Do you need a personal assistant?

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There’s a new lifestyle experiment circling the world right now: personal assistants (on the other side of the world). Tim Ferriss definitely popularized this concept with his book The 4-Hour Workweek.

As I sat and read the book I was in the mindset that “I’m a simple guy, I will never need an assistant.” In hindsight, I realize that was the wrong way to consider the idea. For some reason we’re of the thought that a lot of tasks we do are essentially “ours” that no one else could take over. That’s ultimately wrong.

Take e-mail for example: Tim has even outsourced (through a series of rules) his own email. You and I aren’t in the same position as Tim but think about other mundane tasks that can easily be translated to an assistant:

  • Booking travel (15 minutes)
  • Researching the iPhone and how to jailbreak it for T-Mobile usage (15 minutes)
  • Researching the pro/cons of upgrading to a Macbook Pro (15 minutes)
  • Researching the pros/cons of trying FireFox Beta 4 and if my addons will work with it (10 minutes)
  • Monitor my financial accounts weekly and pay credit cards monthly (15 minutes)
  • Write a nice thank you/nice to meet you note for people met at SXSW (15 minutes)
  • Contact a company to get a refund (10 minutes)
  • Contact another company to get a new download/activation code (10 minutes)

I created that list during the first two hours of my Friday morning. I put myself in the mindset: if I had an assistant right now, what would I ask them to do for me? I’ve already come up with almost 2 hours worth of work… during my two hours of work. That seems like a compelling reason to consider it.

I’ll be at SXSWi 2008

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For those of you who don’t speak nerd, I’m going to the South-by-Southwest Conference in Austin, TX on Friday (through Tuesday). I’ll be attending the ‘Interactive’ conference which is a lot of people from the internet who think they’re forward thinking, amazing individuals.

In reality, it’s a lot of parties put on by a lot of hot new companies (everyone from Google to my Boulder buddies at socialthing!). Drinks, nerds, how can it go wrong?

I know a lot of cool people will be there (speaking and attending) and if you’ll be there too be sure to let me know:

See you guys there.

Never eat alone at work

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Just don’t do it. Eating alone, though easier and more enjoyable sometimes (especially if you like yourself as much as I do) we should all do our best to become acquainted with the people at work.

If you’re very entry-level (and young, like myself) it seems very mature of you to invite a group of people to lunch. Taking the quick initiative to say “hey, did you bring a lunch?” is all it takes. I’ve tried my best to go to lunch with everyone in the office because it’s the only real time you can sit down and just talk. If your job is like mine you end up staying focused and serious all day–always business. This time lets you relax and hear a little about the people you spend so much time with. And we all know, work is so much more fun if you enjoy the people you work with.

Even if you’re just talking about work or laughing at shared past experiences you still build rapport. In a group of people at lunch, even if they’re talking about something I’ve never experienced it makes for something I can talk about later (hah, this is like that one time at _______ you were talking about). Plus, it’s better to be interested than interesting (people will like you more).

It just makes sense, I don’t know how else to put it: never eat alone at work.

Community Next bridges Silicon and silicone

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Community Next is bridging Silicon Valley to the land of silicone with The Next Generation of Media and the Web happening Saturday, March 29 in West Hollywood. You may remember I’ve been pretty involved with Community Next and this one is going to be a neat twist on the original conferences: it’s not in the Bay, it’s in LA!

Quick overview:

  • Learn how the web is changing and how to stay ahead of the curve
  • Connect with people from top online companies
  • Connect with funny/smart/cool/interesting people
  • FREE OPEN BAR party, hosted by Twiistup on Friday night, March 28
  • FREE Redbull, food and drinks to keep you going at the conference

Speakers include Robert Scoble (scobleizer.com/Fast Company), Alexis Ohanian (Reddit, Founder), Veronica Belmont (Mahalo Daily) and more (click here for full list of speakers).

Special 10% discount for all of my friends: sign up at http://nextmedia.eventbrite.com/?discount=sweetdreams.

I’ll be there, kicking it in Hollywood. Let me know if you’ll be around, too.

When you take a sick day…

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…do you feel:

  • Guilty like you’ve gone and selfishly removed a day’s worth of productivity
  • Worried that you’ll have so much piled up when you come back
  • Anxious because you are so essential people can’t get by without you
  • Relaxed because you’re helping yourself get better
  • Semi-productive because you end up crawling in bed with your laptop and working anyway

or any variation of those? I’m sick today and have been all weekend. Luckily my firm is of the “don’t come to work when you’re sick, we’ll still pay you” mindset.

But, it makes me feel guilty. That guilt leads to semi-productiveness. And that semi-productiveness leads to me sending out emails and putting out as many fires as I can from the comfort of my home. I’m still getting rest. I have plenty of tissues at hand and I’m comfortable in my sweatpants.

Unfortunately, I know people who don’t get (free, unlimited, or any) sick days. Are you one of those? Do you have a laptop you bring home? My suspicion is you don’t. You’re not doing guilty work at home like me.

Do you set New Year’s resolutions?

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I’ve stopped. I’m of the school of thought that a resolution is an excuse to make small steps towards big goals, and then give up because it was too lofty to begin with. Plus, why does it need to be done at the arbitrary beginning of a year?

Okay, the holidays are over and you can stop eating poorly. That may be the one reason you resolve to eat better/exercise more/live healthier.

A year is such a long time (or should be, if you live your life the right way) and I’m not a fan of long-term goals. Sure, you want to have a direction to head (California vs New York) but you don’t need to know which path you’re taking (I-70 vs I-80).

Sure, you can be flexible with your resolutions but then we should just keep them in mind throughout the entire year, not just in January. Can you remember your goals from previous years? Do you monitor them?

Watching construction

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There’s a multi-story office building going in right next to my light rail station. It’s about 7 stories tall and the structure is largely complete. The light rail stand is level with the third floor.

Nearly everyone waiting at the station watches the construction workers build away. At any given point in time, nearly half of us are turned around, facing away from the tracks, to gaze at the new building. Why?

Is it because construction is fascinating? Definitely. It’s neat to see a collection of materials and labor turn into a tangible object.

Is it because we’re bored and would like to watch construction workers rather than highway traffic and a empty set of rails? Of course.

But I also think, deep down, a lot of us sit here waiting to ride 40 minutes to Denver, to start our 9-5, to do the work that only sometimes speaks to our strengths, only sometimes makes us feel fulfilled, and only sometimes produces something tangible that we can point at and say “look, that’s something I did!”

Something tells me I’m not the only one that envies the construction workers.