sacha chua

I recently (re)discovered that writing is much easier and more enjoyable in the early morning when I'm fresh and focused than late at night when I'm thinking more about what I'm doing at work. To take advantage of this, I've been slowly moving my waking time earlier and earlier. Yesterday, I went to bed at 9 after tidying up and preparing for the next day. Today, I got up at 5:15. It was fifteen minutes later than I'd set the alarm clock for, but I realized that the dream I was dreaming wasn't all that interesting compared to what I might learn if I started writing.

Moving tasks to the night before can support this early-morning writing by freeing up more time. The more I can do the night before, the less I need to do the morning after - and it pays off even when the exchange isn't 1:1. For example, moving the half-hour I used to spend cooking steel-cut oats for breakfast from morning to evening means that I spend just a few minutes heating up a breakfast with much more texture than instant oatmeal. I packed my lunch last night, so I just need to grab it from the fridge and head out the door. I checked my purse for my keys and badge, too. Doing these little things the night before helps me streamline my morning routine.

What else can I do to free up time? I might try watering the plants in the late afternoon or try outlining in the evenings. OpenLoops has good tips for making the most of these early morning hours, and I'm sure I'll discover more along the way.

I'd also like to look into freeing up weekend time. I used to save laundry loads and library runs for the weekend, but if I can use my weekday evenings to take care of these things, then that frees up a larger block of uninterrupted time.

Tags: kaizen, life, productivity by Sacha Chua
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W- asked me if I could recommend any self-help books or tips on how to manage interruptions and get back on task. I thought it was funny because I'm usually the one who has problems staying on task. (Dishwasher partially full, laundry sitting in the washing machine, un-sipped tea, things like that…) =) Then again, I think I get fewer computer-based interruptions than he does.

I told him that David Allen's book on Getting Things Done is popular among geeks who deal with frequent interruptions. The key ideas that help are to write down all the tasks in a trusted system, and not to switch tasks unless it's really urgent and important.

He's also checking out LeechBlock, a Firefox extension that makes it just a bit easier to focus on your real work instead of going to your favorite time-wasting sites. =)

Tags: productivity by Sacha Chua
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It turned out that our newest team member, Tom Plaskon, is also a bookworm. Over lunch last Wednesday, we chatted about how we keep track of what we're learning from books. My system hasn't changed that much sinceI described it in February, but I thought I'd post an updated blog post about it, just in case writing about it prompts ideas.

How I get books:

I still read lots of books. I usually order books from the Toronto Public Library system or pull them off the library shelves when I go on a library run, but sometimes I'll pick up books from the bookstore or order them online. I occasionally get book recommendations from other people, too.

I tend to read in sprints, focusing on a single subject. I'm currently revisiting personal finance, and I've read about comics and graphic novels, sketching, storytelling, writing, leadership, time management, Javascript, CSS, relationships, communication, management, consulting, entrepreneurship, photography, cooking, presentation skills, education, reading, economics, parenting (yes, I read my mom's parenting books when she was raising me - made for an interesting childhood!), social networking, quarter-life crises, career planning, learning, creativity, self-defense, exercise, romances (particularly classic Regency ones) gardening, and other topics that slip my mind at the moment. Reading in sprints allows me to get through books quickly (few non-fiction books are packed with new ideas) and see the interconnections between ideas in books. Sometimes I'll go for variety when I'm raiding the library shelves.

This is a pattern of reading that practically requires a well-stocked public library, as there's no way I'm going to spend all that money doing a reading sprint by buying books from Chapters or Amazon. I'd be limited by my book budget and I'd end up with too many books full of too much filler. Using the public library allows me to get value from books I might not ordinarily buy and books that are mostly fluff except for one or two good insights. (Or books that have one good idea and just keep hammering it in.)

How I read books

While I'll slow down and enjoy a dense, well-written book, most books are worth cursory scans. Sometimes I'll look at the table of contents to get the lay of the land. Other times, I'll just plunge right into it, skimming the book for good quotes, interesting insights, or good explanations.

I read books on the subway, over breakfast or dinner, while walking (except across intersections), on evenings and weekends, and whenever I can steal a moment. I try to always have a book or two in my bag.

How I take notes

The first step is to mark the passages I want to keep. I don't like writing in books (and absolutely abhor the idea of writing in a library book!), so I have to keep track of the passages I want to put into my book notes system. I must confess that I've resorted to dogearing pages. Post-It flags feel wasteful and torn slips of paper are inconvenient. I'd be happy to switch to a better method for remembering pages if it was something I could do while walking around (rules out scanning text with a digitizing pen) and it allowed me to keep track of any number of pages (rules out bookmarks, unless I carry a whole stack of them).

After I've gone through a book once, it's time to put the passages into my book notes system. If I have time, I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to dictate the book details, page numbers, and relevant passages to my computer. It's fun, it reinforces my memory, and it helps me train the speech recognition engine. If I'm pressed for time, I scan the relevant pages, then and use Tesseract Optical Character Recognition to convert the scans into text.

I currently keep my book notes in a large text file with a little markup to make it easier for Emacs to display it as an outline. (Hooray org-mode!) Each book is an outline item, and each quotation starts with the page number. I also add my own notes.

How I review my books

The human brain is good at associative memory. When a conversation topic reminds me of something I'd read, I can usually come up with a few titles or keywords from the quotations. My book notes allow me to send not only the book details but also the relevant quote, which helps other non-bookwormish people zero in on the part they might want to check out. So far, my text file has been working well.

I occasionally review my book notes by flipping through my book notes on the computer or on my Nintendo DS, jumping to a random note, or searching for certain keywords. I also reread particularly good books to see if I'll get even more insight this time around. This helps me keep the content fresh, and it also prompts me to think about who I know would benefit from the book I'm reviewing.

How I can make this system better

I think I'll start using LibraryThing to keep track of the books I've read. This allows me to take advantage of social recommendations. I used to use Amazon for that, but it's also nice to run into fellow bookworms with similar interests and to see what else they're reading.

It might be good to capture diagrams neatly. I've got the scanner, so I just need to work out a good image storage thing.

I want to be able to link related quotations and books with each other. Blog posts would be a good way to do that. I just need to make sure I save my post locally, too.

I need to think about which new books are worth acquiring. =) There are a few presentation-related books I'm going to order (Back of the Napkin, Presentation Zen, Slideology).

Tags: book, books, lifehack, pim, productivity, reading by Sacha Chua
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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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One of the things I want to do is develop a good sense of how long it takes me to do something. Better time estimates lead to better scheduling, better sense of what I can commit to, and ultimately less stress and more happiness. =)

Fortunately, Planner makes it easy for me to do really detailed time-tracking. When I mark a task as in progress, the clock starts ticking. When I postpone or close a task, the system clocks out automatically.

I find that my attention occasionally strays. Sometime ago, I wrote a function to help me keep track of what I'm supposed to be doing. Today, I've decided to try estimating task completion times for more of the tasks on my list. I modified my old function to tell me how much time has elapsed since I started the task. This doesn't take into account previous clock-in/clock-outs, but it will do for now.

We'll see how well it works. =)

;; I've bound sacha/planner-what-am-i-supposed-to-be-doing to F9 F11. I
;; start out by clocking into the task (use planner-timeclock.el and
;; C-c TAB to mark a task as in progress). Then, when I find myself
;; getting distracted, I hit F9 F9 to see my current task in the
;; minibuffer. C-u F9 F9 jumps back to the task so that I can either
;; mark it as postponed. M-x planner-task-pending (bound to C-c C-p in
;; my local config) and M-x planner-task-done (C-c C-x) both clock out
;; of the task. If I want to jump back to the previous window
;; configuration from that planner page, I can just hit F9 F9 again.

(defvar sacha/window-register "w"
  "Register for jumping back and forth between planner and wherever I am.")
(defvar sacha/planner-current-task nil
  "Current task info.")
(defadvice planner-task-in-progress (after sacha activate)
  "Keep track of the task info."
  (setq sacha/planner-current-task (planner-current-task-info)))

(defun sacha/planner-what-am-i-supposed-to-be-doing (&optional prefix)
  "Make it easy to keep track of what I'm supposed to be working on.
If PREFIX is non-nil, jump to the current task, else display it
in a message. If called from the plan page, jump back to whatever
I was looking at."
  (interactive "P")
  (if planner-timeclock-current-task
      (if (string= (planner-task-page sacha/planner-current-task)
                   (planner-page-name))
          (jump-to-register sacha/window-register)
        (if (null prefix)
            (message "%s %s"
                     ;; Minutes so far
                     (timeclock-seconds-to-string (timeclock-last-period))
                     planner-timeclock-current-task)
          (frame-configuration-to-register sacha/window-register)
          (planner-find-file (planner-task-page sacha/planner-current-task))
          (planner-find-task sacha/planner-current-task)))
    (if prefix
        (planner-goto-today)
      (message "No current task. HEY!"))))

On Technorati: emacs, pimpmyemacs, planner, productivity

Random Emacs symbol: cal-tex-mouse-filofax-week - Command: Two page Filofax calendar for week indicated by cursor. (Hey, I didn't know we could print Filofax calendars from Emacs cal...)

Tags: emacs, pimpmyemacs, planner, productivity by Sacha Chua
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