How to Never Miss an Email from Your Boss

I walked in my office the other day to flurry of activity.  Apparently, our new VP sent out an email that stated that the first five people to respond to him could have lunch with him that afternoon.  I however, do not usually check my email until I arrive in my office, so I was out of the running.

This led to me to think, what if the VP emails me personally?  Will I be quick enough to respond?  How can I know when he emails me without constantly checking my email?

To solve this issue, I set up an account with the service If This Then That (IFTTT for short).  Using this service is I can set up sms notification to text me, every time my VP emails me.  It is very easy to setup and the service does a lot more than just sms notifications.  It can use up to 36 different channels (services like Gmail, Delicious, Tumblr, etc…) to creative hundreds of different actions.  

Of course it is free, however if they start charging, I would pay if the price was right. 

Manager or Maker

You are usually on one of two teams, the manager or the maker.  I have been on both teams.  The maker longs to control their future and sees the manager as the one who controls it.  The manager sees the maker as the one with freedom and less responsibility.  

This is all true if the maker works for the manager.  However, if the maker works for themselves then he or she controls the future and has the freedom that comes with it.  

Still True Today

I wrote this on my old blog last year.

Steve Jobs announced this week that he is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. Of course pundits, bloggers and newspapers are going crazy asking the question: “What will Apple do?”.

Who wouldn’t want to be a leader that would be missed if they had to leave their work? It’s easy to think egocentrically about this. However, if you think that is what Steve is about as a leader, than your viewpoint is pretty short sighted. Even if Steve leaves permanently Apple more than likely has numerous products in the pipeline and people who know and understand the Apple ethos that could help fill Steve’s shoes. Apple knows how to think long term.

I’m not saying Steve’s perfect, I’m saying he’s guy who’s company just beat Wall Street projections by 2 billion dollars, shipped 7.3 million iPads and and 16.2 million iPhones last quarter.

Getter better Steve.

I think it still rings true.   Steve Jobs not only left the company in fantastic financial shape, he also instilled something in the company that is hard to duplicate.  The ability to execute.  Apple has the ability to actually get products out the door.   Not only do they get products out the door, they actually stay true to the designer’s original intentions.  They don’t let engineers or accountants get in the way of the actual design. 

Will this ever change?  Who knows?  For now it doesn’t seem so.  

One Thing You Need to Do the Week of 10.03.11

Short Version: 
1. Read this. 

Long Version: 
1. Read this book from Al Pittampalli entitled Read This Before Our Next Meeting.  Al does a fantastic job re-imagining what the modern meeting should look like.   He pinpoints how a culture of bad meetings can ruin your work environment and lead to a culture of indecision.  I might require everyone I work with to read this one. 

The Beauty of Index Cards

My work has ebbs and flows.  There are days when I can work for hours and be undisturbed (those days are starting to become far fewer).  Then there are those days when I question why I even have door.  For those days, I appreciate the invention of the index card.

At the right side of my computer is a stack of unlined blank index cards.   When I’m interrupted by the latest “emergency”, I simply pull out an index card and write down whatever the issue is that this person has brought to my attention.  I then place the index card in a inbox located behind me (I keep it behind me so it does not distract me).  Then at the end of the day or when I finally have some downtime, I will go through index cards and try to knock out any of the tasks that I can get to.  If I can’t get to them, then I put them in Omnifocus.

Now some Omnifocus users will ask “Why don’t you use the quick entry feature instead?”.  Good question.  I really like using an index card because I can draw diagrams to help me jog my memory of what the task is. 

Index cards, simple and useful my weapon against interruptions. 

Three Easy Steps to Avoiding Interruptions

Here is how you can avoid interruptions at your office in three easy steps.

1.  Imagine everyone is your office has been turned into flesh eating zombies.

2.  Ask yourself  ”Where is the last place that zombies would look for people to eat?”.

3.  Go there and set up your office.

Done.  Now get back to work.

Periodic Switcher

I have a confession.  I have a problem and it is none as periodic switching.  You see, whenever I see a new site design or blogging platform my mind begins to wander.  I begin to think of all the new possibilities that the design offers or some new feature that the platform offers like social media integration or a slick companion iPhone app.  

What I am really doing?  I’m stalling.  I avoiding the inevitable.  The fact that I have to produce content.  That I am going to have stare at a computer and put my hands on the keyboard and actually have to produce something.

That’s what switching is all about.  There are times when it is called for, but most times it is avoiding the work.  We switch offices, word processors, upgrade computers use different task managers all in avoidance of the actual work.  

Don’t switch, don’t upgrade and don’t avoid.  Use what you have and get to work.  

What to Do When You Your Baby is Ugly

About four babies are born every second.  Not all of those babys are going to be cute, but that’s not what I want talk about it.

When you birth a new idea or design that you are passionate about, it becomes your baby.  You want to nurture it, feed it, make sure that it has room to grow and full mature.  You begin to start to protect it from anyone trying to change it or destroy it.  It’s your baby and it is the best baby you have ever seen.

At some point though reality sets and you begin to realize that this idea or design is not everything you thought it would be.  Your baby is ugly.

Our team has very simple rule when it comes to evaluating each other’s work.  Whenever we think that people are getting to attached to something, we simply ask each other “Can I tell you if your baby is ugly?”.  The side effects of this question is usually twofold.  First, someone laughs and second we begin to realize that we can’t take the criticisms personally.

Your idea’s aren’t perfect from the start and take some time to form and shape.  Having honest evaluation along the way turns the idea into some that can survive.  All of which keeps you from carrying around an ugly baby. 

Two Things You Need to Do the Week of 9.26.11

Short Version:
1. Read this.
2. Watch this.

Long Version:
1. Read the latest book from Seth Godin entitled We Are All Weird.  It is a quick read, however it explores of the idea of niche markets versus mass markets and how niche markets are winning out.
2. Watch the Conan O’Brien documentary Can’t Stop.  It is a great behind the scenes look at Conan’s tour and how it all came together.  If you love seeing the behind the scenes of the creative process and what it really takes to pull something major off, you will love this.  (Warning it does contain some langauge.)

The Master Checklist for My Weekly Review

If you prescribe to the Getting Things Done methodology you are probably familiar with the Weekly Review.  Here is my checklist that I use as I am doing my weekly review. 

  • Email inbox to zero (All my email is filed or answered.)
  • Omnifocus inbox to zero
  • Physical folder inbox to zero
  • Dropbox inbox folder to zero (All of my internet downloads go here, i.e. zip files.)
  • Clean out Google Docs to zero (I use Google Docs for all my text files, I make sure that every one of them filed somewhere.)
  • Notebook inbox to zero ( I carry a notebook to all my meetings and scratch down thoughts throughout.)
  • Clean out action support folder
  • Review next actions list
  • Physical next action folder cleaned out
  • Delegate tasks
  • Review previous calendar
  • Review upcoming calendar
  • Lock down calendar (I block my calendar for the next week to avoid interruptions.)
  • Review waiting for list
  • Review projects list
  • Review projects on hold
  • Review someday/maybe list
  • Review triggers list (This is list of triggers to jog my memory of things I might have forgetten.  You can see an example of one here.)
  • Review roles
  • Review long term goals