A few weeks ago–September 5 to be exact–I ordered myself a shiny new car.

The experience went along these lines. First, I did lots of research and decided on my ideal vehicle make and model. Then, I went to the only dealership in my city that sells this type of car.

I met one of the salespeople, we took it for a drive, I looked at all the options and discussed all the features, and pretty much made up my mind. This process took a few visits, and then we got down to negotiating the two big questions: cost and delivery date.

Those of you who’ve worked in the Web for some time will have become accustomed to expecting everything instantly, as I have; however, when we reached this stage, the salesman had some bad news.

He first started by saying that it could take anywhere from two to six months to take delivery of the car, depending on the model and options that I decided on. After a few phone calls, he was pleased to announce that he’d found the exact model and options I wanted on the other side of the country, and that he could offer me a six-to-eight week window for delivery.

I was crestfallen–I wanted the car right then, or next week at the latest. Then I realized this really did boil down to just my own impatience. I decided to go ahead with the purchase anyway, given that I was already in love with the features and the idea of driving the car, and placed my order.

I’ve been thinking about this experience over the last few weeks, in terms of what a close analogy this situation offers to most web site projects. I’m talking about the common scenario where the client (in this case, myself) becomes sold on the concept of you doing the work, loves the options you’ve offered them, and they want the finished product right now–but of course, it’s impossible to have that site or feature built until after their ideal deadline.

I felt for the poor sales guy at the dealership, who could see my disappointment, and resigned myself to the fact I wouldn’t be getting behind the wheel of this vehicle until mid-to-late October.

So you can imagine my delight when I got a call last Friday to say I could pick the car up the following Tuesday, only three-and-a-half weeks after I placed the order!

Not only has it made me super-pleased with the product, but very appreciative towards the sales guy and the dealership. The cynic in me wonders if perhaps they always intended to have the car sooner, but they always add some leeway to their timelines, just in case.

The result of this situation is that they have broken their own promised deadline by weeks, and their business now has a very big fan. With that in mind, look at your own projects–how hard would it be for you to add a few weeks or a month to the deadlines you promise, and then work hard as you can to meet the original date anyway?

We’ve all heard that cliché about under-promising and over-delivering, but when you’re the client, it certainly feels like a great result! Try this theory with your next project, and let me know how it goes–I’m very confident that your next client will become your biggest fan if you manage to deliver quicker than planned.

This post first appeared as part of Issue 416 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.

Do you stay seated at your desk for just about every lunchbreak? Is the line between work time and break time increasingly blurred? We’re all guilty of doing that from time to time. It’s a nasty habit though, and not good for you or your productivity. Here are nine ways to have a better lunchbreak.

• Go for a 20-minute walk. It could be around the block, or choose somewhere further from the office (or home, if you work there) to buy your lunch, and walk it. The trick here is to gain that extra bit of walking into your working week.
• Eat smart. Go for fresh fruit and vegetables and avoid processed food. Eating healthier foods for lunch means less sugar highs and lows, better nutrients and fibre intake, and a better metabolism. See this site for more fruit and vegetable information.
• Have lunch with a friend. We’re all guilty of skipping social contact in favour of more work. Regain some social contact by arranging regular lunch dates with friends–the social contact will do you a world of good, and your friendships will benefit.
• Join a health club. Is there a health club nearby? Even half an hour on a treadmill or exercise bike can boost your fitness, and improve your motivation for the afternoon. If there isn’t a club nearby, consider hiring or buying some basic equipment for the office or home.
• Learn. Download podcasts, print out interesting articles, find a short course you can do nearby for less than an hour. The key here is to stimulate the brain and finish the week with more knowledge than you started with.
• Meditate. Just five or more minutes of silence can not only relax your mind and reduce stress, but it’s also likely to allow you time to solve some other nagging issues as well! You’ll probably have to leave the office for this one, or close your door and take the phone off the hook.
• Swap your coffee for a glass of water. As I’ve already mentioned, water is so good for you. Instead of reaching for the coffee machine, grab a bottle of water and keep it on your desk.
• Read something new. Join a library, buy some new books; whatever you do, get away from that monitor for a while and read a newspaper, book, or magazine. It’ll expand your knowledge and take your mind off your projects for a short period of time, which is a very good thing.
• Get away from your computer. If you must work during this lunchbreak, stand at a whiteboard or sit in a different place and write on paper. Whatever you do, give your eyes and posture a break and try a different location or activity for a while.

You needn’t start all this at once–try to start incorporating one of these tips into your lunchbreak every week. Even better, combine a few at once, such as walking while eating an apple, or put headphones on and chill out while reading a book or this week’s Tribune (for example!).

This post first appeared as part of Issue 415 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.

It’s no coincidence that many of the popular goals on 43 things are related to health and fitness. Stereotypical as it may seem, office-bound workers are normally not as physically active as those in other occupations, and probably not the healthiest eaters during the business day, either.

This situation is even further compounded if you are a business owner or a freelancer; your lifestyle is likely to be even more hectic than others, and skipping lunch or exercise is a common occurrence.

Let’s consider this sobering fact–if you end up very sick, or worse still, hospitalized, the business is going to suffer more than had you spent some time every week looking after yourself. You’ll also take longer to recover than if you’d gone for that 30-minute walk each morning.

Of course, we don’t normally think of these situations until they happen to us. Maybe we would listen more seriously if the marketing pitch for fitness and wellbeing were more along the lines of “health and wellness is the best business insurance.”

However, there’s always a list of excuses available to you. Too busy, too many meetings, too hot or cold outside, too many emails to answer, and the like. You can embrace these excuses and do nothing about your wellbeing, or you can set them aside and do something about your health.

So, where to start? Let’s look at the basics of the improvements we can make to our lifestyles fairly easily:

• Eat well. There are plenty of diets and other programs out there, but the facts are quite simple–eat a variety of foods from all the main food groups, and eat everything in moderation. Sure, we all grab fast food once in a while, but it’s back to that moderation clause. See the tried and true Food Pyramid for more information.
• Drink water. It’s said that you should try and drink 50–75% of your body weight (pounds) in ounces. For example, if you weigh 130lb (59kg), you should drink 50fl/oz (1.9L) of water per day. See this useful article for further tips.
• Reduce your consumption of alcohol. Most of us wouldn’t deny enjoying that wine or beer, but if you find yourself drinking every day, it’s time to consider your lifestyle choices carefully.
• Quit smoking. This is an obvious one. Did you know that smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the US?
• Exercise regularly. I’m sure you are like me, and don’t have two spare hours a day to exercise. However, with a little planning, there’s no reason why you couldn’t find 30 minutes per day or every second day to look after your most important asset.
• Manage stress. I know, I know; easy to suggest, not so easy to do. However, recent studies have shown that stress is responsible for 60–90% of illnesses, so it’s crucial that you look at ways to reduce your stress level. See helpguide.org’s Understanding Stress page for some figures and ideas.
• Control your work/life balance. It’s great that you work hard, but it’s equally important that you live life too. Take time for social activities, and learn to recognize and acknowledge when you need time out. Control the hours you work, and balance them with other rewarding pursuits.

This all sounds so easy, doesn’t it? The point is that we can all make little changes over time to improve our lifestyles. Read on for nine tips for looking after your health–you can even do them during your lunchbreak.

This post first appeared as part of Issue 415 of the SitePoint Tribune, a very popular email newsletter that I am co-editor of. Thanks to SitePoint for allowing me to reproduce the work here.