Looking at my web stats, here are some of the frequent questions people end up coming to Productivity501 searching for. In this post, I simply wanted to list them in one place to make it easier for people to find the answers to frequently asked questions.
What is a professional email address?
A professional email address is something that you feel comfortable giving out to someone who might want to offer you a job. [email protected] is NOT a professional email address. A professional email address looks best when it is from your own domain. So [email protected] looks very professional. However, using gmail or another service can look professional as well. Something like [email protected] or [email protected] is a good option. Be aware that the email service you use says something about you as well. Generally Hotmail and Aol accounts aren’t the best thing to use if you are looking for a job working with technology. While their services may work just fine, they have traditionally been slower to adopt many features that technical people want.
How can I make an electronic signature?
You need to understand how digital signatures work. A scanned signature is simply an image of your signatures on a transparent background that can be added to documents. A full digital signature using encryption is a way to mathematically prove that a document has not been altered since it was signed and usually includes cryptographic capabilities so people can send you a document and know that you are the only person who can read it.
Why shouldn’t I use a credit card?
If you have poor financial discipline, a credit card is probably a very big risk that you should avoid. There are some advantages to using a credit card, but it doesn’t take very many mistakes to make the advantages disappear. Using a credit card may not be a good idea for you personally even if there is nothing inherently wrong with having a card.
How can I memorize better?
The key trick to memorizing better is to practice recalling information–not just practice reading it. Anything you can do to put yourself in a position to recall the information is going to help you remember it. Creating exercises that allow you to practice this without letting you practice mistakes is a key part of memorization practice.
Why is IMAP better than POP3?
IMAP allows you to keep the inbox on your computer synchronized with the inbox on the server while POP3 only allows you to download (and optionally delete) the items. For example, IMAP will let you have multiple computers looking at the same inbox. When an item is deleted off one computer, the server will synchronize that change to all of the computers that are using that mailbox. (Gmail supports IMAP, but you have to turn it on.)
How can I organize my desk?
The key part of desk organization is to put things where they can easily be found, but aren’t in the way and cluttering up your work area. Your desk organization needs to be based around how you use your workspace, not what other people do with their workspace.
Why is college important?
College is important because it provides you with the social and technical education you need to succeed in the world. That isn’t to say you can’t succeed without a college education, but college helps make sure there aren’t any (or are very few) gaps in what you know. College also is one of the primary attributes employers use to filter job candidates, so having a degree can significantly increase your chances of getting called in for an interview.
How can I remove superglue from my skin?
Petroleum based products will break down super glue. Vaseline is a good option to use. It takes a little bit, but rubbing Vaseline into your fingers can help get the hardened super glue out of your finger prints.
Why do people waste time?
Sometimes people waste time because they are trying to do something that really isn’t important to them in the first place. Procrastination is often your subconscious saying “This is not valuable to you–why are you doing it?”
How can I improve my focus?
Make sure you are working on things that really matter to you. Also make sure you are working on things at the optimum time for that particular task. Doing a very challenging mental task right after lunch probably isn’t the best use of your time. Doing a brain dead task during your peak hours of alertness is also going to be a waste of your precious high performance hours.
When is the best time to look for a job?
The best time to look for a job is when you already have one. If you are part of a group that gets laid off, some employers are going to wonder why you were laid off and not someone else. It makes sense that they might be more interested in hiring the person who still has a job–or at the very least they might be interested in offering the currently employed person more money. Knowing that you don’t have a job may make them offer you less money than you’d’ get otherwise. Also it is easier to perform well in an interview and salary negotiations when you can take it or leave it. It is much harder to hold out for a larger salary when you are worried that the bank may be foreclosing on your home if you don’t start getting a paycheck coming in.
How can I look smart?
The best way to appear smarter is to actually become a smarter person. That said there are many things you can do to appear smart or at least appear more intelligent by doing and talking about things intelligent people do. This can include things like forgoing television and instead attending cultural events like museums, ballets and operas. It can also include reading materials that are not targeted at general mass market culture. Many of these type of activities will not only make you look smart, but will actually make you a smarter person and upgrade your brain.
Hi Rob.
I like how you answered each question succinctly and directly. A professional e-mail address is needed for most relevant matters, as people check each part of someone’s information to see if it is fitting.
Good call on mentioning that recall is the main ingredient for good memorization. Picking an answer from four multiple-choice questions is not going to do the trick like trying to remember or figure out what the specific answer is. There is this site freerice.com that has some trivia and such services to learn information, but it is not as smooth for learning, for example, world capitals, as learning to recall them one by one. Having various choices lets out brain sit passively, but recall is the real test.
People sure do waste time when they are doing the wrong thing, in their mind’s eye. Once we feel like we are on the right track, wasting time is not in our framework.
For “How can I organize my desk space”, items used frequently should be placed closer to you than things used less frequently.
Rightly or wrongly, people with a college degree tend to make more than those without a college degree. College may not be for everyone and their is a time and financial commitment requiered.
Are you sure they make more? If you take a bunch of high school students and send half of them to college and the other half to become plumbers and electricians, who do you think will have earned more in 25 years? Spending four years of your life at college represents a significant opportunity cost. Now I agree that someone who is interested in high paying career X that requires a college degree is going to make more money than someone who graduates from high school and then goest to work for minimum wage at a dead end job. However, simply enrolling in college with no plan because college graduates “tend to make more” is not a formula for high earning potential. I’m not saying it is bad–just that you can make a significant amount of money in other fields where you will be paid to learn.
Very brilliant. Seems you’re pro writer? You wrote so many high-quality articles. You mentioned you’re doing your own business now so is that the courses you offer? Just curious and ignore me if you feel offended.