tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021610.post113852489791511981..comments2023-04-20T22:53:51.551+08:00Comments on Roy Wants Meat!: How to Organize a Cluttered Mind?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021610.post-1138806512801062182006-02-01T23:08:00.000+08:002006-02-01T23:08:00.000+08:00As an additional note, it's not even limited to wo...As an additional note, it's not even limited to work-related stuff. I think this way even for stuff *outside* of work.<BR/><BR/>At any one time I have several personal projects I want to push through with, a lot of stuff I want to try, stuff I want to read, etc.<BR/><BR/>Now that I think about, the way I handle the work stuff is a lot better than how I handle the non-work stuff. I guess what want out of all of this is a better way to organize my own thinking =pahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04182140167534280254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021610.post-1138805879060788352006-02-01T22:57:00.000+08:002006-02-01T22:57:00.000+08:00Eh, I'm fine.I wrote this towards the end of a par...Eh, I'm fine.<BR/><BR/>I wrote this towards the end of a particularly heavy week. While what I do everyday closely approximates what I wrote here, it seldom reaches the stress levels that the essay could imply.<BR/><BR/>In the case of promotions, your concern is unneeded, as there's really no such thing as a *promotion* in our company which has a flat hierarchy thingy. Besides, one of my roles in the current project is Technical Lead, which means that it actually *is* my job to handle technical questions within the project.<BR/><BR/>The fact that I also handle a good number of technical concerns from *outside* the project is a result of two concepts: mentoring and subject experts; I don't know how it works in other industries, but typically in software, senior developers are expected to mentor junior developers to help them gain experience/knowledge. And there's a particular reporting tool we use where I'm considered as the sole "subject expert" on its' use, so almost all technical questions concerning this tool are handled by me.<BR/><BR/>There are formal procedures for pretty much everything, including sending clarifications, and most people will always ask if I'm busy before sending something my way. But I guess it's actually my own preference to answer as many clarifs as quickly as I can. I'm also pretty sure that addressing each issue as soon as it possibly can is the best way to go; (This is one of the overriding philosophies in the Getting Things Done methodology esposed by David Allen) If I let the questions pile up I'd have a long list of them which would be daunting to go through.<BR/><BR/>It's not like I'm doing ten thousand things at once; I at least know how to sequence my tasks. If I'm in the middle of something which requires 100% of my concentration, I will typically ignore most incoming requests until I can get to some break point which allows me to successfully shift gears. And in some cases I will even welcome the distraction; somehow my mind thinks better after I have temporarily focused on some other problem.<BR/><BR/>The firefighting thing takes up 50% of my time at most, and only if I allow it to. I always have the option of saying I don't have time or asking somebody to check it for me.<BR/><BR/>"I mean, you can manage the load now, but if your company ever expands..."<BR/><BR/>Note that I never said I was the only one doing this. :D In fact, I think the current practice is scaling pretty-well re: the size of the company. We have roughly 160 people working in technical positions, and I'm one of maybe around 5-8 who can handle these concerns on the same level (or better). About two years ago, there were around 3 such guys to handle concerns for around 80 people.<BR/><BR/>My current workload levels are more of a problem of lack of senior developers assigned to our project more than anything else, and despite that I still do not normally work overtime. Today was awesome though, with all the work I managed to clear last week, it seems like all the heavy lifting had already been done and most of my day was pretty light :Dahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04182140167534280254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6021610.post-1138800978646505292006-02-01T21:36:00.000+08:002006-02-01T21:36:00.000+08:00Ei Roy,While it's kewl that you can handle the str...Ei Roy,<BR/><BR/>While it's kewl that you can handle the stress of fielding all those "help me" calls, that's not a healthy company practice...<BR/><BR/>Well, it's certainly got good and bad going for it. It's good because everyone realizes how utterly indispensable you are, so you'll never be fired. Other stuff too.<BR/><BR/>I think tho' that there's more bad than good in it... There's the stress, which is one thing. And there's also the probability that this role you have assumed will make the bosses pass you over for promotions because you'll be considered too valuable where you are for doing stuff that's not formally yours to do (unless it's really part of your job description to be techno fire fighter). <BR/><BR/>Anyway, nothing, just wasting time after being flabbergasted by C. Bolastig's forward to the list.<BR/><BR/>Something you might want to do eventually is to formalize the firefighting thing by having people do it through a standard procedure instead of actively pinging your person with stuff. Like, maybe if someone has a problem they can't work through on their own, they should have to fill out a template e-mail form about it to send to you so you can quickly go over it or something. I'm sure *somebody* in some Japanese company has a well structured process for doing this kind of technical advising instead of you having to go through many that you have to gut it out =P<BR/><BR/>I mean, you can manage the load now, but if your company ever expands...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com