Professional Development

I always used to think that “professional development” refers to training seminars or conferences that are held for employees throughout their careers. And so, I assumed that once I start my career, I would then go to different professional development seminars within the company itself as I did while I was an adjunct professor, any opportunity that I got.

However, recently, I’ve found out that one must be so much more proactive in terms of undergoing professional development. One must actively read, listen, and pursue opportunities for professional development. Thus, I have been proactively and actively involved in listening to instructive and motivational audio, reading books and textbooks, taking courses (I just discovered Coursera, where I can take online courses for FREE), paying courses (Insane Productivity) or conferences/Seminars, and practicing my craft of writing and taking on as much editing and writing opportunities as possible even if it's a low pay in order to practice. In addition, I have subscribed to several different professional development and success mentorship newsletters including Darren Hardy's "Darren Daily".

Here’s what I learned in today’s Darren Daily:

I have to come up with "5 Un-Fab Things" meaning 5 un-fabulous things that I have done in the past 3 days that have become an obstacle to my true productivity. Things that I have done thinking that I'm doing it because I have to and it's keeping me busy but in fact it is only crushing my productivity. Here are my 5 un-fab things from the past few days that I have done and I will not be doing in the next week:

1. Drifting back to sleep after initially waking up (usually at the time I want to get up like 6 or 6:15am where I drift back to sleep and end up getting up at 7 or even 8 during the weekends, which make me miss out on all the productive time I can have in the morning). So from now on, I am going to get right out of bed as soon as I wake up initially, no questions asked.

2. Watching "Friends" or any other show when I am eating--it's enjoyable and relaxing but I know that it has many disadvantages and can only harm me rather than benefit me. It is numbing but not in any way beneficial in the long run. There are so many reasons I can come up with that can show just how un-fab this thing I do is, including crushing my productivity.

3. Not exercising regularly--I was supposed to go for a run this morning and I didn't because I thought, I don't have time now. I need to rush back to do my clients' works that are mostly LATE! Maybe I had a good excuse today but not so much the past couple of weeks. So this week, I am making a pact to exercise regularly--at least 3 days.

4. Checking my telegram or facebook a couple of times throughout the day and spending time listening to my friends' voice messages and responding to them too. Usually this takes 1-2 hours out of my time. It is ok to stay in touch with friends but it is essential to create boundaries. One of the best parts of telegram is that I can listen to the recorded voice messages whenever I want and I don't need to listen to it right away especially because most of my friends live in different time zones. Thus, I need to set a limit for myself as I did before and only check my voice messages at certain times when I am walking or not able to do anything else, or even taking my "breaks, but not checking it several times a day and taking time away from my productive time.

5. Not reading for 20-30 minutes a day before going to bed at night. This is a habit that I mentioned about on my last post and something I have been procrastinating for almost a week now. So I need to go back to having a disciplined routine and making sure that I carve out 20-30 minutes per night to read!

Because I have had a very restful weekend in my vacation at Lake Tahoe, I am looking forward to this week of productivity and I am confident that I will be able to expel these 5 un-fab things from my lifestyle.