Organize IT Recap: Living Offline, Introversion

April 22nd 2007 Recap 0 comments

Organize IT recap for 22nd April 2007

• Somone emailed me a guide on how to make your offline life easier which is a very interesting read and has some good ideas so I’ve included it in the recap. Though I have not really thought about receiving user submitted content before I’d gladly accept any submissions or link suggestions and if it’s any good I will consider putting it up.
• Being rather introverted myself and having dealt with quite a few other introverts in my time I can really relate to this article
• I talked about Thinking Rock in a recent recap and while I have yet to try it, I came across this review which provides some good insight into how it works.
• As I mentioned in my previous post the latest version of Ubuntu is out and it would be good to hear your thoughts and experiences, especially regarding using Linux with your productivity setup

Ubuntu Feisty Fawn (7.04) Released

April 20th 2007 Tech 4 comments

Normally I don’t care for tech news and releases but I felt I had to mention about the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. I’ve given Hoary Hedgehog (5.04) and Dapper Drake (6.06) a try in the past and while I was impressed I still felt it wasn’t a fully polished package and combined with the hard work it took to get it set up even remotely how I wanted it, I decided to leave it for a while.

This new release, however, shows how far Ubuntu has come. I can now see myself using it in the near future, maybe one or two more releases down the line. I was able to set up my wireless network on it relatively easily (compared to not be able to do it all with the previous release) and I was able to access my Windows shared folders straightaway too. Having Ubuntu and using the Google apps (Gmail, Docs, Calendar etc) through Firefox would be quite an interesting approach which I may have to try when I get the chance. Any readers out there take a similar approach with Ubuntu (or Linux in general?)

If you are interested in giving Ubuntu a try then you can visit their site and download the relevant file. There is an excellent, huge guide to using it here.

Spring Clean Your Life

April 18th 2007 Personal Development 3 comments

We are well into Spring now and it’s at this time of year that people begin the spring clean. While this traditionally involves cleaning the home, it can also involve other aspects of your life. As we finally recover from the holiday season and begin to feel the benefits of the warmer weather, there is no better time to have a good look at your life and get everything in good shape for the rest of the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Deal With Interview Nerves

April 17th 2007 Work 1 comment

I had a job interview this morning and it gave me an idea to discuss a few pointers on how to deal with something I was feeling a lot of - nerves. There is a lot of advice out there about how to conduct an interview but what about before the interview? Everyone suffers from anxiety when it comes to them and I will tell you here and now that you can’t magically make it disappear. Instead I’ve compiled some thoughts and ideas on how to manage those nerves and ease your anxieties a little for the next time you have an interview.

• You have nothing to lose (other than the job). If you just happen to make a fool of yourself, or not come across as you would have wanted to, so what? You won’t see your interviewers ever again and at the very worst you have just wasted a few hours.
• Prepare! If you know what you want to say, what points you want to get across, where you are going, what the company is about and what the job entails, then that’s a big weight off your shoulders because as far as you’re concerned, you are prepared for whatever they throw at you.
• Take, for instance, that your interview is at 10.30 and it goes on for 30 minutes. Hold onto the thought that by 11.00 it will be all over. However the interview goes, remind yourself that in 2 hours time, 1 hours time, etc it will be done with and you can take a huge sigh of relief.
• Cope with your nerves at a physical level. Take deep, slow breaths. Also, body parts like your shoulders and jaw tense up too so loosen them up. Shake your limbs. Roll your shoulders and wriggle your jaw about.
• Get there on time. While this usually means sitting there dwelling on all that anxiety you are feeling, it is much more preferable to rushing around and panicing about being late. You can use the time to do some relaxation exercises and more preparation.
• Interviewers know interviews can be stressful, and if they have been trained at all properly, they will take measures to calm you and ease you into proceedings with casual conversation and breaker questions. Keep in mind that they want you to be relaxed as they get a better overall picture of you. Tell yourself that you aren’t going in to be interviewed by monsters

Organize IT Recap: Getting Finances Done, Cheaper Gas

April 15th 2007 Recap 0 comments

Organize IT recap for 15th April 2007

• It has been quite an eventful week for Organize IT. Zen Habits listed me under his top 50 productivity blogs and I got an incredible review from A Higher Level.
• If you havn’t read my roles & responsibilities post yet then may I suggest you do. I consider it a big accompaniment to the GTD vertical map. I’ve created printable templates to accompany both posts. I’ve not had any feedback regarding these templates so if anyone has looked at them/tried them then I would love to hear your thoughts. I have quite a lot of other templates I use and I would like to put them up if there is interest for them.
• If you like Getting Things Done, they you will no doubt like Getting Finances Done. In this post he goes over how to apply GTD principles to managing your finances. Excellent read.
• Gas prices are high and they will only get more expensive as time goes by. The Free Geek has 12 good points on how you can cut back and make good savings.