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This year started off just like every year with the trip to Vegas for CES. That trip is a great way to start the year and gives me great motivation, but this year I didn’t seem as motivated from it. I’m really not sure why but starting in February I really started to ask myself the question, What am I doing with my life? I know running ThinkComputers is a full time job, but it just seemed like I could be doing more with my life. As I said before I started watching the Random Show and because of that I decided to pick up Tim Ferris’s book The Four Hour Work Week. Wow I’m not even half way through the book and I’ve had a total different outlook on life. So I’ve decided to rethink 2010 and here are some of my plans.

More Time – Automation
So with ThinkComputers we post 4-6 reviews a week. I have 5 other writers including myself so I really only need to write 2-3 reviews a week myself and the other guys will write the rest. Since moving ThinkComputers over to wordpress I have the luxury of scheduling posts, which means I can queue up 3-4 post and have them publish to the site automatically! So if I work really hard for 1-2 days I can get all the reviews done for ThinkComputers for that week! I tested this the past 2 weeks and it worked flawlessly. It feels really good that by Tuesday night I don’t have to worry about any real work till the end of the week!

More Projects
So if I keep on track with what I’m doing with ThinkComputers I should have a lot of free time. With that free time I am going to start on many projects that I’ve been wanting to do for quite a while. I’ve had some domains for around 2 years that I haven’t done anything with. Actually my friend Jack and I will be launching a new site within a week or so stay tuned for that. Having more projects will not only keep me motivated, but also bring in more income.

Getting Out
One thing that can really kill motivation is sitting in the same office all day. Although I really do enjoy my new office setup I really want to start getting out of office a lot more. It is really starting to get nice here in Pittsburgh so there is no reason I can’t be working from Starbucks, Panera, or Schenley Plaza a few times a week. As we speak I am writing this blog post from Starbucks! Another thing besides just leaving the office is going on small weekend trips and things like that, they are really relaxing and are a great way to recharge you!

Staying Healthy
I say this every year, but I end up slacking off! This year I really want to be healthy! I don’t want to feel like I’m tired all the time. So how do I plan on staying healthy? First off I usually eat pretty good and I don’t really drink any pop (soda for non-pittsburgh people) and I’ve been eating a lot of organic food. Since I’ve been really getting into tea I have been drinking that instead of energy drinks. I also decided that I want to look a little better so I started the P90X workout system and WOW it is intense, but I like it so far and I really hope it works!

I’m really excited about the rest of 2010 are you?

Well if you didn’t know I’ve been living in Pittsburgh all my life. I’ve live in the suburbs most of my life but I moved closer into the city about a year ago. You really learn a lot about a city when you live in it. I’ve learned even more since living closer to the city and going out more. I originally got the idea for this post from Michael Kwan who did 2 posts about the things he likes and dislikes about Vancouver. So I figured I know a lot about Pittsburgh I should let you know the things I like and dislike about Pittsburgh. This post is the things I hate about Pittsburgh, last month I posted the things I love about Pittsburgh.

The Weather
Sometimes when I’m sitting here working and I look out the window and see rain or snow I think to myself, “Why am I living here?”. The weather can be pretty brutal here, especially in the winter. This year we got one of the worst winter storms in recent memory, because of that I was snowed in! Even if its not raining or snowing there are so many days when the sun just does not come out, it’s pretty depressing.

The Roads
I don’t know if there is not enough funding for road improvement or what but the roads are horrible around here. I’ve had people who do not live in PA say they know when they enter the state because of how bad the roads are, that’s pretty bad! Roads get even worse after snow storms, the salt that they put down destroys the roads. After the big storm this year there were pot holes that took up entire lanes of traffic! And most of these potholes were not even covered for weeks, some are still there! It seems if there is ever an issue with a road it takes forever for them to fit it as well.

Pittsburghese
I know I might get some flack for this, but it really drives me crazy because when I say I’m from Pittsburgh some people think I’m a hick. Pittsburghese is an accent or dialect that many people around here speak. Instead of staying “downtown” they say “dahntahn” instead of “You Guys” its “Yinz”. I honestly cannot stand anyone that talks like that, it just makes you sound stupid! There is even a Pittsburghese translator!

Small City
Now in my things I love article I did say I liked Pittsburgh because it was a small city, but I also don’t like it because it is one too. First it seems that if you go out whether it be the southside, station square, the strip etc on a friday or saturday night you are bound to run into someone you know. And if you meet someone it is likely they know someone you do, things like this are annoying to me. Also since this is a small city there are very few new companies that decide to put up a store in Pittsburgh. There are so many retail shops and restaurants that I would love to see in Pittsburgh, but they just are not here!

Working from home running your own company is hard to do that job when you are not very comfortable sitting at your computer every day. If you didn’t know I am in Pittsburgh, PA and I run my websites out of my house. I have turned the extra bedroom into an office for. When I first moved in I had the room setup a completely different way than what it is now. Originally I had the 2 desks separated, one in each corner of the room. This really did not work at all, things just became too cramped and my desk was really cluttered. Mainly because I had my 4 external drives on the desk, which was not the best idea. Below is a photo of what my old desk looked like.

While this setup was nice it really did not leave that much room in the office and it sort of divided things, which I didn’t like. So a week ago or so I totally redesigned the office as well as cleaning it. I basically took everything out of the office, cleaned it, then put everything back. So here is what the office looks like now…

As you can see I have moved both the desks together to form 1 large desk and yes those are Ikea desks! On the side of the desk facing out we have our test systems, so this is where we do all of our hard drive, enclosure, display, power supply, etc testing. Before we go over to my desk on the other side of the room I have a table setup that I use to take product photos on and makes for a good assembly table for building systems.

I really try to keep my desk clean, like I said its hard to get work done when you are working on a messy desk! I have a dual-monitor setup, which I don’t think I could live without! It really helps with multitasking and makes it easy to keep track of everything. If you are wondering I use Logitech’s diNovo Edge wireless keyboard and their MX Revolution mouse. My tower actually sits beside the desk on an end table.

My current system is comprised of an Intel Core i7-920 processor, ASUS P6T motherboard, Sparkle Calibre P980X+ geForce 9800GTX+, 3GB of Kingston HyperX T1 Series DDR3 memory, Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W Modular Power Supply, NZXT Panzerbox ATX Gaming Case and the NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller. To keep clutter off my desk I have all 4 of my external drives sitting under the end table.

After all of the changes the office is a great place to work on new systems, install and test new products and of course write reviews. It streamlines everything as I build and take pictures one place, test products another place, then write everything in another. If you have any questions about the office please leave them in the comments below…

When you are working, especially when you are working for yourself and at home time management is very important! Bad time management can really make productivity go down. Many times when my time management isn’t that good it seems like I never get anything done. This can be very frustrating going day after day feeling like I’ve accomplished nothing! This usually isn’t the case because I have implemented a few simple things that really help me with time management. So what are they?

To Do Lists
This probably has to be the #1 thing you should do when you are trying to manage your time effectively. Setting up daily to do lists really helps you get things done. It is hard to stay motivated when you don’t know what all you need to get done and when you have a list setup you feel like you are getting things done when you start making things off the list. I usually setup my daily to do list either the night before or when I wake up.

Timed Lunches
I work from home and for the most part I usually make my own lunch rather than going out. Sometimes when I have lunch I tend to sit around and watch TV after eating. This is not a good thing because I can’t be sitting around watching TV all day. I try to make my lunches right around 30 minutes. That gives me time to eat and a little time to relax. I try and pick shows to watch in the afternoon that are 30 minutes long so I know when the show is over I can go back to work, Entourage is a great show for that.

Somewhat of a Schedule
While everyday can be different for me I do have some structure to my days. Having a simple schedule really helps me get things done and in good time too. I know each day I will have to post news on ThinkComputers, most likely write a review, etc.

Turn things off
Everyone knows that there are some things that can just eat your day up. For most people it is Facebook or YouTube. They can just sit there all day on those sites. When I’m working I usually never have Facebook up and for the most part I have an away message on my instant messenger. I don’t need to be sitting there all day talking to people or creeping around on Facebook. It’s just a easier to get work done without distractions.

I’ve become a big fan of Pho over the past few years, from my first Pho in Vegas to finding out about Pho Minh in Pittsburgh. I was browsing the Pittsburgh Tweetup website and I noticed they had a Pho event coming up. My first thoughts were that it would be held at Pho Minh, but it was scheduled to be at a place called Vietnam’s Pho. Being a big fan of Pho I was surprised I had never heard of Vietnam’s Pho before. I looked it up and they even had a website! I definitely wanted to check it out so my friend Colin and I headed down for the Tweetup.

Vietnam’s Pho is located on Penn Ave. in the Strip district and by 8PM we were able to find a parking spot right in front of the place. Inside we were greeted by a very helpful staff and to my surprise it was very nice inside. The staff was nice enough to pull tables together to fit our entire group. I ordered the #11 which is the Pho Tai-Sach, which has beef and tripe in it. I’ve really come to enjoy tripe in my Pho. In no time at all our food was done and we were served. Just like most Vietnamese places the portions were quite large and the food was great. It definitely contends with Pho Minh, but I haven’t been there in quite some time so I really cannot compare the 2 yet. I would recommend that anyone looking for good Pho in Pittsburgh try Vietnam’s out. I need to go back and try some of their other dishes! Here after some photos of the food and our group.