Sharpen the Saw

Since we started we've been running behind schedule. This was mostly because of poor project management though at some points we have had an overwhelming volume of work.

However, we've now wrapped up most of our big critical projects. We have a few sites that need some polish before launch, a perpetual project, and a few odds and ends maintenance things we're doing. There are a couple of possible new sites "contracts" on the table. So I predict a slight downturn in volume of billable work hours coming.

Now, the first thing we need to do is go get some new clients. But, that isn't the point of this post.

Perpetual learning is critical to those who wants to be the best at what they do. During a business downturn, learning should be on overdrive.

Colby is taking some time to improve a Google Calendars plugin for Ruby on Rails that we use on several of our sites. He's learning more about plugin architecture and working with third party APIs.

Sunday, I read a small book on RESTful application development with Ruby on Rails. I'm practicing what I learned in the book by writing a small web application using what I learned. Perhaps said application will become a future revenue stream. Or, it might just be a fun pet project for learning.

Of course, it is important to take time to learn even when you're busy. My point is that you should be doubly proactive when there is less work.

(Title comes from habit 7 in Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)