Productivity Meme - 1: Buffer

When one talks of productivity, there are a few basic concepts that recur frequently. The implementation of the idea might change; but the fundamentals remain the same. In this series, we will take a look at some of these concepts, which I refer to as memes.

In the first part of the series, we will take a look at Buffer.

What is a buffer? 

A buffer is a quantity over and above the required quantity. Buffers act as shock-absorbers against unforeseen issues. We often refer to keeping a buffer time; however, as we will see, there are a number of buffers.

Space buffer: 

While taking driving lessons, my instructor gave me a rule of thumb: When driving or when waiting in line at a traffic signal, you should keep your car in such a way that you can see the tyres of the car in front of you. 

This simple tip has helped me avoid crashing into another car more than a few times.

Moving into a new flat? Think twice before you fill up all the rooms with furniture that is currently available in the market. Apart from the things you will really need, it usually helps to wait a while and explore for options. You are likely to find better deals, better products in future; and personally speaking, a little bit of empty space isn’t a bad thing.

Money buffer: 

Planning to buy a laptop? It would help to keep some extra cash over and above your actual budget handy. Because I can almost guarantee that you are likely to overspend. The only thing that may differ is the margin.

Whenever you step into any shop, what you see is not really what you get. The product on display is adorned with various accessories, most of which come at an extra price. There is not much point in buying a laptop without antivirus software, or a car sans a cover.

Material buffer: 

Going out for monthly grocery shopping? Buy a little bit of extra than you really need for the next week/month. You benefit from buying things in bulk from a superstore, and can avoid hassles at home if some relatives drop in unexpectedly. 

Even if they don’t; the buffer helps you stretch your next shopping until the next paycheck comes in!

Emotional buffer: 

This one is tricky… Every one of us has a threshold for each of negative emotions; be it anger or worry. When things go beyond the threshold; the mental tensions begun to build up. One way to prevent emotional outbursts is to vent off these feelings before they reach the tipping point. 

Thus you give the other party some buffer to address the things bothering you; and you give yourself an emotional buffer to help things resolve before they become critical.

Deliverable buffer:  

One of my favourite quotes is: “Do your work… and a little bit more. The work will let you stay in place; but it is the ‘little more’ that will get you ahead".

Deliver what you have promised to the customer, and toss in a little bit of extra good stuff. Customer may or may not be happy with the stuff you promised, but he is likely to be delighted to see some unexpected goodies.

There is another facet to this. Consider you are preparing a PowerPoint presentation, and you have 10 slides ready. You are confident they would be sufficient for a 30-minute session. However, it always helps to keep extra stuff handy; it may be in the form of notes or some slides. My experience is that people usually finish what they have to say more quickly than they estimate, and then are left clueless about what to do next!

Time buffer: 

As mentioned at the beginning of this article, we are most familiar with the time buffer. Going for a meeting? Give yourself a buffer in which you can reach on time and relax. Estimating time required for providing a deliverable? Add some buffer time to the estimate to account for unforeseen reasons that may cause delays. 

A good rule of thumb here is to add 20% as the buffer time to every time estimate. You are mostly likely to need it. In the case that you don’t, you can perhaps think about doing some deliverable buffers!