Year: 2020

Success with your support network

Lego inner cricle. A close nit lego family.

To succeed at remote work, we need to know what we need and how to communicate it.

I have three kids and the best kind of support from Lauren. Remote work would be impossible without her being a great friend, taking care of the kids when I’m having meetings and listening to all my silly ideas.

This post was a draft for a while and I’ve tried to make it as universal as possible, though, I realized that I could only share my viewpoint on the type of support one would need and so I’ll touch on practical and intangible support.

Practical support

My workday starts at 8am. I have a separate space where I can lock the door to stop the kids from running in. I’m not too fond of interruptions and any other task or requests while I’m working. I’m most productive in the morning and try to schedule my deep work between 8 and 12. Since I became team lead I have more meetings in the afternoon. I take a break every hour and regularly go outside to see my family.

To think about what you need to help you with, consider these questions:

  • What kind of space would you like to work in? Should your space be open and accessible to those around you?
  • What are your preferred work hours and when are you most productive?
  • What can others do to make your work easier and how can you return this favour?

After answering these questions or thinking about your own practical needs, consider the intangible needs that are equally important.

Intangible support

I need to talk about disappointments and let go of stressful situations. Similarly, I love speaking about the joyful work moments and having some quiet time to write and think fills me up. Reflecting on the positive things and practicing gratitude allows me to face life with a fresh perspective. There are days where it’s impossible to be entirely focused, where I am distracted by family responsibilities or life. You will face similar situations.

For the intangible support consider these questions:

  • Do you have good separation between work and life? Are you taking enough time off?
  • What makes you truly happy and how can you create a space for this in your life?
  • Do you take time to acknowledge and celebrate your successes, regardless of how small they are?

When we disconnect from work we need to return to space where we are loved, respected and cared for. In this environment we can more freely share how work affects us emotionally. Remote work situations differ a lot and we all have our own unique context, but despite the varying contexts taking your loved ones on the journey with you is crucial.

Keep in touch

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TIL (Things 3) – Filter list by multiple tags

The ability to filter by multiple tags will elevate my prioritization process.

All Narfed Up

When viewing a list on all platforms (Mac, iPad, or iPhone), you can filter by more than one tag.

  • Mac: Press and hold Command (⌘), then click your desired tags.
  • iPhone: Filter by tag, select one tag, then return the same menu for the ability to check more tags.

The “Using Tags” support page by Cultured Code gave a handy example:

It’s useful […] if you want to see all your 🏷 Work to-dos that are also🏷 Important.

For Todoist, see “Filter for tasks by label“. As for Wunderlist, no joy.

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Remote work success

Remote worker, like a lamp in the darkness

The global pandemic induced a mass workplace migration. Many office inhabitants were thrown into the wild remote working paradise. The expected decrease in Covid-19 case numbers will see most people abandon the remote working paradise, but for some, the distributed work environment is here to stay. I’m writing this guide for those who will become permanent remote workers.

I have worked remotely for over 7 years and still find both glorious and challenging. Along with flexibility and control, remote work requires great discipline and support.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting on the pillars of remote work success. I’ll touch on inner circle support, time boundaries, self care and much more. If you are interested in learning more about remote work and other related topics please subscribe below.

This is the list of topics I’ll blog about in the coming weeks. I’ll update the titles with links to the posts as I publish them.

1 – Success with your support network

Update: After thinking through these topic, I realised that I don’t have much more to say beyond the titles. So here they are. Consider them and make sure you do some of these things.

2 – Time boundaries

3 – Find a dedicated space

4 – Remove Distractions

5 – Structure every day

6 – Take great breaks.

7 – Get out and away for remote work success.

8 – Work hard on yourself .

9 – Look after yourself.

These topics are the pillars that have helped me over the years and I’m sure it will guide you in figuring out how to succeed in a remote working environment.

Howzit Podcast Appearance

It was a privilege for me to feature in episode 003 of a fantastic podcast called Howzit. The podcast episode touches on remote work, faith, writing, and personal development. I’m grateful to Travis for inviting me.

Links

Why I blog?

I published my first blog post on April 16, in the year of our Lord 2012. Since then, eight years and 170 posts later, I wonder how I can use my writing more purposefully. How does one commit to writing in a way that fosters the best outcome?

Purpose helps others understand our actions. Sharing the reason we’re doing things with those who care, helps them motivate us when we’re stuck. Purpose is a driving force that is able to help you stay consistent over decades.

What purpose should you have for writing that transcends your current context?

My motivation is a moving target: To become better at writing, because writing is a superpower. It is true, “The pen is mightier than the sword”. Being great with words could be the difference between life and death. Being skill full in the art of writing has the potential to unlock many opportunities.

For the sake of writing, writing could undoubtedly be reason enough, but I also have a second reason. That is, to grow my community of influence, the network—of shared opportunities.

I hope to use this blog to demonstrate my skills and these are the topics that I hope to cover as I aim to improve my ability to put what I learn into words:

  1. Software Engineering industry and practice.
  2. Leadership
  3. eCommerce
  4. Personal development

With a greater sense of purpose, I’d like to intensify my efforts and would like you to join me, either by creating your own blog or following along and reading mine.

Speech writer secrets

I enjoyed this humorous talk on public speaking. Some of the advice feels gimmicky, but if you compare it to what you hear when presidents and leaders speak you’ll see that they all use it, well with a few exceptions.

The main points are

  • Be confident
  • Combine 3 breathless sentences for dramatic effect.
  • Repeat words three times for impact : “My people, my people; my people“.
  • Use balance: “In this life, and in the next”.
  • Reach for unique metaphors: “Love is a fruit in season at all times and in reach of every hand.“
  • Exaggerate a bit for effect not to cover up the truth.
  • Rhyming. It tricks the brian into being comfortable with the information given as it sounds so right.

Go ahead and watch it for yourself:

Link to video if the embed above fails:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGBamfWasNQ&feature=share

My notes from the talk on how to maximise success

Carla Harris, Vice Chairman of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, explains exactly how she got ahead in a male dominated industry.

Here’s what stood out for me:

  1. Your authenticity is your advantage.
  2. There are two currencies when it comes to success. 1 Is performance currency and 2, relationship currency. You need both to succeed, but only relationship currency get’s you to the pinnacle.
  3. She pointed out how doubtful some people are. She learned a thing from her white male colleagues. They were “frequently wrong, but never in doubt”, in other words they had confidence all the time.
  4. Perception is realities’ cop-pilot. What people perceive you to be is often how they think you actually are. You need to make sure that you make it easy for people to perceive in the same good way you do yourself. You can train others on what they should think about you. How should people describe you when you’re not in the room?
  5. If you offer that which is not valuable you will not get any reward for it.

Watch the video below

In case the video fails to show, heres the link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yflSZODY6YU

Software Complexity

It is easy to define software complexity, but not so easy to define how complex a specific piece of software is. There have been lots of work in academia to find ways to describe it, but these approaches are not generally applied. Complex software directly refers to its effects on the human mind.

The software industry has a few methods for evaluating complexity. A well-known method is Cyclomatic Complexity, by Thomas J. McCabe, Sr. Cyclomatic complexity plots the number of linearly independent possible paths through a program. The reason why more possible paths introduce complexity is this; when changing a program, the maintainer needs to understand and keep those paths in mind to avoid introducing new bugs. Our human brains have limited capacity for the number of options we can consider at the same time.

Along with looking at the actual program, you must also consider the context. One must weigh in the problem it attempts to solve, the domain it targets, and a few other factors. In some cases, you can simply glance and call it complex, but for others, complexity is revealed as you dig deeper.

All software starts as a set of requirements, and this initial phase is often where we sow seeds of complexity. Software Requirements are usually initiated by people who know what they want, but not necessarily how to build it. This may result in oversimplification of the efforts required, which may lead to shortcuts resulting in unwanted complexity. The requirements phase is the first place to root out complexity.

One can’t always blame those who create these requirements, as they are often at the mercy of a complex problem domain. Think about aerospace or naval technology as examples. Certain fields are by nature complex and thus making the systems they produce have a higher level of necessary complexity.

There are two complexity flavours, according to academia. The first one, obviously named, is Essential complexity. It is a level of complexity that is absolutely required for the system to function. The next one, also accurately named, is avoidable complexity. Though these names are clear, figuring out which parts are avoidable takes a lot of time. Software needs to be taken on the road and through all its paces. We’ve seen people use software in ways the designers haven’t thought about forcing one to rethink avoidable and essential. Essential to whom? Avoidable for whom?

Simple processes can produce complex outcomes. Only the user experiences complexity. Why are we writing software? Is it for Business, business systems, end-users, or the next maintainer?

Attributing levels of complexity is a very subjective act. You should take into account all dimensions involved in a systems life cycle.

It is easy to think that complexity is a problem, but as long as a piece of software addresses a set purpose, the complexity is secondary. If the goal is for it to be simple, complexity is primary.