Speaking at HostingCon 2012 - Time Management for IT Organizations

Proud to announce, I will be speaking at HostingCon 2012 in Boston, MA on July 18th.  The venue for HostingCon is about the hosted services industry.  Click on the image to follow.  My topic is below...

Time Management for IT Organizations

Is your time system moving you closer to or further from your goals? How important is time management? Time is money after all, isn’t it? At the onset of a project, most managers set out their goals and objectives along a timeline. Once goals are set, the question then becomes what systems do you have in place to achieve them? With the proper focus, organizations can improve their use of time and be more efficient. I'll look at Collaborative Tools and Methods to work together as a team and make your organization more effective.

Re-Posted TAxi Email... Good Read... Tis Better to Give than Get

While this isn't directly associated with time management, it is all about time and what you do with it.  That being said, I have received this email a couple of times over (thanks Dad). I always read it and appreciate it's message. In today's social media format with exponential reach, I thought this was better suited to be placed as a post to be shared, instead of an email to be deleted, forwarded, or forgotten... Enjoy and Share, maybe it will make someone's day better...:

Subject: Taxi
I arrived at the address and honked the horn. 
After waiting a few minutes I honked again.

Since this was going to be my last ride of my shift I thought about just driving away, but instead I put the car in park and walked up to the door and knocked.. 'Just a minute', answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90's stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940's movie. By her side was a small nylon 
suitcase. 

The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard 
box filled with photos and glassware. 'Would you carry my bag out to the car?' she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. 'It's nothing', I told her.. 'I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.'

'Oh, you're such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, 'Could you drive through downtown?' 'It's not the shortest way,' I answered quickly..'Oh, I don't mind,' she said. 'I'm in no hurry. I'm on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. 'I don't have any family left,' she continued in a soft voice..'The doctor says I don't have very long.' I quietly reached over and shut off the meter. 'What route would you like me to take?' I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator. We drove through the 
neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she'd ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing. As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, 'I'm tired. Let’s go now'.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair. 'How much do I owe you?' She asked, reaching into her purse.
'Nothing,' I said. 'You have to make a living,' she answered. 'There are other passengers,' I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. 'You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,' she said.'Thank you.' I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.. 

Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.. I didn't pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift? What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?
On a quick review, I don't think that I have done anything more important in my life.
We're conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great 
moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY 
WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID ~BUT~THEY WILL 
ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.

Using Colors to make your Calendar more efficient

I have worked with multiple calendars over the years and the one thing that gets very difficult to manage is over crowding in my calendar view.  Those of us with "normal" lives will be overwhelmed by all of the things that make their ways to our calendar.  When  you add Kids to the mix it's almost impossible to not get overwhelmed.  So,  When I'm managing projects and my life, I find it extremely helpful to use colors in my calendar and I think it will help you too.  

It has been proven that the human brain works much faster when dealing with images and colors versus the written word.  So let's do two things in your calendar to take advantage of our brain's natural ability to process vistual stimulas.

Define your colors by Categories:

When you're ready to assign colors to items in a calendar start thinking about how you organize your life.  Then start thinking from the perspective of how you want to view things.  How should things pop out to you visually based on similar colors.  Just like you do in creating metrics for projects or reports for applications.  Think about what you want your end result to look like when assiging details to the items that go into that result.

So as an example if I have a weekly status meeting that is in regards to a particular project I would think about using the same color for all of the meetings or items that are associated to that project

In the same sense I will look at recurring items vs. One off items with different shades as well.

So if I select a darker color for particular project, then within that I might use a lighter shade of that same color to represent one off (non recurring item)  Depending upon your preferences, which is easier to read and stands out better.  Thsi will help you  in a weekly view to see which schedule is not usually in your calendar and where your focus is being applied.

In the below example you can see that I've chosen darker colors for my one of meetings and lighter colors for my recurring meetings.  *note that this is Outlook view, you can do the same thing in Google Calendar as well as most calendar applications.  You can rename any color category to your liking...

Now the reason I chose a darker color for one off vs. stand alone items is they stand out more.  So the lighter shade represents something that is on a recurring basis the darker colors something to pop to make me remember that I need to do that is not something that's on my regular schedule.  This has nothing to do with reminder pop ups and such, just a visual way to view my calendar.

Assign your Categories to your appt's:

Now that you have decided on your color scheme you can assign colors to your individual and recurring calendar items...

Once that is done, your calendar will start to look like this:

On a personal note, I do the same thing with my kids. Each get's their own color and shade according to child and activity (or sport) ... :)

vs:

I hope this helps you with your productivity and the organization of your Calendar.  Until Next time...

This Blog is also posted on the PlanNet site: www.plannet.net