Hi! I'm a drawing of Catherine. She does most of the writing here, including this blurb. (Does this count as writing in the third person?) Catherine believes that websites don't really run on technology, they run on emotions. If you agree, then she wants to help you rock it out and be awesome online.
photo credit: Extra Ketchup
Pick one tiny fiddly job that “only takes a moment!” and automate it. Suggestions:
- Set up a filter on your email inbox to sort receipts into the receipts folder automatically.
- Set up your Google Analytics to email you a report weekly or monthly. (Which you automatically sort into the right folder, of course.)
- If you publish to a regular rhythm, write and schedule posts in advance.
- Create a reminder task in your calendar for the right time to complete the task.
- Set up automatic banking for your bills, regular payments etc.
- Schedule your computer backups, disk cleanup and defragmentation.
- Set up automatic backups on your website and database.
What did you automate? Tell us in the comments!
GMail filters ftw!
I get a whole bunch of Google Alerts coming in during the day, and each one is a whole new potential distraction… so I just set up a filter to have them bypass the Inbox. Now those Alerts emails can darned well sit in a folder, out of sight, until I've got time to deal with them. Thanks for the nudge!
Catherine, I have (IIRC) 18 “1 Minute Do It Now” snacklets stashed in cold storage over at http://1-minute-do-it-now.com
Would you like to have them?
I am just green to the gills over 5MM. So sticky. 1MDIN is just not sticky. Darn.
Awesome job, Rebecca. What kind of alerts do you run? I have them come in for my name and the business name and that's about it. I'm wondering if I'm missing something.
Heya Dave, I would love them! It's joint venture time.
Oh, great wadges of them: Alerts for my name, my business name, clients' names, keywords for topics of interest to both me and clients… you can see why this 5-minute mission made a big difference!
Awesome! How do you use that data: decision-making, trending?
Partly for trying to stay on top of any questions/issues that might come up that should be addressed, but mostly for just keeping a finger on the pulse of what concerns customers and readers.
Thanks for the inspiration on scheduling the analytics report.
I like the 5 minute missions, this is good stuff.
@Dave: 1 minute do it now is a good concept too. Keep adding more. It's all about inspiring someone to take action.
It's my pleasure! I like your blog, I know just enough code to get in trouble and most of the posts I've read are much, much harder and less enjoyable than yours.
We should talk.
There's a back story, and it involves semantic web technology. The space is ownable. Will take some time.
Brian, I have a clear vision on execution, my branding is a no go.
Watch this space.
That sounds AWESOME. Let's do a Skype chat soon!