Personal efficiency is one of those things I’ve never thought of much. I mean, when I was a resident, I equated being a lazy resident with some sort of efficiency. That probably doesn’t make much sense unless you’ve experienced repeated weeks of busy ward call double shifts, long weekend shifts, and being back in the day when registered nurses weren’t allowed to administer paracetamol or temazepam without a medical officer’s prescription.
There were well-known residents who were called lazy, but when I looked at their workflow, they handled priorities well. Rather than treat every task the same, they apportioned time, effort, and intellect accordingly. The popular residents were the ones who said yes to everything, however, they always looked weary, and they were often late to something important.
Personal efficiency
Personal efficiency though extends well beyond a busy shift at work. As I have aged and matured professionally and personally, my personal efficiency and effectiveness have waxed and waned.
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This week I began the first of a four-session program on personal efficiency or PEP as it’s better known in learning and development circles.
While the focus of the program is on workplace efficiency, many of the lessons can relate to personal efficiency at home and outside of work.
Where’s the biohazard injury?
That said, when I hear or read PEP, my mind first turns to post-exposure prophylaxis in the context of being exposed to an infectious or communicable disease. For example, biohazard injuries (BHI) are a constant concern when working with people infected with bloodborne pathogens like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). When BHIs occur and when we know if the source has an infection with HIV or HBV or HCV, we now have PEP products available to attempt to abort infection.
Why do something today when it can wait until tomorrow or next week?
One of my personal traits that interferes with my personal efficiency is procrastination. I’m often saying out loud, “Why do this today, when it can wait until tomorrow or next week?”
I also learnt that when it comes to exploiting information technology (IT), I’m reasonably good in terms of personal efficiency. I block out time in my calendar for reading and working on answering questions which come in via e-mail. I have a logical filing system which is mirrored from my e-mail application to the hard disk drive of my desktop PC through to the cloud server system I use when I’m not at my desktop PC.
I need to change some habits though. Often when something pops up that requires me to speak with a team member, I will call them or visit them. In my mind, getting a response quickly is best and if I walk to a team member’s desk I get some blood flowing into my larger muscle bundles. What I was told though is that this approach creates an interruption not only to my work but my colleague’s work. It can also be distracting. It’s better to save up these tasks and bundle them.
Can I block out time at home too?
What I’ve learnt is that I need to block out time at home too. In the evenings and on the weekends, I have a pretty good routine and mostly, things happen according to plan. I think I could be more efficient though and will now try to block out time and set up reminders in the reminders application on my smartphone.
Washing machine revelation
I have a front loading washing machine made by LG. Yesterday, the fabric softener dispenser started to retain water. I discovered on removing the dispenser module that I really need to clean that part of the washing machine more often. There was a bit of black mould in there. I also noticed the main gasket from around the door was looking pretty dirty with a lot of gunk in there. I gave that a cleanout with a cloth too. Then I looked at the final filter near the floor. I haven’t opened that compartment before. I needed a baking tray to drain the water before I opened the little door which revealed coins and collar stays.
My gratuitous advice is, whenever you finish using the washing machine, remove the dispenser module and allow it to dry, keep the main door open and wipe out the gasket, and schedule in your calendar a cleanout of the final filter once every six to twelve months.
State of Origin lunch
I’m in a fortunate situation where I have a core group of workmates who like to go to lunch once a year to celebrate the State of Origin series. Two of these friends are cockroaches and one is a good bloke (aka Queenslander).
We usually have chicken schnitzel and chips.
Despite my low carb endeavours, I went all out with a schnitty, hot chips, mushroom sauce, and some token vegetables.
Book writing
A few bloggers have mentioned over the last few years that I should write a cookbook of Yummy Lummy recipes. I’ve always said I’d do it. I’ve been putting it off though because I lack motivation. I still don’t have the motivation, however, this week I began sketching out an outline of a book. I’ve started adding words to various chapters and sections. I’ve even installed a plugin to convert a blog post to a plain text ASCII file which I can use for each recipe.
I have no idea when I will get something available, I just know it will be an e-book and it will be free.
What have I watched this week?
Harry Potter
Netflix Australia New Zealand now has all the movies. I don’t mind watching the Harry Potter movies from time to time.
Last night I watched Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The actors look so young. The first movie was released in 2001, it’s hard to believe it’s nearly 20 years ago.
Blackadder II
I watched the second instalment of Blackadder this week. The addition of Ben Elton to the writing team made a huge difference. It also saw Hugh Laurie make a couple of guest appearances too.
This series is set in the Elizabethan era with Blackadder a member of the aristocracy.
Farscape
Not watched this week
Stargate SG-1
Not watched this week
Master Chef Australia
What a finish. My favourite, viz., Tessa was the runner up to Larissa who cooked consistently better than Tessa and Simon on the final night. Larissa’s dessert skills really helped her secure the victory.
A lot of Tweeps felt that the judges were biased towards Larissa. I didn’t get that sense at all.
In other big news, it was announced that contract negotiations between the 10 Network and the hosts of the show for the last eleven years, viz., Gary, Matt, and George, fell through and the trio which made the show so successful won’t be returning in 2020.
I will miss Gary and Matt. I won’t miss George that much. He seems to lack the skills to use a knife and fork with any sense of table etiquette.
Star Trek: The Original Series
“The Squire of Gothos“
I like the notion of Trelane being a member of the Q Continuum as described in The Next Generation.
Star Trek: The Animated Series
“The Terratin Incident“
The crew are shrinking in size. Even when animated, I’m still a fan of Nurse Chapel.
Star Trek: Deep Space 9
“Favor the Bold“
LTC Jadzia Dax complains to Captain Sisko. The Federation aims to retake DS9 from the Cardassians. Does this plan put Earth at risk?
Odo and a Changeling have sex. Morn engages in espionage. Nog is promoted to Ensign.
National Rugby League
The Brisbane Broncos defeated the Gold Coast Titans.
LAW & ORDER
Not watched this week
What have I listened to this week?
No Such Thing as a Fish
Episode 279: No Such Thing As A Backflipping Doctor
This week’s show was recorded in Berlin and mentions one of my favourite ectoparasites, Pthirus pubis, aka the crab louse or trouser prawn.
Anna makes a good point about head lice. Pediculus humanus subsp. capitis is essentially harmless. These lice do us no harm. Infestation reflects clean rather than dirty hair. Keeping hair short holds infestations at bay. Some people don’t notice them, but most people react to the saliva of the head louse.
Body lice (Pediculus humanus subsp. humanus) on the other hand can act as vectors for significant diseases like trench fever, relapsing fever, and epidemic typhus.
Sapiens
Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind written by Yuval Noah Harari and narrated by Derek Perkins.
This is a fabulous book. I’ve listened to it once already and it’s worth listening to repeatedly I reckon.
I know there has been some criticism of the book, however, I have enjoyed the author’s take on the fallacies of the social constructs like human rights and origins of humans in various geographical locations. What we conveniently push aside mentally is that sapiens domination has meant the destruction of fauna despite the fairytales which have evolved through modern ‘history’ used in an attempt to get people to show greater respect for various ethnic and cultural groups.
What have I eaten and photographed this week?
Videos
It’s been a bit of a hotchpotch of meals this week.
Photographs
This is a gallery of photographs. Click on one image and scroll through the rest of them.
The Owl Statue on Sunday morning 
Coffee tamper 
Sun rise Lake Ginninderra 
Lake Ginninderra 
Lake Ginninderra Sunday morning
Sunday breakfast. Steamed egg on wilted spinach with melted Red Leicester. 
Sunday breakfast. Steamed egg on wilted spinach with melted Red Leicester. 
Monday tea. Sous vide salmon flaked into curry kale sprouts, kale, and cabbage. #yummylummy #foodphotography #sousvide #lowcarb #salmon #kalesprouts #kale #MasterChefAU Salmon, Kale sprouts, Kale, Cabbage, Spring onion, Coriander, Parsley, Curry, Celery, Carrot, Coconut cream G’day food lovers. Tonight I made a curry with some leafy green vegetables and flaked in some sous vide salmon I cooked on Sunday. The salmon was cooked at 55 °C for 45 minutes. In a frypan I softened some celery and carrot lubricated with rice bran oil. I then added some curry powder and tossed in kale sprouts, shredded kale leaves, Savoy cabbage, and the green part of some spring onions. I put the lid on the frypan and waited for the kale sprouts, kale, and cabbage to soften and absorb the curry flavours as cellular water vapourised and helped form an oily film on the leafy green leaves. I removed the lid and poured in half a tin of coconut cream and stirred it through. Once the coconut cream had reduced to a thicker consistency, I turned off the heat, added some lemon juice, tossed in some slices of the white part of the spring onion and coriander roots, stems, and leaves. I then stirred in flakes of salmon, transferred everything to a bowl and garnished with cherry tomatoes. It was a delicious meal for a Monday night. Have a good night. Bye. 
Monday lunch. Celery, carrot, Coon cheese, and dates. 
Chinese gooseberry and tarty yoghurt 
Sunday tea. Sous vide salmon with Hollandaise kale, lettuce, and cabbage. #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb #salmon #hollandaise Salmon, Hollandaise sauce, Kale, Lettuce, Cabbage, Spring onion, Avocado G’day food lovers. I hope you had a great Sunday. After a big weekend of eating, I wanted something light. I cooked a small piece of salmon by sous vide and made a salad by shredding green kale, Savoy cabbage, and cos lettuce and dressing it with homemade Hollandaise sauce. The salmon was cooked at 55 °C for 45 minutes. I seared the skin for a minute in a hot frypan. It was a nice light meal and very green. Have a good night. Bye. 
Sunday lunch. Pan-fried kale sprouts, tomato, and Red Leicester cheese with avocado #yummylummy #foodphotography #lowcarb 
Celery, carrot, Coon cheese, and dates 
Wednesday tea. Sous vide duck breast with a cabbage, kale, lettuce, and tomato salad. #yummylummy #foodphotography #sousvide #lowcarb #duckbreast Duck breast, Cabbage, Kale, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Avocado, Spring onion G’day food lovers. Happy Hump Day! I went out for lunch today so I need a light tea. On the weekend I cooked a duck breast sous vide at 76 °C for 2 hours. Tonight I sliced it and served it with Avocado, spring onions, shredded Savoy cabbage, green kale, cos lettuce, and cherry tomatoes which I dressed with olive oil and lemon juice. Have a good night. Bye. 
Chicken schnitzel with chips and mushroom gravy at the Hellenic Club. State of Origin annual lunch with friends. 
Tuesday tea. Pork belly with speck, broccoli, cauliflower, kale sprouts and Brussels sprouts. #yummylummy #foodphotography #sousvide #lowcarb #porkbelly #kalesprouts #kale #MasterChefAU Pork belly, Speck, Cauliflower, Kale sprouts, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. Tonight I wanted something easy. In a mixing bowl I tossed in some frozen Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower florets, and squirted in some rice bran oil. I got my hands in and massaged oil all over everything and then laid it all out on a baking sheet. I pulled out a nice long fatty strip of pork belly and massaged it with my oily hands. On a spare patch of the baking sheet I placed my pork and gave it a good seasoning with iodised salt, Chinese five spices and some sesame oil. I put the baking sheet into a hot oven for 45 minutes. While my pork meat was cooking, I tossed some kale sprouts in a little rice bran oil with some diced speck and at the 30 minute mark pulled out my pork meat from the warm embrace of the oven and added the kale sprouts for the last 15 minutes. At the end of 45 minutes I pulled everything out, cut my pork into cubes, seasoned everything to taste, and served it in bowl. It was a delicious meal for a lazy Tuesday night. Have a good night. Bye. 
Tuesday tea. Pork belly with speck, broccoli, cauliflower, kale sprouts and Brussels sprouts. #yummylummy #foodphotography #sousvide #lowcarb #porkbelly #kalesprouts #kale #MasterChefAU Pork belly, Speck, Cauliflower, Kale sprouts, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. Tonight I wanted something easy. In a mixing bowl I tossed in some frozen Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cauliflower florets, and squirted in some rice bran oil. I got my hands in and massaged oil all over everything and then laid it all out on a baking sheet. I pulled out a nice long fatty strip of pork belly and massaged it with my oily hands. On a spare patch of the baking sheet I placed my pork and gave it a good seasoning with iodised salt, Chinese five spices and some sesame oil. I put the baking sheet into a hot oven for 45 minutes. While my pork meat was cooking, I tossed some kale sprouts in a little rice bran oil with some diced speck and at the 30 minute mark pulled out my pork meat from the warm embrace of the oven and added the kale sprouts for the last 15 minutes. At the end of 45 minutes I pulled everything out, cut my pork into cubes, seasoned everything to taste, and served it in bowl. It was a delicious meal for a lazy Tuesday night. Have a good night. Bye. 
Celery, Carrot, Coon cheese, and Dates 
Thursday tea. Sous vide duck breast with a curry cabbage, kale, lettuce, spring onion, red onion, coriander, tomato, and avocado. #yummylummy #foodphotography #sousvide #lowcarb #duckbreast #curry Duck breast, Cabbage, Kale, Tomatoes, Avocado, Spring onion, Curry, Red onion, Coriander G’day food lovers. On the weekend I cooked a duck breast sous vide at 76 °C for 2 hours. Tonight I sliced it and added it to a curry. I started by softening some Savoy cabbage, green kale, and the green parts of some spring onion in a hot frypan. Once the vegetables were soft I added in some curry powder and Sichuan seasoning and stirred everything around. As the greens started to wilt more and absorb the spicy flavours, I tossed in slices of sous duck breast to warm through. I deglased the frypan with some lemon juice and then added a good glug of coconut cream. I let everything simmer until the coconut cream began to thicken. I turned off the heat and stirred in coriander roots, stems, and leaves along with the white part of some spring onion, thin slices of red onion, and some cherry tomatoes. Have a good night. Bye. 
Friday tea. MEATER™ made chicken thigh with roast cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. #yummylummy #foodphotography #meatermade #lowcarb @meatermade @meatergram Chicken, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. I felt like roast chicken for tea tonight. I bought a chicken thigh from Belconnen Chicken and inserted my MEATER™ wireless meat thermometer and set it to finish cooking when the internal temperature reached 71 °C (160 °F). I put my chicken on a rack over a baking tray and in the baking tray I had the cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale along with a little chicken stock. When the chook was cooked I removed it from the heat to rest and I drained the vegetables and put them into a hot frypan with some Dijon mustard and then some cream to make a creamy sauce with the vegetables. Have a good night. Bye. 
Friday tea. MEATER™ made chicken thigh with roast cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. #yummylummy #foodphotography #meatermade #lowcarb @meatermade @meatergram Chicken, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. I felt like roast chicken for tea tonight. I bought a chicken thigh from Belconnen Chicken and inserted my MEATER™ wireless meat thermometer and set it to finish cooking when the internal temperature reached 76 °C (170 °F). I put my chicken on a rack over a baking tray and in the baking tray I had the cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale along with a little chicken stock. When the chook was cooked I removed it from the heat to rest and I drained the vegetables and put them into a hot frypan with some Dijon mustard and then some cream to make a creamy sauce with the vegetables. Have a good night. Bye. 
Friday tea. MEATER™ made chicken thigh with roast cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. #yummylummy #foodphotography #meatermade #lowcarb @meatermade @meatergram Chicken, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. I felt like roast chicken for tea tonight. I bought a chicken thigh from Belconnen Chicken and inserted my MEATER™ wireless meat thermometer and set it to finish cooking when the internal temperature reached 76 °C (170 °F). I put my chicken on a rack over a baking tray and in the baking tray I had the cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale along with a little chicken stock. When the chook was cooked I removed it from the heat to rest and I drained the vegetables and put them into a hot frypan with some Dijon mustard and then some cream to make a creamy sauce with the vegetables. Have a good night. Bye. 
Friday tea. MEATER™ made chicken thigh with roast cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli. #yummylummy #foodphotography #meatermade #lowcarb @meatermade @meatergram Chicken, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli G’day food lovers. I felt like roast chicken for tea tonight. I bought a chicken thigh from Belconnen Chicken and inserted my MEATER™ wireless meat thermometer and set it to finish cooking when the internal temperature reached 76 °C (170 °F). I put my chicken on a rack over a baking tray and in the baking tray I had the cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and kale along with a little chicken stock. When the chook was cooked I removed it from the heat to rest and I drained the vegetables and put them into a hot frypan with some Dijon mustard and then some cream to make a creamy sauce with the vegetables. Have a good night. Bye. 
Friday lunch. Garran Kitchen Combination Rice Noodles. 
Saturday lunch. Kale sprouts. 
Saturday breakfast. Speck with wilted spinach, melted Coon, and steamed egg. 
Cauliflower, cream cheese, and butter 
Cauliflower, cream cheese, and butter 
Anova Culinary Precision Cooker 
Sous vide water bath 
Almond meal, parsley, and parmesan 
Chicken thigh fillet and a coffee tamper 
Mashed cauliflower 
Chicken schnitzel 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato and streaky bacon 
Chicken schnitzel with tomato and streaky bacon topped with Coon cheese 
Cooked chicken schnitzel with tomato and streaky bacon topped with melted Coon cheese 
Mashed cauliflower 
Chicken schnitzel and mashed cauliflower 
Low carb chicken schnitzel on mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage 
Low carb chicken schnitzel on mashed cauliflower with wilted silverbeet and red cabbage 
Sunday breakfast. Steamed egg with wilted silverbeet, cherry tomatoes, and Coon cheese. 
Sunday lunch. Leftover mashed cauliflower with silverbeet and red cabbage.
Yummy Lummy this week
Low carb chicken schnitzel
I cooked a low carb chicken schnitzel by replacing breadcrumbs with almond meal. I also made mashed cauliflower for the first time. In some ways, this is an example of improving personal efficiency by improving the quality of my diet.
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Final thoughts
- Are you an efficient Sapien? How do you fair in terms of personal efficiency?
- Is being lazy a good or bad trait?
- Do you regularly clean your washing machine?
Lol that efficiency thing hit home. I had a colleague who would keep coming over to ask questions every 5 minutes instead of batching it. The questions I don’t mind but the stop / start disruption to my own work flow I had a definite problem with.
I’ve become better at saving up the stuff I need to interrupt people with so I’m not distracting them too much. I also have a better system now to make it clear when I don’t want to be disturbed.
My system was ‘don’t disturb me between this hour and this hour…’ which they simply ignored.
😂 I have a well practised look which conveys the right amount of menace 🤣
😀
Hi Gary, I agree with you re the Masterchef judges.
I am not efficient generally but have recently become acquainted with the idea of batch working and also the Pomero technique (I think that’s what it’s called – after the tomato). It’s a procrastination tool – you do your work in 25 or 30 minute chunks, then have a 5 minute break. Then after you’ve done 4 “Pomeros” worth of work, you have a longer break, like 15 minutes. It’s something like that anyway.
As for my washing machine – I also have a front loader – a Samsung! I know, I never knew they made washing machines – have had it for three years and haven’t cleaned any part of it! So thanks for the tip!
I’ve heard of that method of behaving with work and personal tasks. I work well with rewards, like a short break to do something else.
I hope I can keep my washing machine working for many years. Appliances like that are so expensive and so expensive to have someone come and repair them. The worst part was the discovery of the mould. There was so much of it.I wen through quite a bit of vinegar. At least the mould didn’t have any odour that I could discern.
Vinegar is wonderful!
As I’ve grown older, I’ve really started to appreciate the flavours of vinegars.
Yes, and they’re good for flavour AND cleaning- so versatile!
Ahhh.. serendipity is a funny thing. I have been reading this week about dealing with procrastination and found several articles that linked procrastination to emotion management/regulation rather than time management, which surprised me. Hit me up on FB Messenger if you would like some links 🙂
Thanks Michelle. I’ll make contact through Messenger.
I am a mixed bag – I tend to be efficient in some areas of my life but not others, and need to set myself reminders to do things (and then hope I don’t just ignore the reminders!). I’m curious how long you’ve had your washing machine for? Mind is a front loader too and I keep the door and drawers clean but I’ve neglected to open the filter spot near the floor and clean it. I am a little scared to…
I’ve had my washing machine for 10 years now. In that time the filter on the bottom wasn’t too gunky. It was good to get the collar stays back.
Love your comment about George C – won’t miss him either – he needs to learn to eat properly instead of stabbing his food and turning the fork around and shoving into his mouth – weird!!
Thanks, Sue. I really hope his mother didn’t teach him to eat like that. Surely not.
I pride myself on being efficient. At work I deliver both quantity and quality consistently. Writing down what I need to do and plan in advance is something I do both at work and at home. It’s nice of you to walk to other’s desk and get an answer – but you do have a good point there on interruption.
Your washing machine incident reminds me to clean it more :/
I need to be more mindful of efficiency and making the best use of my time and the time of others.
Be mindful of having enough self-care time. People tend to forget that.
This is true. Self-care is so very important for busy people.
Gary, I normally read in my email and pop online later. However, I learned something and absolutely had to ask and share. First, I never realized that’s what the pockets in a collar were for! They seemed useless! I was curious, though, do the stays get pinged by security and could someone use one to shiv another? 🤔🤔🤔 I know I can’t take scissors or even nail clippers and metal fingernail files on an airplane, pointed stays are like the latter.
I’m terrible at organizing myself. I am constantly looking at boxes and thinking I’ll do it later. Mayhap, following you will also help me!
Our emergency room is now called ED. Not erectile dysfunction, but the emergency department! Makes me laugh.
The stays can be made from plastic or metal. The fancy shirts have metal ones. I’ve never been pinged by security, even travelling into the USA with metal collar stays. I reckon they could be sharpened, but they’d still need to be attached to a handle to avoid harming the handler.
When I was a resident I did about a year of emergency medicine and remember distinctly the men who presented with priapism. We’d have a insert a cannula into the base of the penis and suck the blood out.
😳😳😳😳😳😳
Nice post Gary and a great idea with this book 🙂
I can be efficient, when needed and in the mood, otherwise not.
If the laziness are 24/7, I will say a bad trait.
Yes, I do clean my washing machine. Both the filters and descaling, which is needed every month or two to give the machine a long life.
Enjoy your day.
Thanks, Irene. My intention is to be more diligent about washing and cleaning my washing machine for longevity.