Sunday, March 14th, 2010
at 11:28am
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This must have been one of the best motivating videos I have ever watched.
You can get his book “The 4 Hours Work Week” as an audio book if you sign up for a free trial at audible. And the best thing is you can keep it even if you decide to cancel after the 14 days trial. Or, if you prefer you can get the dead tree version.
Thursday, March 11th, 2010
at 5:43pm
I remember seeing an add from Microsoft I believe for hiring programmers and the jist of it was “We give you an office with a door”.
Why you might wonder?
Well, it might take up to 20 minutes to refocus on the task at hand after you get distracted either by a phone call, by a coworker barging in or by a video someone posted on Facebook.
I will give you an example of a spiral I used to find myself in. I will be happily hacking at this new feature that we need to ship soon and an email notification shows up for an email that I was cc’ed in so I open the email read it and can’t remember what it was about so I end up reading the whole thread just to remember. Then I switch to my browser to see if there is anything new in my RSS reader, oh wonder if someone sent me something on Facebook. Off to Facebook I go.
An hour later I am back to visual studio and completely lost the thread to what I was doing. And that’s when bad stuff happens, bugs introduced and things get forgotten.
These are a few tips I use now to keep me focused and get the most out of my work hours.
1. Close your internet browser
As hard as it might seem, learn to open your browser only if you need it to research something related to the task you are doing.
What I like to do is to dedicate a couple hours before I start coding to research the references I need. So that when I get started it’s only coding and nothing else.
Try it for a week and see how much stuff you get done.
2. Close your mail client / instant messenger
Don’t worry, if something really urgent happens you would know about it. You don’t need to keep your mail client open at all times, and read each email as it arrives.
Think of how many emails you are CC’ed in just for the sake of it and to which you have no say in. And think of how many hours you waste opening those emails and getting distracted by them and having to refocus on what you were doing before.
Set specific times at which you read your emails. I find just before my lunch break and at the end of the day the best time. I find emails a good way to unwind :). I also end up writing better quality emails instead of the quickly I have to get back to what I was doing mess I used to send to clients.
If you don’t want to close just turn off the notification sounds and status bar alerts.
3. Unhook your phone (or put it in silent mode)
This follows on the no email theory. I ask all our clients that if something is really urgent to send me an SMS. They almost never do so I let the calls go to voice mail and I can check it later.
This tip is also good for keeping your clients happy and show your professionalism, you wonder how? Well when they leave a voice mail your already know what they want to talk about when you call them back. Say the leave the following message:
Hey Hatim, I wanted to know what’s the status of feature N° 156 and if we are still on for the system update schedule by the end of the week.
What you can do is go find out what the status of that feature, check with your team that everything is good and ready to go for the system update.
The phone conversation will take less time as you won’t have to stall them and scramble while you open your tracking application or IM the person responsible for the feature or your team to see what’s going on.
4. Buy good noise canceling headphones
I have a pair of Bose® QuietComfort® 3 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones. These are great for listening to music and also shields you from all the distractions. Coworkers talking in the hallway, the guy talking loud on his phone, … . They also work I just put them on without anything playing.
A nice plus is that they have great sound quality!
Of course you don’t have to use noise canceling heaphones they are just nice to have, regular headphones will do too, specially with some loud music!! 
5. Make small and regular breaks
When I am coding I like to have a 5 to 10 minutes break each hour and a half to 2 hours. I either go get a coffee, talk to a coworker, check voice mail, walk in the hallway. The idea is when I get away from my screen I can have a better spatial thinking and find new ideas or solutions more easily.
It’s also revigorating and gives you a mental boost when you are working.
Oh I can finish this new screen and have my break.
A great book on how to manage time is Tim Ferris’s “The 4 Hour Work Week” you can get it for free as an audio book if you sign up for a free audible trial or if you prefer you can get the dead tree version.
I hope this was helpful and would to would love to hear if you have any tricks and stratagems to keep your self focused.
Hatim
Monday, January 18th, 2010
at 4:04pm
We all have that idea (or ideas) that want to make happen, but don’t have the time or would get started on it as soon as we finish this current task, or that this time of the year is not the best time because all the stars are not aligned the way they should… If you have just the smallest bit of ambition you would probably know what I am talking about. (otherwise you suck!!)
Well I came upon this post by Seth Godin talking about how Tim Burton had a poster of all the failed projects that he was part of.
This is a guy that is behind some of the greatest movies of all time like Batman, Edward Scissorhands, you can check the whole list here http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/ but just because he does fail sometimes he should stop. NO!!
The reasoning behind this is stop postponing whatever you wanna do and do it now and stop being afraid of failure. it’s inevitable you would fail most times than not but eventually the satisfaction and the rewards from that single win would out weight all those failures.
One key element of a successful artist: ship. Get it out the door. Make things happen.
The other: fail. Fail often. Dream big and don’t make it. Not every time, anyway.
Tim got his ideas out the door, to the people who decided what to do with them. And more often than not, they shot down his ideas. That’s okay. He shipped.
So do it and move on!
Hope this was helpful.
Hatim
Monday, January 18th, 2010
at 9:09am
I love that we live in exponential times. Check it out!
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
at 2:37pm
If you haven’t heard of Google Wave yet you need to check it out. I know it’s a lengthy video but it’s really worth it!
I am normally skeptic when it comes to new technology with promises to change how we deal with everyday tasks like email, and collaboration. But I think what I saw in this video has a real chance to succeed where many have failed. It’s from the Google Maps team.. need I say more 
Check it out!
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
at 11:15am
In an effort to develop this blog and have a clearer path on what to write about, what to change and what you the readers want; I need your help.
- On a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is most likely), how likely is it that you would recommend this blog to a friend or colleague?
- How did you hear about it?
- What led you to become a subscriber, versus just reading an article and leaving like everybody else? (Or, if you’re not a subscriber, what would it take to convince you?)
- What do you hope to see here in the future?
- Do you prefer the tutorials or the lists of tips?
- Is there anything you don’t like about this blog (Design, Content, UX)?
I would really appreciate it if you take 2 minutes to give me some feedback.
TIA
Hatim
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009
at 7:04pm
I have just finished reading this excellent book by Dan Ariely. This book talks about how people tend to behave irrationally in a predictable fashion.
Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions
My favorite part was about the anchor price. The example was a subscription to a newspaper where there was 3 choices, a paper only subscription, an online subscription and a paper and online subscription.
The paper only subscription was way overpriced but we used to set a reference price for what the subscription would cost so the next choice seems reasonable. it’s irrational but predictable
Some of the questions this books answers:
Why do our headaches persist after taking a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a 50-cent aspirin?
Why does recalling the Ten Commandments reduce our tendency to lie, even when we couldn’t possibly be caught?
Why do we splurge on a lavish meal but cut coupons to save twenty-five cents on a can of soup?
Why do we go back for second helpings at the unlimited buffet, even when our stomachs are already full?
And how did we ever start spending $4.15 on a cup of coffee when, just a few years ago, we used to pay less than a dollar?