Step Away From the Book! Making the Most of Your Downtime

November 09, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Sponsored

There's a lot of responsibilities on our shoulders when we are going through college. It's not just about our education, but it's about making sure that we are tackling debt as well as giving ourselves a good quality of life, while also doing that all-important studying. It can feel like there's a lot to do but at the same time, we've got to make sure that we are tackling our demons, whatever they may be, in the most appropriate ways. Downtime may seem few and far between, but what can we do to make sure that we are giving ourselves a good quality of life while also tackling our insecurities?

Doing the Things That You Enjoy

The great thing about being absorbed in an activity that you care about is that it doesn't deplete your energy stores. If anything, it adds to it. Whatever you like doing, focus on it. Even if you are someone that struggles to get away from the laptop and ends up playing poker late into the night, it is still something that you enjoy. And when you delve into a hobby and try to get more out of it, it easily takes you away from your daily worries. With something like online poker, there's always an abundance of poker strategies. We can believe that we have to spend every spare moment studying, but when we end up being so focused on results, stress tends to follow. It's about doing the things that you enjoy, but also giving yourself the permission to enjoy them.

Good Quality Rest

It may seem obvious, but having proper downtime it’s about resting mentally and physically in between classes during the night or whenever you get a chance. As students, the temptation to stay up late always looms large. You've got to be strong and not give in to peer pressure. The fact is you will feel it when you've got to have some proper downtime. The best thing anybody can do to ensure that they rest properly is to focus on good quality relaxation. It doesn't necessarily have to be about sleeping more, but putting things into your life that makes you relax, such as deep breathing exercises or meditation, can help keep anxieties at bay. Incorporating a daily habit will give you the opportunities to check in with yourself. If there is a day where you're not feeling quite right, is it because you haven't prioritized yourself? Rest is crucial, but it's about finding the right type of rest for your needs.

Stepping Away From Everything

Turn your phone off and shut your laptop and just think about nothing. Our brain is constantly turning and there are concerns about deadlines or what's going on in our job. Learning to detach yourself gives you the perspective to not overly worry about everything. When you tell yourself that you will step away for 20-minutes, it may only be the last minute or so where you feel truly at ease, but the next time you step away from everything, you may relax quicker. It's all about practice.

[GIVEAWAY] Get Your Copy of the 1 Page Marketing Plan!

November 09, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Higher Education, Book Reviews, Contest, Social Media

I’m excited to announce a giveaway contest for one of two copies of this awesome book!

I got the two copies of this book a little while ago and listened through the audiobook version recently to get a feel for what this is all about. I very much enjoyed its clear, distilled advice around marketing and building a business. I know this book can be relevant to anyone in higher education as well as those of us trying to grow up our side hustles.

If you’d like to enter in to win one of the two copies, then simply comment on this blog post and/or engage with any of my social media posts about the giveaway. Each share, like, or comment will count as an entry. Tell me what you hope to get out of the book, your favorite movie, or anything else. It all counts! I will announce a winner on this upcoming Friday (11/13).

Thanks for the support as always and best of luck to you all!

How do you budget for and find a new place to live?

November 06, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell

Jenn and I are thinking about moving to Delaware in the near future; we’re spending so much time at home right now, and our place is starting to feel a bit crowded with a baby and dog running around. While we love our apartment in Baltimore, we are really looking to have some yard space of our own, some more storage space (who knew babies needed so much stuff?!), and just be a bit closer to our home base in New Jersey. We’re trying to move forward in a really logical way, since the market seems a bit more competitive than the last time we searched for a place 3 years ago, and moving is just so overwhelming.

There’s a lot to consider when moving, especially when you are relocating a dog and a little one! We’re looking for a place with some green space, modern appliances in the unit, and amenities that’ll be good for the whole family. Luckily, Zumper provides a lot of information about the different rental properties listed on their site. You can filter by location, price range, bedrooms/bathrooms, pet-friendly, and more--all of which we’ve found super helpful, since we are looking for something to fit our very specific needs as a new family. One of our other favorite features has definitely been the interactive map Zumper provides at the bottom of each listing. These maps have information about grocery stores in the area, schools, parks, coffee shops, etc so that you can get a feel for the neighborhoods you are looking at (especially important if you are relocating to a new state or area you are unfamiliar with).

One of our biggest stressors in finding a new place to live has been strategizing our budget; we aren’t experts in budgeting by any means, and it's a skill that we’ve been continually developing. Since we’ve had to redistribute our budget with the addition of a little one, we tried to find a tool that would help us with the calculations and search for available rentals in the area we’re searching.There’s a few different ways you can figure out how much you can afford to spend in rent, but the most popular way seems to be the 30% rule. While figuring out that math might be a bit tricky, Zumper has a really simple rent calculator that we’ve been using to figure out what might be in our budget each month, and then it automatically pulling up rentals in the area we are interested in. After we figured out our budget and our needs for our new place, we built out a Google Sheet with tons of columns and color coding to make sure we can keep track of every rental we check out.

In addition to figuring out all of your “must-haves” and your “wish-list” items for your new place, figuring out your budget (and all the hidden fees associated with moving and renting) is of utmost importance. Once you’ve got your budget established, it's time for happy hunting!

Episode #107: Porter Rappleye on Pronto & The Human Side of Digital Learning

November 04, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Podcast, Student Affairs

Welcome to another great episode of the podcast!

DegreeMe Higher Ed Geek Right Students Banner.png

This episode is sponsored by Degree.Me, a one-stop college research tool for students. If you work for a college or university, you’ll want to learn all about their ability to connect you with the right students at a budget friendly price. To find out more, please visit Degree.Me/HEG

We have a merch shop! Go find tons of cool gear and support the show at our storefront.

Our guest for this week’s episode is Porter Rappleye, National Director for Higher Education at Pronto. Porter speaks about his journey to finding purpose in his passion working in higher education and the benefits of helping students communicate easier with each other and with their faculty.

Zencastr
The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Music by pond5.com

Thanks for listening!

Debt And The Path to Success

November 04, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Sponsored

Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels

These days, it’s just about impossible for the average person to get ahead in life without taking on debt. If you want to get an education, start a business or buy a house, you’ll probably need financing to do it. Taking on that debt can be a whole lot easier than getting rid of it. It’s therefore vital to approach the issue mindfully.

Make sure you have a clear plan to repay debt

In simple terms, the longer you need to pay back debt, the riskier that debt becomes. The reason for this is that you are fairly likely to know what will happen in the short-term future. Seeing into the long-term future, by contrast, is much more difficult.

For example, let’s say you borrow money to cover Christmas. You know, from experience, that there are ways to make some quick cash in the New Year. You can therefore be fairly sure you have it covered. Now let’s say you take out a loan to pay for an education. This stretches for years into the future. Really, nobody can know for sure what will happen over that time.

That said, anyone can do their research and use it to create reasonable long-term projections. For example, in the case of education, you could initially look at job opportunities and salary expectations over time. If they looked good, you could then go on to check if the jobs were in sectors with long-term potential. If so, then you would have a clear plan to repay your debt.

Take a “debt to success” mindset

You may have heard of the “Debt to Success System”. Is Debt to Success System scam? No. Are there many “Debt to Success System” scam imitators? Yes, and you need to avoid them. The whole point about the debt to success mindset is that you make peace with your past actions. Then you move on, focusing on future success.

This approach helps to alleviate the stress of managing debt. It flips the situation from being one of recovery to one of discovery. Instead of being negatively motivated (by fear of missing debt repayments), you’re positively motivated (by future growth).

Turn debt management into a game

Turn debt management into a game in which you aim to beat the banks. They want to make as much money out of you as possible. This means that the way to win is to make sure that you’re always paying as little as possible for your debt.

The foundation for your gameplay is to keep your credit score as high as it can possibly be. After that, it’s about deploying your resources strategically. For example, if you have a mixture of high-interest debt and low-interest debt, then you generally want to focus your disposable funds on the high-interest debt.

You also want to be quick about moving your debt to a better location whenever you can. For example, if you can transfer a balance from a higher-interest product to a lower-interest product, then you make a gain! Last but not least, remember that even the best game players can benefit from some coaching, so look at getting helpful advice, at least with big decisions.

Remote Learning Challenges (And How To Overcome Them)

October 28, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Sponsored

(Unsplash CC0)

To continue your education today, you don't necessarily need to enter a traditional classroom environment. There are many affordable and accessible learning options to consider, including the option of studying online at home.

Many courses can now be completed entirely online, although you might be required to meet up with other students and your tutor occasionally. Then there are those courses that can be started offline and then continued online, and sometimes you might be forced to follow this pattern, as is the case at the moment with the recent pandemic situation.

Remote learning certainly has its benefits. You can remain in the comfort of your own home, and you can fit in the needs of your course with the needs of your family. But there are challenges, and these include the following.

#1: Distractions

When you're working from home, there are distractions everywhere. It could be your TV, for example, or it could be the sites you enjoy on the internet. Distractions might also come from your family, friends or neighbors popping around for a chat. When you are distracted in any way, there is the danger of falling behind with your work. So, what can you do?

Well, you should be firm with yourself. Remind yourself why you need to crack on with your work and remove as many distractions as you can ahead of time. You might install a website blocker on your laptop, for example, or you could turn your phone off if that becomes a problem for you.

You should also let people know when you need to work, perhaps by giving them your schedule so they know when not to bother you. And if things do become too much of a problem? Well, work elsewhere, such as at your local library, where there should be fewer distractions.

#2: Academic struggles

If you're struggling with your studies at home, you might be tempted to give up. You might also turn in work that won't be acceptable. These aren't good scenarios, but they can be overcome.

Firstly, know that many tutors have already taken steps to support their students. With online services akin to Bakpax, teachers can gain an understanding of where their students are academically, so they might have solutions available to help you. Your tutor should have provided you with their email address and an indication of their office hours, so get in touch with them and let them know about your struggles. They might even be contactable over Skype or Zoom for a face-to-face meeting.

If you aren't able to access help from your tutor, you could speak to other students. If study groups have been set up for your online course, you could meet up with people in your area, or chat to them online. You could also contact people you know who have taken your course, as they should be able to offer you advice.

You also have access to the internet so look online for help with your particular course, as you might find free study guides and other resources that can be made available to you.

These are just two of the challenges that are associated with remote learning, but they can be overcome. If you're relating to them, follow our suggestions, and commit to further research online for extra help.

BONUS Episode #106: Cathy Lucas on Higher Ed Adaptability

October 28, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Podcast, Student Affairs

Welcome to another great episode of the podcast!

We have a merch shop! Go find tons of cool gear and support the show at our storefront.

Our guest for this week’s bonus episode is Cathy Lucas, Vice President of Strategy & External Affairs for the Metropolitan State University of Denver. She speaks about the variety of things her institution did to adapt to the ever changing climate for higher ed.

Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Music by pond5.com

Thanks for listening!

Looking Forward to Black Friday 2020!

October 23, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell

I’ve been a devoted Verizon Wireless customer for over a decade, getting my own phone plan when I was in college, and then extending that into a family plan with my wife Jenn 6 years ago. Not only is the service amazing (even in the most remote parts of Maine where we used to live!) but they always have great deals on their products and services. Jenn has been dying for a phone upgrade ever since we had our daughter, because she loves taking photos and videos for our family, but her iPhone 8’s camera pales in comparison to the newest iPhones. Christmas this year seems like the perfect time to splurge and get her the iPhone 12 mini, plus all the accessories to go with it!

If there is anything I have learned from Jenn over the last few years, it's that sometimes you have to be patient to score the best deals on the things you want. Lucky for me, she’s taught me how to scour the internet for great discounts and promo codes to get the best price. Her favorite unofficial holiday is Black Friday--and though she used to go out to the stores and malls in person when she was younger, there really isn’t a need to do so (especially this year) since companies have really started to expand their online Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. We’ve found that sometimes the online prices for items were even better than the in-store prices! One of the most amazing tools we’ve found is Slickdeals, which helps you find the best prices for things across the internet! Slickdeals helps you find printable coupons to use in stores, as well as discount codes for online shopping for everything from clothing, hardware, groceries, and more! They’ve already started curating information on Verizon Wireless Black Friday Deals, which we’ll be keeping an eye on for chargers and case to go with Jenn’s new phone!

With a little more than a month to go until Black Friday 2020 (Friday, November 27!), Slickdeals is already posting deals for items like iPhone 12 phone cases, earbuds, and new Verizon FIOS plans. Check out the Slickdeals exclusive Black Friday pages to score the best deals on all your holiday shopping! Let me know what we should be on the lookout for this Black Friday, and if you find any great deals, feel free to share them with me!

Episode #105: Josie Ahlquist Returns to Discuss Digital Leadership in Higher Ed

October 21, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Podcast, Student Affairs

Welcome to another great episode of the podcast!

We have a merch shop! Go find tons of cool gear and support the show at our storefront.

Our guest for this week’s episode is Dr. Josie Ahlquist, who talks about her new book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education as well as thoughts on digital community building for colleges and universities.

Huge thanks also to Podcorn for sponsoring this episode. Explore sponsorship opportunities and start monetizing your podcast by signing up here: https://podcorn.com/podcasters/

Listen to the episode below, or subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Music by pond5.com

Thanks for listening!

Why Are Students So Distracted?

October 20, 2020 by Dustin Ramsdell in Higher Education, Informative

I think that we can all admit, especially now, to being easily distracted.

This especially is relevant when it comes to trying to teach and keep students engaged.

Student attention is the focus on the just released new book Distracted: Why Students Can’t Focus and What You Can Do About it, from author and educator, James Lang.

I’m looking forward to delving more into this book since I’m sure there will be relevant insights about how to engage online students who have so much noise all around them constantly. We need to be able to cut through that in the right ways with the right information in right places. The idea of cultivating attention versus removing distractions feel like such a positive ethos and seems like it would be much more effective. Also, I love that there is a social and community aspect to Lang’s advice here. Getting peer engagement is valuable for so many reasons, so I look forward to seeing what is explored here. I’ve definitely been geeking out lately about the different platforms out there for digital student engagement so this book will resonate for me on that level as well.

You can look forward to more content from me around this book, including a podcast interview with the author in the near future.

Make sure to get your copy now so you’re up to speed on this important topic and let me know what you think of it!