What glorious weather we have been having this week!  Absolutely scorching.  It was so hot down our road that the tar melted.  However, I feel that was more down to the cheap job done on relaying it than on the temperatures.  Once heavy vehicles started driving down it, they started ripping up big chunks of road that had stuck to their tyres.  Now we are back to having a pot-holed road.  Still, the council came out within a few days and coated the road in a fine grit, which has solved the tar problem, so at least we can now drive to our house.

The warm weather has been a great opportunity for us to catch up on some jobs in the garden.  We've been trying to re-do the gravel in front of our shed lately.  When we moved into the house, we thought it was more grass.  However, over time we learnt that these were weeds, which started to die back in winter to reveal patches of gravel.  So we weeded it and found the gravel.  Unfortunately the weeds came back with a vengeance, so we decided to lift the gravel and replace the rubble sacks that had been down, with proper weed barrier sheets.  We then found under the gravel a whole load of flag stones making a path.  Its been like an archaeological dig.  Anyway, we have been cleaning the gravel off, laying weed barrier and now we are almost done.  Its been hard work with fitting it in with the weather and prior commitments, so its nice to have the job nearly finished.  I hate having a half-finished job!

Now we've just got the remainder of the garden to de-weed and the garden furniture to sand and oil.... by then I suspect the weather will have passed and we will be back to glorious British rain!

The other thing I've been trying to get done, while the weather has been nice, is to build up my miles on my bike.  Yesterday I got 12 miles in and my time was amazing (for me anyway).  My best time ever and my longest distance for quite a while.  Hopefully now I will get back to commuting into work once a week.

This week I've also been pondering the future of these Sunday Muse posts.  Its taking up a lot of my time at the weekend, trying to get this post out.  This is time that I am wondering whether would be better spent expanding on the rest of the site.  Working a full-time job, having a life and working on this site is hard work.  Whilst I have found these Sunday check-ins (or chickens?) very useful for me getting my thoughts down, the Sunday posts have started to become a bit of a chore.  That's not what this site is about.  As the tag line says, it's about "surviving life with a smile on your face".

I don't want to completely lose what this post is about though.  I'd still like to share some of the reading I've been doing over the week and every now and again I'd like to put some thoughts together on the site and update you on what I've been up to.

The article and reading sharing can be sorted through my twitter account (@babblingeng) and I am thinking of setting up a Facebook page too.

As far as sharing my thoughts and activities, I could switch the Sunday Muse posts to monthly (in which case, do I need to change the name?) or I could just do sporadic posts as and when.  I always think its nice though, to expect a regular post.

At the moment, I don't know.  I shall ponder this.  If you have any thoughts on this then please feel free to get in touch, or add a comment below.  Thank you.

This Weeks Reading

Your Time Is Money: What If You Were Worth $300 an hour - Tim Miles (DumbLittleMan)

This article presents a case study where mentally, the staff were given a raise to $300 an hour.  Note, this was only a pretend raise.  Not surprisingly an increase in performance was seen as everybody tried to prove that they were worth $300.  Or so it would seem on face value.  The only flaw in this is that they were aware of the experiment, so the experiment was not completely blind.  However, it does appear to back up the theory, that I subscribe to, that employees should be made to feel valuable to the Company.  Only then will you see the best of them.  And that doesn't have to be done through money - a good work environment is essential.

Proving The Skeptics Wrong - Seth Godin (Seth's Blog)

Instead of working so hard to prove the skeptics wrong, it makes a lot more sense to delight the true believers

I love this approach.  Basically, don't focus on the negatives, switch it round to focus on the positive.  Number 1 rule in life!

Why Far of Discomfort Might Be Ruining Your Life - Leo Babauta (ZenHabits)

A few tips for overcoming the resistances that stop us from doing things.  Like getting up on a rainy day to cycle into work.  Been there and its so easy to let yourself fall into bad habits, or fall out of good habits when you have an excuse to.

So, that may be it for a while as far as the Sunday Muse posts go, we shall see.  If you want to keep up on articles that I've found interesting then follow my twitter account (@babblingeng).  I shall still see you on Wednesday to carry on my Productivity Reboot.

The post Sunday Muse :: Muse No More Edition appeared first on Babbling Engineer.

Hello!  Its Sunday Muse time again.  I'm feeling quite chirpy today, while I write this.  I've had quite a satisfying week at work and now the sun has come out for the weekend.

Over the week I moved desks at work.  I'm now sat within the team I will be working with over the next 6 months or so.  I've also moved away from my corner desk, facing 2 walls and I now face into the office with a window on the other side, which is great.  I've got a lot less storage room, but that has made me really think about what I need to keep and what I don't.

Lots going on this weekend.  Opticians appointment yesterday to check out my new glasses.  They've been giving me a headache when I've been wearing them, so I wanted to get them looked at.  Unfortunately they couldn't find anything wrong with them, so they are thinking it might be the frames in my peripheral vision.  Its pretty annoying as I really like these new frames.  They're different from what I usually go for.  Going to see how I get on with them, but then the optician has offered to swap them for a different pair.

Also got hold of some concrete slabs to extend our driveway a bit.  Some friends of ours are getting rid of them, so they have let us have them.  They're incredibly heavy though - I'm having to take them in my car 2 at a time before the suspension bottoms out.  That's another job to add to the garden list.  That's a list that's going to get tackled today.  The garden is literally growing away with us.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at a local "Beer and Bourbon Festival".  Was lovely just to chill out for the afternoon and evening with friends.  Feels like an age since we've done that.  Sat on a grass bank with a few beers in the sunshine.  Lovely!

We're going to get out on the bike today also.  Sarah picked up her new bike on Thursday, so that is her new toy.  We're both very excited about bike rides in the sunshine and stopping off for a picnic.  So that is her new toy.

I also bought a new toy, which I picked up yesterday.  A Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0*.  I've been umming and ahhing about getting one for a while.  At first it felt like a bit of a gimmick, but then I started seeing the benefits.  I'll be able to keep up with my writing on the move, without having to lug a heavy laptop around.  This has been something I've been struggling with - keeping on top of writing articles fro the website.  Meeting notes will be simple to record and looking stuff up on the internet will be easier at a moments notice.  Essentially, it will be that device that is somewhere between my phone and a laptop and remove most remaining resistances for doing stuff.

I looked at the Nexus 7 also.  The screen seemed just that bit too small, that it wasn't that much better than a smartphone.  The extra inch on the Galaxy Note was just enough.  I'd already decided that 10" was too much anyway.  The kicking point for me was when I tried out the S-Pen that comes with the Galaxy note.  The way Samsung have integrated it is amazing.  Handwriting recognition, shape recognition and just general scribbling.  Its like having a top end drawing tablet in your hands.

Site News

As I mentioned last week, I felt the articles I was writing for this site were starting to get a bit stale, so I am going to start a series of posts revamping my productivity system.  I'm going to talk you through the full process, from what I need to get out of any productivity system, the tools I look at using, the trials and tribulations of using it and any tweaks I end up putting in.  I'll probably end up reviewing a few systems currently out there, such as GTD, and how they could fit into my life.

I've already tried various methods of keeping on top of things, but I always seem to fall off the wagon.  Hopefully this time things will go a bit smoother if I take a bit more time to look at what I am doing, rather than just jumping in feet first.

I've also updated the Nook Rooting article to include a few hints and tips submitted by readers.  If you did get to this site looking to root your Nook, then don't just read the article, scroll down the hundreds of comments below - there are some really good discussions down there with useful information.

Articles I've Read This Week

I'm Rita J. King and This Is How I work - Tessa Miller (Lifehacker)

I love the "This Is How I work" series over at Lifehacker.  I find it fascinating to see how other people handle they're day-to-day activities.  If there's one thing that sticks out to me its that everyone has their own way of working.  No two people end up working the same.  I picked up a few useful tips in this article from how Rita handles her to-do list.  I'll probably look at some of her ways of working in my forthcoming series.

The thing I like the most though, is the sound of the Science House and the Imagination Room, where you can write on the walls.  I love that idea!  I'm not sure we will be able to do that in rented accommodation though!

How To Start An Effective Email Search - Piotr Nabielec (Lifehack.org)

Handling email is another area that I want to focus some attention on over the coming few months.  Piotr presents a few extra tools you can use for searching through your email, both in Outlook and GMail, using operators like from: and hasattachment: .

Building a Portable Design Toolkit - Martin Gittins (Smashing Magazine)

One of my hobbies is digital art.  Being able to up sticks and go and carry on my work somewhere other than home is a huge bonus, so this article immediately jumped out at me.  Martin recommends paring down your main tool kit and establishing which your favourite tools are.  He then shows how he uses tools like Dropbox and Evernote to keep it all together.

So, that is another week over.  I can see a busy week ahead of me next week, but I'm looking forward to it, so that is the important thing.

The post Sunday Muse: New Toys Edition appeared first on Babbling Engineer.

Another week has passed.  I've really struggled to get articles up this week, with so much going on.  To write this, I've just dragged myself up out of bed at some unearthly hour on a Sunday morning.... not good!

I've been contemplating the way this site is structured a lot these last few days.  Whilst in some ways, I've got closer to some form of structure with the site (i.e. I post twice a week, once as a tutorial and once as a check in with you, the readers), in some ways, I've drifted away from what I originally intended.  Particularly with the last few articles.  I felt a little bit like they were written for the sake of being written.  They were so rushed that I just put words on paper and didn't put any soul into them.  They were just words on screen.

Take my meetings post, last week for instance.  Whilst I got down the essence of what I was trying to say, it doesn't feel like it flowed very well to me.  This is partly because I was rushing.  I did part of the writing during my lunch break, with other jobs to get done as well, and partly because it wasn't a subject I feel I'm still learning from.  I've chaired meetings and learnt how to do it effectively.  I've stopped company directors from large organisations taking over my meeting - no mean feat for somebody just starting out in Industry, as I was at the time.  So, whilst I know that particular subject, I find I tend to write better when I'm learning from the subject.

So, what to do now?

Firstly, I need to find my focus again.  I need to put some stuff down in writing.  Once its written down, there's an unspoken commitment from me to stick to it.  I need to put this up on the site as my manifesto for the site.

My original intentions for the site were:

• To improve my writing and communication skills (my New Year resolution was to write 1000 words a week)
• To share what I have already learned with the wider community
• To learn and improve my own productivity and ways of working
• To take you, the readers, along with me on that journey and see how I get on.  Effectively be your guinea pig.

Yes, that niche has been covered before, but I will be doing it from the slant of a working structures Engineer.  Whilst I won't be disclosing any of the actual work I have been doing (for confidentiality and security reasons), I can cover some of the challenges I face.

So, moving forward, I intend to carry on with these Sunday check-ins.  I'm finding them useful to myself as a kind of diary for getting my thoughts out.  My Wednesday posts though, shall hopefully read a bit more like these Sunday Muse posts, in that I shall document a particular area of learning I have had for the week and share my findings with you.  Hopefully both you and I will find that a bit more useful.

I may revisit some older articles and re-write them also.

Future topics I already have on my mind are:

• Getting stuff off your mind and onto paper - something I used to be good at, but have slipped back into old ways recently
• Setting up your computer desktop - My desktop is a mess!  Time to tidy
• Handling email efficiently.  Lets just say that my inbox counter can't display over 999 emails!
• How to organise notes and note taking (something I am terrible at)
• Handling article reading lists - particularly as Google Reader is shutting down tomorrow!

I may even keep my list of future articles on the website.  I'm not sure yet.  Ideally, I'd like both for me to learn from the site, as well as you.  So, I'd really love it if you wanted to let me know whether you'd like me to keep my future list of articles publicly and also what topics you would like me to cover.  I'm not guaranteeing that I'll cover them, but if it fits in with the area for this blog, then I would be more than happy to.  Feel free to comment below.

One area I do know you would like me to expand on is my post on rooting the Nook.  That post is due a bit of a boost and there are loads of good tips in the comments which I'd like to document into the main body.

This Weeks Reading

Front-Load Your Week + 3 Other Stress-Busting Time Management Strategies - Elizabeth Grace Saunders (99u)

I've really been enjoying Elizabeth's posts.  This is a very concise look at how to tackle your work load to get the most out of your week.  Elizabeth suggests tackling your most important tasks early in the day and early in the week.  It also involves assessing each task and assigning a time limit for it.  This could work in conjunction with fighting against Parkinson's Law.  There are also some really good tips in the comments section too.

How Can I Become More Comfortable When Speaking in Public - Melanie Pinola (Lifehacker)

Nobody enjoys public speaking.  I've had to do my fair share of it - talking in front of a room full of very senior Engineering Managers and Directors is a very daunting prospect - particularly when world landspeed record holder, Richard Noble is sat on your table!  However, despite having done my fair share, I still get butterflies each and every time.  This article has a few tips for preparing.  And whilst I doubt it will make you feel comfortable when speaking in public, it will certainly make you feel MORE comfortable.  And if you can bluff your way to confidence, then you are 90% there!

Is Free University the Future? - Scott H Young (ScottHYoung.com)

More and more we are seeing free courses from the big Universities - particularly in the US.  Scott looks at the current state of free courses and notes how much they are improving.  He interviews Jonathan Haber, who is trying to complete a degree education in a year.  Very interesting reading/watching.

Well that's it for another week.  Please let me know in the comments what you would like to see in future posts.  Do you enjoy this Sunday Muse section?  Would you like to see more suggested articles, or would you rather I brought those into more feature articles as part of my research?  This site is geared towards both you and I getting the most out of it that we can.  Thank you in advance.

The post Sunday Muse: Refocus Edition appeared first on Babbling Engineer.

Hello Everyone.  I'm writing this a bit later than usual as we've been out and about a fair bit this weekend.

Last weekend I had my eyes tested (it's been 3 years since my last test!).  Fortunately my eyes have only changed slightly and they've actually improved.... great news!  This, however, meant new glasses.  We went to go and pick them up yesterday morning and I love them.  I went with a bit of a change from my usual style.... I'm being brave!

We've also been to go and order my Wife's new bike.  I'm very excited about being able to go for bike rides with her.  Although with the weather like it has been today, we might have missed our window this year.

While we were in the bike store, I had a look at some bike shoes.  I've been doing my bike up lately and fitted some new tyres last week.  I also found that the front hubs were as dry as a bone, so I've packed them full of grease.  Hopefully that will improve my performance a lot.  Cycle shoes and proper clipless pedals are my next upgrade.  I've got the shoes now, which will also do for my current flat pedals as an interim.  I also got special insoles for them, as I have flat feet.  I've been getting pains in my feet when I walk lately, and in my knees when I cycle.  I'm still waiting for a professional opinion, but it could be that my flat feet are the cause.  I got measured up in the shop, and these inner soles are amazing.  My foot feels so comfy in them.  I can't wait to use them and I'm especially looking forward to being able to commute back into work on my bike.

Step by Step

Anyway, talking of health and fitness and all that jazz, last week I challenged myself to do 10,000 steps.  For those who have been following me on twitter, either through my @babblingeng account, or the hashtag #babblingsteps, you will know that it was a real struggle to get 10,000 steps in whilst I was in the office or doing general paperwork.  Here is my graph for the week:

I started off the week trying to carry on my normal routine.  Sunday was spent catching up on computer work, so I was sat down for more than I would be if I was at work, as I showed the next day.

Monday and Tuesday were typical days in the office.  I didn't do anything differently really at all.  Tuesday I got a bit of extra exercise in that I cycled to the gym, only to find out that my class was cancelled and then I cycled back.  That didn't count as extra steps though.  Wednesday and Thursday I made more of an effort.  I went for a walk at lunchtime both days and then Thursday night I was helping out with a local youth group, where I umpired a game of cricket.  Not the most strenuous of exercises, but it got me moving about a bit.  Still, on both days I failed to reach my target of 10,000 steps!  It was very frustrating and very surprising.

I think on Friday I was a bit disheartened and I didn't make much of an effort at all.  I had an early start at work and an early finish and then I came home and started doing a few jobs and fixing my bike.  While I was on my feet I wasn't walking around much.

The breakthrough came on Saturday.  We went into town to pick up new glasses, then drove out to Southport, after stopping into a bike store near there.  We then spent the whole day walking around the shops.

This exercise has really made me think about how little exercise we get these days and shown me that I need to get out and do more.  Whenever the weather permits I'm going to try and get out and walk at lunchtime.  And hopefully I'll be fit and able to start commuting into work again soon.  If not, however, I want to build the habit of going out on my bike at least once a week and then build that up to twice a week.  I've said that before though!

This Week's Reading

More Productivity Myths, Debunked by Science (and Common Sense) - Alan Henry (Lifehacker)

I love it when science disproves commonly held beliefs.  Entirely coincidentally, one of the myths that Alan deals with (more hours doesn't actually equal more work), I touched on in my post on habits, also published on Wednesday.  The key message that Alan tries to get across is that these stock productivity messages can usually be ripped apart with a little research and that productivity methods are dependent on the individual.

7 Reasons to Take Cold Showers and 1 That Really Matters - Mans Denton (The Hacked Mind)

The title of this really grabbed me, so I had to read it.  At the moment I'm really interested in doing things to improve my health.  I'm not sure I'm brave enough to shower in the cold though.  But I have previously heard good things about cold showers.  Maybe I will go part way and have warm showers!

The Difference Between Being "Not Wrong" and Being Right - James Clear (JamesClear.com)

I first heard James Clear on a podcast the other day and found what he had to say quite inspirational.  This post doesn't quite fit what I thought from the title, but the message inside I love.  Essentially, James is inspiring us to not just settle for "safe", but to go forward and strive for the best.  We may fail along hte way, but we can learn from that.  That's the best way to live.  I hate the negative connotations with the word fail.  We would be stuck in the Dark Ages if people didn't have the courage to fail in order to achieve something great.

So anyway, that's it for this week.  If you have any interesting articles to read, I'd love to hear from you.

The post Sunday Muse: HD Vision Edition appeared first on Babbling Engineer.

Wow, what a busy week its been!  There's been stuff happening just about every day this week.  Loads going on.  I'm always in two minds when it gets busy - I love the buzz of being busy, but it is tiring, so I long for it to quieten down so I can relax.

Bending over Backwards

You may have noticed from Wednesday's post, that I'm on a bit of a health kick at the moment.  When we went to Centreparcs the other week, I went for a yoga taster session.  I came out of it feeling amazing!  I felt so much more supple and flexible.  However, it did highlight a few things wrong - namely my back wasn't at all straight.  I knew this from playing golf a few years ago.

Anyway, after Centreparcs, we decided that we would look up local Yoga and Pilates classes and we went for our first one last week.  Absolutely brilliant!  I'm looking forward to my next one!

Out comes my Competitive Edge

Following the Pilates, I went karting in Wigan with a group of friends.  What an ace time we had!  It's an outdoor track, with super fast karts (top speed about 65mph on the back straight).  Usually I struggle a bit karting, as I am usually one of the heavier members of the group.  On the indoor karts, weight really makes a difference.  However, in these karts, they were powerful enough for me to be able to compete effectively.  I started out in 17th position (out of 23), and clawed my way back up to 15th.

Halfway round the 2nd heat though, the rain started lashing down and I discovered just how ineffective slick tyres are in the rain!  However, I then learnt that I can actually drive better in the rain.  Well, comparatively speaking anyway.

I lost out in the end in the final, when I got a duff kart.  I was like a tortoise coming off the starting grid.  I still want to go back though.  I just need to persuade management to let me organise a team building trip there soon.

Up, Up and Away

And now onto the big news.  For the last 8 months, I've been working as a structures Engineeron the Airbus A350.  Friday saw it take to the skies for the first time!  Even though I've only been on the project for  a short time, I still get a huge buzz from seeing work I've done come to fruition.  I was the same when F-35 flew for the first time.  That was on a Friday night and I was at home, so I didn't get to see any company video (especially with it being a military plane).  However, I could get onto the various plane spotter websites, where plane spotters were camped out at the end of the runway and uploading pictures and videos to the internet.  So there I sat, hitting refresh to see the latest pictures as they came out.  Living the rock 'n roll lifestyle!

Articles

How To Stop Work Overload with a few Simple Boundaries - Elizabeth Grace Saunders (Lifehacker)

Work overload is a pet peeve of mine.  I'm planning on writing an article on it for next week.  When this article popped up in my news feed I had to read it.  Elizabeth suggests treating time like money and develops a budget.  From here she recommends looking for worthwhile investments and not overspending.

Elizabeth's Book (The 3 Secrets to Effective Time Investment) is available now at Amazon.

Find Happiness with 5 Sure Fire Ways to Find Out Whether You're Truly Happy in Life - Ericson Ay Mires (Dumb Little Man)

Ericson writes over at One Way Thoughts, but I picked up this post on Dumb Little Man, which I regularly read.  He draws up a checklist of questions to reflect on, which helps you decide whether you are generally happy in life and what areas of your life (if any) can be addressed in order to improve your happiness.  Judging by my answers to the questions, I am generally quite happy!

Coffee v Beer: Which Drink Makes You More Creative - Mikael Cho (Ooomf.com)

Whilst the answer to this question might seem like an obvious one, Mikael goes into a lot of depth about how the key chemicals in both coffee and beer affect our bodies and brains.  Quite an interesting read.  I just need to persuade management to let us all drink beer at work now, so that we can solve those lateral thinking problems..... although I'm not sure that they will go for it!

The 10,000 Step Challenge

As I mentioned in last week's post, from today I am going to take the 10,000 step challenge.  Various guidelines state that each day you should try to walk 10,000 steps, so this week I am going to try to do that.  I'm treating it as a bit of an experiment really, to see how easy it is to do when you work in an office environment.  Each day I will report over twitter how I have done and I shall report my full results back next week.

If you fancy taking the challenge with me, or following my progress, hit me up on twitter at @babblingeng.

You will need a pedometer of some sort.  There are 3 ways to do this:

• Traditional pedometer (£5 - £40) A standalone unit you can clip to your belt and it counts the number of steps and shows you on the screen
• Fitbit ( £40 - £99) This device connects to your phone and/or the Fitbit website and tracks your steps over time, as well as lots of other useful information, such as your sleep quality.  Features available depend on which model you get.  It can also be used to track your sport.
• Phone Apps (free generally).  I have been using Accupedo (both iOS and Android) to monitor on my phone.  Whilst not as accurate as a pedometer strapped to my waist, it gives a fair idea of how many steps I've taken.  Ideally, you want to attach your phone to your waist, but a pocket will do at a push.

So far today I have done 1715 steps, so I have a lot to do to get up to 10,000!  I'll report full findings next week though.

The post Sunday Muse: First Flight Edition appeared first on Babbling Engineer.

What an absolutely gorgeous weekend we are having here in the UK this weekend!  I've had my shorts on for what must be the first time in 2 years!  Its been a great chance to catch up on a few jobs outside too.

Had a few tasks to do yesterday.  We went to go and look at bicycles for my wife.  She's picked a cracking one and I can't wait for it to arrive so we can go off on mad adventures at the weekend.  I had a play on a new road bike for myself, but I keep telling myself to resist for the time being.  Feel like I'm falling apart at the moment - since I came off my bike back in January, each time I've gone out my knee has played up after about 4 miles.  At the moment I'm not sure whether its the bike that's set up badly, or its as a result of injury.  I'm going to have a look at the bike first and see if I can spot anything obvious, and then maybe go get some physiotherapy on my knee.  There is no way I plan on giving up cycling, but I just can't justify buying a new toy at the moment.

Speaking of cycling, if you want a really good book covering how to ride a bike safely (not just pedalling, but manouvering in traffic etc), then I can higly reccomend John Franklin's Cyclecraft.  Covers just about everything.  Probably geared more towards the UK, but the principals are the same the world over.

I've been struggling to do much work with the site this last week.  I've been trying to get 2 posts out a week - a feature post on a wednesday, and a Sunday Muse on, well, a Sunday funnily enough.  This past week, Sunday Muse: Not on a Sunday Edition, went out on Monday, whilst the feature post, about Time Logging, went out on Friday.  I've just been so busy.  I need to spend some time and get ahead of the game with my writing I think.

I've been giving the book some more though, and I think I'd like it to be based on a Manifesto for Engineers and this site.  Possibly split into 2 parts.  The first part dealing with the why, and the second dealing with the how.  Its still very much in the idea stage at the moment, but I want to bring you along for the ride.  If you have any thoughts on the book, then please feel free to contact me, or leave a comment.

This Week's Reading

How To Stop Work Overload With a Few Simple Boundaries - LifeHacker

Elizabeth Sunder's post on Lifehacker immediately caught my attention this week, while I've been so busy.  It also largely covers the series of posts I am trying to write on setting up your personal workflow for improved efficiency.

How To Be More Productive When Working From Home - MakeUseOf

I'd love to be able to work from home.  However, the nature of the Engineering Industry doesn't really allow for it - security measures and specialist software means that 75% of the tasks I carry out have to be done in the office.  However, I read this article to see if I could glean any tips for working int he office as well as at home.I highly recommend getting out of your pyjamas!

Nikola Tesla's Best Productivity Tricks - Lifehacker

Another Lifehacker post, this time by Thorin Klosowski.  I love seeing how other people work, and Tesla, as well as being known for his work towards alternating current electricity, is also a bit of a productivity guru.  This post deals with what we can learn from his life.

Unfortunately, that's it for this week - I did say I'd been busy.  However, that does mean that I have a backlog of reading to get through.

Google Reader Alternative - Please Help

I also need to sort out a new reading system - hopefully one of you will be able to help.  Currently, I use a Google Reader based approach.  However, as many of you will know, Google have announced they are shutting Google Reader down on 1st July.  I currently use an app called NewsRob (Android), which links with my Google Reader account.  It downloads offline full articles, complete with images.  When I see an article that I want to read, I star it.  I then use IFTTT to copy all my starred articles across to Pocket (iOS | Android | Web).

I've tried Feedly (iOS | Android | Web) after many suggestions.  Whilst I like the interface, offline reading isn't available yet.  I'd really appreciate your suggestions on a suitable app to use on my Android phone, which will enable me to read offline, full articles.  Thank you.

OK, until next week.

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I know, I know, its not Sunday!  I apologise for posting this late, but I've been away over the weekend with friends.  We've just got back today.  We went up to Centreparcs for a weekend of fun and frivolities.  Absolutely shattered now, but if I don't get this post out today then it won't happen!

The weekend has been brilliant.  Really relaxing, and I've also discovered what a difference yoga can make to your body.  Think we are going to look into finding classes around us.  It was like all my joints had been sprayed with WD40!  However, I am aching today, but I think that is down to following up the next day with a cycle ride, badminton and running after my Wife teaching her to ride a bike.  All good fun, but I'm suffering for it now.

I posted earlier this week about Parkinson's Law.  Ironically, the next day, I ended up putting it to good use.  We discovered that a piece of work hadn't been done.  As I was the only checker free to do the work, it anded on my desk.  This was a piece of work that would usually take about 2 days to do a thorough job.  I somehow managed to get it done in 2.5 hours.

The Weeks Reading

How Much Specialization? (Scott H Young)

An interesting article on balancing your development between being a specialist and being a jack-of-all-trades.  I came up against this quite recently in my career, so this article grabbed my attention straight away.  I started off specialising in Structural Dynamics, following my PhD.  I quickly got pigeon-holed into being "The Guy Who Does Dynamics and Acoustics".  I knew I needed to expand my experience to cover other branches of  Structures Engineering, such as statics and fatigue, before I reached the point of no return as far as my career went, so I moved jobs.  I've now shown that I am capable of static checking, fatigue checking and I've still got my dynamics specialism to fall back on.

Sleep Shall Never Be Sacrificed (The Hacked Mind)

One of my weaknesses is my sleep pattern.  This is quite an interesting article dealing with the benefits of sleep, and the physical reactions that occur in our bodies when we sleep (or don't sleep).  I always like to know the science behind problems such as this as I find it easier to work on a solution and understand the symptoms.

Yesterbox (Yesterbox.com)

This is an interesting method of dealing with your inbox.  Rather than dealing with your inbox as you go along, today's to-do list is yesterday's inbox.  So, each morning, you check your email and only deal with the emails sent to you yesterday. Check out hte link to read more.

How To Break Out of a Career Rut in a Month (The Daily Muse)

Following on from the previous specialisation issues, this article is an interesting way to deal with any issues you may be having at work.

Future Plans

I've also been giving some thought to one of my other Impossible List items.  I've been thinking about writing a non-fiction book for some time now.  I started fleshing this idea out over this last week.  I have a very rough outline for it, covering various productivity topics, geared a  bit towards Engineering.

I'd be really interested to hear any items you would like dealing with.  Please either email me, or add your thoughts to the comments below.  I'd really like this book to be useful to you, so tell me what you'd like to see and I shall address it.  Thank you.

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I've had a really exciting week – a big milestone for Babbling Engineer.  We broke the 1000 unique visits in a day barrier!  In fact, we trounced it!  Ever since the Nook Rooting article went live, we've been flirting with the 1000 limit.  However, on Tuesday when I logged in to check the stats, my jaw hit the floor when it said 1700!  By the end of the night it was just below the 2000 limit.  I think I had a mile-wide grin on my face all night and most of the next day!

Digging into the stats, I think that the article was shared by someone on Facebook with quite a substantial following, so the traffic saw a spike and then dropped back off to normal.  But, traffic is still gradually increasing, which is great to know that people are finding the site useful.

I've also discovered this week that 2 of my colleagues at work have been checking out the site (Hello Stef and Andy!).

It’s a Bank Holiday here in the UK this weekend, which means a 3 day weekend.  I'm writing this on Friday, ready for a quick tidy up and publishing on Sunday.  I've got of things I want to get done this weekend, while I'm not in work and the weather is supposed to be good.

Firstly, I want to get my bike cleaned and serviced.  I haven’t given it an overhaul since last year, so it needs a bit of TLC.  Then I want to go ride it.  I’ve still got a bit of weight I want to shift, which I gained on our honeymoon.  I also need to trim our hedges back and get some other jobs in the garden sorted, ready for Summer.

I've had another busy week at work.  I'm slowly transitioning onto another job now, and I'm getting to get my hands dirty with some structural dynamics again; vibration of systems brackets.  This is my specialism – in fact I did a PhD in dynamics, so its nice to visit my specialism again.

I've still had time for some reading though.

The Psychology of Productivity: A Proven Way to Get More Done (in Less Time) (SparringMind)

This was me catching up on some bookmarked posts from last year.  This is a pretty comprehensive post covering many aspects of productivity - how willpower is a finite resource, habits, breaking work up into chinks etc.  Its a long read, with a lot of citations, but a pretty good resource that I will probably revisit at some point in the future.

The Art of Filing (MindTools)

If there's one area I am struggling with at the moment - both at home and work, its filing systems.  I haven't yet found that perfect solution.  So, I'm researching a fair bit at the moment, and that will eventually result in a full on post on the subject.  This is one article I've been reading this week, and it covers some of the basics that I try and follow, such as splitting up completed work and in work.

Strengths Finder 2.0 (Amazon)

I was bought this for my birthday, recently.  It was a book that was recommended to me in order to determine my strengths and talents.  I'd much rather focus on developing my strengths than improving my short-comings.  Following a 30 on-line assessment to determine your personality, you are presented with your 5 strengths.  The book (and companion website) detail all the traits of these strengths as well as suggestions for you to take action on.  This book has really opened up my eyes to where I should be devoting my time and attention to the benefit of both myself and others.

How to Keep Your Balance in High-Pressure Work Environments (Lifehack)

Stumbled across this article on Lifehack.org.  Most Engineering environments seem to be quite high pressure these days, with customers wanting their products faster, whilst being cheaper and higher performance (and while you're at it, can you mate the moon with a stick please?).  This article provides 5 tips to handle a high pressure environment.  The one that struck home with me is to nurture good relationships.  To me, a good office environment is one where everybody gets on and has a laugh.  They are more productive, happier and know how to work together as a team when the heat is on.

Hack Your Way to Good Looks (Lifehack)

I rad this article out of sheer amusement to be honest.  However, there are a few good tips in there for improving your style and personal brand.

6 Ways to Improve Relationships by Tackling Self-Consciousness (DumbLittleMan)

Self esteem is something that I have battled with over many years.  Many people who know me would be surprised by that, but sometimes faking it is the best cure.  Jay White, over at DumbLittleMan, discusses how he dealt with his self consciousness over his perspiration problem.

So, thats it for this week.  I'm off work on Monday, so hoping to get some work on the site done.  But only if the weather is typical British Bank Holiday (i.e. raining!).

Before I sign off though, I'd like to mention that if you enjoy the posts on this site, you can subscribe to them in either your newsreader of choice, by using this link, or you can get the posts directly to your e-mail by using the form on the left hand side of the homepage.

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Today I am going to start a new series of articles, which I am hoping to continue regularly, called Sunday Muse.  Essentially it will be a bit of a look back over the week, covering any good articles or podcasts I have checked out over the week, activities I've been up to and any thoughts and ideas I may have for the week ahead.

We’re currently super busy at work at the moment.  There are lots of deadlines looming and a push to get analyses out.  The joys of working in an understaffed Engineering industry.  I'm currently a stress checker, which means I check over other people’s analyses, before they get signed off.  This can lead to conflict at times, especially when people are working long hours.  That has given me 2 ideas for future articles – one on working long hours and your productivity levels, and the other on dealing with conflict in the workplace.

In between all of that I've been doing a lot of reading up on site design and improving traffic for the site.  What a minefield of information – and full of pandas and penguins!  I've made a few changes to the front page - I've got rid of the featured post section (it may come back, but for now, its gone) and I've expanded the front page to display the last 9 posts.

Between all of that, I've not had much time to read any books, but I have been listening to a few podcasts and read a few news articles.  Here are some of the highlights:

Interview with Merlin Mann (Beyond The To Do List)

Episode 32, which is an interview with Merlin Mann, of 43 Folders and Inbox Zero fame.  I’ve always been drawn to Merlin Mann’s approach, and occasionally I manage to follow it.

Some of the stuff that I picked up on in this interview was taking care of inboxes.  Merlin reminds us not to allow too much stuff into your life – only what you accept.  He uses his example of his phone.  He has no control over who calls him, but he does have control over how he manages that particular inbox, so he constantly redirects it to his voicemail.  I take a similar approach and keep my phone on silent most of the time, with no voicemail.  He furthered this with an analogy – there’s a reason his house has a door – so people can’t just drift into his house.  It enables him to control the input into his life and prevent it bombarding him while he is doing something else.

He also talked about Sunk Cost Fallacy, which is essentially not throwing good money after bad, even if there is emotional attachment.

How to Listen When Someone is Venting (Harvard Review)

This was an interesting article on handling someone who is venting, or getting something off their chest at you.  I read this article with some interest, as this is a skill I have tried to hone over the years.  Whilst the article felt a bit plastic in parts, a lot can be gained from it.  The main one being, how to strike that balance between telling the venter to “pull themselves together” (RARELY a good thing – they need to get it out of their system), and sitting there like a dummy, and not responding.  I've talked about active listening previously, and this article essentially suggests a good dose of active listening.

How to Organize Your Life: 10 Habits of Really Organized People (Lifehack)

These articles tend to be ten-a-penny these days.  However, I’m constantly looking for ways I can improve my organisation skills and become more efficient.  Therefore, I am a sucker for these.

I wouldn't normally share these out, because there are so many out there, but this article summarises the main things that I am currently trying to do in my life.  I may even bas an article on some of the points in this article at some point, and document how I got on with them.

Can Coffee Enhance Productivity (Lifehack)

This infographic perked my interest.  I've just made the switch from my instant decaf all the time, to having a nice cup of ground coffee first thing in the morning, as a treat when I first get into work.  I've really noticed the difference in the mornings that I miss it!

There’s some interesting statistics in there.  Apparently 46% of workers claim they are less productive if they don’t drink coffee.  Up until recently, I’d have rebuked that claim.  Now, however, I think I’d agree – especially when I've had a bad night’s sleep.

Shades of Structure (Dave Seah)

I've followed Dave’s blog now for a little while.  He’s a designer working in the US.  He discusses his workflow and productivity methods quite regularly and has produced some great tools for managing his workflow.  He is currently having a bit of a productivity reboot, and documenting all his thoughts and ideas as he goes.  It makes for quite an interesting read.

So, as for next week.  Well, I'm going to try and get into a regular schedule of a full article being released on a Wednesday and then my Sunday Muse post on a Sunday (funnily enough!).  I'm also having a play with some website design and as always, constantly plugging away at work.  Next week should hopefully be the last week of the project I am currently working on at work, so I suspect a manic week is ahead!

Until next week!

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