The 80-2- rule for time management

I happened to attend a session on Time management by one of the seniormost managers of my company “Shiv”. He is the head of a development centre, a divisional manager for two units. He is a busy man. But he says he manages to go home daily by the 5.15 bus.

When i first heard him, i thought my ears must be playing jokes with me..But no..!!! He says he leaves to home by the 5.15 bus 80% times. Only 20% times he stays back due to unavoidable works.

The golden rules he proposed to manage our time are many. They are not bullets, not agendas to be planned nor things to be avoided but simple practises which help one to manage one’s time effectively….

The first and foremost thing to be followed is to excel for 80% of the time and to provide a 20% failure buffer….That is 80% of the times you will successfully finish the work, but 20% buffer is to be there in order to manage unavoidable situations……

The example of a smoking quitter explains things……As a part of new year resolutions, many wanna quit smoking….They hold on very patiently till 4-5 days, till a friend pops out of nowhere and takes them along to smoke……They smoke out of habit and the next day onwards, they go even without the friend, or take along another person who made the same resolution……

The real failure is not the one time he smokes with his friend, but continues to do so even without his friend….He is successful in giving up smoking even if he smokes for a day in a week as 1/7 is less than 20%, which is the buffer one can allow for failures…..

Another thing he said is about unnecessary meetings, status reports, consolidated reports….

He refused to take any status reports from his subordinates unless he specifically asks them…..He says if u donot trust in the man u allot the work to, its as good as u urself doing all the work…..

The unnecessary meetings come as a very big headache, as one cannot dare enough to say one the face of one’s boss that he feels that what is going on il bullshit……He said that to his boss and opted out of the meeting…….Nothing happened…..!!!!

Consolidated reports are another thing which he avoided….The day he took over as the divisional manager, he did not send a report to one of the directors he reports to…..He got a call from the directors secratory asking about the report to be sent……He asked if the director asked for it,…..No….!!!!! Its the secratory whoz asking for it…….. He said “Let the director ask for it….Ill then send it…..” Two years since this happened, the director never bothered to ask about it…….

So a little courage to face things, you can keep 50% of your time free for yourself and in that remaining 50% he gives talks to the yourger generations in the company……

The only fact that he is still in the company after doing all these, and the company allows him to tell all these to us, means that what he says is absolutely correct and can be followed……

He openly challenged one guy in the room if he can avoid the work he thought of doing that day(which is really unnecessary) and play squash as he likes it……!!!!! The guy hung his head…..

So it takes a lot of self determination and the will to leave some things which need not be done for the sake of being done, one can manage a kings portion of one’s time to do things we like……!!!!!!

I liked his talk a lot and planning to do not all, but atleast some of what can be done as to start with……!!!!!!!

Lashkar - The wonderful book

Off late i have been a little lax in reading novels because of a little sluggishness on my part. Last week when i came across a novel Lashkar in Strand, little did i think about buying it…. Had i not bought it, i would’ve missed a wonderful feeling…..

Ever as i child i liked the commando movies where the hero’s team moved as death itself and rescued innocent people, while cutting necks without being known to eyes….Im not a violence lover but somehow liked movies which have a strike quality in them……My favourite movie in that category being “Executive Decision”..

But i always used to wonder why donot Indian film makers make such movies….Is it that Indian armed forces lack the capabilities (which my patriotic mind would ward off the idea itself) or our people do not like such stuff…..Are they always into guy after a girl and both running after trees, smooching and some stupid uncensored stuff…..!!!!!

Lashkar came in a time where i had not much of work…..I saw the cover page and the design caught attention and also made clear the theme has something to do with India-Pakistan….I read along the storyline which got me more engrossed and the next moment i fished for my card and swiped it along the clerks machine for a 200 bucks……

When i started reading, i thought that this is a good book……The backdrop being the Delhi blasts which killed many a innocent victims, made my blood to raise its temperature…..The narrative starts along with a guy who goes to pakistan for terror training and returns to india after it to create havoc…..Though the writer put a disclaimer about the strategies used, the technological prowess of the army…, such things do not come without some real happenings….

The united stand of the usually crooked political leaders, the firm decision to retariate by a peace loving and humble prime minister, the coolness of the armed forces heads all put me in awe of the way the narration was…..The novel did not emphasize on a single hero but had many which is also very gud….Else it would’ve looked like many a movie which we are bored with…..

The plot which is not explicitly mentioned by, but beautifully unfolded as the novel proceeds……We can guess for sure who are on the hit list with a little of general knowledge…..

The pace at which the novel moves keeps one glued to the pages.

So all in all its a very gud book as per me and i recomment one to read it for sure…….!!!!!!

My first Traffic Ticket…….

New year 2008 started with an incident i always avoid…… A traffic ticket……

Though i’ve been driving in Hyderabad from childhood, Chennai in college days and Bangalore too recently, I somehow managed to escape a traffic ticket till date……But my luck ran out today somehow…… Though notoriously famous for giving traffic tickets and towing away vehicles, I managed never get into the clutches of the Hyderabad traffic police….

I set to go to pay my mobile bill due in a few days to a nearby place…. I paid my bill using my credit card which saved me from much embarrassment and hard work later…..I wuz on my dad’s bike as i dropped him in the nearby temple while coming here……

Planning to take my sis a few chocolates on new year eve, i wuz thinking nothing when a cop appeared out of nowhere and asked me to pull over…….Experienced previously what cops do when they ask people to stop, i immediately stopped, locked the bike and held the key in my hand….

The cop(must be a educated guy) asked me politely to show my driving license and the vehicles registration certificate…..I took out my license and handed over it to him and started rummaging in the junk my dad kept in the box below da seat……I found a couple of his files, a pair of chappals(LOLZ) a raincoat, a tool kit and a few papers……I saw the papers…..They happened to be an expired insurance certificate, an expired Pollution under control(PUC) certificate……The RC was missing…..The first thing that came into my mind was that this was not my day…….!!!!!

The cop asked again to search leisurely as though it would pop out of nowhere……The things turned out so bad that i happened to leave my mobile at home and even my dad left both of his mobiles at home as he went to a temple…..I did not dare to call home and ask my mom as she would first shower me with the choicest of “praises” and then get worried as hell…..

In all vain i looked at the cop and said that i do not have the RC, i do not have a cell phone to call home, and that I’m helpless……..He said unless u pay the fine we’d take the bike to the PS…..That is the last thing i can let him do as bikes which go to the PS generally do not come in one piece…..So i asked him to take him to the Inspector…..

The Inspector(another gud guy as he was polite too) asked my name and my fathers name, first wrote on a ticket and then started questioning me looking at my license…… He asked the constable what the problem with my case was…..The guy repeated the above things that i do not have a RC, was holding an expired PUC and insurance certificate…….The inspector gave me a look which delivered all sort of feelings like disgust, happiness, greed etc…….

He asked me where the documents are……I explained that this was my dad’s bike and I wuz pretty much unaware how he maintained the docs…..He generally have all the originals with him so must have forgotten to place a copy in the bike…..But was unable to explain the lapsed PUC and insurance……He asked the constable if i was wearing a helmet which i always do when i drive…..The constable answered in the affirmative and so he cooled down a bit…….He then asked me what i did……I said i wuz working with “*******”…..

He must have been thinking me as a street thug or a big mafia don owing to my look……But when i uttered the name of my company his looks changed thanks to the brand image my company has…..”What is it…..???” were the words from him next…….”Its a software company…..!!!!” was my immediate reply……..He took me for a complete fool for the answer as what he meant with the question was “How can people working in respectful places be irresponsible like this…???” which later struck me and i laughed for my dumbness…….

He then showed me two sections for which i can be fined for 600 bucks……I immediately put the dumbest face i could muster and said i have only 300 bucks so please fine me anything less than that………He thought for a moment and fined me for the same 300 bucks i had in pocket and gave the receipt to me…….

I silently handed over him the cash and said THANKS……It must be the first time a person thanked him after being fined and so he gave me another “What a weirdo” look…….I even thanked the constable out of habit and left the scene immediately hoping this would not repeat again………

So this is the start of my new year with a traffic ticket which i hope would be my first and last………

A small advice to people “Always wear a helmet while driving a bike, and always put on a seat belt while driving a car…..”

So with this friends, follow the traffic rules, do not jump signals, drive safely, get home in one piece…..This is for the safety of you as well as all the people on the roads…….

Thats it for now……..

Au revoir….Bonne nuit…..

Beg….., Borrow………., Steal……!!!!!!

Beg….., Borrow……., Steal…….!!!

This is what happened today at work…..Din know it wuz such fun till playing it…..

As every weekend, we had a fun event this time @ work…….The theme as above….People were divided into groups and then started the fun…..We were given a list of 15 items and asked to get all of them as fast as we can utmost in 45 mins…Lol…People started running around…..Being a friday the list is varied as much as a pair of formal shoes, a neck tie, a fast-track watch, a parker pen(generally wid free stationery available ppl don carry such pens around), a cap, two movie tickets, a pair of gold bangles, a diamond ring, a lipstick, a payal(gosh…!!!),a brown leather belt, 3 bags having our department logo, a expired credit card, a newspaper dated in november, a couple of movie tickets and last but not the least an ID card of an employee whose number is less than 15k……being a company of 80k+ finding such ppl is not a big task but it proved da most hard as all the senior management already pledged their cards to their respective teams…….

So thus started my begging…..The first and foremost thing we got hold of wuz the old newspaper by begging the building’s security people to show us the lot of old papers…..Rummaging through it produced a paper of november..

Harini though had payals was reluctant to remove them as it wuz a friday [:(] so cant mess it up……So thus I went around the cubes begging for a payal.. :P…I happened to have a parker……..In the meantime i also stole my team mates bag even before he reached his cube and fought wid him later that in these types of situations its not ones own property but first come first serve basis…..Then started the search for a ring. Joshna my team mate luckily had a fasttrack watch and a frnd who had a diamond ring…..So off we sent her in pursuit of the diamonds which we needed more badly than a pirate would….

Pavan went out and jus like magic reappeared wid a brown belt, a tie and a cap……He got a belt and tie from his car…But the real fun wuz the cap…….he had to beg a reluctant construction worker to part with his cap for some time……And he succeeded too……Should not mention the fact that the workers hard days work reflected in the caps stature but this is not the time for beauty but brains n wits…..

Now came the lipstick…..How can any self respecting guy ask any unknown girl for a LIPSTICK……???????? This time it had been Pooja one of the organizers who came to our rescue…..she went inside and came out in a jiffy with two lipsticks…….This is the time i felt the advantage of being heavily built……I rushed past others like hell and they were too dumbstruck to stop or overtake me and thus i managed to catch hold of one of them successfully…..That was a near wrestle with one of our PM’s Gowtham who got hold of another one…

Again we set off to the cubes searching peoples feet for a pair of formal shoes……I happened to spot a very senior guy and gathered all my courage to ask him his shoes for a few minutes……..Though discouraged by some I went ahead and asked the person “Can i have your shoes for a few minutes please….!!!!”……..But even before he could comprehend what the hell it was about my team-mate shouted that he got a pair…….I quickly apologized and left the scene…….When i asked my mate where the shoes were he did not show shoes but a new pair of legs………He did not get the shoes but the owner too……Kool guy…..

Sudarshan suddenly appeared with a printout of two tickets which he booked on the spot to make the list fill……He said he booked them thru credit card…….Suddenly Pavan thought something, removed his wallet and LO, an expired credit card popped out…….By the time our Jewel theif Joshna too returned from her robbery and thus we endedshort of only two things…..A bag and a ID card which proved the hardest to procure…..

Here comes my purest act of stealing…….I saw one of my colleagues with two bags one on each shoulder trying to get into a crowd which was around the organizers……An age old trick which was used by umpteen tiny toony thieves and many film directors popped up into mah mind……..I stood beside the guy and scratched on his shoulder a bit……He turned a bit and i asked him what the time wuz and how many minutes were left still……He lifted his hand a bit to see the watch…….And told me the time…….But he forgot to lower his hand…….I slowly slipped the bag from his hand and even though others have been noticing me and trying to steal it from me, i ran like a real pickpocket out of a city bus……..And thus with my act of thievery and bravery i got the bag which got our list down to an employee id……..

My manager though had an emp number which is accepted, pledged it to her friend to use it……Their team already got all the required things and managed to convince the anchors to be the first team to complete……Then started my begging my PM for her ID……I would not have begged her even so much for an appraisal…..LOL…….But she did not budge….Saying a card once produced will not be considered for submission again……I asked about my GPM who wuz unfortunately on leave that day and lost even that opportunity……At that time my SPM came to my rescue…..He told about an employee who did not come for the event but not on leave that day…..He told me to get his card and thus complete my inventory…….I set off in search of the person called Ramkrishna…….I asked one or two but got the answer that he already left……In vain i turned back when i heard someone from the crowd shout “Therez RAMKRISHNA”……

Those words fell on me like rain on a water starved land…….And they were pointed towards a person walking past the security……I shouted his name, startled him, went to him, requested his ID card, got it, came back and presented it along with the other bounty to the anchors…………..

And LO……We were the third team to finish the hunt and thus hooted in joy………This is one of the most fun filled evenings after the party which took place two weeks back in hotel chiran fort club which i would be describing soon……..

Thats all for now guys…….Au revoir…….

Mah first blog

Ha at last……!!!

I wuz like waiting all ma life for this moment….. to blog…….

The reason i kept away from this is very silly……..i do not know what blogs were…….

People around me used to say im blogging yaar, its so kool……..!!!!! and i couldnt make the heck and hell outta it….. So following da age old golder rule or saying “Ignorance is a Bliss” ive ignored blogs till date…..

But recently i’ve found a urge within myself to write a blog after seeing a lot of my close frnz writing blogs even at work………

So this is it guys……..This is a start of an explosion of things i wanna share……the famous tag line “IDI AARAMBHAM MATRAME” (This is only da start) would best describe the flow which is gonna follow.

Au revoir…..