March 19, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Being More Productive
March 20, 2009 at 12:40 am
Woot. First In ....
I have to say Blue tooth. No cables, No running over your mouse tail and no Leads to my headphones to get in the road. I wonder just how many extra Kilomenters my hand has had to travel because I've had to skip because of jumping cables.
CodeOn
😛
March 20, 2009 at 2:41 am
Hi!
As you describe it, I would not call wireless networking an improvement.
Move my laptop from the bedroom to the basement, to the kitchen or when playing with kids... looks more like enslavement to me. Not to talk about using my computer while being on the road, while eating lunch, while driving a car, while snowboarding ... What comes next ? Take it with me when I go to the bathroom?
As far as I'm concerned, the biggest improvement, the one that really makes my life easier as a professional DBA and developer, is the availability of cheap high-capacity USB memory sticks. With them I can bring work back home or anywhere else only carrying a little something that holds in my pocket and weight almost nothing. It's far better than having to carry a laptop and all the paraphernalia that goes along.
Have a nice day!
March 20, 2009 at 3:40 am
Laptops are great - I'm sitting here using wifi at home to a citrix work login and USB sticks have been a revolution (I'm going to fix a laptop tomorrow & everything I need is on one USB stick nowadays).
However, for actually doing work the best tool is the XDA Orbit work has given me - if I wanted to it could be my MP3 player, store PDF books & all my personal docs, give me wifi access into citrix sessions but I mainly just use it as a phone (wow!) and for my emails - the best feature of which is I can do work while watching rubbish television which I know that I shouldn't be wasting my time with - so I can leave one brain cell watching television while looking very responsive for work.
March 20, 2009 at 4:03 am
A lot of the hardware that people are talking about which allows them to be more productive is dependant on one 'invention', the internet, and in particular broadband access allowing high speeds.
It is this that allows you to work from almost anywhere as if you were in the office.
with this flexibility though has come a loss of free time and higher expectations from management who know they can always reach you..........
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March 20, 2009 at 6:27 am
Steve, you say "being more productive" and I must say, I don't agree at all. I don't call that being productive when you are constantly in "another place" than the place you are physically in. Worse, I also agree (with other posters) that too many people are totally enslaved to these devices. They think they are being more productive simply because they work ALL the time. That is NOT being "more productive", that is just working way too much and sadly, missing a good deal of life, large and small, going right by you.
I think the problem with us as a technology society overall is that we invent all this so called "cool" stuff, and then we become addicted to it, and yet we never ask "Do I really need this?" - and shockingly the answer is no, we don't. Whats worse, is we don't pay much attention to the downsides...
The huge increase in car accidents caused by cell phones and texting. People working 20 hour days simply because they "can", and then burning out wondering "how'd that happen?". I see a family out and around, maybe shopping, eating out somewhere, and the parent(s) are on cell phones and blackberries either telling the kids to shutup or just ignoring them totally while they are mesmerized on their PDAs. Of course these are the people who say they spend 'quality' time with their families - uh, yeah, physically maybe - but they are miles away while they are right there.
Even Cable TV drives me crazy!!! I pay over 100 dollars every month to have over 100 channels of crap, and a dumptruck load of stupid commercials!!! So I am paying a company to bring salespeople into my home interrupting the few shows worth watching to sell me stuff I don't want... Would ANYONE call that a leap 'forward' in technology??? (That is also why I am canceling my cable TV as soon as the last child leaves the nest shortly...)
No - I think if people really look hard at things, we are rarely gaining anything with technology, and in many cases we are enslaved to it without even thinking about it and losing a good deal of what is important in life.
I would suggest to you Steve, and others, that you think about your kids (if you have them). If you are "spending time with the kids" shut off the damn gadgets. Thats what made me do so years ago, because I realized I don't want my kids to someday say "yeah, our Dad was always around, but we never actually talked to him because he was always on the cell phone, laptop or PDA..."
March 20, 2009 at 6:31 am
Caller ID.
March 20, 2009 at 6:40 am
Technology in general brings to a stage where you cant get far away from work, i personally believe on WORK - LIFE Balance, there are times when problems with my servers and services, this balance gets worse. i try my best not to use my Laptop or my PDA, on my kitchen, Bedroom. It stays at study and used only in case of extreme emergency for work.
Holidays a definitely NO NO ( until unless extreme cases)
Common guys there is a world out there apart from work 🙂
March 20, 2009 at 6:56 am
I agree...caller ID is great. I'm also throwing in faster processor speed on pcs.
March 20, 2009 at 7:07 am
Google.
Years ago, I was on a project in England synchronizing the databases of various mail systems. We encountered an undecipherable error message from a Lotus Domino server. None of us techies could figure it out.The customer had a full support contract with IBM Lotus and they were not able to help.
Finally, one of the team members who was probably the least technical of all of us opened up a Google search window and typed in the error message. Voila! The solution! Google was in its infancy in those days and I had never heard of it.
Even now, before I go to the official sites to research issues with Microsoft, SAP, or other software products, I will do a Google search.
March 20, 2009 at 7:16 am
By the definition of efficient in Merrium Webster dictionary : " effective operation as measured by a comparison of production with cost (as in energy, time, and money) (2): the ratio of the useful energy delivered by a dynamic system to the energy supplied to it"
For long long time stay in an out of this Industry, I think you use can use this definition with Wireless, High Performance computer, New Software(i.e. SQL server 2008, Oracle 11g) etc. The comparison ratio on above is not high enough to be really noticeable.
IMHO, This website(mainly this site, but they have a lots of good websites in the community) is the break through that make me or anyone do work more efficiently. Easy to find the answer, get help.
If you compare the ratio between production and cost you will agree with me.
Thank Steve and Team( I mean all participate users that try to help each other out) again.
🙂
March 20, 2009 at 7:28 am
I feel that since getting a second monitor at my workstation, I have become more productive. It is just so convenient to have multiple things open at once. I can have a my application data layer open in one monitor, a couple Management Studio windows open and tiled in the second monitor. Or when I need to remote to a server, that second monitor really comes in handy. I know I can do everything with one, but not having to min/max a window keeps me in my train of thought.
March 20, 2009 at 7:33 am
Silly as it may seem, and it's been around forever, but it's multiple monitors for me. I'm back down to two, but in just a year ago I had a desktop with two dual monitor video cards. I was running a 21" LCD widescreen in the middle flanked by two 19". I'd have email on the far left, my SQl tools in the middle and various other apps on the far right. I could be working on something, process, while that was running respond to an email, jump other and type up a procedure. It was great. Ran Ultramon so I could extend the taskbar across all three and it keeps the apps in the task bar on the monitor in which they were placed. When I had to go back to one monitor, I felt stiffled, constantly ALT-Tabbing or clicking apps to get where I needed.
And I agree with other posters on here as well. As IT people, even though the job description may not state it, people expect us to be 24/7 support. Ever since I started this new job, unless an update needs applied, my work day stops at 5:30 p.m. I don't think about the job or concern myself with what's going on. At my previous employer, it was nothing for me to get called every night of the week at 2 a.m. stating something was down and I had better get up to fix it. Or remote in and continue working when I got home. My girls are 5 and 3. I'm not about to miss them growing up so someone at the office can get that new HR form that can wait until tomorrow.
My two cents. Enjoy life folks
The distance between genius and insanity is measured only by success.
March 20, 2009 at 7:41 am
Instant Messenger and Google/Support forums have all made it easier to share information quickly. Caller ID makes it easier to avoid non-urgent calls, or to be prepared for the conversation when you answer.
One of my best productivity tools has been a set of ear protection (the kind used for running lawnmowers/chainsaws/etc). They were cheap. People usually look at me funny when I wear them, but since we're sharing cubes, it's the best way to keep out noise and concentrate. I love my iPod, but usually just quiet is what I need. And since it is obvious that I am trying to concentrate, people are usually more polite when they come to speak to me, since they don't assume I am hearing them.
The quiet and lack of distraction is what makes me more productive. I wish that quiet were more highly valued.
March 20, 2009 at 7:44 am
I definitely feel that certain technologies have made my work life easier, e.g. being able to find resources online when I need to research something; responding to people via email instead of having to stop and make a call, etc..
However, my productivity is directly related to my ability to ignore technology that interrupts my work flow - I keep email off with no pop-ups to let me know when messages come in and, when necessary, my phone is on "do not disturb". Productivity for me comes from being able to manage when and how I am reached.
Frankly, given the fact I work in a cubicle environment with phones ringing around me, multiple conversations in progress and constant movement through the halls, my best technology investment has been sound-canceling headphones.
So long as I can accomplish what I need to within my work day then my out-of-office time can be spent how I choose. Obviously, there are time when I need to work at home, but that's the exception and not the norm.
And, in defense of Steve, given the nature of his day-to-day work and managing this site, he's going to be working constantly just to keep on top of his responsibilities.
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