You are here: Home / 2008 / Archives for November 2008

10 Articles on Exercise

2008 by 2 Comments
runners-main

Plan Your Meals and Exercise in Advance-The Office Diet Sometimes it is easy to fall out of a routine that requires daily effort to continue. For those that are trying to cut back on calories, it is no different. This article gives readers some helpful tips on how to stay organized with their meal and exercise planning on the road to success. Why Exercise Can Reduce Anxiety-Overcoming Social Anxiety For those of us that feel stressed in crowded places or even around a few people, perhaps regular exercise would be a valid option to help eliminate those feelings of anxiety. In this article the author speaks about how exercise has been a proven method for dealing with social anxiety. 5 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

Box.net Review

2008 by 11 Comments
boxscreenshot-1

Collaboration on large, complex projects can be a big hassle. Giving out hard copies can create an even bigger mess if someone loses his or her copy of the information! Most of the time it is just plainly more productive to solve a problem once and for all, instead of solving that same dilemma multiple times. The people at Box.net have come up with a neat new way to share and edit information efficiently, making it possible to access all informational aspects of a project in the same place! This product streamlines the communication between team members or departments efficiently and competently. However, although Box.net is a logical choice for the workplace, it could also be used for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Continuing Links of Interest…

2008 by Leave a Comment
internet-main

How to Have a Civil Political Debate-Art of Manliness Often, political debates are marred by improper approaches to presenting opposing ideas. This article would be helpful to anyone that is looking to improve their debate etiquette. New Workspace-Behance Magizine With fuel prices on the rise, there is a growing movement towards telecommuting and working from home. This article is an interesting read that examines the drawbacks and benefits of working from home. Why iPhone Owners Don't Need Wallets-The Cranking Widgets Blog At times, clutter can become very overwhelming. However, this article looks at a new way to reduce the amount of clutter in your wallet! 5 Ways to Fall Asleep … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With:

Gifts for Getting Things Done

2008 by 5 Comments
cookies-main

A relative of mine had been trying unsuccessfully to get a letter from a doctor.  The letter was important for part of an insurance settlement, but the doctor was always busy or gone and the letter just never seemed to get written.  I offered to help, so I called and talked to one of the nurses.  She was sympathetic and said she would try to help, but the doctor was, after all, a doctor and it was really up to him.  I thanked her and got off the phone. My wife pointed out that when she worked as a nurse, food was often a very big motivator.  An hour or so later, my assistant had located a bakery nearby and ordered them a batch of cookies along with a note thanking them for their … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With:

10 Articles on Managing Email

2008 by 4 Comments
clutter-main

Managing Email: The Great American Timesuck-CEO Blog Though email was intended to make our lives easier, sometimes it does just the opposite! This article provides a list of suggestions that would be helpful to anyone that feels slightly buried by the mountain of messages lurking in the corners of their inboxes. Sharepoint: Managing Access Request Emails-Shankar's Musings At times, programs dealing with email can become slightly confusing because of the convolutions one must go through to work with them. This article offers some helpful advice for those that need a few tips dealing with access request emails. Managing Email Stress-Nicky Jurd Sometimes, though we know what needs to be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Technology Tagged With:

Standing on Shoulders of Giants

2008 by Leave a Comment
giant-main

You've probably read the quote from Isaac Newton: If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants. The idea is that we can leverage the work of people before us in order to do things that wouldn't be possible on our own.  If you want to create a new type of time-saving computer application, you don' t have to start with inventing a computer.  You don't even need to completely understand how a computer works in order to leverage it for your success. Learning to use the results, accomplishments, and skills of others doesn't always come naturally.  While you might not be tempted to reinvent the computer, it can be very easy to overlook the input from your friends … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Tagged With: ,

Children and Slotload DVD drives

2008 by 3 Comments

After a difficult surgery, I successfully removed 4 square "Memory" cards from my wife's MacBook, I have a new piece of advice from people with small children.  Put a piece of tape over your slot load drives. :) … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With: ,

Expect Change

2008 by 8 Comments
fuel-sq

Years ago there was a millionaire who was getting old.  He decided he wanted to provide for his heirs, but he wanted to protect them from poor investments that would make them lose the fortune he had built up.  He had his lawyer draft his will in a way that would provide for his heirs, but only allow his money to be invested in a reliable, solid industry.  The industry he chose was electric street cars.  Within a generation, his descendants were pumping gasoline at service stations. The millionaire had good intentions, but he was short-sighted.  His basic failure was that he didn't expect change.  He correctly assumed that people would always need cheap transportation.  He … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With: , ,

Four Important Folders on my Computer

2008 by 4 Comments
folder-main

Here are four folders that I have in my Documents on my hard drive that I've found save me time. Receipts - When I buy something online that I need to keep track of, I'll print a copy of the receipt page to a PDF and save it in this file. Usually I'll save it with the date as part of the file name. For example: 20071012-cell-phone-order.pdf. This makes it easy to find records of purchases. Rebates - Rebates are awful. Basically, companies are betting on the fact that you won't take the time to fill out the paperwork and send it in. I've found if I keep everything in a single location, it makes it a lot easier for me to gather up all the pieces of info I need and it is easier to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Organize Tagged With: , ,

Striving for Greatness

2008 by 2 Comments
successful-main

Statistically speaking, you are unlikely to achieve above average success on accident.  Here is a short list of things that seem like common qualities in people who achieve greatness. If you have qualities you'd like to see added to the list, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page. Embrace Failure – The lives of the greatest successful people would often seem like horrible failures if you remove their one or two biggest achievements.  Successful people often fail.  While they aren’t intentionally trying to fail, they see it as a path to success. Failure is part of the learning process and is seen as a necessary step toward success. Right Place, Right Time – Most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: , ,

Investing in Education

2008 by 6 Comments
school1-sq

Education is an investment in the future.  Just like investments have different rates of returns, studying different things will give you different payback. There are generally two types of education available to people after high school.  A technical education prepares you to do specific tasks.  A general education prepares you be able to learn. Many people don't understand the difference between these two types of learning.  Going to massage school may seem great in the short term.  It doesn't take too long to learn and the pay is significantly better than what you can get from a job right after high school.  However, it doesn't really prepare you for changing jobs in the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc, Technology Tagged With: , ,

Productivity and Values

2008 by 3 Comments
busy-main

The concept of being productive is meaningless without a good understanding of your values or what is important to you personally.  Being productive isn't just a matter of being busy.  It isn't a matter of doing a lot of things.  Productivity is accomplishing important things. Many people try to get organized so they can do more, but really they are just trying to fit a bunch more unimportant things into their day.  Until they define what is really important to them, just scheduling a bunch of tasks won't help them really accomplish more. Sometimes being productive doesn't mean doing more.  In fact, sometimes it can mean doing fewer tasks each day.  When these tasks are … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Stretching Yourself

2008 by 3 Comments
stretch-sq

Take the time to do something hard.  Take the time to do something new. Your biggest surges of growth will come from stretching yourself.  You can stretch yourself in small ways by trying a new type of food, talking with a stranger, or watching a movie that is different than your norm.  You can stretch yourself in big ways by quitting your job and going into business for yourself. Regardless of how you go about it, you will grow more by stretching yourself on a consistent basis than by reading every self-help book you can find.  When you are looking for things to stretch your capabilities, here are a few things to keep in mind. What are the risks?  You need to understand the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: , ,

Paper vs. Importance

2008 by 7 Comments
picture-1

I have noticed the most important people have a very clear desk.  This also tends to be the case for people with much less important jobs.  To illustrate, I've created a graph. I'm sure this isn't true across the board, but it does seem to be at least partially true.  How clear are the desks of the most important three people at your organization?  Here are a few reasons that paper seems to go down as importance goes up: The top person can always give his paper to someone else, so it pushes the paper down toward people of mid level importance. The mid-level people will only push the paper down so far, themselves, because it is their neck on the line if something gets messed … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Organize Tagged With: , ,

Manly Contest

2008 by Leave a Comment

Just a quick reminder about The Art of Manliness'  Old Spice contest to find the Man of the Year. You have a few more days until November 8th, to nominate the person you feel displays the ideal traits of “Manliness”.  The winner gets $2,000 in cash and the top 10 entries all get a selection of Old Spice products. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Asides Tagged With:

Top 5 Time Savers

2008 by 3 Comments
pda2-main

Yesterday we looked at my list of top 5 time wasters, so today it seemed appropriate to look at the top 5 time savers.  It is hard to measure the value of something that saves you time, so these may seem fairly random.  Your suggestions for top time savers are welcomed in the comment section below. Podcasts in the Car - I have a system that allows me to subscribe to podcasts, transfer them to an iPod that hooks directly to my car stereo (when I turn off the car the iPod is paused until I start it back up again), and delete podcasts once I've listened to them. This allows me to keep informed on many topics with very little effort on my part and very little wasted time.  I generally go … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,

Little by Little

2008 by 3 Comments
time2-sq

Often one of the biggest road blocks to our personal growth is that we feel we can't take on a new project until we have vast amounts of free time. The reality is that we will probably never have a couple hours of free time each day. However, if we can set aside just 15 minutes each day to dedicate to doing something we've been putting off for a better period of our life, these small investments will add up and go a long ways toward achieving our goals. For example if you want to learn a foreign language, practice a neglected musical instrument, read through the works of Shakespeare, or any number of enriching activities you probably don't feel you have enough time to start.  Most … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: , ,