My Window To The World…

My good friend - and occasional partner in music crime - from way back, Roland Blum, has been writing and recording his very own take on classical, pop and rock music for almost two decades.

I have recently been giving him a helping hand to get the recordings out of his studio and into the ears of music lovers.

The reactions on Roland Blum’s MySpace have been very positive, which does not surprise me at all. He has put his heart and soul into his tunes.

Not too long ago, yours truly opened an account on Last.FM for him, where several of his tracks are now available for free download. From Roland Blum’s Artist Page, of course.

For his take on pop/rock, check out Roland Blum’s “EP”.

If you are into ambient/chillout, check out Roland Blum’s “Indie Ambient EP”.

And/or if you are into contemporary classical/minimal stuff, check out Roland Blum’s “Sabantey” (the “missing” tracks will be available shortly in the Apple iTunes Store).

His music has recently been featured on the following podcasts:

Green Dragon (UK) (Episode 9 May 2007)

X-Pat Radio (USA) (Episode 11 May 2007)

My Pocket Player (Poland) (Episode 14 May 2007)

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

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Whether you already are self-employed, about to open your own business, organizing an event with friends, or working freelance: a written job description is a helpful tool.

I have been self-employed for five years now, running one main business and a few other things I am hoping to build on in the future. I only took the time to write my job descriptions (a separate one for each business) last year. I feel it has helped me focus.

A couple of years ago, a friend of mine asked me to recode her website, change the product photographs, and update the text (that she would provide me with). I explained to her that I wanted to do all the tasks in one go, since that would be the most productive way for this project. The instructions from both sides could not have been clearer, so we agreed on a price. Shortly after she found out that she would be featured in a magazine, so she wanted some new pictures up immediately and the text on the index page updated, later some more photographs from her new collection added as soon as it was available. And I still had not received the text updates. I explained to her that the price she was paying was already a bargain, and that I would not do any extra work at no additional cost. Job description was in place, but had not been written down. Her interpretation of things was different to mine. Kind of goes back to my post re “Perceptions”.

Two acquaintances and I organized a few events this year, but they were not interested in sitting down and writing their own job descriptions. I wanted to be involved in those events, even though I did know then that resigning from our collective would be the smart thing to do. Needless to say, all people involved ended up disagreeing on who was in charge of what, who was entitled to which percentage of the profits, etc. (I might go into this matter in another post some time.) You live and learn.

Now working on other events with a new collective. Job descriptions are in place, plus other details of course, so there can be no argument since it is all available in black on white. And not written in the beautiful language (not) of legalese.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

Technorati Tags: Lifehacks, Self Employment, Freelance, Food For Thought, GTD, Getting Things Done, Job Description, Job Descriptions

By far one of my favourite blogs out there is Steve Pavlina’s.

Don’t we all struggle at times with developing new habits? I certainly do.

In his article 30 Days To Success, Steve Pavlina outlines a helpful way of tricking your mind into possibly finding it easier to develop new habits.

Technorati Tags: Steve Pavlina, Habits, New Habits, GTD, Getting Things Done, Lifehacks, Lifehacker

I came across this one a while ago. Really like it:

When you’re dropped in a pile of shit, so to speak, you have to decide - either add to the pile, or use it as a fertiliser.

Technorati Tags: Food For Thought

More and more I see how life and also dealing with people has an awful lot to do with perceptions.

Just recently my girlfriend said how happy she was that after all the years we have been together, I still open the door for her and let her hop into the taxi before me. I shamefully had to admit that I do this for selfish reasons: I cannot stand sitting behind the driver.

She is happy. I am happy. Both of us for rather different reasons.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

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Technorati Tags: Food For Thought

Another one-liner.

Hope it will inspire you to do a bit of thinking:

If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you always got.

After getting up in the morning, it usually takes me a while to get going. My brain does not properly function for at least an hour or two. Maybe even three…

I have recently started writing down a schedule/plan for the coming day, which has helped tremendously.

With the limited early-morning brain power, I just go on autopilot, look at the list, and do what it says. Still find it hard to believe just how well it works for me.

© Patrice Schneider. No reproduction without prior written consent.

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Technorati Tags: Lifehacks, Productivity, Lifehacker, GTD, Getting Things Done