One of the things I love about most of the jobs I've had is their international flavor. Working with and sometimes getting to meet colleagues from different countries. Of course, in person is always the best, but not possible for day-to-day work. Enter the international conference call. That's where things can get dicey. Depending on the time zone differences, you can sometimes end up with a break of dawn or burning the midnight oil call. Pick your poison...and hopefully not both on the same day.

Those who know me know I am NOT a morning person. I do my best thinking at 10 p.m., not 10 a.m. So it takes a lot of something extra to get me going in the morning. In the past, when I lived alone, this would consist of multiple alarms and sometimes blasting music so I wouldn't crawl back to bed instead of dialing in to my call. These days, with a family who needs their sleep, that is not a viable option.

So for the occasional times I need to get up and motivate without waking up the surrounding neighborhood, I came up with a quieter, but equally effective solution. Watch a video about something you love. Preferably one you haven't seen before. Preferably one with some music. Turned down low, of course. We're not barbarians here!

Here is a recent video that helped me make it to my 5 a.m. conference call with Portugal on time. The precision, the power, and the flow of this demonstration are beautiful to behold. Thank you, Matsuoka sensei and practice partner. I don't know you, but I'm a big fan of your video.

Domo arigato gozaimashita!

Next video next Saturday, 6:30 a.m.

First thing in the morning, I'm not at my best. My mind feels like it is paddling through molasses so that even simple tasks can be draining. I learned a tip from a coworker that if I put my computer to sleep instead of shutting down, I could skip the step of opening my applications in the morning. This helps automate my morning and jump starts my day. However, sometimes you need or want to restart your computer.

Luckily, there is an EZPZ way to have your computer open the programs you use every day for you on Startup. This is how we do it.

And some music for changing your computer settings...