Thursday, June 28, 2012

Successful person acts on these beliefs

Time doesn't fill me. I fill time.
The average person who is given two hours to complete a task will intuitively adjust his effort so it actually takes two hours.
Forget project deadlines, at least as a way to manage your activity. Tasks should only take as long as they need to take. Do everything as quickly and effectively as you can. Then use your "free" time to get other things done. Average people allow time to enforce its will on them; extraordinary people impose their will on their time.

The people around me are the people I chose.
Some of employees drive you nuts. Some of your friends are selfish. You chose them. If the people around you make you unhappy it's not their fault. It's your fault. They're in your life because you drew them to you--and you let them remain. Think about the type of people you want to work with. Hardworking people want to work with hardworking people. Remarkable employees want to work for remarkable bosses. Successful people are naturally drawn to successful people.

Experience is irrelevant. Accomplishments are everything.
You have "10 years in the IT industry." Nobody cares how long you've been doing what you do. Years of service indicate nothing. All that matters is what you've done.
Successful people don't need to describe themselves using hyperbolic adjectives like passionate, innovative, driven, etc. They can just describe, in a humble way, what they've done.

Failure is something I accomplish; it doesn't just happen to me.
Ask people why they have been successful. Their answers will be filled with personal pronouns: I, me, and the sometimes too occasional we.
Ask them why they failed. Most will says, "My project was too boring and demanding" instead of, "I did not cope up with the expectation of project."
Occasionally something completely outside your control will cause you to fail. Every successful person has failed, numerous times. Most of them have failed a lot more often than you. That's why they're successful now.

Volunteers always win.
Whenever you raise your hand you wind up being asked to do more. Doing more is an opportunity: to learn, to impress, to gain skills, to build new relationships--to do something more than you would otherwise been able to do.
Remarkably successful people sprint forward.

As long as I'm paid well, it's all good.
Your customers want you to deliver outside your normal territory? If they'll pay you for it, fine. They want you to add services you don't normally include? If they'll pay you for it, fine. The customer wants you to perform some relatively manual labor and you're a high-tech shop? Shut up, roll 'em up, do the work, and get paid.
Only do what you want to do and you might build an okay business. Be willing to do what customers want you to do and you can build a successful business. Be willing to do even more and you can build a remarkable business.

The extra mile is a vast, unpopulated wasteland.
Everyone says they go the extra mile. Almost no one actually does. Most people who go there think, "Wait... no one else is here... why am I doing this?" and leave, never to return. That's why the extra mile is such a lonely place. That's also why the extra mile is a place filled with opportunities.
Be early. Leave on time late. Make the extra phone call. Send the extra email. Do the extra research. Help a customer going one step ahead.
Every time you do something, think of one extra thing you can do--especially if other people aren't doing that one thing. Sure, it's hard.
But that's what will make you different.
And over time, that's what will make you incredibly successful.

Thanks for your time, if you have made till here.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Working in rotational shifts


Working at night/irregular shifts can keep us from getting the regular snooze time that most daytime workers take for granted.
The body likes to operate on a routine schedule. The body likes to know what to expect in terms of production of certain hormones, When we expose ourselves to sunlight at some times during the week, but not others -- when we're sleeping at nighttime some nights and then during daytime at others -- the body has difficulty knowing what to anticipate and when to produce those transmitters and neurochemicals for sleep and digestion and proper functioning of the human body.
The hallmarks of shift work sleep disorder are excessive sleepiness during night work and insomnia when we try to sleep during the daytime. Significantly suffers from headaches, lack of energy and trouble concentrating.

Following are few tips (which you must have implemented in your daily routine to accommodate yourself for rotational shifts), but I would like to reiterate:
a)      Try not to work a number of night shifts in a row. We may become increasingly more sleep-deprived over several nights on the job. We're more likely to recover if we can limit night shifts and schedule days off in between.
b)      Avoid frequently rotating shifts. Rotation should like from day shift to evening to night rather than the reverse order.
c)       We should try to avoid long commutes that take time away from sleeping, (which is not possible in some of our cases)
d)      Limit caffeine. Drinking a cup of coffee at the beginning of your shift will help promote alertness. But don't consume caffeine later in the shift or we may have trouble falling asleep when get home.
e)      Avoid bright light on the way home from work, which will make it easier for us to fall asleep once hit the pillow. Wear dark, wraparound sunglasses and a hat to shield ourselves from sunlight.
f)       Don't stop to run errands, tempting as that may be.
g)      Stick to a regular sleep-wake schedule as much as you can.
Use blackout blinds or heavy curtains to block sunlight when you sleep during the day.

Friday, June 8, 2012

Hey, Its Friday Again

Weekend plans must be ready in your mind by this time. We all really EAGERLY wait for weekends, Aren’t we? But today I would talk on balancing our 7 days’ life and 5 days’ work life.

Some people have the misconception that their life starts when they leave the office. It's okay if they are miserable for eight hours a day; work-life balance is finding something cool that makes them happy right when they get home or on the weekends. I would say, big encouragement is work, that is a huge part of our lives. It's five of the seven days of the week. So don't wait until you get home or until the weekend to find some balance in the day or to structure the day in a way that's going to be sustainable in the long term.

Work-life balance is much more fluid ... It's always changing, it's always evolving, and it's different on any given day. What can you do in a given day to make it your own? Instead of hitting snooze, running to work, feeling buried by email, getting stressed out, going home, how can you take proactive steps to make the day yours? For me, it might be playing with my kid or reading the motivational stories in the leisure time, [or] surf on internet.

Every day we are challenged in our office job for setting up goals and learning new technologies, The bigger the goal, the louder the sabotages and critics. So the more exciting and thrilling something is, the more we tend to hear that rush of voices saying things like, "You're not good enough, You're not smart enough." ... A lot of times, people have a big goal somewhere in the back of their mind, but it's so big that it's scary. So they kind of tiptoe around it, they're a little afraid to say it out loud, and admit that this is actually a goal. For some people, it's about addressing any meeting, building a support network, or learning new programming language, it might be taking an around-the-world trip ... Saying it out loud is the scariest part. From there, and taking baby steps ... I just want to encourage —you don't have to wait 10 or 15 years to start doing something that's important to you.

I have simple theory which will make our office hours more happier than ever. [Don't overlook] the power of informal interviews. ... [Start by] reaching out to people you admire and asking to sit down with them for a 30-minute coffee or lunch. ... [It's] a great way to learn more, expand network, and pursue big goals. So often, people want to pay it forward ... Don't be afraid to ask someone for their time. The worst they can say is no, and I've found that nine times out of 10, the answer is yes.

Be proactive about your own development. Don't wait for a manager to tell you how to improve or what areas to focus on ... Part of being at the entry level is learning how to navigate ambiguity.

"Career in the age of the apps" Instead of thinking of our careers like a ladder and trying to go straight up to the top to some point in the sky, really think of our careers like a smartphone. Our upbringing and our education is our basic operating system on the phone. And instead of thinking about big ladder rungs and big leaps, think about your career as a series of little apps. Skills and experiences that you can download to make your phone work for you. There's no phone competition, [and] it doesn't matter what phone your friends have. Some of the apps will be fun, some of the apps will be side projects and passions, some of the apps will be skills you're learning on the job.

We're in a time right now where career is much more fluid than it's ever been. Instead of just having a day job, a lot of people have their day job, and they're downloading all these apps on the side. It's really empowering when we realize, just like a phone, your career is truly in your hands.

Have a great weekend!!!