I’m a big fan of summer, and so far, I’ve had a great one. But there’s always so much I want to do, and never enough time to do it. What happened to fixing up the bike? What happened to borrowing a car and taking the family out of town for an afternoon? Stuff like that, you know?

Now, I’m not trying to kick off the week on a down note. Think of this as a reminder that our summer days are limited, and think of it as a call to make the most of them. What haven’t you done this summer that you’d really like to do?

“Can we take it to the bridge?” he’d ask.

“Yeah!” the band would shout.

“Can we take it to the bridge?” he’d ask again.

“Yeah, man!” the band would shout.

Nobody ever said “I’d actually rather not take it to the bridge.”

Legend has it that a bass player from James Brown’s early days got a bit too big for his boots one night in Atlanta. After Brown asked for the fifth time if the band could “give it a little bit of the horn right now,” the bass player said “Can we just get on with the damned song, already?”

That bass player’s name was “Fired” Bobby Johnson, and he was never heard from again. His short-lived career was a cautionary tale for all that would follow in his wake.

Either way, there’s always room for improvement. If you’re an iOS user, and you’ve got a WordPress app you’d like to recommend, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Free is always nice, but I’m happy to shell out a few bucks for something that makes my life easier. Thanks in advance!

It’s good to have a general daily deadline. Not only do I work well under pressure, but I feel better about my days when I set these kinds of limits. Just as it’s easier to run that extra distance when you know a rest is seconds away, or to tighten your belt when you know a cheque’s in the mail, it’s easier to get some good work done when there’s a quitting time set in stone.

I know that makes me sound like a workaholic. I’m going to have to plead a combination of “work follows us everywhere in the mobile age” and “look, it’s obvious I’m trying to do better” on that one. When you’re a husband and dad who wants to keep his own things going, your free time becomes a sort of reverse bell curve, in which the time before everyone else gets up and the time after they all go to bed take on a heightened importance.

So far, the mornings are winning. As you know, I’ve come to love getting up early and getting my day off to a good start. But sleep is important, and if I’m getting up early, I shouldn’t be staying up late. As it is, after a certain point, you’re only spinning your wheels.

Now, I’m only cutting off the things that feel like obligations. If I genuinely want to work on something after midnight, then of course I’m going to go for it, assuming I’ve got the strength for it. But if my main motivation is the pressure of the clock, then forget it.

To be fair, it’s easy to wrap it up at midnight when you’re jet lagged as hell and need a nap on the couch just to get there. But I’m going to try and keep this up as I settle back into my own timeline. Wish me luck, won’t you?

In the end, I got the best of both worlds this morning. I got to spend a bunch of time with my wife and kid before they headed off to the office and daycare, and now I’m getting an early jump on the day. Which is good, because it’s going to be a bit of a tough one.

Wish me luck! It’s great to be back, and as much as I enjoyed the time off with family, I’m looking forward to finding my rhythm again.

It would have been nice to get to the fairground. We might have enjoyed another night at that restaurant where my kid was so well behaved. It’s a shame we didn’t have an opportunity to see this person or that person. That sort of thing.

What’s nice about all this, of course, is that we’ll be back before we know it. These are all things we’ll eventually get to do, and we won’t have to wait long to do them. The list we’re making now can go in the envelope at home where we keep our passports and pounds, ready and waiting for the next trip over.

It’s a nice feeling, and one that emphasizes what a home away from home this is. And considering the fact that I spend much more of my time these days in the place my wife grew up than I do in the place I did, you can bet I feel that sense of home myself.

We’re getting up insanely early tomorrow morning – or late tonight, Eastern Standard Time – to load a toddler onto an eight-hour flight. It’ll be a hectic day, but it’ll also be a small price to pay for the wonderful time we’ve had here, as always.

I’ve been looking to expand my business and my reach, and having done a little preliminary research into the association, I can see a lot of value in it. If you’re a member and you’ve stumbled on this entry, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Of course, it’s one thing to say that, and another to do it. It doesn’t even make much sense to talk about a “great year” without thinking about what that means, exactly. I guess that will be the first step.

I do know that it’ll be a year full of changes and challenges, and it’s going to take a lot of work and planning to do it well. It’s also going to be a year of opportunity, with lots of chances to make good choices. That’s true of any time period, sure, but I like the thought of taking on a year and taking stock of my progress.

These are all things to think about as the new year approaches. I’m sure a lot of you have done this sort of thing before, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.