Constructively Productive: Productivity With Perspective

May 17, 2010

Today, I’m all hyper because Thursday Bram and I are launching a joint bid for world domination blog, Constructively Productive.
Thursday and I bonded over a gigantic pile of Lego (she says “Legos”, I say “Lego”) at South by South West back in March, and over lunch, plotted to take over the blogosphere came up with plans for [...]

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Ready for Action?

May 13, 2010

I’m a big fan of thinking and brainstorming and planning. (Okay, maybe “daydreaming” would be a better description for a lot of what I do…) I think that many of us end up erring on the side of doing too much and not spending enough time thinking through whether we’re even doing the right things.
However [...]

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Review of The Dojo by Charlie Gilkey and Jonathan Mead

May 10, 2010

I don’t post most of my reviews to the main blog here (you can find a bunch of them linked to and summarised on my newly updated Reviews page) but this was so in tune with a lot of what I say here, that I wanted to get my thoughts in front of everyone.
Plus, you [...]

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You Are Creative – Take it Further

May 7, 2010

Would you describe yourself as “creative”?
I would (and do). For a long time, though, I thought I wasn’t especially creative because the only creative thing I can do well is to write. I can’t paint or draw or sing or play any instruments well. I’m slightly in awe of people who can.
For most of my [...]

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Why You Might Want to Postpone Your Dreams

May 3, 2010

You’ve got a dream. A big dream. You’re keen to go for it … but you’re not ready to take the plunge just yet.
Some folks would tell you to follow your heart, to “just do it”, and to hell with the consequences. Hey, you’ll make it work out, right? Waiting around is just giving in [...]

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How to Get Going When You’re Scared

April 29, 2010

Ever wanted to do something, but been too scared to start?
Yeah, me too.
I get scared every time I tackle something new. When I went to Austin last month, it was the first time I’d ever flown on my own and the first time I’d ever visited the States. I was so hyped and wound up [...]

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It’s Okay to Spend Money on Yourself

April 26, 2010

If you’re following me on Twitter, you might know that I bought a guitar last week. (I now have the guitar. I’ve managed to play two chords. I won’t be quitting blogging to become a rockstar just yet.)
I’ve been thinking of getting a guitar for a while. I like listening to music, but I really [...]

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Announcing the Aliventures Newsletter

April 22, 2010

For a couple of months now, I’ve been keen to launch a email newsletter for Aliventures. I love writing the posts here – and hugely appreciate all your comments and emails – and I’d like to be able to offer you a bit more with a regular newsletter.
Here on the blog, I tend to write [...]

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Don’t Think, Write

April 19, 2010

Let’s say you have a problem. It might not be huge. It might not be of “What the hell am I doing with my life?” proportions. It’s just something you seem to be stuck on.

You can’t ever seem to keep your desk tidy
You’re slipping into debt
You’ve been carrying an extra 30lbs for a few years [...]

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When Public and Private Clash Online

April 15, 2010

The very first time I used the internet, I was twelve years old, and we had an Acorn RISC PC (now, sadly, obsolete) and a 28.8k modem. My dad showed me how it worked, and my first search was for “gerbils” – my obsession at the time.
A year or so later, I’d discovered Star Trek [...]

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