Guest Writing: 5 Productivity Tips

I was just published again at ChangeForge.com, writing about my 5 tips for boosting your productivity. Leave a comment on their blog with your favorite tip! http://www.changeforge.com/2009/02/28/gitterdun/

Update, Blog, Book

I am up to my eyeballs here. My job is maxing out my day, and school is maxing out my night. I am working on my MBA, and adding a concentration in Information Technology; hence, I am taking two accelerated graduate courses right now, both of which have to cram an entire semester into 6 weeks. I have to read several hundred pages a week and write upto to twenty pages or so, not to mention research, write presentations, and try to ponder the lessons. Amazingly, I think I am actually absorbing most of the material. Ask me again in six weeks though.

I am not complaining or bragging, I am just explaining why I can't write regularly on this blog. I am taking a small break from graduate studies through April and May, but that is only because I have projects at work scheduled that take me out of town or late into the night.

As I have stated in the past, I do not want this to be a "me too" blog that says nothing and simply wastes electrons. Even if I am not a profound or skilled writier, I want to make it apparent that I am striving for excellence and this blog can serve as an example of better blogging--eventually. Since I have not achieved that end yet and will not in the near future, I wish to point to someone else's blog that does.

Guy Kawasaki has a cool name. Anyone with a cool name can get my endorsement, unless they abuse children or are fans of the St. Louis Cardinals. Guy Kawasaki is more than a cool name, he is a great blogger. He is original, inspirational, and full of positive energy. I am reading his archive right now and loving every minute of it. The title says it all: How to Change the World.

Finally, the greatest book ever: I love to read and have an extensive library. I would be considered "well-read" by most people, I think. However, over the last few years I have had little choice about what I read due to school and work. Therefore, when I read for fun it has to be short and sweet, and either richly entertaining (belly-laughter) or deeply profound. While browsing for a book that I will need at work, I accidentally ran into the world's greatest book.

[sound of screeching tires...] Allow me to digress for a quick second. Why is it that all of my favorite books were stumbled onto accidentally? You will remember recently that I was floored by the philosophies of The Secret and Thank You Power, both of which I stumbled onto accidentally. One of my favorite novels is The Confessions of Max Tivoli which I stumbled onto by accident at the library while looking for something by Hemingway. "Max Tivoli" was written by Andrew Sean Greer, and "G" is near "H", and the word "Confessions" lept out at me.

Come to think of it, I have no idea how I stumbled on Guy Kawasaki's blog and it has become my favorite thing to read online. The lesson I take away is that despite my best efforts, the best things in my life are accidents. What do I do with this lesson? I have no idea, but perhaps my wife and I should review our birth control method.

[gravel flys, and this short-bus is back on the road...] Anyhow, I accidentally discovered a great book. Then, I accidentally carried it to the register, accidentally dropped my debit card on the counter with my Borders Reward card, and was forced to take it home with me. The book is Geary's Guide To The World's Greatest Aphorists by James Geary. It is educational, biographical, deeply profound, and occasionally so funny that my laughter endangers the book.

If all you have time for is 30 seconds to read and ponder, you can pick up this book, flip to any page, and be assured to find a sentence or two that speaks to you. You can re-read a page many times and, as your mood and experience changes, you will find a different sentence pops out. Conversely, the same pithy quote may take on a different meaning each time you return to it. This is the book that keeps on giving.

Perhaps I will share a little nugget occasionally when I need to blog and don't have time to really dig in. Here are two aphorisms from the book that I like:

"The course of every intellectual, if he pursue his journey long and unflinchingly enough, ends in the obvious, from which the non-intellectuals have never stirred." -Alduos Huxley

"Laziness is just the habit of resting before you get tired" -Jules Renard

Explanation of Hiatus

There were many reasons for me to take a hiatus from blogging. When I boiled it all down, I was left with one main reason: I didn't want to suck.

Now, I never set out to achieve blogging greatness. This blog was created for personal expression, for writing development, for ego validation, and to add my 2 cents to the internet. I never intended to spend the time and effort to make this blog world-famous; my family and career are more important and carry more potential for my self-actualization goals.

However, I always intended to be read. I wanted people to read my blog and usually come away with new thoughts or knowledge. I did not want to bore people. It is hard not to blog your opinions without a little self-indulgence and borderline arrogance, but I never wanted to come off as a know-it-all. Worse still, I never wanted to be that guy who is so impressed with his own brilliance that he can no longer critically read himself or receive honest feedback from others.

Also, I realize that I write too many words--especially for a blog entry. A reader wants only a few paragraphs from a blog so that they can get on with their life, but that is a real challenge for me.Even in school: when an instructor says 5-7 pages and everyone else is wondering how they can write that many pages, I have trouble cutting ten pages down to seven.

I had many brilliant things to say about life, CSR, politics, etc. Or, so I thought. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had a lot more learning and thinking to do before I would become as smart as I think I am. I needed to refine my thoughts in order to achieve brevity and insightfulness simultaneously. I found that I could only prevent bad-blogging through abstinence.

So I spent a few weeks thinking, evaluating, and trying to achieve a reasonable humility. Humility for me is arrogance for others; it is a relative term and I set my own standard for humility at a more-inflated level than others might. Therefore, if you think to yourself that my attempt at humility has a long way to go, realize I have come pretty far down and I am trying to stay grounded.

I feel bad about not blogging regularly. I hate having gaps in my blog archive. I don't know why I feel that way, though. A gap means that I had nothing pressing to say and chose to remain silent. That is rare in this culture. Every channel on the TV is jammed pack with nothing to say; the best shows are rarely broadcast to maximize their advertising revenue while the drivel fills in the gaps that should just be static.

To sum up, this is Phase II of my blogging. I am now seeking brevity and insightfulness. If my blog entry cannot edify the reader quickly, then it needs to be refined rather than posted. I write to develop my thoughts and skill; however, there is no sense in writing if it is not readable by others. I write for myself, and I write for you to read. This blog is my gift to you, whomever you are. Thank you for taking the time to read me.

The Post to End the Silence

I have been busy. My life is evolving. I am re-evaluating what is important. I am finding more time with the kids and myself, less time for work, blog, and yardwork. I am very happy; I am proud if this change. I am satisfied with the direction I am taking.

The blog is not going away at this time. I still see its usefulness to me as a journal to develop my thoughts with, a tool to track my thought-life over time, and a method of sharing myself with the world--whether they like it or not. I am not as inspired as of late to write about anything. I actually have three drafts that I have not published because I started with something to say but couldn't complete the thought concisely.

I would like to find a way to shorten my posts more. That will be a great benefit from this blog if it teaches me to write more concisely. I will work here on my communication skills; getting my point accross before the other person passes out or clicks onto the "Next Blog" button.

I wrapped up an 8-week class at the Community College, which occupied some time. I am hot and heavy to achieve my CCNA certification, so that occupies a lot of time. My daughter is beginning to discover how enriching books can be, and we are spending a lot of time together reading--that is the best part of my life right now. I also have a lot going on at work to keep me out of trouble. Altogether, life is busy but not to a stressful level. It is a near-perfect level of accomplishment, activity, and stimulation.

In November, I will sell my soul to the corporate devil and begin my MBA program at Baker University. I have already applied and been accepted, it is just a matter of when classes begin. I have put the M.A. of International Studies from KU on hold; for several reasons I determined that this was not the best time to pursue that option. The Baker MBA should be more useful in my immediate future and it will develop my Graduate-level study and research skills for future use. In addition, I think it will affect my family and current job less, which is very important at this point.

I hope to finish my CCNA certification by November. If not, I really need to finish it this year; I am very close to achieving it and it will reap immediate benefits at work. That certification has been on my "to-do" list for seven years, though I have often considered it more of a dream than a goal. Right now, it is a "must-have". If I can check off both the degree and the certification in one year, then 2008 is gonna be unimaginable.

An update on my Organizational Challenge with myself. My office at home and work are improved. My garage is functional. My basement is useful for workouts (and yes, I am using it sometimes.) My van remains highly organized, and trash remains only in the trash-can.

In other words, I have achieved a new standard. I have plenty of room for improvement, but I cannot believe that I used to be such a filthy pig. I am now very careful about my van. My desk at work and home has a tendency to get cluttered still, but that is temporary and I am still much better off now than I was 3 months ago. It is amazing what a little medicine and understanding can do to transform a life.

I am still thinking about Corporate Social Responsibility on a regular basis, and I plan on using this blog to talk more about it. I hope that I can apply my growing understanding of CSR to my MBA studies and perhaps find a way carve my own niche in this field.

Again, I do not know how to conclude here. I am determined to post something on this blog, even if the conclusion is a clunky, sudden halt. Therefore, here it is: the final period at the end of the sentence that concludes my blogging silence.

A Good Blog Is Hard To Find

I have tried to find blogs by people like me who are writing about things I am interested in. I haven't spent all day at it because I don't have a lot of time. However, it should be easier than my experience is proving to be. I am having trouble finding blogs that are personal. When I search on Google Blog Search or Technorati I run into one business blog after another. I am not against businesses having blogs, but why is it that when something gets popular on the Internet it ends up clogged with garbage from websites that are trying to sell something.

This experience is a departure from my post on Capitalism is Bad. In this case, Capitalism on the Internet ends not in Corporations but in individuals creating marketing chaos. Have you checked your email lately? How do those Viagra people keep getting my address? I have never ordered, and never needed, Viagra, Cialis, Enlargement, pictures of your ex, am online mortgage, or any of the other crap that I get bombarded with on the Internet regularly. Everybody should have an equal opportunity to make their fortune online in this brave, new Flat World. Even so, I can't find the things I want and need because of all the fake and blatant links out there.

I cannot imagine a world without Capitalism; I would fight to the death before that ever happens. However, I can imagine an Internet without Capitalism. I don't know how it would be implemented, but it would be a beautiful thing.

Anyhow, I have difficulty finding interesting, personal blogs regarding my interests specifically or interesting topics in general; I find a lot of sales blogs, outdated blogs, and blogs in Spanish (which is fine, except I can only read 10% of the page).

I found a good one yesterday. When a person left a comment on my blog, I went looking for theirs. I was pleasantly surprised to find a blog written by their dog, and it is funny. The dog is owned by a fellow Marine, the dog is a boxer like one I grew up with, and I love anthropomorphizing my own dogs, so that brings it close to home for me.

The author is funny, but they also do something important when they take the dog's perspective: they see the world differently. A few weeks ago I posted the word of the day as Cynomorphic, which is to view the world with canine ideas. This blog reminds me of how valuable that can be sometimes.

The dog makes the statements such as "i don't like the third row of the car. what happened? why don't you roll the windows down back there?" I forget that my dogs have preferences, and that little things make a big difference in their lives. There really is no point in me keeping dogs if I am not going to improve their lives, so assuming cynomorphism occasionally will make a big difference in at least two lives. Who knows, I may even learn something that will improve my own life.

A Day In The Life

Great Blogging Advice

I started this blog for several reasons. One was to provide an outlet for creative energy. Another was to develop my writing skills. A third reason was to understand and master blogging, mainly for personal enrichment and geek bragging rights. To this last reason, I will know I have arrived when I can blog like Tony Pierce. Also, another great blog post in blogging is Seth Godin.