We have made a few changes and you can now have a picture show up next to your comments by creating a Gravatar. It is simple to do and will give you a visual presence on many websites. We have published 386,590 words since Productivity501 was launched. Not bad, but even better is that readers have contributed 300,264 words in comments! Thank you to everyone who is helping make Productivity501 a better place by adding comments and opinions to posts. … [Read more...] about Random Thoughts on Comments
Blog
WikiReader – Wikipedia in your pocket
A $99 device that lets you carry all of Wikipedia around in your pocket: WikiReader … [Read more...] about WikiReader – Wikipedia in your pocket
Interview Productive Work Zone
What is your most valuable tip for getting into your productive zone for working? (190) Definitely keep a clean desk and inbox. Before I leave work for the evening, I clean off my desk. When I get to work every morning, I always have a clean desk. The only stuff that can be found on my desk are projects that require action that day. The same can be said for my inbox. Every evening I clean it out. The next morning only contains emails that I'll read/work on that day. Michael Morton from Marketing Monster (rss) Pavlovian conditioning. Here's where procrastination can really hurt you in the beginning. If you go into your home office (or cubicle or whatever) and do nothing, that's … [Read more...] about Interview Productive Work Zone
Bounce Feature in OS X Mail
OS X Mail has a neat little feature that lets you "bounce" an email back to the sender, making it look like your email address doesn't exist. This isn't particularly useful for dealing with automated spam because most spam is sent from fake addresses anyway. However, it can be very useful to deal with emails from people who you don't want to have contacting you or who insist on sending you jokes and hoax warnings all the time. To use this feature, simply control click on the offending email and click "bounce" on the popup menu. They will get a message back that looks as if it came from your server saying that your email address doesn't exist, like the image you see below. … [Read more...] about Bounce Feature in OS X Mail
Understanding Other’s Perceptions
The other day I overheard some young people talking. A fresh graduate from high school was posing this question to his peers. Is it illegal to wear a ski mask into a bank to conduct business? Obviously, I would not suggest trying this to find out. The brief snippet of this conversation I overheard started me thinking about how important it is to understand others' perception. If you walk into a bank wearing a ski mask, your intentions are far less important than others' perceptions of your intentions. When I'm on a bus or subway, I like looking around and trying to see how much I can tell about the fellow passengers just by looking at them. It is a simple way I try to keep … [Read more...] about Understanding Other’s Perceptions
Dealing with Signatures and Email
Today an insurance company needed my signature, and they sent me a TIFF of the file. I used my scanned signature, added it to the TIFF and sent it back. They said they couldn't accept that because it came over email. Since the document they sent me had their signature, I asked if I should reject it because it came to me over email. The agents said I was "too funny". I sent them the same TIFF via fax and they seemed happy with that. This is why we need to get everyone using true digital signatures and encryption on email. … [Read more...] about Dealing with Signatures and Email
Overcompensating to Change Habits
The strobe light in the device flashed and made the wheels look like they were spinning one way or another. Fred adjusted his pressure on the lever and watched the wheels closely while plucking the last string. "I think that does it" he announced as he shut off the power to his tuner and started to pack up. I was eleven, and completely fascinated watching the piano tuner work his magic on our family instrument. I learned a number of things that day. One of the more interesting facts was the way that the pegs in the piano hold a tune. I noticed that Fred would never tune directly to a note, he would always over-tune and then come back to the desired pitch. He explained that if he … [Read more...] about Overcompensating to Change Habits
Making Bad Things Hard
In high school I had braces. During college, my retainers broke and I didn't get them replaced. Over time, my teeth shifted and became crooked again. About a year ago, I decided to do something about it and went with Invisalign braces. They are a type of clear plastic mold that fits over all of your teeth. Every two weeks, you switch them out with a set that is slightly closer to the final position for your teeth. One of the side effects of having your teeth encased in plastic is that you have to plan out your eating a bit more. You have to take them out before you eat. When you are finished, you have to wash them and then brush your teeth really well before putting them back. … [Read more...] about Making Bad Things Hard
The Right Space for the Job
My work area has a comfortable chair, a nice desk, a computer, a large monitor, a phone, etc. It is easy for me to get stuck at my desk and not want to go to other parts of the house because everything I need is right there. However, when I just stay in my office, I miss out on some of advantages of the other parts of the house. In fact, sometimes the tools that make me feel so productive actually get in the way of what I'm trying to do because they are distractions. Trying to sit and think while I'm sitting right next to my computer is kind of like the teenager trying to do Algebra in front of the T.V. My email is right there along with all of my other online tools. Reading is the … [Read more...] about The Right Space for the Job
Managing Electricity (and everything else)
You can't manage what you can't measure. A lot of my consulting work centers around helping people deal with the business consequences of that sentence. Giving businesses real-time data about what is going on can solve a lot of problems, just because it gets things out in the open where they can be seen and discussed. A good example of personal data that ignores this little truth is your electric bill. Electric bills aren't real time--you get them once each month. By the time you see how much you owe, you only have a vague idea about what might have produced those dollar figures. You might see a low bill and think "Oh yeah, we were gone most of the month." You might see a high … [Read more...] about Managing Electricity (and everything else)