PROBLEM: corporate meetings that accomplish nothing

SOFTWARE: Collaboration software. If everyone is informed, meetings don't have to happen.

PROBLEM: nagging girlfriend

SOFTWARE: Tweet often and have them sent to her phone. All she really wants is a leash, this should do the trick.

PROBLEM: traffic congestion

SOFTWARE: I already check my city's online webcams of traffic before I have to go somewhere congested so I know what route to take.

PROBLEM: stupid shitty and cold weather

SOFTWARE: See Superman 3. It'll happen, don't worry.

PROBLEM: an IT department that's incompetent

SOFTWARE: yosho must work for the man... are you sure the problem isn't between the keyboard and the chair? ;)

PROBLEM: annoying neighbors

SOFTWARE: Damn. I got nothing. After all that, you win.

Well, I work from home, meetings happen on IRC or conference calls. Now, this being news.ycombinator.com, remember that when you launch your own startup, being "the boss" gives you the power to summon and dispel meetings at will! :)

>PROBLEM: nagging girlfriend

High-maintenance relationships aren't a fact of life, they're choices. It's only a problem if you want it to be.

> PROBLEM: traffic congestion > PROBLEM: stupid shitty and cold weather

Telecommuting make these seem a lot less threatening :)

> PROBLEM: an IT department that's incompetent > PROBLEM: annoying neighbors

Well, I don't really have a solution for these. Sometimes you just gotta work with less-qualified-than-we'd-hoped-for people, and you also gotta live somewhere.

I take those as facts of life, and then you have to decide what mindset you'll take on when dealing with those "problems".

Realizing you too can be annoying and also incompetent in a number of things can surely add some perspective do it.

Workflow, BPM, and Project Management software can go a long way to help avoid most meetings altogether. Then the meetings that do take place can be more productive.

At all the MIT dorms.