Open Source Computing and GIS in the UK

If you read anything about blogging you’ll know that you’re not supposed to apologise for not posting, but umm, sorry for not posting for a couple of weeks. Oops, there goes my blogging credentials down the drain!

Anyhow, the last couple of weeks have been a bit of a learning experience. A major IT mishap, which I could have handled better and possibly prevented, coupled with lots of commitments and deadlines, meant that I just had to get my head down and get through each day an hour at a time. Some people might be fine with that kind of stress, but I learnt that I am not one of those people. Thank goodness for lovely husbands who not only understand, but get tea ready for you when you do a 12 hour day in the office.

Back when I started this blog, I used to post occasionally on time management, and Getting Things Done (GTD). I don’t post as much about it now, as I have a system that sort of works for me (a hybrid moleskine/Remember The Milk setup if you’re interested), but one of the key things that has really been hammered home over the last couple of weeks is the need for some kind of weekly review of commitments and tasks. That has just about kept me on target, even though it takes a good couple of hours per week to complete. Just being sure that all the tasks are written down, and therefore not clamouring for head-space, is incredibly helpful in keeping stress to a minimum.

The final things that I should know already, but ignored in a slightly gung-ho style: Never Ever believe that things will “Just Work”, and Never Ever mess with the computers without doing a full backup first. ‘Nuff said. I am chastened.

So- I’m off to Cambridge this afternoon as I’m speaking at the Association for Geographic Information Technical Special Interest Group Open Source Event tomorrow, but hopefully normal service (such as it was) should resume after that. Look forward to my slightly belated take on the whole file formats for spatial data storage and transfer issue, some news about the UK Local Chapter of OSGeo, and perhaps even an announcement on Portable GIS in the coming weeks.

In case you were wondering about the lack of Thursday Tip Day last week, I haven’t been “got” by furious software vendors or anything like that, I had some family stuff to deal with. And now, there will be another hiatus as we head up to Scotland for some diving and email/internet cold-turkey. See you in a week or so…

Both myself and Mr Archaeogeek are only just surfacing after possibly the worst Christmas colds we’ve ever had. Thank goodness we were safely ensconced at my parent’s house being looked after and pampered. So, now I can type coherently again, belated Christmas Greetings to everyone, and here’s to a great 2008.

Apologies also for missing my Thursday Tip Day- I have some corkers lined up related to OpenStreetMap data, and (lovely, shiny, new) IPod Touches but they will have to wait…

There are a few blogs that I follow daily that I try and take advice from. Some I read to, well, try and make myself into a better person in general, and some to try and learn how to be a good manager. One that is particularly useful, nay inspirational at the moment is Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project.I am consistently amazed about her ability to be honest about her failures and faults, and the fact that she maintains such an optimistic and constructive outlook. Today’s post is entitled “Tips for Squelching Your Anger” and I wish I had the patience to try out her techniques when stressed or angry!

You GIS-ers out there might wonder why you have to read about such things on Planet Geospatial, but to me it’s all about getting the right attitude, and the ability to work efficiently and productively. If I manage that, I get to play with nice, shiny map-like things, but only if I’m good.

And the manifesto? Worked well today, so let’s hope I can keep it going. These techniques have worked for me in the past, I just have a tendency to drop them when it comes to moments of real stress, which is paradoxically when they should come in most handy.