Personal Blog

Spicer 2.0 (my new website)

2011-06-21T20:42:05+00:00

Overall I am pretty ok with myself, and I am embarrassed with very few things in life. However, one thing that has embarrassed me for years has been my personal website and how little time and effort I have put into it. This embarrasses me for two reasons.

Reason one, I am always telling people they must get a personal site up. They must blog, they must share ideas, they must share with others “what they are selling”. Whenever a friend loses a job, my first advice always is: start a website now. No one cares about your resume. No one cares how good your cover letter is. Good employers, investors, advisers, partners, and so on will spend way more time getting to know you via your personal website. After giving all this advice I chose the first wordpress theme I could find and released. Very little thought into my personal brand. In 3 years of having a personal domain I invested practically no time on my site.

Reason two, I build websites for a living! While not a designer, I really pride myself on building amazing looking sites. I do this by surrounding myself with the best designers I can convince to work with me, and never letting a less then perfect design go live. Some people view the Internet as a tool, not caring what it looks like. Who cares what your hammer looks like, right? Others see the Internet as one big art project. Why can’t the Internet be both? I think I would enjoy building a deck if my tools were more enjoyable (well maybe not but….). Heck my wife certainly makes sure the cleaning tools match. She tries to get everything in red for the kitchen, green for the backyard, blue for the car wash . In my professional life, I have always demanded things be as useful as possible while being enjoyable to look at. Web programing meets top notch design.

As of today I am happy to announce I am no longer embarrassed. The new spicermatthews.com is here and will keep getting better! Never again will I let my personal brand suffer. If you are looking for something that did not make it over to my new site you can check out My Old Site here

Why I Did Not Answer Your Call

2011-03-07T05:32:20+00:00

Growing up there were really only 2 forms of non-face-to-face communication: land lines (phones), or snail mail (letters in the mail). You used either one of these forms of communication based on your particular needs. Dialogue that was time sensitive or required a lot of back and forth was done over the phone. Dialogue that was less time sensitive was done via snail mail. Both of these forms of communication, for the most part, were very controlled by the recipient. If I received a letter I controlled when I’d open it, and when I’d respond. There is nothing interrupting about a letter. On another note, in the days before cell phones, a phone call only interrupted a person who was near the telephone device. Back then, if you were at work all day you were not home to answer your phone. Likewise once you left work, your work phone would not be distracting to you.

Fast forward to today. The majority of communication is instant. An email shows up in my inbox instantly. A tweet, Facebook message, or IM all reach me instantly, and could reach me 24 hours a day. While all of these are instant in nature, one form of communication really stands out as distracting: The phone ringing in my pocket. All other forms of communication, I can choose to ignore until I am ready to respond, just like the snail mail letter. When it comes to the phone call, however, if I do not respond right then, the caller may leave a message, and I might call back at a time that is not good for that person, starting a loop, a “phone tag”.

The Distraction Called “The Cell Phone”

Let’s say I am sitting at my computer writing a blog post, like I am doing right this very second. I am deep in thought organizing all my thoughts and all of a sudden my phone rings. That switch in context from writing to saying “Hi how are you....” can be very expensive. Once I am done with my phone call it will take time to get back to were I was, sometimes never getting back into the groove I was in.

The gang at 37signals often talks about office interruptions, how in a traditional office your work day is just filled with 10 - 30 minute blocks of focus. In a traditional office, people are constantly distracting each other with the “tap on the shoulder”. With this model employees have to work late or very early in the morning to get any focus. Real work is often not done during the work day. The phone plays that part of “tap on the shoulder” for me. If I paid any attention to it ringing in my pocket I would be distracted breaking my day into blocks of focus instead of continued focus.

I have a habit of managing my time is the most productive and rewarding way I know how and answering the phone is not part of the equation.Growing up there were really only 2 forms of non-face-to-face communication: land lines (phones), or snail mail (letters in the mail). You used either one of these forms of communication based on your particular needs. Dialogue that was time sensitive or required a lot of back and forth was done over the phone. Dialogue that was less time sensitive was done via snail mail. Both of these forms of communication, for the most part, were very controlled by the recipient. If I received a letter I controlled when I’d open it, and when I’d respond. There is nothing interrupting about a letter. On another note, in the days before cell phones, a phone call only interrupted a person who was near the telephone device. Back then, if you were at work all day you were not home to answer your phone. Likewise once you left work, your work phone would not be distracting to you.

Fast forward to today. The majority of communication is instant. An email shows up in my inbox instantly. A tweet, Facebook message, or IM all reach me instantly, and could reach me 24 hours a day. While all of these are instant in nature, one form of communication really stands out as distracting: The phone ringing in my pocket. All other forms of communication, I can choose to ignore until I am ready to respond, just like the snail mail letter. When it comes to the phone call, however, if I do not respond right then, the caller may leave a message, and I might call back at a time that is not good for that person, starting a loop, a “phone tag”.

The Distraction Called “The Cell Phone”

Respect Who You Are Communicating With

Anyone that knows me knows I have zero time in my day to talk on the phone. There are 3 things I do with my day: work, hangout with people (my wife being a big part of that), or “Spicer time”. When I am working I need to be as focused as possible. When hanging out with people I typically do not like to answer my phone because it is just rude to the people I am around. “Spicer time” might be snowboarding, reading, watching TV, or tinkering with some new technology, but it is typically a time when I want to be left to myself.

In 2010 I had over 1500 voice mails in my inbox. Let’s say I answered all those calls, meaning I stopped whatever I was doing and took the call. Let’s say I spoke an average of 10 minutes per call. That works out to 10 days of time spent taking on the phone. 10 days of my life in 2010 could have been dictated by someone else’s schedule. That is just crazy.

Ok fine, I know you are all going to say a good number of those voice mails were people calling back a second time, so if I just handled it when they first called I would not have wasted as much time. Sure. However, the point is: its still a lot of time.

Although I do not have one right answer to this time-wasting dilemma, I risk to affirm that knowing your counterpart’s preferred way of communication and understanding your own are good steps towards successfully saving time.

Music In Your Lives

2011-03-02T12:36:36+00:00

So we all know her, or him but to tell a better story we will keep it to a “her”. The girl that stops everything when “her song” comes on the radio. The girl that will interrupt almost anything you are saying to sing at the top of her lungs whatever song is playing in the background. The girl that can not even drive a block in the car without putting in her favorite CD in the CD player and dancing all the way to the next block. You know what I say to this girl, “Come one!!! Really?? Its one freaking block!!”.While I am wildly annoyed at the above mentioned person, I am starting to realize this behavior is something she can not control. I have spent my life being a computer geek / business man / engineer; a world of black and white, right or wrong, one or zero. This music thing is unexplainable. How can music be so consuming?

Don’t get me wrong. I really like music. I listen to music of all types. I have attempted to play many instruments in my life and have been known to sign a song or two after a few drinks, but never once have I felt so consumed that life has to stop. I am ashamed to say it, but for many years I felt it was inexcusable when a person was so consumed by music that life stopped and complete disregard for the person around them kicked in. Today I realized something. I was at an Eric Clapton concert and I saw the musicians on stage just moving their bodies as if they had no control. That same trance Michael Jackson was so famous for. Mind, body, and soul just taken over by the music. I realized that is the same consumption I have seen from my friends when just the right song happened to be played.

I am always on a quest to understand the world better. To learn from others. To really understand what makes others tick. The power music has to take over one’s being is beyond me and I may never learn to understand it, but I think I can learn to respect it.

Ok music lovers, let’s make a deal. I promise to attempt to understand when the sound of the music is just too strong and it takes you over interrupting me mid-sentence. I promise to support this uncontrollable urge you feel. I promise to continue to evolve and try to understand. All I ask in return is you do the same. Respect that not everyone around you loves the song that is playing. Not everyone around you is taken to that special trance. Most importantly not everyone wants to hear you sing the song at the top of your lungs. If I am ever going to respect music or any one particular song I need to enjoy the original artist, not your dubbed-over version.So we all know her, or him but to tell a better story we will keep it to a “her”. The girl that stops everything when “her song” comes on the radio. The girl that will interrupt almost anything you are saying to sing at the top of her lungs whatever song is playing in the background. The girl that can not even drive a block in the car without putting in her favorite CD in the CD player and dancing all the way to the next block. You know what I say to this girl, “Come one!!! Really?? Its one freaking block!!”.While I am wildly annoyed at the above mentioned person, I am starting to realize this behavior is something she can not control. I have spent my life being a computer geek / business man / engineer; a world of black and white, right or wrong, one or zero. This music thing is unexplainable. How can music be so consuming?

Don’t get me wrong. I really like music. I listen to music of all types. I have attempted to play many instruments in my life and have been known to sign a song or two after a few drinks, but never once have I felt so consumed that life has to stop. I am ashamed to say it, but for many years I felt it was inexcusable when a person was so consumed by music that life stopped and complete disregard for the person around them kicked in. Today I realized something. I was at an Eric Clapton concert and I saw the musicians on stage just moving their bodies as if they had no control. That same trance Michael Jackson was so famous for. Mind, body, and soul just taken over by the music. I realized that is the same consumption I have seen from my friends when just the right song happened to be played.

I am always on a quest to understand the world better. To learn from others. To really understand what makes others tick. The power music has to take over one’s being is beyond me and I may never learn to understand it, but I think I can learn to respect it.

Ok music lovers, let’s make a deal. I promise to attempt to understand when the sound of the music is just too strong and it takes you over interrupting me mid-sentence. I promise to support this uncontrollable urge you feel. I promise to continue to evolve and try to understand. All I ask in return is you do the same. Respect that not everyone around you loves the song that is playing. Not everyone around you is taken to that special trance. Most importantly not everyone wants to hear you sing the song at the top of your lungs. If I am ever going to respect music or any one particular song I need to enjoy the original artist, not your dubbed-over version.

Overall, there are many wonders of this world, music being one of them. We are all attracted to different wonders. I hope to at least understand as many wonders of the world as possible in my life time. “Let the beat rock” ~ Black Eyed Peas

Power, Greed, & Money Does Some Good

2010-04-22T11:52:34+00:00

As many of you know, I am a big follower of the world in terms of money flow. I love all aspects of investment. I love all aspects of business. No one would ever call me a hippy. I am as capitalistic as they come. Most would say I would sell my first born to make a buck. While not true you get the point.

All while I aline myself with the group of people that think profit is the end all be all. One thing that I think capitalistic America does so well is giving back. This is something I do not think any other capital based country does as well as the US. We give back on a constant bases and will really rally when called to action.

I write this while I watch American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" show, (http://www.americanidol.com). It reminded me of the show that aired a few months back to raise funds for Haiti.

There is plenty to complain about American Greed. There is plenty to complain about our profit motivated society but one amazing bi-product is the give back americans have and the speed at which we can give back if call upon.

Have you given back lately?As many of you know, I am a big follower of the world in terms of money flow. I love all aspects of investment. I love all aspects of business. No one would ever call me a hippy. I am as capitalistic as they come. Most would say I would sell my first born to make a buck. While not true you get the point.

All while I aline myself with the group of people that think profit is the end all be all. One thing that I think capitalistic America does so well is giving back. This is something I do not think any other capital based country does as well as the US. We give back on a constant bases and will really rally when called to action.

I write this while I watch American Idol's "Idol Gives Back" show, (http://www.americanidol.com). It reminded me of the show that aired a few months back to raise funds for Haiti.

There is plenty to complain about American Greed. There is plenty to complain about our profit motivated society but one amazing bi-product is the give back americans have and the speed at which we can give back if call upon.

Have you given back lately?

My Books

2010-02-03T11:08:26+00:00

Today I discovered good reads. Pretty cool stuff. Here is a list of my books.

Today I discovered good reads. Pretty cool stuff. Here is a list of my books.

Hello Blog World!!

2009-03-30T23:08:34+00:00

I have written many different blogs and these blogs have been all over the place. I have the stock blog, the geek blog, the business blog. It has become confusing to say the lease. I love business, I love technology, I love finance. Everyday, I am obsessed with a different things. Why hide my randomness in different blogs. So as of today I am merging all my personal blogs into one blog. This one!! I will try to be organized in my categories so if you could careless about one of my topics you can filter it out.