Work and Time Management

All through my life I have been involved in doing so many things that my plate has always been full. Focus was there but complacency and realistic goal setting was missing. There is an incessant desire and insatiable hunger to master every thing I engage into. This has impacted my health, friends and family relationship at times.
For example, in my Computer Science days during college, I aspired to learn as many languages as possible. I would set huge targets of learning and mastery for myself. For example, making a operating system during operating systems class or becoming a god of computer science by learning or knowing every trick of the trade. If I finished reading one technical book then before reaching the end of first book, I tend to start thinking about the next one. May be the mix of competition, ambition and perfection drove me to limits of craziness.

In psychological terms, I was a type B personality. People who wish to do more and more in less time, who are always in "catching with the work" mode. Type B are considered anxious soul who tries to be perfectionist or put large loaf in their mouth than what they can actually chew. These people never rise beyond middle level management. Some times they are hook in the ass of their employee. However, Type B people are the strength of the organization because they are the go-getter and real implementer of things.

With the preparation of Civil Services Examination, I struggled with this habit. The syllabus was endless literally spanning everything under the sun and even beyond it whatever possible. I learned the skill to sideline unimportant things, prioritize my work. I became multi-tasker though I still prefer to do one thing at at time. Ambition and Competition factor remained but perfection was diluted slightly.

Couple of failure helped me in introspection. My subject of Psychology helped me in looking at myself and my daily activities from a neutral stand point. One thing I learned that if I waste my 10 minutes at this point then I do not need to become restless. The day and night progresses in cyclic fashion. In long term, such small interruptions are equalized and would not count as long as you remain focused.

It turned me into hardy personality. This personality type is defined by 3 C's of behavior namely commitment, control and challenge. They have very resilience attitude. The stress at work has a motivating and efficiency inducing effect on them. The insatiable hunger and incessant desire has even increased given my scholarly engagement with Psychology, Political Science and affectionate subject of Computer Science. The domain of reading and interest subjects has increased manifold. I hardly cover even 25% of material available at any point of time. This information overload has very fear-inducing paralytic effect.

Now I understand that I need to put Competition*Ambition*Perfection into the framework of time, relations, and abilities. I do not need to master every single thing. Rather I need to master the essential and spot the people who know the rest. Connect with them or at least know them. It is better to be master of one than Jack of all. Being a Jack has its own advantage and given the experience of civil services, that advantage is going to remain in some core form. But now time has come when I develop masterful skills in one particular domain.

I wish I get into Civils as IAS so that I would be able to put all my skills to productive use in one job. If that does not happen then teaching and entrepreneurship are two alternate activities where I can do justice with my talent and hard work that I have put in. Anyway Let us see which way the wind will blow. The results of Mains are awaited and would be released soon. Let us see what happens then.

Well the transformation from Type B to Hardy personality does not mean that Type B traits are all gone. There are times when I get rest-less. I look at amount of work and activities I need to finish and suddenly I get tensed about poor work management. Though it is momentary but it does happen once in a while. The good thing is I have found an easy way out. Either watch a movie and resume the work after some time or spot the most important task and forget about every single thing on the earth, Just get on the job, finish it and have a sense of accomplishment. It is easier said than done but it works. Another strategy is to write some thing or talk to some one and share your tension. I am doing the same here. Had I been at home, I would have beaten the teddy bear of my sister badly. That would have helped me in cathartic release.

Before ending, Let me tell you Type A as well. They are cool-headed guys, just like Dhoni. They stay calm. They are efficient and good at delegating the work. Thus they are good high end managers like CEO or CMD etc. This does not mean that Type A is better than Type B. They have their own drawbacks like crippling down in the event of too much work.

So the best confluence of Type A and Type B is the HARDY PERSONALITY but the tilt in the mix should be towards Type A. They are the best in the business, true entrepreneurs and energetic creative gutsy individuals. In my case tilt is towards Type B. May be when I get married, the shift may occur. Right now, lot of my work activities are like getting passport renewed or register for Kailash Mansarovar or get UGC certificate or get a bank draft. I wish I had a PA who could have taken care of this overhead. I would have concentrated better on my central activities. Anyway, enough for now. I will start a fresh day tomorrow and focus on only one thing, my entrepreneurship idea. Let the rest of the world **** in the gutter.

One thing I have noted, My titles does not reflect the true essence of my posts. May be because I tend to express myself in honest manner thus loose the track in the course. I should be more careful about this. And don't term me narcissistic for excessive use of I. Ultimately Its my blog.

Missed last night...

When I looked up at the clock, It was already past 12 so I decided to sleep instead of posting a blog entry in drowsy state of mind like the day before.

was reading about death of Lee Kuan Yew, the father of Singapore. He gave vision of Asian values and 5C's namely cash, condo, car, credit card, country club. He was credited with creation of first world oasis among the third world countries. He was considered a benevolent dictator, a rare species on the planet earth because power has a corrupting influence over mindset. May his soul rest in peace.

Anyway, my concern here is different. I read about his disappointment with India. He considered India as nation of unfulfilled aspirations and greatness. He described India as unit of 32 nations lying around British Railways.


I am anguished over his poor understanding of India as a nation. He did not account for the idea of Indianness, cultural unity in diversity and spirit of peace, non-violence and tolerance ingrained so deeply in our lifestyle. No doubt, India has not achieved its true potential, but defining India as unit of 32 nations being together due to colonial rule shows the shallow understanding of Indian history. Be it Ashoka or Gupta or Khilji and Moughal rule, a rudimentary territorial integrity comprising plain, plateau, desert and deltaic region has always existed.

A nation needs four basic ingredients namely, territory, population, army, culture. Singapore does not fulfill these criteria. I think it has outsourced its defense setup. India however is strong exception to traditional understanding which views culture as linguistic homogenity. The cultural unity for us is visible at deeper abstract level of values of peace, tolerance etc. A simple litmus test of strength and resilience of a nation could be answer to the question " whether the nation could be won over by outside army or outside culture"? In both cases, India would maintain its fabric. History stands witness to this fact. Be it Kushanas or Indo-greeks or mongols or moughal, Invaders were Indianized rather other way around. Some examples like last kushana king was named Vasudeva(Hindu name). How many times do we see a foreigner giving a local name to their kids? Definitely, it requires a deeper cultural affinity to name your kid that way.

Coming to the economic model, I believe application of Singapore model to India would be a huge mistake of misapplication. There is difference of size and agree or not size does matter. In India, we need to look at political economic and social repercussions of Singaporean dictator model. Singapore economic progress was not a threat to any one but India's economic progress ignites jealosy from neighbor Pakistan and his Pak's big brother China who carry a deceptive semblance towards India.

Anyway. Enough. There are many other reasons and argument but small screen of my phone is somewhat stress inducing. So done for the day. Will be careful to put the entry before night 12 but can not commit because some times it break the flow of work.

Xoxoxo

Not a productive day

Today I finished a long pending work of sending my RTI queries to up public service commission. I won't be able write much. My whole body is aching due to heavy exercises in evening. But to keep my pledge, posting something is essential. Tomorrow again a very very hectic day.
hav to meet Sarah
finish letter to vice chancellor IGNOU
and most importantly setup my computer for android workstation settings.

need to think hard about where am i wasting time.

Good night...

A pledge to begin with

No body can stop an idea whose time has come. After years of business and months of inertia, I have finally decided to begin blogging on a regular basis.


Initially I intend to keep it simple, limiting its domain to day to day experience but gradually I would love to move on to serious political economic cultural discussions. I realise if I do not begin now, I would be wasting the knowledge which I have earned over the years.


Last few years have been very fulfilling in terms of learning. Though results have not been favorable but the phase of UPSC turned out to be a true test of my attitudinal strength and character. I feel happy that I survived this onslaught.


Many people express their sympathies on my continuous failed attempts at civil services. Some of my friend feel sorry for me for my decision to choose Civil Services over Computer Science. I express my gratitude to all these well wishers who wonder 'How could I be happy in the present situation'? However, if I were to live my life again then again I would make the same choice.

Your comments and feedback would be truly motivating for me. I request to whoever read my blogs to provide me feedback. It could be anything a word of appreciation or criticism, correction in grammar or a alternate perspective on social political issues.

signing off for the day. The pursuit has begun. :)

Sachin’s Autobiography: Playing It My Way (My Review)

I remember reading one of the placard during Sachin’s batting which reads “Commit all your sins now because god is not watching. God has gone to see Sachin bat”. The day Sachin make a hundred, anyone you meet in India would be much more pleasant in their conversation than a routine day. The retirement of Sachin marks an end of an era and in Sachin’s words this book was the next logical step.

The Book is written by Boria Mazumdar. The details will make you live all those years which we have grown up watching. The book is a happy account of all the high’s and low’s of Sachin’s career. It gives an insight into Sachin’s character. The book tells about the rise of a champion and the amount of mental and physical effort invested in remaining a champion throughout his career

The journey began as a street cricketer. Cricket came to Sachin by chance. The initial contribution of his brother Ajit Tendulkar, and Coach Ramakant Archrekar gave him technique. The teachings from his father that “He would be happier if people hear that Sachin is nice human being than hearing Sachin is good cricketer” helped him becoming the true and humble person he is. His ethical character was displayed when he denied endorsing tobacco advertisement and played without a sticker during world cup tournaments.

The start against Pakistan’s trio of Wasim, Waqar and Imran and the 28 runs fetched against Abdul Quadir under hostile conditions marked the beginning of his career. Every match was preceded with careful planning and meticulous effort at net. Even to his last day, Sachin was one of the first to come on net and one of the last to leave. Sachin’s passion for the game is reflected from the incidents when he had to play with diapers because he did not want to miss a game. The sleeplessness and anxiety was common on the nights of big game matches. Over the years, he has played with fractured thumb, fever and at times with severe pain because he wanted India to win.

The book tells about his high points of NatWest series, 96 world cup, Titan cup, Sharjah back to back innings against Australia, World cup 2011 win and many other events of his career. However, he also talks about the frustrating series of losses during his tenure of captaincy, and large number of injuries that occurred to him from time to time. The recovery from series of injuries of tennis elbow or golfer elbow or hamstring shows his determination. From his book we can see that it is not his technique rather his passion and commitment for game that sets him apart from others.

He has also talked about his affair with Anjali and how Anjali came to his house posing as a TV reporter. In Anjali, he found his greatest partner. He also mentioned his long list of friends who were with him during all high’s and low’s. NRI Indians who arranged for Indian foods on the Christmas Eve in New Zealand or people in Yorkshire who taught him how to make salad bowl when he was living with Kambali, Nitin Paranjape and others. He was bearing all the expenses as he was the only earning member among the four. Book also talks about his love for Cars, Food and Music.

Sachin has also described some of the funny incidents and dressing room gossips which are not public otherwise. The rule of not changing the seats in dressing room during nail-biting matches shows the superstitious side of him. Sachin always made four visits Shivaji park temple, coach Archrekar, his Uncle-Aunt and SiddhiVinayak temple before any big series.

The book does not talk about technical details of the cricket however it provides some tips for a keen reader. Sachin always made meticulous plan for his opponent. For example, he undid Shane Warne extra drift by playing from leg stump and playing the ball as late as possible so that ball remains in his vision. He dealt with the deadly bouncers by widening the gap between his legs thus taking advantage of his shorter height. The match summary is interlaced with occasional discussion on some technical aspect but it is far from any detailed technical discussion.

However, the chapter on twenty-twenty cricket gives the good comparison of three forms of cricket namely test, one-day and 20-20. It gives a player’s perspective on the profound impact of 20-20 on Indian cricket. He justifies his decision of not playing international twenty-twenty.

Most of us have grown up thinking that Sachin is batting machine. However Sachin had his fair share of failure. Though he was much loved but there were times when he faced severe criticism and people even advised him to sit in front of mirror and contemplate retirement. However, as a true champion Sachin played his cricket in his own way. He recovered from the injuries in lesser then expected time frame, pushed himself hard and adapted his techniques as per the changing times. The book is compendium of all the struggle and corresponding fight back which make him true champion of the game.

However, at times it seems more like chronological listing of the Sachin’s cricketing career which is already present in scattered form all over the internet. In a typical Sachin style, it conveniently bypasses all the controversial issues like match fixing or selection biases. It talks about so-called monkey-gate scandal and ball tempering issue but overall the book is sober in listing the details. The details to his personal life are limited.

To sum it up, book is little more than plain listing of the chronological details but less than the possible masala of Indian cricket. The journey from teachings by his father to farewell speech at Wankhede is travelled in the book without sensationalism and is devoid of controversy. The book is not for people who are looking at the technical aspect of Sachin’s batting prowess rather it is good for those who wish to know more about Sachin’s personal life.

The sublimity of administration consists in knowing the proper degree of power that should be exerted on different occasions.

Structure:
What is Administration all about?
Notion of power and Importance of power in administration
Different situations and corresponding degree of power in the system

Administration is the task of the management of various human, capital, technological, knowledge and material resources in a co-ordinated manner to achieve a certain goal. The co-ordination among various resources may require the use of power to bring them onto same page.

Power in the administration assumes various forms. For instance it could be physically coercive power to ensure access to some material resources required for the task. Or it could be mentally-coercive power to influence the decision making and thought processes of various actors involved in the task.

The administrators’ work at the grass-root level in real life settings where they have to deal with the whim and fancies of human nature. Thus different situation and different individuals require different kind of treatment to fall in line to get the work done. An administrator has to use all the tools available in the basket to influence the stakeholder involved in the task. Some may agree to the rational argument while other understands the money. Some incorrigible ones may have to be punished to get the work done. Thus an able administrator is well trained in utilising the Kautilyan lever of sama-dama-danda-bheda to get the job done.

Various able administrators had devised their own tricks and techniques to deal with sub-ordinate, collegues and superiors. For example some follow the policy of carrot and stick. Chinese Leader Deng Xiaoping followed policy of speaking in the soft voice and carrying a big stick. Similarly modern administrators gauge the psychological profile of their subordinates. Maslow has described the different sources of motivation in his work-motivation theory. Some members of the team are motivated by esteem-enhancement while others are motivated to work due to monetary incentives. Some are forced to work due to fear of punishment or job loss.

The sublimity of administrator lies in gauging the need factor and motivational factor of the team members and other stakeholder involved and bring the best out of them by manipulating the lever of power.

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Thanks
Suarabh