This is what you would see on my public Evernote notebook.

Here is a screenshot of my original digital ink note written on the Evernote application.

You will notice that there are some differences between what you see and what I see. This does not make digital ink a bad idea; simply, your writing has to be that much neater to compensate for the differences.

This return to handwriting for me is a short experiment. I often wondered if blog scrapers would go so far as to take posts entirely written in an image and try to represent them as their own. Also, do blog readers really care if my blog post is typed or written? Presumably, it’s the content that matters rather than the style, right?

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Read more digital ink notes on my public Evernote notebook.

View more of my public Evernote entries.

You can use a mobile phone/GPS cradle as a camera mount for recording video while you are driving.

Please remember to be responsible by starting and stopping your recording from a parked vehicle. It is only necessary to give the illusion that you are fiddling with your camera while driving. You can trim off the ends of the video to hide the uninteresting parts.

The mount that I use is a general purpose mount sold by T-Mobile for use with the My Touch.

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Google recently announced that you will be able to use their Google Docs service to store files of any type. They are adamant that this is not the fabled GDrive. Based on my preliminary experience, I would have to agree. While Google’s new file storage service is very affordable, it has some serious limitations.

First, let’s spell out what Google offers, for the uninitiated. Google used to allow you to keep documents on their servers in the Google Docs formats. If you uploaded a Word or Wordperfect file, it would be converted to their format. Same for Excel and PowerPoint. Google recently announced that you will be able to upload any file up to 250 MB for storage in Google Docs.

It is true that you can upload any kind of file to Google servers. I tried a few. However, there is one big problem. While uploading your files to Google Docs is extremely affordable, there is a huge maintenance overhead. Your files can’t be tagged worth a damn. The best you can do is create folders where you can put your files. Otherwise, there is no way to keep track of what is where.

On the plus side, you have the cheap storage price. In addition, Google Docs gives you the ability to share any of your files. This is great if you have a large file, less than 250 MB that you would like people to download. No bandwidth charges.

Evernote Premium, on the other hand, allows you to upload up to 500 MB of files into your account per month. But, they offer unlimited storage. In addition, Evernote allows you to tag and organize your files for easy recall. The downside to Evernote is that the maximum file size allowed is 25MB, considerably less than Google Docs.

It is a tough call as to which service is better. While, Evernote offers unlimited storage, there are monthly limits and file size limits. Evernote excels in the ability to tag your files for easy retrieval.

Google Docs has a tiered storage price structure, which is extremely affordable. In addition, they offer a larger file size.

On the one hand, you have better archiving; on the other hand, you have better storage options. Each offers an advantage the other does not give. This makes choosing a better service difficult.

But then, both services are very affordable. Nothing stops you from subscribing to both. Each one has its strength; which may be prove to complement the other with a little imagination.

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Hellow Mind Racers! There may be a time when you are in a rush to get something done. It is tempting to make haste; but, doing so results in poor performance and unnecessary mistakes. If you have done the one thing often enough, you may move quickly; but every move is calculated and deliberate. Your mind is calm and focused on the task at hand.

This kind of experience, or muscle memory, often sets apart the veterans from the rookies. When you are new at something, your mind races, you forget details, you make hasty decisions, and generally do a poor job. Veterans, on the other hand, seem self-assured and collected, even during major challenges; because, they have been there before and know exactly what to do.

Wouldn’t it be nice to have that same level of mental clarity that a veteran has in your everyday life? The problem is that Mind Racers like us often find ourselves in new situations and without a plan on how to proceed. Like Indiana Jones, we make it up as we go. We can muddle through most of the time; but, sometimes we find ourselves in a big mess because of the approach.

In my case, my mind is always racing; but, not because I’m in a hurry to do something. It takes a conscious effort to clear my mind of the chatter, and focus on deliberately doing the one thing that needs doing. I mention this because it may help you in some way. Down-shifting into deliberate thought is great for making you effective in your work.

If you feel that your day is like watching a movie where you have to catch all the details so you know what is going on in the next scene, then you are definitely a Mind Racer. Here is how I break out of it so that I can accomplish something.

• Find a quiet place – This is important. Nothing breaks your concentration faster than having distractions around you kicking your brain into high gear.
• Focus on an item – In this case, it is alright to stare. Stare at an item, look at it, not through it. When your mind is racing, you often look through things while focusing your attention internally on all the thoughts passing through your brain. By looking directly at something and focusing on it, it forces your mind to disregard the noise.
• Start your deliberate thinking – Now that you have cleared your mind and primed it with a visual focus, substitute that focus with what you need to do. Think of the first step that will get you to your goal.
• Make a list – If you have the racing mind problem, you may find that you will still wander off in thought on occasion. Having a list of what you need to accomplish helps you stay on task. Your first focus is the list; afterwards, shift your focus to the individual items.
• Think on paper – You may also write your thoughts down on a computer; but, the problem is that it probably has Internet. That’s not good for focus.
• Take breaks – Focus is not natural for you, Mind Racer. If you do it for an extended period without rest, you will wear yourself out. Work for 15 to 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. I’m talking knowledge work here, physical work is never a problem for you, Mind Racer; quite the opposite, it allows you to zone out into thoughts while your body does all the work.
• Try to always write a plan – Have a plan for everything. Force yourself to make the time to think ahead. Plan speeches, meetings, talks with your kids, your work day, your dates, and any situation where you feel you are a spectator rather than a participant. If you plan ahead, you will be more deliberate and keep the noggin in low gear.

That is it, Mind Racer. This is how I keep myself on task. It doesn’t always work. If I’m exhausted, it becomes especially difficult to stay focused or achieve focus in the first place. But, it seems to work often enough to get some things done.

So, how do you achieve deliberate actions?

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The other day, I stumbled across BlockChalk.com, a website that interacts with your mobile phone’s GPS. Unlike Twitter, Foursquare, BrightKite, and others, BlockChalk allows you to message with others; but you do so anonymously. At first, I was not sure what to think of it. After all, what’s the point of it? Of course, I had the same reaction to Twitter.

The gist of BlockChalk is that it allows you to see messages from other people based on location. So, you may see messages from the guy next to you, from somebody a block away, or maybe a few blocks away. You don’t know. The messages change according to your location. Most interestingly, the “chalk marks” are anonymous; which allows people to share what they really think rather than be guarded.

I think that all basic messages get posted to your neighborhood. You can add an exact GPS location by putting [here] in your post. This way, if somebody is near the location, they will see that message. It could be your opinion of a restaurant, your notes about a landmark, or announcing a special offer or event at your shop. Just because the message posts anonymously doesn’t mean you cannot identify yourself in some way.

The service is described as being like a lamp post papered with flyers where you can see somebody is searching for a lost dog, having a yard sale, announcing a concert, and all manner of information. In addition, you have the ability to reply anonymously to somebody’s chalk.

What really sets BlockChalk apart is the anonymity. There is no need to let people know who you are. You never have to log in.

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While this post revolves around a spiritual theme, it has business application. I was reading an article about following your vocation. While the article touched on serving God through the practice of your talents or occupation, my mind went off on a tangent, per usual. Before going into that tangent, let’s just talk about a few examples of vocations. In the traditional sense, a vocation is a call to serve God as clergy of some form. However, it has evolved to also refer to other callings such as raising your family, being a carpenter, or any other skill you may possess.

Often, however, we lose sight of what our vocation is and get caught up on doing other things that seem right. One example that stood out in my mind is for those of us who are married. If you spend all your time going to prayer groups and church, while neglecting your family, then you are not fulfilling your vocation as a husband or wife, or that of a parent. While technically, you are doing good, you aren’t necessarily doing the right things. Your family is paying the price for your absence.

In the business world, you may find yourself in the situation where you are busy doing many things for the benefit of your business; but you may not be doing the right thing. This comes back to figuring out your business core competencies and executing them exclusively. You may have added a line of products or services that do generate some revenue; but often at a huge cost.

Or, you may find that what you started doing as a business is not exactly what you do well. While building homes, you may find that though you are a good contractor, you are actually a good project manager in general. What is important is to look at your operations and identify what practices are merely good, and which ones actually move you forward. Once identified, you do not necessarily have to eliminate doing anything other than your core competencies. Rather, you should shift your focus and most of your energy to what truly matters.

When it comes to the spiritual realm, God has a plan for you; it is up to you to find that vocation and fulfill it. In the business realm, you can almost do the same thing by making sure that your business plan reflects your organization’s true strengths; and, ensure that your business focuses on executing those things that truly fulfill the company’s true calling. Otherwise, you end up spinning your wheels and going nowhere at great cost.

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Woody Allen is quoted as saying that 80 percent of success is just showing up. In my experience, this has proven true in real life. This also proves true on the web. Too often, business owners neglect showing up on the web at all. Many who do make an effort to get on the web, only make a half-hearted effort, the equivalent of being a wallflower at a dance.

In life, you will find that there are conferences, mixers, luncheons, prayer groups, clubs, and all manner of social gatherings. Some are just for fun; others are jobs. Human beings are extremely social creatures. We notice things, like when you show up at events or do not. We notice the kind of person you are when you do show up. We notice what doesn’t happen when you do not show up.

If you have anything of value to offer in this world by your presence, it will become apparent when you show up. If you are a great motivator, others will notice when you are there to cheer the group on in their effort. If you are a great organizer, others will notice when everything runs smoothly thanks to your hard work. If, however, you don’t show up to things, then others can’t vouch for you.

If anything, one of the more valuable possessions we have in life are our reputations. We can only create a reputation for good things by being present. If we are absent, that is our only reputation. So, by showing up and being a part of what is going on, you help build your reputation.

This applies equally to your online presence. If you actively engage the online community, you will find that you can develop great friendships. However, if you are completely absent online, you’ll get the online equivalent of “I’m sorry, who are you?”

Make it a practice to go out and be around others for whom you can make a difference. Otherwise, they will never know you existed; and how can you be a success without their support? Go out and be seen.