With an arctic blast dropping temps to 100-year record lows across the US, it truly feels like winter is here! 

When we think about our winter health we often think of cold, flu, and mental health. Being indoors more often means we're more likely to catch a bug from our cubicle neighbor, and less time spent outdoors and/or less sun exposure can contribute to feelings of isolation and depression.

Photo by Brigitte Tohm from Pexels

College is a unique life experience - independence from family members and high school teachers comes with new responsibility over your time and self-care. 

Peer pressure to socialize at the expense of your school work can lead to you falling behind, or the abrupt change in classroom style may lead you to struggle with your material. Being away from home can be lonely, and the added stress of school can make you shy away from meeting new people.

Some quick tips? Pay attention at orientation to what resources your school has available for you, from tutoring to counseling, to interest groups to help meet new friends. Tutoring can help you learn how you learn, overcoming difficulties in new coursework, while counseling can help you identify negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. You can also learn positive self-care coping strategies. Finally, develop your time management skills by utilizing assignment and quiz dates to stay up on your materials, blocking your time around classes to be efficient while on campus. 

​Read on for more tips.

Writing a literature review is daunting (hey, writing a dissertation is daunting!)

While dissertation formats vary between universities and disciplines, most (if not all) require a literature review.  

In this post I'll walk you through my process in developing an organization system that helped me write my dissertation literature review. It's a long post, but I wanted it all to be in one place for you so it's not broken up into different articles. 

First, I'll walk you through my back story in the dissertation literature review process, and describe my overall system of organization.

Then, I'll describe 2 methods to take you from reading articles to taking notes to organizing your notes into themes.

Lastly, I'll wrap up with thoughts on how to continue your literature review in a cohesive and transparent way.

All external links open in a new window.

Background photo by freddie marriage on Unsplash

Last week I talked about whether online courses are the right choice for you and I've written before about how to balance work and hobbies, and even how to leverage your hobbies.

Whether you're a naturally curious individual, always eager to learn something new in your downtime, or whether you want to bring more meaning to your life by learning something new, it's never too late to start. 

Whether you're looking for a new career, want to learn a new skill for fun, or want to increase your value at work, online courses (also called online training) are one way to achieve that.

Some examples of what completing online courses could achieve for you? Not only is there a variety of courses offered online, from animal care courses distance learning to foundation healthcare courses to basic data science and programming, no matter what you're looking for, you can find it through online course websites or online schools.

Before you jump in, decide if online courses are the right choice for you. 

If you're like me and enjoy good visual design but have no formal training, you're probably always on the hunt for a new platform to design. While PowerPoint can achieve a lot, online programs like Canva and Visme offer something more. 

I've been using Canva for quite a while, and find that while it suits some purposes it has downfalls. On the hunt, I discovered Visme and want to share my experience. 

Having work-life balance isn't just something to think about, but something you should take steps to achieve. Breaking the constant cycle of working with hobbies, vacation, and any other activities or experiences that you're passionate about will help you be happier, healthier, and productive at work. When your entire identity isn't wrapped up in a single job, you build both your confidence and your resiliency.

You don't have to go through bootcamp or boast a 20 year military career to learn lessons from our Armed Forces. These 4 pieces of advice can help you turn around your current work situation or go down a different road with your career.

Did you know that 70% of Millennials experience imposter syndrome? 

Imposter syndrome affects high-achieving individuals who fear they aren't as intelligent as others perceive them to be. 

Do you worry that you'll be "exposed" in your workplace? That you don't belong?

Successful professionals are most likely to struggle with imposter syndrome, particularly if they have trouble internalizing success. Do colleague's compliments roll off your shoulders, but criticism reverberates for weeks? Being modest about your success is healthy as long as you own your accomplishments - don't poke holes in your success! You deserve the recognition that you crave.