I am a big fan of Cal Newport's Deep Life podcast.
One of his monthly goals is to read at least five books, which he then covers in his podcast.
Fellow podcast fan Bram Adams ([email protected]) has created a database of all Cal has read here: Cal’s Five Books of the Month.
Bram's site also makes fantastic use of Notion.
Thanks, Bram!!
A month or so ago my son Conrad who is attending SDSU asked me to post a link to a survey that his marketing research class needed inputs on.
You can find the original post on Linked In.
The team created a PDF of the results that I'd like to share via this link (pdf download).
Here is their Executive Summary:
In this report, we sought to understand what type of working environment would lead to greater overall happiness in individuals. In order to dive deeper into this topic, we did extensive research on different working styles within the US as well as other countries. We also researched how COVID-19 may have affected the way individuals view working and how working from home may affect the way individuals choose to work going forward.
After gathering our research, we constructed a 16-question survey to better understand individuals' demographics, attitudes towards working, and their current levels of satisfaction and happiness at their current jobs. Our research questions targeted asking about different work style preferences such as working completely in person, working completely online, or having a hybrid work style. We also asked individuals about their current work type status such as part-time, full time or unemployed, as well as their education level. We also incorporated questions asking about individuals' current levels of happiness and whether or not they are satisfied working at their current job or satisfied with the current amount of money they make.
We ran multiple extensive SPSS analysis to include: descriptive (for the mean, standard deviation, and frequency), associative (bivariate correlation), differences (one-way anova), and predictive (simple regression).
From the data results, we conclude that there is a weak positive correlation between age and happiness. The older a person is, the somewhat happier they are likely to be at their job. We also found a weak positive relationship between the older you are and the less likely you are to leave your current job. The rest of our research questions involving: pay in monetary form, education level, and work schedule, all have inconclusive effects on happiness. This means there is no clear pay level, level of education, or work schedule that has a greater effect on one's happiness.
This site (recommended by Daniel Suarez) is a pretty good view of the status of fires burning in the State of California:
I'm going to add this to my list of sites that are being cycled through on my two ambient displays (one at home and one at work).
I am recommending the extension Revolver - Tabs on Chrome as the method to move through tabs every 60 seconds.
This book - Getting Things Done (GTD) For Teens - is a very accessible version of understanding David Allen's GTD Methodology. Being so accessible, it could be actually for anyone wanting to learn more about how to put GTD into practice in their lives.
Here is a video of Mark Wallace's talk about "GTD for Teens" at the GTD Summit 2019:
It is available on Amazon in Kindle, Paperback, and Audio formats (via Audible).
World Stabilizing
Per my November and December posts -- my Mom's sudden and unexpected passing on October 31, 2018 -- this event is still consuming most of my energy and attention. I wouldn't be functioning though if it wasn't for the support, prayers, comfort, and help I've been getting from my faith in Christ, family, life group, church, friends, co-workers, CHVRCHES Podcast Fans, etc. Thank you all very much. I recently found this picture (it was a 35mm slide that I converted to digital) of my Mom with her brother Ludwig in Germany (probably early 1960s before she left German for the United States):
As I post this, my daughter and I are making a trip up to Sacramento/Roseville to work on a couple of key projects, and spend time with my sister's family before driving back to San Diego later in the week.
Thankful For
One of the micro stories I vaguely reference last month that was a blessing, but is both sad and happy. When I called my one of my childhood friend's Mom about my Mom passing, she had to share that her husband had passed away unexpectedly earlier in October, and his celebration of life service was the same weekend I was up there. It was wonderful to attend, and spend time with friends I have not seen in years, and reflect & share about both unexpected deaths. God does work in ways that baffles me at times.
December was great. I love, and my family loves, Christmas ... so we made the most of it all month. This year's Christmas Party at our house was one of the highlights. I made four crock-pots of chili, and most of it was gone by the end of the night!
I managed to end 2018 with a heartfelt CHVRCHES Fan Podcast. In November, Chvrches releases a great acoustic EP called the Hansa Sessions that I adore. I already knew this (I'm a little bit bias), but for an electronic synthesizer centric band -- they are really talented.
Health Update
I believe I have had a bit of a breakthrough thanks to regular pilates classes and daily stretches as the numbness in my left foot related to my bulged disk (L5-S1) [see July Update] has gone away completely some days. I haven't figured out a pattern, but as I write this, I currently don't have any numbness that I use to have all the time.
Technology
I am still loving the new Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, and the new Acer Chromebook Flip 13 has been working flawlessly. I highly recommend both of them.
Future
There is not a lot on the horizon for January 2019. There might be a work trip back to Washington, DC, and our family is going to host some Australian high school students at our house for a week or so. That should be exciting!
Tips
I can't say more about trying this Hof Breathing Method that Kevin Rose posted on Instagram if you are feeling stressed out, or want to go to sleep after practicing the steps. It has really worked wonders for me.
One of my most read and reference blog posts I have ever posted is "How I use Google Keep to do Getting Things Done (GTD) in my personal system." As of yesterday though (Sunday is my weekly review day), I moved my Personal GTD system to Nirvana. And I am not looking back! More updates probably next month, but if you are struggling with your GTD tool, then you might want to try Nirvana. Here is a link to a recommended setup guide ($10).
Quote I'm Thinking About
"Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." - Gandhi
**This photo was taken on December 26, 2018 at the San Diego Zoo. There is a new walkway near the large birds of prey that links the pandas (at the bottom of a hill) to the polar bears (near the top of a hill). This was part of the walk way. It was very new (less than a week old?).
Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash
Technology
I used the Pisen Wireless Presenter Laser Pointer 2500 for teaching my first GTD course. I found myself using the mouse I had hooked up to my computer more. I think that when I'm teaching, at least in the beginning, I like being anchored to my workspace with all my references.
I ordered another Wyze camera to do some physical security testing around the home. I think the new upgraded one is going to have better tracking capabilities.
Thankful For
My first Vital Smarts' new 1-day Getting Things Done (GTD) went well and so did my 2nd one. I have another in April and then I should get my certification.
Easter was on April 1! (TODAY!) And it was wonderful. Here is a picture from the top of Mount Helix with your Praise Band playing:
I really enjoyed re-reading Ready Player One and then seeing the new movie.
Future
My first Vital Smarts' new 1-day Getting Things Done (GTD) training classes at work is scheduled for March 8, 2018.
I think we are going to take a day in April and go up to Disneyland.
And my 24th Wedding Anniversary is coming up on April 9th.
Tip
Get a labeler and label everything. It got mind from Costco - Brother Model 1890. I use it for file folders, boxes, cables, etc. Here is another great testimonial.
Also these CHVRCHES sessions at Power Station on the Honda Stage are excellent: Mother We Share, Get Out, XO, and Never Say Die.
Quote I'm Thinking About
"A problem well stated is a problem half solved." – Charles F. Kettering
A while back my friend Kreg Steppe challenged me to post a black & white (B&W) photo everyday for 7 days on Facebook. Here are my seven photos with some background information on each one.
Photo #1: Construction Material
This photo was taken on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ in the Fall of 2017 while I was on a walk during lunch near my work. There was a ton of construction going on with the water and sewer system being upgraded by the City of San Diego on the main road going out to Cabrillo Monument.
Photo #2: Maui
This picture was taken in 2014 when Christy and I went to Maui for our 20th Wedding Anniversary. It is one of those pictures that I converted to B&W because it was pretty washed out in light. It was more than likely taken with a Canon Rebel SLR.
Photo 3: San Elijo Beach
This photo was taken in 2015 while we were beach camping at San Elijo State Beach. I also used this photo to make the MP3 backgrounds for the CHVRCHES Fan Podcast Bumpers made by fans of the band CHVRCHES. It was also taken by a Canon Rebel SLR.
Photo #4: The Streets Of Brussels
This picture was taken on June 26, 2012 in Brussels, Belgium. We were doing a walking tour of the city with our Belgium Family (Yes, the same great people who filmed the wild San Diego Boat Crash video!) and this just caught my eye. It was near the Royal Palace, but up by the streets before the public walkways. This was taken by our Canon Rebel SLR.
Photo #5: Atomium
This was also in 2012 when we visited Belgium and Germany. Before this picture, we got to visit "Mini Europe" and have some adventures on the public transit system. This was taken by a Canon Rebel SLR.
Photo #6: Ferris Wheel
This was taken in the Summer of 2017 at the San Diego County Fair (also called the Del Mar Fair by San Diego natives). This was taken on a Canon Rebel SLR.
Photo #7: Stairway
This photo was taken at the Portland Airport in the parking garage in 2016. We went up to Portland from San Diego right after the 2016 Election, and there was some rioting in the Portland area before we arrived. We didn't see anything "live" rioting, but we did see some damage in the Downtown Portland area during our exploring of Portland. This was taken by a Canon Rebel SLR.
Engadget recently published a hands-on review from CES 2018 on a new smart-screen device from Lenovo -- "Lenovo Smart Display hands-on: Google Assistant gets a new kind of home".
It looks like a nice device for not only using Google Assistant, but also displaying ambient information.
I see ambient information as context specific personalized information displayed on a screen that you regularly have access to. For instance, in my home office I have a laptop running Google Chrome with 7 tabs open and then I use an extension called Revolver - Tab to cycle through each tab every 60 seconds. I also have the same setup at work, but with a different set of tabs.
I see finding, customizing, and building out these displays in such a way that add value, but isn't distracting to workflow, is going to be an interesting area to study for human factors scientists.
More info from Lenovo's Blog about Smart Display.