Your Minority Report

Happy Wednesday shady friends! I feel like I have to post more stuff for us to interact more. I swear I go about my daily routine and I do and see stuff and say I would like to share but rarely do so this post is about some of that stuff that I've taken mental notes to share with you. Yesterday I shared a little bit of information from the IT symposium but there were tons of stuff I wanted to share so I'll go through a bit of that now. One of the presenters were a highly positioned VP with AT&T who also happen to be a professor at Stevens who while speaking to our small group shared one really valuable point that he said help him the most in life to achieve his successes and that was keeping a journal and notes. I've actually did a post about that previously on how much writing in a journal can help (work/life balance post 1/20/15) and I tell my kids the exact same thing but his journal, which he shared entries spanned 30 years and were very precise. It was more like a 'to-do' list instead of an actual journal.  

Listed on his 'to-do' list he displayed examples of a great personal metrics and analytical data about your self progression. Very basically stated he said that life and the future is going to happen regardless so why not plan it out to do exactly what you want to do with your time. What he showed was that if you make a list and plan out your days, despite what other none foreseeable occurrences arise, you'll still find time to tackle and complete the things on your list because it's now a habit to finish those task. 


So with these list, he managed to become a successful author of 4 books, a successful career in IT, and happily married with 4 children. I also have to mention that he planned out things on his list that included personal accomplishments and minor things such as take out the garbage, attend his daughters recital, and have meetings with the CIA and Steve Jobs which his daughters recital was right up there in importance as meet with the CIA because they were must do task. It also went into detail about how the data shows his job responsibilities becoming less tasks oriented as he grew older because like all things it too should be on a bell curve. 
I found this little list on time management that sums it up pretty well. 

Manage your time, improve your life 

1. Less Stress – Managing your time can directly reduce your stress level. Fewer surprises. Fewer tight deadlines. Less rushing from task-to-task and place-to-place.
2. Get More Done – Of course, being productive is one of the main goals of time management. When you are aware of what you need to do, you are able to better manage your workload. You will be able to get more (of the right tasks) done in less time.
3. Less Rework – Being organized results in less rework and mistakes. Forgotten items, details, and instructions lead to extra work. How often do you have to do a task more than once? Or make an extra trip because you forget something?
4. Less Life Friction and Problems – How often do you create your own problems? Whether it is a forgotten appointment or missed deadline, not managing your time results in increased life friction. Avoid creating your own problems by planning and preparing for your day.
5. More Free Time – We can’t create more time, but you can make better use of it by managing your time. Even simple actions like shifting your commute or getting your work done early can produce more leisure time in your life.
6. Less Wasted Time – When you know what you need to do, you waste less time in idle activities. Instead of wondering what you should be doing next, you can already be a step ahead of your work.
7. More Opportunities – Being on top of your time and work produces more opportunities. The early bird always has more options. As well, luck favors the prepared.
8. Improves Your Reputation – Your time management reputation will proceed you. At work and in life you will be known as reliable. No one is going to question whether you are going to show up, do what you say you are going to do, or meet that deadline.
9. Less Effort – A common misconception is that time management takes extraeffort. To the contrary, proper time management makes your life easier. Things take less effort, whether it is packing for that trip or finishing up that project.
10. More Time Where it Matters – Managing your time is allotting your time where it has the most impact. Time management allows you to spend your time on the things that matter most to you.

Then another speaker mention how your cell phone has the same capacity as the brain of a mouse and if it follow Moore's law that predicts trends will continue then the progression of your phone technology will outpace the capacity of the human brain in just 10 years! I want you to really think about that one for a minute. That is a bit concerning because technology progresses at a speed far faster than you or I can fathom and that scenario can lead to a lot of imaginable scenarios. One of which I thought of and I'll share because it was interesting conversation I had about the possibilities. So if you have what they label a virtual foot print which basically is the traces you leave about your daily lives online and all computers basically interact and talk to each other, whose to say that in the future your phone couldn't give you the probability of a safe days journey? 

Let's get sci-fi for a moment.... so your phone which is able to view your trace data sees that you've been increasingly spending time with and speaking with "Sam". Sam's trace data shows that he's a shady character and has been doing thing that will lead to someone trying to harm him and the probability of Sam being harmed today is 70%. You're interactions with Sam based on what your cellphone knows about your social activity shows that you have a 80% probability of meeting with Sam around the time that data shows most crime are committed. You're phone then speaks with your house and locks you in due to the probability that you'll be at risk so Siri holds you hostage and advises you that you're social circle needs to change. Now who is in control at your house? It's fascinating isn't is but also very scary at the same time to think that your phone may hold the chance at controlling your life pretty much. Wow right??? Oh and if you continue my little story and it becomes a best selling book or movie you better look me up and give me 10% fuckers because I just gave you a great "Minority Report" type movie idea!!!! LOL 

Anyway... enjoy your day and let me know what you think? Talk to you later!