Workplaces: Artyom Turovets, a man in love with "Sky"

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker's guest - Artyom Turovets. He runs an online bookkeeping service, skydives and has an interesting planning system. Today he will tell you about his workplace.

What do you do in your work

My main and so far the only project by which I am known in Runet is the online accounting department "Sky". Inside Heaven, I am engaged in inspiring the team and channeling our inexhaustible energy in the right direction. And directly by the choice of this very channel, as well as by some administrative functions.

What your workplace looks like

My workplace is built in such a way that it is as comfortable to work as possible, and it becomes uncomfortable in the event of unwanted clutter. It consists of an ordinary Ikeevsky white table on 4 legs + a chair + a bedside table.

Artyom's workplace

This is just an ordinary white table, armchair and bedside table.

In the office "Sky"

How it works?

A small table, purely physically, does not allow me to make a strong mess on it.

Sooner or later (and the smaller the table, the sooner - checked!) There is physically no room left on it to put “one more paper”, and, like it or not, you deal with them.

The white color of the table does not allow "accumulating" a large number of coffee / tea stains. As soon as the first one appears, the table starts to look very unsightly. Again, like it or not, wipe it off.

In addition, such tables have the ability to calmly stretch their legs.

On the table are a laptop monitor, wireless keyboard and mouse, and a paper notebook for current notes. Plus a few pens to chew on in a creative impulse and sign documents for administrative work.

The laptop is an ordinary ancient Lenovo, although there is a MacBook in the wish-list. But I'll get it from myself as soon as I complete some personal KPIs. Lenovo is enough for everyday work, since I don't need a lot of productivity in my work, and the picture is provided by a large monitor.

I am not chasing new equipment, I make the same requirements for it as for a workplace - the minimum necessary comfort.

This is probably why the only gadget currently in use is an LG Android smartphone. A gift from the team. Chosen by professionals who know me very well, so I got right to the point. Small enough to fit in your pocket, big enough to comfortably write letters and read books from it, modern enough not to slow down.

What software are you using

Operating system- Windows 7. OEM came with a laptop. Suitable for me, because 1C works comfortably on it, including the ancient version 7.7. The fact is that in addition to being a director in "Sky", I also "earn extra money as a programmer", I support the exchange of 1C with "Sky".

On duty in the system costs 3-4 browser, but I only use Google Chrome. Most likely, because it is more familiar and so far there have been no tasks that would force me to change it to something else.

mail - Mozilla Thunderbird, as it is free, but at the same time has an advanced system of automatic filters. And again, it's a matter of habit - more than 5 years on it.

Messengers: Skype and Telegram - for work; Whatsapp is for personal use. Skype is our main working tool for instant communication. There are several stable thematic chats, ranging from HD-chat for quick discussion of support issues, up to 100% - "booty" for funny pictures that are not related to work.

On Skype, I am always invisible. This allows you to choose the time of the response and determine its importance.

Likewise mail. If right now there are no active important correspondences, then I try to keep the mail client closed.

TwitterI gave it up deliberately. First, he eats time. Secondly, it eats emotion and concentration. Concentration not at the moment on this specific task, but in general, a global concentration on their goals. For the same reason, I hardly follow the blogs of my colleagues in the cloud accounting market.

Office Applications … Not so long ago, a couple of years ago, I caught myself thinking that there was not a single document left that I was working on alone and which I would not show to anyone later. And if you share and, moreover, jointly edit, then it is much more convenient to work in the "cloud".

Google spreadsheets, presentations, and a text editor have enough tools to create meaning and give the minimum necessary form. And when (if) it is necessary to clothe information in a very beautiful form (for example, to draw a presentation), I transfer this matter to professionals - designers. And, again, the installed applications are no longer needed.

For management accounting in business, I use "Sky", I post the extract myself, and I enjoy it.

Share your scheduling system

Gleb Arkhangelsky and his Time Drive had a serious impact on my planning system.

I use several tools as a planner.

Google Calendar allows you to coordinate and confirm appointments with colleagues and partners and watch them on your phone's desktop in a widget. There I write in general all events with a fixed start time, the so-called "hard events". Apart from them, I do not write anything on Google Calendar, because I am a fan of contextual planning.

Contextual planning is when tasks are tied to a specific place, group of people or circumstances, that is, context.

For example, I will never write tasks related to the development of the Sky application in Google Calendar. When it comes time to work on development, I still go to Redmine (our managers don't get into development beyond the task tracker) and see all my development tasks there.

Also, I never write tasks in Google Calendar that are directly related to the accounting department of Nebo LLC. Because to solve these problems, I still need to go to "Heaven", and there is our problem book with the accountant for two.

Thus, almost all tasks are scattered across contexts.

My trick, in contrast to the classic contextual planning according to Arkhangelsk, is to make sure that when you get into the context, you cannot pass by the list of tasks in this context.

Otherwise, if you place the list of contextual tasks somewhere in one diary, I, as an irrational, will definitely forget to look into it.

There are also "out-of-context" work tasks. They are usually large and written in a simple list in a regular paper notebook, from where I cross them out gradually.

As for goal-setting, all my goals are also broken down into contexts: there are workers, there are family, there are sports. I have no formulated goals for personal growth. As soon as something starts to be missing, I just go and learn it.

I am convinced that goals are not only useful but also harmful.

First, they close up, do not allow a wider look around. For example, if I stubbornly (if not to say "hard") followed my goals and plans from 2008-2010, I would now be a project manager in a large 1C franchisee. Brr! How can I compare the degree of freedom that I would have and that I have now … I don't even want to think about it.

Secondly, while attaching very serious importance to the previously formulated goals, it is very easy to succumb to the temptation to look at the progress of approaching them every day, and to be upset that it is still so far away. Instead of taking a small step in the right direction with concentration every day.

On the other hand, it is also impossible without goals. Especially if you are organizing a group of people. But, as with everything, goals must be treated without fanaticism.

What is your daily routine

The daily routine changes depending on the time of year and, of course, the context in which I find myself.

By default, I consider myself an owl, and the most productive time is from 4 pm to 9 pm. On the other hand, I notice that the forced "lark" is also great!

For example, when my son went to kindergarten, and I took him to (scary to think!) 7:15, my most productive hours at work were from 8 to 12-13.

Another example. When you fly on a business trip, you have to get up at all at 4 in the morning, while the most creatively productive time falls on 5: 00-9: 00 hours, while you are sitting at the airport and flying on the plane.

About the drop zone, where I come to practice my favorite hobby (parachute jumping), I am generally silent. There, the “peak of productivity” is the whole day, and even feeling your eyes closing after a hearty lunch, you realize that it’s just your body trying to interfere, and your brain and spirit are more productive than ever.

In a word, "lark" or "owl" is all nonsense and convenient excuses to oneself. It all depends on your inner attitude to this or that activity. It is clear that it is impossible to create a positive attitude in oneself always and for everything, and it is not necessary.

You just need to be honest with yourself, at least, and ideally with others.

For example, I feel much freer when I say to my colleagues - "guys, I read it at night yesterday, so I slept today, still nothing important was planned in the morning" than the constantly lying "I'm a night owl, don't touch me in the morning." By the way, I have exactly the same attitude towards my employees. It is much easier to negotiate if you are honest with yourself and your colleagues. Just do not confuse this with undemandingness.

Where does sport fit into your life?

Answering this question, I usually proudly kick myself in the chest and say - "I do parachuting." In fact, I regularly jump with a parachute, and achieve small but growing results there. But this is not a sport, but rather physical education.

Physical education, which helps to completely switch to another dimension.

Arriving at the airfield, you completely, with giblets, switch from earthly life to air.

First, you do business and solve problems that are absolutely not typical of ordinary life. Secondly, the opposite is true. For example, the reflexes of our body say: "In any incomprehensible dangerous situation, strain and group." In the air, on the contrary: "In any incomprehensible situation, bend and relax." Thirdly, it's just beautiful.

Fourth, fifth … I can talk about this for a long time.:) And the question was about the place of sport in life. Answer:

Sport occupies one of the three main places in my life, along with business and family.

Just don't ask to prioritize them. These are incomparable things from different dimensions (round cannot be compared with green).

Artyom is fond of parachuting

Artyom and parachute

Artyom Turovets: "Coming to the airfield, you completely switch from earthly life to air"

Passing your time in traffic jams

I try not to get stuck in traffic jams, since it is possible in Kazan after the Universiade. If I got there, then I either read a book from my phone, or talk to my son (if we go with him). Sometimes I call people with whom there are no short conversations. I always postpone such conversations in case of traffic jams. I don't forget about safety - the car has Bluetooth, I read a book too - only at zero speed.

Is there a place in paper in your work

Fortunately there is. Unfortunately there is.

Why fortunately? Because on paper it is easier to think, draw, it is more pleasant to cross out completed tasks.

Why "Unfortunately? Because very few of our counterparties have switched to paperless document flow, as in all small businesses. The situation today is such that only large contractors can afford to switch to electronic document management. Because a complete transition requires "bending" all its partners to this, plus make certain efforts to launch it at home.

Nevertheless, we are already working with some partners without paper, and we are spreading this "infection" around us.

Life hacking from Artem Turovets

Books, which opened for me different layers of knowledge / understanding of life (two business and one artistic):

1. Eliyahu Goldratt - “Purpose. Continuous improvement process”. What is the most important thing in business? How to measure it? Which way to dig, and which is not worth it? In addition, starting with this book, I discovered a whole theory of constraints, which also provided a couple of practical tools.
2. Jim Camp - "Say No First." A very effective approach to sales and negotiations, and it does not lie in the phrase in the title. By the way, I also got a balanced attitude to goals from there.
3. Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged. A very motivating book, although it is delayed in places. In each character you see a part of yourself. And then, already in real life situations, you begin to imagine which of the heroes you will look like if you behave in one way or another.

Is there a dream configuration

Yes. It's you.

All people are internally lazy and prone to procrastination. So, the main task of the configuration of a dream is to allow the sloth inside you to manifest itself only when you allow it, and not otherwise.

All reserves and opportunities lie within you. Yes, gadgets and software make your job easier, sometimes significantly. But not a single gadget or program will make you want to take a step. And if you really wanted this, then this is a completely different state.

You don't remember words like productivity or motivation, you just don't need them. You just go and do it. You see obstacles, but sweep away or go around them without batting an eye.

Someone calls it a state of flow, someone calls it an inspiration.

And this is what I would like to wish you, dear readers of Lifehacker. Write a couple of comments to this article, then close your browser and go - work / study / play with your child … LIVE!