Listen up? To audiobook or to not audiobook

My husband bought me a subscription to Audible for Christmas. I'll confess I have - despite my many years in publishing - until now never listened to an audiobook. I have to also confess that I am not sure I like it!

I selected a title on a historical palace which we are visiting on vacation in a couple of months. I figured it would be a good way to engage with a subject that was likely to be pretty dry.

I was wrong. Rather than be more engaging than the printed version, I find myself missing large chunks of the content when my mind wanders ('hmm I wonder of that guy knows he's snoring really loudly...oh that is a nice coat...etc etc'). Not very good when you're trying to digest lots of facts about a location!

My plan for my next title (the sub gets me one free book a month) is to try a language book. I am thinking that an audiobook geared to learning a language should be better suited to my short attention span on the train. I also think it is the kind of thing I might find easier to listen to than read in print. The benefits of hearing the language spoken are pretty obvious.

I also have plans for book no. three: There are a huge number of titles by celebrity authors reading out their own books. Now that might be well worth a listen...

Any audiobook recommendations?

Fired up

So I recently succumbed to the temptation of an iPad. I had a sense it would improve my productivity at work, and make my home Internet use easier too. Two months on, how is that going?

Work:
- I have used the iPad regularly meetings, taking electronic notes and emailing them immediately back to myself to add to my to dos - time saved, and actions logged more effectively.
- I have been able to print less and review more whilst in meetings through having the documents on my iPad instead.
- I have been able to email someone a file while in a meeting to aid discussion (obviously this only worked because they had an iPad as well; potentially a downside).
- I have been able to review website content for discussion as part of meetings - easy to share and view.

Home
- i-player in the kitchen/bedroom/wherever is like having tv in every room in the house - amazing
- Internet browsing is now immediate and mobile. No more lugging a laptop around, or waiting for it to turn on.
- It has also found itself useful as a kitchen aid. With a portable stand it now doubles up as an extension of our recipe books. A great beef bourgininon was achieved this weekend :)
- We now also have Apple tv, so can stream music and video through the tv.

However, was I too hasty in my purchase? Having just read a lengthy review on Mashable of the Amazon Fire, I'm feeling that creeping sense of doubt. Will I be lusting after that soon too?

Hello January

Welcome 2012. In the end, 2011 was a mixed year for me. The highs were moving into a wonderful new house, some great learning experiences at work, and some great times with friends. The lows were spending three months at the end of the year with a neurological condition that was unpleasant and is still not fully gone, but thankfully was not life threatening.

I have two goals for 2012: to be well, and to be happy. Broad brush, but I intend to do a lot within those two chief statements.

Firstly, that means learning and maintaining a healthy work life balance. On the whole I push myself hard which I know I can no longer do without it affecting my health. Learning my limits and making time to rest is going to be a tough one for me!

Secondly, on the happy front, I'm going to be looking out for some great new books to read: it's been a while since I last devoured a great story. Recommendations are welcome.

More monthly goals and missions will be set. A happy New Year!

For keeps

There is a post in Mashable (http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/PJ6SLhGIhHg/) about retaining talent in start ups, but are those pointers genuinely unique to start ups? It advises that buying a team into your vision is crucial. Well, I work for a middle-sized organisation, and that conversation is as current for me as for any start up. I'd say actually it is probably tougher, because the vision and values have had time to morph or be defused, which wouldn't happen in the early days of an organisation.

Secondly it talks about the need for recognition. Maybe this is more relevant for a start up, but I'd maintain that really, every good organisation should do this. It doesn't take much to say "thanks".

Finally it emphasises how important feedback is. I spent a week this summer learning about being a leader, where a big emphasis was placed on feedback. So, really, what is unique about this list to start ups?

A test from my iPad

It's always a strange thing when presented with a new toy. With the strong belief that I can improve my productivity I went put an bought an iPad today. My belief is that I can spend less time writing up meeting notes, and potentially more time writing on the move. First blog post in a while, let's see if that changes!

Google +

Finally made it onto Google+ yesterday. My husband tried to invite me last weekend but the invitation process was suspended, with Google being very selective again with their new launch. It works well for them in building up a certain level of hype: people talk about it, want to share it, but are restricted. So having finally made it on, I have to say my experience so far has been limited.

The search functionality feels odd to me. Particularly the mobile version (which is also in play on the iPad not just phone): for each page of search results it restarts the alphabetical sorting, so on p.1 you get results sorted from A-Z but then the same again for p.2 etc, instead of all A together, then B then C...

I also (partly because of the above I suppose) found it hard to find people I wanted to connect with. I couldn't search for Twitter or Facebook contacts for example. I couldn't find people I knew were using Google+ even when I typed their whole name in.

The circles concept is without a doubt both clever and unique, but at the minute there aren't enough people on here for me to use this optimally. In the meantime there are very few people in very few circles. The most populated - and where I see myself getting most use - is for following bloggers that I typically read rss or twitter feeds for currently. This might change as more people join, but Facebook isn't going anywhere any time soon...

Blogging for business parts 7,8 and 9: content and posting

Creating editorial calendars is something we've been spending a lot of time on at work recently, as it really is critical to keeping momentum. We have several sites, some which had structured plans, and others which didn't. One of the key take aways for me from this section of The ebook was how we can optimise our posts using Google keyword search to identify what topics in our field at people are searching on.

A lot of planning at the outset of a new blog really does make it easier to kep a steady stream of content. The ebook has some great suggestions about this, including separating out ideas into different categories, such as education, reviews, background on company, etc.

There are good case studies, plus a walk through on uploading a new post.

More from previous posts about blogging for business here