Speaker 1: Good morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the new Corner Office.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to become a webinar enthusiast.
Speaker 2: The near infinite number of virtual learning options out there
Speaker 2: means you can effectively homeschool yourself, learn something new during
Speaker 2: a break, once or twice a week, and you will
Speaker 2: find life more interesting even if you're still quarantined. In
Speaker 2: the old days, when people still went to things, a
Speaker 2: number of community centers, libraries, or houses of worship would
Speaker 2: offer evening programming. Now, most likely you'd be in a
Speaker 2: certain stage of life, perhaps retired to go to a
Speaker 2: discussion of Swedish art or Egyptian literature on a Tuesday night.
Speaker 2: But I've always had great respect for people who went
Speaker 2: to such events instead of sitting on the couch watching Netflix.
Speaker 2: Lectures and presentations are a great way to make a
Speaker 2: night a little different and to expose yourself to new things.
Speaker 2: These days, all that stuff is on the internet. You
Speaker 2: could live thousands of years and never attend all the
Speaker 2: free webinars out there. Working from home does not magically
Speaker 2: give you more time, However, it does help you escape
Speaker 2: from some group norms in many workplaces. Anyone spotted watching
Speaker 2: a thirty minute video on Swedish art might be seen
Speaker 2: as well not serious in others. The expectation is that
Speaker 2: you use all breaks to talk with your colleagues. If
Speaker 2: people can't see you, then you have a lot more freedom,
Speaker 2: and I think that's a good thing. So take advantage
Speaker 2: of this freedom to learn new stuff that frankly will
Speaker 2: make you a more interesting person to work with. Anyway,
Speaker 2: to become a webinar enthusiast, you need to become aware
Speaker 2: of online learning offerings. Sure there are commercial companies like
Speaker 2: the Great Courses, but there's a lot of informal stuff
Speaker 2: too to learn about them. Join communities devoted to things
Speaker 2: you find interesting and follow institutions that offer lots of
Speaker 2: virtual programming, often the same libraries, universities, and community centers
Speaker 2: that did so in the past. You can ask for recommendations.
Speaker 2: A lot of people started following Moe Willem's doodles early
Speaker 2: in Quarantine because others recommended him. Your neighbors, friends and
Speaker 2: family members have ideas. Ask list some possibilities, then start
Speaker 2: assigning yourself one to.
Speaker 1: Two per week. The goal is to do at least one,
Speaker 1: so giving yourself two options means that when the live
Speaker 1: discussion of Swedish art happens to coincide with the exact
Speaker 1: moment your biggest client finally calls you back. Well, oh well,
Speaker 1: you still got the Egyptian literature one coming up on Thursday.
Speaker 1: You can also set yourself a time limit. If you're
Speaker 1: still not enthusiastic about any given webinar, by say fifteen
Speaker 1: minutes in, feel free to go do something else. But
Speaker 1: when we're all stuck at home much of the time,
Speaker 1: it's hard to find new and wonderful things. Becoming those
Speaker 1: people who went to every beach at the library is
Speaker 1: not a bad idea. In the meantime, this is Laura,
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to succeeding in the New
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