Leo G Dion

The Abundance of choices

Productivity Apps for Developers (and Everyone Else)

As a software developer who’s transitioned to many roles as a self-employed freelancer, it’s important to keep a set of great software tools. Most importantly tools which help me optimize rather than distract me. Therefore, here’s a list of productivity apps and services I use to keep my workflow going. In contrast, these are not development tools necessarily but rather software which helps with other office work which I do. To begin with, you’ll need an easy way to install, run, and track your application as well as your computer’s disk space.

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Recording Equipment

Podcasting – Getting Started – Whys and Hows

It has been at least 15 years but I remember as soon as iTunes came to Windows, I downloaded podcasts. For example, it could have been the software development podcast, dotNet Rocks, or the financial podcast, Planet Money, giving a narration and analysis of the 2008 Financial Crash as it happened. Generally speaking, podcasting as these podcasts do, gives specific audiences an in-depth specialized analysis without the need to appeal to the general audience.

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2018 – My Year in Review

This is the first time I’ve done a year in review. It’s a healthy way to look back on what went well and what was challenging. My main goal this year was to produce more content online and less time on local events and gatherings. I removed many things which I felt were a distraction. Instead focused on building habits which would help me to build more content in the future. While many years have presented challenges both personally and professionally, I hoped this year I could focus on that work. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Despite many challenges, I would say 2018 was a success in the sense that I was able to prove to myself, what I could do. My hope is that this gives me the momentum to move forward in 2019.

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Me speaking at LSJ Storytellers

Are We There Yet?

On September 18, 2018, I spoke at the Hannah Community Center for LSJ Storytellers, a bi-monthly event where professionally coached, local storytellers of all ages share their best stories. The theme for September was “Are We There Yet?”. In this story, I spoke about my wife and our challenges having children, dealing infertility, and working with foster children and adoption as well as dealing with unexpected challenges.

It’s been a year since we adopted our last foster child so I figure now is as a good a time as ever to share our story. 

From Goals to Actions 2018

With a new year here, it’s a good time to talk about goals and how to reach them.

Let’s take a few results you may want in 2018:

  • Lose Weight
  • Publish A Book
  • Learn To Play the Piano

There are a few problems with these goals. For one thing all three of these goals are some combination of ambiguous, complex, abstract or out of your control. What these really are are the results you want by the end of the year. Today I want to break down these results into actual committed actions. Continue reading →