Tuesday 28 March 2017

10 Ways To Organize Your Thoughts and Never Lose Ideas Again

Reflections.

10 Ways To Organize Your Thoughts and Never Lose Ideas Again
Daniel Wallen

Have you ever experienced a burst of inspiration so brilliant that you couldn’t resist proclaiming, “Eureka!” ? These light-bulb moments are an amazing thing to experience
but they are a moot point if you forget about your idea before you have the chance to act on it.
Keep reading to check out ten ways to organize your thoughts and never lose ideas again.

1. Keep a notebook in your car
If you have a pen and paper in your car at all times, you’ll be able to make a mad dash
to your vehicle to write down your thoughts before they vanish no matter where you are.

2. Type a text
On-the-go and hit with a flourish of an idea? Grab your phone and send a quick message
to yourself of the key points just in case you need to jog your memory later.

3. Call a friend
Surely you have a friend who you tell everything to, right? Let’s say you’re driving your car,
a situation where texting and writing obviously aren’t smart things to do. I would encourage to keep your call short so you can focus on the road, but dial up your friend and exclaim, “you’ll never believe the amazing thing I just thought of!” Tell them all about it, ask for their input just in case
they have any ideas that would make it even better. Saying your idea out loud will make it much less likely you will forget, and you can always call your friend later if you need a reminder.
This is just a little bit illegal in the UK if you are holding your mobile.

4. Address an email to yourself
If you’re at the office and have a cluttered desk where an idea on paper would quickly get lost
in the shuffle, you could send an email to your personal account
so you’ll have access to your idea as soon as you get home.

5. Keep a pen and paper on your bedside table
Have you ever woke up in a daze with a vivid memory of a fascinating dream that vanished
within one minute of your feet hitting the ground? Avoid forgetting your dreams by writing them down as soon as you stir awake. Since dreams tend to speak about who we are on a deep level,
you can use them to fine inspiration for ideas in the real world.

6. Compile your ideas in one place
The first five points will help you grab a fleeting idea before it runs away, but if you’re a busy person who has a lot of stuff to do, you’ll need to take a moment to compile all of your ideas
in a single place. No matter which methods you use–text, email, notebook, recording, or whatever the case may be– open a spreadsheet or document to compile your ideas in a single location.

7. Organize your ideas by topic
Now that your ideas are compiled, let’s organize them in a way that makes sense.
Our brains are full of thoughts about a limitless variety of things,
so let’s filter them by topic so you don’t get overwhelmed.
You could use categories such as Things to Write About, Books to Read, Places to Visit, etc.

8. Cut the losers
Not all ideas are created equally.
 While something might have sounded like a great idea at the time, it could look silly in retrospect. Go ahead and delete the losers so you will be more likely to act on the winners.

9. Make them actionable
The best idea in the world is of no use if you don’t take action to make it reality.
 Look at your list of ideas and ask yourself the following questions:
How can I make this relevant to my daily life?
Which ideas would be most beneficial for me to act on today?
Is there a common theme emerging here?
If so, how could I combine these ideas together to make them more powerful?
If you have a hard time getting yourself to take action

10. Boost your health
A healthy and well-rested body is more capable of retaining information than an unhealthy
and exhausted one. Make sure you exercise at least three days a week, eat your fruits and veggies and get a good night of sleep.

What do you think?
Have you ever had a glorious flash of inspiration that escaped
before you could do anything about it? Isn’t that the most frustrating thing in the world?
It happens to the best of us but if you put these ten steps into action you will never lose ideas again.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/10-ways-organize-your-thoughts-and-never-lose-ideas-again.html

Turbo Charged Reading: Read more>>>Read fast>>>Remember more>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneously recall – or pass that exam.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com   gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.ourbusinessminds.blogspot.com   development, growth, management. www.mreenhunthappyartaccidents.blogspot.com      just for fun.
To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.

Wednesday 22 March 2017

IELTS 3 Reading Strategies

Vibrant sea evening.


Is the IELTS Reading section very challenging for you?
Can't finish all the readings and questions before the time is up?

In this lesson, you will learn three approaches to the IELTS Reading section and their pros and cons. The goal of this lesson is to help you finish the test on time without compromising your
understanding of the readings. Learn how to read less while answering more questions correctly.  After watching, make sure to do the quiz to test your understanding. Good luck on your test!
http://www.engvid.com/ielts-3-reading...
http://www.GoodLuckIELTS.com/

TRANSCRIPT
Hi again. Welcome back to www.engvid.com.
I'm Adam. Today's lesson is about IELTS. As usual, with IELTS lessons,
I will be speaking a little bit faster than normal. It's good for your listening practice. But if you're not taking the IELTS, you can still listen and try to follow us as we go through this section.

So, let's begin. Today, I'm going to look at the IELTS reading section.
I'm going to look at three different approaches to tackling the IELTS reading section.
Students always ask me: "What should I do with the reading? How do I do it? How can I finish 
on time? How can I answer more questions?" Right? So I'm going to give you three approaches,
three different ways to try to do the IELTS. Okay? We're going to look at three different ways. They're completely different from each other.

The most important thing I want to tell you before we start: you have to know what works
for you. Okay? One of these approaches will work for you; the others may not. Practice all three. If you're comfortable with one and it seems to work for you, and your score seems to be getting better, stick with that one and practice that one. Don't try to do all three each time.

Figure out which one works, and just practice that one the most. Okay?
The most obvious one and the first one we're going to talk about: read the entire passage,
and then tackle the questions. Now, a few things to say, good and bad, about this approach.

So, you have 20 minutes, let's say, that you're going to start from the first passage, you're going to do about 17 minutes; the second passage, you're going to spend 20 minutes; the last passage, you're going to spend 23, 24, 25 minutes. So, you have to do this very fast.

So: can you read the entire passage and do the questions in that timeframe? Okay?
That's the question you must ask yourself. Are you a fast reader?
Can you comprehend everything you're reading? How is your vocabulary? Things like this.
Some people, they must read everything, from beginning to end, and then go to the questions. 
But they can also keep; they can retain the information they've read,
so when they go to the questions, they know where to go back and look for the answers.

Now, the good part about this is that you have all the information in your head once you've read the entire passage. The bad part is that you're going to be reading the passage twice. Okay?
Or not the whole passage, but you're going to read big chunks of the passage twice.
You'll have read it the first time, you'll go to the questions, and then you'll be reading again
to find the answers, because you're looking for specific words now. When you get to the questions, sometimes it's only one word difference from what you read in the passage.

So, do I recommend this? Yes and no. If you're a fast reader and you can comprehend,
then yes, do that. If you're not a fast reader, then no, don't do this.
You'll be wasting too much time and reading more than you need to.
What I'm going to do with these two approaches is show you how to read less.
So you don't need to read the entire passage;
you just need to read the areas that contain the answers to the questions.
So, the second approach: go straight to the questions. You look at the question. First of all, understand the type of the question. Is it a multiple choice? Is it a fill-in-the-blank, like a summary? Are you looking for like headings for each paragraph? Are you looking for the title? Etc. Figure out what you're looking for, read the question carefully, pick out the keywords in the question or the key idea in the question, and then scan the passage. Don't read the passage.
Just quickly look everywhere for where that information ought to be.

Turbo Charged Reading: Read more>>>Read fast>>>Remember more>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR music, poetry or self development material for internal knowing.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com  gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
www.ourbusinessminds.blogspot.com   development, growth, management. www.mreenhunthappyartaccidents.blogspot.com      just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Thursday 16 March 2017

When You Start To Read More, These 10 Things Will Happen

Field scabious.
When You Start To Read More, These 10 Things Will Happen
Annie Mueller

I have a confession. I’m an addict.
It’s almost a lifelong thing, really. Since I was a kid. I should be embarrassed… but I’m not.
I should get help… but I won’t.
I’ll just go back to the bookstore. Back to the library. Back to my endless queue of ebooks.
Back to my stuffed shelves.
They know me. They love me. I’ve got everything I need here. Why would I stop?
And why wouldn’t you start? When you read more, life expands. Here’s how.

1. You will find a safe way to escape when your own life is depressing, overwhelming, 
or just boring.
No need to turn to drugs or alcohol. Save your money. Get a library card, or start downloading
some of those thousands of ebooks in the public domain. Get wrapped up in a story.
Get lost in another world. Get into a character’s head and out of your own.
It’s instant. It’s economical. It’s portable: your own personal escape route
when things get to be too much.
And who’s going to look down on you for reading a book? You smart thing, you.
I won’t tell them what’s really going on. Promise.

2. You find out that you have a family.
Okay, I know. You have parents and maybe siblings, and maybe a whole slew of aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and whatnot.
Or maybe not.
Maybe you do feel alone in the world, bereft.
Whether you’re a literal orphan or you simply feel like you totally don’t fit into the family you’ve got, becoming an avid reader is a way to find the family you can fit into.
It’s a worldwide, totally open, and really awesome family.
It’s the family of readers. Book lovers. Literary addicts. Bibliophiles. Become one of us,
and you have an extended family that you can find anywhere. There’s a signal, of course,
like a secret family handshake. Just pull out that latest book and read it. That’s all it takes.
We’ll see you.
We’ll know.
We’re always nearby, whenever you need us.

3. You will become part of a timeless, global conversation.
Books are the way that the past communicates with us. And books are the way that we communicate across cultures and national boundaries, across social lines and class divisions.
Books let us enter into each other’s lives and worlds in a completely unobtrusive but immersive way.
Yeah, it’s pretty awesome.
Have you ever wanted to be someone else, to go somewhere else, 
to experience some other life than the one you got?
Books, baby. What are you waiting for?

4. You will learn to talk pretty.
Reading is the most painless way to improve your vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical proficiency.
Did you catch how I just spelled “proficiency” without even looking it up?
Yeah. That comes from reading.
Read more, and you’ll be able to snicker smugly when your friends post status updates
with egregious spelling errors. You can correct their misuse of common words.
You can be the Grammatical Tyrant you’ve always dreamed of being.

5. You will look forward to lines, layovers, and waiting rooms.
This could be the biggest turning point of your life, actually. Instead of tapping your foot impatiently, huffing and sighing like dyspeptic cow, or otherwise displaying your wrath and frustration
 in a socially acceptable way, you can simply… read.
Whatever book you’re currently lost in should be with you, in your pocket or purse.
Pull it out and you’ve got entertainment, companionship, and intellectual stimulation.
All in one handy portable package.
My friend Leigh says that reading gives her “the ability to be happy anytime, anywhere,
even when waiting ridiculously long amounts of time.”
That’s a superpower everybody needs.

6. You will be a nicer person.
You might not care about being a nicer person, but the other people in your life probably do care.
Reading, as my friend Christine put it, “allows me to experience another’s emotions,
which in turn makes me more sensitive to those around me.”
And she’s right.
Maybe you’ve never been a victim of racism, abuse, or poverty. Maybe you don’t know
what unrequited love feels like. Maybe you find it easier to criticize than to sympathize.
Reading won’t take that away entirely (my Criticize-O-Meter is still in good working order,
even after decades as an avid reader) but it will help you to slow down a little bit on the judging.
And speed up a lot on the empathizing.
Because when you live other lives through books, you begin to see the other lives happening
in the world around you. The lives you know nothing about.
And you begin to have a little more understanding. A little more interest.
A little less “us versus them” and a lot more “we’re all in this together.”

7. You will learn stuff.
Even if all you read is fiction, you can learn quite a lot about cultural influence, relationships, history, fear, human psychology, the various expressions of spirituality, the effects of war, the way robots will definitely take over the world, and how superheroes manage to keep their capes clean.
All very useful information.
Want more? Branch out into non-fiction. Biographies, history, current events. No, just kidding; skip the books on current events. Read history instead; you’ll learn more about current events that way.
Philosophy. Psychology. How-to books. Memoirs. Science. Exploration. If you’re interested in it,
you can find a book about it. Probably you can find an entire section of books about it.
And hey, if you can’t find a book about it, maybe you should write one.

8. You will discover that you were dumber than you knew.
In the time prior to your avid reading addiction (also known as
“The Years Which Must Not Be Named”), you thought you had a pretty open mind, didn’t you?
Go ahead, you can admit it. I won’t laugh.
You thought that you knew kind of a lot, and that you had a broad perspective on life,
and a pretty accurate view on the world and how things worked.
And then you started reading.
Maybe the first few books weren’t such a big deal. They probably kept you safely in your comfort zone. But then one of the members of your new reading family gave you a recommendation.
“You’ve got to read this,” she said. “It’s so great. Really.”
So you did.
And you realized that something you thought you knew—really knew, truly and certainly—
was not right at all. You felt the edges along your mind begin to crack open a little bit.
You felt a little light seeping in and you started seeing the interior of your mind the way it really was: dim, dusty, and crowded with a lot of assumptions.
You kept reading, and the more you read, the more those cracks opened up. One by one,
those assumptions slipped and slid out of the cracks. The light grew. The air cleared.
You started populating your mind with different things: images, conversations, perceptions, insights, data. Poetry. Fragments of lives you didn’t live, but somehow experienced through a book.
Emotions that didn’t belong to you, but that you felt just as strongly.
Real things, from the real world, instead of that crumbly old stack of assumptions and expectations.

9. You will be more creative.
As you fill your mind with fresh material from all these books,
something wonderful starts happening.
Your mind wakes up.
Creativity is really all about making connections. The creative people in life, the ones we admire
for their ingenuity, are the ones who can make those connections really well. They have a broad database of knowledge, and they don’t bother keeping the categories separate.
They let poetry seep into science. They let faith and history hang out together.
They understand, in fact, that all those categorizations are imposed. We put labels on things
so that we can feel like we understand them, but sometimes the labels are counterproductive.
Reading helps you tear the labels off.
Reading helps you to fill your mind from as many sources as you want,
and then let all of that beautiful stuff mingle and mix in anyway it wants.

10. You will become more imaginative and less afraid of being weird.
When you read books that are the product of someone else’s imagination,
 you start to trust your own imagination, and use it.
What a great idea! Using that brain, in all of its crazy, unnerving, glorious potentiality.
Reading will help you do that. If you feel like your mind is strange, start reading.
After a few runs through the world of surrealism or science fiction (or surrealistic science fiction),   you will feel like the most normal person in the world.
Who are these crazy people who come up with these weird, fantastical ideas?
Of course, you’ll want to read more. So you will. And then your own imagination will start to blend what you’ve read with the real life you’re living, and you’ll add in your own unique collection
of information, experience, education, and personality. Who knows what will result?
Don’t you want to find out?
Why don’t you have a book open yet?

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/when-you-start-read-more-these-10-things-will-happen.html

Turbo Charged ReadingRead More>>>Read fast>>>Remember more>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR specialist and language dictionaries that are spontaneously accessed.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube 
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com    gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
 www.ourbusinessminds.blogspot.com   development, growth, management. www.mreenhunthappyartaccidents.blogspot.com      just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.”

Friday 10 March 2017

10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

Standing stone at Avebury UK

10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day
Lana Winter-Hébert

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article?
Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions
on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit
of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits,
and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

1. Mental Stimulation
Studies have shown that staying mentally stimulated can slow the progress of (or possibly even prevent) Alzheimer’s and Dementia, since keeping your brain active and engaged prevents it
from losing power. Just like any other muscle in the body, the brain requires exercise
to keep it strong and healthy, so the phrase “use it or lose it” is particularly apt
when it comes to your mind. Doing puzzles and playing games such as chess 
have also been found to be helpful with cognitive stimulation.

2. Stress Reduction
No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story.
A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you 
and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

3. Knowledge
Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know
when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are
to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.
Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health—knowledge can never be taken from you.

4. Vocabulary Expansion
This goes with the above topic: the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to,
and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. 
Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession, and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem.
It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable
on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.
Reading books is also vital for learning new languages, as non-native speakers gain exposure
to words used in context, which will ameliorate their own speaking and writing fluency.

5. Memory Improvement
When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave
their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvellous things
and can remember these things with relative ease. Amazingly enough, every new memory you create forges new synapses (brain pathways)and strengthens existing ones,
which assists in short-term memory recall as well as stabilizing moods. How cool is that?

6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills
Have you ever read an amazing mystery novel, and solved the mystery yourself
before finishing the book? If so, you were able to put critical and analytical thinking to work
by taking note of all the details provided and sorting them out to determine “whodunnit”.
That same ability to analyze details also comes in handy when it comes to critiquing the plot; determining whether it was a well-written piece, if the characters were properly developed,
if the storyline ran smoothly, etc. Should you ever have an opportunity to discuss the book
with others, you’ll be able to state your opinions clearly,
as you’ve taken the time to really consider all the aspects involved.

7. Improved Focus and Concentration
In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once
as we multi-task through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide
 their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people
(via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behaviour causes stress levels to rise, and lowers our productivity.
When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world
just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing.
Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

8. Better Writing Skills
This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published,
well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity,
and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work. In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters,
so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

9. Tranquillity
In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject
you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility.
Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm,
 while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from
certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

10. Free Entertainment
Though many of us like to buy books so we can annotate them and dog-ear pages for future reference, they can be quite pricey. For low-budget entertainment, you can visit
your local library and bask in the glory of the countless tomes available there for free.
Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock
and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials.
If you happen to live in an area that doesn’t have a local library, or if you’re mobility-impaired
and can’t get to one easily, most libraries have their books available in PDF or ePub format
so you can read them on your e-reader, iPad, or your computer screen. There are also many sources online where you can download free e-books, so go hunting for something new to read!
There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie
in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books,
self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book,
and replenish your soul for a little while.
http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/10-benefits-reading-why-you-should-read-everyday.html


Turbo Charged Reading: Read more>>>Read fast>>>Remember more>>>Years later
Contact M’reen at: read@turbochargedreading.com

You can TCR software and engineering manuals for spontaneously recall – or pass that exam.
I can Turbo Charge Read a novel 6-7 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
I can TCR an instructional/academic book around 20 times faster and remember what I’ve read.
Introduction to Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
A practical overview of Turbo Charged Reading YouTube  
How to choose a book. A Turbo Charged Reading YouTube
Emotions when Turbo Charged Reading YouTube

Advanced Reading Skills Perhaps you’d like to join my FaceBook group ?

Perhaps you’d like to check out my sister blogs:
www.innermindworking.blogspot.com  gives many ways for you to work with the stresses of life
 www.ourbusinessminds.blogspot.com   development, growth, management. www.mreenhunthappyartaccidents.blogspot.com      just for fun.

To quote the Dr Seuss himself, “The more that you read, the more things you will know.
The more that you learn; the more places you'll go.

Saturday 4 March 2017

The Top 10 Most Useless Degrees (And Why)

Spear Thistle.

The Top 10 Most Useless Degrees (And Why)
Sean Kim

Contents:
Quick Summary
False sense of security
Misalignment of goals
Better alternatives
1. Advertising
2. Music
3. Computer Science
4. Creative Writing
5. Philosophy
6. Communication
7. Education
8. Languages
9. Criminal Justice
10. Entrepreneurship
In Conclusion
Over to you

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering how valuable your current degree will be
for your career. Or maybe you’re a high school senior, debating which degree to pursue.
As someone who has extensively researched the value of a degree before deciding to 
drop out of university, let me share my two cents on the matter. It may shift your perspective.
Before we go over the 10 most useless degrees in college,
let’s go over some major gaps that apply towards pursuing a degree in the first place.

False sense of security
Growing up, we were promised the illusion of the golden ticket.
We are told to earn a paper degree, and watch the opportunities roll in.
This may have been true 30–40 years ago, where only 26% of middle-class workers had a degree. Today, when almost everyone has a college degree (if not a Master’s),
its value is increasingly becoming a commodity rather than an asset.
As a result, the golden ticket we were promised rarely leads to our desired job upon graduation,
if at all. According to the U.S Department of Labor, 53.6% of college graduates
under the age of 25 are either unemployed or underemployed.

Misalignment of goals
This may be harsh to hear for some people, but most college professors
don’t have your best interest as their priority. There’s two reasons for that.
The first is the increasing number of professor to student ratio, where some lecture halls seat
over 500+ students per professor. This makes it incredibly difficult to develop a genuine relationship. This also leads to receiving general and unspecific advice from professors.
The second reason is that most professors have their research and tenure as a higher priority
than helping students get the best education for their career.
Many professors are using the institution’s facilities and resources for their own research,
and are teaching as part of their contract.
There’s rarely a good outcome if there’s a misalignment in any relationship.

Better alternatives
The good news to all of this is: you’re in control.
There’s better alternatives and more opportunities than before, from getting practical experience,
to leveraging new social communities, even avoiding the degree as a whole — the list just goes on.
With each of the most useless degrees I mention below,
I’ll share an alternative you could explore in lieu of your 4-year journey.

1. Advertising
Don Draper may have been “the man” back in 1960; however, with the rise of technology,
the advertising industry is shifting faster than ever. The core reason for this is that
we’re no longer living in the billboard/banner ad age. Consumers have all the power today.
We can choose what we pay attention to and what we tune out.
Many companies question the ROI of advertising as a whole, big agencies are struggling
in a world of free media, and new social networks are popping up every year.
Alternative: Stay ahead of new media trends and learn everything you can about it,
from new social networks, to marketing channels, etc.
Become an expert and share the actual results you’ve received with potential employers or clients. Results will be the only thing that matters.

2. Music
Music is different from advertising since its theory stands the test of time.
However, that in itself is the problem: it’s only theory.
If your goal is to one day become a professional musician, learning about its history
and the musical terms and instruments is not going to accelerate your success. 
As Malcolm Gladwell proclaims in his book, “The Outlier”, what made The Beatles become
one of the greatest bands in history was the 10,000 hours of practice they had in their early stages.
Alternative: If you want to be a performer in any industry, from musician, to comedian,
to keynote speaker: put in the hours. Form your own band. Find every opportunity to get on stage and become the performer you want to be, not an expert in musical theory.

3. Computer Science
Technology is almost always ahead of traditional education.
This poses a big contradiction if you’re trying to stay ahead of the latest trends
that will help you be in demand of great companies upon graduation.
Be clear with your end goal. Are you looking to learn how computers work,
 or are you looking to be recruited by the Google’s of the world?
Alternative: Assuming most of you reading this are looking to learn how to code,
it’s easier than ever to do this on your own. Check out free platforms such as Codeacademy or Treehouse, and apply it directly by building your own website.

4. Creative Writing
If you’re looking to express your creative mindset, this degree isn’t it.
The first reason is that most professors frown upon modern fiction, and would rather teach you 
about how it was done in the 1800s. The second is, the only compensated positions
that most “creative writers” end up at is writing Top 10 lists for the Internet. 
There’s better ways to spend 4 years learning how to express yourself.
Alternative: One is, start your own blog. This not only helps you get real practical experience
on expressing and condensing your mind, but you can also receive immediate feedback from your audience. Here’s the cherry on top of the sundae, if you manage to build a large enough audience, you can potentially make enough money to be your own boss!

5. Philosophy
Philosophy is the go-to degree when discussing the most useless degrees.
This isn’t to dismiss the importance of philosophy, as many influential thinkers such as Tim Ferriss use Stoic Philosophy as a framework for making better decisions. The problem is the way
it’s being taught. Professors choose theoretical topics of philosophy that will stir debate
and discussion, which rarely applies to our real day-to-day lives.
Alternative: There’s books available, such as “The Obstacle is the Way,” on practical philosophy
that will help you make better decisions in life. If you want to learn about
the history of Philosophy, there are hundreds of books available on that as well.

6. Communication
If you need a communication degree to prove you can communicate,
then you haven’t fully experienced college.
College is where you discover the necessary communication skills to nurture relationships, develop the ability to communicate with new people, and learn about your communication strengths and weaknesses. You’ll learn far more about communication from opening yourself up
to meeting new people in your college than spending 4 years about how to talk.
Alternative: Create your own podcast. Find a topic that you’re passionate about
and start interviewing people.
As ironic as it may sound, the best communicators of the world are not the best speakers.
Instead, the people who can ask interesting questions and know how to listen
make the best communicators. On top of that, podcasting will help you connect with influential people in your industry, which is a far better strategy of landing your dream job than a degree.

7. Education
Do you want to become a great teacher, have an impact, and share your message
with students? Well, you may be disappointed to hear that most teachers receive a nominal salary compared to their relative value. Why not get paid what you’re worth, while potentially impacting millions of students around the world versus a few hundred in your local city?
Alternative: Today, anyone can become a teacher. You can share a practical skill you’ve developed with others, or you can teach people how to shoot photography, how to learn a new language,
and more by creating your own Youtube channel, creating your own online course,
or signing up for a teaching platform. The opportunities are endless with the rise of online teaching.

8. Languages
As globalization increases at an exponential rate, learning a new language is not only a great asset
to have on your resume, but it’s also quickly becoming a necessity. Despite its increasing importance, it doesn’t require an investment of $30,000 to learn the history and literature
of the language from a non-native speaking professor. In fact, it’s unlikely you’ll ever use
most of the theoretical knowledge you learn about languages in the real world.
Alternative: Much like computer science, you don’t need to learn a language inside and out
just in order to speak it fluently. There are existing language learning platforms like Rype that are 0.1% of the investment for a college degree. This platform matches you with a native speaking language coach for one-on-one teaching, rather than learning in a lecture hall with 300 other students.

9. Criminal Justice
Most people entering this degree are looking to become a detective, police officer, or enter law. 
If that’s the case, earning a degree in Criminal Justice may not be the way to go.
According to the BLS, police officers and detective are not necessarily required to have a degree beyond their high school diploma. This is because most of the practical knowledge is earned
upon joining the academy through sponsored on-the-job training.
Alternative: If your goal is to enter law, there are better degrees that will train you
for getting into law school. In fact, law school expert Ann Levine states that Criminal Justice
is not considered academically rigorous by major law schools. Instead, Levine recommends
a degree like political science, that requires research, serious thought, and analysis.

10. Entrepreneurship
Learning entrepreneurship through a textbook is like watching a video on how to ride a bicycle without riding it. This bit of advice comes from personal experience. Every successful entrepreneur will tell you that entrepreneurship cannot be taught, it must be experienced. 
The calculated risk-taking, mental struggles, and hustle aren’t learned from a textbook,
 they come from being in the battlefield.
Alternative: The easiest alternative is to start your own business. This could be a side business
you start, or something as simple as selling items on Ebay. The last thing you want to do is study
the works of successful entrepreneurs without living it your own.

In Conclusion
“Ideas are easy.
 It’s the execution of ideas that really separates the sheep from the goats.” — Sue Grafton
Despite the points mentioned in this article, your college experience is something to be cherished. You’ll learn far more from the overall experience than inside the classroom.
The problem is not college itself, it’s our preconceived mindset of relying on some
of the most useless degrees to make or break our careers.
Most of us will end up working in professions that have nothing to do with our degrees.
Think about what your intention and end goals are by entering your degree of study.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years upon graduation? How will this degree help you get there? 
Is it a degree that top employers are looking for?
Or are there specific skill-sets that you want to develop to improve yourself?
Most importantly, you should use college as the time to explore yourself, take risks,
and learn your strengths and weaknesses. It’s one of the first and only times you’ll have the freedom to make risky decisions with no real downsides. 
College can become the best experience of your life. Choosing the right degree is only one part of it.
Over to you

http://www.lifehack.org/307094/the-top-10-most-useless-degrees-and-why

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