Saturday, September 16, 2006
Plenty going on in Sokyville
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity in my world. From several new projects to some old ones spinning up, I've had an extraordinary amount of things to do. I'm keeping up okay but no matter what, something is put off to make space for something else.
Enter the priority list!
I've been to a number of different training classes on how to establish "good habits to be a highly effective person", even received private executive coaching that reinforced this training, it seems however when I need to use the list the most is when I don't have time to make the list. Interestingly enough, not taking the time to think through the task list actually costs me time.
One of the methods I've learned was using a four zone list. I think it came from Franklin Planner school even before it was Franklin-Covey. Basically, you break down all your tasks into four categories. Urgent, Important, not urgent, not important. Oh, you can spend too much time analyzing the items on this list and for committees to help choose the right zone and level of importance, that's for sure. I have found however that just following the passion of the moment or lubing the squeaky wheel does little for a productive day.
I've simplified the process!! I just write all of the items down as I think of them, check them off one by one and then the next day, try to order the list according to importance. This is faster to me and takes less "analysis" than the PhD methods I've learned over the years. In the end, listing the items is important, completing the items are even more important.
As a programmer, I find that I am drawn in a number of directions at the same time. As I am working on a project, new ideas pop up or "cool" features come to mind and I find myself distracted by the "cool" while allowing the boring to be sacrificed.
So here I sit, writing about the importance of priorities while stealing time from what I could be working on. Well, my blog is important and the fact I haven't posted makes it urgent too. Besides, it 04:00 on Saturday morning, I can spare 10 minutes to share.
I've written about this quite a few times, but as I become distracted by the loudest needs of my small business, the quiet ones that will hurt me the most go unattended to. All small business people are faced with this I am sure, the successful ones find ways to overcome these distractions and focus on what's important.
Okay, now for a brief update on the goings on in Sokyville.
The progress on the business portal has been handicapped by the server upgrades. It would appear that most of the hardware upgrades went without a glitch but the migration of the settings has caused some issues. The main server from which the site will be served has had a number of memory bleed issues that prevent a confident deployment of the site. However, even the core layout has yet to be chosen and I am tragically behind schedule. I had a number of features I wanted for the first release but have decided to go with the basic site and then add features on a regular basis.
My custom "core site" development has been coming along nicely. I've not written too much about it here, simply put, I've been developing a site management tool that makes my customer websites work very well and provide a number of useful tools and features for my clients. It is one of those back end things that get little fan fare, but it is what happens back there that makes the web work.
Super Blog (still trying to come up with a good name), this is actually part of the core site work but an important part of the project. In a nut shell, I've grown somewhat frustrated with Blogger and the limited tools for organizing topics and managing my posts. I've been 'toying' with this for about 2 years now and have made great progress in the last few weeks. While a blog is a blog, this application is closer to a content management system than a blog in that it provides tools for creating, organizing and publishing web pages within the core or master website.
Another reason the super blog is important is the creation and a brand new website and "brand" for wife and I. Many of you know that we sold our half of the travel agency two months ago and truly had no intent to re-enter that market for at least a few years. September 9th, I made the decision to create a new website for travel that will offer news, articles, advice and information about travel. You can find it at www.CarriedAwayVacations.com and read a little about the concept and motive at www.davidfrancis.org/travel. We already have a local celebrity writer.
My plans for a political website (www.StumpSeason.com) has been put on the back burner for this "season." I need to increase my business revenue as well as my research staff before I could create the site that met my vision. It would have been a huge distraction that I could not afford this year.
My internal network at the office... frikin frakin frustrations... I've been arm wrestling with the operating system and the network since I received it and I'm still not happy with the set up. The plan was to get that server online and then wipe my development computer clean for a fresh install of all my software. Between fears of loosing important information and the two computers not talking to each other, this has been a frustrating diversion that I revisit once in a while.
This just scratches the surface!!! As you can see, I have a lot going on here at the office and is why I'm not "out and about" as usual. I am going to Land Between the Lakes tomorrow to celebrate Carrie's 23rd(again) birthday. Bear with me, as all of this comes together, I will be able to hire some help and get some of my freedom back.
If you're still reading, thank you! I will get back on topic here once I have a few of the above issues ironed out.
