Personal Productivity

I thought that it was time to rethink over the way I work, prioritise tasks and implement them.
Hence, I read up a few things on the web.
Found a couple of good resources and suggestions.

I have bookmarked the links at:

http://del.icio.us/amirivija/Productivity

I also subscribed to a couple of blogs on productivity.

Here are a few notes I made for myself based upon what all I read:

Things to implement:
1] Keep a record of the start and end times of different activities
2] Cut down e-mail alerts. cut down IM. Look at the e-mails only 4 times a day. [Morning, After Lunch, Before Leaving - set aside time for rss feeds ets]
3] Clarify objectives, before starting any work
4] Break down the big problem into smaller ones

5] Work tends to expand in the time available.. [so compartmentalize the work] Hence, shrink the time you are going to work.. [ Plan to work only for 5 hours per day]

6] Stop multi tasking..

7] Do the task that gives the most benefit.

8] Join a group to keep you motivated
1] Apping group
2] Build an online programming network

9] Picture of a goal : expert computer science engineer

10] be patient

11] seek inspiration - blogs, people , articles

12] never skip anything two days in a row

13] Apply the ""do it, delegate it, defer it, drop it"" rule for all the stuff that' clogging your system

I also stumbled across the book "Getting Things done" by david allen. I would like to read this book too.

This one also has pointers to some good stuff
http://zenhabits.net/2007/02/beginners-guide-to-gtd/

And last but not the least, I reorganised my Google reader feeds

I am a Kinesthetic Learner

This is what http://www.metamath.com/multiple/multiple_choice_questions.html has to say about my learning style.

The results of Amirisetty Vijayaraghavan's learning inventory are:

Visual/Nonverbal 30 Visual/Verbal 28 Auditory 24 Kinesthetic 36

Your primary learning style is:

The Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learning Style

You learn best when physically engaged in a "hands on" activity. In the classroom, you benefit from a lab setting where you can manipulate materials to learn new information. You learn best when you can be physically active in the learning environment. You benefit from instructors who encourage in-class demonstrations, "hands on" student learning experiences, and field work outside the classroom.

Strategies for the Tactile/ Kinesthetic Learner:

To help you stay focused on class lecture, sit near the front of the room and take notes throughout the class period. Don't worry about correct spelling or writing in complete sentences. Jot down key words and draw pictures or make charts to help you remember the information you are hearing.

When studying, walk back and forth with textbook, notes, or flashcards in hand and read the information out loud.

Think of ways to make your learning tangible, i.e. something you can put your hands on. For example, make a model that illustrates a key concept. Spend extra time in a lab setting to learn an important procedure. Spend time in the field (e.g. a museum, historical site, or job site) to gain first-hand experience of your subject matter.

To learn a sequence of steps, make 3'x 5' flashcards for each step. Arrange the cards on a table top to represent the correct sequence. Put words, symbols, or pictures on your flashcards -- anything that helps you remember the information. Use highlighter pens in contrasting colors to emphasize important points. Limit the amount of information per card to aid recall. Practice putting the cards in order until the sequence becomes automatic.

When reviewing new information, copy key points onto a chalkboard, easel board, or other large writing surface.

Make use of the computer to reinforce learning through the sense of touch. Using word processing software, copy essential information from your notes and textbook. Use graphics, tables, and spreadsheets to further organize material that must be learned.

Listen to audio tapes on a Walkman tape player while exercising. Make your own tapes containing important course information.

Know thy self

I came across this blog post and found it very insightful.

I could relate myself to the author of this post.

A few points that I found interesting. [verbatim from the post]:

-
Beware the traps of justification and attribution when thinking about your life. Many people justify past decisions because they want them to make sense and feel better.

^-- This is what I have been doing the past one year! Fooling myself.

Yes, most clouds have silver linings. But sometimes getting hit in the head with a shovel is just getting hit in the head with a shovel. It’s not fun, there’s not much educational value, and your life really is better without it.

-
I really don't know what I want.
The author gives simple and effective tips to understand what you want:
1. A feel good list <-- In this, you note down the events that made you feel good. eg: understanding the paper on semantic search. eg: Explaining Sudhir on why I feel that semantic search would be better than textual search. eg: Telling a colleague that google patent search would be better than delphion.
eg: Helping a colleague finding a solution to the problem he was facing.


2. An ideas list <-- In this you note down the ideas that come to your mind. The author mentioned sometimes he gets a great idea in the sleep and he just gets up and notes that idea down. This happened to me a couple of times :). 3. Finally, get external inputs. Understand your personality and get inspired. I took up this personality test on: and found that : I was and ENJF http://typelogic.com/enfj.html

Extraverted	Intuitive	Feeling	Judging
Strength of the preferences %
33	38	12	11

I'd like to read it again.
In short, it says that people like me like to find solutions, look for greener pastures, help others and are pedagogues of humanity.
That is true I believe, but it is for the people around me to tell me that.

Here is something from a test that I took up previously.


More good talk. From the same blog:


This talk is good:

Richard St. John: Secrets of success in 8 words, 3 minutes

• Do what you love: Passion
• Determination: Hard work, focus, push yourself, get good in one thing
  
• Make something useful: Ideas, serve others
• Keep your chin up: Persist

I need to look at the highlighted points

One needs to persist in the face of failure and other CRAP:

• Criticism
• Rejection
• Jerks (or another word for a non-nice person)
• Pressure