Buddhist Marketer

2010 Goals

I’ve spent the past several weeks working on 2010 marketing goals for one of my clients.  However, it didn’t occur to me to leverage the same goal definition and prioritization methodology on my personal goals until a couple of weeks ago.  So while I don’t have the time to expose my algorithm for how I came up with these, here’s my goals for next year — with quasi-confidential information obscured.

Yep, I’m moving in with my boyfriend, code named “Pablo” to protect the innocent.  I have never completely shared a space with a romantic partner in my entire life, and I suspect that this is going to be a unique and oftentimes stressful experiment (though not unwelcome) (okay, relationships are not experiments, but still).

And living with someone means I am going to have to rewire lots of practically hard-coded programs, such as

• dressing like a slob
• eating like a slob
• putting myself first 100% of the time

The mental calculus is different when optimizing for “us” as opposed to “me”; since I only recently learned how to optimize for me, it’s going to be interesting to see how I react to the whole cohabitation thing (and all that it entails).  Wish me luck — and let me know if you know of any reasonably priced one bedroom apartments within walking distance from the Empire State Building / PATH train / Amtrak / Stumptown coffee.

Of course, while the three big picture goals are going to, on the balance, consume my attentions for the year, by changing the timeframe and breaking things down on a quarterly basis, my goals look nominally different:

It is very important to me to not forget the fundamentals of meditation, yoga, and healthy flexitarian eating (and concomitant soul-soothing joy of making oneself a hearty meal), even in the hubbub of all my goings-on-about-universe.  Speaking of which, one of my unwritten goals for next year is to

Be Better

which necessarily means I must

Do Less

which means I must

• Stop raising my hand and/or volunteering for things
• Grow increasingly comfortable with non-achievement
• Value myself as a being-unto-herself

If I cannot accommodate this, then I will forever need to keep “tasks” such as “Go on dates with Pablo” on my to-do list.  And instead of naturally and automatically having down time to enjoy the company of myself and those I love, I will need to “program” this time in.  Sure, it’s great to demarcate boundary lines of “me” time — and even once I no longer overextend-n-overachieve I am sure I will keep this up — but the deeper, more fundamental challenge that I am journeying towards surmounting is no longer seeing myself and valuing myself for the things that I do, rather than, the human that I am.

So, do less.  Be better.  And until then, don’t forget to do something fun and interesting and new each week with the people that I love.

Changing the optimization timeframe once again, here’s my January goals:

I’ve got a secret project there at the bottom that, knock on wood, will be non-secret by quarter’s end.  And you can help out with my other goals, too:

• Know anyone who wants to rent a desk? I’ve got extra space in my office, conveniently located right across from the Ace Hotel / Breslin dining room / Stumptown coffee at 29th and Broadway (Bree - can I use an ‘&’ there?).  Great for someone starting a new venture.  Especially good for entrepreneurettes.
• Know anyone who wants to sublet a studio and/or find a pied-a-terre? I’ve got a freshly painted studio at 32nd and Fifth that I will definitely not be using during the middle of the week — one of my clients needs me on-site in another state.  Plus, “Pablo” and I are moving in together starting March 1st, and my lease does not end until 10/1.  You do the math :)

Feel free to spread the word and have interested peeps give me a buzz at (212) 532-2405.

So that’s the score on 2010.  I’m making my goals transparent because

• that’ll keep me honest
• perhaps it’s a good example (?)
• Joan Didion, notebooks, etc.

Happy New Year, all y’all.  And yo, yo —

2009, I’mma let you finish, but 2010 is gonna be the best year of all time!

Using Google calendar to keep yourself focused

I enjoy the practice of accumulating, indexing, and categorizing things.

– Oliver Wasow

I suspect I might enjoy designing, rearranging and organizing my to-do list more than actually doing said to-do list.  That said, it occurred to me this morning that I can pimp out GCal to additionally operationalize my autumn goals.  I simply created different color-coded calendars, numbered appropriately (GCal sorts alpha), to keep myself on track.

Now, it’s easy for me to identify tasks related to my Stats class or my PhD research.  And if I uncheck a calendar (say, ‘Culturati‘) I am forced to focus on my allegedly higher priorities.

Phew, glad I got that sorted out.

Operationalizing my autumn goals

My inner toddler is effective at subverting my higher self’s deeper ambitions, so I’m always looking for ways to keep myself on track. As such, I’ve reorganized the tabs of my twelve-tabbed plastic file folder (the black thing with the butterflies and such on it in the picture below) so that they reflect my stated autumn priorities. This way, every time I reach into that aesthetically-pleasing bucket, I’m reminded of how my sober self wants to divvy up her time.

And so, waterfalling from my autumn goals

1. Maintain balance between incoming & outgoing funds
2. Find my home within academia
3. Own statistics

I’ve re-jiggered my folder-thing s.t. the tabs read, from front to back:

1. Incoming $: anything related to consulting gigs or any other sources of incoming loot
2. 415 G: shorthand for my address; documentation regarding the agreements my roommates must sign
3. Bills
4. Stats: documentation for my statistics class which starts Wednesday
5. PhD: anything related to the doctoral program application process
6. MS from MBA: paperwork for changing my intended degree at Baruch from an MBA in Marketing to an MS in Statistics
7. Read me: journal articles and other stuff I want to read, sourced through my Google alerts for “behavioral economics” & “rational choice theory” plus traipsing around professors’ publications
8. Secret pile: a top-secret initiative that I can’t expand on just yet
9. Yale: stuff related to my role as Class Secretary
10. Academicize: ideas and/or works-in-progress for possible papers to submit to academic journals
11. Linear algebra
12. Cancer: materials related to how I feel about my ex doing battle with cancer

What kinds of organizational schemes have you cooked up regarding your paperwork? What’s worked for you and what hasn’t? Why?

Time

I want to share with you a little trick regarding getting things done.

Oftentimes people will send me emails asking me questions or asking for my time. Right now I have 657 unread emails in my personal account, and 705 unread emails in my work account.

“705 unread emails!” you might think. “It’s a wonder you haven’t been fired!”

Au contraire, mon frere. The fact is in my 9 official years of full-time capitalizing, which came off the heels of 4 years of part-time go-goodering and a lifetime of entrepreneuring, I’ve been able to get a ton of shit done. It’s like my old boss / coach TT always said: “Work smarter. Not harder.”

Ain’t that the truth. Working harder means reading every single email and getting back to everyone super-promptly. The problem with this is that it assumes that everyone else’s time is more important than yours. And when you make that assumption, you basically guarantee that you will forever be in a job where you are the least important.

Now, this is one of the reasons I can get shit done: I don’t waste my time on shit that isn’t important. And nine times out of ten, I am in a better position to determine if something is important. Which means that the request via email isn’t important unless I say it is, and it means I’m not going to read your email unless:

• I need something from you, at which point, I read the three most recent emails from you, address your needs, and then follow-up by asking you to give me what I need
• The subject line is related to something that I’ve decided is important

This is how I’m able to get a ton of shit done. When you think about it (and yes, I have thought about it), all through school I was able to score in the 99th percentile on standardized tests that took my classmates an hour to finish. I was done in forty minutes, tops. I could read by age three and took calculus as a high school sophomore.

I get shit done.

I do it well.

I don’t read your emails.

So here’s the little trick I’ve learned regarding getting people like me to pay attention to you:

• Get them to need something from you. If they don’t need you, then you need them. That’s the power dynamic, and get used to it, and figure out how to work around it.
• If they do need something from you, when they ask for it, don’t give it to them until they give you what you need. Duh. “I’d be happy to provide that report, and I’ll get to it right away. Before I begin, however, I’d benefit from some context regarding the shit that I need from you, big lady.”
• But usually, they don’t need anything from you. So you need to respect the power dynamic and pay it its propers. Ask yourself: how much time do I need from this person? Sometimes you just need them to give you a POV on a document. Okay — how long will it take them to read the document? Will it be easier if you walk them through it? Based on that, you need to:
  • Push time onto their calendar to walk them through the document. If you are in the same office as them, put a hard copy of the document onto their chair so they can read on their commute. If not, and if you have time, send them a physical copy of the document. On a post-it, say, “I’ll get some time on your calendar to walk you through this.” Include your business card as well if they aren’t going to know who the f— you are.
    • This is also the golden key to the crapper checklist re: How To Get People Much Higher On The Food Chain To Know You Are Alive Even If You Are Not 5′10″ And Of Indeterminate Ethnic Origin
  • When you’re pushing time on their calendar, do it for WHEN THEY ARE AVAILABLE. Don’t be the asshole that’s going to try and think that your little document is more important than what they’ve already got planned. Remember: smart people are the most qualified to decide what’s most important and how they should allocate their time. Don’t be presumptuous.
  • If you can’t see their availability, don’t push a request for any less than two business days away. Even successful, accomplished people don’t want to feel like failures, and if you don’t give someone time to successfully deliver to you, then they will feel like they have failed, and this will invoke shame, and once you shame someone, you are up shit’s creek and they will marshal their resources towards seeing you eliminated, peon. In the meeting request, state, “I’d love to walk you through this document that I’ve attached as part of the meeting request / left on your desk / FedExed to you and solicit your guidance, but if this time is not good, please do feel free to suggest an alternative.” Now, see how respectful of this person’s time your request is? And see how you’ve couched it as them giving you guidance? This has recognized their power and makes them feel special. Most people want to be helpful. You just need to set them up for success to give out that advice and … get what you need.
  • Let’s say you don’t need to walk them through it. Well, they still need to block out time to read it. So send a meeting request titled: Read this document, or something like that, and let them know they should feel free to move the meeting request to a time that works best for them, and that you can be reached at << your phone number >> to discuss should any questions arise during the reading of it. And then ask that they ping you after they read to give your feedback. This respects the busy-ness of their schedules and ensures that you get what you need.
• Sometimes, you need to get feedback from someone on a regular basis. Determine how regular, and how much time you need, and get on their calendars.

If I need something from someone I never assume that an email or a phone call will do the trick. Sure, sometimes it does, and I get through to most people because most people like me (and I return the favor) and generally, I’m one of the more entertaining people in any one person’s life. Look, don’t hate, but let’s be honest: how many Jello wrestling dress-wearing shoulder-tossing Scrabulatin’ half breeds do you know? According to Facebook, I am more desired than 86% of people, so most people want to talk to me and will answer my call.

But let’s say that the person I need something from is currently talking to someone who is more desired than 97% of people, including me? I respect the reality of the power structure and block out time on their calendar.

And then, I figure out ways to make sure they need things from me, so that the power dynamic can shift in the other direction.

This is how I manage up the food chain, across the food chain, and down the food chain. This is how I get it done.

If you keep these things in mind, I guarantee that you will find yourself getting a ton more done — and I mean, meaningful impacts. Not just running the baseline or looking busy. Not working harder.

Working smarter.