Working out while traveling just got a bit easier

After quite a while of being a slacker, I have decided to pay a lot more attention to my diet and exercise regimen.  A big part of that is designed to help me follow much better habits while on the road.

One part of this change is to do some sort of workout or physical exercise every day.  It's been going well, but workouts on the road can be a challenge when it's hard to create a convenient time window to get to the hotel fitness center.

Bring the gym to you

Last week, I was in Dallas and decided to try out one of the Westin Hotel chain's "WestinWorkout" rooms in which you can reserve a room with fitness equipment in it.  I really like this concept - it allows me to get a workout in when I want to, under much more relaxed circumstances.  Here is a quick tour of the room I stayed in:

In the video, I mention I was expecting a treadmill (the bike worked fine, but I still like treadmills better).  Good news:  you can now specify whether you want a cycle or a treadmill, at least in some hotels - I had that choice when I booked at the Westin in Seattle a few days ago.

I hope this trend takes off and spreads to other hotels.  I'm a "Starwood guy" so the fact that Westin is a Starwood property makes me hopeful that other Starwood brands will follow suit. 

Job Seekers: How to stay organized while on the hunt

Job hunting these days is less like dating and more like having your face stomped on repeatedly by a rubber boot. Forbes reports that a single job listing will get an average of 118 applicants, yet only 27 percent of those applicants will actually receive an interview. If you're serious about your job search, you're very likely applying to dozens of positions every day. This can lead to a lot of complications, such as forgetting which jobs you've already applied to. Finding a new job should be treated like work: you need to be structured, organized and consistent if you are to be successful.

Managing separate résumés for better fits

If you're looking at multiple types of industries and positions, you need to have multiple résumés that resonate with the hiring manager you're targeting. If your last two positions were tech support in a healthcare company and administrative support for a real estate company, you might even have up to four resumes: healthcare-focused, real estate-focused, tech support-focused and administration-focused. There are applications such as Résumé Tracker, which will allow you to track the different versions of your résumé easily, but you can also simply name them in a consistent fashion, and keep them all in the same folder on your hard drive.

Mind the image you present

Take a look at the image you present to the people you're approaching - does your résumé look professional?  Are you using a professional email address?  If you're sending a physical résumé printing it on high quality paper can help - just avoid cheesy patterns or overly busy stationery.

If you plan on presenting references, be sure those references know about it, are willing to help, and are warned that you've just sent out a bunch of résumés.  It can also be helpful if you confirm that they believe you'll be a good fit for the jobs you're applying for and are willing & able to give you a positive reference. 

Organizing your job applications with ease

Applying to a specific job multiple times can be a disaster. Not only does it make you look unorganized, but you could also accidentally represent yourself in multiple ways, and thus make it appear as though you're being shady about your credentials. It's somewhat easy to tell whether you've applied to a position when using job applications online, as you can simply check to see whether you've signed up or not under your email address. Responding to classified ads, on the other hand, can be a little more difficult. You could keep everything in an Excel spreadsheet, or you could also start using an application such as Jibber Jobber.

Time management isn't only for after you get hired

It's important for you to be consistent when it comes to your job hunt. As Huffington Post notes, you should schedule specific times for your job hunt, and you should approach it like a job. You can create a routine that involves set hours of your day, and during this time, you should focus only on procuring your next position. You should also set small goals for yourself each day, much like projects. These tasks must be actionable steps you can control, such as filling out 10 applications in a day, rather than steps you can't control, such as acquiring an interview within a week.  This can also help you feel the momentum of the process.

Don't stumble at the finish line

Organization doesn't stop once you get an interview. You also need to manage your appointments effectively, and ensure you never miss an interview and you're never late. If you're going to an interview in an unfamiliar area, you may want to head out early, or scope out the location beforehand. Smartphones are absolutely superb for creating appointment notification, as well as getting directions. You should also remember that it's impolite to be late, but it's also impolite to be more than 15 minutes early.  It's OK to show up early to keep unforeseen delays from making you miss the appointment, but when you do, simply hang out at a nearby coffee shop and wait until 10 minutes prior to the interview before going into the building.

If you have any other tips to share, please let me know. 

Related articles: 

• Looking for a job? Preparation can make a difference
• Creating job descriptions with MindManager
• Job Seekers: Are you Defiant?
• The Image of Success

Attitude at Altitude: A Lesson

This past weekend, I traveled out of town with one of my daughters for a soccer tournament.  The tournament was in South Lake Tahoe (on the border between California and Nevada) and we were about 6300 feet above sea level (almost 2km elevation).  My daughter's team is used to practicing and playing in Oregon, at about 50 feet above sea level (about 15 meters ) elevation.  

When you aren't accustomed to it, physical activity at that altitude is very challenging.  For example, I went for a hike up into the mountains after we arrived, and it was much more difficult than I expected due to the thinner atmosphere at that altitude. 

Attitude at Altitude

The reason for the title of this post:  The girls' coach never mentioned anything about the altitude to the girls on the team, and asked the parents not to say anything.  The girls played their hearts out the whole weekend, and never complained.  They played amazingly well, and came in second in the tournament (they lost on penalty kicks in the championship game).

I believe if we'd have told them something about how the altitude  would affect their performance, they wouldn't have done as well.  In other words, we didn't give them the data that would mess with their attitudes, so their attitudes weren't affected. 

After reflecting on it, I think the coach did exactly the right thing.  Having that information wouldn't have changed their circumstances one bit - they'd still have to play at a higher altitude, compete with the same teams, and deal with the same physical effects of their environment. Knowing about the difference in atmosphere wouldn't have made a bit of difference in their situation, but it could have affected their attitudes or confidence dramatically. 

How Are We Affecting Our Teams With Our Data? 

This weekend got me thinking about how the information I choose to communicate might be affecting the teams I "coach" or work with - am I giving them information that could cause them to perform poorly?  Is the information I communicate to them something they can control or affect? Or am I giving them the data to sabotage their own performance.

I now want to be more conscious of how I communicate with my own teams at work, and try to be conscious of how my message may affect their performance in detrimental ways.   If I mess up their attitude by causing them to worry about things beyond their control, I could cause us all to lose the game.

My Pebble Watch: A Two-week Review

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A long time ago, I put in an order for a Pebble watch which bills itself as an "E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android."  If you're not familiar with this, this was a Kickstarter success story.  They initially appealed to the public for funding and got $10.2 million in about a month - pretty impressive. 

They've sold somewhere north of 75,000 watches and are scurrying to catch up with their backorders.  They started shipping in March and I was somewhere in the low 40,000's and got my watch two weeks ago - in my opinion, they are making good progress. 

My Observations So Far

As I mention in the title, I've had this watch for a couple of weeks (I got the black one) and I'm pretty happy with it.  Some observations based on my brief experience:

Look and Feel

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• The watch is well-made and looks nice.  It is a bit on the large size, which suits me fine as I have big wrists, but I'd be interested in hearing how people with smaller wrists feel about the size (this is a unisex, one-size watch at the current time).
• It does fine with random exposure to water, and lives up to the water-resistant claims (showers, dishwashing, etc. - haven't tried swimming with it yet). 
• The look is sleek and clean.  My only concern with the design is the durability of the "glass" screen.  It feels like a tough plastic, and I'm thinking it will probably scratch over time so I plan to be careful where I wear this watch.
• I have gotten a lot of comments and compliments on the watch, as it looks very striking.   I think the watch faces have a lot to do with this - they are very clean, readable, and can be changed to match your style or mood (you can have quite a few watch faces loaded on the watch, and cycle through them with the watch buttons).  My favorite watch face is one of the "built-in" faces - the one that shows the time in words, as you can see in the picture above.

Connectivity

• The watch syncs easily with my phone (an HTC One) via Bluetooth, and automatically connects and disconnects when I'm out of range, with no intervention from me. 
• I travel a lot, and the watch adjusts automatically to my local time zone, which I like very much. 
• It is easy to download new watch faces using the browser on my phone.  Once I download a watch face, it syncs to my watch and becomes available immediately.  My favorite site for Pebble watch faces is AllPebble.
  
• It's also easy to download apps for the watch, though there aren't many of them yet.  Pebble just opened up their SDK for developers, so expect we'll see a lot more apps soon (I'm hoping for one that acts as a pedometer and sleep monitor - the watch has the sensors to do it, it just needs the software.
• One of the coolest aspects of connectivity is the built-in music control.  I can use my watch to start & stop music, and go to the next and previous tracks.  I didn't think I'd use this very much but it has been a great way to control music while I'm driving without taking my eyes off the road.  Another cool side benefit of the music controller app is that it will show the name and artist of the song on your watch face. 

Alerts and Notifications

• Since it's paired with your phone, you can use the Pebble as a remote display for app notifications, SMS, email alerts, and things like that.  This is pretty configurable - for example, I only use the watch for text messages, WhatsApp! alerts, and meeting reminders.
• The Pebble has a vibrating alarm, which is very nice - it is a non-jarring way to wake up, and I can set an early morning alarm without waking up my wife.   Also, you can set the alarm directly on the watch, which means you can adjust alarm settings even when you don't have your phone or it's in Airplane mode.
• The watch warns you when it's running low on battery, and you have about half a day to charge it once the alerts start. 

Battery life

• Battery life has been very good.  Pebble claims you'll get 4 to 7 days out of a charge, and I've been getting about 5 or 6, so the claims seem accurate.  The variability is mainly a factor of 1) how many alarms and alerts cause the phone to vibrate every day; and 2) how much you use the backlight (you can have it come on automatically when you shake your wrist, or when you push a button).
• Charging is easy - the charging cable works on any USB port or USB wall charger, and has a magnetic charging "plug" that attaches to the side of the watch.  The watch charges in an hour or two, depending on how low the power level was when you started the charge cycle.  Be careful with your charging cable, by the way - they aren't selling extras until after they fill the full backlog of watch orders. 

In short, I'm very happy with the Pebble watch so far and can't wait to see what apps become available for it in the future. 

8+ Practical Tips for Avoiding Pickpockets

A week or so back, I was in Amsterdam and my phone was stolen from my pocket on the street.  I'm usually very cautious, wary, etc. when I'm in an area known for pickpockets, but I let me guard down for a few minutes and paid the price. 

With that in mind, here are some good general tips to protect yourself from pickpockets. 

1. Be an informed visitor.  You can usually find out if the city you're going to is known for pickpockets with a quick search of the internet. Searching for "pickpockets <city name>" will usually let you know pretty quickly.  I already knew Amsterdam was known for pickpockets, since I used to live in The Netherlands.  Other cities that are infamous for this are Rome, Barcelona, Prague, Madrid, Paris, and Florence.
2. When you go out, only take what you need.  Leave your passport, spare credit cards, and other belongings in the hotel safe.  I usually only take some cash, and an "emergency" credit card with me and lock the rest away (along with my iPad, computer, camera, etc.)
3.  Put the things you do take with you in a front pocket or a hidden pocket.  It is much harder to get things out of your front pocket without you noticing.  Also, if you just have the cards and some cash in your front pocket, it is much less conspicuous.
4. Avoid walking into or through crowds.  This one can be a challenge sometimes, but avoid crowds where you can - inside a crowd, people can rub up against you easily, and you can't tell what they are doing.
5.  Try to blend in.  Pickpockets are on the lookout for people who look like they are lost, unfamiliar with the area, etc. so avoid looking at maps, wandering around in a confused or disoriented way, or other things that would indicate you are a tourist.  This includes trying to dress in a way that is consistent with the locals, if at all possible.
6. Don't talk to strangers.  If someone approaches you to engage with you, be very wary - they may be trying to distract you so that an accomplice can grab your goodies while you aren't paying attention.
7. Consider carrying a "decoy wallet."  I have a friend who carries an old wallet in his back pocket with some old hotel room keys (they look kind of like credit cards) and a few $1 bills in it.  He keeps this in his back pocket as bait for a pickpocket, and follows the guidelines above.  I don't know if it works or not, but it seems like a plausible idea.
8. Know what you have, and have a backup if you can.  Make sure you have an accurate inventory of what you've taken with you, even if you plan to lock it in your room safe.   I have scans of the front and back of my credit cards, my passport, and my drivers license in an encrypted file on cloud storage (I use 1Password for this) so I can get to it from anywhere.  This tells me what I've lost, what number to call, and provides me with a "punch list" of the things to cancel or have replaced in the event they get stolen.
   
   Along these lines, also make sure you have information on whatever electronics you're carrying - serial number, make & model, IMEI number if it's a phone, etc.  It is also a good idea to permanently mark your gadgets with your name if you're comfortable with doing that.

OK, OK...I knew all of this.  So what did I do wrong?  In hindsight, I violated rules 3, 5 and 6.  

• I violated rule 3 by letting my guard down and putting my phone in my outside jacket pocket for easier access.  
• I violated rule 5 by looking at my phone periodically to make sure I was on the right street using Google maps.  This probably made me stand out as a tourist. 
• I violated rule 6 by talking with someone who was asking me a bunch of questions, and I foolishly engaged with him (he turned out to have a couple of nearby accomplices that I didn't notice at first and who were smooth enough that I didn't think of them til later).

Rule 3 is probably what did me in, though.  Had I kept my phone in my right front pocket (as I usually do), I don't think they'd have gotten it without me noticing.  As it was, they got my phone, which I noticed about 5 minutes later but they were long gone by then.

By the way, as soon as I got to my hotel I called AT&T and reported the phone stolen and they blacklisted it on their network and disabled my account.  I'm sure glad my phone was locked with a password and had a short auto-lock timeout!

I'm also glad it wasn't my passport or anything else essential.  That reminds me - if you carry your phone with you, make sure you have copies of all your vital information from the phone, so you can re-provision it when you're done.  For iPhones, this means backing up regularly to iCloud or your computer; for Android phones, this means ensuring you're syncing with Google regularly, or using one of the many backup apps available in the Google Play store.

What about you?  Any tips to add or pickpocket stories to share?