2008-03-31

Hands full

I already talked about the advantage of putting things in pockets to have your hands free to open doors etc (see Hands free).

Now, as I had to carry a lot of luggage in the last weeks and as I am changing flat in the next weeks I see that a free hand is wasted efficiency. Currently I am living at the third floor without elevator so if I would try to keep a hand free I would have to go double the times up and down. This does not mean that the "hands free" idea is now forgotten - no - I try to put everything into boxes and pockets as much as possible. More, I can put one into the other more "available capacity" still there.

So the "Don't go empty" idea is used in combination but even more:

You can put a backpack on your back and another one on your belly. In addition to that you can hang backs diagonal over your shoulders.

Butt attention: You have to take care that all together is not becoming too heavy. Take this into consideration when planning your way to or from the car. Combine heavy and lightweight things.

When you stoop remember to go down in the knees and not by bending your back!

Related Posts: Hands free, Don't go empty

2008-03-14

Work Life Balance

A few years ago I noticed the abbrevation WLB and read about Work Life Balance in a journal. Recently reading other blogs I have the impression that this topic is now discussed more often.

What is work-life-balance? When is the balance achieved? How can you measure it?

When you life in a way that does not increases frustration, decreases motivation and cause your power to exhaust over time - so if your life style can be lived long term keeping the wellness - then you achieved work life balance.

That does not mean that everybody has the same requirements in hours for privacy, sports and work. Although many emphasize the importance of not working too much I find it also important to have a work that fits my strengths and that I can have the feeling of doing something that is worth it. Unemployed people are even less happier. But indeed it is important not to exhaust your power.

Get a feeling for the charge level of your batteries. But keep in mind that the batteries are not only consumed when you work and charged when you sleep. It sometimes can also be the opposite.

Related post: Why not work too much

2008-03-12

The time thieves and real news

Especially in (but not limited to) the IT business one get flooded with news and you feel that you can specialize only on a small part of the IT world because the field is so large.

But I am now working more than 12 years in the IT business and especially in the last years I feel especially flooded with new technologies and products. What I find really annoying in the meantime is: It takes me a lot of time to investigating new announcements to discover nothing really new and epoch making. My time is stolen by others managing to get my attention for nothing of real interest.

The worst is that things on the first view seem to be attractive - well that's what products and services should be, but only on a closer look (and often some time intensive investigations and tests - especially in the IT business) you can identify that the product is some sort of "yet another ...".

It is the same with publicity in TV: I usually do not buy the things for which is done most publicity. Why? - Because they are usually not so good. Good things do not need publicity, because people spread the word.

Similar applies to news. There is a lot of low quality news that is just publicity.

2008-03-02

Focus by decision

The problem: There is too much to be done or too much information to be processed.
Information overflow is a very present problem and it often comes bundled with the need of more efficiency and more stress. More has to be achieved with less effort and less resources.

The reason: Your scope is too big.
You are working on a too big area or on to many areas. The reason for too much activity on too many fields can be unsureness, forecast uncertainty or an uncompleted analysis phase.

The solution: Make decisions.
Prioritize by selecting a few of your possible goals or the areas that are most interesting or seem most important to you. If you have difficulties in finding decisions keep in mind that a decision does not mean that you never can turn back and go another way. But on the other hand decisions should not be revised every day. To avoid frequent change of decisions and priorities do invest time in a good preparation that allows to make a good decision:
  1. Analyze the situation.
  2. Extract problem zones.
  3. Set priorities.
  4. Collect information to get an overview.
  5. Evaluate possible solutions, side effects and risks.
  6. Let sink in the information.
  7. Collect more detailed information where necessary.
  8. Calculate effort and costs.
  9. Make a decision.
A good prepared decision will be a good decision in long term view and will not be influenced during your all-day-work. This is important because if you are unsure in what you are doing your focus will get easily lost and distractions are welcome to rescue you from your dilemma.

Related posts: Focus by direction, Principles over rules, Direction over goals, Razor sharp focus, Analysis and therapy, New year decisions, Considerations on decisions, Team meeting with yourself.