Category: Contributed Posts

Top 5 Reasons Why Efficiency is Vital Within Your Business

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. No matter what kind of business you’re running, increasing its efficiencies will maximize its productivity and profits. The following contributed post is entitled, Top 5 Reasons Why Efficiency is Vital Within Your Business.

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No matter what industry you’re in, you should always ensure that you’re promoting efficiency within your workplace. A part of your business that you shouldn’t neglect, there are so many long term benefits that come with improving it.

Now, there are so many ways that you can do this, from investing in employee training to implementing new processes and utilizing updated software solutions (e.g if you’re within the oil industry, Petrobase.io’s services could prove to be invaluable).

But what are the benefits that you can take advantage of? To ensure that you’re in the know, here are 5 reasons why you should start boosting the efficiency within your business:

It Will Increase Profitability

One of the most prominent reasons why efficiency is essential within your business is that it brings with it the opportunity for higher ROI. When your workers start to become more efficient and you’ve changed your processes so that it’s less expensive to produce goods/services, you’ll start to see your profits increase – something that all businesses want to achieve.

Higher Productivity = Improved Customer Service

When productivity is improved, you’ll start to see your customer service ratings increasing by the minute. Recognizing that they are getting more time and attention, they will always opt for your business over others.

It’s simple, once the systems within your business run faster and smoother, they start to feel the benefit – something that will help your business to thrive in the long term.

It Will Improve Communication

Within any business, the employees are the most valuable assets. So it’s a good idea to invest in systems that make their roles as simple as possible. Once they have the materials and equipment, they will be happier in their jobs – an element that’s crucial to lowering employee turnover.

By promoting efficiency in all aspects of your business, you’ll start to notice that the communication flows effortlessly between all levels of the hierarchy. And one way that you can do this is by welcoming an open door policy. This will also help to boost morale and make the workplace far more productive.

It Helps to Save Time

Whether you run a small business or a large organization, you’ll often feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day. And this is often felt across your business. However, a lot of this is taken up by time-wasting activities – such as unproductive meetings or out-of-date systems.

To ensure that this doesn’t continue, implement steps within your business to make it more efficient. You’ll then start to see that time is saved and that productivity increases.

It Creates a Healthy Work Environment

If your business is years behind your competitors, you’ll not only be limiting the amount of profit that you could receive, but the work environment could be taking a hit. To guarantee this doesn’t happen, you need to save time when you can, make processes straightforward, put morale as a priority, etc. From this, you’ll be able to create the best possible workplace for everyone.

Final Thoughts

So, those are 5 of the top reasons why efficiency is vital within your business. Something that you should continuously try to improve, it will ensure that your business is competitive, profitable and that your employees are proud to work for you.

7 Tips To Help You Become More Sustainable

Three focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship, Organizational and Management Discussions, and STEM. An important considerations for many individuals and business is sustainability. Our lives and activities can be done, while still maintaining the environment. The following contributed post is entitled, 7 Tips To Help You Become More Sustainable.

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Throughout the years there have been numerous reports stating how humans are damaging the environment. This has led to people wanting to discover the ways in which they can do their bit for the environment. However, despite many businesses starting to implement sustainable practices, many people still aren’t doing this at home.

A key way of improving poor air quality and pollution, as well as ensuring clean water is accessible to communities, it’s important to realize that sustainability really does start at home.

If you’re wanting to boost your sustainability, here are 7 simple tips that you could use:

1) Upgrade to Solar Energy

Although many newer properties might have solar panels already installed, older houses might still require regular electricity. However, there are so many benefits that come with upgrading to solar panels.

Not only will you see a reduction in your monthly energy bills, but solar panels require little maintenance. Not to mention the biggest pro of all – that it’s a renewable energy source and it’s a big step towards making your home more sustainable.

Although many people worry that solar panels are expensive, as there are now so many providers supplying them and they have been around for several years, the cost is probably lower than you think.

2) Ditch The Plastics

There are so many reasons why you should ditch plastic within your home. Not only is it really harmful to wildlife (the majority ends up in the ocean), but it’s bad for humans and is typically only single-use – meaning that it will end up in landfill after you throw it away.

To become more environmentally-friendly, sustainable flexible packaging is a great choice. With an aim to reduce waste, lower transportation costs (the smaller the truck/the fewer trucks, the less pollution that’s created) and align with sustainability practices, it’s easy to switch to.

3) Buy Locally

Although it might be tempting to always shop in a chain grocery store, it’s far more sustainable to switch to smaller, local stores. By doing this, you’ll reduce your carbon footprint as you won’t be contributing to congestion and pollution.

Also, many local products tend to be organic and pesticide-free, an extra bonus that leads the way to a more sustainable planet.

4) Recycle, Recycle, Recycle

One of the easiest ways to become more sustainable within your home is to recycle. However, you need to do it properly in order for it to be effective.

When done correctly (i.e. you put the plastics and other materials in the right boxes), then you’re helping to reduce the amount of landfill, reduce financial expenditure (products can be created out of recycled products instead of raw materials) and help to reduce the pollution that’s caused by waste.

5) Consider Different Ways to Travel

Although in the short term you could make travel alternatives such as ditching your car and opting for your bike, in the future, it might be time to consider cutting down on the number of flights you take.

Flying as a whole is a very carbon-intensive form of transport and causes incredible amounts of pollution. However, shorter flights tend to take the cake, emitting more carbon emissions than longer flights,

So instead of flying, why not opt for a more eco-friendly mode of transport such as a train. There are so many trains available that can take you far distances, without you having to step foot on a plane.

6) Try Not To Buy More Than You Need

This is an issue that if fixed, could help to reduce waste significantly. Many people buy way more than they need – whether this is grocery shopping or other items. But by buying more, it’s only causing damage to the planet. Therefore, try and only purchase the essentials.

7) Unplug The Electronics

Even when you’re not using every electronic device, those that are still plugged in will consume energy. And because of this not only is it costing you hundreds of dollars every year, but it’s not beneficial for the environment. Therefore, it’s a good idea to unplug them or turn off the switch on the wall when you stop using them.

Final Thoughts

So, there you go! Those are 7 simple tips that you can use to make your home more sustainable. No matter which changes out of the above you make, you’re one step closer to creating a sustainable environment, lowering your carbon footprint and helping the world to become healthier and a better place to live.

How To Get Your Employee Productivity Up!

Three key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Organizational and Management Discussions. When you’re running a business or an organization, one of your challenges is getting and keeping your you employee’s productivity up. It’s an important consideration as employee productivity is the lifeblood of your business or organization. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Get Your Employee Productivity Up!

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If there is one thing that most employees of various businesses can agree on, it’s that they don’t feel motivated enough to give their all when they turn up for work. Everyone can sit at a desk and twiddle their thumbs while moving from task to task, but you want the people working for you to feel like they have some excitement – some reason to keep going!

Your people are going to create worth for your business, and you want to repay them for that. It’s their job to make money for you, and it’s your job to continue to make your staff feel inspired and like they want to be in your place of business. Of course, there is no true guarantee of being the best company in the eyes of your staff, but your ability to inspire hard work is important. So, let’s take a look at how you can get your productivity up in your employees!

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● The very first thing that you can do is get to know your staff. Your employees are so much more than just a job title and a list of skills on a resume. You want people in your business that you can have fun with and build up an office camaraderie with; and you need to get to know them for that to happen. You do need to make sure that you keep your personal and professional lives separate, but it’s still important to get to know them on a personal level.
● Planning events with Mtievents.com can help you to offer your employees something real to aspire to. Fun has to be a part of the business mix, and you can inject it in so many more places if you have regular events planned. Incentivising your staff is vital for productivity, as is planning your next business party!
● One of the most important things that any business needs is open communication with their staff. Your people should feel like they can come to you with anything, and demonstrating an open door policy is so important for that to occur. Don’t forget that your staff will likely have problems outside your business, so if you’re showing that you can offer them support at work, you’re going to do well at motivating them.
● Training is one of the biggest tools that you have for success in your business. Education allows people to scale up their skills and progress and while that may mean they progress beyond your business, it’s a part of your job to ensure that they have the best possible future. From in-house training to e-learning, you have options to give your staff. Why not lay them out to them and offer help?

People who work for you should feel like they have something to work for. It’s up to you to motivate and inspire people and it’s up to you to ensure that you are offering something that they cannot say no to. Try the tips above and make it work!

3 Reasons Why It Pays to Reduce Stress in Your Life

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Most people don’t proactively consider the effects of stress in their lives. Instead they live reactively and sometimes suffer from the effects of stress and the resulting negative health effects. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Reasons Why It Pays to Reduce Stress in Your Life.

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There’s no denying that life over the last hundred years has become infinitely better for the majority of people around the world, in all sorts of ways that are quite easy to track and measure – ranging from things like access to healthcare, to material well-being, and general safety.

Nonetheless, research continually finds that people are becoming increasingly more stressed as time goes on, and there seem to be a variety of colliding factors at the moment which serve to make modern life stressful and uptight in a way that can be difficult to properly get a handle on.

For all that, it can be extremely beneficial to look for ways to reduce stress in your life to the best of your ability – whether that means hiring intermediaries such as Process Servers to handle otherwise tricky and uncomfortable aspects of your work routine, or whether it simply means giving yourself more permission to take things easy at home from time to time without placing undue expectations on yourself.

Here are some reasons why it pays to reduce stress in your life.

Because you will be more empowered to make decisions and take action from a position of strength

When all is said and done, a state of chronic stress is essentially the same thing as feeling perpetually under threat and overwhelmed – which, in other words, means that you will tend to be dealing with life and its various challenges from a position of weakness.

There are various negative consequences to this, including the fact that operating from a position of perceived weakness will make you more paranoid and anxious, less likely to be proactive, and more cynical in general.

Whether you simply want to have a higher quality of life as a general thing, or whether you specifically want to perform better in a professional capacity, you will be better served by the ability to make decisions and take action from a position of strength.

Cultivating the ability to relax – and cultivating a relaxed demeanour in general – may therefore actually make you more effective and “in control” than you would otherwise be.

Because you will project a more positive and confident aura

In life and in business, there are real benefits to being able to interact with people in a generally positive and confident way – without, at the same time, falling into the trap of being arrogant or appearing overly domineering.

The more you’re able to relax in everyday life, the higher the likelihood is that you will naturally embody and exude a more positive and confident aura. This, in turn, will tend to make a better impression on the people you interact with, which will then tend to lead to a downstream cascade of other positive effects.

Because life will simply feel better across the board

Beyond the fact that it can impair your ability to work effectively, communicate effectively, and so on, being chronically stressed simply feels bad and will naturally detract from your overall quality of life and sense of well-being.

Although we all have an assortment of particular ambitions for our lives, it’s universal that people generally want to be happy, and want to be able to derive satisfaction and joy from their everyday experience of life.

Being relaxed and calm is a major component in being contented, and in being able to develop and maintain a sense of happiness, in general.

Getting Over Covid-19: Preparing Your Workplace For The End Of The Lockdown

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. With many businesses and workplaces looking to reopen, thought must be given to preparing those workplaces to protect against and minimize infection by Covid-19. The following contributed post is entitled, Getting Over Covid-19: Preparing Your Workplace For The End Of The Lockdown.

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Most people are well aware of the outbreak which has shaken the world over the last few months. Governments across the globe have worked tirelessly to stem the tide of the Covid-19 virus, and the efforts have largely been met with success. As the lockdown eases, offices and other workplaces are going to be able to open again, but this will be under strict conditions which will ensure that there isn’t an additional outbreak. Preparing yourself for this is a good idea, as having everything you need for the big day will enable you to open as fast as possible. But what exactly are you going to need?

PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

This first area is one of the trickier things to cover in this post. There have been world shortages of things like personal protective equipment, like face masks and gloves, but you will need these if your employees are going to be working close to one another. Thankfully, many factories across the world are focusing on producing these resources, and this means that you still have time to get your hands on them.

Deep-Cleaning

Covid-19 can be transmitted on surfaces, with door handles and computer keyboards being prime examples of ideal vectors for this virus. People have little choice but to share these tools when they work together, and this makes it worth using a Covid-19 decontamination service on a regular basis to make sure that your workplace is safe and clean. Of course, this will cost some money, but it will be worth it to keep your team healthy.

New Rules & Procedures

Social distancing rules are likely to have lasting impact on society, and many people are going to struggle to break away from these ideas, even when lockdowns are lifted completely. Maintaining this within your own office can be a great idea, but you also have to think about things like regular hand sanitization. Many companies are starting to provide this to their teams when they are working. Your new rules should also include wearing the PPE which you provide to your team members. Most people will be perfectly happy to do this, even if they work in a hot environment.

Essential Staff Only

The spread of a virus is always much slower when people aren’t spending their work days together. This makes remote working a great solution to workplace outbreaks, and this is something which offices should all be working to offer their non-essential team members. You may need to provide resources like computers to some of your team members, but this doesn’t have to cost a fortune if you ask those who already have their own resources to use them for their work.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on preparing your team to get back to work after the lockdown is lifted. This whole issue has put a lot of strain on businesses, and getting back to work quickly is going to be essential for many to survive.

What Online Dating Teaches You About Brick & Mortar

Three of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money, Business/Entrepreneurship and Technology. While online dating was made possible by technology, it can teach lots of lessons about brick and mortar businesses. There are strategies the process of online dating can teach individuals who are looking to start brick and mortar businesses. The following contributed post is entitled, What Online Dating Teaches You About Brick & Mortar.

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At first, it can be odd to put online dating and brick and mortar businesses in the same article. They don’t seem like they could have anything in common. But you would be wrong to dismiss their connection. Both rely on alertness, creative thinking, and ruthless decision-making for success. Indeed, online dating encourages users to decide without having met face-to-face the object of their interest. More often than not, you can’t get to know someone after only a quick chat online. As for brick and mortar businesses, tenants need to be quick to secure a location. Many also have to decide on whether or not to accept an offer from a landlord without having even visited the place. It’s not uncommon for business owners to sign on a shop space via a real estate agent or during online interaction. In other words, the skills required for a successful online date are very similar to the skills needed by brick and mortar businesses to protect their shop presence.

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Is it safe to go with the first choice?
Just like on an online dating platform, you can’t go with your gut instincts without doing your research when it comes to brick and mortar safety. Are you safe from physical damage? It’s a question that both daters and business owners ask themselves. The process of coming to an answer is the same. Indeed, the first worry before accepting an online invitation to a date is to ensure the arranged location for the meeting is safe. Similarly, brick and mortar business owners should evaluate the potential threats around the shop location before accepting an offer. Flood risk or high crime rates are dangers you need to understand, as they could put your business at risk.

Appreciate that it takes time to build a symbiotic relationship
Meeting someone for the first time is tricky. There are very few stories of love at first sight. It takes time to build a trust relationship, which is why online daters often agree to go on multiple dates and develop their bond before making a decision. The same principle applies to brick and mortar business owners. Whether you’re a tenant or you own the commercial property, you can’t turn the place you’ve first visited into a success overnight. Structural work, interior decor, and professional landscaping take time, as experts from https://www.neumannsmith.com/ explain to their clients. However, committing to the project and dedicating your energy to enhancing the property and creating a meaningful connection with your audience is the key to success. As such, it’s important to see what something could be if you were to invest work in it rather than expect things to be perfect from Day One.

Don’t be afraid to say no
Brick and mortar tenants, especially, need to review all their options before signing up for a deal that might seem too good to be true. Just like with online dating, if the object of your interest is still free despite their assumed qualities, it’s because there might be something fishy about them. As this article on https://www.bluevine.com explains, one of the first things to clarify with your landlord is the lease agreement. A fantastic location with an unsuitable lease agreement could be a blow to your business.

In conclusion, in many ways, online dating and brick and mortar businesses follow a similar path to success. Balancing research, knowledge-gathering, and long-term improvements with the hectic pace of a fast-moving environment is a delicate art to master.

How To Tell Your Boss You Have A Record

A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions. In some instances individuals have been convicted of crimes, look for employment afterwards and must face the reality of the possibility of being denied. Not being transparent can create issues as well and have consequences if discovered. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Tell Your Boss You Have A Record.

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There is something so shameful about being arrested. It’s not that other people have to make you feel ashamed of it, but the years of being told how to stay out of trouble can often get the better of you. The five stages of dealing with an arrest make it clear, but it’s so important that you know that your arrest isn’t the end of the world.

If you have been arrested for a crime, you know that you have had a tough few days. You’ve been away from home and you’ve been through it and likely not slept – you also have a court case coming up where you will discover whether you will get a sentence of four to six months for your crime, or if they will take a little pity on you. Either way, it’s not going to be an easy conversation to have with your boss. You have to tell them about what’s going on – and you have to be honest about it.

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The first thing that you need to do before you tell anyone anything, is know what’s happening. You need to know why you were arrested and what you will be facing. Depending on your profession, you could lose your job, but that doesn’t mean that you should keep it all to yourself. You need to talk to your employer – especially if you are anticipating a spell in prison. It’s important to know your formal charges, what your probation conditions are (if any) and what court dates will be. With this information, you can approach your boss for a conversation.

There is always a question about whether you legally need to tell your boss about the arrest and the situation going forward, and the answer to that is a resounding yes. Your employer has a right to know if there is any illegal activity going on – though you can hold the fanfare about traffic tickets. When you have everything that you need, set up a meeting via your human resource department and meet with your boss face to face. This isn’t something to talk about over the phone!

Take it slow when you do see your boss. It’s not a good idea to dive right in! You need to think about a meeting with no interruptions – this is one conversation you don’t need people listening in on. This needs to be a calm meeting without any yelling or shouting. This is going to be the most important part of the meeting; you need to remain as calm as possible at all times, as your boss is going to have to make some tough decisions with regard to your future in the business. There will be some tough things to hear, but hear them you must. You have to represent yourself well, and the best thing to do is to stick to the facts and find out the next steps for you. An arrest can change your life, but you may not be completely cut off from your future – and that’s what this meeting is for.

Traveling Physicians Are Proving A Massive Hit Right Now

A key focus of my blog is Career Discussions and Health/Wellness. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 Pandemic/Crisis has created numerous opportunities in addition to the chaos and damage it has caused. In some ways it has changed the way medicine is administered. The following contributed post is entitled, Traveling Physicians Are Proving A Massive Hit Right Now.

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The world of healthcare is being turned on its head by a public health crisis nobody expected. But it is having a surprising effect. It is leading to the reemergence of the traveling physician.

Physicians who traveled to their patients were popular in the past for all sorts of reasons. A lot of people simply didn’t want to travel to the clinic. It was either too painful or too far to go.
Others felt sick outside of office hours. For them, the mobile doctor was the only option.

Now that we’re amid a modern plague, though, there’s been a resurgence of interest in the concept. Heck, could it actually be a good idea?

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New York City is one of the most affected places right now. Currently, the enigmatic East Coast metropolis is attracting thousands of traveling nurses and doctors, all responding to war zone conditions.

There’s a tremendous need for people who can somehow help the city contain the expected 240,000 deaths officials believe will occur if they don’t do something drastic. Physicians are being imported by the bus-load to help tackle the problem.

What’s so unfortunate about the current pandemic is how it is hurting patients from all over the medical spectrum. COVID-19 is displacing regular operations, meaning that heart and cancer patients can’t get the treatment that they need.

Offering Crucial Help In Times Of Need

Currently, travel doctors are offering patients across the country critical help in their time of need. They are bridging the gap between supply and demand as never before. And local hospitals are rushing to adapt their payrolls to accommodate the new supply.

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Already, more than 1,000 doctors have made their way to the most-affected parts of the country. More are on their way. They’re required for everything, from testing to helping place people on ventilators.

Their primary role, however, will be in continuing to supply medical care to the old and vulnerable. There are a lot of people who require hospital treatment but daren’t travel because of the risks. Visiting physicians will, therefore, find themselves trying to paper over the cracks in the creaking health system and providing essential services to those who need it.

New York won’t be the only city that demands traveling physicians. Other significant centers will also call out for assistance as the virus spreads and more people become infected. Even rural areas could find themselves profoundly affected, especially if lockdown measures aren’t as successful as they are in the cities.

We’re also seeing a lot of people coming out of retirement to help bolster the numbers on the frontline. Boomers who thought that their careers were over are finding that they’re needed more than ever. And there are thousands of them. Authorities believe that more than 45,000 people will return to the fray throughout the year.

How To Become A Great Travelling Physician

There’s currently a massive need for traveling physicians. And as the virus spreads from one city to the next, that need is only going to intensify. Visiting physicians may find themselves running from one location to another to provide much-needed assistance. Each settlement in the country is going to experience a peak. And so they will need medical personnel from other areas to help them cope.

But how do you become a quality traveling physician? What does it take?

Top of your list of priorities should be bedside manner. As a traveling physician, you’re going to encounter so pretty desperate people, many of whom, you won’t be able to help. The best that you can do is offer them some loving support in their hour of need in the hope that they make it through.

Bedside manners are more challenging to achieve than you might think. You can’t let the exhaustion of the job render you emotionally insensitive. Burnout is not an option. Every time you interact with a patient, you need to recognize that you’re dealing with a complex person with a tremendous life history. You could be serving a great writer, musician, author, or business leader. That person could be the leader in their field or a cherished member of the family. And a vast amount might ride on their continued survival.

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Next on your list of priorities should be to recognize that traveling physicians don’t need to work alone. Sure, you might be bouncing between one city and another, but that doesn’t mean you should exist without help.

Every physician, for instance, needs the support of precision lab testing. You can’t go into the field and just guess at the diagnosis. If you want to provide quality treatment, you need accurate measurements. Working with a lab, therefore, can give you the assessment that you need to determine what is wrong with the patient.

If you want to become a world-class traveling physician, you also need a pretty tough constitution. Traipsing around the country administering treatment to patients isn’t always easy. You’re often a long way from home and family. You have to put up with airports. And most of the time you’re sitting down, either on a train, in your car, or on a flight.

Traveling physicians need a strong constitution, as well as strategies that keep them going on the road. As a rule of thumb, you should always check into self-catering accommodation when you can. You don’t want to find yourself living off fast food while you’re trying to administer critical care. And you need to focus on sleep hygiene. Things can all help, like switching off your phone after 9 pm, packing earbuds, and using an eye mask.

So, in summary, embarking on a career as a traveling physician seems like a good idea right now. There’s ample demand for their services in the immediate future. And structural changes in healthcare provision will no doubt mean that we see an enormous difference in patient preference. Why go to the clinic when the physician can come to you?

How To Recover From Trauma

A key focus of my blog is Health/Wellness. Many of us endure and encounter some form of trauma in our lifetimes. Some can be recovered from easily while others need some sort of treatment or counseling. Many people don’t know how to recover from potential trauma. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Recover From Trauma.

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Trauma disrupts your body’s natural equilibrium. It can make you feel frozen and in a state of both anxiety and fear. The first thing that you need to do on the road to recovery is to help repair your nervous system. If you have been subject to any type of abuse, it is good to look at sexual assault lawyers to help. You should never suffer in silence and during these trying times, it can feel overwhelming and claustrophobic being with people every single day without relief.

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How to help your recovery and look towards the future you can look at the following tips to assist:

  1. Try to exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days. This will also create the burning off of adrenaline and releasing endorphins, exercise and movement can actually assist your nervous system by burning off that energy that creates a physical response in the body. Avoid taking any medications that you don’t need.
  2. Breathe – it’s vital to work on your breath. Slow breaths are good and it will allow you to focus solely on that alone and it can help calm your body down, which links nicely into meditation which can be good for types of trauma and stress on the body.
  3. Admit that you’re anxious – admitting to anything can be difficult as we want to put on a strong exterior and feel as if we are in control but sometimes our mind is out of control and that is OK. There is nothing wrong with this, but admitting to it is the first step.
  4. Rebuild friendships – when you have been through trauma, you may find that it is tricky to start rebuilding friendships or poor relationships, but this is vital because you need people around you to help you through things. Closing off isn’t the best thing to do at all.
  5. Release the anxiety or anger – types of exercise and martial arts can be good or doing something you love, such as music or being around people that help you. You don’t want to be overstimulated after trauma, you need to allow your body that time to heal.
  6. Visualize the future – look and think about the future and realize what it is that you want. Do you want a calm future with a new relationship, or perhaps children or a career change?
  7. Listen to music – certain types of music can be very calming for the soul such as classical music which can boost moods. Don’t listen to any triggering music, your healing process must take you away from the trauma and not bring you back to it.
  8. Change your focus – look at focusing on something new whether that’s your children or your work or learning a new language or skill, the options are endless.

Healing from trauma is possible, most of us have dealt with some type of trauma in our lives at one time or another. It can vary from person to person and it is certainly not an easy thing to deal with but with focus and dedication, it can be achieved.

How To Buy A Property Abroad

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. Most of the time we think of buying property domestically, but there is also the potential buy property abroad. Some people would discourage it, but you can successfully do it if prepared. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Buy A Property Abroad.

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Buying a property is a stressful enough experience when you’re buying one in the area you live in. Buying abroad is even more of a tough task, whether you’re going to move abroad, buy a vacation home for yourself, or buy a property as an investment to rent out as a home or a vacation property. Buying a home that is in a country that you aren’t in is hard, but not impossible. You need to do a lot of research before you decide, to make sure you’re making the right choice.

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  1. Ask all the questions you can think of about where the property has been built before you think about it too seriously. For example, you need to know if the land the property was built on should have been set aside for land agriculture. Does the land have a history of problems like flooding? Make sure you know about any potential issues before you decide to buy anything.
  2. Bring in a local independent lawyer to help you and to advise you during the sale. Ideally, you need the lawyer to speak English and the local language of the country you are looking at property in. If you’re buying a home in a foreign country, then it is enormously beneficial to have someone locally who can help you to understand any laws and make sure you aren’t being ripped off. A local lawyer will also explain things to you to help you avoid any potential permit issues that you might not know about.
  3. Research the area. You want to know a lot about the area you’re going to buy a property in so you aren’t burned with nasty surprises later on. You should check if the area is known to experience earthquakes or other natural disasters, for example. Do some research into what the neighbourhood is like to live or stay in as well. Is it noisy at night? Is it generally a safe area? Does it suffer from traffic problems? All of these things could impact your ability to let the property out if you plan on buying it as an investment, as well as damaging your own enjoyment of it if you’re buying for you.
  4. Look into the planning permission requirements in the local area. If you want to make any changes to a townhouse that you’re buying, then you will need to be aware of any permissions you will need in order to do so. Your property may also need some licenses to allow you to live there. Make sure you look into this properly before you make arrangements to move. If you don’t have the right permissions in place, then you may not be able to legally live in your new house or arrange things like the utilities.
  5. In some countries, poor construction standards can be an issue. To avoid being caught out by this, always get an independent valuation from a local professional surveyor who is not otherwise connected to the sale. Even a new build should be checked properly for any potential problems. Have the property looked over for poor soil, insufficient foundations, substandard building materials, or questionable building locations like flood areas.
  6. When you’re buying a property in another country, you will need to make sure you can actually understand the contracts. You might only get one contract which is in the local language. To make sure you understand what you’re signing, you should get a professional translation done. If you get two copies, one in the local language, and the second copy in English, make sure you still get the translation checked so you know the two copies actually do match.
  7. If you’re planning to buy a property in order to rent it as a home or a vacation let, you need to think about how you will manage the property. Make sure you’ve included the cost of maintaining the property into your budget as well as the cost of buying it. Will you manage the property yourself or will you bring in a managing agent to look after it for you? A local managing agent is the best idea if you aren’t planning to move to the area, as an agent will be able to look after things like lost keys or repairs that are needed without you having to worry about it. Make sure that you can earn enough profit from renting your property out to cover the costs of hiring this management agent.