Tunneling ahead, remote work tips, and finding meaning

Wow, who knew making trains was so hard?

I’ve been on a lot of metro lines, and too often I take it for granted how they were made.

The big project of the week is no different. Check out some of the stats below!

But that’s not all we’re talking about today, we discuss the need to be effective as remote workers, and how you can find increased meaning in life and career.

Ready?

In today’s newsletter:

• 🚆 London’s new underground rail lines

• 💻 3 Tips for Remote Workers

• 💰What does it really mean to be “rich?”

• 🔥💵 Hot Job – Experienced Software Engineer Java / Python (Full Stack or Back End)

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📚 MUST READ

🎑 The Largest Construction Project in Europe

I’ve looked at a lot of huge projects like this, and I have yet to see one that had a budget and actually stuck to it. Usually it takes more time and money than anyone plans.

Maybe there is an engineering fix to the estimation and project management issues - anyone out there have that solution?

Anyway, let’s talk about a huge construction project in Europe - the London Crossrail!

Let’s look at this one by the numbers:

• The new trains will carry ~200 million passengers per year

• It will increase the rail capacity of London by ~10%

• It created ~14,000 construction jobs

• It brought an extra 1.5 million people to within 45 minutes of central london

• 1,000 jobs created for operation and maintenance

• It runs over 100km with a total of 41 stations including 10 new major stations.

• There are 42 km of new tunnels that are 6.2 meters in diameter.

• Budget - ~18.6 billion British pounds.

• Expected economy boost - 42 billion British pounds.

The central section running from Paddington to Abbey Wood was originally meant to open in 2018, but it finally opened in 2022.

The tunneling alone was quite an engineering project.

For three years straight, eight 1,000 ton tunnel boring machines worked to create the necessary tunnels. They were operated by crews of 20 around the clock to create the space for new rail lines.

Consider this - over 8 million tons of earth was excavated during the construction, and 99% of it was diverted from landfill to beneficial reuse. 

So… if you ever go visit London, it’s worth checking out the new rail lines and wondering what it took to make it happen!

🏆 CAREER TIPS

📈 3 Tips for Effective Remote Work

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the ubiquitous nature of remote work has exploded. Yet some people still struggle to do it effectively.

While it may provide increased flexibility for many, we have to work hard to make it work well. Here are three tips to do just that!

Get Fluent with Online Tools

There are more remote working tools out there than I can even count. Web conferencing, messaging, document sharing, and project management tools become even more important when you aren't face to face with people. If you avoided getting familiar with your company's tools of choice, now is the time to change that. And you'll be the hero if you have the ability to help others through their own struggles and be more productive for the whole team.

Communicate More Than You Think You Need To

One of the great benefits of being colocated is those natural, unplanned opportunities to connect and communicate with others. That doesn’t happen when we’re working remotely, so it can be easy for remote workers, especially those used to working in an office with others, to feel isolated and disconnected. Thus, communication is even more important. Keep teammates up to date on progress, initiatives, and roadblocks. You should probably be sharing more than you think is necessary to make up for the loss of natural communication.I

Set Appropriate Boundaries

It's easy to go to extremes when working remotely. Some people either work too much or too little because they can't separate work-time from home-time. Therefore, setting expectations for yourself and those you work with can help keep things running. When will you be online/offline? How do you handle at-home issues that you're suddenly around for? This will look different for everyone, but setting this all up can be really helpful.

Effective remote work doesn’t just happen. We must continue to adapt and be as effective as possible if we want to continue to have the increased flexibility it offers.

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• Creators on YouTube Must Now Declare When AI was Used to Create Realistic Content

• Nobody Knows How AI Works

 GADGETS OF THE WEEK

📚 BOOK RECOMMENDATION

🔑 Rich On Paper Poor On Life: 3 Paths To More Meaning (And Money) by Philip McKernan

We live in a world that works tirelessly to assimilate us to be "normal". This collective pressure has the ability to dampen our spirit and give up the dreams we have in our souls in search of what we are told is success and happiness. We often find ourselves chasing the things we think will make us happy and when we get there, feeling an eery emptiness. The real life stories in this book will inspire you to find the courage and clarity within to take back your life and challenge the very essence of the things you think will make you happy. Stop living the life others want for you and begin the quest for meaning in every area of your life. If you feel you are settling in life and wonder if there is more, then this book is for you.