Manage your time, maximise your efficiency

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot.

Vinay Mitra* got up as usual at 7 am, got dressed for work and reached the office just as his watch ticked 9, happy to have beaten the traffic for once. His boss was surprised to see him and gesticulated from his cabin, asking what he was doing at work. Suddenly Vinay realised to his horror that he was supposed to represent his company at the NASSCOM summit in Bangalore that day. He had completely forgotten about it.

The boss was not going to be pleased. This was the second time in the month that Vinay had messed up, after having forgotten an important client presentation just last week. Vinay groans, "But what am I supposed to do? There is always so much work to complete, several unscheduled meetings with the boss and my colleagues, and then there are these slow team members who only add to my woes. I have no clue what tasks will show up next minute and the day is over before I realise it!" 

Do these situations ring an unpleasant bell?

• Feel like there's too much work and very little time?
• Have forgotten meetings, missed deadlines or late project deliverables?
• Stressed and burnt out?
• Have difficulty sleeping because you keep thinking of incomplete tasks?
• Want to note down something important but can't find the elusive planner in the stack of paper, files and other sundry stuff on your table?

Whether you are a rising teamleader, a hassled manager, self-employed or an ultra-busy executive, here are a few tips to help you manage your time for a simpler, more organised and peaceful life.

Identify your time stealers and minimise them

• Unorganised tasks
• Weak delegation
• Unplanned meetings
• Passage chit chat
• Multiple tea/ coffee breaks
• Restroom chatter
• Cigarette breaks
• Wasting time waiting for others
• Unnecessary trips to the printer
• Indecision and procrastination

Tools to manage time

~ To-do lists
You can have a daily to-do list and also a master to-do list that helps you track your ongoing tasks that do not find any place in your daily to-do lists.

Bhanu Ranjith, project manager, is a committed enthusiast of to-do lists. "It's really imperative for me to manage my scheduled tasks and my time, especially with lots of dynamic things happening on a daily basis. Here's how I embark upon my day:

• Morning first thing, I check my emails and figure out the most critical tasks.
• Spend some time in sorting the tasks on a priority basis.
• Stick to this list and try to close as many items as I can, one by one. At times, a task cannot be completed at one shot, due to various dependencies. So, I re-look at my list later in the day.
• Knock off from the list all the tasks I have completed. (Gives me great joy!)
• If some tasks cannot be completed on that same day, I send a status of the tasks to the relevant stakeholders and inform them about the closure time and date."

Looks like we can all take a leaf out of his to-do list, what say?

~ MS Outlook
You can view your schedule using any of these views: month, week or day. Outlook provides various features like e-mail, calendar, tasks, contacts, journal, notes and folder lists to help you plan your time. You can also create your very own calendar by using MS Word. Customise the template, make multiple copies and bind them.   

~ Paper calendar
You can use the month view for an overview of the entire month. The week view will help if you have lots of meetings/ appointments and also need to maintain notes or mark out the events right in front of you.

~ Electronic planner
Many people these days are increasingly using their mobiles/ organisers/ palmtops as their personal assistants. Payal Neeraj* couldn't agree more, "In fact, mobiles are so handy that these days my loyal friend reminds me of my 4 pm meeting everyday. My colleagues no longer crib at having to constantly send me reminder text messages!"

~ A-Z tabs
These are a huge help in saving and tracking addresses, phone numbers, instant messaging addresses etc. You can again customise these by making small notes against the names of the people with whom you interact frequently.

You can have a separate planner to keep in mind your goals, values, books to read, movies to watch or buy, things to purchase, shares to invest in, birthday and anniversary reminders. Though the uses can be multiple, the purpose is singular -- to keep mess out of your life, and open the doors for organised schedules and reminders so that you don't miss anything important that may cause you regrets later on.

Lead graphic designer Nayan Shah*can't help but smile as she says, "I am so absentminded I forget where I put my glasses, even though they are sitting pretty on my head all the time. With two children in school, I invariably tended to miss their school meetings and events. I had to start carrying my planner everywhere with me. Now, my kids think I am the best mom in the world."

Some tips to manage your time better

• Plan your tomorrow, today: Reduce the mess and disorder around you and most importantly, in your mind. It takes you 10 minutes to jot down your tasks, but will save you lot of trouble, time and embarrassment in case you forget something important. 
• Focus on time and effect coordinates: Record the time taken by your usual tasks everyday. Do not forget to log time honestly for all the breaks you have taken during the day.
• Review your to-do list regularly: Study your planner after a week of recording time spent on your everyday activities.
• Say no to unplanned, impromptu work: It can be difficult to say no, but it is necessary if you want to complete your scheduled tasks. Being a do-gooder doesn't always reap rewards. It mostly makes your days longer and more tiring! 
• Don't bite off more than you can chew: Do not clutter your calendar with things that are not important. Do not over plan and end up doing only half of the scheduled tasks.
• Follow the 80:20 principle: Make sure at least 20 per cent of tasks deliver 80 per cent results.
• Make lists based on the urgency of tasks. Such as: Pending, Urgent, Important, Urgent and important
• Decide the start and cutoff time for tasks: Estimate the time you will take to complete a task and stick to it.

An old saying aptly highlights the importance of time management: "Lost wealth may be replaced by hard work, lost knowledge by study, lost health by care and medicine, but lost time is gone forever!" So use your time wisely!

(Preeti Bose, The writer is manager -- training for a US-based MNC. The views expressed in this article are solely her own and not of her organisation, http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2007/sep/21time.htm)

 

At 28, a paraplegic, she makes her living from the stock markets

Sujata Burla's life took an ugly turn on June 9, 2001. On a pilgrimage to Shirdi, where the Sai Baba temple in Maharashtra is located, from Hyderabad, she met with an accident.

Four months later, the doctors and physiotherapists treating her told her she could not walk for the rest of her life. The accident had turned her into a paraplegic. It meant Sujata was immobile below the shoulders. She was just 21.

Soon people who she thought were her friends abandoned her and Sujata was left alone. Compounding her tragedy was her father's death in March 2004. Not one to be easily cowed down by her circumstances, she started learning about the stock markets that year.

Now she trades like a pro and earns anywhere between Rs 200,000 and Rs 250,000 every month. On a day like Wednesday, September 19, 2007, when the Nifty was up 186 points, Sujata made a cool Rs 600,000 in a single day. She has still not sold her position.

"I expect the Nifty to touch 4800 in the next two, three trading days. I will sell my position then," Sujata told this correspondent in a telephone conversation from her home in Hyderabad.

Sujata moves around in a wheelchair and does not regret this fact. Financial independence is what she strove for and that is exactly what she has got through sheer determination and discipline.

How do you cope with such a trauma?

Before, I could not even write or type. Now I have got used to it. I can easily type and trade on my computer and laptop.

In the first four months after my accident I did not even know I would never be able to walk again. I went into a depression feeling that this was the end of life for me.

Does your condition make you dependant on others?

I am the kind of person who doesn't like to depend on anybody -- whether financially, physically or mentally. So, it was very tough for me to physically depend on somebody. I soon realised that financial independence could get me much more freedom in life.

So I started thinking how I could earn money. I worked with my sister, who is a fashion designer, and learned a bit about it. I soon started a textile workshop where I employed 10 people. However, the workers took undue advantage of my physical disability leading to losses. I closed my workshop and moved towards stock market trading.

How did you get into the stock markets?

I realised that if at all I have to succeed in life I would have to do something for which I don't have to depend on anybody. Through a friend of mine I came to know about the stock markets in 2004. It took me almost a year to understand the various nuances of the stock market and it was in 2005 that I actually started trading.

What was your first trading/investment experience like?

My first investment was in blue chip companies like Reliance Industries, Hero Honda, ACC and IDBI. However, the Rs 100,000 that I invested did not earn me any returns. It was my first investment and I did not know when to sell or the right time to sell my stocks. That learning experience helped me to hone my skills in the stock markets.

How much do you make from trading in stocks now?

My turnover for a month is over Rs 3 crore. But my actual investment is only Rs 15 lakhs. I make anywhere between 10 to 15 per cent per of this investment per month. It is like I earn 20 to 30 per cent sometimes and lose 10 per cent at other times. This takes my average monthly return to 10 to 15 per cent every month of my total investment of Rs 15 lakhs.

Could you share your success mantras for our readers?

• Read all the advice that you get from various business television channels, newspapers, friends who understand the stock markets but be extremely cautious and disciplined when you act on this advice.


• Never extend your trading bets beyond your means. I speak to my friends; get investment and trading ideas from my brokerages (she is registered for online trading with Reliance Money, Indiabulls and Kotak Securities).

How would you identify yourself as a stock market player?

I am a short-term trader; I am surely not a long-term investor.

Do you trade intra-day?

Well, if my bets appreciate considerably then I take home my profits on the same day. Otherwise, I wait for my investments to bear at least 7 to 8 per cent returns before I actually sell it.

Intra-day trading, though, is very risky as most traders tend to burn their fingers trying to time the market. And I have lost quite a bit of money trading intra-day in the cash market, believe me.

How much have you deposited with all these brokerage companies?

As I told you earlier, my total deposit with all the three brokers is Rs 15 lakhs. Using this amount I buy Call Options within my overall limits. There is no concept of margin money in options. Whatever money I have earned till now is only through Option trading. You can do risk-less trading in Options using a small amount.

As a safe strategy I never write a Put Option. Put Options are very risky. That way I am a very safe trader. In Puts I can even make 50 per cent a month on my investments; but then I can lose the same amount too. My principle is if I make money I make it; I shouldn't lose money at all.

I usually write a Call Option on the Nifty. I am always long (buying first and then selling at a higher price to make profit) on the markets and whenever the market is too overbought I wait for the markets to cool down.

The last two days turned out to be very good for the stock markets. How much did you make in these two days?

Actually, it is celebration time for me. I made 80 per cent returns today (September 19, the Nifty was up 186 points or 4.09 per cent). Most of the Nifty Calls went up by 80 per cent today. However, I did not invest the entire Rs 15 lakhs because I am sitting on a bit of cash as the markets have run up too fast in the recent past. I invested only 50 per cent of Rs 15 lakhs on which I made an 80 per cent return (Editor's note: That's a cool Rs 600,000; don't rub your eyes in disbelief; you read it right!).

However, there are times when I lose a big amount of money in trading. Such gains happen only once in a lifetime. The losses that I make during the year sort of offsets such gains.

But remember that these things don't happen every other day. I have still not booked my profits. I am still holding on my positions. I plan to sell them after a day or two because I feel that the markets can still go up -- at least for the next two, three days -- based on the strong momentum. I am expecting the Nifty to go up to 4800 at least.

Actually, the target given by one of my brokerage houses is 4900 but I am going to book profits at 4800 levels. Too much greed is also not good, is it?

Moreover, it is the festive season and Diwali is just round the corner. Normally, the markets go up during Diwali. There will be some profit booking (a situation when a trader sells her/his stocks at a profit) tomorrow and the day after that but the general mood is likely to remain bullish till Diwali. I don't expect a market crash or correction till Diwali.

Do you stay with your family?

I stay with my mother and cousin Priya. My father passed away on March 20, 2004. I have a sister and two brothers but they are all married and lead separate lives.

Do you have friends?

Before the accident I had many friends but they all ran away after my accident. They were all false friends. People like this go where there is money, success and happiness. People like these don't chase failures.

After my accident I have a different set of friends. I have a few friends now but they are my true friends. They have been with me through my bad times. They really care for me. I can count Pradeep and Ashish amongst my true friends now.

(http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2007/sep/20pras.htm)

5 bad food habits office-goers must change

If you, like so many of us, are so caught up with work that you have little time to watch what you eat, it's time to take a breather before your lifestyle takes its toll on your health.

Here are five bad habits which you must avoid to salvage your health.

1. Skipping breakfast

A lot of people leave home with just a cup of tea or coffee and then they wonder why they are always crabby, irritable and low on energy throughout the day.

Skipping this first, most important meal of the day is like starting a car without fuel. Your body is forced to call on its energy reserves and these do not last very long, making you irritable and snappy and lacking in concentration by the middle of the day.

What's more, you will end up eating a lot more servings or calorie-dense foods at lunch, which will cause your sugar levels to go up and then come crashing down, making you feel sluggish and tired.

Solution: A good breakfast does not have to be elaborate; a glass of skimmed milk with 2 handfuls of corn or wheat flakes and a fruit will suffice. For hot breakfast lovers, an egg, two slices of bread and a fruit or a bowl of oatmeal porridge accompanied by a fruit are enough.

2. Drinking too much tea/coffee

Sipping constantly can be a tough habit to break. But too much of either tea or coffee can do two things:

* It may leave you feeling jittery, irritable, dehydrated, and even interrupt your sleep pattern at night so you do not get deep sleep or do not feel rested the next day.
* If taken with your meals, tea and coffee inhibit the absorption of iron from your food. Your body throws out the nutrient as waste.

Solution: If you cannot cut down on the number of cups, cut down on the size of cups so you drink half the quantity. If you have a choice, opt for water.

3. Not drinking enough water

Most corporate offices are air-conditioned, so we do not really sweat and therefore, do not feel so thirsty. What's more when you are used to drinking water below your requirement, your body adapts and when you do start drinking a little more water, your body treats it as excess -- in fact, initially, the body actually throws it out causing you to run to the toilet every few minutes.

In the long run, not drinking enough water can cause constipation, indigestion, gas, increased hunger pangs, dehydration and can make your skin look dull too.

Solution: Keep a 1 litre bottle of water at your table and aim to finish it before the end of the day. It may take you two to three days to adapt to an increased dose but when you do, you will notice the positive benefits immediately -- better skin, better bowel movements and better control on your hunger pangs.

4. Eating at odd hours

While you cannot be expected to leave in the middle of a meeting because the clock says lunch time, it is definitely possible to try to have a somewhat regular meal timing for the majority of the days in the week.

Having a somewhat fixed meal time helps keep your metabolic rate up and can help prevent gas and acidity, which result from long gaps between meals.

Timely eating will also prevent you from overeating as once your body is used to getting energy at a particular hour, it will stop demanding food at odd hours.

Solution: Try to have a fixed time-frame in which you can have your meal peacefully and finish it in a matter of 15 to 20 minutes.

5. Weekend binging

Most of us put in endless hours during the week eating whatever is available, and then comes the weekend. We go on another binge that we feel we deserve. Hard drinks along with food add to the damage we cause to our health in the long run.

Solution: Try to take some time to relax at the end of each day and don't wait for the weekend to unwind. Take a relaxing massage, watch a movie or a play or read a good book. Eating is not the only way to pamper yourself!

Is there a magic strategy to become rich?

If you had bought 100 shares of Wipro at the rate of Rs 100 per share in 1980, they would be worth Rs 200 crore today.

If you had invested Rs 10,000 in Infosys shares in 1992, you would be richer by Rs 1.5 crore today.

If you had invested Rs 1,000 in Ranbaxy in 1980, you would have got Rs 1.9 crore today!

And not so far back in time, if you had invested Rs 40,000 in Unitech during the lows of 2004, your bank account would see a whopping Rs 1.1 crore today!

Some guy out there knew this. Today, he is laughing all the way to the bank. So what was the magic strategy that made this guy so rich? Simple.

He bought, he waited

Waited for all those share splits and bonus declarations.

Waited for the company to grow from strength to strength.

Waited even when the shares teetered only to recoup in a few years’ time.

Just as a child takes time to realise his/ her full potential, so does an investment need time to reward you handsomely.

Sure, the times are uncertain now. But let that not scare you to sell for a loss.

Patience pays

Look back. You will notice that selling in such times makes no real sense in the longer run. Those who didn’t sell their stocks during the May 2006 crash but had, in fact, bought more would be a very happy lot today.

Investing long term is like that: it rewards you handsomely. Always. Exercise patience. As champion broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said recently, if you want to learn more about patience, get married!

The way I see it, you don’t really need to get married to learn patience. Just look back in time. All these stocks have been multi-baggers for those who stayed on for the long term. They would have fetched you unimaginable returns today.

Do your research

You will learn a thing or two about making crores from a few lakhs.

You can still make those crores!

Turn a deaf ear at the skeptics; look at beaten down sectors.

Consider aviation and hospitality. Today, aviation stocks are way below their lifetime highs. But, as India grows, so will travel. And within the next three years, they will reward you handsomely.

Most people ignore aviation and hotels. And that is why they merit my attention.

Pick up stocks that others are ignoring. People who create wealth do things that others do not. I am sure you could make crores if you do too!

(http://www.ibnlive.com/news/is-there-a-magic-strategy-to-become-rich/48116-7.html, Yogesh Chabria, an investor and trader, runs GSIFS.com. He is author of Chicken Soup For The Soul and is working on a book on success, happiness and motivation. He can be reached at yogesh.chabria@moneycontrol.com)

Tricks to pick the right shares

Picking a good stock is combination of two things: you want to pick a well-run and profitable company but you also want it at a good price. It's pointless to look at either variable without considering the other. It's no good picking a great company if its stock price is priced very high by the market and it's no good picking up a cheap stock if the company is a dud.

That is where the P/E ratio comes in; it's a single measure which gives you information about both the profitability of the company and the price of its stock. It's a great starting point when you are trying to pick a good stock at a reasonable value.

What exactly is the P/E ratio?

P/E stands for price/earnings and the concept is quite straightforward. The numerator is simply the price per share and the denominator is the earnings (or profits) per share or EPS. So if a stock has a price of Rs 100 and the firm has an annual EPS of Rs 10 then the P/E ratio is 10.

Another way of looking at is that the P/E ratio tells you how much you are paying for every rupee of earnings from the firm. If a firm has a P/E of 15 it means you pay Rs 15 for every single rupee that a company earns as profit.

Interpreting the P/E ratio

In general the lower the P/E ratio the better value for money the stock represents. Roughly a P/E of around 15 would be considered normal. A P/E above 20 would be considered expensive and one below 10 would be cheap. However you have to make a few adjustments.

It may be possible that a particular company while having relatively high earnings today has poor future prospects, say, because of poor management. The markets would push down its stock price leading to a low P/E ratio but the stock isn't necessarily a good buy.

Secondly you have to adjust for the industry in which the company operates as well as its general growth prospects. 'Old Economy' industries like steel and cement generally have low P/E ratios because these industries are considered to have only moderate growth prospects. 'New Economy' industries like IT and telecoms have high P/E ratios because they have excellent growth prospects.

When evaluating a company it makes sense to compare its ratio with that of other similar firms in the industry. You may also want to compare a firm's P/E ratio with its ratio in previous years; if its P/E today is significantly lower than, say, the three year average then it may be a good buy.

PEG ratio

Another variant of the P/E ratio that is sometimes used, especially for high-growing industries, is the PEG ratio. This is the ratio of the P/E number calculated above to the expected annual growth of earnings in percentage terms.

So for example if the price of a stock is Rs 90, the EPS is 3 and expected growth is 40 per cent, the P/E ratio is 30 and the PEG ratio is 30/40 or 0.75.

The PEG ratio is especially useful for high growth industries like information technology.

The lower the PEG ratio the more attractive the stock is and in particular a PEG less than 1 is often considered attractive. So for example an IT stock may be an attractive buy even with a P/E ratio of 30 if you expect earnings to grow at more than 30 per cent in the future.

A cement stock may not be good value even at a P/E ratio of 10 if future growth prospects are poor.

Of course measuring future earnings is tricky. You can start by looking at earnings growth in previous years but there is no guarantee that the firm will be able to sustain such growth in the future.

This is where judgment comes in; you have to evaluate the future prospect of the industry and also whether the firm has the right strategy to exploit opportunities.

Conclusion

The P/E ratio is perhaps the single most important ratio in fundamental analysis. However it can't be used blindly. As always in stock investing you have to combine ratio analysis with careful judgement about the firm's management and future prospects.

(http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2007/sep/05stocks.htm)

Tricks to pick the right shares

Picking a good stock is combination of two things: you want to pick a well-run and profitable company but you also want it at a good price. It's pointless to look at either variable without considering the other. It's no good picking a great company if its stock price is priced very high by the market and it's no good picking up a cheap stock if the company is a dud.

That is where the P/E ratio comes in; it's a single measure which gives you information about both the profitability of the company and the price of its stock. It's a great starting point when you are trying to pick a good stock at a reasonable value.

What exactly is the P/E ratio?

P/E stands for price/earnings and the concept is quite straightforward. The numerator is simply the price per share and the denominator is the earnings (or profits) per share or EPS. So if a stock has a price of Rs 100 and the firm has an annual EPS of Rs 10 then the P/E ratio is 10.

Another way of looking at is that the P/E ratio tells you how much you are paying for every rupee of earnings from the firm. If a firm has a P/E of 15 it means you pay Rs 15 for every single rupee that a company earns as profit.

Interpreting the P/E ratio

In general the lower the P/E ratio the better value for money the stock represents. Roughly a P/E of around 15 would be considered normal. A P/E above 20 would be considered expensive and one below 10 would be cheap. However you have to make a few adjustments.

It may be possible that a particular company while having relatively high earnings today has poor future prospects, say, because of poor management. The markets would push down its stock price leading to a low P/E ratio but the stock isn't necessarily a good buy.

Secondly you have to adjust for the industry in which the company operates as well as its general growth prospects. 'Old Economy' industries like steel and cement generally have low P/E ratios because these industries are considered to have only moderate growth prospects. 'New Economy' industries like IT and telecoms have high P/E ratios because they have excellent growth prospects.

When evaluating a company it makes sense to compare its ratio with that of other similar firms in the industry. You may also want to compare a firm's P/E ratio with its ratio in previous years; if its P/E today is significantly lower than, say, the three year average then it may be a good buy.

PEG ratio

Another variant of the P/E ratio that is sometimes used, especially for high-growing industries, is the PEG ratio. This is the ratio of the P/E number calculated above to the expected annual growth of earnings in percentage terms.

So for example if the price of a stock is Rs 90, the EPS is 3 and expected growth is 40 per cent, the P/E ratio is 30 and the PEG ratio is 30/40 or 0.75.

The PEG ratio is especially useful for high growth industries like information technology.

The lower the PEG ratio the more attractive the stock is and in particular a PEG less than 1 is often considered attractive. So for example an IT stock may be an attractive buy even with a P/E ratio of 30 if you expect earnings to grow at more than 30 per cent in the future.

A cement stock may not be good value even at a P/E ratio of 10 if future growth prospects are poor.

Of course measuring future earnings is tricky. You can start by looking at earnings growth in previous years but there is no guarantee that the firm will be able to sustain such growth in the future.

This is where judgment comes in; you have to evaluate the future prospect of the industry and also whether the firm has the right strategy to exploit opportunities.

Conclusion

The P/E ratio is perhaps the single most important ratio in fundamental analysis. However it can't be used blindly. As always in stock investing you have to combine ratio analysis with careful judgement about the firm's management and future prospects.

(http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2007/sep/05stocks.htm)

Carry your desktop wherever you go

Virtualisation is fast touching data centres, but it's the desktop where the next round of advances is expected. For now, the offtakes of virtual desktops or online desktops appears slow.

A couple of strong-willed companies like Nivio and Red Hat are busy pumping money into research and development and marketing, so as to get the product right for the masses, but the buying proposition for online desktops is yet to be clarified to the 40 million internet subscribers in India.

Online desktops are best described as operating systems that keep all their information online. Using virtual desktop services, a user can take his PC environment to different machines (including mobile phones) without physically transferring data.

For instance, if he logs into a newly-installed computer, or is travelling, his PC environment will be waiting for him, with no set-up to redo. If you find moving information between machines painful, then consider using an online desktop.

"Thanks to online desktops, software and files no longer run on users' individual computers or local file servers. Instead, all applications, data, email and are delivered from a managed data centre. IT is thus centralised and simplified, and all you need is an internet connection," explains Sachin Duggal, CEO, Nivio.

The company is offering a virtual Windows XP environment to users at Rs 399 (per month), where one can select software suites like Microsoft Office, Adobe tools, instant messengers, security software and multimedia applications, among others.

A Red Hat spokesperson says that the company is preparing to release in India this month the new Global Desktop that over time will grow into an online desktop, integrating online services into a client desktop platform.

Red Hat has teamed up with Intel for the platform. Local PC manufacturers will build the actual systems, which will target small businesses and governments in emerging economies, while the software will be made available on Intel's Classmate PC, a low cost notebook computer for students.

"Integrating the online services with local data is what we will provide for our next-generation online desktop," explains the Red Hat spokesperson, adding, "We won't be recreating a Windows paradigm, but delivering a customised Linux desktop instead."

Red Hat has planned online Linux desktops in around seven regional languages in India, so that it can convince users and government institutions to invest money.

Nivio seems to have gathered some steam, having raised over $3.5 million through private equity. Earlier, the company had voiced its intentions of raising $5 million to fuel expansion, a search for investment that ended with AMD investing an "undisclosed sum" in R&D. Red Hat will also be announcing tie-ups in India to promote its global PC.

"We think that migration from local applications to rich, collaborative online services such as Google Apps and Flickr potentially represents a huge opportunity for open source on the desktop. So we're working to define and implement a contemporary desktop experience for this connected world," says the Red Hat spokesperson.

Also striking an optimistic note, Duggal says, "If you like web-based instant messengers, why stop there? Web-based operating isn't a bad idea either." Nivio targets registering 100,000 users by end-December 2007.

Nivio's business model will be structured on selling storage beyond the five gigabytes that comes free and selling subscriptions to a forthcoming enterprise version of the service. Duggal says his company works on the belief that IT should be a commodity accessible to all regardless of socio-economic circumstances.

But first, companies need to ensure that they bundle a broadband connection with the online desktop products. While Nivio is already working on the concept, Red Hat seems to have no plans to tie-up with internet service providers. One close competitor here would be Sify, which recently launched Sify Anywhere, which too works on the virtual PC environment idea.

One wonders: what is the real target market for the online desktop? Emerging markets may seem the likely answer.

(http://us.rediff.com/money/2007/sep/04desktop.htm)

Switching jobs? Leave on the right note

Nilesh Gautam quit his job as a project manager with a leading company in the telecom sector only to return after two years as an assistant vice president in the same organisation. Nilesh highlights his previous employer's openness to accept him and the professional work culture as key reasons for his return.

While the trend of employees joining their old organisations is a growing one, you need to ensure that you are leaving on the right note for your employers to keep their doors open for you in the future. Remember -- the way you quit is as important as why. Here are some points that you must keep in mind:

If greener pastures becon
Never quit a job in a rush. Give your decision a reasonable amount of thought. Before deciding to take the final plunge, make sure you talk to a trusted colleague or your boss.

Don't discuss your resignation with everyone at work. If your boss finds out about it through another person, he would feel cheated. If nothing seems to work out and seeking a new job is the only option, ensure that you serve the notice period as per the company policy.

The notice period typically varies from 4 to 6 weeks and you must try and adhere to this. Do not leave impulsively; complete the projects you are working on. The negative publicity would only work to ensure that the doors remain shut to you in the future.

Don't violate any hygiene factors and laws
Every organisation has strict data privacy laws and you must respect them. Don't carry any confidential data with you while leaving. Never handicap the organisation or your department in any way.

Don't try to sabotage or delete any documents. Make sure that you are not taking any vital data with you. Ensure that you clean your desk before you leave. Shred all the unwanted documents and files and handover the rest to your replacement or your boss. Leaving your desk untidy is disrespectful and will leave a sour taste within the organisation.

You want people to miss you behind your back and not curse you for the mess that you have left behind. Leave the organisation with dignity and grace.

Maintain a good relationship with your clients
Most organisations today are very customer-centric and make most of their decisions based on client commitments. An organisation would be happy to take you back if their clients speak positively of your abilities.

It is important to know that the client is aware of your movement to another organisation. However, let your boss do this for you. Ideally, your boss must write an e-mail to the client and make a formal announcement.

Send a 'thank you' note to your client before you leave. This gesture will make your client remember you.

Follow the protocol
Write a professional letter of resignation. Most companies have an approved format with the human resource department and if you intend to return to the company later or would like to keep the option open, your letter can be a decisive factor.

Highlight some key accomplishments in the letter without sounding boastful. Make sure that you appreciate your boss and colleagues even if you love the fact that you are leaving them. For all you know, they may want to re-hire you back after a while.

Also, make sure that you let your organisation knows that you are willing to support them in finding a replacement and even handing over pending projects.

Remember, if you want your current employers to keep their doors open for you, pay attention to the finer details while leaving before you move on.

5 career mistakes you should avoid

I worked there for 6 months, then for 3 months with this other company, and currently am working for a company called XYZ." If this was what your career sounds like, especially in one year, you'd be well advised to leave the smaller stints out of your resume.

There are various types of careers, and many more categories of people who work, driving forward progress. If your goal is to find a good company, work for them, start to save and stick with that company till something more lucrative creeps up, then you are most likely to take less risks in life and be voted 'Employee of the month'. But for those who are ever on the look out for a better pay package, greater job satisfaction or just a change from the rat race, there are some mistakes you should avoid, or never repeat again.

Choosing a career based on remuneration
Big mistake. If your main aim is just money, it may just be the start of the road downhill. True, the indisputable purpose of working is to earn and that of a good career is a continuous salary, but when you choose your career choose one based on your skill sets and not how much an industry pays. If you have an attitude that blatantly screams, "Show me the money!", the only tangible object you may soon see is the exit.

Maya Choudhary*, a college graduate and a fresher, chose what she felt was the most highly paying career she could find. Of course, it was at a BPO, and what could be simpler than taking calls, right? So for a year she earned more money than she would have normally started out with. Two years into her career, her job lost the initial charm of the overflowing cash bags, and she was reconsidering her decision. Maybe she should have studied some more or looked for a job that needed her to use her skills more, but now, she had lost two years.

Working in too many places for too short a time
Sure, it's great to say you worked for the best companies, but that's only if you hold more than five or 10 years of experience. Organisations do not see any reason to employ drifters. And if you are drifting, my suggestion is to dock that raft and jump on the big boats.

Josh Almeida*, a graphic designer in the publishing industry, made one of the worst career mistakes in the formative years of his career. The first year he worked for three companies, the second for two. This left many unanswered questions for his next prospective employer. It gives the interviewer an impression of indecisiveness, uncertainty and basic lack of maturity -- a bad set of attributes to hold.

Jumping industries
Photography, advertising, HR, sound. It's nice to see variety on any resume, but if an individual has no speciality, the uniqueness of employment is lost. No longer do people need someone who can do everything or knows more than what is needed.

The need of the hour is specialisation, the offering you make that not many can replicate. We are not machines, and our individuality is our USP. Constantly shifting industries only works is the area of expertise traverses industries.

Vera Singh*, a youth counsellor and HR consultant, has noticed a growing trend. No longer does one get a job, get married and work there till their grandkids graduate. Now individuals experiment with industries -- teachers are joining call centers, the older generation is trying to earn from home, and the youth are grabbing their share of promotions. But the problem arises when candidates are not sure of what they want to do; they land up at jobs, for sake of the job, without prior thought and consideration.

This leaves them after a few years with a range of designations, a stack of cash but still no direction. And if you don't know where you're headed, your career is lost.

Punctuality and regularity
Work is not about rebellion, you have to be on time, you have to adhere to the rules. You can bend rules, but breaking them leaves you with career stains that don't easily wash off. All offices demand this dedication, and if you make the mistake, and repeat it, the negative image will stick with you.

Take the case of Prashant Dighe*, a dancer by profession, all he had to do besides dance was be on time to practice, which he somehow could not. So before the next troupe even saw him dance, they had already heard about his antics -- which did not in any way reflect his skill as a dancer but instead his ethics as a professional.

Arrogant, more arrogant, most arrogant!
The biggest, yes biggest mistake is arrogance. You may be good, but if you work for someone you have to learn to compromise. To be part of a team that runs with as few kinks as possible, you have to put aside your ego. It doesn't matter what your career, if you can't take orders, you will never work happily.

Sheila Pinge*, an editor friend, fell prey to her pride. Brilliant as she is, she just could not seem to work with others. Maybe a month goes by without incident, but gradually small suggestions and helpful advice from her colleagues would bring on turmoil both at work and at home. After four years of working she finally recognised that her arrogance was the motivating factor for quitting every job she had. But amends can still be made and change appropriated.

They say to err is human and forgive divine, but sadly, this doesn't apply to the world of the working man or woman. To err is now a financial liability and forgiveness takes up valuable business time, and our fast paced, hypersonic world chooses not to waste any time on trivialities. So as you go about your pursuit of a meaningful career, make sure you don't commit these career mistakes.

(http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2007/sep/04career.htm)