CodersTrust

Change your life, start coding! CodersTrust helps #coders in developing countries to make their dreams come true and improve their lives.

[coderstrust]

CodersTrust 2015 Highlights

The Hour of Code

CodersTrust challenged the people of Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Somaliland to join the the largest learning event in the world, The Hour of Code! Over 6000 students were trained, in 30 universities, spread over 7 different cities!

Penetrating Top Universities of Bangladesh

CodersTrust has set up centers within Daffodil International University of Bangladesh and United International University of Bangladesh in order to provide coding training exclusively to the students of these universities. 

About to Set Centers at Even More Universities

We have signed agreements with Northern University Bangladesh and United College of Aviation, Science and Management. All set to begin new batches there in this all new year!

CodersTrust India Kicked Off to an Amazing Start

CodersTrust set up operations in India and launched the first three pilots by the beginning of September. We set up our office at the Jaarvis Accelerator in Gurgaon, where the high-tech scene is predominant. Jaarvis focuses on building innovative tech-enabled solutions, whether they be marketplaces or products. 

Our Students Performing Exceedingly Well In Global Job Markets

Our students have successfully emerged into the job markets and are slowly conquering the world! Students have a 94% success rate in project completion with an average profile rating of 4.67 out of 5 stars. 

Exciting New Partnerships

We have signed a number of new Partnerships over the year. In Bangladesh we have had the privilege of collaborating with Preneurlab, and also partnering with the local IT-facility provider LEAD IT, to create a national network of Learn & Earn centers. In addition we also signed agreements with PlaNet Finance, the biggest micro-finance insitution in the world, to support activities of CodersTrust in India, Africa, MENA region.

Another great partnership was signed with Fiverr, global online marketplace offering tasks and services, to introduce our students to Fiverr freelance network.

The biggest training institution in India - ACE Skill became partners with us to raise student funding and launch CodersTrust from their local training facilities.

CodersTrust-UNDP UPPR Project

Collaboration with UNDP and JAAGO Foundation, renowned organization with 13 centers in Bangladesh, to train 40 students in Korail Slum, the largest slum in Dhaka city, with over 170,000 dwellers. The students there were taught basic English and Computer skills over a six months' period so that they can easily accomplish various data entry jobs.

Girls Code

We organized seminars at Daffodil International and United International University done to encourage more ladies to enter the world of coding. The young ladies were inspired by the the leading women in the tech-industry of Bangladesh. CodersTrust is inspiring women to become the next leaders in the IT industry! 

Monthly Awards Ceremony

Students at the center have been performing outstandingly well and we have organized monthly prize giving ceremonies to recognize their hard-work and dedication. Guests like  Martin Malmström, the Managing Director of bikroy.com, the largest online marketplace in Bangladesh are usually invited to these events to keep the students aspired.

[coderstrust]

CodersTrust ‘Hour of Code’ In A Nutshell

Just over a week ago, CodersTrust challenged the people of Bangladesh, India, Kenya and Somaliland to join the the largest learning event in the world...and it ended up being nothing short of fantastic! Over 9000 students were trained, in 30 universities, 7 cities spread over 4 nations!

BANGLADESH In an impeccable week's journey, we were able to reach over 3500 people all over Bangladesh, introducing them to the brilliant world of programming. Even though it was just an hour of coding lesson, there is not a doubt in our minds that all of the hour of code participants took back from the experience and embraced their new found knack for science and technology.

INDIA

We reached people aging from 7 to 45, and everybody had a blast in their first approach to Computer Science. Over three cities, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune, we organized 25 sessions, reaching 2000 people from 15 universities. 

Special mention goes to Suyash, a young student from Mumbai affected by scoliosis. This young man intelligently stated, "We cannot run with our own legs but we can program games, and this is great".

SOMALILAND

CodersTrust is inclined to educate IT talents, no matter which part of the world they reside in. CodersTrust met the largest universities in Somaliland and Minister of Technology and Education with a goal of employing over 3500 Somaliland graduates.

With extended invitation from Danish Foreign ministry and DANIDA, we are looking forward to pilot batch in January and have run the Hour Of Code event in December, involving over 800 Somali students!

[coderstrust]

CodersTrust Brings the World’s Largest Learning Event to Bangladesh from December 7

For the past two years, a worldwide event takes place in December in an effort to introduce millions of people to coding. This event is known as “THE HOUR OF CODE” and it has gained tremendous global popularity since its launch. Now CodersTrust will bring the Hour of Code in Bangladesh.

Even though it’s been running only for two years, the Hour of Code is now known as “the largest learning event in history”. Given the critical role computer science has played in the last few decades, it's an initiative to encourage people to spend one hour learning the basics of computer programming. Hence from December 7 to 13th, people all around the world will be doing free and playful one hour tutorials to get introduced to the world of coding.

The movement has received enormous support from the world’s most successful entrepreneurs, such as Bill Gates and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, and prominent political figures such as President Obama and Bangladesh’s own Honorable ICT Minister, Mr. Palak.

With the exponential growth of the freelance market in the past decade, CodersTrust’s Co-founder Jan-Cayo Fiebig strongly believes that Bangladesh’s future lies in the quality of its freelancing talents. “We at CodersTrust believe that every Bangladeshi regardless of age, gender or social background should have the opportunity to empower themselves through the online outsourcing market. Our IT Talents don’t need a university degree or knowledge in programming, simply with passion and motivation they are able to learn and earn on the freelancing market in less than three months. 70% of CoderTrust’ students are earning and one of them just got a $10.000 project.”

Together with their trusted partners such as Microsoft, UNDP, Bank of Asia and BRAC, CodersTrust’s aims to change people's lives by providing the young talents of Bangladesh access to education and the online job market.

How To Participate

CodersTrust is calling out all the people of Bangladesh to join in this one hour free tutorial to show them a whole new world of possibilities. Anybody can sign up for a session in one of the following venues in Dhaka: Daffodil International University (DIU), Northern University Bangladesh (NUB), United International University (UIU), BD Jobs, American International University Bangladesh (AIUB), CodersTrust office, or online. For more information on how to sign up please visit www.coderstrust.com/hourofcode

[coderstrust]

#girlscode: Empowering Women through Technology

Bangladesh has been progressing towards development inch-by-inch everyday but do we wonder about the sustainability of this development? Can the country prosper if almost half the population, the women, of the nation are not effectively contributing to the economy? The answer is a plain ‘no’. CodersTrust (CT) realizes this and is working towards finding more ways that are efficient for women to participate in the workforce. After its successful launching ceremony at Daffodil International University on February 19, 2015, CodersTrust organized a seminar dedicated to encourage students to join its new Learn & Earn Center at DIU. Now to inspire more women to join the field of IT, CT arranged a seminar for the ladies in Dhaka. The event had a turnout of over one hundred women from all over the city. With simply an internet connection, access to a laptop and with a hint of dedication, anyone can succeed following a carefully constructed career graph, designed by CT. With online courses and full time access to firsthand Mentors, learning has never been easier. However, teaching is not the only goal here; CT aims to bridge the gap between education and the job market by finding employment opportunities for its students, right after they have gathered enough skill to operate smoothly in the freelance marketplace. The company has a dedicated job-agency with the sole purpose of seeking out the best-suited jobs for its students. The event, oriented towards women, was organized not only to encourage more women to join the IT field and empower themselves for a brighter future but also to salute the nation’s leading female IT talents. The event had the proud presence of Farhana A Rahman, CEO UYsystem and former Vice President of BASIS, Emrazina I Khan, CEO of Creative Kittens, Achia Nila, Lead IT Manager, NMI, Rezwana Khan, COO, Star Computer System Limited, Naznin Nahar, Editor Techworld Bangladesh, Sultana Parvin, Student Affairs Specialist at CodersTrust and Professor Dr. Syed Akter Hossain, Head of CSE, Daffodil International University. In the spirit of admiration, the event brought together some of the most talented Bangladeshi women in IT and tried to display that they are no different from any other Bangladeshi girl, except for the fact that their dreams know no limitations. As Achia Nila from NMI recalled the story of a friend whose sole purpose of completing her education was to find herself a prominent husband and in that regard, she succeeded. “The lesson here is that you, girls, can get anything you set your mind at. So why not aim high?” says Nila. Emrazina from Creative Kittens also shares her story from the days when she was fighting her interests with her duties. While persuing Masters in English, her mind was mostly overwhelmed with her passion for art. However, she did not let go of either. She knew she is capable of handling both sides. “You need to push yourself a little to achieve big things. The fear of failure is your obstacle to success, not failure itself.” CT hopes to help women realize that the skill of coding, combined with the freelance market can bring girls closer to their dream careers without sacrificing any other aspect of their lives. Naznin explained how it is more important than anything else that women find the time to serve themselves alongside others. Professor Akter supported the spirit of women and said, “Women have immense tolerance and the ability to take on a world of numerous activities at the same time. Multitasking is the specialty of every woman.” The attendants actively participated in the discussion session and asked how they can brush up their coding skills. Rezwana from Star Computer System suggested that alongside seeking training they apply the self-teaching approach by using modern technology to their aid whenever they stumble over a block. “Coding, like any other skill can be mastered by proper practice and the girls at the current CT Learn & Earn Center are proving this fact on a daily basis,” says Sultana from CodersTrust. In the global freelance market, there is enormous demand for people with such skills and women are just as likely to land these jobs as men are. Farhana from UYsystem observed during her time in BASIS that the female density in the team was less than 1 percent. We wish for all women to identify themselves via their merits and not let their potential be bounded by uncouth stereotypes. Operating at the freelancing platform will help women enjoy the working flexibility they need in terms of time-management, allowing them to balance their personal and professional life perfectly. CT is inspiring women to become the next leaders in the IT industry.

[coderstrust]

#codeNepal - Free IT Education for Nepal

 The devastating earthquake in Nepal left thousands of people vulnerable, with no access to food or education. CodersTrust, a Denmark based company, devoted to providing IT education in developing countries, has taken a step to stand beside the earthquake stricken Nepalese victims. Through online IT education, the company hopes to bring a long term impact to the lives of a significant number of the people in Nepal.

The target is to train new students in Front-End Web Development and approximately 1000 existing students will take part in seminars to kick-start their freelancing careers in a matter of three months. After training the Nepalese students, CodersTrust will connect them to various freelance working portals like Upwork. After few months of practice, the trained web developers, around Kathmandu and Bhaktapur region, should be able to earn approximately $10/12 per hour. Others students, learning data entry can earn a minimum of $ 2/3 per hour after a 3 to 4 months’ training period.

To make the initiative more successful, CodersTrust has started an Indiegogo campaign which allows anyone and everyone to contribute to the cause. The aim is to accumulate $40,000 by August 31, 2015, in order to make this project successful. Every dollar spend will be invested to improve the lives of the Nepalese by providing them free access to IT education seek employment opportunities in freelance markets.

[coderstrust]

Coders Trust Raises Funds Supporting Free On-Site IT Training In Nepal

Compared to the cost of an advanced education in the developed world, it costs relatively little money to learn a skill in the under-developed world that can act as a catapult to a more secure life.

Thanks GoodCrowd & Api Podder for supporting our campaign.

[coderstrust]

#onboarding of our coding stars Where would we be without this amazing bunch? Excitement level: Can't be contained #keepcoding #codeyoulater

[coderstrust]

Project with #UNDP is moving fast and strong. Selection process is nearing its end and we couldn't be happier to see the enthusiasm of these people. #codingforall #codeyoulater

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First day of #coding training at Daffodil International University. Off to a perfect start! #keepcoding #codeyoulater

[coderstrust]

#Iftaar time at #CodersTrust Ramadan Kareem and happy feasting :)

[coderstrust]

#CodersTrust is proud of the #Bangladeshi Cricket Team, as well as the Bangladeshi students! #keepcoding #gotigers

[coderstrust]

Top 20 Coding Quotes!

If you are feeling a little down, or you lack inspiration to do the hard work, we compiled a list of funny and motivational quotes for you, to bring back the smile on your face, and get you to finish that project you’ve been postponing! If nothing else, we believe this  article will perfectly describe that love/hate relationship you have with coding.

1. “Give a man a program, frustrate him for a day. Teach a man to program, frustrate him for a lifetime.” - Muhammad Waseem

2. “Walking on water and developing software from a specification are easy if both are frozen.”  -  Edward Berard 

3. “Programming is breaking of one big impossible task into several very small possible tasks.”  - Jazzwant

4. “It's hard enough to find an error in your code when you're looking for it; it's even harder when you've assumed your code is error-free.” - Steve McConnell

5. “Sometimes it pays to stay in bed on Monday, rather than spending the rest of the week debugging Monday's code.”  - Dan Salomon

6. “Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”  - Linus Torvalds

7. "They don't make bugs like Bunny anymore." - Olav Mjelde

8. "A C program is like a fast dance on a newly waxed dance floor by people carrying razors." - Waldi Ravens

9. “Don’t worry if it doesn’t work right. If everything did, you’d be out of a job.”  - Mosher’s Law of Software Engineering

10. "Good design adds value faster than it adds cost."  - Thomas C. Gale

11. “The trouble with programmers is that you can never tell what a programmer is doing until it’s too late.” - Seymour Cray

12. “It’s a curious thing about our industry: not only do we not learn from our mistakes, we also don’t learn from our successes.” -  Keith Braithwaite

13. “Compatibility means deliberately repeating other people’s mistakes.”   - David Wheeler

14. “I think everybody in this country should learn to program a computer. Learn a computer language. Because it teaches you how to think.” - Steve Jobs

15. “Programmers are in a race with the Universe to create bigger and better idiot-proof programs, while the Universe is trying to create bigger and better idiots.  So far, the Universe is winning.”  - Rich Cook

16. “Computer language design is just like a stroll in the park.  Jurassic Park, that is.” - Larry Wall

17. “In C++ it’s harder to shoot yourself in the foot, but when you do, you blow off your whole leg.”- Bjarne Stroustrup

18. “If McDonalds were run like a software company, one out of every hundred Big Macs would give you food poisoning, and the response would be, ‘We’re sorry, here’s a coupon for two more.’ “ - Mark Minasi

19. “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home.” - Ken Olson, President, Digital Equipment Corporation, 1977

20. “As soon as we started programming, we found to our surprise that it wasn’t as easy to get programs right as we had thought.  Debugging had to be discovered.  I can remember the exact instant when I realized that a large part of my life from then on was going to be spent in finding mistakes in my own programs.” - Maurice Wilkes discovers debugging, 1949

If you have other quotes that you like, please share with us in the comments!

[coderstrust]

Use LinkedIn the Right Way To Boost Your Career!

LinkedIn is a business social network that has started back in 2003. Although it has many similarities with Facebook for example, this network is quite special since it focuses on connecting businesses. Whether you are a company looking for employees, person looking for a new career opportunity, or business seeking partnership, this network will provide you everything you need. But because of its B2B character it also has a lot of restraints, mostly to prevent spam and unprofessional behavior. This is precisely why it is sometimes perceived as difficult to use. In this blog, I will give you hints to help you improve your Linkedin image, but also to help you  use Linkedin to its full potential.

1. Invest in your profile

First and foremost, put a lot of effort into your profile. Choosing appropriate picture and using your real name and surname goes without saying. Beside that, make sure that you share enough information on your background: what you've studied, where did you previously work, what was your job description, what are your interests and ambitions, what are your volunteering experiences, your skills etc. You can never really know what will catch the eye of your future employer. 

2. Job position-Pay attention!

When someone searches for you on LinkedIn, this is how he/she sees your profile in search results:

As you can see, one of the first things that person sees is your current position. If you are employed, write the precise title of your position, and company you are working at. More importantly, if you are not, this is a space that you can elegantly use to suggest that you are "in the market". Instead of your position, that you do not have (for now), you can try with: "Seeking new opportunities", or "Looking for new career chances". You get the point! Bellow that, LinkedIn will ask you for your current location and industry. For industry choose the one you are "trying to get in". For example: Information technology and services.

3. Use connections

When you are completely satisfied with your profile completion (LinkedIn also measures this with five strength levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, All-Star) you can go on with making connections. Of course you will start with your friends and family, but feel free to include any current colleagues, past colleagues, alumni from different organizations, your current and past employers... The more, the merrier.

4. Ask for endorsements and recommendations

Endorsement on Linkedin basically means that somebody said you have a certain skill, or that you are good at something. You can ask your coworkers and friends to endorse you, and it will show up on your profile like this:

The recommendation can be perceived as an update of endorsement: Ok, somebody thinks that you have excellent team management skill, but now they can also explain in a few sentences why they think so or provide examples, and it will all be on your profile. 

There is a question of how beneficial and useful can this actually be, but I say that it cannot hurt and it definitely brings nice content to your profile, so why not? Of course, don't be selfish, endorse people back!

4.  Be smart with groups

This is probably the most important point that you can take from this blog. As I mentioned in the beginning, LinkedIn has many restraints when it comes to approaching people. I am going to shortly walk you through it:

-You can contact someone via INmail- it is for people who are not even your 3rd connection (you do not even know someone, who knows someone, who knows him/her). It costs 10 dollars,  and if this person doesn't respond to you in one week, you get those 10 dollars back to use it to send some other INmail. Useful for big companies looking for partnerships, probably not that much for individuals at the beginning of their career.

-Connect button. When you wish to connect with someone, you will be asked how do you know this person. It looks like this:

When, for example, you want to approach a person you do not know, because you wish to work for them, cooperate with them or ask for their advice, there is this one sneaky way to do it: You click on the option that they are your friend, and then you include attractive and professional personal note. Bear in mind that this message can have only 284 characters and it cannot contain links!

-Third way of interacting with people on LinkedIn is simple messaging, like on Facebook. Unfortunately, you can only message people who are already your connections. But there is a solution to this as well, and now you understand why this segment is called GROUPS.  You have to think about what kind of groups can be relevant to your industry; in which groups you can find your potential clients or employer; what is it that connects all of them in some way. Once you discover those groups, join them, or send request for membership if needed and Voilà - you can now feel free to message all the members of those groups! Also, you are allowed to post content in groups so you can use it for self promotion. 

5. Careful when approaching people

All previously mentioned can put you in a position to connect with some of the most successful and powerful people in the world! People that you usually wouldn't have a way of reaching. Still, to actually benefit from this you have to really think about the best approach. Simple: "Hey, check out my work", or "Are you hiring? I am the best candidate" probably won't get you very far. You have to write your messages in a way that demonstrates how much you appreciate their time, effort, work they do, and how you would be delighted to get their advice/help/opinion. The percentage of people who reply will probably be around 10%, but hey, it can still bring you a lot of good career opportunities! You just have to be persistent.

I hope this article was helpful, I am open to answer any further questions or to hear your impressions. 

If you are still wondering should you invest your time in LinkedIn, let me just tell you that users with complete profile are 40 times more likely to get opportunities through LinkedIn than someone with an incomplete profile! Complete profile ranks much higher in LinkedIn's search results, which is, when you think about it, quite logical: LinkedIn is not very different from Google, if the results are worthless people will search somewhere else. 

Best of luck!

[coderstrust]

Extraordinary People in Coding World!

Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates. You all know their names. People look up to them  and try to copy their way of doing while hoping that they would achieve the same: money, fame, status, and change in the way people use technology. But, there is many other not-so-known people, coming from very different backgrounds and doing an awesome job in coding world. For some, you may have never heard, for others you may are yet to hear. This week, we decided to dedicate our blog to them, inspiring individuals changing the world as we know it, code per code!

1. Parisa Tabriz

Parisa is 31 years old Iranian-Polish-American with the job title of ``Google Security Princess``. She is so-called white hacker, hacking into this most popular web browser, trying to find potential flaws, and thus improving its safety. She started working with Google eight years ago after graduating on Illinois University, and becoming one of the 50 security engineers at the time. Working in this line of business she states that her job is as much about technological know-how as it is about psychology of attackers.

Source:http://www.muffmagazine.com/

2. Katy Goodman

Katy is an indie rock star, frontman of La Sera band. As awesome as she is as a singer and guitar player, she realized that she has another passion: Programming. It started as a hobby, when she was coding her own websites, just for fun. Now she is back in school, in Santa Monica College, taking classes like Intro to Computer Science and Internet Programming, with desire to get her computer science degree. She mentioned that programming always seemed super interesting to her, but she thought that it is too difficult or hard to manage, especially since her band was doing well, going on tours around the world. But her passion couldn’t be silenced so she had to try and do both, and she is doing it!

3. Brittany

Brittany is a 19 years old girl, who used code to create program for early breast cancer diagnosis! She felt inspired to do so when her cousin got diagnosed with this cancer and when she saw how devastating this disease can be for the whole familly. To quote one comment on Youtube that perfectly describes the sentiment: ``Using code to fight cancer is inspiring, using code to fight cancer while being just nineteen is breathtaking.``

Source: www.forbes.com 

 4. Lyndsey Scott

Model, actress, app developer. This woman for sure breaks all stereotypes! Over the time she was a model for Gucci, Prada, Calvin Klein, Louis Vitton and so on. But since she graduated with dual majors in Theatre and Computer science she fell in love with programming as well. She loves making apps. Her most popular app is iPort. Its primary purpose was for models to have an easy and beautiful way to present their portfolio,  but now it is being used by actors, writers, directors, and even architects!

5. Santiago Gonzalez

This 15 year old boy is on his way to graduate college with a masters degree by 17! His focus is not on social media or an online gaming, but rather on developing iOS apps. He's fluent in over a dozen programming languages. His CV, yes, this 15 year old has a CV, is already full, and many consider him to be a new Steve Jobs!

6.Shiv Sakhuja

Since 2008 (when he had only 9 years) Shiv has been domain holder, creator and developer of 'controlyourmac' - a website that specializes in providing answers and user-friendly solutions for Mac and iDevice users. He became interested in Mac when he was assisting his father with problems and potential solutions. He then taught himself how to create a website and learnt HTML and web design. In time he became really good at it, so he decided to create a website where he will share all of his findings and useful tips with other users. Currently he is focused on the creation of different mobile apps.

Do you have some not-so-known role models you would like to share with us?

[coderstrust]

Why You Should Learn To Code Right Now!

If you are still on the fence whether you should pursue career in informational technologies and is coding really your thing, we suggest you check out these compelling reasons that may be just what you need to make up your mind!

Flexible working hours

When you make your living on the computer, you can work from anywhere and at any time. This gives you a great advantage since you can have much better work-life balance than most. This doesn’t mean that you won’t work A LOT, it just means that you can choose your own style, favourite working place, most productive hours and so on.

Learning to code will make you smarter

Understandably, this isn’t something already scientifically proven, but most of the people noticed significant changes in their everyday life once they started with this career. It is believed that coding can benefit your analytical thinking, improve your logic and make you more organized in everything you do.

You can further your career without having to get a degree  

There is only so much you can do with official educational channels. That means that what you receive through different courses available, and through self education will be crucial to your career. And yes, you can have very satisfying and well paid job, without having a degree.

Source: www.financetwitter.com

Money is good

No one can argue that salaries can be amazing in this line of work, but of course amount of money varies from country to country. The great thing is that once you learn how to code, you can easily tap into the world market by becoming a freelancer. That way you can gain clients from around the globe, with higher budgets and, potentially, with a better understanding of what you do.

Source: www.cccblog.org

Demand for IT specialists is getting bigger every year

American Bureau of Labor statistics states that demand for sofware programmers will grow by 32% by 2020. One may argue that this kind of forecast can be quite unreliable, especially when you think about all new markets that informational technologies can open and that we can’t imagine at this moment. Nonetheless, I believe everyone can agree that demand for labor in this market can go only one way and that is UP!

There isn’t enough IT educated people

Unfortunately, most of the educational systems in the world can’t keep up with the fast-changing pace of IT and that is why proper education can’t really be gained in traditional ways. This is the reason why we are lacking skilled people with the right knowledge for all available job openings. That means that if you go for it and do your best to become a skilled coder, you will never be out of a job!

The knowledge stays relevant

Even if later in life you decide to start your own business, or try a slightly different career, the knowledge you gain stays relevant, especially when you think about the predictions that understanding code will be important for almost any future job. You will always understand ``programmers talk`` and be able to drop a few codes in your new company.

Are you convinced yet? :)

[coderstrust]

Our tips on how to stay motivated and focused in your freelancing work!

Working as a freelancer means working from home, like 99% of the time. How awesome is that? You don't have to worry about busy traffic, will it rain that day, did you forget to bring something, what will you wear, is that blue shirt clean? It gives you flexibility in work and the choice not many people have today. 

But there is one potential problem: You are your own boss! You are the one who controls the whole work process and when and how everything is done. I know, many of you will think: ``How can that be a problem? That's what I want!`` Problem occurs when you start lacking motivation and focus to be the most productive and amazing at what you do! That can happen from time to time to anyone, but it is especially issue for people working alone from home. That's why I gathered some motivational hacks and I honestly hope they will help you in everything you do. 

Time boxing

Divide the project you are working on into many smaller tasks. This may seem like a common sense, but I suggest that you do it this way: You set a timer for, let's say, 45 minutes with clear task that should be done. Your brain will be tricked into relief from the very beginning because it knows end time.  Plus, when you start working, there is a big chance that you will be on the roll, and won't stop working. You can also try a similar technique called Pomodoro

Organize your home office

Working from the comfort of your couch or at the kitchen table can be very satisfying, but if, in time, you figure out that you get easily distracted and it is affecting your work, try setting up some working environment where you can get in full creative mood! Also, and this is a problem I encountered, try separating yourself from your roommates. If you do not live alone, it is quite possible that you will have people coming in and out, asking you stuff, or looking for something. It is crucial that you set clear boundaries and expectations so that you can have your peace.

Create exciting plans

Let's say that you have plans to go with a dear friend to the cinema to see a new movie, or to get some nice meal in a restaurant. Exciting plans like this, used as a reward after hard working day can be great motivator for you to finish all the tasks on time and to be happy throughout the day. It definitely feels better than: ``Let me finish all the tasks so that I can just sit alone afterwards and watch tv``.  You can also connect this with job description and reward yourself with a new book, shirt or whatever small pleasure you want, when you finish with certain parts of the project.

Eat properly

Healthy meals during the day (especially breakfast) can build up your energy and help you go through the day without feeling tired. I've found this advice really useful: ``For me one thing that gets me motivated is a good breakfast. When I get up in the morning and eat a really high calorie breakfast, I can concentrate for a longer time and get much more work done. I think the secret is a breakfast with a lot of carbohydrates. A nice slice of bread with a lot of peanut butter, two bananas and a few other pieces of fruit really help.``

Find a working buddy

It can be extremely useful if you know other freelancers in your industry so that you can share advises, opinions, questions, even maybe have a co-working space. A bit of healthy competition can also be good for your motivation.

Keep the flame

After some time it may be difficult for you to remember what made you fall in love in freelancing in the beginning. That's why it is important to remind yourself from time to time. You can do that by going to conference on topic relevant for you, reading e-book about new methods you haven't tried yet, getting in a new branch of business that you were too afraid to try, mentoring some younger freelancers at the beginning of their career... The possibilities are endless! Don't let yourself forget what passion got you into this business in the first place and I promise you won't lack focus in your work. 

A few extra points:

- The more motivated and focused you are, the more skilled you will become and more business it will bring. When you think about new clients you can make time for, if you are more productive, you can for sure imagine all the extra money that you could earn!

- Think of the people in your surroundings. Not everyone is lucky enough to have talent, skill and opportunity to make money the way you do. You should feel blessed and value what you have. Of course helping a few people anyway you can along the way would enrich your life for sure. 

- Focus on the people you are helping. Try to look at every project as means to help its end user one way or another. Finding those few benefits that you are bringing in others life can connect you even stronger to what you do and help you motivate yourself.

That it is for now, feel free to comment on what motivates you and how you deal with distractions! Thanks!

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[coderstrust]

Try these 8 tools to organize your freelancing business!

Now that you have started your career, presumably developed your skills, marketing and everything that goes into the package, it is time to see how to run your one-man show in the most productive way to save your time and money.  Check out the tools listed below, and let us know what you think:

1. Bidsketch - Perfect solution for creating otherwise boring client proposals! It provides templates, allows you to easily make changes, lets you know when clientread it, or approved it and gives you that special ``PRO`` touch that would usually take hours.

2. Freckle - Since your time is your most valuable asset it would be smart to track it, right? And this tool is the best for it. You can easily plan every project, decide how many clients can you talk at the time, how much hours should you bill and much more.

3. Streak - This google extension is very simple to use, and it can be of great help when it comes to planning and tracking. Simply divide your tasks in to do, doing, done, and change them from stage to stage as your work goes. Always keep track of what is done and which deadline is approaching, and connect every task with relevant e-mails or files. 

4. Google drive -  With work piling up, it becomes obvious that you need to start storaging files and finding the best way to share them with clients. I would suggest Google drive, as very cheap and simple solution, especially if you are already using gmail. Other than that you can try OneDrive, or Dropbox as well.

5. Wisecash - Smart idea for following your cash flow. With this tool you can do forecasting, and also hypothetical budgets to decide on best clients and projects. You can track your incomes and expenditures, measure your progress, or set financial goals. 

6. Mozy - If there is one thing you need to deal with it is back up. Back up of everything you do! Mozy automatically back up your data, once you sign in, and offers  web-based access to your files.

7. Mailstorm - Another thing that can be really annoying and that can distract you from your work is million mails you get every week. This application will help you clean your inbox in just a few clicks, it will tell you at what time you receive most mails, who you are ignoring the most, and which social network spams you the most. It also allows you to easily unsubscribe from any unnecessary email newsletter.

8. Dashlane - When using this many different services it can get difficult to keep track of all the passwords. This is one unique password manager! Important note is that they don't store master password you use for their site, so if you forget that one..well..you are in trouble.

Are there some other tools that you would suggest? Let us know!