Remote Working - Test At Home First

All,

It appears I'm off on my travels again. This time it is back to Japan for 3 months.

Just read and excellent 'try before you buy' about remote working, from the WebWorkerDaily Website.

http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/07/21/hone-your-global-nomad-skills-by-practising-locally/

I can't agree more. Remote working kinks can be ironed out before you hit those foreign shores. In addition your bag will be lighter...no foreign adaptor plugs and hopefully where you live, they speak your language too. Although sometimes around here that doesn't always seem the case.

Happy Travels

A

Technorati : Automation, Remote Working, Starting a Business., Travel

New Helpdesk System

All,

In a previous post I asked for your most important question with regards to Photoreading, Hypnosis, NLP, the 4 Hour Work Week etc. Thanks to all those who did and still do. Alas recently the form begun to not function properly.

I've now replaced the form and have allowed people to submit questions via my helpdesk system

http://www.3ldevelopment.com/support/

Graphics etc. haven't been uploaded yet. I thought it was more important that the form was stopped and replaced.

Please feel free to continue to send me your questions and thoughts.

Happy Travels

A

Technorati : Starting a Business.

4HWW - Batching, Faxing and Asking For Advice

In learning the 4HWW process I'm applying as many of the principles that I can apart from outsourcing at the moment to my current work situation.

I've already batched my personal email. I am attempting to cut down on my frivolous web surfing. I've begun to take note of what I do, daily, weekly and monthly. To note I use pen/paper/notepad. I also have running a utility called TimeSnapper. I'm running this to see how much time I spend in applications etc. I'm wanting to batch more.

For as long as I can remember I've said, PCs are there to help. Automate, automate, automate. I'm not a programmer! Nevertheless I'm attempting to automate as much as possible. Yes, I know I could outsource it all. Yet, I'm working on the principle of learning what each task I do entails and how. If anybody knows of a good way i.e. diagraming quickly all the steps to complete a task, please let me know.

We have a help desk call logging system here at work. I'm sure it could be be automated or streamlined even more. I just can't picture the whole process and how to note it all down. After all, I want to go to my boss... I propose I suggest. I've asked my developers to add things to aid my reporting. What would take me maybe a few hours when I did it the first time, now take me 15 minutes if that. In addition, I've documented it so somebody else could do it. I think this is crucial. What if I'm not here etc? It is all so good preparation for a good on-line FAQ.

I'm creating templates for email subjects/topics that I seem to often send out. I'm looking through old calls to see if there are some common commonalities to them. For example do people ask for the same advice. Can many problems be resolved in a 1,2,3 step process. Can I produce an internal FAQ?

Asking For Help

Some of my clients are very successful 1-2 man bands who travel all over the world. In fact they seem to spend more time flying in the air than time on the ground. They haven't outsourced much if at all. When I've been on the phone to them. I've been asking who do they use for X, Y, Z. Any company recommendations etc. They are doing what I want to do i.e. travel and work...although less of the work.. So it makes sense to ask them. One such was for a fax to email provider. Obviously you don't want fax orders, unless you get somebody else to monitor and act upon them. Yet some communication may come about due to and with a fax. Banks etc. Therefore it helps to have a fax to email provider. Maybe a mail fulfilment house will also offer such a service?

My current company doesn't want to take up such a solution Instead I implemented blat to monitor our fax folder, which I was monitoring maybe 1-3 times a day. Now blat monitors the folder and emails an email account which I just monitor once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Now if we could all just agree on a fax template and I could then remove the junk faxes too.

Semi Outsource - Niche Finding.

I thought about outsourcing finding details of magazines in areas of my interests to narrow down my niche area. There is a website. Writers Market . Yet I understand this to be US centric. I thought about my first task for outsourcing to be create an account and get marketing rates and back issues sent to me. I think I'll still do this. I'll be having a fulfilment house there as well as in Europe. I was talking to somebody and mentioning this, I need something for the UK. They said there 'press department' has such a database. Let me know what you want and I'll get them to send on the details. So I produced my 1st Outsourcing email...happy days and for free. There is a 3 week waiting list for outsourcing on many that Tim recommended in his book. Although I'm liking YouManInIndia since they do more than business outscourcing. I'm thinking birthday flowers to Japan?

Happy Travels

A

Technorati : 4 Hour Work Week

4HWW - Money

Oh how I am beginning to love this subject. I am really getting into thinking about money, what it is and what it actually means to me. How to generate more. I seem to be hearing and picking up people's beliefs about money really easily at the moment. As I've said before if you just take what they say as fact, whether it is or is not. Isn't that how things turn out for people?

I've recently had another shift in my beliefs about the green,blue and red stuff thanks to Stuart Wilde's book. I was out and about over the weekend and I heard the following:

My quick research to begin your "shifting" about money is in red

There isn't enough

As a rough estimate the US has $7 trillion, the World bank more than $40 trillion - how much would you like?

Some people are smarter than others

Yes, maybe according to school standards and grades. Many of the super wealthy didn't finish school or university. Once you start working. You soon realise for many a job...your grades are useless. The sooner school teachers realise this the better.

There is scarcity

Same answer as the 1st point. If you think that, what are you focusing on???

There is not enough to go around.

Yes, much of the wealth is within less than 1% of a given population...yet how much money do you really want? Money after all is just energy, that is around you all the time. You use your credit card to book something on line. You don't see the money yet, it still get deducted from your account. Therefore if you think there is more than enough to go around, you can attract more into your account too.

Working for yourself to me means financial anxiety.

Ouch...if you think that, why go into business for yourself? There are many a self made millionaire. Tim Ferriss isn't doing too badly I bet.

For me I was just really pleased that I baulked at these and went phew..I think of something else, that is totally different. Yet I use to think of those and more. I know every now and then I have a doubt. Like when I'm looking at hotel prices in Tokyo. Yet, thankfully I seem to be able to pull myself up and out of that and into something that is far more financially positive. It did leave me wondering, don't people realise what they are saying. I know sometimes in my own experience that I don't . Then I do get an aha moment and I realise what I am saying. Although I don't always know how to change it..working on that.After all, if a phobia can be caused in a one time, split second event, why can't positive beliefs be got, held on to and lived? It's not important enough?

Happy Travels

A

Technorati : 4 Hour Work Week

PhotoReading - Day 19- The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

Day : Day 19

Title : The Secret - Rhonda Byrne

So I've seen the film, heard the audio , blogged about it. Now it was time to read the book. Very quick, very easy. I know this book. I practise the secret some of the time. This and Tim Ferriss's book have reinvigorated my goal setting and manifesting the goals in my life . I've photoread this book several times now as I want to have this information at a very deep level within myself.

I've set up my vision board.

Happy Travels

A

The Secret - Aha - Do It, Done It, Stopped

All,

Wow, what a weekend. I didn't PhotoRead.I've had much going on in my head and I've been attending my course.

This weekend we learnt about TIR . A deceptively simple set of techniques for reducing and resolving trauma. Whilst the set of techniques didn't do much for me on the day. I did discover things about myself. To cut along story short. I felt guilty about certain events that had happened to me when I was very young. I was able to release the guilt about the event and the larger issue.

That night I watched The Secret

For me this was an aha moment. I've had many negative thoughts going through my mind the last few days. Yet I thought they were positive. I was asking for what I wanted. Yet, I was actually asking for what I didn't want. The irony for me has been. My last two large manifestations (travelling around the world for a year and got a car that I've wanted for the last 5 years).I've done the Secret Process without knowing it.

Recently I've been thinking about where to live, yet wondering why I'm not living there already. Firstly thinking about the Secret Process as I understand it. I've not been focusing on the idea completely. I found that hanging a picture or as one of the expert says a vision board has really helped me in the past.

For my travels, I hung a map on the wall and discussed my travels, where I was going, what I was doing. I was able to see it every day. I imagined myself on beaches, swimming with whale sharks etc.

For my car, I had the brochure, had the car as my desktop wallpaper.

Each and every day I've seen my goals. With both I've spent time imaging what it would be like to have them.

On each goal. I 'made up' my mind it was going to happen. Still not sure what the 'turn in the key' or my mind was that made the thoughts solidify. I think it maybe the constant visioning, discussing, planning and doing something to that goal. Although I don't always know what I consciously did as an action.

The creative process has worked it for me, why have I stopped or only use it for certain goals not everything that I want?

Thankfully, I've a really good friend on the course and we talked about it all over lunch. I've got him to get in contact with me by Friday.

Since I need to create a vision board or something visual that I can see EVERY DAY. This I think for me has been a really important step to achieve my other goals. They say only 2-4% of people write goals. I think I write enough for that 2%. Why do some work out and some don't? I'm watching the next 30 days/months as I fully apply the secret process. What is truly possible for us all?

For the last few days, I've been on a totally energetic level. Yes, I've had negative thoughts. I managed to catch myself. Then change the thought to something more positive. I've done this by thinking about what I really want. The people I'll be with. Sometimes, I've played music, that is just hi tempo and makes me smile. The willingness to sing or dance around ie change your physical state has an amazing affect on your thoughts.

Happy Travels

A

PhotoReading - Day 16- Natural Brilliance by Paul Scheele

Day : Day 16

Time : 2118

Location : Kitchen

Trigger Words : I seemed to be reading quite slowly tonight, the table of contents was quite long and rather detailed. I didn't look for specifically or see trigger words. More I noticed the bold print at the side of the pages and the occasional bold sub heading.
Title : Natural Brilliance - Paul Scheele

Purpose : This was really funny. I have been awaiting the arrival of half a dozen books from various on line books sellers the last week. So far none have arrived...grumble. I went upstairs to my selection of books that I already have and I thought, OK, pick a book that I've already read and see if I notice something different. On my shelves nothing appealed. I didn't even fancy browsing anything. Then I thought come on, I need to read and blog. A great motivator!!

Prepare and Preview: Then it popped into my head. I've the above book. Let's see what happens. At the moment I'm frustrated with my success of PhotoReading. Yet the irony is with non fiction, I don't want to read in a normal manner any more. I want an aha moment. I previewed the book, perhaps a little long as mentioned under the trigger word section. Yet I just went with it. The byline of the book caught my attention, move from Feeling Stuck to Achieving Success. I thought that is rather ironic. What am I, stuck.

Thoughts on Process : As if it wasn't bad enough. I could not find any large paper to mind map the contents or what I wanted from the book....stuck, stuck, stuck..However, everything happens for a positive reason. I just went ahead anyway. I am at that frustrated stage of learning that occurs in any skill acquisition. I PhotoRead the book and instead of waiting overnight or 20 minutes to activate. I just ploughed straight ahead.

Time Spent activating and how : I SuperRead and dipped. Only for about 20 minutes. Things that really stood out for me where: Paul has drawn several diagrams on moving and having no more stuck states. The diagrams are of 4 squares connected to form a larger cube. This immediately screamed at me Cartesian Coordinates. These are used in mathematics, quantum physics and a certain NLP language pattern to prove or disprove something is or is not true. I just need to focus on the prize...what is my end or ultimate goal with PhotoReading? Then I went to the chapters about PhotoReading and Natural Brilliance, since I want to experience this later on, if not sooner. I've many, many cook and wine books that I want to PhotoRead and then the ultimate goal, would be to be a more confident cook. I could open a cupboard and look at my shelves and go yes, tonight I'll have X. I'm wanting to Synoptic Read too.

It was the section in the book about. Find Evidence of Success that struck me. I'm asking myself is it working all the time at the moment. In fact I seem to be questioning much at the moment...not just about PhotoReading. Stop. Trust again my unconscious mind. Fear is the biggest stop sign of all. What is my fear from PhotoReading? That I'll actually enjoy reading? That I'll succeed? That I'll fail? That I'll have no more excuses for not reading? I'll need more money to buy more books. Much of what interests me just isn't available in my local library. Just focus on the prize!!

What is the one thing from the book that I can use right now in my life? Trust, Frustration is a signal..a question do yo really want this? I feel as though it has been brought to my attention not to worry so much...A little like life at the moment. I am questioning much. All will work itself out. Focus on what you want and it shall come your way.

Let us hope the other books turn up tomorrow. I'll be getting another reading list over the weekend.

It has got me thinking though with my trips to Dresden and Japan. How can I get ahead with learning the languages? Japanese will very much be self study at the moment, where as I've a little more time with German. I'll most likely attend an evening class for German, maybe even sign up to do an official exam. How will PhotoReading help with each and both?

As ever at the moment, I must beginning going through again and apply the ideas of Tim Ferriss to create my own DEAL lifestyle. This I like much! To those who I met travelling the world last year. I'm coming your way. Hold on.

Happy Travels

A

Towards The Papterless Office and the A of Automation

All,

In my day to day current job I use Lotus Notes as a email system. Although Lotus Notes is NOT JUST email. A great misconception amongst so many people, especially in IT circles. Anyway, I stumbled upon a new site by Eric Mack this morning. He is a great fan of Dave Allen and the GTD philosophy. Although I've looked into GTD in the past and not implemented. Until recently it was always very Outlook Centric. Yet not everybody uses Outlook as an email system. That is all Outlook is, email. Although many will argue it is a PIM system, so it Lotus Notes.

Bygones. Erick Mack for a long time has been applying the GTD philosophy to Lotus Notes. Today he wrote about the paperless office. If only. However it got me thinking about business and and the A of Tim Ferriss acronym DEAL or DELA depending on whether you're an employer or employee. Since I am very keen to look further into this system of work and apply as much as I can. After all, I've begun to get itchy feet again and want to go off travelling. Surely a paperless office would help? After all a business isn't so much about the product or service, it is about the systems. It is often said to many people work in the business not on the business.

As as side note next week I'm off to Dresden next week. I'll still be PhotoReading , although posting may not be every day. Although I'll be finding books to PhotoReading and note. In addition I've already found the 100 Germany words to learn. This is mentioned in Tim Ferriss' book . If you want to find the 100 most common words in some languages, try here for a start, a Tony Buzan book. I will detail how it has all gone in a future post.

Happy Travels

A

Technorati : GTD, Lotus Notes