My cat, Shadow, had surgery a week ago. His recovery needs were straightforward, to rest and wear an e-collar (aka cone) until his stitches heal. This was a new area of feline care for me; I could plan, but would reality match up? A spare room fit all the recovery criteria set out by our […]
Notebook
Three Tips to Prepare for Technology Changes
Preparing for technology changes can be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be. Here are three tips to help you successfully prepare and minimize disruption to your business. 1 – Read widely There’s a tendency to only read widely when there’s uncertainty about a change, it’s beneficial once you’ve decided too. You don’t need to closely […]
Creating and Maintaining a Disaster Preparedness Plan
After this past year, I understand everyone wants to return to normal and not think about a disaster. One normal thing to think about: here on the Atlantic coast, it’s June and that means hurricane season. Following a check list while other parts of life are chaotic can help you and your micro-business weather any […]
The tools I use to work
When I see an article with the title, “I do X and this is how I work” I immediately click to read more. However, I’m hesitant to write this sort of post for myself. Why? I customize my tools until they’re almost unrecognizable or I use something that is incredibly boring. For years I thought […]
temporary is important too
Temporary notes for your business can be as valuable as formal documentation. I’ve written before about my notes to self. I often laminate these long-term reminders, but know that more ephemeral notes are important too. What kind of notes are these? They’re the quick reminders that need an extra nudge, such as a note to […]
Organizing Communication … with Yourself
I periodically reread the classic texts that shaped my education and my work. The reasons vary; I’m curious about how they’ve held up over time and what I find now with over twenty years’ experience. One of those texts is The Mythical Man-Month: Essays on Software Engineering by Frederick P Brooks, Jr. It was a […]
Remember to ask Why
It’s important to remember to ask the open-ended question “Why” when evaluating technology. Your answers will help determine the reasons for exploring specific solutions. A client recently asked about installing an add-on for their e-commerce site. They identified two solutions and asked for my expertise before they made a final decision. As I filled out […]
3 Tips to Organize Your Notebook
The blank page of a notebook can be daunting. Consistently organized information can be found more easily, that’s the point of SEO and useful for a handwritten page too. However, I feel that the prevalence of curated notebook pages on social media can cause us to focus more on a perfect ideal instead of a […]
Working with Weekly Chaos
It’s a rare week that the plan I created on Monday morning isn’t completely rewritten by lunchtime. It’s tempting to try to follow my cat and curl up in the dark recesses of a tote bag because it can feel overwhelming. Here are three tips I use to keep moving forward with my original plan […]
Summary of Recent Updates to WordPress
Over the past year there have been many changes to life … and WordPress. I know the details of each update haven’t been a priority. It can be overwhelming to go back and find out what changed, and next week version will see 5.7 released. To help, I’ve worked through the past year of releases […]