Doing one thing at a time, October 2023

There’s a lot being written about how distracted we are and how much multi-tasking we do while holding the delusion that it makes us more productive when it really doesn’t.

This happens so easily when you’re on your internet devices. I often find myself attending a remote meeting and at the same time typing up notes for something unrelated or reading the New York Times while half listening to the discussion.

It’s gotten worse for me, though. The other morning I noticed that I started making our bed, then went off to the kitchen area to get breakfast together. Then I realized I had absent-mindedly left the bed only partly made. Talk about “monkey mind”!

That incident bothered me enough to nudge me into consciously striving to be better focused. This includes completing small tasks before moving on to something else as well as holding my attention longer for more demanding work (such as thinking about and writing this post).

I’m finding it takes some effort to keep my attention on one thing at a time. It’s as though my default state of mind has become that of being easily and constantly distracted.

So why am I bothering to make this change? I feel calmer and less fragmented because of less context-switching. I feel more of a sense of accomplishment that is very satisfying. I’m happier. At this early point I can’t say yet whether I’m more productive. But I do strongly suspect that that will turn out to be the case.


Small chunks of work time, July 2023

Unlike the highly focused, long blocks of time I needed as a software engineer, I find that a lot of project management work consists of short tasks that take from ten minutes to maybe half an hour. Stuff like messaging on Slack, composing emails, managing my calendar, and writing up notes and action items after a meeting.

So I find that a fragmented schedule has not been an impediment to being productive in the role. While there is still a need to maintain focus, use time efficiently, and not be easily distracted, the situation is much less demanding. I find that having a personal policy of a half hour buffer between meetings works really well.

This aspect of managing your attention really depends on the kind of work you do.


A corporation is not a family! July 2023

While I haven’t run across this much of late, I just hate it when anyone talks about their corporate “family”.

My family consists of my wife, my siblings and their children, and a handful of close friends to whom I am loyal and committed. These are the people I care about personally and for whom I am willing to make sacrifices. They are the people I expect to have lifelong relationships with.

A corporation is an entirely different thing. If it’s a for-profit company, its purpose is to be successful in the marketplace. If it’s a nonprofit, its purpose is to fulfill its mission. The correct analogy is that it’s like a sports team. The people I work with are my esteemed colleagues and teammates to whom I owe respect, civility, and collaboration. I care about them - but they are not my family. Every one of us is potentially expendable.

If you talk about being “family” in a corporate context, you’re sounding like an organizational flack. Please stop. It poisons your credibility and makes you look ridiculous and emotionally manipulative in a very lame way.


Slack channels - group vs. DM, June 2023

I work entirely remotely with teams that heavily use Slack. I notice some people usually sending me a DM when they have a question or comment for my attention.

But the problem with using DM channels is that nobody else sees the conversation unless the effort is made to add them.

Now I’m nudging my colleagues by default to use group or topic channels together with the @ notation to address messages to particular persons while allowing others to see the conversation too.

Unlike working on-site and in-person where you might overhear people talking or see that a spontaneous discussion is going on, in the remote world if you’re not present online to your colleagues, what you do does not exist for them.

They are kept in the dark and prevented from possibly contributing to the conversation. We should be aware of that and work against it.

Of course, there are times when you have something truly private to deal with.


When meeting remotely, please use more pauses, May 2023

After posing a question, soliciting comments, or carrying out dialog, wait a bit longer than what you might do in person.

Sometimes because of latency over the internet, there are delays for other people to receive the audio of what was just said. Sometimes, people need to unmute themselves first, and it takes them a moment to find the unmute button. And sometimes, remote or not, it’s just good to provide everyone a little space to think.