Life: Work & Beyond

nikak: Working online without distractions

nikak: Working online without distractions:

"Many of us do a lot of work in our browser window. But we also tend to use the same browser window for entertaintment. Sometimes things like YouTube, Google Video, Bloglines and Digg get in the way of work because we spend way to much time reading about the cool new gadgets that just came out.

The solution to this problem is actually very simple. If you use Firefox there is a little known feature included that allows you to have multiple profiles. A profile is a browser instance with it's own settings, bookmarks, history and etc. When you're opeining Firefox for the first time you're actually using a 'default' profile."

Orgnize your day

I saw a very good article from newsletter of "Get Organized", but I could not find it on the website. So here is the article:

Organize Your Day

These 5 simple rules of thumb will help you get through
your day in an organized and productive manner.

1. Start the night before. Make a list of the things you
have to do tomorrow, the evening before. Prioritize and
organize each item in the sequence that it should be
accomplished. Consolidate similar tasks together. When you
wake up in the morning, you'll have a clear-cut guide
detailing everything that must be done.

2. Watch out for diversions. Very often, a schedule gets
thrown off track due to distractions, such as unexpected
visitors or unscheduled phone calls. If you find that you
constantly get off track, get a watch with a timer and set
it so it goes off every 30 minutes. Every time it sounds,
be sure you're working on what you originally said you
would. If you're not, stop what you're doing and get back
on schedule. Most distractions are not emergency
situations.

3. Call before you leave. If you have an appointment
during the day, always call to confirm before you leave
your home or office. This will ensure that the person
you're meeting did not forget about the appointment. Also,
if there is going to be a long waiting time, perhaps you
can do something else first, before you leave.

4. Check it off. Every time you finish something, cross it
off your To Do List. This will give you a sense of
accomplishment throughout the day and allow you to easily
see what's still left.

5. Do a final check. At the end of the day, take a look at
your list. How many items were you able to accomplish? Are
there only 1-2 things left undone, or many? If there were
just a few undone, simply move them to tomorrow's To Do
List. If there were many undone, and you worked diligently
on everything all day, then you probably had too many
things on your list to begin with. Re-think how much you
can possibly do in a given day. Remember, you only have 24
hours, and you should be using a third of those hours to
sleep!

Mother Tongue Annoyances » How to Handle Tough Questions from an Audience

Great article on answering questions

The techniques I have for you in terms of constructively handling 'stumper' questions involve four key actions:

* Rephrasing the question
* Redirecting the question to the audience/class
* Admitting your ignorance
* Finding a solution"

To dodge a 'stumper' question from an audience member or a student.... you should (1) change the subject; (2) stall for time; and/or (3) intimidate the questioner

More....

Microsoft Employees Prefer Google?

Very interesting although I am not sure if the data is true.

If most Microsoft employees use google, I wonder which one does Bill Gates use?

Microsoft Employees Prefer Google?: ".

Here are some of the interesting bits:

Microsoft Corp: Top Search Engines Used
Google: 66.31%
MSN: 19.65%
Yahoo: 10.18%

Yahoo! Inc.: Top Search Engines Used
Yahoo: 68.87%
Google: 29.80%

Google Inc.: Top Search Engines Used
Google 100%"

Books on "hard conversations"

One of my favorite blog Lifehacker has a post about "Ask the Readers: How do you deal with hard conversations at work?" It says "Whether you're an employee or employer, there's bound to have been a time in your career when you've had to have a difficult conversation at work: firing (or getting fired), figuring out what to do when things go awry, etc."

This is exactly the topic I have been interested in recently. I think it might be interesting for others to see the books I have read or I am reading on this topics.
There are a lot of books on this, I only list the best I could find.

Here they are:

Difficult Conversations How to Discuss what Matters Most:
by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen of the Harvard Negotiation Project . This is the very book to begin with in this topic.

Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes are High:
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler

Crucial Confrontations Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior:by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler. This is the follow up of the previous book.

Also some books on conflict management:

Managing Interpersonal Conflict (Interpersonal Communication Texts)

$56 on Amazon, quite expensive, but definitely worth the cost.

Getting to Yes Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In:

A classic book on this topic, the one you should not miss.

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Google Map Mashups become easier than ever!

With the help of brand new "Google AJAX Search API" anounced yesterday, creating Google map mashups will become easier than ever!

In the anouncement, Google said the Google AJAX Search API will "let you integrate a dynamic Google search module into your web pages so your users can mash up Google search results with other content on your site or add search results clippings to their own content."

As a pain to the Google Map Mashup developers, Google map API does not provide the user a way to get the geocode. Therefore the users have to look for the geocode manually or use the geocode API from Yahoo, which require a lot of extra efforts. Now people can just use the local search results from AJAX Search API to generate the geocode. I am sure that the combination of Google AJAX Search API and Google Map API will lead to many fresh mashup in short time. A good example will be something like this.

Here is the documentation and the examples of the Google AJAX Search API.
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Seven Sins to Avoid with Your Next Public Speaking Engagement

Michael Bernhardt - Seven Sins to Avoid with Your Next Public Speaking Engagement

"1) Making Assumptions

While assuming your audience grasps the significance of what youâre saying is an innocent mistake, itâs one of the most deadly. Often speakers launch into an oration about their topic thinking listeners are not only comprehending what theyâre saying, but share the same gusto for the subject. If you donât establish from the get-go why a topic is germane to the listener or their industry, what you say for the remainder of your speech will have little impact and certainly do little to hold anyoneâs interest.

For this reason, you may want to start with a question that not only engages the audience, but gives you an idea of peopleâs interest and experience level. Ask attendees to raise their hand in response to the question. If only a handful of people participate, you can quickly backpedal and provide an overview of your topic along with a summary of its importance to the listeners before launching into your planned presentation.

Even if you never reach what you feel is the most significant part of your speech, at least, you provided your listeners with information that matched their experience level. Remember, the key objective of giving a speech is to relate to your audience by educating, providing a perspective on an issue or to a degree, simply entertaining."

How to Remember Names

How to Remember Names - eHow.com:

Very useful tips. I tried many ways to remember names myself. The way I found is most useful for me is to remember the name with a adj. associated with the person's most distinguished charateristics. Like " Big Bill", " Relaxed Richard"

"1. Pay attention when you are introduced to someone. A few minutes after you meet the person, say his or her name to yourself again. If you have forgotten it, talk to the person again and ask for the name.

2. Write down the new name three times while picturing the person's face; do this as soon as possible after meeting someone.

3. Ask how to spell a difficult name, or glance at the spelling on the person's business card, if it's offered. If you know the spelling of a word and can picture it in your mind, you'll remember it better.

4. Connect a name to a common word you will remember. For example, the name Salazar could sound like 'salamander,' 'bazaar' or 'sell a jar.'

5. Make a connection to the person's hobby or employment. 'Bill the pill' might help you remember the name of your pharmacist, for example."

Apartment hunting 101

Hack Attack: Apartment hunting 101 - Lifehacker:

"If you’re thinking about upgrading your space, I can’t promise you your dream apartment, but I can show you a few tried-and-true methods for finding a great new place"

10 Steps You Can Take To Guarantee Failure

Achieve-IT!: 10 Steps You Can Take To Guarantee Failure

1. Make your goals vague
2. Make your goals difficult to visualize
3. Think and speak negatively about your goals
4. Avoid planning incremental steps
5. Don't Do - Talk
6. Wait until you are motivated
7. Don't set a date
8. List why it's impossible
9. Don't research your goal -
10. Think of anything except your goal

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