Sunday – The Sabbath Day!

On this blog, I keep harping about productivity, efficiency, optimization, et al. But today, I will go over to the other end and say:

 "Spend an entire day away from your machine!"

 Before getting down to the actual concept, here's some personal background.

As an unashamed workaholic (and a bachelor until last year), I was totally hooked up to my machine (a laptop) for 12 to 15 hours a day… often more, but never less. I used the machine to do office work, to read e-books, to listen to music, to watch movies, to play games, to surf the net, and so on. It was great fun.

However, after a couple of years of doing this, I began to feel pangs of a strange dissatisfaction. Life seemed dull and monochromatic.

One fine day, HP, a friend of mine, suggested a solution: Stay away from your laptop for a day. Just don’t touch it.

Fine, I said... I won't work on Sunday, but surely I can use the laptop to watch a movie or to read an e-book?

No, said HP... Total ban on the machine for an entire day (and night).

I was aghast. What was I supposed to do then?

The first time I tried this, I ended up getting frustrated and booting up the machine within a couple of hours.

So, the next Sunday, I left the laptop in my office locker.

With no access to it, mind slowly began to work out the alternatives. I went out and bought a couple of newspapers. Next, I called up a few friends. Even had a long lazy bath followed by a nap in the afternoon!

Over the next few weeks, I had not just adjusted myself to this new routine, but began to actually enjoy it!

So, what is this all about?

The idea is pretty simple: Let go of your machine for a day, and relax, chill out. Spend time with your family, friends, and relatives. Spend time on your hobbies and interests. Do everything and anything that is not related to your profession.

Some points to be considered:

• Note that I refer to machine. As a software professional, my machine is my laptop. Your "machine" or "tool" will differ as per your profession.
• I have chosen Sunday to implement idea; you can choose any day as per your convenience.
• When I say don't work on your off-day, you should exercise your own judgement. For example, during a software release phase, it is common for the project team to be occasionally slogging over a weekend in the office to meet the delivery deadlines. In this case, you can compensate yourself later  by taking an extra day off.
• Care should be taken that the relaxed mood of the off-day doesn't spill over to the next day. If you have been reading a book, force yourself to keep it down. Partying till late night on a Sunday night is no excuse to walk in late into office on Monday.

How does it help?

Taking a day off keeps you relaxed through the next week. You can take care of backlog activities to be done at home.
Your family will be most delighted and comforted with the assurance that you will really be taking them out to a dinner. Your friends and relatives will know for sure that they can always meet you or visit you on a Sunday.

But what about the productivity stuff?
Believe it, this idea actually makes you more productive throughout the week. If you’re a movie buff, the knowledge that you will only be watching the latest flick on Sunday takes the thought off your mind and helps you focus on the work in hand.

Also, taking an entire day off makes you look forward to getting back to office on Monday and hitting the work. At least, this happens to me!

The 3 productivity tools you need

You want to streamline your work, be more productive, and be more efficient. You take a look around and find productivity tools and techniques galore, enough to intimidate you back into the un-managed ways.

So, what is the easiest -- and probably the best! -- way to go about getting started with getting things done in a systematic way, without investing too much time and effort into myriad approaches?

From personal experience, I would say just three tools are sufficient to do the trick:

1. To-Do list
2. Checklist 
3. Reminder mechanism

Let's see how to use these...

•  THE TO-DO LIST: WHAT to do A good to-do list should consist of two parts. One part should have the task-lists. Tasks are the chores that you need to repeatedly perform with some regular frequency, such as sending out a status report every Friday, or, washing your car every 15 days.
  
  More details about creating task-lists can be read here. The second part of the to-do list should have action items specific for the particular day (or week), such as a meeting with software analyst or attending a wedding reception at 9 PM.
  
  Tools: 
  For the office work, I used StickyPad earlier. But now I use the Tasks feature of Microsoft Outlook. It integrates nicely with e-mail and calendar features (see below) and has almost all the features one could ask for. 
  For personal work, I extensively use the Notes and To-Do List features of my cellphone.
  
  Success Mantra: The key is to have specific, actionable items on your to-do list. For example, "I want to reduce weight" is merely a wish; you need to convert it to something like "Jogging for 30 minutes every morning from 7 AM to 7:30 AM". Now, this becomes an action-item.
  Some say that the best time to chalk out a to-do list is just before you go to sleep or early in the morning before you set out for the day. Well, I don’t have a specific time to update the to-do list; but just go on adding to it whenever a task presents itself.

•  THE CHECKLIST: HOW to do
  Checklists are a list of items that help you either to perform a task in the best possible manner or to verify if a completed task meets the requirements. Hence, the checklists can basically be of two types: pre-emptive and corrective. For example, a checklist that you use while conducting a software release is a pre-emptive checklist, whereas a code review checklist is a corrective checklist.
  
  I have always been big on checklists, so reading The Checklist Manifesto by Dr Atul Gawande was a comforting feeling!
  
  Tools:
  As of now, I am not using any particular tool to create and manage the checklists. They are mostly scribbled on a paper notepad or saved in MS-Excel.
  
  Success Mantra: 
  The key is to be honest with oneself while using the checklists. It’s a tall order, but you can always try! You need to force yourself to acknowledge that you have skipped some essential steps during a procedure or that your finished work doesn’t satisfy all the expectations. This will not only help you brace yourself for any glitches ahead but will also –hopefully – forewarn you against making the same errors again in future.

• REMINDERS: WHEN to do
  Most of us use reminders. The hitch is that most of us don't really act on them when the alarm goes off, instead preferring to hit the snooze button.
  It helps if you set two reminders for each task, one for any preparatory actions you need to perfrom and the second one for the actual task.
  For example, your buddy's birthday is on 1-September and you wish to get your buddy a present.  Then it's not a good idea to set only one reminder for 1-September. Better set a reminder a week before so that you have sufficient time to go out and buy that gift.
  
  Tools: For office work, I use the Calendar feature of Microsoft Outlook. It integrates nicely with e-mail and Tasks feature (see above) and has almost all the features one could ask for.
  
  For personal work, I use the Calendar as well as Reminders features of my cellphone.
  
  Success Mantra:
  The key here is to make your calendar sacred, something that no one can override… not even you, not without a good reason at least. If you mark a time-slot for studying Linux then hanging out in a mall with friends during that time should be avoided, however tempting it might be.
  
  Of course, you cannot always have things your way. If you mark a Friday evening to watch a football match on TV and your wife informs, “We are visiting my folks today evening”, it would be wise not to insist too much on preserving the integrity of your calendar.

Using these three basic tools in a disciplined way is guaranteed to bring a huge improvement in your productivity and efficiency.

Links I Love... Part II

This is a series of blog posts, in which I share some interesting, intriguing and informative web sites. You can read the first post here.
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An interesting site where various people, mostly designers, share with you what they have learnt in life, so far. The home page links to the works of individual contributors. Simple concepts are showcased in an amazingly appealing way.
http://www.thingsihavelearnedinmylife.com/
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Alexa is a leading "web information company" that ranks websites based on their traffic. You can view top websites world-wide, or by country or in any of the categories. Alexa also provides a lot of statistical data related to the Web, often used as reference material.
Visit Alexa here: http://www.alexa.com/topsites
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Want to see letters by Galileo, Albert Einstein, Thomas Elva Edison, Robert Oppenheimer, Wright brothers, or Nicola Tesla in their own handwriting? Want to see letters by Mark Twain, J D Salinger, Isaac Asimov and Walt Disney in their own handwriting? Want to read a letter by Marry Stuart just couple of hours before she was hanged by Queen Elizabeth I? Want to see a short note by Monica Lewinsky to Bill Clinton?
Want to read a letter written by a kid about a rocket even before the first satellite was in orbit?
Want to see a real 'masked' code-letter used in a war in 1777? Want to see a "letter" from the year 856 AD?

If you are interested in all of these, and many more authentic letters, you must visit: http://www.lettersofnote.com/
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This one's for all the guys... An article from the Esquire magazine that lists "75 things every man should be able do".
http://www.esquire.com/features/essential-skills-0508
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This one's for those who think out-of-the-box and always have ideas oozing out of them. Browse through this blog... It's an exciting collection of amazing ideas, photos and all the heady stuff.
http://www.ironicsans.com/
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Sachin Special!

• "Tendulkar Opus", a superfantastic site for all things Sachin: http://tendulkaropus.com/static.php?page=index2
• An Interesting compilation of facts, best knocks and lots of trivia: http://tendulkar.co.in/
• YouTube clip of Sachin's knock of 200* runs against South Africa: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI9Q9bPI4W4
• Wikipedia entry for Sachin, full of facts and biographical details: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar

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Every morning, the first thing I do in the office is to take a look at Times of India online for the latest news. From today, there will be a slight update to this routine; I will also be visiting this site: http://www.batmya.com/

Headlines of all Marathi papers at one go!
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Here's something interesting: What happened in my birth year?: http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/
Just enter your birth-year. Then sit back and see the major events from the year of your birth, unfold before you on the screen.
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And, here's something informative: 100 Incredible Lectures from the world's top scientists: http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2009/06/18/100-incredible-lectures-from-the-worlds-top-scientists/
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Find all the Google tricks in one place: http://www.gtricks.com/
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Watch and listen to best minds at TED: http://www.ted.com/talks
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5 reasons you shouldn't keep praising your kids: http://www.alfiekohn.org/parenting/gj.htm
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If you use any Microsoft products at home or work, here are two links that would be quite useful:
Microsoft at Home: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/default.aspx
Microsoft at Work: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/default.aspx
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Even a genius has to feed himself, and for that he needs to work. And to get work, you send a resume.
Want to see the resume (actually, it's more of a covering letter) of one of the most versatile geniuses of all time? See Leonardo da Vinci's resume, in his own handwriting, here: http://www.cenedella.com/stone/archives/2010/01/leonardo_da_vincis_resume.html
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Arguably the biggest human-edited directory of the web, the Open Directory Project: http://www.dmoz.org/
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And, if you are as fascinated about maps and data visualization as I am, here is an interesting link. Simply scroll through the page, and be amazed!
Cartogrammar: http://www.cartogrammar.com/blog/
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And, here's what you can do with a single sheet of paper:
http://www.picm.co.tv/2010/01/single-sheet-of-paper.html
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This sea of knowledge, a wonderful initiative from Govt of India, is available at online digital libraries hosted across India. It is a great collection of books and it is available absolutely Free Of Cost.

• Digital Library of India, Hyderabad Server: http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/
• Digital Library of India, Banglore Server: http://dli.iiit.ac.in/
• Digital Library of India, Noida Server: http://www.dli.cdacnoida.in/
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I am not (yet) a great fan of Barack Obama.. but see these photos, and you will see this man is a natural:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/first-year
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Are you interested in mathematics? If yes, then here is a treasure... 1000+ videos on math, covering everything from basic arithmetic and algebra to differential equations, physics, chemistry, biology and finance. ... And the site is run by Salman Khan.
Don't believe me? Then visit http://www.khanacademy.org/
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Google 4 queries at once: http://googlegooglegooglegoogle.com/old/
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Here is the biggest collection of rules of thumb: http://www.rulesofthumb.org/
Very interesting... and very useful, too!

Principles that Rule

Ever so often we come across a rule or a principle that summarizes a wealth of insight in a line or two. More often than not, we find ourselves nodding our head vigorously in agreement.
This blog is an attempt to compile together such principles and rules, with links pointing to the more useful resources. To start with, here are a few rules that I can think of right now...

Pareto principle:
The Pareto principle, also known as the 80-20 Rule, says that 20% of your work will take 80 % of your time, and vice versa.
Wikipedia
Better Explained

Image from flickr

Guy Kawasaki’s 10/20/30 rule of PowerPoint:
Guy Kawasaki suggests that a PowerPoint presentation should have no more than 10 slides, shouldn’t last longer than 20 minutes, and shouldn’t have any font smaller than size 30.
Guy Kawasaki

20-70-10 Rule:
This rule, which became more famous (or infamous) as Jack Welch’s Differentation method, states that all the workforce in an organization can be divided into three categories: The top 20% (star performers, who must be awarded), the middle 70% (the core of company, who must be nurtured and monitored) and the bottom 10% (the non-performers, who must be moved out).
The Welch Way

2 Minute Rule:
This rule comes from David Allen’s Getting Things Done (popularly known as GTD). It says, a task that can be completed in 2 minutes should be done immediately.

Six degrees of separation:

Six degrees of separation is a wonderful idea which postulates that if you are one step away from each person you know, and two step away from each they know, then you are at most just six steps away from any other person in the world.... yes including the US President!
Wikipedia

Rule of 72:
The rule of 72 is a quick (though approximate) method to determine how long an investment will take to double, given a fixed annual rate of interest. To find the time period, just divide 72 with the annual rate of return.
Investopedia


 ....

And while you are at it, also check out the following:

• Rules of Thumb
• Murphy's Laws

Using Task-Lists

In the office, we are required to send a weekly status report and a monthly timesheet report to our customers. Once having to rush them at the last moment due to temporary memory lapse, I set up tasks for these two items in Microsoft Outlook and configured them to run on weekly and monthly basis.

Since then, there was never a missed report.
And that got me thinking: how about extending the idea of task lists?

A significant amount of the tasks that we do routinely iterative in nature; be it shopping for grocery or paying our bills. Yet, more often than not, we keep forgetting to do them on time, just because we forget. The idea of task-list is to set up a process that will take the pain out of remembering.

It can be broken down in a 5-step process:

1. Identify:
Sit down and make a list of all the tasks you do. Brainstorm. Ask your spouse, parents. Ask your office peers. Consider all the facets of your life:

• Financial (paying bills, loan premiums)
• Social (calling up friends, visits to relatives)
• Professional (sending status reports, taking data backups)
• Spiritual(yoga classes)
• Recreational (watching movies, reading books, going to gym, swimming classes)

Jot down as many tasks as you can. Having said that, also keep in mind that identifying the tasks is not a one-time job. As days progress, you will think of more and more tasks.

 2. Classify:

From the list, classify the tasks depending on their frequency, as follows:

• Weekly
• Monthly
• Bi-Monthly
• Quarterly

A few tasks could even be on a yearly basis.
Some tasks will classify themselves. For example: a weekly status report will go in a Weekly task-list. Payment of bills and premiums is most likely to be a Monthly task.
For the tasks that are not so clearly well-defined, you will need to take into consideration their priority and importance. For example, consider washing/servicing of your vehicle. Do you need to do it on a weekly basis, or will once a month suffice? It will depend on the nature of its use. Weekly and monthly are the major task-lists.

3. Configure:

Set up the task-lists using a medium on your choice. The lists can be maintained on your computer, mobile phone or even on paper. It wouldn’t be advisable to carry them in your head though, for the primary purpose of creating task-lists is to free yourself from remembering tasks to be done!
  
4. Implement:
The most important part is to actually implement the task-lists. It might come difficult for a first few weeks, but once you realize how they make life easier, you will feel encouraged to use them!

 

 5. Review:

Review all the task-lists to add/edit/replace/remove the necessary tasks. In fact, include the task-list review as an action item in preferably a Quarterly task-list!

Hushsh! Seems like a lot of work, does it? Well, rest assured that it worth the effort, for it saves the headache.

A few pointers:

• Note that task-lists work best for activities that are iterative in nature.
• Be flexible. Do not let the task-list rule you. In case of an impromptu event, such as a quick movie plan or a last minute invitation to attend a party, feel free to ignore the scheduled tasks for a while. Over a period of time, you will be better than striking a balance.
• If you find a particular tasks being side-lined all too often, consider changing its scheduled time, day, or even shifting its frequency. For example: it’s not really necessary to defrag you system once every week, you can set it to every month or so.
• Although tasks-lists are meant to be an individual activity, it is recommended that you share your task-lists with people close to you, especially spouses, parents and close office colleagues. Not only does this give them a better idea of your schedule, you will also be able to delegate some of the tasks to them.