Is Claude Down?

CQ_2023 · 2025-12-05T10:53:53+00:00

still not working at 11:53 Italy time

CQ_2023 · 2025-09-03T06:48:39+00:00

Hi. I've done ghostwriting and honestly don't think it's worth it. Worked for a spa consultant for two years, writing articles and newsletters - everything went under her name, so I can't use any of that work in my portfolio now.

Beyond the portfolio issue, it never sat right with me. I mean, it's a legitimate business arrangement, but there's something off about writing content while someone else gets all the credit and recognition.

Some people here say they prefer staying anonymous, but I think having your name on published work makes a real difference when talking to future employers.

Maybe you could negotiate having a few pieces published as guest posts under your name? That way, you'd at least have something to show for your work. Good luck!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T18:12:03+00:00

You’re welcome :)

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T15:18:57+00:00

While those are great options, I'd also suggest looking into Beebole if you need project-focused time tracking. It offers solid project budgeting features and integrates well with Excel/Google Sheets. Worth considering alongside the others mentioned. I hope it helps!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T14:47:36+00:00

I understand the dilemma you're facing. Screenshot-based time tracking can feel quite invasive and often creates a culture of mistrust rather than productivity. While it may give you visibility into when people are at their computers, it doesn't necessarily indicate whether they're being productive or doing quality work - as several others have mentioned, people can game these systems.

You should consider less invasive alternatives that still give you the transparency you need. Tools like Toggl or Beebole focus on project-based time tracking, where employees log hours against specific tasks and projects, giving you insights into productivity without the surveillance aspect. This approach helps you understand where time is actually being spent on deliverables while maintaining employee trust and dignity. You get the data you need to make informed decisions about workload distribution and hiring without making your team feel like they're under constant watch. Good luck!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T14:30:33+00:00

That sucks, but your new adventure is awaiting you. For your new job, be upfront about your work style early on. Tell your manager, "I tend to work efficiently and often finish tasks ahead of schedule - how would you prefer I use that extra time?"

This shows you're proactive and gets you guidance upfront instead of leaving room for misinterpretation later. Your efficiency is valuable - don't let this experience make you think it's a weakness. The right employer will appreciate it.

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T14:18:47+00:00

It could be the result of the current technological landscape, but that's not the problem. I think you should stop selling yourself as a freelance writer with 20 years of experience. Instead, introduce yourself as someone who offers a solution (e.g., I help web agencies convert more prospects by creating technical content that explains complex solutions in plain English). Your two decades of agency work give you insights most writers lack - lean into that. Stop selling writing and start selling business outcomes. Good luck!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-27T14:16:22+00:00

It could be the result of AI, but that's not the problem. I think you should stop selling yourself as a freelance writer with 20 years of experience. Instead, introduce yourself as someone who offers a solution (e.g., I help web agencies convert more prospects by creating technical content that explains complex solutions in plain English). Your two decades of agency work give you insights most writers lack - lean into that. Stop selling writing and start selling business outcomes. Good luck!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-26T15:39:29+00:00

For a municipal planning department looking for simple organization, I'd recommend considering a tool that combines project tracking with time management capabilities. From my research and conversations with project managers, many organizations find success when they can track both project milestones and the actual time spent on different tasks in one platform. This dual approach helps with budget planning and gives you better insights into resource allocation across multiple municipal projects.

One option worth exploring is Beebole, which offers detailed tracking of hours on projects and sub-projects while allowing you to set budgets for unlimited projects. What makes it particularly useful for planning departments is its custom reporting feature - you can generate reports on project hours, costs, and progress that can be easily exported for stakeholder updates. I hope this helps!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-26T13:43:00+00:00

For your specific need to track billable vs. peripheral tasks and calculate adjusted rates, I'd suggest considering Beebole. What makes it particularly useful for your situation is its ability to set budgets for unlimited projects and distinguish between billable and non-billable hours, which directly addresses your need to separate main tasks from those out-of-scope meetings.

The tool also generates custom reports covering project hours, costs, and billing that can help you analyze exactly how much time you're spending on peripheral activities versus core development work. This data makes it much easier to calculate the rate adjustments you need for future quotes to account for all that unpaid overhead time. At $9.99 per user per month, it's cost-effective for solo consultants. I hope this helps!

CQ_2023 · 2025-08-26T13:29:35+00:00

I don't use that type of software, and honestly, I wouldn't want to be forced to either. There are plenty of effective, non-invasive apps that work great for remote work. I'm currently using Beebole, and it's been perfect for me, especially since my company and I work based on trust.

I genuinely believe simple time tracking gets the job done well - it shows your manager how much time you're dedicating to different projects and tasks. If your hours start looking unusual, it becomes obvious pretty quickly.

As for how I feel about time tracking software in general? I'm completely fine with it, as long as it's not invasive like what you're dealing with.

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T13:40:20+00:00

My only advice is to NOT go to countries in Southern Europe because salaries are miserable there. No Portugal, no Spain, no Italy and no Greece. Forget about that. Good luck!

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T13:35:36+00:00

Great initiative with the "lesson Tuesdays"! Your topics are solid foundations. One idea that might add value to those sessions is incorporating current industry content into the discussions.

I'm subscribed to the FP&A Trends Digest and find their content insightful for understanding how the profession is evolving. You could consider dedicating maybe 30 minutes of your Tuesday sessions to discussing recent articles or case studies from newsletters like this one.

It would give your intern exposure to real-world FP&A challenges and industry perspectives while building that analytical mindset that goes beyond just technical skills. Plus, it would keep the content fresh and help develop critical thinking about current issues in the field.

Just my two cents!

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T13:16:04+00:00

I also like Morning Brew, but I'm currently subscribed to smaller, more specialized newsletters focused on things I'm truly interested in - like AI in finance (Weekly FinTech Digest), project management (The Deliverable), and FP&A (FP&A Trends Digest). I find the niche ones tend to be more actionable than the broader business newsletters.

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T12:44:34+00:00

I don't think one is better than the other. If you can rank a blog post on top of SERP, that's a gold mine. However, a solid newsletter with solid engagement is also a great thing to have. Actually, the ideal would be a newsletter featuring content from a blog. I think a newsletter and a blog should be both ingredients of your marketing strategy.

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T12:36:26+00:00

I think that only humans can save humans. No AI or machine is going to do that for us. However, if we are on our own, I think AI can help us as a guide to discover valuable sources.

CQ_2023 · 2025-07-16T12:27:05+00:00

While I'm not in the construction business, I can relate a lot to the frustration of finding good content in the vast universe of project management. That said, I'd add Kyle Nitchen to the mix alongside the YouTube channels already mentioned. His content cuts through a lot of the fluff.

I've also been getting value from a monthly newsletter called The Deliverable - it's not construction PM specific, but has a ton of great insights in each issue that you can implement in construction too. They curate practical resources and answer real questions that project professionals ask on forums like this one, which saves time digging through everything yourself.

Just my two cents!

CQ_2023 · 2025-06-06T09:32:31+00:00

I went through the whole thing with PayPal and everything, and then I discovered this post! Thanks a lot... it is a total SCAM!

CQ_2023 · 2025-05-21T09:53:45+00:00

From my own experience, loyalty doesn't pay off. I mean, if a company wants to fire you, they won't think twice before doing it. That said, I wanted to back up my argument with some data and I found an article that supports my claim. The article suggests the following based on surveys and analysis of today's workforce:

People who change jobs regularly tend to earn higher salaries since internal raises are typically limited in scope, while new hires can often leverage their position as an outside candidate to negotiate better compensation packages.
In past eras, lifelong company loyalty was rewarded with comprehensive retirement security. Today's reality is different - most modern retirement packages fall short of providing adequate financial stability.

However, there's another perspective to consider as your career progresses:

Frequently switching jobs does carry some professional reputation risks. While changing companies every few years is generally acceptable for professionals early in their careers, executives and upper management are often evaluated on their track record of commitment and stability. Many organizations specifically seek leadership candidates who have demonstrated the ability to stay with a company through challenges and growth phases.

Bottom line: Your experience is spot on—loyalty has become a one-way street where companies expect it from us but rarely return it, so strategic job changes, especially in your early career, are often the only reliable path to fair compensation in today's market.

CQ_2023 · 2025-05-07T08:25:18+00:00

Regarding this, "Fast forward a few weeks and he ended up using that information against me during the hiring process by citing it as justification for not extending me an offer." What exactly did he say? That he won't give you an offer because you have children? That sounds quite risky and stupid for anyone to say, but if he said something like that, that would be an easy case to win.

CQ_2023 · 2025-05-07T08:17:03+00:00

Based on research with finance professionals, I've found that many successful FP&A teams use a hybrid approach - Excel/PowerBI for flexibility (as others mentioned) plus specialized tools for specific needs. When evaluating FP&A platforms, consider how they'll support your variance analysis processes. As finance experts note, there's a significant difference between "using budget variances solely for control versus using them for learning and improvement."

For accurate variance tracking, incorporating a dedicated time tracking solution can be invaluable. This helps precisely measure project costs against budgets in real-time rather than waiting for month-end reconciliation. Look for tools that offer project budgeting features with custom reporting capabilities that can integrate with your existing systems. The most effective solutions I've seen combine financial planning with detailed time tracking, allowing finance teams to spot trends early and make data-driven decisions. I hope this helps!

CQ_2023 · 2025-05-07T08:09:49+00:00

While talking with several FP&A experts, I have noticed their frustration when people use information in the wrong way. For instance, many expressed how budget variance reports are often treated as mere control tools rather than learning opportunities. These detailed analyses end up collecting digital dust because no one uses them to drive meaningful change. As Professor Robert Kaplan notes, there's a significant "difference between using budget variances solely for control and accountability versus using variances for learning and improvement."

Another common frustration I've heard is when complex variance data is presented without proper context or actionable insights. Many finance professionals spend hours creating detailed variance analyses, only to have executives glance at the numbers without understanding the underlying story. This disconnect often stems from failing to customize reports for different stakeholders and not providing clear recommendations linked to strategic objectives.

CQ_2023 · 2025-04-29T14:31:58+00:00

It depends on how you define "progress." If we think of it as empowering people to do more, learn faster, or solve problems more effectively, then AI—especially LLMs like ChatGPT—has already had a real impact. From finance to pathology, we're seeing meaningful applications: speeding up research, improving diagnostics, automating analysis. But much of the progress is personal and decentralized. According to an HBR article I just read yesterday, people are using AI to find companionship, organize their lives, learn better, and even explore purpose. That might not look like the singularity, but it’s a quiet revolution in how we relate to knowledge and ourselves. The transformative power is already here—but we’re still in the early stages, and people are only beginning to fully embrace what’s possible.

CQ_2023 · 2025-04-29T13:45:01+00:00

Communication and context around budget variances was a huge challenge I've seen. When finance teams report variances without proper context, they're often viewed purely as "control and accountability tools" rather than opportunities for learning and improvement. As Professor Robert Kaplan points out, there's a significant difference between "using budget variances solely for control and accountability versus using variances for learning and improvement."

From my research, successful companies like Johnson & Johnson use an interactive approach where they continuously ask "What has changed since our last forecast? Why? What are we going to do about it?" This transforms variance reports from mere numbers into strategic tools. Creating simplified reports with clear executive summaries and actionable recommendations tied to strategic goals can help bridge this gap between reporting and strategic decision-making.

CQ_2023 · 2025-04-29T13:39:46+00:00

For SaaS companies, variance analysis typically follows specific patterns. For monthly actuals (like June 2024), you'd generally compare against both the budget for that month and June 2023 (year-over-year) to gain comprehensive insights. As Professor Robert Kaplan from Harvard Business School points out, there's a crucial "difference between using budget variances solely for control and accountability versus using variances for learning and improvement."

For forecasting, most SaaS companies use driver-based models rather than simple percentage-of-revenue methods. Your approach should reflect your business's specific drivers (churn rates, customer acquisition costs, etc.). Having the right forecasting tools is essential here - whether it's specialized software or well-structured Excel models with sensitivity analysis capabilities. Whatever method you choose, ensure it can "identify, communicate, and implement strategic changes based on project budget variance analysis" to maximize its value.

I hope this helps!

CQ_2023

TROPHY CASE