First of Things

Don't Use Your Facebook Profile for Work "Use a Facebook page to promote your business, and keep your Facebook profile for actual friends and family only. Many people make the mistake of blurring the line and they're left with the worst of both worlds: They can't promote on Facebook because they'll annoy their friends, and they can't be too personal for fear of coming across as unprofessional with prospects. Separate the two. " Schedule Your Life, Too "Reserve personal time in your schedule for activities that allow you to recharge and that add value, such as daily exercise, a weekly date or social night, family activities and vacation. You will not only have something to look forward to, but by reserving personal time you will have extra motivation to manage your time well so you do not have to cancel on others -- or yourself!" Start and Stop on Time "I used to let my business drive all over my personal life because I didn&

When you add up all the course work and social opportunities, the uni experience can be overwhelming, and one of the worst parts is feeling like you have to sacrifice part of your study time for a party or vice versa. But fear not!  The university experience doesn’t have to be all work or all play  – there are ways to have a successful academic career and still have time for fun. The key to making it through is finding a way to balance your studies and social life, by setting realistic expectations, staying organised and having interim goals. Set the right goals A good goal is one you have to stretch to achieve, but is not so unreasonable that you’d have to drop everything else to get there. Try to get into the habit of setting goals not only for your academic life but other parts of your university experience as well. Break your course work into achievable segments.  Instead of waiting until the last minute to study for an exam or start a big project, set intermediate daily o

Some students seem to have little trouble juggling schoolwork and socializing. In many cases, this is because of who they are. Some of us are better than others when it comes to resisting temptations or saying no to peer pressure. Some students, too, worry more about grades and class performance than others do, and they work hard to make academics a priority. To a great degree, this is an acquired skill. Freshmen aren’t accustomed to a typical college schedule which can mean only one or two classes on some days (or even none on others) and deadlines that may be weeks or months away. While their workloads are often gigantic, their free-time periods seem so too, and it’s easy to procrastinate. It often takes a semester or two (or three) to perfect the fine art of knowing how much work to do and when to do it. The college one attends can make a big difference as well. Some places are renowned for their 24/7 parties, while–at the opposite extreme–are schools where strict rules keep so

"Balance" might be the single concept that guides the success or failure of college students. Many students work and desire to have active social lives during their time in school. The ability to keep a balanced focus and schedule in these three areas usually gives students a better chance to experience success. Sponsored link Global MBA Search Engine Start Your MBA Search Today! Over 900 MBA Options: Full-time, Part-time & Online ceo-mag.com Communicate A central ingredient to balance in school is communication. Many employers, especially in prominent college towns, want student workers. They also likely have experience with scheduling around a student's classes and study needs. Communicate upfront that you're a dedicated student and provide your schedule. Discuss with the hiring manager the amount of hours you can reasonably work in a week. Retailers often need students during evenings and weekends, when traditional students often don't have classes.

Do you look at women who have both their work and social lives under control and find yourself asking, "How does she do it?" You can have that type of control, too; it just takes a little balance and guidance. Amanda Alvaro, managing director at Narrative Public Relations, is known by her friends and acquaintances as being "that girl" -- the one who travels and is a woman-about-town, yet manages to run her own successful public relations company. Here she offers six tips on how to create a good work-life balance, without running yourself down. 1. Get mobile "Work doesn't always have to happen from behind a desk," says Alvaro. "Use mobile technology to allow you to unplug and spend an afternoon working from your favourite cafe, local park or cottage dock," she suggests. By putting yourself in comfortable surroundings, you'll likely be more productive and -- though you're working -- you'll feel like you've fit in some &qu

Chandler Parsons has been generating headlines for his struggles on the basketball court, his social media posts about #Chancun and his relationships with actress Bella Thorne and reality television star Savannah Chrisley. Thursday, before heading out on a trip to the two cities where he played before arriving in Memphis, Parsons sat down and talked to me about all of that and more: Q: David Fizdale just said you had a great practice. How did it go? A:  Yeah, there was an emphasis on getting out on the floor and running, Obviously, part of my problem is my knees are sore and it’s been frustrating not feeling like I’m 100 percent and not having the explosiveness, but I think a lot of it is mental. So today I just tried to block a lot of that out and really sprint, really cut, crash the offensive glass, do all those little things that I used to do. I was very productive today. Obviously, I’m not the fastest guy, I’m not the most athletic guy, but I’m smart and I know angles and I

WASHINGTON — Staying active socially despite health-related challenges appears to help lessen the decline in well-being people often experience late in life, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. “Our results indicate that living a socially active life and prioritizing social goals are associated with higher late-life satisfaction and less severe declines toward the end of life,” said study lead author Denis Gerstorf, PhD, of Humboldt University. The research was published in the journal Psychology and Aging. Gerstorf and his colleagues analyzed data from over 2,900 now deceased participants in the nationwide German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) Study (48 percent women, average age at death 74). The German SOEP is a nationally representative annual longitudinal survey of approximately 30,000 adult residents in former West Germany from 1984 to 2013 and former East Germany from 1990 to 2013. Participants in the SOEP provide information annually on

New Delhi : People will have to wait for one more day to know the outcome of exit polls as the Election Commission on Friday postponed their telecast to March 9 evening after elections to one seat each in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are over. The last phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh and Manipur is on March 8. But following the demise of two candidates in the Alapur (UP) and the Karnaprayag (Uttarakhand) constituencies, the Commission had postponed elections there and fixed March 9 as the new date. If candidates of recognised parties-- in this case the SP and the BSP-- die before or on polling day, the election is postponed to allow the party field a new person. According to election laws, exit polls can be telecast half-an-hour after the end of polling in all the phases and states.

London:  It seems that 50 is the golden age of happiness, for a new study has found that it's the key to 'content and comfortable' life. Researchers say many of those who have passed their half century are enjoying the best time of their lives - they have the peace of mind of having paid off their mortgage, got the children off their hands or are simply enjoying spending more time with loved ones and friends. The 'age of happiness', in fact, emerged in a survey which questioned almost 1,500 people aged 50 and over. It has found four out of ten were more content with their lives than at any other period, the 'Daily Mail' reported. Many admitted they enjoyed a sense of achievement from their career and pride in having children who were settled in their chosen careers. More time to spend with family and an active social life were also key factors, the survey found. It also emerged that almost two-thirds of those in their fifties feel more confident

Washington : It may not be a far-fetched idea to replace apple a day with a hug as researchers have found that more frequent hugs protect stressed people from getting sick. The team from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) found that greater social support and more frequent hugs protected people from the increased susceptibility to infection associated with being stressed and resulted in less severe illness symptoms. "We know that people experiencing ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses. We also know that people who report having social support are partly protected from the effects of stress on psychological states, such as depression and anxiety," said Sheldon Cohen, the Robert E. Doherty University professor of psychology at CMU. Cohen and his team chose to study hugging as an example of social support because hugs are typically a marker of having a more intimate and close relationship with another person. They assessed the perceiv

Mutual funds ask investors to provide contact details, such as email ID and mobile number, to send across timely alerts and other useful information. Application forms contain fields for filling these critical contact details which investors tend to ignore as these are not mandatory. A number of facilities are available to those who provide their email IDs and mobile numbers. These include: Alerts and confirmations Almost all mutual funds send email alerts for routine transactions, such as SIPs, which serve as a reminder to ensure availability of funds. Transaction confirmation in a particular account sent by email serves as confirmation of transaction initiated by the investor and also alerts the investor in case of any unauthorised activity in the account. Self-management tools Today’s informed investors are keen on updated information regarding their portfolios, require statements to help file returns and want to check the details of transactions in their folios during v

2016 has been a good year for India's mutual fund sector, reaching an asset size of Rs 13 trillion and seeing a strong return of retail (small) investors. N K Prasad, president and chief executive officer at Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), a prominent transfer agency in the sector, talks about this and his entity's outlook to Chandan Kishore Kant. Edited excerpts: How has 2016 been for MFs? The sector experienced continued growth, with significant inflow from existing and new investors. Assets under management (AUM) touched an all-time high of Rs 13 lakh crore. Growing investor interest is evident in the form of growth in active accounts and increased systematic investment registrations. What have you done on the rising opportunity for providing a smooth experience for investors and distributors? With AMCs (asset management companies) and distributors focused on promoting the awareness about MFs, we are seeing increased contribution from smaller cities and

How CAMS and the fund houses with operations in Chennai dealt with the recent flood in Chennai to minimise delays and disruptions The extraordinary deluge of rains that Chennai received in the first week of December, the highest in a century, proved to be a trial-by-fire for the city's disaster-management plans. And the government as well as private institutions failed the test. Subscribe to the Value Research Insight newsletter On the critical days from December 2 to 5, airports and stations were shut, ATMs were inoperable and phone and data connections were severed. Power supply failed in many parts of the city. But how did the mutual-fund (MF) industry weather the deluge? Value Research spoke to three well-known entities in the MF industry which run significant operations out of Chennai - CAMS, the registrar and transfer agent (RTA); Franklin Templeton Investments (India), which has key fund-management and investor-servicing operations situated in Chennai; and Sundaram Mutua

If you have not been investing in direct plans of mutual funds (MF) because of the cumbersome procedure, you can consider doing so now. From January, you can transact in direct plans of MFs online through the MF Utility platform. You can transact in direct plans of up to 25 fund houses, which are linked to MF Utility. Till now, it was possible to invest in direct plans physically. If you wanted to do it online, you had to do it through websites of individual fund houses, which means keeping track of multiple user IDs and passwords. Also, you had to get used to multiple web implementations/procedures of various fund houses. Or you could do it through platforms such as myCAMS. The MF Utility platform is one more option to transact in direct plans online. “Only investors who are educated, understand investment and don't require advisors' advice choose direct plans,” says an industry official. Direct plans have not picked up even two years after they were introduced. Industry

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 1: The decision by Life Insurance Corporation, the country’s largest insurer, to maintain its own records in digitised format may force insurance repositories to either shut down or alter their business plans. The five insurance repositories operating in the market are NSDL Database Management, Central Insurance Repository, CAMS Repository Services, SHCIL Projects, and Karvy Insurance Repository. Incidentally, SHCIL recently decided to exit the insurance repository (IR) business. Confirming the development, Pandula Sreelakshmi, COO of SHCIL Projects, said: “We will be exiting the insurance repository business as we feel having a corporate agency licence will make more sense from a business perspective.” “Stock Holding provides wealth management (services) across all financial products to our clients in the retail segment. As an insurance repository, we were unable to offer insurance products to our clients. With the corporate agency licence, we will be able to p

Telangana is the first state to accept digital motor insurance covers; Irdai expects all states to follow by next year If there is one thing less that is going to clutter the glove compartment of your car, it’s your car insurance policy. The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) launched its digital motor insurance policy for all vehicles called e-Vahan Bima. Through this you don’t have to carry physical documents of your car insurance policy, you can just store the policy in your mobile and show it to the police when asked for policy papers. Telangana has become the first state to accept the digital policy format from 2 January. Irdai hopes that e-Vahan will be implemented across all states by 2017. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a third-party motor insurance is mandatory for all plying vehicles. Third-party insurance covers damage to life or property of a third-party by an insured vehicle. Other than third-party, a comprehensive motor policy als

MUMBAI: Investors have latched on to Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) of mutual funds in a big way in 2015-16. Data from CAMS shows that new SIP registrations for the financial year were 29.79 lakhs, up by 26% over the previous year.  Live SIPs are up to 57.95 lakhs up by 32% and the average SIP size has moved up marginally from Rs 3368 to Rs 3450. CAMS serviced funds cover 61% of the mutual fund industry.  "The Growth of SIPs indicates rising interest of investors towa ..  Wealth managers point to a number of reasons for the sharp rise in SIPs. "Lower deposit rates in banks and small savings have forced investors to look out for alternative investments and many first time investors some started investing in equities through SIPs," says Amol Joshi, Founder, Plan Rupee Investments. Some distributors believe that though it is incorrect to see past returns while investing, many investors tend to do so. Over the last year, past returns for equity funds for ..