Reading

After 13 years, I finally left OOCL, the first company where I worked as a permanent staff. I started as an Assistant Technical Analyst (equivalent to SWE I). I had been climbing the engineering ladder for years and became an Engineer Manager in 2020, leading a product team. Last year, I planned to move to the UK to seek better opportunities. After spending over a half year experimenting with almost everything I’ve learned in Agile while delivering a product satisfying the stakeholders, I told my manager it was time to move on. ...

As a coach, trainer and blogger, I need to read a lot to refresh my knowledge and apply it in my daily life. Every month, I read two to four books in various areas. In the past, I didn’t take notes. After finishing a book, I would then move on to another one. When there came a time that I wanted to retrieve something, I could identify the books, but I could hardly recall the pages. ...

I have been logging all the books I have read since 2023. Last year, I have read 15 books. Although I do not have the data for 2022, it is a remarkable improvement compared to my memory. In January, I found an online challenge by chance suggesting that busy believers read two Bible chapters a day. I borrowed this challenge for my book-reading habit. Since then, I picked a book, whether a physical book or an ebook and read at least two chapters a day. ...

Last year, under the Work From Home policy, I had plenty of time to stay at home. I have developed a habit of reading since then. Earlier this year, the Work From Home policy ceased. Since I hadn’t adapted to the new lifestyle, my reading rate dropped for several months. After I decided to attempt the PSM II exam, I dedicated more time to reading. This month, I’ve finished reading three books. Two were about Kanban. The remaining one was about behavioural economics. I’m now reading two books. Two more are on the way through Amazon. ...

“I want to develop a reading habit.” my friend said when we were travelling back home, “Can you recommend me some books as a start?” I sent her a photo of my bookshelf and briefly described some of the books inside. Those consist of English and Chinese books. “Great,” she acknowledged, “but I don’t have time.” Regardless she spends over an hour taking public transport for work every day. This is a common excuse for many people who want to start a new project or develop a new habit. ...