Habits for Success

Habits make the world go round. For the most part anyway. We rely on habits to get us through the day. Sometimes they are not so functional and can be destructive. To be successful, it is not enough to get rid of bad habits, but also important to build good habits. First of all, be an early riser. The benefit of that is that you will not be late to work and once you get there, you can hit the ground running. Even better, you can get to work early and get things done without any interruptions. You should also invest some time in networking. It can be going to conferences, attending webinars, doing video conferencing, or meeting new clients. You will be able to learn from people and in the long run they may even support you when you need it. Make goals and write them down. This means having a to-do list everyday which will move you closer to your goals. You should also keep learning and reading. Always continue to expand your knowledge and skills because you will never know when they might come in handy. The successful people know that industries overlap, more often than not.

Everything Out on the Table

In the internet and communication service age, there is no privacy and we should have a certain expectation that it will not be there. Everything we do online could technically be tracked one way or another. Of course this does not mean that you should abandon all hope and go live in the forest off the land. It just means that you need to have some common sense when browsing the web. If a site looks suspicious, then it probably is. You should also make sure to check if there is a security icon which means that there is a layer of security when you are sending sensitive information over the web. When it comes to passwords, make them complicated and long, and never forget to change them every couple months. You inevitably have to give up some of your privacy for security so choose wisely.

Life Skills That Pay You Back

One of the most valued skills is time management. It sounds simple enough but how many times are you working overtime and not getting that to-do list done? There is really no right way. You need to find a system that works and stick with it. It might take time to fine tune it but well worth the effort. Another skills to master is sleeping. Don't get me wrong, it can be extremely hard to get a ritual down pat so that your nights are more restful and you are better functioning in the daytime. This means that at a certain point, you need to put down those communication services and screens. It is also important to positively talk to yourself. The relationship that you have with yourself is the most important and longest one you will ever have, better get it right. Another very valuable skill to have is to be able to ask for help when you need it. There are so many people that are afraid to ask for help or advice because they think that they will be perceived as incompetent. Quite interestingly, the opposite is true. When you ask someone for help, you validate their knowledge and expertise so when the time comes, chances are that they will be in your corner.

Don't Waste Any Minutes

There are days when we feel like there needs to be about 30 hours in the day to get everything done. The truth is that we might actually be wasting time when switch between tasks such as software development and maintenance of the current software. You might also be losing time on tasks that are not needed. If you work on the computer for a lot of your projects, keep the tabs and windows that you use open. You might also think about using cloud services because you can switch devices and even platforms without losing anytime. You could also have a quick and painless to-do list that you can complete in minutes. It is useful for when you are working on a large project and those small tasks come up which you don't want to drop everything that you are doing for. During your commute, you could also start making a mental list of everything that you have to do that day so that when you get there, you will be prepared to go mentally.

Writing Content

If you are running a business, you probably know all the tricks and hurdles. You have invested in a great VoIP system and getting regular clients. Now it is the time to expand and grow. Sharing information is one of the easiest ways to get more attention and recognition. The first thing that you should do is determine what goal you would like to accomplish with writing. It should be aligned with the larger business goals. Then, it might be a good idea to reframe the goal in relation to the customers. If you are going to cite data, do your homework and use reliable sources. Then you have to organize the structure of the the post or article. The next part is to write the first draft and let it be ugly as if no one will read it. After you are done writing that draft, put it down for some time. Then you should rewrite and have someone edit it. One final look and you are ready to go live.

Office Culture Going Out of Style

The 9-5 workday is going out of style. With people being able to telecommute using VoIP systems and cloud service, there is really no such thing as the usual workday. We can make our own hours because the focus is on the amount of work done and not how long the person worked. Not to mention that a lot of companies are using freelancers and part-timers to get the work done. More work is also being accomplished because cubicles are going in the same direction as those hours in the day. There are more open spaces which enables the employees to be able to collaborate with each other more easily. This also means that we can have smaller workspaces. A lot of the work that is done is in the virtual space such as cloud services. The dress code is also not nearly as strict as it was. Some businesses still require the suit and tie but more are becoming so relaxed that they have an anything goes policy.

What to Do if You Are Bored Out of Your Mind

Everyone at one point of another was utterly bored. Maybe your software development project just ended or it is a slow season for your business. The problem could be that you are looking at it the wrong way. Boredom can be a great motivator and a place for creativity. You could use that time to make something, anything. It could be a blog post or a side project that you have going on. There are hundreds of free resources dedicated to improving skillsets and expanding horizons for people all around the world. Take advantage of them. Subscribe to a podcast within your industry, or even one dealing with your own personal interests. Take the extra time to learn a new skill. There are so many different course as well as resources online that are free. If you find yourself suffering from boredom every day, or most days, it's probably a symptom of an ill-fitting job. Your skills might be underutilized or your work culture might be toxic, so it might be time to start job hunting. Either way, being bored is your mind on the natural ebb and flow of work.

Some Things to Know About Virtual Reality

First of all, I need to make it clear that there is a very important distinction between virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality is being immersed completely in another world where you are blind and deaf to the real world. Augmented reality creates an overlay on the real world so that you can interact with both. I would argue that VR is more suited for gaming and experiences where you are completely immersed while AR can be used in education and engineering. All this is of course not for sale yet and will not be till next year. That will give you enough time to save up because it will be fairly expensive since it will need some serious graphics. This might also mean you will be updating your computer in order to run the software. That wonderful laptop will probably not work out too well. Lastly, you might want to take some anti-nausia pills before putting on the head gear because studies have shown that people tend to get really queasy after several minutes. One of the solutions to that problem is to add a virtual nose to the screen.

Last Interface: The Brain

The last frontier in software development is going to be an interface with the human mind. This sounds like the stuff of science fiction but if you really look at where we are today, it appears that we are getting closer and closer to that reality. Neural implants could accomplish things no external interface could: Virtual and augmented reality with all five senses; augmentation of human memory, attention, and learning speed; even multi-sense telepathy – sharing what we see, hear, touch, and even perhaps what we think and feel with others. There have already been interfaces with the mind, just look at DARPA and what scientists are able to do with rat memory. The current reality is that these devices are not tuned and the resolution, so to speak, is very low. The possibilities here are endless but you have to look at the other side of this sword. What will happen to privacy and hacking and what will be the value that we place on information? Then we can throw in the ultimate symbol that humans have come up with, money, into the mix and we will get all sort of class divisions. Are we really ready for this technology?

Some Cloud Computing Stats

Cloud computing is on the rise and the technologies are evolving extremely fast. Here are a couple stats to consider: 82% of enterprises have a multi-cloud strategy which is up 9% since 2014. 10% of businesses use a single public cloud and 5% use a single private cloud. The public cloud is more for companies that prefer a pay-as-you-go type of plan. The private cloud is for businesses with privacy concerns and who need to meet certain standards and compliances. The hybrid cloud is a mixture of both. There is a lot of data but they still have certain privacy concerns. One of the things that you should remember when deciding to go with one cloud over the other is that if you do not hold your data, most likely you do not own the data. This distinction can sometimes lead to legal disputes. What are your thoughts on cloud services?

Dropbox: Some Changes

Dropbox rolled out an update Tuesday that makes it easier for users to collaborate on shared files with a new commenting feature that allows people to have conversations within individual documents. This is one of the reasons that cloud services have become so great when it comes to collaborators and small businesses. You will be able to communicate with people on the go or if you are working from home. I have found that it saves a lot of time and even money being able to work on documents and data this way. Another great part of the new features is that you will be notified if other people make comments on the documents that you own. Dropbox also supports Office Online so all your documents can easily be synced and you will never have to worry about losing any data or information. Currently, the features are available on the website but not on the mobile applications, although the updates should be coming soon.

Freelance Writing

There are several rules that freelance writers should follow in order to preserve their sanity and even their jobs. First of all, know how to meet deadlines. If you are consistent in meeting deadlines and getting everything done in time, you will be more dependable and more people will be calling for your work. One of the ways to do this is to be very liberal when setting deadlines. Also, use the time zones to your advantage which can extend the deadline several hours. As a freelance writer, you should also specialize in a narrow field in order to be able to stand out from the competition. Now that you have your writing tactics down, you need to be able to find clients and for that, there needs to be a strategy. The best way to go about this is to work the connections you have or even offer pro-bono work for a friend or a local business. Sometimes the best marketing strategies are word of mouth. Lastly, you might write for a specific field but you also need to constantly be expanding your skill set and be able to crossover into web development or even social media.

Hearing Loss

It's not just old folks who suffer hearing loss. Just by listening to music at what you probably think is a normal level, or hanging out in loud bars, nightclubs and music and sporting events, you can permanently damage your hearing. The cold hard fact is that you cannot get it back once you lose your hearing. Most people do not realize the damage they are doing to their ears until it is too late and there is a serious problem. There should definitely be more education about this issue because so many people listen to music using their devices and mobile applications. You should also get noise canceling earbud or better yet some headphones so that you do not have to turn up the sound to hear against the ambient noise. It is also important to take listening breaks and not listen continuously for hours. When was the last time you got your hearing checked out?

Next Gen Storage: Your DNA

Your whole life is on that USB stick, from your data to your pictures to that awesome web development project. The sad truth is that these devices will not last. The solution being that data could be stored in something that we all already have: our DNA. So compact and complex are its strands that just 1 gram of DNA is theoretically capable of containing all the data of internet giants such as Google and Facebook, with room to spare. DNA can be fossilized and preserved for thousands of years. So far, scientists have extracted and sequenced the genome of a 110,000-year-old polar bear and more recently a 700,000-year-old horse. The cost of encoding just 83Kb of data cost about $2,000, making it a relatively expensive process, but that price will come down over time. Advances in technology for medical analysis are likely to help with this. Just look at genome sequencing and how much the price has dropped. There is so much data being generated that it is not a question of how long it is stored but is there is enough room for it. This will be very interesting to see how it develops.

Being vs Doing

We live in a world where we are constantly not happy with where we are and have a need for change. We need better jobs, possessions, latest tech. This puts us in a perpetual state of anxiety and stress where we see a constant lack in ourselves. Being is a sense of feeling present to exactly who you are in this moment, rather than doing something to try and make improvements because you perceive yourself or your life as imperfect. There are no mobile applications required for this either. The very first thing to do is to figure out what is most important to you. Then you need to take steps to honors those values and stop doing whatever it is that is in conflict with who you are. Next, you need to choose to be happy because it comes from within and not from an external source like a job. You might be thinking that it is easier said than done, right? Nope. Focus and honor your strengths. Stop telling yourself that you need to be good at everything and focus instead on what lights you up. Taking these steps will get you well on your way to coming into self-actualization. So just be.

Ways to Improve You Computer’s Security

The first thing that you should know is that if something can be hacked, it will. It does not matter what brand of computer or amazing software development you have because no computer is immune to malware. There are several things that you can do to protect yourself and minimize the headaches. First you should have antivirus and anti-spyware software on the computer. It is important to keep it updated and do regular checks of the computer. You should also have a great firewall because it will be able to monitor external software that wants access to your computer. You will also be able to keep track of outbound traffic, which keeps your information and passwords where they belong. An estimated 9,000 new infected or vulnerable websites are discovered every day. So it's smart to be very conservative about the sites you visit and links you click. Simply opening the wrong web page can lead to malware getting downloaded to your hard drive, and that can cause you a ton of grief. Aside from safe browsing, you should only download data that your know and trust. This also means that it is important to read the find print before you hit the agree button.

Connecting With Others

Building relationships with other people is extremely important and networking will help you in the long run, both professionally and privately. Though, there will always be those people that you will have a harder time clicking with but it is not completely impossible. This does not require some complicated software development or an instruction manual, just have to get down to basics and what we are as humans. This first thing that you should realize is that everyone has a backstory and something unique to offer so ask questions and find out who they are. Of course, only pry at your discretion. While you are doing that, offer things about yourself that are common ground. You should also try smiling more because it communicates friendliness and goodwill; it shows you to be accessible and approachable. While you are learning about the other person, make sure that you remember their name and use it in the conversation. There is nothing like hearing your own name.

Improving Office Space

The office space is getting a renovation and it is long overdue. Most companies are opting for a more open floor plan. If you are in software development or content management systems it is important for you to be able to communicate with the other people on the team because you are all responsible for a small part of the bigger project that needs to be able to come together. Of course, there needs to be space that is closed off for employees for be able to focus. The ancient Chinese practice of feng shui is based on the premise that our environment mirrors what’s happening inside of us. The purpose of feng shui is to create a space that is aligned with who we are and where we see ourselves.A simple example of how this age-old practice applies to employee performance is how a messy workspace reflects, or creates, messy thoughts. A cluttered work area is bound to distract employees rather than help them perform at their best. Along the same lines, make sure that there are a lot of window, the space is bright and colorful, and most importantly, comfortable.

More Energy

In the world that we live in, it is always good to have more energy for all the things that need to get done in the 24 hours that we have in a day. We need the energy to run all the errands, take care of the family, and get the website development project done for the new business. One of the best exercises that you can do is to jump up and down. Why do you think that happiness is associated with jumping up and down? It can get you pumped and in the right mindset that enables you to tackle hard things. Besides, it feels like being happier takes a lot less energy than moping. For more energy, you also need to look at what you are putting into your body. When you get up first thing in the morning, it is important that you drink a glass of cold water. Your body is most likely dehydrated and that can add to the feeling of being tired. Open the window blinds as well in the morning to let in the natural sunlight which will stimulate the mind to start really waking up. I would also recommend taking a power nap for about 15-20 minutes in the middle of the day to get you recharged and refocused. The coffee is not your only answer.

Boost Productivity

We all want to be able to do more in a shorter amount of time. People have spent so much time trying to figure out how this can be accomplished and you might find tips and tricks all over the internet but it really comes down to finding something that works for you, whether it is with a pencil and paper or with using a mobile application. Either way, you need to have a definitive calendar to work with and have a action plan for every project. Anything that you undertake will have a most efficient way of doing it so find that. You should also schedule your most important tasks first because otherwise you will get sidetracked with things that do not produce the most effect. While you are working on your schedule, you need to be realistic about how long it takes to do things so try not to cram too much into the day or week or else you will end up with a lot of frustration. Block off parts of your day during which you aren't to be distracted unless absolutely necessary. When possible, turn off your phone, instant messenger, pop-ups, and all other things that usually get your focus off the project. Learn to concentrate on one activity. Lastly, track your time so that you know where your get sidetracked and waste a lot of it.

Home Innovation

The smart home is here and now. There are some many different gadgets on display at the CES that it can be hard to find the one that really sticks out. Software development is met with hardware that enable us to function at our best. At least we hope so. For $1400 you can have a robotic assistant that will carry up to 50 pounds and follow a transmitter that you are presumably holding for up to ten hours and as fast as 2.4 miles per hour. Some people are put off by web security cameras in the home, but with a facial recognition feature that can identify the members of your household, Netatmo Welcome does something truly helpful. Notifying smartphone users when family members arrive home. The camera is even capable of night vision. The best thing about the camera is that the data is not store to a cloud service but to an SD card which makes life a bit more private.

No Privacy

We live in the 21st century and that means with all the devices and communication services and devices, we can be the next trending subject on Twitter and Vine. This interplay between human nature and technology is becoming clearer. We have all had moments when we say things that are part of the heat of the moment or complain about someone in an email. We have all thought out loud at one point or another. Thanks to technology, others can see our disastrous moments over and over and then give a healthy dose of analysis to it. There is no such thing as off the record anymore. So one of the best things that you can do is be honest, especially when apologizing. If you offended someone, it is important to be sincere. Also, do not downplay what your remark might have done to the other person. Be straight with them and get to the point and do not give excuses that it has been a bad day. Just one more thing to add to the to-do list of new year's resolution. Hopefully, you will stick with it.

Taking Your Life To The Next Level

Life can throw you some curveballs, we all have those days. The one characteristic that separates the successful people is the ability to bounce back and resilience. The key to that is finding positivity. You might be thinking that it is easier said than done but there are ways that you can be more positive in your daily life. First of all, express gratitude. Gratitude instantly puts you in touch with the feeling of love. Where love resides, fear and all other negative emotions cannot. You can just get a pen and paper and write down the things that you are grateful for. All it takes is five minutes each morning. You could also give unconditionally to others, whether it be your attention or expertise. Even the smallest gesture can have a huge impact on both people. Meditation is one of the most effective ways to increase your positivity. The practice of meditation expands awareness within the individual and allows for a clear connection between mind, body and soul. Through meditation, you can learn to release negative emotions that are holding you back and connect with your higher self. There are even many different mobile applications that can help get you started.