Red Hatter Writes-Book key takeaway-Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less

I work at, live and breathe Red Hat, it is the best job of my life. Reading, learning and sharing are my passions. 

I'm currently on a reading (well, listening) spree as I catch-up on my must read/ listen to books during those long walks in the woods I'm indulging in. I had the chance to listen to the audio book: Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy. I have to admit, the book title had me intrigued as it brought forth memories of eating frog legs; an activity I am unsure if I'll ever partake in again. 

The book in itself is a lot of what we already know. However, it served as an apt reminder to me that knowing and doing are two different things. Here is my key takeaway from the book:

• USE lists, in whichever form you prefer (paper, trello, papyrus). 
• ABCDE ftw! Wut? Prioritise tasks using the ABCDE method-
  • A- Highest priority, highest impact tasks, must do
  • B- Medium priority, medium impact, should do
  • C- Medium priority, low impact, nice to do
  • D- Tasks you can delegate. But whichever you do delegate, please ensure their impact and priority is clear to the delegatee, so that they can ABCDE the task for themselves.
  • E- Low priority, low impact, can be removed from the list
• The Six P formula- As an unabashed alliterations aficionado (see what I did there?), this brought about a chuckle.  Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance
• If confused on how to prioritise as EVERYTHING seems a high priority, imagine you just learned you’re going on a surprise vacation tomorrow. What would you have to do before leaving? Those are the tasks you should take care of right away. If need be, seek your managers help with this. I do it often with my manager. 

And you know what? We're human. It's okay to acknowledge that every once in a while. The goal isn't to become the most productive person in the universe, this and parallel ones. The idea is to be more productive than yesterday, one step at a time :). 

Live long and prosper!

Red hatter writes: Book key takeaway-The upskilling initiative

I work at, live and breathe Red Hat, it is the best job of my life. Reading, learning and sharing are my passions. On my current PTO, I had the chance to listen to the audio book: The Upskilling Imperative: 5 Ways to Make Learning Core to the Way We Work by Shelley Osborne.

It talks about how in today's day and age, especially in IT, one needs to upskill themselves every five years to not become obsolete. At the pace at which tech is moving, employees prefer organizations that provide upskilling opportunities and have a robust system around it. This book talks about understanding the value of this initiative and creating one. Red hat in my view already excels in this area. One key takeaway from the book for me was to ascribe the deal hour acronym; the drop everything and learn hour. I personally aspire to do this each day and have often found myself learning or researching and absorbing new and complex information for hours. Encouraging this structured behavior and socializing it's benefits would be a fitting complement to the day of learning sessions we have quarterly. Continuous learning is a habit and like most needs to be cultivated.

Does it mean we whimsically decide not to attend a meeting or finish a task and start learning all about kubernetes? Of course, no. It's about looking at your calendar, and planning to block an hour a day to learn. I find having it as a part of my calendar--on most occasions--ensures I do find the time and inclination to learn each day.
Live long, and prosper!