David Kelly, inspired by a Lifehacker series, is promoting the “How I Work” series. I find it fascinating to read about how other people are going through their days and the tools they use to make themselves successful. I have already jotted down several ideas and potential tools to research for myself. Which is what I would encourage everyone else to do as well.
Keep an eye on David’s Blog as he links to others in this series and in the meantime this is my life…
Location:
Antioch IL, two feet south of the Wisconsin border. I’m in a work-from-home position.
Current Gig:
Director, Workplace Learning
Rentokil North America
Current Computer
Dell Latitude (which I think runs on hamster power)
Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet
Current Mobile Device
Motorola running Android (although I think powered by the same hamster running my laptop)
One word that best describes how you work
ADD. I get bored easily and have to move from one project or another to keep interested.
What apps/software/tool can’t you live without?
I cannot overstate the love affair I have with my tablet, on which my absolute go to apps for work are: Evernote (Genius! All my project “buckets” are there with notes, and with a click anyone can have an update), Google Docs, (as a business we use the entire Google platform), Dropbox (how in the world did we get anything done before Dropbox?). On a more personal level, I’m a heavy traveler so Flight Tracker, American Airlines, Hilton, TripLog, Google Maps, all get heavy use. Then, of course, any app list wouldn’t be complete without Hootsuite (for twitter), facebook, text messaging, google chat. Those are the only ways I communicate with the world any more. Who really uses their phone for calls anyway??
What’s your workspace like?
Cluttered. Workspace organization is not a skill I possess. I start out with good intentions, but it always looks like something exploded on my desk
Google chat by a long shot. A quick chat or group chat saves a bazillion emails. Speaking of email…not answering every single one that comes across. Train yourself to know what is the difference between important, urgent and fluff. Google mail has a neat trick of being able to save an email to a task. If something is urgent, I deal with it appropriately; if important, I save it as a task to deal with when the time is right, and fluff gets deleted or archived.
What is your favorite to-do list manager?
Goin’ old school…pad and paper. I always have notebook with me to jot down things that have to be done today or tomorrow at the latest. This is usually in response to an email, or call or an action item from a meeting. All others get logged into google tasks.
Besides your phone/computer, what gadget can’t you live without?
I have mentioned my love affair with my tablet, haven’t I? Prior to my smartphone I couldn’t live without my GPS. I have zero, and I do mean zero sense of direction, and my trip memory is laughable. Therefore Google maps is my lifesaver.
What everyday thing are you better than everyone else?
Bond trivia, it’s scary how much useless knowledge I have about this topic stored in my head. Oh, and just for the record, the best Bond – Connery, Craig, Brosnan, Moore, Lazenby and Dalton in that order.
What do you listen to while you work?
Pandora. The station varies on my mood and the weather. Today is a nice sunny June day and calls for Margaritaville.
Are you an introvert or extrovert?
I suppose to say both is a bit of a cop out. I guess I would lean more toward the introvert side. I prefer small groups of people rather than to work a large room of people.
What’s your sleep routine like?
I’m a night owl usually in bed around midnight-1am, up around 7. I schedule conference calls in the morning and leave the afternoons to working on projects that require actual thinking.
Fill in the blank: I’d love to see __________ answer these questions.
Mark Zuckerberg, Howard Schultz, Alton Brown, Tom Peters, Jim Collins
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Actually it’s a quote. I’ve carried this quote with me literally for years:
“Yes, risk-taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called ‘sure-thing-taking.'” — Jim McMahon
It’s easy to go with the status-quo (especially in L&D), it’s far more difficult to take a risk knowing that you very well may fail, however – the key is, if you do fail don’t be afraid to learn from that failure. Progress will always involve some amount of risk.
