As a consultant, I have a habit of keeping track of just about everything my customers ask for. At least I used to. The work I did in the past often entailed hourly work so the more there was to do, the better. And for a long time I assumed that this was beneficial for my customer too. So I…
Month: December 2016
What isn’t used?
People ask for things all the time that they won’t use. Sometimes it’s just an idea that they ask for that they don’t really think through and don’t really intend you to carry out. Sometimes things exist because someone that came before us asked for them. And people no longer use them. Regardless the reason, you should ruthlessly search for…
The demo – usage gap
It is one thing to demo software that’s being developed, it can be a good way to get early feedback. But the feedback is nothing compared to the feedback you will get from people using the software. For example, a week ago I received a notice about a new software system, basically a mini demo of the new features. There…
Handling Distractions: Develop a Feel for it
Feelings dictate how we act. When you’re happy, you don’t generally worry about what you’re doing. When you’re disturbed, you tend to question what it is that you’re doing. So, if you want to avoid distractions, see if you can develop a feel for them. Doesn’t have to be a shameful feeling, just a spidey sense that something is amiss.…
Handling Distractions: Avoidance
Stop the distractions from happening in the first place. i.e.: Unsubscribe from unwanted emails. Don’t take on as much work. Say no to less important opportunities. Throw away the ideas you’re never going to get to. Turn on do not disturb. Tell yourself you don’t need to feel bad for ignoring things, then ignore them.
Getting rid of unused things requires patience
Unused things beget other unused things. For example, you might have a form that’s required for taking time off at work. That form might then be processed by someone in another department within the company and entered into a database. If you realize that the form isn’t necessary to request time off, you have to get rid of it then…
Stop thinking lowly of yourself when you get distracted
Accept that it’s normal to be distracted. Don’t beat yourself up or you’ll be too busy thinking lowly of yourself to do anything about the distractions.
Best practices often just waste time
Best practices are often pernicious wastes of time often because we believe we’re doing a good thing, the right thing. The problem is that we rarely validate best practices are actually necessary. Instead, we implicitly believe that they’re justified regardless of benefit and/or cost. After all, why would we do things any way but the right way? Are there any…
Let people fill in the gaps
I’m working on an article that has an analogy that my editor pointed out had a “gap” in it, in his mind. The analogy involves TSA screening, I discuss bins that we place our belongings in and the belongings flow through screening, and perhaps are flagged for extra screening. After which items might be removed that aren’t permitted. What I…
What’s time consuming?
If you want to speed up your work, ask yourself what’s time consuming. You don’t need to quantify it. Just qualify it, what feels time consuming? Often you intuitively know what is a waste of time. Now if it’s going to take hundreds of hours of work to make it better, then maybe quantify things. Otherwise just fix it and…