I’ve become quite a fan of Gmail this year and here’s why. With relatively little effort and with reasonably inexpensive equipment, anyone can have access to their email from just about anywhere, get world class spam filtering, and enjoy better search capabilities than most corporate email systems.
I’m still tethered to a work email system (Lotus Notes of all things), but for the rest of my life I find Gmail an amazing addition to the kit. Polling multiple POP3 accounts, filtering mountains of e-mail into manageable piles, and giving me access to my messages anywhere I go means I get out of my office more and more.
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Five Tips for Staying Productive When You Work Where You
Live – Marshal Loeb (marketwatch.com)
- Separate your work space from the rest of your home and spend time in it only when you are working – “Create physical barriers, such as a door or a flight of stairs to isolate yourself from your home routine and focus your attention.”
- Sit at your desk at the same time every day and keep normal business hours – “One of the major challenges is prioritizing your tasks because nobody is there to tell you what to do,” says Holly Reslink, a member of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches, “so it helps to create a daily goal sheet.”
- Dress in a way that will help you feel professional. – “You do not have to wear stockings and high heels, but it helps to get out of your pj’s and put on a crisp shirt”
- Disregard house chores until the end of the business day – “You wouldn’t wash the dishes, walk the dog or cook lunch for the kids if you were in a real office..”
- If your work does not require constant access to email, turn off your email program and check messages only at scheduled times – “Take advantage of your situation by enjoying a few moments in your backyard or on the front porch.”
Original article at CareerJournal.com
Five Tips to Maximize Your Ability to Concentrate
- Get Your Rest- “It might seem obvious, but the biggest factor affecting concentration is rest…”
- Make a Plan – “When you sit down to work without a plan, it’s easy to get caught up in crutch activities like checking email and browsing the web…” (Great tie in to #2 on Marshall’s list)
- Eat Light and Healthy – “Nothing slows down the mind and body like a big greasy meal…”
- Exercise – “If you don’t exercise regularly, this energy can manifest itself in the form of a distracted mind…”
- Take Breaks and Mix Up Your Environment.- “It can also be helpful to work in different places. Instead of being chained to your desk all day, make a point of moving around.”
Carefully picked from many less interesting rocks at Zenhabits.
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Flying car implies it will replace anybodys car, said Carl Dietrich, chief executive officer of Terrafugia, which is developing the Transition, a personal aircraft designed to travel on skyways and highways. Flying car brings out a lot of connotations and The Jetsons.
A quick look at what it takes to control normal automobile traffic in our cities and states gives it away. We won’t be getting flying cars anytime soon, but I still just enjoy the fact that Paul Moller does what he does. I was a bit surprised to hear he’s 70 years old and I assume that means at some time in the next few decades we’ll lose updates on this story.
Fortunately for all of us, the X-prize and Google’s recent move to back the endeavor promise to bring us loads of fun for years.
- Google offers $30 million for the first commercial lunar rover
- Rover must safely land on the moon and beam back images and video to Earth
- Google partnered with the X Prize Foundation for the moon challenge
- Ansari X Prize contest led to the first manned private spaceflight in 2004
I’m happy to say, I finally upgraded my laptop this year. I’d be happier to say my employer realized the thinkpad I carried was fast becoming a paperweight, but that wasn’t the case. Regardless of funding, it was time for a new Thinkpad.
Primary benefits:
- Sprint PPC-6700 works as a tethered internet connection with Vista
- 15.1 inch wide screen matches the Samsung BW226 monitor I run in the office so I no longer live with resizing screen and changing layout every time I move
- I can play World of Warcraft anywhere I want (including across my Sprint connection)
Technically speaking, my cell phone isn’t tethered to the thinkpad. I can connect to it using the built-in Bluetooth connection, but the effect is the same. I get over 200Kbps download rate and that’s enough to work from most locations even without local wifi. The other night, my son and I even tried it with WoW and it ran reasonably well. The resolution issue is more of a pet peeve for me, but I have to admit having 1680×1050 resolution at home and then going on the road with everything crammed into 1024×768 was starting to get me down.
The real benefit of the upgrade is that I can get out and about again. With the work I do today, I was really feeling tied to my office for too many activities. For my own sanity, productivity and growth I need to be out in front of people more often.
Nice simple piece at Businessweek today on your own perspective at the age of 95. I roll this into the same category of what you’d realize if you were fighting cancer and in remission. There are some events in life that help us cut through the fog and attain some level of clarity on what’s important.
In conducting research for one of my books, my co-author and I interviewed more than 200 high-potential leaders from around the world. A key question that we asked was: “If you stay in this company, why are you going to stay?”
The top three answers:
1. “I am finding meaning and happiness now. The work is exciting, and I love what I am doing.”
2. “I like the people here. They are my friends. This feels like a team—like a family. I might make more money if I left, but I don’t want to leave the people here.”
3. “I can follow my dreams. This organization is giving me the chance to grow and do what I really want to do in life.”
So moving my domain wasn’t as simple as I thought. Of course, putting a little time into it might have helped (instead of treating it like a take out order).
While I’d love to believe it, sorry and no. I’m a little surpised my childhood hero (Spidey) didn’t rank higher but I guess I didn’t answer that question about redheads correctly. Sorry MJ. I’m also a little spooked by the Supergirl and Wonderwoman affinity. I should have been looking for my invisible jet instead of my flying car.
Take the supehero personality test today.
Your results:
You are Superman
You are mild-mannered, good,strong and you love to help others.
Superman 75%
Robin 65%
Green Lantern 65%
The Flash 65%
Spider-Man 55%
Iron Man 50%
Batman 50%
Catwoman 45%
Hulk 45%
Supergirl 40%
Wonder Woman 25%
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Merlin’s right on the money here with commentary on the recent WSJ article covering what your inbox says about you.
I like whacky pop psychology conjecture as much as the next guy, but I’ve learned not to draw too many conclusions…
I especially enjoy the proposed connection between our inbox and parental guidance. I wonder which part of parenting had the effect:
Mom and dad:
- were neat freaks so I am too?
- were neat freaks so I rebelled and I’m not?
- never paid attention to me so I wait anxiously for every arrival?
- doted on me constantly so I ignore others (email)?
Email management is more about who’s sending you email and how it fits into your life than it will ever be about family values and upbringing.
For example, my inbox says the following:
- Too many strangers know my email address
- Too many spammers guess my email address
- I enter my email address at too many websites
- Email isn’t my primary method of communication (phone)
- Email isn’t an urgent method of communication (regardless of what others think)
The pace of electronic communication has outpaced social and workplace practices in many areas. While waiting for new “norms” to develop, we should fall back to that age old practice of setting expectations often and honestly. You may be surprised to discover how many other “humans” you work with trying to accomplish the same thing.
Along this general line, Kayleen Schaefer at WSJ Online shares a reader question and response at CareerJournal.com today.
I’m feeling anxious. It is difficult to keep up with all of the text messaging, BlackBerry, emails, cellphones, etc. There is never enough time to answer everything!
The article is packed with good practical advice. In addition I’ll suggest the following:
- Understand the Message in the Medium – No, I’m not referring to the physic friend’s network but to “how” the communication comes to you. E-mails are usually asynchronous, imply the sender doesn’t need to talk to you at that instant and may be willing to wait for a response. Phone and instant messengers are much more ‘connection oriented’ and often tell you someone needs to hear back right away.
- Know your industry – Face facts. There are some industries and jobs where being available at unusual hours is required. Medical services, I/T operations, and countless others require an on-call readiness in case an emergency arises. Others are so crowded with eager (young?) resources you may have to be “on” all the time to keep your place on the ladder. If this is where you are and want to be, then be there and commit to it. If this isn’t where you want to be, look for alternatives.
- >Know your own priorities – Regardless of what the world may tell us through examples of uber-achieving business celebrities and everyday colleagues, how much time you put in at the virtual office is ultimately up to you. Start with simple things. If it’s 2 a.m. in Boston, it’s 2 a.m. in Boston and that’s when people sleep. Trust that you are far more useful to your customers, colleagues, and employer when you can balance your life effectively and give focused time to work and life when it’s appropriate.
Communication and feedback to stakeholders can’t be over-emphasized in my view. The majority of people you’ll run into are far more concerned with their schedule and priorities than yours. Not that they don’t care, but the only way they’ll know there’s even a hint of a problem is if you discuss it and work out a mutually acceptable solution.
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