Personal Optimization

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Software Leadership Lessons from Youth Sports

On talent, goals, and tactics — in sports and in your software company.

Personal Optimization

Gmail Filters for unattended-upgrades Reboots

Getting tired of seeing emails from unattended-upgrades? Here's how I configured Gmail to separate the signal from the noise.

Personal Optimization

Know Thyself: Identify & Understand your Personality Quirks

Work better with others by knowing your personality quirk triggers, how to deal with them, and how those quirks affect different people in different ways.

Personal Optimization

3 Ways to Reduce Big Meeting Stress

Fight your meeting anxiety with smarter meeting prep—embrace it, clearly communicate your message, and find success.

Personal Optimization

Visualize Your Spreadsheet Data with Conditional Formatting

Conditional formatting is a useful feature for analyzing spreadsheets. Here I introduce it and provide some examples.

Personal Optimization

Super Cheap Data Backups with Amazon Glacier Storage

How to download all your Google data and back it up extremely cheaply with Amazon Glacier Storage.

Personal Optimization

Practice, Perfection, and Holding out for More Marshmallows

Googling quick answers is great, as far as it goes. But consistent, persistent practice is still the best way to learn something deeply and comprehensively.

Personal Optimization

A Review & Ranking for My Fellow Coffee Shop Squatters

An evaluation of restaurants and coffee shops, including Biggby, Tim Hortons, Panera Bread, Barnes N' Noble, Starbucks, and more as places of productivity.

Personal Optimization

Some Amazing Ideas Start as Wacky Ideas

A wacky idea is one that people might dismiss at first glance. But having permission to share them can open the door to innovation and creativity.

Personal Optimization

Being an Extrovert in an Introvert-Dominant Workplace

Four ways extroverts can thrive with those who focus more on their mental energy than physical energy.

Personal Optimization

Dealing with Project Bumps – Get Mad, Get Over it, Get Smarter

When trouble comes, you can keep your sanity by remembering that bad stuff happens, reacting appropriately, and then making the most of it.

Personal Optimization

Keeping a Non-Backlog To-Do List with Todoist

Todoist is for what I call minor-miscellaneous items like: “Propose a new time for Greg’s meeting request” or “Ship circuit board to Frank."

Personal Optimization

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