Negative Effects of the Internet

1. Children, young adults and even adults get addicted to games online

Online games can be addictive to children, young adults and even adults. This can rob away precious time which otherwise should have been used for something more productive

2. Loss of the human touch

People absorbed in their activities online tend to forget that there are real people in their surroundings who need their attention or have socialization needs. Social networking gives more importance to virtual friends than real ones.

Unsuspecting internet users can fall victim to criminal elements who meddle with their emails or do something nasty with their credit card information. Phishing or fooling other people into believing that criminal-owned websites are legitimate led to millions of money lost to misleading business transactions.

3 Criminal elements use information to advance their malicious intents

Unsuspecting internet users can fall victim to criminal elements who meddle with their emails or do something nasty with their credit card information. Phishing or fooling other people into believing that criminal-owned websites are legitimate led to millions of money lost to misleading business transactions.

4. Abandonment of family

In one instance, a couple in Korea was preoccupied with their virtual baby forgetting to feed their real baby who died of hunger. People become insensitive as they are absorbed by the hidden hand of the internet into its lair.

5 Ways to Build Relationships with Colleagues

1. It is easier to do research

Before electronic means of gathering information, students or researchers need to pay a visit to libraries to access materials relevant to their research topics. Nowadays, it will take just a subscription to a journal online or just browsing online to search for literature required to develop one’s conceptual framework. Preparing the review of literature is easier and faster. Thus, more research gets published and knowledge generation is greatly facilitated.

2. Communication with family, friends and relatives is faster

Gone are the homesick days because a son or daughter can now easily contact their parents online. Services such as that of Skype and Gmail enable a loved one to communicate with another in almost any part of the globe where internet services are available.

3. There is a great possibility to earn while working from home

It is now possible to earn online through writing, filling up forms, or even just clicking away on advertisements in the internet. Information is a valuable thing that people are willing to pay. Through advertisements posted online, manufacturers and sellers are able to increase the possibility of having their products purchased.

4. Faster business transactions and cheaper products

Sellers and buyers can now transact through online paying facilities like Paypal or credit cards. Buyers can surf online and select the products they want to buy. There is no need to have a physical store to maintain as the products can be shipped directly from the factory.

5. Savings on travel cost

Through the use of the internet, it is possible for executives or business managers to do teleconferencing. They do not need to meet physically just to discuss matters. This could save a lot on travel cost.

Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Work-Life Balance

As a working professional, you have to learn the value of work-life balance. It’s not true that, in order to become successful in your career, you have to compromise your personal life. If you really want to live a happy, contented, successful, and stress-free life, you only have to master one thing: BALANCE.

If you know how to apply balance in your career and personal life, then you know how to work smarter not just harder.

They say knowing your priorities, having good time management, and having strong drive to reach all of your goals are all the things that you should do in order to achieve work-life balance. Yes, these are all important in having a well-balanced life. But aside from these common or usual tips, there are more things that you can do to avoid experiencing job burnout and have an extra time to do other activities. Here are a few tips for maintaining a healthy work-life balance:

1. Refocus Your Priorities

Each of us has his own priorities. In the workplace, some people focuses on getting a lot of benefits from doing a job well. Their main priority is to earn money, more money, and get a promotion. If this is the main reason why you are spending most of your time in the office or in your business, then you are leading into a wrong path. No matter how hard you work, or how much time you invest in your job or career, if your intention or purpose is not good, it will eventually lead to failure and job burnout.

2. Make Your Career Your Friend

You chose to venture into the business or field you’re in now because it’s where your skills fit and you love to do it, right? This may sound as an old cliché, but it’s one thing everyone should always remember: doing what you love will never feel like work.

The reason many employees or workers hate their jobs is because they treat it as their enemy. They don’t enjoy doing it and they complain every time things aren’t going their way. If you don’t like this exhausting and stressful lifestyle, then you should treat your job as your friend. Seek out tasks and discover new things. Enjoy everything about it because if you do, you will never feel tired and stress.

3. Don’t Let Work Dictate Your Level of Commitment

Some people depend their level of commitment to the amount of work that they’ve accomplished. This should not be the case. As a professional, you must learn to set some boundaries between work and social life. Your job is not forever, but your relationships with people and things will last a lifetime. Don’t give all of your time to your clients or customers. Your family and friends also deserve at least some of your precious time.

 4. Respect Your “Me” Time

Respect your private time in the same way you respect your clients or co-workers time. If you set a time for yourself or for your family, try your best not to take home work. Give yourself enough time to rest and sleep. You need it in order to become more productive and focus in things that you do.

5 Ways to Build Relationships with Colleagues

Because everyone has their role to play in a company, it is important for everyone to get along – not just for the sake of the work environment, but for the sake of the company and its success, too. But how do you build relationships with co-workers to begin with? Here are five ways:

1. Be Honest and Communicate

To encourage people to be honest with their co-workers about having a social relationship and communicate that you want to get to know them better in order to work better as a team.

“Some people see work as a place to show up, do what they are supposed to do, and go home”. “Others see it as a place to spend half of their waking life and an opportunity to build social relationships.”

2. Be Likable

Sometimes being open and honest about building a relationship with your co-worker won’t get you the response you are looking for. However, don’t completely write-off someone who isn’t interested in building a relationship.

“Even if they don’t want to engage and build a friendly or social relationship, you may end up excluding them or devaluing them, and that ends up creating a negative relationship and possibly hurting the company”. “Instead, be sure to keep them in the communication loop and still offer assistance and support to work-related tasks.”

3. Be Observant

Some people might know an appropriate way to build a good relationship with a fellow employee.

“Encourage individuals to take a look at the company’s culture and use that as one of the factors to inform their decision regarding if and how to engage co-workers outside of regular work activities”.

If you’re unsure about inviting a co-worker to grab some dinner after work, or go out for a run over the weekend, why not start small and ask them out to lunch? You don’t have a whole lot to lose and, if you have a good time, it can become a regular thing and help you grow as co-workers.

4. Find A Common Interest

For some, it can be a little awkward to get to know a complete stranger. However, points out that at one point most of the people who you consider close friends were strangers to us at one point. This can provide some relief if you are feeling uneasy about befriending a co-worker you don’t know.

“Another way to make this a little easier is to focus on an interest you both have in common”. “Perhaps you both own dogs, went to the same college, watch the same TV show. This common interest can be a good foundation for a positive relationship.”

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Aim a Little Higher (Or Lower)

Though it might be easier to build a relationship with a co-worker who holds the same working status as you, it doesn’t mean you can’t try to build a relationship with a co-worker who outranks you – or even one you outrank – in the company.

Benefits of Effective Communication in the Workplace

Effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills are valuable in the workplace. Some companies spend a lot of money to train their employees on how to effectively communicate. Good communication skills go beyond conversations, but employees must know how to communicate well in written reports and emails. Understanding the benefits of effective communication helps companies place a focus on developing a workforce that is able to communicate within the firm and with customers, vendors and international business partners.

Helps with Diversity

Effective workplace communication is important in companies with workplace diversity. Good communication skills help to reduce the barriers erected because of language and cultural differences. Companies that provide communication training to domestic and international employees reap the benefits of effective workplace communication. Companies can avoid cultural confusion and miscommunication by training international employers early in their careers and on a regular basis. Effective communication causes productivity to increase, errors to decrease and operations to run smoother.

Global Business

With global business transactions continually increasing, the need for effective communication to meet global demands is also increasing. Managers and employees must know how to effectively communicate with the company's international counterparts. The difference in cultures requires managers to understand terms commonly used in America that another culture finds offensive. Companies that prepare workers to excel with verbal and nonverbal communications skills find it easier to enter into global marketplaces than companies that do not prepare its employees. Effective communication is important for businesses looking to expand beyond its domestic borders.

Team Building

Effective communication in the workplace helps employees and managers form highly efficient teams. Employees are able to trust each other and management. Effective communication reduces unnecessary competition within departments and helps employees work together harmoniously. The result of a team that works together is high productivity, integrity and responsibility. Employees know their roles on the team and know they are valued. Managers are able to correct employees' mistakes without creating a hostile work environment. A manager who openly communicates with his subordinates can foster positive relationships that benefit the company as a whole.

Employee Morale

An improvement in employee morale can result from effective communication. Although pay is a concern for many workers, it is not their only concern. Employees appreciate good communication coming from management. It produces a healthy work environment. When employees are satisfied with their jobs, they are able to efficiently perform their duties with a positive attitude. Failing to communicate effectively in a workplace leads to frustration and confusion among employees. However, managers can alleviate such problems by keeping the lines of communication open.

Identify the Family Rules

Identify and clearly define the rules that are important for your family. Family rules may be specific to a situation, like dinner time rules, or they can be specific to behaviors that are never okay, like running in the house, hitting a sibling, or jumping on furniture. Family rules should be important enough that you have no problem consistently enforcing them.

When you first start using family rules, you may need to choose which problem behaviors to address first. Toddlers and preschoolers can only learn and remember two to three rules at any one time. It is also hard for parents to consistently enforce lots of new rules. It is a good idea to start with just one rule and add new rules as needed over time. This gives children a chance to learn a rule and how family rules work before others are added.

Rules are easier to follow when they are clear, exact, and can be easily explained to your child. Family rules focus on one specific behavior at a time. Avoid vague rules, such as “be good.” “Be good” includes many different things and could be hard for a child to understand and do. A more specific rule would be “Talk nicely to others.”

Family rules also should be realistic and fit your child’s age. The rule should be something that your toddler and preschooler can obey. Other approaches may work better than family rules for minor behavior problems or misbehaviors that do not occur often.

Developmental Milestones Preschooler

Skills such as naming colors, showing affection, and hopping on one foot are called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones are things most children can do by a certain age. Children reach milestones in how they play, learn, speak, behave, and move (like crawling, walking, or jumping).

As children grow into early childhood, their world will begin to open up. They will become more independent and begin to focus more on adults and children outside of the family. They will want to explore and ask about the things around them even more. Their interactions with family and those around them will help to shape their personality and their own ways of thinking and moving. During this stage, children should be able to ride a tricycle, use safety scissors, notice a difference between girls and boys, help to dress and undress themselves, play with other children, recall part of a story, and sing a song.

Positive Parenting Tips

Following are some of the things you, as a parent, can do to help your pre-schooler during this time:

• Continue to read to your child. Nurture her love for books by taking her to the library or bookstore.
• Let your child help with simple chores.
•  Encourage your child to play with other children. This helps him to learn the value of sharing and friendship.
• Be clear and consistent when disciplining your child. Explain and show the behavior that you expect from her. Whenever you tell her no, follow up with what he should be doing instead.
• Help your child develop good language skills by speaking to him in complete sentences and using "grown up" words. Help him to use the correct words and phrases.
•  Help your child through the steps to solve problems when she is upset.
• Give your child a limited number of simple choices (for example, deciding what to wear, when to play, and what to eat for snack.