May 18, 2008

Apple - Time Capsule

05_18_08_pah Apple - Time Capsule

This wonderful little treasure, the Apple Time Capsule, came to live at our house this week.  We are not using him to his full potential yet, as none of our Macs have Leopard installed yet.  But so far, so good, with wireless backup working from two Macs and two PCs at varying spots in the 4,100 square foot home.  The WiFi base station capability which would enable us to use this as a wireless router is not functioning properly, unfortunately, but the ease of the wireless backup has been a blessing.  If anyone has tips for configuring it as a router, I'd love to hear from you.  We've followed the instructions and can't seem to get it functioning without crashing our cable connection.

Learning Anything Online

This great article at LifeHacker testifies to the many ways in which you can learn to play a musical instrument online. I can testify to the effectiveness of the method, as the two teenage musicians who live in my home are regular students at the University of You Tube.  They are both very into traditional Irish music and frequent a social networking site where tabs are exchanged, tunes are discussed and tips are shared.  Both have regular music lessons, but I'd say they have learned as much from the web as they have from their teachers. 

Check out How To: Learn to Play an Instrument Online

The "Emergency Apple" and Nine Other Healthy Foods Under 1 Dollar

This one falls into both the Family Finances and Health and Fitness categories! Check out 10 Healthy Foods Under 1 Dollar at WebMD for a list of ten "go to" foods to enhance your productivity and protect your wallet.  My personal fav on the list is the good old Apple!  My friends tease me, because I frequently carry an "emergency apple" with me in my purse for those moments when you're driving ten kids to tennis practice and you realize you forgot to eat lunch.  It helps avoid the temptation to stop off at Chipotle!

Check out 10 Healthy Foods Under 1 Dollar

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May 17, 2008

Outsourcing around the Home

Mark Shead asks the poses a question about the productivity of outsourcing tasks.  In looking at the running of my home, I'm asking myself the same question.  We don't "outsource" much in our home - no housekeeper, laundry service or drivers are on our payroll.  This weekend, I think it would be interesting to take a look at the tasks that keep our home running well and see if we might be better served outsourcing some of them.  What's your take?

Outsourcing Efficiently : Productivity501

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Milk: I'd be happy to write a review for your desk if you want to send one over!

Via the Getting Things Done blog, a look at the desk that would revolutionize my GTD style!  I think this desk might last one day in my office looking pristine and fantastic, and then would be buried beneath the same stacks that current litter my stalwart Costco model. The Getting Things Done: Best Desktop For Your Apple Mac in GTD style

Web Worker Daily » Archive 4 Free Digital Photography and Image Editing Resources «

The weekend is a great time for getting caught up on family photos, scrapbooking, and video editing.  Web Worker Daily has a helpful article this week that looks at resources for image editing.  What's your favorite editing software?  Since I converted to Mac, I've used iPhoto in conjunction with Picassa and typically print my photos at Costco, but I'm less than thrilled with the interface between iPhoto and Costco - which is non-existant.  I'd love your tips.

Check out Web Worker Daily » Archive 4 Free Digital Photography and Image Editing Resources «

The Daily Saint: "Last Call" is a Powerful Phrase

Over at The Daily Saint, Mike St. Pierre looks at the power of those two little words, "Last Call" to get things done.  I know they always got me moving in college, so could they be a good GTD tool with the teenage men who live in my home? 

Check out The Daily Saint: "Last Call" is a Powerful Phrase

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May 14, 2008

My Top Creativity "Happy Places"

05_14_08_pah2 “Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.” Scott Adams

Over at Productivity501 yesterday, Mark Shead had a post yesterday entitled Jumpstart Your Creativity at the Library

Mark's post got me thinking about my own "happy places" - the places where my mind is free to wander, to create, and to dream.  These places differ drastically than my "GTD places" - the places I go to focus and Get Things Done. 

My home office is great for checking tasks off the list and taking care of business, but it's not usually the place where I dream up my latest harebrained scheme. 

Here's my list of spots where ideas come to me most frequently:

  • The bargain aisles at Barnes & Noble - Who can't find inspiration surrounded by tons of books?
  • My favorite walking path - Especially when I'm listening to some of my favorite podcasts
  • The shower - Why?  I don't know.
  • My bed - I keep a notebook on my bedside table for those nights when I have a great dream in the middle of the night and don't want to forget it by morning.  By the way, here's a little known fact about Lisa - I sleep on one of those old, 70's style waterbeds that swishes whenever you move. I hate regular mattresses and if my bed ever springs a leak I'll be in trouble.
  • My favorite local coffee store - Especially if I'm there with girlfriends who are talking about life
  • Church - This may get me in trouble, but I'll admit to occasionally daydreaming in Mass.  Some of my best writing has been drafted on the back of a bulletin during the quiet mediation time that follows Communion.

Knowing that these sites provide fodder for creativity makes me want to use portions of my recreation time visiting them.  While we can't force creativity, we should always work at placing ourselves in environments that are  amenable  to creative flow.  What are some of your creativity "happy places"?

Best of the Blogs:
(recent blog posts related to today's topic of Learning)

Home-work for Today:

  • Spend ten minutes compiling a list of places you find yourself being creative.  Schedule an appointment with yourself to spend one hour this week in one of your Creativity spaces.

May 13, 2008

Haste Makes Waste

05_14_08_pah Today was one of those days.  Nothing went according to the nice, neat little plan I had outlined on my Google Calendar.  The original agenda had me spending one hour in volunteering in youngest son's Math class, ninety minutes volunteering in the high school College Connection office and another hour transporting drinks to eldest son's tennis team.  The remainder of the day was to be spent doing something called "work" - the kind for which you are compensated.

My plans began to go awry shortly after the Math stint.  I was walking past the school office and noted two of my mom friends.  Walking in to say hello, I soon discovered that they were swamped with a weekly volunteer duty that is typically carried out by a team of seven moms.  For unforeseen reasons, only these two could volunteer today.  Of course I couldn't let them work all by themselves, so I jumped in and finished up ninety minutes later.  Just in time to head to College Connection...

That shift went well, according to schedule.  But the plans took a spin again when the bus that was scheduled to transport the tennis team to their away match failed to show up.  Another mom and I were pressed into service to drive the team to the match - a fifty minute drive away!  I could have said, "No, I have to go home and work" and the school's Athletic Director would have driven in my stead, but I wanted to be present for the league playoff match anyway.  My original plans would simply have been to drive to the match two hours later. 

I dropped the boys off at the tennis courts and took my SUV for gas (painful as that can be) and decided to treat myself to a diet soda.  I began fueling the tank, rushed into the station's mini mart, poured a big gulp, and ran back to the car.  I was in a rush to get back to the courts before the match started.  I jumped back into the SUV, threw the car into drive and began to quickly pull out of the station when suddenly I heard a crunching noise - yes, the hose to the gas pump, still firmly planted in my gas tank, was dangling from the back of my SUV.  In my haste, I had forgotten to remove it!!!  I ripped it clean off the pump!!!  Gratefully, no one was injured and there was not a major gas leak, but tremendous damage was done - both to my psyche and to the pump.

An Emergency "Underground Storage Technician" was dispatched to the scene and my vital statistics were taken down.  This nice gentleman informed me that this is indeed a very common occurrence - in fact another person had done it to one of his other tanks only twelve hours earlier!  The cost of the damage is still being determined.  Needless to say, I was late to the tennis match (which the boys lost) and that's the most expensive tank of gas I'll ever purchase.

This is the type of thing that happens to me about once per year.  In trying to be all things to all people, I spread myself too thin and do something incredibly stupid and counterproductive.  I'm certain that my high stress level today contributed to my forgetfulness and caused this bozo move.  The moral of the story is that I was trying to cram too much into a brain that decided to revolt.  Spreading myself this thin does no favors for anyone.  Lesson learned - we'll see if I can put it into practical application before the next case of "haste makes waste".

Best of the Blogs:
(recent posts related to today's topic of Family Life)

Home-work for Today:

  • Have some of your volunteer commitments gotten out of control?  Take a careful look at whether or not your service to others is doing a disservice to your family.

May 12, 2008

Is Flock a Productivity Killer?

05_12_08_pah To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun.  Ecclesiastes 3:1

In my online circles, there's been a lot of discussion recently about Flock, the "social web browser for people who like to be connected".  Since Flock is powered by Mozilla, and my favorite browser for quite some time has been Firefox, I decided this weekend to give Flock a spin and see what all the fuss is about.  I downloaded the "Eco-edition" version, with its soothing green palate and and promise to deliver fresh, globally-concerned content daily. 

Since I love Facebook and Twitter, I immediately opened the People Sidebar and was thrilled to access all of my online friends in the click of a button, right there on the side of my screen.  My weekend computer time is largely spent playing, enjoying, reading and getting caught up on email.  Most of my serious work happens Monday through Friday as I try to keep a regular set of work hours here in my home office. So on Saturday, in "play mode" I fell in love with Flock.

My perception changed a bit today, when I hit my Monday work routine fast and furious.  I found myself distracted by that same People Sidebar that had so enchanted me over the weekend.  I need a browser that enhances my productivity, not one that tempts me to stay up to date with every last Tweet - I will say that I'm still experimenting with the various tools of Flock, and discovering its many features.

For now, I've determined that I'm going to try continuing to use Firefox when I'm in "work" mode and allow myself to "play" with Flock when it's time to visit and network with friends.  I'd love to hear your impressions of Flock and have your tips on its best uses.

Best of the Blogs:
(recent posts related to today's topic of Working @ Home)

Home-work for Today:

  • Assess your online tools.  Are they working for you?  Does your online calendar help you master your schedule?  Does your feed reader save you time?  Does your browser enhance your personal productivity or detract from it?  If something's not working or decreases your productivity, don't be afraid to stop using it even if everyone else loves it.

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  • Lisa M. Hendey is
    a wife and mother of two teenage sons, Lisa resides in Fresno, California. Lisa works from home in the fields of writing, web design and parish ministry. She looks at every day as a blessing and an opportunity to grow and learn.

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