the encouragement lounge: January 2014

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Check your workspace ergonomics

Hi all and welcome back from break (for those of you who had a break!). For those who had to work through the between semester time, I hope that you were able to relax at least a little bit along the way and that you were otherwise productive.

As we begin a new semester, I invite you to read the following article that will help you assess your workspaces - this piece is written by a grad student, for grad students on a budget.

Hack Your Workspace with Ergonomics

All the best,
Harriet

Photo by HLS

Working adult students, on my mind...

I hope this blog will be helpful to friends and others involved in a variety of endeavors. However, I created the blog with students in mind and continue to develop it with that specific group as my focus.

I believe that with the increase in evening, weekend, and low-residency programs, students are working more and more in isolation. If we were all full-time students on campus, we would have the informal support that comes with being able to go down the hall and talk with a colleague, etc. But instead, we are working late nights and weekends at home in front of the laptop.

With that in mind, I hope the encouragement lounge provides brief moments of respite and energizing connection. This does not at all replace valuable face-to-face contact. Many aspects of the academic journey can only be addressed via in-depth conversations with colleagues and teachers. And I would always rather sit down and talk with someone than to communicate online. Nonetheless, my aim is to give you one more channel for quick hits of support.