Tag Archives: environment

My Top 5 Podcasts of 2014

2 Replies

They say you become an approximation of the five people you hang out with most. Given that I’m a writer who works from home three days a week, that would be two actual other people, followed by me, myself and I. Luckily, I listen to a lot of podcasts. Yet I know a lot of people don’t, so here’s a few reasons why you should.

Firstly, there is a whole heap of them out there, so you’ll be able to find something to suit your mood. Secondly, because there are so many, if you have a niche interest, with a bit of hunting around, you will find one about your odd subject of choice. If you don’t, you can always start one yourself. There’s even podcasts on how to make podcasts. See what I mean? Plethora of information. Finally, in order to get you to listen, people essentially give away a condensed version of their content for free. This is a great way to try before you buy, especially in the world of business, where conferences and books can cost a fortune. Go on. Give it a try.

So, without further ado, here they are (with twitter links to their creators/presenters):

Top podcast of 2014

The Pen Addict with Myke Hurley & Brad Dowdy

See what I mean about a niche interest? My long-held secret crush for pens and notebooks finally blossomed into true love due to these men. Which sounds much nicer than calling them the pen-pushing enablers they really are. The shows are always fun and informative, and for anyone who does a lot of longhand writing (or drawing), just knowing some of the best pens out there can make your life so much easier. They do the hard work so you don’t have to. Plus, they are a super nice pair of guys following their dreams, which I always admire (you can check out Brad’s Nock Co pen cases here. They are awesome – my Hightower goes everywhere with me).

Top Businesses Podcast

This is Your Life by Michael Hyatt

I’ve put this under business, but it is so much more than that. Michael’s tagline is that it is a podcast about intentional leadership, but I think it goes much deeper. It certainly deals with brand and platform, alongside how to be a better leader, but it is not actually all career specific. A lot of what Michael focuses on is the principles and ethics which lie beneath these decisions, and in a cut-throat world where a lot of people will do anything to get one foot further up the ladder, it is a refreshing reminder that honesty and integrity on the things that really matter. It is about achieving your goals and ambitions in the right way, not ‘at any cost’.

Top Writing Podcast

Writing Excuses with Brandon Sanderson, Dan Wells, Howard Taylor and Mary Robinette Kowal

In my humble opinion, anyone who is – or wants to be – a writer should be listening to this podcast. I’ve actually been listening to it for years, but during my little writing sabbatical at the beginning of the year I was able to go back and re-listen to many of them to get the really good stuff out. For a podcast which is only 15 minutes long, it is amazing that they manage to get so much useful information into an episode with four people talking. Each of them brings a different perspective to the topic, meaning that even if one person’s tips and tricks don’t work for you, there is a good chance that someone else’s will. Also great if you like reading in general, comics and occasional buffoonery.

Top Getting Up Podcast

5AM Miracle with Jeff Sanders

Now, you might not think that ‘Getting Up’ is a category, but let me assure you it is. It might never have been called that before, but early rising has been a hot topic in 2014. I’ve been getting up at 6am to write for years now. I’ve not made it to 5am yet, but I think 6 is a pretty reasonable compromise. It’s not easy, even when you’re getting up to do something you love. Jeff’s podcast is a good way of not only finding that motivation, but also tips and tricks to make it easier once you’ve dragged your sorry backside from under the duvet on a cold, dark Monday morning. Covering productivity and healthier living, this podcast has matured greatly over the past twelve months and it has been great to follow Jeff’s journey through this.

Best Health & Wellness Podcast

Jillian Michaels with Jillian Michaels and Janice Ungaro

Another misleading header, as although this podcast started out as health and fitness, it has now grown into having a nice catchup with friends talking about whatever the topic of the day is. And that is just fine with me. Janice gets a mention here because although she’s technically the producer, she has become the other half of this comedy act. The thing that I love the most about this is that Jillian talks with complete honesty – there is no hiding behind the PR company here. It’s like sitting round in a coffee shop with a bunch of friends that you know are slightly crazy but you love them anyway. The serious stuff gets slipped in there somewhere along the way without ever sounding too preachy.

So that’s my roundup. It’s been a good year for consuming audio material and seriously, if you haven’t tried podcasts before, then go find one. Free and easy, just like libraries. What do you have to lose?

The best city on earth: Sydney

Leave a reply

Sydney Opera House

Given the events of this week, it seemed a perfect choice to do a Throwback Thursday to Sydney. Sydney was my home for a while a few years ago, and a place I’ve once again visited in the past six months. In fact, as I sat here twelve months ago, the plan was to be living in Sydney right now. So the siege this week was something I saw with the detached sense of someone who wasn’t there, but could quite easily  place myself at the scene mentally.

The ‘I’ll ride with you‘ hashtag, appearing so quickly and easily during the events, reminded me of why I love Australia (and Aussies) so much. While much of Europe takes its typical approach to these sorts of things – I’m thinking the approach that always seems to lead to war – and America certainly isn’t much better, Australia instead embraced the theory of mateship that it knows itself for. No one needed to feel unsafe because of the actions of a madman. We’re all in this together. Not send them back to their own country or they’re all coming over here and stealing our jobs/benefits. It is a different culture. A different world. One which is far away, but always in my heart.

This is how it looked when I first saw it and digital cameras were very much in their infancy. There is something about being in Sydney that is so unique – there is no way you can confuse it with any other part of the world:
 DSCF0316

Sydney is my favourite city in the world. I’m not a huge fan of cities. I never dreamed as a kid of wrapping up all my possessions in a knapsack and leaving home to find my fortune with the big lights. But Sydney gets so many things right it’s hard not to fall in love with it a little bit more every time.

Sydney Water Views

Of course, the fallout from one madman’s events will continue to land for a while to come. I just hope that the people of Sydney are able to continue with their first response of compassion and understanding as the grief rolls through.

It’s no understatement that my time in Sydney went a long way towards shaping who I wanted to be and what I wanted from my life, in terms of quality, writing, experiences and relationships. And this summer, when I walked back to Manly Wharf, it was a place that still felt like home…

Manly Wharf

My favourite things about New York

Leave a reply

A quick Throwback Thursday to one of my favourite cities in the world.

I’m lucky enough to have been to New York three times. The first time was filled with relatively unhappy memories as it was in the wake of my father’s death and I was taking his place. That still feels like a painful tug at the heart, but I’m happy I got to see New York when the twin towers were still there.

New York is the setting for at least three of the stories I’ve written and I suspect it will be in many more. It has everything you need as a backdrop.

I’ve done New York in the winter and it was the perfect place for Christmas shopping. I have to say, it was probably the one time where something was as romantic as it is portrayed in the movies. Christmas trees, the displays in Macy’s, skating in central park. Not to mention my favourite picture taken from there, a winter sunset from the Empire State Building:

Sunset in New York

For me, that photo really captures what is special about New York. It is standing there, proud on the river, no matter what, and I can’t wait to go back again.

New Zealand must do activity: Mount Cook Stargazing

Leave a reply

Last week I did my quarterly review and it was incredible to reflect on all the changes that have happened in my life this year. So I thought I would do a Throwback Thursday to one of the most amazing experiences I had shortly before leaving New Zealand back in July.

Of course, July is Winter down under, so whilst my friends from the northern hemisphere were cheerily talking about the prospect of a long and warm summer, I was travelling to the snowcapped peaks of Mt Cook.

Mt Cook Stargazing

 

I was there to do the Mt Cook Stargazing Experience and I can hand-on-heart say that if you are ever in that part of the world, it is a must do. I’m known to be a bit hard to please sometimes (who doesn’t demand perfection every now and then? ahem), but I would truly give this experience 5 stars. I was completely blown away. Plus, it’s a handy stop off between Christchurch and Queenstown, so you’d really have no reason not to.

Attached to the in-the-middle-of-nowhere, zero light pollution hotel, is the Sir Edmund Hillary museum. Apparently, despite his own rather well known adventures, Mt Cook remained his favourite mountain. Which makes it pretty special when you think about it. I love the way his statue faces outwards towards it, with a faint sense of longing.

Mt Cook Star Gazing

 

Such longing is inspirational, but I’m not foolish enough to grab a set of crampons and go crazy climbing. I did manage to do a bit of a hilly walk though before the sun began to set. Which was amazingly beautiful in itself.

 

Mt Cook Stargazing

Once it is dark, part of the experience is an hour talk explaining the universe. I found it fascinating, and clearly everyone else in there did as well, regardless of age or culture. It was a great way to prepare for what lay outside, a short drive away.

As part of the experience, they set up astronomy telescopes to be able to see planets. The stars themselves need no such human intervention. The last time I saw stars like that, I was out in the middle of the ocean in a sailboat. The amount of light pollution on this planet is astounding and I’m sad that, despite all my travels, I’ve never been able to see a sky like that in the northern hemisphere. Without a proper night camera I couldn’t get a photo worth putting up here, so I will simply have to do my best to describe it.

Remember those huge pieces of black cardboard they used to have in school when you were a little kid? You’d put transparent glue on there and then throw silver glitter in what you thought was an artistic fashion, but was in fact too much to create anything but a mass of sparkle. Then you’d get that one kid who wouldn’t shake the pot gently over the paper, but instead fling it straight out with a stiff arm so there was just a thick line of glitter through the middle…

….that was the Milky Way I got to see that night.

Visiting the top of the earth. Alaska

Leave a reply

Today’s Throwback Thursday: Alaska.

IMG_6192

 

 

Irrespective of anything else crazy that happened this year, Alaska has been on the cards for a long time. Mainly because I was starting to get cynical about whether or not there would actually be any ice left if I waited until retirement. Okay, that is a gross exaggeration, but there were reminders everywhere of just how much ice has indeed receded over the past 20 years.

I was writing a story about the Alaska/Canada border while I was here, so technically this should count as research. Hopefully I managed to get more of a real feel for the place by actually being there than I would have done relying on my imagination alone.

Right in the middle of the picture you can see some mini icebergs that are the most vivid aquamarine. Maybe turquoise. It’s hard to say, because it was a colour so pure it almost defies belief. My humble iPhone fails to do it justice. But that is why I love getting into the great outdoors to experience the wonder of nature whenever I can:

IMG_6209

The best place in New Zealand: Lake Tekapo

Leave a reply

Thinking a little bit about Throwback Thursday made me realise that even in the space of less than a year, there have been so many twists and turns that it seems to be okay to do a throwback to only about three months ago. Specifically, to here:

IMG_5876

 

This is Lake Tekapo and is one of my favourite places ever. If you look closely, you can see the tiny chapel in the middle. Talk about views from the pews. It was one of my favourites from New Zealand when I was over there a decade ago, so going back this time was something special. Only a few hours outside Christchurch, but it felt like another world away from the construction and the temporariness of life there. It was a quite place, where I could get out a notepad and just mull over ideas and life in general.

Over time it had changed a little bit, but I was lucky enough to go there three separate times this year.

NZ wasn’t the place I needed to be any more, but I do miss the lakes and the mountains on a blue sky day…

World’s Cutest Library, Banks Peninsula

Leave a reply

I have officially found the world’s cutest library:

 

photo

 

How adorable is that? It’s in Tai Tapu village, which you can find on the main road out of Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula. In a country whose European heritage is actually not that old, it was quite a find. The building itself is not actually that old (1932) but having spent so much time in a place where pretty much everything has been levelled, I was thrilled to find it at all.

Plus the lady in their was lovely, offering to take out a book for me in her name. She was happy for me to just meet up with her in Christchurch and hand it back over at some point when I was done with it. This was the Kiwi friendliness that I remember from last time.

Plus, there’s a nice cafe on the corner, so you can completely justify making the trip if you have a nice brunch. Calories are free when you support local libraries, honest.

Christchurch City Drive (Pre and Post Earthquake)

Leave a reply

So, I’m leaving Christchurch. There are a multitude of reasons, most of which are too boring to mention here, but the best way to explain is probably visually.

Whilst playing around on youtube, I found the following clip which was created before the earthquakes that have devastated the city. It made me think of the Christchurch that I visited last time. Not only that, it runs right along the area where I have been living the past few months. I was inspired to do the drive as it is now, and recorded the experience for posterity.

Pre-Earthquake:

This is what the same drive looks like, June 2014. It’s iPhone only I’m afraid, but much of the bounce is simply due to the warping of the roads:

It is a completely different world. Even so, this only captures a small part of it. It’s a shame that I couldn’t get them completely in sync due to the natural traffic variations, but you can still get the idea.

Going Un-Paperless – 5 Steps For When You Find You Can’t Go Paperless

Leave a reply

We live in the future, where all our files and folders live on our smartphones and laptops, right? Even our books are digital. So why is it that so many people fear going paperless, and what can you do when you find yourself in an environment that is either unwilling or unable to change?

Like most aspiring authors, I tend to enjoy food and shelter, so supplement my income with a day job. My previous role was inherently paperless. The only time I really made paper lists was when I was in a situation of overload and the act of writing it down gave me focus. This was easy to implement because I worked in a small but geographically varied team that communicated largely by email.

I didn’t realise how lucky I was, until I started my new short term role and my desk started slowly drowning in paper. I wouldn’t call myself an environmental activist by any means, but some days I positively weep for lost trees. Now, it would be wonderful to ‘be the change I wanted to see in the world’, but that requires buy in from all parties. This company is one of the largest employers in the Southern Hemisphere. That is a lot of people to convince. My particular division also arose out of an emergency situation, where the comfort and reliability of paper in an ever changing team/building/environment was paramount. For a lot of people, disaster management is best done on paper.

I’ve been using GTD for many years and my system has been through several modifications. For a long time I used an excel spreadsheet, then moved to Outlook Tasks to accommodate the system my boss was using (I was so happy to be working with someone who actually had a system that I was prepared to give a little). My separate personal system was in Toodledo. Notebooks were a joy because they were primarily for creating or capturing ideas, not tracking the mundane (although even that has become a bit more productive / geeky due to Ryder Carroll’s bullet journal system).

For going paperless in a Mac environment, check out MacSparky.

paperwork

So, 5 Simple Steps:

1. Change what you can. Where there is no process, or the existing process has room for improvements, make them. Most people are actually willing to hear what you have to say when presenting a change to their system in a thoughtful, respectful manner. As part of that change, convert anything you can to a paperless approach.

2. Manage paper efficiently. If you have no choice but to deal with paper, then at least use it wisely. Don’t make unnecessary copies. Don’t just shove everything in one inbox and lose hours of your day looking for files. Essentially, have a system. If you do everything by email, then follow up flags and categories make tracking ‘waiting for’ items a piece of cake. Make sure that still applies if you’re stuck with paper.

3. Upload capture documents frequently. If you have an option to upload the paper documents that are floating around in ubiquitous amounts, then do so. More importantly, do it as often as possible. People are much less likely to make additional copies of a hard copy file for their own use if they can just view it on the screen in front of them. Most people are inherently lazy; use that to save the environment and your sanity.

4. Reduce the number of electronic systems. Another fatal error that is actually the case in most companies is the use of twenty four gajillion electronic systems. When one is not quite perfect, they find another one. Most of the time, it is not the tool, but the user is at fault. But that is far too difficult to address when you can just splurge a couple of hundred thousand pounds on a new shiny! Then half the users upgrade while half show reluctance. Great. Now the documents are in one of two places and the easy search is gone. Lather, rinse, repeat over the years and no-one trusts a damn thing. People go back to trusting the paper they can see and feel. Cull the tools and use common sense.

5. Spread the word. When people see that you are being more productive with a clean desk, then they will want some of what you’re having. Only, they won’t ever want to confess to it. We all know people like this; the ones who drown in chaos and claim it is because they are far too busy. Most of the time, they are simply inefficient and confuse busy with job security. Sometimes, it’s best just to give a little. Again, in a polite and respectful manner, point out small gains they can make at first. Even when looking at a productive person’s desk, a fresh pair of eyes can usually spot a few quick wins. Give generously to those who will accept help and enjoy watching them becoming less stressed over time. You’ll feel better and the trees will thank you for it.

Can you go backwards and still stay sane? I’d like to think so.

Things To Do In Queenstown: Gondola and Luge Experience

Leave a reply

Queenstown is adventure capital of the world according to most people you speak to over here. Home of the bungy jump, zorbing and plenty of other high adrenalin activities. If you want a quick thrill in the southern hemisphere, then this is definitely the place to come. Just make sure you have adequate insurance, of course.

For those who want to do something a little more sedate, but without wussing out completely, then the gondola and luge experience is a good combo. It is definitely the best way to get spectacular views over Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu:

Queenstown Horizon

 

There is always the option to walk to the top, but for those who are short on time or fitness, the chair ride to the top is an equally spectacular way of getting to the top. Once there, take the time to walk around and take in the views. There are plenty of different angles to take awesome photographs from.

The luge comes in two flavours: gentle and speedy. Confession: I went on the scenic route both times. I actually found I was enjoying the views way more than the speed on the first time round, so dispensed with my original intention to try both. Slower gave me more opportunity to enjoy the experience. Given that there were some seven year olds on the speedy track, my gut feel was that it didn’t strictly fall under the term ‘extreme’ anyway. As you can see, the tracks are fairly wide and well maintained.

Queenstown Luge

For those who don’t have too much time to spend in Queenstown, I would definitely include this in the one day experience. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t great overnight during my stay, otherwise I would also have taken advantage of the star gazing experience also on offer.