Writing, marketing and technology
Yes, another guest post from my Turbine blog. It’s still me, though! When it comes to productivity, a lot of people think a lot of crazy things. Some of these crazy people are managers in big companies. Others are, well, you and me. In many cases these foolish ideas have been comprehensively debunked by research. [...]
{ 3 comments }
Apparently William F. Buckley forced himself to write 250 words in 15 minutes; writing faster and faster like a sprinter nearing the tape. This anecdote is the start of a great article from Slate magazine about writers’ productivity. There’s an old story about James Joyce. One night he was in a pub with a friend. [...]
{ 4 comments }
Besides Turbine, where this article first appeared, my other business is Articulate Marketing and we work with some of the world’s biggest companies, including Microsoft, HP and Symantec. The one thing I notice at all these companies is that people have diaries crammed with meetings; one after the other. An early-rising friend of mine in [...]
{ 7 comments }
I enjoyed A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink and I’m looking forward to reading his new one Drive. But I was delighted to find this animation from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) which illustrates a talk he gave there recently. You can also watch a 40m video of his talk on the RSA’s website. (Full [...]
{ 1 comment }
I’m writing a new blog for Hewlett-Packard. Called Business Answers, it contains useful stuff at the intersection of business and IT. There is also a Business Answers Twitter feed. Recent posts include: Five best practices to build your brand Drinking and daytime TV: 10 myths of flexible working What parenthood can teach you about online [...]
{ 1 comment }
Research has identified two types of people, those whose left-brain is dominant and those were the right-brain dominates. The dominant left-brain is ‘content’ oriented, while someone with right-brain dominance will be ‘process’ oriented. Left brain dominance: Logical Sequential Rational Analytical Objective Looks at parts Right brain dominance: Random Intuitive Holistic Synthesising Subjective Looks at wholes [...]
{ 2 comments }
My iPhone has become more than a phone; it’s become an indispensible part of my life. The main reason is the number of apps that I use. I have 178 in iTunes and about half that number actually on the phone. They help me navigate, check the weather, book restaurants, learn Dutch, play, communicate etc. [...]
{ 7 comments }
Online applications give me a competitive edge. I want to be a ‘big little company’ with the same (or better) IT capabilities as the biggest of my clients. I try to make the maximum use of online applications because they let me deploy new capabilities quickly without adding to my IT or admin burdens. This [...]
{ 34 comments }
I often use dial-in conference call systems with my big clients. Some of them really like to share presentations and desktops using web conferences alongside a phone call or conference call. I also use Skype to video conference with my Dutch teacher. In my quest to become a very big little company – to use [...]
{ 5 comments }
Why is it that when I am busy, I am also more productive? I mean that I get more done in an hour when I am busy than I do otherwise. How come you get more efficient at doing something the more you do it? Even creative tasks? Why does work always take longer than [...]
{ 4 comments }
Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Articulate Marketing and Turbine, the easy, online way to deal with office paperwork. He edits Golf Hotel Whiskey and writes the Forbes Aviator column.
Check out my new, free eBook, 30 Days to Better Business Writing, 71 pages of expert tips and advice to make you a better writer. Available on Kindle, paper and free online.