Life of Psi

Experimenting on life hacks

[lifeofpsi]

Getting started

As a person who procrastinates, I have to find hacks to get myself to incrementally work on projects. Some people create a long list of tasks associated with the project, organize them, and then check things off the list. I find an exhaustive list like this to be daunting, demotivating, and not worth the time. I am all for high-level milestones

I find the easiest way to get myself going is to set aside a specific amount of time and take a first step, preferably a small-medium step which naturally flows into another action. I start writing related tasks as they come up but return to the first task. Once I am done with the first and second tasks, I pick the next task from the list and continue on. When I reach the end of the allotted time, I stop even when I have not quite completed something. What works:

1. Making sure the time is at least 25 mins - this allows you to get into the flow of things. The first few times this internal may seem really long (you may end up checking the time) but after a while your mind naturally adjusts. 

2. Stop to take a break at the end - make sure that it has a clear end-point but it is ok to interrupt the “flow”. I find that when I continue at that point, I have less focus later (kind of like using up my all willpower for one thing). What I do instead is...

3. Schedule longer blocks for things that require flow. For example if it is a document that is >2 pages (or even a critical email with a long summary and details), you may have a smaller block for the outline but you probably want 1.5-2 hours to work on sections. Note that these should be scheduled for times when you have peak energy and are least likely to be interrupted.

4. Unfortunately, many of us run between meetings all day. I recommend you use times between and during meetings to quickly sort through your inbox to either answer emails or create tasks to review later.

After a couple of sessions (ok maybe multiple), I can figure out what I need to do to finish: change the scope, add more sessions, or change the timeline. This helps me to understand when I am at my best and adjust future allocation, become more efficient as this calculation happens more intuitively for known task types, and most importantly, the journey takes over and reduces the anxiety of the large, seemingly insurmountable end goal.

[lifeofpsi]

Platform of you

Everybody wants a platform.  And to be clear, I am not talking about a software platform or a physical platform.  I am talking a platform that lifts you up above your peers and provides visibility - the metaphorical definition of platform.  You get to be seen and heard and potentially influence.  In the current world of social media, this is far more accessible but unless you are already someone famous (read: have a platform), this requires a lot of work and perhaps some serious luck.  

As Seneca (first-century Roman philosopher) said "Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet." 

Here is what I have learned through the process:

If you have something to say, say it, say it often and everywhere, and cross-link like crazy!  I know, it's nuts.  What is the right amount you ask? For most people who are not accustomed to this, you should start to feel like a broken record and/or a poser.  The feeling will wear off - which is not to say you are not either of those things, just that you can no longer sense it (kind of like perfume).

Twitter matters - it can be exhausting to learn how to tweet properly and keep up your twitter stats.  There are many apps that can help both with finding, tracking, and managing your tweets. Use one! I highly recommend finding some successful tweeters and look at what they are using.  I personally use @hootsuite but @tweetdeck seems super popular as well.

Facebook - yes, but in a completely different way.  Twitter creates more separation between you and the social strata: by not requiring a two way commitment, you pretty much know you are in a public forum. Of course, limiting the number words creates 

Blogs - must have content, original content.  Content that you produce creates the base from which you tweet, you link, and re-post on FB and forums.  This is the where you get to say it the way you want.  Just pick a popular one such as WordPress or Blogger or Tumblr and ...go!

So what are you waiting for?

[lifeofpsi]

An ode to failure

Failing is hard. Sounds obvious - nobody likes to fail! In my mind, the real problem is that failure is quite easy, especially when doing something new. Far easier to fail than succeed. Isn't that why we spend all our time guarding against it? Now that is hard work! 

Watching ourselves fail (sometimes in agonizing slow motion) is hard, especially when it is entirely visible. So how do we make it more palatable? I try (not always successfully) the following:

Treat it like a new sport. I took up skiing a few years ago. Not being naturally athletic, the first few lessons involved a lot of crossed skis, falling, cursing, and terror. Now, I have occasional crossed skis but overall falling, cursing, and terror continue as I try harder terrain or lousier weather conditions. The only offset is the sheer joy of flying through the run - just focus on that joy.

Talk it out. The worst part of failing is owning up to it. We want to learn from failure and not just from internal rehashing. The idea of talking about it with others and seeking advice can seem even more painful... to the ego. Actually it is the reverse, stating it out loud reduces it from the enormous (in your own head) to actual size, and talking about it multiple times generally reduces it to highly manageable if not mundane. 

Laugh (joke) about it. Think like an improv comedian: how could you turn this into the most amusing anecdote that you could tell at parties or business meetings? The funniest things often highlight failures, and the reason people laugh is that they empathize. They have been there, done that (or some variation anyway). No better way to know if you are in good company.

Truth is: failing and falling both sound and feel similar but you can usually get up and move on from both. 

[lifeofpsi]

I suck at blogs

Ok, I admit it.  I am no good at blogs. This blog a clear representation of my inability to write consistently - hello, no blog since more than a year ago. In reality this has happened with blogs that I have started before.  Here are the three core causes (I think):

Every time I think of writing a new entry, a mysterious new urgent task always appears that supersedes this plan. Sometimes, it is an "urgent" need to tweet or read an FB post. Basically, this constitutes avoidance.

I start writing drafts but then stop to get additional supporting material or quotes or because I am not satisfied with the way the blog is flowing. Then they sit around, get stale until I return and delete them. A perfect cross between OCD+perfectionism.

I am always afraid that people are going to know too much about me by reading my blogs. I always chalk it up to being a private person at heart. After much reflection, and paying attention to Dr. Brene Brown, I realise this is about fear of being vulnerable.

So I will start the path to recovery by setting goals on posting, avoiding perfection by setting time limits, and by posting this!

So here goes...

[lifeofpsi]

Content is not always king

I recently saw an example of (what I think is) exceedingly bad content:

http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/diet-tips/50-seemingly-healthy-foods-are-bad-you

How anyone could make it through this article was a mystery to me.   It is hard to say what was most offensive but I can definitely state a few things:

1) The flying ads on top of the flashing ad banner at the top make this a horrible reading experience, especially on mobile phones.  Yes, I realize this is not about content but it has a lot of impact on my content consumption experience.

2) There are blanket statements that sound like facts but are quite suspect as there is no reference or authoritative sources quoted.  Who is behind this "data"?

3) "Alternatives" are not really alternatives - the reason you are buying a smoothie or getting a fish sandwich is that you are out and about.  How does making it at home make any sense?

4) The blue "links" on each page are actually definitions and when I say definitions, I mean dictionary style.  How does the dictionary definition of popcorn help anyone?  So clearly they are placed deliberately to appear like a well researched article.

Despite my best efforts, I could only make it a third of the way.  I was disappointed that a well-established magazine would put out such poor content. 

Shape: time to shape up your articles!

[lifeofpsi]

Choosing a hosting service

When setting up my new business I wanted a quick and easy site that let people know about us. You have a crazy number of choices out there, just in sites that *rate* hosting sites!  So you can be sucked into the paradox of choice (and yes there are differentiating features for each) or you can have a little fun as you whittle down the choices such as:

Pick the most well known and hope that you are graced by a hot babe - I refuse to provide more advertising for them but you know who I am talking about!

Reverse engineer where your competitors are hosted and choose the same - hey, you know they will be down too if something happens to the hoster :)

Ask any friends who have successful businesses and have hosted with their provider for > 1year.  You get to figure out all the warts in the relationship by that time.  If you have no such friends... find some ASAP!

Narrow your list down to hosters that don't have the word "host" or "dns" in them. In fact, find ones that the name has no indication of what they do but more to do with things you like.  They are going incognito so maybe the stealth will rub off.

Relax (perhaps with a drink - nothing like a little fuzziness to take the edge off).  This does not have to be a big decision.  Transferring to a new hoster is not that challenging - people have survived to tell you all about it in multiple blogs and articles.  Just remember to do backup!

[lifeofpsi]

Get me off this list!

Have you ever googled yourself?  If not, I encourage everyone to do it.  You will find some surprising results, including (sometimes incorrect) detailed information about your residence, business, etc.  

I recently found a whole set of business listings results for an old business that I had for a few months around 5 years ago.  Listings for this business were everywhere with an old address and (unfortunately) a current cell number.  No wonder I still receive promotional material and phone calls!  

So I set out to remove my name.  Here is my experience.

There are some core sites that seem to feed information to many of the directories - path, localeze, etc.  Pay attention to the small text that details their affiliates who are actually providing the information.

These sites want you to sign up (claim your business) to delete your listing.  Quite backwards - the whole point of you removing these entries is to simplify and streamline your identity, and that usually does not involve signing up for new things that may result in more spam.  They claim it is to verify your identity but it is not clear how they would validate it anyway given their signup processes.

Find their contact us info (when possible - some of them don't even let you do this unless you are a signed up business or an affiliate/advertiser) and send them a polite email to ask that you be removed.  I got positive results from: Patch, YellowBot, and Localeze.

Some of them are not so easy to either find contact information or get a response - Merchant Circle, DexKnows, and Yahoo - my strategy is to try and send them a request in some way once every few weeks. 

Now I am trying to be patient.  Apparently it takes a while for the listings to be closed or finally be removed from search...  

There has got to be an easier way - maybe there is a service out there that does just this?  Seems like a good business idea.

[lifeofpsi]

One foot forward

I am not very good at prose.  I am great with speaking but the act of converting the words in my head into a cohesive article tends to be an effort.  My family always said when I used to write to them - in the prehistoric times before email - that I wrote like I spoke.  Which means it was not always a great experience for the reader.   This is not to say that I cannot put together documents when needed: emails, proposals, theses, reports, speeches.  It just does not flow naturally from my fingers as they do oh so smoothly and delightfully from my mouth. When it comes to writing, the pithy eloquence becomes elusive.  Sigh.

As I work on my startup, I have found that good writing is increasingly a key component in social marketing - not just snippets like tweets, FB posts, or LinkedIn updates but actual "rich" content/articles.  Judging by the quantity being spit out by all generations (quality is another matter), this is clearly an art that one must practice to get right, let alone master.  I am going to start along this path... the best being to put one foot forward.  Hopefully the other will follow.

[lifeofpsi]

Nothing but blue sky