We love to read as well as write here at PYW. Often, we write about what other people are saying and extending the conversation. Other times we just wish we wrote the article in the first place and can do nothing but provide great kudos to our fellow business bloggers.
We’re handing out kudos here.
Every week, I’ll try and give you a good selection of what I consider to be the best blog articles I’ve read during the week – and if you have seen others, please put them into the comments so they can be shared with other readers here …read more

Do you read a lot keeping up with your industry, your work, and your life’s passions?
We do. We like to read and research, of course, but we also read to find the best products, tips, tricks, and pimpalicious treats to share with you in our writing.
This weekly post is one where I pick the best “traditional media” (read: magazine, newspaper, TV, cable) article or series of articles that made me sit back and wonder why I didn’t write that. Agree, or not, it’s OK. Does the article make you think in a different way? Success!
The coffee’s hot; perhaps the additions …read more

How’s this for cool, before our template is even done (if you’re reading this you might be looking at the template and go, huh?) we have our very own theme song!  I pinged my friend Derek who writes and contributes a ton of fabulous podsafe music to the world and asked him if he’d compose a bit of music for our podcasts.
A few days later we have the Mighty Mullane!  You can listen to the short or long version on PodcastSpot and read all about it on Derek’s blog.
Tags: PimpYourWork, PYW, Derek K Miller, podcasts, Mighty Mullane

Little disclosure here.  I have a love-hate relationship with e-mail.  I love getting e-mail, I use it all the time.  I even have this little black device named after a fruit to get it on the go, but … But I HATE e-mail as a collaboration tool.  I know I’m not the only one.  Jack started tapping into this on a post linking to a couple others.  Now I couldn’t get to the second post (I’m linking to it here in hopes that it does rise from the dead), but the post on LibraryClips has some great quotable quotes.
My friend …read more

I’m almost done with my mind mapping series.  I’m sure we’re going to be talking more about it, but this intro into mind mapping is almost done.  First I talked about using a mind map for meeting notes and Scot took my advice (with great results it seems).  Then I talked about mind mapping your project plans, both using them as a starting point and a distribution mechanism.  Now my fav, mind mapping your documents before you write them.
Okay writing long documents can be a huge chore.  That empty Word document window staring at you.  Where do you start.  You …read more

Inspired by Tris’ post on using MindMaps for meeting notes, I thought I would try and implement the program and some of his suggestions during my weekend at Write on the Sound, a writers conference held here in Edmund, WA, this past weekend.
It’s a typical writers conference, or at least I think so. You sign up for one of four “tracks” offering up seminars about various aspects of writing, picking and choosing among the four during each hour and a half segment. Instead of taking notes in my trusty (rusty) three-ring binder, I decided to take notes using MindManager as …read more

We love to read as well as write here at PYW. Often, we write about what other people are saying and extending the conversation. Other times we just wish we wrote the article in the first place and can do nothing but provide great kudos to our fellow business bloggers.
We’re handing out kudos here.
Every week, I’ll try and give you a good selection of what I consider to be the best blog articles I’ve read during the week – and if you have seen others, please put them into the comments so they can be shared with other readers here …read more

I want to take a little break from talking about Excel (my brain can’t handle writing about Pivot Tables until later, I think), to talk about one of my favourite ways to work better and more efficiently: mind mapping.
It might seem kinda out there at first, but hear me out.  Mind mapping is a process of putting ideas, thoughts, tasks, topics into a moveable structure.  For me mind mapping means MindJet’s MindManager.  I’ve been using it for years, but even if you don’t use MindManager, the techniques can really save you time.
Think about how you actually think.  Thoughts are connected.  …read more