2012 - Interesting Trips - Phoenix Saguaro Cactus

Saguaro Cactus:

The most striking thing about Phoenix are the huge cactus called Saguaro.

You can catch a glimpse of these giants right at the Phoenix Sky harbor airport

Saguaro is an Indian word. The correct pronunciation is "sah-wah-ro" or "suh-wah-ro." The formal name is Carnegiea gigantea. It was named for Andrew Carnegie.

Thanks to my colleagues for a nice trip to the south mountain. The mountain range has large number of these

gentle giants. Some snaps I took

 

 

To know more about these gentle giants visit

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saguaro

2012 - Interesting Trips - Ritual to overcome fear

Banashankari Temple, Banashankari, Karnataka, India

Came across an interesting religious ritual in Banashankari. I had never heard about it earlier.

The ritual is to swim the kid across the temple tank in a contraption that looks like an ancient man powered water bike

The kid has to endure the trip across the tank with a stranger. Must be quite an ordeal.

 

This is a panaromic view of the tank of the Banashankari temple tank.

 

 

 

The kid crossing the tank starting from the right to the tank on the left

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I believe the ritual helps the kid to face and overcome difficulty and fear.

Very similar to some simulation training we undergo.

2012 - Interesting Trips: Pattadakal - Mahishasura Mardhini

Pattadakal - Mahishasura Mardhini

Pattadakal was a temple building R&D center of the ages gone by.

A hidden jewel in the huge temple complex is the exquisitely carved idol of Mahishsura Mardhini.

It is easy to miss it as the temple housing the idol is not well lit with natural light or otherwise

 

 

 Know more about Mahishasura Mardhini at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahishasura

 

2012 - Interesting Trips: Kappe Arabhatta Inscription, Badami

As the 2012 fades into history, it is the time to reflect on what the year had to offer me and what I could made out of it.

Let me start with some interesting snaps and learnings from my personal and official trips

Feb 2012: Badami, Banashankari , Aihole, Patadkal  Karnataka, India

You all would have been to the usual tourist spots in Badami, Banashankari, Aihole and Patadkal.

The below spot is extraordinarily important for the people of Karnataka

Tucked away in the boulders on the other end of the Aihole. To reach the spot you have go through the narrow lanes of the Badami town

 

Kappe Arabhatta Inscription:

 

 

What it means:

Kannada: ಸಾಧುಗೆ ಸಾಧು

ಮಾಧುರ್ಯಂಗೆ ಮಾಧುರ್ಯಂ

ಬಾಧಿಪ್ಪ ಕಲಿಕೆ ಕಲಿಯುಗ ವಿಪರೀತನ್

ಮಾಧವನೀತಂ ಪೆರನಲ್ಲ!

and in the English poetic rendering:

"Kind man to the kind,

Whose sweet to the sweet,

Very cruel to the cruel

He was nothing but God Vishnu in this regard"

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kappe_Arabhatta

Summary of Book 'Do It Tomorrow'

This blog post is based on the time management technique described in the book
'Do It Tomorrow' by Mark Forster
The book explains reasons for time management issues and techniques to overcome. I have tried adopting it with success and have summarized it here.
Read on and provide your comments

The Problem:
Reasons for 'No Time' or 'Urgent work' or 'Emergency work’ occurs due to
1. Procrastination (Nothing new in this)
2. Procrastination occurs due to randomization
3. Randomization occurs due to
i. No limits to work we take on
ii. Distractions
iii. Working on multiple things

The Solution:

Before jumping into the solution, let’s understand how the human brain works. The left brain is rational and right brain is reactive in nature.

Rational Brain (Left brain):
Plan
Decide
Thought-Decision-Action

Reactive Brain (Right brain):
Procrastinate
Feel Threatened
Stimulus-React

1. More you use the reactive brain, higher the time management problems.
2. More you use 'Thought-Decision-Action' or rational brain, better is your time management.

Concepts:
Following concepts will help in better time management

Know your limits (Both time and commitments)
1. We are creative when we work in limits
2. No limits means no boundaries and no focus
3. You are the best person to judge your limits

Little and often
1. Work in small bursts
2. Mind needs time to assimilate, make connections and get insights
3. Example - writing a book

Create a buffer zone
Categorize incoming work into one of the following category
1. Repetitive
i. Tasks you do every day, every week or every month
ii. Initiatives

2. Tomorrow
i. Default setting unless there is a downside of not doing it today
ii. This prevents randomization

3. Same day (Randomizing in nature)
i. Not emergency but needs same day action

4. Immediate (Randomizing in nature)
i. Only real emergencies. Ex: Build Breaks

Closed Lists
1. Work on a fixed list of items each day
2. Complete all the items in the list

Completing a day's work
1. If you work best under pressure you have low processing power
2. Reasons for not completing the work
3. Not efficient.
a. Not able to do all incoming work
b. Too much on plate
c. Not leaving enough time

Keeping Going
1. Working to Completion
2. Working in time bursts
3. Fooling the reactive mind
4. Techniques to 'lie' to reactive mind
5. Positive Fooling

The key is to understand your work capacity and take on only what we can do. The ‘To do’ list for each day must not be an open list. Agreed that things do change fast but it is up to us to create the buffer zone, identify what needs to be worked on immediately and what needs to be worked on at a later date.At the same time plan your day such that you have time to work on real emergencies apart from planned tasks.