There Is Always Need To Learn

I have only started working since I graduated in the year 2000. My background is accounting and finance with a post grad in computer science. After nearly ten years in the IT industry, I got involve in the hospitality and residential building industry.

At the beginning, I came into the business as the bean counter and IT guy.  As the business expands, I have to start dabble in the business side of things, especially in project management. Since I am already a project manager in my full time job, it is not a problem. The biggest challenge is understanding the hospitality and building industry.

When I first started, I could not differentiate between materials nor its usage. My business partners has been patient with me and work allocation never really demanded me to have any industrial knowledge. Nonetheless, I have never like to fall behind or needing people to tip toe around me.

Whenever I have the chance, I would grab a copy of the materials pamphlets given by our suppliers. I made sure I read whatever I can from it. The vendor's sales person are a perfect source of information. Being their customers, they are more than willing to share their knowledge and opinion. There is really no such thing as asking a stupid question. As far as these sales person are concerned, not all their customers are familiar with the industry. As such, they are used to strange and out-of-this-world type of questions. I even asked for samples and test out whatever vendor has claimed to be working. Through testing, I was able to provide feedback and understand the products better.

Spending time with the vendor actually helps two things. One is my understanding and also building up relationships. I was able to make my order more accurately and getting better deals from them. Of course, being a good paymaster helps a lot as well.

As a matter of fact, I actually find myself studying a lot harder than during my school days. In school I was not really sure how it will impact my life. In business, your knowledge determines the success of your deal and each decision's effectiveness.

Regardless which industry you are in, it is never too late to start learning. To be successful in your industry, all you need is to know 10% more than your competitor.

Cleaning Up The To-Read List

I love reading. The source of materials that I read comes from webpages, books, newspapers, and magazines. Normally I would read digital books and webpages from my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone. The screen size is just perfect to carry around and read while waiting. Whenever I come across webpages that I wanted to save for later reading, I would use the Evernote tool to save the webpage for later reading.

One of my biggest challenge is sorting out my reading materials. Around the house and my office desk, I have all kinds of half and to read materials. The same goes to my digital reading materials as well. As I accumulate more reading materials, it has become overwhelming. I see books and magazines everywhere and I would get distracted by some other reading materials as I am just reading through whatever that was in my palm.

I have spend the weekend trying to get myself back in order and free up some space in the house. The first thing that I did was to put all my reading materials into one location in the house. In this case, that would be my study room. I have to fight the temptation to procrastinate the clean up whenever I pick up something that catches my interest at that time. Without any thoughts I just want to pile all the notes, books, magazines and newspaper clipping into one area.

With all the reading materials laying in one central location. I look at my short term and long term goals. The goals will be the basis of how I should sort out the reading materials. For example, I have given up hope on learning how to code. Those programming books goes straight to the donation bin. I am still trying to aim to be certified as a PMP practitioner. Those materials will stay and pile together. For those really long term goals such as learning French, I would put those aside on the "maybe" pile. During the sorting process, I have to be ruthless. Whatever reading materials which I have not touch for more than a year, it is lightly that I will not need it again. Those goes into the donation bin. During clean up, I have found old prints that the ink has stuck the papers together already.

After shredding a bag full of papers and stashed two boxes of books and magazines. My reading list now is more manageable. My short term goal reading materials will be sitting next to my desk, while my long term goal reading materials are kept in the bookshelf. The "maybe" books will be in the storeroom.

The idea is to keep all the books in their respective locations. I will not simply put my books around the house. Whenever I need a break from the book, it has to go back to the same place where I took it. When I finish with the reading materials, I would either consider to be filed, shredded or given away. By doing so, this helps me to keep the house in order as well as making sure I get the necessary reading done and not get distracted.

If I have better ways to manage your reading materials, do share! Remember though, books can only give you knowledge and not wisdom.

Decluterring

The last two weeks, my house is being renovated. The plan was to tear down the whole kitchen and put in another one. The rest of my apartment will then get a new coat of paint. The last time that my house did anything this major was 10 years ago. As the renovation progress, I would need to move furniture around and put stuffs away to make way for the workers to do their job. It only begin to dawn to me that I actually have accumulated a lot of stuffs through the years. Camera bags alone, I have counted four! One brand new backpack and a brand new computer notebook bag. There were also files and notes that I have collected for "future reference" that has never arise. As such, I have taken the opportunity to declutter my life. First I separate my stuffs based on its functions. For examples, books and notes will be piled together. Bags will be piled together etc. I do it one room at a time. In each pile I will go through one item at a time. I ask myself when is the last time I have used or needed that item. If is more than 12 months ago, chances are I will not be needing it anymore. It either goes into the donation pile or to sell pile. By just going through that activity, I have thrown away most of my old notes and gave some of my stuffs away.The exercise is not easy at all. I have to ask myself this question whether do I really need it. Or I just keeping it for nostalgic reasons or creating a false sense of security. If the item is hardly ever used, chances are it is not needed anymore. For the stuffs that I need, I will separate it into three categories. The ones that I use regularly, use at least once every three months, every six months and finally every 12 months. The more frequent ones will be kept in a more handy area, while the ones that are lesser used will be kept in storage. I have to be honest, chances are the ones that are kept in storage will ended staying there for a long time until I decide to clean it out again... Another tip which I think is great to have is the One In One Out policy. For every item that we buy or bring into the house, I should also dispose something from the house. If this does not reduce the clutter, at least it maintains the clutter does not get worst. We actually have more things that we actually need. Clean out your stuffs today! Believe me, the energy within the room is better and whole house breath better too.