Category: Optimization
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A Permanent Offensive Footing: Confronting My Career Complacency
As I prepared to sign off from work one afternoon in April 2024, I noticed a mass email from my company’s general counsel. “If any reporters contact you to comment on the article,” he wrote, “our corporate policy is that you do not talk to reporters.” “Article?” I thought. “What…
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On Weekly Reviews: Living Out My Values
For the past decade, I’ve engaged in a weekly review to foster personal growth. Initially unstructured, I adopted a friend’s detailed tracking method, using a spreadsheet to monitor metrics like sleep, social interactions, and stress. My practice includes brief daily updates and extensive weekend reflections, focusing on aligning my actions…
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On Operational Efficiency: The Phoenix Project Notes
After working in the software industry for 15 years, I realized that I knew surprisingly little about how companies deliver cloud software. To better understand what it takes to develop and deploy software in the cloud, I recently read The Phoenix Project, which a colleague recommended. I was surprised at…
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On Credit Card Game: Maximizing Rewards
I’ve been working on improving my credit card rewards strategy under the guidance of a friend. By managing four key factors—percentage cash back, credit card spend, introductory rewards, and minimizing annual fees—I’ve learned to maximize savings. Although it requires some effort initially, these strategies can help save hundreds or even…
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On Morning Routines: Building Momentum Early
For the past ten years, I’ve been obsessively honing my morning routine. That may sound strange because we all repeat similar activities as we start our mornings, be it showering, eating breakfast, or watching morning TV. However, I began to think about my mornings differently ten years ago after hearing…
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On Waste and Its Elimination: Notes on Toyota Production System
I’ve only just read Toyota Production System, written by its inventor Taiichi Ohno, despite admiring Toyota’s world-class operational rigor for many years. The Toyota Production System (TPS) is the company’s comprehensive manufacturing philosophy and methodology, which aims at improving efficiency, eliminating waste, and producing high quality output. While I found…
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On Every Day Carry: Utility, Minimalism, and Discipline
Over the past 10 years, I’ve become fascinated by the idea of “every day carry” (EDC). The concept is as it sounds: a review of what things people carry with them every day. I stumbled across this concept years ago while browsing Reddit on a lazy Saturday morning. Reading the…