Entries Tagged 'Out Of The Box' ↓

Today is Independence Day in the U.S. Amid the fireworks and picnicking, I began to muse that perhaps both productivity and simplicity are moving me toward a life of greater freedom and independence.
I moved to a part-time schedule at the beginning of 2007, directly as a result of my level of productivity. My client gets [...]

This past weekend had something very odd about it.
I had nothing scheduled.
And while I should have welcomed it as an opportunity to work on projects without deadlines, the truth is I wandered aimlessly around the house, feeling very uncomfortable with my unscheduled time.
This worries me a little bit. I have always thought that the purpose [...]

After my last article on simplified camping (Five Ways to Simplify Camping), I received a request for what I keep in my kitchen box.

Here are the contents as of the last time I used it.
Contents of My Camping Kitchen Box

A set of plastic (reusable) cutlery in a tray; I also keep a wooden spoon, a [...]

You are about to step into a meeting with the visiting vice-president, and you realized that you have spilled coffee down your shirt, and you are missing a button. Then you walk into the meeting, to find out that the in-floor power receptacle is still under its screwed down cover, and the headache kicks in.
A [...]

As a consultant, I work in many different places. The one thing all of my clients have in common is that they presented me with an unadorned, vanilla cube or table at which to work.
Since I need to have my creature comforts around me in order to be at my best (and to remind me, [...]

Photo by janusz lIt occurred to me as I sat at my desk at work, that my view out the window really allowed me to stay less stressed. If I am having trouble with some code, watching the seagulls float on the currents is sure to relax me as I contemplate their grace. Even watching [...]

Photo by Balaji DuttAfter months of suffering from back and neck problems caused by too much time at my desk, I made a simple, yet radical change: I threw out my desk chair. I replaced it with an exercise ball.
After only one week, my neck and back pain had all but disappeared.
Choosing a Ball
Knowing nothing [...]

Originally published on 26 March 2007.
I have often worried that I am addicted to the computer, especially on those nights when I sit down to do one thing and end up surfacing hours later to realize I have wasted a large chunk of time doing nothing important, while not tackling the things I needed to [...]