Planning | Productivity501

If I Get Fired…

2010 by Mark Shead 3 Comments

On a recent Sunday afternoon I was sitting on a bench at the local park watching my daughter on the playground equipment. I overheard an interesting conversation among another family. The adults were commenting on what their 8-year-old boy wanted to be when he grew up. Mother: "Of course he wants to be a fireman when he grows up." Boy: "Or a policeman!" Father: "Well, which one do you want to be?" Boy: "Well, I'll be a policeman if I get fired from being a fireman." Mother: "Well that is sure aiming high!" What I found fascinating about this was that the 8-year-old boy understands something about the modern job market that many adults have a hard time grasping. Your job isn't … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Development Tagged With: fired, job, planning

Safety Tips

2009 by Mark Shead Leave a Comment

Safety is something we don't usually think about ahead of time, and hindsight isn't usually very effective in this area. Here are eight things you should consider when thinking about basic safety practices. Fire Extinguisher - Fire extinguishers are specially designed to put out the types of fires you might have in your house without causing the fire to spread. Throwing water on an electrical or grease fire may make things worse. Keeping an extinguisher handy helps ensure that you'll have something effective to use if it is needed. First Aid Kit - This is particularly important to have in your car. Our first aid kit contains a variety of bandages, disinfectants and pain … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Misc Tagged With: planning, safety

Layoff Preparation

2009 by Anna 6 Comments

With knowledge of our country's current economic situation being broadcast ubiquitously across the news, it is hard to ignore the fact that the economy is slowing down. Jobs that seemed secure are now not so solid, and many employers are beginning to cut costs in any possible way they can. Unfortunately, one of the top trends seems to be downsizing with regard to personnel. Though it is always hard to deal with layoffs, there are ways to prepare for one and devise a strategic plan in case the worst happens. Recognizing the signs Though it may not always be the case, sometimes employers give unintentional information about who they are going to have to let go. Here are a few that … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Money Tagged With: economy, job, lay off, Money, planning, severance, work

Expect Change

2008 by Mark Shead 8 Comments

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: change, Money, planning

10 Steps Toward Safely Relying on Technology

2008 by Mark Shead 1 Comment

I know many people who have easily lost a week of their valuable time because of a technology glitch. If you are willing to invest time and money on technology to make you more productive, you need to make sure you don't wipe out all of the productivity gains through an unexpected failure of your equipment. The following list covers 10 things you can do to minimize the impact of of Murphy's Law on your productivity: Expect things to go wrong. This seems simple, but most people are far too optimistic about technology. You need to assume that, at some point, your hard drive is going to crash, your cell phone will be stolen, your PDA will lose all of its information, etc. Now, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Productivity Tagged With: planning, Productivity, Technology