Layne's Lunch

Book Review: Master Getting Things Done the David Allen Way with Evernote: Your 7-Day GTD  Immediate Action Plan [August 2013 Edition] by Dominic Wolff This book is a good overview of using GTD on Evernote. If you haven't read GTD first, then the content may seem a bit thin. I suggest you read GTD first.  The second half of the book is about Evernote. I thought the book was too short to be of any real use if you have already been in Evernote for very long. I borrowed the book on Amazon Kindle, so it didn't cost me anything. I wouldn't buy it. I don't think the content justifies the price. http://amzn.com/B00CXTDQES

I recently listened to a podcast called " Beyond the To Do List " by @ErikJFisher  This episode had Dave Delaney  of New-networking.com . One of the points that Dave made was that you need to be networking long before you you need something from your network. His point was that networking is about service and giving, not about finding people who can help you find a job. Add value to your network first and do it long before you may need help. His words really resonated with me.  During my last period of unemployment I went to several networking meetings.  It was disappointing to see so many people there who were focused solely on what they could get out of others and didn't show up with an attitude of how can I help someone.  When you are unemployed, it is easy to become selfish, but when you serve and help others, then others will serve and help you.

I had an interesting time making the cover for the book that my brother and I wrote.  It went out on Amazon Kindle last week.  http://amzn.com/B00H8XGR5Y After I looked at several stock photos and how much they cost, I decided to try and do the picture myself.  I had never taken a picture of a candle in low light, so It presented an interesting challenge.  After arranging the books on the table, lighting the candle and turning off the lights, I started shooting.  After a few dozen shots without much success, we started trying different light sources.  Nothing seemed to work until my 14 year old son came walking through the dark room with is iPod flashlight on.   That's when the idea hit me to use his small light to try an put a bit more light on the page of the book that is opened.  Direct light from the iPod was too bright and cold, so we got a paper plate and he stood above the book with the light reflecting off the plate and on to the pages. ...

There is a plethora of information on what the interviewee should do in a job interview, but I don't see much written about how to conduct a job interview.  Here are some things I have learned by sitting on both sides of the interview table over the last five years. Let's start with the things not to do: Don't - Take a phone call in the interview room (yes, this happened). - Fall asleep.  Yes, this happened too.  It was a panel interview and one member of the panel nodded off. - Give Bad responses to interviewee questions.  Example: What do you like about working here?  Bad answer = Fridays - Work on something else during the interview - Fiddle with your phone - Have the pile with all the resumes in front of you.  Dumb.  One time the interviewer had the wrong resume in front of him when we started the interview.  Wow!  He was asking me questions off of someone else's resume.  Be prepared before the interview starts. - Slouch, ...