Sunday, July 13, 2008

manage stress



Simple Ways to Reduce Your Stress and Be Happy



Stress can be a good thing. Do I have your attention? Does that statement sound contrary to everything you have ever heard about stress? Well, too much of anything is bad for the health and a small amount of stress is actually good, as it could actually help you function at your best. However, as we all know, too much stress can take a serious physical toll as well as a mental toll on your body. As with many things in life we need everything in moderation and this is especially so for stress which should be recognized, evaluated and managed carefully.


So how should you manage that stress? The following sections are some very simple and easy to apply tips and advice to help manage your stress.


Stress Tip 1: Write it out, schedule it out.

You can help reduce your stress by making lists and writing things down. It is best to write down everything that seems to be overwhelming stressful. People under stress often find a things-to-do-list is much easier to manage than having errands all crumpled up in your head. You have enough to worry about without stressing about little things. Writing down the tasks, and putting a specific schedule and time to do them, helps you manage activities one item at a time. Also, the task of crossing out an activity that has you have accomplished is very rewarding as you see items coming off your list can really relieve stress as you see more goals completed.


Stress Tip 2: Complete one task at a time works.


You may cause yourself a lot of stress by trying to focus on many things and tasks at once. Focus and put all your attention and effort on one task at one time until it is complete. It does not help to feel stressed about the other undone or to-do tasks. Thinking about other tasks while undertaking another only adds unnecessary stress and could even hamper in doing the task you are attempting to accomplish at present.


Stress Tip 3: Take it slow and relax!


Just like the Rabbit and the Tortoise in the fable, "Slow and steady wins the race". At least, try not to expend too much energy on activities that are currently not priorities. Prioritizing tasks and realizing which ones are less important can really alleviate stress. When we stress on too many things at once and realize some of these items are not absolute priorities it leaves us mental focus to deal with the tasks that really are important. This way you have the energy for the tasks you must do now and the easier or less important tasks can either be tackled later or dealt with in another way. This latter point leads into our next tip...


Stress Tip 4: Delegate, delegate, delegate, and if you can, delegate


You can really help your stress by realizing you do not have to do everything all at once or by yourself. If you need help to get something done then get help, or pay for help. When you are stretched too thin and getting stressed you are not able to perform at your best so if needed hire someone to mow the lawn or get a sitter for your children. The stressful feelings of being pushed to finish something on time will somehow be eliminated if tasks are delegated. This stress relief takes a load off unnecessary worry and anxiety. Moreover, it is easier checking up on other people's progress than worrying yourself and stressing over doing everything on your own, all at once.


Stress Tip 5: Give yourself a reward, you earned it.

One of my favorite anti-stress tips is to acknowledge your accomplishments, no matter how big or small. This is something you need to do before getting on to the next tasks and activities as it places a mental smile in your thoughts and gives you a fresh feeling before you move on. It reduces stress and could even make you happier in doing the next task.


Stress Tip 6: Take a break.

Everyone needs a break or mental rest occasionally to be more productive. A ten to fifteen minute break during your work is absolutely necessary. Go visit a nearby cafe, take a swift, brisk walk, or do anything to take your mind completely off work, at least for a little while.
This is necessary to refresh your mind and recharge your batteries. If there is no way you can leave your stressful environment, you can also stay where you are and simply close your eyes as you visualize a peaceful landscape or a relaxing scene. This frees the stress from your muscles and your mind. If you have an iPod or mp3 player you can also download plenty of peaceful music tracks to drown out the noise around you to help you relax.


Stress Tips Conclusion

There are many other great guides available online that can really help you reduce stress and anxiety. You should check them out and see which ones really address your needs so you can find the complete road to minimal stress

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Setting up transcription business from home

Setting up a home office for medical transcription

Now after completion of training you will be enthusiastic to be on your own from the comfort of your home.  Yess that is very tempting offer with the long hours commutation, boss, target etc. but in the long run if you need to sustain as a home transcriptionst, I suggest the best option will be to work in an office setup where you get help for sometime until you gain confidence on your knowledge and know the nuances of the job and what this fields is all about.  Once you are comfortable and confident with your speed, knowledge of the file, field, language, grammar you may want to start up on your own from the comfort of your home at your own pace.

What do one need to start his transcription business from home


First most important thing obviously 😀😀😀 a computer with the following minimum configuration of 1 GB RAM, 60 to 80 GB hard disk, fast microprocessor like intel, dual core etc, quality headsets, foot pedal to play audio file is optional because some transcription software like Express scribe http://www.nch.com.au/ can be used with foot pedal or hand control from keyboard itself. A fast broadband internet connection is also mostly needed as most of the files will be online and a fast reliable net will reduce lot of stress and time consumption in waiting for downloading and uploading files.





Please arrange seating arrangement as comfortable as you can be.  It depends on individual's typing position and comfortable level.

UPS backup is also has become mandatory.  If you are going to do serious business and you are being independent on your own it is best to have at least 5-6 hours, otherwise you will lose business and lines and reputation if there is interruption in power.

These are the basic setup model.  You can also start up a unit by joining some of your friends and make an office setup.  It all depends on the job contract you can acquire and the confidence in your ability to deliver good files.

Thanks for the support.  I have been in this field for more than 10 years and would like to share more of my experience and knowledge with you.  Please follow and post constructive comments.  You can always contact me via mail for any queries.

Will update more on being an independent contractor and how to sustain and practices to become successful in your home business. 💻📁

Monday, June 2, 2008

Making money from home with medical transcription

What is medical transcription?
Medical transcription is a form of data entry in which we convert audio files to text files using much grammar, common sense, style and some theoretical medical knowledge. This field is for those who feel data entry monotonous and want to use some analytical brain of their own because this is needed for completing the audio file to a very neat and good text file. This job does not only need typing skills but also listening skills, which in turn needs lot of concentration, analysis of context and grammar, sentence structure etc, and fast reading through lines, which of course comes through practice.  It can be done on part-time basis from home one you feel confident in your knowledge and be independent to work from home.

Where do we learn this course?
We have lot of training institutes and online websites that offer this course for individuals who try to pursue this course. They charge some amount, which if we work with dedication and interest we can surely and easily earn in some months depending on the individual's capacity and interest.
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The only one thing that pays here is quality quality and quality. Nothing pays here than the quality of files the individual is delivering to satisfy the customers' needs.  We get files mostly from US, UK, Australia based hospitals.

What are the qualifications needed to become a successful transciptionist and be stable in the market?
Good English knowledge with decent vocabulary and very good command over grammar punctuation will take you to greater heights in short span of time.  When I said quality it not only medical terms but overall file should be free of grammatical, punctuation errors.  We have lots of resources to enhance the knowledge of English both online and offline.  Reading newspapers, watching English movies without subtitles will help in our day-to-day practice.  Apart from that can take up some vocabulary and listening exercises online.

Another good qualification will be decent typing speed at least 70 wpm for the start.  Again we have lots of sites to help us improve our typing speed.
www.learntyping.org  for beginners and all levels
What is the amount expected as remuneration/salary/pay if working from home?
Okay, so now you have got your training, you have decent typing speed and good command over English and medical language what will be the payment for a transcriptionist?.

Normally the payment is calculated per line basis and it is mostly 65 characters with space sometimes it is 62 character with space.  If a document contains 650 characters with space, divide it by 65 i.e. 650/65 gives you 10 payable lines.  Rates of payout varies from company to company depending on the quality you provide.  Each company has its own error marking system which marks the errors in files and decide the output quality of a file delivered.  So from the start itself it is always  a nice practice to concentrate on quality rather than quantity.  

Some websites that gives useful information and update regarding this field are

Basic infrastructures needed for doing transcription from home. One need a fast computer with at least 128-256 RAM, 40-60 MB hard disk, quality headsets, foot pedal (optional as some transcription software can be controlled with keyboard), transcription software that plays your audio files like Express scribe etc. Internet connection is a must but the speed can be according to the company's requirement, some may be downloaded from FTP server, which does not need to be always online, some will have to be done always online as the files will be downloaded as and when you do the files.   Now most files are online as speech recognition has actually reduced the typing time but MT has to be aware the all that machine types may not be right and it is the MT's job to make the report error-free for final production.
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Some software that you will find useful are good dictionary, preferably American English if you are doing job for an American company, otherwise British. Medical dictionaries will be provided by the company you are working with but some may ask payment for that.   These dictionaries are exclusively for medical words but of course you can search with search engines like google, yahoo, etc but authorized medical dictionaries like Stedman's and Quick look drug reference are preferable.
Websites for still more information and updation of knowledge and training details.  You may need registration here.
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I have been in this field for more than 10 years and have seen the evolution this field has taken.  I will be more than happy to guide anyone interested to take up this field as a career.  Please leave comments and contact me via email if you have any queries and I will answer with the knowledge I have.  Please follow for more updates on how to setup home transcription and more.

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