When working on an issue, it is easy to get sidetracked by other unrelated changes that need to be made. I’ve found that instead of addressing other issues as I spot them, taking a moment to open an issue and then ignoring them allows me to stay focused on the task at hand.
lifehack
Tarenheit: A New Temperature Scale
My son is studying unit conversions in school and as a family we were discussing how you can’t use the same technique (multiplication) when converting between Celsius and Fahrenheit. Out of this conversation came a new temperature scale, Tarenheit (rhymes with Fahrenheit). Tarenheit is exactly 32° less than Fahrenheit.
Shampoo Bottle Protocol
One day I realized that the last 10% of the shampoo bottle lasted at least as long as the first 90%. I suspected this was because most of the time I was using too much shampoo but as I neared the end of the bottle I used a more appropriate amount. How could I trick my brain to always use the appropriate amount?
Flashcard Technique – Uninterrupted Visual Engagement
Recently, I had the opportunity to work with some elementary students on their math fast facts (i.e. single-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division). I noticed that I was able to keep the students much more engaged with one simple change.
Diminishing Returns and French Fries
When I’m ordering food (e.g. french fries), I often find myself doing the math. For 30% more money, I can double the amount of fries I get (i.e. 100% more fries). Clearly, this significantly reduces my cost per fry, which results in me buying the larger fry. However the problem is the cost per fry […]
Marshmallow Gun
Building a mini-marshmallow blow gun was a lot of fun and quite affordable. With some PVC pieces and an inexpensive cutter, you can craft one of these beauties.
Space in Car Years
When dealing with distances in space, I’ve found that I don’t have a good conceptual framework for understanding these large distances. I’ve found reframing these distances in terms of “Car Years” (and “Car Days”) to be helpful. What is a Car Year? A car year (cy) is the distance covered by traveling at 60 miles […]
EST vs EDT
I live on the East Coast of the United States, in the Eastern Time Zone. Because I often work with people in other time zones, I’ve become very conscious of the impact of timezones on scheduling. In fact, it is likely I’ve sent you this link in regards to scheduling. Previously, when sending a scheduling […]
Remove Paint Scrape from Car
Unfortunately, recently our garage was a little too narrow when pulling the car into it. The side panel scraped the wall and some of the paint scraped off the wall and transferred onto the car. Before Equipment WD-40 Paper Towels Magic Eraser Rag Soapy Water Car Wax & Towel Instructions Step 1: Remove the Paint […]
Nice is never the problem
In working with other consultants, I’ve often heard the lament, “I’m too nice.” This is wrong. Nice is never the problem. I’m going to explain why I believe, “Nice is never the problem,” and I’m going to talk about how a failure to be firm is often confused with being too nice. Being Nice is […]