Personal Process

 Focus  1 Response »
Feb 022012
 

This is my Weekly Review checklist to help me focus on content, not form.

My morning routine begins the night before. I lay my robe across the end of the bed, turn my slippers around, facing away from the bed and place my iPhone in the doc with a low-light clock app running. The alarm is set for 5:00, ready to wake me to The Choir of Christ’s Church Cathedral’s rendition of Psalm 23. Upon waking, I turn off the alarm, step into my slippers and robe, quietly stumble downstairs, put the water on for my honey bush herbal tea, set the countdown timer on my iPhone and begin reading scriptures. When the timer goes off, I get the tea and begin reading my current religious book for another ten to fifteen minutes. After those tasks are done, I am then free to start my day with other things, like read the news, write a blog post or something else.

If it sounds like I am a creature of habit, it is because I am. I have learned the best way for me to accomplish something is to turn it into a routine. Once the routine is engrained, the habit is easier to maintain and improve. By profession, I am a process analyst. My job is to watch how tasks are done and find ways to improve them, saving everyone time and money, while improving quality. On the mornings I ride the bus to work, I observe many people who have their personal routines. Some read, some play games, others sleep while others watch a TV show on their iPod. I notice they rarely vary from their routine.

Why do we gravitate to personal routines, or processes? I don’t pretend to know all the reasons, but I believe some of the answers include:

  1. Greater certainty in a repeatable outcome.
  2. Comfort in habit.
  3. Ability to focus on the content instead of the form.

One of the first principles taught in process management is there is quality in process. As we repeat a task in an exact pattern, the results become more predictable. I observed this in action last week in my friend’s company. They are very careful to do everything exactly the same way. Intel lays out every new fabrication plant identically – upon entering the building, it is impossible to tell whether you are in Beaverton or Taiwan. It doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement. In fact, the argument is a process cannot be improved until it is first standardized. Otherwise, it is impossible to tell if the change actually has a positive or negative difference in results. Personal processes can be created so as to provide predictable results. Because my morning routine is laid out so carefully, I find it easier to get out of bed and get started. I am well into the routine before I wake up enough to think about doing otherwise.

Humans are creatures of habit. We will follow our habits, even if the habit is destructive. Once the habit is engrained, changing is extremely uncomfortable and difficult. Ask anyone who has tried to quit smoking or overeating. I often find myself staring into the depths of the refrigerator minutes after pushing back form the dinner table, not because I’m hungry, but because it is a habit. Just walking through the motions of a habit can reduce stress and anxiety.

By forming a habit, we provide our brains the opportunity to focus on other aspects of the task, For example, when I first started playing French horn again, I tried playing some of the songs I used to play. It was horrible. I had forgotten many of the basics, such as how to breath, what finger combinations produced which notes and other basics. I couldn’t even begin to concentrate on making the music sound good. I have had to start over with the basics so I can eventually concentrate on the music. It will happen just as soon as the habits take over the mechanics.

Want to build a new personal process? Start by making a checklist of the process. Leading through each step, a routine will be built and the process will become a habit. A good example is doing a weekly review. I have struggled with them over the years. Since creating the checklist (pictured above), it has become easier and I am slowly building that habit. Having the process detailed in advance helps make sure undesired steps don’t creep in. That is how I came to put the robe at the bottom of the bed. When I had to go find it in the closet, I found something else would distract me and I would lose focus and not get started. Having the robe in place sends me down the stairs and immediately to the rest of the process. Using the countdown timer helps me, too. It makes sure I don’t spend too little or too much time on a task. I look for little tricks to help keep me in the process and not wandering off into undesired practices.

Take a look at the goals you created for the new year. Are any struggling to gain traction? Build a process around them designed to lead you through the motions. Write it out and follow it. Soon the goal will be well on its way to accomplishment. Share some of your personal processes. How to you use habits to your advantage?

 Posted by Dan at 6:00 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Slay Your Dragons Before Breakfast – Link

 Focus  2 Responses »
Jan 102012
 

This morning, this post came across from Michael Hyatt. This is good, really good. Definitely worth the three of four minutes it will take to read.

This is exactly what I am trying to do this year. One of my goals is to put the things I struggle with first in the day. For the past couple weeks, I have been getting up at 5:45 and forcing myself downstairs to the office. I make a cup of herbal tea and read scripture for 30 minutes. Just the act of doing that makes my day go so much better.

I used to think I could read scripture at the end of the day, before I went to bed. Some days it happened, some days it didn’t. When it did happen, I would read until I fell asleep, which was about three minutes. Getting through one chapter was difficult. Remembering what I read was even more difficult. Now, before the world wakes up, I am hitting my targets and actually doing what could actually be called “study”.

The side benefit? When I get ready for bed at night, I can reach for a novel to read without any guilt or inner-turmoil at all. I have slain the dragon long before. I have walked around the entire day, a little taller, proud I have already slain my dragon for the day. Thanks for the great advice, Michael.

 Posted by Dan at 6:39 am  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Goal Review – Reading

 Focus  3 Responses »
Jan 092012
 

I have been thinking over my vacation about the goals I had for 2011 and what I want to do with 2012. It is a good thing to look back and remind myself of the successes. I know I started the exercise thinking that 2011 was a pretty lousy year. After all, the press were all calling it the year to forget quickly and move on. However, it was a pretty good year for me, even one of the best in recent memory.

One achievement I am proud of is my book reading. I don’t know how many books I have read in past years because I didn’t keep track. This year, however, I did and I am proud to report I finished 38 books in 2011. While I didn’t have a specific goal in this area, I was shooting for 50. Why fifty? Well, my friend Augusto Pinaud reads 50+ books each year, so it sounded like a good number. While I didn’t quite reach the target, I am thrilled with my accomplishment.

For the record, I read 16 fiction, 9 business, 7 non-fiction, 6 productivity and 1 spiritual books. I wrote reviews of several, but still have quite a few I would like to write about. I had a great time learning quite a bit this year.

For the coming year, I have created a goal to read 40 books and to write a review for each non-fiction book and write a mind map of each business book for future quick reference. This is an aggressive goal and I am concerned about achieving it. Why are the reviews important? I appreciate other people’s reviews when I am looking for a book to read. Also, the reviews I have written are some of the most visited pages on the blog, so others must enjoy them, too. However, the real reason is selfish. I am getting old and I can’t remember everything I have read. I like to go back and look at my list and reread the review. Usually that is enough to remind me of the good ones and inspire me to reread the great books. I wish I had started this practice when I was a kid. There are some great books I would like to reread, but can’t remember the title, author and any clues as to which book it was. Sadly, those are lost to me.

I was lucky to benefit from an unspent training budget at the end of the year. I was able to convince my boss to buy nearly a dozen books for me before the money disappeared at the end of the year. I am well situated for business books for this year. I am trying something different. Most of the books were purchased as ebooks and I will read them on my Kindle. While I welcome the reduced space necessary to store them all, I worry the experience will not be as good. I hope I can make the annotations and scribbles I want to make, as recommended by Mark Horstman of Manager Tools in the podcast titled How to Read a Book. I’ll give it a shot and reevaluate throughout the year.

Fiction will continue to be mostly “read” via Audio book. I love Audible.comand have subscribed to them for nearly a decade. I love listening to books on my commute. My wife says I am in a better mood after listening to a book instead of talk radio. I also listen to a lot of podcasts while in the car or running. I don’t know how to categorize that content in terms of reading. Podcasts can contain very valuable material, at least the ones I listen to do. Should I count them as books for the year?

I want to learn some new things this year. I actually have a goal to pick and investigate a new topic this year. More on this goal later, but the reading goal will in part facilitate that goal as well. Knowledge is key to not growing old. I better get started on my anti-aging regimen.

Happy New Year!

 Posted by Dan at 6:00 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,

Now I Sit Me Down To Write

 Focus  No Responses »
Oct 312011
 

Now I sit me down to write,
Unknown readers I hope delight.
Yet, when prime motives I define,
It is my own soul to refine.

Last Friday, I attended an offsite training session for my work. I had forgotten to tell the organizers of my diet, so when lunch showed up, as usual, I was at a loss of what to eat. We were offered fantastic sandwiches, chips and a selection of enticing pastries and sweets for dessert. Times like these make it difficult to stay on a diet. Little that can be done inconspicuously in a group setting. I took a sandwich and pulled it apart to eat the turkey, lettuce and tomato, discarding the fragrant, tempting focaccia bread. This practice sparked a discussion around the table on diets, exercise and how we all wish we could stay on them.

One question asked by a colleague stopped me dead in my tracks. As he polished off a large chocolate chip cookie and a rich-looking chocolate eclair, he asked what is my motivation for staying on the diet. I stuttered and stammered over a response. I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t even sure myself. That question has bothered me for the past two days.

The easy answer is I want to lose weight. However, I have wanted to lose weight on previous attempts, too. Those attempts always ended in failure. There is more to the answer than dropping a few pounds. What about the exercise? I have stuck closer to a regular regimen of running than at any time previously. I had a goal of running 5k, and I made it. It would have been easy to give up so many times. When I started, I thought I wanted to run in a race and get a cool T-shirt. Now that I can make it over 3 miles without gasping like a fish out of water, I have no desire to run the race. I prefer to run alone in the dark, early morning.

When I lived in Boise, I decided I was going to ride my bike to work instead of drive. I bought a bike, cool biker clothes and did it. I rode two or three times each week for over a year. Sure, I wanted to be healthy and save money over driving, but those weren’t the prime motivations, either.

Why have I persevered on writing this blog for nearly a year? Why, even when I have taken a few days or weeks off, have I come back and continued to write? Originally, I thought perhaps I could make some money doing it, but have since learned very few people make money blogging. What is the attraction?

I mulled the question of motivation this weekend, finally pulling it apart enough to come to an answer. Anyone remember the first topic I took up in January as I started? Discipline. I have struggled with discipline my whole life. From a child, I was told I was undisciplined. I spent money as quickly as I earned it. I wouldn’t practice my French horn regularly. I got good grades but wouldn’t study. I couldn’t keep my room clean to save my mother’s sanity.

My adult life seemed just as undisciplined to me. I watched too much television. I started hobbies and didn’t follow through. I drifted on a career path, not knowing what I wanted or having any set goals. I allowed life’s currents to take me where they would.

The turning point, I believe, was going back to school to finish my bachelor degree. My motivation began as a requirement from my boss – get it or else. However, as I discovered the joy of learning, my motivation changed. This was something difficult that I could do for myself. I could do difficult things. In this case, I could take one or two classes while working full time and still being a good parent.

After finishing college, I took on learning the piano. I took up hobbies and developed talent people respected. I began turning pens, not because I could make money doing it, but because it was something no one else was doing and I could make something admired.

It has been the striving to be disciplined that has kept me on my diet, writing the blog and running. It is a drive to do something special that keeps me coming back, day after day. The only way I can prove it to myself is by adding one more link to the chain. I hope to prove to myself someday that I am disciplined and can do great things. This blog is therapy for sorting out my feelings, thinking them through and putting them into concrete form. The diet demonstrates I can stay on something every day, without fail until a goal is reached. The running helps me fight against the demons of procrastination. Sometimes I lose, sometimes I win. Each win is a triumph that leaves me glowing the rest of the day.

This has been a winning year. I am making the progress toward discipline I hoped for back in January. I appreciate the question from my friend. I hadn’t thought this through enough to know what I have been chasing all these years. Now that it has a name, perhaps I will figure out how to declare victory.

Thank you for indulging me in a little introspection. Do you feel you are disciplined? If so, how did you develop it? I would love to hear your thoughts.

 Posted by Dan at 6:30 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
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