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Staying at home during this time of Covid-19 crisis has probably got you wondering, “What else could I do to keep growing as a person and as a professional?”, and it could also mean having the chance to rest and connect with your loved ones. But why not do both? You could really use a lot of those spare time together by getting your creative juices flowing while also allowing yourselves to relax the right way.
From web development to meditation, here are five free online courses that are designed for beginners who want to gain new skills that are helpful for personal and professional development.
Coding
The course
Learn to Code
While online lectures are a dime a dozen these days, this course is unique because it uses an interactive tool called Dash that teaches you the fundamentals of web development in a matter of hours. First, you’ll get comfortable with coding terminology and then you’ll quickly be building your own webpage.
Who’s teaching
General Assembly
General Assembly has 20 campuses, 10k hiring partners and over 40k graduates. They’re an authority on what skills employers want and how to teach them effectively to learners.
Yoga
The course
30 Day Yoga for Beginners
This online course provides a 15-30 minute yoga video lesson each day that will introduce beginners to yoga breathing techniques, poses, and flows. Each day builds on the last and will get you feeling confident on the mat in no time.
Who’s teaching
Fightmaster Yoga
The class is led by Lesley Fighmaster, who has taught hundreds of yoga teachers and hundreds of thousands of yoga students online.
Writing
The course
The Secret Sauce of Great Writing
We all write every day, so why not invest some time in writing better? This class is all about practical writing. Beginners and seasoned writers all benefit from learning the four ingredients of good writing: simplicity, clarity, elegance, and evocativeness—and how to leverage them to make your blogs, books, and business writing sparkle.
Who’s teaching
Shani Raja on Udemy
Shani Raja teaches top journalists how to improve their writing and has written and edited for some of the world’s biggest news organizations, including The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial times, and Bloomberg News.
Meditation
The course
Mindfulness Daily
Meditation is one of those things that sometimes takes a back seat to life’s other demands, but it definitely shouldn’t. This 40-day course only asks you for 15-minutes per day, but still packs a big punch. Each short session includes a guided meditation and a lesson on a key technique of meditation practice. By the end of 40 days, you’ll have the grounds for a practice that can bring increasing clarity and wisdom, resilience, and love to your life.
Who’s teaching
Tara Brach & Jack Kornfield
Both instructors hold PhDs in clinical psychology and have trained extensively in Buddhist meditation. They each offer numerous different courses, but this free one is a great place for beginners to start.
Entrepreneurship
The course
Creativity & Entrepreneurship
This 4-week course features interviews with world-renowned entrepreneurs, innovators, songwriters, producers, creative directors, educators, performers, visual artists, and chefs as they discuss parallels between the creative and entrepreneurial journeys. This course will help you tap into your inner creativity and learn how to leverage it for career development and business innovation. It applies concepts from the creative and musical creation process (such as observing, prototyping, iterating, and embracing failure) and teaches you how to use them to your advantage in the business world.
Who’s teaching
Panos Panay through edX
Panos Panay is the founding managing director of Berklee’s Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) as well as a passionate entrepreneur and active startup mentor in the creative media space. He writes about startups and entrepreneurship for blogs and publications such as Huffington Post, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company.
About UpHabit
UpHabit is an easy-to-use app that takes the heavy lifting out of reaching out, following up, and building an effective professional network. Stay connected with UpHabit, now completely free! Download the app on iOS, Android, and MacOS.
Inline Images by
Alexandru Acea on Unsplash
GMB Monkey on Unsplash
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madison lavern on Unsplash
