sacha chua :: social intranet consultant and geek

If you don't want wrist pain or eye strain to force you off the computer later in life, use a break reminder program to help you remember not to push your limits.

Every three minutes, a little dialog pops up on my laptop and reminds me to stretch and refocus my eyes for ten seconds. Every hour, the same program reminds me to take a two and a half minute break—and even helpfully suggests some exercises I can do. I usually ignore those suggestions in favor of quick chores (a sink of dishes, a stack of clothes) that get me out of my chair and doing something just as productive.

I came across Workrave (workrave.org) while looking for a time-out software for my work laptop. I had tried a break reminder tool on Mac OS X before, and I remembered liking it even though it always managed to catch me mid-keystroke. Workrave was highly recommended and ran on Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and BSDs (probably including Mac OS X), so I tried it out.

I found that the frequent breaks help me stay focused and active throughout the day. The breaks not only give me a chance to stretch and rest my eyes, but also helped me remember to stay on task by helping me catch myself when I found myself getting distracted. The breaks help me remember to check posture, too. It's easy to slip into a slouch while working. If you look around an office, I'm sure you'll see lots of people hunched over their computers. When I don't take the time to stretch and sit up straight, I find myself tired and sore in the evenings. When I do, I feel more upbeat. Simple decision, eh?

I also use the breaks as an opportunity to remember to drink more water. This is something I tend to forget during particularly intense programming or writing sprints. A few years ago, I collapsed due to dehydration, and I was taken to the emergency room. I had simply forgotten to drink water in addition to what I took in at meals. Since then, I've been a lot more careful about water intake. I find that I do better when I have at least a glass and preferably a pitcher of water close at hand. When Workrave reminds me to take a break, I sip some water too. When it's time to take a longer break, I get some more water and take care of other matters along the way.

It's strange, but slowing down helps you get further. Break reminding software is Good Stuff, and I strongly recommend that you try out something like Workrave. Time Out for Mac OS X looks pretty good, too. Whatever it is, try it and see if it works for you. Tell me what you think of these breaks, and share your tips!

(Want more ideas for slowing down and working smarter? Grab this book at your library: Cool Down: Getting Further by Going Slower)

On Technorati: productivity, software

Random Emacs symbol: backward-up-list - Command: Move backward out of one level of parentheses.

Tags: productivity, software by Sacha Chua
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Okay, I have a seriously souped-up blog now. Enjoy the random posts and the retrospectives on the Wordpress interface to this blog. If you click on a post, you'll see links to other posts I made on the same day in different years.

Why am I doing this?

Might be a little crazy to think about it, but I know I'll get a lot out of seeing where I've come from. If I stumble across questions I've asked or things I've reflected on, maybe I'll stop and think a little. If I can make more of my blog content available to Google, maybe I'll come across my old notes when I'm searching for something I don't even know I knew before. And who knows? Maybe I'll even figure out how to get this nicely sorted into a printed book for my mom. ;)

What about other people? What would you get out of this? Maybe random clicking around will help you get to know me. Maybe you'll like the things you read, maybe you won't. It's a chance I take. But if you're randomly clicking through slices of my life, you're probably friendly. =) And who knows, maybe one of these entries will make you think, and that thought will turn into other thoughts, and then you come up with a wonderful idea. Randomness is like that.

And if, while reading, you should happen to stop on an entry that catches your eyes, you may notice how different things are year to year, and how much stays the same.

=)

I wonder what the next five years will be like. Let's find out!

On Technorati: blogging, wordpress

Random Emacs symbol: gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing - Variable: If non-nil, all MIME parts get buttons.

Tags: blogging, wordpress by Sacha Chua
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Ted Roden uses ROT13 to protect his secrets from prying eyes, which comes in pretty handy when you're keeping gift lists on a shared computer.

My boyfriend would probably be stumped by that for all of two seconds. See, my significant other is a geek, and can spot ROT13 a mile away. I wouldn't be surprised if he could decode them in his head, as we used to do cryptograms over meals. Morse is also easy to recognize and break. If he were really determined to find out my secrets, that wouldn't help at all.

Nothing but strong encryption will do. Fortunately, Emacs makes this very easy. I keep sensitive account information in a text file called "numbers.gpg". Following the instructions on http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/AutoEncryption , I've set up automatic GnuPG encryption for files ending in .gpg. When I open the file, I'm prompted for my passphrase. When I save the file, the data is encrypted again.

If I want to encrypt just bits of a file, like the way I sometimes do encrypted sections in blog entries, I select the region and use M-x pgg-encrypt-region. This replaces the text with something like this:

-----BEGIN PGP MESSAGE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux)

hQEOAzQ6c9jHW5SMEAP/dJi8sc9wEqfODOxULzCJYtEY0CKqCIJmlP6jMUFcXmzk
o/C2HSEl0wQ39r6+D85EH4AhMrFCDLuW70S+etcbeJKF03PKrb5PjdShQdO3v4vu
0YokWEIZWdF4a/5bI+lcNz+YMv14ScsFjSLPRwz+OPXOX+rTQH/wxvYC5dLwUS8D
/2/ermrKuis0RCTpYy7LXIARNB5Sji8gMqVuidmRh9UFwyukRIJZPcgZt9nXGlZe
3HXvuWTh8Y36gsCa1iY/tN23yJel94d22hIzWdnqsWo31IsuLqquQ59mdgZjTu5a
Wpvd8AFEy69J2WKdFEInYc2tjf/KtYFYb4mXDnv/exFC0kkByzM4+TBzCUGuC5Dj
I0lwZnGOMTPvkW88Uru6gxfFEasQnMQeoDABOkMA+8PrX6ALSZJeNZG60Lallhu8
Vmh+u9aBWcYO7DKP
=++8d
-----END PGP MESSAGE-----

Granted, my secret key is on the hard disk, but I use a strong password for that one.

All of this is overkill for holiday shopping lists, of course, as my boyfriend would never think of snooping in my files anyway. But hey, it's always a good idea to keep some parts of your life hush-hush. If I were _really_ paranoid, I'd think about something like OrdoEmacs in Cryptonomicon. (Of _course_ it had to be OrdoEmacs. OrdoVi would just be an abomination. ;) )

Ah, Emacs. You try doing _that_ in Microsoft Word! ;)

On Technorati: emacs

Random Emacs symbol: eshell-deferrable-commands - Variable: *A list of functions which might return an ansychronous process.

Tags: emacs by Sacha Chua
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If you want to be radically more effective at doing things, get better at deciding what to do. Few things are more personal than figuring out what you're going to do with your life: at this moment, for this day, for the next few years. Few decisions are made as frequently. If you can improve the way you make that decision, you'll reap the benefits everywhere.

We've all developed some ways of coping. We all have our quirks. One of mine is that I can't settle on one way of planning my tasks. Some days, I'm all strategic and top-down, connecting my life goals with the tasks I plan to do that day. Other days, I just need to get a crucial task out of my head so that I don't forget it while hunting for my keys. Some days, I block out time to work on my priority projects. Other days, I have to work around other people's schedules, so it's all about cramming whatever I can into whenever I've got.

Now think of all the other geeks out there, and you'll understand how to-do list programs might outnumber programmers. Despite the collective efforts of companies like Microsoft and IBM, despite the coolness of Web 2.0 services like Remember the Milk, despite the renaissance of paper-based planners such as the Hipster PDA, I have never found anything as powerful as a plain text file in terms of personal productivity: a plain text file with shortcuts that are form-fitted to the way I work.

Here's what my workday looks like:

• I do a _quick_ scan of e-mail to see if any tasks have come in. I copy those into my inbox. I resist the urge to reply right away, as that turns e-mail into a huge timesink.
• 5-10 minutes are enough to schedule and prioritize my tasks for the day. I see both my calendar and my task list at the same time, and I can estimate my load. I leave plenty of space for things that come up. I feel better when I finish my scheduled tasks and then cross off a few more, than when I don't finish everything I planned and I have to postpone tasks to the next day.
• I work on my highest-priority task for the day.
• _Then_ I respond to e-mail.
• Then I work through everything else in roughly 45-minute chunks, with some downtime in between to recharge my brain and take care of routine tasks.
• My computer is set up to encourage me to take 10-second breaks every 5 minutes and 2.5 minute breaks every hour. The numbers are arbitrary, but the result feels good. This works out even better when I work from home: 2.5 minutes is just enough time to clear the sink, or to empty the dishwasher, or to start some tea...

A plain text file keeps me all organized, thanks to the Org module for the Emacs text editor. The text file shows me what's on my horizon and what's on today's schedule. The text file helps me deal with interruptions because it keeps track of what I was working on and what I need to do.

The text file even helps me learn more about myself and my skills through detailed time-tracking. Every time I start a task, the clock starts. Every time I mark a task as waiting or done, the clock stops, and the elapsed time is stored in the task. This helps me tune my time estimates and report time at the end of the week.

And it's just amazing. I don't feel that I waste a lot of time. I have a sense of progress. I can see the big picture, and things almost never fall through the cracks. (When they do, that's because I hadn't gotten around to putting them in my text file yet.) Sure, this still doesn't give me enough time to do everything I want to do, but I don't feel stressed out about it because I'm working well. From now on, most of the performance improvement will come from improving my skills and learning more.

If I can do this much as a new hire with a pretty nifty task management system, think about what you can do with all your experience. What _could_ you do if you spent less time fighting with your memory or with your TODO system, and more time making the difference you want to make?

On Technorati: planning, book-draft, org, emacs, tasks, pim

Random Emacs symbol: edebug-stop - Command: Stop execution and do not continue.

Tags: book-draft, emacs, org, pim, planning, tasks by Sacha Chua
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Over at Matt's Idea Blog, Matthew Cornell has listed some of the coolest job titles he's seen. Not only that, he links to the people who've given themselves those job titles. Check those out for inspiration, and add joy to your own job description. Passion Catalyst! Continuous Self-Improvement Guru! =) How can you not want to get to know people like that?

What's my title? I'm somewhat in between titles. I'm moving away from being a tech evangelist because it doesn't capture my focus on processes and practices. I help companies help people connect. I want to get really good at spotting and telling great stories, refining and sharing best practices, and exploring new tools and new ways of doing things. I want to help companies enable more connection, more conversation, more collaboration... and more innovation. And I want to do all that and make it _fun._ Fun the way discovering how small the world is when you discover that the other person in the elevator with you also reads tons of books and you end up chatting about great reads all the way to the cafeteria and all throughout lunch. Connection is fun. Networking is fun. I want to make it easy.

Connection catalyst?

On Technorati: career

Random Emacs symbol: calendar - Command: Choose between the one frame, two frame, or basic calendar displays. - Group: Calendar and time management support.

Tags: career by Sacha Chua
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