The Art of Failing

I have failed a lot. That made me afraid of being a failure

.

And there have been quite a few times when I have been called one. I have recently realized that my journey in life have been paved through my failures and because I have failed I am doing what I do now.

 Suddenly I have realized that failure shouldn’t be negative and depressing. It’s part of rethinking and making better decision. 

Like I started this blog when I wasn’t sure what to do career wise, I had a difficult time finding a job and I just wanted a space where I could journal all my learning’s. I honestly never thought anyone other than me would be reading it. I turned the blog into a routine which means I was writing even during my worst of struggles and that kept me sane. It was a positive energy for me when a lot of things weren’t.

If you have read about the Lizard brain, you will know we refrain ourselves from doing things that make us a success. I am not a psychologist, however I can tell you that for me sometimes it’s true. I feel the things I should be doing and then I don’t. I don’t know why. For example, I have been thinking of writing about this for more than a week and I haven’t written. I am not sure why.

 I have been trying to get back to reading and the last few purchases (of books) have been really life changing and I wanted to share it with you. But then I thought, hey why not be more satisfied with my work and try out another medium- vlogs. I would love to bring you in my life and have a face to face conversation once in a while and do I did vlog. It was an epic failure, the video was too long (around 15 minutes) and I wasn’t sure how to edit. By the way if you are curious I vlogged about my 3 top favourite books in 2016.  Anyways, I don’t think I will be putting up that video which means I will have to re-record it.

So, why this post? Its almost end of the year and I wanted to check in with you and tell you that its okay to be where you are. I hope you are happy with life, however just in case if you are struggling think what you can do to get off the struggle. What will help you get there? Don’t get too bogged down with bad days or failures. And always help someone whenever you can. 

And don’t get scared even when you fail, try to keep up with your plan and keep at it! Everyone fails.

Here’s how Mary Higgin’s turned hers and what Macolm Gladwell thinks of the art of failure 

(Pic courtesy: Pinterest)

This is How I Work- Peter Taylor

Peter Taylor is a PMO expert currently leading a Global PMO, with 200 project managers acting as custodians for nearly 5,000 projects around the world, for Kronos Inc. - a billion-dollar software organisation delivering Workforce Management Solutions.  He is also the author of the number 1 bestselling project management book ‘The Lazy Project Manager’.

In the last 4 years Peter has delivered over 200 lectures around the world in over 25 countries and has been described as ‘perhaps the most entertaining and inspiring speaker in the project management world today’. More information can be found at www.thelazyprojectmanager.com  – and through his free podcasts in iTunes.

When do you wake up every day? What’s your alarm set to? 
I don’t have a pattern since I am moving regularly between the UK and the US, plus a few other countries in between just to make it interesting, but I am a morning person so wake up easily and can adapt to whatever time zone I am in.

Tea or Coffee? 
Coffee, most definitely coffee.

Any rituals to set the tone for the day in the morning? 
I like to get ready for the day, then check emails, deal with anything urgent and then take some time to go out for, and enjoy, a coffee, before returning for the working day.

When do you feel most productive? 
Well I said I was a morning person, which I am, but creatively I develop a lot of ideas on flights and also at night so productivity happens at various times.

Where do you work? 

I am based at home and have a pleasant first floor office in my house, but I also work out of various offices and customer locations as needed – as long as I have my phone and laptop work can happen.

Three must have items in your desk 
A clean writing pad, pens and laptop – phones come next on the list – oh and a webcam (visual engagement is so much better than just audio) – I know that is more than three items but I do need them all.

What do you listen to while working? 
A wide variety of music, in fact when writing one of my books you will often find a credit to a band or singer who ‘helped’ me on the journey to completing a manuscript. I find that if I ever get stuck on a problem or in the middle of writing them something ‘heavy’ (Metallica for example) somehow frees my mind and gets me going again. That said my music library is extensive and varied so there is always something good to listen to (well I think it is good but we all have different musical tastes).

What are you reading currently?
I usually have three or more books on the go at any time, something on my Kindle, and an audio book for when I travel, and a business book (printed) for education. Right now I am about to start ‘How to Lead a Quest: a handbook for pioneering executives’ by Dr Jason Fox.

How do you organize? 
‘Productively Lazily’ since it is the mantra in my bestselling book ‘The Lazy Project Manager’. I apply the 80/20 as much as I can, focusing on what really matters, daily sorting through what is most important and most impactful and working on that first of all – it works, well it works for me. Just remember the great quote ‘Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something’ Robert Heinlein

Any hacks you prefer for work?
It is not really a hack but I do inject fun as much as possible in my work, surprising my team sometimes with some unusual activities or ideas – the ‘hack’ is to throw people off path to think more creatively and be more productive

What are your favorite gadgets?
I guess it has to be my iPhone for various business and personal uses but generally I am not a gadget person – just give me the laptop and phone and I can work

What apps can you not live without?
Because of my travel activity I use the various airline apps a lot along with my travel company app, but I do love Audible for audio books so that is probably my number one

Any new addition to your routines? 
Always open to changes, apart from the coffee part, but nothing recent

How do you recharge? 
Writing. I always find that being a little creative allows me to relax and recharge.

(Pic courtesy: Peter Taylor)

This Is How I work- Siddharta Govindaraj

 Siddharta Govindaraj is an agile transformation consultant who help leaders meet their business objectives by transforming the way their organisation delivers software. He also started Silver Stripe Software Pvt Ltd, to work further in the area of software delivery. 

He was nominated for the Brickell Key award in 2011, an award given by the Lean Software Systems Consortium for recognizing achievements in the lean-agile industry and also a Fellow of the Lean Systems Society.

When do you wake up every day? What’s your alarm set to?
Usually between 5:30 to 6:30. I don’t have an alarm. My body clock is pretty good at getting me up in this range.

Tea or Coffee? 
I drink anything. Sometimes tea, sometimes coffee (usually when I’m outside the house), sometimes oats. I recently got my hands on some Kerala cocoa and I’ve been having Xocolatl (Warning: Pure cocoa is BITTER!)
Everyone should taste this to understand just how much sugar gets added to chocolate 😊

Any rituals to set the tone for the day in the morning? 
None. I’m just not the organised type of person to make this happen.

When do you feel most productive? 
Early morning. Late night. Even afternoon. The important thing is that I need 3 hours of continuous undisturbed time. Then I get into the zone and I can go on for hours. During my college days, I once started a project at at 7pm and at around 4am, a bunch of bees decided that my tubelight was the sunrise and invaded my room.

Where do you work? 
I work at home when I’m not at a clients office.

Three must have items in your desk.
I like to use fountain pens. I keep two of them in my bag. One has black ink and a fine nib and the other has a dark green ink and a medium flex nib. Someone has recommended deep red. Hmmm...

What do you listen to while working?
Nothing. I can’t do two things at once. If I play music, I can’t maintain my concentration. But I do listen to a bunch of podcasts while driving.

What are you reading currently?
Lean Change Management by Jason Little.

I met Jason at the Lean Kanban conference in 2011. His writings on agile transformations are the best I’ve read. Highly recommended - http://www.agilecoach.ca/blog/

How do you organize?
I don’t 😲

Any hacks you prefer for work?
I maintain a personal Kanban board when I’m at a client location. I have a really bad memory, so the board is very helpful. You can see a bit of it in the picture below.

What are your favorite gadgets?
 My Nintendo 3DS. Easily the best video games in a portable format. I generally play quite a bit of video games.

What apps can you not live without?
First, the Live Tiles feature on my Windows Phone. Yes, I’m one of the five people in the world who have a Windows Phone. iPhone is too boring and Android is full of malware. The Live Tiles feature is just fantastic because it shows a ton of information on the home screen. I rarely have to open an app.

• Podcast Lounge – great podcasting app. I listen to podcasts when I’m driving alone. Why waste the drive time?
• These are the Podcasts I mostly listen to:
• Freakonomics Radio – interesting topics on a wide variety of topics
• Harvard Business Review Ideacast – interviews on latest ideas on management
• The Advanced Selling Podcast – about selling stuff 😊
• The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast – this is a podcast on board games, which I play quite a bit of

Any new addition to your routines? 
I don’t have a routine to start with 😉

How do you recharge?
Usually go for a drive, or go to the beach. We’re lucky in Chennai that we have 15 km of beach.

(Pic courtesy: Siddhartha)

This is how I work

When do you wake up every day? What’s your alarm set to?

Right now somewhere between 7.30 am-8.00 am. I try to wake up naturally, I leave the curtains open for the sunlight to stream in. 

Tea or Coffee?

Recently switched to tea. I am usually a coffee person for that first cup in the morning.

Any rituals to set the tone for the day in the morning?

Water my plants and soak up the morning sun for a couple of minutes and some days write in my gratitude journal may be a line or two.

When do you feel most productive?

I have always been a night owl, recently I am trying to make some lifestyle changes and have been trying to feel inspired in the morning. Some days mornings work for me, sometimes old habits die hard.

Where do you work?

I have my dark wood compact desk set up in the bedroom by the window, I like the natural light and the corner of the room. The desk has enough space to keep my knick knacks on and storage for files. the window sill has few plants. My desk is pic 2, of course its a partial pic of the desk. I pair it up with a light brown leather swivel big chair that's comfortable enough to nap in :)

However, sometimes I will just work out of the couch while watching TV (at night) or at the dining table if I am trying to keep my laptop out of my 2 year old's reach. 

What are you reading currently?

The last book I read was Magical Thinking by Elizabeth Gilbert and that was a week ago. Right now, nothing specific. However every night I will browse through articles or blogs or anything that inspires me. Since I am trying to make my lifestyle much more positive and inspiring, I read on heath, food and being inspired and how it affects our well being and work style. 

As for work reading it really depends, it's is mostly on Agile or management. Last book I read was Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge. 

How do you keep things organized?

I carry a notepad and pen with me all the time. I like the feel of pen and paper, so sometimes I will use the notepad, sometimes just jot things down in my phone. I also use sticky notes a lot for my to do list for the day.

Any hack you prefer for work?

When I read books, I will usually use post it notes and mark the important things or pages, so years later if I have to refer it’s just easy than having to read the whole book again.

What are your favorite gadgets?

An old DELL laptop, Mac book air and an Iphone.

What apps can you not live without?

I have reduced my times spent on apps, however once in a while I will still pop in whatsapp to catch up with my friends. Evernote. Instagram. Twitter. Pinterest. That’s it. I do have more than required apps on my phone, I have been trying to reduce my time on them and focus more on myself. So far, it’s been a positive change. It was the most difficult of changes to make to not check phone every five minutes. 

Any new addition to your routines?

I get bored very easily, so I try to change my routines once a in a while. Recently it has been trying to work out (I use the office gym) on a regular basis. I think my best when I am working out or just out a for a walk alone. I have also been trying out inspiration boards and gardening J

How do you recharge?

Mostly by reading  (book or just browsing through interesting reads over the web, sometimes just Pinterest) or watching a good movie and ordering in and if possible a mini vacation. 

This post is inspired by Lifehacker posts on the same topic. Click here to know more.

(Pic courtesy: pic 1- Pinterest. Pic 2- my desk)

10 Ways to Bring Back Productivity in your Life

1. Stop Waiting- It’s never going to be perfect time for anything. So, stop waiting to ask for a raise, to try a new project, a blog, a hobby, launch of a new idea. Start it today and the thrill and positivity of starting something new to bring in the momentum you have been waiting   
2. Create Routines- start creating routines that allow you to be positive or creative. It’s more like a mental cue that it’s your time now to be the best. Start your routine with a cup of tea or in silence or read good books whatever allows you to relax and focus. A positive happy start can be created even among difficult of times and this will allow you to work better.
3. Stop Over Communicating- You don't have to reply to every Facebook post, or whats app chats, say no from joining multiple groups that stress you out or just put them on mute. You don't have to read how successful and happy the whole world is while you trying to sort your life out. We talk so much about the right amount of communication in projects but no one says, how to limit them in your real life. You will be more happy and focused when you stop over communicating and can handle the pressure to.
4. Say No- It’s important to find yourself to be productive, so say a no to a group of friends who don’t add any value to your being, a lunch invitation when you would rather go for the walk, a drink after work or weekend brunch. Spend time where you find value, not others.
5. Create Lists- its helps when you write it down, use apps, pen and paper whatever allows you to create the list. Use lists as much as possible and it not only allows remembering items; it’s also a great feeling when you check them off.
6. Create a Positivity Diary- A notebook, diary, and scrapbook whatever suits your soul. Try writing positive thoughts, quotes, store pictures, magazine cut outs anything that makes you feel great. Sometimes during the days when things aren’t in the right place, this is a great place to revisit and out your thoughts in place.
7. Have Me Time- Always, no matter how busy you are. I try it to wrap up my day with my time. You can use it whenever you want- mornings, during lunch break, weekends.... plan it your way, read a journal you have wanted to read for a while, whip up a new dish, order some new books, be mindless and enjoy the rain. Relaxing allows you to sustain your pace of work and focus. 
8. It’s okay to Fail- Don’t focus on failing even before you start. We all have bad days even when everything was planned. Don’t think about what happens if I start a blog and no one reads, what if I take an initiative and its turned down, what if I don’t get the raise. You will be surprised at how many times; all it takes is to ask. 
   
   
9. Take Breaks- Taking breaks is always recommended it keep the focus on your work. Use the Pomodoro technique or just take breaks- go for walks, get a cup of tea, use the stairs, 30 minutes in your office gym and then get back to work. If possible plan a vacation.You will be amazed at how much more you can do when you are fresh and feeling great. 
10. Be You- If you are trying to fake it till you make it that’s great. However, always be you because no one is you and that’s your power. Don’t be afraid to ask a question, raise a point or participate in a discussion. Being you is sometimes freeing specially when its appreciated.

                        

(Picture Courtesy: Pinterest)

My Morning Routine (weekdays)

My weekday’s mornings like everyone are always structured. Mondays are different from the rest of the week because I prep a bit for the weekend for Monday mornings. I want a stress free start to the week.

• 7.30 am- wake up. By now I have probably been up twice or thrice at night, sometimes at a stretch depending on Rio. I am not a morning person; however I almost never sleep past this. Starts with getting Rio his bottle, changing diapers, hugging him and then heading to the kitchen.
• 8.00am- Coffee in hand, I put the brown rice to boil and head to clean up my bed. Rio follows me around the house and sometimes he will be busy with his toys (read cars). I come back to chop veggies and get the brown rice stir fry done- that’s my usual lunch. I have checked my phone by now- emails and whatsapp.
  
• 8.30am- Lunch is packed- brown rice stir fry with veggies, a small bowl of salad/yogurt. Breakfast is oats (masala oats) that I will start around now, sometimes with a side of eggs. Meanwhile I will also, go layout my clothes, pack my stuff, go through my office calendar. Some days if I have the time, I will go through my Happiness Diary, may be read through the old pages or sometimes scribble in a line or two.
• 9.00am- Nanny arrives. Breakfast is ready and I head to the shower. Get dressed and have breakfast. I detail out Rio’s food plans for the day and head out by 9.30
• 10.30am- I have gone through my emails and replied, had my first cup of tea and have taken the day head on.
• 11.30am- I try to walk around a little, even if that means walking over to the water cooler or around the floor or sometimes take a flight of steps to be a little more active. I check my phone app-Pacer to see my count of steps and get back to work again.

This is what most of my weekdays look like, weekends are obviously very different. What’s yours?

(Pic courtesy: Google Images)