Slack and I have a long and torrid history. At 9seeds we were very early adopters. I thought we were joking when we discussed switching from HipChat to Slack, but the next day I logged into HipChat and was wondering where everybody was. Slack from then on would be the de-facto standard, and for a while, slack would be ruining my life.

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There are several articles out there on how to win at email. Some are serious, some are cheeky. I don’t think winning is an end-state, so I’d rather talk about the journey to getting better.

This isn’t going to be a “how do you manage and prioritize all of those messages” – there are several great (and different) approaches to this that you will have to research yourself. One size doesn’t fit all. Personally I have adopted this approach.

What this will be is a back-to-basics primer that can help you and the people you email stay in sync better. It may even make them like you more. It will at least make them hate you less.

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I like to tell the joke on bike to work day, “I’d ride my bike to work, but my wife doesn’t like it when I ride in the house.” I have worked remotely (at home) for several companies for the better part of 7 years. I consider myself an adept remote worker. When a friend of mine offered me to work with him, you’d think I’d think twice about the set-up.

Go into the office? Why?!? Well, first of all, going into the office is optional, I can still work from home. But I can also get away from any home distractions, which are surprisingly few as I’ve managed them over the years. However, I like the in-person conversations I’ve missed over the last 7 years.

Working from Home via The Oatmeal

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Research shows that humans like variety. But we also relish the routine. It’s sometimes good to have a regular schedule so we can “get into a groove.” This goes for children and adults alike. While I enjoy the occasional personal day off, sometimes I wish I could just escape the constant barrage of wind chill, blizzards, partially recognized holidays, influenza, and streptococcus that this season has wrought upon us.

Sometimes I just want a normal 5 day work week (or two) to get s#*t done.

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Mid-December I started to get a tickle in my throat. I knew the score. I only get sick about once a year, and this was going to be it. I took some precautionary measures – homeopathic meds that included vitamin C and zinc. I worked half days. Then it came on strong. With a fever of 102 I decided it was time to visit the doctor to see what I had gotten myself into.

Influenza A – the “bad” flu. Its subtypes include all these terrible sounding viruses: Swine Flu, Bird Flu, and H1N1. The doctor informed me that I was the first recorded case of the season at the clinic. Patient Zero.

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