10 Ways to use laser sharp focus to get more done
If you’re feeling a little distracted, try to get down to work by following some of Jonathan Mead’s tips on Zen Habits: “Commitment isn’t just thinking about really wanting something. You have to put your energy behind it enough to be able to move from point a to point z. If you’re trying to hit points c, s, q, y and t (which might represent other goals you have) you’ll get distracted. You lose focus and your energy fizzles.“

The New Stack: SaaS, Cloud Computing, Core Technology
Bernard Lunn of ReadWriteWeb presents his ideas on a new kind of stack, the players, and potential for value creation in Enterprise 2.0: “Most of us are spectators in the Cloud Computing game. But we all have lots of opportunities to be players at the top of the stack, in the SaaS layer. This is where there are low barriers to entry, massively reduced R&D costs and incumbents who will be slow to embrace SaaS for fear of cannibalizing their core business.”

Government 2.0: The Presidential Transition
Continuing his informative series on Mashable, Dr. Mark Drapeau cites the role of technology and the difficulties involved in carrying out this immense task: “There will be a large recruitment effort – up to 70,000 applications will come in – to seek out individuals with required expertise to staff the incoming administration.  The transition team will be overwhelmed with advice from think tanks, experts, interest groups, lobbyists, governors, legislators, and donors.  And within cabinet departments, small teams will be preparing materials for cabinet and sub-cabinet heads, teeing up important upcoming issues, and reorganizing resources and personnel. “

Network Citizens: Power and responsibilities at work
After studying six companies, an Orange and Demos report reveals the positive influence of online and offline social networking on business, as well as the fault-lines that need to be addressed: “Our analysis suggests that the ‘ties that bind’ within organisations are important incubators of innovation and productivity. Networks contribute to organisational resilience, a vital attribute in an economic downturn.”

The future of Enterprise 2.0 technologies
Richard MacManus shares some Forrester Research projections with regards to enterprise web technologies – which will grow and which will have the most impact on workplace collaboration: “Forrester estimated in April that the enterprise 2.0 market will hit $4.6 billion by 2013. They also predicted in October that enterprise 2.0 apps will fall dramatically in price. So while the overall value of enterprise web applications will increase, the amount vendors charge for them is expected to decline over time.”

In era of blog sniping, companies shoot first
Clair Miller of the New York Times talks about an emerging corporate strategy to avert potential PR disasters: putting bad news on their own blogs. “Glenn Kelman, chief executive of real estate site Redfin, expected the public to turn against him after he wrote about Redfin’s layoffs. Instead, 74 readers left supportive comments on the blog. ‘It’s been part of the healing process,’ Mr. Kelman said.”

Telework programs as good as cold hard cash, survey says
Denise Dubie reports on a timely study regarding the benefits of working at home: happy employees, productive workers, and less money spent: “The U.S. Unified Communications Survey… shows that nearly 60% of 821 American white collar workers polled save at least $25 per month on fuel costs by working at home. Another 25% reported saving more than $100 per month by performing their jobs outside of the office”

Twitter’s place at work
Matt Elliott of Y-Working ponders the use of Twitter in business environments, what’s unique about it, and the things you should avoid when using it: “Facebook is a closed system, Twitter is open. Facebook is still very passive (You don’t need to contribute a lot to enjoy it), Twitter is active, and requires you to be outspoken. Facebook users are generally either neutral or wary of the service, Twitter users are passionate. Small differences, but incredibly important…”

Conducting meetings online just makes more and more sense
The spotlight is on webcast technology, with a list of popular online meeting tools recommended by John Jantsch of Digital Nomads. “Think about how many times you have jumped in the car, driven 30 minutes to make a 10 minute presentation, chit chatted for another 20 minutes, jumped back in the car for another 30 minutes and, let’s see — invested 90 minutes in that 10 minute presentation. As you utilize web presentation tools — and web collaboration — and teach your customers to use them as well, your effectiveness and efficiency will soar.”

Study: LinkedIn users have higher incomes
Gavin O’Malley reports on a Anderson Analytics survey profiling LinkedIn users, both in the US and overseas, in this article on MediaPost: “The study shows a strong correlation with personal income and profession and the use of LinkedIn. Users with personal incomes between $200,000 and $350,000 were seven times more likely than those below that level to have over 150 LinkedIn connections.”