Yesterday I blogged about the adoption of the new technological developments by Americans. This morning we called my wife’s grandmother who has turned 90 (yes, ninety!) on the Christmas Day. My mother-in-law brought her laptop to “babushka Polina” (by the way, “babushka” has nothing to do with nesting dolls; it’s a proper Russian word for “Granny”), and this was the first time this elderly lady saw a laptop and got to participate in (or should I say, be the main participant of) a video call. I have just received the following picture from my in-laws which speaks better than any words:

Needless to comment how much she is enjoying the new technology.

She finished the call with words: “Now we’re gonna do this every major holiday!” It’s something that strikes me about our grandparents… They love life, and are generally much more optimistic than many of our peers. Maybe it has to do with the uneasy path that my wife’s and my own grandparents went through (the famine of 1932-1933, World War II, post-war times of rebuilding country and lives, Stalin’s purges, and the Soviet days of the “almighty” KGB, and other difficulties we have no clue about). It is possible that having gone through this much, they are especially capable to enjoy and value what we’ve got now… Either way, we certainly have a lot to learn from them.

Many of you I’m sure have seen the below tweet about a plumber coming out to my place to give me an estimate for a replacement of a kitchen sink (with installation of new faucet and disposer):

RotoRooter has never responded back (even though they are very active on Twitter). But a friend recommended trying to find a plumber through Angie’s List, and they tweeted right back offering a coupon to use should I decide to give their membership a try. I may very well do so some time soon, but for now — great job on AngiesList.com’s part monitoring what is being said about them in the Social Media! Especially shines in contrast with the RotoRooter’s silence.

Has anyone else noticed that in most instances when you tweet a complaint, or something negative about a company, you do not get an open response? I’ve had this happen with Starbucks once before too (and I had a really serious incident to report/deal with). Just silence… I guess, they don’t know that negative reviews increase sales too; but most importantly, when addressed properly, build a brand up (instead of hurting it).

Well, today I got started on this exciting project (replacing an old cast iron sink with a stainless steel one, and installing a nice new faucet and a more powerful in-sink garbage disposer). The job turned out to be much harder than I thought (the old sink was not only terribly heavy, but also very well glued to the countertop), and required an extra trip to a home improvement store, but I’m done with the most difficult part of the job, and should have it all finished by lunch tomorrow.

One thing that I got reminded of while removing the old pipes is my health. Yes, you’ve read it right. Our pipes didn’t look as bad as the pipe shown on the right, but they were also clogged with grease, and this reminded me of an analogy I’ve heard some time back. If we don’t take care of our health, eat greasy foods, don’t exercise and don’t monitor our cholesterol levels, our our arteries get clogged just as badly. I must admit, I haven’t checked my cholesterol level in years. I don’t eat bacon, hardly ever have steak, and do exercise, but my kitchen pipes reminded me that I need to check my cholesterol, and monitor what’s going on in my own body more carefully/systematically.

Now it’s time to get some rest… See you all again tomorrow, my faithful readers. Enjoy your weekend!

Many of you I’m sure have seen the below tweet about a plumber coming out to my place to give me an estimate for a replacement of a kitchen sink (with installation of new faucet and disposer):

RotoRooter has never responded back (even though they are very active on Twitter). But a friend recommended trying to find a plumber through Angie’s List, and they tweeted right back offering a coupon to use should I decide to give their membership a try. I may very well do so some time soon, but for now — great job on AngiesList.com’s part monitoring what is being said about them in the Social Media! Especially shines in contrast with the RotoRooter’s silence.

Has anyone else noticed that in most instances when you tweet a complaint, or something negative about a company, you do not get an open response? I’ve had this happen with Starbucks once before too (and I had a really serious incident to report/deal with). Just silence… I guess, they don’t know that negative reviews increase sales too; but most importantly, when addressed properly, build a brand up (instead of hurting it).

Well, today I got started on this exciting project (replacing an old cast iron sink with a stainless steel one, and installing a nice new faucet and a more powerful in-sink garbage disposer). The job turned out to be much harder than I thought (the old sink was not only terribly heavy, but also very well glued to the countertop), and required an extra trip to a home improvement store, but I’m done with the most difficult part of the job, and should have it all finished by lunch tomorrow.

One thing that I got reminded of while removing the old pipes is my health. Yes, you’ve read it right. Our pipes didn’t look as bad as the pipe shown on the right, but they were also clogged with grease, and this reminded me of an analogy I’ve heard some time back. If we don’t take care of our health, eat greasy foods, don’t exercise and don’t monitor our cholesterol levels, our our arteries get clogged just as badly. I must admit, I haven’t checked my cholesterol level in years. I don’t eat bacon, hardly ever have steak, and do exercise, but my kitchen pipes reminded me that I need to check my cholesterol, and monitor what’s going on in my own body more carefully/systematically.

Now it’s time to get some rest… See you all again tomorrow, my faithful readers. Enjoy your weekend!

As I move through a working week, I see that I do well without coffee consumption on Monday and Tuesday (a shot of espresso after lunch doesn’t count), but starting from Wednesday I simply need coffee. It is the drink that the day must start with.

I have also been noticing that with coffee you get a real boost of energy at the outset, but it fades away after about an hour of work. You can fuel yourself up with another cup, but the more cups you take in, the more energy gets drained after the initial effect of energizing is gone. I’ve also observed this to be the case with energy drinks. In fact, I remember reading some time ago that while energy drinks really do mobilize one energetically, the energy resources that are being used are those that are normally being saved for extraordinary situations — an internal emergency ration that each of us has. When it is consistently being used up, by the end of each week I just feel like that empty toothpaste tube I threw away this morning (picture above).

So I have been experimenting on myself, replacing coffee with tea (strong black tea; no cream, no sugar) when possible. It has worked just the way I wanted it to. I still get energized, but not so quickly drained of the energy I receive.

Today in Guy Brown’s The Energy of Life: The Science of What Makes Our Minds and Bodies Work book I read that “chronic coffee use” can actually be a cause of “stress, tiredness, and sleep disruption”. He suggests replacing coffee with team, cola drinks, and chocolate (p. 155). And I’ve been doing just that! I love chocolate and Coke, and I also like black tea. I still love a good cup of morning coffee and quality espresso shot after a good meal. It only seems that depending on that cup (sometimes with a couple extra shots in it too) is just not right. After a few days of heavy caffeine intake, the irritativeness and stress do pile up, and hurt the work productivity.

I know it’s easier for me to switch to tea, because I’m Russian, and been drinking warm tea since six months of age (no kidding). If you haven’t tried it, give it a shot. Maybe it’ll work for you too.

It’s been a while since I have last written about staying healthy, and my today’s post is going to be somewhat related to this topic. There are two components to staying healthy that I personally have been underestimating for a long time: sleep, and emotions.

I wrote about the importance of getting enough rest back in February, but over the past few days I have remembered something that my mother used to tell me back when we all lived under the same roof. She would recommend me not to go to sleep after midnight, but rather try to get to sleep at least an hour before 12:00 am and get up earlier instead of sleeping in. If you have never tried it, I’d encourage you to experiment on yourself. I can clearly see that when I go to bed at 11:00 pm and wake up at 6:00 am, I am significantly more rested on 7 hours of sleep than if I go to sleep at 1:00 pm and wake up at 9:00 am (getting 8 hours of sleep).

Additionally, I’ve been spending a lot of this weekend with my five-year-old daughter (aka Princess Anastasia). We’ve been studying grasshopper’s leg, body and wings under a microscope, learned to play “Old McDonald Had a Farm” on her mini piano, went to Chuck E. Cheese, bought a cupcake maker and made some of our own cupcakes, played a game where I would come to the doctor’s office and she would examine my hair, ears, teeth (not sure what illness she would try to diagnose, but it was fun), etc. The amount of the positive emotions that both of us have received throughout these activities has been enormous, and I already feel how much energy they have given me in addition to that proper sleep.

I hope you’re having a great weekend too. Remember to get plenty of rest, and to spend quality time with those who matter most to you!

Having read through one of Harvard Business Publishing’s management tips of the day, I have decided to elaborate on the same topic but in a more narrow context — that of affiliate program management.

Are you managing your affiliate program(s) staying continuously motivated and happy? Here are my 3 tips on how to be a happier affiliate program manager:

1. Lead instead of managing. I always talk about the impossibility of managing affiliates [see this post and this comment, for example]. Don’t even try to! Be a leader. Sensitive to the affiliates’ needs, flexible to change yourself, and always approachable.
2. Put together a contest. Make marketing fun for your affiliates, and it’ll become fun for you too. To differentiate contests from trivia (which are also good, but not directly tied to your practice of affiliate program management), I divide productive contests into two groups (i) those helping affiliates market better (performance-based contests, guess-the-product in another affiliate’s order, etc), and (ii) those helping you get to know your affiliates better (any photo, hobbies or similar contest).
3. Start developing relationships. Chances are that you are not happy, because you’re missing out on one of the most important parts of the equation — individual relationships with affiliates. Unlike in traditional management contexts where leaders are appointed, in affiliate program management context much is based on personal relationships, genuine care, and emergent leadership.

Wishing everyone a great weekend, and happier work from now on, as well!

I certainly do my sit-ups too, but throughout the work day I keep the following two rules (that help me stay in shape, and keep moving even while working predominantly under sedentary conditions:

Squats

Regardless of the fact that most of my work is done in front of a computer screen, I do have to get up during the day (to grab a coffee, send a fax, send my mail, etc, etc). I’ve made it a rule to never sit back down in my chair unless I’ve done a 10-20 squats. Adding all squats up at the end of the day, you arrive at an impressive number of them, and body likes it.

Push-Ups

Determine a regularly repeating thing you do throughout the day (be it posting a tweet, checking your e-mail, or even using a restroom), and make it a rule to do a number of push-ups after every occurrence of it. If necessary, take a day off after the day you’ve been doing your push-ups. Increase the number of “per set” push-ups on the following day.

Also, remember to drink plenty of water, go to a gym or a swimming pool at least 2-3 times a week, and get enough sleep to feel rested.

Stay healthy, folks! It’ll keep you productive for longer time.

Over the past week I have conducted a poll, where I have asked online marketers about their alcohol consumption. Here are the results so far:

I would prefer not to comment much on this one, but let you make your own conclusions (by the way, if you haven’t voted on the above poll, your honest vote would be much appreciated). Let’s just keep in mind that there are two things that destroy neurons (brain cells that once destroyed do not regenerate): (i) stress and (ii) alcohol. While the former often leads us to the active use of the latter, I am not sure this is the best solution.

I have my reasons to believe that eye health is one of the most neglected areas among online marketers of all sorts. Let’s be honest: how many of us are doing regular eye exercises, taking breaks and ensuring that the computer screen is positioned a little lower than the eye level, and at an angle of 20 degrees? I haven’t been paying much attention to all this stuff until I have discovered a substantial sight deterioration of one of my eyes. I found out about this over a year ago while undergoing through a routine eye check necessary for a driving license renewal. I was shocked to find out how much the sight of that one eye has worsened over the past few years!

Dr. Grossman quotes some daunting statistics:

More than 50 percent of computer users experience eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision and other visual symptoms related to sustained use of the computer. This type of stress on the visual system can also cause body fatigue and reduced efficiency at work. In addition, there are now indications that heavy computer users are at risk for glaucoma. [source]

Back when I found out about the problem that prolonged computer use has caused, I thought: “What could be more important to the productivity of my work than my eyes?” Yes, brain health, of course! And having two hands too… But eyes are like an essential set of tools that I use (and depend on) daily. So in effort to keep them healthy, I started taking Lutein regularly, doing everything possible to take frequent breaks, and do eye exercises. Is it helping? Well, at least, things are not getting worse.

If you have your own tips on how to keep your eyes healthy while working long hours in front of a computer, feel free to share them in the comments area below.

A few days ago I felt weakness, headache, eye ache, and a few other symptoms of falling sick. At first I thought that I had  caught a bug from my daughter (she had been a little “under the weather” after her first few days in preschool). Then it looked more like a burnout, but after going through various definitions of burnout, I realized that I could only identify with the physical symptoms of it. Then I found a book by Cooper et al. where the authors wrote that “it is important to differentiate burnout from fatigue.” (Organizational Stress, 2001, p. 82) So I did some research on fatigue, and Carpenito-Moyet’s definition hit the nail on the head! She wrote that fatigue is to be understood as a “self-recognized state in which a person experiences an overwhelming, sustained sense of exhaustion and decreased capacity for physical and mental work.” (Nursing Diagnosis, p. 307). Bang!! That was it! For the first time in my life I have reached the limit, and my body told me loud and clear: Slow down, man!

That morning I took care of the immediately important issues, took some acetaminophen (to make sure I address the “falling sick” part just in case I were falling sick), and went to sleep. I slept for 2 hours, worked just a little more after lunch, and went to sleep again. Slept for close to 2.5 hours the second time. I thought I would have trouble going to sleep in the evening, but, on the contrary, went to bed earlier than usual, and slept perfectly well all night… I felt much better on the next day, and made sure not to push it too hard and took a midday nap again. On day 3 I felt almost perfectly well.

Back in the year of my birth Yale University Press published a book by Haggard & Greenberg where among other things, the authors discussed fatigue, and wrote that one “may recover from fatigue merely by resting.” (Diet and Physical Efficiency, 1977, p. 157) That plus some chicken soup did wonders for me.

I am making this my second post in the “Staying Healthy” section of my blog, and I promise you that not one post in this section will be of secondary importance. While I am a firm believer in hard work, my above-described experience has stressed the vitality of rest to me. For years I’ve been going to bed several hours later than the rest of my household, and getting up a couple hours earlier than everyone else; and at one moment the cup has just run over.

Are you getting enough rest?

Brian McDonough wrote that while the “amount of sleep one needs varies from person to person,” everyone needs to sleep, and “most people need between seven and nine hours of sleep per night.” He wrote that for some people 4-5 hours is enough (I can’t help but recall biographies of Peter the Great and Napoleon Bonaparte here), and there are those who need 10-12 hours of sleep a night. But “to feel alert and productive during the day, without the need for a daytime nap and without stimulants,” it seems that 7-9 hours a night is what most people need. (Talking Health with Dr. Brian McDonough, 1994, p. 230)

Let’s take our health seriously and rest well; for only then we’ll be able to be productive and receive the ultimate enjoyment from our work and life.