This paper was presented by Tim Daniell, Systems Architect, Fresh Computer Systems at the Brisbane conference. We liked it so much we have obtained Tim's permission to present it at AUSOUG Perth 2013. Does anyone have too much time and not enough to do in it? I thought not. We all try to cram as much as possible into each day and then struggle to achieve it. In this session, we will look at ways to achieve more but also manage our own expectations of what is achievable. To do this, we want to understand how our brain works to make better use of it. We need to understand our tools and how they can help us. We'll look at ways to better manage what time we have and focus on the things that actually matter. We'll also explore many other ways to be more productive and achieve more inside the 8-hour-burn we call "work".

1. Being Productive in I.T.
By Tim Daniell
Presented by
Penny Cookson & Scott Wesley

2. Being Productive in I.T.
1. Understand your brain
2. Understand your tools
3. Controlling your day

3. Being Productive in I.T.
1. Understand your brain
2. Understand your tools
3. Controlling your day

4. Your (Dual Core) Brain
LEFT Right
verbal linear logical
analytical
mathematical geometric
statistical symbolic
problem
solving
rational detail
Holistic
makes connections
emotional
intuition
images non-verbal
creative
ponders...
Core 1 Core 2

5. Your Memory
Short Term
Memory
Long Term
Memory

6. Your Memory
• Maintains a LRU list
every read is a write
• Things get purged and can get modified, even
corrupted.
write stuff down

7. Core 1 (Left/Linear)
• OLTP Application
• Heavily Indexed
• Highly Responsive
Use this side when tackling detail

8. Core 2 (Right)
• NOSQL database of images
• “Big Data” analysis
• Result is an image/connection
• Searches take a long time
• Works Asynchronously
Use this side when you need the big picture

9. The Shared Bus
Core 1
(Left Brain)
Core 2
(Right Brain)
Memory
Shared Bus
for i in 1..1,000,000 loop
for j in 1..1,000,000 loop
x := mod(i + j,2);
end loop;
end loop;

11. Using your Right Brain
• Listen
• Keep a Notepad/Smartphone handy
• Morning thoughts
• Think and Forget
• Pair Programming
• Mind Maps

13. Storytelling
www.kullillaart.com.au

14. Using your Right Brain
• Intelligence increases when we think less
• Wisdom increases with less information
• Allow yourself to be bored

15. Use Both Cores Effectively
• Stop and Think
step away from the keyboard to solve
complex problems
• Rubber Ducking
explain the problem out loud

16. Use Both Cores Effectively
• Unleash your creative side and review with
your logical side.
write drunk, revise sober
• Do first, theory later
build to learn, not learn to build

17. The Dreyfus Model of Knowledge Acquisition
• Novice
• Advanced Beginner
• Competent
• Proficient
• Expert
Learning with Both Cores

18. Learn Deliberately
SQ3R
• Survey
• Question
• Read
• Review
• Recite

19. Learn Deliberately
We all learn differently
Visual Need to see the material (and the instructor).
Pictures and graphs work well.
Auditory Need to hear the material. Tone of voice etc
matter.
Kinaesthetic Need to do and touch. Especially appropriate
for sports, arts and crafts.
Find what works for you.
Experiment with other learning techniques.
Use more of your sensors, expand on your current method.

20. Debugging your brain
• Cognitive Biases
• Hardware Bugs
• Personalities
• Generational Archetypes

21. Anything that was in the world when you were born
and up until you were 15 is just a natural part of
the world.
Anything that was invented between when you
were 15 and 35 is new and exciting and you can
probably get a career in it.
Anything that was invented after you after 35 is
against the natural order of things.
- Douglas Adams

22. Being Productive in I.T.
1. Understand your brain
2. Understand your tools
3. Controlling your day

23. Understand Your Tools

24. Understand Your Tools

25. Work Smarter, not Harder
• Think
– Be Innovative
– Question Habits
• Automate
– Repetitive tasks
• Review
– Throughout lifecycle

26. Productive Team
• Companies are Team Sports
• Be Helpful
• Share Knowledge

27. Learning options
• RSS
• Books
• Magazines
• Podcasts
• Webinars
• Reviews
• Blogging
• Course notes
• Tool play
By three methods we may learn wisdom
• Training
• OBE
• User groups
second, by
imitation,
which is easiest;
and third, by experience,
which is the most bitter
(Confucius, circa 500BCE)
first, by reflection,
which is noblest;

28. Don’t take shortcuts
• Quick fix
– Assertion to ensure never again
• Code for the future
– What if you end up maintaining it?

29. Being Productive in I.T.
1. Understand your brain
2. Understand your tools
3. Controlling your day

30. Make your day productive
• Work from a Long Term plan
“The plan is
worthless,
the planning is
invaluable”

31. Make your day productive
• Prepare for Tomorrow’s Automated
Testing Meeting
• Finish Enhancement to Orders
Screen and assign to QA team
• Investigate bug in Stock receipt -
need time from Jadon
• Prep for planning session
• Create Change Request for Jack
To-Do List Scheduled day
This space is intentionally left blank

32. Make your day productive
• Other Techniques
– Just do Emails/Tasks that take 5 minutes or less
– Scheduled it / Delete it / Delegate it
– Add it to a Monthly Review List
– Learn to say “No”
– Slow down email fetches
– Avoid Interruptions

33. Best time of the day for...
Before work – right brain thinking / exercise
First thing at work – start complex task quickly
Late morning – continue complex tasks
Early afternoon – meetings / less complex tasks
Late afternoon – plan for tomorrow
Evenings – avoid grey times

34. Stay Focused in the Now
Make your day productive

35. Rocking chair test
Make your life productive
Your time is limited, so don't waste it
living someone else's life
Dream like you’ll live forever, live like
you’ll die today

36. Make your life productive
Life is wonderful – don’t just use your
brain/tools/ time for work use them for life

37. In Summary
• Understand how to use your brain
• Learn deliberately
• Learn your tools
• Productive teams
• Schedule your day
• Listen to your body clock
• Focus in the now

38. www.pragprog.com
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