Hacking your personal workflow

HACKING YOUR
PERSONAL
WORKFLOW
1

I’M
MENDEL
4
Community outreach at GoDaddy
Hiker and coffee snob
Blogs frequently at mendel.me
@ifyouwillit on Twitter

I’LL TEACH YOU HOW
TO ACHIEVE INBOX 0
NIRVANA
5

BUT FIRST…
LETS PLAY A GAME
6

12
COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA
PUBLIC LIBRARY

WHAT DO THEY ALL
HAVE IN COMMON?
13

14
THEY. ORGANIZE.
EVERYTHING.

15
SMITHSONIAN
INSTITUTION
SOME FACTS

FACT
Proprietary. Copyright © 2015 GoDaddy Operating Company,
LLC. All rights reserved.
The Smithsonian Institution manages 19
museums.
16

FACT
The Smithsonian Institution collections
hold 138 million artifacts, works of art
and specimens.
17

The Smithsonian acquires thousands of
objects and specimens each year.
18

19
NICE RANDOM
FACTS BUDDY,
WHAT’S YOUR
POINT?

FACT
The Smithsonian Institution manages 19
museums.
20

FACT
The Smithsonian Institution collections
hold 138 million artifacts, works of art
and specimens.
22

23
19 Museums
138 Million Artifacts

The Smithsonian acquires thousands of
objects and specimens each year.
24

25
19 Museums
138 Million Artifacts
{
Thousands of
contributions

HOW DO MUSEUMS
MANAGE THE
RANDOMNESS?
26

29
TAKE ACTION
MOVE TO MUSEUM / STORAGE

31
RETAC!
RECEIVE, EVALUATE, TAKE
ACTION, COMPLETE

33
Projects
Pending tasks
{
Messages / Requests

SO YOU MUST
MANAGE
RANDOMNESS!
34

35
RECEIVE
EMAIL, PHONE, SOCIAL

36
EVALUATE + CURATE
WHAT’S THE PRIORITY?

38
FINISH
COMMUNICATE RESULTS OF THE
ACTION

LETS START WITH THE
FOUNDATION
40

DEFINE YOUR
CLASSIFICATION
SYSTEM
41

HOW DO YOU CLASSIFY A TASK?
Proprietary. Copyright © 2015 GoDaddy Operating Company, LLC. All
rights reserved.42
• Low - Is it essential?
• Medium - Is a due date looming?
• High - Is it a blocker? High priority? Support related?
• Immediate - Is something broken? Is the due date past?
Is someone else relying on you?

WHAT INPUTS WILL YOU ACCEPT?
rights reserved.44
• Email
• Social
• Slack / Skype / Messengers
• Phone
• Meetings

UNDERSTAND
AVAILABLE ACTIONS
46

WHAT ACTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?
rights reserved.47
• Calendar / Meeting
• Communication (Email, phone, message)
• Human completed task (FancyHands)
• Errand or physical task (TaskRabbit)

DON’T DO IT ALL
YOURSELF!
48

rights reserved.49

rights reserved.50

LETS PUT RETAC AND
THE FOUNDATION
TOGETHER
51

INPUTS TO CHECK
rights reserved.53
• Email
• Social
• Slack / Messengers
• Meetings

54
EVALUATE + CURATE
ASSOCIATE PRIORITY

MOVE FROM INPUTS TO TASK MANAGEMENT
rights reserved.55
• Determine best immediate place to send task
• Have one task curation point of truth
• Take direct action, or if delayed action is
necessary, transfer tasks / conversations /
threads to Trello

MOVE FROM INPUTS TO TASK MANAGEMENT
rights reserved.56

WHAT OUTPUTS ARE AVAILABLE?
rights reserved.58
• Calendar / Meeting (Availability link)
• Communication (Email, phone, message)
• Human completed task (FancyHands)
• Errand or physical task (TaskRabbit)

COMMUNICATE THE RESULT
rights reserved.61
• After you’ve decided on priority, communicate
priority.
• If priority is different from what the requestor
expects, include a brief ‘why’ statement.

64
The Change Request
EvaluateReceive Curate
Set Expectations
Take Action
Complete
?
Change order
via email
Medium priority
to be done later
Create new Trello
card with email body
Complete change
request
Send email outlining
priority and estimated
date of completion
Send email with details
regarding the completed
change request

65
The Meeting Request
Set Expectations
Take Action
?
Receive meeting
request
High priority,
schedule now
Delete email Receive return
meeting request
Send reply with calendar
availability link
Accept meeting request
Complete

66
The Dinner Meeting
Set Expectations
Take Action
?
Receive meeting
request
High priority,
schedule now
Forward email
to Fancy Hands
to book reservation
Eat dinner
Send meeting requestor
dinner details
Close that deal!
Complete

67
The Proofread
Set Expectations
Take Action
?
Receive guest blog
post
Medium priority Forward email to
Fancy Hands
Schedule blog
post
Review proofed article Email guest poster
with publish date
Complete

68
The Ship Something Task
Set Expectations
Take Action
?
Receive contact
form request for
company stickers
Medium priority Add task to Trello and
contact Task Rabbit
Meet Task Rabbit
and confirm shipment
Send email that request was
received
Email requestor with
tracking info
Complete

69
____________
Set Expectations
Take Action
?
Complete

YOU TOO CAN
ACHIEVE INBOX 0
NIRVANA
70

I’M
MENDEL
71
@ifyouwillit
mendel.me

Hacking your personal workflow

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