One of the things I always wonder about is what parents who work out of the house do when their kid suddenly gets sick and they have to deal with it. Today (Thursday) my 9-year-old is upstairs not feeling well in the bathroom, but that doesn’t mean I have to take time off work. My wife also doesn’t have to change anything and can still do the things she normally does on a Thursday.

If you’re expected in at the office, how do you handle it?

This, among many other reasons, is why I’m not interested in a job where I’d have to head into an office. I’d rather make less and have the chance to be an involved father.

If we made all our decisions based on the actual odds of success, we’d rarely attempt anything risky or achieve anything significant – Late Bloomers Page 212

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I Shipped

On Monday this week I shared the three different types of bags I carry and why I carry them. The truth is that 99% of the time I’m only carrying my small bag with an iPad and a keyboard tossed in. No battery needed because the iPad has stellar battery life. Outside of the different operating system, that’s probably one of the best changes in my daily work because I use an iPad.

Friday Five

1 Tired of Finding Lego on the Stairs

Shawn Blanc about finding Lego at the top of the stairs after the kids are in bed:

One day, my boys will be grown and they will move out to live on their own. And my wife and I will finally live in a clean and quiet house. And we will miss the days, like this one, when toys were left on our steps and our boys were at home in the evenings to play and to laugh and fight about whose turn it is to brush their teeth first.

I get the frustration, and like the reminder that I’ll miss the days when my kids were little. I need to enjoy the things they do at 9, 5, 3 currently because one day fairly soon they won’t be doing kid things anymore.

2 Maybe Not Work-Life Balance

Tracy Bower for Fast Company on not looking for work-life balance

When you separate work and life, it’s a little bit harder to make that connection. But when you think of work as part of a full life and a holistic experience, it becomes easier to see that success in one aspect often supports another.

While I agree with the premise I feel like for many people it also totally misses the mark. In many ways this assumes that you like what you do, and don’t have to work every hour of the day to make ends meet because those are the only jobs you’ve been able to get.

What I do like is the acknowledgement that life and work intertwine. I take my daughter on a date in the middle of the day on a random weekday, and yes I work a bit during figure skating. I’m not overworking, I’m simply doing some work that fits inside the time available.

I think for many people though it’s all day work, then jamming in little parts of work in random spots instead of being present for their kids events. That’s not cool.

Thanks Ashley for bringing this to my attention.

3 10 Cool Tips for Using Your iPad More Bettah

I don’t share many of the YouTube videos I watch, and I don’t even use the default Apple Mail on iOS but that cool tip is what got me to share this video from Chris Lawley. Short video and if you’re on iPad I bet you’ll find at least one you didn’t know about and will use.

4 Joe Released Working With OmniFocus

My friend Joe has released his updated working with OmniFocus course. While I don’t use OmniFocus I’ll be going through it because there are always methods that you can use in your system, be it digital or analogue.

A small tweak that improves the effectiveness of the work you get done can yield huge returns.

5 Be Fast So the Cost of Production Is Small

James Somers on working quickly.

The obvious benefit to working quickly is that you’ll finish more stuff per unit time. But there’s more to it than that. If you work quickly, the cost of doing something new will seem lower in your mind. So you’ll be inclined to do more.

He also posits that it’s also true that if you respond to emails quickly people will email you quickly. So slow down your emailing, but get your blog posts and other creative endeavours out quickly so that the “cost” of producing is light.

Ht: The Newsprint