Life Tweak 2.0

US Election 101 - In plain english

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:07:00 +0000

I bet many of you got sucked into the US election media storm. I did. I know more about Replicans and Democrats than I do about Liberals and Conservatives. Oops! Is that ignorance or indifference.

Although us Canadians didnt have a say in the matter, I found myself huddled around the TV with a few friends, beer, chips and halloween candy as if we were watching the Super Bowl. I have never been so in tune with American Politics - probably because of the influence of new friends and even more because I work from home and watch the MSNBC TV feed all day long while I work.

Anyhow - even after the great Obamarama last Tuesday November 4th - I still didnt fully understand the american political process. I sought answers, simple ones, and found them here, with this video - Courtesy of commoncraft.com

My New Life

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:19:00 +0000

After a few months of inactivity, I have decided to renew my presence on this blog. Since July, I have made a few drastic changes in my life - All changes and choices were sparked by a desire to gain the following - more learning opportunities, more free time, and more focus on myself, my friends and family. You know, all the good stuff that we lose site of when we are too busy chasing a biweekly paycheck and artificial recognition.

I left my full time job in September where I worked for 3 long years. Not very long for some, but with all the overtime, it was probably closer to a 4-5 year time investment, on a 3 year salary. Although I learned a great deal and gained invaluable experience - I got a little itch to move forward and make better use of my time and my life.

I have managed to replace a 60hr a week job (40hr salary) with a full time job working from home. While the adjustment has been a little tricky (cabin fever, self-discipline, etc), I am happier, having completely replaced my old salary. Also, I have the time to pursue entrepreneurial ventures with the added time flexibility and I only have to be somewhere if I want to. I love it.

After reading countless articles and books on the topic of working for yourself and working from home, I partially made it happen - by making bold decisions and defying conventional wisdom that the more you work, the more you get paid. In fact, being stuck in this rut for a while, I realize that more work actually equaled less pay in my situation. Everyone has a realization process and a threshold - I reached mine. I have shifted to smarter work = more money = time leverage = happier.

Thats it for now! In the mean time - I will try to post more frequently about work, life, technology that helps, and other simple things.

Follow The 80/20 Rule - Pareto's Law

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:00:00 +0000

Although, I rarely make it through an entire book, I always try to grasp a handful of valuable lessons in the books that I do read. Below is a brief explanation of the 80/20 rule. It has come up a few times in the latest books that I've read and I am sure many of you have heard of it - but here it is for those of you who haven't.

The 80/20 rule states that 80% of your results come from just 20% of your efforts. If you can identify and focus on the 20% that matters most, you can be more productive (and impressive) without increasing your workload. Try to automate or delegate the less productive 80% whenever possible. When random emails and phone calls start pushing you off course, remind yourself of the 80/20 rule and make an immediate course correction. If an emergency arises and you absolutely need to eliminate something from your schedule, make sure it’s not part of the vital 20%.

Twitter - Waste of Time?

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 03:47:00 +0000

This week I set up a Twitter account at twitter.com/jonnywired. If you aren’t familiar with Twitter, it’s a free online service where people can post very brief updates (up to 140 characters), and other people who are interested can follow and comment on those updates. Think of it like micro-blogging.

I heard about Twitter a long time ago and quickly dismissed it as a waste of time. But lately I’ve heard good things about it from other bloggers, so I decided to dive in and give it a go this week. Best case is that it provides some extra value for people. Worst case is that it truly is a waste of time, and I simply stop using it. Limited downside + potentially unlimited upside = worth trying.

What tipped me into finally setting up a Twitter account was the article 9 Benefits of Twitter for Bloggers by Darren Rowse of Problogger. Darren makes the case that bloggers can leverage their existing blogs to use Twitter in many beneficial ways. Makes sense to me.

Apparently Twitter was intended to be a service for people to share quick updates about their lives with friends and family (and anyone else who cares). For example, you could use it to tell people what movies you’re watching, what books you’re reading, or what recipes you’re trying. I may share some details like that because I do get a lot of questions from readers who want to know how I spend my time, but overall I think this would be a boring way for me to use Twitter if that’s all I did.

The nice thing is that posting Twitter updates is dirt simple. I can submit a new update in less than a minute… as opposed to setting aside a few hours for a typical blog post.

If you want to follow my Twitter updates, you’ll find them at twitter.com/jkennedy8. There’s also an RSS feed for those updates. Try it for a while, and if you don’t like it, you can always unsubscribe. It’s free.

Dude Backflips Into Pants

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 05:18:00 +0000

What is people’s fascination with watching other people do stupid things? This video shows guys trying to jump and land in their pants, specifically, they’re trying to do back flips and then land with their legs in holes. It’s ridiculous, but for whatever reason, people are fascinated by it, including me, and as a result, it is becoming viral at a shocking pace.

Most of what I post is useful. Fortunately, I answer to nobody here - so some posts will be entirely useless and counter productive. Thanks.

Dan Pink: Exercise Creativity at Your Job

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 04:54:00 +0000

I discovered Dan Pink on YouTube a couple weeks ago. I recently read and briefly reviewed his book "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko". Dan somehow came across my blog after I posted the entry about his book. He thanked me and offered to send me some Johnny Bunko chopsticks - I gladly accepted.

Reviewing more of his videos on youtube, I came across one that was highly relevant to myself and my peers. Check out this one minute lesson on exercising your creativity at work.

Mac Takes a Bite out of Montreal

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 03:07:00 +0000

The First Canadian Flagship Apple Store opened its doors yesterday in Montreal. Im not a Mac user, nor do I have iPhone. I do have an iPod that I primarily to wacth movies. The store is the first of its kind in Canada and the 7th Worldwide. I strolled in this morning during a break from class to check out the hype and there were dozens of customers and even more helpful staff wearing blue tshirt, very helpful and not overbearing. I asked a few questions, took some quick pictures and off I went back to school. The Montreal Apple store does not quite have the same presence as the glass box in Manhatten, but their bitten apple logo sure is hard to miss. The stature of the building rises above all the little surrounding shops - they make the modern colors of telus stores look severly outdated.

The appeal, the intensely loyal following and the emotional involvement of Apple clientele is nothing short of amazing. Much of Apples recent success is attributed to marketing genius and Apple CEO, Steve Jobs.

As part of their launch, Apple has announced a series of concerts to be held at the location from now until the end of the summer. They also have free workshops for most of their products. See schedule here

Get a DropBox

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:19:00 +0000

I just got invited to the Dropbox Beta! For those of you who don’t know what Dropbox is, it’s basically file storage and sharing for dummies.

Dropbox is a web service that interacts with your computer(s). It’s compatible with Mac or PC. To say that it’s a file storage utility is an understatement. It’s more then that. One of the things that makes it especially cool is it’s version control management. Dropbox creates a folder on your computer, that when you put files in it, Dropbox automatically starts uploading them to the server. And when you modify a file or folder, it gets updated as well. And what’s cool is that when you update a file, it saves the previous versions of it, and only uploads the part that was changed. You can easily restore files to a earlier time.

Every account, at least in the beta version, get 2.0GB of storage space. I already have a lot of files on it, and it’s only taking 1.2% of my space! It’s very convenient and efficient so far. If you would like an invite, just post a comment with your email address, and I’ll send you one. I only think I have 10, so hurry up!

Get a Dropbox

Get Back Into Work Mode After Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:38:00 +0000

If you aren't lucky enough to have the entire world as your office, at some point in your career you've taken a vacation and had to experience re-entry into the real world. Many of us are just getting back from our summer getaways. In fact, I found myself struggling with my own return after a 2 week stint on the beaches and junlges of Colombia. Managing the 300+ emails received, 50+ voicemails and the stack of internal mail that awaited me on my keyboard was daunting - but I survived using some simple strategies.

Here is an article that may help your transition back into corporatehood. via Wired

Personal Outsourcing - Elance.com

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:47:00 +0000

Elance.com is a site that allows you to put up for bid projects you need done, like programming work, website development, graphic designs, writing sales copy for your site. You can specify how much your willing to pay and the timeframes you need to work with and any other important information about what you need done. Once you've filled in all your project info and submit it, Elance announces it to a huge list of prospective contractors who will begin placing bids to win the project. When I recently put some website needs up on Elance, I had ten bidders within two hours. Some of them had even put together mock ups based on the description I outlined. I ended up awarding the project to a design team in Argentina.

Elance facilitates the process of selecting a bid and setting up all project terms, including handling payments. You can view comments and recommendations of all the companies bidding before you select one. You can even ask questions of them before you decide. And Elance set up a project workspace for me and the contractor to share files, track changes and send messages back and forth. So within a week, I had gone through a few iterations and finally came up with an initial site design. Most importantly, the site will end up costing me about 20% of what I would pay locally,without comprimising on quality. Not good for the local economy - but I do my share of supporting local businesses so I dont feel too guilty about this.

Elance can be used for personal or business projects - almost anything - I even know some people that outsource parts of their 9-5 jobs to virtual assistants in India named Jonathan.

So if you are looking for web design work, coding projects, internet research or any other virtual work - to leverage time and to be done without having to break the bank, check out Elance.com.

How it Works

10-20-30 Rule for Presentations

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:41:00 +0000

I've been slaving over a PowerPoint presentation for a few days now at work. Needing some quick tips, I turned to Youtube and discovered the Guy Kawasaki 10-20-30 rule. Guy Kawasaki is a renowned key note speaker, entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author, blogger - business mentor.

Check out his tips for effective PowerPoint presentations and the 10-20-30 rule.

41 New Business Ideas/Trends That Inspire

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:15:00 +0000

If you ever considered starting your own business (online or offline), there are a few key resources that you must be aware of. Being aware of trends in the marketplace is a good first step to developing a bold new business idea. The top trend following site Trendwatching.com, a sister site of Springwise.com, has just released its top 41 business ideas based on the input of a global network of 8000 trendwatchers.

The Trend Briefing lists plenty of new and updated trends, including 41 related new business ideas, illustrating just how much is going on right now. Aimed squarely at encouraging entrepreneurs to execute even more of their ideas, small and big. Even if you aren't interested in starting a business, this list of ideas will definitely awaken your senses.

Experience the Innovation Avalanche via trendwatching.com

Think you've spotted a trend in your area - Become a SpringSpotter

Did you find this post useful/interesting? Please leave a comment.

"How to" of the Day - Winning at Rock, Paper, Scissors

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 03:11:00 +0000

The next time you get caught in a two way battle over who's doing the dishes or over who's riding shotgun, turn to the science of psychology.

Check out these strategic steps to winning at RSP.

Learn More About the Art of Rochambeau Here

Did you find this Post useful? Please leave a comment.

Breaking Up with Slydial

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:13:00 +0000

The old song had it right: Breaking up is hard to do. But a free new phone service called Slydial might make it easier to get through that and other awkward moments -- without actually having to talk to anyone.

Slydial lets you connect directly with another person's cell phone voice mail, bypassing the traditional ringing process that often results -- sometimes disastrously -- with someone picking up on the other end.

Users call (267) SLY-DIAL from either a cell phone or a landline, and are prompted to enter another person's cell phone number.

After playing a short advertisement -- unless users pay a subscription fee or 15 cents per call to skip ads -- Slydial puts callers directly into their target's voice mail.

Recipients should then get a voice mail notification, and sometimes they will see a caller's number show up as a missed call, too.

via Technology Review

Sign up for Slydial

The Adventures of Johnny Bunko - Solid Career Advice

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Meet Johnny Bunko. He’s probably a lot like you. He did what everybody – parents, teachers, counselors — told him to do. But now, stuck at a dead-end job, he’s begun to suspect that what he thought he knew is just plain wrong. One bizarre night, Johnny meets Diana, the unlikeliest career advisor he’s ever seen. Part Cameron Diaz, part Barbara Eden, she reveals to Johnny the six essential lessons for thriving in the world of work.

Presented in the form of manga (a comic book for grownups), this is the most succinct course in career counseling I've ever seen. Not what career you should pursue, but *how* you should pursue it. You can read this masterpiece in an hour, but it will take a lifetime to work out the details of those six lessons. This compact "manifesto" will make the most difference to those just starting out in the workplace.

The six quick lessons [with my comments in brackets] are:
1. There is no plan. [The economy changes too fast for your career to have a plan]
2. Think strengths, not weaknesses. [Find your advantages]
3. It's not about you. [Serving others serves you best]
4. Persistence trumps talent. [Keep showing up]
5. Make excellent mistakes. [Take risks, but fail forward]
6. Leave an imprint. [Do something that matters]

In my opinion these six lessons highlight the skills needed at work better than, say, the bestseller Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And it is far more fun to read. I'll probably re-read it myself in a year.

"Cool" of the Day - The Waterboard

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:17:00 +0000

OK - So this blog is my platform to collect and share my thoughts and ideas - but also to share some of the coolest shit (aka ideas) going on in our world.

My close friend sent me this video earlier today. It took me a while to understand the concept - I finally did but without understanding its practicality - i remain amazed.

Briefly, its promo video for a large, interactive installation that gives the user a chance to play with flowing water without getting wet. The concept, which won an RSA Design directions award, is by Mark Burton.

If the video doesn't get you - the music will!!

Is an MBA overrated?

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:41:00 +0000

I am currently studying for the GMAT to be able to apply to MBA programs. The debate to whether or not I need an MBA is on.

Business schools sell themselves on the practicality of their programs and the potential for increased salaries as an MBA Grad.

While these are possible outcomes - I do know of two definite reasons why people do their MBA. One is to climb a corporate ladder. Second is to extend your networks. If you are in for the first reason, you are probably aspired to work at a large corporation where an MBA qualification allows you to stand out among your colleagues. Though I do know many senior management people who would value the real experience in management more.

In startup environment, no one will consider you as a better founder because you have an MBA under your belt. If you are in for the second reason, you might be able to achieve the same results by spending the 2 years time and the course money to attend conferences and meetups and brush up your networking skills.

Business luminaries share their thoughts on why M.B.A.s aren't all they're cracked up to be.

RSS 101 - What is it and who needs it?

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 01:14:00 +0000

RSS is a fabulous technology that gives you access to content as it gets uploaded. Although it can be a great way to stay tuned to your favorite blogs and feeds, it can also be a trap. Too many feeds can lead to attention overload and a rising inbox.

My suggestions:

1. Don’t keep more than 10-20 feeds at a time. If the blogs you subscribe to are particularly vwordy, you may want to keep it under a dozen. The goal with information is knowledge. That isn’t possible when thousands of articles are spewed at you from across the world wide web each day.

2. Set RSS Times - Same as e-mail. Having a time to empty your reader and don’t let it accumulate.

3.Cycle Feeds - Force yourself to unsubscribe to feeds you no longer feel are worthwhile. I’ve subscribed to a blogger after seeing a few good entries. But if it seems they are becoming repetitive or too self-indulgent I have no problems dumping them off my list.

4. Use Bloglines to collect RSS feeds: Bloglines, and other feed readers like Bloglines, are very easy to use. First, create an account at www.Bloglines.com. They require an e-mail address and password. Once registered, you'll be able to subscribe to hundreds of popular websites, including tech sites, blogs, news and political sites.

5. Subscribe to LIFETWEAK2.0

Check out Steve Rubel's "Ten RSS Hacks" over at Micro Persuasion

Read Your Voice Mail - Jott.com

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:55:00 +0000

Ever had a great idea while you're stuck in traffic? No problem. Pick up your phone and Jott yourself an e-mail.

Jott, a Seattle startup founded by two former Microsoft employees who want to help people capture their thoughts and ideas electronically, even if they're nowhere near a computer keyboard. You can "jott" by calling Jott's toll-free number from your cell phone, specifying who should receive your message (for example, "myself" or "family"), and dictating for up to 30 seconds. Within minutes, your message or reminder is transcribed and e-mailed or text-messaged to the appropriate parties.

"People have some of their greatest ideas when they're away from their PCs," says Jott CEO and cofounder John Pollard. "The only appliances they have with them all the time are their phones and their voices. So we said, let's take advantage of that and help people put these thoughts they're not otherwise remembering into a form where they can actually do something with them later."

Jott's service is free, at least for now.

Check out the Demo - Leave a comment

How To Of The Day - The Art of the High Five

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:50:00 +0000

Ever get caught in those awkward high five situations where you get left hangin or completely miss your target because of sheer excitement or mispositioning? Well - I've dug up the High Five Guide for Dummies. Fail-proof techniques for landing the perfect high five with that ever-so-satisfying, ear piercing soul-clap - Take Notes.

Save Time with SpreedNews Reader for your iPhone

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 03:28:00 +0000

I dont have an iPhone 3G - but only because I am locked down with Telus for 2 more years. Otherwise I'm pretty sure I would have been waiting in with the rest of Mac Nation on July 11. I have handled it a few times and it definitely is sleek, sexy and functional.

Along with the iPhone hype - came a ton of useful and useless iphone applications - one of my favorites is the Spreed News Reader.

This app lets you collect your favorite Blogs and News Sites on one platform and speedgurgitates news entries at you at a selected rate. For the serious information junkie

See Demo Below

Time Saving Low Carb Breakfast

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:55:00 +0000

Do you skip breakfast? Do you rush to work and realize you can't even spare 3 minutes to feed your mind and body. Here's a quick low carb breakfast solution offered up by Tim Ferriss. If you don't know who Tim Ferriss is - Google Him.

"How To" of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:21:00 +0000

All of us have good and bad days at work. Although my University degree hasn't yet translated into a 6 figure salary - I like to think that my university years - last minute cramming, googling for essay content, hustling part time jobs to pay rent and food, etc etc have turned me into an effective problem solver. Some call it lazyness, but I call it effectiveness.

I came across this article in Wired Mag this morning. It's a satirical yet honest look at how to look productive at work during those times of not-so-busyness. Enjoy

5 Email Productivity Tips

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:07:00 +0000

There’s been a lot of great discussions about email productivity going around on sites I enjoy, so I thought I’d throw in five no-brainers that I’ve seen help a lot of folks - including me.

Shut off auto-check - Either turn off automatic checking completely, or set it to something reasonable, like every 20 minutes or so. If you’re doing anything with new email more than every few minutes, you might want to rethink your approach. I encourage you to consider ganging your email activity into focused (maybe even timed) activity every hour or three. Process, tag, respond to the urgent ones, then get the hell back to work.

Pick off easy ones - If you can retire an email with a 1-2 line response (< 2 minutes; pref. 30 seconds), do it now. Remember: this is about action, not about cogitating and filing. Get it off your plate, and get back to work. On the other hand, don’t permit yourself to get caught up in composing an unnecessary 45-minute epistle (see next item).

Write less - Stop imagining that all your emails need to be epic literature; get better at just keeping the conversation moving by responding quickly and with short actions in the reply. Ask for more information, pose a question, or just say “I don’t know.” Stop trying to be Victor Hugo Marcel Proust, and just smack it over the net—especially if fear of writing a long reply is what slows your response time. N.B.: This does not mean that you should write elliptically or bypass standard grammar, capitalization, and punctuation (unless you want to look 12 years old); just that your well-written message can and should be as concise as possible. That saves everyone time.

Cheat - Use something like MailTemplate to help manage answers to frequent email subjects. Templates let you create and use boilerplate responses to the questions and requests to which you usually find yourself drafting identical replies over and over from scratch. At least use a template as a basis for your response, and then customize it for that person or situation. Don’t worry—you can still let your sparkling prose and winning wit shine through, just without having to invent the wheel 10 times each day.

Be honest - If you know in your heart that you’re never going to respond to an email, get it out of sight, archive it, or just delete it. Guilt will not make you more responsive two months from now, otherwise, you’d just do it now, right? Trust your instincts, listen to them, and stop trying to be perfect.

For more tips Click Here

Life Tweak V.1.1

noreply@blogger.com (jaykay) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:56:00 +0000

Inspired by a book called "The 4 Hour Work Week" - This blog will be an exercise in sharing my thoughts on how to be more productive at work and in life and an attempt to apply new rules of success. Through reviews and opinions - I will bring you the very best in productivity and lifestyle tips.

I will also use this blog to collect my ideas, discoveries and discuss issues related to culture, sports, technology, travel, business and life in Montreal.