October 10, 2005 – 10:54 am
Yesterday, while I was reorganizing my storage loft, I was catching up on listening to some podcasts. I realized something: One advantage of podcasting is that sometimes complex topics become more comprehensible and resonant when explained in a human voice, rather than by text.
One of the oft-cited disadvantages of podcasts is that you can’t really “skim” them – that is, it generally takes 30 minutes of your precious time to listen to a 30-minute podcast. And if you stop listening early, you may miss great stuff that came later in the show. Many people find this frustrating. Sometimes I find it frustrating, too.
However, the human voice can be incredibly powerful and effective – and sometimes this can offset the inconvenience of the time that listening requires. For me, this happens often enough that I keep finding podcasting a compelling medium, even though many individual shows or episodes don’t offer me much value. It’s the pearls that make it worthwhile.
Here are two such pearls I found yesterday…
October 9, 2005 – 5:55 pm
I hate paper. I really, truly despise it. This wasn’t always so, but lately I’ve been waging war on clutter – and the worst of the clutter, I find, is always on paper. And I’m terrible about keeping paper files. It’s just not my strength.
I’ve started scanning everything I would normally file, so I can easily find the documents I need when I need them without having to thumb through paper files, usually ending in frustration.
But here’s the thing: I need a good personal document management system.
Can you help? Here’s what I’m looking for…
October 9, 2005 – 4:49 pm
Blogging is largely a matter of habit, and my habits have been disrupted lately.
Regular Contentious readers may have noticed that I haven’t had much to say lately. Here’s the reason: I’ve had a fair amount of business travel, which totally disrupted my rhythms. Whereas before I would wake up and usually start blogging first thing, lately I’ve been launching straight into other things. Like taking care of my clients first, and connecting with friends, colleagues, and family. And decluttering my house so I no longer want to scream when I look around me. And reading some excellent books. And reworking a couple of web sites.
Still, I should not have let my blogging suffer so much. This is, after all, a key part of my business.
The trick is, I think, for me to rework my blogging habits so they’re more flexible and sustainable when I travel or hit otherwise hectic stretches…
October 3, 2005 – 1:41 pm
Just as an experiment, I threw together an unofficial weblog for the 2005 conference of the Society of Environmental Journalists. This is where I’m posting comments, news, and more from my own experiences and those contributed by other attendees.
CHECK IT OUT: Visit the totally unofficial SEJ 2005 conference weblog.
More about this project…
October 3, 2005 – 12:36 pm
BlogoSquare