The start of something new
Today I started using my new iPad mini to do as much of my writing as possible. I wanted to see if it could replace my laptop for short non-work trips, and was interested to see if writing on this...
View ArticleMy Setup – 2014
I’ve not done a post about my setup for a couple of years, and as a few things have changed I thought it was worth an update. Hardware Right now I seem to be a big believer in a two computer setup, but...
View ArticleProductivity
I’m generally regarded as someone who is quite organised and productive, which still baffles me from time to time because I don’t think I’m that organised at all. Most of what I’m writing about here...
View ArticleGoing Paper Free
I wrote this article for a blog at work, but thought a slightly tweaked version might be of interest to a few people here. I’ve never been a great fan of printing, so when I was asked to pick a project...
View ArticleEaster Project : Setting up a new NAS
My project for this Easter was to set up some sort of storage solution for the vast array of music, films, TV shows and photos I have, and also to organise and catalogue them more effectively. I asked...
View ArticleWhat’s your backup plan?
This week at work we have been working on a video to promote backing up data. The tagline is “what’s your backup plan?” – which has made me think about how I back up my data, and how well what I...
View ArticleHow to be a morning person
I didn’t used to be a morning person, but now I am. I had to learn, because in 2004 I very quickly went from starting work at 2pm, to starting work well before 8. I have a few things that I think help,...
View ArticleAutomate everything
I’m a big fan of automating anything that can be automated, and I don’t like having to think about or do the same thing multiple times if there is a way round it. There are two main ways I achieve...
View ArticleSocial media notifications
I thought it might be useful to mention that I turned off all email notifications on social media sites a few months ago. I do still get banner notifications on my phone, but I found myself ignoring...
View ArticleThe future and how we get there
I’ve spent a fair bit of this weekend reading through my notes from the conference I’ve just been at, and picking out some key concepts and quotes for a presentation I appear to be writing called “The...
View ArticleGetting in the zone
How do you get in the zone? And by that I mean how do you prepare yourself to sit down and work on something for a long time (be that a piece of writing, a song or a computer program)? For me it’s all...
View ArticleWhy I’m bad at being on holiday
I am on holiday this week. This is largely because I still had 100% of my annual leave left (it resets in September), but also because I’m going to be in Egypt for a week starting on Sunday, and I...
View ArticleTravelling light
I’ve travelled a fair bit over the last few years. Monthly trips to London, a few courses and conferences each year, and holidays to New York, Rhodes, Canada and Bulgaria. I love travelling (both the...
View ArticleAutomate everything (updated)
This is an updated version of something I posted a few months ago, but as some of my automation methods have changed I thought it was worth a rewrite. I’m a big fan of automating anything that can be...
View ArticleSoftware I use
Software I use that I feel is somewhat noteworthy includes: Evernote – I use this on every device I own, mostly to take notes in meetings and training sessions, and then to revise/reflect later. A lot...
View ArticleWhat I did on my holidays
I’m quite pleased with what I’ve achieved over the last two weeks. This holiday was supposed to be a chance to recharge prior to a very busy period at work, but I think I’ve actually been about as...
View ArticleMaking professional presentations
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing a presentation that I have to give as part of my ILM5 qualification. I give presentations fairly regularly (in fact I’ve given two since I started...
View ArticleExperiments with PDF files
I’ve been experimenting a lot with combining PDF files in interesting ways (largely to make a recipe book from all sorts of different sources). I’ve used Preview on my Mac for a lot of this, but have...
View ArticleBurnout, work-life balance and stress triggers
I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but a couple of conversations over the last few weeks pushed it to the forefront of my mind again. What I want to talk about here is burnout (and what...
View ArticleData mining my working life
I’ve been collecting statistics on all sorts of aspects of my working day for a while now. I record how long my meetings last, who they are with, how much time it takes me to get to them, and also...
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