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Archives for April 2008

Six Tips for Eating Out Frugally

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Most of the time, people go out to eat, not just for the food, but for social and entertainment purposes. These six suggestions will help you get the experience at a "discount". Order water - In the US, you'll usually pay $1 to $3 for a soft drink with your meal. Water is healthier and can often reduce the cost of your meal by 10% to 20%. Go out for lunch - Many places charge more for the evening meal than for lunch. Sometimes the evening portions are bigger, but this isn't always the case. If you go out for lunch you'll often save 35% to 50% on your meal. (This seems to be particularly true for Chinese restaurants.) Go out just for dessert - Eating at home and going out for … [Read more...] about Six Tips for Eating Out Frugally

Breaking the Internet

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I just saw a video where someone explained that typing Google into Google can "break the internet".   I sent the link to my dad and then went and tried it at Google.  I immediately (I'm not joking) got a message from my remote executive assistant saying that her internet was down.  I think I broke the internet in India.  Sorry about that everyone. … [Read more...] about Breaking the Internet

Excellence – Perfection vs. Efficiency

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I use to work for an organization that put a lot of emphasis on "excellence". This sounds like a good thing, but it was very poorly defined and tended to become an excuse for wreaking mayhem with the budget. Spending 100% more for a 10% gain toward perfection didn't seem like what I would define as excellence. As I thought I about it, I realized the the problem  stemmed from equating excellence with perfection. Excellence is actually made up of more than one dimension. Perfection is one of those dimensions, but you must have another dimension that recognizes we are dealing with finite resources. Usually this is best represented as cost in monetary terms, but it could also represent … [Read more...] about Excellence – Perfection vs. Efficiency

Reader Question – Organized Work Desk

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How should I organize my desk at work Get a file cabinet. Most of the junk on a work desks is paper that should be filed. Take the time to setup a reasonable filing system and then commit to keeping your papers stored in the file cabinet. Limit your personal clutter. A family picture or two is fine, but 20 framed photos, three baseballs, 2 snowglobes, and 4 unidentified objects is a bit excessive. Keep your extra stuff at home. Don't use your desktop for storage. If you need additional storage space, get some boxes you can put on the shelf or a cabinet of drawers. If you use the top of your desk for storage it will quickly accumulate many more items. Route your wires. Computer and … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Organized Work Desk

Vote!

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As I mentioned before, we are doing a series of interviews for Productivity501.  However to help make things a bit more interactive, I'd like some help in determining which tips are the best.  If you have a few minutes take a look at this question and answers about the most useful gadget. You'll see two answers.  Simply click on the vote button for the one you think is the best answer.  You can do this as many times as you like.  Once we get a number of votes, we'll publish the results. … [Read more...] about Vote!

Bank Mistake

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I have a bank that didn't get my last change of address notification. When the mail was returned to them, they found my address and sent it to me along with a note telling me to change my address with them. The odd thing was along with my statement were 5 other statements from people I don't know. I called them and confirmed the address change and mentioned the other statements. They said they would take care of it. The other day I got my next statement--and the statements from 5 different people I've never heard of. I don't mind getting other people's statements. However, I'm very concerned that some of my statements may be sent to total strangers. This is one advantage of online … [Read more...] about Bank Mistake

Some Online Tools

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Rajesh pointed me to Jiffle a web based program for scheduling meetings that integrates with Outlook and Google Calendar. One of the more interesting uses is allowing customers to directly schedule and appointment when you whenever you are free. It looks like it provides many of the features of an Exchange server--without the server. Louise wrote to tell me about PassPack an online password manager. It will let you autologin to your saved sites and will generate passwords for you. … [Read more...] about Some Online Tools

20 Tips to Save Money on a Home Office

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1. Go cheap on your desk. When it comes down to it a desk is simply a work surface. If you are on a budget, concentrate on getting something stable as a desk and put the savings to work elsewhere. A used door can make a great work surface once you remove the door handle. Place it on some sawhorses and you have an easily adjustable solid surface. Place it on two file cabinets and you now have desk drawers. This type of desk is what Amazon uses for all their employees. They attach 4x4s to a desk and it is ready to go. In the early days Jeff Bezos made the desks him self--now a carpenter makes them. When it comes down to it, as long as your desk is solid it probably won't make a … [Read more...] about 20 Tips to Save Money on a Home Office

Bigger Monitors

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WSJ has a post referencing a study showing that people with a 24 inch monitor were 44% faster than people with 18 inch monitors on a particular set of tasks.  They said that performance started to go down again when given 26 inch monitors. I find that most people don't really know how to use a big monitor--especially with Windows.  I've watch a lot of people open an application and maximize it regardless of how big their screen is.  Then they jump back and forth between screens just like they would with a smaller monitor.  You have to learn how to get the most productivity out of a bigger monitor--especially if you are in the habit of working with a smaller computer screen.  This is … [Read more...] about Bigger Monitors

Noise Canceling Headsets

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Many years ago, I was reading a popular science article reviewing the first noise canceling headsets.  (Noise cancellation is done by creating a sound wave exactly the opposite of the ambient noise so the two waves cancel each other out and you hear silence.)  The reviewer noted that he had no jet lag when wearing the headset on a long flight. Has anyone experienced this? … [Read more...] about Noise Canceling Headsets

Reader Question – Getting Your Money

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How do you get money back from someone who owes you? Generally if you are asking this question, you've probably made a mistake somewhere. Here is a list of rules I follow for loaning money. Never loan money to friends or family that you can't afford to lose. If you can't forgive them the debt without holding it against them, you are not the person who should be loaning them money. Do everything in writing. Don't expect to remember the terms of the loans. Get it in writing and signed. Make sure you have terms listed to handle the case where they don't pay. This could be listing an item as collateral, late payment fees, etc. You need to leave yourself an out if they don't pay. Be … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Getting Your Money

Looking for Bloggers to Interview

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I'm working on a new set of interviews on various productivity and life management topics and I'm looking for bloggers who would like to participate.   We will then publish all the answers to a particular question together along with the name, website, and RSS feed of the person who contributed each answer.  This can be a great way to highlight your website and your writing. You choose which questions you want to answer, so it only takes a few minutes to participate. If you are interested in participating, send an email to [email protected] with the subject interview and a link to your website. … [Read more...] about Looking for Bloggers to Interview

Brook Sounds are Quite Popular

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Yesterday I posted an MP3 that I use to give me ambient noise.  The audio is the sound of a brook.  Evidently brook sounds are very popular.  Here is what my outgoing traffic looked like for the past few days. The blue line is my outgoing traffic, which suddenly jumped when it was posted.  It looks like a couple thousand people downloaded the file.  If you were one of the ones who downloaded it, please give me some feedback on whether it was useful or not.  I've got a few other ones with different sounds that I'm thinking about releasing and I'd like to know what was good or bad about the way this one worked. If you didn't download it and want to check it out, the link is in the bottom … [Read more...] about Brook Sounds are Quite Popular

Getting the Most from a Large Monitor

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Recently I read about a study that showed productivity increased (up to 52% increase for certain tasks) when people used a larger monitor--up to 24 inches. After that productivity started dropping off again. Having used monitors 24 inches or larger for the past 3 years, I've learned a few things about getting the most from screen real estate. I think I know why productivity doesn't continue to go up with even larger screens. To use a larger screen effectively you have to break a lot of bad habits developed over years of using smaller display devices. This is a lot harder than it sounds. In this article I want to explore some of the ways to get more from your screen as well as some tips to … [Read more...] about Getting the Most from a Large Monitor

No Refund

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If you live in the US, today is the day your personal taxes are due.  It is also a good time to take a look and consider whether or not you got a refund.  If you got more than a couple hundred dollars back beyond the economic stimulus payment, it is a sign you need to adjust your deductions.  Don't get excited when you get money back.  It simply means you've over paid and gave the government an interest free loan.  Your HR department should be able to help you readjust your deductions. … [Read more...] about No Refund

Ambient Sound Download – The Brook

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Have you ever wished you could tune out background noise--maybe to drown out an annoying co-worker or just to stay focused? I know a lot of people use music for this, but personally I find music divides my concentration (a possible side effect of my training in music theory and composition). To help concentrate I need something that will stay in the background. Trying a bunch of sounds, I've found that water seems to be the most effective. Someday I'll probably get a fountain for my office, but until then I've created an MP3 file to help me concentrate. I'm making the file available as a special bonus to RSS and Email subscribers. If you'd like to download it, just subscribe to the … [Read more...] about Ambient Sound Download – The Brook

Mac Audio Input

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If you try to use your Mac for Skype you'll probably want to get a headset microphone some time.  Be aware that Macs don't actually have a microphone input.  They have a line in input.  This means with most microphones the signal will be too soft.  You can get around this problem by getting a USB headset or some type of preamp.  Hopefully this little bit of knowledge will save some readers a few hours of time and 3 or 4 trips to Radio Shack. (I speak from experience on this.) … [Read more...] about Mac Audio Input

Podcasting Conference

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I'm attending a day long conference of educators talking about podcasting at Kansas University today. At lunch it was very interesting to hear the professors talking about how their students approach to learning has changed after coming out of No Child Left Behind style education.  They felt that current students tend to take much less responsibility for learning than students from 3 or 4 years ago.  One teacher said he had 5 students go to the dean because they had attended every one of his lectures and didn't understand how they got an F in the class.  Their grades were evidently less impressive than their attendance records.   … [Read more...] about Podcasting Conference

Reader Question – Tidying Up Computer Wires

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How do I clear my desk of computer wires? Make sure your cables are long enough - Many messy wire situations are caused by using cables that are too short. Route your cables using velcro straps - Bundling wires together and routing them out of sight can help you keep your desk clear. Black electricians tape is another option if your wire setup doesn't change too often. Get rid of equipment you don't need - If you have a bunch of gadgets that aren't being used, remove them from your desk. For example, your scanner might be better of keeping in the closet if you only use it once or twice each month. Use wireless - WiFi for networking and bluetooth for keyboards, mice, and audio can … [Read more...] about Reader Question – Tidying Up Computer Wires

Binge Productivity

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Glen at LifeDev writes about how is is trying out Binge Productivity.  Instead of dealing with a big todo list, he is working on whatever project he wants for as long as he wants.  If you have the flexibility to work like this, it can be a great way to take advantage of the intense focus that comes from getting into your work zone. … [Read more...] about Binge Productivity

Fixing the Mighty Mouse Finger Ball

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Apple's Mighty Mouse works reasonably well, but they didn't provide a way to clean the finger ball.  If the ball stops working it is probably because of dirt.  Sometimes you can fix it by turning off the mouse and pressing down on the ball very hard with your thumb.  Move it forward, backwards, and side to side.  So for this has worked for me in dislodging the internal dirt and getting it working again. … [Read more...] about Fixing the Mighty Mouse Finger Ball

Praise for the Procrastination Prevention Course

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Since its release the Procrastination Prevention course has quickly gained over 550 users.  Here is what some of them are saying: Thank you so much for these Procrastination Prevention emails, they have been very interesting and useful. Changing one small thing has had profound effects and I feel much less likely to procrastinate in the future now I have tools like the 5 minute contract to hand! - Dianne … [Read more...] about Praise for the Procrastination Prevention Course

Asking for a Discount

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One way to realize great savings is to simply ask for a discount. For example, when we were getting ready for our daughter to be born we asked the hospital if we could have a discount for paying the entire fee up front. They gave us 20% off what we would have paid otherwise. I've generally had good luck asking for discounts. Here are some tips to follow: Make sure you have something to offer - If you can pay in cash, but in bulk or offer some other type of incentive it is easier for the person selling to want to negotiate with you. Be prepared to walk away - If the sales person realizes that you might not make the purchase you have much better bargaining power. I've had car … [Read more...] about Asking for a Discount

Group Interview – Staying Organized

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What is your best piece of advice to help someone stay organized once they have gone through the initial effort? "Organization needs to be a habit rather than a one time event. Having a daily routine to maintain the system is as important as the initial effort. While some people cringe at the thought of a daily routine, it is really the secret to more than just organization. Daily routines keep us organized, help us to achieve goals, but most importantly, they allow us to live a balanced life. With the ultimate goal of balanced living, it is easier to view disciplines and habits of organization in proper perspective." Melissa Michaels from The Inspired Room (rss) This is an area where I … [Read more...] about Group Interview – Staying Organized