Productivity | Jacob Aloysious

Premortem

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Gary Klein - HBR - this article was quite intersting. I belive, this could be one of the procedures for thinking in organization - to help alleviate or provide feedback to quality of thinking.

Unlike a typical critiquing session, in which project team members are asked what might go wrong, the premortem operates on the assumption that the “patient” has died, and so asks what did go wrong. The team members’ task is to generate plausible reasons for the project’s failure.

It’s beautiful as an idea: Coz, when people are coming close to a decision, it becomes very difficult to raise doubts or raise questions. As, there is fear that person would be tagged as someone who is slowing down the whole group - when the group is about to make a decision. And may at times, that person is perceived as annoying and want to get rid of them or ignore and move on. This premortem legitimizes that sort of descent and that sort of doubt; not just legitimizes it - but also rewards it.

BTW: I dont think its going to prevent people from making mistakes. But it would certainly allow people to possible loop holes to think through before making a safer decision.

Review - Forest App

Tue, 09 Jun 2020 00:00:00 +0000

I have been recently fascinated by this idea of getting into the flow - to get work done.

Since I am working from home (due to Covid19); personally it’s quite challenging to manage interruptions and get focussed time - to get things done - so that I get to feel productive over the work week.

I started to look around for help and stumbled upon - Pomodoro Technique.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s. The technique uses a timer to break down work into intervals, traditionally 25 minutes in length, separated by short breaks. Each interval is known as a pomodoro, from the Italian word for ‘tomato’, after the tomato-shaped kitchen timer that Cirillo used as a university student

First: I tried to use my phone alarm - set to 25mins from now. It didn’t work - lost motivation to set up an alarm each time.

Next: Downloaded an app which supports Pomodoro Technique; it was better - but still I wasn’t completely in - I continue to get pulled into looking at my phone/emails.

Finally: As part of one of the self-help videos - I was introduced to this app FOREST - Stay focussed, be Present. First time I started using it - fell in love with it 😍.

Idea behind Forest app - is pretty simple:

Whenever you want to stay focussed, plant a tree.
Your tree will grow while you focus on your work.
Leaving the app halfway will cause your tree to Die.

Over the day-weeks-month you could see how many trees you have planted and how your forest looks like. And when you review your progress, its a visual treat to see the number of trees you have planted in your forest 😆

This app gives you - both a feeling that you are growing something (visual stimulation) and at the same time getting work done (stay productive).

I personally prefer apps - which does only one thing and does it really well - this is one such app..

Nowadays: When I am planting a tree (read, focussed time) - when I get some notification - the urge for me to check it out is NO longer there. Coz; if I need to check the notification - I would have to quit the app and if I quit the app my tree, which I have been planting all this while - would die.

A simple but a beautiful idea. Taking us closer to our goal of getting into the flow and getting things done - In addition giving a visual treat.

I am growing a new tree as I write this.. Highly recommended! 😄

Diary - 4 Movies per weekend - TO - One in 4 Weekends

Sun, 24 May 2020 00:00:00 +0000

Its week #7 in lockdown - Work From Home (WFH) due to COVID19 at Chennai, India.

First two weeks was just chaotic to be honest… Week #3, on a Wednesday - I was about to have lunch and was feeling incredibly exhausted (read burn out) 😓. Since it was already half the week, took a moment to pause and look at how productive I was in this week. To my dismay, I couldn’t add even one single item onto my Done list.

I knew something was not right, wanted to dig deep - I looked at my calendar and realized there wasn’t even a single 1hr free slot. I counted the number of meeting I have attended only this week till now - it was 25! Planned meeting, this is excluding adhoc phone calls and IM chat(s) discussion/queries.

I decided to go back a little and see how my past 2 weeks have been, and it wasn’t any better. Though the team was delivering and it was business as usual - personally felt I was low on my actual contribution/work.

In the mean time - Scott had tweeted this

 Qurantine_Work != Remote_Work

I could easily relate to him - there were lot of additional chores I was running into esp with a 5yr old kid at home. If the worlds best productivity guru is talking about burn out - it actually feels good to know “I am not alone and its Ok”.

Since these are abnormal times, there wasn’t much I could do to fix my week day plans - decided to hang in there and go with the flow - for now!!

So, I decided to take a look at how I was doing over weekends - “Binge Watching!!" ➿. As a movie buff, I always thought watching movies (more…) was relaxing, but it wasn’t. It was just adding more strain - as I wasn’t spending enough time with family and supporting house hold chores. And when the weekend actually ended I was feeling more exhausted.

I needed support - So, I went online and started looking for productivity tips. And I stumbled up this one adhoc tip, which hit the nail - Light Bulb Moment!!

Always watch movies (tv shows) - only when you have someone to accompany you

Personally, this was possibly the best tip - I decided, from now onwards I am never gona watch any movie alone - It was an extremely hard decision.

Four weeks later, when I look back - I have watched just ONE movie (with my wife). Personally, feels much better - I feel I have lots of time over the weekend. I am able to spend time more effectively - writing a blog (like this), call up friends/ family and even try a hand on cooking (making tea 😉).

At the end of the day - I still get to work.. I am blessed. No Lie. ❤️ 💻 😌

Productivity | Jacob Aloysious

Premortem

Review - Forest App

Idea behind Forest app - is pretty simple:

Diary - 4 Movies per weekend - TO - One in 4 Weekends

For now … Stay home, Stay Safe - and remember - This too will pass !!