Do you want a better bonus or raise? How would that help you out right now? I’ve always been obsessed with finding out how businesses do raises, bonuses, promotions and perks. If I had to sum up all of the tips and tricks in one sentence it would be this: Think like a business owner. […]

Sometimes I have a hard time starting a task. I’ll check email, get a drink, get a snack, start cleaning my desk–all things that are NOT the task at hand. Once I get into “the zone” I can be very productive, but getting there can be a challenge. What if there was a shortcut to […]

How would you feel? Panic? Relief? What would you walk away with besides a box? Experience. You always take your experience with you. The question is how much are you taking advantage of the experiences available to you right now? Think about where you want to be. Are you already at your ideal job or […]

I never understood how people could study while listening to music. Sure, I listened to music while doing physical tasks like exercising or yard work, but as the youngest in my family, by the time I had to do any serious studying the house was pretty quiet and in college I usually went to the […]

I was living in Brazil in 1999. Home telephones were rare because they were expensive to install and use. However, by the time I left in 2001 cell phones were fairly common. Many countries experienced this “leap” from no phone to wireless since a single cell tower could cover hundreds of homes without the time […]

Which is better? Accuracy or Consistency? This is an age old debate when it comes to working with unstructured data tools. People see one mistake from some text analytics, speech to text, or image recognition output and cry, “See?! Machines just can’t do this.” But humans can’t either. One person isn’t fast enough to read […]

Have you ever tried to cut a board with a hammer? Given enough time and force it can be done but the task is much easier and has a better ending when you use a saw. Dealing with unstructured data can sometimes feel like cutting a board with a hammer. It takes up more space. […]

You may have heard the phrase “Data is the new oil” but like oil, data must be refined before it can really be useful. Numeric data is easy to refine – you can add it, sort it, average it, and look for trends. But what about text? How do you add words? This + That […]

Have you ever second-guessed the expiration date of something that has been in your fridge for a while then instantly regretted it when that distinct smell of expired food hit your nose? Or maybe there’s that mystery container in the work fridge that has turned every color of the rainbow over the past 2 months […]

We spend a lot of time with email. Especially at work. Email can be a great way to collaborate with people in different places and at different times but it can also be annoying, a waste of time, and even get you into trouble. Knowing what to watch out for as you send and receive […]

“Please” is the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the phrase “magic word”. However, when it comes to getting more out of your current job you’re going to need the other magic word: Goal No, not gooooaaaallll but goal, as in Do something by date for benefit Goals are your key to a bigger […]

Who cares about your raise or bonus? You. No one else cares more than you. So why would you leave it in someone else’s hands? Sure, your manager fills out a review or evaluation for you and gives feedback, but do you think that is the only thing they have to do? It’s usually on […]

Whether you know it or not, you are in the spotlight. Maybe not every day, maybe not even every month, but there are one or two times a year that you are in the spotlight. Under the microscope. I’m talking about raise and bonus time. The problem a lot of people run into is that […]

Happy Black Friday! Are you shopping online in your PJs, bundled up and waiting outside in a line, or happily sleeping in after a nice Thanksgiving? A big part of black Friday for me was the build up and suspense. Going through the 2-inch thick newspaper while eating just one more piece of pie, making […]