Monday, March 8, 2010

Dress the Part

I have a personal interest in fashion.  I know many people do not, and that's fine with me.  Sometimes I feel my passion is "petty", when I hear my nagging voice say, "You should be more concerned about real issues, not about what shoes to wear today." 

The time anyone should care about what they wear, however, is when they will appear on-camera.  If I had a penny everytime I saw an interviewee showing up wearing the rattiest clothes and hairdo ever.... and I'm not talking about an economically poor person, or someone working a dirty job in the field.  Those subjects, I can understand their outfit, and it fits.  I'm talking about politicians, managers, representatives of organizations.  In my opinion, there is no excuse for these people to not wear clean clothing and shoes, and take one minute in front of a mirror to fix their hair, wipe crumbs off their beard, correct smudged makeup (or take off some).

Hey, hey... don't kill the messenger here.  The lens is a harsh critic.  It only takes minutes of self-care to diffuse its analytical eye.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

When Are You Off?

I am not a full-time entrepreneur.  I do it part-time, while maintaining part-time employment for a media company.  I almost never have a day off, unless I leave town.  Even then, it's hard to resist the pull of occasionally checking email or voicemail. 

A year ago I thought about buying an HTC touch phone, with a data package.  At the time, I only accessed the Internet when I was at a computer.  It looked like a great idea that I could check messages while in line at the store, or waiting in an office for an appointment.  My friend reminded me that once he bought his HTC, he lost privacy.  He has never had a day when someone didn't try to contact him.  If he wants down time, he has to turn his phone off, otherwise his email signal starts pinging.

I never bought that phone.  What do I do on my downtime?  Read.  Slowly savour tea.  Play guitar, or with the cats.  Chat with someone in line at the store.

Has your choice in technology affected your downtime?