Telecommuting can be explained as working from home, instead of working in the office with the aid of the computer and connectivity is made possible through communication devices like the telephone, fax or Internet. Gone are the days spending hours traveling from home to the work place, taking leave for doing personal work etc. Telecommuters save time, energy and money unnecessarily spent on traveling to the office from his house. Telecommuting offers lot of benefits for both the company and the employee (the telecommuter).

Advantages for the employer due to telecommuting:

The overhead expenses involved in running the office is minimized to a greater extent, as they will have to spend only lesser amounts towards electricity charges, minimum car parking facility, smaller work space which in turn reduces the rent of the office building, less number of computers in the work place, etc. The employer also benefits by not having to spend on a manager or supervisor to monitor the employees. The ultimate aim of the employer is to get the work done on time and with greater accuracy, which can be got by having weekly meetings with the telecommuters. Also, the employer saves money by not spending on factors like traveling expenses and leave salary. Some of the telecommuters even would like to take the job with a lesser salary as they get the benefit of working from home. Thus telecommuting benefits the employer by all the means.

As employees, the telecommuters get the flexibility of doing the job from home. They can do their personal work and at the same time can complete the job on time by putting more effort during leisure time. For example, a mother would like to work, when her kid is off to school and telecommuting makes it possible. There is no need to go for work daily; hence it saves time, money and energy of the telecommuter. Also, the Telecommuter need not compulsorily own a business; he can also work for company situated anywhere in the world. Telecommuting jobs like the mystery shopper, restaurant spy and online photographer give a satisfaction to the people who are passionate about shopping, eating and taking photography.

The society too benefits from telecommuting job. Wondering how? Traffic congestions are minimized, pollution is reduced and fuel usage is minimized. The productivity too increases as the time wasted in commuting is reduced.

If I were to pattern myself after a famous character in a book, I’d pick a heroine that was gorgeous, brilliant and amazingly successful.

I wouldn’t pick Barbara Ehrenreich as she presented herself in “Bait and Switch, the Futile Pursuit of the American Dream.” However, that character seems to have picked me. Try as I might, I can not escape the fact that Ehrenreich’s adventures in that best-selling book are much like my own.

The biggest difference is that I didnt get to write about my failure in the job market and make a bunch of money on book sales. I just got to endure my failure and realize that my life was a statistic.

That’s always fun.

I’ve also read about myself in the pages of the New York Times. (See, I must be famous and they just forgot to tell me!) I’m so flattered when a guy like columnist Paul Krugman writes, “a college degree has hardly been a ticket to big income gainsthe real earnings of college graduates fell more than 5% between 2000 and 2004.”

Paul, I’m glad you know me and I hate to criticize, but you got it wrong. For this college graduate, her income fell 100%, not a measly 5%.

But the gist of Krugman’s writings, that the obscenely rich are getting more obscenely rich and everybody else is falling, is completely accurate. This economic unbalancing act is happening for lots of reasons, one of which is white-collar unemployment and under-employment.

My point is that my woes are not just mine. Many people are like me. I see them every time I make a trip to any retail outlet, folks who used to work at professional jobs selling lumber, light fixtures or lettuce. Older workers who may not have the pep of a 21-year-old; they have what the workplace DOES NOT reward, wisdom and experience.

I do not pretend to understand the irony of that; I just know it to be true.

To avoid falling into the same trap as my former white-collar buddies, I have elected to start an Internet business instead of taking whatever menial, low wage job I can find.

In part, I made that choice because I couldn’t find a menial, low wage job. I interviewed for five. None wanted me. It must have been the orange skirt I was wearing that made me look like the great pumpkin.

Barbara Ehrenreich’s job coach gave me that tip. (I couldn’t afford my own job coach so I borrowed hers.)

Self-employment is risky, but it’s the only way a person like myself will escape being a wage slave. The Internet is still open to the little guy so even though I’m a little late, I’m merging onto the information super highway.

Which brings us to the net neutrality issue. How much longer will the Internet be open to the little guy? If the big guys get their way, not much longer.

Bastards.

What option would be open to me then? Welfare handouts? The big guys would balk and call me lazy and undeserving. “Find a job, damn it,” they’d bark.

“I’m trying,” is all I would be able to holler back from my merry-go-round as it whirls past them, lazily enjoying their weenies and ice cream cones.

I’m trying.

The quality of the care you provide to your patients is important for them in so many ways. Of course you need to maintain a certain level of professionalism with patients, visitors, and the medical professionals you work with. But overlooking the importance of bedside manner in nursing reduces the quality of the care that you have taken an oath to provide to the patients under your care.

Doctors are often more focused on the conditions and symptoms that patients are suffering from and finding the appropriate course of treatment for those symptoms and conditions. Due to this situation, their genuine concern for patents is not always conveyed. This can result in patients not feeling as if they can or should discuss symptoms they are experiencing, possible questions they have, and the fears they are keeping to themselves with the doctor. Many people feel more comfortable sharing this information with a nurse who has a friendly bedside manner. Therefore it is vital that you remember the importance of having a good, friendly bedside manner. You may often be the only bridge between the doctors getting the information needed to treat the patient better, and a patient understanding that not fully disclosing these things can seriously affect the outcome of their treatment.

For patients suffering from serious illnesses or injuries, the level of bedside manner provided by the nursing professionals caring for them, often takes on a greater significance. Your beside manner is integral to the recovery process of your patients. Think about it from the standpoint of the patient. Coping with an illness or injury and the treatment they must undergo for recovery is a time filled with fear and stress. They may also be dealing with symptoms such as pain, shock, confusion, nausea, light headedness, stiffness, lessened or complete loss of mobility, and sleep and appetite changes. The level of fear and stress is often heightened when a patient is hospitalized for treatment. The unfamiliar settings of a hospital can be very distressing to patients who are stressed because they are sick, injured, or having surgery.

Treatments can be uncomfortable or even painful. Patients may perceive their conditions to be worse than they are and their prognosis dismal, and may keep these feelings to themselves. Patients can easily become overwhelmed by the fear and stress they are feeling and not hear or understand what the doctor is telling them about their condition, the recommended treatment, and the risks involved. This will increase a patient’s level of fear and stress which can worsen their condition and make it harder to treat them successfully. Family and friends may also increase a patient’s level of fear and stress. They are themselves confused and scared because their loved one is ill or injured. Without meaning to, they may transfer their fears, confusion, and stress onto the patient whose body is already struggling under the weight of a medical condition. In these situations, the importance of bedside manner in nursing cannot be overstated. Displaying a calm, friendly demeanor to patients and their families can reassure them and reduce their fears and stress.

Some people don’t have family or friends who can visit them while they are in the hospital. This can lead to a patient feeling lonely, sad, and isolated or cut off from the people and surroundings they know and their normal lives. This can cause appetitive and sleep difficulties and even reduce the effectiveness of pain medications for the patient feeling as if they are all alone. Taking the time to talk to patients and asking them questions helps them to feel that they are not alone. This also conveys to them that you care not just about doing your job to the best of your ability: but also about them. Knowing that someone cares can very often help further the recovery process even when present treatments do not seem to be working, or working fast enough.

But even when the condition is a terminal illness or disease such as Cancer and the prognosis is not a positive one, bedside manner is important for helping those patients to be as comfortable and at peace as possible. Your bedside manner will also mean a great deal to the family members who must come to grips with seeing a loved one so seriously ill and knowing the end is drawing near. This is probably the hardest part of nursing. But there is nothing nobler than ensuring that a person is given dignity, comfort, respect, and compassionate care as they transition away from this life.

Your bedside manner is important to the patients you care for in so many ways as a nursing professional. Never underestimate the power of a good bedside manner. Take steps so you do not forsake the oath you have taken to provide quality care to your patients. Remember the importance of bedside manner in nursing.

Goals are very important in everyones life and, as such, goal setting is equally important to helping us achieve our hopes and dreams. The most important aspect of goal setting is to make sure that the plan is a realistic one. For example, its impossible to make it a goal to win the lottery. Why? Because gambling is a game of chance and your actions have no real impact on whether or not that particular goal is achieved. The best type of goal setting is that which is done with a certain degree of practicality.

A plan of action is the first important step toward goal setting. For instance, an individual who wishes to attend college and needs to save money can work out a budget to earn cash while attending school part time. By enrolling part time, the tuition will be less expensive and even though the degree completion process may take longer, the ultimate goal will be reached in time. This is a good example of positive goal setting.

When working out a goal setting plan, it is important to choose one that is realistic. A poor example would be saving enough to become a millionaire within a specified amount of time and no real way of coming up with the funds needed to save. There is nothing wrong with having big dreams and trying to reach impressive goals, but it is very important that they not be unattainable. If an individual were to participate in a goal setting exercise at an unrealistic level and that plan were to fail, depression would surely result. In order to avoid this negative emotional impact, practicality is the key to positive goal setting.

Once goals are set, it is important to stay focused. This means being careful with funds if the goal is one that involves finances. An example would be saving a down payment for a home and seeing a snazzy new sports car that catches the eye. An individual who stays focused on their goal of home ownership will feel much more rewarded than those who give in to the temptation of a quick purchase, which is likely to result in buyers remorse.

Goal setting is an important part of everyday life. Whether its a homework assignment that needs completion, a work project that has to be done by the end of the day or a financial goal that needs reaching, effective planning will help even the most challenging goal become closer to being reached.

Every woman who reaches mid-life that halfway stop where dreams have been either realized or abandoned looks around and wonders, Whats next? The kids are grown, the career is schlepping along and you wake up each day feeling just a little bit lost. What happened to the life you imagined when you were twenty-one, with all those years ahead of you? The good news: theyre still ahead of you. Women have the capacity to live two, or more, different and equally exciting lifetimes. Dreams and visions tend to morph over time. Guided by family and career experiences, we gain wisdom and perspective that was not possible for us in those early years. Amazingly, the future we perceive now is much more attainable because of those experiences. Stoke the Fire Promise yourself that from this moment on you will:1. Live and work a passionate life. What excites you right now, today? If its travel, promise yourself youll travel at least once a year, if only on weekends or to nearby, unexplored towns. If you yearn to pursue a latent talent, such as writing or music, make that pursuit a priority. If you crave a new career, look for opportunities to fan that flame.
2.Go for it or reject it outright. Make a plan and execute it. Quickly decide to go full-speed in pursuing your vision or to reject it and come up with a new goal you can attain. 3.Take action every day. Jump in! Spend 15 minutes daily on your action plan. Write only one page a day and you can finish a book in a year, but sitting down to write an entire book can feel too daunting to even begin. Start small, start now.4.Be a success student for life. Immerse yourself in a vision of your future and seek out the knowledge that will bring you to the next level. A travel enthusiast could learn about the culture, take a cooking class or host an exchange student. To expand your career or business, find a mentor or request new challenges outside of your daily job description. 5.Believe you can do anything. Believing is 90% of the win. If you believe that your next 40 years can be whatever you want to make them, no matter the challenges or what anyone else tells you, you will succeed.
The magic of these Five Promises is that they are not complex, they can work for any goal and, most importantly, they will instill the confidence necessary to succeed. By reaffirming these Five Promises every day, any woman can stoke the midlife fire and reinvent her life.