Turning the Corner to 27

I started this post on the last eve of my 26th year and now four days have flown by. For me a birthday is always a time of reflection. What happened? Did it turn out well? What's ahead?

The biggest milestone of the year was the birth of our son Milo on January 12. He's 6 months now and is growing twice as fast as we expected. This "little" guy is almost in 1-year clothes already! He warms our hearts with his cheerful smile and loves watching his older brother Skyler run and dance!

We also brought a puppy into our family in the spring. Luna is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, born just a couple weeks after Milo, and fits right in with the boys as she chases Skyler and makes Milo giggle. The cats still aren't big fans of her, but they're learning to keep their distance.

Even though each day has its challenges, it's a blessing for Kasey to be home with the kids.  She gets to be there for them as they grow and learn, which is priceless. A couple years ago I had a hard time imagining us having two kids and a dog, but here we are. It's been great so far and I can't imagine going back.

My job has been going pretty well and I can see myself staying where I am for a while. I'm grateful to be able to work on a variety of projects while pushing the limits of my skills. Like any job, there are ups and downs, but overall I think I'm on a good team. The University of Minnesota is a pretty unique place to work and some days I have to remind myself to not take it for granted.

So, my 26th year was pretty great. I have a lot to be thankful for and I look forward to what this year brings!

Enjoying the Silence

Quiet.

Since becoming a parent of two and adopting a puppy, I've developed a great appreciation for this concept. If you were to sit in our living room during a typical hour of the day, you would hear the sounds of our older son shrieking as he runs around the living room, barks of our puppy as she follows close behind him and the cries of our younger son as he reminds us that it has been long enough since his last feeding.

With so many little ones in the house, chaos has become the new normal for us. I don't know how my wife handles it day in and day out, but I am infinitely grateful that she does. The small windows of time when all of the planets are aligned and all of the kids are asleep are precious. No one is screaming or stomping or throwing things or getting into things they shouldn't. It's just pure, blissful silence.

If you have kids, I'm sure you know what I mean. If not, then you will. When moments of quiet come, just sit back and enjoy them. They allow for reflection on the blessing that kids are, however noisy they may be.

Image Link: https://i.imgflip.com/o6fx0.jpg

Adventures in Web Development: Grousing at Git

Abstract:

If you're in a situation where you want to use an IDE to work on a Git project hosted on an enterprise version of GitHub, EGit will save you a lot of headaches. 

The long version:

An exciting part of my new role is assisting my team adopt Git as our version control solution. I have very little experience with it and have been wanting to learn it for years. Everything I read and heard about it gave me the impression that it's an easy-to-use yet powerful tool (plus all of the cool kids use it). Why wouldn't I want to use it too?

My team is in the process of transitioning from a strictly server-side development environment to a hybrid of client-server development. To do this, we're setting up project directories on our dev server and mounting those directories on our workstations as extra drives using sshfs. This allows us to develop with IDEs and other tools while still being able to see our changes immediately.  Granted, vim and emacs have their charm but I'll take a GUI over memorizing cryptic shortcut commands any day.

A nice feature of most popular IDEs is integration with a version control system like Git. My current IDE of choice is Aptana (emphasis on current) since it's free and seems to have decent syntax support for web languages. Aptana comes with Portable Git which is a lightweight version of Git. I assumed this would be all I needed, but boy was I wrong.

When trying to clone a repository from GitHub enterprise, I got an error saying "Bad credentials". I was sure that I put in the right information so I was very confused.

I thought perhaps I had to point the URI to my repository for the validation test, but that didn't work. Then I tried alterations of my username, adding in the domain. No luck. The Git options in Aptana were less than helpful too. After some research, I came to the conclusion that Aptana's Git plugin just assumes that any repository you want to work with is on github.com. There appears to be no support for working with GitHub enterprise repositories.Very frustrating.

Next I tried GitHub's desktop client because a coworker got it to work in his OS X environment without a hitch. After I put in my information, I saw my repositories show up. This looked promising since the client was actually able to authenticate with the enterprise account. I selected one of my repositories in the "clone" menu and hit the go button. The transfer seemed to be working until the progress bar reach halfway and hit an error. I knew the client was able to reach my repository so I was doubly confused.

After failing with two GUIs, I figured that Portable Git's Bash wouldn't let me down. I tried cloning the repository onto my network dev directory using Git Bash. This actually worked, but trying to stage changes resulted in a similar credentials error.

At this point I knew my problem wasn't a random bug. I dug into the logs for each of these three situations and found a similar symptom: "insufficient permission for adding an object to repository database .git/objects". Answers on the Web said to change permissions on the objects directory to give my workstation user read/write access. The problem was that my user didn't have privileges to change that access. It seemed that I was at an impasse.

Then, I found out about the EGit plugin for Aptana and figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a shot. After installing it, I was surprised to see that I was able to clone a repository, make changes and push them to my remote repository flawlessly. If only I had tried it to begin with!

My coworker tweeted Aptana asking why enterprise repositories aren't supported and got the response "I would expect GitHub would provide support through the EGit plugin." This make me wonder why the EGit plugin is not included by default or at least clearly referenced in the help docs? This would have saved me a lot of wasted time.

Pondering a Pond

Having been in a new role for three weeks, I am starting to sorely miss being able to regularly enjoy a stroll through nature. For over two years, I had the privilege of working at an office that was right next to a park with a walking trail going around the pond pictured above. I used to have the pleasure of seeing views like that one every day. It was a refreshing escape from the stress that came from the day-to-day task juggling. With music flowing into my ears, walking that trail gave my mind some space to daydream.

Now I work in a basement office without windows, which is a bit of a shock. I can still take mental breaks outside when I need some fresh air, but now that the snow is flying, I won't be doing that for quite a while.

Leaving that trail feels like leaving a part of myself behind. To me it represented a place to breathe, think and explore. It was always there when I needed it and I never regretted taking a walk around it. I hope to find a similar place by my current place of work. The snow just started flying today, so it's going to be a long winter.   

Adventures in Web Development: Getting Started with node.js

After being a Web Dev for over 3 years now and still using primarily procedural coding techniques, I'm feeling pretty behind the curve. I've never felt good about my skills but it's become apparent that I won't get better unless I put in the effort to do something about it. To help with this, I'll be digging into some of the current tools of the trade to put together some neat hobby projects.

Arguably one of the biggest must-have tools to come out in recent years is node.js. It's non-blocking I/O model has been proven to save a lot of network resources and to improve application scalability.

I wanted to start my first project with Bootstrap. Bower is a really easy way to pull in all of the Bootstrap files into my project folder. To get Bower, I needed node.js for its npm package manager.

I'm using Kubuntu for my dev environment but this tutorial could apply to any ubuntu-based distro. The steps below were heavily inspired by this blog post.

1) Get Compiler
To use node.js, we need to be able to compile it from source. A compiler is available from the "build-essential" package. 

Update your packages and then install the "build-essential" package:

sudo apt-get update 

sudo apt-get install build-essential -y

2) Get Git
Installing Git is a simple command:

sudo apt-get install git -y 

3) Get Python and libssl

node.js depends on Python 2 which is available via the packages:
sudo apt-get install python -y

If you want to use TLS/SSL encryption, you will also need libssl:

sudo apt-get install libssl-dev -y

4) Get node.js!
At last we can install node.js. Be sure to check the current version on their site before continuing. First we'll use Git to clone the GitHub repository for node.js onto our system. We'll put it in /usr/local/bin to make it globally available for the user.

cd /usr/local/src
sudo git clone git://github.com/joyent/node.git

Now go into the cloned repository and check out the latest version (replace the letters after 'v' with the version numbers):

cd node
sudo git checkout vX.Y.Z 

With the version checked out, we need to configure it to make sure we have the dependencies installed:

sudo ./configure

Everything should report OK. If not, check any dependencies you're missing.
At this point, we have all of the resources we need to compile and install node.js:

sudo make
sudo make install 

Finally, node.js is installed! You can check it in the command-line by doing a quick version check which will return the version number you just installed:

node -v

Identity

David Lamb was a joyful man of many talents. He loved to tell jokes to lighten up a room, sing and strum a guitar to lift heavy spirits, go on a boating adventure to reel in elusive fish and carve wooden mementos that would last for generations. Having earned diplomas in industrial arts and engineering from three universities, he also enjoyed sharing his knowledge. He was always active, never slowing down if he could help it. His love of activities was almost as great as the love he had for his family.

Last Wednesday, the only grandfather I knew as a child slipped away quietly, leaving this legacy behind him.

As I reflect on the time I spent with him, I think about things he shared with me that I didn't think much of at the time. Despite me not being much of an outdoors kid, he was eager to take me out on his pier and cast a line just so I could experience the challenge of getting a catch. Later on, he gave me a tackle box filled with lures and other fishing bits so I could be a fisherman like him. Even though that box ended up on a shelf in my parents' garage, it still holds the kindness he showed me on the day he passed it on to me. I was also not much of a singer but that didn't matter to him. Occasionally when he had his karaoke studio playing some of his favorite country hits, he pulled me in for backup vocals. I bristled at first, but as I sang with him, I let go of my embarrassment and enjoyed the music. 

If there is one thing to take away from these memories, it's that in everything he did, my grandfather always stayed true to himself. He didn't care what other people thought because he knew what he stood for. That's something he left that I'll carry with me for the rest of my days. I've tried to be like others, thinking that things like drawings done by my hand or stories fabricated from my mind would somehow make me feel more fulfilled. The truth is that I was just faking an identity instead of appreciating my true one. I believe my grandfather realized this about himself and that's why he lived with such passion. I will go forward remembering this and looking forward to seeing him again in heaven.

Summer of Direction

This summer has brought quite a few changes: I moved to a wonderful new place with nice people, my company moved to a new building that isn't plagued by loud noises and diesel fumes, I have a new little furry family member that loves to be adorable while causing chaos, and more changes are on the way.

Last month I turned a year older. This prompts me to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going in life. I've been blessed with a wonderful wife, a nice shelter, steady job, good friends and family and more entertainment than I need, to name a few things. There is still one thing missing though - something I haven't come up with a name for until this post. I'll call it creative direction. Don't get me wrong, I would be very hard-pressed to live without any of the things I listed above, but I've always wanted to pursue an artistic hobby. For me the choice of hobby has been one of three; music, writing and art.

I know what you're thinking. Why choose one? The first reason is time. I don't want to spend my evenings shutting myself away because I have too many things to practice (already made that mistake a few times and the results weren't pretty). The second reason is commitment. Anyone who knows my branch of the family line knows that dedication to something is a trait not to be abused. I can't tell you how many times I've flipped from one thing to the next because it might feel better than what I'm currently doing. I've been around that merry-go-round enough times to make me barf. The third reason is my fear of spreading myself so thin that I don't enjoy what I do which would defeat the purpose of having hobbies!

My experience explains what it means when I say I suffer from a lack of creative direction. This summer I've been trying to settle this by taking some time each week to try one of my three desired paths. Obviously, this blog covers the writing part. For music, I set up my electronic keyboard and went over halfway through a piano lesson book for adults. I followed my interest in electronic music by signing up for a free online course in music production. However, after learning the basics of sound physics and realizing that trying to understand and properly use a digital audio workstation would be a second job in itself, I decided that listening to music was just as good as playing it. This brings me to art. This is the creative skill that I envy most in others and I'm fortunate enough to know a couple of artsy folks from whom I've gotten inspiration. I have an assortment of "How-To" books that I've collected over the years when the bug to pick up a pencil struck me. I typically practice by setting up in a corner with a pen, a pad, a pair of headphones and a lesson book. This works until my concentration is broken by something going on in the house, which happens frequently. After a few distractions, I give up from frustration.

This post isn't meant to be disheartening, because there is a light in all of this. One thing this experience has taught me is that a hobby shouldn't be treated like a second job that you don't get paid for. If your boss asked you to stay an extra four to six hours at work each day and oh, by the way, come in on weekends but not get paid for it, would you do it? Heck no! A hobby shouldn't feel like that either. It should be a pursuit you do because it's what you want to do, not because someone told you to. This is how I'll approach hobbies for the rest of the summer. I pray that by the end of it, I'll find the direction I need.

I think I Jinxed It

You know how I said I was hoping for Spring? Yeah, that doesn't seem to be happening:

I woke up this morning to see a nice white layer outside and it's still coming down. It's rather discouraging given we had some nice weather that seemed to say "Hey! Spring's here! Sorry, I'm late". I guess Spring didn't enjoy being here much.

Well, enough griping. It's time for me to go to work which I'm thankful is indoors. Here's hoping we didn't scare the nice weather away for good.

Spring is Springing (I Hope)

The birds are singing. The snow is melting. I hope this post doesn't jinx it.

After a winter of staying inside, I'm eager to get back out and enjoy activities like walks and disc golf. Sure, it's fun to stay inside crouched over a keyboard to get your wizard that epic staff he's been questing the past four months for, but the palest of magi needs to get some sun sometime.

I'm partnering with my wife in a blogging quest. We would both like to put our thoughts out there so they're not bottled up until they fizzle out. I'm rebranding this into a more casual blog because I think that it will make it more fun to write and to read. I'd really like to find a better background though.

A really rad (yes, I used that retro term on purpose) trip I had this past weekend as going to the Midwest Gaming Classic. It's a convention that's packed with all of the gaming one could dream of. From pinball to pacman to pokemon - if there's a gaming platform you can think of, it was probably there. The event was so epic that it consumed a hallway of rooms of the Sheraton hotel the event was hosted at. My favorite room was the "80s" room which was dark and had some laser lights with 80s rock pumping through it. The best part of the room wasn't the atmosphere though; it was the collection of old computers and consoles that were set up throughout the room. You could walk right up to a Commodore, an IBM or even a NeXT cube and try it out. My favorite was a portable Commodore that was playing a Star Trek game, which looked like this:

Image Source

Playing with so many machines of the past gave me a craving to have one of my own. It's something to add to my man-cave wish list along with the arcade machine I want to build. *sigh*

It was also cool to talk with Hughes of The Retro League and others affiliated with the show in person. It was a reminder that there are others out there who share the same niche as you and would love to celebrate it.

I would definitely go back next year but I wish the Twin Cities had something similar to offer so I didn't have to stare at highway for six hours each way. Anyone want to kick-start the TC Gaming Classic? 

It Is Time

To immortalize the time 12:12 on this day of twelves, I sent myself the following snippet I conjured up:

The clock has struck so are you ready?
This time you will stand steady.
Your promises will no longer be broken.
Your passions will not hide unspoken.
Those who love you will know.
Those who don't are free to go.
Your identity will soar unbound.
Your fears will fly unsound.

The time has come. Awake.


I wrote this to encourage myself to bring out who I really am. That is not only my resolution for the new year, but my resolution for now.

Rise

Commitment. This is a word that instills more intimidation than cheer in the hearts of people who hear it. It represents sacrifice of one's time and ability to someone or something. Kasey and I have made a commitment to each other to start up a new workout routine by signing up for a membership at a local gym for the next 18 months. Though much weariness and pain is likely to come over that time, this commitment will make us stronger. We must rise to the challenge of overcoming complacency to move us toward a stronger life.

Commitment is not just a burden one carries. It is a chance to become stronger. Remember this the next time you rise to take one on.

Reading Ramble

I really ought to read more.

I've always had a desire to become a writer. When I was about eight I would put together picture books by using the scrap printer paper at school.  I'd make short stories about the misadventures of a couple of guys and a very angry cloud that loved to harass them and a retelling of Wallace and Gromit when they go to the moon to get cheese. As I got a little older I started making up outlines of stories I wanted to write. Most of the stuff I came up with was straight fan fiction of the TV shows I watched and in the end, I never felt like it was worth putting to paper.

Now I look at all the people who started around my age and they're putting out scores of books to the celebration of thousands. What if they felt like I had and decided that their work wasn't worth it? What if they decided that nothing they came up with would be original enough to get a following?

It's silly to think the way I let myself do. If I want to write, why don't I just do it? This doesn't just apply to me but to anyone reading this who feels the same about their own ability. That's why I'm writing tonight. But to write first I must read. For finding some reading, I'd recommend to anyone that Half Price Books is the best place to find a new series to start. If you're lucky, you might find the whole series for under 10 bucks, like my wife has on more than one occasion. It's quite an amazing place.

Alright enough rambling. Time to get over this headache.

Dueling Defeatism

Another year spent.

How should I look back on it? Was it a year filled with learned experiences or was it squandered on meaningless activities? Most people seem to think that life gets worse as you get older. I can't help but wonder why. Remember when you were little and you saw what many grown-ups were able to do? You wondered what it would be like to be like them. These people did things like compose masterful pieces of music, build towering structures, and fly spacecrafts to the moon. Yes, grown-ups have many more responsibilities than a 6-year old who is free to run about, but it is often this child who looks up to the adults around her and thinks "I want to be like them. If only I were older so I could be important too.".

What happens when this child grows older and the weight of the real world grows heavier on her shoulders? She becomes tempted to look backward, back to the time when she was free to run about. She worries about all of the things she must do and loses sight of the things she wanted to do with her life. Obligations take the place of dreams for the sake of "security". As she progresses through adulthood, her childhood spirit is all but forgotten and she winds up with a home filled with things to fill the hole in her heart.

I believe this describes many of the people that I've become tired of listening to. These are the people who say "This is the way things are, so there's no point in trying to change them." or "Life sucks and then you die." I simply do not understand how life is supposed to be more palatable with that mindset. Did our world's great political leaders stand up for change because they thought "Well it would be nice, but it makes no difference in the end"? Did great scientists give us new technological advancements simply for our enjoyment, since we might as well not have them in our short lives? Do people band together every day to promote activities and ideas just for the fun of it?

Why does so much change happen in society if there's no point? Why do anything if it ultimately makes no difference? Just take a couple minutes and look through many of the social organizations and movements that happen by you. Look at the diverse expressions of art and culture that fill our world. There's got to be something to life that would fuel so much activity.

Many of our forebears believed in making a brighter future. We are living in it today. What good is it then if we cast it aside and give up? If they were able to make a difference, then why shouldn't we? What definitive reason to do we have to put a halt on progress that they did not?

There is a noticeable outward difference in a dreamer who holds a deep passion for something and a skeptic who removes himself from any idea that could prove disappointing. The dreamer has a degree of zest for life that comes from the potential each day brings to live out the dream. The skeptic scowls at each day, seeming to prepare himself for the coming disappointment so as to not be caught off guard. Which attitude seems more appropriate for a life filled with possibilities?

Life is full of potential. If it sucks, do something to change it. It does not matter how old you are or what happened in your past. Your future self does not have to be who you are now. That is what I've been wanting to do for myself. That is how I will spend the coming year.

The Treasure of Family

 Source

I've hardly said enough that some of the most important people in life are those who have been there even when you weren't looking at them. We live in a society where it's so easy to get caught up in one's own self that we forget about those who are there to support us and who need us to support them. Who was there to share your first experiences with Star Wars and drive over three hours to wait in line after line at a waterpark? Who was there to go get you school supplies when you waited until the last minute to start that science model? Who was still there for you even though you tried to shut yourself away time and time again?

The meaning of family has changed considerably in modern media, but that makes no difference to its importance. Having someone there to help you through life can make life much less of a challenge. It can make the difference in someone who feels like they won't make a difference.

When was the last time you got in touch with your family? Don't forget to let them know how priceless they are.

Coming Back

*Blows the dust off before he begins typing* It's time I "necro" this blog.

In the pursuit most goals that I've had, the ending has always been the same. After a week or so of being excited about it, I lose hope at the first road block and it doesn't take much afterwards to convince me that slumping back into the lazy routine is the more satisfying route. This blog is an example of that. Quitting goals so often presents some irony: I forget that the reason I started pursuing the goal in the first place was to get out of the pointless routine - to give some purpose to my being.

It takes days like this for me to regain a grasp on what it means to have so much potential available in life. Walking through the downtown strip with its coffee shops and fine performing arts center while classical local radio was playing in my ear sparked a sense of marvel at my situation. All too often I forget that I live in an area brimming with opportunities for anyone wanting to take part in society. The culture of this area is rich and one can find a group for just about any niche. I work with plenty of geeks who are into things from Doctor Who to Magic: The Gathering. One local I know is a budding filmmaker who has a new project in the works and another is a member of a band that is growing in popularity.

This makes me eager to contribute. I know that each day I spend sitting around is a day that I could have added something to this community. This is a time to not only pursue, but reach goals. It's likely that there will be others to share in them.

Out with the Old

Image Source

Yes, it's been a while. I really need to make these posts a regular thing.

After a lot of mental wandering and pacing, I've decided to do away with most of my computer games. Why? I asked myself a simple question: "How much have I used these in the past year? In the past two years? How about the past four?" The answers I came up with were pretty underwhelming. The truth is that after spending so many hours on the computer typing up solutions to college and work problems, I didn't have much of a desire to spend my entertainment in the same form that I spend my work. It's taken years to come to this decision, but I think it's one that was worth making.

It's always exhilarating to admit to yourself that you're ready to move on from something. You feel yourself grow as an individual as you cast away whatever no longer works for you. I encourage anyone reading this to sift through their own lives and see if they can identify anything that has gathered dust over the years and could probably be done without. Challenge yourself to move on. You'll be better for it.

The Value of a Valentine

Source: http://www.keywordpictures.com/keyword/loveheart/

Since for me this is the first Valentine's Day of being a married man, this time of year calls for some reflection on the bond I have with my wife. It seems like just a month or two ago that she and I declared vows to each other that would last for a lifetime. To step forward to formally affirm such a bond with another person is no small feat considering we live in an age that is rife with divorce and where non-committed live-in relationships are becoming increasingly popular.

In all honesty, I think it's difficult to deny that one of the greatest parts of life is having a partner there for you. I look back to the time before my wife came along to shake me out of the daze I was in and shudder to think where I would be today if she had not been there to give me the confidence I never would have found otherwise. Sure, I might have a ways to go when it comes to holding my own around others, but she took me by the hand and led me through the first steps to becoming a better person. She remains confident that I can be who I want to and I'm excited to discover a little more of that each day.

I urge anyone who is struggling to find direction to find it in a significant other. He or she will be there to life you up when you are going through tough times, will understand who you are better than anyone else, will be there to share your experiences, and won't judge you for being yourself! That is the true value of having a valentine.

Just Do It

Such a simple phrase, but a powerful one nonetheless. "Just Do It" is a phrase that begs an individual to put aside all doubts and simply go for a goal. It's no wonder why Nike chose this tagline to brand its shoes. Many jocks and fans alike feel a sense of empowerment when they put on a pair, because Nike will help give them the boost they need to win the game.

Games are usually thought of as activities that involve competition like a sport such as basketball or a game of logic like chess. In reality, anything that sets up a goal to meet can be thought of as a game. Maybe you want to learn a new skill or move to a higher-ranking position at your job? Those are examples of goals that we set up for ourselves and the playing field is made up of our means to get there.

One of the critical parts of winning any game is to formulate a strategy. Just like the players on a team follow the plans laid out by the coach, people will spend hours or months reading and researching different ways to meet their goals. However, just like Nike's slogan, there's no point in putting so much effort into planning if you don't just do it.

This I think is the best way to pursue any goal. It's all too easy to build yourself up, only to let yourself slide back into the lazy pile of excuses a week or two later. The key is to just force yourself to take steps, however small, towards your goal each week and track your progress. You will be surprised at how far you come in a short amount of time. I've surprised myself from just practicing piano - a skill I thought I'd be a little too old to learn - two or three times each week for a couple months.

Make your goal into a game. Keep track of your progress and give yourself a reward for each landmark that you hit. Don't let yourself get discouraged if you start to slack because the journey to your goal isn't necessarily about being good at whatever you're learning, but about growing as an individual.

Scatterbrain

In my life, I'm continually reminded of a problem that is simple to diagnose, but extremely difficult to overcome. It's something I call "Scatterbrain". It involves approaching many elements to the current task at hand and feeling unable to tend to them in an orderly way. A simpler way of putting it is being "flustered".

Just doing some quick browsing online has allowed me to come up with a few tips for the situation:

1. Approach the day with a task list. Having a list of what you need/want to accomplish in a day keeps you on track.
2. Track your progress. Knowing that you are coming closer to achieving your goals is a powerful way to keep you motivated. No one wants to push in one direction only to find out they haven't gone anywhere.
3. Apply time-boxing to your projects. If you are juggling multiple tasks, try working on one for a limited period, then start on the next. This keeps your mind fresh and helps you avoid beating your head over a single problem.
4. Set up an appropriate background. Your choice of music can make a difference on your level of focus. Personally, I find that the less lyrics there are, the less distracted I am (especially when reading). Also, I find that the some of the best music to keep me focused lies between mellow and upbeat: Not so loud and energetic that I feel like I'm in a rave but also not so slow that I want to fall asleep.
5. Bring a bottle. There is something to be said about staying hydrated. Having a bottle of water next to you will prevent you from making frequent trips to the water cooler.
6. Walk away. This may seem contradictory, but sometimes the best way to keep your mind on track is to let it have a break. Take a couple minutes every hour or two to get up and stretch. You will be a little more refreshed when you come back and will be better able to continue in your work.
7. Keep clean. Just like it's important to have a list of goals in mind, it's also important to keep your physical and digital workspaces orderly. This includes putting away things you don't currently need and closing programs you're not using anymore. Having to spend an extra 5 minutes searching around for what you need won't help you avoid breaking your focus.
8. Rethink your perspective. Yes, you're doing work. Yes, it's not like being at a water park. Even though you may not always take pride in what you do, you have control over how you think about it. As laborsome as it can be, work gives us purpose. It gives us a way to impact our world and be rewarded. Think of what things would be like if you just sat around all day. Sure, it would be nice at first, but you would grow bored. Without goals to drive toward, life quickly becomes pointless, so be thankful for the goals you have and don't groan in pursuing them. Take them as opportunities to learn and grow as an individual.

I hope this helps your productivity as I hope it will help mine. :)

Like a Phoenix

One of the most interesting parts of life is that it constantly presents forks in the road. Most of the time, we don't think much of them. Other times, we take them with the utmost seriousness, especially when they seem to determine the rest of our lives. A funny thing about the roads we travel in life is that even though we become comfortable with one path, we can always take the next fork to another. This, I think, is something that is grossly overlooked.

For example, I've spent most of my life wanting to engage in some creative art form, but most of the time when I came to an opportunity to travel down a path that involved one such activity, I wouldn't have the motivation to actually do it. I was too used to the "straight and narrow" - the path that felt most secure to me. What if I encountered obstacles on the artistic road, or worse, came to a dead end? Fear kept me from branching out and instead left me sticking to the books.

Well, the books have given me a lot of knowledge, but I am left lacking skill and true passion. With the recent death of a true visionary icon, I think about the kinds of effects that deviating from the normal and the routine have. Here was a true mover and shaker and all because he wasn't afraid to pursue change. I know that anyone has the potential to do great things and enrich the world, so why can't I?

So here I am, making a vow to let my past life of fear and regrets pass away and let a new life of passion and pursuits be born. If you are finding yourself in an unfulfilling position in life, I encourage you to do the same. This life only comes to you once, so do yourself a favor and let it flourish like a newborn phoenix.