When toxicity spills over into my timeline despite my best filtering efforts, my head goes to a bad place. I lose focus on work, finding myself instead brooding on the dark proclamations of the vocal bitter who wield hashtags as cudgels.
The Mythical Eight Hour Workday
With more days than I want falling into a pattern of working more hours than I’d like, I’ve gotten serious about determining what the problem is. Do I need to turn away projects? Should I hire someone to handle some of the load? Am I not embracing the life of a stereotypical small business owner? Or is this just a matter of being inefficient?
Improve Productivity. Shut Off Notifications. (YouTube)
Here’s a short car video where I recommend shutting off notifications as a way to increase productivity. Spoiler alert. That’s pretty much the summary of the entire video, so you can save yourself the four minutes. Or…watch it to get the nuance.
Connecting Python To Slack For Testing, Development, and Chat
The scripting language Python can retrieve information from or publish information to the messaging app Slack. This means you can write a program that puts info into Slack for you, or accepts your queries using Slack as the interface. Useful stuff if you spend a lot of time in Slack, as I do. And hey, chatbots!
Leveraging Desktop Real Estate To Decrease Distractions
In a dual-monitor setup, carefully planned application placement can help avoid broken flow states, improving productivity.
Automating Logistics To Improve Productivity
Automation steps in where humans shouldn’t and software can’t. Tedious, repetitive tasks are best done by carefully programmed robots.
I Didn’t Even Know I Was Sick
This piece was originally published in the Packet Pushers’ Human Infrastructure Magazine, a publication about the human side of working in technology. HIM is sent every other week or so to Packet Pushers Ignition members. Sign up for free. I recently tweeted… I’ve become okay with only having so much time in my schedule. Would […]
Don’t Reply To Everything
I like to meet other’s expectations, and have them think cuddly, happy thoughts about what a swell person I am. I know that when I send an email, I hope to get a response. Therefore, when I receive an e-mail, my natural inclination is to respond.