Announcement: Hit 1000 Pageviews

Today marks the day that this blog hit 1,000 views. Admittedly, this blog already had a few from articles I had previously published that I took down, but nonetheless, I'm happy to have got this far.

Thanks for reading and your support - I aim to put up some content up each week, so keep checking in on me! Cheers!

Onavo Extend

Have you ever found something that makes your life easier or even though you never have to think about it? This app is one of those.

Onavo Extend is a neat little app that I've been using for a while now. I would have told people about it earlier, but I only recommend things once I know for sure that they're useful.

Basically, it applies a profile to your phone which runs your mobile internet data through a Virtual Private Network (backed by Amazon) which shrinks your data usage by compressing images, videos and data from apps. Once you have it set up and working, you no longer need to worry about its presence, kind of like a passive spell.

I have been running it on the stock standard settings and the difference in quality is barely noticeable, however according to the apps reports I've been routinely saving about 5-10% of my data usage each month. Given that I come pretty close to my 250MB included data each month, using this app allows me to effectively get a little bit of extra data on top (somewhere between 12 and 25 additional megabytes), which helps me avoid excess use charges and saves money.

If you've got a plan that's pretty slim on included data, then this app can help you squeeze a little extra from it and help you avoid paying more than you need to.

Onavo Extend is available for iPhone and Android at the low, low price of free.

Resolutions

The theory goes that if you tell people about your resolutions or goals, you are more likely to see them through. With this in mind, I thought I'd share with you my current set of resolutions. I'm a big believer in personal development and tend to make (too many) New Year's Resolutions every year. I would say I seem to mostly stick to them, but I do cop some flak from Jess for being a crazy person when I miss something I was going to do and then obsess about it until I do it and catch up.

1. Go to the gym three times a week

Currently on track with this goal, and it helps that Jess has the same one. We've even bought gold stars to stick on our calendar for psychological reward; I guess the little bit of healthy competition helps motivate us both to go too. Since I've stopped going to boot camp, I'm also getting a kick from how much money I'm saving going to the gym at my work. It also helps that I'm starting to see some results!

2. Drink less alcohol

Currently on track with this goal too, and again one that both Jess and I made this year. Towards the end of last year, Jess and I found ourselves having something to drink almost every evening after work. Not only was this a bad habit to be in health-wise, it was burning a hole through our wallets. Cutting back has been surprisingly easy, just remove the supply and only purchase alcohol when necessary. Having a strong saving goal has also helped, as with less disposable income, you have to really prioritise what you buy - and parking at work and band practice is a better use of dollars.

On the downside, when we have been drinking this year I have noticed I am more of a lightweight than before. And I get worse hangovers.

3. Pay back the wedding by 30 June

I'm ahead of this goal at the moment because I'm saving much more than I need to, however I figure this gives me a buffer if some other expenses (like rego) come up down the track. I've got a little less than $6000 to go. The deadline is arbitrary, but there is some pressure because it's sooner than 'the end of the year', however that is the fallback plan. This is kind of a dual goal, because paying off the wedding is actually contributing to our saving for a house deposit.

4. Complete the 26 Fortnight (52 week) saving challenge

This ties in with the previous goal because it all goes towards our first home deposit. The 52 week saving challenge was something I picked up from Lifehacker. It's really simple; you start your first week by saving $1, then the second week you save $2, third week $3 and so on, by the end of the year you have an extra $1,378 in your pocket.

I've made a couple of modifications to this. Firstly, I've adjusted it so the amount is paid fortnightly to match up with my pay cycle. And secondly, I'm doing it in reverse ($103 in the first fortnight, $99 in the second etc.) because (a) there are less things at the start of the year that could derail me like birthdays, Christmas and other holidays and (b) to take advantage of the compounding interest - larger balances early on make the most use of interest, as it has a higher base to calculate from. So I'll end up saving more than the $1,378 thanks to interest payments across the year.

5. Practice mindfulness

This goal is to remind me to slow down occasionally and to try to just be present in the moment. Not worrying or thinking about things I should or have to do. To take stock of the good things, and to realise that all in all I'm pretty happy with how my life is going.

6. Be a better friend - remember birthdays, think of good gifts, enjoy your social life

As I've become older, I've realised I'm more of an introvert than an extrovert. I appreciate having my own time and space to do things that I enjoy, and a lot of the time these things are solitary activities. Writing this blog, playing drums, playing video games, reading books, listening to podcasts; they're all things that most of the time, I do alone. Unfortunately, this often has its downsides. I find sometimes I just want to do my own thing over doing stuff with other people, which makes me feel quite selfish. So ultimately, this goal is about balance. Enjoying my 'me time' is fine, but I need to work on being extroverted and social when the time calls for it.

7. Get recording studio going, learn to use ProTools, keep up the good work with the band!

Jess bought me ProTools - the industry standard recording software - for Christmas last year. This is awesome, but I'm completely unfamiliar with it. I've dabbled with other sound recording software in the past, but I've never used anything like this before. I'd really love to use it to finish the recording I started a while ago - a cover of Witchy Woman by the Eagles. I am hoping that I can eventually do enough covers for a full album.

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Those goals that I've stated above are my 'big ticket' resolutions. They're printed on a piece of paper that's stuck behind our toilet door. I'm resolved to do those. The following are minor goals, things I would like to do, but I'm trying not to be so adamant about doing them if other stuff comes up.

Music Tuesday and rudiments practice

Last year I tried to schedule time every Monday afternoon to sit and practice my drums. It worked well, except at the time my band was mostly practicing on Sunday, so it involved a lot of set up and I was already tired of drumming from the day before. I've moved it to Tuesday to better suit.

Rudiments practice is to concentrate on improving my drumming technique, and for the fact that you can't get your 10,000 hours without constantly challenging yourself. Each week, I've designated one rudiment (out of 40) to focus on, and I repeat the previous two weeks' rudiments to solidify them in my mind. As with just about everything else I do, I have a spreadsheet where I fill in the top speed I can get to with this particular rudiment and the ranking associated with that BPM (Vic Firth's Rudiments sheets specify five levels from Bronze through to Diamond). I'm seeing progress in my abilities and in my drumming in general since I've started doing this.

Mind expansion Sunday

At the end of last year, I thought to myself that it's very easy to become insular and consumed by your own little world. To only be concerned with your job, bills, social activities etc. Once you are set in your ways and don't re-examine, question, or challenge your beliefs and values, it's very easy to stop growing intellectually. Thinking about bigger ideas that are outside of this realm is not something that usually comes up organically; most people don't like talking about things they find challenging, or require them to think hard about their position or stance on a topic. But as a matter of course, I think you should constantly evaluate your opinions - to identify your biases and question their merit.

As well as this, I believe that you should be forever furthering your skills and knowledge, if only to exercise your grey matter and without a goal necessarily  in mind for it. It has taken me a long time to rediscover my inquisitiveness and curiosity, and I think a lot of it has to do with the structure present throughout school and university. I didn't pick up a novel for a few years after Year 12 English, and I've only just picked up textbooks again after Uni.

Finally, the idea to schedule Sunday morning has stemmed from looking at churches. Every Sunday, masses of religious folk go and think about big stuff: life and death, the afterlife, doing good the community and so on. As an Atheist, I respect that it is a time that people reflect on these issues. I like the concept and think that it is a valuable use of time to consider big stuff. There's nothing really like church for Atheists (nor, I think, should there be), however I don't believe this should preclude Atheists from thinking similarly about such topics.

Writing this blog

I make the same goal almost every year. As things quiet down after Christmas, work settles back in and free time seems easy to come by, I often think I should start writing my blog again. This year is no different, though I'm hoping that I can follow through this time. I'd like to make an average of one blog post per week for the year. Ideas for content are most welcome, just leave them in the comments below.

Spring cleaning the house

As many of my friend's will attest, I strive to be a minimalist (Hey! A rhyming couplet!). It's amazing the sort of crap you accumulate over time, and most of it is just that - crap. So each week this year, I'm going to pick a room of our house and spring clean it; getting rid of any crap by donating it, gifting it, selling it or simply throwing it out.

Read 12 books this year

Reading is one of my favourite activities. It's also proven to help your ability to write. Getting through an average of a book a month shouldn't prove too difficult, especially since I've discovered the wonders that are audiobooks. I've already got through New Spring for January this way, and I've usually got a few books on the go at any one time, depending on what I feel like reading. My problem will be if I stick to big, thick books - it may force me to reading Grug and Mr. Men come December.

So that's it for stuff I want to do in 2014. I'll let you know how I go along the way - probably through updating this blog (yay content!) - wish me luck!

Pocketbook Valentine's Day Contest

So Pocketbook, one of my most often used and, if I've managed to get onto the topic of personal finance in conversation, most recommended apps, is currently running a Valentine's Day contest. They're asking people to write about their experience with Pocketbook for the potential prize of $175.61 (the average amount men spent on V-Day last year, according to Forbes), and I thought 'Well, I could kill a few birds with one stone here'. Firstly, it gives me a topic to write on, which is partly a reward in itself. Secondly, I get to shout about Pocketbook, which I think is awesome. And finally, who couldn't use an extra 175 big ones? So I'm going to walk you through how Pocketbook makes my personal finance life awesome.

I installed Pocketbook sometime towards the end of last year, and after setting it up it has made things a breeze. Setting up involves somewhat dauntingly handing over your account information for the accounts that you want to sync, but Pocketbook have some pretty damn good security policies and procedures, so have no fear. After syncing the accounts you're interested in, it gives you a nice summary of your net financial position in the 'Accounts' tab.

The next step of setting up is categorising your transactions. Thankfully, Pocketbook uses some form of technical witchcraft and automatically categorises most of the transactions you've made, so it is really more of a check of the categories it has put them in and doing the ones it missed. It'll even pick up your regular bills, so that you can see when they're coming up. Once the categories are set for particular transactions, they stay that way when you make the same type of transaction in future (e.g. Spending at Coles is 'Groceries'), so you only have to really categorise transactions for new places that you've spent money. You can also mark transactions as 'important for tax' or 'one off payments', attach photographs of receipts, or add location information.

If you wish, you can also set a safe spending limit, which tallies up your transaction against a reference period (say, a week) and lets you know each day how much you have left to 'Safely Spend'. I believe they have updated this feature recently so you can set this period to whatever you would like, for example to reset on Thursday each fortnight.

Now, finally the exciting bit. As most of you know, I'm a pretty big data nerd. I like spreadsheets, I like graphs, I like information about things that most people find tedious or have no desire to measure; my mother-in-law bought me a FitBit for Christmas last year and I now wear it everywhere. So suffice to say, Pocketbook has some kick arse analytical capability throught the web app. Unfortunately, this feature is not yet available from the mobile platform, but they're working on it. Anyhow, I've been putting together my own monthly financial statements using Pocketbook since about October last year and it has helped me tremendously. With Jess and I trying to scrape together a house deposit, knowing where your dollars go is extremely powerful to make behavioural changes. Jess and I have since put our credit cards on ice (quite literally), and have at last count saved a bit over $25,000 towards our house.

Screenshot of Pocketbook's Analyse

In summary, I can't recommend Pocketbook highly enough - it's awesome. Get Pocketbook!

My Speech to 2014 Department of Social Services Grad Intake

I recently put my hand up to speak to the next cohort of my Department's graduate program; to share my experience, what they could expect from it and some tips for success. I was going keep my employment anonymous because even though as a public servant you are able to have an opinion on what's going on around you, it opens you up to a line of inquiry about your adherence to the Australian Public Service Code of Conduct and Values. However, I am a professional and figured that this shows in my attitude, productivity and outcomes at work, so this post should be relatively harmless. Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I love my job and wouldn't want to do anything much else.

Below is my speech in its entirety. Let me know what you think in the comments.

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Hi everyone, I’m Stuart. I was a grad last year, and I’m here to talk to you about my experiences, what you can expect and how to succeed in the grad program.

First of all, I’d like to say congratulations on getting into the graduate program. You are the handful of applicants that made it through the endless testing and screening processes. You should feel special, because you are very lucky to get to this point. There were over 1,500 applications for the former FaHCSIA grad program from which just 42 were accepted. This is less than 3% of those who applied. Yes, if you’re wondering, I was a data and analysis grad.

You have managed to beat the odds, especially at a time where public service employment is frozen and where less university graduates are actually getting jobs that use their degrees. I say this not just to celebrate your achievement, but also to warn you not to become complacent. Your job is a privilege, so make the most of it, but don’t take advantage of it and don’t take it for granted. A lot have things have gone right for you to get to this point, but to quote Tim Minchin, “it’s all luck. Understanding that you can’t truly take credit for your successes, nor truly blame others for their failures will humble you and make you more compassionate.”

That’s a deep place to start, but anyway, onto my experience in the grad program. I don’t want to spend too much time on this, because my experience won’t be the same as yours.

I was actually luckier than most. I was working at the former FaHCSIA while the selection process for the grad program was happening. I was a contractor in the Mental Health branch and this experience was helpful, because it’s allowed me to appreciate why being in the grad program is different to the job you will have after it. There are probably going to be very few times in your career where you will receive as much development; so use your time wisely.

Mental Health was a good place to dip my toes into working for Government. I got a chance to work on things that were really interesting; like a selection panel that picked 11 organisations to deliver services across Australia. One of my arguments actually got one organisation a contract over another. I got the sense then, as you will too, that your views, opinions and thoughts matter to the decision makers around you: the more diverse the range of views they get, the better the final decision will be. Diversity of perspectives is good; so have confidence in yourself and share your views respectfully.

I got into the Graduate Program and my first rotation was in Disability and Carers Payments Policy. It was awesome for doing new, interesting and challenging stuff. You’ll find most Public Service work is interesting and challenging, but if it isn’t, take the QI approach: even the most boring things are interesting if looked at it in the right way.

For my second rotation, I worked in the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children. It was an eye opening experience, and working there I got a first hand look at the challenges facing our nation’s Indigenous peoples, but also that there are many people with great passion and dedication to closing gaps in outcomes and helping Indigenous families improve their lives.

I’m very proud of the work I’ve done in the grad program, and in a little over a year and a half I’ve worked in a program area, a policy area and a research area.

There are plenty of places in DSS for you to bring your expertise. You will hear people talk about different ‘streams’ like policy, program, delivery, and corporate support. If your skill set allows, try to get some experience in each of these areas. More experience gives you more perspective, which leads to better decision making.

Now onto what you can expect from the grad program.

Death by PowerPoint

I put this in to be a little light-hearted. You will see many PowerPoint presentations in this first week and a bit. You will probably feel overwhelmed by the amount of information you are being shown. Don’t worry, that’s good – it gives you more motivation to get started once you’re at your desk.

Training

You will get lots of training. In fact, you’ll be given so much training that you’ll begin to question the usefulness and relevance of it. But again, this is the one of the only times that you will be given so much encouragement and resources to do training.

Also, just because some training seems irrelevant to you now, doesn’t mean it won’t be relevant in the future. I did procurement training last year and at the time I thought “when will this ever apply to me? I’m a data grad”, and that was stupid because in LSIC I had to deal with procuring printing services for their Community Feedback sheets. The point is that even though some training might feel superfluous, pay attention anyway – you’ll never know when it might come in handy, and it’s at least something that you can put you’ve had ‘some exposure to’ down the track.

Experience in Government

That’s why you’re here right? You get to see how the sausages are made, so to speak. You’ll also be well-versed in acronyms, official-ese and politics by the end of it – so no doubt you can confuse and bore all of your family members the next time you see them. Jokes aside, you will get the opportunity to work on really interesting stuff, and believe me there is lots of stuff to go around. There’s definitely more stuff than there are resources to do it.

Professional Network

By far the most valuable things you will develop during your time in the grad program is a solid professional network. If you haven’t already, you’ll make friends with others in your grad program, or you’ll at least know them and where they work so you’ll have a contact if you need to ask a question. You’ll meet people from other graduate programs through APS‑wide events, and if you’re the bubbly, extroverted, social type, you might hang on to some of these connections. But the most robust connections you will make are with the people you work with every day. I’m not a big believer in ‘networking’ as such, but I do believe in building solid relationships with people. To quote LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman: “Relationships matter because, ultimately, every job boils down to interacting with people”.

Change

Change happens all the time. For our particular line of work, it could be changes in government priorities, ministers, policy; changes in our organisational structure, IT systems or your own work priorities. You’ll do well if you can adapt to all of this, to have a system in place that allows you to cope with change and to be flexible; to find peace in the chaos.

So here’s the story so far. Now for some more practical tips for success.

Firstly, remember that you are an individual with a set of opinions, knowledge and skills that you bring to the table. The reason that you were offered a position is based on that skill set. To rephrase that, you are in an organisation that values your skills and appreciates diversity. As I’ve mentioned, bring these skills to meetings and discussions. It might be something that’s been overlooked, or hasn’t been given full consideration. If you’ve given a decision maker something to think about, then you improve the final outcome of that decision. As I’ve said before though, share your views respectfully.

Don’t meticulously plan your career, or put another way, have goals but be open to the fact that they might change. Having goals is good, but being to gung-ho about them often blinds you to opportunities and discourages flexibility. Most successful people didn’t have any idea what they wanted to do, they just took advantage of breakout opportunities that came their way.

Try not to compare yourself with others. This relates to work as well as life in general. Other people may have skills, motivations, connections, qualifications, circumstances or a trust fund that you don’t. That’s life, but don’t cloud your perspective - you will be a lot happier if you compare apples with apples. Compare yourself now to a year ago – are you better in the ways that you measure your own success by? Do the same in a year’s time.

Be genuine and authentic in your communication with others. It is paramount to building relationships with people. Authenticity here refers to the ability to express yourself; being able to state how you feel, and why, and it requires you to know yourself – your strengths, weaknesses, your skills, opinions, biases and privileges etc. Being genuine on the other hand, refers to the ability to take account of others when you communicate – to show empathy and understand their circumstances.

Live curiously. Ask lots of questions. You will, at times, find yourself out of your depth. But there are plenty of people willing and able to give you support if you just ask.

Perfect time management. Don’t be content if something is just working okay, spend time ‘sharpening the sword’ as it were. It pays dividends.

Keep track of work you have completed, whether it’s a folder of your work or just a note about what you accomplished. This is stupidly easy to do, and shows you are prepared and productive at a section or branch meeting. It also comes in handy as evidence if you need to fill out a selection criteria or negotiate a pay rise.

Keep a list somewhere of stuff you don’t know how to do. Again, this is about knowing yourself. If you can identify your weaknesses, you can better assess what you’re capable of, and if you might need help or training along the way.

Offer to help your colleagues. Often, meetings are times when people reassess their priorities and might need some help to complete things that aren’t the most urgent and important thing on their list. Often this is phrased in terms of ‘capacity’. Volunteer your ‘capacity’. You will be exposed to new things, and build trust and rapport with your team and develop your own skills.

Don’t feel disheartened if your work is amended. Often you will work extremely hard on something, and feel that it is the best that it can be, only to have it bounce around and come back with changes. While it’s easy to get frustrated by this, recognise that it’s also a part of the job. The people who are clearing your work take responsibility for it, and their experience allows them to recognise nuances that you might not be aware of.

If you make a mistake, tell your supervisor. It is better to have made a mistake and admitted it upfront, honestly and directly, than the alternative when the mistake is discovered. The public service and government is under constant scrutiny, from other political parties, from the press, and from citizens – mistakes get found.

Finally, remember who you are: where you came from, your upbringing, and the circumstances you’ve experienced. Identify your privileges and biases and keep yourself humble. You may have worked part-time, or done casual shift work with little stability. You might have been unemployed, just needing support to get back on your feet and someone to give you a chance. You may have, or have had, other commitments to balance, like studying, or caring for children, elderly relatives or a person with disability. You may have experienced domestic violence, or be living with a mental illness or disability yourself. Drawing on your past helps you make the best contribution to this Department, because you are able to relate your experience and first hand knowledge to the policy decisions in front of you. You will be able to see how policy changes might affect people in similar circumstances, and you should use your experiences to enlighten the discussion.

Thank you.