Information Overload

Help and hope for friends want to cry when they open their inbox, tear their hair out over RSS feeds and throttle the next person who asks them if they are on Twitter.

I only discovered LiB today but have enjoyed what I read. Her point in the presentation about percieved lack of time really struck a chord with me as this seems to be what I am constantly telling colleagues about new tachnology. I really feel that it is not a case of not having the time, but of not using the time well, an hour spent learning how do use an application to do a job more efficiently is a great investment. My browser has a number of neat little bits of software which help me do my job faster and slicker, I've been using Xmarks since it was Foxmarks and it is probably the most useful piece of lit I've ever installed. I like to try out all the functions of new email programmes, new sofware I'm using to check I'm performing the task in the easiest, most efficient way possible. Even something as simple as evaluating your work methods once a month so see where you can make improvements , or using keyboard shortcuts can be a boon. If you've never tried it, hold down Alt and press Tab on a PC. Takes you to another place, can't promise it's a better place, but at least you didn't have to find your mouse under a heap of paperwork.

Some of my colleagues work incredibly hard but not with maximum efficiency, they don't prioritise tasks well, they are reluctant to deligate or experiment. There is an old chestnut about Brits being the hardest working but least efficient in Europe, I think there is some truth in it. I'm in work today becuase it is my rota'd Saturday, I'm using it to catch up with library blogs; sometimes I may load data on a Saturday morning, I never use it to do my normal tasks, which frankly I spend enough time doing Monday to Friday. I can bet though that there will be some colleagues in, unpaid, beavering away madly- how are you supposed to be refreshed on Monday when you don't switch off and relax properly at the weekend? I may feel I can talk about efficiency and the benefits of working smarter rather than harder, but when it come to being refreshed after the weekend or an evening at home, legs to stand on are in short supply.

One of my aims next year is to take more time to relax. Currently, I make sure I don't take my work jhome with me but I do find if difficult to stop my self writing mental to-do lists late at night or prioritising my morning tasks on the journey in to work. I think tinkering with this aspect of my job, or rather my profession, over the weekend or of an evening is ok, but obsessing over the quotidian is unhealthy. (Note to self, stop thinking about UNIX.) Next year I'm going to try and switch off my machine and that part of my mind at 5.20, bore the missus less in the evening by talking about work.... ok, it'll be tough, but I'm sure I can find something else tedious to bore her with.

Question Time

It used to be seen as a sign of getting old, but I think I've been yelling at the TV for quite some time now. This week's QT was no exception.

I don't mind the odd celebrity thrown into the panel mix for a bit of variation: God knows if I was famous, I'd jump at the chance to be on. Clive Anderson made some decent points and he is reasonably amusing, but Kirstie Allsop? Dull, bland: a one trick pony, despite this she still managed to rile me to the point of expletives. The only time she managed to sound passionate was when she was complaining that Vince Cable's 'Mansion Tax' would do her in-laws out of £20k a year. Her in-laws bought a house for next to nothing that is now worth £2 million, they are 80 and still run their own business: boo-fuckin'-hoo. What is really worrying is that Call me Dave might actually put her in the Lords where she could do some damamge. But only on topics she is interested in, like furry kittens.

UNIX update

So UNIX and I went to some classes a few weeks ago, we used GNOME and everything seemed to work fairly well. We hung around at tea time together, chatted about what we would do at the weekend; we were getting on and all seemed well.

I took UNIX back to work and we decided to show off some of our new skills. Horror! Horror! I royally loused up. Who would have thought that omitting a simple -m would lead to a literal hour editing an error file in Word to try and extract the bib numbers.

I suppose the moral of the story could be a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, perhaps, or maybe, pride comes before a fall. I don't think there is a moral, I should just be more careful with my code and revealing my weaknesses to UNIX over tea.

The saga continues.