I've written in the past about high performance computing in Western Massachusetts.
I had the opportunity today to visit the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, MA. A small group of us toured the Center with new University of Massachusetts President Robert Caret.
As a UMass Amherst grad (Class of 1979) I have to admit it was pretty cool to be among the group to introduce Dr Caret to High Performance Computing in the Pioneer Valley. I'd like to thank MGHPCC Executive Director John Goodhue for the invite to this special event. Here's a few pics I snapped during the tour.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
New UMass President and Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center
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Labels: computing, Education, Green, High, Performance, technician, Technology
Monday, November 2, 2009
Green High Performance Computing: Ping, Power and Pipe
On October 21 I was at our National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education annual conference in Washington, DC. Green was the theme of of this year's conference with sessions on everything from bio-fuels, wind power, photovoltaics, computer virtualization and storage. Back at home there was another green event happening in Holyoke, MA that I had to miss. Governor Deval Patrick came out to Holyoke Community College to discuss his continued support and announce the go ahead for the planned construction of the regions first high performance computer center in a new "innovation" district located in Holyoke, MA. Partners in the project include Cisco, EMC (both companies also in attendance at our NSF conference in Washington, DC), MIT, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts.
- In 1847, taking advantage of the broad plain and the 57 foot drop in the Connecticut River at South Hadley Falls, work began on a planned industrial City. Construction of Holyoke's first wooden dam began in 1847 under the Hadley Falls Company.
- As Holyoke matured, it began to diversify industrially. Four and a half miles of canals were dug by pick and shovel through the lower wards, and all types of products were manufactured along their banks.
- Textiles were the first major product of the City, quickly followed by paper. Within 30 years, Holyoke would become known as the "Paper City of the World".
- From its highs of the 1920's industry showed a gradual decline in overall employment. Many labor and energy intensive firms followed the national pattern, and moved to the South and West, to be nearer raw materials and cheaper labor. The remaining industries took advantage of Holyoke's unique resources, especially her highly skilled labor force and plentiful water for power and process uses.
- Although many of the paper mills left, many specialty paper producers have remained.
There is still considerable work to be done with the next step over the next couple of months an executed purchase and sale agreement. According to the MassTech.org piece, 80 different sites in the Holyoke canal district are being considered for the center.
I live across the Connecticut River in South Hadley and drive through the canal district every day back and forth to work at Springfield Technical Community College. The canals and old buildings are beautiful and I love the ride - I'm looking forward to the watching the center, innovation district and area transition and grow.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Green, High Performance Computing, Holyoke, Massachusetts, Technology
Monday, October 18, 2010
Paper City Goes Green High Performance Computing - Holyoke, MA
I've been swamped with proposal work - the end of this week is a a major National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education submission deadline - and have not had a chance to write about the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center groundbreaking in Holyoke, MA held on October 5.
I've written about this project in the past - the idea was launched over a year ago by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Massachusetts, Harvard University, Boston University, and Northeastern University. Each school kicked in $10 million and Massachusetts kicked in $25 million from a state fund that provides money to improve roads and other public works to support economic development. At the groundbreaking both Cisco and EMC announced $2.5 million contributions to the project for a total of $80 million committed.
I've been fortunate to have been involved with the planning process (on a technician / workforce / education / economic development level) and it's been interesting to watch the process and progress of the center. Some said it would never happen but - the ground was broken a couple of weeks ago so...... it's happening!
The center has the potential to turn around the first industrially designed city in the U.S. Holyoke was built around a series of man-made canals extending from the Connecticut River that were designed to provide water power to run paper mills. Holyoke once had so many paper mills it's nickname was (and still is) "Paper City". Most of those mills shut down years ago but now - new life for an old New England mill town.
Governor Deval Patrick missed the ground breaking because he was out on Cape Cod, attending the funeral of PFC Clinton E. Springer II who had died in Kabul, Afghanistan on September 24.
The Governor did come to Holyoke after the funeral though and got the chance to attend a Town Meeting following the groundbreaking. We had John Reynolds there with his camera and he got some great video of the Holyoke Mayor Elaine A. Pluta and Governor Patrick.
I don't think I've ever been this excited about a technical project - computers, networks, high-performance research including microbiology, genetics, chemistry, physics..... all performed in a green environmentally friendly way. The economic development potential and the kinds of companies and people the center will attract are potentially huge. It will be very interesting to watch. Pretty cool stuff!
To see more pictures, here's a link to my October 5 event Flickr photo set.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: computing, Education, Green, High, Performance, technician, Technology
Friday, May 3, 2024
Community College Engineering Student Transfer
Yesterday I checked in via LinkedIn with a Holyoke Community College Engineering program
graduate who transferred to a nationally ranked top ten engineering university. The student is studying Electrical Engineering there and I asked how things were going. Here’s a screen shot of the response I got with identification information removed – including student name and the transfer university. Pretty cool!
The student compliments my two classes (Circuits 1 and Circuits 2) but there is so much more. Both classes are Calculus and Differential Equations based so the students need to really know their math stuff before I get them. The math, physics and chemistry instruction is exceptional at Holyoke Community College – as it is at so many other community colleges in the country. It is not just the STEM classes that prepare students for my classes though. To get their degree our students need to take additional courses including English Composition, History, Social Sciences and in some cases Business courses. These courses are critical, complementing the technical knowledge, skills and abilities gained in engineering courses, producing well-rounded professionals capable of addressing complex challenges with creativity, empathy, and ethical awareness.
I see it every day with students coming to my classes prepared to learn, solve problems, communicate and understand some pretty complex stuff. Amazing faculty doing amazing things in their classrooms makes it pretty easy for me to teach those classes.
We (community colleges) often face unjust criticism due to misconceptions. Despite offering quality education, we’re sometimes seen as inferior to four-year institutions. We provide valuable opportunities and options with smaller classes, dedicated faculty, and affordable tuition. And let's not forget transfer to four year institutions.
Thanks to the unnamed student – you certainly made the day!
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Community College, Education, Engineering, soft skills, Students, Transfer
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
My MATLAB Course Introduction for Scientists and Engineers
Want to learn more? I’ll be teaching an online MATLAB course at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: algorithms, data analysis, Engineering, Mathematics, models, Science
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Write, Save and Run A Tip Calculator Using MATLAB Scripting
This summer I'm building a series of MathWorks MATLAB (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at Holyoke Community College.
In this video I demonstrate how to write, save and run a tip calculator script in MATLAB. In the next video I'll show you how to transfer the script to your cell phone so you can use it when you eat out!
The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.
Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course, drop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States.
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Labels: dot m, Education, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Engineering, MATLAB, PSpice, script, scripting, STEM, Technology
Monday, May 11, 2020
Engineering Student Design Team Projects at a Distance
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4xOi1GNGNEXYOMas5L-STjpqug2IltoSQoBAFQQM3SDJxZ3mHOO086ssHsgJzZKVxmoRBfFiTyevJ8RVhyphenhyphenZ6h6tQE5zyC1txogWCgtsPqLvqvStEg74lB3LIXSqPoNdQh_TMFtOA6v2lX/s200/Screen+Shot+2020-05-08+at+1.32.02+PM.png)
I wrote about my experience at Hartford in an earlier post - after 20 years they were my introduction back to the traditional age group (18-22) engineering classroom. The last time I had students this age in one of my classes was 1998 and I had no idea what to expect. To say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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8:19 AM
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Labels: Collaboration, Corona, COVID, Education, Engineering, pandemic, teamwork, Technology, Virus
Sunday, May 23, 2021
PSpice Lab Series Video 1
Over the summer I’ll be working on a series of OrCAD PSpice videos. PSpice is one of the most common analog and mixed signal circuit simulator and verification tools used by electrical engineers to rapidly move through the design cycle, from circuit exploration to design development and verification. It is also a lot of fun to play around with!
I’m developing a series of 25-30 online experiments that we’ll be using in my EGR223 - System Analysis (Circuit Analysis 1) and EGR 224 - System Analysis (Circuit Analysis 2) courses at Holyoke Community College. Here’s the first video in the series.
OrCAD has an excellent academic program that provides students and educators with a complete suite of design and analysis tools to learn, teach, and create electronic hardware. If you are a student or educator you can download the software here for free and follow along with my labs. If you are not a student or educator (or perhaps considering) you can download and install a trial version of the software here.
I’ll be teaching the Systems 1 course online in the fall and the Systems 2 course at Holyoke Community College in the spring so if you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking a course with me drop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Electrical, Engineering, hardware, Math, PSpice, Science, simulation, software, Technology
Tuesday, June 14, 2022
MATLAB Basic Functions Video - Restaurant Tip Calculator
This summer I'm creating a series of MathWorks MATLAB (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at Holyoke Community College. Here's a new 4 min 52 sec how-to video using a simple restaurant tip calculation as an example. Full course videos and content will get into the MATLAB app with lots of hands-on practical and fun examples.
The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.
Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course rop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Education, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Engineering, PSpice, STEM, Technology
Friday, August 23, 2024
I'm Retiring From My Full Time Engineering Faculty Position at Holyoke Community College
“Often when you think you’re at the end of something, you’re at the beginning of something
else.” – Fred Rogers
After an enriching and fulfilling career spanning five decades, I am announcing my retirement from my full-time engineering faculty position at Holyoke Community College (HCC) effective August 30, 2024. This decision comes with mixed emotions, as I reflect on the journey that has shaped not only my professional life but also my personal growth.
Teaching has been more than just a job; it has been a vocation that allowed me to inspire and nurture countless students, guiding them through the complexities of engineering principles and practices. My time in academia has been marked by moments of profound satisfaction, seeing students evolve into competent and confident engineers and technologists, ready to make their mark in the world. Each graduation ceremony, each successful project, and each breakthrough in understanding (and of course each belly-flop failure) has reinforced my belief in the power of education.
The field of engineering itself has undergone tremendous transformation during my tenure. From the early days of teaching with chalk and blackboards to leveraging cutting-edge technology and online platforms, I have witnessed and embraced these changes, ensuring that my students received the most current and relevant knowledge. The shift towards digital learning, in particular, has been a remarkable journey, one that demanded continuous adaptation and learning on my part.
Retirement from HCC marks the beginning of a new chapter, where I am eager to channel my energy and expertise into some exciting consultancy projects, writing, mentoring, and of course some part-time teaching. The flexibility will allow me to spend more time with my family and yeah (!) - get in a little more fishing.
Will this be a “sabbatical” or a permanent change? Having experienced "retirement" in the past and not having it “stick”, I've learned to appreciate the unpredictability of life. This journey has taught me to embrace uncertainty and always stay open to whatever opportunities and possibilities the future may bring.
My academic career has been a tapestry woven with dedication, passion, and countless rewarding experiences. I carry with me a wealth of memories and the profound satisfaction of having contributed to the field of engineering and to the lives of so many young minds.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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8:17 AM
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Labels: Education, Engineering, retirement, teaching, Technology
Thursday, July 14, 2022
MATLAB Tip Calculator Fix-Up
This summer I'm building a series of MathWorks MATLAB (short for Matrix Laboratory) videos for an introductory online course I'm putting together at Holyoke Community College.
In this video I fix-up a previously saved tip calculator script in MATLAB. In the next video I'll show you how to transfer the script to your cell phone so you can use it when you eat out!
The course will start from ground zero assuming the student has no experience with MATLAB and work up to some interesting and powerful analysis techniques. Over the summer I’ll be posting additional MATLAB videos as teasers for the complete course.
Want to learn more? Come take a course with me at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course, drop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu Our courses will transfer to most university engineering programs in the United States.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: dot m, Education, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Engineering, MATLAB, PSpice, script, scripting, STEM, Technology
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Congrats Class of 2020!
Final grades went in at Holyoke Community College last week and I’ve finally had a chance to take a little time to get some thoughts down.
It seems like so long ago - thinking back to when we started the spring 2020 semester in January. Who knew what was coming in 6-7 weeks…. March 11 was the Thursday before spring break and when I last met with my Systems 2 (Circuit Analysis) class in person. It was midterm exam day. At the time we had all heard about Corona and were more than a little nervous…. A couple days later we learned we were going “remote” for the rest of the semester….
WOW - 8 weeks, hundreds of hours of online class time, studying, homework and exams. Loss of part time or full time jobs, learning in often non-idea locations and situations, uncertainty about the future, anxiety, for some depression, sleepless or near-sleepless nights, and a whole lot of frustration with your computer, others around when you are trying to get work done and of course your professors…. And now, not having that final chance on graduation day to say goodbye to you classmates and friends. It’s sure been a haul, it’s over now and you made it! It was not supposed to end this way. I’m hoping it was all worth it. It sure has been for me. I’m so proud of all of you that pushed through this.
Your attitude and hard work has been an inspiration that I’ll remember and talk about for a very long time. I know you are all off to different places and I’m sorry I did not get a chance to say goodbye to you all in person. Hoping to see you at the Holyoke Community College virtual celebration in August and seeing you walk across the stage next year with the Class of 2021.
Thank you for all of your hard work and wishing you so much success. I know you got this…. now go do more good work!
CONGRATS Class of 2020!!
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Education, Engineering, pandemic, Success
Friday, April 3, 2020
Some Notes: Week 1 Teaching Full Distance
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWS4JjamDrN9hgOAfpOWW6G-dm9H8IlEVLrWAvJPyXDEeayfU6SqUtGceRSnm3imOV3A1CnNTxrqCRXeYpgPYRKoMdt2qPZATRaJFd_Oy73EfH22DR48dZpGhxIay5SedcyET_wTkVa-W2/s200/Screen+Shot+2020-04-03+at+9.19.52+AM.png)
Thanks especially to all of the great students!!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Tropical storm Irene and The Connecticut River
This was my first week back from vacation and it was a busy one both inside and outside the office. Tropical Storm Irene came through last weekend and the flooding after really did some terrible damage and continues to impact people's lives from North Carolina to Maine..
Much of the rain that fell north of us from Irene eventually ended up flowing down the Connecticut River that separates Vermont and New Hampshire and splits Massachusetts and Connecticut. I drive by the Holyoke Dam every day going to and returning from work and took a few minutes to shoot some video on August 30, the day the river crested. I have never seen the river this high and this powerful. This was shot on the bridge connecting Holyoke and South Hadley Falls.
I could not believe the debris along with the color of the water.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: computing, Education, Green, High, Holyoke, hurricane, irene, Massachusetts, Performance, technician, Technology
Friday, April 17, 2020
Hanging Out With Starman - Week 3 Teaching Full Distance
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aCgXo3cVKkSW3q5i0OTAdIbWiw2wqN3BPkD9IyaJ0dHXy58b4ikBgsZllb7LcHwM_xhBR0sZgX5n3VTiBvzfsNt7DTzPOO_sA5jIHl6L6Z6rbzaEsRQ7u9vGhKDA_66Dt-kCVepqYJ8t/s200/Screen+Shot+2020-04-17+at+11.04.05+AM.jpeg)
- Email volume has really increased and it has become a real time suck. My comfortable number of unread emails averages around 30 ~ if I’m close to 30 I’m feeling pretty good about it. My inbox right now is sitting at 259 unopened. I clean it out and a few hours later I’ve got another 50 sitting in the box to go through. I’m hoping our students are not having a similar experience but suspect many are. I’m now closing out my email client and only checking it by the hour.
- The one document instruction tip I wrote about a couple weeks ago continues to work well. Students are comfortable being able to go to the could learning management system (Moodle at Holyoke Community College) to one place to get the most recent information and I’m not burying them with email.
- I’m locked in on keeping my lecture video recordings between 15 and 25 minutes max. This seems to be working well.
- I’ve got a set of Apple Airpod Pros and they have been fantastic. I’m using them for just about everything – Zoom meetings, phone calls and video recordings along with the occasional YouTube Curb Your Enthusiasm segment or two.
- The Apple iPad and Pencil remain exceptional – especially when the Airpods are included. Lecture recording has been easy. I’m thinking about upgrading to a 12.9” Ipad for the extra screen real estate. If you are considering purchasing an IPad for lecture recording I would strongly recommend the 12.9” model. Also get yourself a screen protector for the iPad that adds some texture to the screen when writing with the pencil. I like the Paperlike protector. It gives nice tactile feedback and it feels like you are drawing and writing with a pencil on paper.
- The Pomadoro Technique I wrote about a couple weeks ago makes a big difference when I actually use it. I’ve had problems with stopping and taking a break, walking away from the computer. I think the email volume increase has had a lot to do about that.
- Meeting with classes online has been challenging at times. I did not realize how much I rely on body language in the classroom. I look at their faces on camera and not sure if they are confused, scared, bored, frustrated, lost, upset….. I’m encouraging them to give feedback (negative and positive) and they are. I think this would be a different if we had started the course online – I got to know these students in the traditional classroom and could usually pickup pretty quickly on things just by looking at them.
- I continue to log my time with Klok 2.
Thursday, June 10, 2021
Pspice Lab Series Video 3: Moving The Reference Ground Around
Zero volts reference, also known as ground is always a confusing topic. What if ground is placed at different locations in a circuit? In this 11 minute and 42 second video I use PSpice to show what happens when you move a ground around in a series circuit.
Want to learn more? I’ll be teaching a Systems 1 course online in the fall and a Systems 2 course in the spring at Holyoke Community College. If you are anywhere in the world and interested in taking an online course with me drop an email to gsnyder@hcc.edu Both courses will transfer to most university electrical engineering programs in the United States. Hope to see you there!!
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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10:09 AM
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Labels: Electrical, Engineering, hardware, Math, PSpice, Science, simulation, software, Technology
Friday, September 18, 2020
End of First Full Week Teaching – Fall 2020 Semester Remote
Some quick thoughts/observations after the first week:
- Email volume from students is through the roof. Not meeting in person means not being able to ask questions. Email does not scale in an online “classroom” setting. I’ve used Slack in the past in courses with mixed results. At Holyoke Community College (HCC) we are using Moodle as a learning management system (LMS) and there are ways to integrate Slack with Moodle – as an example see https://zapier.com/apps/moodle/integrations/slack I’m not sure if I have the proper privileges to do this. Will give it a try this weekend. Some are using Discord and I am also considering giving that a try.
- The more I use Moodle the more I like it. I’ve used lots of different LMSs over the years and Moodle is very nice. I’ve been really impressed with the IT staff and Moodle admins at HCC.
- More on Moodle – very nice on mobile devices. I’ve been able to make my Circuits 1 Electrical Engineering course content 100% mobile accessible. I like to think of mobile as the lowest common denominator for our students. At home they may not have a computer, have to share one, not have access to broadband, etc. The majority do have cell phones with data access though.
- I bit the bullet on a 12.9 inch iPad Pro over the summer and it has really been nice. Using an Apple Pencil I’m using GoodNotes to record my lectures and keep track of just about everything else in my life.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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Labels: Education, Engineering, learning, Remote, STEM, Students, teaching, Technology
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
Some Things That Work For Me When I’m Working From Home
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_U7fm6zBql6-MdSiXzsPwr_NXcLPZrV7L-Sj63xgigh7qhyphenhyphen1lssNUGilUxoJZIuJD3_N8Wckap-ezg5030daJlqv-FIV8lUs1co1Qz8uAcW_ZhkUcwBy2wczcDZv_VwyY5poKxI4NL2pU/s200/Screen+Shot+2020-03-24+at+10.37.47+AM.png)
- Develop and stick to a daily routine. That means getting up in the morning and taking a shower, shaving, getting dressed for work, etc.
- Clock your time. This was a good way for me to know when I was overdoing it. I I use an app called Klok linked here https://getklok.com/klok/
- If you have the room, make a dedicated space for your work preferably with a door. I have a tendency to spread out and using something like the kitchen table is tough if you need to pack it up every day. The door helps too – inside that room is work and work has defined hours. Close it when your work is done for the day!
- Get yourself a timer to assure you take regular breaks. I found the Pomodoro Technique time management method works well for me. The method was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s and uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Some call these Tomato Timers – pomodoro is tomato in Italian. Here’s a free web based one that works well https://tomato-timer.com
- In addition to regular breaks be sure to take time for your regular meals. Take time, don't wolf down the food and hydrate with your meals.
- Don't go nuts with those snacks :)
- Hydrate, especially with water. I have a tendency to hit the coffee machine a bit too much and have learned if I’ve always got a glass of water next to me I drink a lot more water and a lot less less coffee.
- Exercise. Maybe you have some equipment at home you can use. It is a great way to take a break and clear your mind. Taking walks (with social distancing under current situation) works well for me even if it is just to the mailbox and back. It is also a beautiful time of year to get outside.
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Gordon F Snyder Jr
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10:30 AM
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