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Version Control – The Key To Modern Development

When best practices are considered for development, version control has become a normal facet of any modern coding.  Many integrated development environments now include integration to some version control by default.  In fact, Git is often assumed as the tool of choice.  That being said, we still need to use these tools properly. Version Control Requires Regular Usage The most common failing I find with new developers is a lack of actually using the tool correctly.  Although committing code is rarely more than a few button clicks and providing a comment, it still seems too much for many coders.  I say this because may shops have code commits on a weekly or less frequent basis.  I also see comments that are empty or... Read more

Posted on Podcast

Burnout and How To Avoid It While Staying Productive

Burnout is a big stumbling block to productivity. It is a bit like clinical depression where you are not sure it is coming, but when it hits, recovery is painful.  In this episode, we look at some of the signs of burnout and even some warning signs.  However, we do not stop there.  We also look at ways to stay productive, push hard, and still avoid burnout. Burnout Comes in Many Forms There are many ways that burnout will appear.  It may be a lack of getting up in the morning and a constant feeling of exhaustion.  However, it often is much more subtle.  The ability to focus may become difficult and productivity slumps rather than crashes.  There may also... Read more

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Business Communication – Critical For Success

Of all the skills I have learned, business communication has paid the greatest dividends.  This is not a difficult skill to learn.  However, practice, experience, and honest feedback are the key ingredients to become a master. Business Communication – Short and Sweet The old phrase “short and sweet” is a great way to sum up what I have learned.  The audience for any business communication (email, documents, presentations, etc.) value time and clarity.  They start with the assumption that you know what you are talking about.  Thus, it is up to you to confirm that assumption or prove them wrong.  Of course, that is not the only measure of successfully communicating your ideas.  There is also a need to convey the... Read more

blogging tools
Posted on General

Blogging Tools To Help You Be Productive and Successful

As we start a new year, it is an excellent time to look at tools that can help your blog.  Of course, there is always our Launch Your Internet Business series of tutorials.  However, we are going to look at some specific tools to help once your site is live instead of just launching it. Blogging Tools Come In All Forms We start by considering all the ways tools can help our blogging.  There are some that help us write faster, better (SEO and grammatically), communicate to our audience, and more.  For this article, we will look at a wide range of tools and how they can help. Write Better – Grammarly The best tool I have come across personally is Grammarly.  You can... Read more

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The Value of Varied Development Environments

When we get serious about development we have to use enterprise tools.  These include version control, defect tracking, change management, and multiple development environments.  These development environments range from pure development to testing, staging, and finally production.  In this episode, we explore how to build and use each of these. Development Environments Cover the Full SDLC A good series of environments will address the various areas of the software development lifecycle.  There might be one for design, prototyping, and clickable demos.  As you progress through the SDLC the demo environment can grow into your sales environment.  Thus, features can be mocked up and shown to customers.  There should always be at least one development environment.  Preferably there is an environment for... Read more

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Sleeping Well In a Busy World

src=”https://html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/6053701/height/360/width/450/theme/standard/autonext/no/thumbnail/yes/autoplay/no/preload/no/no_addthis/no/direction/forward/” height=”360″ width=”450″ placement=”top” theme=”standard”We all have busy lives.  That is just a part of modern life.  However, those of us in the develpreneur world can have it even worse.  Sleeping well can be quite a challenge when you are facing deadlines and always trying to push for that next goal.  Nevertheless, sleep is a critical factor in health and even long-term productivity so let’s look at ways to get some rest without sacrificing productivity. Sleeping Well Vs. Sleep Hacking Sleep hacking is a popular topic among those that value productivity and squeezing everything they can out of life.  The downside is that the goal of sleep hacking is finding ways to limit our downtime instead of maximizing it.  Over time... Read more