The RNDM #06

Welcome to Issue #06 of The RNDM

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This week we learnt about a nose that might revolutionise the diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease, how Janet Jackson changed music technology and how the pomodoro method can make you more productive.

The Nose that may save lives

A woman who can smell Parkinson's Disease has helped researchers revolutionise testing for it.

Joy Milne, a former nurse, noticed her husband smelled different 12 years before he was eventually diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. Joy has spent years working with researchers to identify the link between Parkinson's disease and odour. This has resulted in the development of a test which involves a cotton bud ran along the back of the neck. It's still in the early stages of research but if successful could lead to earlier diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. Early diagnosis could allow the right treatment to be started quicker.

How Janet Jackson changed Music technology

Microsoft's chief engineer shared a story recently about how a Janet Jackson song was able to crash the laptop it was playing on and any other laptops nearby. The reason? The song contained a natural resonance frequency which was the same one as the hard drive for the laptop. This was seen as a security flaw and led to the introduction of a custom filter which detected the frequency in any song played and removed it during audio playback.

Imitate then Innovate

Nowadays people strive to be original by trying to create their own ideas or style off the bat. David Perrell argues that all great artists of their domain learned to imitate their predecessors before learning to innovate. Their drive to learn how their predecessors created their work and understand the thinking behind it honed their skill and style. After practicing and imitating other styles did they develop their own original style. Perrel does well to highlight that imitation is not simply copying the work of the greats, which can help at first, but also learning to imitate their structure and thinking and applying it to something totally new.

A great example of modern day greats who applied, imitated and then Innovated is George Lucas.

A great read which will definitely give you food for thought on how to improve and develop originality.

Tomato, Pomodoro!

I've been using the Pomodoro technique at work recently to increase productivity. When I've mentioned this to people recently their response is generally "Pomo-whatnow?!?", so I thought I would provide a summary. Read on for a brief explanation of the Pomodoro technique and how it could help you level up your productivity.

In the late 80s Italian-German university student and programmer Francesco Cirillo began timeboxing work and study into small 25 minute blocks.

He tracked these timeboxes using a tomato shaped kitchen timer, called a Pomodoro, Italian for tomato. Sharing widely in the 90s he published a book about it in 2006.

Enough history, what does it actually involve and why does it work so well?

The process is pretty simple.

1. Get yourself a timer.

2. Write down a to-do list of items you need to complete.

3. Set 25 minutes going on the timer and during this time focus solely on one task until the timer goes off. This period is known as a Pomodoro.

4. When the Pomodoro is done, mark off one pomodoro next to your to-do list and write down briefly what you accomplished.

5. Take a 5 minute break.

6. Take a 15-30 minute break after four pomodoros.

In addition to 25-minute sprints that are central to Pomodoro, there are also three vital rules to get the most out of each Pomo. These are:

1. Divide large projects into smaller parts. If a task needs more than 4 Pomodoros, break it down into smaller tasks.

2. Group smaller tasks together. If you expect tasks to take less than a Pomo, group them together in one Pomo. For example, creating & sending an invoice and a quick spreadsheet update could be done in a single Pomodoro

3. A Pomodoro must ring once it's been set. The pomodoro is a measure of time that can't be broken down, particularly not for chats and tweets. Take note of new ideas and other activities and check them later.

If you do get disturbed and can't avoid it, take a 5 minute break then start a new Pomodoro. Record interruptions as soon as possible and think about solutions to avoid them in the future.

If you finish your task before the Pomodoro ends, don't stop the timer. Leverage remaining time for more learning and development. For example, you could use this remaining time to watch a video on a specific area of interest.

Why does it work so well? There's a few reasons for this:

1. The simple and portable nature of the method makes it easy to start

2. It helps combat procrastination due to the short bursts of activity. Research has shown that procrastination has little to do with laziness or self control and more to do with avoiding the negative feelings attached to large tasks or projects, for example.

3. Helps avoid distractions by default

4. Increased awareness of your time and where it goes. This contributes to the ability to better reflect on and plan your days

I'm sure there's plenty more research on why this method is so successful. Why not give it a try and let me know how you get on?

Knowledge isn't Enough

Knowledge isn't enough.

To move towards your goal you need to take action regularly. It might sound easy but the majority of people get stuck in motion.

James Clear describes motion as planning, strategising and learning, whereas action is the type of behaviour that delivers an outcome.

Motion feels like you're being productive by getting more information before taking action. But there comes a point where this becomes a form of procrastination. You feel insecure and put off taking action. Thinking to yourself, "I need to know more about this". Fear of failure forces you to put it off further thinking you're not ready.

Action forces you to get over your fear and get a result. You may succeed or fail from the action, either way you get a result. You can learn more from a failure in action than you would spending more time in motion.

All the greats learnt this and achieved success with it. As the saying goes:

This post is a form of action. I could spend this time learning more about how to improve my writing, but if I don't actually write and post then I won't know whether my writing is improving. Learning from the results of the action will allow me to understand my weak points and improve upon them. The RNDM is a way of forcing me into action. Committing to and scheduling an issue once a week forces me to work on writing a post once a week. Making it public increases the stakes and allows me to gain feedback. It forces me to get over my fear of criticism and failure.

Which state are you in with your goals? Are you taking action?

That’s all for this week. We hope you enjoyed reading.

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