Spending Time Well

Mitch HobishProductivity

I’ve been using computers since 1968. I taught myself BASIC via a time-share arrangement, using a 110 Baud teletype connected to a computer several hundred miles away. Storage was on paper tape, and execution times were glacial, but I was using a computer!

Time wore on. The personal computer age arrived, and I got very familiar with command-line control, first through CP/M then DOS in various versions. I worked with a few other languages:  Fortran, Pascal, a bit of Ada, and even a brief fling with APL. The arrival of graphical user interfaces was welcome, and I spent lots of time using and debating the relative merits of Windows and OS/2 (which was my preference, owing to its configurability).

Given my formative history, it should come as no surprise that I still like doing things via the command line, but some actions are clearly facilitated by a GUI. The case I wish to use to make my point(s) today has to do with file management.

I’ve been using one tool for years, updating whenever I felt the new features were worth the expense. While it does pretty much everything I need, there’s one irksome behavior that has come along with every version I’ve used: At times, without clear cause, the utility just locks up. Most of the upper part of the window goes blank, and it just stays unresponsive, requiring intervention via the Task Manager or some other process-killing approach.

Last week I’d had enough. In a fit of self-righteous anger, I began the search for a replacement, narrowing my choices to three.  With many hours of testing, all showed the stability I needed. Two were very useful and very expensive, but didn’t quite meet my requirements. Another was free; while not quite as extensible as the other two, it still did pretty much what I needed.

Further research showed that one way or another, I could make any of the candidates do what I wanted—sometimes through configuration files, others with macros I could create using another utility. As I began this customization exercise, I realized that (a) I had spent a great deal of time in this quest; and (b) I’d spend even more time with the customization.

The resultant realization was that (c) I’d spent—and would spend—far more time than I ever had or ever would lose in this lifetime shutting down and reloading that problematical file manager.

I’ve still got all three candidates installed, but for routine activities, I’m still using my original file manager, problems notwithstanding.

Questions:  Do you perform cost-benefit analyses, be they for work, support, or personal activities? How do you decide what criteria to use? Can something irrational cause you to throw out the conclusion brought forth by an otherwise rational analysis? If so, how do you justify that disposition? Do you have to?

Being Prepared

Mitch HobishGrowth, Leadership

I’d been having a long-term conversation with a friend, largely about his ongoing state of anxiety.  He came to realize that he was concerned about not being prepared to deal with things–not when they arose, but before they arose.  He’d spend hours, perseverating about things as they are, and projecting an infinitude of possible futures.  I tried to get him to see that all he really had to work with was the present, as the past is over and done with, and (as he noted) there are futures to infinity.  Only by remembering to “be here now”, as proffered by Ram Dass (formerly Dr. Richard Alpert) in his 1971 book of that name, could he effectively deal with things, and only by taking them on one at a time.

With time, my friend realized that what I was suggesting had merit, but that acknowledgment wasn’t yet enough to solve his problem:  He still suffered from a severe case of “not good enough”, i.e., he wasn’t convinced that even if he were to cut back on his solve-it-all-beforehand approach, he’d have the skills and confidence to deal with the here-and-now, enough so that he could trust such decisions to make major contributions to a desirable future.  As it turned out, that was because he still felt that he had to be prepared for everything, even not knowing what “everything” was!

Over a long series of conversations, I was able to get him to realize that his obvious successes (of which there were many) were ample testimony to his ability to handle what he encountered in his life.  He had a stable, long-term marriage, his kids were terrific, and he held professional positions of increasing responsibility and authority.  With that, a hiatus ensued, and we didn’t speak about his problem for a very, very long time.

A recent reconnection found him bright and sprightly, with a clearly upbeat approach to just about everything that had earlier caused him such difficulty.  Clearly, something had changed.

Upon query, he replied that after a lot of thought, he finally realized that all(!) he needed to do was to acknowledge his successes, that they had been gained by taking things on as they came (as suggested earlier), and that the results spoke for themselves, i.e., his decisions were by-and-large appropriate to the circumstances.  He really was “good enough”.

Simply, this evidence-based self-assessment convinced him that he didn’t have to be prepared for everything, but he could develop a mindset that allowed him to be ready for anything.  He had learned to trust his gut.

With that distinction lies the clue to stamping out those bouts of self-doubt:  First take a look at your current situation.  Be honest with yourself–don’t even consider looking to someone else for support.  If you’re really in at least a pretty good spot, consider how you got there:  No one came along, picked you up, and placed you there.  It was you who made the decisions in the moment that have led to your successes.  (To be sure, where your decisions have resulted in less-than-happy outcomes, the responsibility for those, too, are yours.)

The key is to go with your gut, and to act on it, even in the absence of brain-desired data.  Do something.  Anything.  Only results will tell you if you were right (or wrong). And, if the outcome is not what you projected, fix it!  I can’t remember where I saw this, but I offer it to you:  It’s not about making the right decisions; if necessary, it’s about making the results of those decisions right.

You are not powerless. It’s your life’s story; you write the script.

Questions:  Are you faced with ongoing anxiety that you just can’t do anything because you feel that you can’t handle everything? How did you get into that pattern? What have you done to break it? Why have such actions worked (or not)? If you’re not making changes, what’s keeping you from acting?

 

Perspectives on Time-keeping

Mitch HobishGrowth, Innovation

A recurrent topic of discussion around here is the way technologies that we grew up with ‘Way Back When are being superseded by newer ones.  An underlying assumption in many of these conversations is that folks much younger than we are losing out in some way as these transitions take place.

Today I became aware of another such, with the concomitant, “What a loss!”  Let me tell you about the loss that I saw.

I was timing something in the kitchen, using an analog clock.  While I have many devices that use digital displays, I have long felt that they don’t support the concept of the cyclical nature of events, as the digital count-up by ever-changing digits is inherently linear, without reference to an interpretive framework.

Analog devices, on the other hand, present time as the movement of indicators in front of a static display, which allows the observer to establish some perspective, to see movement, rather than a simple series of numbers.  Functionally, it also makes it very easy to see how much time is left in a given interval, without have to do any mental gymnastics to subtract the current value on a digital timepiece from some projective value that would demarcate the end of a chosen interval.

While I have had this internal (and, to be sure, at-times external) conversation before, today brought with it a new realization:  I’m sure that someone, somewhere bemoaned the move away from sundials in favor of analog timepieces.  “Why, these youngsters aren’t in touch with the cosmos anymore!  They don’t see the way the Sun’s shadow moves around the face of the sundial!  What a loss!”  etc.

I must acknowledge that without an opportunity to compare these different modalities head-on, there is no reason to think a new way of doing things, e.g., digital timekeeping, implies loss.  But it sure feels that way.

Questions:  Because something is older, does that mean it’s better?  Because something is newer, does that mean it’s better?  Do you make decisions based on precedent?  Upon what criteria do you make decisions, regardless of the focus?  Can you justify them to yourself?  Do you have to?

Resilience

Mitch HobishGrowth, Leadership, Productivity

“The champion is the guy who keeps getting up” [Originator unknown to me.]

Such a simple statement, really, yet filled–as such things often are–with lots of material to ponder.

I chose this quote for this Thought for the Day (TFTD) because recent changes in my professional activities left me wondering if I had it in me to get back into the game for another round.  As a long-time (over 25 years) “lone eagle”, I’ve learned to rely on my own resources to get motivated.  Inspiration for me comes from realizing that no one is going to fight my battles for me, be they personal or professional.  I have to keep “getting up” if I am to be my own champion.

Getting up–again!–is not easy.  I get tired.  I get dispirited.  I want someone else to take care of me.  There are so many reasons why it would just be comfortable–easy–to stay down on the mat, let the ref count me out, and just give up.

But life isn’t easy.  It takes work.  And more often than not, it means sucking it up, finding the strength to get to one’s feet after a seemingly mortal blow, and diving right back into the fight.

What I found over many, many battles, and many, many knock-downs is that it got easier to get back up.  After a while, it became one of my better habits.  I don’t even think about it any more:  When (not if) I find myself wanting to give up…I don’t.  Somehow, I find the strength to continue.  There’s no pain; just gain.

Question:  What gets you up off the mat after a knockdown?

You Think You’ve Got Privacy? Think Again!

Mitch HobishGrowth, Productivity

Recent kerfuffles on the online privacy scene owing to a change in Google’s “privacy” policies reminded me of  several such that have surfaced over the past few months. One has to do with a utility embedded in many smart phones that allows your carrier to track your usage of the various services to which you are subscribed.

This utility is Carrier IQ, and is but the latest poster child for privacy issues (or demon, depending on your perspective) that has raised the ire of many in the online world.

As I do not own a cell phone, I’m immune to such concerns, except for my ongoing interest in how technology impacts society. My comments, therefore, are philosophical and conceptual in nature, unhindered by any to-me specifics.

Basically, my position is this: If anyone thinks that their connectivity to the Giant Electronic Collective Consciousness is going unobserved, unrecorded, unanalyzed, and—ultimately—unmonetized, you’re living in a dream.

Between the flood of street-level cameras, tracking cookies in browsers, firmware embedded in applicances such as video recorders, account subscriptions, online buying locations (think, Amazon.com), credit card use, etc., etc., and highly interconnected so forth, your life is more than an open book. Someone, somewhere knows much more about you than you’d probably like. I’ve heard/read folks opine that, “If you’re doing nothing wrong, you have nothing to worry about!”

Bushwa.

There’s little I do that would concern me if anyone found out about it. But that’s not the point.

The point is that I don’t want my activities to be monitored—be it by government or the private sector. My life is mine. My actions are mine, except where they clearly impact other people. I don’t want suggestions for purchases, movie choices, restaurant possibilities, music options, people I should “friend”…unless I so choose. I prefer opt-in tracking, and so I spend far too much time blocking cookies and not allowing scripts, and cleaning up after such incursions where I miss them in the first place. I shouldn’t have to spend my time this way.

If I read the tea leaves correctly, this attitude is just another data point in increasing my curmudgeon coefficient. It may be a function of age, as I gather most young(er) folks don’t have such concerns. Indeed, they glory in the open-book approach to their lives.

So be it. But I still think it should be up to the individual, and not something that is foisted upon us. I appear not to be the only one: Take a look at this Wall Street Journal item, published just today, wherein is described possible business opportunities in addressing privacy issues.

Questions:  Are you aware of the extent to which your daily activities are monitored, either at the workplace or in your personal life? If you are aware, do you change your behavior to accommodate such monitoring? Is this a good thing?

When It’s Someone Else’s Turn

Mitch HobishGrowth, Leadership, Productivity

The Lovely and Talented Janice just got through a very hard week, preparing for and participating in a crafts show to support the local women’s help center. I’ve learned over the years to just stay out of her way during such periods, and to do more than my usual share of household support in addition to what emotional and logistical support I could bring her. She enjoys the creativity and handiwork, and also meeting all the folks who come out for such events. I enjoy seeing what she generates, and the glow that derives from the entire activity—the hard work notwithstanding.

The show ended on Saturday, so of course by Sunday I was ready for her to pay some attention to me—this, despite the objective understanding that she needed some downtime and decompression. Couple that with some going-wrong-way professional things on my side, and we managed to bump heads a bit.

Well, truth be told, I bumped my head; Jan’s so feet-on-the-ground that such things just don’t bother her.

It took me about a day, but we finally got back in synch, and we’re now moving forward—together—the way we usually do.

But I could sure do without the agita in the meantime.

Questions: Do you make room for others—either routinely or episodically—in your day-to-day activities? If you do, do you do it gracefully? Do you exact a tax for such an approach? How do you know when it’s time to “move over” and give the other person (entity) room?

Time: Wasting It or Spending It

Mitch HobishGrowth, Productivity

A quick little note for today:

A friend sent me a link to this piece of fluff. When I was finished visiting the site, my immediate reaction was, “Well! That was certainly a waste of time!”

But then I reconsidered: I had spent perhaps five minutes (if that) doodling and watching to see what would come next. I enjoyed myself, felt gratified that someone had provided a bit of levity in my day, and admired the creativity behind the scenes. My day was somewhat brightened, and I felt comfortable enough to share the enjoyment with a few folks on my email list (and via this post).

So: Did I waste that time, or did I spend it well?

I vote for the latter.

Questions: Do you ever do something just for the fun of it, heedless of its cost—temporal, or otherwise? Is there room in your life for frivolity? What benefits might accrue from seemingly pointless behavior? What would it really cost you, either to do something frivolous, or to avoid such behavior?

The Value of Computer-based Social Networks–Or Not

Mitch HobishGrowth, Productivity

Technology as a means of establishing and facilitating communication between people has a long history.  Let’s skip right to more modern means, beginning with the telegraph, move through the years to the telephone and on to fax, followed by the early days of computer-network mediated message handling via nascent email and early chat tools.  As we get closer to today’s offerings of “social networks”, Twitter, and so on, I wonder if we might find ourselves potentially ignoring the rest of our lives as we hurry to share with whoever is Out There the latest and greatest of our thoughts and actions.

I’ve long been a user of computer-based technology for communications, starting in about 1978 with Compuserve and others of its ilk.  These were early, less-sophisticated social networks, albeit frequented largely by those who had some glimmerings of what the supporting technology was all about:   Does anyone else remember Compuserve? Delphi? Byte Information Exchange (BIX)? Genie? The Well?  I was active on all of them.  For many years (1987-1993), I was Sysop for a public-access computer-based bulletin board and discussion system (The Science Lab), through which I met many wonderful people, some of whom I still count among my friends.  It was fascinating then to be in what we considered real- or near-real-time contact with others, and often with others we hadn’t even met.

And yet, I remember feeling even then that I was spending an inordinate amount of time “sharing” with my “friends”.  Bit by bit (no pun intended–I think), I let all these communications channels lie fallow, and focused on the needs of my life–finishing up my dissertation, moving on to postdoctoral work, and more.

As time has marched inexorably on, I found myself no longer at the cutting edge with such things; I still don’t even own a cell phone!  I have set up tight filters on my emails–not only to reduce the load of spam, but also to help me parse incoming material into folders that allow me to keep my Inbox focused on things that must be dealt with sooner, rather than later.  I don’t have a Facebook account, I’m not interested in Google+, and Twitter to me is the sound the birds make in the hills around my home.

And yet, I don’t feel that my communications with people are suffering.

People with whom I feel it appropriate to communicate seem very satisfied with my phone calls or email.  Indeed, most of my business activities depend on these two modes almost entirely.  I have a close circle of friends ( many fewer than the thousands I hear are not unusual for users of social networking sites), and am quite comfortable letting weeks or months go by without continually “updating” them about where I am, what and how I’m doing, or inquiring about their activities.  Indeed, these latencies seem to make the contacts–when we establish them–that much more valuable and interesting.

In this light, then, I have to wonder what all the fuss is about.  Am I just being curmudgeonly, not understanding how and why the latest communication channels are so great?  On the other hand, is it possible that those who do spend some or significant amounts of their assets on omnipresent communications are really adding value to their lives?  Our society?  If so, what value might that be?

This is at least a three-pipe problem, Watson.

Questions:  How much time do you spend on “social networking”? Does it affect your personal and professional lives–for good or bad? What benefits accrue to you with such activities? Could you spend your time differently–perhaps more effectively?

But I Don’t Want To!

Mitch HobishGrowth, Productivity

About 25 years ago I chided my father for hiring folks to do various things around his house that I felt he not only could have, but should have done himself.

Fast forward to today, and I find myself in the unfortunate position of wanting to hire folks to do various things around the house that I not only could, but feel that I should do myself.

There are two items on my to-do list that I just don’t want to face: I want to replace some under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen, and I need to open up one of my desktop monitors to see why it’s intermittently blanking the screen—often with a disturbing “pffft” sound—and, presumably, to fix it.  I’m fully capable of doing both.

I just don’t want to.

I too often tend to spend too much time trying to figure out why I’m hesitating, meaning that nothing gets done. When pressed, I’ll make a decision, but then I must promise myself (and follow through) with not second-guessing myself: Just make the decision, and move on.

For some reason, though, I just don’t want to.

I’ll get everything done. I always do. I just wonder sometimes what holds me up.

UPDATE: As of November 20, the under-cabinet wiring and receptacle-installation job is done! (I told you I’d do it…)

I did some preliminary troubleshooting on the monitor situation, but it’s been well-behaved since one particularly long-lasting “pffft”, which—along with a few other clues—makes me think there was a real bug (insect) in the monitor case. I’ll take the engineering approach to this one, and say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” But I will certainly make the time to dive into it should things begin acting weird again.

Questions: Do you find yourself hesitating to do things? What is the source of the hesitation? Does answering the preceding question even matter? How do you deal with such events?