Category: getting things done

Note taking iteration 2019

May 13th, 2019
For note taking, I optimize for 3 things
1. Being able to quickly create a document and worry about categorization later.
2. Having access to the notes on any of my 3 machines, and phone
3. Being able to find my notes later
To do this, I’ve tried the following. Evernote, Google Docs, Google Keep, One Note. Several drawbacks with all of these systems are:
1. Once the number of notes gets very high (~2,000) when trying to find records and grouping them is hard, and I have to learn the way each of the tools group notes.
2. If I wanted to add related things to the note (images, presentations), I’m at the mercy of one of these tools (whether they handle it well)
3. Finding the records again, it’s a hit or miss with these tools
I was recently inspired by the creator of Wolfram, where he creates all his artifacts right in his Unix file system, and he maintains 3 major versions of how he layout his folder structure as he learns to get better.

So, here is my new method:
1. I created a directory structure that matches my life + work. So starts with 3 directories at the high level `Personal,` , `Work` ,`To Organize`
2. I have this directory synced via Google Drive
3. When I need to take a note, I create a file in VSCode and start taking notes (mostly look like Markdown, but not 100%)
4. When I’m done, I’ll do some cleanup and maybe format it in Markdown and put it into a folder under `Personal`, `Work`, `To Organize`, I try to keep the depth of folders to be under 3
5. If I have pdf, images presentations, I add them into the folder with the notes. Each note, try to name it `0 README.md` so the file would appear first (edited)
Some other notes

I do not tag, I did that a lot in Evernote, but I find it not very useful 1-2 years later.
Lastly, I don’t know how this will work once I have 2,000 notes. I’m relying on the fact that I can use Unix search as well as VSCode search.

VSCode is optional, any text editor would work fine in this scheme.
I can also rely on Google Drive search if needed.

I’m assuming I can optimize search via many other on disk/folder searching tool
Reciprocate

May 10th, 2019
In the last few weeks, I’ve learned the power of the following

Reciprocate
- I asked a team of 6 people for help. They have commit 2 weeks of work and 5 hours of time to do face to face presentations. In return, I give them what they really want, direct access to people who can listen and help them achieve their goals.
- I help people, listen to what they are looking for, deliver what I promise quickly and with quality. They reciprocate many months later, much more than I give them with direct access, confidential information that helps me and most importantly they speaker highly of me when I’m not there.
- I contribute to groups where I’m not even asked. In return, people give me feedback whenever I asked them.
What did I learn?
- Empathy goes a very long way, putting ourselves in the shoes of others.
- Don’t say no immediately. Don’t do the easy thing and push back *every time*.
- Listen, ask clarifying questions until I hit the nail on the head, then move as quickly as possible to deliver value.
- Build trust, everything is easier after that.
What does not belong?

May 1st, 2019

Another way to think about “everything in it’s place” is to look at “What does not belong?”

You can apply this simply in organizing a drawer in your home. You can also apply this in backlog grooming at work. Out of 50 things on my plate, what doesn’t belong? What is extra that I’m working on that doesn’t advance my goal of working on the “very next most important thing for my customers?”

Next phase, “What is missing, what don’t I see?”
Skin in the game: regulation vs. being sued

April 11th, 2019

Take a company like Facebook. They leave millions of passwords in plain text, they created the news feed where dictators use the various Facebook products (Instagram, FB, Whatsapp) to spread fake propaganda, they violate our privacy repeatedly (even those of us who don’t use it, but are connected to people who do) and hijack our attention.

What would turn them around when their very business model is based on driving engagement, taking attention and stealing time?

In the book Skin In The Game – Nassim Nicholas Taleb, argues that in most cases taking a company like Facebook to court and punishing them or the threat of a massive law suite is the best route to have Facebook change their behavior. Hence it makes sense that FB founder MZ asked congress to regulate them. Once they are regulated, FB knows how to play the game of paying for lobbyist and contributing to political campaigns to get around or stay at the edge of regulation.

He argues in the book that “If you harm me, I can sue you” has worked really well in cases of pollution for example.

While many of us might have immediate negative reactions to law suites, forcing FB and it’s employees to have skin in the game, ultimately gives them a framework and the right incentives to do the right thing.
Prioritizing with difficulty x cost x quantity = value??

March 31st, 2019

Could it be that simply to calculate the value of my backlog at work? I once heard on a podcast that a simple way for a startup founder to prioritize all the product backlog in order to focus is via a spreadsheet and do hard ranking. Difficulty x cost x quantity == value? While I agree with maybe having a simple formula for value would make it easier to plan, maybe the formula could be an inverse of cost? Difficulty x quantity x 1/cost = value? I don’t really know, but it would be super interesting to be able to have a mental model for value.
Friends Don’t Let Friends’ Data Be Stolen #deleteAllFacebook (Instagram,WhatsApp)

March 27th, 2018
On March 27th, 2018, I’ve decided to remove all my accounts on the following Facebook-owned apps: Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
- Facebook.com – This is easy because I only have 1 connection.
- Instagram – This is a little harder because I use the message feature to talk to 2 people on iOS devices. So now we have to figure out how to chat from iOS devices to Android while not wanting to install yet another messaging app.
- WhatsApp – This is the most difficult but I decided to bite the bullet and move all 95 members of my badminton social group to Slack.
The people in my social group asked why I am making this move given that we really don’t have privacy anymore

Ad Driven Business Models Have The Wrong Incentives
- Their incentives are to mine our data, the people we are connected to in order to grow their reach and depth of understanding of our behaviors. I’m moving to Slack because their business model is to build a delightful product so that we will pay for it, not to sell ads. These 2 business models drive very different incentives for the employees who work there.
It’s Time, We Can Do It, #deleteFacebook
- My friends are saying they have been in Facebook for a long time now, their privacy is already lost. My argument is that this is like quiting cigarettes, just because you have been smoking for 10 years, it doesn’t mean you should continue.
Friends Don’t Let Friends’ Data Be Stolen
- Like the campaign “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk”. Being on Facebook doesn’t just expose your data to advertisers. The ‘friends’ that are connected to you also are at risk of having their data scrapped without them knowing. Even if you protect your data, if you allow any app to connect to your Facebook account, your friends’ data will be exposed as well. See how it was done to 50 million users
I Know It Is Hard
- I know it’s hard to change your habits. I know it’s hard to be FOMO. I know people will ask you to come back to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp
- I am on the other side now, I know it’s a better place.
- I also know that there are naysayers
  - Tony, you have Google, isn’t that the same thing?
    
    Yes Google knows a lot about me, I use their phone, but I’m not exposing my friends’ privacy. Google doesn’t have the same type of social network.
    
    Just because I’m using Google, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t delete Facebook
  - Tony, you have no friends on Facebook to connect to, that’s why it’s so easy.
    
    The friends I want to talk with, I see them face to face or I will call them on the phone. Or I will create a private chat room focused on talking to people I have common interests with.
    
    500+ friends on Facebook do not need to see me spam them.
    
    If they cared, they can always follow me on
    
    sfbadminton.org – I play badminton weekly with 95+ people
    
    impactfulengineer.org – I interview people and help engineers
    
    tonytam.org – I blog for my daughter and my future self
  - Oh Tony, you are are just weird!
    
    You can be weird, just like me! Why do you want to be like the other 2 billion Facebook users?
If you need support, ping me.
- More reading
  Facebook encourages short term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that are destroying society: Ex-Facebook VP of user growth
Why Do I Blog Publicly?

March 11th, 2018

(The photo is my sfbadminton.org group playing a badminton tournament at Stanford)

Why Do I Blog Publicly?

Before I answer that question. I will tell you who is the audience for my blog at tonytam.org.

Audience

I write the blog with me as the primary target audience. The reason I write is to clarify and structure my thinking. I write for my future self in 3 years, 5 year and 10 years to look back on what my thought process was today. It is both to remember what was important to me in the past and process in which I arrive at decisions.

My secondary audience is my daughter. I have been blogging for over 14 years, since March 2005 when she was 4 years old. I started capturing my thoughts and interactions with her. I want to show her future self what our life was like when she was young and how I was learning to be a single divorced father. I wish to show her my thought process as a father. To show her what kind of child she was to me. I wanted to show her how I struggled and learned as a father. How I tried very hard to care for her as my daughter and most importantly as a little human being. To show her my own vulnerabilities. To show her that it’s okay to be a faulty human being and still deserved to be loved. To show her how I made decision balancing her needs and my own needs as an individual outside of being her parent.

The third audience are the strangers on the internet, my acquaintances and my other family members who may find some of my blog posts ‘interesting’. These readers are not my primary audience. In this personal blog, I do not write for them.

Writing primarily for myself has allowed me the freedom to continue to write without worry about judgement or lack of interest.

Why Write Publicly?

So why not write in a private journal? In Evernote, Google Docs and keep my thought private? First of all WordPress allows for very rich content management and presentation. I get inspired when I can add photos to my own content. WordPress offers sorting, search by date. I can category blog posts into multiple categories and tag my content.

Still, why write in a public blog and not a private, hidden blog?

Accountability

Writing publicly make me accountable to .. myself! Having a private blog, which I also do for very private thoughts, does not help encourage me to write regularly. Publishing my blog publicly helps me keep on writing and keep on sharing.

Even though ‘strangers or my acquaintances’ are not my primary audience, they are the community that help me be accountable. This is very much like having an exercise buddy helps people get up and go to the gym.

Thank you readers!
Getting Things Done 2018 Edition

February 7th, 2018
Here are my current tools to getting things done in 2018. I optimize for capturing 100% of my brain on paper or electronic. I do not optimize for having only a single place for a task or idea.

Things that are time sensitive or urgent
- I use Google Reminders with time due dates
- I also block out chunks of time on my calendar to work on the item.
- I write this on a 3×5 index card
- I write it in my bullet journal
Longer term goals and important things like health, family, money, personal
- These are important, not urgent. I use Trello as a planning tool and kanban board to jot down all my ideas. Everything that is important to me in my life is on Trello. I have over 50 kanban boards. This includes food menus, life goals with my wife, how I want to raise my child, what my commitment is to my parents, my life goal to be a teacher of computer science, my reading list.. everything!
- I also use a physical notebook and I follow the bullet journal system. I implement a few of customized differences (which I’ll write about later)
Really long term and very important things
- I create a public WordPress blog so that I externalize my work and hold myself accountable
- I create a private WordPress blog for very private journals so I can see a time view of my thinking. This is for myself to read in 5, 10, 20 years.
For Work projects that I collaborate with someone at work
- I create a public page with tasks and I share that with my co-workers and we jointly collaborate
For private notes from 1:1
- I create a simple text file and upload to our corporate box folder and keep them private
For incoming emails that I need to take action on
- I create a set of folders for important people and prefix them from 0 to 9, follow by their names.
- I flag emails that I need to send follow ups
For meetings and action items
- I usually send the agreed upon actions items
- Or I create a ticket in our bug tracking system
- Or I create a document, whatever is appropriate
Multi-tasking
- I try to not multi-task, and instead create multiple timers (5mins, 10 mins, 15 minutes) that are task specific (Teeth cleaning 15m, news reading 5 minutes, work on my website 15 minutes, email cleaning 5 minutes)
Emails
- My goal is to respond to every email, or unsubscribe to spam emails. The goal is to drive the Inbox to zero, while never achieving it.
Browser
- I use the Taco Chrome extension to bring in Trello, gmail that I have starred so that I see a background of my daughter, with the list of things to do and one to three most important things to focus on.

Category: getting things done

Ad Driven Business Models Have The Wrong Incentives

It’s Time, We Can Do It, #deleteFacebook

Friends Don’t Let Friends’ Data Be Stolen

I Know It Is Hard

Why Do I Blog Publicly?

Audience

Why Write Publicly?

Accountability