Happy Valentine's Day - Social Media Style

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope that someone has wished you a Happy Valentine's Day. Everyone deserves a little love now and then.

Facebook and other social media tools make it easier to send greetings and well-wishes to others on special occasions such as today. There is a ton of creativity out there when it comes to gifts, but is posting a message on someone's Facebook wall, or sending them a Twitter update as meaningful as making a phone call or sending a card? Probably not... 

I often think about how connected we have become as a society, yet so impersonal at the same time. We choose to often communicate in quick blurbs and keystrokes rather than use the telephone or more traditional modes of communication. We certainly can perform more tasks daily due to the technology we now use and adore, but we still end up wishing we had more time left in each day. How can we fit in all the things that we feel that we "need" to do?

Yesterday at Church, my pastor used an old illustration to comment on how we fill our lives with multiple tasks and worries.  Here is a summary:

• He showed us two large glass jars: 
• The first jar was 3/4 full with small white rocks (symbolizing all of the little things we focus so much attention on.)
• The second jar was empty. 
• Also, he had six loose larger black rocks (symbolizing the more important values we have and taks we should tend to.) 
• First, he demonstrated that when we attempt to place more important things in the almost full jar, the jar overflows and there is not enough space. 
• Secondly, he removed the large rocks from the first jar. 
• Thirdly, he placed the large rocks into the empty jar first, mentioning that its important to build a foundation on the important things like faith and family. 
• Finally, he poured all of the small white rocks from the first jar into the second jar with the larger black rocks. After doing this, it was obvious that all of the rocks fit with room to spare.

Sure, this is a bit of an old parlor trick, but it drove home a good point. Focus on what is most important, and tend to the little things after that. You'll accomplish more of what you want, and place the primary emphasis on what is truly important. This made me think alot about my faith, my relationship with my wife, my children, and other important things in my life. As someone that is constantly trying to improve himself, I found that my pastor's visual illustration was very motivational.

Although I did indeed post a Happy Valentine's Day message on my wife's Facebook wall, I plan on telling her that in person this evening, and giving her and my children the attention that they truly deserve. Focus on the big stuff... there's plenty of time for the little things later.

Social media provides us with some really useful functionality. I enjoy learning about social media, using it to reconnect, and utilizing its benefits in terms of creating communites and content distribution. However, there's nothing wrong with picking up the phone or visiting someone and actually saying "Happy Valentine's Day."

What do you think? Have our lives become too impersonal due to the overuse of social media tools? How are you managing to tend to the things that are most important to you and still accomplishing all of the other things you want to do? Leave me a comment below, I'd love to hear from you!

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$uper Bowl - The Epitome Of Excess

Here it is, $uper Bowl Sunday. Americans coast to coast take to firing up their grills, tapping beer kegs, and overindulging in homemade chili. Each year, the tradition repeats. Today pretty much showcases the amount of excesses American's partake in. For football fans, it is the culmination of the season. For large corporations, it is the chance to jockey for a lucrative commercial spot.

Watching football is not a regular part of my weekly routine. I am aware of which teams are playing in today's game. As far as players go, I am only aware of the Pittsburgh quarterback, and I know of him only because of the accusations he has faced off the field. Watching the game tonight, I will be hearing most players names for the first time.

As a child, I was a huge fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The days of Terry Bradshaw, Franco Herris, and Mean Joe Greene. The first football I ever had was a model that featured a phony Terry Bradshaw signature. Those days are long gone. These days, I rarely have the time or motivation to watch highlights from a football game let alone devote several hours to watch an actual game. I suppose I would watch a game if I had nothing else productive to do.

I'm not slamming football fans. In fact, I used to be a huge fan myself. I enjoyed playing on my high school football team as well. Out team was pretty pathetic back then, and although I liked to play, I certainly wouldn't call myself good at it. It's just that at this point in my life, I can't justify giving football the attention. However, tonight I will watch.

A good portion of the media attention leading up to today's game has been, as in years past about the types of commercials that will be shown, as well as what musical act (Black Eyed Peas) is performing at half-time. Spots featuring Angry Birds, the deal website GroupOn, car companies, and television shows are predicted to garner tons of attention. In fact, there are multiple websites dedicated to the display and popularity of super bowl advertising.

One of the most famous Super Bowl television ads in history was the Apple Macintosh "1984" ad that appeared during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII. It was directed by famed director Ridley Scott and its Super Bowl appearance was its only U.S. daytime televised broadcast. It is considered to be one of the best commercials of all time.Take a look at the commercial below.

As I mentioned, I'll be watching the game tonight. However, I will be paying close attention to the advertisements. I find the ads that run during the Super Bowl to be a fair gauge at what will follow in terms of consumerism in the remainder of the year. I feel that the commercial spots will do more in generating conversation in the long run that the actual action of the game will. I could be wrong... Maybe tonight's game will bring me back to the times of my youth when I loved the game. We'll see...

What are your thoughts on the Super Bowl? Are you looking forward to the football game, and are you a fan of the Steelers or Packers? Do you like the commercials? What are your favorites? Please leave a comment below.

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• Angry Birds May Be The Highlight Of The Super Bowl
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Incredibly Dumb Products For Sale - Volume 1

Every once in a while, I marvel at how society as a whole has absolutely lost its way. One of the ways I keenly observe this trend is by finding products that truly are incredibly stupid. The mind boggling thing is, people actually buy these items.

A few of the five items I will be highlighting below are high in price, and my guess is, incredibly low in functionality. Consider this the first volume of my presentation of products you absolutely do not need.

Here's a few of my new favorites I discovered in the handy catalog of usefulness that I found in the airline seat back in front of me... the picture captions link to the actual products.

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Indoor Dog Restroom

For only $99.95, you can get this genuine grass carpet on a piece of plastic. Too lazy to let your dog outside to relieve themselves? Why not them soil a carpet? Sounds totally logical to me! Need a replacement piece of grass carpet because you are too lazy to clean it? Why not just throw it away and replace it! It will only cost you $49.95. What a bargain!

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iRestore Hair Laser

Described as a "new revolutionary device developed so you can take control of your thinning hair." This is a cheap find for only $499. You only need to pay 500 bucks and you too can look this stylish. The funny thing is, the guy they have modeling this thing has a full head of thick hair. Imagine showing this marvel off to your guys at the next football game. I want one simply because it looks so bad.

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Pet Wheel-Away

How much will this handy little pull-behind set you back? Only $119.95! Granted I could buy a plastic foldup crate with a handle at Staples for less than $20 but hey... only the best for my pet? America has gone insane with all of the costumes, carpeted bed steps, and other absurd pet products on the market. Simply amazing...

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Motorized Grill Brush

Grills can get messy. I understand that. Somehow, someone decided that they were so lazy that they needed a rotating motorized brush to scrape their grill for them. Hey, it even has a handy light so you can see what you are flipping in the dark. How many people do you know that grill food in the dark? Not many I gather! This gem of a find is only $19.99.

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Sling Couture Face Mask

Ladies, want to look stylish at the club and still prevent getting the swine flu? Not into catching a cold or maybe a stomach bug but still want to go out and mingle with your friends? Why not pick yourself up a Sling Couture Face Mask! There are several fashionable fabric patterns available for both men and women. Guys, you'll be a hit at your next tee time with your palm tree fabric face mask! For only $9.95, this item is clearly a steal.

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I find the products I mention above absurd. That's just my personal opinion and I mean no disrespect to those that may find them useful. Do you see these items as useful? If so, I'd love to hear from you in the comments below.

Customer Service - Walgreens Gets It Right

Customer service is a loaded word. Quite often, businesses treat their customers with a total lack of service whatsoever. In a post a while back called: Customer Service Is Closed... Literally, I spoke about how I felt at the lack of service at a local Wal-Mart.

Today, I am writing to tell you of a recent experience that offers a perfect example of how customer service should be.

Recently, my son went to the doctor with a respiratory issue. Nothing serious, just some congestion that was making it difficult to breath. After seeing the doctor, my wife headed to Walgreens to have my son's prescription filled. Typically, my wife will drop off the prescription in the afternoon, and I will pick it up on the way home from work.

On the way home, I stopped by the Walgreens drive-thru pickup to get the prescription. They had no filled prescription for my son, or anyone else in the family. This seemed odd to me. After a couple of minutes of searching for it, they found it in the basket of unfilled prescriptions. It had been dropped off at 12:30 pm, and it was now around 7:00 pm. Plenty of time to have it filled.

I did not complain. The pharmacist technician apologized for the oversight and asked if it would be okay for me to wait a few minutes. I agreed, and about 5 minutes later, the technician came back with the prescription.

She sent the prescription out the drive-thru tray and once again apologized for my inconvenience. I asked her how much I owed, and she replied: "There is no charge today sir due to our oversight and your inconvenience. Granted it would have only cost me $10 in copay, but still, I was impressed that they did that.

In my experiences with other pharmacies, I have come away with a much poorer impression of their quality of customer service. I used to go to CVS, but due to the fact that their technicians seemed inefficient and rude (at least at my location,) I switched to Walgreens when they opened across the street.

It is experiences like I have mentioned above that make a strong impression on me as to who can earn and keep my business. At this point, unless I have an absolutely horrible experience there in the future, Walgreens will have me as a customer for life.

What examples of exceptional customer experience have you experienced? Has some company treated you so well, that you will go no place else for particular products or items?

Related Posts:

• Customer Service Is Closed... Literally

GTD Tools And Techniques

Over the past few weeks, I have been diving deeper into the using the "Getting Things Done" or GTD methodology for becoming more productive and organized. This is the first in an ongoing series of articles in which I discuss how I am implementing the methods described in the book Getting Things Done by David Allen.

David Allen's book recommends performing a daily "mind dump," which is essentially the process of writing each task or thing that you have on your mind on its own single sheet of paper. It's a great idea to get tasks and ideas out of your head and into a place where you trust you can retrieve them.

The problem for me is, I am trying to avoid using paper as much as possible. For me, paper seems to pile up endlessly, no matter how much I try to keep things in their proper place. I began the search for an electronic solution to this problem. Ideally, the solution needed to be computer-based and able to sync with my mobile devices for access and input while away from the computer.

I've been using two applications religiously for the last couple of weeks: Evernote and OmniFocus. I will describe these applications and how I am using them below.


Evernote

Evernote is an application that is available for Mac, Windows, and many mobile phones that allows you to capture ideas, photos, web clippings and much more. You can easily organize and index the things that you enter into the application. Another nice feature is that you can add tags to notes to aid in searching and grouping certain things.

One of the features I most like about Evernote is its simplicity. As far as keeping track of notes and information that you may want to reference in many places, it is phenomenal. I use evernote on my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The program syncs itself to the cloud and keeps all information current across all of my devices.

I frequently use Evernote to store things like configurations and settings needed for computers I may be working on, websites that I hear about and would like to review at some point, and sermon notes at my church. The application is easy to use, and the basic version is absolutely free. There is a premium version available for $5 a month, or $45 a year that offers enhanced security, bigger upload capacity, support for more file types, pdf searching, faster image recognition, and no ads. 

By all means, check out Evernote!

OmniFocus

OmniFocus is my favorite productivity tool. It was co-developed my Merlin Mann of the GTD and productivity oriented website 43folders.com, this application works incredibly well. A friend recommended I try this tool and see how it affected my productivity. 

I must say, that I have been more productive since using OmniFocus. It allows you to capture, process, and organize your to-do and project items, as well as sync it across multiple devices. The only caveat I have seen is that you need to purchase the app for mobile devices even if you have purchased the computer-based version.

The feature I really love about OmniFocus is that you can organize items into different "contexts," that allows you to focus on performing certain work tasks at appropriate times. For instance, you can choose the "Phone" context and see all of the phone-based items you need to complete while you have time or access to make phone calls. 

This program, from what I have seen, most closely follows the methodology in the Getting Things Done book, and was designed specifically to adhere to the processes described in the book. 

The program is available for Mac, iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. I have the program for my Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The application is reasonably priced at $79.95 for Mac, $19.99 for iPhone, and $39.99 for iPad.

This is by far my go-to application for implementing GTD. If you have a Mac or Apple iOS device, give OmniFocus a try!

Do you use Evernote or OmniFocus? If so, I'd love to hear how you are using it. If you do not use these tools, do you think they could help you keep track of the chaos of organizing things? 

Stay tuned for more articles on GTD here on TimPonders.com!

Changing Old Habits - Getting Organized

I've never been the most organized person. I like things neat and orderly, but when it comes to managing my tasks and other aspects of life, I've been a mess. Not that I would consider myself a slob, but I never seem to keep everything in quite the order I'd care to.

It seems that every so often, and especially ar the dawn of a new year that I most desire to change my organization habits and effectiveness.

 There are many approaches and techniques that you can employ to help you get organized and stay on top of tasks. One of the most popular books on the subject is Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. This book has spawned a huge following, industry, and mentality known as GTD (Getting Things Done).

There are several incredible blogs and other resources that have showcase and have adapted the principles that David Allen illustrates. The most notable online GTD resource other than David Allen's website is 43folders.com created by Merlin Mann. Merlin's site discusses ways to improve your career and life through successful management of your attention.

I've been a huge fan of the Getting Things Done book, and 43folders.com websites for many years. The question is... can I take this information and make it work for me? Can I finally achieve a higher level of organization and productivity?

I'm giving it some solid effort. Today is the first day back in the office for 2011, so I am starting the year off on the right foot. As I mentioned in Saturday's blog post Blogroll And Inspiraton For 2011, the key to my achievement of goals this year is persistence. So I will keep at it, and let you know how it is working out.

There are a few other online resources I frequently visit for inspiration and tips on how to better manage things in my life:

• LifeHacker - Tips that offer shortcuts to productivity, interesting technical insight, and more.
• Zen Habits - Tips and tools to help simplify life and become more effective.
• Cranking Widgets - Productivity blog targeted at entrepreneurs.

What resources, tips, and approaches do you need to stay organized and productive? Are you in need of an organizational makeover like I am?

Blogroll And Inspiration For 2011

Here we are starting a new year. 2010 was a great year, and as I reflect back on it, I have been thinking about what I have learned, and what I have for goals in 2011. I don't really believe in resolutions, as they are often abandoned after falling short of ones expectations.

How can I meet my goals for the year? Persistence. Nothing happens overnight. Despite what we are marketed, success in reaching any goal takes planning, dedication, and passion. Over the past year, I have been inspired by so many to keep plugging away at writing, learning, and contributing.

At one point, I had thought that blogging was becoming too commonplace. It seemed like everyone was doing it. I had made the incorrect assumption that I could not contribute anything new by blogging myself. I was proved wrong. My passion for content and putting my own unique spin on things has been revitalized by several bloggers and friends. Their continued support and willingness to share tips and lend their insightful comments have been so inspiring.

I'd like to share a few blogs of those that have inspired me. I have chosen these blogs for several reasons. These blogs have succeeded by lending insight into how technology, finances, entertainment, and other things have affected them personally. In my opinion, the best bloggers have a strong passion for building community, and offer a look into their personal lives.

Five blogs to watch:

• DamondNollan.com - Damond's blog offers a great blend of commentary on technology, trends, pop culture, and personal reflections. Community-focused and top-notch.
• Li'l Bytes - Marianne offers us a look at her passion for social media, entertainment, and human nature. I especially enjoy her posts on wellness and gaming. 
• SocialMediaWannabe - Todd offers insightful posts on social media, entertainment, and society.
• Wayne Sutton - Wayne is the go to guy for what is hot in social media and technology, as well as happenings around the triangle region of North Carolina.
• The Anti-Social Media - Jay Dolan's great site of social media satire and humor. 

Those are just a few blogs that I frequent. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. 

I aim to increase my output of content in 2011 and offer quality to those that visit here. and I'm excited to see what is around the corner! Thanks for reading. 

Wow - No Effort Needed, Ever!

Lose weight fast, become rich overnight, lose those aches and pains instantly! Advertising today hasn't changes much since the snake oil carts of the past. When I see these commercials on television or in print, I find them better than any comedy film. They are simply hilarious and entertaining.

Last week I started reading the new book from Timothy Ferriss entitled The Four Hour Body. Tim describes various techniques he has implemented to achieve significant weight loss, fitness results, sleep optimization, enhanced sexual pleasure, and more. This book is the result of a tremendous amount of research on Tim's part, and a significant investment of his personal money as well to gather the best equipment and expertise in each field to assist him with his studies.

Although rather bold, Tim Ferris knows of what he writes about. He has spent his career hacking the body and personal processes to obtain the maximum results with the least effort. Let's make a note here... there is still effort involved. You must follow plans properly, as well as implement techniques as demonstrated and described. You need to do some work...

That's why I laugh so much when I see these commercials that tout simply popping a diet pill as the answer to your weight problems. Heck, even real pharmacy companies market to us this way.

Look at Viagra. It has given many men the opportunity to experience sex in a somewhat normal way. Although Viagra assists men in one area, there is no one pill that will solve all sexual issues. There is no one stop answer... period.

How can one expect to be rich overnight? Unless you are given an incredible financial settlement or inherit a fortune, there is no possible way you can become wealthy in a relatively short period of time without absolutely incredible effort. The fact that you pay $100 for some television infomercial from some guy in a question mark outfit will not make you any money. You have been taken for a ride. I'm sorry if you have fallen victim to the fallacy of infomercial television.

These companies are making millions of dollars selling snake oil. What I find most hilarious is that people still buy it in droves. However, what I find sad is how little the intelligence of the general populous has evolved and are still led like dogs to this garbage.

I'll finish reading Tim Ferriss' The Four Hour Body, work on implementing his techniques, and report on my findings. But to achieve results, I'll be putting forth something that is always needed to achieve results... effort.

What do you think about all the products sold on television infomercials and in some stores?

Customer Service Is Closed... Literally

Here we are at the busiest shopping time of the year. Many stores are open extended hours to accomodate shoppers, and conveniently, my local Wal-Mart is open 24 hours a day as it always is.

I decided to stop by my local Wal-Mart this evening to pickup the Vizio Blu-Ray Player Model VBR-220 that was priced at $138, a great price for the functionality that it claims to offer. The device has a Blu-Ray DVD player, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Netflix streaming, Flickr, Picasa Web Albums, Twitter, and Facebook access. Pretty feature-packed in my opinion.

So it was about 7:30 PM, I purchased the unit, and I headed home for some dinner. After dinner, my family and I put up the Christmas tree and a few other decorations. At about 9:30 PM, I decided to unbox the player, started doing a video review of the unit, and connected it to the HDTV in my bedroom, a 32" Vizio 720p unit that I have had for about 3 years, and have been very happy with.

The new unit would not power on. I consulted the quick-start guide packed in the box. It said to try another outlet that works with another device. Still, when the power button was pressed, the lights on the units flashed, and then went out. Obviously, the unit was defective. This happens from time to time, and I am not upset with Vizio as a manufacturer, as the unit may have been damaged in shipping or by some other cause.

Since I live 5 minutes from my local Wal-Mart, I decided to hop back in the car and exchange the unit for one that worked. The time was about 10:30 PM when I arrived at WalMart. When I entered the store, I looked for the associate that would give me a return tag and send me to customer service. They were not there. Instead, there was a snooty looking gentlemen standing inside the store a bit further who was staring right at me. He did not greet me, nor ask me if he could assist me. Instead, I had to ask him if there was anyone that could give me a return tag.

Under his breath he mumbled something. Unclear of what he said, I walked about 10 feet closer to him and said, "Excuse me, sir?" He then repeated himself, saying "Customer Service closes at 10 pm." He said nothing else. He did not offer an apology for the inconvenience, offered no indication of when customer service would reopen, nothing.

Next, I asked the gentlemen if I could speak to a manager. He looked at me blankly. I repeated myself. He then rolled his eyes and then headed somewhere into the store to find a manager.

A few moments later, a very pleasant woman approached and explained that the customer service department closed at 10pm and would reopen at 7 AM. She mentioned that these were the hours of the Customer Service department in all Wal-Mart 's each day.

I explained to her that I had just purchased the item and it was defective, and that I would like a replacement. She then went on to explain that they none of the regular registers in the store could process an exchange or return, and that only the registers in Customer Service were equipped to do that. She was very pleasant, and did in fact, apologize for my inconvenience.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset. I just spent $138 on something that did not work. The store was still open, and they would not, or could not allow me to exchange the defective unit for one that worked. Granted that it was not an emergency for me. However, there are situations where this could be more problematic for a consumer.

Let's say you are a college student, it is 10:30 PM and you have just purchased a notebook with cash and planned to spend the evening working on an important project for a class. You get back from the store, and your notebook is a dud. You head back to the store to get one that works, and they will not let you return it at that time. You have no more cash to purchase another working laptop. What can you do? You are stuck. Looks like you will miss your project deadline. You can go ahead and sleep, you won't be working tonight.

The scenario may seem far-fetched, but my opinion is, if you are open and will take my money for a product, then you should be required to refund my money for defective products as well at that same as long as the lights are on and you are conducting business.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on your run-ins with "Customer Service" or your findings on how service to customers has dwindled over the years.