Jeremy discusses productivity in terms of his input to output ratio. I’ve been meaning to write something about this lately. I find I have periods of “flow” where I get a decent run on a project and can stay reasonably well in the groove. At other times I seem to get stuck in a “disconnect” where I’ve got a project I need to do (and usually the dealine has long since passed), but there seem to be a continuous stream of interruptions.
This morning was a classic disconnect period. I’m about a month late on some internal server work that needs to be done, but I spent all day manually removing viruses/rootkits from two different customer NT boxes, because a) we don’t have any support people in the office today and b) the customers in question didn’t bother to keep his Antivirus software up to date.
Its impossible (in my experioence) to go from a period of flow on one project, straight onto the next. Theres always a period of disconnect between projects as we try to polish off “a few little problems”.
Disconnect can be either a series of interruptions, or just a total lack of motivation. I’ve had both recently. A disconnect period can last anywhere from day to a month or more sometimes. Flow is usually very fragile and can turn into total disconnect after a single interruption.
According to BBSpot, I’m AmigaOS…
Which OS are You?
MSN Careers (via slashdot) talks about a lifetime career in IT, asking…
Can anyone imagine retiring from a 30 or 40-year career in IT at age 65?
Its an interesting question. I guess my first answer would be that I hope to be able to afford to retire well before 65. I’ve been working in IT for 8 years now. If I retire at 55 (not 65), I’ll spend another 27 years in this industry.
In the almost 10 years since I started my IT training I’ve seen an almost total change in the industry, moving from character based DOS systems, to a graphical Windows based systems, and the rise of the Internet. Its fair to expect that the next 10 years will deliver the same or greater level of change (changing to what? I don’t know).
In the 27 years I have remaining I guess I can expect to see the total change cycle repeated another 3 times. Three times over I get to forget everything I once knew and learn all over again. Thats something that I find harder to do these days. The challenge, I guess, is to maintain your skills, so that you don’t become outdated and unemployable. The internet is a boon in that department, but you’ve somehow got to make time to work with the new stuff you’re trying to stay current on.
I don’t have the answer. Maybe in 30 years I might (assuming my eyesight hasn’t completely failed me). It must be possible, because theres a few of the old heads still floating around doing good work like Dave Winner, and Mitch Kapor, etc, or maybe they’re just a minority.
No posts for a few days. I’m taking a couple of days off to go to the cricket while its in town.
I’ve mentioned before that I fly regularly with my work. Previously, flying has never bothered me, I’ve always enjoyed the sensation of flight, if not the rest of the airport experience. I’ve always wanted to learn how to fly, in fact my first career choice was to become a pilot. Even after Sept. 11th, flying didn’t bother me.
On Friday I had to make a day trip to Melbourne (about an hours flight from Adelaide). Its a flight I would have done probably 100 times in the last few years, its routine for me. But you know, for the first time ever, I was slightly nervous about flying. Why? well, the day before, I’d heard on the news about plane crashes in Turkey and the US. Two plane crashes on two days is a bit unusual, and enough to make me a little nervous. Then while I was away I heard about Peru.
I’ll happily keep flying, but three crashes in a couple of days does make you wonder doesn’t it?
Thought I’d use the first real entry on my blog to introduce myself… I’m 27, from adelaide, South Australia. I’m a geek by trade, having spent the last 8 years working in various roles for a small computer company here in Adelaide. I’m mainly management these days, but I also do my share of software development and systems admin stuff, with the occasional support call tossed in. Systems envioment here is mainly Windows (2000, XP and a lot of NT4), but we’re starting to introduce some Linux servers into our operations. I’m a big linux fan, not so much for the open souce side of things, but because its so damn reliable.
On the personal side, I’m enagaged to be married later this year. My interests include racing radio controlled cars with a good mate of mine. I race with two clubs, Hobby Habit Racing, and Southern Districts Onroad. Working on improving my driving technique, and bringing down my lap times. I drive a Tamiya TA04, with a Frewer Honda Accord body shell. The car is great, its just the nut holding the wheel who’s having problems.
We also have two dogs. One male and one female, both are Malteese Shitsu’s from the same litter of puppies. He’s fully grown but tiny (only 1.6Kg’s), while she’s a more normal size (2.7Kg’s).
