General Chat | Glenn Ward

The English way! An unproductive and unhealthy way to work

I read somewhere that British workers on average work more hours than any the rest of Europe. You’ve all heard the jibes in the office “half day is it part timer” “Afternoon!” is it just office banter or psychologically does this create a silly work ethic that we abide to against practical reasoning.

I recently attended a training day on how the brain works. We discussed right side, left side brain function and also how the brain processes in the subconscious, which is why you suddenly come up with the answer to something that was puzzling you or possibly where the phrase sleep on it possibly came from from. Despite knowing that we function better having had some down time, how many of us work though our lunch breaks or line up meetings back to back for 8 hours solid? Taking a half hour break would allow the brain function far more efficiently but we choose to ignore this, bragging about how much coffee we drink to stay functional. Seriously! Look how many Twitter bios say “self confessed coffee addict” oh please, sorry you’re busy! If you really are busy, people know! there’s no need to publicize how many espressos you need to get you out of bed in the morning.

Like with my fitness, I am a bit obsessive and this means reading a lot of health and nutritional advice. My daily productivity is becoming far more efficient and you will be pleased to know its not from sticking to a 9-5 routine.

Think back to when you did your gcses or A-levels. We all had a little etc time to sleep in “yeh mum, I’ve got a double free period this morning, yawn!” but you hear people say it all the time “I’ve had loads of sleep but I’m still tired” Over sleeping definitely makes me less productive and I get a real buzz on the days that Im up and about by 7am and by 10 I’ve achieved half a days chores before my piers have got out of bed. To this end I, as much as I can try to make sure I get a perfect 7hrs a night.

A body building diet for fat loss often consists of little and often eating. This is the most efficient way to consume as it keeps the metabolism active all day. So why do we stick to 3 meals a day? We all know skipping breakfast is probably the worst habit we can slip into as eating fires up the body ready for the day, however many do and many eat late at night, firing up the metabolism just before we go to bed, then complain about not being able to sleep.

I’m not going to get into details on diet but we all use our busy lifes as an excuse. I wake up have a small bowl of muesli (slow release carbs) and a protein shake. Then sit on the train for 2hrs, when I get to London I have a banana in my pocket, a little natural sugar pick me up to take away the snooziness. I eat mainly salad at lunch to avoid a high carb lunch that will give you a boost and then a dip mid afternoon. Don’t eat you pud straight away save it for mid afternoon to avoid snacking (usually a protein bar). If I really have to snack I have a bag of muesli in my draw to avoid munching on chocolate or crisps for emergencies. In the evening I eat early, between London, train and gym followed by another shake. If I’m still hungry after 9pm I’ll have a bowl of bran flakes, not sure whether this is nutritionally correct but I like it

Ok, now my society rant. Many of us are busy and cant get away with a 7hr day. The world is hypothetically shrinking so why do we feel pressured to work a regimented day? Half of my colleagues are in bed while I’m emailing them. We all have smart phones and tablets. If IT departments weren’t so fridged we could work from almost anywhere, so why do we give the people who make the best use of their time such a hard time? Because its the English way! And its societies little sheep that maintain lifes many annoyances. Lets take a current big moan. The cost of travel. Last year I spent 1/7 of my wage on travel, apart from being skint! not only am I busting my every day I’m less productive and am reinforcing high peak prices. If I work from home I effectively get another 4hrs out of my day but again I tend to work through without a break. What if I get up same time 6:30am and go for a swim, by 7:30 I couldn’t be more awake, this isnt the best state of mind to be sat on a train. Go home! Get 2 super productive hours in, work on stuff you can continue on the train (this is my German time as they are up an hour earlier). Leave the non urgent emails for the commute and get an off peak ticket, no snoozing I have to admit, I’m not very good at the lunch away from the desk thing but I apply the same theory in the evening as well, return train being my America time. A quick gym in the evening helps me drop off to sleep these days if I have everything in my head out and on my iPad!

Long and short of this post is, break the norm! The norm is unproductive and more importantly unhealthy!

Sometimes you dont know what you’d like to do but you know what you like doing

I write this post as a thought pops into my head. I often get asked for life advice, despite not feeling qualified in myself to give this kin of advise I always try and encourage a line of questioning of oneself, ones actions or things that could be considered, rather than handing out direct, do this do that advice.

I have embedded a video at the bottom of this post that is well worth a watch. It explains what is fundamentally broken and what holds back a good many of us from being great. Really! take the time to watch it.

Ok, my thought process begins with some early life choices. Deciding on my A-Levels, like many I had no idea what I wanted to do. I did know what I liked, what I was good at and the things that make me happy so I chose PE, Art and Business Studies… oh how they laughed! this is when I realized I had a bit of a what the f*/k do you know attitude, I wasn’t however massively qualified to argue with the gibes but stuck to my decision. In hindsight the ridicule came from those with a lack of knowledge in certain areas, they didn’t know the things I knew and they were those I considered well educated (the video below explains) A weaker man might have changed there mind and studied 3 coinciding subjects to meet societies pre conceptions of what would be the right thing to do.

Having finished my A-Levels I still didn’t know what I wanted to do however I knew what I liked doing. I first became a windsurf instructor, I knew I liked windsurfing, I knew I wanted to see a bit of the world, it made sense. In my off season I wrote an idea for a TV show, it got made by a href=http://www.rapido.co.uk/shows/shw.5.phpchannel 4/a and I shot off around the world filming. I then worked in TV, back to water sports, well yachting during which time I was teaching myself about websites and ecommerce as my brother and sister set up a www.innerwolf.co.uk. One more cheeky season in Egypt (windsurfing) then university to study a Media and Design for Digital Media during which time I helped take the watersports shop 2xs to being an online retailer. A quick stint as an website and marketing manager for a clothing company then up to the smoke to set up an in house video production service for a market research company. Now I am heading up the role out of our Website and Social media strategy.

My point here is that all of these things benefited very well from my choice of A-levels and more importantly what I do for a living now didn’t exist as a job when I started down this road. So, how can I take advice on my education when the people giving the advice have no concept of what the future might hold for me or the economy, you cant! and those who did take that advise, probably ended up in a job where they look at watch every day.

Sure, there are times you’ll take a knock. I got fired from the UKSA and it hugely dented my confidence. I thought questioning safety was a good thing but apparently not when you are questioning the decision of the MD. They attempted to throw me off the Isle of Wight as I influenced the other instuctors. So, draw the positives from any given situation, I’m an influencer! there’s a little take away, Ill put that in my toolbox and use that later.

Do what you like doing along the way, it might not fall into place straight away but you’re more likely to end up in the right place because if you are interested in something your learning is accelerated and people will notice, sure there will be politics along the way but stay focused on the bigger picture and let it wash over you.

Love this video!

My friend Gareth Pickford goes it alone with GP-Treeworks

Just a quick heads up for anyone needing a tree surgeon or general hedge cutting, fencing, decking etc in the Chichester, West Sussex area. Gareth Pickford #gary, set up his website, www.gptreeworks.co.uk

Another great example of what a messed up society we live in

Just last week the police rang me to inform me that they were unable to prosecute the guys that jumped us in alley way, quite badly injuring my friend. This was down to poor police work and a lack of evidence on their part apparently. A lack of evidence when in a small city you bump into the guys in the pub or on the night one of the girls Facebooked us to apologize. But thats not the point of the post!

A day later I get prosecution letter myself for being caught on camera speeding in a 30 zone. Naturally, being a geek and being as though this is my first time I thought Id look up the location. I remember the occasion, road dead due east, blinded by the sun, scrabbling around for my sun glasses. Now I know why they call it a speed trap! There is absolutely no reason for this being a 30 zone apart from it being an opportune position to catch drivers out. On top of this the small 30 sign on a non-residential un street lit country road appears about 15 meters before the camera.

Make Quidco a part of your everyday online shop and save cash back

I was talking to someone at the weekend who does a lot of online shopping but hadn’t heard of Quidco. Nearly every online retailer offers cash back or incentives of different amounts all you need to do is sign up for an account. Quidco takes the first £5 and then you keep the rest, I have earned £122 alone in cashback this year, shopping that I would have done anyway. Once you have an account search Quidco, follow the link to the merchant, at which point a cookie will be dropped and tracks you to the checkout, simple!

i love Quidco GreenWhite

Event / Conference #Hashtagging – The twitter conversation in the audience

I have now a couple of times been asked how tweeting using a hashtag can be applied to the event / conference / debate situation. I was at a debate the other month where I experienced this for the first time. A hashtag to the event is given out before hand so that everyone in the audience or even those who are interested in the event could search the keyword and see a stream if you like from the people in the room or as I mentioned those people who could not be in the room but would like to comment on what was going on. The result was a conversation around the conversation / presentation and a commentary for those who couldn’t attend without too many rude interruption to the preceding. Often someone in the audience may have a comment but aren’t quite brave enough to develop this into a question, this provides a harmless way for them to offer their thoughts to those thinking along the same lines.

Augmented reality Apps… Cool but do they really have a practical function?

I have been very excited recently about the arrival of augmented reality Apps for my 3GS and this week I installed the Layers App. Very cool indeed but it as I went through the various databases of information I did wonder if it had a practical function. Certain functions such as the Wiki and other informational sources probably have no added value by being able to hold your phone up and obtain directional and distance data and so to for the Twitter functions, fun at first but do we really care where the tweets are coming from? I bet not one person initiates face to face dialogue as a result of a nearby tweet. The concept does however come into it’s own when it comes to the directional data. The local tube stops, banks etc is handy to be able to see on the screen rather than on maps, figuring out which direction is north, which way you are facing and which way you then need to walk. I have watched the Augmented Reality Sat Nav App video on YouTube and again it looks very cool but I have to say, even as a techy who loves the concept, I am sceptical at this stage!

ALK Technologies Copilot live 8, 3D Sat Nav for the iPhone – full review

I first encountered Copilot live 7 on the O2 XDA orbit and it managed to turn me from the Tom Tom One. The software maps, routing at the time seemed to be superior with less errors. I also liked the walking mode which pointed you in the right direction you quickly needed me to find somewhere. This allowed me time to collect my thoughts with a cheeky coke before my last job interview.

The Software
So, what does Copilot Live 8 have to offer on the iPhone. Much the same functionality but an improved map interface. The menu navigation takes a couple of journeys to get used to at first but once you know where everything is it becomes pretty easy. Copilot Live also offers a motorbike mode on top of the walking mode, I function I have not yet tested although I do have a Bluetooth helmet so fingers crossed that it works with that. I assume, lime most know it all techies, I often think I know better than artificial intelligence and go my own way. Copilot quickly recalculated the trip and displays a fairly accurate new time of arrival at the bottom of the screen. You can choose from different display modes including instructions and 3D maps, I choose the 3D maps and this also displays the directions cue in the bottom left hand corner of the screen up to 2 junctions in advance. The display can adjust automatically to both landscape or portrait and is easily viewable in both.

The software now offers various Internet functions including live traffic, live link, live weather and roadside assistance.

Interaction with the iPhone
I use Copilot while connected to the stereo in the car, this means it’s taking a charge from the connecting lead and also playing my music which is controlled with the stereo functions. I have had the software lag at bootup a couple of times but more often than not it works just fine. When you receive a call the software shuts down as you would expect, it does not effect the muting of your music and once you hang up the software relaunched and quickly returns to your planned route.

Installation is fairly straight forward, about a 250 mb download so definitely do it through your iTunes software, I have not received any updates yet but I presume ALK Technologies will iron out any bugs as and when they find them.

In summary, Copilot Live 8 is an extremely powerful app and although stuff magazine said the maps weren’t as easy to follow as Tom Toms, I personally don’t see much difference. Stuff gave it 5 stars and I do too.

Alternative Apple iPhone 3GS headphones / earphones as recomended by twitter followers

After not having too much success with a google search for an alternative replacement set of headphones for my iPhone 3GS I turned to Twitter for some advice. I got quite a response so I thought I would share the tweet recommendations. Note: I have popped into a reseller and they did tell me that apple would replace a faulty set still within the 1 year manufacturers warranty.

Apple [Link]
Replacements for the headphones that ship with the iPhone £21 and the in ear earphones are £59 on the Apple site.
Z.buds [Link]
These look awesome, durable, not to expensive and all the iPhone functions.
Griffin [Link]
SmartTalk and TuneBuds Mobile. Two solutions and not too expensive, both do not have volume control though.
Bose ipod buds [Link]
A little more expensive, in line microphone but no volume.
Klipse Image S4i Earphones [Link]
Looks like a good set of headphones, a little expensive although comes with a 2 year warranty, microphone but as far as I can see no volume control.
Etymotic hf2 Hands-free Headset [Link]
Again going for the sound quality higher end of the market, a little expensive mic, control, but again no volume.
JVC HA-KX100 [Link]
Affordable, mic and control but again no in line volume.