In a world where many people work from home or in remote locations where they are by themselves, many things that they normally would be conscious of in an office environment are often not considered. For example, many entrepreneurs get up in the morning and ease into work, forgetting to shower until late morning or even later! Not to mention the line between the home and office becoming blurry or even non existent.

On my monitor I have a dot-com relic – a “rear-view mirror” given to people in the cubicle world to see who was coming up behind them. Stamped on the mirror is “Planet Direct,” a personalized Web portal once part of CMGi now called MyWay.com and owned by another acronym holding company, IAC.

Why would I have a mirror when I work at home? Before you write it off solely to vanity (though I won’t deny it isn’t some part of it!) it is there so I can look at myself when I am in conversation with someone. It reminds me there is a person on the other end of the phone, and if I was in front of them, I would be concerned about my facial expressions – something that can unconsciously carry over into a phone conversation.

The next time you are about to make a phone call – smile first, and be aware of it while on the phone. A positive attitude going into it can help the outcome of the conversation. And who knows – maybe the person on the other end of the phone will somehow realize you are smiling and may be smiling back?

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Even though there is a writer’s strike for TV and movies, there seems to be plenty of humor in the media in the form of the news.

British Airways has suspended a flight attendant for apparently eating a muffin off a tray collected from a passenger that was destined for the trash. Read the story to the end; even the BA spokesperson gets punny!

This story could be analyzed form all angles, everything from environmental consciousness to scavenger laws. I can’t wait for the day to read the headline about the airline that figures out how to make a profit while providing excellent service to their passengers.

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With less than a week until Christmas, not to mention the normal rush and anxiety of the holidays, why not give the gift of laughter? Or suspense, or mystery, or even endless sobbing? With the gift of a Netflix membership - for someone or yourself - they can choose their preferred genre of entertainment.

I have been a subscriber of Netflix for over a year and my lovely wife and I watch as many TV shows as we do movies. We are big fans of Prison Break on Fox but don't have (or want) TiVo, so we selected the first 2 seasons, and are now caught up of the episodes we missed. With everything from movies to documentaries to kid shows, it's the perfect gift. And choosing and maintaining your queue of selections is half of the fun.

As I have written about before, Netflix is also offering selections of movies to be streamed over the Internet. I have tested this on a PC hooked up to my PC and the clarity and quality was excellent. The ability to stream movies is included with your membership - more information is available on the Netflix Web site.

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At the tail end of the dot-com boom I talked with a friend who just got laid off from his job. He was distraught, and concerned about finding another job. Having gone through this myself earlier in the year, he asked for my advice on how to approach being without work. My answer was not what he expected. I told him to take advantage of this time – sure he was unemployed, but he had a block of time to take care of things or do thing he otherwise wouldn’t. Sure, he should be looking for work, but my managing the time and not letting it manage you, balance can be achieved.

Several weeks after our conversation I talked with him and asked him how things were going. He told me that he did not have a job yet, but that he took my advice… and went to Vegas! Shortly after we talked he was gainfully employed again, hopefully paying for whatever memories stayed on his trip.

I recalled this story as I sat down to write my first blog post in almost a week, the longest period I have gone without writing anything. I even missed Wordless Wednesday last week! Though it would be nice to say I went to Las Vegas that did not happen, instead a cornucopia of tasks and events that kept me busy, productive and feeling both capitalistic and philanthropic, but nonetheless kept me away from blogging.

Where many times I talk about how things only happen when you schedule them, this is only half the battle. One must also be accountable to that schedule. When it is just you, it is easy to let things slip or other things take priority. The mere fact that something got done ends up being the justification, even if whatever was done was not at the top of the list.

There are many ways to be more accountable. Software can track your time, running in the background as you are doing whatever on your computer. Friends, colleagues and even family can review your tasks and schedules to make sure everything is on track. But in the end it is up to you, and there’s no time like the present to start down the track of accountability.

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I saw a brief Associated Press article on Crain’s Chicago Business’ RSS feed last night that spoke volumes to me. It was about the upcoming sale of the Chicago Cubs by the Tribune Company. As there have been delays in the overall acquisition of the Tribune by billionaire Sam Zell, there have also been delays in the sale of the storied baseball team.

Mark Cuban, the billionaire tech entrepreneur and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, has publicly acknowledged he wants to buy the team and that he has submitted an application to Major League Baseball to do so. There are rumors, and this article states it as well, that other baseball team owners may not want Cuban to be one of them, namely due to his highly energetic and outspoken style as an NBA team owner.

Here’s his response to this query:

"I don't do things just for the sake of doing them. It's a passion project, it makes great business sense for me, there's a lot of leverage there. There's so many business applications, so many technology applications I can do in Chicago. There's a lot of opportunities."

Business applications? Technology applications? Awesome!

Mark Cuban’s investment of money, time – even his attention – to the tech and business community in Chicago would be very much welcome addition. Especially in the tech venue, where attention in the US is mostly directed to the Left Coast of the country, Cuban’s investment in the heartland will go well with the rest of us who have done the same.

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