How to eat an elephant?

I have a love hate relationship with my garden. I hate to commit to working on it. It seems like such a big feat that I have to talk myself into it. We have 10 acres and while the gardens are well established that is a lot of work, especially in the beginning of the season. But the love part of it comes shortly after my gloves are on and I am digging in the dirt, pulling up weeds, slowly but surely making progress. Today I was in the garden, not having crossed the line from hate to love yet when a thought crossed my mind. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Each weed was a bite of that elephant.

I have been working in the technology field for 20 years now and most of that time was creating one of a kind custom database applications for customers that couldn't get their needs met with off-the-shelf software. I started my database career with my dad and he had The 10 Rules for Database Development. One the 10 rules was this same question, How to eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I find myself uttering this frequently these days. I have an incredibly full plate. This is a blessing and not a complaint as it sometimes sounds like when someone asks how I am and I then say "busy." Well... I am busy. Busy good. But busy to the point of being overwhelmed. Busy to the point of thinking about blowing off this amazingly beautiful day from gardening to work at my desk inside.

I am now grateful for the decision I made to dig in the dirt. While being momentarily overwhelmed at where to start digging in the yard one of the ten rules came to mind and put my anxiety at ease. Continuing to dig in the dirt, slowly seeing progress I was able to maybe more importanly put my work anxiety at ease. I am now tackling my 3 page to do list "one bite at a time."

Are you busy to point of being overwhelmed? Take a deep, cleansing breath and approach your list like eating that elephant.

Road Trip

Today is the beginning of my holiday travels. Dan and I arose at 3:15 am, car bound by 4:04 am heading to Dothan, Alabama for the start of our trip. I was in good shape overall to get out of town. I guess the good thing about this time of year is that everyone has their thoughts on the holidays, traditions, family, travel, and what will be under the tree.

At LHT we had an unusually busy beginning of the month. We were getting a lot of requests for appointments with new potential customers. It was great. It almost threw me into the panic of "how will I leave town" but by the end of last week it calmed down and I even convinced A2 now was the time to take some days. So I am now officially off until Jan 4 and she closes up our shop Wednesday night for her holiday fun. The important news is we get great times with our families and loved ones for the holidays but client work is in good shape and can easily be picked up on the 4th for a fun new year. I look forward to 2010. Truly.

In the mean while I am on a road trip with my husband. Did I tell you I hate car trips? I do. Can't stand them. I pleaded to fly to meet him, but he wanted my company (aw... sweet, right? no torture). But actually, with technology (yes I am a geek) today wasn't too bad. First, I downloaded a book, well 2, to my iPhone. Dan was sure he wouldn't want to listen to it, but I picked one he would want to hear. A Clive Cussler. Truly entertaining. Plus... my iPhone was constant entertainment on the "are we there yet" train. See image above! By going to my contact record for Dan's parents, I could easily activate the Google Map, click a button, as for directions, including a real time pin point of where we were, and how long until we get there. Very cool! Even at dinner, once parked in Salem, VA, we checked again, knowing we have 10 hours and 50 minutes to go to Dothan.

So while I have left work behind for now (well not really, checking and replying to emails from the hotel and the iPhone), I am taking technology with me.

Look for travel updates tomorrow and maybe a new Google Map!

Site Debut

little habor technology was "born" in Rockland, Maine in October, 2006 after moving my Chicago based business to Maine. Things in Maine are different, very different from Chicago. I realized the type of client I wanted to have needed the same skill sets but a slightly different approach. As much as fortune 500 business opportunities helped mold and train me, I wanted to work with local folks, people that support and need one another.



My transition in Maine was significantly aided by the following: a decision to have office space in downtown Rockland; my early involvement with the Penobscot Bay Regional Chamber of Commerce; hiring a self starter that wanted and took an opportunity to learn; and being embraced by the midcoast community.

After 3 years of operating LHT we have grown and evolved in a way I couldn't have expected. My background, 20 years, is database driven. What we are mostly doing today are websites. What I have realized in this transition is that my background is more project management related, whether it is a custom database application or website overhaul. Doing either requires attention to detail, knowing how to pull the right resources together, listening intently to your client, and delivering to or in excess of their expectations.

When I started LHT (and remember was a database guru, not a web guru) I hired a talented team of women, Jessica and Hazel, to design and develop the website. It was perfect. I loved the way it worked, how it looked, and the message it delivered to potential visitors. 3 years later, our services are so different we had to take the time to update our website to reflect the business we are doing today. It is so different we decided to take the opportunity to redesign our website. This process was not easy. I was probably one of LHT's worst customers, not liking initial design options and not seeing where they could evolve to. We took a break, got more customers (ironically one because they loved our first site), and put it off. But we regrouped, realizing that if we couldn't redesign our own site, how could we sell with confidence the redesign of others.

We are happy to launch our new site. We understand design is subjective and know that many will like our old site better and many will like our new site better. I will always like / love both. the good news is our new site reflects what we are doing for business today and in an effective way.

Welcome to the new site for little harbor technology at www.littlehabortech.com.