I haven’t been writing for a few weeks because of time constraints and technical problems within my personal ecosystem. I used to read a personal coaching newsletter by Philip Humbert, PhD about productivity and he laid out the principles of a good personal ecosystem (http://www.philiphumbert.com/Eco-System.htm). Being a techie, I find life harder when the technology component of my personal ecosystem is out-of-whack. For the past several weeks I have been struggling with a laptop that is downright flaky, being assigned 2 new email addresses, a transition to Office365, and an aggressive travel schedule. Getting my tools in order is important, but has a lower priority compared to stakeholder and partner meetings, client deliverables, implementations and the rest of life.
So I received a new laptop, and setting that up has been very time consuming. Even with good backups it is a p-i-t-a. I was trying to hold out for Windows 8 so I could put all my server-based applications in a HyperV image, but I couldn’t wait that long. Now, I have all kinds of decisions to make about how this new machine will be set up to support my work, my development desires, and my presentation needs. I like to build things and be self-contained – so that means I need to carry around my development environment. Getting these decisions right will make a big difference in my technology ecosystem. It is challenging when you are always using the beta version of programs for one purpose and the last rtm version to support clients. And it doesn’t work to have two sets of hardware – I have been down that path. Virtual machines seem to be the answer, and are now becoming widely accepted – if not supported natively in Windows 7. I got spoiled using HyperV while running Windows Server 2008 R2, but I burned up two laptops doing that, so here I am with Windows 7 – at least until Windows 8 is released.
So why am I ranting about all this? Because I feel disrupted, and when disrupted my productivity tanks, which makes me feel uneasy. My technology environment is currently not supporting my thirst for information. Some information is needed immediately to support decision-making. Other information has more predictable time intervals, and can be captured on other devices. The advent of tablets and smart phones has definitely made an impact on my technology ecosystem, and has made this disruption more tolerable. Having a personal ecosystem now is essential for personal productivity in this market economy. For example, I don’t think I could manage without my smart phone or Outlook. What tools do you find essential? What “killer apps” do you find indispensible? Post a comment and let’s explore the personal ecosystem of a techie! Until next time, keep thinking good BI thoughts!
Tricia Wilcox Almas 