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Mark Shead - Agile Coach

Mark Shead
Mark Shead

Cutting Out Distractions

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I once heard a story about an author who had designed a house especially to be used for writing.  The house was built on a mountain and had an impressive view of the valley and mountains beyond. The author had designed an office especially for writing.  It  had large windows overlooking the gorgeous view.  Facing the windows was an expansive desk where the author planned to write many books.  However, there was just one problem. After moving into the house, the author discovered that he couldn't get any work done.  He would sit at his desk overlooking the gorgeous view, but he just couldn't concentrate.  It turned out that the view wasn't inspiring him.  It was just a … [Read more...] about Cutting Out Distractions

Fruitful Time Business Edition

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Fruitful Time makes a free Productivity Meter that we've mentioned before.  It tracks how your computer is being used and gives you a good idea how your time is being spent.  They now have a paid Business Edition that lets you do the same thing for a group of employees.  I have used some tools like this in the past so my staff could tell where they are spending their time.  It looks like it is still windows only.  For a cross platform (OSX and Windows) tool, check out Slife. They make a similar free personal/paid team product. If you are looking at a product like this, one of the big things you want is the ability to track things based on the path or name of the document being used.  So … [Read more...] about Fruitful Time Business Edition

Google Voice

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Grand Central is becoming Google Voice.  While it isn't open for the public just yet, it is a step closer.  If you have a Grand Central account you can convert it to Google Voice.  There are a quite a few new features.  Some of the big ones are: Voicemail transcription, free outgoing (and incoming) calls, and SMS messaging.  It sounds like they are looking at adding the ability to port numbers into Google Voice in the future. This could be a very big deal.  You could move your main number into Google Voice and then have it ring whatever numbers you want. … [Read more...] about Google Voice

Couple’s Finances

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Money can be one of the biggest strains on relationship.  Many couples are at odds financially and when things get tight, the relationship suffers.  With the current state of the economy, now is probably a good time to review this older post on working together financially. Any investment you make in your relationships are going to have much higher returns than the stock market. … [Read more...] about Couple’s Finances

The Habit of Lateness

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When I was in college, my roommate had a very difficult time getting up in the morning, so he was often running late.  To help himself get to class on time, he set his clock ahead about 5 minutes.  This worked well for about a week. It took about 7 days for him to get used to the idea that the clock was set ahead, and the method started losing its effectiveness.  No big deal.  He just bumped it another two minutes forward and he started being on time again...for about a week. I was sitting at my desk reviewing some notes for my next class at 1:50.  I stood up to grab a book off the book shelf and something just didn't seem right.  It took me a minute to realize that I had seen a … [Read more...] about The Habit of Lateness

Measure and Notice your Progress

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You can only improve what you notice and you can only notice what you measure.  If you want to improve some area of your life or work, you have to be able to measure it.  Without some way to gauge your progress, you won't know if you are making improvement or not. For example, when I was running the technical department at a large non-profit corporation, I started measuring our response time for help desk tickets.  This was quantifiable data, and by looking at the trends over time, we were able to see if our response time was improving (going down) or getting worse (going up).  Without measuring this, we would of had no objective way to measure our performance and we would have been … [Read more...] about Measure and Notice your Progress

Behaving in Court

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Lawyer Andrew Flusche has some recommendations on how to behave in court based on what he sees people doing in Virginia Traffic Court.  You would think people would know better than to show up while chewing gum, but evidently not.  His advice is good for pretty much any situation where you need to make a good impression on someone in authority. … [Read more...] about Behaving in Court

Dealing with Gadgets

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I have to admit, I'm a gadget lover.  I like playing with phones, cameras, personal organizers and all kinds of electronic devices. I'm not quite as much an addict as I used to be, but I still like mobile electronics. Some of these gadgets can be really big time savers and a good investment.  Other gadgets are great fun to use, but the time they save is offset by the time they cost.  Then there are the gadgets that make you think you are being more productive, but actually make you waste time. Here are some of the things that I look for in a gadget to help make me more productive: Better Use of Downtime – Everyone spends time waiting for planes, waiting for appointments, driving in … [Read more...] about Dealing with Gadgets

Scientists and Magicians

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In an interesting experiment, scientists showed individuals photos of two female faces and asked them to pick which one was more attractive.  Then using a slight of hand trick learned from magicians, the scientist replaced the chosen photo with the one that was not chosen.  So, the individual was handed the photo that they had decided was less attractive. Only 26% noticed the switch.  The other 74% accepted the rejected picture as the one that they had chosen.  Now possibly that could be explained by saying that they just weren't paying attention to the photo once it was handed to them, but the scientists went one step further.  After handing over the photo, they asked the individual … [Read more...] about Scientists and Magicians

Brain Rules

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I was sent a copy of Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School to review and I must say it has been a very interesting read.  The author, John Medina, is a developmental molecular biologist.  He has written a surprisingly accessible book on how the brain works full of tips for getting the most out of your mind. The book is broken down into 12 rules.  Here are a few: Exercise - One of the biggest contributors to a clear mind as we age is exercise.  Our brains are only 2% of our body weight, but require 20% of our total energy.  Exercise helps improve circulation and moves more oxygen to the brain.  The book suggests that conducting meetings while … [Read more...] about Brain Rules

Not Because it is Easy

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John Kennedy said we were going to go to the moon "Not because it is easy, but because it is hard."  The Apollo 11 mission was a huge success and really brought the nation, and to some extent, the whole world together around a scientific adventure. Choosing to do something because it is difficult is a great way to grow. If you truly want to extend your capabilities, you have to do things that are hard.  You have to do things where you might fail.  If you only attempt to do the things you've done before, you might have some level of growth but nothing compared to what you are capable of. The problem comes when people fail.  Most individuals don't know how to handle failure.  It knocks … [Read more...] about Not Because it is Easy

Effective Web Browsing

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Most people have a collection of sites that they like to check every few days.  Unfortunately, checking a few sites can turn into several hours of pointless surfing without any real benefit.  Here are some strategies that will let you maximize your productivity while using the web to stay up to date. Set aside time to visit your favorite sites.  If you don't create space for it, you'll end up opening your browser everytime you are faced with a task that you want to procrastinate on.  Avoid this by setting up a specific time.  This can be in the morning before going to work, at lunch time, in the evening.  It doesn't matter when it is, but set up a time and get into a schedule. Set a … [Read more...] about Effective Web Browsing

Turkeys and Skunks

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Turkeys don't like skunks.  Skunks like turkeys, but mainly because they can eat the baby chicks.  So it isn't surprising that when a skunk comes around, a mother turkey will attack it to keep it away from her babies. Here is another fact about turkey mothers.  They respond to their chicks saying "cheep cheep".  If the chick says "cheep cheep" the mother will care for it.  No "cheep cheep" and the mother will ignore it and sometimes even kill it.  So if you are a baby chick, the "cheep cheep" is very important. In a slightly bizarre experiment, scientists rigged a stuffed skunk and sent it toward a mother turkey.  Ask expected, the turkey attacked the stuffed skunk with her claws … [Read more...] about Turkeys and Skunks

Don’t Repeat Yourself

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In software engineering there is a principle known as DRY -- Don't Repeat Yourself.  The idea is this: If you are going to solve a problem, do it only once.  Don't solve the same problem again and again in different parts of your code.  In software, this means that you take your solutions to these common problems and code them in a way so they can be used from wherever necessary. The DRY principle can also apply to your personal work habits as well.  Over the course of a week, a good portion of our time can be taken up by unnecessary tasks or overly complicated processes.  Proactively looking for areas where we are "repeating" ourselves can unearth these areas where we can … [Read more...] about Don’t Repeat Yourself

Your Own Business

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In a previous post I mentioned that if you are the type of person who focuses on personal productivity, you probably shouldn't be working for someone else.  I wanted to explain why. Many people focus on being highly productive, but no one seems to talk about how to actually benefit from being more productive.  Sure you can make your boss really like you, but just because you are helping your employer be more efficient doesn't mean you are going to see any personal benefit--other than being well liked. How Businesses Make Money Businesses make money by selling items or services for more than it costs them to produce those items or services.  The dry cleaner may charge you $2.00 per … [Read more...] about Your Own Business

Skydeck

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I am really enjoying the Skydeck service on my Blackberry. It basically gives you an inbox for all your phone calls and gives you voice mail transcription that is quite a bit more accurate than Vonage. One of the best features is the way it adds contacts automatically.  If I call a restuarant, Skydeck will notice, look the number up in a directory and add the information to my address book.  So I can place a call and within a few minutes I have their name, number and address in my phone. … [Read more...] about Skydeck

Harvard and the Economy

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You know there are significant economic problems when Harvard---an institution known for having the largest foundation endowment in the US world--starts looking for ways to cut back.  I got an email from the president this morning outlining the ways they are trying to cut expenses.  They plan to slow the construction on a science complex and possibly scale back their plans, offer early retirement options, look for ways to streamline operations, but still keep tuition increases in check. Most notable in the email was the closing paragraph--a reminder that we are defined by what is in our heads and hearts rather than our bank accounts: In a time of dramatic and often disquieting change, it … [Read more...] about Harvard and the Economy

Internet–Friend or Foe for Productivity?

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The internet is a valuable tool that can let us do things faster than anything we imagined 20 years ago.  But at the same time it can be a very big time waster.  The internet is kind of like a dictionary with beautiful illustrated pictures.  It is wonderful to look at, but it can take 10 times longer to actually do anything up because of all the amazing (and distracting) pictures: Lets see how do you spell "artichoke"....neat here is a nice little drawing of an airplane...wait what was I...oh yeah "artichoke" ok that will be a little further...what is that a picture of?....oh an anteater.  I didn't realize their noses were so long. Ok now focus...."artichoke". Hm.  How do they know what … [Read more...] about Internet–Friend or Foe for Productivity?

As a Child I was Conned

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When I was in grade school, we talked about the future.  We watched films about the huge technological advances that were just around the corner. I remember dreaming about the day we would have robots and devices to handle every mundane task in our lives.  We would only spend our time on tasks that were either exceptionally important or remarkably enjoyable and fulfilling. Technology has made some very significant advances over the last 20 some years.   We have miniature personal communication devices, powerful computers the size of a small book, video recorders that fit in your palm, a worldwide network that is virtually free to use, but I still feel like I was conned.  Instead of … [Read more...] about As a Child I was Conned

Return it!

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This weekend I tried to help my grandmother with her new cell phone.  She purchased a phone, bluetooth headset, and another bluetooth device that lets you talk in your car handsfree and broadcasts the callers voice over an FM channel that you can tune to with your radio.  I got the handsfree device setup and showed her how to use it, but my final recommendation was to take it back to the store.  While it was great in theory, in actually use I know it was far more complicated to be useful to me--even though I knew how to work it. It is easy to get enamored with how something is supposed to make your life simpler to the point that you overlook how it makes things more complicated. … [Read more...] about Return it!

What will Last?

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A trip to the local library resulted in me spending most of my time browsing for older books--particularly the ones that were published before 1930.  A few days later, I was listening to a lecture on Shakespeare and was struck by the fact that much of his greatness comes from the fact that we have so many of his works fully intact. In modern society, how much of what we produce will still be around 50 or 100 years after we die?  The change to magnetic media as the primary means of storing data condemns most of what we work on to a much shorter existence than the printed material of previous centuries. Websites that represent a significant amount of one's life work will disappear … [Read more...] about What will Last?

Circuit City Deals

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Circuit City is closing all of its stores and liquidating all of the inventory. Usually this means that they keep dropping the price until everything is sold. I visited a store on Friday and they said they were planning on wrapping everything up on Monday. This means that Monday will probably have some of the most discounted prices. When I was there the TVs were still overpriced: A floor display (missing remote, stand, instructions, etc.) Sony was going for $1100, but you could get it new for $1400. However, there were some reasonable deals on movies, cables, camera batteries and speakers. I was amazed at how little was left in the store. Oh and the water had been turned off so there … [Read more...] about Circuit City Deals

Five Simple Things I Like

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When it comes to money, many people get into trouble because they haven't figured out what they really enjoy. I've seen people buying all kinds of things that others enjoy without taking anytime to think about what is important to them personally. Just because your neighbor enjoys playing the piano doesn't mean you will achieve the same happiness by dropping $8,000 on a nice instrument--especially if you don't know how to play. Sometimes it is the little things that really help make a difference in your happiness. I'm not trying to say that stuff=happiness, but it does make sense to at least think about the things you like. Here are five simple things I've discovered that I really … [Read more...] about Five Simple Things I Like

Is Stupidity Killing America’s Productivity?

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When a society makes it a huge priority to protect people from their own stupidity, it will eventually grind to a slow, bureaucratic halt. I have to show my ID to buy Sudafed, spray paint or glue because someone has decided I might use these items to do something stupid.  However, I can buy bullets without an ID. I was talking to a policeman the other day and discovered I could be thrown in jail for the amount of decongestant I had in my house. Seriously! When it comes to the safety of society as a whole, I'm much more concerned about a couple lunatics running around with an unlimited supply of bullets than teenagers armed with nasal decongestant and super glue. Yes, I know that … [Read more...] about Is Stupidity Killing America’s Productivity?

Kindle 2

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Amazon is showing the Kindle 2 right now.  The two biggest advances are: 1. Syncing your current page across devices.  So if you are reading on your phone and then pickup your Kindle you can start right where you left off.  2. Text to Speech.  The book will read itself to you.  So you can be reading your book and then have it read itself to you while you drive to the store.  Those two features will make the device much closer to the dream device I previously described. … [Read more...] about Kindle 2

HyperSpace

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HyperSpace is small OS that lets you boot up a computer very quickly for basic tasks like web browsing and email.  It doesn't replace windows, but provides a lightweight environment that boots in seconds with very low battery consumption.  It looks like a great way to check  your email when you only have 5 minutes and don't want to spend half of that time just getting your computer OS up and running. If you find yourself constantly running out of battery or waiting for your laptop to boot, this might be worth looking into. … [Read more...] about HyperSpace

Skydeck

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Skydeck is a new service that integrates with your cell phone to give you a number of features.  It syncs with your textmessages, transcribes your voicemail and lets you call people from your computer using your cell phone as your caller id number.  You can then do stuff like search through all of your voice and text messages just like you'd search through your email. Plans are $10 to $30 and you have to have a Blackberry or Android phone.  If you place a lot of outgoing phone calls, the ability to make them from your computer may make the service pay for itself. On of my favorite Skydeck features is the way it handles new phone numbers.  When you dial a number on your phone, Skydeck will … [Read more...] about Skydeck

Lotus Symphony

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IBM has released a free office suite called Lotus Symphony.  It runs on Windows, OS X, and Linux and includes a wordprocessor, presentation software, and a spreadsheet.  If you are looking for an alternative to Microsoft Office, it is worth checking out along with Google Apps, Open Office, and iWork (OS X only).  We will do a review of it in the near future once we've had more of a chance to play with it. … [Read more...] about Lotus Symphony

Career Renegade

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Jonathan Fields sent me a copy of his brand new book to review called Career Renegade.  I've skimmed it and am now working my way back through reading it.  The book looks at how you can turn what you love into income.  Jonathan knows what he is talking about.  He used to be a NYC attorney before he quit and started a string of businesses doing things he enjoyed. The book is divided into four sections: 1. What Makes You Come Alive. This section encourages you to figure out what you actually enjoy doing.  It also helps you get past the idea that you need to be at the top of a particular field in order to do what you enjoy.  I was impressed by how practical Jonathan is.  No matter how … [Read more...] about Career Renegade

Password Resolutions for 2009

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Our passwords give us access to a number of very valuable resources.  They control access to our bank accounts, photos of our families, email correspondence, and all kinds of other information.  As valuable as all this information is, it is amazing how little effort most people put into making sure they have good passwords.  Here are six password resolutions for 2009 to help protect your data with more secure passwords. 1. Resolve to use different passwords on each website. There are a few ways to do this.  The most secure is to use a completely different randomly generated password on each site.  If you use a password management program like 1Passwd this isn't too difficult.  Another … [Read more...] about Password Resolutions for 2009

LiveScribe on OS X

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LiveScribe is a pen that records the audio as you take notes. You can then click on each section and hear the audio that was recorded when that part of the note was written.  They have released a beta of their software that now works on OS X.  The concept is pretty slick and I could see it being a very nice tool for students. … [Read more...] about LiveScribe on OS X

Mathematics – Best Jobs

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CareerCast rated 200 jobs.  Five of the top 10 are careers that involve the study of mathematics including actuary, statistician,  and software engineer. Lumberjacks, dairy workers and EMTs made it into the bottom 10.  WSJ has a nice article about it and you can read about the methodology here. Personally, I've found that mathematics is one of the most rewarding fields to study.  Regardless of what you do, math is essential in making decisions and analyzing data. … [Read more...] about Mathematics – Best Jobs

Habit List

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As we enter the period of New Year's resolution, I wanted to republish the Habit List which is my most powerful tool in developing new habits.  Happy New Year! Note: The PDF mentioned in this post is now available as part of the Habit List Course. You can enroll using the form below: Name: Email: Earlier I talked about the "Habit List" I've been using. I wanted to walk people through the tool and show you how it works in this post. First lets revisit the theory behind it. This tool was created with the premise that "habit" type tasks should not be on our regular todo list. There are several reasons that keeping these types of items on … [Read more...] about Habit List

Time Tracking

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Back in July we reviewed Fruitful Time. They have just released a new product called the Productivity Meter.  It lets you track how much time you spend on different (Windows) programs and graphs the results.  The personal edition is free.  The paid edition will let you do things like create time cards.  I have previously used a similar program called Job Capture (OS X/Win) to  track time for billing in a graphic arts department I managed.  RescueTime is another similar app with free and paid versions.  If you haven't ever used something like this, it is worth trying. It can be pretty scary to see where your time is actually going. :) … [Read more...] about Time Tracking