Oct 24, 20070
Oct 24, 20070
The 3 Rules of Self-Marketing
We’ve written before about building your personal brand online, and about various ways to promote yourself through your web site. The topic is worth revisiting, though: because they’re often lacking in traditional face-to-face ways to bring in new business, web workers need to be keenly aware of their own image and how they sell their skills to others. Successful web workers are often good marketers, whatever their “real” business may be.
Now developer (and web worker) Rob Walling has published another take on the subject in his article Self-Marketing for Software Developers. Based on his years in development and management, he offers 3 rules for marketing your own skills so that you stand out of the pack. Although he’s writing for software developers, the rules can be widely applied by many types of web workers. Here’s a quick overview; refer to Rob’s original article for more depth.
Rule #1: “Knowing how to market yourself will do more for your earnings and reputation than becoming better at what to do.” Don’t believe it? Think about the people in your industry who make more money and are more famous than you. Do you think they really know more than you? Did they just happen to get lucky? Or were they savvy about how to promote themselves? My money is on the latter. This can be a tough truth to accept, particularly when you’re new in a field and still think superior knowledge will conquer the world, but the sooner you realize that marketing is important, the better.
Rule #2: “Start now.” Why? [Read more]
Oct 24, 20070
Top 10 Ways NOT to Become a Productivity Ninja
Often it is not the things that we don’t do that hinder our productivity, but rather the things that we do. There are productivity pitfalls in which we might be trapped without realizing it. Recognize and avoid them before they drain too much of your time and energy. Here are ten; do you have any of them in your life?
1. Doing the most pleasant tasks first
It is natural to do the most pleasant tasks first. If possible, many people postpone the unpleasant tasks until the last minute, hoping that something would happen that make it no longer necessary to do them. But, almost always, the tasks will still be there. And often the unpleasant tasks are the tasks that will give you the greatest reward. Doing the pleasant tasks will only give you an illusion of productivity while actually accomplishing nothing.
2. Having no deadline
Parkinson’s law states that “”work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. So, if you have no deadline, it may mean that the job would never get done. Even if it is done, it would take way too much time than it should. The power of now is a powerful force to boost your productivity.
3. Being very responsive
Your email notification is always on, and you try to reply your emails as soon as possible. It’s good, isn’t it? Well, maybe no, especially if it distracts you from accomplishing something important. It takes at least 15 minutes to get into “the zone” and whenever you are interrupted you need another 15 minutes to get back in. Multiply that with ten or so interruptions you get in a day, and you see a significant waste of time.
4. Using no paper
Some people say that paper has no place in the digital era. But there are things that a simple tool like paper can do better than its digital counterparts. Using no paper means that you are not using one of the best productivity tools available in the world. [Read more]
It is natural to do the most pleasant tasks first. If possible, many people postpone the unpleasant tasks until the last minute, hoping that something would happen that make it no longer necessary to do them. But, almost always, the tasks will still be there. And often the unpleasant tasks are the tasks that will give you the greatest reward. Doing the pleasant tasks will only give you an illusion of productivity while actually accomplishing nothing.
2. Having no deadline
Parkinson’s law states that “”work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. So, if you have no deadline, it may mean that the job would never get done. Even if it is done, it would take way too much time than it should. The power of now is a powerful force to boost your productivity.
3. Being very responsive
Your email notification is always on, and you try to reply your emails as soon as possible. It’s good, isn’t it? Well, maybe no, especially if it distracts you from accomplishing something important. It takes at least 15 minutes to get into “the zone” and whenever you are interrupted you need another 15 minutes to get back in. Multiply that with ten or so interruptions you get in a day, and you see a significant waste of time.
4. Using no paper
Some people say that paper has no place in the digital era. But there are things that a simple tool like paper can do better than its digital counterparts. Using no paper means that you are not using one of the best productivity tools available in the world. [Read more] Oct 24, 20070
Tools to Organize Your Christmas with the Christmas Countdown
If you want tips, tools and advice on an organized Christmas, you need to visit Organized Christmas.
They have a great tool, the Christmas Countdown. Starting October 21, 2007—you’re already a couple of days behind—the goal of the plan is to have all your Christmas organizing completed by the first weekend in December.
The Countdown is a free six-week Christmas organizing plan from OrganizedChristmas.Com. By breaking Christmas preparations down into small, easy-to-take steps, the Countdown gives you a holiday head-start for a stress-free Christmas season. List, gifts, decor and food—you’ll be ready for Christmas with time to spare. [Read more]