Life

Efficiency vs Effectiveness: Why It Matters

by crisanzai · Dec 4, 2017

I’ll keep this post short. You can be highly efficient at something (your job, a task, an effort, etc…), but that doesn’t necessarily mean that thing is effective.

If you’re great at selling a single pencil for 25 cents every day, and you do it every day in the most efficient manner, you still only sold a single pencil. You’re super efficient, but are you super effective? Rather than thinking only in terms of efficiency, think about how to maximize your effectiveness. Instead of a single pencil, strive to sell a pallet of pencils everyday. Be both efficient AND effective.

Tim Ferris says it best in his book The 4-Hour Work Week – “Doing something unimportant well does not make it important… What you do is infinitely more important than how you do it. Efficiency is still important, but it is useless unless applied to the right things.”

Find the “right things” – things that are effective, then do those things well.

Thanks for reading!

Not Everyone can be a Leader

by crisanzai · Nov 29, 2017

You may disagree with this wholeheartedly, but not everyone can be a leader. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t or can’t have leadership qualities, but it’s a simple numbers game. If everyone was a leader how would things run? Have you ever been in a group setting where everyone wanted to be in charge? Absolutely nothing effective gets done in those types of settings where everyone wants to be a leader. If you aren’t the leader, that’s ok! I’m so tired of these gurus and books about how you should be the leader, and how you should strive to be a great leader, etc…

If you aren’t cut out to lead… then don’t lead, it’s really that simple. You will know for sure if you have ever tried it. Don’t force it upon yourself, you are doing a major disservice to yourself and to those who you lead. Instead become a great follower. There’s nothing wrong with being a great follower and I’m not saying you should compromise yourself in being a follower either. What I’m saying is that our western society, for various reason, celebrates leaders, but never great followers and that is just shameful. I’ve come across a few managers, supervisors, etc… in my life that were great at their previous job, but when promoted to a leadership role they were terrible. They were just thrust onto the position, because that’s what climbing the corporate ladder is all about.

I don’t even follow sports and such, but I am aware of its existence and I am aware that in football both coaches (the leaders) and the players (the followers) are celebrated! The great coach wasn’t a great player, but rather had a set of skills to be a great leader. Even if the coach is a terrible coach, but the player is great, the player is still celebrated.
I find it completely confusing and utterly obtuse that this sort of concept is not found in business. Instead of having both the leaders and followers celebrated, only the leaders are lifted up.

We need to start celebrating more of the players in business, rather than the coaches. How do you become a great follower? Here are a few actions you can take:

Demand clear expectations. (of course do it in a nice and respectful way), but notice I said demand.. and not ask. Your average everyday follower, peon worker won’t do this. As a great follower you will demand them.
Insist on receiving feedback, don’t wait until feedback is given to you. Do you know how well you are doing? Are you serving your leader well? Don’t always expect praise for doing your job, but rather ask for ways how you can do your job even better (even if you are doing a spectacular job).
Anticipate your leaders needs. This one is a bit more difficult to action, but once you have a rhythm with the leader you are working with, try to anticipate what they will ask for next (whether it’s on a project, or task). You should notice patterns in communication, and tasks/projects given to you after working with your leader after some time.
Over-communicate rather than under-communicate. Unless your leader is directly advising you to “stop communicating so much” it’s better to over-communicate your activities and actions.
Follow up with your leader and reiterate the expectations of your project and/or task. Have those expectations changed or stayed the same in light of the work at hand?
When in doubt ask for clarity. Don’t assume anything – what you are thinking and what your leader is thinking when approaching the same task or project may be completely different. If there’s any doubt, then simply ask for clarity. An effective leader will no doubt provide clarity for you. A terrible leader will probably just scoff, but ask for clarity anyways.
Don’t just be another clock in and clock out peon. Actually care about your leader’s success or the success of the company. I guarantee that you won’t go far in a job if you don’t care about your company or their success. If you don’t care then don’t work there! If you want to be a great follower, you need to be invested in your company’s success. As the saying goes “A rising tide lifts all boats” – don’t let your boat sink either… if you aren’t invested in your company’s success then you are like a sinking boat.

Thanks for reading!

Modifying the Pomodoro Technique for Collaborative Efforts

by crisanzai · Nov 28, 2017

Last week I wrote about the Pomodoro technique and the advantages and disadvantages of using it to maximize productivity. One of the disadvantages I noted was that this technique wasn’t that great for collaborating. Well with some modification I think you can definitely make this technique work in a collaborative environment. Here’s how I modified the technique:

Decide on what task you would like to collaborate on.
Set the pomodoro timer to 25 -50 minutes depending on how elaborate the task
Collaborate on the task
End work when the timer rings
Take a minute to talk about what action items you and your collaborator(s) agree upon working on in the next segment
Take a 5 – 10 minute break
Set the pomodoro timer to 25 minutes again
Work on individual action items (without distraction – we used headphones as a signal to focus on individual tasks)
Take a 5 – 10 minute break
Repeat steps 1 – 9
After 2 cycles, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), then repeat the cycle.

I met with a friend for a meeting on some side projects and scheduled an 8 hour block of time to complete all of our agenda items during the meeting, but by using the modified pomodoro technique we cut that time in half. (It may have just been a coincidence though, results may vary!). I plan on using this same technique on our next session and other collaborative efforts to see if it pans out, but I have to say the first time use results were quite dramatic.

The collaboration portion gave us enough time to bounce ideas off of each other, and the 25 minute “quiet” time after the collaboration session, allowed us to take action on some of the most important tasks. Because we worked off of an agenda that was prepared well ahead of time, it was easy to transition from session to session.

The agenda helped stave off wasted time and the 25 minutes of work with the 5 – 10 minute break was just enough time to get things done without having felt burned out. The 15 – 30 minute break after the two cycles was a great way to chill and have some fellowship time. I’ll keep you posted about how future collaboration efforts work and if any modifications would need to be made if you’re collaborating with more than one person.

The key here is that all parties must agree to applying the technique during the meeting, if not then it will just turn into a standard regular old meeting.

Thanks for reading!

4 Things I Learned From Raising Ducks

by crisanzai · Nov 27, 2017

My wife and I purchased four ducks earlier this year in the spring at our local Tractor Supply store. We had no experience in raising ducks or farm animals of any kind, but decided to move forward anyways. Luckily we live in an area that is zoned for owning poultry and livestock (for personal use) and we wanted to dip our toes in a longer term goal/dream of having a fully off-grid property. There were several reasons we decided to go with ducks instead of chickens, primarily we went the duck route, because they are not as noisy and not as smelly (chicken feces has a distinct pungent odor). They also lay eggs (although not as many as chickens) and we thought that they were unique. How many people do you know that own ducks? Anyways since we bought 4 ducks, here are 4 things I learned from raising them!

1. Ducks are Messy!

Pictured above are the four adorable ducks we purchased. Don’t let their cute looks fool you! These are the messiest animals we have ever had the pleasure of raising and we’ve raised quite a few animals including rats (fancy and dumbo), rabbits, cockatiels, cats, dogs, and various fish. So what they don’t tell you (whoever “they” are) is that ducks require water to eat their food. Lots of water…

We kept our ducks in a bin and later when they got older a kiddie swimming pool. We filled their enclosure with pine chips and had to constantly give them water and change their pine chips out daily as they would splash water all over the place creating a huge soggy mess. We alleviated some of the mess by using a paint tray and a metal paint liner – and put the water at the end to filter out some of the debris they were tracking in their water.

2. Ducks Eat Plants

After a few months our ducks survived adolescence and reached adulthood. We could no longer keep them in the small makeshift enclosure we made for them, so we made them a larger one outside. As you can see in the photo above, there is not a spot of green inside of their enclosure aside from the bush next to their hutch. Ducks will devour just about any plant you put near them. Believe it or not the entire pen was filled with lush green grass and other plantlife (mostly weeds), now it’s like a barren desert. The ducks literally ate all of the grass. We now use straw and grass clippings to fill their enclosure with.

3. Ducks are Vulnerable

One of our ducks somehow injured their leg and was in quite a bit of pain. She was shivering and we had to quarantine her so she wouldn’t get hurt even more. My wife picked the duck up and wrapped her in a towel to warm our duck up, but noticed something unusual. The duck was crying, not wailing type crying, but tears were streaming down it’s face. It was quite the site. You may get really attached to your ducks, so be mindful of that if you want to raise them for meat.

On another note, ducks are easy prey. Once they are captured they do not struggle or make much noise, and unfortunately this vulnerability became the reason for two of our ducks demises. Unfortunately what we thought was a secure enclosure was not and a raccoon managed to sneak in and kill a few of our birds (on different nights). Raccoons are the duck’s nemesis and they will kill a duck by tearing it’s head off and eating it’s innards. It’s quite a gruesome site. We now have proper defenses against raccoons and other bandits, with a double enclosure system and we will be putting up an electric fence in the near future. Lesson learned, albeit at the cost of two our favored fowls lives.

4. Ducks take Time

If you think ducks are a set it and forget it poultry, you are sorely mistaken. Ducks require a lot of upkeep, especially if you don’t have a pond or small lake. Ducks require a lot of water, as mentioned earlier that’s how they digest and eat their food. You have to constantly change their water – at least once or twice daily as their water gets really disgusting. They defecate in their water as well as track dirt and do their general cleaning in it. Unlike chickens, you can’t just leave them for weeks at a time, you more than likely will have to have someone check in on them if you are on vacation or on an extended trip away.

Raising ducks has been a great learning experience and our little experiment of raising our four ducks will lead to our next adventure. Raising an additional 4 ducks next Spring. 3 duck egg producers and one for show (a crested duck) as well a goose to for additional poultry protection. Below is a photo of a crested duck!

Thanks for reading!

Things I’m Thankful For! Happy Thanksgiving

by crisanzai · Nov 23, 2017

This is going to be a gratitude list

First and foremost I’m thankful for God that he would allow us to have personal relationship with him and that He gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16)

I’m thankful for my Amazing wife Annette, who puts up with my craziness and who’s an awesome mother for my child.

I’m thankful for my 3 year old daughter who made me realize that the heart can expand to allow more love to enter. She’s rambunctious, hard headed, curious, and always so darn happy! I love that turd.

I’m thankful for my Church family, who’s help me greatly dealing with my extreme social anxiety and who’ve been a consistent force of good for the last 5 years – lifeuc.org

I’m thankful for living in a country that allows me attend Church and have a freedom of speech to write these blogs.

I’m thankful for Net Neutrality, which allows me as a potential entrepreneur have a fair playing field for broadcasting my business ideas and business enterprises.

I’m thankful for a job that allows me to try and experience new things. Especially in the field of project management. I’m also thankful that this job is Christ centered and has a mission that I can easily align myself with which is to “Positively impacting the lives of others”.

I’m thankful that I have a home and I’m able to support my family on a single income. I just don’t know how dual income families with small children do it, they have a lot of grit!

I’m thankful for this year in general. It’s been one big learning experience, whether it’s from work, photography, church, or even homesteading projects. Owning ducks was definitely a first and a great learning experience.

I’m thankful for compounding interest (enough said about that lol).

I’m thankful that our country is rich enough that I can get any type of produce, meat, fish, food from across the world for a relatively low price

I’m thankful to be debt free. I know of many people struggling with debt and I was in the same boat too a few years back, but we buckled down and paid it off through God’s provision.

I’m thankful for my parents – we don’t always get along, but they are good people and have the best intentions! I’m also thankful for my extended family as well.

I’m thankful for my pets, they are awesome and are a great stress reliever. They entertain and delight everyday!

I’m thankful for 2017 and look forward to 2018! Exciting times ahead!

And… I’m thankful for you fellow readers! You are the best in my eyes for reading my thoughts!

Save Net Neutrality

by crisanzai · Nov 22, 2017

You may have noticed a banner when entering this site. I encourage you to contact congress and take action against the move to kill Net Neutrality.

This post is going to be short and simple. I’m by no means a political activist or social justice warrior, but this issue will affect everyone who uses the internet in the United States… which practically speaking is everyone. Please watch and share the video and the website link posted below.

https://www.battleforthenet.com/

The Pomodoro Technique

by crisanzai · Nov 21, 2017

A few weeks back I wrote about how effective time blocking could be. I typically only have a few opportunities to time block per week (due to the nature of my job) and I try to maximize that time to get all of my lagging projects finished.

One of my co-workers sent me an email about how a software vendor we use maximized their work time and increased efficiency using the Pomodoro Technique. In the 1980s a student by the name of Francesco Cirillo developed this technique, and I am seriously surprised I haven’t heard about it until recently. The basic gist of the technique (copied from wikipedia) follows s below:

Decide on the task to be done.
Set the pomodoro timer (traditionally to 25 minutes).^[1]
Work on the task.
End work when the timer rings and put a checkmark on a piece of paper.^[5]
If you have fewer than four checkmarks, take a short break (3–5 minutes), then go to step 2.
After four pomodoros, take a longer break (15–30 minutes), reset your checkmark count to zero, then go to step 1.

The Pomodoro timer is basically a tomato shaped kitchen timer (which basically what the technique is named after) See pic below:

With the magic of technology you don’t even need a kitchen timer anymore. There are several apps available as well as this nifty tool dedicated to making the Pomodoro technique a lot easier to implement called Tomato Timer. https://tomato-timer.com/

Pros

I’ve only gotten a chance to use this technique once, but it seems to be very fruitful. The structure lends well to time blocking and the scheduled breaks are a great reprieve from mental strain. The timer feature also is quite motivating. I actually want to do more in that 25 minute time slot to “earn” the 5 minute breaks between the 25 minute time slots. Maybe it’s some sort of psychological trick, or some weird connection to Parkinson’s law (work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion), but it seems to work on me.

The 5 minute breaks in between is great to clear the mind and switch context if working on a series of tasks or different projects, and enough time to settle and re-evaluate if you are working on a larger project that you have chunked out. The 20 minute break is even better as it allows you to relax – knowing that you’ve done your best to maximize the 4 other 25 minute chunks of time (or 1 hour and 40 minutes of work plus 15 minutes of downtime).

Cons

While this is great for individual projects, this technique doesn’t play well with the intricacies of collaboration. This becomes more apparent when you are collaborating with multiple people on a single project. I feel like the 25 minute time limit is too short for collaborative efforts, so moving forward I’ll only apply this technique to activities or tasks that I would individually be responsible for completing.

You have to be secure in your number 1 step – meaning you need to know exactly what task you want to get done in the 25 minute Pomodoro. If you deviate from the task it can and will mess up your “Pomodoro flow” which is a term that I totally made up. This takes a lot of discipline to accomplish as there are so many distractions and interruptions that can happen. As Jim Collins states in Good to Great “A culture of discipline is not just about action. It is about getting disciplined people…who engage in disciplined thought and…who then take disciplined action.” You must have in you a culture of discipline for the Pomodoro Technique to work, or at least try to strive for discipline.

Another shortfall that I personally found using this technique is the fact that it doesn’t lend itself to short tasks. What I find helpful is to line up shorter tasks consecutively (if you have a laundry list of them like I usually do), and knock them out until the 25 minutes is up. However the technique itself seems to be geared for single overarching tasks rather than smaller process tasks that may take only 5 – 10 minutes to complete.

Overall I enjoy using the Pomodoro technique and will continue to use it and modify the use of it until I find a better way.

What time management/task management techniques do you use to get your projects done?

Thanks for reading!