Scared child with a wall of pillows

Procrastination and Mindfulness

Weekends are an interesting time for many go-getters. You have a sense of freedom and space, but the freedom won’t last forever. So, one needs to get going in order to get some goals accomplished.

What Do We Know?

In an effort to ensure that I am not procrastinating on the weekend, I turn to Sam Harris to see if he has any tips about procrastination. In the Making Sense by Sam Harris podcast : Ask Me Anything #15 (53:40), the question was asked: “Have you ever struggled with procrastination?” “Do you think mindfulness can be utilized…?”

The answer to at least one of the questions is “Yes!” As Sam shares “[mindfulness] is just increased awareness of what is actually arising in your mind.” By increasing your awareness of what is happening in your mind, you can figure out what you are rejecting and what you truly want. (If you want the great scheduling tip and “writing a novel” example he gives and are not a Sam Harris subscriber yet, I recommend subscribing and then listening to the podcast episode.)

Once you know what is troubling you and the emotions around it, you can make some logical choices. As Sam and others have shared, procrastination is the logical outcome of being afraid of failing. In short, you feel fear.

Since you are not guaranteed to finish and succeed, a person will naturally put off that potential pain of failing by not starting. Get started even though you’re highly concerned (scared) and uncertain. So, how does one tear down the wall that is blocking you from getting started at all?

How To Conquer Fear and Uncertainty?

Throwing yourself into a project can greatly help with fear. Pragmatic tips around tackling projects or problems include breaking down a big project into small manageable chunks. Tackle that small chunk and see what happens to the fear.

On the subject of fear, it’s okay to recognize the fear. Once that is done, don’t feed the fear. Just accept fear for what it is. An example of feeding the fear is telling yourself a story about all the things that might or might not happen.

If left unfed, fear is just a naturally occurring phenomena that will eventually pass like anything else in the world. It bears repeating that this is only true if you don’t feed the fear!

If you are having trouble with dealing with the uncertainly, I recommend practicing the Don’t Know meditation practice taught by Jeff Warren. There’s a Don’t Know audio recording on his website and a YouTube
video of him guiding others through the practice. The YouTube video is titled The Do Nothing Project with Jeff Warren February 25, 2019.
Here’s the video:

Summing Up

Fear and uncertainty are often the cause of procrastination. Be the hero you are meant to be. Look fear in the eye. Deal with the uncertainty and just get started. May your journey forward go well.

Girl with diary

Stop, Drop, and Meditate

It was the tail end of the Thanksgiving holiday and my mind was on fire. My brain flooded with a million things to do before Christmas. I could see a feeling of anxiousness begin to boil and rise to the surface of my mind. What to do?

Fortunately, I’ve seen mind fires like this before. Just like that old fire safety technique of stop, drop, and roll, I stop, drop, and meditate.

Firefighter

With pen and paper at my side, I stopped everything, dropped down, and meditated. To start, I focused on the sensations in my head. Usually, it’s a sensation of buzzing or heat. Anything that comes up in my mind, I write down. Anything. Grammar doesn’t matter. Spelling errors are allowed.

“Need more bread”, the brain said. So, I wrote it down. “Write about meditation.” So without hesitation, I wrote it down. After the initial flood of thoughts, I set a timer and switched to an open awareness meditation.

A few more lingering thoughts popped up. “Have fun”, the brain said. So, I wrote “fun” down. The timer went off. I took a deep breath and let my shoulders relax.

Girl with diary

Looking at the words on the paper, I circled the important ones. This fed my to-do list of the week.

The practice of Stop Drop and Meditate helps me see things more clearly. I never would have thought of some of the important yet non-urgent thoughts if it had not been for my Stop, Drop, and Meditate practice clearing the flames of fear out of the way. If you see potential value in this, feel free to give it a try. However, I suggest trying it before you need it.

Fire-drills work for more than just fires. If you practice the Stop, Drop, and Meditate now, you will be ready to put out your own mental fires.

This technique helps one see things more clearly, have faith in the order of the universe, and feel a stronger sense of freedom. Enjoy!

 

 

Mistakes will happen

Mistakes and Let Go Learn From

When you make a mistake, you feel it. There’s an energy to it. It’s an energy that screams from your brain “Pay attention to me now!” So, how do you learn from a mistake, yet still get done with what you’re doing?

Let’s start by acknowledging that this “annoying” and sometimes “angry” energy is reshaping your mind. This energy can even be interpreted as pain. Often people will even say “Ow!”, “Shucks” or other stand-in words for cuss words. However, that growing “pain” is just the brain’s amygdala at work.

Ice-cream fell out of her hand

Oh, Shoot!

Although what the amygdala does is a key part of storing memories, it’s important to not have a knee-jerk response to every single thing the amygdala screams. If it helps, you can take comfort in knowing that there’s some good news about the mistake you made.

As pointed out in Mistakes Grow Your Brain, the good news is that your brain grows when you make a mistake. This even happens whether or not you are fully conscious of the mistake! The bad news is that it’s too common for us to beat ourselves up over a mistake. As George Mumford put it in the 10% Happier meditation app in “The Yips” section, “We dog ourselves.”

Mistakes will happen

Mistakes Will Happen

The right move to make is to recognize the mistake, acknowledge it, and then let it go. “What a minute!”, you might say. “I can’t just let it go! Don’t I need to learn from the mistake?”

Yes! Absolutely. History will repeat itself if we don’t learn from our past mistakes. The key phrase is “past mistakes.” What George Mumford suggests in the “You’re Not the Mistake” section of the 10% Happier meditation app is to do a “Post Play Reflection” or a “Post Performance Reflection” (PPR). However, you do the PPR later when it’s appropriate. In the immediate, you let go of it in a special way. I call this the “Let Go Learn From” method.

Let Go Learn From

Inspired by George Mumford, here’s the letting go part of the Let Go Learn From method:

Where do I record the mistake? Here’s something that I learned from my Dad. Almost always, I keep a pen and notecards near me. If I don’t have those, I have my smartphone and use the notes app. That way I can record my mistakes and ideas throughout the day. This technique is especially critical during conversations. Tweet me on Twitter at @FinneyCanHelp, if you want to know more about this.

Let Go Learn From

Based in part on George’s PPR suggestions, here’s the “learning from” part of the process:

  • What was the mistake?
  • What would you do differently next time?
  • Play it out in your head again, but this time play it out with the mistake corrected.

In other words, replay the event in your mind as you wish it had happened. This lets you face the future with confidence based on a foundation that is structured from your new found wisdom.

Learn, Let Go, and Flow

As I shared in Mindfully Living the Path of Ease:

In self-improvement, winning is achieved by flowing towards a direction.

Sometimes you don’t know you’re flowing in the wrong direction and making mistakes helps you know that. So, take the energy from the mistake made as merely a recognition that you have gotten off track. Use that recognition as feedback into your self-improvement process.

Everybody makes mistakes, but not everyone grows in wisdom from them. As a gift to humanity, grow and share your wisdom. While you’re at it, please also share this post with others. Thank you.

Two wolves are playing

Test Anxiety

Feeling stressed about a test is natural. After all, what is a test but an artificial stress test on your knowledge? Stress is not a bad thing by itself.

Eustress Stress Is Not Distress Stress 

When a person exercises, you’re applying stress on your muscles. Since it’s on purpose, your body reacts differently. As Eustress vs. Distress points out, you feel energized. If someone else had applied the same kind of stress on your muscles as a form of torture, you would be experiencing severe distress. It’s your mindset toward the experience that matters. From back when I was a kid to now, my mindset has been a growth mindset. Tests are challenges to overcome.

Playing the Game

Although important, education is a game and doing well in a test is a way to get a high score. Yes, to pass the test you have to learn. It’s also true that you’re going to want to learn much more than what is needed to pass a test. If your time is limited, swear to yourself that you are a life-long-learner and that for now you will do what is needed to do fantastic on the test. You’re taking the test to get a score. Just don’t forget to learn more later in life when you can! Learning and applying what you learn helps you succeed in life.

So when getting my Bachelors and later Masters in Computer Science, I played the game and overcame the challenges. I scored quite well. Fortunately, I was able to learn beyond just getting the good grades. I had the time and used it to make progress in my goals for the sake of my personal mission. More about my mission and my mindset is in Gamification Journey of FinneyCanHelp.

If you read the Gamification Journey above, you know I view life as an important game. So, how did I do fantastic in the game of taking tests? How did I take a fear of failure and shift it over to a growth mindset? I did what any self-respecting game-player would do. I role-played that I was part of the next stage of human evolution. That’s right. I pretended to be an X-Men superhero.

 

Although Storm and later Wolverine were my favorite X-Men superheroes, I didn’t pretend to be them specifically. My powers were yet to be discovered and my goal was to uncover them by pushing myself to the limit. Although I know I’m not really a mutant, pushing myself to the limit is still my goal. It taps into the warrior instinct.

Warrior Instinct

As part of the warrior instinct, it’s important to exercise the mind and body. For the body, I walk every morning. For the mind, I meditate. Often, I combine the walking and meditating. For anxiety, there is a specific approach you can take which is covered in “Anxiety? How Does One Start To Meditate?”

This wholistic body / mind approach comes from the days of Gymnastics and the beginning of my meditation journey. It goes beyond just exercise though.

Nutrition, sleep, and everything you do or think matters. It’s all about restoration, reflection, growth, and taking action. To get all of that, one must be disciplined. As touched upon in discipline around energy yields productivity, a warrior is disciplined.

Like Jocko Willink says, “Discipline is your best friend.” Watch What Discipline Really Means:

Proper Sleep

Some people presume they can win the game by not sleeping. However, that’s a horrible strategy. Sleeping sweeps away the useless garbage that you pick up in your mind. Sleeping helps one retain and recall the important bits of knowledge. In other words, it strengthens the important memories. The article 7 Ways Sleep Affects The Brain (And What Happens If It Doesn’t Get Enough) covers the benefits of sleep well.

Eat To Win

When choosing between a banana and candy, go for the banana. A banana has the right amount of sugar to help you when learning. In short, it’s like making your body and mind both happier. As Bananas As Brain Food says, bananas help with alertness. You don’t get the energy spike and then crash like you do from candy.

Study

Study to win. Spread your studying out. Don’t cram. Also, figure out what strategies work best for you. For me, I love flash cards whenever appropriate. If it’s software development we’re talking about, I create code-katas. Although those might not fit your specific circumstances, it might give you some ideas. The 10 Study Methods for College-Bound Teens has the usual tips with an item or two you might not have considered.

Take Great Notes

While taking notes, I would watch for excitement in the teacher’s voice, body language, or any clue as to whether an item is something they extremely care about or not. I mark such items with a star on my notebook as a prime test candidate question. Something to know well.

Ask Questions
Use the office hours and / or ask questions during and after class. Say you want to be sure that you are ready for the test. Say what you’re focusing your time on and ask how close you are to hitting the mark. When done, thank the teacher for their time. Also say with a smile what they want to hear and what you believe: “I care about doing well in this class.” It shows you take this serious. Although most feel that way, most people will not say such a thing. You’re in this thing to win and working with teachers helps.

If you have questions during the test, ask. You’re not asking them for the answers. You want to be sure you understand the question and what they are looking for. I remember getting up three times during a test once and asking a question to make sure I understood what was being asked for. I decided: “So, what if this is the third time? I’m in this to win!” As long as you are just asking for clarification and not criticizing the question itself, you’ll do fine.

Seek Out Allies

Find others (allies) in the class to compare notes with. Study groups can be a great support. Having at least one other person to study with helps. When selecting what classes to take and with which teachers, ask around. Pick the teachers with the best reputation whenever you can. Not the ones that like to be “tough” just to inflate their ego.

Keep in mind, you want the teacher to be an ally of yours as much as possible. Many teachers care about helping you learn. Some might not though. If you ever feel a teacher is the worst monster to walk the face of the earth, recognize that they are a human being who has had their wiring wired wrong (either by birth or by life’s impact on them) and forgive them. Hating a teacher will not serve you well. Of course, take action if a teacher is abusive.

Sedalia For Stress Relief
Consider Sedalia or something like it. Please read the product information before using Sedalia. It has a warning for those pregnant and / or breast-feeding. Don’t give it to a child that is under 12. I didn’t have Sedalia available when I was at college. However, I wish I had. For me, it’s like Chamomile tea but won’t make me have to go to the bathroom in the middle of an event such as when taking a test or giving a presentation. I occasionally use Sedalia in high stress situations. If someone asks me what I am taking, I say it helps calm the stomach which is true. The Sedalia product information says “Relieves digestive symptoms caused by stress” among other things related to stress. As demonstrated by this blog post, I have no problems with people knowing that I sometimes take Sedalia for high stress situations. However, I don’t have time right before a presentation to have the more in-depth conversation that careful use of legal drugs such as caffeine and Sedalia are just tools of humanity. You’re not weak for using a tool. You’re smart.

Practice Getting Used To Taking Tests

Practice. Even though you have already taken the test or quiz, Ask the teacher if they can give you a blank copy so you can get used to the feeling of taking tests. They may not since sometimes they re-use tests. If they do, make copies for yourself. If not, just write the answers on another sheet of paper. Take the test over and over again. Take it until you’re almost bored. Take the test until you feel it in your bones that a test is just a thing to do. It’s a piece of paper that you are putting information on. Make Change and Habituation your secret weapon.

I recognize this might not be possible due to time constraints. However, try it at least once. There is way too much hype that people give around test taking. That hype feeds into a storyline.

Practice Taking Tests

What Stories Do You Tell Yourself?

Recognize the stories you are telling yourself. Are you dooming yourself by saying to yourself over and over that “you are not good at taking tests”? Stop that. Instead, tell yourself the real truth such as “I have struggled with taking tests and quizzes. However, I will do my best and eventually win.” As expanded on in Lose Negative Self Talk By Losing Yourself, negative self talk does not serve. It encourages procrastination and drains you like an energy vampire.

All that said, I noticed that if I went into a test situation without some stress (think eustress) then my scores were lower even though I was completely calm. In short, I was overconfident. So, going in with some healthy eustress is a must.

Keep Perspective

Like Steve Jobs said, you’re going to die someday no matter what you do in life. While you are on earth, give the world the best of yourself that you can. Be the happy and uplifting song that echoes in the minds of others long after your life-song as ended.

Why Am I Sharing All This?

In the 10% Happier app, George Mumford shared the Law of the jungle,  “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” Not only have I tried to live that law, I have had the good fortune to experience it where I currently work at CARFAX.

There’s a connection between an individual and their community. I recognize all humans as belonging to a community that has challenging times ahead. May we all support each other in our desire to learn, grow, and make life better for all.

Two wolves are playing

Two Wolves Playing

Argus and Octalysis

Argus is powerful and extremely popular. As mentioned in a section of the Communities in Nonsocial Mobile Apps blog post, Argus is a dashboard on your life. Since I look at many things in life through an Octalysis lens, I will be referring to the Octalysis Core Drives here.

Argus Dashboard showing meditation and other items with each item in a six figured shape

Argus Dashboard

Argus is tied into a social network and has a news feed. An example will serve best here. When I get done meditating, I can share how long I meditated and associate an image with it. A six sided “meditation” indicator shows on the dashboard and into a news feed similar to Twitter. The kinds of things I can share are food, cups of coffee or tea, sleep patterns, almost any activity you can think of, and it even syncs with my Fitbit to get the steps.

Since we can see each other’s posts in the feed, there’s a strong people aspect to it. We can share messages, images, and give each others’ posts “likes.” We personally can hold each other accountable, learn from each other, or even just ask how it’s going.

Argus News Feed

Sometimes when a person has not had much sleep and if they share their sleep data, we can say that we hope everything is going ok. There are some wonderful and supportive people in Argus. There’s clearly a strong Octalysis Core Drive 5: Social Influence and Relatedness in there.

We personally can hold each other accountable, learn from each other, or even just ask how it’s going.

On a creative note, one person has even held weekly philosophical discussions in a challenge using the Challenges feature. Another person used Argus to get over apathy in life. That’s huge! Here’s a word of caution though. Please, see a Mental Health professional when needed.

Sharing Personal Data

As long as you choose your online friends carefully, there is a continuous sense of support from the group. Yes, I saw at least one scary person in there and that person was reported. Like any online social app, my advice is to control what Argus data you share. For myself, I am just careful to not share exactly where I live.

Through the app’s search feature, I’ve met others and through them learned more about different customs around the world. For example, I learned about an Asian holiday known as Tomb Sweeping. That’s fascinating! I’ve also learned about other customs and people from Spain, other parts of the USA, Canada, and many others.

Accomplishment and Curiosity

Since the app also measures things like the number of steps you’ve taken and tracks goals, you get a strong sense of Octalysis Core Drive 2: Development and Accomplishment. As you know, you never know what you’re going to see in a Twitter-like feed. So, there’s Octalysis Core Drive 7: Unpredictability and Curiosity at work as well.

Speaking of curiosity, there’s a new Meals section of the app that I have not fully explored yet. Trying that part out is something for me to consider aka chew on. ?

How To Optimally Enjoy Argus

As in any social app situation, the key is to carefully pick those online friends whose relationships you will nurture on an ongoing basis. Since you only have so much time in life, you have to pick and choose. Originally, I did this by limiting my friendship list to a top ten. Since I have been sharing my meditation expertise and guidance with more people on the app and in life again, I am thinking of accepting more friendship requests to allow more communication opportunities for others. Helping others achieve their optimal potential is a calling in my life and this would support it.

Whatever your calling in life is, I hope you find all the tools and resources you need to make it happen. Have fun!

dancing

Pair Programming and Supporting It

At CARFAX, we Pair Program. Conceptually, Pair Programming is two people sharing one mouse, one keyboard, and one computer. In reality, technology keeps it from being a cumbersome experience. Although I have done this at other companies, we don’t literally shove the mouse, keyboard and computer back and forth. Still, the concept is preserved. Referred to as Driving, one person is typing and the other person helpfully participates. Both brains are engaged. Their minds are in sync.

dancing

Pair Programming covers a lot of ground when it comes to the benefits that it delivers when done well. I have heard many examples of Pair Programming not going well. Most of the time, it’s because one or more of the following things were in play:

  • Culture didn’t support it
  • No process of providing constructive feedback between team members existed
  • Lack of formal Pair Programming training

The third one is sadly the most common and easiest to fix. Do not confuse Pair Programming training with Test Driven Development (TDD) training. You could have all the TDD training you want, yet that doesn’t guarantee that one of the two people won’t behaviorally be a domineering alpha-male / alpha-female. As the Star Trek fans might say, you are going for a mind meld.

Both brains are engaged. Their minds are in sync.

It also means that they both learn to share, listen, and come prepared. There are various other articles out there that cover whether Pair Programming is great or not and how so. This article covers some of the items related to how to make Pair Programming work and not to jump the gun in deciding that Pair Programming is not working for you or your team.

Pair Programming Should Be Taught

Far too often, people are not told how to pair program well. Two people are put together and told to just “do it.” I have coached teams and specific individuals on how to Pair Program well. Before sharing how one can Pair Program well, it’s important to point out to not judge their experience too quickly.

When Should I Judge My Experience?

In short, you have to do something well before you can judge an activity fairly. Have you ever tried a new activity such as learning how to code? After just trying it for just a few days, did you throw your hands up into the air and say this is a stupid waste of your time never to return again? Probably not. It took time and you were willing to spend the time because the benefits were important to you.

From How Important is Pair Programming? by Ron Jeffries:

..you can’t assess whether you like something if you don’t do it well

..does take some practice to do well

..do it well for a few weeks to see the results

What are the Benefits?

There are other articles that cover this more in-depth such as the Better Together: The Benefits of Pair Programming article. Here’s a handful:

  • Continuous code inspection – As opposed to a boring meeting full of people who weren’t there with you when you faced the challenges and legacy code.
  • Backup memory – Everyone has brain farts. Your fellow pair programmer gets you past that.
  • Self esteem supporter – If done well, you’re both in it together. You are white-hat. You are kind and yet you also hold each other accountable.
  • Collective Code ownership – No-one claims that this code-over-here is my code. Everyone can touch any of the code with the right pair of people.
  • Knowledge sharing – If one gets hit by a bus or wants to go on vacation, the entire team is not severely hindered.
  • and so many more. With respect, go google it.

When does the developer have time to think?

That’s a great question! It’s important for the team to set up a structure so that developers have time to think about what they are about to work on and while they are in the middle of working on it. That means structure. That means understanding and respecting each others’ needs to explore a little on their own computer, setting aside any investigative code they wrote and then coming together to work on it as a pair.

Scheduled breaks should also be taken. It allows time to freshen up the mind and explore the code more on ones one if desired. That means committing to a source-code-branch and publishing it so both can play on their own. When doing this, enough time is needed in order to come up with a draft idea. Not a perfect idea!

Time To Think aka 3T is critical. It comes in many forms both informal and formal. Even time to explore a small bit of code together needs to be supported. Sometimes one person should just wait patiently for a few minutes. You never know what you might see! However, that technique should not be abused such that one person just codes ahead for a long time and leaves the other behind.

Work together to figure out how to support the 3Ts or bad things will happen such as people dominating the keyboard and pair programming experience.

Pair Programming Tips

  • Do head nods or occasional mmhmmm
  • Give compliments
  • Do not over prompt. Allow five seconds after you spot the Driver making a mistake. Saying oops over and over quickly is just annoying

How do you make it work when at least one person is remote?

  • More audio cues are needed because body language is much harder to see.
  • Can you see their face? Facial expressions and body language account for 90% of what’s being communicated. Use video if possible.

This Pair Programming practice ties into Extreme Programming. What is Extreme Programming?:

  • ..based on values of simplicity, communication, feedback, courage, and respect.
  • ..works by bringing the whole team together in the presence of simple practices
  • ..feedback to enable the team to see where they are and to tune the practices to their unique situation

[formatting mine]

Good Luck!

Hopefully this helps. Good luck and happy coding!

Update: It was suggested that we have an alternative name for Time To Think (3T), Design Exploration Time (DET). So now it’s known as either.

Open hand by the sea of life

Handy Tip For Focusing

Let’s cut straight to the handy tip for focusing.

Imagine your mind is a hand. When the mind is trying really hard to focus on something, it can feel like a clenched fist.

A clenched fist trying to hold on is a losing battle. A closed fist is limiting. It’s by letting go and beginning again that we maintain focus and our goals.

Clench your left fist. Do you feel how it feels? Close your right hand with your fingers up and then slowly open your hand. Let the fingers unfold and spread out.
Do you feel the letting go? The openness? The opportunity to receive something wonderful? With the open hand, the universe can give you nourishment and support.

The open hand is the hand of greeting. It’s the hand of limitless opportunity. It’s the hand of sharing.

When focusing on something, maintain your focus with an open hand-like approach. Steady your attention on your item of interest by recognizing when you’ve lost focus and gently bring your attention back.

It works for tasks. It works for meditating. This can even help you deeply and mindfully enjoy all the flavors of life.

Sharing is a wonderful feeling. With your new open-hand mindset, will you please share this technique?

Open hand by the sea of life

Lose Negative Self Talk By Losing Yourself

Daily, I remind myself that the negative self talk ends now. Even though it’s common to hear people be “tough on themselves” and think that it helps, it serves no-one in the long run.

As George Mumford taught in the 10% Happier app in “The Yips” section, negative self talk feeds the fear wolf. Even though it adds a sense of urgency, it drains you and causes you to procrastinate long term. The Fear Wolf idea comes from the Cherokee.

So, pull yourself together and champion your noble cause. Lose yourself in the cause. Since you came from the earth which came from the stars, you are nothing and also everything. You can let the energy flow through you and be like water. Go for your aspirations and joyfully lose yourself in your journey.

What’s Your Network Character Sheet?

How organized are you? Imagine you have a great idea and want to float it by some people who can help you make this dream come true. Could you quickly figure out who to go to for marketing, software development, or other things? How passionate would they be about this kind of idea?

As I learned from the wonderful Octalysis Prime group (OP), to be able to find that crucial bit of information at a glance is exactly what’s needed. Knowing this, I realized I needed to invent the Network Character Sheet.

For those who have ever played a Role Playing Game (RPG) like Dungeons and Dragons, the notion of a Character Sheet is well known. It’s the sheet of information that highlights a person’s abilities and other key information. It tells everyone at the table what the person can do for you and your friends. For keeping track of my current network of associates and friends, I need that kind of organizational tool. I want to track people’s passions, skills, and other key items. So, what exists now that I can use?

The Hunt Begins

On LinkedIn, the Character Sheet is the online profile aka online resume. It has all kinds of information which may be useful for getting a new job. However, it’s way too much information for my day-in / day-out networking needs.

In order to really keep track of what is important, I need a Character Sheet template that reflects just those things I care about. I also need a place to electronically search and store these.

So, I went back to the basics. What would be in my character sheet template and what can help me make what I want?

I looked at apps that help create RPG character sheets and also some example Dungeons & Dragons character sheets for inspiration.

Tools

For Windows, I found a free app called NBOS Character Sheet Designer 2.0 (CSD). Although it’s a rough app to use, it’s free and simple enough in concept. At first, CSD looked promising, but it felt rough to use and being stuck on Windows was finally a deal breaker.

I looked at other possibilities like Apple’s beautiful Pages app and Excel. For Pages, the Invoice template seemed like a good thing to start with. For Excel, I started with the “Family Budget Planner” template. I worked with both of those, but they weren’t a good fit.

Finally, I landed on using the Contacts app for the mac. It’s an app carefully crafted to handle a person’s contact information and some person meta-data. In other words, Contacts lets me add key information about the person. Plus, I can easily search for something like “Marketing.” Contacts even integrates with other things like Twitter and my iPhone.

Contacts App

Inspired by the Octalysis Prime Real Life RPG idea of calling key contacts my Allies, I created a special group called Allies in Contacts. Yet, how to add custom fields? For example, I want dedicated Skills fields. How to customize Contacts cards on your Mac and exploring the app got me there.

By adding a custom “Related Name” field, I could add a “Skill” field, “Super Power” field or whatever I wish. Related Name selected

With this figured out, I created a “Generic Person” with all the fields I need that I can copy / paste whenever I need a new Network Character Sheet created.

Summary

Using the Contacts app that comes with the macOS, is currently the best available platform for my Network Character Sheet idea. Since searching is the electronic version of finding something “at a glance”, the Contacts app’s custom fields feature is just what I need. Now it’s time to store my allies awesome abilities. Perhaps with enough personal organization such as the Network Character Sheet, we can all help each other make our dreams come true!

 

POWN? Communication Technique

Listing out Pros and Cons is a tried and true approach for deciding whether or not to go with an approach. However, sometimes it’s not enough. For example, a long list of cons that a group comes up with compared to a short pros list may make it seem like it’s something the group shouldn’t do. Yet, the items listed are trivial. In dealing with such situations where something more elaborate is needed, I have come up with the “POWN?” communication technique.

POWN? stands for Positives Observations Weights Negatives Question. The Positives are like the pros in the pros / cons. The Negatives are the cons. The Observations are what people perceive, but it’s not really a Positive or Negative about the item under consideration. The Weights and Question take more explaining.

Every item that is listed in a Positives or Negatives column is weighted according to an agreed upon scale. For example, it could just be high / medium / low. So, a little ‘H’, ‘M’, or ‘L’ can be next to the item. The Question signifies that any group member can request a question mark be placed next to a Positive or Negative item. This is useful so that the group can quickly list out all the Positives and Negatives without stopping to debate each item as it is listed. This brings us to the process of using this communciation tool.

The process of using the communication tool is up to you. However, one can apply it in the following way:

  1. Columns with labels are made on a white board. Positives, Negatives, Observations. Ensure enough room is between the columns for the Weights and Question marks.
  2. The group is asked for all the Positives and Negatives. They are listed. If someone challenges or wishes a deep understanding of a Positive or Negative, a question mark is placed next to the item and the group moves on. A quick question / answer is allowed. Speed is the name of the game at this point.
  3. All the items with Question marks are resolved by the group. Speed is not the point anymore. The point is understanding. If the group decides to keep an item listed under the Positive or Negative, a Weight is placed next to the item.
  4. Throughout this whole process, observations are listed under Observations. For example, “We gained a 20% increase in productivity when we applied our last experiment.”

There you have it. A slightly more elaborate pros / cons like technique that allows for deeper clarity into a situation. I hope it serves you well.