Diplo Learning Corner

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Month: March 2021

Tips to write clearly

31/03/2021 /

Writing is a daily activity for many people. Whatever the type — legislation, a technical report, minutes, a press release or speech — a clear document will be more effective, and more easily and quickly understood.

The European Commission (Directorate-General for Translation) has published a few years ago a simple guide titled with many useful and practical hints (not rules) on “how to write clearly“.

Here are the 10 hints included in the publication:
1. Think before you write
2. Focus on the reader
3. Get your document into shape
4. KISS: Keep It Short and Simple
5. Make sense
6. Cut out excess nouns
7. Be concrete, not abstract
8. Prefer active verbs to passive
9. Beware of false friends, jargon and abbreviations
10. Revise and check

The guide is available in all 23 official languages of the European Union.
You can find the online version here  (choose the preferred language)

 

Tips to work smarter

17/03/2021 /

Many people try to increase their productivity. There are people who scurry from task to task, always checking e-mail, organizing something, making a call, running an errand, as they think that “staying busy” means you are working hard and you are going to be more successful.There are innumerable hacks and tricks to manage your time effectively.

These are some useful tips to manage your time:

  1. Complete most important tasks first
  2. Learn to say “no”
  3. Sleep at least 7-8 hours
  4. Devote your entire focus to the task at hand
  5. Get an early start
  6. Don’t allow unimportant details to drag you down
  7. Turn key tasks into habits
  8. Be conscientious of amount of TV/Internet/gaming time
  9. Delineate a time limit in which to complete task
  10. Leave a buffer-time between tasks
  11. Don’t think of the totality of your to-do list
  12. Exercise and eat healthily
  13. Do less
  14. Utilize weekends, just a little bit
  15. Create organizing systems
  16. Do something during waiting time
  17. Lock yourself in
  18. Commit to your plan to do something
  19. Batch related tasks together
  20. Find time for stillness
  21. Eliminate the non-essential.
  22. Enjoyment should always be the goal. Work can be play.

Read more: The creativity post

Image source: Pixabay (CC0)

How to control your fear

10/03/2021 /

If you understand the truths about fear, it will be easier to deal with it. In a post published in the Blog Coaching Positive Performance there is a list of 5 of these truths.

1. The outcome you fear is just one of many possible outcomes
2. There will always be fear
3. To eliminate a specific fear, do that which you fear
4. Everyone experiences fear with new challenges
5. Short-term pain is better than long-term pain

For more read the full post

Image source: Pixabay (CC0)

If you could live again your life

03/03/2021 /

If I could live again my life,
In the next – I’ll try,
– to make more mistakes,
I won’t try to be so perfect,
I’ll be more relaxed,
I’ll be more full – than I am now,
In fact, I’ll take fewer things seriously,
I’ll be less hygienic,
I’ll take more risks,
I’ll take more trips,
I’ll watch more sunsets,
I’ll climb more mountains,
I’ll swim more rivers,
I’ll go to more places – I’ve never been,
I’ll eat more ice creams and less lima beans,
I’ll have more real problems – and less imaginary ones,
I was one of those people who live
prudent and prolific lives –
each minute of his life,
Of course that I had moments of joy – but,
if I could go back I’ll try to have only good moments,

If you don’t know – that’s what life is made of,
Don’t lose the now!

I was one of those who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer,
without a hot-water bottle,
and without an umbrella and without a parachute,

If I could live again – I will travel light,
If I could live again – I’ll try to work bare feet
at the beginning of spring till the end of autumn,
I’ll ride more carts,
I’ll watch more sunrises and play with more children,
If I have the life to live – but now I am 85,
– and I know that I am dying …

Uknown (wrongly attributed to Jorge Luis Borges)

Image source: Pixabay (CC0)

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