Writing it down is good, doing it is better
Either you run the day or the day runs you.
Jim Rohn
I always try to sell the “write down everything that you need to do” mantra to everybody.
It’s not just because it works for me, it’s because it works for everybody I ever worked with, everybody I asked and just about every productivity book I ever read mentioned it.
The mantra is very simple:
- I use a piece of paper (usually a page in my notebook – paper notebook smart-ass) to create a list of things TODO
- If I get a new task, I write it down
- If during my work I realize that there is something else that I must do to accomplish the task, I write it down
- If during my work I think about something that must be done later on and hope that I don’t forget, I write it down
- When I do it, I scratch it off the list as being – you guessed it – DONE
You might be thinking “this douche is trying to sell us the TODO list crap” – and you’re right, that’s what I’m doing.
You would be amazed at the number of people who are actually trying to remember (with their actual meaty mushy forgetful minds ) the things that they need to do during an entire day – even an entire week, so the list thing… well, let’s say that it needs a good refresh from time to time.
You would also be amazed at how much a piece of paper and a pen used – religiously – as a TODO list and actually followed on a daily basis could increase your productivity. You should try it. Screw Outlook reminders and other RememberTheMilk simulacrum – try using a real piece of paper and a pen, and really scratch the hell out of a task when you’re done. You’ll feel a lot better.
Although this seems to be the direct that this post is heading, it’s not about using TODO lists, nor even about prioritizing them (although it would be a good subject) – it’s more about knowing when not to use them.
Let’s say that you’ve been using TODO lists for a while now. It’s really working for you. You’re burning two A4 sheets a day with your tasks, passing the unfinished tasks on a new list each morning. Handling it, feeling the DONE thrill every time you scratch something off.
Then you start to notice something. Some really simple, really small tasks seem to remain on your list for more than one day, maybe two, maybe even a week. And when you finally get to them you realize that those tasks were under 10 minute tasks. Some of them were even important, or could have brought a benefit, or even a favor. So this is what this post is about.
It happened to me awhile ago (a couple of years to be exact – and yes, this is a revived draft, I tend to do this often lately) so I made this little habit of asking a few questions before writing it down:
Will it take more than 5 minutes?
If it will take more than 5 minutes – write it down. If it’s faster than that just do it – and save Mother Earth.
Are you doing something so important that if you deviate for 5 minutes it will be context switching?
If it will throw you off, write it down and do it later.
Can you do it in the middle of the current task, as a short mental break?
From time to time I need to clear my head of whatever nasty thing I’m working on and I found that (besides taking a walk around the office building) handling a short unrelated task clears my mind.
Can you delegate it?
If it can be delegated – write it down – and email it. Maybe have a quick chat about it.
Do you really need to do it?
Think about this: maybe you don’t really have to do it. Is it really necessary?
I hope this helps you as much as it helps me.
a quote and a short story on perspective
If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
Wayne Dyer
A short story:
I almost went from being irritated because of something to being angry at somebody (unrelated to the something) today. There was this guy that was trying to do something in a far more complex way than he should have.
He was at it for a while and it didn’t quite come out how he wanted to.
I was already a little edgy because of a problem that I had no control over and that edginess fueled my anger toward the poor guy… I thought ‘here’s this guy wasting valuable time on building something complex that can be done in 5 minutes with a simple hack’.
After a short argument I felt that I was getting too hot and restrained myself. I stopped and thought for a few seconds about how I was handling it.
The first thing that came to mind was that I was handling it wrong. Then I looked at him again and it hit me: “This guy isn’t wasting time. He is learning!“
After I started seeing it that way, everything changed. My anger vanished and I started working together with him, trying to achieve what he started.
Because it felt right. Because he wasn’t this other guy, wasting time… he was my friend, learning.
4 types of developers that roam the cubicle forest
I’m always telling everyone that I’m not a programmer, not an analyst, not a trainer not a tech support guy, not a technical writer or presales… I’m a problem solver.
If there’s a problem, I’ll be able to solve it… and if not, by God, I’ll die trying. Just ’cause that’s the type of person that I was brought up to be. And that’s how I see things.
That’s the kind of attitude that seems to piss people off these days. If you’re not a bean-counting, pencil pushing, job hating little twerp, well, you must be the enemy.
So, based on what I feel and some tweet I saw today (must be this one by @JohnMSaunders ) (side note: that’s how you steal ideas these days), here are my 4 types of developers that roam the workplace:
1. The doers – now these are the guys that build stuff for the fun of it. They like a good challenge from time to time and they beat it. Their superpower is laziness and they know how to use it to build great stuff, really fast. You can recognize junior doers by the fact that they nose around asking dumb questions… after a hundred questions, they start smarting up.
2. The watchers – these are the guys that crawl around just watching the doers do stuff and saying to one another things like “they’re gonna do it, you’ll see” or “we’d better look busy, maybe they’ll ask for help”.
3. The clueless – these are the guys that are still employed because either nobody knows who they are or because nobody knows what they’re doing. Usually they’re seen playing weird farming games on known social networks for half a day before going to lunch for 2 hours. You can spot them because they keep saying “what just happened? we did what?”. As bad as they are, these are still good guys… they help with things that are not really important, and it usually takes them a while.
4. The problem – well, you can’t have problems without a trouble maker, do you? These guys just keep screwing up… like they’re malevolent or something. The worst part is that some of them are. Some of them eventually wise up, other… well, let’s say they fall prey to natural selection. But some of them, they’re like organizational ticks that you can’t find; like you’re stuck with them. I usually try to weed them out 
but that’s just me.
So, in conclusion, if you’re not doing something about a problem, watching other guys try to fix it, not knowing if somebody is working on it… you might be the problem.
After you deploy your system into production…
Give it a quick spin, trying out the major parts of the system that your team just updated.
Then test it again.
Then, if it’s a publicly accessible application (not VPN or intranet) check it from some other place, even your phone.
Then, ask some more people to test it that have different setups, different Internet providers, etc.
Then, when you get home, guess what, test it again!
Why?
Because you should!
JBoss 7, jvmRoute and mod_proxy_balancer
Switching to JBoss 7 changed a lot of things in how we build our applications, how we deploy them and how we manage them, mostly improving everything.
For me one of the biggest improvements in terms of increasing productivity and manageability is the new configuration system… simplified bliss.
One example is setting up the web container for balancing via mod_proxy_balancer.
In the past, this meant modifying the embedded tomcat connector… a primitive, ugly, dirty way of doing things
In AS 7, you just have to modify the $JBOSS_HOME/standalone/configuration/standalone.xml configuration file and including a system-properties config, directly under the server tag, just like this:
<system-properties>
<property name="jvmRoute" value="httpNode1"/>
</system-properties>
On the other side of the equation, the mod_proxy_balancer config lists the jvmRoute in the classic way:
ProxyPass /app balancer://mycluster/ stickysession=JSESSIONID|jsessionid scolonpathdelim=On nofailover=off
ProxyPassReverse /app http://172.16.10.10:8080/app
ProxyPassReverse /app http://172.16.10.20:8080/app
BalancerMember http://172.16.10.10:8080 route=httpNode1
BalancerMember http://172.16.10.20:8080 route=httpNode2
ProxySet lbmethod=byrequests
Be careful with the nofailover option if you are using session-state replication.
Now, if you’re using a domain scenario don’t bet all your money on this technique… I haven’t gotten to domains yet, still using the old deployment scenarios.
The jboss CLI management console is kick-ass too, making our development deployments fast as lightning, maybe I’ll write about it sometimes.
Before you speak… THINK
Photo by capturecreation
Before you speak…. THINK
T – is it TRUE?
H – is it HELPFUL?
I – is it INSPIRING?
N – is it NECESSARY?
K – is it KIND?
I got this from a friend and I liked it, its usefulness and truth.
I don’t know its exact source but I do remember a quote I once read that basically said the same think, in a less graphic way.
“Before you speak, think -Is it necessary? Is it true? Is it kind? Will it hurt anyone? Will it improve on the silence?”
Sri Sathya Sai Baba
May this open your day, like it did mine.
Like this:
A quote on leadership
A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.
Lao Tzu
The pileup
I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
Douglas Adams
January was a tough month, with a lot of new projects and initiatives that needed pushing and pulling to get up and running, consuming a huge chunk of my time… and most importantly, my energy.
As I realized that work started consuming more and more time… I chose to suspend things like participating in communities, writing this blog, working on my other various projects, so that I can give as much attention as I can to my family and to my full time job activities.
And now I have a huge list of things that I wanted to write, mostly technical, some less technical.
Throughout January I’ve raised my pomodoro usage and through trial and error I’ve found that a 20 minute pomodoro followed by a 10 minute break is a perfect fit for my work requirements.
I am however pushing the rules a little because I’m using the 10 minute break between pomodoros for low-cost activities, like following-up on delegated tasks, quick feedback sessions and having quick coffee-break chats.
Anyway, here’s to February, a small and hopefully, more productive month.
Is your journey really necessary?
Every time you are about to start something that will take a lot of time or buy something that is expensive ask yourself these questions:
- why am I doing this?
- is this really necessary?
- can I do this differently/buy something else?
Before you make your decision, question everything. It will help you choose wiser and it will prevent afterthoughts.
