A Useful and Practical Time Management Technique - Pomodoro

In a dynamic work environment where a person has to confront with long term plans and every day transactional tasks, being efficient becomes challenge and Managing Time becomes critical.

The Everlasting Aspect.

Time management is from the Sunnah of the prophet (PBUH), he used to divide his time into three( Matters of Deen, Matters Regarding Family, Time alone this is where he used to do muhasaba), a daily time table of the prophet has also been recorded in traditions. Prophet PBUH adviced Abu Dhar RA something to the nearest meaning of-There is no greater wisdom than good management.

The Pomodoro Technique Value Proposition

1. Alleviate anxiety linked to becoming
2. Enhance focus and concentration by cutting down on interruptions
3. Increase awareness of your decisions
4. Boost motivation and keep it constant
5. Bolster the determination to achieve your goals
6. Refine the estimation process, both in qualitative and quantitative terms
7. Improve your work or study process
8. Strengthen your determination to keep on applying yourself in the face of complex situations

How to Pomodoro

A pomodoro is 25 minutes of uninterrupted work, after a pomodoro is mandatory break of 5 minutes ( do breathing exercise, say takbir,tahlil,tahmid 33 times which is better than having a servent, but don’t do anything that is work rleated). After 4 pomodoros, that is 100 minutes of pure work take a long break which is of half an hour duration( During this break same applies, is the ideal opportunity to tidy up your desk, Read a page from Qur-Aan, take a trip to the coffee machine, listen to voice mail, check incoming emails, or simply rest and do breathing exercises or take a quick walk).

The Technique

1. Planning at the Beginning of the Day, identify the set of tasks to be done based on a time table ( 8am to 4pm)
2. Record the tasks and prioritize them
3. Take up the first task in the list and start the first Pomodoro
4. After the first Pomodoro take 5 mins break
5. Start the second pomodoro for the same task
6. Repeat 3,4,5 take a long break after 4 pomodoros
7. If the task Finishes and the pomodoro is still running use that time to review and improve what you have done
8. start next task with New pomodoro.

Tools you would need

1. A timer
2. Paper And pencil to track tasks and Pomodoros

Some Apps of Use

Desktop Apps For Pomodoro

http://gigaom.com/collaboration/9-free-pomodoro-timers/

I would recommend this https://code.google.com/p/pomodairo/

It has a nice counter and easy to manage task list

IPad and IPhone Apps for Pomodoro

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pomodoro-app-for-ipad/id393490589?mt=8

Android Apps for Pomodoro

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.beltane.pomlifelite&hl=en

Read on For Details …..

Interruptions

Interruptions can be internal ( from self)

1. Make these interruptions clearly visible. Every time you feel a potential interruption coming on, put an apostrophe (‘) on the sheet where you record your Pomodoros. Then do one of the following:

a) Write down the new activity on the To Do Today Sheet under Unplanned & Urgent if you think it’s imminent and can’t be put off.

b) Write it down in the Activity Inventory, marking it with a “U” (unplanned); add a deadline if need be.

2. Intensify your determination to finish the current Pomodoro. Once you’ve marked down the apostrophe, continue working on the given task till the Pomodoro rings. (Rule: Once a Pomodoro Begins, It Has to Ring.)

It can be external

1. Make these interruptions clearly visible. Every time someone or something tries to interrupt a Pomodoro, put a dash (-) on the sheet where you record your Pomodoros, apply the Inform, Negotiate, and Call Strategy. Then do one of the following:

a) Write down the new activity on the To Do Today Sheet under Unplanned & Urgent if it has to be done today, adding the promised deadline in brackets in the left-hand margin.

b) Write it down in the Activity Inventory, marking it with a “U” (unplanned); add a deadline in brackets if need be

2. Intensify your determination to finish the current Pomodoro. Once you’ve marked down the dash, continue working on the given task till the Pomodoro rings.

This way, you’ll achieve the objective of remembering the commitment you made, as well as measuring daily external interruptions, without interrupting the Pomodoro.

On Time Table

The main risk with the timetable is in underestimating how important it is; it’s easy to fall in the trap of not respecting it. For example, let’s say it’s 3 PM. You’ve lost time during the day, and you know you haven’t produced as much as you could have or as much as you expected. So you tell yourself: “Today I’ll work late to make up for lost time.” A combination of heroism and guilt makes you breach the limit set by the timetable; as a result your performance is ineffective tonight, then tomorrow night, and then the night after. The more the timetable is systematically prolonged, the more overall results will diminish. Guilt intensifies.

Why? Isn’t playing the hero enough? Don’t the hours sacrificed in the name of work assuage the guilt? Actually what emerges is a dangerous vicious circle: the timetable protracts, fatigue increases, productivity drops, the timetable protracts. First and foremost, an effective imetable

has to be respected. Respecting a timetable means developing immunity to the Five More Minutes Syndrome. When your work time is up, just like when the Pomodoro rings, all activity stops. Secondly, an effective timetable has to allow for the free time that’s needed to recoup.

Inspiration Behind Pomodoro

The primary inspiration for Pomodoro Technique was drawn from the following ideas: time-boxing, the cognitive techniques described by Buzan, among others, relating to how the mind works, and the dynamics of play outlined by Gadamer. Notions relating to structuring objectives and activities incrementally are detailed in Gilb .

For details you can read visit the website www.pomodorotechnique.com/

Note

The Pomodoros required to make this document was 4 now time for a long break, how many minutes would you have taken to read this ?

Signing off with the hope that this would improve our productivity for both the worlds, at the same time ensuring work-life balance.

A Traveler, Nationality, Corruption

A Traveler 

The world was flat, even before the 'World is Flat' was written, for the traveler world was and has been always flat and it would be for ever so until he/she were to come back home. Every being born is an initiate and is provided ample reasons to embark on a journey, each journey is distinct, each has its own path. The journey reaches its destination as soon as the traveler realizes the destination is the journey. 

When the journey stops, destination becomes vague, traveler is lost, destination becomes like an elusive mirage unsure even of the existence of the imaginary, that at least should have an presence in mind.


Human beings were created imperfect, for a reason. Longing for ever elusive aspects like eternal life, eternal health, relief from pangs of hunger of thirst, makes the imperfection evident. The destination for certain is perfection and the journey chosen for mankind is the pursuit of perfection. The moment one concludes that perfection is attained, the journey ends and perfection would remain elusive.


World was flat by design, every sane creation was given the right to pursuit for perfection, we owe it to the world to provide opportunities to embark on this journey and we owe it to our self to partake.


Prophet said "Live life like a traveler", this is indicates that home is an elusive aspect of life, home is part of a perfection we seek within us. 

Can we ever be at home and not be aware of death could approach any time? 

Can we ever be at home and not be aware that health is transient? 

Can we ever be at home and not worry about our imperfections of need, greed, afflictions and worry? Can we ever be at home, immersed in happiness and yet remain oblivious that happiness is short lived?

Lets travel smart, travel light and realize the way to success is to be in pursuit of perfection, without binding oneself to an idea, location or baggage. Prophet said "Seek knowledge even if it be from China"

Be a good traveler, prophet said "One who is not thankful to the creations is not thankful to the creator", be good to all co passengers, the country where you hail from, the people who we even do not know paid for our education through the tax they pay, the people who you wouldn't recognize has shed their blood and life to protect and serve you, the country does not owe you anything but you owe a lot to your country, how do you plan to pay back? Would this not be part of your pursuit of perfection? Prophet said "Love for once nation is part of faith". 
Nationality is a reminder to us about a population who we owe a lot.
What does this imply for our neighbors? our colleagues? our teachers? our friends? our family?


Include them in our journey as we seek perfection as we seek our home, they are not our home but they are the means for us to find us our home.


It is in one of hadeeth where prophet narrated our creator as saying"I have created everything with my command, but paradise i have created it with my own hand". Now lets not get into a controversy of how the hand of creator looks like, we understand when our mother says "Ive told the cook to prepare for you, but this sweet i made it with my own hands for you". It shows the sincere longing of mother for the kid to have the special sweet she has made herself.


Our home is Paradise, where we would attain perfection, this world is platform for our journey.


Corruption is a signboard that reflects back at us and it says 'You have lost your way', perhaps legal controls and institutions like lokpal might help from being a victim of corruption and keep it under check, we owe it to us that every one has equal opportunities to undertake the journey in pursuit of perfection. This is what we are missing from our life today, lokpal is designed to punish the corrupt. What Ramadan teaches it is not the fear of punishment that kept us away from food, it is not fear of chastisement that made us leave the comforts of bed, but it was an inner longing to seek piety and seek perfection.

Ramadan brings us hope that mankind has the capability to undertake such a journey cutting across financial strata, regions, races, continents or nationality.


Lets pray that the entire humanity benefit from the fruits of Ramadan as our creator wants it to be - Ameen

Productivity Animation - Working Smart

Return From Medinah

It was time before Maghrib, Uppa much unlike himself asked to get Pepsi, he has never ever asked me to buy the drink as long as time in memorial. The shop did not sell Pepsi, they sold an alternative, it was not befitting to return empty handed.

I turned towards the green Qubbah of the Prophet SAWS, a sense of parting with the most precious man ever walked on face of the earth and his companions began to form in my heart. As if i had been in a garden of fragrant and beautiful flowers and it was time to leave. The payment for the purchase completed mechanically, and started walking back.

It is true that a believer's love for the Prophet SAWS draws him to Medina, this love is incomplete without loving the purpose and message of the dweller of the green Qubbah. I walked slowly with reverence, respect and love for my habeeb SAWS, feeling the presence of the leader of the prophets.

It was time to take an account of my visit in the city of enlightenment, what does Medina symbolize? What does the green Qubbah symbolize?

It brought to memory a conversation of the prophet with Arch Angel Gibreel AS, establishing the value of Deen to be more dear to Allah than the beloved prophet SAWS. Deen is the criteria for a persons success in this world and the hereafter. Our beloved prophet struggled in all means possible for the deliverance of humanity.

 I looked at the abode of the prophet again, my heart said "it talks to you about the relentless efforts of beloved prophet, it talks to you about his strong desire to see mankind be successful, it talks to you about your purpose of life and a noble man who did all in his power to make you see the light"

Its been more than thousand years, that light is still evident in the city of the prophet.

It was the night of return and comfortably sitting in the seat, i saw a person rushing into the bus, he was not in a good mood, and was kind of agitated and frustrated to say the least.

After a few moments an official from the transport corporation got in, and started the following conversation, it was in arabic, and it went something like this

The Official :-"I ask you with respect, please get down from the bus, the ticket you have is not for this bus"
Traveller : "No I CANT. i have the tickets and its not my fault"
The Official :- "I know you have the tickets, but it is not the right ticket for this bus"
Traveller : "No That is not my problem"
The Official :" I ask you again with respect, please get down"

While this was happening another senior official was also in the bus, he did not intervene at first, but seeing the traveler very adamant he stepped in. What transpired after that amazes me even to this day, my heart fills with gratitude towards the prophet and the love for him.

The senior official pointed his finger at the agitated traveler, and said
"Sallu 3alannaby" ( send blessings on the prophet )

There was silence for 3-4 seconds, the state of the agitated traveler changed as if he fell into a realization, he and the officials said together

"Allhumma salli 3la Muhammed wa 3la aali Muhammed" ( O Allah send blessings upon the prophet and his family )

The senior official then said "If you  have any problem please speak to the manager at his office, you don't have the ticket to travel in this bus"

The traveller took his bag and got down from the bus, and while he got down he kept saying

"Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah, Astaghfirullah" (Allah forgive me, Allah forgive me, Allah forgive me )

Random Images

There are images that inspire thought, imagination, or kindle good memories or sad ones.

The first image is perhaps a bit peculiar, ive never seen a tap cared for so much

So here it is image one ...

Second Image is that one that brings back good memories ....

Galaxy Tab DocumentsToGo or QuickOffice

If productivity is one of the reasons behind buying a tablet like Samsung Galaxy Tab, then there is reason enough to buy an office suite too. What is the best office suite for the android tablet? i am not going to answer this question specifically. Here the discussion is about an app that helps to perform day to day activities.

There is an office application that comes along with the tab, that is free. Let us stop that discussion right there :)

I was looking for a 'portable microsoft word' found two of them was mentioned in a website review (QuickOffice), the other was an app demo running on blackberry(Documents To Go).

Now the rule of the thumb is, Buy something that is compatible or improves what you are already doing.

So with this in mind, i installed QuickOffice and Documents To Go, let me first walk through the QuickOffice experience

Smooth installation from Android Market, and then the visual delight of an interface, the icons look very cool.

Now like 'king julian' i devised a 'cunning test' to apply the thumb rule, which being as simple as to open a typical frequently handled document and see how it looks like.

So here we go ...

The yellow boxes are to clear out some parts of the document and not from the App.

After, opening the document the structure of the document looked in tact, but some things were missing in rendering.

Hmmmmm, this is when i got that feeling a person gets as you try out something and a tint of pessimism begins to take over...

Okay lets do the 'cunning test' on the next candidate, Documents To Go

Again Smooth installation from Android Market. Interface is a bit sophisticated and a bit less colorful. So it was easier not to waste much time appreciating the beauty :) (a bit of positive thinking there ...)

And now time to open one of my documents, and this is what i saw ...

(Yellow boxes are from me, not from the app)

All hopes back to life, pessimism rests at least for now, the document structure in tact, the rendering looks good, now the table missing in our previous test appears in Documents To Go. The keyboard becomes visible for editing purposes.

For my scenario, Documents To Go seems to be the better option, and it is time to invest.

"Sir, you have bought the elephant now please don't think twice about buying the chain for it "- A Sales Guy

Waiting for Android Honeycomb (v3) for galaxy Tab.

Democracy - A Citizen's View

A Democratic Introduction

Democracy is a form of political organization in which all people, through consensus (consensus democracy), direct referendum (direct democracy), or elected representatives (representative democracy) exercise equal control over the matters which affect their interests

With so many conflicting interests being reality, equal control over any matter seems impractical.

Would the oppressed and oppressor have equal control over any matter?

According to one definition, democracy is a political system in which all the members of the society have an equal share of formal political power. In modern representative democracy, this formal equality is embodied primarily in the right to vote.

If the democracy just boils down to this aspect of right of vote, how much value does this special right provide to 41% of the population who fall below global poverty line? Could they ask for Rice at  reasonable price and get it? Could they ask for equal opportunities amidst the influential, powerful and the corrupt ?

The aftermath of World War II also resulted in the United Nations' decision to partition the British Mandate into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. On May 14, 1948 the state of Israel declared independence and thus was born the first full democracy in the Middle East. Israel is a representative democracy with a parliamentary system and universal suffrage.[83][84]

India became a Democratic Republic in 1950 after achieving independence from Great Britain in 1947. After holding its first national elections in 1952, India achieved the status of the world's largest liberal democracy with universal suffrage which it continues to hold today. 

A Democratic Stand

Democracy is a compromise between it and the other ways, It is not a solution for Ills and shortcomings of a society, but it gives a person an opportunity to serve the country and its people. Ultimately the citizen is only part of the society he/she belongs to.

The fact remains, good governance is an indicator of a healthy and sound society, irrespective of the governance mechanism involved but not the other way around.

In Kerala there was a king called Mahabali, he is remembered even today for his good governance.

There was A Khalifa Umar RA, about whom our father of Nation, Gandhi Said “The best thing to happen to India would be to be reigned by a dictator as just and upright as Umar, RA.”

It is not enough that there be just one good ruler, for instance during the Khilafat of Ali RA, a person remarked hinting on Ali RA’s governance “We did not have so many problems during the Khilafat of Umar RA”. Hazrat Ali RA replied “During the time of Umar RA we(Sahaba) were his advisors, but now my advisors are people like you”

Democratic Quotes on today’s governance

When a man spends his own money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about how much he spends and how he spends it. When a man spends his own money to buy something for someone else, he is still very careful about how much he spends, but somewhat less what he spends it on. When a man spends someone else's money to buy something for himself, he is very careful about what he buys, but doesn't care at all how much he spends. And when a man spends someone else's money on someone else, he does't care how much he spends or what he spends it on. And that's government for you. – Milton Friedman

If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. – Milton Friedman

A Democratic Closure

We are thankful and grateful for our heritage, it is part of that heritage that nudges the lazy bones and inspires the sedated mind to think and act for a better future.

Can we do better? Perhaps the first step could be to realize that we can if we could afford a few madmen who would be relentless in their pursuit of betterment.

The  only problem is, I can’t be that madman, and yet it is my democratic right.

P.S

With prayers and well wishes to people of Egypt, hope you find a better tomorrow insha allah.

What is Management Focus

The art of Management has become a part and parcel of everyday life, be it at home, in the office or factory and in Government. In all organizations, where a group of human beings assemble for a common purpose irrespective of caste, creed, and religion, management principles come into play through the management of resources, finance and planning, priorities, policies and practice. Management is a systematic way of carrying out activities in any field of human effort. Management need to focus more on leadership skills, e.g., establishing vision and goals, communicating the vision and goals, and guiding others to accomplish them. It also assert that leadership must be more facilitative, participative and empowering in how visions and goals are established and carried out. Some people assert that this really isn't a change in the management functions, rather it's re-emphasizing certain aspects of management.

Its task is to make people capable of joint performance, to make their weaknesses irrelevant, says the Management Guru Peter Drucker. It creates harmony in working together - equilibrium in thoughts and actions, goals and achievements, plans and performance, products and markets. It resolves situations of scarcity, be they in the physical, technical or human fields, through maximum utilization with the minimum available processes to achieve the goal. Lack of management causes disorder, confusion, wastage, delay, destruction and even depression. Managing men, money and materials in the best possible way, according to circumstances and environment, is the most important and essential factor for a successful management.

Note -

The above content was provided by a person who called himself Bhattathiri, it came as a comment how ever it deserves its presence as a post itself. Thank you Mr Bhattathiri.

Some Things Important

A friends invitation ...

 Humble dwelling and heart of gold

 Food that fills stomach, and the amazing pleasure of gratitude for provisions ...

So beautiful is the moon, or is it the sun? ...

Never deny a gift, even it be a humble rose ... ( From Hadeeth )

Samsung Galaxy Tab or IPAD

To review any gadget be it Samsung Galaxy Tab or IPad is not easy, there is always a bit of bias because of constraints. So what was my constraint? i needed a compact gadget ( size of diary) that could do more than make calls or browse the web.

Let me try an illustration.

 Looks Like a diary, and compact ...

Home Screen, Android style ...

 

My Quraan, mmmmaaaaa....

And my Quraan, alhamdulilillah ...

 

Time for some notes ...

  

Easier to type this way ...

 

It has to be kept this way ...

 

Some Sketches ... ESB makes sense, this way :) ...

Lets Read ...  

 

Some pdf please ...

 Yeah you can zoom it too, not shown above

E Books ???

 Yeah this book shelf is cool ...

 Reading is nice, plus flip pages by dragging and clicking as well ...

Leave aside the size, IPad can do the same even perhaps better, but what if you want to make a video call? and not feel like taking your laptop,logging in and then make a video call? Here the galaxy tab scores, it has a front facing camera that makes video calls easier.

Picture this, you would like to go to a meeting and would you like to carry with you something that looks like a file case or a letter pad, or would you prefer taking a compact diary?

One of the problems with having a handwriting with an expiry time(not date) is, if you cant read something that you yourself has wrote after an hour of writing it, what if it was something important? a critical aspect of architecture? or a minute detail which is catastrophic if ignored ?

There is no final verdict, that is left to our creator, but my humble suggestion is, when you are planning to invest any amount into some object. Ask yourself the following question

Does it provide value to my life in this world and hereafter?

Does it provide value add to my profession?

Does it provide value to my family?

Consult, Consult, Consult, Seek divine guidance (istekharah)

Ask questions and let your heart decide, 

when you learn to read your own heart,

it will tell you when a matter is justified.

Read about office suite for Galaxy Tab Here