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Time management and the perpetual motion machine.

Tue, 05/10/2011 - 19:14 — bradg

I was at an airport convenience store the other day looking nostalgically at all of those things they call books. And then I saw it. A paperback with the incredible words “Time Management” on the cover. (I don’t know who wrote it. I did not pick it up and I’m certainly glad to inform you that there is no link to Amazon here urging you to buy it.)

Can you do something for me? It will only take 4 minutes.

In the first minute think of a number of things you can do in 1 minute. In the second minute do nothing – just sit there. In minute 3, do all of the things you thought of in the first minute. In minute 4? Reflect. What was the difference between minute 2 and minute 3? Did you “manage” the third minute better than the second? Did time transmute itself? What really got managed?

I know that people think they experience time variation; heck, I think I have felt that way. You know… “Time stood still”. “Time flew by”. And so on.

Here’s the thing.

Time on earth is immutable. It does not shift or vary. Until you or I experience the twins paradox time will not be a variable in your life. Time will be a constant.

You cannot manage time. You can only “manage” stuff like tasks, relationships, possessions. Things.

On the productivity graph of things vs. time, you can only vary the things axis. Anybody who talks about “time management” as if it exists, ought to be selling miracle cures, perpetual motion machines or time shares on Baffin Island. I never got productive until I got past this concept. It’s not that you are wasting time or making the best use of your time when results go poorly or go well. It’s that you did less or did more in a period of time. People who go on vacations are not better time managers than people who don’t go on vacations; they just value vacations more.

So in the realm of hackneyed truisms; “Time marches on”. To which I would add, “… at the same rate”.

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Some Thoughts on Workflows

Fri, 09/24/2010 - 14:33 — bradg

I have been thinking a lot about workflows lately. I have been thinking about workflows for a long, long time.

Now, more than ever, with creditable syncing and ubiquitous mobile communication; intelligent workflows can be great productivity enhancers.

What is a workflow? Well, head on over to the usual suspects hangout for first explanations then come back... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workflow. A workflow is a sequence of events, and yes, it can be used to define an algorithm. In my humble area of interest though, workflow is a way to make my computing devices do more than the average Joe. To me, workflow development is not about programming, it's about automation. The difference? With a program, you choose a problem to solve, choose a language and start writing code. You work inside the development environment to create a new application. With automation, you find ways to make the computer do repetitive tasks with multiple, available programs and functions. Sometimes a workflow is only half-baked. Maybe it reduces keystrokes or only partially automates a function. Other times it can seem to be completely programmatic, in other words, to the average user it functions like an application.

My current productivity platform is based on Apple devices; 13" MacBook, 3G iPad, 3GS iPhone. I have to function in a corporate Windows environment and am doing that less and less through emulation and more through remote desktop sharing. My workflow interests are focused on mobility, availability and clarity. I'm going to take some time, now and then, to post up some of my favourite workflows and to point to others. The differentiator? I'm going to use a standard approach to describing and detailing the workflow.

Here are the standard headings of any workflow -- no matter how silly, short, complex or involved -- that I will describe:

  • Abstact
  • Workflow Title
  • Interest
  • Hardware Prerequisites
  • Software Prerequisites
  • Use Case
  • Set-up Requirements
  • Workflow Steps
  • Alternate Workflow Steps
  • Workflow Enhancements
  • Observations and Notes
  • Revision History

    • It may not be novel and it may be overly geeky but one of the big problems with workflows that I see described on the 'net is that they are not systematic. (Have you ever struggled with that key 12th step, only to find that a couple of things have been left out?). Many people have done creditable video workflow descriptions. The weakness in these however is that it is hard to follow along and replicate the workflow on your own machine.

    I'm going to start with some really simple workflows. They will literally describe how to use one or two apps for basic tasks. From there I will get into some more complex stuff. For instance, I have been building a thorough rule set for processing email. Some of that workflow may be interesting. I'm also going to point to some of the killer workflows from others that I am using now. If you want to know who is doing some of the best workflow posting, look no further than David Sparks over at macsparky.com.

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    (c) copyright 2011 by Bradford Gibson. Almost all rights reserved. Partial citation for journalistic, academic or blog use is permitted with attribution.