2K11 24/7

Doomz tackles a major challenge. A year at a time with daily updates!
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXLIX: FOMO

If you were to ask Sarah, she could confirm for you that despite the boundless mass that is my ego, there ARE things that I absolutely SUCK at.

And one of those things is SLEEPING.

I’ll admit it — I’m a bit of a workaholic. I’m up at all hours of night scribbling things down. Tweaking this. Thinking about that. Reading things I always meant to read. Working on reducing a pile that always seems to stay the same size. Yeah, I’m always doing something — definitely a bit of a workaholic in me.

But , as can be done with many of the problems and issues we face day in and day out, this can be traced to a human folly that I share with many others — a fear of missing out.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   insights   lessons   tips  
Views // Posted September 6, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXLVIII: Reaction Distraction!

The only ones in control of ourselves IS ourselves. The actions we take, the reactions we make — they're all linked to how we wish to be connected to the world and the value we wish to impart unto everything around us.

Sometimes we react far too quickly. We all have buttons that people (sometimes unintentionally) push time and time again, whether we know what they are or not. But it's how we choose to react that makes all the difference. Some of us are hot-tempered. Some of us have the patience of ancient masters of Zen and chi. But it can make the difference between an argument and a conversation.

Have you ever said something stupid and wish that you could take it back? Sometimes we open our mouths and get ourselves into unnecessary trouble. I don't have enough fingers to count the number of times I wish I could go back in time by 30 seconds and tell myself to shut up, because I won't want the consequences of the weight my words hold.

But there's some of us who're worse repeat offenders than others. We all know them — people who never seem to find the right thing to say, forever making any social interaction, whether individually or in a group, horribly awkward, and not giving the incentive to want to have them happen again anytime soon.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   tips  
Views // Posted September 5, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXLVII: Resume Surgery

In a bad economy, knowing how to write a good resume is a valuable skill. The balance between including all of your skills and keeping the resume concise enough for employers to care is hard to attain, but ever-important in order to make that step from candidate to colleague.

One of the things I find myself doing more and more often on the side is helping people sharpen their resumes enough to get them noticed. I pretty much do for them what I’d do for myself — I put their resumes at the standard I’d expect for mine; this means I watch for spelling, grammar, flow, formatting and consistency. Every little detail matters.

But there are a good deal of things in resumes that I see too often and are simple enough to solve in order to make your resume look more modern:

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   jobs   list   resumes   tips  
Views // Posted September 4, 2011
// 2 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXLV: Trust Your Instincts

I can't lie to you, guys — there's something deep within me, gnawing away, telling me not to write a blog post tonight. Telling me that there's things out there in the night that I could be doing instead and to just let it slide this once and go out there and have some fun. I have an event that I'm supposed to be heading out to right now, but here I am, working on getting this post done to make sure I hit my commitment I made this year. But it's hard — real hard. My id's pointing in one direction and my conscience in another. What do you do when different parts of your being are pointing in such very different directions?

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   tips  
Views // Posted September 2, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXLII: How to Network Sans Jerk

Last night I found myself visiting #devTO — an event described as follows:

You love it, hate it, debug it, dream about it, obsess over it, test it, throw it away… because you don’t just write code.

#devTO, a place for all developers, regardless of age, experience or sex to gather and collaborate on the problems we face as developers. These problems are as broad as our job descriptions, can’t figure out how to get that interface to look good in Chrome and Safari? Not sure how to deploy code to multiple servers with no downtime? What is the best way integrate social media into your projects? I’m sure at some point you’ve all run into something like one of the problems above, so why not share it and benefit from the experience of others.

Though I'm not really a developer, I was going to check it out due to my sheer interest in the world of development. But before I knew it, a text message from my buddy Kevin soon found me taking photographs for the event (which in turn prompted my urges to get my new camera once more, but we'll save that for another post). Of course, I can't really prove I was there through the photos (think about it), but you can catch a glimpse of what went down here:

But one thing I definitely saw a lot of going on before and after the speakers took the floor at the event was networking. A number of developers, and people seeking the assistance of developers, getting out there and talking about what they do, what they'd LIKE to do, and making the connections necessary to enable those ideas.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   devto   events   lessons   list   tips  
Views // Posted August 30, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CCXXXVII: Tempus Fugit (Time Flees)

Time doesn't like you very much. Time doesn't even need a good reason to hate you — it could be the way you look. Maybe you broke their toy back in the day. But whatever the reason, TIME. DOES. NOT. LIKE YOU.

Time is never ever EVER on our side. Ever since our cave-dwelling ancestors walked the Earth, we've still been trying to find ways to get our hunting, travelling and exploring done before nightfall. Even when fire was brought into the equation, we knew that the source of the flame would only last so long before the darkness took control once more.

“So,” you say, “We get it. Time is the enemy.” I'm happy for you. But tell me — how do you defeat an enemy  you can't touch? Can't see? Can't STOP?

While time will always control you and your life, what you CAN do is make the arrangement a little less PAINFUL.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   lessons   time management   tips  
Views // Posted August 25, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CXCV: Lost

Losing stuff is always annoying. Especially when it's not your fault. We've been shifting the blame and points fingers at other people since time immemorial, but sometimes it's just plain bad luck. How about that time when:

  • you put something down somewhere and someone put it somewhere else — or worse, threw it out, not knowing its value?
  • you lent something to a friend and it's been so long since it happened that you don't remember who you'd lent it to
  • you're moving a bunch of stuff from one place to another, and in all the hubbub something gets misplaced (or misplaced FOR YOU)

It's a perilous world out there for us and our possessions. It takes so much toil and trouble to get the money to get them in the first place, and sometimes they're gone before you even have the chance to enjoy them!

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   apps   software   tips  
Views // Posted July 14, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CXCIV: Shoppin' Ain't Easy

When we're young, our parents often lie to us. They mean well, but the wrong lies can often limit our preparation for the big, bad world out there.

Examples:

  • "You can be anything you want to be if you just put your mind to it" — TRANSLATION: If you're 5', SURE you COULD be an amazing basketball player, but it will take a LOT more of your mind to hone the extra skills needed to surpass your 6'6" opponents than it would for them
  • Or how about "It doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game" — TRANSLATION: In our highly competitive world, there are certain rules to need to play by. And you'll be loved by your parents regardless of how you perform in the world — but probably moreso if you're successful and not under your parents' roof forever and a day consuming all of their resources

But there's one that's driven many of our actions for quite some time and won't stop anytime soon:

"You can have it all."

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   shopping   tips  
Views // Posted July 13, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CLXXXVII: It's Not All About You

Despite trying to juggle so many metaphorical balls in our lives; a social culture that caters to those who invest the time, money and effort necessary to make themselves the very best human being they can be; and 2Pac's wonderful (and COMPLETELY inappropriate) song "All About U" which has NOTHING to do with this post — you need to realize that it's NOT ALL ABOUT YOU.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   helping others   tips  
Views // Posted July 6, 2011
// 0 Comments
 

The 2K11 24/7 CXLVII: How to Live Your Damn Life

Since I'm getting married tomorrow, I figured I should write something epic that truly captures where my mind's at right now, since it may never be the same again. So here's a premise to start with:

LIVE YOUR LIFE.

Read the rest of this post »

Filed under  //   2k11 247   list   manifesto   tips  
Views // Posted May 27, 2011
// 4 Comments