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This LifeHacking guide is a compilation of the tools and techniques I use to effortlessly improve my life in 3 specific areas - Time Management, Emails and Networking - and some general LifeHacks. If you find this useful, please share! www.rossgarlick.com
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How to Get Shit DoneA TALK ON TIME MANAGEMENT, EMAIL, NETWORKING AND GENERAL L IFE HACKS
ROSS GARLICK
01/29/2014
Who am I to tell you how to be more productive?
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
But first…
• Consult & Work with Startups
• Blog every 2 weeks• Learn to Code• Watch The West Wing• Read 5 books • Beer Hall Loyalty Reward
• School• Internship Applications• Compass• Concourse Fund• Tutoring• Varsity Squash
@rossyg92
Obligations and Commitments
Desirable Goals and projects
In Fall ‘13 I had a number of obligations, commitments I wanted to accomplish. I became stressed and anxious. I decided to address
this by hacking my life.
www.rossgarlick.com
That’s me!
life·hackNoun: informal
1. a strategy or technique adopted in order to manage one's time and daily activities in a more efficient way.
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
So what is a LifeHack?
Why LifeHack?
Substantive Work
Personal Learning & Growth
Leisure
The Ideal Life
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Most people’s ideal life calls for a work hard, play hard lifestyle, with room for personal growth.
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Substantive Work
Pointless Work
Making Ends Meet
Procrastination
Learning & Growth
Leisure
Real Life
@rossyg92
This ideal life is a pipedream for most people. Hacking our lives brings us closer to the ideal with minimal effort.
www.rossgarlick.com
@rossyg92
Furthermore, people’s perceptions of you matter. Perceptions matter almost as much as the truth about who you are. Hacking your life
can help improve people’s perceptions of you, effortlessly.
www.rossgarlick.com
Time Management
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Hacking Strategy #1
The Productive Day
Problems with the To-Do List:
1.
2.
There is no sense of prioritization or categorization
We overestimate what we can accomplish in a given day
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The Productive Day
One Big Goal
Three Medium Goals
Five Small Goals
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• Structuring your to-do list in a pyramid manner (right) helps to realize a productive day without overestimating what can be accomplished.
• Start the day with the big goal. You will be less productive if you start with your smaller goals as you anticipate tackling the big goal later in the day.
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The Productive Day - Tools
www.getpocket.com - The easiest way to save articles, webpages and videos to view later. Integrated as a Chrome extension and with hundreds of apps.
www.rescuetime.com - Free online software which tracks your web activity and breaks it down into “productive”, “neutral” and “counter-productive”. Sends you an email once a week breaking down your results.
@rossyg92
I read my Pocket articles on the Subway
Working Effectively
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• Put simply, a “Pomodoro” is a 30 minute period where you work for 25 minutes, take a 5 minute break.
• The value of the Pomodoro Technique is that it challenges the users to work within time constraints e.g. “I will work on this essay for 6 Pomodoros”
• Working within time constraints forces you to be more productive.
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Working Effectively- Tools
www.selfcontrolapp.com – Block the webpages that distract you for a defined period of time.
www.teamviz.com – Track and measure your productivity using the Pomodoro Technique using this free software.
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
@rossyg92
The 2 Minute Rule
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Only applicable when you are deciding what to put on your to-do list… not when you are mid-task
Email HacksHacking Strategy #2
EMAIL BEST PRACTICE
TECHNIQUES
#1. EFFECTIVE SUBJECT LINE
3 tips for a great Subject Line:• Less than 50 characters• Some specificity – e.g. rather than “Follow Up”, say
“Follow up from Google Info session 01/23/2014”• Use words such as “Reconnecting” or “Response
Needed” to incentivize subject to open email. Avoid Keywords that could be perceived as spam, such as “Please Support”
#2. EMAIL PURPOSE
Many people wait until the 2nd or 3rd paragraph of an email to get to its purpose. While this can seem reasonable to the writer, it is frustrating for the reader.
Always start the email off with its purpose. I like to embolden that sentence to emphasize the point.
#3. USE OF WHITE SPACE
Email marketing studies have proven that emails with more white space communicate their message more clearly.
Use Bullet Points where possible to increase the amount of white space in your emails.
#4. NEXT STEPS
Always end an email with a list of next steps for the email recipient, even if it seems obvious to you, the writer.
Asking people to retweet your tweets increases the number of retweets, and the same principle applies here.
Email Effectively- Tools
www.rapportive.com – View the contact profile of anyone to whom you are sending/receiving emails, including their social networks.
www.boomeranggmail.com – Schedule an email to be sent later. Easy email reminders.
www.wisestamp.com – Free and easy email signatures for the 21st century.
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
Achieving Inbox Zero
@rossyg92
That “zero?” It’s not how many mes sages are in your inbox–it’s how much of your
own brain is in that inbox. Especially when you don’t want it to be. That’s it.
www.inboxzero.com
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five.sentenc.eswww.five.sentenc.es Emails in 5 sentences without being rude
www.mailboxapp.com The easiest way to
manage email on iOS
www.unroll.me The easiest way to
unsubscribe from spam
www.tapermail.com Limit your inbox to 5
emails at a time
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Inbox Zero - Tools
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Give it a try. I love it!
Networking HacksHacking Strategy #3
@rossyg92
Learn the technique of effective networking: http://jeffarchibald.ca/stop-networking/
There is a general misunderstanding of networking as a selfish action. “I can offer value to you.” “I would make a great business partner/employee.”
www.rossgarlick.com
Jeff’s blog is new but has a lot of good advice
@rossyg92
Networking – Tools for Meeting People
www.meetup.com The beauty of Meetup events is that people who attend them actively want to
help and work with people of similar interests.
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Networking – Tools for Following Up
www.cardmunch.com (iOS)www.yolu.com (Android)Scan business cards and
automatically add them to your phone contacts
www.ifttt.com Automatically invite people to connect on LinkedIn when you add them to your iOS contacts
www.evernote.com The most powerful note-taking app can automatically record
what meeting/event a particular note was taken at.
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
General LifeHacksHacking Strategy #4
@rossyg92
The Value of Remembering Names• When you first meet someone, try
and repeat their name as much as possible during the natural course of conversation e.g. rather than “it’s nice to meet you”, say instead, “it’s nice to meet you, Mike.”
• Try and associate a name with a particular fact about that person.
• Don’t be embarrassed to ask someone to repeat their name on the 2nd time you meet them. They often find it endearing and serves as a nice ice-breaker.
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@rossyg92
• When someone says “Thank you”, you are in a momentary position of power.
• Respond by saying “You’re welcome. I know you’d do the same for me.”
• This response conveys that you have the type of relationship where we can ask each other for favors and help each other without keeping score.
Capitalizing on a Position of Power
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@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
A Gamified LifeAN INVITATION
Sounds fun, right?
@rossyg92
A number of apps and online services have found success by “gamifying”
productivity. For me, they have been too limited in their scope.
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Sample of Ross’ Gamified Life
So I decided to gamify my own life, setting up a system to incentivize me to work towards my
substantive goals, and cut out distractions
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
Check it out!!
I would like to invite you to join my self-quantified, productivity system.
Please contact me if you are interested:rossgarlick@gmail.comwww.rossgarlick.com
@rossyg92 www.rossgarlick.com
Resources – Time Management Pocket: www.getpocket.com
RescueTime: www.rescuetime.com
Self-Control: www.selfcontrolapp.com or http://parker.kuivi.la/projects/selfrestraint (PC)
Pomodoro Timer: tomato-timer.com/
TeamViz: www.teamviz.com
@rossyg92
Resources – Email & Networking Boomerang: http://www.boomeranggmail.com/
Rapportive: www.rapportive.com
WiseStamp: www.wisestamp.com
Five Sentences: www.five.sentenc.es
UnrollMe: www.unroll.me
Mailbox: www.mailboxapp.com
Taper: www.tapermail.com
Mailstrom: www.mailstrom.co
Meetup: www.meetup.com
IFTTT: www.ifttt.com
Evernote: www.evernote.com
Cardmunch: www.cardmunch.com
@rossyg92
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