If you want to skip my rambling and just check out my new blog, here it is: http://www.refocuser.com.  Refocuser is a blog about focus; specifically the ability to apply your focus at will to whatever requires your attention.

Hi folks!  Since December of 2004 I’ve been blogging here on Torres Talking – sometimes regularly and sometimes irregularly :)  Topics on this blog have ranged quite a bit from “what I’ve been up to” type posts to detailed descriptions of the ways I’ve applied various technologies in my life.  Torres Talking was a real passion of mine for a number of years and has been very instrumental in crystallizing my thoughts and helping prove to myself that I actually have something to contribute to the overall “conversation”.  It’s also how I became a published author, has served as motivation for my part in revamping Microsoft’s social networking strategy… and most importantly is how I’ve come to connect with hundreds of new and interesting people (both virtually and in the real world).  For all these things, I’ll always be grateful.

But all good things come to an end.  As you probably already know, since the birth of my daughter and a shift in job responsibilities, I’ve had a hard time dedicating the kind of time and effort to this blog as I once did.  I feel like most of my posts recently have been apologetic and not at all informational, and every time I feel the urge to post something interesting about something on Techmeme, I tweet it instead.  The urge disappears and I move on.

Also, as a Microsoft employee and someone who loves his job, there’s inherent conflict in evaluating and talking about technology from a personal standpoint.  You run the risk of insulting internal Microsoft teams inadvertently and can be accused of being both a self-promoter (through genuine praise of our tools and products) or a liability (through equally genuine promotion of other tools and products).  It’s a bit of a no-win situation.  Either way you always strive to be honest, but all the while you’re doubting whether or not you should hit publish.  The cost/benefit ratio shifted at some point for me, so I’m going to focus most of my “tech writing” energy on Microsoft-run blogs like Windows Live Wire (I have a post coming soon there).

But I’ve also decided to start another blog.  Something I’ve been “threatening” to do for years (like… 10!) and finally decided to just go for it.

This time it’s a more structured blog to focus (no pun intended) on another lifelong passion of mine; personal growth and self-directed focus.  At times I dabbled in this area on Torres Talking, but this blog will go into much more depth on this broad topic.  The full title of the blog is Refocuser: Find flow, fight fear, and create focus!

You can learn more about Refocuser here: http://www.refocuser.com/about.  And if you’re interested in how I’ve found time to keep this blog up with everything else going on, I’ve already blogged about it!

Refocuser covers:

• Goal setting
• Flow
• Fear management
• Work/life balance
• Conflict management
• Productivity and yes, some ‘lifehacks’ occasionally
• Nutrition and supplementation (fuel for focus!)
• Exercise and activity
• Philosophy
• Positivity
• Purpose
• Sleep (it matters more than you think!)
• Simplicity
• Creativity

Browse through the site and start filling your own toolbox.  Email me with questions if you have any.  Or just sit-back, relax, and subscribe to updates via email, Twitter, or RSS.

Hopefully you’ll enjoy it!

Note: Torres Talking will stick around for some time, but I’ve turned off comments.  I may not post here again for a while (or ever!) but if you’re interested in focus, you can always find me at www.refocuser.com.  And for Microsoft-specific questions, comments, or concerns, just hit me up on Twitter.  We have some great stuff on the way – I’ve definitely never been prouder to be a Microsoft employee!