When is 6 times 10 not equal to 60? (6×10<>60)

For those with any kind of math skills, they are looking at the title and saying “Um, Mr. 3Deers… 6 times 10 really is 60! Check your calculator… c’mon, you can do it!”

Just so everyone knows, I am not a math idiot… in fact, I was always pretty good in math (there is a reason I became a computer geek).  You see, this is not really a math equation, this is a time management and concentration formula.

Writing programs (or blog articles) takes concentration.  For me, deep concentration.  When I am working on something it often takes me a little while to “get into it” and be able to churn out a quality product.  When programming SQL, Excel Macros, WordPress, PHP or whatever, there is checking and re-checking.  For blogs, it is writing coherent content.  To do it right, I have to spend some dedicated time, not just six minutes here and six minutes there.  I need an hour, not 10, six minute spurts through the day!

As a consultant, this can be a challenge.  The phone rings, eMail, TEXT messages, Google Hangouts, Facebook updates on a photo of my dog, maybe even a honey-do request…  Ahhhhhhh.  Stop the madness!  As George Jetson would scream “Help… Jane… get me off this crazy thing!”

How do I cope?  Sometimes I don’t.  Sometimes I just put the phone on silent (or in another room) and shut off the eMail.  Sometimes, I just have to take the hour.  Sometimes I have to shut off the world and do the one task at hand and do it right.  Sounds so simple… right?  Not really.  It takes a lot of discipline, and that’s not easy.

I have responsibilities to clients, and answering questions quickly is at the top of the list.  I often say that my inventory is just me… I’m the product.  I need to maximize my inventory so I often try to get the programming or writing done early in the morning and weekends, when I am less likely to be interrupted.  This helps, but I now have two kinds of inventory… developer deer and customer service deer.

I guess the split personality and inventory model has “sales guy” as the 3^rd deer.  Hmmmmmm.

Now… who wants to play Deer in the Headlights?