productivity Archives -

The Winner Of N100k For The 21-Day Challenge Is…..

Cmoni / January 16, 2024

Becky Peleowo! We had a peer review to select the winner of our creative assignment for the 21-day challenge on 7/01/2024 with the following criteria. i. No self-nomination ii. Nominate 2 ONLY and explain why they deserve the prize. iii. A tie will be broken by the publisher. After the contributions and nominations by some members of the community, Becky Peleowo and Victor Oladejo tied at 3 nominations each. Immigrants of the Turbulent Waters is a thought-provoking project that demonstrates Becky’s versatility as well as a testament to her progress in creating rich media content. Dear Netizens embodies Victor’s talent as a creative and its captivating cover image shows that our mantra of stacking up digital skills has been embraced by this young writer. As we agreed, the community will strive to reward the best works instead of paying out tokens to encourage everyone. Hopefully, we will start rewarding our intellect with millions of naira soon enough. To break the tie I considered participation and other factors but I will summarise my assessment by paraphrasing the honest appraisal of one of us. “Becky — I noticed that she attended the pre-21-day challenge meetings on Sundays and this helped her in chronicling her work. From her work, she worked on a vocalised poem and attended a skill acquisition which is a testament to her judicious use of time” “Victor — I like the fact that he listened to the advice to reduce his unproductive time on Twitter and created a work on Netizens. Hopefully, his next digital project will involve more forms of media production” The projects by Solomon Ekoja and Oluwaseun Osanyinro were equally good. We can be proud that our writers can now create multimedia content. It shows we have come of age. The baby step taken in 2020 has developed into adult strides that will eventually become giant leaps. The 21-day challenge will be a recurring fixture because it will form part of a digital product I’m developing. As we already know, the best part of our journey together is yet to come. By the end of January, we will meet again to chart the path for 2024 starting with our Book In A Year challenge which commenced in June 2023. I thank everyone for their support especially those who participated in this challenge. I’m fulfilled that we learned a thing or two. I also use this opportunity to appeal for more participation from our community. Happy New Year!

Blog, Creative Essays, Writers

Commentary on my Digital Product : Immigrants of the Turbulent Waters by Becky Oludayo Peleowo

Cmoni / December 23, 2023

I I recall that the first time I became fully conscious of illegal migration was when I heard a first-hand story from a victim at an Illegal migration awareness conference, where I had accompanied some secondary school students to listen to the dangers of this shady business. The stories I heard that day tormented me for months and strengthened my resolve never to be desperate about leaving Nigeria. It was even more a resolve not to seek permanent residency in any country outside the coasts of Africa. You can say I was traumatised by the stories I heard and you would be right. Who would not be after hearing such gory tales? That resolve waned with time but I would still vehemently discourage illegal migration. Many Nigerians are unaware of the peril that lies ahead of going through unauthorised paths to a foreign land. Many lack an international passport but will fall victim to agents who promise to take them abroad with seamless efforts. My commentary centres on this persistent challenge as the Japa Syndrome due to the financial crisis and insecurity in Nigeria is on the rise. The 21-day self-evaluation exercise organised by the Cmoni group required us to do away with bad habits that were affecting our productivity and build new and better ones. Luckily I was taking a digital marketing course and the time I used to chitchat on social media was channelled into this course and also on writing in a platform, (Nircle community), where we had to write on different prompts monthly – For instance, December’s prompt is water. What could I write about water? First I had to complete my Capstone Project for the Digital Women Boot Camp, then to make this commentary and finally to submit my entry on the prompt in Nircle Community. Merging this task was herculean for me but since one of the skills I tried to improve on during the 21-day retreat was time management, I decided to work on a vocalised poem as my digital product. The poem was my entry for the Nircle Community. I recorded the poem as a voice-over track, then used some stock and personal images to create content that emotionally appeals to the public. I used the Capcut app to achieve this and the experience of creating and editing my design was an exhilarating one for me. The topic, “Immigrants of the Turbulent Waters” was chosen because I had to write on water and secondly because of a distant relative who was reported to have left Nigeria through one of these illegal means and her immediate family had no information on her whereabouts. A neighbour also shared his brother’s pathetic story on the same topic. Drawing my inspiration from these situations, I linked water to illegal immigration by sea and then I wrote a poem for the Nircle Community and made a vocalised poem in video form for my Cmoni Project, using the skills I had acquired from the Digital Boot Camp. Now I have one theme presented in different forms. You must be thinking of the cliche, “Killing two birds with one stone.” That’s just what it is! II During the 21-day disengagement exercise, I acquired digital skills. I learnt Search Engine Optimisation, Google Analytics, Social media analytics, and web analytics amongst others. Currently, I have confirmed my Google website and am already taking measures to increase the visibility of my business in search rankings. Just like I mentioned earlier, my time management skill has improved. This makes me more productive and gives me a sense of fulfilment. The above-mentioned skill could not have been achieved without the Pomodoro app – Focus and Google tasks. Regular writing on the Nircle app and reading from other writers expanded my knowledge, especially in poetry and non-fiction writing. Writing more often is one of the target skills I had to improve and I achieved this and got rewarded for my effort. I was able to read often too but this time my focus was on the resources for the Digital Marketing Course. I am glad to say I completed the course and I am looking forward to my certificate, a document that will propel me into the digital jobs sphere. On improvement, I would love to spend less time using my mobile phone. I noticed that my daily dealings revolve around it. I’m already using my laptop for journaling but then the portability of the mobile phone makes it a better option. The time away from this device will be spent on family bonding.

Blog, Lifestyle

Your pathway to online productivity.: Disappear For 21 Days.

Cmoni / November 21, 2023

Week 1: Welcome to our first meeting. I’m a stickler for punctuality but I usually give 10 minutes because we all know the frustrations with Nigerian networks. So after 10 minutes, we started with Becky Peleowo and Solomon Ekoja. The attendance was good enough for me to unpack my points without any feeling of disappointment. I’m experienced enough to know that doubts often follow disappointments. It is even more so in the early stages. Your response should be to hang in there with self-belief because you are creating value to build something bigger than yourself. The disappointment and doubts will eventually form an interesting part of your success story. So I thanked them for accepting the challenge and turning up. Now let’s dive in. I’m excited about this self-development step of having better control of your time. If you have been following my writing, you will know I’m interested in skills capabilities development with writing as the crucible. I develop compelling content including but not limited to articles that not only inform but also provoke thought and discourse. It’s a burgeoning passion fueled by the desire to give back to society. Before now, I wrote sociopolitical commentaries mostly on Facebook — arguably a complete waste of time. I could write multiple posts daily. It’s easy. I introduce the topic, smack down opposing views, then present my take and conclude. That’s it. Post done and arguments ensue! But if I have to be published in a newspaper — perhaps a worthwhile venture — I take my time to research the topic, review the background, argue for and against it, and analyse the different perspectives before concluding with my opinion/suggestions. It’s a skill I learned in my Cardiff days studying Political Communication. It’s also a better way of articulating my thoughts in a more comprehensible manner. However, I decided to move on to scalable writing, investing my resources in building digital communities for knowledge acquisition that will enhance the productivity of our teeming youths. I no longer fall for cheap dopamine and the vacuous validation of uncritical minds. Now I derive real enduring pleasure in reading stories from writers in our growing community, in seeing their enthusiasm as we chat during Talkshops and in the vision I have for younger people to be more productive by creating solutions that add value. The cmonionline essay competition was a baby step I took during the pandemic lockdown of 2020 to improve the waning literary culture in Nigeria. Through repetitions and iterations, we developed consistency in writing and we keep growing. Already a member of our community Oluwaseun Osanyinro has published a book and more members will evolve into published authors at the end of our current “A Book In A Year” project. We are also evolving into digital creators, educators and multiple solution providers as we acquire practicable digital skills through various e-tivities. It’s a process, and even though progress may appear slow now, I am certain the tune will be different sooner than later. By embarking on this journey we will reduce the distractions in a fast-paced world and increase our focus which of course is essential for improved productivity. During our meeting, I narrated my Facebook story which informed this challenge. I also shared my experience with Communities Of Practice, a module in my post-graduate studies at UCC which exposed me to the importance of group work and collaboration. Future write-ups will have these stories but for now, let’s focus on what we can start doing. Much of what we have to do in 21 days is in the text you read. In between we will meet thrice to discuss and learn on Sundays 19/11/2023, 26/11/2023 & 03/12/2023. If you haven’t read the post please find time to read it here. Let me repeat number 6 which will form the basis of the final creative project that will win the 100k prize. Journal: Finally, get a notepad/diary, traditional or digital and write down your daily routine/experience. As hard as it may seem, endeavour to write some words each morning. 100, 200 or more words will do as the following 3 weeks may well prove to be a turning point. And what better way to appreciate it than to record it for possible systemisation, productisation and monetisation! ACTIONABLE TIPS: You can start doing any or all of the following that require zero capital. 1. Create a routine if you don’t have one already. If your routine is based on your current job you need to modify it to integrate your aspirations. Don’t spend all your time working to achieve another person’s goal. 2. Start sanitising your social media TL Follow those who post value and your interests. Interact, engage. Social media is a mirror that works on algorithms. Your input determines your output. I follow and unfollow people daily. If you constantly tweet values like writing and other skills I’ll follow you. If you repeatedly tweet frivolities like betting and porn I will unfollow you. Read this post to understand more. 3. Use a reminder to think twice before you act online. eg I have a stop sign as my screensaver. It reminds me to stop engaging in frivolities when I pick up my phone. 4. Start creating online. I’ve written about this here. The creator economy is huge and guess what? It requires zero capital to start. You only need digital skills. There are tons of free and affordable knowledge tutors to learn from. Podcasts, YouTube videos, courses etc. 5. Use tools that aid your consistency. eg I use Buffer to schedule my posts every Sunday. If I’m driving or sleeping my scheduled posts are uploaded. You can start with free versions of these tools till you feel the need to upgrade. 6. Start learning a new skill or something. As you would expect I recommend writing ie if you are not writing already. But there are many other skills, especially digital skills to learn for free. Email and social media marketing, graphic design, copywriting, public

Blog, Creative Essays, Writers

“Shap Shap” by Faith Oyadiran

Cmoni / August 13, 2023

I know a very bright young man. He lacked proficiency in the English language. He is very diligent (I’m not giving out his details so people won’t come for me). He was asked to give another word that could replace “hurriedly.” In his innocence, he wrote “shap shap.” One of my girls saw it and burst into laughter. I had a good laugh as well. I must reiterate that the young man did it innocently. I will assume that the song “Oluwa, answer me sharp, sharp, answer me sharp, sharp” from Funke Akindele’s epic Blockbuster “Battle on Buka Street” will naturally pop up in your head like it did in mine. After that event, I headed to my office. I needed to be alone. I adjusted my chair, drew my table close and blanked out of my immediate environment. I mulled over that particular incident. It was hilarious but the paradox didn’t elude me. It is a representation of how rationality has been rationed over the years. We have transcended the vistas of logic. “Sharp sharp” has morphed into “shap shap” At that moment, I realized the importance of “deep work” which stood in stark contrast to “shap shap” I joined a writing group (A Book in a Year, hosted by @cmonionline) in May, and I can remember two different sessions where the resource personnel emphasized the importance of “deep work.” It lent more depth to my contemplations. “We are the generation that is quick to put everything on display including our folly” I concluded. Process, depth, and diligence often eroded in a whiff. Hotness and parsimony have been awarded prominence over posterity. “Balloons and balloons,” my friend and I once joked. An occasion without them is criticized as not colourful. A church service without them is bland and unorganized. Gifts and flowers without them are watered down. Pastries without them are regarded as a “mountain of flours” and so on. My friend further mimicked a scenario from the Bible in the old KJV’s voice: “O ye generation of balloons, who has bewitched you into the blow fast and ‘poof’ in a swift doctrine? The essence of the joke was to foreground how deep we have sunk into shallowness. We quest for everything like fast food but neglect the transcendence that comes from meticulous efforts. This is why the gaps in many success stories will forever remain unarticulated. The process can never be cheated. I reminisce on Ralph Ellison’s ‘Invisible Man.’ My intent is not to draw attention to the shenanigans surrounding the settings of the literary work. Neither do I seek to draw away the sympathy the protagonist has garnered across ages. I’m intrigued by the unnamed guy’s demise into oblivion. He embarked on adventures to gain a voice. Every measure of visibility he attains makes him more obscure. The irony of the story comes to the fore when the unnamed hero cements his invisibility by ending up in a manhole buried forever in oblivion. In isolation, we discover that he has been given a rare opportunity in the form of time, obscurity, and a perfect atmosphere to do an appraisal. We have the tools for lasting success at our disposal, so why not give due diligence to careful observation? Pay attention to details. Ponder and rummage. Study and gather facts. Then give yourself time to grow. Investing in the wind guarantees that you will be swept away by the formidable momentum it yields. Oyadiran Faith is a graduate of English Language and Literary Studies from Obafemi Awolowo University Osun State, Nigeria. He is an avid reader and a passionate writer. He currently works as a Diction instructor. He is on Instagram as @Op_bolu and can be reached @oyadiranfaithopeyemi@gmail.com

Blog, Resources

From Wasting Time Online To Productivity.

Cmoni / June 3, 2023

Are you like a normal person struggling to maximise your productivity by managing the hours you spend online? Read this! I grew up on a farm outside of Nokia, Finland and spent most of my days outside in the dirt. If that name sounds familiar to you, it’s because in Nokia the early cellphone company of the same name was born. My family got a computer when I was fairly young, and soon, I spent much of my time playing a soccer game on our computer instead of actually, you know, playing soccer. Eventually, my parents put their foot down. They forced me off the computer and insisted I spend more time outside. And while I was annoyed at the time, in retrospect I wouldn’t trade those childhood years on the farm for anything. As I grew up and started working in corporate jobs, I naturally found myself in front of a computer screen more often than I liked. After a while, I decided I didn’t want to be glued to a screen all waking hours. And I know a lot of people feel this way, too. Most of us have a love-hate relationship with our devices. We depend on them for so much—keeping up with loved ones, navigating new cities, connecting with clients, and remembering meetings. Yet we feel powerless to disconnect. We fear that if we’re not online at all times, we’ll miss something important. This can be especially true of business leaders or startup founders, who feel the weight of our companies on our shoulders. As a company leader myself, I nonetheless make a point to spend only 15 hours a week on my computer—max—which makes me feel more productive, efficient, and creative. Here’s why I cut my screen time down and how you can benefit from it too: We’re all online well past the point of productivity. Americans spend nearly half the day interacting with our smartphones. Whether it’s binge-watching the latest show, shopping for home decor, or scrolling through yet another album of baby pictures on social media, we are living more and more of our lives in the digital world. The fact that we’re connected 24/7 has also changed the way we work. In the office, we feel like being a good employee means always being available and connected. One of the most toxic myths we tell ourselves is that being online more equates to more productivity. The ability to connect with coworkers and clients may seem conducive to getting work done, but it’s often extremely distracting. You can be deep in a flow state on a project, and suddenly, you’re interrupted by a Slack message or email. The message isn’t urgent, yet you find yourself compelled to respond anyway. Once your focus is broken, it’s hard to get back. When you really analyze what you’re doing when you’re online, you’ll probably find that you’re wasting a lot of time. The only way to stop the internet from taking up all your time and concentration is to disconnect. When you unplug, you’ll get your focus back, and you’ll be less tempted to waste time on things like email, instant messaging, and social media. You’ll also gain the added benefit of reduced eye strain and improved sleep—as the blue light from our screens interferes with our body’s circadian rhythms. There’s a (limited) time and a place to toil away on your devices, and it isn’t all day every day. Disconnecting is easier than you think. Being online less sounds difficult, but it’s not nearly as hard as it seems. A helpful trick I started doing years ago was to install a time-tracker on my computer, which allows me to see how much time I’ve spent online each week. Every Friday afternoon, I examine the hours and compare. Say this week I spent seven hours on the computer, and last week I spent 13. Did I feel better or worse? Did I get more done? Once I started auditing myself, I figured out that about 15 hours my sweet spot—but it’s different for everyone. Examine your habits carefully. If you feel like you’re wasting time online, figure out how to maximize efficiency. One way to do this is the Pomodoro Method. Crafted by Francesco Cirillo in 1992, this method involves the following steps: Choose a task to be accomplished Set your timer to 25 minutes Work on the task until the timer rings, then put a checkmark on your sheet of paper to denote the passage of a timer Take a short break (Five minutes is OK) Every four checkmarks, take a longer break The Pomodoro Method is a cyclical system. You work in short sprints, which makes sure you’re consistently productive. You also get to take regular breaks that bolster your motivation and keep you creative. Once you experience the benefits of strategically logging off, you won’t look back. The most important work takes place off-screen. As the founder of Four Sigmatic, I get paid to think about big picture stuff—like product development, strategy, branding, and communicating with clients and my team. Most of these tasks don’t require a computer to do well. When you’re on a computer, you’re more likely to be consuming than creating. So much of what’s online isn’t valuable—it’s just clutter. And if you’re reading too much of it you don’t have space for creativity and original thought. Creating something new as a founder requires effective communication with the people helping you build it. And ultimately, the most high-impact way to communicate is in-person. If you can’t meet face-to-face, then video chat is your next best bet. After that, a phone call. Text and email just aren’t as productive. After all, you can be emailing and texting all day and getting nothing across. If you’re going to be online, make sure it’s only to do what’s necessary and move the more important stuff off-screen. When you take a good, hard look at your relationship with technology and strategize a way to make

Blog, Diaspora Diary., FEATURES

Diaspora Diary: Creating The Spiderweb.

Cmoni / March 26, 2023

It only takes one person to mobilize a community and inspire change. Even if you don’t feel like you have it in you, it’s in you. You have to believe in yourself. People will see your vision and passion and follow you. ~Teyonah Parris Scene 1: We gathered for a BBQ at a friend’s stately new home at a quiet estate located in the northwest region of England. Seated in the garden on the day were 7 Nigerian men. Some had flown in from other European cities while others drove down from other parts of the UK. While we feasted on the barbecue and drinks the conversation shifted to the usual topic about happenings back home. Following the usual lamentations one of us stated that he may NEVER step into Nigeria again. He wasn’t alone in that line of cerebration. Another friend echoed his sentiments and added that he had instructed his uncle to sell off his village land and share the proceeds with his cousin. I was a little perplexed. Not because this was new to me but because I usually hear it from struggling diasporans and JJCs. My guys are none of these. They are worthy and successful professionals in their respective fields. Why would they say this? I always believed that prosperous Nigerians in the diaspora owe the country the duty of regular visits. Either to see relatives or to contribute to her development. This should be more so for those of us that lived there during our formative years. My friends would go on to explain the reasons behind their decision and of course, the rising insecurity topped the chart. One told of his harrowing experience in the hands of kidnappers along the notorious Benin axis on his last visit back in 2017. Another narrated how a police officer threatened him at gunpoint over vehicle particulars. Insecurity, insecurity, insecurity… Scene 2: A few days into the new year and my phone rang one early morning. My friend who lives about 90 minutes away wanted to visit later in the day. He has just returned after his late mum’s funeral in Nigeria. I ran off to the local African shop and bought pounded yam for the Nsala soup my wife had made the previous day. So when he arrived we got into you guessed right; the usual discussion! He decried the worsening situation since his last visit 5 years ago. I heard about how the funeral had to be fixed in a hurry and so soon after his mum’s demise because of the uncertainties that often mark our general elections. They had to mobilise personnel from the police, DSS and the navy to ensure adequate security for the duration of their stay in the village. There was frustration with the funeral organisers while some of the locals extorted the family not minding their bereavement. At the bank, a cashier wasted over 30 minutes on a transaction and added to his indignation by asking him to “search for a superior who may have gone outside”. By the time he was leaving later in the evening, my friend divulged that his itinerary in the coming weeks involved two house-hunting trips to southern France and the Andalucian region of Spain. A befitting retirement home will have to be somewhere warmer that the temperate British Isles where he had lived all these years. Scene 3: While writing the first two scenes I remembered another US-based friend who started a business back in 2016. Before then we had discussed investing in Nigeria to create employment with another stream of income that can be efficiently and remotely run. The business can then grow into branches nationwide. He actually started before me and opened the pharmaceutical store in the federal capital. However, he was forced to close down after what he termed as “too many stories from his staff”. Employees entrusted with running the business were lousy and repeatedly made little or no returns. My guy just closed shop and focused on his hustle abroad. In my own case, I believe that my extensive business experience in Nigeria and perhaps lady luck are factors that have kept my shop open since 2019. But of course not without the challenges. I had to temporarily close down twice in the first year while the search for a salesperson lasted and subsequently for the pandemic lockdown. There are countless examples like these when the good intention of our brethren abroad are met with frustration that discourage visits and the attendant investment. But we cannot give up on Mama Africa. We must continue to do what we can. Those who may not want to visit can still assist by utilising the power of the internet in providing the opportunity for young Africans to acquire marketable digital skills. By so doing we can create multiple talent pools that diasporans can avail of to invest back home. So you see, it is actually a win-win approach. In the past, I have written about how Africans in the diaspora can help to improve productivity in our homeland. And before then I already started a weekly essay competition to revive a waning literary culture and encourage budding writers. I also created a weekly #SundayPuzzle on Twitter for young people to exercise their brains. To date, we have published more than 1,000 essays from over 50 writers and paid out over N3 million in cash prizes as tokens of encouragement. We now have a growing audience of over 10,000 followers. All thanks to your magnanimous contributions. Beyond these, we have other e-tivities/training on digital skill acquisition and self-development. Some testimonials of our writers can be found here. We are still pushing and we solicit your support/collaboration to reach more youths with this noble initiative. You can become our Patreon or donate via Paypal. Thanks for reading. Please if you like this story feel free to peruse and share our free content at https://cmonionline.com/ or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. You

productivity