Archive for the "Increase your productivity" category

Time is one of those things you just can’t get away from.  It just keeps going at one second per second and never stops.  Many of us don’t even think about it until we have a massive project due the next day and we haven’t even started.  It’s not a problem for people with traditional [...]

Here’s a writing niche I hope takes off: Spoofs. A spoof is an article or webpage you write as a satire, mimicking some otherwise serious subject. I didn’t even know there was a demand for this until someone asked if I could write ‘humor’. Turns out I can. My first effort, Math Kills was a [...]

It’s a simple question, do you answer your phone, or do you let it ring through to voicemail?  For that matter, do you leave voicemails or just send emails or texts? When you’re running the oDesk client you usually don’t want to be interrupted.  It can be annoying to suspend and restart the client half [...]

I was reading a writer’s forum the other day, and came across a post by someone who had been receiving files in .docx format and wasn’t quite sure how to handle them.  At it’s a helpful forum, various other people chimed in and explained that it was the new format for Microsoft Word that was [...]

So here you are, spending some time searching out work on oDesk and you keep seeing references to “Affiliates.” That leads to two questions:  What’s an affiliate?  And, is it good for me? The principle behind oDesk affiliates is simple:  more people can do more work than one person.  That’s why some people on oDesk [...]

The constant drone of the air-conditioner reminds me that summer’s here again. As I write this the kids are in the pool out back, and half a dozen friends have joined them.  The fridge is full and tonight we’re having a barbecue. It’s a common picture, and seeing as today’s Father’s Day I wouldn’t be [...]

Here’s how my average day goes: I wake up anywhere from 5pm to 8pm. Then, I roll out of bed and check my E-Mail and IMs for anything that has popped up. Take a shower. Eat “breakfast.” Check oDesk for any jobs I might like and apply for them. Answer E-Mails. Call Tokyo/Berlin/wherever my international [...]

I was reading the oDesk community forum when I came across post I didn’t agree with. According the post author, the biggest problem on oDesk is that there are too many providers. You can read his argument here, where he explains there are “too many fish in the pond.” I disagree. It doesn’t matter how [...]

Very simply, your mental state is directly tied to the success of your career. If you are experiencing some problems in your personal life, then it is likely to drag your career as a freelancer down. Sometimes, I don’t feel like working because I’m stressed out, and when I try to force myself to work, [...]

Unless you’re crazy-happy to have any sort of work at all, you’ve probably done a job that you absolutely hate. I’ve had a couple here and there. The work goes slow, and it makes it very hard to get motivated. Once you’re finally done with said project, you don’t really feel a sense of accomplishment–you [...]