Write a thing. Briefly celebrate that you brought this thing into the universe. Don’t celebrate by hitting publish. This done thing is only 50% done. Walk away from it. Get it completely out of your head. Your goal is to forget that you wrote this thing. Days later. Print it out and read the thing… More

Two-week holiday. Walk into my home office with big plans that start with a thorough cleaning of the space. A clean space is a healthy and productive space. A place where proper work can happen. But first, let’s play Destiny… for two days. Day three. Ok, just clean the desk. This part of the desk.… More

Randomly think of a thing. Let it bump around your head a bit. If the bumping gets too loud, start writing the words with the nearest writing device. See how far you get. The more words usually mean a higher degree of personal interest. Stop when it suits you. Wait for time to pass and… More

I am, once again, very happy to announce the publication of another edition of Managing Humans. It’s been over four years since the last update to this book, and I’m shocked we’re still talking about it. As with each edition of these books, there are topics of note: I’m three for three on absolutely hating… More

I am bad at finishing. Many of my pieces I write start out like the morning when I began this article: an early morning caffeination session where I’m bouncing aimlessly around the Internet when I discover a thought. An exciting thought appears out of nowhere and not only is it intriguing, but I can instantly… More

As I’ve written about before, Saturday morning is sacred. In weeks full of meetings, travel, people, and other productive distractions, having four consecutive hours to actually think is precious time – it’s time for writing. As a nerd afflicted with a decent case of NADD, this time can be problematic. It’s hard for me to… More

I’m once again writing with a product from the folks at iA — Writer Pro. I gave their first product, iA Writer, a good long try last year, but eventually gave up when I discovered I couldn’t adjust the text size to see additional text on my screen. It’s seems like a minor nit, but… More

I enabled Google Analytics on October 21, 2006, roughly a year after I started using Shaun Inman’s real-time (yet infrequently updated) Mint software. Both packages are part of my daily routine to see what is going on with the site, but I’ve rarely used them for more than understanding the basics: How is this article… More

For me, the amount of email that arrives is inversely proportionate to my amount of free time. This means the less time I have to read mail, the more mail that arrives. Greater minds than mine have attempted to tackle this unfortunate time management situation, so I’m going to keep it simple. You and I… More