Why is Staff Timer App the most Affordable tool out there for Global Teams?

Evolution is a natural phenomenon, anything obstructing the natural phenomenon becomes extinct. Technology does the same! Integrating technology is part of the evolution ignoring it, is only going to push you further back. The smart way is to accept the changes and follow the global stride, but why would you do so.

Every new feature or integration we take on board has one goal behind it. That goal is to ease the workload and provide seamless workflow while not putting too much burden on the finances.

This is the primary benefit of integrating tech in life.

A smart business owner will always look for ways to extradite expenses in every way possible while not interrupting the chain of command or workflow. Luckily there is a tool that can help you achieve seamless workflow in every way, so here is how Staff Timer App can really help you minimize your operational cost and help you achieve perfect work cost equilibrium 

 


Automated supervision tool

Staff Timer App really packs a punch when it comes to supervision. As it is fully automated there is no need to spend hours explaining tasks and assigning projects to employees. It helps you allocate projects and monitor employees for the entirety of their working hours. 

Staff Timer App removes manual supervision and hence the need for a supervisor is rendered useless all the while removing a hefty payroll from your budget. Saving around 50% of the annual cost of operations. This allows you to allocate the budget elsewhere and invest in a more productive way. 

 

Hire a useful resource

One of the common issues in most of the firms is the hiring of additional help for the sake of hiring. With a perfect remote tool at your disposal, you can hire one resource, the perfect resource. This resource being the best at what they do will not require additional help so you will not be paying unproductive employees and hence the budget bank will not break at all. 

Imagine not paying two or three employees who were hired for help when you can get the best via Staff Timer App. 

 

No more data breach fine

A data breach or corporate espionage is something that needs to be addressed in this blog. The penalties for a data breach are no less than a million-dollar, that’s initial but also we need to understand the damage done by the breach. All that remains is “damage control”. Sometimes damage control is the only possible way to deal with it. 

With Staff Timer App’s simple solution it mitigates all if any chance of data breach exists especially the insider threat. Real-time screen monitoring and Instant screen capture help with this because you can access the screen of your employee anytime in real-time. It keeps your data secure and risk of breach next to minimal. 

Why is Staff Timer App the most affordable tool out there?

There is really no doubt about the fact that the Staff Timer App is the most affordable team management, task tracking, and employee monitoring app that offers countless features. How so?

It’s simple! Staff Timer App charges about $2.99 per member per month so if you are a company of 100 people. See how much you are spending upon Supervisor and see how much an automated tool costs you.

A mere $2.99 has to be the best deal of your life, in which you are not only getting automated supervision of the product, team, and employee but also it is calculating the hourly payroll. Helping you make informed decisions regarding your team to retain whom not too. What is stopping you from availing this tool free for 7 days? 

So we can reach the conclusion that automation is a part of evolution and resisting is only stopping you to reach your full potential. Staff Timer App aims towards providing the best help a CEO can ask for while running his organization. The automated supervision allows you to keep everyone right in front of you. It gives you absolute control over your team and your data. 

How COVID-19 Will Reshape Online Education Forever

Schools, colleges and universities too are part of the battle of survival along with businesses in this COVID-19 global pandemic. Students and teachers stuck at home with instructions given that classes must continue online. And in this endeavour to keep lectures and classes ongoing, educational institutes are finding that given the resources and software available, online education may be a possible way to get around this pandemic for the following reasons:

The Pros:

  • Institutions don’t have to face closure if classes can continue online
  • Students and faculty don’t need to travel, so they’re safe indoors during the pandemic
  • Students coming from different cities and countries will find it easier to keep studying from home
  • Material shared online can be constantly updated
  • Students can study in their own pace rather than trying to keep up with the rest of the class

However, with benefits also come some drawbacks. Many teachers are now on places like Quora seeking for solutions that could make remote teaching and studying easier because of certain issues like:

The Cons:

  • Students may not get questions answered by professors as promptly as they would in a classroom as interaction is limited
  • Students must have plenty of self-discipline to keep up with assignments and quizzes
  • Students may not find audio and video resources effective for learning as compared to the live experience
  • Students must find the technology easy to use to ensure the online system works properly for them
  • Conducting fair examinations may not be easy as preventing students from cheating becomes harder online without a way to monitor their activity.
  • It is difficult to able to tell if a student is legitimately paying attention to lectures or is busy with other things

But as the world is pushed into staying at home, technology has risen to aid with the difficulties created by the outbreak. Numerous applications and services have become popular now such as:


Zoom

Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform that helps make meetings, audio conferencing, webinars, meeting recordings, and live chat easier even if the number of participants is 100 at a time. Its technology can help make live video lectures easier for teachers to do for a whole group of students at a single time.


Google Classroom

Google Classroom is a free service for schools that helps them in creating a paperless way of creating and distributing study material and gradable assignments. It makes it easier for teachers and students to share files with each other.


Coursera

Coursera is an education platform that partners with top universities and organisations worldwide, to offer courses online for anyone to take, and recently they have made their courses available for free to help people stay productive at home.


Remind

Remind makes it easy for teachers to communicate with students and their parents in real-time outside of the classroom. You can make class announcements, initiate group chats, or contact people privately through the app. Your messages, which can contain files, images, and links, can even be translated into more than 90 languages, making it possible to communicate with parents who are non-native English speakers.


StaffTimer

Although the name suggests its made for offices, its features are so extensive they can be used to help teacher and lecturers with lessons and quizzes. Here are a few features to explain how StaffTimer can be used for education:

Real-time Monitoring

Teachers can see in real-time what students are up to. Gone are the days where students think they can be busy watching other things or playing games on other tabs during lectures.

Intelligent Reports

StaffTimer makes it feel like being in a classroom again with in-depth reports showing students’ tasks and the amount of time they spent on them along with url and app usage reports. Their idleness and productivity can be tracked as well by noting how many keystrokes and clicks they’ve done per minute.

Instant screen capture

Teachers can make use of setting screenshots to be taken at the intervals of their choice. StaffTimer is capable of taking screenshots every passing minute. Even if a student’s internet connection is lost and in order to ensure genuine work, the software will keep capturing the screenshots and upload it to the work diary  once the internet is back online.

Voice Notes

Video conferencing is already data consuming as it is so it’s useful for teachers to be able to send instructions or small notes through voice notes when assigning students with tasks.

With these features and more, teaching won’t be a difficult task to do remotely as institutes and parents can take a sigh of relief that this academic session won’t go to waste.

How Machine Learning is Predicting Buying Behavior

Being able to understand or predict consumer’s behavior has always been a crucial process for marketers. Everyone wants this kind of prediction, for obvious reasons. Today every marketer wants to target the right audience for his product. The infamous artificial intelligence has made this job much easier, specifically, the deep learning emergence process has helped a lot.

Deep learning is a subset of AI, that has the potential to modify the future of marketing by predicting consumer behavior for businesses. It is basically a machine learning method that uses neural networks, close to those found in human brains. This network is very useful when it comes to voice recognition, employee time tracking software, language translation and perceiving objects.   

A well-known example of deep learning using to predict human behavior lies in self-driving vehicles. Many renowned universities like Cornell and Standford developed “Brain4Cars” programs, which consist of cameras, wearable devices, and sensors. These devices will continuously monitor traffic. This system will alert the driver when he is on the fast track and can even predict accidents. The system can apprehend the driver’s behaviors 3.5 seconds faster. 

Unwrapping new customer & prediction

A deep learning mechanism is able to find patterns inside of patterns within huge data to help retailers find the perfect audience they want. Deep learning has opened a doorway to hyper-personalization of marketing, by taking the intent of customer experience and interaction history. A university in China found that when deep learning was fed with information like consumer’s work conditions and hobbies, the system was able to predict automobile purchase intent and also the preferences of various groups of consumers.  

  • With Ai, marketers can rely on more authentic and data-driven insights, rather than making assumptions. 
  • CEO of Black Swan Data explained working of AI, and said Marketers can take social data, like customers sentiment data gathered by social media listening tools, to identify patterns that can help them forecast consumer behaviors months in advance.”
  • The research suggested that by 2023, almost every business will be using AI-tools to target the perfect audience

The prediction of what customers want, and perceive it right is like heaven on earth for marketers.

A dramatic increase in investment of deep learning tech

Today many corporations are already using advance AI tools to convey a personalized experience to their consumers, and predict what they will be needing afterward. 

Let’s take an example of the most famous streaming app today, Netflix. And also the infamous e-commerce site Amazon is also taking from AI. 

  • Their AI-driven recommendation is 85% more accurate.
  • Netflix is able to save up to $1 billion annually with the help of machine learning algorithms.
  • Amazon is using AI algorithms to speed up their deliveries, by stocking products close to favorable buyers. To reduce delivery time. 

Speaking of deep learning apps, how can one forget Google and Facebook. Google is using this for Google cloud, where Facebook is not far behind. With its development of DeepFace helping to recognize people in pictures with near to perfect accuracy. This social media giant is now up to create a unified deep learning framework, which will be accessible to their developer’s community. 

In the world of remote employment, many tools are being developed to ease employer. Helping them to provide insight into employee engagement activities. With the help of intelligent worksheets measuring your employee’s productivity is not that difficult today. 

However, deep learning is still in its early days, but it won’t take long to grow, keeping in mind the rapid growth of technology. Machine learning has already changed marketing tricks and tactics, and not keeping pace with the change would be a drawback for any new or old marketer. 

10 best time management apps in 2020

Time management apps are becoming increasingly common due to rising demand. Every business enterprise or startup is concerned about maintaining productivity levels, and that is only possible through an efficient time tracking or project management system.

It gives an accurate picture and insight into employee’s productivity and manifests their peak performance levels. Time monitoring apps bring-in more cost efficiency and transparency into businesses thus generating more revenue than ever before.

Here we are detailing 10 best time management apps in 2020 that you will need to save and manage your time:

Slack – collaboration and communication

Slack is one of the most used management apps that companies prefer. It is basically a tool for communication and collaboration. Slack offers shared channels with search options. It can be integrated with numerous other project management app(s). These are some of the features that make the work convenient and staff members located around the world can connect with each other.

    • You can pin messages and refer to channels
    • Manage and track documents
    • Advanced search option
    • Shared channels to streamline work activities

It’s especially good if you are located in workspaces scattered around the country or world even. You can communicate and coordinate across businesses or units of the same business that require secure communication. Not only this, you can easily streamline your sidebar through it.

For instance, if you need to send frequent messages to some channels more than another. You can make them ascend in the sidebar to ease the process for you. Google calendar app can be integrated to keep your schedule on track.

Platforms: Windows, iOS, Linux

Website: slack.com

StaffTimerApp – Time tracking for employees

Stafftimer App is one of the best time management apps available in this competitive market of time trackers. It assists global teams and also remote workers to track their productivity.

There are some unique features offered on this app which include the following:

    • Real-time monitoring
    • Task assignment via voice clips
    • Intelligence reports
    • Daily work image & video logs
    • Instant screen capture
    • Keystroke & mouse activity

The screenshot feature is optional for example if an employee is involved in fieldwork and employers can simply opt-out of screenshot capture feature and just track the time alone. 

With audio clips process of assigning tasks is expediated in an unprecedented manner. Lengthy emails are outdated now. Even feedback is given via this method. This saves time for both an employer and an employee. On the other hand, Real-time monitoring is a live screen sharing with an employee. An employer can actually visualize, what his staff member is up to? Similarly, intelligence reports will provide insights into how much time was spent on different URLs.

Above all, daily work videos provide employees with an overview of their whole day’s progress. It has a user-friendly interface and convenient for every significant industry like legal, healthcare, accounting, designing, accounting or even freelancing. So if you want to make time tracking your habit, it’s for you.

Staff timer app provides on-demand integrations with any software of your choice.

Platforms: Windows, Mac

Website: stafftimerapp.com

Asana – Project & time management apps

 

Asana is one of the most commonly known and popular products available for project management. It helps you monitor and track your goals and projects to further your business. It helps you decide, and handle your priorities and projects in a structured way.

You can assign tasks and then watch them progress. Never miss deadlines by creating a timeline so you never miss out on anything. There are 100 integrations that help you bring every useful file and document in one place.

    • Activity feed
    • Automatic updates on emails
    • Track tasks and add followers
    • Comment on tasks

You can track the most important or urgent tasks based on customized preferences. Create projects and teams private to protect sensitive information.

Platforms: Andriod, iOS, Chrome

Website: asana.com

Evernote – Note tracking app

 

Evernote is one of the best time managing solutions for note-taking especially if you are not organized and feel lost when you are unable to locate your required document. No matter what device you use, it will store and retain your most important information.

There are various methods through which you can store your information with Evernote:

    • You can type notes, take photos or even add voice notes
    • Less hassle in organizing or searching the notes
    • You can create notebooks that are folders precisely

It does offer an interesting feature of tracking data with the help of geolocation which means you can trace data based on the location when you entered it. Asana has an optical character recognition function that caters to images you upload with text on them. For example, a handwritten note whose image you took and added.

Platform: iOS, Mac, Windows, Android

Website: evernote.com

Remember the Milk – App for managing tasks

 

Remember the milk is a kind of virtual assistant for managing your time and tasks. It offers a smart list option that sets a distinction between personal and professional tasks. It helps you to:

    • Update task
    • Create subtasks
    • Set deadlines ranging from days, months, & years

You can share tasks and lists with others. It’s a free-to-use app unless you subscribe to its premium features. Pro users can add unlimited users, restrict access to edit, and can work in offline status as well.

Platform: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Blackberry, Fire, Apple Watch

Website:
www.rememberthemilk.com

Todoist – Task management lists

 

Todoist is one of the strongest task managers that can handle things from simple domestic task to an important and professional one. It’s one of the most suitable time management apps for both business teams or individuals like freelancers. It can handle both basic and advanced level tasks.

Some of its key features are:

    • SSL secured connection
    • Task priorities
    • Projects and subprojects
    • Active projects can be 80 with 5 members at maximum in each

It offers more than 100 integrated tools. Todo-ist is available on most of the devices with the consistent design shown on all of them. You can pin your important projects, label or filter them accordingly.

Platforms: Mac, Windows, Android, Chrome, Safari, Linux

Website: todoist.com

Basecamp – Organize Projects

Basecamp is one of the most popular project management applications. It doesn’t only keep to-do lists, but also keep notes, files and events’ schedules as well. This app holds central importance for task organization. It has a user-friendly interface with a one-month free subscription.

Its benefits include:

    • Transparent management and accountability
    • More efficient communication and coordination
    • Updated customizations and integrations

Every project depicts outdated to-do tasks and stores all the files associated with each of the tasks even if the deadline has exceeded. Basecamp is suitable for companies of all sizes and even for remote workers.

Many renowned multinationals are its clients. This task manager is supported in multiple languages and an ideal fit for globally sparsed teams.

Platforms: web, iOS, Android, Mac, and PC

Website: basecamp.com

Trello – A work collaboration tool

Trello is an extremely user-friendly task management software that gives an impression of a whiteboard. It’s free of cost and you can create multiple boards with your to-do lists, along with ‘doing’ and ‘done’ task cards.

    • Quick overview
    • Drag and drop function
    • Easy to organize with tags and labels

There are cards within boards where one can add tasks and set the due date as needed. Collaborations are simplified with this software. With the free version, one can have an unlimited number of boards, cards, checklists, and attachments. You can remove or delete the cards from the boards and can rename them anytime. Besides you can add as many members as you like into them.

This software provides seamless integrations with google docs and dropbox. 

Platforms: Web, Mac, Windows

Website: trello.com

Dropbox – Store and Organize files

Dropbox is one of the most widely known and popular file-sharing options. It’s considered the most prestigious document storage and sharing software. It is suitable for both businesses and individuals’ needs.

With the help of cloud storage, it makes the entire process extremely convenient for accessing, storing and retrieving files.

    • Simplified link sharing via email, chat or even a text
    • Provide offline access
    • Online backup and file retrieval
    • Manually determined bandwidths
    • Accessible from any device

Dropbox offers a successful and trend-setting referral program. Through which 500MB storage is obtained with every referral. There are numerous software that allows data sharing but not as efficient as dropbox even that, for free.

Platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux, Android

Website: www.dropbox.com

Proof hub – Project Planning Software

Proof hub brings in many features to eliminate the need of subscribing to numerous apps for task management solutions. It tries to develop a centralized location for communication, project management, and handle teams efficiently.

    • Workflows and boards
    • Mobile and tablet compatibility
    • Advanced search
    • Multiple languages

It helps you upload your documents easily from a centralized location. No more hassle to manage documents through email. It is a reporting software that presents a report on how the resources were used and give the insight to track the progress of various projects.

Remote members can use it to discuss and share ideas with each other as it also serves as a communication tool.

Platforms: Android, iOS

Website: www.proofhub.com

The Latest Trend in Time Tracking Apps for Educational Institutes

All humans get the same amount of hours each day i.e 24 hours. Alexander the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. – they also had 24 hours each day, just like all of us. 

So what’s the difference between these extraordinary individuals and us? What separates them from the average man? Their secret is simple. They efficiently managed their time. 

In this modern age, pens and sheets have been left behind. People are now starting to use time tracking apps to manage their daily routines, schedule, and tasks. Educational institutes are no different. 

Time tracking apps keep evolving as preferences keep changing. In this article, we’re going to look at some of the latest trends in time tracking software for educational institutes. 

Before we start discussing the latest trends, lets first establish what time tracking app actually does. After that, we’ll go over some of its common features. 

What is a time tracking app?

As the name suggests, a time tracking app helps users effectively track their time.  

Effective time management can help people make deadlines, avoid getting stressed, improve their productivity & efficiency, and above all else, make extra time for themselves. They will also be able to maintain a work-life balance by keeping track of their time.

To perfect time management in educational institutes, employers should be able to easily track an employee’s work hours. This will help them observe an employee’s daily progression and accurately judge their performance. 

Time tracking apps can provide all of this. They allow users to create to-do lists and prioritize tasks, set alerts & reminders, organize the files & tasks, and even streamline communication between team members. 

Common features found in time tracking apps

We know what time tracking apps can do. Now let’s look at some common features of time management apps. 

Time tracking

This is a core functionality of time tracking apps. It captures worked hours and keeps a record of them on a timesheet. 

Project management

 Some time tracking apps have lightweight management tools while others focus entirely on project management. They allow you to group tasks or set deadlines and priorities. You can also track daily, weekly, and monthly work hours.  

Alerts 

Notifications can be used in different ways. You can set timers and get alerts when time is about to end. Alerts can also be used as reminders about urgent and pending tasks. 

Reporting and analytics

Reports can be generated by analyzing a large amount of data relating to tasks. These reports can be used by employers to gauge their employees’ overall progress. 

Latest trends in time tracking apps for educational institutes

Today’s employees are mostly Millenials and Generation Z, or Gen Z for short. The challenges and difficulties that they face are completely different from the previous generations. For example, Boomers didn’t have to worry about wasting their time on the internet. 

This is why time tracking apps have evolved. The latest trends and features include:

Password manager

There are countless websites on the internet that require you to make an account. At one point, it becomes hard to keep track of all the usernames and passwords. Now apps featuring password managers are starting to pop up. 

Meeting manager 

Employees and staff members of educational institutes are notoriously busy. Their workload is huge and strenuous. Trying to arrange an important meeting can take a lot of effort as well. Now there are apps that can leverage the power of AI to give smart suggestions for when, where and how meetings can take place.

Note-taking manager

A vast amount of information is available on the internet, this is especially true regarding educational content. Note-taking managers can help teachers clip and save sections of websites, annotate them, and quickly access them via searches, notes, and tags. 

Bookmarking manager. We can’t always be online. Bookmark managers let users save articles, videos and more from any website, app or publication. This way, they can access saved content offline and on any device. 

These are just some of the latest trends in time tracking apps for educational institutes. As time goes on and priorities change, new trends will start emerging. However, don’t worry about missing out. We’ll keep you posted. 

4 Strategies to Improve Your Productivity as a Freelancer

There is no denying that the freelance market is appealing to many professionals all over the world. According to a 2019 study on a US-based independent workforce, the freelance market generates nearly $1 trillion in income. That’s almost 5% of the US GDP.

A 2018 Entrepreneur article reports that there are over 57 million Americans working as freelance professionals as of 2017. Considering the numerous advantages freelance employment brings to the table. That number will definitely rise in the future.

However, even the most hardworking and diligent freelance workers are not immune to procrastination and distractions. Poor productivity is a constant issue for many business organizations that employ freelance workers, mostly remote teams from all over the world. Missed deadlines and late submissions from your freelance workforce can set you back and even cost your business its precious clients and projects.

The good news is that productivity issues are easy to fix. With the following productivity strategies, you can expect your freelance workforce to deliver high-quality output at a productive rate.

Use Time Trackers

Time Tracking Software and apps are not new. However, they are still highly effective tools to keep productivity up in the workplace. The same can be said for professional freelancers and remote teams.

Many companies require their independent workers to install a time tracker on their devices. Many solutions provide a customizable freelance time tracking template that managers can configure so it tracks or records specific information such as hours worked, time spent on breaks, and averages.

Workers log in before their designated work schedule or project-related tasks. They then log out after their shift or once their tasks are accomplished.

Many time trackers are built to document not just hours but record the time spent on work down to the last second or minute. This is an effective productivity strategy especially if your organization bill your workers by the hour.

Activate Random Screen Capture

You can’t monitor your freelance worker’s progress all the time. Yet you want to make sure he or she is spending working hours on actual work. That’s understandable. Your company doesn’t want to pay for unproductive hours.

One way of ensuring your freelance employees are indeed working during their supposed working hours is to capture images of their screens at random times. It helps identify who is working and who is spending their hours doing something else. Such a feature empowers your workers to devote all their billable time to work, driving productivity up.

You may settle for a free time tracking software for freelancers. However, if you want this feature, you may have to invest in premium productivity and time tracking suite.

Give Your Best Tasks and Projects to Top Performing Freelancers

You can create and cultivate a productive environment for your independent workers if you include a gamification element to your approach. Instead of just assigning tasks and projects to the next available worker, you can send your most critical and high-paying jobs to your best freelancers.

Publishing their names as well as their earnings on a leaderboard will definitely entice your freelance employees to perform better and turn in great results to rise up the ladder. Aside from boosting their performance and productivity, your freelance workers become more engaged and dynamic.

By adding an element of competition, you can empower your freelance workforce to prove their worth, which then translates to better results and improved productivity.

Limit or Block Access to Certain Sites and Social Media

There are numerous productivity apps for PC and mobile devices that can track time and capture screenshots at random moments. On top of that, you also want your productivity apps to limit or block your freelance workers’ access to specific websites and social media sites that cause distraction and fuel procrastination.

Such capability is quite useful, especially when social media sites have proven to take much from a worker’s productivity. That said, not all social media is bad for work. Some employees spend their break watching funny cat videos. Others use social media and other sites for research, communication, and collaboration purposes.

Companies should establish guidelines on social media usage by their freelance workers. Many of today’s work processes are built on online connectivity and access to the Internet. That means the complete banning of social media is not a viable option. While social media can be detrimental to a worker’s efficiency and productivity, it can also be a huge asset when utilized properly.

Automation, Collaboration, and Communication are Key

If you want to have a highly effective and productive team of freelancers, you need to put them in an environment that fosters effortless and painless automation, communication, and collaboration.

Your freelance employees don’t want to spend time typing their credentials whenever they open devices and log in to their respective accounts. Many productivity apps automate the logging in of multiple systems and different credentials.

Communication between and among your freelance employees should be instant and smooth. Instead of relying on lengthy email threads, replace them with real-time communication tools and task management platforms for faster and more effective communication, instruction, and deployment.

By centralizing tasks, information, contacts, and more, you can maximize your freelancers’ capabilities and talents, optimize processes, and deliver desired results.

10 Ways to Improve Quality of Life

Defining Quality of Life

Quality of life is a distinct concept from the standard of life. It’s your monetary capabilities that define your standard of life. But the quality of life lies in the contentment of heart.

It’s the small things in life that lay foundations of long term happiness and more importantly peace of heart. Some forms of happiness that are heavily relied upon as a benchmark of success and accomplishment only bring in temporary charms.

We, at times, mistake excitement for happiness and is short-lived.

Somebody landing an admission offer from Ivy league or a six-figure job might feel over the moon. For the time being, one feels its effect is going to last for eternity. Even though after some days when the excitement fades and the new change becomes a routine of your life you start feeling empty.

At times even worse than before. The reason is the spike in expectations generated as a result of that pleasant change in life. Materialistic accomplishments can inflate the human ego but the satisfaction of heart is just another matter.

So what are the factors that raise our quality of life if not these things? 

Let’s discuss how we can improve the quality of life?

Quality of life is a subjective reality. You can’t generalize it. For some it’s maintained through their love for pets, for others it means books or family. An old lady in the neighborhood feels the serenity of heart seeing her garden every morning. So basically everyone defines it in different ways. No single formula exists for all.

1. Nothing can substitute for healthy relationships

No matter if you own a BMW or a luxury mansion in a posh area. If you are lonely in your life or even at heart, it will all look meaningless. Time spent with loved ones and quality of relationships add towards the longevity of life and overall well being.

Lack of quality relations is equal to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Risks of cardiovascular issues or dementia are drastically decreased too. Successful marriages bring in similar positive effects in contrast to a problematic one. 

 

 

Some people while running for material growth forget it a big deal whom they are earning for? Spending over time at work or lack of quality time with families can cause feelings of frustration in individuals without realizing the cause. Working 16 hours a day to earn extra bucks but not being able to make it for an event at your child’s school won’t bring you satisfaction. 

Instead of becoming a part of the continuous rat race, learn to value your relationships. They boost the sense of security and fulfillment in a person, not commodities. Things are meant for people, not people are meant for things. 

2. Modern work habits differ a great deal from good old days!

When we say we are working, it’s not the same when our grandparents used to say they were working. Their work habits didn’t leave space for workouts or exercise. Instead, their work was an exercise in itself. Even in old age like beyond 80, or 90, people of preceding generations were more active than our present ones.

They were not excessively reliant on machines, used to plow fields, execute household chores themselves without any paid help. All of these factors strengthen vital organs, decrease the chances of obesity and keeps one active. 

Whereas our generation tends to work for longer hours, but our mode of professional life doesn’t add to our physical well being. To keep the traditional work spirits alive, one can make some modest changes into the routine.

Instead of totally relying upon household help, there should be a distribution of tasks. Where both of you work side by side thus keeping your system running. Since a desk job will tie you up with the seat so enhance your activity at home. Do a walk for at least 20 minutes after every meal. 

 

 

A workout is a good option but if you have long working hours, or families to look after along with work, it might not be a good option. Spending another 2 or 3 hours outside of home shall start giving you a feeling of being a guest in your own home. 

3. Are you a foodie?

If yes, then this question was not to compliment you. Foodie in a contemporary sense has become someone with excessive intake of calories than normal. Processed, or junk food, carbonated drinks, and usual essentials of our daily meals are adding less value and decreasing more.

Eating organic has become a fashionable slogan with little implementation. Again in the old days, organic food was a norm and health issues or chronic diseases like those of today were almost non-existent. Nowadays commercialism has taken place of reasoning ability and many prefer harmful food more because of apparent taste. 

4. Health is wealth

One’s emotional and physical well being are connected with their state of health. Our family/social lives, eating habits and work routine are all crucial and essential basis to maintain health and longevity of life. Money isn’t a savior and many affluent ones are suffering from acute depression. So be mindful of your lifestyle preferences.

Case study of Abkhazia

Abkhazia, a small region under the administrative authority of Georgia has remained a center of attention for international media and global researchers. The reasons are extreme longevity of life and immaculate health of its elderly people. Many hit 150 there and above 100 is a norm.

In fact not only a norm even after hitting century they keep on working in fields and old women knit without glasses. Some men are reported to have kids after the age of 100. And research shows they don’t even suffer from chronic diseases or any significant health issues. 

What are the reasons behind it?

The ones we discussed above. They eat organic completely and no concept exists to consume more calories than needed. They live in a form identical to tribal setup. With each family consisting of 50 members. The love and bonding don’t let them get old.

Even a person at 110 looks like 70 years old. Besides, they work at least four hours a day even after hitting the 90s. They don’t seem to retire and remain active in their collective social life for longer. The things we call backward or conservative add value to life. The lifestyle habits we left behind were the ones adding value to it.

5. Leave your comfort zone

It’s not always good not to take risks or embark upon new adventures. Sometimes leaving your monotonous and boring routine and sitting on a roller coaster ride of life brings more taste to life.

Like you eat daily from home or sometimes from a classy restaurant, but eating from a little cart by the street side has its own value. This is just an example. The real thing is to keep trying something new or different. Learning a new language, an art or a skill but keep experiencing life. 

6. Become a voice for the voiceless

Do remember that people around the world and in every state suffering from some racial, political, ethnic or religious injustices and crisis. Do become their voice. Work for social change and resistance. When you find yourself capable of bringing even the tiniest change into society, it makes you feel actually accomplished.

7. Travelling brings a real-life exposure

When you’re traveling, ask the traveler for advice / not someone whose lameness keeps him in one place. (Rumi)

 

 

Travel brings in light and refreshment to life. Visually and physically experiencing new cultures, rituals, languages, traditions, and landscape creates vitality in life. It also broadens your horizons and adds new dimensions in life.

You will understand how much more you need to learn and explore in life. And it’s not confined to where you were glued before. You will emerge as more experienced and tolerant of views and beliefs contradictory to your own. 

8. Read, learn and impart knowledge

Reading social media posts, or a newspaper doesn’t constitute proper reading. Learning anything new be it language, skill or a piece of knowledge acts as a form of mental exercise.

Therefore serving as a protection shield from Alzheimer’s and mental diseases. Also learning and education play an important part in the expansion of life span and keeps one healthy. 

Book reading can trigger happiness in the human mind. When you read any literary text, you start imagining yourself in the world of your characters. You visualize the age and places spaced far apart than your own.

Similarly, if you are reading a philosophical text your brain starts racing to unlock the answers to complex questions. It makes you play mental gymnastics. The same applies for any subject. Knowledge comes to revive the emotional spirits of man, thus adds towards a sense of fulfillment. 

But mere learning doesn’t suffice. Spread what you learned. Be it through writing, lecturing or just word of mouth. Especially writing helps one vent out their internal frustrations. 

9. Money is not a useless thing either

By no means, its implied that earning a substantial amount is something evil and one should drop the idea of pursuing material success. It is important too. Getting short of finances can cause heavy stress in life.

After all no matter how many meaningful elements you have in life. You still need to pay the bills. The real thing is not to make it a purpose of life. Some people consider money as the end goal. Whereas its just a necessity of life. Like you need food to live but you don’t live for food. The same applies here. It’s not a purpose or ultimate goal.

But do strive for a good standard of life. Just remember don’t do it insanely. If you devise a careful strategy and worked hard. Money shall reach you eventually. 

10. Learn to live for others

Even an animal cries when feeling pain but a human is one who feels for others as well. If you are blessed with anything try to share it with those who need it. If you have money more than you need than fattening your bank account won’t bring any gratification.

Its helping others, that would. Involving yourself in some charity work shall make you feel more at peace with yourself. Blessings increase with sharing.

No matter what one says or writes. Ultimately you can best decide and find for yourself what brings you real happiness. A man is capable of recognizing himself like none else. So do some soul searching and reach for the best conclusion yourself.

How Artificial Intelligence is increasing Employee Productivity?

With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, there is a lot of uncertainty revolving around the future of human employment. Regardless, this doubt about ‘robots taking our jobs’ isn’t completely baseless. There is little done to enhance awareness regarding AI technology and its implications. 

Evidently, the benefits outnumber the disadvantages but unfortunately, with lack of awareness comes fear towards the emergence of self-conscious AI. Automation and AI, will change everything about life and how we do things? In short, it is transforming the world. 

Make humans Aware of the importance of AI

Artificial Intelligence is an intriguing concept that has fascinated mankind for years. There have been amazing breakthroughs in AI, and machine learning altogether. Machines, using this technology can perform complicated problems, which once was impossible for the human mind. 

Yet, there has been significant debate regarding the risks and concerns about AI being too smart for laymen. Fear, that, AI will take over our lives one day, is prevailing.

A blessing in Disguise?

Although the implications of Artificial Intelligence might sound detrimental to mankind. This technology is not a curse, but rather a blessing in disguise. It’s a duty of organizations and governments to invest in raising awareness among the masses about how it can have positive effects on our day to day productivity. 

 

Will robotics actually replace humans one day?

One of the major concerns among people is: what will be the future of our jobs? And why should we invest in the development of such technology using our taxes that is going to work against us? They should know that proceeding with smart strategies lessens any trouble or harm. 

Even though robots might already be taking our jobs. But it’s unlikely that it can ever replace jobs involving intellectual, literary, or emotional attributes. The biggest effect will be a change in how humans work. It will change the skills, the tasks and the way of doing jobs. But, it might not strip you off of your jobs, entirely. 

As for STEM students

The government needs to invest more in producing AI specialists in the future. So basically educated ones are not going to face a setback. Now coming to the labor force, many manual tasks won’t be available anymore. True. 

But wait, hasn’t it been the case historically? Kings used to have slaves to fan them or real-time entertainers for leisure. Now electricity replaced fanning and broadcast media eroded a need for court or street comedians. So should we give up on these inventions and get back to the stone age? No. Then why reluctance now? 

Automated technology helping human manpower

As discussed above, there is a huge fear in this regard that robots are going to replace human jobs. A robot can’t be a writer, artist or a political theorist, just to name a few. 

Likewise, since robots are developed by the human mind, so more humans are needed to keep it functioning. Robots can not fix themselves if hit by some functional error. Manual tasks like data entry or similar repetitive functions can be taken over by robotics. 

 



With robotics, there is a higher chance of accuracy than humans. They can multitask and process thousands of entries in seconds. For instance, in the medical or legal sector, robots can help make a diagnosis or legal documentation in much lesser time than usually taken. So basically robots are there to increase human productivity as helping hands.  

Automated machines have helped to ease the process at factories, industries, and the agricultural sector. Keeping everything in mind, Human manpower is still in control. Tractors and trolleys put trouble of farmers at a halt and didn’t oust humans from their work.

Artificial Intelligence as a productivity booster

AI technology for sure has the potential to enhance productivity in the workplace but it’s not as widely used as it should have been. Let’s discuss some of the ways in which Artificial Intelligence seems to be increasing employee’s productivity.

Ever heard of the language of mind?

Neuro-linguistic programming also known as NLP is a process of involving mental processes that are converted into language thus formulating our behaviors. Which not only include our personal lives but more precisely professional one. On the personal side, you are familiar with the people you are dealing with. But in the professional realm, it’s your communication, body language or expressions that can make or break businesses. 

This AI-based program helps to identify strengths and weaknesses embedded in one’s subconscious. Not only that they can detect the negative signaling in their behaviors that might deter many clients and work-based relations. 

It’s like learning the language of the mind. How to eradicate barriers in better communication and be more productive at the workplace. And that can be done with the help of NLP designed by therapists and programmers to foster strong work relations.

Facial recognition

When a friend tags us on facebook, no matter how different we look across various photos. Facebook always recognizes us. How does it happen? Machine-based deep learning-enabled this software to act as flawless as possible.

Machine learning use algorithms to parse data. Which makes it efficient in facial recognition, biometrics, or data storage. It’s capable of even developing driverless cars, or recommend movies.

 

How facial recognition can enhance productivity in the workplace? 

In many countries, buddy punching practice exists. This means that one employee arriving on time could manually mark the attendance of a friend even if he was an hour late. AI-based or Biometric system of marking attendance relieved employers from this trouble now they always know who came when? Thanks to machine-based deep learning technologies. 

AI-based Softwares and Security

In the present age of cybercrime and terrorism. Security-based software has helped in identifying many trouble makers. For instance in USA SMMS( Social media monitoring software) is in action to identify potential criminals or a malicious individual. Likewise, China uses facial recognition software to maintain security.

The machine-based real-time monitoring system is used for security and surveillance in the corporate world. We are not living in the 90s where the only way for staff monitoring was micromanagement. It lets you record everything you work on using its magical memory. All data is secured using advanced algorithms and applications of machine learning.

Now you can monitor even your remote workforce while sitting in the comfort of your home using AI-based technologies. The system is so automated that it can easily detect how much time was consumed in productive work, and how much was wasted or procrastinated upon. It’s saving resources of companies worldwide. 

Women in Tech | Career challenges and opportunities

The technology sector is a male dominating industry, evidently. But things have come a long way especially for women since the 90s. Even though women were brains behind some serious tech operations during WWII yet, their contributions often go unnoticed.

Not only that there is an alarming level of disparity in tech-based jobs available to women. Generally, progressive societies are offering more equal opportunities for women in tech. Still, gender biases exist worldwide and it doesn’t matter which part of the world it is.

Some important stats show:

Women hold only 5 percent of leadership positions in the tech sector; they make up only 7 percent of partners at the top 100 venture capital firms. More than 30 percent of women over the age of 35 are still in junior positions.

What causes this gender bias?

According to a report, Only 25 % of computing jobs are held by women. The turnover rate is more than twice as high for women than it is for men in tech industry jobs i.e. 41 % versus 17 %. 56 %  of women in tech are leaving their employers mid-career.  12 % of engineers at Silicon Valley startups are women. Similarly, women hold only 11 % of executive positions at Silicon Valley companies.

We can clearly see, males have outnumbered women in the tech industry. There is a massive gap. Gender-based stereotypes are developed from infancy. From color distributions to gender-based toys. Both girls and boys are prepared for different roles. STEM subjects or Computer sciences are labeled as somehow male-oriented professions and not ‘lady-like’. 

As a result, Medical, Educational or Public administration fields are overflowing with women. It doesn’t indicate the incapability of women in the tech world. It just shows how an assignment of social roles based on gender can trap a huge talent from reaching technical fields. 

 

How can we reduce the power-gap?

Change can be slow but it’s worth making an effort.  There is a need for prolonged and systematic effort to bring them into the mainstream. Only one out of five Computer Science graduates are women.  Proper mentoring and coaching is necessary.

There are a number of companies losing women employed in tech roles. Why? Because of a lack of proper mentoring, training and development opportunities. It will not only help you to increase the number of women leading but will also help you retain and attract more women to the workplace working together for the greater good.

So many preconceived notions!

There are many assumptions made for female employees right from the hiring process. Just misconceptions! Not all females are facing similar challenges or commitments. Or not every one of them is seeking flexibility or planning family life at the early stages of career. Generally, people don’t leave their comfort zones, approach women employees or colleagues and personally seek insight into their plans ahead. 

Even a professionally ambitious woman might be planning to put her personal plans on halt for a few years, just because she wants to grow and build up her career.  Oftentimes, she is also seen as a potential runner eventually. These biases can put off many committed young women from joining the workforce.

Then there are ones seeking work-life balance!

A married woman with a family has all the right in the world to still seek professional growth and opportunities. All companies need is flexible working conditions that are necessary to attract skillful women into the tech world. They might resist joining any demanding workforce due to their domestic responsibilities. Remote work and flexible working hours should be offered for women to retain them into a workforce.

 

Fill the gender pay gaps!

Then there is another one, a pay gap between genders or limited opportunities of progress for women. Leading positions in startups globally are heavily occupied by men. Women are still paid less even in 2019.

Some facts:  A woman who is doing the same job as a man, with the exact same qualifications as a man is still paid two percent less. Unfortunately, this controlled wage gap has only shrunk by a minuscule amount of $0.008 since 2015.

There is a growing need for business leaders and HR  to ensure equal pay, equal employment opportunities for all people within their organization including women.

Lower wages or lack of power isn’t the only issue

These reasons are enough to keep women disoriented to join the tech world. Not only that derogatory comments from male colleagues and increasingly reported harassment by supervisors is enough to demoralize many women. Obviously when men are in power then few women paving their way to make a mark have to face subjugation. Since they don’t have many fellow women for seeking support. 

The positive thing: we can see many companies, introducing anti-sexual harassment policies to address this growing issue. 

Is there an immediate solution?

These disparities caused numerous women and minorities to leave, costing Silicon Valley more than 16 billion dollars. Just like the Business world managed to improve its discriminatory practices. The tech industry should review its policies too.

A startup like Muse was an initiative of the all-female teams and established its firm footing in the market. It proved women are equally capable as men only if given opportunity. 

There are many success stories of women starting from Ada Lovelace, a first female programmer to Jade Raymond, Sara Haider and many involved in game development, or holding key positions in tech giants like Google and Twitter. Its proven women can thrive in the tech world only if given a suitable environment.