Productivity

Systems, habits, workflows, and personal optimization

  • Productivity of higher level languages

    I recently had an experience where I was given the same programming problem as a handful of other software developers.  My advantage was that I was using Python while the other people were forced to write their solution in Java or C. The difference in the amount of time it took to solve the same…

  • Going Mobile

    Over the last couple weeks I’ve had a growing concern that my office is just not functional any more.  A standing desk in a room pulling double duty as a spare bedroom. So over the last week I have pulled out all the office equipment and turned the room back into just a bedroom.  The…

  • Focus is Critical

    At this point we all know that being a good multitasker is a myth.  The time it takes to context switch between projects can vastly wipe-out any perceived productivity. This has become more apparent to me recently as I have been asked to take on more work, or have taken on more for myself.  As…

  • Flâneuring

    A term made popular by the French Poet Beaudelaire has been on my mind for the last month. Flâneuring is when you take an idle stroll. It’s a practice that that I learned about from reading vagabonding by Rolf Potts. In the world of travel, flâneuring is a way to break out of the tourist traps and find…

  • The Single Most Effective Productivity Tip

    What do you believe is the single most important thing that will affect your productivity?  Time management? Software tools? Calendars? ToDo Lists?  No.  The most important thing that will affect your productivity is your expertise. Knowledge is the baseline for almost all work that we do in today’s information economy.  We simply cannot produce good…

  • Book Reports

    For the last couple weeks I have been trying to catch up on my goal for reading 36 books this year.  Progress so far has been good and I have gotten through a decent backlog of books that I have wanted to read.  With the new morning routine of  reading before the day starts I…

  • Morning Routine Redux

    Last year I had a morning routing going for a while but after a while I fell back into my old habits of spending the early hours of the day scanning Facebook in bed instead of what I was actually intending to do. Last week I got a tip to never leave your phone in…

  • Personal Key Performance Indicator Dashboard

    There are many things that make corporations work well (in well run businesses) that can be applied to a personal level. KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are something that I’ve been fascinated by for quite a few years now. Building dashboards full of statistics has been a part of every one of my personal projects.  The…

  • Organizing Priorities

    One of the books I read recently suggested a best practice for a businesses to have a top 5 list and a top 1 of 5 item that is the most important of that list.  Limiting it to 5 makes things seem attainable and having one singled out as the top priority adds just enough…

  • Eyesight Improving

    Yes, it really is working.  There was a plateau, but with the new lower prescription glasses, When I started this process of trying to improve my eyesight I measured my far point at 17cm. Today I measured 24cm. That’s a pretty significant improvement. I’ve been wearing my new lower prescription glasses for everything except driving.…