There is no doubt that the DBA has numerous benefits to professionals in the business world. However, you have to get to the end of your course and do so effectively for you to enjoy the benefits. The coursework, research, and assignment can be tough and overwhelming, and thus if you don’t plan well you could miss out on the big benefits. Since it’s an advanced degree, the demands will be more, and you will be expected to work harder and smarter. Not to scare you though; if you play your cards right, you will learn a lot and graduate on time. Consider the following tips for DBA success:
Find the Right Business School
If you are not already enrolled in a college, the first step is to find a good one. You can look online or ask for recommendations from DBA graduates you know. For business schools you locate online, ensure you do extensive research to confirm they are legit. Never give out your details or pay money before you check the legitimacy. Ensure you check these three key details:
- The school background and faculty member profiles
- Accreditation and rankings
- Online reviews
In addition to the profile information listed on the website, you can go ahead and search the faculty members on sites such as LinkedIn. When searching for online reviews, use the name of the business school accompanied by terms such as DBA reviews or student testimonials.
Choose Your Path Wisely
One of the key decisions you will make as a DBA student is choosing a topic for your research project. You have to choose a topic that falls within the subject areas covered by the business school and submit a proposal. If you don’t choose your topic wisely, you may end up giving up along the way or gaining information and skills that won’t be of much help to your future goals. Thus, when choosing your path, consider the following two factors:
- One, your career goals, both short and long term. If you don’t have goals yet, set them before joining business school.
- Two, how working on the selected topic can benefit your career now and in the future.
Some business areas have serious skills gaps, which can be filled with specific qualifications. For more information on this topic, visit Aston University Online and read their article on how DBAs can fill global skills gaps, and how this will benefit businesses.
Work, Study, Life Balance
Going back to school adds more responsibilities to your already busy schedule. Therefore, before you sign up for a course, think about how you will balance the three so that you don’t end up ruining relationships in your life, getting sick or stressed out and failing in school. Consider the following tips:
- Be realistic when signing up. Don’t commit yourself yet until you are sure you will have enough time to dedicate to your studies and the other important things in your life.
- Identify things you can cut off to create more time for your studies. You may have to give up some leisure activities and maintain just one or two hobbies until you complete your studies. Cutting off or reducing screen time can also help. This will give you time to study without affecting the time dedicated to other priorities. For instance, if you are a parent with two free hours after work, instead of watching TV for one hour and studying for one hour, you could use the time spent watching TV to study and leave the other hour for your family.
- Have a schedule and stick to it. You have to go to work, assignments need to be done on time, your child expects you to show up for their football matches on the weekend, how do you balance all this? Have a schedule and stick to it. Avoid saying you will do something when you have the time. You already have the time; your job is to plan how you will spend each minute of it. And having that plan will allow you to balance the three aspects of your life without giving too much time to one and neglecting another.
- Eat right and stay healthy: What happens when you don’t feed your body well? You can increase your risk of contracting diseases, not have the energy you need to work, and you may affect your vital organs such as the brain negatively. And the long term effect is ruined productivity and efficiency, poor health and a less zealous life. Therefore, eat healthy balanced meals, drink lots of water and stay active.
- Sleep for 7 to 8 hours each day. These are the recommended hours by sleep experts for optimal health and well-being.
Have a Designated Study Area
You can do some flashcards during lunch breaks or while making dinner and this is super helpful. However, you need some time, when you will sit down and get serious for 30 minutes to two hours depending on how much time you have to study each day. After making a schedule, the next step is to find that space where you will retreat to when your schedule states you should be studying. It could be your bedroom, the garage, a space in the office, the coffee shop or the library. Ensure that your study space is free from distractions.
Be Organised
Being organised in your work and study life has three key benefits. One, you will be more productive when you are an organised person. Two, you will avoid wasting time. And three, you will avoid stress and confusion. For your study life, consider these three things:
- One, gather your study materials in advance and ensure they are well arranged. For books and other stationery, you could get a desk with drawers for storage, some shelves, and folders.
- Have a plan on how and when you will handle each task. Prioritise based on complexity and urgency.
- Keep your study environment tidy. When the environment is clean and tidy, your concentration will be much better. In addition to being a distraction, clutter and dirt can also cause you to feel stressed.
Think about Your Writing
Poor referencing, grammatical errors and poor flow are some of the mistakes that should be avoided when submitting your proposal and other assignments. To avoid these:
- Take time to familiarise yourself with the writing styles you are expected to adhere to when submitting your work.
- Work with a writer or editor when writing your final documents. However, note that you should do your work; others should only help with the fine-tuning and checking for errors.
- Read papers done by others. This will help in sharpening your writing skills.
Have a Financial Plan
A DBA is an advanced degree and thus it costs money. And, considering you will be in school for three to six years, it’s wise to plan financially in advance. When making a financial plan:
- Check how much business school will cost for all the years
- Make an estimate for all your expenses
- Identify your key sources of income.
- Check whether your sources of income will be able to cover your expenses and business school tuition.
- Find other ways to pay for business school. Some key ones include applying for student loans, getting a scholarship, and checking if your employer offers any support to further your education. If you choose a student loan, ensure you have a viable payment plan.
- Set up an emergency fund.
Network and Learn from Others
Your own research is good and it can teach you a lot. However, it’s super important to connect with others and see life from their perspective. Below are some of the people you can network with as a DBA student:
- Your course instructors: Learn from their experiences, ask them questions and maybe you could ask one to be your mentor
- Other DBA students: Share your experiences, discuss issues, ask for their help and help them when they need you.
- DBA graduates: Learn from them and maybe seek a mentor
- Professionals who are in the same field as you: Consult with them when making key decisions
Be a Smart Student
Since the degree directly affects your career success, ensure that you get as much from it as possible. Don’t just aim to graduate and get a title, but focus on learning things that will grow you as a professional. Some of the key things that smart students do include:
- Studying throughout the semester and taking time to digest the concepts. Studying every day, or a few days per week, is better than accumulating all the work and doing it in a hurry when deadlines are approaching. Cover your coursework earlier.
- Don’t have a negative attitude when you get feedback from the instructors and advisors. A smart student will take criticism as an opportunity to learn and be better.
- Ask a lot of questions where you don’t understand.
- Don’t miss lectures, workshops, or any other event. If you miss an appointment with your teacher due to something unavoidable, let them know and get them to reschedule.
Above are some of the key tips that can be helpful for DBA success. Know that much is expected from you, plan wisely and after you make plans ensure you follow through.
Food is one of the biggest expenses for any household, and one of our basic needs, but it’s also where many of us end up overspending by making basic mistakes. A lot of it has to do with our lack of understanding of the food business, and business in general. We often make errors and seek convenience, and don’t understand how the food business makes money by selling us things we could easily do ourselves. Here are some easy and simple ways that you could save on everyday food purchases.
Stop Buying Transformed Foods
One of the greatest tricks of the agro business is selling everyday products at a way higher price simply because they’re in a different form. Frozen chips should not exist, no matter what anyone says; you could easily enjoy a much better meal at home by chopping your potatoes yourself, or getting a chip cutter. So, before putting a bag of frozen vegetables into your cart, try and think whether you could get the same product for less.
Never Buy Take Out Full Price
Most nutritionists would tell you to get off take out altogether, but there are some times when only a slice of Domino's pizza or a curry from the corner shop will do. In these cases, take advantage of coupons and specials whenever you can.
You can easily find Domino's vouchers online through coupon sites. We also suggest you sign up to their newsletter. They will send Domino's vouchers straight to your mailbox. There is no reason to pay full price when there’s always some deal somewhere, so spend your money wisely and make sure you can get a deal whenever you can.
Get Yourself a Chest Freezer
Getting a chest freezer could be the number one best purchase you’ve ever made if you’re trying to save on groceries. You could take advantage of meat sales, or even buy primal cuts and save even more. You can even bulk cook your meals and freeze them for use at a later date.
One more thing: don’t use minced meat unless you mince it yourself. Depending on the brand, you might find all sorts thrown in there. Get yourself a meat grinder, and get your cuts from a reputable butcher in your neighbourhood. This way, you’ll actually know what’s in it, and will get much more value for your money.
Learn How to Preserve
Another thing you have to learn is how to buy in season and preserve. You can extend the shelf life of many products by transforming or pickling them. Roma tomatoes can be turned into sauce. Turnips and cucumbers can be turned into pickles. Be creative, and you’ll find ways to stock up and reduce your costs as a result.
These are just some of the ways that you can save money on food purchases. Just learn how to think outside the box, and don’t overspend by falling for some of the agro business’s oldest tricks. What changes will you make?
There are numerous facts that you need to know about vaping. You probably know some and others have never crossed your mind. But you are in the right place as this article will highlight some of the insights according to experts. Those who have been contemplating ditching smoking for vaping need this information even more.
Vaping is the habit of using an electronic cigarette to inhale vapor, which contains nicotine, flavors, and other ingredients. Vaping is arguably better than smoking, but science is not yet clear on this. The information is still sketchy and beginners should dig very deep to get as much information as possible. For now, let us dive into what science says about vaping.
Vaping is Still Not Safe
Science has claimed that there are fewer toxins in the vapor than in cigarette smoke. But all research agrees that users are exposed to dangers. Nicotine-based e-juices contain almost the same amount of health risks that affect the heart and breathing system.
By early 2020, the CDC had already reported over 60 deaths in the world that were directly linked to vaping. All were related to problems with the lungs, just like in the cases of lung cancer caused by tobacco cigarettes.
There is a Danger of Addiction
If you are moving from cigarette smoking to vaping to avoid addiction, it is time to rethink the whole plan. Vaping can be as addictive as tobacco since both contain nicotine. Nicotine is the chemical that is responsible for other health issues.
However, users can avoid addiction to e-shisha or e-cigs if they use e-liquids with the lowest amount of nicotine or try the nicotine-free range. Unfortunately, many people claim that nicotine-based e-juices are more satisfying.
E-Cigarettes Are Not the Best to Quit Smoking
There are numerous methods that can be used to quit smoking, but many people prefer to use vaping. Well, it has helped many and it might help you, but scientists claim that it is not the ultimate solution. The danger comes in when people switch from tobacco to nicotine e-cigarettes. As mentioned earlier, these will cause an equal addiction. If you want to quit smoking, kicking nicotine is the first thing that you should do.
Other Dangers of Vaping
According to science, there are many uncertainties when it comes to vaping and many are related to health. Apart from the risk of cancer, breathing problems, and heart illnesses, vaping devices may explode and hurt the user if they are mishandled, not to mention leakages.
But this is not to discourage people from using them as they have many pros. Celebrities have been moving from smoking to vaping, which has promoted the habit as very cool. You will probably notice that most youths prefer vaping to smoking, a trend which has made scientists more proactive to understand more health concerns that will save the future generation.
Final Word
Scientists are working day and night to come up with better answers concerning this habit. Everything is looking forward to discovering more and getting enlightened, especially those who are planning to start the habit.
After Apple recently announced a delay to OS X 10.5 Leopard I had to delay my iMac upgrade until the Autumn. This led me to thinking about how to speed up Tiger to get the most out of my ageing G5. This is what I came up with:
General System
1. Repair Disk Permissions Navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select your Macintosh HD and select Verify Disk Permissions. If needed you can then Repair Disk Permissions.
2. Clear out login items Its good to check that unwanted programs are not starting up when you login to your Mac. This can be done from System Preferences > Accounts > Login Items. 
3. Clear out unwanted applications Go through your applications folder and see if you can save yourself some disk space by removing any applications you no longer use.
4. Clear out unused system preferences Check in your system preferences if there are any unused system preferences tabs that can be removed. If you do find something you don't use you can either disable it within its menu or remove it from '~/Library/PreferencePanes'. You may have to reboot or do a force empty trash (see #38).
5. Clear Desktop Its been reported numerous times that having a clear desktop can increase the speed of your Mac. So either put your junk in folders or delete it!
6. Empty Trash (if it wont empty see #38) I'm always amazed when I'm looking on someone's Mac and they haven't ever emptied the trash! Check what's in there then save yourself some space and empty it.
7. Turn off Universal Access (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Universal Access and turn off anything you're not using.
8. Turn off Bluetooth (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Bluetooth.
9. Turn off speech recognition (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Speech Recognition.
10. Turn off internet sharing (if not used) Navigate to System Preferences > Sharing > Internet
11. Check there is plenty of disk space on the boot drive. Your Mac uses some of your hard drive space as virtual memory when there is not enough actual memory available. Its good to always keep 10% of your hard drive free for such activity.
12. Remove Unwanted Language Packs OS X contains hundreds of languages that you most likely wont use. Monolingual is a free program that can root out these languages and remove them saving you some extra disk space.
*Edit: Warning people have experienced problems with Monolingual so becareful what you remove. Only a reinstall will put the languages back so decide weather you really need the extra space by removing them.
13. Remove any desktop changing programs Until recently I had a nice program that would put a different babe on my desktop each month. It looked great but once I started looking in activity monitor it was taking up lots of memory and processor time.
14. Check dock for unwanted apps. Your dock should only contain your most used applications so take a look through to see if there is anything you can remove or uninstall.
15. Choose suitable applications for files Be sensible when choosing what applications open by default - think do you really need Photoshop to open just to view an image when preview will work fine? Right click on a file then select Get Info.
16. Check Software Build If you have an Intel Mac then check the build of the software is universal - it might be that the application is still running through Rosetta and that a universal update is available.
Eye Candy
17. Remove dock animation Navigate to System Preferences > Dock then un-tick Animate Opening Applications.
18. Avoid animated desktops Navigate to System Preferences > Desktop & Screen Saver then un-tick Change picture.
Dashboard
19. Remove unused widgets. Each widget takes some memory and processor power even when you're not using the dashboard so only enable the ones you use. Alternatively you can disable the dashboard - see #23.
20. Check to see how much processing power and memory each widget uses. Some widgets are more intensive than others, if there is one that is particularly demanding see if there is one with similar functionality on the Apple website. To do this run Activity Monitor - Applications > Utilities > Activity Monitor.
As you can see the widgets I have running are all using an acceptable amount of Real Memory.
Tinkertool Tinkertool is a utility that gives you access to additional settings within OS X.
21. Remove animation effects. The animation effects are the eye candy that make OS X look nice but they are not really needed, you can turn them off from the Finder pane within Tinkertool.
22. Disable Dock shadow. From the Dock pane un-tick Enable Dock shadow.
23. Disable Dashboard. If you don't use the Dashboard you can deactivate it from the General pane.
24. Skip checksum verifications when opening DMG files. This will speed up the loading of disk images when opening. This can be found in the Applications pane.
25. Remove or deactivate unwanted login items from the Login Items pane. You might already have done this in #2.
26. Reduce delay time for display of loading pages in Safari. This should speed up your web browsing experience, found within the Safari Pane.
OnyX OynX is similar to Tinkertool however has many more options and preferences.You may have already done some of these in previous tips. Parameters
27. Un-tick Graphic Effects (Finder tab). You may already have done this with Tinkertool #21.
28. Un-tick Animate 'Opening applications' and 'When alert in background' (Dock tab).
29. Disable Dashboard (Dashboard and Expose tab). You may already have done this with Tinkertool #23.
30. Set Safari speed of web page display to fast (Safari Tab). You may already have done this in #26. Maintenance
31. Repair Disk Permissions. You may already have done this in #1.
32. Run Maintenance Scripts.
33. Reset Spotlight Index (it may take over a day to rebuild the index afterwards).
34. Run complete system optimization. Cleaning
35. Clear Internet Settings.
36. Clear User and Font Caches.
37. Clear unused logs.
38. Force Empty Trash Automation
39. Check settings - The default settings should be fine here. Click Execute.
Safari
You can do some of the following by resetting Safari - click Safari > Reset Safari. *Edit: Resetting Safari does not clear Favicons.
40. Clear Cache. To speed up page loading Safari saves a copy of every page in its cache however if the cache gets too large it can actually slow down page loading so its best to empty it occasionally. To do so click Safari > Empty Cache.
41. Clear History. Safari can remember every single site you have visited which can have a negative effect on its performance. You can empty it be selecting History > Clear History.
42. Clear AutoFill. AutoFill is the data is saved in forms such as your username and password on websites. As with the cache and history the AutoFill can mount up over time. To empty select Safari > Preferences then select the AutoFill tab. From here you can go through the three AutoFill sections and clear out data that you no longer want stored.
43. Clear Favicons. Favicons are the little icons you see to the left of the URL in the address bar. These can be cleared by emptying user folder/Library/Safari/Icons.
Firefox
44. If you use Firefox then you can get specially optimized versions of the browser based on your processor architecture - either G4, G5 or intel.
45. Extensions Firefox has some great extensions but they can slow down the browser so take a serious look to see weather you really need that extra toolbar!
iTunes
46. Smart Playlists These can slow down the operation of iTunes as they reload the contents of the list every time the program loads. If you have a a smart play list that does not change very often then you can either deactivate live updating (by clicking file > edit smart play list) or copy of the contents of the smart play list in to a regular play list.
Other
47. HP Printer drivers can often cause problems and use a lot of processor power so check in the activity monitor for HP Communicator, if it seems to be constantly running at 80% - 100% then try uninstalling it. I had problems on my Mac Mini for my HP PSC 1110 all in one with the HP software on OS X 10.3 maxing out the CPU after printing. I had to remove the software and just use the basic drivers rather than the full suite.
48. Check Classic is not running if not being used. Classic can be disabled from within System Preference. 
49. Run Software Update. The latest updates sometimes provide speed increases as well as fix bugs and vulnerabilities.
50. Update other applications. It's always best to run the latest versions of your programs. Websites such as Mac Update and Version Tracker are good places to keep your applications up to date.
51. Add More RAM. There is only so much you can do with software, the cheapest way to give you're Mac a speed boost is to upgrade the memory.
52. Reboot your Mac. After doing all this optimization it might be an idea to reboot your Mac. If your like me and use sleep mode for the majority of the time then a reboot once in a while often helps too!
Update: Interested in seeing how many hits this article has got and how to do it for your blog then read here?
Zopa is a social lending and borrowing website that allows you to exchange with other people in the community.
The site was founded through consumer research showing people were fed up with borrowing money from banks who make huge profits and that certain people found it hard to get credit.
The community aspect of Zopa is that the people lending the money are you and me, in fact anyone can sign up and start lending their own money to other members.
You get the control to set your own interest rates and to set the market you lend to. When signing up to borrow money you have to be credit checked, the outcome of this then puts you into one of four markets - A*, A, B or C. The better the market you are in, the lower the interest rate you will be able to borrow money at.
Zopa stands for 'Zone of Possible Agreement' and states that the average interest rate is about 6.75% however usually for an A* market this is lower at about 5.5%.
This is great for borrowers in this market as the interest is much better than what you would find on the high street. This isn't so good for lenders as after Zopa fees and tax you would be better off putting your money in a savings account.
The B and C markets are where lenders are more likely to make a better return, however the risk of lending money is significantly increased.
**the rest of this blog has become corrupted**