Five Tasks in the Morning

That's Old School!

I wish I had a filter that would take all my incoming emails, messages, tasks, etc… and stick them into those quadrants.

Q1 – Urgent, Important (deadlines)
Q2 – Not Urgent, Important (systems)
Q3 – Urgent, Not Important (most emails, messages)
Q4 – Not Urgent, Not Important

Covey says that successful companies spend 70% of time in Q2 so if the filter attached “time-needed to complete” to them and Bonked me on the head everytime I strayed, that would work.

Heck, I had to name my company q2 Results to try and keep on track! I help other people do this…but it's my way of “the teacher learn more than the student” – as Confucious said…

If I'm up and about before 8 a.m., I start the day with coffee, a snack, and reading the local paper and NYTimes. If it's after 8 a.m., I start by checking the web interface to clear out junk/spam, then open and skim e-mail (while the coffee percolates); respond to any urgent personal messages; read and post to a couple discussion lists; check and maybe post to LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter; then plunge into projects – editing, proofreading, writing, newsletter layout, conference planning – and respond to e-mail messages as they arrive throughout the day. I wrap up the day or evening with another LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter session, posting to various groups and catching up on what colleagues are doing.

I have a similar routine but I'm not all that great at keeping up with it on a daily basis. Do you have a checkoff system in place to ensure you don this daily or is it just a formed habit at this point?

Thanks Chris as I evangelize this social media thing I can see people's eyes glaze over because it is ONE MORE or TEN MORE things they are trying to cram into their day. It is overwhelming to me also, but it is finding the manageable chaos is what I am trying to find myself. Your advice helps-again.

So when you work do you leave your email application off? I would imagine your notifier would be going on close to every minute.

Chris. Thanks for sharing your day-to-day details. It really helps others demystify social networking. Since I have been working in this area for more than fifteen years although the tools have changed it still comes down to, for me, connecting to those I know–my network–to those my network knows as a constant way of expanding from one “warm connection” to another.

Since LinkedIn is my domain of choice I make sure I always check what those in my network are doing first on my home page. Since LinkedIn grows by one person a second there is no question there will always be new people showing up who want to link with me. I really have not reached out and linked with anyone in over three years so my network is made up of, mostly, people who wanted to connect with me for one reason or another. So far I have over 4500 connections.

I accept all invitations that are thoughtful from people who are what I call “awake in the network” if you will. That means they took the time to view my profile and then talk about something they thought was relevant and connective to things that they care about or are involved in. I have met amazing people that way and, currently, 40% of all my business is a result of people who connect with me through LinkedIn.

I make it clear that the way I work is that if I can hep someone or know someone who can help someone I am there to help. However, if someone is actually pushing something and is not thinking about a more mutually beneficial relationship, then I don't connect.

When I'm not going to work, my usual early morning tasks include eating whatever is left in our fridge, opening the television, annoying my mom, playing with my dog, and eventually, opening my laptop. ^_^
And once I open my laptop, I check my e-mail (Yahoo and Gmail), open my Facebook, sign-in to my IM, read my blog, and read my friends' blog. A pretty boring routine if you ask me. :D

Thanks for this, Chris. I imagine you find time to write a blog too, but that must be in the evening :)

1. I wipe the sleep out of my eyes =)

….ok, maybe that one doesn't count.

1. I open my Google Office, a set of tabs that includes the reader (which is the center of my universe) and the calendar so I know what I have in store for the day.

2. Read and comment on blogs I find interesting, then share the one's that stand out.

3. Facebook- respond to comments and catch up

4. Participate in my communities

5. Check my twitter

People had fun with this one, now its been three weeks and the world has whirled past this post. All that coffee drinking, hmm, wonder if others worry about their teeth turning brown. If the 2012 celestial changes knock out the computers and cell phones, we'll be going back to peering at each other on street corners, tipping our hats, curtsying, having tea time chats in person, waiting for snail mail, writing with nice pens and using good penmanship, meeting people by mistake, taking long journeys to meet the ones we intend to meet, getting to know our neighbors, counting on the people nearby, rubbing elbows, circling the wagons, reading books make of paper, studying at libraries, using courier services, playing table games, making eye contact, shaking hands, using land lines, YIKES!

Chris, I have been using the term “Awake in the Network” for years. How interesting! One of my book coaching clients, Billy Dexter, who is now head of leadership for Heidrick and who used to be head of leadership for MTV is the one person I told “owns” that title. He is an amazing leader and so awake!

Best,

Melissa

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