Define productivity? Spending time with my family on a much-needed vacation, finishing two novels, reading a number of articles–juggling all these with keeping up with my work. But you don’t exactly need to know that. Time to reflect on the articles once again.

Desktop Dining Rules: No Boiled Eggs or Tinned Fish

As someone who used to have lunches and breaks alone, yes, it’s a treat to have ten minutes on my own when I can catch up on my reading or do other stuff by myself. I remember how annoying it was to have “visitors” drop by to say hello at my cubicle.

How to Escape the Hyperactive Hivemind of Modern Work

Focus at work has always been a part of the recruitment package. How to address the bulk of work in the pipeline remains on the shoulder of Project Managers. Long term solutions for this will be difficult to come by and what remains is mainly a negotiation between clients and company on a reasonably projected timeline. Then again, meetings eat up a whole lot of time and consumes the remaining time for actual work. This truly is a vicious cycle that needs to stop. 

Media Multitaskers Pay Mental Price, Stanford Study Shows

This literally an OLD news- a decade to be exact. Perhaps the best time to measure Tech-multitasking’s advantages and disadvantages is right now when technology is at its peak, when most tech-users have had a good amount of experience in technology and cross reference it to the findings in this old research. It’s easy to say that multi-tasking was difficult for knowledge-based workers and could and would not yield good results vis-a-vis focusing on one task at a time. Learning preferences must also be taken into consideration.

Why search is no longer all about Google

My brother suggested another search engine called Ecosia which converts the amount of search to trees the company commits to plant. Apart from the short plugging stint, I agree that now that applications that function as resource pools can be easily downloaded, searching in Google does not seem to be as enticing as before. Why bother when I can simply look for cocktail mixes in Mixology which has been specifically designed for that? Searches simply have become more complicated. 

Could wooden buildings be a solution to climate change?

For the longest time, I thought the only solution to global warming is planting more trees and letting Nature take its course and reclaim what’s theirs. Lo and behold, there is such a thing as tree maturity and by a certain period of time, trees won’t aid in CO2 reduction any longer. What this article proposes is using timber for construction–again. Yes. Although certain advantages peppered the argument, I couldn’t help but wonder: given how fast construction was, would there be enough time for people to replant? How strict the policies must be?

Daddy-Long-Legs has reminded me about my love for writing and the thrill in winning competitions or getting a story published. Good Omens, on the other hand, has reminded me that writing is a skill that needs to be polished. I am in an arena with a very blunt sword is what I am trying to say.