4 posts from July 2008

So far I've worked for both public and private companies, for large government organizations, and for myself. I've also been a telework proponent for years. I can say that, without a doubt, I've been most productive when I'm allowed to dictate my work environment. Which is perhaps why this article really resonated with me.

This post from (surprise!) WebWorkerDaily is probably the best collection of telework-related advice I've ever read. Aimed at large corporations, Mike Gunderloy & Aliza Sherman do a bang-up job summarizing myths associated with corporate telework as well as the benefits- a few of which you may not have thought of before!

It's true that large corporations seen to have a hard time "getting it" when it comes to initiatives like telework. Telework requires a certain amount of trust that your employees will behave responsibility while out of your direct control (aka the office). Not all corporate cultures allow for this to occur. And even in cultures that do, many employees aren't ready to work outside the corporate yolk.

I found this post by Steve Pavlina rather randomly, which is sort of cool, considering the topic of the article. And I figured that, since we're headed into the weekend, it would be a good time to post something a little different at Matt's Cuppa.

If it sounds somewhat tongue-in-cheek for Mr.Pavlina to say that we can discover our reason for being in the space of 20 minutes, then I suggest that you're fixating on the wrong part of that sentence. You're focused on the "20 minutes" part instead of the "discover your life purpose" part. What he's really saying here is that we all innately why we are here.

While that wisdom is certainly nothing new, finding the answer to the question is something few people really seriously and actively set out to answer. Why? Because it's daunting, it's scary, we've got too many other responsibilities, etc. (Although, for some odd reason, I have met more people in the social media world that know for certain what their purpose is than in any other sphere I've been in.)

But what if Mr.Pavlina is right, and you can find the answer to life's ultimate question before you head back to work on Monday? Personally, I'm convinced that we do all know what we're here for, but we won't shut up long enough to hear what it is. Which is why I like his approach. If we simply keep asking ourselves the question over and over again, eventually we'll have exhausted all of the reasons that don't matter, all of the reasons that aren't really ours, all of the reasons created by the various roles we play, and all we'll be left with is the real reason that we're here.

In the end, the test is not finding the real answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, but persisting in our questioning long enough to hear it.

Happy Friday All!

Another good resource for those who want to play with Linux without committing a box to it. And "pre-configured" always has a nice ring to it.

I know I can always turn to DemoGirl when it comes to finding cool and useful online tools. Here's a great screencast of super easy blogging platform Posterous. Similar to Tumblr, but even easier to use, I can definitely see a growing audience for this and perhaps other no-brainer blogging platforms. Thanks for the tip, Molly!