The Cranking Widgets Blog

Theme Change #1: Redesign

My last post was about doing the easy stuff that you’ve been putting off just because you don’t have all the answers or a grand plan. I decided it was time to eat some more of my own dog food and take a look at my incomplete projects.
The shot above is from my active projects [...]

On New Beginnings (And More About Your Host)

Now that Brett has officialy retired from productivity blogging, I’m sure long-time readers are wondering what will come of The Cranking Widgets Blog. The short answer is easy: CW is, and will continue to be, mainly about productivity. There is, however, a long answer.
What a blogger blogs about and the spin they put on topics will always be driven by their own experiences, [...]

I am Productivity (And So Can You!)

Hello, My name is Andy and I’m the new guy here at The Cranking Widgets Blog. While I hope to share far more valuable information in the months and years to come, I’d like to kick things off by getting some answers to the obligatory “who the heck is this guy?” out of the way.
I’ve [...]

As the Saying Goes, “Many Hands Make Light Work”

Well, as you’ve probably noticed, posting around here has slowed practically to a crawl. There are several reasons for this, many of them good ones, many of them attributable directly to the laziness of yours truly. I’m not happy about it, but this little blog has been the victim of what a database administrator would [...]

My Son Teaches Me about Professional Communication

One of my favorite things to do with my kids while my wife is at work is to take walks around the neighborhood. We usually have a destination, but if the weather is especially nice and we’re having a good time, I won’t exactly rush home.
Recently, we were on just such a walk on [...]

Thing to Remember When Your Kids Are Driving You Frickin’ Insane

photo by lobstar

Watching a small child slowly grow into an actual, real-live person is an interesting thing. They watch you so intently when you speak, drinking it all in. This gives way to imitation as they take on your specific habits and behaviors (which they’ll then mold to fit their own personalities and [...]

Parents: You are Their Best Friend

As many of you know, my wife and I have two wonderful kids. Our oldest will be 3 years old next month which is crazy. And as most parents of toddlers will tell you, they can be a bit of a challenge (to say the least). They can be defiant and stubborn, and the word [...]

Top 1 Thing To Keep Your Toddler Away From

Your laptop computer.
This is a picture of my Macbook after my 2.5 year old son got his hands on it:

Coming Up: Somebody Interviews Me

I thought this might be a cool thing to mention, especially since I haven’t ever been interviewed for this productivity stuff. This weekend, my new buddy Mike from Effing the Dog and I will be having a friendly conversation that will go out on his podcast at some point in the near future. [...]

Bloggers: Want to Tap into the Pool of 58 Million Facebook Users?

I wanted to start by saying that I hope everybody had a fantastic holiday season and new year! I’ve got a bunch of stuff in the hopper for this little blog for the coming year, so be sure to stay tuned to find out what’s ahead
Social networking sites are popping up everywhere. [...]