doing something outside my comfort zone, I stuck with something that felt safe.

Stupid thing #3: creating a menu of services

You might think that drafting a list of services you can offer is actually a good idea. It can be, but again, I spent an enormous amount of time on this task. I’m talking 20-30 hours. And this was while working the day job, being married, and having kids, so I already didn’t have a lot of free time.

And yet I chose to spend a crapload of hours and weeks on this thing.

Wasting time was the first stupid thing about this.

The second stupid thing about this was that I was focused on my SKILLS instead of what prospects and clients would be interested in.

It was an example of “look at all the cool stuff I can do!” without thinking what my market desperately WANTED.

Look at it this way: Imagine you’re walking down the street, hungry, and see 2 restaurants. One has a chef who’s telling you all about how they can chop, filet, sautee, broil, season, marinade, and julienne the food. From the other restaurant, your mouth literally waters from the smell of juicy grilled meat (apologizes to the vegans out there). You’d think, “Fancy chef or not, I want a friggin burger.” And you’d go to the burger place.

Give your market what they desperately want, not a boring CV or resume.

Stupid thing #4: agonizing over which business entity to choose

Yes, this was another thing that consumed far too much time when I first started. I read damn near every article I could find online, weighed the pros & cons of each for my situation and where I thought I might be 5 years down the road, then re-read all the advice, bookmarked sites, took notes, and agonized some more.

So what kind of business entity did I eventually choose? It doesn’t matter!

Did it get clients? Of course not.

No client cares whether you’re an LLC, s-corp, c-corp, or sole proprietor.

When you start consulting, keep in mind that you need clients to be a consultant and have a real business that brings in cash to your bank account.

No clients = no cash and no real business.

The stupid thing was again spending way too much time on something inconsequential.

LLC or s-corp, talk to an accountant for 30 minutes about your specific situation, make a decision, and move on.

Stupid thing #5: targeting ineffective marketing channels

Truth be told, I had no idea about marketing channels when I first started out. I meticulously:

• made my prospect list,
• called virtually none of those prospects,
• spent 40-60 hours on brochures and business cards,
• then was discouraged that I had no clients.

For the few prospects I called and, later, some additional prospects I called and/or emailed, who did I target? Decision makers who could green-light consulting projects?

No.

I talked to lower-level people and ineffective “consultants” who were struggling to get work themselves.

Stupid…

Why didn’t I talk to the kinds of people who could actually sign off on projects or refer business to me? Frankly, I was intimidated, and didn’t know how to talk to these people. Again, I didn’t think of myself as a salesperson, and hated the idea of selling, and it felt safer to talk to lower-level people.

Key takeaways

What was going on here? I was wasting time, getting no results, and feeling discouraged and anxious.

TRUTH #1: What feels safe won’t move you forward: Basically, I was doing what felt safe instead of pushing myself outside my comfort zone. Creating the prospect spreadsheet felt safe. So did drafting the copy for my brochure. To get beyond my current situation (day job + desire + secret plan to do consulting), it required doing things that, at least for a few moments, felt scary. Not scary like BASE jumping, but scary like calling a prospect.

TRUTH #2: Finding the shortest path to your goal maximizes your chances of success. Yes, I eventually figured out how to get clients, and built a profitable consulting business, but it took a long time. I was discouraged and frustrated a lot, and there were lots of times I didn’t think it was realistic, like it was just stuff I was doing that wouldn’t amount to anything. I’ve seen lots of people give up on consulting because they couldn’t get clients. They did some of the same stupid things I did when I started out, got discouraged, and went back to their day job.

All these stupid mistakes were like a long, winding road instead of a straight-line path. Would you rather take 2 years, 3 years, or 5 years to be able to quit your day job, and likely get frustrated, discouraged, and give up along the way? Or would you rather reach your goal in 6 months, 9 months, or 12 months, steadily building your orchard of clients along the way (where each client is a pipeline of consulting work)?

TRUTH #3: Getting help from experienced mentors puts you in the fastlane. For nearly every stupid mistake I made, I didn’t seek out help. Can you imagine if you had someone in your corner giving you guidance and coaching me along the way? How much faster and easier would it be? Even Michael Jordan had a coach. We ALL need help.

When I started, I was like a typical guy who got lost on a road trip: I didn’t bother looking at a map or getting directions. I tried getting useful info about starting a consulting business, but it was so generic, and nearly always by some “expert” who hadn’t actually struggled and created their own thriving consulting business. Those “experts” couldn’t tell me, step-by-step, what I needed to do to get clients. And they couldn’t tell me I was wasting my time on busywork.

I’m giving away something a lot of you have been asking for

A lot of you have asked me for proposal samples, examples, and templates. For those of you who attend Tuesday’s free webcast, you’ll get access to a proposal that I used which allowed me to earn over $300/hour. This template will ONLY be available to webcast attendees, and I won’t post the download on the blog.

Click here to register.

FREE: Mini-course this Tuesday (4/1/2014):

Creating a Consistent Pipeline of Clients (even if you have limited time)

This Tuesday, 4/1/2014, at 9 p.m. Eastern, I’m going pull back the curtain on my own consulting business like I’ve never done before.

A consistent pipeline of clients is possible, even if, like most of us, you’ve got a busy life: family and friends, a full-time job, or other responsibilities.

During Tuesday’s live webcast, I’ll show you how, including:

• The “expert” advice you can skip.
• How to create systems that bring clients TO YOU, even if you don’t have a single client right now, and have no idea where to start.
• I’ll reveal the exact strategies I use to get consulting clients (and my specific revenue numbers) that bring me clients worth $1,000, $10,000, and even $100,000.

This is info I DON’T share on the blog, and I’ll reveal specific details of my consulting business that I’ve never discussed before.

Click here to register.

This is FREE, live, and starts at 9 p.m. Eastern. You can watch from anywhere.

There will NOT be a recording available (all my premium course material is recorded so you can watch it at your convenience).

Yes, I’ll be re-opening my Client Pipeline Mastery course, and I’ll briefly tell you how you can get access to this premium course. But I’ll spend the majority of the live presentation revealing my exact strategies and actual revenue numbers so you can start getting results in your own business.

Bonus: I’m giving away a special bonus during the presentation, but you need to attend the presentation to get access to the bonus.

Reserve your spot in 15 seconds (required).

See you on Tuesday!

– See more at: http://startmyconsultingbusiness.com/5-stupid-things-i-did-to-get-clients-when-i-started-my-consulting-business/#sthash.j4xqWIJ5.dpuf

[Repost] Lesson 27: Taking care of a translating brain (by Marta Stelmaszak)

Lesson 27: Taking care of a translating brain

Posted by Marta Stelmaszak Mar 14, 2012 inCrucial skills, Getting started, Lessons

Most of the time I work on shorter and easier to digest projects. I like this mode of work: it’s more dynamic, less boring and equally rewarding. I can translate for some time and spend the rest of it perfecting my work, polishing the surface and rounding up the edges. But larger projects do come in, and keep me engaged for days and days of the same text.

It just happened about 2 weeks ago. I got trapped with the same text for 7 hours a day from Monday to Friday (almost 9 to 5!), and I noticed that my brain starts to slip. It doesn’t happen that often if texts are different, or if you can be more flexible and move your activities around. But how to deal with block translating?

1. Breaks

It was very tempting for me to spend the first couple of hours translating all the time, thinking: the more I manage to translate now, the sooner I’ll finish. Not a great idea. It is much better to take a break every hour and to let your brain breathe for a while. I translated for 55 minutes, and then took a 5 minutes’ long break, closing my eyes and listening to my favourite, soul-brightening Norwegian music. Thinking about green slopes, calm fiords and white sheep… Anything but policies, regulations and penalties for infringement.

2. Water

I used to think that a quick coffee in a morning is a must to start me off. Well, one cup sounds fine. But in my own experience, problems start when you’re trying to stay awake after 2-3 hours of translating slurping yet another large black. Coffee worked against me, leaving my brain fed up and my translating self bored and dumb. Water works much better, with a slice of lemon. Keeping my body hydrated allowed me to keep my hourly turnover steady.

3. Food

I avoid large and heavy on a stomach food anyway, but you may want to try eating light while you work. I usually eat fruit and nuts to get more sugar and energy, instead of eating bread and dairy products. Oh, and… chocolate really helps.

4. Planning

For large projects, I always have a daily planned turnover and I know I have to keep up to translate according to it. Make sure that it is reasonable, and that you’re not left with too much time on your hands. At first, I estimated I’ll translate much slower and I ended up cheating: if I can do it in 5 hours, not 7, I can spend these 2 hours killing time… Wrong. I’m sure that a habit like that would impact my overall capacity and after some time I’d end up translating a half or a third of what I can do now. My best tactics: plan to translate enough to rush a bit. If you have time to check your e-mail or Facebook, that means not enough work. (By the way: checking e-mail during small breaks is a NO GO. Before you realise, you’ll end up wasting away at least half an hour).

5. Exercise

Don’t laugh at me, but I couldn’t work without that. A quick series of stand-ups, or energetic dance (to the very same Norwegian music), or a healthy stretch can do wonders with your levels of concentration. I also try to go to the gym every other day, and I find it really beneficial for my translation work.

6. Diversity

Long projects taking days are mind-bogging. I was getting mad in front of my computer, so I used crime stories and thrillers to exercise my mind. Don’t let your mind get too engrossed in one topic, or you’ll end up completely exhausted and brain dead by the end of the project.

7. Gratification

We’re all only human and we’d do everything for a treat. If you’re struggling with a project and you wish you studied accountancy or law, think of a nice motivational bonus. Sometimes little things work, and sometimes we need massive gratification. I made an official promise that if I manage to keep up with my plan till the end of June, I’m going for my great Scandinavian trip: Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Turku, Oslo, and Bergen. Playing Norwegian music in the background reminds me of my bonus. But again, chocolate works almost equally great!

I appreciate this certain stability that long projects provide us with, but I may suffer from a sort of professional over activeness, and I can’t imagine myself translating the same texts for longer than 2 weeks. It becomes too mechanical, taking away my most favourite part. But well, no-one can be too picky nowadays.

How do you take care of your brain? How do you deal with large and heavy projects? Do you have any secrets that keep you carry on for ages?

Cf. original piece: http://wantwords.co.uk/school/lesson-27-translation-brain/