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A Gap Analysis to Start a New Year

I do several things around this time of the year; one is to think about my ideal self and my current self. One of the actions I do every year is a gap analysis, and I do this to see how well I am doing to attain my longer, yearly, mid-term goals (generally a few years) and 5-year goals. From the gap analysis, I update my product logs. Then, I try to do sprint projects for a specific product log. It is easy for me to lose the direction of leading myself if I do not compare them with my visions or longer-term goals. Therefore, gap analysis is a great tool.

A gap analysis reveals the size and types of issues we have by identifying the gaps between “as is” and “to be.” This analysis is commonly used in the business world. And I like to use these tools to analyze myself to build my strategies to narrow the gaps.

I like to do this analysis in the early morning because I generate more ideas early in the day. Take a letter-size (A4) page, and write them down. My process is as follows:

(1) Write down the list of ideal states.

You can write down anything you wish to be. Don’t worry about whether you can attain the ideal states or not. Yes, it is generally a good idea to avoid setting unattainable goals, and you want to be as open as possible. If it is not attainable, you should compromise by breaking them down into smaller goals before generating strategies to complete them. Never limit yourself from the start!

(2) Write down the list of current states.

Write down the list of current states relevant to your ideal states listed in the first process. It is crucial to be as honest as possible, and this process can be painful if you have not done gap analysis before. If you cannot see yourself objectively, you can ask your family members, loved ones, or friends.

(3) Identify Actions to attain the ideal states.

Now identify actions to attain the ideal states. If you want to lose weight, you must develop strategies to lose. The easiest way to achieve this goal is to create calories deficiencies by exercising or eating less. The more challenging the goal is, the more milestones you want to make to attain the goal. For example, if you’re going to lose 100lb, you should break down bigger goals into smaller goals such as six lb. per month.

Finally, I list the goals identified in processes one to three above. There are multiple ways to present your GAPs analysis; I prefer the format shown below:

 

Gap Analysis

Benefits of GAPs Analysis

The primary goal of GAPs analysis is to identify your ideal states and how far you are from these ideal states. Many people wish to reach certain conditions; however, they do not know precisely how to achieve their wishes. Therefore, A GAPs analysis is an excellent tool to create your action plans to achieve the goals.

Attainable Goals

People cannot achieve goals if they are unattainable. So, you will want to break down your goals into attainable pieces. Once you complete a GAPs analysis, go back to your ideal states. Some ideal states may take multiple years. For example, if you want to become an accountant but are still a freshman in a university, you have several years to accomplish the goals. You will need at least 150 credits in most states before completing CPA exams and one or two years of experience. Then, you may want to focus on achieving your university courses earning as good grades as possible. If you are an international student taking courses in a second language, you want to take classes in a specific order to sustain good grades. You can interview some CPAs from a nearby firm if you want to know anything more. If you need to lose many pounds, you must consider breaking it down into multiple milestones.

This year, I did this analysis on December 30th to plan my next year.

Ideal States

Family: Spend more time with my family

Health: Lose 15 lb.

Professional Skills: Learn more about Digital Transformation

Soft Skills: Better Listening skill & Negotiation (I recently did a DISC styles assessment, and I identified some of my problems)

Piano: Add Partita 2, Beethoven Sonata Ops 13. as my repertories

Painting: Improve my skills in drawing and watercolor painting

Blogs: Improve blogs, Fix bugs in my website

 

Current States

Family: Not able to spend as much time with my family members due to my busy schedule.

Health: I need to lose 15 lb. more to reach my ideal state

Professional Skills: gain more knowledge of digital transformation by taking courses, reading books, journals, and blogs. Learn application programming as I want to learn more about mobile technologies.

Soft Skills: I can read books, take courses, and reach out to executive consultants. I need to find specific strategies to improve my listening skills as I am unsure.

 

Actions

Family: Summer camp with my family members. Schedule my vacation dates ahead of time—better time management and delegating my tasks to take a vacation.

Health: Create calories deficit by exercising and calorie restrictions (approximately four months to achieve)

Professional Goals:

– Periodically read Open AI blogs

– Learn more about RPA courses offered online

– Take Coursera and Udemy courses on mobile programming

Soft Skills (listening skills): I can read books and courses and reach out to executive consultants. I need to find out the specific strategies to improve my listening skills as I am unsure.

Piano: Learn to play Partita 2, Beethoven Sonata Ops 13.

Painting: Improve my skills in drawing and watercolor painting by continuing 30 minutes per day drawing sessions and making at least one full-color painting per month

Blogs: Fix some blog websites (Contact form, Theme updates)

 

Once you have some idea of your action plans for the year, you need to make more specific goals. You want to make your particular goals are measurable so that you can monitor the results.

Gap analysis helps me identify my ideal states and how far I am from the ideal. I like to do gap analyses because then I know what I want to do the following year. With my action plan identified from this analysis, I will update my product logs and create sprint lists (projects) in my Notion software. This is how I spend my time around my new year, and this process helps me navigate my actions plan so that I am not all over the place.

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How to Prepare Yourself for Rapid Changes

I genuinely believe that we live in an exciting era of rapid change. I still remember when the internet first became available to ordinary people. In the 90’s I heard of internet technology used for military communication. By the 90 late ’90s, we could play first shooter games such as Team Fortress. It took us hours to download a simple picture. Now, we can send a High-quality photos through our mobile devices. When I was a child, it took me a long to research anything. By the time I was at the university, I could pull academic papers online. It was common to collaborate on our school projects during my university era over the internet. Who would believe that virtual meetings will become standard at our work?

 

The rapid environmental change excited me greatly, and my personality contributed to my reaction to some degree. I was not as resilient toward rapid changes when I was young. For the most part, I gained resilience toward rapid changes from training in handling differences and experience. To prepare yourself for rapid changes, you must recognize any threats or opportunities you can gain from the change.

 

Before going further, I want you to understand that it is common for people to feel stress from the rapid changes. Also, not everyone gets excited about changes, and some may feel great anxiety over the changes. Any changes are stressful to many people, and the change-related stress is due to our survival. According to Taylor (2012, June 12), our “fight or flight” reaction is activated via our sympathetic nervous system when we encounter a change. The rapid emotional, psychological, and physical change caused by our sympathetic nervous system releases adrenaline, making us aware of our environment and reacting to the environmental changes by quick decision-making.  Thus, this is an essential survival function for increasing our survivability. Unfortunately, the perceived “severity” of change can have too many negative impacts for some, resulting in anxiety. Thus, you may need to consult your physicians if you experience great anxiety from change.

 

Don’t spend your energy on changes that you cannot control. If you want to be resilient and prepared to change, you need to focus on things you can control by prioritizing the changes or mitigating and reducing the threats. That is how I deal with stress resulting from changes.

 

SWOT analysis is an excellent strategic planning tool to evaluate your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT analysis is a situational assessment used to reveal your strategic position. Business organizations often use this analysis to make strategic decision-making processes. Strengths and Weaknesses are internal attributes, while opportunities and threats are external attributes. Strengths and Opportunities are helpful attributes to achieving the objectives, while weaknesses and threats are harmful attributes to attaining the goals.

Figure 1SWOT Analysis

We will never have time to analyze all changes. Therefore, you need to focus on changes that will turn into a trend, general changes in situations or behaviors, potentially impacting you.

I learned about robotic process automation (RPA) technology in the early 2000s. I spent many hours preparing analyses or reports for management or auditors, and I was pretty annoyed that we had too many manual processes. I thought any automation could eliminate human errors and preparation time. At the same time, this technology can eliminate some of our work as accountants. I should understand the technology to capitalize on the benefits from the technologies, and I could avoid any threats resulting from the technologies. When I learned about robotic process automation technology, I decided to learn about it.

 

Quick & Dirty Analysis

Strengths

–       I know a few programming languages (SQL, Visual Basic)

–       I have financial modeling & Accounting Skills

 

Opportunities

–       RPA is a potential trend to solve some of the existing problems I have

 

Weakness

–       Lack of knowledge

–       I do not have other programming languages such as Java or Python.

 

Threats

–       RPA can eliminate my work

Considering any change that can solve existing problems, we must turn to a trend to find excellent opportunities. To identify a trend with potential prospects, we must be aware of our existing problems, and you can find such issues by contemplating them.

 

I CONDUCT A QUICK PROBLEM-SOLVING ANALYSIS when I see an issue bothering me. For example, I do not have enough time to analyze the reports. I take a piece of letter-size paper to organize my thought on the issue. I think about the root cause of the problems. Then, I need to find potential solutions to the problem, and I spend only 1-2 minutes on them. This process helps to develop solutions to many existing problems. Sometimes, I may not have an exact answer to the issues; however, I am prepared for any opportunities to solve the problem. In some cases, you may find a potential technology, but you may not have an exact use for the technology.  I create mind maps for the new information for their possible usages.

You can find the issues that need to be solved online. I often like to read people’s reviews or questions online. For example, you can find technical questions by asking how to do things. Extreme users often complain about the missing functions from existing products. These reviews help us to identify unrecognized market needs. I keep some of those reviews because I may find solutions for the issues in the future.

 

In this era of rapid changes, we should prepare ourselves by analyzing and controlling everything we can control. Despite the stress from these changes, they can turn into great opportunities by identifying your strategic position through SWOT analyses. Finally, we must keep our antennae up to sense the existing issues to capitalize on opportunities from changes.

 

Reference

 

Taylor, J. June 12, 2012. Is Our Survival Instinct Failing Us? | Psychology Today. Retrieved December 20, 2021, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-prime/201206/is-our-survival-instinct-failing-us

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How to Spend Time Between Busy Seasons

I had a hectic autumn phase since I was simultaneously involved in too many projects. We completed the 3rd quarter and interim audits, which ended my last busy phase. I managed to win the best award for Kaizen (continuous Improvement) for the group in 2021. We completed and sent out our Management representative letters a week before our due date. It was challenging; however, I felt accomplished having met all the requirements. My next busy season starts once the fiscal year-end is over. Since there are only two weeks left until our year-end, I intend to rest as much as possible. At the same time, I want to prepare for the upcoming year-end. I want to write about how I spend my time between my busy seasons.

 

Take Time to Reflect on My Last project.

 

Whenever I complete a project, I reflect on the project, and I am most interested in the parts where I can improve the process. I try not to forget the details I did well because I want to continue good operations.

 

When I find something I need to improve, I list them separately. I use an app called Notion to track the things required to improve to contemplate them in the future. I incubated these ideas for a while, and I thought about any possible solutions, which would end up on my quick notes for the day. Once I have more thoughts on improving the process, they become a sprint backlog for future projects. Some items are easy to complete as I need to document the change of the process. Some sprint logs can take a few weeks to complete, so I may have to make a schedule to tackle them.

 

It is essential to be careful of a few things when reviewing your work. To avoid biases, I try to create some quantifiable—measurement tools—for example, the percentage of the tasks completed on time.

 

Unfortunately, I also need to look at qualitative measurements. Sometimes, they can be obvious such as getting an award. Not all qualitative measures are apparent, and If I am not careful, I will end up in a trap of self-review biases. To acquire better qualitative feedback, I seek feedback from other people. Since self-review, it will be a good idea to seek input from various people. There is 360-degree feedback, a performance review tool where you obtain feedback from your superiors and colleagues, customers, or vendors. Internal and external auditors are good reviewers for past projects, and they often provide feedback on something I did not notice.

 

I recommend you write down feedback or things that bother you as soon as you think about them at any moment. Otherwise, you will forget most of them. When you spontaneously have many projects as I did for the past three months, you do not have time to contemplate those items right after completing a task. However, you have items to work on later. The most important thing is to reflect on what is good and bad about the last project to organize my thoughts about them.

 

The Best Time to Fill GAPS

 

A designated professional must complete some continuous education. Between projects is a good time for meeting continuing education requirements. I work on achieving them throughout all seasons, but I found it ineffective to try to learn while under great stress. Whenever I know something new, I think about how to apply it. For example, I took an Inventory audit class recently. I improved our accounting process and documentation process from what I learned. Whenever I am under tremendous stress, I cannot do the application process very well. So, I try to get more learning done between the busy seasons.

 

 

An excellent time for writing Business Cases or Seeding

 

I wrote a proposal or a business case for the next Kaizen (Continuous Project). If the project has a cost associated with it, the best time to submit a proposal for our organization is in July or August since we do the budget for the following year in October. Some projects require approvals from head office or the board, and I may need to spend some time to obtain the authorizations. In some cases, I will need to spend several months or a few years to convince them. Next time, I will talk about initiating these projects or business cases. I call the initiation of any projects “seeding.” If you want to implement a change in an organization, you will need to seed as much as possible.

 

Preparation of The Next Busy Season

 

The best time to prepare for the next busy season is between the busy seasons. I had only three weeks to spare this time, and I spent time planning for our upcoming year-end and the year-end audit. For example, I updated the contact information for audit confirmation letters since I knew we would send out audit confirmation letters to the group companies. I also arranged who would be responsible for checking and signing these confirmation letters internally.

 

I communicate with my external auditors and key personnel to ensure the due dates for each task for our upcoming year-end and financial audit. Working in finance management for years, I realized my priorities are not necessarily the same. The Japanese may call this “nemawashi,” which helps others be aware of their responsibilities to eliminate unnecessary confusion.

 

I also updated audit working paper files and internal to-do list for financial audit and year-end for the upcoming audit. We need to submit some analyses, and we can complete some before the actual fiscal year-end. I also updated our internal to-do list for the Financial Audit, and I decided when each task on the to-do list could be completed. I will need to send out reminders to people in some cases.

 

Take Vacation Time 

 

I take a vacation during my slow phase, and I plan to take a week’s break this Christmas to refresh and spend with my family. I could not spend the last couple of years with family, so this will be an excellent opportunity to do so.

 

 

Each item I wrote maybe a trivial thing; however, I consider it critical to prepare for busy seasons. When I was young, I did not consider reflecting on my last project, and I bet I lost many opportunities to improve my process. The slow phase is an excellent time to complete an impressive sprint list or complete the backlog before initiating a new project. Finally, do not forget to take a vacation because a block of time from work helps you replenish your energy. So, these are things I do in my slow phase, and I hope this blog helps some of you.

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How to Prepare Yourself to Find Opportunities

When I was in my early 20’s, I saw something amazing. I was assigned to calculate whether we met a covenant with a bank. A banker showed me an impressive excel worksheet. When the banker clicked a button icon, multiple tasks were automatically performed by the excel sheet. I was fascinated because I realized we could do many things with an excel sheet. On the day, I determined to learn not only using excel but also learn to program macros within excel. Few people could operate excel back then, so it allowed me to seek future possibilities. This event pushed me to research technology. I started studying programming, which led me to specialize in digital transformation within the finance field. Fortunately, I had many friends in the IT field to help me get into this field. I saw many potential opportunities in the area, and identifying the opportunities made me who I am now.

There are so many opportunities around us. I think a successful entrepreneur, company, and inventor actively seek potential opportunities from available information. For example, Mark Zuckerberg saw the opportunity to create social ties over the internet. Hiroyuki Nishimura, the founder of 2channel in 1999 (text board), saw the options to create a media platform to interact with anonymous users online.

Finding opportunities improves our lives in many ways. Entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg created an online social network platform. Finding a job is essential, but finding an opportunity helps you get into a specific position as I did. You may be able to solve potential problems. So, I see finding opportunities as a necessary factor to succeed.

 

Reading and Researching About a Potential Opportunity

To utilize potential opportunities, you must obtain information or knowledge about the possibilities. Without understanding the opportunities, you will not be able to use them properly. Thus, you must be willing to read and research the new information you obtained. I created a note on A4 (letter size) printing paper whenever I saw an interesting piece of new information. Then, I start digging into the details of the information.

There are many ways to gather information. I generally seek more information from books, technical magazines, online journals, blogs, or other online sources. I may take online courses from Coursera, Udemy, etc. There are so many online sources you can collect information and knowledge of new information.

When I create a note about new information, I write down what I want to know. Now you have a purpose for seeking the info. Then, I read and researched the further information I wanted to know.

 

See the Big Picture from an Opportunity

When I find new information, I list the potential opportunities from the new information. I create a mind map to identify possible options from the technology. If you find out the technology about the internet back in the ’90s, you list the items that come from the internet. The internet made many changes to our life. I imagined that Mark Zuckerberg saw social networks on the internet, and Jeff Bezos created an online store over the internet. Write down any possible future outcome from the new information you obtained. Then, you start to see some big picture from the new opportunities. Some further information can lead to multiple possibilities.

 

If you do not Act, you do not benefit from an Opportunity.

Many complain about losing opportunities because they did not grab them. I am no exemption for this case. I recognized I had let go of some opportunities because I acted too slow or disregarded potential opportunities. Many of us notice opportunities; however, we lose them by failing to act upon them. You have to be active to capitalize on the opportunities.

 

Make Yourself Ready for An Opportunity

My definition of opportunity is something that will solve my problems. Instead of looking for an opportunity to make me successful, I look to solve my potential issues or desires. Over 15 years ago, I saw my colleagues in the finance department working 60-70 hours per week to complete their reports. So, I developed an integrated excel template to solve that problem. Later, we introduced a Business Intelligence (BI) tool to replace the excel templates.

Every day, I create ten pages of notes. I write about issues I want to solve, new information, etc. Sometimes I sit with the problems for a while. The critical part of these notes is to organize your thoughts. So, I will be prepared when I see an opportunity to solve existing problems. It does not necessarily have to be new technology. Sometimes, I found a sudden contact to solve the current issue – I still call this finding my great opportunity. Please see the Zero thinking Memo Skill blog to learn about the notes I create.

I also think people perceived as successful often have a common trait. These successful people seek opportunities themselves, while many seek a job opportunity to get them somewhere.

 

I think an opportunity does not necessarily have to be an event that brings you a lot of money or things like that. Like I found 20 years ago, a little opportunity was an opportunity that I developed into something useful. If we actively look for opportunities, they can be found anywhere around us. The important thing is that you must prepare yourself to grab those opportunities and capitalize on the benefits from the opportunities.

To prepare yourself for potential opportunities, I highly recommend you make notes to organize your thoughts every day. This little exercise helps you see your existing issues that need to be solved and identify the new information you may use to solve your problems. Finally, you have to prepare to understand the new opportunities if you will grab and use them.

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Reading Non-Fiction vs. Fiction Books

I read so many books that one can call me a bookworm. I now read non-fiction and fiction books in various genres because I do not want to miss anything I can learn from books. Over 15 years ago, I chose to read only non-fiction books because I could gain more benefits from non-fiction books – at least that is what I thought. A non-fiction book led me to reread fiction books. So, now I reintroduced fiction books in my life. If someone asks me which one benefits me more, I will not answer it. They serve different purposes, and they are equally valuable to our life. I decided to write how I came to this conclusion and appreciate both books.

 

When I was younger, I read more fiction books. My parents had a room full of books at home. I started reading children’s books such as Anne of Green Gables, Little Princess, and Daddy-Long-Legs.  I stopped reading them when I reached ten years old since they were not exciting. So, I started to read my parent’s classic books at the library. My favorite thing to do was to devour books in my favorite blanket. I spend hours only reading like being sucked into a book. I still remember how I was crushed by reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles. I loved reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” I read many Japanese classic books such as “No Longer Human” from Dazai.

By the time I was in 4th grade, I had started reading more non-fiction books. I started reading them because I wanted to acquire knowledge. Instead, I read non-fiction books so that adults around me could have a decent conversation with me as an adult. My father disliked having a dialogue with me if I argued only from sentimentalism. Most books at the library were too tricky for me to understand. Sometimes, I had to check dictionaries and encyclopedias to understand the concepts – this process helped me expand my knowledge in various topics.

Knowledge can significantly improve satisfaction gained from fiction books. In my junior and high school years, I read non-fiction books to understand fiction books. When I read the romance of the Three Kingdoms, historical fiction written about 3rd century China, I read my father’s Chinese history books to understand the period better. If I wanted to know more about the topics, I went to the local library or school library to search for books. Curiosity grown from reading fiction books led me to more non-fiction books. The more knowledge I gained, the more I appreciated fiction books.

At late teens, I moved to Canada to study at a Canadian University. The language barrier prevented me from reading many books. So, I started to seek the most efficient way to acquire knowledge. I stopped reading fiction books altogether because I could not read fiction and non-fiction books. To put it badly, I decided not so much knowledge can be gained from fiction books with my arrogant prejudice. I could count the number of fiction books I read with both hands for the next following 15 years.

 

Ironically, the biggest trigger to get into fiction was non-fiction books about literary analysis. Literary analysis is an exciting discipline – it was like pattern recognition. With intense curiosity, I started rereading fiction books. I read a number of both modern and classic fiction books when I was young. Unfortunately, I forgot the story of the books since I have not read them for so many years. This time, I am reading fiction books, mainly in English. I realized that I barely felt the language barrier at all. During the past 15 years, the knowledge gained gave me different perspectives from books I read when I was younger.

 

At first, I was overwhelmed from reading fiction books. To understand the character better, I tried to profile the characters by their personalities, traits, and biographies. Excellent authors often do not explain the story’s plot from the narrative. To understand the story better, I try to figure out the thoughts and feelings of the character so that I can reveal their hidden agendas. Sometimes, the emotion of those characters I imagined is so intense that I feel like my feelings are shaken from the narrative of the books. This exercise helps me better understand others and see the world from a new perspective.

Fiction books have enriched my creativity. The reintroduction of fiction books to my life helped me interpret music better. I like to imagine what a composer was thinking or feeling while playing the piano. In this way, I am profiling the composer through their music. Then, I tried to carefully make each keystroke express what I imagined and felt from bittersweetness from Chopin’s Nocturnes or even Bach’s devotion toward God.

Fiction books feed me motivation to gain more information by other means. To understand the plot and the worlds the author creates in a book, I often seek more information. Another day, I read “Little Women” and pursued more information about Civil Wars. Every time I take non-fiction books to research, it makes me chuckle a little. I used to do the same thing when I was young.

 

There was a significant language barrier. It was hard for me to read books in a foreign language and synthesize them from Japanese books. I could not read as fast as now back then. I had much less English vocabulary. So, I focused solely on non-fiction books. At least, I did not turn from reading entirely. I will not regret reading only non-fiction books for the last 15 years. There are benefits to reading non-fiction books. I still gained a lot of knowledge from non-fiction books. I gained tons of vocabulary from reading many books. The language barrier may not completely disappear, but I noticed it is much smaller. I sometimes could not tell whether I was reading in English or Japanese.

 

I chose not to read any fiction books over 15 years. When I started rereading fiction books, I realized the benefits of reading fiction books. I realized that reading fiction books helped me gain empathy and different perspectives, which helped me interpret piano music. It motivates me to seek more knowledge. I think non-fiction or fiction books can serve us differently. Thus, I stopped weighing them, and I accepted the difference.

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Improving Drawing Skills

I have improved my drawing skills for the last couple of months because I wanted to draw illustration art for my blog postings. I did more painting when I was in school. After graduating high school, I paint or draw whenever I feel like it. I probably draw/paint more than most people. Since I have never taken time to practice painting or drawing seriously, I’ve never become good at painting.

 

I decided to copy drawings from manga Comics for my first project because I could not draw a picture without looking at anything. I wanted to know how much I could draw. My first drawing was not good. My first project helped me identify some problems that I could improve. For example, I ended up with too many lines. If I were to start drawing with a pen, I would not find the correct lines as there were too many. I also had difficulty with deciding the location for the eyes and the nose. There are so many things I need to improve. I could improve many, but I decided to work on my lines.

 

To draw a picture, you have enough resources in your head and technique to express the image. If you try to paint a person drinking coffee on the chair, you need to visualize the picture to create your original art. Even you have an image in your head, and you need to have minimum techniques to express the image on the paper. You will need to gain such resources or techniques from drawing a lot.

 

Painting and drawing require a lot of practice. You will need to draw a lot if you want to get better, just like practicing an instrument. Fortunately, we can learn basic drawing techniques online. Some YouTube videos even present you with how to practice drawing. If you’re going to be good at painting or drawing, you need to practice basic techniques. It would be best if you strived to learn as many patterns or pictures as possible to have many images you can pull from your brain.

Line Stroke Exercise

I decided to work on basic techniques – line strokes. Line strokes are essential for drawing. My line strokes were so bad that the character’s hair from my first drawing project looked unnatural. Line strokes also can affect the facial expressions of the characters. The exercise reminded me of my practice of learning calligraphy when I was 4 or 5 years old. When I started taking a Japanese calligraphy course, we learned how to create a beautiful line stroke. To make a beautiful line stroke, you need to control your hand and pen movement. I do this exercise on letter-sized standard paper.

 

Ever since I started line stroke exercises, I began to pay more attention to lines from a picture I am studying. I was surprised by how many techniques you can steal from great art. Thickness or the strength of the lines can impact the picture. For example, if you were to draw hair, you can make the hair more realistic by using solid and thick lines on the shaded area to create depth in the picture.

 

Contour lines

After a few weeks, I started to practice drawing contour lines. Contour lines are lines that define the outline of the image. I noticed from my first painting that the body’s position was slightly off proportion because I started from smaller parts. Drawing the contour lines first reduces this problem since the outlines form the objects. So, I concentrated on creating draft lines that captured a silhouette of the picture I was copying. Initially, I started using a black pencil to do this exercise. Then, I realized it would be easier for me to do this exercise with a light brown color pencil since I would not get too distracted with the details of the picture.

 

Draw Heads

When I drew the face of people, I found it was challenging to draw precise positions for facial features. I checked YouTube, and I found an exercise for drawing heads. I started by drawing a combination of Contour lines and central lines to draw faces. I do not do more than 15 minutes of practice. Drawing faces in different angles is challenging because of the shape or shading of the facial features changes. This exercise helps me to visualize how the dimensions should be expressed in lines with different angles. When I started, it took me much longer to draw one head without any details.

 

 

I am focusing on a few technical skills now. I spend no more than 30 minutes on these drawing exercises with a pencil on standard letter-size paper. There are two things I keep in mind. First, I have a purpose for the exercise per session. For example, I may practice “different angles of faces.” I practice only the angle of faces. I also put that label on the paper. I just practiced drawing. Second, I identify anything that I can improve from the drawing and write the findings on the paper for future practice. My husband suggested that I put the date when I did the exercise on the paper to see the improvement.

 

Ever since I started practicing line strokes, I have gotten much better at drawing than a few months ago. My drawing skills are improving slower than I would like. For example, the hair does not look like a piece of seaweed. I pay a lot of attention to the lines of my drawing than before. I found that improving drawing and painting pictures is like learning an instrument. This type of exercise resembles Hanon fingering practicing (finger dexterity exercise for piano players).

 

I have been practicing my drawing skills for the last couple of months. I draw a more complicated picture on the weekend, which helps me identify what techniques I still lack. I still need to learn other techniques in painting. In a few months, I am planning to add shading, body parts, and movement. I will continue to work on basic drawing skills because I want to have my pictures on my blog.

 

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Prioritization Part II

When we think about prioritizing, we usually think of prioritizing your to-do list for a short period. I have made several mistakes during my youth, resulting in me instinctively sensing the scarcity of my time. So, I always created a to-do list, and focusing on critical tasks was important.

Over time, I realized that this was not enough because I was not happy with what I was doing. With prioritizing my short-term to-do list, I got an illusion of being productive. Packing my daily to-do list without reengineering my vision, I soon noticed an unsettling feeling. When the uneasy feeling accumulated, I started to feel unhappy.

When you create your goals, you want to contemplate more on your mission and values. I went to university to get a degree which landed me in my job. I barely thought of “what I want to do.” After I landed a job as an accountant, I set a mission of advancing along my career path as an accountant. I grew unhappy with myself. Initially, I tried to ignore my feelings by making myself busy. Eventually, an event made me realize the importance of contemplating my actual values. (Please read my previous blog posting for details).

Once you have created your vision, you will need to see what you need to do in more detail – this is the process of creating your goals. Any goal should have the following five elements: specificity, measurability, attainability, and relevance with a time set for completion. Many people fail to achieve their goals because they are not detailed enough.

 

For example,

“I want to lose weight this year” is a bad example of the goal.

Firstly, you cannot tell how much weight you want to lose. A measurable element allows you to monitor how well you are achieving your goals to adjust your tactics to achieve the goal. Second, no specific time is determined when you want to start or end working toward a goal. Since the goal is too generic, we cannot see whether this goal is attainable or relevant.

Instead, you want to make a goal like this.

“I want to lose 8 lbs. within two months”.

Now, the goal contains enough information to be able to develop tactics to achieve the goal. Since you want to lose eight lbs. in two months, you will need to lose one lb. each week. To lose one lb., you will need to create a 3,500 calorie deficit by eating less or exercising more. Now you can create your daily tasks. In this case, you can complete a task of aerobic exercise 5 times a week. You want to make your goal with these five elements because it will be easier to identify the tactics to accomplish the goals and measure your progress.

 

Three Categories of Tasks

I classify the tasks necessary to achieve your vision and goal as A-type tasks. These are relevant to your vision and the purpose of living. You want to pay attention and treat these tasks very carefully as they can impact your life significantly.

Now, we talk about things you want to do, but they may not be a part of your vision. For example, I love reading, playing the piano, painting, etc. They are mostly things I enjoy doing. My goals will be all over the place if I include my hobbies as part of my goals. I classify these tasks as B-Type. Some of those tasks, such as playing the piano, required you to practice regularly. So, I have them as part of my to-do list.

Some tasks must be done by a specific date, although they may not be strictly part of your goal. An excellent example of such a task is renewing your car’s registration. I call these c-type tasks. These tasks often take much more time and energy if you leave them until the last minute. Since the task itself does not have value, I do not want to spend more energy than is necessary. I list these types of tasks separately. These tasks tend to distract me from completing other tasks to finish them as soon as possible.

 

“Need” vs. “Want”

Once you have the lists of A, B, and C type tasks, you need to divide the tasks into tasks that “need” and tasks that “want” to be done.” Pay attention to the due date for any tasks that need to be done by a specific date. The closer the due date is, the higher the priority for the tasks.

My B-tasks barely contain things which “need to be done.” By nature of the tasks, they are wishful tasks. My days will be occupied by mostly A and C tasks. They may not have high priorities, but completing these tasks gives me more energy. I treat these tasks like “a date.” I schedule to do them regularly.

I have a running list of tasks, which I use computer software to monitor the status. I prioritize the tasks for the week from the list, and I create a “to-do list.” As time is limited, we must carefully plan what we do each day. There are a few tricks I learned over the year:

  • Prioritize type A type C tasks. Complete as many C-tasks as possible.
  • I always keep 20% of flexible time in my schedule.
  • I have at least one essential task for the day.
  • I make sure to include tasks from your want-to-do list from Type A and Type B.

 

PrioritizingPrioritizationI wrote about an overview of prioritizing tasks in these two-blog postings. It is crucial to prioritize your tasks since our time is limited. I have so many interests, and I struggled a lot juggling my time. Many of us tend to fill our daily life with c-tasks. Don’t randomly fill up your tasks and prioritize them. It is also essential to spend some time contemplating your visions, values, and interests before generating and prioritizing your tasks to gain more control in your life. Finally, it will take a long time to become good at prioritizing your tasks. I still make mistakes. You will also make mistakes. You are always in the process of learning better at prioritizing your tasks.

 

 

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Prioritization – Part 1

What I found most difficult in my life was prioritizing what I needed to do because I wanted to do too many things. When I was young, I was pretty bad at prioritizing my tasks. As a result, I ended up quitting many projects I started. For example, I began to draw a picture and started learning a piano music piece. With full-time work or school, I could not take time for both at a time. Sometimes I had to quit one project. At the worst time, I had another urgent project which I needed to do, and I had to stop all other projects. My biggest problem in prioritization was that I often ended up picking a few of among many things. I have so many things I want to do most of the time. Every failed project made me uneasy; however, I ignored the feeling.

 

There was an event that made me conscious about my priorities when I was at a high school. My friend, whom I had known from elementary school, asked to accompany saxophone music for an event.  I knew I was busy, but I agreed to do it. After a few weeks, I resigned due to a time conflict. My friend looked disappointed, although he never blamed me for it. It made me feel awful because he had to search for another piano player. Since the event, I have become very conscious about prioritization. I realized some tasks could potentially impact other people. I decided to work on my problem so that I did not repeat the same mistake.

 

Despite my efforts, prioritization was more Prioritizationdifficult than I thought. I made a lot of mistakes in how to prioritize my tasks. I am still learning to juggle my schedule. Through trial and error, I got much better at prioritizing my tasks. Over time, I found out there are some tricks in prioritizing what you need to do. Today, I want to write about how I prioritize my tasks.

 

Prioritizing Tasks

I can categorize my tasks into two types. The first type of task includes things I must do. The rest are tasks I want to do. I could not pack my schedule with only tasks I must do to keep my life more satisfied.

 

Satisfying basic needs is critical for prioritization. Maslow’s developed a Hierarchy of needs to articulate the five levels: physiological needs, safety and security, love and belonging, and Esteem and self-actualization. The lower on the hierarchy the need lies, the more critical it is to satisfy it. For example, Physiological needs are necessities for us to survive, such as eating, sleeping, etc. Even though I love reading books, I cannot sustain reading books without sleeping or eating.

 

 

I must satisfy the tasks to fulfill the following needs:

Absolute Requirements: Eat, Sleep, Exercise

High Priority Tasks: Work so that my family can live safely.

Although, I noticed that I could sacrifice physiological needs for my husband when he was ill.

 

Satisfying our basic needs is essential; however, that is not good enough. We must fulfill some things that we want to do. We must find the balance between what needs to be done and what we want to do. When we consider tasks that we want to do, we need to consider visions and values closely.

 

 

Visions & Values

I think visualizing what do you want to do in the future is like drawing or writing. When I draw a picture, I make multiple drafts even before I start drawing. After the numerous drafts, you can finally begin to remove the image. Envisioning is just like creating a draft. Without the draft, it is harder to draw a correct picture line – the lines are like our goals. The clearer they are, the easier it is to focus and prioritize things to do.

 

Our vision must be aligned with our values. Values are something we cannot compromise. So, a misaligned vision will make you uneasy and unsatisfying.

 

I have a friend who went to a veterinary school in Japan. She loves animals. Being a vet does not solely involve playing with animals. Sometimes she may need to put a puppy or a kitty to sleep. She loves animals; however, this is something she could not compromise. So, she became a dog trainer. She makes much less money; however, she is much happier with her life.

 

When I was younger, I set my vision on climbing the corporate ladder. Therefore, I took on a lot of projects, and I worked a lot of hours. I started realizing that my vision did not align with my values. There are a lot of competitions and political games involved in climbing up the corporate ladder. The higher you go up on a corporate ladder, the more impact you have on others. One day, I created a system that ended up terminating several people’s jobs. Despite my promotion, I felt guilty and unhappy. That was the moment I realized that my vision and values were misaligned. So, I started contemplating what my values were.

 

Learning

Challenge

Creating

Freedom

Effectiveness

 

Competition is not my value; therefore, my vision was completely misaligned. After I realized this problem, I felt more relaxed with my life. I specialized in creating better processes at work. My curiosity is not limited to artistic fields such as playing the piano, drawing, reading, or learning something new. I will be satisfied if I can have enough free time to do them.

 

Our time is scarce. So, we must choose which requirement we want to satisfy– this involves prioritizing your tasks. If I am not careful, I can still overload myself with too many tasks. I feel discomfort from losing control of my time. So, I try to limit the number of tasks so that I have some wiggle time. And therefore, I must prioritize what I need to do.

 

Prioritizing is essential since our time is limited. It is necessary to distinguish what you need to do and what you want to prioritize tasks. Then it would be best if you considered your vision values. Without vision, you will be unfocused. If your vision is misaligned with your values, you will be dissatisfied with your life.

 

The better I become at prioritizing my tasks, the more control I gain. Over time, I found out there are some tricks in prioritizing my tasks. I still make many mistakes in prioritizing; although, I try to improve my experience. I hope my experience can help you to prioritize your tasks.

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How to Manage Project Overload

Background

The busy season has started because of year-end. Unfortunately, we have had difficulty partially finding additional accounting staff because the position requires Japanese language skills. As the hiring manager, I do not think Japanese language skill is necessary. After all, we operate in the United States.

One of my biggest challenges was a global kaizen project presentation, which I could not be delegated to anyone. Unfortunately, this presentation is being held in the middle of my busiest season – we are in the middle of preparing three different audits, budgeting, and preparation for the third quarter consolidation report. Finally, I am still overseeing a few other continuous improvement projects.

According to my network, this is not uncommon for small or mid-size companies since it is getting harder to get qualified accountants in this area. Labor shortages in specific fields are getting worse. What I can say is this. I am confident that I am not the only busy person. This is my first time in this complicated situation, but it will not be the last. Today, I want to write about how I manage my tasks when under challenging situations.

My biggest suggestion is not to wait until the last minute. Instead, you need to start the process as soon as possible. 

List all the tasks you need to complete

First, I usually list all outstanding projects I need to complete. I do not write down little tasks required for each project, but I write down the project name. I organize all my projects and tasks digitally. Still, I write down the list on a blank letter-size paper in landscape orientation to visualize the bigger picture of the situation. I spend about one or two minutes writing down this list.

Interim Audit

Quarter Review Audit

Internal Audit

Consolidation reporting package

And so on.

Next, write down the due date to the right of each item

  1. 3rd Quarter External Audit – Nov 8
  2. Interim External Audit – Nov 8
  3. Annual Internal Audit – PBC due Nov 8, Audit Nov 16
  4. Budget – Oct 26
  5. Global Kaizen Project Presentation – Nov 3
  6. Third Quarter Consolidation Report due Nov 23

If you know how long each project will take you to complete, you can estimate the earliest and the latest start time. For example, I will not do any projects involving the 3rd quarter until the 3rd quarter is closed. That will be the earliest start date. The latest start day needs to be calculated from the due date.

I usually use a checklist – which contains all activities listed in a project. For example, I typically have approximately 50-150 items depending on the type of audit. Examples of tasks on this list are federal and state taxes estimates, inventory reserve calculations, slow-moving inventory analyses. I write down how many hours it takes to complete each task. The project time is the aggregation of times of each activity to complete the project.

Checklist

I learned this trick when I was working for an accounting firm a long time ago. A checklist is a list of all the things you need to do, and a checklist offers multiple benefits.

A checklist is an excellent tool to maintain consistency in the tasks. For example, quarter audit, an external auditor usually asks for the same type of information. If you have the list ahead of time, you can generally gather them ahead of time.

A checklist is helpful when you want to delegate certain tasks to other team members of the financially auditing team.

I use a checklist to gauge how many hours each project takes. Once you have the due date, you can estimate the earliest and the latest start date for each project.

If you do not have a checklist for repeating a project, I strongly recommend you create one.

Task Delegation

I know I cannot do all tasks by myself. I usually delegate out as many tasks as possible to junior positions. Delegation does not only help you to ease your workload, but it helps to develop your subordinates.

The critical thing to remember when you delegate your work is you still need to hold responsibility for the tasks.  If you need to train them, you should prepare and review their work. Make sure to give feedback immediately when the tasks are done. Immediate feedback enhances their task efficiency for the future.

I also have written instructions for individual tasks or activities, which I create whenever I have extra time. This instruction also helps train your subordinates.

Negotiate the Due Dates ahead of time

I often negotiate the due dates with our auditors when multiple projects need to be done spontaneously. In my case, I usually negotiate the timing of interim and quarter audits with our external auditors. Our interim audit was initially scheduled for Nov 4, but I dealt with our auditor no make it 8th. We had an internal audit starting on Nov 16.

I requested the consolidation report due date to Nov 23 instead of the 18th because we have an internal audit in the same week. Sometimes it is impossible to do two projects simultaneously because you do not have the time to do two things.

Tasks completion status

I made this list in mid-September, and I made my plan to complete all of them. I am still working on the tasks, but I managed to complete some of them.

  1. 3rd Quarter External Audit – Nov 8 – 85% completed (review delegated tasks left)
  2. Interim External Audit – Nov 8 – PBC submitted
  3. Annual Internal Audit – PBC due Nov 8, Audit Nov 16 – PBC expected to be completed Nov 4
  4. Budget – Oct 26 completed
  5. Global Kaizen Project Presentation – Nov 3 (Slide submitted, currently practicing presentation)
  6. Third Quarter Consolidation Report due Nov 23 (Starting Nov 16)

Conclusion

This was quite a challenging period since I also had to work on the global kaizen project presentation. I still think the key is to list all of the tasks and plan them well. The important thing is to start the planning process as soon as possible. I am 95% certain that I will complete all of them without any delay.

I acquired this process from my experience. The process can be applied to anything. You should try it. It is probably better than becoming stressed out.

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Career Anchors: Knowing What Matter to You Before Planning Your Career

Over the last several years, the environment has drastically changed. Technology has improved so much that the forms of our jobs are changing rapidly – it seems. For example, with the introduction of the Robotic Automation Process or Artificial Intelligence, many of our entry-level tasks are disappearing.

Change has constantly been happening.  I’ve seen technological changes in my career from the beginning. For example, I translated between Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAPs), US GAAPs, and German GAAPs. There were no harmonized accounting standards back then, so reports had to be translated into an accounting reporting standard depending on where stocks were traded. With the introduction of technology, these translations are now done by software.

What we need to pay attention to is not the change itself but the speed of the changes. Labor shortages in some areas are getting worse in the United States. Accounting was one of the fields. Both mid and small companies are struggling to retain qualified employees. There are many reasons that companies are motivated to make the change necessary to survive. Even small companies have started implementing simple robots to take over tasks. I have worked on several projects implementing RPA in large corporations. Now small or mid-size companies have begun implementing digital transformations.

As more RPA take over our daily tasks, more companies seek adaptable people who can do the jobs that robots cannot do, such as interpretation or generating new ideas. How the jobs are done for many of us will change rapidly in the next several years. If you are not adapting to these changes, you will be quickly be made obsolete and end up without a job. So, we need to prepare for any changes that can impose such threats and opportunities.

Another thing you will need to consider is that the work style has changed. To make matters worse, COVID hit the world. Covid forced us to work remotely, and many companies moved to a remote work style. The remote work environment would affect us sooner or later, but COVID catalyzed the change rather quickly. This change made job applications somewhat borderless—labor shortages for mid and small companies got worse last year.

It is essential to understand ourselves more because we need to adapt to environments quickly. Reactive and Impulsive decisions can often lead to an unwanted situation. For example, there will be more remote positions available in the future. Your organization may make your position remote even though a remote work environment is not for everyone. You must be sensitive to technological changes because otherwise, robots may replace your job.

A good method to understand your strategic position in the existing environment is a SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis matrix contains Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Before starting with a SWOT analysis, I think one should identify one’s career anchor because it reveals one’s underlying values. Career anchors are underlying talents, motives, values, and attitudes – people often use these as the drivers to pick their jobs or career. It was developed by Edgar Schein, who is credited for various research and books mainly under organizational psychology (MIT Sloan, n.d.). He is primarily known for his book, Career Anchors.

According to Schein, there are eight career anchors. The eight anchors are:

Technical / Functional Competence: Someone in this anchor wants to be good at what they do. They will put a lot of effort into improving their skills in their career. They also do not care about money or promotions unless the opportunity helps them excel in a chosen line of work.

General Managerial Competence: Someone in this anchor is more likely to pursue the traditional career path of the corporation. They like to supervise a large number of groups or employees. They want to learn how to manage many functions and use the information or skills from multiple sources within an organization. 

Autonomy / Independence: someone in this anchor prefers to be left alone. They love the freedom to set rules, procedures, and their own schedule.

Security / Stability: Someone in this anchor values the security and stability in their job. They dislike unpredictable environments; therefore, they want to have their tasks and policies clearly defined. They tend to have a strong identity in their organization.

Entrepreneurial creativity: Someone in this anchor loves to create their own business. They can get obsessed with the idea they need to create, and they will get bored if the process is prevented.  

Sense of service: People in this anchor want to work within a specific set of values. For example, an elementary school teacher wants to develop youth because they believe that education is essential for anyone. A medical researcher tries to seek a cure for cancer. Money is not the primary driver for these types of people since they are focused on the cause.

Pure Challenge: people in this anchor are constantly seeking more formidable challenges to conquer.

Lifestyle: People in this anchor value a work-life balance. They value the freedom to organize their balance between work and their personal life.

I have taken Schein’s Career Anchors test in the past. I scored high in Pure Challenge, Entrepreneurial Creativity, and Autonomy. I was not as surprised with the results because I feel the most energy when working with challenging projects. If something does not work, I instead create a new way to make it work. That is why I mainly do continuous improvement types of projects for the organization.

Analysis on Strength and Weakness

I quickly analyzed the strengths and weaknesses I obtained from the Career Anchors test. If you want to do the proper analysis, you must include your skills, knowledge, and experience in this analysis.

Strength 

I enjoy the rapid changes in the environments since there are many things I can learn and create to overcome challenges. The more complex the Challenge, the more excited I become. Money and social status are not my main priority if there are challenges in it. I also value autonomy, creating rules and processes instead of following existing rules and processes.

Weakness

I have many things that I want to improve. I see some weaknesses that can lead me to chaos if I fail to control them. If I am not careful, I will endlessly spend my time chasing after the wrong thing. I get bored of things quickly, so I must keep the project short. Finally, I prefer to work independently rather than working for someone. (This is something I need to focus on).

My career anchors led to great opportunities in times like this as long as I navigate how I utilize them. For this blog, I omitted how to conduct environment scanning to find out opportunities and threats, which is very important to complete your SWOT analysis.

I strongly recommend analyzing and identifying one’s career anchors since our environments are shifting quickly. You will need to adjust and reposition yourself in such an environment. 

Without understanding your underlying value or needs, you cannot position yourself wisely. Once you know your career anchor, you can create your career and skill development plan that is matched to your career anchor. People generally feel more engaged when they know what they want, can, and need to do. Understanding your career anchor helps you to identify them easier; thus, you can be adaptable.

Reference

MIT Sloan. (n.d.) Edgar H. Schein.https://mitsloan.mit.edu/faculty/directory/edgar-h-schein