SCRUM Bag

I am a SCRUM bag which is an insult considering I was not trained in this role when I took the post. Being set up to fail to seem to be the norm in my case, perhaps because of my arrogant and know-it-all attitude that I get thrown into the deep end to fend for myself. No primrose path for me as my first boss told me. In fact, I was headed for disaster on day one when I came over and the current circumstances are just par for the course; back to surviving on my wits which really is the norm for any immigrant coming over to the new world.

Last week I learned that SCRUM is the methodology one uses to 'implement' Agile practices. I was familiar with the ceremonies and rituals as a squad member but not as a squad lead so I was winging it; copying the steps of my predecessor without knowledge of the underlying theory. Now I know better and my ignorance on the technical side of it makes it astounding that I lasted this long with my diminishing grit and experience. IBM network courses are a lifesaver for me and the other Coursera courses. In fact, I was only paying lip service to the theory.

Grooming the backlog is the crucial step we missed together with the product owner who also does not have a clue. The use of story points, pipelines, or swimlanes such as inbox and the cooler prior to the product backlog is an eye-opener for me. JIRA tool used in the office does away with this preliminary step; going directly to the Product Backlog though this is likely due to the old version of the tool. The Coursera courses utilize ZenHub and Gitlub which offers a fresh perspective on the SCRUM process.

Last night we watched Babylon - a 3-hour movie extravaganza of 1920-30 Hollywood which I thoroughly enjoyed. Waking early in the morning to read the biographies of silent-era movie stars who had trouble adjusting to the new Hollywood of sound in pictures. I had a brief inkling of being one of those fading movie stars who had trouble adjusting to the new reality. I am in the same situation of learning these new tools to survive in the modern workplace of interconnectivity, collaboration, and accelerated work in a lean and agile world.

It is easy to succumb to booze, drugs, and other distraction instead of learning new skills which some of the real-life silent stars tried to do. But I have done this shift many times before, such as writing this blog 20 years ago to learn the new technology.  I have to make another leap not only to learn new tools but in new ways of working; first as a squad member and then as a squad leader. It is a new world and the mind opens up so many avenues that one get gets lost in the different paths ahead. Don't be a SCRUM bag!

Home Alone

 Yesterday I seemed to be the only one at work with the group calendar showing most of the folks OOO - out of the office. Some are out of state enjoying their vacation. Most will be coming back at the start of the new year. I decided to stay or rather had no plans to travel out of state. Instead, I decided to stay home and do some work attend, online training, catch up on work and strategize for the coming year. 2022 had been a wild ride for me with my new role and I often seemed overwhelmed.

There is too much to learn and I started an online course on Agile and scrum made by the IBM network. I know most of the concepts but never in this manner. I did not have any training in my new role as scrum master and the training said this is the first mistake that companies make by not providing training to new people who come on board like me. In most cases, the thinking is that project managers can automatically become scrum masters and the biggest mistake is to adapt 'waterfall' methods to lean and agile sprints.

I did attend the lean and agiler journey but as a team member not as a scrum master. So I have a good understanding of the agile process but not as a squad leader. So the training is a good refresher. I am also attending short pieces of training on JIRA which is the tool used in our company. However, I get to use new tools like ZenHub and GitHub instead of JIRA. This is a refreshing change as gives another viewpoint on the process. One of the main concepts is kanban which is a technique to visualize work externally via visual cards. The use of dashboards and pipelines or swimlanes in these tools are good illustrations of the external mind.

I know I have to ramp up my skills with new thinking and methods and these training help me (because of a lack of a training plan due to the negligence of my superiors). I feel I am left on my own and to survive on my wits. Hence, I decided to spend my holiday vacation reflecting, learning new concepts, and trying out new techniques such as building a second brain and applying these new concepts using new tools like Notion and increasing my knowledge on MS suites like Teams, To DO, and Planner.

I started new meeting initiatives which also use planner dashboards that apply concepts like the external mind and second brain. There are also new thinking in my field that I need to ramp up on such as DevOps, Cloud computing, velocity, and cycle time. Being a squad leader also requires a different mindset ( following Agile philosophy) by applying the scrum process. One needs to be more of a coach and influencer rather than a manager. An entirely different role as compared to my former role as project manager. This is the paradigm shift.

From a biological point of view, I am learning to juggle, meditate, and be more mindful of my work methods and procrastination. My emotional reaction and mental bias and reactivity often take me to the wrong path so the challenge is to re-learn or replace my old mental models. This feels like a new world for me; a voyage of discovery has begun where I need to leave my mind and my mental rumination. In fact, I am trying too many things now that my mind has been opened.

The main challenge is really to focus instead on my usual scatter brain and opening up too much to new avenues that result in distraction and procrastination. This journey of self-control and focus will help me in my quest to be a novelist and entrepreneur. This is in preparation for my new career after I retire. There is too much to learn with all the available materials out there on youtube and online courses like Courserz. I plan to attend Google's digital marketing course and also several IBM courses.

Meditation Blues

Meditation and mindfulness exercises help a certain type of individual except for those who are prone to rumination and overthinking. Although the act does try to increase one's awareness of thought bubbles, after meditation the mind does go back to its circular thinking patterns if one does not consciously focus or recognize the mind has settled back into its usual process like a hand into a glove. One does brings attention to this predicament and tries to get out of the hole again.

Rumination swerves quickly to anxiety and worry that the next act is procrastination and distraction. Mediation does make one conscious of the thought bubbles but the result seems to be more procrastination; avoiding the work that one needs to do. This is another dilemma that compounds one's mental balance with the internet lurking in the background with its incessant feed and TikTok videos. One would think that meditation will make one more conscious of addictions but the inevitable effect is succumbing to distraction again.

This week was eventful with the supervisor away for another week due to covid though formally back to work though keeping a low profile. The movie star business leader is off making good progress with our help though our team was also busy completing the sprint demo and sprint planning for the next cycle of work. My mind dreads both the supervisor for her seeming feeling of superiority and the business needs leader's youthful drive to slay inefficiencies where ever he finds them. Both contribute to a slight tinge of worry which my mind always ruminates on.

In the meantime, I struggle in my own wheelhouse with my own thoughts of inadequacy and shortcomings. After each sprint is a retrospective where the squad gives their feedback on what went well, what did not, and what needs improvement.  As a squad leader, one needs to have a thick skin and roll with the punches, and avoid ruminating that one is inadequate. One soldier along with some victories such as the CSD meetings which one has initiated to try new tools.

But the onslaught of work, new information, and request keep coming into one's mental space. Active attempts to increase one's capacity via additional monitors, better work area, new techniques like building a better brain, and yes, meditation, tai chi, and exercise do continue. Sometimes it feels like a constant battle; to keep abreast of things and stay relevant and lead despite one rumination that all are against him with the silence of the supervisor which is either a lack of leadership that one is setting me up to fail. Or the onslaught of the business side who forever moves ahead for business efficiency; showing the squad's shortcomings and lack of initiative.

The answer is grace under pressure, to move like water instead of being an immovable mountain. Hence, back to meditation and mindfulness.  To be flexible and to continue increasing one's skills. Introspection and mind dump via journaling to express and re-frame one's experience is also important. Last week was another busy week in which we successfully completed our sprint, started a new one, and kept with the numerous meetings, chats, and email replies despite lack of sleep and lurking anxiety and procrastination.

New Work Set-up

I spent several hours setting up a new monitor; adding to the one I already had; placing the new one above the existing monitor to follow a recent model from LG called dual-up. I wanted to buy this monitor for about $ 700 but the package got lost in the mail.  It was a fortuitous loss as I built up my own by buying another cheaper monitor and fixing it in the wall. I used this new formation last week and I think more clearly. It's like moving up to a bigger desk after working in a much smaller space. 

This weekend I cleaned up the mess of cables with cable boxes and cord covers in both my PC laptop and Apple mini. I also have bought cable switches and HDMI splitters so I could use the same 2 monitors, keyboard, and mouse with both my work laptop and PC tower of my son. I even found a way to use the same wired LAN cable for both computers and improve my connectivity during my work where I had incidents of misconnections. The new physical formation complements my new way of working with building a second brain.

I should have done this improvement long ago though I only discovered that a larger computer screen improves productivity from the book 'The Extended Mind'. I am trying many new techniques like using Planner with external dashboards and using more One Note and Teams features which I learn from watching youtube. There is a new world of creator class who use youtube to start their own business and achieve their dreams. This is also my goal once I figure out what to share and express. Essentially figuring out who I want to be and what I stand for.

I listened to lectures about Carl Jung (how to realize your potential) and Cal Newport (on deep work) and wonder why I have not read these works before. Why I did not construct a good working environment at home with multiple monitors though many were already doing so. The pandemic led to work from home and isolation wherein solitude does help one be more introspective. Now that we are emerging from isolation and heading back to work one realizes what one has been missing for some time.

Reducing Clutter

I donated my Total Gym equipment to Goodwill after failing to sell it in the Facebook marketplace. I had a few queries but failed to close. I donated also my ergonomic desk for the same reason. My garage is looking much better now but a lot of work is still needed. I still need to get rid of my Ironman inversion table and inflatable sea kayak. I never used this equipment more than a few times and wonder why I bought them in the first place. I think it was the fear of missing out (FOMO) and the desire to start s new life by buying stuff.

The other day I entered all the online courses I purchased in a spreadsheet and recorded about 98. There are still a few that are not on the list. Buying these courses is an attempt to improve myself though I have completed a handful, not including the courses I took in Coursera that I paid for: on writing and on investment. I also took several online courses on writing at the Gotham Writer school based in New York and Writer's lab based in Canada. The courses listed range from writing, investment, literature, history travel, and internet entrepreneurship based on Amazon and Google.

The plan is to be organized learning by using a calendar to create a curriculum of regular study. I had envisioned attending these courses at some future date, but time is running out as I approach my retirement and realize the time is now. Daily meditation helps me focus on the moment and not dwell on the past or daydream about the future. Looking at all the stuff that I have accumulated is a lack of mindfulness as the object was to achieve a future state of well-being instead of working on it now.

It is like the character in 'The Mercy' where one dreams about achieving an ambitious goal (sailing solo around the world) and when he is in the ocean alone realizes that he has overreached which leads to his mental breakdown and suicide. I have more modest goals of being a novelist and intranet entrepreneur as a way to keep busy in my retirement and earn income. This goal is not farfetched looking at the highly successful youtube creators.

Leaving the Tunnel

Crossed a major milestone this week with the completion of several PRTs or problem reports in test. A hotshot young business leader helped pushed the team over the finish line with 2 weeks left before the end of the month. Daily meetings back to back with teams in India, France, and USA with management well represented. Initially I said that daily meetings are not required considering the many daily meetings already scheduled and the stress it would cause. I was wrong considering the success of the team before Thanksgiving holidays.

Nevertheless, some squad members experienced stress with body aches and flu symptoms, lack of sleep, emotional stress with one team member sobbing over the phone. A few resources are relatively new , young and fresh from college and I spent a few one on one meetings to get them over perceived slights. There were some complaints from the business which I tried to smooth over to keep these fragile souls to keep moving to the next day's challenge. All have proven to be resilient and capable.

Frankly, I have reached my own limit, losing interest and control; allowing the young hot shot to lead after I spent many months leading my squad. In fact, the deadline was an artificial goal since the whole project is delayed for 6 months with go live moved to mid 2023. The world wide project team has also seen good members leave the project due to unnecessary stress. I think these artificial goals is an attempt by the global leader to compensate for the delay.

Under this backdrop of stress, I lead several small projects with their own inidividual challenges. The squad is undergoing it's own growing pains and adjustment as our new members merge into the squad. I have 10 members that I lead into a cohesive team. My co leader (in the business) and I underwent a retrospective with our Agile coach to exchange ideas and plan the next steps. It is a period of soul searching and humbleness in my part.

The situation is really not as bad as it seems and I have started some intiatives such as leading dedicated work groups to solve certain problems. I have a role to play that is not flashy and showy as I would think. I see the boredom and humdrum days ahead and I try different tools to make the work interesting. Nevertheless, there are major challenges with the overflow of problems and information that new tehcniques like building a better brain will help. There is light at the end of the tunnel after all.   

Notion

I used Notion for the first time this morning by creating notes of websites I bookmarked on my phone. The bookmarks were building up as I do not have time to read these articles. My bookmarks have steadily increased causing me pressure to start reading. I got caught up in reading articles on the recent election result instead of these tabs on psychology, meditation, writing tips, and travel. I started to offload some of these URLs to Google Collections.

I used Notion for the psychology articles where I  noted the key ideas for me to practice. All of the articles come from Psychology Today which delves into mindfulness meditation and rumination. This website is a good resource for me especially since I stopped meeting with my therapist after she left the in-network list of my medical plan. I want to continue these sessions with another therapist next year. My therapist was very helpful to me during the periods of stress with the cancer scare, the death of my parents, and the change in my work situation.

Self-therapy helped me before working with an actual therapist when I explored CBT and journal writing on my own. I started exploring these subjects in detail when I moved to Singapore with the challenges of adapting to a new environment. However, reading self-help articles on the web and other challenges I face require knowledge management tools and techniques. 

I like Notion for its functionality and ease of use and generous fee-use option. Most of the content creators on youtube either use Notion or EverNote. I have used EverNote before but stopped using it after I exceeded my storage limit. I have started to clean up my old files and plan to return to being a user. These tools I now see these as indispensable in today's world with too much information overload.

'The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains' - mentions that the web has made our mind seek more information; like a user searching for drugs; for constant new information or mental stimulation. This has caused distraction and information overload and tools that manage knowledge like Notion or One Note become more important to daily life. The medium has become the message as well, especially the type that flows thru the web.

This challenge occurs every time a new technology is created. In the review of Nicholas Carr's book, the writer noted the experience of TS Eliot when he started to use the typewriter to create his poems. Eliot said the typewriter promotes lucidity but not nuance or subtle thinking. His poem ' The Wasteland' was typed partly on a typewriter when presented to Ezra Pound. It seems creativity has not been quelled. I have had similar thoughts when writing in my journal long hand as compared to typing in this blog.

Building a second brain with tools like Notion, One Note, etc. is a technique for self-care as well as being productive. To link the rise of these tools to the internet and information overload and the impact of the web to the way we think is valid. The goal is an organized mind with an emphasis on external thinking is also important in all endeavors such as being a writer. Having this framework in mind helps one understand how to use these tools.

Exploring Another Country

 Last weekend I read 2 books: one on travel called Better Than Fiction 2 and another on writing: Light the Dark. Both speak about the same thing: the growth of the individual by exploring new places. Travel expands your world view while writing is a journey into the introspective life. Outer travel involves discoveries of a new culture, new people, and new locations that one grows through the experience of travel. The writing life similarly is a journey into the creative unconscious, where one can either venture forth in a spontaneous free writing voyage or in an itinerary of plot and scene making.

I wondered why I borrowed these 2 books at the same time until I realized that both talk about a journey to a different place. Everyone it seems wants to be in a different place which mostly achieves by traveling or reading. Writing is a much harder venture as involves personal courage and confidence. I watch videos about productivity on youtube where people talk about building a second brain and all sorts of techniques that one can do using different tools. Other videos talk about their desk set-up with multiple monitors and standing desks.

In fact, these videos are a specialty of content creators; people who embark on a new career create self-help videos such as advice on productivity or are self-styled experts in productivity tools and whatnot. These people are part of the creator economy and use youtube to monetize their passions mostly by being content creators. It is a new way of life that smart people pursue. It is a venture into creativity where one masters new skills such as video casting and internet advertising.

I picked up some of these ideas such as adding large monitors and following the techniques to be more productive. Pressures in the office require us to perform and such techniques expressed by these content creators are helpful. I also need to embark on my own journey to be a better squad leader at work. At a personal level, kickstarted my goal to be a novelist. Several new purchases of Apple mini, Apply iPad, remakable2 writing tablet, Android, and studying youtube videos have made me inch forward with a set of new tools to use.

This is the way my mind works with my desire to accumulate things in an attempt to jumpstart my goals without actually doing the work. I need to move towards a 'frictionless' process to do it in both my working and creative life. The momentary pause caused by doubt and procrastination is no longer possible if I want to achieve my dreams. It is like exploring a new country where one can imagine a different life with the new world that one discovers.

Fall Ride

Yesterday we went for our weekly bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. The trail was beautiful with the fall colors. It rained the previous day and the sky was grey. Despite the sky being dark with ominous clouds, the colorful trees with red, yellow, green, and brown leaves were enough to lift one's spirits. We tried to bike on Saturday but realized we forgot the bike keys for our battery: a pitfall for electric bikers. We did not want to use our bikes without the electric juice as the ride to Travelers Rest and back was just too long; about 20 miles back and forth. Instead, we walked along the Reedy River and stopped at the junction of the cancer center where there was a walkway through the towering trees along the river where two men were fishing.

As usual, the 2-hour bike ride was good to relax the mind and the fall weather was cold so we wore several layers to keep us warm. The trail is a rare joy to enjoy for everybody and there were several people on the trail despite the possibility of rain. In past years, we often hike in state parks or the park near our home during the weekend but the discovery of e-bikes converted us. Challenges in the office kept my mind tangled with thoughts but the bike ride was enough to relieve some anxiety. We went to Costco afterward and got home by about 1 PM for a steak and shrimp lunch. 

I planned to prepare for the coming Nanowrimo November challenge but I procrastinated by watching a Netflix documentary on the earthquake in Nepal. After lunch, I went to the gym to have a sauna and bought 6 sacks of mulch. We recently got a letter about weeds in our front yard, specifically in the flower beds. I plucked out the weeds the previous day and laid down the mulch in the evening after dinner. Before going to bed, I completed the 2 online learning courses that I needed to finish by the end of October.

I kept thinking about a few emails that agitated me; where I felt I needed to respond to, but I thought it was my ego again wishing to be heard, to make people know of my contributions to a project we were doing. I thought about the events of the past week with several meetings and pressure to deliver, of my frustrations with my colleagues and my boss who often only think of themselves and lose the important point. Of the creeping unease of not making the grade and missing some action and every man for himself. The fall ride amidst the autumn leaves helped me calm my mind.

Tool Shed

For the past several weeks, the question of what tool to use takes too much mental time. One Note is becoming the de facto tool for note-taking; though sometimes it is also used as a to-do list. MS To Do is the primary tool for this scenario but the confusion between taking notes and creating a to-do list freezes thoughts into limbo. A distinction should be quickly made so the planning can happen. Another confusion is when the planning merges into an action. Perhaps this is the distinction that needs to be managed when the tendency to act and get lost in the rabbit hole instead of stepping back and planning future action.

The GTD method advises that if the action takes less than 2 minutes, then it has to be done at that moment. This is where I lose track as the action bleeds into other areas that I get into a trap of taking on other related work. Perhaps it is the all-or-nothing thinking that my therapist always warns me about; being a perfectionist I have to get all related stuff done as well. The second problem is that I don't 'refine'  my notes or review the tasks that I set aside in my to-do list; just work through the course of events that I eventually get to those tasks by happenstance.

This is where I get lost in scenarios that I need to be on top of; which I neglect until events or other people come to remind me or the situation gets out of hand. The refinement of notes and review of tasks need to be a cold-blooded effort whereas my mind goes into panic mode, imagining all sorts of situations that may come about. Hence, the procrastination happens as I remain in the tool shed diddling with all sorts of tools and their features. As one article states, procrastination is a challenge in managing emotions.

One tries to overcome such shortcomings by being an expert in the toolset rather than in oneself. I watch several YouTube videos on One Note and productivity that I am getting to be adept at these tools. For the emotional part, meditation, Tai Chi and Yoga may do the trick. A system needs to be fashioned that one is inching forward via trial and error. From a theory perspective, books like 'The Organized Mind' and 'Atomic Habits' provide some ideas such as externalizing ideas outward and doing one small thing at a time.

On the Road To My 2nd Brain

The dreaded mistake of spending more time on the tools rather than on the process has plagued me. For trying out which is the best electric drill, buy a few models and try each one instead of using the tool to create. I get caught up in the intricacies of planning and nothing gets done. I have gone so far as to structure my folders and create respective categories but I struggle in creating good notes and fumbling with my to-do list and calendar.

The first mistake in handling my email which is my Waterloo.I persist in keeping the email in the inbox instead of acting: create a calendar entry, add to the to-do list, and transfer it to an active folder or archive. I do well in transferring to the folder and flagging the note though I did not act upon it; as if the act of flagging has done the job. Instead, I let the email languish in my inbox.

I am confused about mixing email and notes; thinking that the email is a captured note and one should just flag it or move it to a One Note folder. It is not a note but a message that one should deal with, or nothing could come out of it and there should be action. I still keep the action in my mind instead of moving it somewhere like a to-do list or a calendar entry to move the process to the next stage. I lack the skill to review or come back to the list of to-do items or flagged emails.

The next mistake is failing to capture fleeting notes and placing them into a folder. I am not comfortable in dashing out a few short sentences and prefer long-flowing entries like in my journal. In fact, I should be reflecting in the same manner as in my journal entry both with a more concise and brief description. Instead, I linger on. Hence, I am still in the Capture mode and have not succeeded in the next steps: Organize, Distill and Express.

I also get mixed up in my tool set on whether notes are TO DO tasks or an entry in Microsoft One Note for my work or  Google Keep Notes for my personal work. Moving to the next phase or Organizing and Distilling requires a different mindset than note-taking. I get all mixed up in the scheme of work as I also need to use other tools like JIRA and EasyPPM and Microsoft Teams. These are systems that help execute a project but are not really used to build a second brain. 

Aside from the tools for knowledge management, Microsoft  Teams is a powerful tool set including Sharepoint and Planner that can help organize work. The rich toolset will bewilder you because they refer to different aspects of the project and daily work though some tools such as One Note can serve both BASB or project work. Into this mess is the everyday stress and excitement that the work brings into the mix.     

 

Workshop with the French

Last week we had a 4-day workshop with our Europe team. One member was originally from Columbia and emigrated to France after marrying her French husband. The other member has a surname that has origins in England. On our side was a lady from Mexico who took American citizenship though speaks fluent French. The other member, me, is from the Philippines and took Singapore citizenship and is now American.  The other member is from the American South and loves fishing in the Florida keys.

I kept quiet most of the time in the workshop as I represented computer technology while the others were on the business side. Sometimes keeping quiet is the best contribution that one can bring though it gives the mind a sense of paranoia as it second guesses what one perceives to be where one should speak. It is the imposter syndrome. However, everyone knows (at least I think so) that I am engaged in several projects both as squad leader and Project Manager.

My mind is prone to rumination, churning along as I had to focus on cleaning up PMB data, planning for going live,  meeting with my squad members, scheduling meetings, and handling several issues\. I am at a disadvantage since I have to do double work as compared to when I was only a squad leader and my work has increased with the turnover of the other projects. This is the best outcome as helps me avoid bureaucratic effort if no person is the project manager.

Yesterday, I ran in the 6k GE race which was held at Hartness subdivision which was like a park with a lot of green hills, lakes, and excellent views of the countryside. In the afternoon, we were at a party with our friends where we were exchanging stories and as usual, expressed where individual projects which were better than the others. In our case, moving money from the Philippines to the US stock market. Various tax strategies were discussed.

 Today, I swam in the early morning, rode our bike in the Swamp Rabbit trail, went to the Fall for Greenville where I had 2 glasses of beer, and samosa, and watched a Jazz and Blues band called amongst the trees. Afterward, we walked to the new Grand Bohemian hotel looking at the waterfall below with great views from the balcony. It was a great weekend with time to get out of my ruminating mind which ad focused on paranoia and imposter syndrome rather than celebrating our own contribution.

Perhaps it is because of our young American colleague who is eager to show her intelligence. Youth is on her side and I am glad she is on the team. As usual, there is a lot of politics involved with my young boss trying to be part of the team in this project. My paranoia has gotten the better of me and my 6k race in the rolling countryside, weekend swim and bike ride, and Fall for Greenville has brought me back to my senses. 

 

Video Casting

I started my course on video storytelling in The Great Courses. I took the first 3 courses after my workday ended. I also have several other lessons on video casting in Udemy and MasterClass. The plan is to start a second career in this space; to be a content creator. There are several YouTube videos on the topic. This is the natural progression of courses in increasing productivity like Building a Second Brain.

It makes sense to move to this area as I have experience in blogging and uploading YouTube videos made from pictures. I studied AdSense, SEO, monetizing blogs, and other such topics for several years but the endeavor never took off. Most of the successful entrepreneurs in this space are young with a new life ahead of them. My goal is to have something to do after I retire; hopefully to generate income; the old fogey strikes back.

I bought an Apple Mac mini in an attempt to jump-start this plan. I also bought a Smartphone Gimbel as well as a new Pixel 6 with a dual camera.  What I lack in youth I compensate with experience as a project manager and extensive computer skills and the naivete of an amateur. Lessons on Building a Second Brain and other productivity topics have given me a spark of possibility that I lacked before; instead of ruminating in a never-ending thought cycle.

My new role as squad leader necessitated my quest for increasing productivity which is really an emotional challenge. Procrastination is all about managing one's emotions and trying new techniques such as interstitial journaling is a way to handle one feelings and be mindful at work. All this learning in productivity, including my daily meditation, had provided mental space to bring in these new thinking with the potential for achievement.

My work-life and personal goals merge into a single stream with the common elements of using new tools in Microsoft, Google, and personal knowledge apps like Notion and Obsidian. Interconnectivity and synchronized workspaces are the keys. Externalizing one's thoughts based on concepts like The Extended Mind, Building a Second Brain, and The Organized mind make this possible.

Sprint Demo

Our squad had its sprint demo today with squad members presenting their accomplishments. The day started slightly disorganized as the team scrambled to complete the presentation. One slide was missed and the team rushed to add the missing slide a few minutes before the sprint started. The demo went well with certain members presenting their accomplishments. After the demo, we had a retrospective to review what worked and did not and what needed improvement.

The session was brutally honest as more areas needed to be improved compared to what went well. It was a call for changes and I did my part by scheduling weekly sessions with each squad member. A humbling experience for me but I had the reckoning coming. The honesty of the session was good as everyone had a chance to speak out and clear the air. The next step is clearly to perform and make improvements. This is the kind of situation that I like due to the challenges.

In the afternoon, I had my frequent feedback session where we cleared the air with my domain manager. There were past episodes of tension and my boss had a chance to express her concerns while I had an opportunity to apologize, More work was piled on me but that is what I wanted anyway since the model I wanted to do was not approved. Such is the game that I find myself in with challenges from the squad and from my boss.

The productivity videos and books that I am reading are just in time for such a quandary. I do not feel any stress and took these challenges in stride. These are the circumstances of any manager facing tough times at work and one needs to keep his wits and weather the storm.  The work day ended on a good note with the last meeting of the day where I explained the plan for the deployment of a project I was leading as project manager. The business team supports my view.

There is a lot of talk about mental health these days as people cope with inflation, return to work, covid ( some people in the office still wear masks) personal challenges, and work demands. The threat of nuclear war in the horizon with the war between Ukraine and Russia. Is this milieu causing people to complain more? Can this situation be attributed to external factors rather than immediate work stress? People have their own perception of reality ( see Vladimir Putin) that the world is a mess.

Building a Second Brain

In my new role, I often feel overwhelmed and bewildered. There is no one helping me as my French colleague would say, perceptively concerned about my mental health. There is a challenge in my current cognitive ability and discovering new tools such as BASB is a God send. A tool in the burgeoning field of knowledge management. I am using all the new tricks that I can find on Youtube to keep above the water.

I hit the motherlode of new self-help books: Atomic Habits, The Organized Mind, Building a Second Brain, and The Extended Mind plus the several Youtube creators out there is fuel enough to educate the uninitiated like me. In fact, I have been building a second brain without my conscious knowledge by using tools like EverNote, Dropbox, and MS OneNote. However, I lacked the Aritoteliean rigor of categorization, which would have helped in simple things like organizing my file system. Or even my garage.

Instead, I get stuck in the software tools. I downloaded Obsidian, then Notion but never got to use them, preferring the suite of tools I already use; for work Microsoft suite of Outlook, To Do, Teams, and OneNote. For personal use, I look to the Google suite of Gmail, Keep Notes, Gmail, Tasks, and Drive. Despite having used these tools for a while now, I am unable to smoothly incorporate them into my workflow.

Last week, I tried interstitial journaling, creating a new notebook in OneNote where I make daily entries. The idea is to be mindful of my working day and to control my emotion. Procrastination is really about managing one's emotions and journaling is a way to be aware of what I feel during the day. This technique shows some promise in calming my emotions and controlling my thoughts. I do not have the time to write long journal entries like these on a daily basis as I used to do in the past.

Listening to Tiago Forte, in the process of BASB, one must become a producer or creator instead of being a consumer. I am a glutton for consuming media which reflects my overall attitude with one look at my cluttered garage. I am in the midst of clearing this mess up which takes a lot of mental energy because of the awareness of my sickness of consumption; whether media or physical things. In fact, it is a mental disease that has corrupted me with mindless material accumulation.

Externalizing the mind, liberates one from rumination and too much thinking, by creating an external brain that one must bring order and clarity, to be organized and productive. This is the goal that one must achieve instead of diddling with the various software tools out there. Again the mind gets stuck with all the thoughts that swirly around with the possibilities of what one can do with these various software tools.

 

Daufuskie Island

Last week I was on vacation where I spent Monday on Edisto Island, Tuesday on Daufuskie Island, and Wednesday in Beaufort. We drove home on Wednesday afternoon. The rest of the week I spent playing golf in my usual Thursday game, and the rest of the week swimming, watching movies, and biking the swamp rabbit trial. I did not respond to any email or Teams post but spent some time on Friday replying to some with needed a response due to production issues. It is the first time wherein I did not work during a vacation as most of the time was a workcation in the past.

During my off days, I read Tiago Forte's 'Building a Second Brain' and watched his videos. Learning his process to offload work from my brain and make notes in a structured way will be the key to my success in my new role and make me succeed in my other projects like writing a book, learning a new language, and traveling abroad. I also spent last week clearing out my garage. Like my father, I am a pack rat who likes to buy things in the hope these purchases would help me grow as a person. In fact, I realize it is a disease of affluence, to spend money on useless stuff like buying dreams or a new life.

Shifting through the clutter, there is no mistake in realizing that something has gone wrong with my thinking process to allow myself to buy all this stuff. Clearing the garage and organizing my work will de-clutter both my physical and mental space. It is a wonder that I could function in such disorganized circumstances; which I attribute to my youthful intelligence and habit of journaling (which is a brain dump)  but which one can no longer sustain as one age. Creating a second brain will allow me to succeed in my later years plus allow me to work on several projects at the same time.

We enjoyed our vacation at the beach in Edisto and the bike ride exploring Daufuskie Island. I watched a movie based on Pat Conroy's 'The Water is Wide' which was set on the island when he was a young teacher. The vacation allowed me to step away from the pressure at work and think of ways to be better and more organized. I feel the wind behind me as I catch a new wave bringing me forward. I have been practicing meditation; by counting my breaths, listening to guided meditation, and, recently, chanting meditation where I recite affriming quotes. 

In my last session, my therapist said that I am managing better in my life; the difference is like night and day compared to several months back. Interestingly, my golf mates also made the same remark about my golf game. I have been taking golf lessons but I think it is my mindful meditation that allows me to focus and avoid distracting thoughts. I now have a 14 handicap as compared to 21 a few years back. Last year, my handicap was about 19. In fact, I am starting to enjoy my golf game now that I have more control. I hope to have the same feeling at work now that I am beyond the youthful drive and intuitive gut feeling that has driven me to success.

 

Saturday Bike Ride

 After swimming in the early morning, I went biking with my wife and friends in a nearby park. I left early to come home to grill a chicken in my weber grill, burn coal in the chimney firestarter, and install the rotisserie over the grill. I had to prepare 3 loads of coal to keep the temperature at 300+ Fahrenheit to grill the inside of the chicken to at least 165 F. I had my usual doubts since this was only the 2nd time I used the rotisserie but the task went well.

My friends came back near noon before I finished cooking the chicken. In the end, after an hour on the grill, we decided the bake the chicken in the oven for another 15 minutes to make the insides well done. My wife cooked noodles 'bak chor mee' following the Singapore style with fish balls, minced meat, and mushrooms. We ate lunch after 1 pm when the chicken was ready from the oven.

Prior to lunch, we watched old Filipino movies in memory of an actress who died recently due to cancer. The movie was an old classic in the 70s or 80s starring a popular singer and actress who is now married to a senator. It was fun to watch these old movies which made us reminiscences of the old days in our youth when these films were popular. I used a Pixy drone camera to take videos of our gathering and posted them to our group chat.

Our get-together ended early as one of our friends had to go home to complete some work they were doing on the weekend. Perhaps it is the new swimming pool that they were talking about in past gatherings, that was scheduled to be installed in August. Recently, the couple bought another electric vehicle which is not really needed since traveling is not a constant in their life but just to get the latest car popular in the news.

Though I did not spend time biking in the park since I had to get home to grill the kitchen, I enjoyed the brief time as we had coffee and chocolate rice which was a popular breakfast meal when I was young, when eaten together with salty fried fish. We enjoyed our time together as usual and our friends brought lech flan cake, mango sago, and sticky rice for dessert.  

Foregerock Mess

I got dragged into a project that affected the apps in our domain. Company-wide move from one system to another is causing disruptions in a few systems. A fix was rushed last week but this did not seem to have fixed the issue. The workaround was to do a partial roll back by poting back to the old system so these apps can continue to work until a permanent fix is found.

This company-wide change and its impact on operations pulled a key resource from my project, a young Indian programmer - Arun - who is here for a few months. He hails from Bangalore India though he is initially from Hyderabad - a place known for its biryani. I had lunch with him and a young trainee in a restaurant in Woodruff known for its biryani. I miss this kind of lunch outing with young people for easy and spontaneous conversations.

Arun is also a key contributor to the French project which has been a challenge mainly because of the young team from India which takes more time to learn and ramp up. Sometimes it takes a long meeting to get things moving. A young graduate from Pune is learning the new system and I got resources to help mentor her on the tool she is using. She is keen to learn despite the challenges she faces and also the treatment of older Indian colleagues who denigrate her because she is female. Nevertheless, she has proven herself to be resilient with a good spunky attitude.

Next week the business project leader from France will be here for 4 days for onsite meetings. She is the second person from France who is coming locally to 'help' the local team in the project. I encouraged this type of interaction to get the French people to commit to themselves; to get skin in the game to ward our success locally; instead, of snipping from afar whenever our tasks are delayed. Nevertheless, it is always good to get people from France for socialising and team building.

Regulated Stress

I attended a retirement party at the office this afternoon. My colleaugue worked for 32 years with the company. I worked with her a few times; she has a irreverent quality that comes from someone who lived in California and experienced travel to Canada and France for work. She is a competent and knoledgebale person who people enjoyed working with due to her no nonsense approach.

I worked with the company for 27 years so far and the people I talked with during the event had 34 or 32 years of service though they were some who had less. I recall jokes that retirees often wondered what happened to their life as time went by quickly without their realizing it. But noone regretted spending more time in the office. I remeber a former coleague who retired several years ago who often invited me to fish but I refused as I feared being away from the office that I might missed doing an important task.

The fear of being fired was foremost in my mind; being afraid of what other people might think if I did not measure up. What an idiotic though I realize now. I have been going to therapy for some time now and these sessions helped me become aware of my incorrect thinking ways; causing me stress and anxiety when it was not really called for. We had nice cup cakes and the conversation was good; with each of us talking about retirement and counting the days or years left.

Early in the day, I had an early meeting to talk about the work units or user stories that our team needed to work on in our coming sprint. Now that the company is organized into Agile teams, which is the new way of working on projects where office work is broken into small segments of units that are completed during a 3 to 4 week sprint. Recently, I have been made squad leader who is responsible for Agile squad in our domain.

I am transitioning into this role which require a lot of planning, meetings and other 'executive' type of work which is different from my usual problem solving mode, to get rid of fires;  seat of the pants type of challenge. One has to step back and look at the long view and think about each individual as well as the overall welfare of the squad; to keep the unit up and running for each sprint. A much different way as compared to the work done in the past several years.

Workshop with the French

Last week my colleague from France arrived for the 3.5-day workshop. He is a nice guy in his late forties who is the overall project manager. He actually proposed the workshop with him coming over. The workshop went well with people calling from France, India, Mexico, and United States. The workshop was a last resort measure to get back to schedule. The project was delayed and needed this 'emergency' workshop to get back on track.

An action plan was brought up, target dates defined, and problems solved, with everyone contributing their part. I organized these sessions, booking the meeting rooms and ensuring that the needed people were present. Sometimes I was at my wit's end with all the complexities and the different personalities getting together. But it was actually a fun activity with the team going out for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The workshop hopefully restored some of the lusters of my reputation since the delay was something I could have avoided and let slip thru my hands.

The past months had seen the departure of key people, movement to a new post ( including me) the changing requirements which have overwhelmed me. I had to just tread along, accepting the blows, moving the project one step at a time forward. I think I was close to boiling over with all the activity, anxiety, overthinking, and seeming slights that I may have erupted the wrong way during some meeting scheduled on Friday. But I think was able to maintain a proper attitude despite some outbursts.

I still managed to play golf at our weekly session on Thursday afternoon, with a tee-off at 4 pm which was an hour earlier than our usual start. The game was held at River Falls which is a much more difficult course than Willow Creek and prettier. I even won some points. Today we went biking at Swamp Rabbit Trail and I also mowed the lawn and worked on my garage which is a mess. So I did manage to do other work and play despite the tensions at work.

As I worked on my garage, I acknowledged that I have an affliction of clutter, with the inability to organize all the stuff that I buy. This is truly a buying addiction that may be related to stress including the inability to organize and declutter my stuff. I really need to donate or throw things away to get back space. I do allow things to get worse like my garage, yard, and my projects because I do too many things, my mind consumed with my many passions. I make the excuse that I am a creative, an artist who needs this disorder so the mind can work on creation. Unfoirtunatnately I have nothing to show for it. 

To succeed, I need to be more conscientious and get my act together. I need to work smarter than my usual ways that verge more on spontaneous and intuitive actions, rather than process-oriented ones with good notes, structure, and diligent focus. I allow my mind to roam free and explore new ideas and associations which sometimes leads to indulgence, waste, and a messy environment as the artist has no time for housework. But his attitude is not sustainable if one needs to rise to a higher level of achievement.