January is a great time to try something new – for yourself and your business. It’s the start of a new year, and you’re probably finishing up a fiscal year, and reviewing last year’s results. Even if things are going well, it’s good to inject some fresh ideas into your business plan. Are you trying any new ideas this year?
Category: Productivity
Art Before Breakfast
I try to avoid using Excel before breakfast – how about you? Instead, I read the news feeds, and take a peek at Twitter, and open my email for a quick look. This week, I also tried a little art before breakfast, but that didn’t go too well.
Business Goals for 2019
Happy New Year! Did you make any personal resolutions or business goals for 2019? On Twitter, my friend, Dick Kusleika, shared a cartoon by Josh Hara (@yoyoha), with “Realistic New Year’s Resolutions.” I might try the first one – “Keep my devices charged”. That sounds doable!
Background Music While Working
Do you like background music while working, or do you prefer a quiet office? When I used to go out to visit clients, I had to adjust to all kinds of background noise, like factory machines, piped-in music and snack-crunching cubicle mates (they’re the worst). In my home office, I like to keep things quiet – just me, the fan, and the ticking clock.
Can You Give Yourself a Vacation?
When you work for somebody else, you get vacation time every year. It’s nice to have lazy time away from the office, and think about something other than work for a while. But, when you work for yourself, do you remember to go on vacation? Or do you just take a long weekend now and then, and then get right back to work?
Getting Results the Agile Way
Those are some of my daily challenges, while working on personal and client projects. Maybe there are some good tips in Getting Results the Agile Way, by J.D. Meier, who used to work at Microsoft.
The Kindle version of the book is free today on Amazon, instead of its usual price of $9.99. So, if you’re interested, grab a copy now, before the price goes back up. There is a Look Inside feature on the sales page, so you can skim through that before downloading it.
The description says that it’s 241 pages, which seems pretty long for an “agile” system. However, in the introduction, the author says that you can start in the Appendix section, which has “quick, step-by-step guidance for adopting the three key parts of Agile Results…you can immediately start getting the benefits of work-life balance and focused results”.
We’ll see!
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