Minute Crunch

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Career

Why headphones are becoming a necessary work accessory?

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New workplaces are more open, against the cubicles of old times. While open office spaces have many advantages like enhanced team collaboration, better connectivity, saving huge dollars in terms of office rent, but more openness means more noisy work environment too.

The result is employees are switching to headphones to cover the disturbance in an open work environment, In one survey, 46% participants admitted using headphones to avoid conversation with colleagues, while 30% to avoid background noise (yep! the noise of that phone ringtone which is ringing again & again, chit-chat between those workers, sounds of coffee cups striking tables each few seconds, noise from that keyboard which is being ruthlessly & loudly used by your colleague!), and others use them to listen to their favorite music for increased productivity & get their stuff done with some musical inspiration & motivation.

Some also argue that music at work help them create their personal work zone & isolate interruptions!

“Using headphones at work – ethical or unethical” deserves a discussion at scale. So, you’re invited. Do you think it’s okay to use headphones at work? Isn’t it make you look anti-social or unreachable at work? Join the discussion in the comments section.

References: Fast Company, Time Management Ninja, Image Courtesy of PxHere.

Why You Don’t Need to Sacrifice Your Sleep For Your Studies?

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We all want to be good at our studies but nobody of us knows the secret formula to do that! While we don’t have a secret study sauce too, we do know that a fresh mind is an essence to be good at learning and for a fresh mind, you need to have a good sleep. A research found that students who sleep for 8 hours perform better in their exams than those who cut their sleep.

If you believe that by cutting your sleep time you can invest more time in studies and perform better, you are wrong. This is because poor sleep causes depression & leads to falling in your attention and productivity. The number of hours studied doesn’t matter. What matters is that how much you get done in those hours!

In short, you don’t have to choose between your sleep & study, as good sleep and good studies go together. If you want to be truly good at academics, learn to get proper sleep (study suggest 8 hours!).

References: Times Now, Photo Thanks: PxHere.

Featured: Google Primer – Simple Way To Learn Business & Digital Marketing Skills

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Google Primer is a mobile application that help you learn business & digital marketing skills like business planning & management, branding, digital advertising, social media marketing, content marketing, et cetera.

Each lesson is divided into bite-sized 5-minute sessions that makes learning easy & time-efficient. Whenever you have 5-minutes free in your busy day, you can complete one lesson and earn a new skill.

Once you complete a lesson, you’ll get personalized recommendation for the next lesson, which is very instrumental in helping you build necessary skills & acquire knowledge required to achieve your business & job goals. If you are looking to sharpen a particular skill, you can also search for it & start learning.

Google Primer is free to use & works offline as well. You can use it anytime, anywhere. All you need is just a 5-minute slot from your 24-hour day.

References: Google Primer on Play Store, Google Primer on iTunes.

Why Saying “No” More Often Is A Good Approach?

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Many people say: “Saying yes is a good approach”. Is it really? We don’t think so. Saying “yes” means devotion of more & more time to things you say “yes” for! We all have 24 hours. We can’t increase that number. If you say yes to everything, you’re left with very little time to do things that are most important in your life. What’s the solution? Well, learn to say no! Sometimes, we have to say no to even good things to choose the better things in place of good things (like not attending our friends’ party to complete that project!). If you have the habit of saying yes to everyone & every task you come across, mind your habit. Start saying no. This way you can keep yourself focused on what you do, use your resources, time and skills in the best possible manner. The more time you’ll have for particular things, the better you’ll do them. Remember, if you have a yes for everything, people will “AB-USE” you & you’ll be good at nothing.  In short, be smart & say “NO”, more often! Initially, It’ll be difficult. Later, you’ll thank yourself (& hopefully Minute Crunch too!).

References: Photo Thanks: Maxpixel.net.

7 Reasons Why Failure Is Cool!

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#1 Failure is an important part of learning. You fall many times before you learned to even walk properly. #2 Failure is a sign of creativity. World’s biggest adventures are the outcomes of world’s biggest failures. Famously, Thomas Edison failed 10,000 times before inventing the light bulb. Remember his quote: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” #3 Failure makes you humble & generates empathy for others. Once you have the taste of failure, you’ll be in a better position to understand the pains of others. #4 Failure lets you truly enjoy the success. Those who have not failed in their lifetime, or claimed so, are the most unfortunate people. If you have failed, take pride in it. It shows that you’ve at least tried something meaningful in your life. #5 Failures makes you stronger. Once you’ve faced difficult situations in life, you become stronger to face even more worst situations. #6 Some people got their biggest success just because of their failures. Take APJ Abdul Kalam for example. He failed to fulfill his most cherished dream of becoming a pilot. Later, he turned out to be President of India – much higher position than a pilot (no offence to pilots. Take it positively). You never know! Your worst failure may turn out to be the way to your biggest success. #7 You tell us. Yep! You tell us why we should allow ourselves to fail. After all, your words count here at Minute Crunch!

References: Abdul Kalam’s My Journey: Transforming Dreams Into Actions, Photo Thanks: Flickr.com.

This Office Design Trick Can Make You More Healthier & Less Stressed!

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You work for hours in office! Good! Want better? Okay! Just use desks without partitions and walls, get rid of cubicles & private cabins and maintain an open work space. Yes, that’s the trick. Study from University of Arizona found that in an open office, people have high physical activity like walking, have better conversations & relationship with co-workers coupled with low stress levels, compared to people working in closed spaces like cubicles & desks with partitions. Open office design can contribute a lot towards betterment & health of workers. Some people may argue that open spaces are more noisy and can be distracting. Well, that’s for all the employees to maintain a healthy work environment. Don’t you think that office space should be open & more collaborative, given its health benefits? Do let us know your thoughts. Hopefully, It will also help to make a “few billions cut” in “workplace ill health costs” that take down about $225 billion a year from the US economy alone!

References: ABC News, Science Daily, Photo Thanks: Flickr.