{"id":4123,"date":"2020-06-13T15:07:49","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T14:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/?p=4123"},"modified":"2020-06-13T15:11:29","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T14:11:29","slug":"bettering-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/bettering-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Bettering Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It&#8217;s been a crazy time this year so far. All the sudden forced changes to our lifestyle have directly affected those aspects sitting at the bottom of the Maslow pyramid we can&#8217;t just go without. Now, there is <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/uk\/home-news\/black-lives-matter-protest-uk-live-london-churchill-statue-racism-today-a9564401.html\" target=\"_blank\">social unrest<\/a> too. If there is something that I&#8217;ve learnt over the past few months is that paying more attention to the present than to the future is the best way to bettering yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/maslowpyramid.png\" alt=\"Malsow pyramid during lockdown\" class=\"wp-image-4127\" width=\"305\" height=\"245\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>How do we know if what we&#8217;re doing right now is what we need to do? Reflecting on times past, I&#8217;ve remembered that the little actions I took without over thinking did help me going forward. Hope the below helps you too. What has helped you during this period?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bettering your skill set<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One way I have kept focus is by taking courses and listening to podcasts. There has been a significant increase of online learning during the past few months. According to the World Economic Forum, <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.weforum.org\/agenda\/2020\/04\/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning\/\" target=\"_blank\">online education is projected to reach $350 billion by 2025<\/a>. Almost a quarter of the UK workforce have sought out new learning opportunities to boost employability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, I&#8217;ve just loved how many companies and Universities have stepped up to help those out of work offering free or discounted courses all over the world. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/nationalcareers.service.gov.uk\/find-a-course\/the-skills-toolkit\" target=\"_blank\">DfE<\/a> have launched The Skills Toolkit, with courses run by different  companies like <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/learndigital.withgoogle.com\/digitalgarage-au\" target=\"_blank\">Google&#8217;s Digital Garage<\/a><\/li><li>Companies like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluearrayacademy.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Blue Array<\/a> have offered their specialist tecnical courses to those marketers out of work due to Covid<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What else?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of us have interpreted this idea of <em>bettering <\/em>ourselves as learning new skills. Surpirisingly, I haven&#8217;t heard so much about enhancing our existing skill set or learning to relax. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Watching Netflix isn&#8217;t the only way to relax, and it can contribute to make us feel lethargic. It is great that some <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/coronavirus-live-updates\/2020\/04\/24\/844831202\/these-pay-tv-services-and-more-are-offering-free-access?t=1592053746877\" target=\"_blank\">TV channels and streaming servies have offered free streaming<\/a>  and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lovemoney.com\/news\/94655\/best-freebies-perks-during-coronavirus-lockdown-free-musicals-tv-audiobooks-games-comics\" target=\"_blank\">other perks<\/a>. But, there is so much more out there. Here some of the activities that have helped me coping, apart from <a href=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/baking-frenzy\/\">cooking<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Free and paid for yoga and <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/2HZOlitp8M?amp=1\" target=\"_blank\">meditation courses<\/a> on Zoom, like those run by Briony Gunson<\/li><li><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/ntlive.nationaltheatre.org\" target=\"_blank\">The National Theatre<\/a>, fundraising for those badly affected by the lockdown, and the Royal Opera House are streaming some of their performances for free on You Tube. <\/li><li>Instagram is streaming small gigs, monologues and ven cooking lessons run by the likes of Tan France from Queer Eye or Massimo Bottura, who&#8217;s been nominated for a Webby award for his fun and lovely <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"http:\/\/massimobottura.it\" target=\"_blank\">Quarantine Kitchen series<\/a>.<\/li><li>Musicians have done fundraisers, like Lily Ray, a <a href=\"https:\/\/lilyray.nyc\/dj-lily-ray\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NY based dj<\/a> who I recommend listening and dancing to.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"216\" height=\"46\" src=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/signature.png\" alt=\"A Londoner from Afar\" class=\"wp-image-541\"\/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s been a crazy time this year so far. All the sudden forced changes to our lifestyle have directly affected those aspects sitting at the bottom of the Maslow pyramid <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/bettering-yourself\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[588,341],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bettering Yourself - A Londoner from Afar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"See courses, music and other resources to help you during lockdwon. 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