Outside the Box Archives - Page 24 of 31

Ideas When I Get My Hair Cut

June 4, 2006 by Liz

Ideas Everywhere

Yesterday, I got a haircut. While I was waiting I looked through a magazine and took notes. I took notes on articles and on advertisements. When I was through one magazine, I had complete ideas for four blog posts — not counting this one — and 27 phrases that I thought might spark ideas later.

Not bad for just sitting around waiting my turn.

I hate actually reading those magazines in places where I get my hair cut, and there’s never time to get into a good book.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Friday Productivity Tip — Get Some Silence

June 2, 2006 by Liz

Quiet the Chatter

Today when you’re trying to get that last minute work done, and someone comes in to “shoot the breeze,” “talk your leg off,” “chatter like chimp,” or be a “bird in a box.” You might try this.

Look up from what you are working.
Slowly glance left and right, as if to be sure no one is watching you.
Quietly invite your visitor to come close to view your computer screen.
Then click this link and say, “Isn’t this the coolest thing you’ve ever seen?”

Then just stay silent and stare at the screen. As a bigger treat, you might offer your headphones so that your guest might listen even more silently.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Friday Productivity: The Monkey Rule
Perfect for Friday Productivity Checklist

Finding Fodder for Future Ideas

June 1, 2006 by Liz

Finding Fodder

Yesterday, Joe of Working at Home on the Internet reminded me of my days going to press runs, when he was talking about his experience as a printer.

Immediately my mind flashed to this story.

I was in the car with my friend KB on the way to a press run. We’d worked 12 weeks straight living in the Marriott New York East Side. Now we’d flown into Chicago and were driving into one of the suburbs. She was driving. I was looking out the window. I was taking in all of the signs of the restaurants and stores as we passed by them.

Then, suddenly out of the blue I heard, “Will you . . . .SHUT UP!”

It seems I had been reading every sign out loud.

“I don’t really need you to read me every sign we pass,” she said. “What was that?”

“Sorry,” I said. “Fodder.”

[Read more…]

By Popular Demand The Mike Is On

May 30, 2006 by Liz

It’s Like Open Mike Only Different

Here’s how it works.

The rules are simple — be nice.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. . . . Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

See this post if you want some ideas of things to talk about.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

SWARM — Can You Explain it in 100 Wds?

May 27, 2006 by Liz

While You Wait for the Party

I was strolling around the Internet and found this most unusual site. It’s called Swarm. The homepage says its a graphical map of how hundreds of websites around the world connect to each other in real time. It is that.

You can chat about a site in forums or you can watch traffic move via red lines.

To answer the question Why use this? the page says Swarm is a useful tool for browsing not searching, to come with an open mind. To get to the homepage click on this screenshot. To actually try it, then click the button that says “Go use Swarm.”

It’s really cool to look at. . . . I’ve been doing that for two days now. Swarm is so beautiful and fun. I’d like to recommend it for a business reason, but I still haven’t come up with a practical use for it. It sure is a fun toy, though. I can’t even tell you what it is in 100 words or less.

Can you tell me?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Find My . . . um . . . Passion — What?!!

May 25, 2006 by Liz

What’s Your Passion?

What’s your passion? These days that seems a too-popular question. If you ask what to write, the answer is Write your passion.

Maybe I’m aN uptight, out-dated, and downright uncreative about that word, but I don’t think of passion in that broader context. My passion involves, um . . . er . . . other activities. When I went looking to write my passion, I found that it didn’t want to be written about. [Read more…]