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...] about Little by Little
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Productivity In Other Countries
My wife and I lived in Mexico for awhile. This post was a look at how people approach productivity differently in different countries. I am currently living in Mexico for a year. It is amazing how much our productivity is based on being familiar with our culture. It has taken a while to get into "the groove" of things here, but I'm finally getting to the point where I feel like I'm starting to be productive again. Here are a few things that are different in Mexico: Time - There is a different view of time here. In the USA if a bus says it is leaving at 9pm, you plan to be there by 8:45pm. Here in Mexico if the bus leaves around 10:30pm or 11pm it is considered to be leaving pretty … [Read more...] about Productivity In Other Countries
10 Steps Toward Safely Relying on Technology
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, maybe … [Read more...] about 10 Steps Toward Safely Relying on Technology
Development: Make yourself smarter
In this interview we asked people: What is the best way you have found to make yourself smarter and more valuable? Below are the answers with the highest voted ones at the top. Read, read and read. Then act and implement. Rinse and repeat. Joel from Joel Falconer (rss) There are few things that are as valuable as a regular plan for reading over your entire lifetime. Listen, listen, and then listen some more. Notice the patterns in everything. Notice what is good before you try to fix what could be better. Notice the way things work instead of wishing things were different. Accept what is before you try to change it. Surrender to what you cannot change. Truly care … [Read more...] about Development: Make yourself smarter
CodeWeavers Giveaway
This is coming a bit late, but if you use OS X or Linux and need a way to occasionally run Windows programs, CodeWeavers is doing a one day giveaway of software that will let you do just that. The giveaway looks like it ends on the end of Tuesday. … [Read more...] about CodeWeavers Giveaway
Protecting People From Themselves
With credit markets freezing up, I thought it might be a good time to put some money into Prosper.com--a site that lets you loan money to individuals. It seemed reasonable that if people couldn't get loans elsewhere you might be able to make a reasonable return filling the role that banks have filled in the past. Unfortunately they aren't allowing you to lend money to people. The best I can tell the SEC has decided that they need to be more tightly regulated and wants them to apply for some type of license or certification. I'm concerned that in trying to fix things the government is going to put too many regulations in place to try to protect people from themselves and in the end … [Read more...] about Protecting People From Themselves
Worry vs. Problem-solving
There are some circumstances that you have no power to change. Worrying about these types of circumstances is pointless. On the other hand, you shouldn't give up looking for a solution just because you don't see an immediate solution. It is important to be able to differentiate between worry and productive problem-solving. Worry usually has the following characteristics: It involves repeating the same thoughts over and over. Any "solutions" deal with things that you don't have the power to change. It focuses on changing things that have already happened. Problem-solving on the other hand has the following characteristics: It doesn't involve thinking about the same thing … [Read more...] about Worry vs. Problem-solving
Dealing with Clutter
Everyone seems to have some degree of clutter in their lives. The paperless office is still a dream, so we still have to deal with many pieces of "stuff" all around us. This stuff can be paper, equipment, books, printouts, electronics, or any number of things. A certian amount of clutter may be productive. Some people just function better when things are in site. However when clutter gets to the point that it slows you down, you need to do something about it. If you find yourself spending time looking for things, that is a good indication that clutter is controlling you. Here are several tips for reducing clutter in your life: Open your mail over the trash can. This will help … [Read more...] about Dealing with Clutter
Jamming Paper Shredders
After a large batch of scanning items into my paperless office, my shredder seemed to be jamming more than normal for my assistant. After helping her clear the stuck paper I got to wondering if there is a way to minimize the jams. Fellowes claims they have created a jam proof shredder. It look like it basically just stops before the paper gets packed in so tight that you can't remove it. Has anyone used one of these? Do they work very well? … [Read more...] about Jamming Paper Shredders
How Good do you Look
In the perfect world, our opportunities would be directly tied to our skills. Luck wouldn't play any part in our successes and our looks would most certainly not be a factor. We don't live in a perfect world and no matter what we do, there isn't a single thing we can do about it. In the real world, luck plays a big part in success and good looking people are picked for promotion over their more skilled peers. You can fight the system, but it won't make a difference. What people think of you is at least partially dependent on how you look. In some ways this isn't so unfair. If you are looking to hire someone, would you be more likely to hire the person who hasn't cut his hair in 6 … [Read more...] about How Good do you Look