Work

Suffering From Project Overload

Ay ay ay Lately, I have been a bit scatter-brained, which resulted in a one-night mass consumption of beer on Friday night. The main problem has been a bit of a project overload. There are several seemingly important things tugging at my attention from day to day, and it gets more and more difficult to figure out which takes precedence. If you find yourself in a similar situation, maybe you can do what I propose doing, a triage of sorts.

First, Make Money

First, I have a responsibility to earn a living. I am responsible for my family and myself. Tasks that relate to doing business will have to take precedence. Some of the fun things I enjoy doing will have to take a back seat.

Second, do one thing at a time

This may seem like, “Duh!”; but you should probably tackle one project at a time. I don’t have the capacity to quickly and continuously retool my brain from one task to the next all day. You may find a similar inability to focus on more than a couple projects in a day. I’m just going to have to designate my projects by day of the week. This will ensure that I have the right mindset and tools for that one project or two on that day.

Third, Get Smart

In order to improve my chances at landing better deals, it is in my best interest, now that I am a freelancer, to keep honing my skills. This means that I must set time aside to learning how to do new things and improve on those I already do well.

Fourth, lay off the computer

In today’s climate of downsizing, I find that I am more inclined to lay off my computer as well. Computers carry some productivity overhead that make it difficult to focus. I’ve been going back to good old paper and pen to write notes. A big chunk of my computing lately, is going towards my phone. Even so, I am reviving the art of the phone call. OK, so I won’t completely let go of the computer; let’s just say it will be welcome to stay on part-time.

Cut back on the social media

There are several folks out there that swear you can check your email once a day, or once per week, and you would not miss anything important. Thanks to Gmail’s spam filter, I don’t get much spam; however, I get tons of bacn. Informative, yes; useful, no. They’re right. I don’t get any meaningful email that must be addressed right now. Mostly, urgent matters result in phone calls. I’m willing to guess that if I check my Facebook and other apps just once a week, I’ll save lots of time. The same is true for other networks. Twitter, well, that’s going to require medical intervention; maybe there’s a patch for it.

UPDATE

I ran across this video from Chris Brogan soon after writing this post.

When Circumstances Are Right, Do It




Make Yourself at Home

Originally uploaded by shainelee

Sometimes circumstances align themselves in such a way that you have to do something. For example, you could be the only person certified in CPR at an accident scene; or you could have just arrived at an empty easy chair in front of a big screen TV while your Dad is shopping. Things sometimes come together and all you need to do is sit down and enjoy the show. This happened to me today. Consequently, I quit my job.

I stayed home today to get updates on my father’s condition. He has had some heart problems that led him to go for an outpatient procedure. Things did not go so well, but seem to be turning around. He lives in Wisconsin and I in Texas. Taking my family up to see him is not something I can repeat in immediate succession. I took the day off so that I could make phone calls and inquiries. I did not know that my wife, Alma, also took the day off because she had to watch our baby daughter rather than work. We don’t use daycare.

Four things happened. First, I had the time to devote to finding out more about the condition of and deciding whether I should go see my father. I only have one shot at it. If I go once and he’s OK, I will not be able to repeat if his condition reverses. I have to be certain that I need to be there. Second, I got to spend time with my wife and baby daughter while the other two children were in school. That’s just nice. Seriously, it’s nice to spend time with your wife and the baby. Third, Alma and I got a lot done today. There are a lot of personal things that must be done during the week that just get put aside while we work. We were able to address them during business hours and finally get them squared away. And finally, I keep getting calls for computer services; and they keep increasing. It feels wrong to turn away business because I have a job.

On top of all this, I have other goals that involve social media and “community organizing” (thanks Barack). I could not devote enough time to these efforts between work, family, or sleep. Other things I was not doing were podcasts, videos, blog posts, and other content creation. The very things that bring me satisfaction were going unfulfilled.

My now former job was fine. There was enough technical challenge to keep me mentally occupied. I think the main drawback is the problem of fitting a square peg in a round hole. It fits if the hole is big enough; but there is a lot of empty space left over.

Things have aligned themselves in such a way that seeking my own fortune is not full of fear and trepidation. Much like my son, pictured above, it seems like the conditions are right for me to sit down and take my place in front of the big screen TV. I just need to watch my story unfold. For the very first time, I am confident I have done the right thing in leaving steady income. I believe I can accomplish both my need to create content and generate income by striking out on my own.

I Broke My Moleskine

When first buying a Moleskine, I got the impression that being covered in oilcloth would make it a bit more durable. I recently started using a Moleskine to keep up with all the details that go on at work and at home. I have to say that I am happy to have done so. I am able to dump so much information in it that I find myself able to follow the GTD way much better than with electronic dumping grounds; at least, this is true in my current job.

I work for a radio company, which is a mix of technology and physical labor. Lately, I’ve been on a project that requires daily use of power tools and a lot of rooftop activities. This means that there is a lot of movement and sweat. Keeping the Moleskine in my back pocket turns out to be a bad idea. I know we don’t like to think of it, yet the fact is that your butt sweats as much as any other part of you. In addition, with all the sitting and walking, a back pocket is probably a high-friction environment for a Moleskine. The end result is that the spine broke along the first segment and I am hoping to get to the end before the middle section breaks off the final segment. These things are held together with glue. If fact, Tim Ferriss, author of the 4-Hour Work Week, wrote about how his soft cover Moleskines like mine get ripped to shreds too.

I really do like the Moleskine and will continue using it. However, I may just be too much blue collar and not enough geek to keep the notebook in one piece. Another thought I have is that I probably should not hold back on writing things down so that I can go through them much faster. This way, I can ensure that I get through them faster than I can kill them.

Fresh Friday at Subway

I spent yesterday going around the local Subway restaurants setting up their DVR systems. They are taking it one step further by serving up video to their headquarters through the Internet. The job consists of telling the DVR to update a dynamic DNS server and setting up the DDNS account.

Just a quick note that although all the locations have identical setups, they have, thus far, had different problems. By this I mean that the technology is all the same. They have the same computers, routers, and DVRs. The differences lie in how they are set up with passwords, firewall settings, and states of connectivity. It’s an interesting project that should keep me busy for a while.

Joining Forces With RGV Helpdesk

RGV Helpdesk Logo

Today, I joined forces with RGV Helpdesk. RGV Helpdesk and I have complementary skill sets and mindsets for achieving success in the Small and Medium Business (SMB) technology field. In order to improve my service offerings and keep up with demand, I thought it best to become a part of a team.

As many of you know, I have ventured into providing computer services in South Texas. I’ve been at it since December, technically, but have only really been actively seeking business since March. In this short time, I found myself a little bit stretched thin and experiencing the limitations of being a break-fix technician. There are certainly some benefits to my existing clients by my joining the geeks at RGV Helpdesk. Amongst those benefits are improved response times, improved resources, and more well-rounded solutions.

I look forward to working with the team. Please don’t hesitate to call me at the new business office. I look forward to serving you with a little help from my friends.

Be Specific About Your Services

Lately, while going from one client to another, it has occurred to me that I have been fortunate to get clients despite my marketing, rather than because of my marketing. Usually, when people ask me what I do, I tell them that I fix computers and do some web work. My intent has been that it is general enough that it might spark an idea for what I can do for that person. While working on a few projects, it occurred to me that I probably should be more specific about what I do. Perhaps you should be specific too.

Let me give you some more examples. Rather than say that I fix computers, I should say that I can help my clients figure out whether they should fix or replace their computers. Quite frankly, many clients do not want to spend more money to fix an old PC than they would spend buying a new one. I have found that my non-business clients have a $200 threshold before they start eyeballing a new PC. Quite frankly, I don’t want to spend hours figuring out software issues either. It’s not cost-effective for the client and no fun for me. By positioning the service as helping them make that decision, it prepares them to make one of the two choices. This way, they already know it’s either going to cost up to their spending limit, or more than their spending limit.

Rather than generally saying that I network computers, I can say that I network computers to share wired and wireless internet connections, share printers on a network, block unwanted sites like Myspace, install routers and set up firewalls, or any number of specific network items. Doesn’t being specific like that spark more ideas of how I can help your small business? Heck, I could probably cycle through marketing campaigns of very specific services. One week, for example, I could call on businesses and offer Myspace blocking for a given price. Once that runs out, I could maybe start a new campaign setting up VPN services.

With respect to Internet, it’s rather vague to say that I provide Internet services. How about specifying that I can set my clients up with their own podcast? I can specify other services like showing my client how to edit video on their computer. I can provide specific services like producing a podcast or blogging for their business. I can set the client up with a WordPress site or create a custom templete. You get the picture, right? Same thing here. Once you have a specific service to latch onto, you can create a marketing campaign for it.

Having specifics about what you do can spark ideas in the prospect; but it also steers the conversation towards the type of work you want to do. This is awesome because doing what you like and getting paid for it is much better than doing things you don’t like and getting paid for it. I’d rather do work I enjoy. Another benefit is that the more you practice specific services, the more proficient you become at them. Therefore, I will practice specifying the kind of work that I do from now on. Perhaps you should too.

Trying to Get By Without Broadband

Currently, our broadband connection at home is not working. This poses a few problems for me in that it limits my Internet options. Rather than fix the problem, I’m going to let it ride and try to get by using my mobile phone as my Internet connection. Even with this, I’m not truly experiencing dial-up speed. Using my phone, I can still pull down 115 kb/s; this is faster than dial-up. Even so, the Internet is not exactly speeding along.

One thing I have to accept is that I can only browse one thing at a time. Browsing two pages at once means that they will both load slowly. Therefore I still end up waiting for pages to download. It forces you to plan your browsing. This in turn, may actually result in saving time because you focus on what you need to get done and cut out unnecessary browsing.

Video is a problem. Small videos are not a big problem, but much of the fun stuff is in the high megabyte count, making them painfully slow to view. I can forget about uploading.

Audio podcasts are, strangely, still doable. It seems that my phone is capable of downloading just a little faster than the media player is able to play; therefore, I can listen to podcasts while they download. I am able to catch some streaming audio too. In the case of recording shows, I don’t typically use a data connection to record my shows; I dial in. The only downside is that if I want to use my Blog Talk Radio or Talkshoe switchboards, I cannot simultaneously dial in. My mobile phone lets me pick between data or voice, but not both. Therefore, I need to run off somewhere where there is free wifi, or I need to get a second phone for voice.

Working on a slow connection also has social media implications. I have to use low-bandwidth options. This means that Twitter is best used via GTalk. Using the Twitter website is just too slow. Facebook and Myspace? Forget it, unless I use the mobile versions. This is probably not a bad thing. Mobile versions strip out all the junk people load on their pages and get to the point. I suppose I can continue using mobile versions of my social media.

For blogging, I can’t say that I am hampered all that much. Blogging, for the most part, uses a static page. Fortunately, blogging, which has been good for me career-wise, is hardly impacted without broadband. I am blogging using my phone’s connection now.

One other thing that I’ve come to appreciate is that I am able to operate a great service that I have started using, smartsheet.com. Smartsheet is a great website that is perfect for project planning and team collaboration. I was worried that my ability to use SmartSheet would be hampered by a slow connection; it is not. Although it is slow to load at the outset, once it’s loaded, there is not problem. So, you mobile professionals may appreciate this about SmartSheet.

Most of this is moot if you choose to use something like Sprint’s EV-DO. Sprint’s mobile Internet is spectacular. I’ve used Sprint and I must say that I am impressed. They have 1 Mb speeds for download and not too shabby upload speeds. In my case, I use T-Mobile’s EDGE data connection. It’s no EV-DO, but I’ve been very happy with T-Mobile’s customer service; so, I’m willing to put up with the slower speed.

NOTE:
In case you are wondering, I have a T-Mobile Dash and use the built-in Internet sharing feature on the phone. The unlimited data plan is roughly $20/month, which includes unlimited access to T-Mobile HotSpots.

The State of Computer Services in South Texas

I have started working on bringing in business in earnest this week. I spent some time canvassing for business by handing out business cards. I tend to be shy, so it was nice to receive such positive responses from the people I visited. Things have certainly changed in the computer service field since I was last in it, back in 2001. Let me share with you what has changed.

First, local computer parts shops are virtually non-existent. They have gone out of business over the years. CompUSA was the last bastion of hope; but, they threw in the towel recently. So, if you are looking for parts, the only option remaining is to order online. This has a couple implications. First, you can’t sell stuff out of inventory because it’s likely you haven’t any. Carrying inventory is an unnecessary cost for an independent computer guy. Second, your chances of turning a computer job that requires parts around in a day or two are diminished.

Another change that I see happening is that techies are increasingly becoming “practitioners”. The local community college and University are churning out hundreds of tech students every semester. Yet, the number of tech “jobs” can’t keep up, locally. This does not mean that there is not enough demand for technical services. Many companies are hiring techs from San Antonio, which is 200 miles away. So, those of us with an entrepreneurial spirit are going to have to rely on our “bedside manner” and reputation to get business.

Overall, it seems like the computer service business is going in the direction of the individual practitioner rather than the computer business. Perhaps shops will adopt the model of beauty salons where the stylists rent their workspace on a weekly basis. Perhaps the local tech industry will go in the direction of subcontracting; one business rounds up the sales and subcontracts the work. I don’t know what will ultimately result; but, I do see that the industry is favoring the independent guy.

Going Door to Door for Business

Today, I went door to door to hand out business cards and get some business. I figure that most of us are a bit lazy about taking our stuff in for repair. So, if somebody comes in and offers to fix something, it’s not a big deal to hire on the spot. It worked. Within my first ten stops, I got a quick job setting up a wireless router and DSL modem that had stopped working. I was able to get the computer and the router talking to each other. Tomorrow, I’ve got to talk to AT&T technical support to set up the DSL connection again.

I think this approach to getting work is preferable than simply putting out ads. We’ll see in the long-run if this pays off.

Evaluation of the Capitol job landscape

There have been some very interesting bills in committee today. I have really enjoyed listening to those that have been laid out before the committee. In my job at the committee, I have no input. Committees offices are generally apolitical. Our job, for the most part, is clerical. Due to hard deadlines and being subject to accepting bills from all members, there is no time or leeway to be political. As a committee clerk, you almost have to see bills as mere numbers. I say almost because clerks have to read the bills and write bill analyses. Otherwise, it’s a process that applies to all equally.

Depending on your preferences, if you want to work at the Capitol, you should consider your tolerance for politics. If politics is not your cup of tea, consider working in a clerical capacity. There are plenty of such jobs here early in the session. You can work for a committee, House Administration, or work on the House floor for the support functions like the Chief Clerk’s office, the Journal Clerk’s office, or some other similar clerical position. In these jobs, you are expected to be apolitical. Being overly friendly with House Members is frowned upon because these offices should not show favoritism.

If you are more politically minded, you should work directly for a House member. Keep in mind, you still need to be courteous to other offices and members. Even though you represent your rep and are an advocate for him or her, any Rep could ask to allow you to succeed OUTSIDE the House of Reps. You can favor your boss, but that does not give you license to be a jerk towards the others. Still, you can’t be blamed for playing favorites.

Keep in mind that working for a Rep does not automatically make you a part of the campaign. IF you choose to work for the campaign, it should be after work. If you are a die-hard political type, working the campaign is up your alley. In that capacity, only the boss can fire you and you are expected to highly advocate for your boss over the opposition.

So, you see, there are opportunities out there for different degrees of political interest. In my experience, I have the opportunity to see different parts of working for the House of Reps. I have also had the opportunity to talk to people in different job capacities. There are opportunities for people of most temperaments.

Some days are a workout




Some days are a workout

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

When I talk to some non-staffers, I think they get the impression that working at the Capitol is a cushy job with free time galore. And it is, on Fridays. The rest of the time, it’s a constant quest. You are always looking for information or somebody who has information. On the flip side, sometimes people are looking for you because you have information.

What do you do once you get the information? You start sharing it with others who know what to do with it.

Another portion of our time goes into running errands. We’re picking up something, or dropping off something. Today, for example, I spent the morning running around looking for an available copier to make hearing packets. Afterwards, I had to run around distributing the packets to members’ offices. If there is one thing I’ll get out of this experience, it’s endurance to be walking up and down stairs. I just picked up some dry cleaning and am headed back to the office to find out what the latest actions will be.

Back to Work




Nice trees

Originally uploaded by shainelee.

I had a fun weekend on a paddleboat on Friday evening, BarCamp on Saturday, and just vegging out today. Tomorrow, it’s back to work at the office. The filing deadline was Friday, so the serious work starts at the Capitol tomorrow. The House has a bill on the HPV vaccine scheduled. It’s a heated topic, so there may be plenty of debate on the floor. If the House goes long, then our committee hearing will start late. We are looking at a possibly long Tuesday. I’m going to get a light snack and then hit the hay.