"Stop! You aren't thinking about what you are doing. You can't do this unless you give it 100% of your focus." My piano teacher went on to tell me about how her mentor had stopped her in the middle of playing a piece because she got distracted by a bird on the outside of the window. Taci King was a very kind woman, but she made it clear that I wasn't going to get any better unless I learned to control my mind and concentrate on the task at hand and at that moment, the task at hand was playing a particular piece of music. This lesson has stuck in my mind more than any other from the two years I studied with her in high-school. I remember it every time I'm trying to do something and … [Read more...] about Controlling Your Mind
Blog
You Shouldn’t Always Look for the Right Tool
When I was 13, I set my room on fire for the first time. I had found an electric fan that I assumed had been wired together by my uncle (and electronics guru). When I plugged it in, there was a loud pop, some sparks and a flaming piece of the switch flew to the floor and started burning the carpet. I took off running downstairs for the fire extinguisher in the kitchen. My mom (who happened to be in the room) calmly walked over and put the fire out by stepping on it. It turns out that the fan had been wired together by my 11 year old brother, who had hooked a 12 volt automotive fan into a regular household wiring cord with an automotive switch, shorting the connection between the … [Read more...] about You Shouldn’t Always Look for the Right Tool
Saving Money on Cooling Your Home
Dealing with the summer heat can be pretty expensive. The colder you need to keep your house, the more it costs. Here are some tips to help you stay cool at home more efficiently. Dress light - Make sure you are wearing cool clothing in your home. Wearing long sleeves and warm pants is going to force you to keep the temperature colder to stay comfortable. If dressing in cooler clothes lets you turn the thermostat up even just a single degree, it can still result in significant savings. Take off your shoes - This is related to dressing light, but if your feet are cool, it is much easier to feel cool all over. A cheap pair of sandals to wear inside can pay for themselves very … [Read more...] about Saving Money on Cooling Your Home
Office Timesavers
There are a lot of little things you can do to save yourself time in your office. Each of these ideas can make a modest improvement in the amount of time you save. If you do several of them together, it can start to add up to a serious amount of time savings by streamlining your work. 1. Keep cleaning supplies within easy reach It is a simple thing, but having some Windex and paper towels nearby to wipe down your desk can save you time and help keep your workplace more organized and tidy. 2. Remove your guest chair People are less likely to stay for a long time chatting if there isn't a place to sit. You can keep a fold out chair nearby or borrow a chair from the conference room … [Read more...] about Office Timesavers
Questions and Answers
Here is a collection of some random questions that have come in, either by email or search terms that brought people to this site. The run the gamut from banks to bullets and cover a lot of area in between. If you have questions you'd like to see answered, please send them to [email protected]. Why do banks fail? In the US, banks fail when the FDIC decides they are under-capitalized and force them to sell to another company. This happens when a company makes a bunch of loans that go bad. Much of the current financial crisis was brought on by banks investing in complex investments in mortgages that turned out to be much more risky than originally thought. Why create a … [Read more...] about Questions and Answers
Your Desk its own Desk
With all of our modern gadgetry, it is easy for our desks to get covered with wires, routers, cell phone charger cables, etc. Here is a simple solution to help cut down on the amount of visual clutter you have to face when working. Get a Desk for Your Desk After all, shouldn't your desk have a work area for itself? There is no reason it needs to share with you all the time. :) By getting a small table, shelf or box and placing it under your desk in a place you don't need for your feet, you can move all of your electronics down out of view where they can still perform their function, but not contribute to clutter on your desk. Depending on how your desk is set up, you may even be … [Read more...] about Your Desk its own Desk
Simple Way to Speed up Elevators
Last week we looked at a beautifully simple solution to reduce crime in low income housing areas. I wanted to give a few more examples. A contractor had built a skyscraper downtown in a large city. The new occupants were moving in and the contractor and new owners were finishing up dealing with little issues in finalizing all the little details of the contract. As the number of people in the building increased, the office workers started complaining about the elevators being too slow. Trying to make changes to the elevator would have been a pretty expensive modification. The people who had designed the building came in, timed the elevators, and determined that they were … [Read more...] about Simple Way to Speed up Elevators
Don’t Depend on Your Job
I see a lot of people who become overly dependent upon their job. This isn't surprising and it's very easy to do--particularly with highly motivated performance oriented individuals. However, if your entire identity, self-worth and financial resources are tied up in your job, you are setting yourself up for catastrophe. I'm not saying you shouldn't be proud of your work or enjoy your job, but I am saying that you shouldn't let yourself get blinded to all these economic realities. No matter how good you think you are, you can be replaced. This is true now more than ever. In fact, if you are an extremely high performer and are being paid commensurate with your capabilities, your salary … [Read more...] about Don’t Depend on Your Job
Taking the Time to Read
There are few people who wouldn't benefit from spending a little more time each day reading a good book. If you want to keep yourself at maximum creative capacity, you have to make sure you are taking in new ideas and thoughts. If you aren't continually feeding your mind, you'll eventually find your creative reserves starting to run dry. Continually producing output without taking any input is a good way to burn out. Here are eight tips that I've found help me in my personal reading habits: Read books. There is a lot of material available on blogs and other internet sites, but make sure you are taking time to read actual published books. The quality of published materials … [Read more...] about Taking the Time to Read
Ways to Deal with Distraction
Focus and dedication are things that everyone must master in order to be successful and productive. We've gathered a list of articles intended for various audiences on the subject of focus. Working in a cubicle Dealing with Distractions-Dawn Foster Those that work in close proximity with others know that even small things can become major distractions. This article points out a few ways to deal with this problem. Sounding off on Cubical Survival Tips-Office Smurf This article gives some sound advice (pardon the pun) for eliminating or coping with a loudness in the workplace. Noisy Coworkers: 5 Ways to Deal with Them-noisycoworkers.com When the cacophony becomes to bad, … [Read more...] about Ways to Deal with Distraction