Maximizing My Individual Productivity Picking My Own Path by Jack Krupansky When you're a one-person business you need all the productivity you can get. Some of the techniques for improving productivity in large organizations are appropriate, but many of them won't deliver the productivity gains a lone entrepreneur needs to do the work of twenty people. My efforts are divided into two areas: development and marketing of my software products and consulting. Both share many of the same issues and are amenable to many of the same approaches. I have developed a multimedia authoring tool for corporate training for my current consulting client. I do all of their software development and I still only work half time. When I look at all that I do I estimate that it would take a "normal" team of about ten people to accomplish the same thing (including management.) Maximal productivity is the key. Mental Energy For me, my most valuable resource is my mental energy. It's the total amount of attention that I can give to all tasks. Though limited, I do have control over how it is allocated to specific tasks. I can't really add to it, but I can "buy" it back by being careful about deciding to which tasks I am going to commit that energy. I'm always on the lookout for tasks that are consuming too much of my energy compared to their benefit to my business. Managing vs. Doing a Task It's easy to forget that for every task there is a certain amount of management overhead involved with decision-making, planning, supervising, and reviewing the task. In a big company there are extra people to do that. For the lone entrepreneur, that management effort is really a chunk of your mental energy. It may be a small chunk and you may not even consciously realize it, but it's probably more than you think. A lot of time can be spent evaluating alternatives for a given task. You can even spend more time evaluating approaches than actually performing the task. Sometimes it's easier just to pick a potentially sub-optimal approach and go with it so you can get the total task (actual work plus management overhead) done with less effort. Eliminate Rather Than Optimize It's real easy to get sucked into going for 10% gains, 50% gains, and even order of magnitude gains in productivity. It all sounds so appealing. But frequently there is another alternative and that is to totally eliminate tasks. Then you get 100% of the time back. But you also get back a bonus chunk of your mental energy since you no longer need to worry about or manage that task. Simplify Your Product A good way to eliminate tasks is to eliminate or simplify the features in your product. Be a lot more brutal about trying to keep your product as simple as possible. Each feature you eliminate means less design, less coding, less debugging, less testing, less documentation, and less customer support. Try to minimize the number of platforms or environments that your product supports. I've had opportunities to port my products to the Macintosh and UNIX, but I'm glad I didn't. I have my hands full supporting Windows, Windows NT, and Windows 95. Engines vs. User Interface The complexity of dealing with graphical user interfaces makes it attractive to focus on raw underlying code that is driven more by algorithms and data structures rather than the incredibly baroque details needed to work with most user interface tools and libraries. Windows 95 just upped the ante considerably. All the effort in the user interface frequently has less impact on the user than the raw application functions that you're offering the user. Ultimately, if component-oriented software really takes off then the underlying code is where most of the entrepreneurial opportunities will lie for us hard-core techies. Partial Planning A "professional" in a big company will spend far too much time doing excruciatingly detailed planning. That can be appropriate when your resources are deployed in a strict hierarchical manner and people need to be able to depend on other people doing their tasks as specified at the specified time. But if your resource allocation is flexible you can get away with far less upfront planning and "empower" the resources to optimize as they go. As a lone entrepreneur you have the flexibility to optimize to the extreme. Flexible Planning Normal planning was great difficulty dealing with the unknown. But if you plan around the unknown you can achieve much higher productivity. One technique is to say "when I get that point P I'll decide whether it makes more sense to proceed down path p' or path p''." That's tough to do with hierarchically deployed resources. But for a one-person show you can dramatically increase your total productivity and successfully deal with unforeseen disasters such as new competitors and changes in technologies and suppliers. Tentative Decisions I don't think of any of my decisions as being carved in stone. I have the flexibility to reverse and change course at will. That doesn't mean that I change direction continuously or in a frivolous manner. It just means that I have the flexibility when I really need it. Rather than agonizing over each decision, I do a quick assessment and make a preliminary decision. I then start to move forward based on that decision. If my decision was wrong then I usually quickly run into issues. At that point I review both the new issues and the previous decision and decide either to retain the decision and resolve the issues or go back and revise the decision and try again. The goal is to make small investments (i.e., bets) quickly and quickly adjust my planning based on real information gleaned from actual experience rather than spend large amounts of energy trying to conceptualize all of the pros and cons of each alternative. Stay Focused Most of my lost productivity can be traced to losing focus and letting secondary issues cloud my judgment. I only get back my productivity when I restore my focus to my end goals and the immediate goal that I have set my sights on. My productivity is best when I merely make a note of issues that come up and add them to a list of things to review "later." Poke Around in the Dark Corners Despite my emphasis on staying focused, it is also essential to periodically take a little time to look for details you may have missed. For Windows programmers like me, I sometimes like to reread parts of the manuals for little tidbits that I overlooked on first reading. Or play with the tools a little to see if some incredibly useful feature may be hidden under some obscure menu. Just because I find something does not mean that I attach any priority to it or give it any immediate attention. The real goal is to be able to gain as much useful information as possible over the life of the project so that I've got raw material to work with as issues come up. Easy on the Fancy Tools Tools are supposed to make your life simpler. But sometimes they take on a life of their own. In big company projects it is not uncommon for a significant fraction of an individual or even entire groups of individuals to be dedicated to dealing with tool issues. I can't afford to do that. I try to stay with the simplest tools that get the job done. For example, for source code management I just make a complete copy of the project directory hierarchy. Disk space is cheap and plentiful. When I was working on big company projects, everyone was always running around trying to scrounge disk space. A key purpose of source control is to manage multiple people working on the same project. Do it as a single-person project and that problem goes away completely. A Few Simple Custom Tools I frequently develop very small, custom, special-purpose tools to attack specific problems. These tools can greatly reduce the dogwork without adding much to what I need to learn and keep in my head. Simplicity is the key. Your Brain as a Tool It's amazing how we take our brains for granted. It is a tool and can be used both productively and unproductively under our control. Simply being a bit more picky about what tasks to apply your brain to and you can get back enormous amounts of mental energy. You decide whether to spend time (and money and energy) working with a marketing consultant or the Internet. Or don't decide and use your time and energy for other tasks. Tools have limits and so does your brain. Applying your brain beyond its limits is just as bad as misusing any tool. But don't be afraid to push it to its limits and beyond to see what happens. You'll learn something and be to apply that knowledge to future tasks. Paper and Pen Next to my brain, paper and pen are my most used and useful tools. Mostly I use paper to augment my brain. Sometimes it just extends my short-term memory. Sometimes it helps me visualize structure. Sometimes it helps me crystallize some nebulous ideas so that as they see the light of day I can finally decide whether they make the grade. I do use the computer to compose lots of documents, but my basic creative design is mostly scratched on paper. It's easier than with the computer. 15-minute Review I try to spend the first 15-minutes of every work-day reviewing where I am and what to do. During the day I'm focused on completing tasks and avoid thinking about the big picture. But during that early-morning review I look at both the list of immediate tasks and my long-term goals and ruminate about how the two mesh or collide. It's not a big chunk of time or energy, but it gives me a lot of needed perspective and kind of an energy boost. This is not an administrative task or a pep talk to myself, but a simple reality check. I guess I'm most comfortable and productive when I know how things really are and where I stand. Anticipation One of the benefits of the 15-minute review is to try to anticipate potential problems before they come into existence. I try not to go overboard and worry about every conceivable problem. It's enough to just be aware that the problems may be coming so I'm not surprised when they do arrive. I pick and choose which ones I want to take care of in the short term. Anticipation is essential with consulting work. Frequently the client doesn't have a good understanding of how to do something or what problems might occur with certain approaches. They don't even know enough to ask. They can also get really annoyed if you bring up too many problems and try to force them to make too many decisions. The best you can do is gently guide them and possibly just insist that certain seemingly complex approaches are needed to allow room for future expansion and changes in direction. Simmering on the Back Burner Another part of my daily review is to briefly consider ideas and problems before placing them on the back burner. They don't just sit there. They simmer and I stir them up. Then every once in a while it seems that an idea is "done" and ready to be attacked with vigor. This provides excellent opportunities for elegant solutions to be developed gradually over time. Too often in big companies the back burner is synonymous with no attention and ideas shrivel up and die. Avoid Outside Assistance It's tempting to try to offload some of your burden onto someone else's shoulders. Just remember that although they take over the actual task you retain the task of bringing them up to speed and managing there portion of your project. The net effect on your productivity could be quite negative. Just don't do it. Period. The same goes for taking on a partner. Maybe it works for some people who really are synergistic, but for most of us it just won't work. Avoid Hardware Excessive electronic paraphernalia also stifles my productivity. Figuring out how to make it work and how to fix it when it's broken are not very interesting to me. As much as I need my computer, I try to minimize the amount of energy I spend dealing with it. I think of it as an appliance that I turn on and off like the light switch. Diminishing Returns I'm always on the lookout for approaches that are yielding diminishing returns. My daily 15-minute review usually catches these. I always ask myself if I can imagine a possible new approach that would go faster. Sometimes it's merely a matter of preliminary burnout and if I simply switch to another task and then later come back to this task the returns will be back up. Use Brute Force It's tempting to always try to do things "the right way." But frequently you can get the job done much quicker by just taking the most direct and forceful approach. Customers don't care about the elegance of the inside of your product. And as long as the overall design has some elegance and simplicity, then a few areas of brute force inelegance won't really do any harm. But make sure they are thoughtfully integrated with the rest of the product. Switch Tasks If I find my progress slowing down, I switch to another task. The change of scenery usually renews my energy level and my progress on the new task is much greater than if I stayed on the old task. Eventually I go back to the old task, but with renewed energy. Or maybe I come up with a way to eliminate or truncate the old task so that it's complete where it is or leave it for the next release of the product. Take a Break Rather than taking regular, scheduled breaks, I prefer to work until I get stuck or bogged down and then take a break. I usually find that after those breaks I have not only renewed energy, but can more quickly come at the problem from a new angle. Read a Magazine I like to get a lot of new ideas into my head. Expose yourself to what other people are doing. It may not be directly applicable, but it could give you some new insight or energy. Sometimes all I need to get new energy is to read some ridiculous article that makes my blood boil and makes me want to do something useful. Or maybe I read about the features of some other product and start thinking about my product's features in a different light. Take a Walk I rarely solve hard problems by sitting at my desk. I go for long walks during the day and let my mind mull over all the difficult issues. I let my brain timeshare between issues as it sees fit. I can't predict which issue will result in a promising insight during any given walk. This kind of thinking is very unstructured and lends itself to really creative insight. Sleep on It Sometimes even a long walk won't do the trick. Sometimes with just a good night's rest I get significant insight. Sometimes just laying awake at night or in the morning is so totally unstructured that it gives my brain a really good chance to do its thing. Blow It Off Some problems you just can't solve. No sense killing yourself or your product. It may be a real customer concern, but maybe everyone is better off if you just sidestep the issue totally. Or defer it to "a future release." Let It Slide I keep lots of lists and all the items on them are "important." But after awhile these lists get rather unmanageable (about the time that I find myself moving them from paper to the computer.) I traditionally treated the list items as sacred. Now I just let them slide. If an item is important enough, it will almost always resurface. Most of the items float around in my head anyway, so there is no truly great loss if I just discard "old" lists. I don't actually throw them away, but they no longer occupy a place of attention on my desk. I've found that a simple short list of the top few items is sufficient. A quick look at the actual product or code reminds me of any other issues of significance. Best Times for Tasks Usually when I am having difficulty with a task it is because I'm doing it at the wrong time. Some times are good for creativity, some for mindless, menial tasks, some for straightforward coding, some for calling people on the phone or composing e-mail, and some for hard-core debugging. There are no fixed times of day or days of week for me. All I really know is that I'm doing a task at the right time or the wrong time. I try to leave enough slack in my schedule so I don't get forced into completing a certain kind of task at a certain time. The Internet My attitude towards the much hyped and much maligned Internet is basically to stay relatively near the sidelines and either stay out (most of the time) or dabble a little now and then. I want to stay up with the technology since it conceptually has some potential, but I also want to avoid doing the electronic equivalent of buying Florida swampland just because of its future potential. I can afford to dedicate a small chunk of my mental energy to periodically checking up on the progress of the Internet, but not a lot more now than just using it for e-mail and occasional web surfing. I do have hopes that I'll be able to use the Internet to make free demo versions of my products available. But the technology and its adaptation is still not quite there yet. A moderate fraction of product inquiries could be satisfied with that free demo, but most of my prospects are still not hooked tightly into the Internet. Beware Burnout Burnout can be either temporary or permanent. Every so often I get to the point where I'm stuck and nothing seems to work. If I didn't recognize the situation and take strong corrective actions, then I'd get into the permanent mode and end up putting in enormous levels of effort for very little return. The effort might be wasted work or just intense agonizing about what to do. My simple solution is to just stop all work for a while. Sometimes its just a day or two and, rarely, a few months. One of the beauties of having consulting work while I'm developing and marketing my products is that I naturally get refreshed as I daily switch between them. And doing development while marketing also forces me to get refreshed as I switch modes. Trust Your Judgment Don't trust the experts. Use their conclusions as input and make your own decisions. Their logic make be flawless but their assumptions may be irrelevant to your project. You know more about your project than even an expert who comes in to review or audit the project. More importantly, you have a lot of gut feel knowledge that the experts cannot readily assess. And you have a lot more at stake. My judgment is one of my most valuable resources and allows me to keep my productivity on track. No One Way There is no one magic approach to every problem. Tailor your approach to fit your particular needs and comfort level. What works for me won't necessarily work for you. And what sounds great in some book may be counterproductive for you. Conclusions There is no magic bullet for productivity. But there is an entire arsenal that can be used to attack your productivity. Sometimes the heavy artillery is best. Kill off entire tasks. Sometimes quiet diplomacy is best. Leave some tasks for a future release, if ever. There is no substitute for good intelligence. Keep your eyes open and constantly scan your efforts for pockets of opportunity for improvements. Productivity is probably the most tangible benefit that I get from working as a lone entrepreneur compared to being a mere cog in some big company machine. It feels great to really get things done. Without an army of people and without having "a boss." Please let me and your fellow readers know about you favorite tricks for stealing back big chunks of your mental energy. ------ Jack Krupansky runs a one person software business, Base Technology, which develops and markets the Liana object-oriented programming language and C- odeScript callable scripting language interpreter and offers Windows software development consulting. He may be reached at 800-786-9505, e-mail at jack@basetechnology.com, or on the web at http://www.basetechnology.com.