I recently made a little chart distinguishing a few common perceptions from contrasting facts on the ground. It occurred to me that these are related somehow, that something lies in them to be learned: Portland, Oregon is widely considered to be one of the hardest cities in the US on small businesses, due to taxes, [...]
The assumption of employment is all around us. I’m not knocking employment. Quite the contrary: Image via Wikipedia Rule of Work: Your work is not the venue. Whether your work is best conducted as an employee, contractor, entrepreneur, or volunteer, pursue the venue where you can derive from your work all the meaning you are [...]
I do project work and consulting, and my office is one of the largest rooms in my home. Like a lot of home office workers (I prefer “home office professional”), I always have multiple projects at once. So working all the time is just part of the deal. If I’m not working on a client’s [...]
A friend and I were talking the other day about how we’re so used to thinking, as employees, of everything as net. The company takes out taxes and healthcare, and what’s left – that’s what you live on. But when you’re self-employed, you pay self-employment tax on top of your income tax, and you have [...]
So when I first started building my business, I took a ‘day’ job. It was partly fear. It was. It’s hard to turn down a steady paycheck, healthcare, and the lascivious knowledge that somehow society supports your decision, where they seem to be bewildered by people who break away from corporate life. It wasn’t a [...]
Who hasn’t had the opportunity to either experience leadership (good or bad) in action, or to exert leadership in some setting? Some basic observations from both sides of that experience can translate into effective rules for successful leadership. A leader motivates through encouragement rather than ridicule or intimidation: Motivation involves the personal goals of the [...]
Look, here’s the point: I have more than a couple of jobs, but I limit what I discuss to two, so we don’t have to waste time with the “you’re a freak” discussion. I often hear people talk of: “putting in long hours”. As opposed to what? I was going to work anyway. If it’s [...]
Office environments can spawn an odd kind of possessiveness. “Why did you throw that away in my trashcan, not yours?” (One was closer than another). “Those are my paperclips. Why don’t you get your own?” (They all come from the same place). You could attribute it to the personalization of space, but I personalize and [...]
There were four friends, one of whom died in a car accident. The other three (let’s call them Jim, John, and Bob) decided to take a road trip in his memory, but vowed to be safe drivers from then on out. Jim sat behind the wheel of the car for a while, but wouldn’t drive. [...]
I watched Mumford again the other night (that’s the film by Lawrence Kasdan, not the magician on Sesame Street). The key figure, Dr. Mumford, is what most people would call a fraud. He helps people by listening to their problems, and they pay him for the service; the problem is his diploma and license for [...]
Daniel DiGriz — If I’m awake, I’m working. Power-shakes beat carbs; they take less time, and don’t turn you into a slut for food. If it fits in a pocket or an office, it’s a tool, not a master. If a thing doesn’t cooperate, switch tasks; come back when it’s ready to be nice. Nice, [...]
Daniel writes prolifically about subjects ranging from work to social justice, does literary writing, and is Marketing Director of Free Agent Source. Daniel founded JobHacker (formerly the Rules of Work) blog when the bottom fell out of the mortgage market, and the US economy started its death rattle.
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