Cory Bagozzi

This just saddens me

2011-03-22T14:41:00.000-06:00

There are 2 types of people in this world . . .

Kind of personal but, hey, sharing is fun

2011-01-24T14:23:00.001-07:00

I am not a doctor, nurse, dietitian, or personal trainer. I am about to tell you a story, but I don’t want you to take this as advice. I have no idea if the things that I have done are healthy, damaging to my body, or even a remotely good idea. I am just telling you a little story about the past 6 months of my life.

My “wake up call” came at 229. That’s what it said on the scale, 229. I am 33 years old, 6 foot 2 inches, and weigh 229 pounds. I am not very well versed in health and nutrition, but even I knew that was not a good number to see staring back at me in red. My heart sank a little, for a second, as it hit me that I was, right at that moment, the heaviest I have ever been. My weight and body image only occasionally even crossed my mind, but this, this was more than a little unnerving to me. “I don’t want to be the fat dad” was my next thought. Then I realized that this was probably a huge contributor to why I thought I was developing sleep apnea (I would occasionally wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air and my wife said I was snoring incessantly). Sure, there are guys out there larger and heavier than me, but I was reaching a new personal tipping point. It was at that moment I decided that I needed to make some lifestyle changes.

Diets have never worked for me. I have tried a few through the years and they have all done exactly nothing. I knew that a diet would not work. I needed to change my lifestyle, the way I lived. A short term “diet patch” was not an answer to my problems. I decided that the first step would be to take a look at how and what I was eating. Luckily for me, my wife cooks healthy (tries to always use whole grain, etc) so I could just count on dinner to be fine, it was lunch and breakfast that were killing me. I think I ate fast food lunch almost everyday (or even worse large sit down lunches) and breakfast was the likes of breakfast burritos or breakfast sandwiches. This is where I really needed to get things focused. I needed a way to actually think about what i was eating, to be aware. I searched around for food tracking or journal apps for my iPod Touch (because I typically carry it on me) and tried a couple out. The one I liked best for ease of use and features was called Tap & Track. It has a huge database of foods and is simple/quick to use. I set a daily calorie budget and was tenacious about logging everything that I ate (even Diet Mountain Dew got logged). I didn’t worry about exercising at this point, or even the weight loss itself, just logging and monitoring what I ate. This forced me to portion control and make much wiser food choices. A little trick I pulled on myself was that I adjusted the calorie budget down 350 for each day, so that on the days when I went a little over I was still under where I needed to be. I also set 1 rule for myself, and that was no dessert or treats except on weekends, other than that all that mattered was that the calorie budget was maintained.

I noticed something over the next few weeks. Everything that I ate, or didn’t eat, was a conscious decision. It became a game for me. Watching that calorie line progress throughout the day made me VERY aware of every single thing I ate. This was much easier than just trying to follow a “diet”, for me anyway. After a while it just became second nature to portion control to where I would come in right at my daily allowance of calories. There was a point where I could tell you exactly how many calories were in a slice of wheat bread, or serving of string cheese, right off the top of my head.

After about 4 weeks I was confident in my portion control and awareness of what I was actually eating (I actually didn’t even think about it much anymore, it seemed automatic). In this time I lost about 10 pounds, without working out at all. I could now move on to phase 2.

Now that I had a habit of eating better I wanted to incorporate some exercise. It was now that I also stopped tracking calories on the weekends and gave myself some free days (this made it much easier to get through the week and not “cheat”). I tried a few different workouts (I hate running, that did not work out for me at all) and the elliptical machine seemed to be my workout of choice. I like that it tracks the time, distance, and calories for you, again making it into a game. I have been doing 30 to 50 minutes on the elliptical about 5 or 6 times a week. I try to burn 300-500 calories, just depending on my motivation for the day or time. I sometimes get a little strength training in (that is going to be my next “project”) but mostly have just focused on cardio up to this point. I also do about 10 minutes of stretching each day (I want to try doing yoga sometime too if time ever allows).

Over the past few months I have been able to lose 20 additional pounds and have finally broken 200 (199.2 on the scale as of today). This method of weight loss has worked very well for me, much better than anything else I have tried in my life, and it also appeals to my geek mentality (hey technology is fun). With just some small lifestyle changes, I was able to do what I have never been able to accomplish with extreme dieting or other “normal” means. I still have some more weight to lose, but I have not felt this good in a long time (physically and mentally). I also have had no more problems breathing at night and Chelsea says my snoring has gotten much better.

Our Family Picture (July 2010)

Taken Today (January 24, 2011)

Chicken Express, 3440 S. State Street, SLC, UT

2010-05-11T16:43:00.005-06:00

Chicken Express is one of my favorite places to eat in Salt Lake City. It gets a little busy at lunch time, but never overly crowded.

Service: The owner works the counter, never had a problem with service. I once saw a guy in front of me in line give a little attitude to the owner, it did not go over well. The strange thing is that, by the end of the exchange, I could tell the patron would be back.

I love that there is never an "upsell" at the counter on what I order. You know, "add bread? add cheese? add extra sauce?". A complete meal is what is on the menu, and that is what you get, for the posted price.

You order at the counter and then they call your number when your food is ready. Usually only takes a few minutes.

Price: Good, $5-$8. They also have some higher priced "family style" meals.

Food: I love this place, it is so good. I have been about 8 times and, so far, there is no "Law of Diminishing Returns".

I always get the Single Chicken Kabob meal with half potatoes/half rice ($5.25). I have never left hungry.

Location: Not much to look at from the outside, but it is always clean. Has a drive-thru, but I have never used it. Small parking lot, with a ton of parking in vacant lot next door.

Tuesday Night Project - Monitor Stand

2010-04-21T13:51:00.008-06:00

I run a dual monitor computer setup and have always wanted one of my monitors to be in "portrait" mode for ebook reading, etc. The stands I found online were all a little pricey, so I decided to build my own. Total cost was about $26 and 2-3 hours including Home Depot trips, etc.

The monitor stand consisted of:

a galvanized steel pipe
bracket (that bolts to the table to hold the pipe)
a fence bracket (connects pipe to the wood piece)
a 10" x 8" piece of red oak
various bolts and washers (rubber washers between the wood and monitor)
m4 x .7 sized screws (these are the ones that fit into the existing holes on the back of the monitor)
the actual table I bolted the stand to (I already had this and was using it as my computer desk)

It was a pretty simple project, and was the first "handy" thing I have done in a few months. No "swivel" feature or anything, just a simple static setup. The hardest part was getting the holes lined up for the monitor, so I used a paper and cardboard template that I made in order to line everything up. If you have any questions let me know.

Here is my new workspace

The finished stand

The back view of the monitor stand

Here you can see how the pipe is attached to the oak board with the fence bracket

iPod Touch Tutorial - "How Do I Get This Thing On The Internet?"

2010-03-24T10:11:00.002-06:00

So, for Valentine's Day my Dad got my Mom an Ipod Touch. Love her to death, but she's not the most tech savvy person (she is getting a lot better though). She knows that I have a Touch, so she calls me with questions from time to time and has me show her how to do stuff while they are in town. I knew that the networking on the iPod Touch was going to be an issue for her, so I made her this tutorial to walk her through it. Feel free to steal it and give it to your moms, dads, grandparents, whomever. As more questions come up from her I will probably be putting more of these together.

- here it is in PDF format

Huge Thanks To Orbitz.com and the Treasure Island in Las Vegas

2010-03-20T21:03:00.003-06:00

My wife and I have had a trip to Las Vegas planned for a few months now with our friends the Barmondes. We were going to go down for a long weekend just to relax so we booked a couple rooms at the Treasure Island down on the strip, through Orbitz, about a month ago. We were supposed to leave on Thursday, but on Tuesday my wife Chelsea had some stomach flu symptoms so she decided to rest, hoping to get better by the time we were supposed to leave. On Wednesday she was not any better and she was having some pains in her stomach so she went to the ER. When she got there they told her it was either an infection or appendicitis. She was hoping for the first, so she could take some antibiotics and hopefully we could still leave the next day on our trip. After some more tests they told her she was going to need surgery, so trip was off. To make matters worse, the surgeon told us that our insurance only paid 60% for the hospital she was at, but paid our full 80% coverage at his surgical office which was across town. He was on call at that hospital for the day, but was willing to do the procedure at his normal office so that we could get our maximum benefit (I promise this is not a health reform political rant). He told her to "demand" to be released by the ER (which is basically what you have to do if you want to leave) and to meet her at his office.She was not in any immediate danger of her appendix bursting or anything so the time was not a huge issue.

Chelsea called me at my office and I raced across town to pick her up and then we drove as fast as we could to the surgical center. When we arrived and the nurses were getting her prepped there was a short panic, as her temperature had risen to 106 degrees. The doctor arrived and gave us all of the info regarding the procedure, as the nurses packed her with ice to try to cool her down. The doctor was very reassuring and I could tell that Chelsea was calm at this point and ready to get under the knife (which these days is actually a tiny knife and a camera, if you want to see some crazy pictures let me know).

The nurse then lead me to the waiting room and told me it would be about an hour or so. I started texting family and friends, to keep them in the loop as to what was going on, and then realized that we had those rooms booked and prepaid for. It was Wednesday and we were supposed to leave the next day. The Treasure Island's cancellation policy requires 48 hours notice so I knew we were stuck. I called Orbitz to see if I could at least get the second night refunded. After sitting on hold for about 3 minutes (I expected 30) the customer service rep came on and I explained the situation. He told me it was no problem and that he would call the Treasure Island for me. He put me on hold for about 5 minutes and came back on and told me that the Treasure Island was going to refund us for the whole trip. He then asked if I could hold a few more minutes while he filled out and faxed all the paperwork to them, for me, and took my number in case we got disconnected. After about another 10 minutes he told me that everything had been canceled and our entire payment had been refunded.

Not only was it a relief to not have to pay for rooms we were not going to be able to use, but I was astonished by Orbitz, and the Treasure Island's, flexibility to their policies. It seems like most companies now will stab you in the back for a dollar and use every "gotcha" they can to maximize short term profits. It was definitely a breath of fresh air to deal with friendly customer service, and with 2 companies that realize that lifetime customers are far more valuable than a "bird in hand". I later found out from our friends that they were able to get a full refund as well, as we decided to reschedule the whole trip rather than them still going this weekend.

By the time I was off of the phone with Orbitz, and had cycled the channels on the TV in the waiting room a few times trying to find something worth watching, the doctor came out and told me that everything went flawlessly and that Chelsea was waking up in the next room.

One of the reasons I LOVE Amazon

2010-03-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

I received this email today;

Greetings from Amazon.com.

You saved $1.10 with Amazon.com's Pre-order Price Guarantee!

The price of the item(s) decreased after you ordered them, and we gave you the lowest price.

The following title(s) decreased in price:

Rework
Price on order date: $13.20
Price charged at shipping: $13.20
Lowest price before release date: $12.10
Amount to be refunded: $1.10
Quantity: 1
Total Savings: $1.10

You will receive an additional e-mail when this refund is processed.

Quick Tip: Evernote and Dropbox

2010-02-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick tip for those that use Evernote on a laptop and want an easy way to add items from their other (i.e. work, home, etc) computers.

Get a Dropbox account. Dropbox is a free service that allows you to backup and sync files across multiple computers (if you sign up through my links we both get an extra 250MB storage space).
Install the Dropbox client on your laptop and other machines. Install the client on machines that only you have access to (if you want to use this tip on a shared work or home machine you can upload the files straight into your Dropbox account, like this, and shouldn't install the software version).
In your Dropbox folder, make a folder called "Evernote Import" or something similar. This is the folder that you will set to automatically upload into Evernote.
In Evernote, click on the "Tools" menu and then "Import Folders"
Click the "Add" button and select your "Evernote Import" folder
You can then set what Notebook in Evernote you want the files to import into, and set whether or not you want Evernote to automatically delete the local file once it has been imported.

The way this works is you just copy whatever you want imported into Evernote into that Dropbox folder on your work or home machine, or wherever if you use the web import feature. Then, the next time you fire up your laptop, the files will sync into your Dropbox folder and then automatically import into Evernote. It has made it much faster to gather data together, and I like don't have to run Evernote on every machine I use if I don't want to.

Evernote also has an excellent iPhone app so I always have my data on the go.

Dear service provider(s),

2010-02-10T13:21:00.001-07:00

Dear service provider(s),

Thank you for letting me pay you for your professional services. You do a great job, for a great price and that is why I use you. I like our business relationship and it has worked out well for me, hopefully for you as well. Please do not tarnish this foundation we have built by flooding my inbox with "gifting chain-letter scams" or "you can save while you shop AND earn money too" offers. These have NOTHING to do with the business transactions we now take part in. You are ruining your company's brand and image by sending these out to everyone on your contact list. If even one person gets annoyed with you enough to go elsewhere next time your type of service is required you will have lost exponentially more than you will ever gain from sending these emails out.

Love,

Cory

How Do I Prepare For The Recovery? (Part 2 - get lean=mobile)

2010-01-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

This post is a few weeks late, as I have already been busy implementing a lot of what I am going to talk about and wanted to actually try some things out before I wrote about what I "planned" to do. I have been really focusing on mobility and "getting lean", which to me means maximizing output while minimizing input.

I spent the first couple weeks of the year thinking about how I can accomplish that. My wife and I have had some long conversations that lead us to start really simplifying our lifestyle and home. After 7 years of marriage we have accumulated a lot of "stuff" that we don't even use. We moved into our current home 3 years ago and still had a multitude of boxes in the basement that had never been opened. We have spent the last 2 weeks going through the basement, closets, etc and really getting rid of a tremendous amount of clutter. If it wasn't not something we could sell, give away, or currently use we threw it away. The rest got listed to eBay/KSL Classifieds. We have made a lot of progress, but still have a lot to do. Now how does this apply to maximizing output while minimizing input (doing more with less)? It really does feel refreshing to have more open storage spaces and areas in the home. It feels good to have actual living areas, rather than be constantly surrounded by clutter. It also forces you to make do with what you have available, instead of having (and storing) a gadget or tool for every single circumstance that may arise. I have also already noticed a change in our spending habits, as unnecessary things are less likely to make it to the checkout counter, especially at Costco (don't worry I still love you). This "project" of ours has been step 1 in my move towards a more simple, mobile (actually agile is probably a better term for it) lifestyle. It is going well and I am really looking forward to getting to completion.

Step 2 has been a simplifying of what I carry with me everyday. I used to stuff my laptop bag full of every single possible thing I own that I might need during the day. It got to the point where I was taking my laptop bag and a small backpack to the office on some days. I had to really step back and slim it down to just the necessities, with a few "nice to have's". Here is my current setup, after cutting a lot of items I used to carry around:

Timbuk2 Laptop Bag (I think this one is now out of production but I have loved it, it's sturdy and has plenty of space. It looks like they have replaced it with one they call the "Blogger")
Seagate 1 TB External Hard Drive
iPod Touch 64 GB, See my post here about how this replaces carrying any calendars or planners around, freeing up a lot of space and saving weight in the bag.
Ultimate Ears TripleFi 10vi Noise Isolating Earphones w/ Microphone, I got these on Amazon when they were a "Gold Box Deal" for only $100 and they are AMAZING. Great sound quality and they even have a microphone for use with the iPod Touch for voice memos and Skype. I also carry my iPod stock headphones for the gym, etc as I don't like to use my nice ones in situations where they might take some abuse.
Belkin Mini Surge Protector, I love the dual USB ports on this thing, saves carrying a separate wall wart for the iPod.
Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse
Canon PowerShot SD780IS, if you steal enough change off of the dryer, and search the couch cushions enough times, you can eventually save up enough change to hit up the Coinstar and get enough Amazon Gift Certificates (free as opposed to getting cash back where they charge you 9%) to buy yourself a camera, just like I did. Even takes HD video.
Leatherman, I got this as a gift from my in-laws a few birthdays ago. It's the one with the bits for computers, etc. Comes in handy more than I expected it to.
Logitech Webcam, works flawlessly with Skype
SanDisk 4GB USB Flash Drive, I keep mine on a mini Sharpie so it is easier to keep track of and so I have a Sharpie with me if I need it.
Moleskine Square Notebook Pocket, yes, I am a Moleskine fanboy and not ashamed
Pilot G-2 Gel pen, Highlighter, and mechanical pencil
Lenovo X61 Tablet PC, running Windows 7, this should be the "make or break" year where either everyone finally jumps on board for tablet computing (iPad?), or it flops and it stays niche forever.
Nokia Bluetooth headset, I can also use this with Skype, and Windows 7 speech-to-text translation. Got this one when CompUSA was going out of business.
Business Card Case, I got this for $1.99 on the clearance aisle at Office Max

When I am "in office" doing real estate appraisal it is a completely different situation, as I am on a desktop machine that is networked with our appraisal software server, so mobility is not as much of an option, or desire. Dual monitors are mandatory for using the appraisal software in order to be even remotely productive. I started appraising on a laptop and it was horrendous, so my mobile work setup is mainly for my other business, hobby, and work ventures.

How does this mobility and simple lifestyle relate to "preparing for the economic recovery"? It really has to do with opportunity and being able to take advantage of a very quickly changing business climate. If an opportunity, freelance assignment, consulting need, arises and is needed immediately, I will be in a position to take advantage of it. I can "grab what I need and go" because it is already ready. If I have to spend a day or 2 gathering tools or making sure my "ducks are in a row" I am wasting time and may be letting the chance slip by. Maybe it is the sense of optimism that I have been working on over the past year, but I have a feeling that 2010 is going to see A LOT going on, and I want to be a part of it. Even if that means I am constantly running around to take advantage of the forward momentum.

With what I carry with me I can get everything done and have not yet run into any problems where I needed something I did not have. I do need to really test this out and take some road trips though, to see how it goes, Vegas anyone?

Marketing Fail

2009-12-29T13:38:00.001-07:00

on SO many levels . . . can you find them all?

Just set it to cook, and you're off the hook

2009-12-24T16:16:00.000-07:00

I would not have believed it if it wasn't right there on my own television. How am I a year late on this one? I need to watch more Thursday late-morning television.

Tiger's been banished to the clearance bin

2009-12-23T10:26:00.002-07:00

poor guy

How Do I Prepare For The Recovery? (Part 1)

2009-12-21T16:22:00.004-07:00

"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste." -Rahm Emanuel

I have been thinking lately about the current economic climate, what affects it has had, and how it might play out over the next year. There is significant motion to the world around us, and nothing seems static. Things have been stagnant lately, but with a pressure for forward momentum. I think many people have spent the last year in "survival" mode, while trying to maintain businesses, jobs, etc. I want to switch myself into a state of progress, where I accomplish more than just maintain. As the economy recovers there is going to be so much opportunity, and I want to be positioned to take advantage of as much of it as possible. I sat down to brainstorm some ideas on how I might go about this and what I need to change/do in order to start building something new in 2010.

How to prepare for the recovery

streamline processes
remove excess waste from time/assets
get "lean"=mobile
education
look for opportunities in DIY areas where customers/clients will no longer have time as they ramp up
invest at a bargain (stocks, etc)
invest in new technology/updating while prices are low
establish habits BEFORE they are needed, while it is a luxury
take slow moments and use that time to organize
"SHARPEN THE SAW"
set long term goals under TODAY's climate, with TODAY's resources
decide what you want, put it on paper (GOALS)

After my initial brainstorm, I thought that most of what i had listed was pertinent, but a little too vague to have any actual impact. I want to expand on the important items so that they can have actual meaning to me and be measurable. I want to be able to hold myself accountable to these things so they are more than just words on a page. I decided to do another brainstorm for each idea, and then refine it into actual actionable items. For the first, I combined "streamline processes" and "remove excess waste in time/assets" as these seemed redundant to me.

what can be cut out of current daily tasks?
are there any steps in the appraisal process that can be automated, template driven, or outsourced?
what administrative tasks can be automated, etc?
customer service/retention processes
can current processes be changed to be more efficient in less time with less resources?

what can be cut out of current daily tasks? I have already written on this here and here, so I skipped this one to focus on some of the other ideas.

are there any steps in the appraisal process that can be automated, template driven, or outsourced? This is a very specialized topic (real estate appraisal), but can probably be of some help to others as well. I am going to develop this into its own blog post at a later time, as it should be very detailed and not of interest to a lot of people, so they can skip it.

what administrative tasks can be automated etc? Filing and organization are my mortal enemies. I try to have everything organized and in a certain place, but as soon as I am busy it all goes to chaos. I need to develop a system that takes care of itself, so the filing is quick, and easy. Once I file something away, I want to be able to forget about it, and never have to think about it again. If I need the information, document, receipt, etc I need a way to quickly find it and KNOW that it is going to be where it is supposed to be.

I have a NeatReceipts Scanner that I have been scanning all of my documents, receipts, and business cards into and just made a simple filing system to go with it.

Now I can throw everything into the appropriate file folder (receipts, documents, and business cards) and then once a week, at a scheduled time, scan and shred so that I stay caught up. I am also going to expand this to include a "Getting Things Done" style filing system for my office at a later time.

customer service/retention processes I have purchased myself a copy of ACT! by Sage Software and installed it on my tablet pc. I usually keep most client information in my head, but need to get better about putting it into a database, so others (employees, partners, etc) can have access to it as well. It is also a lot less stressful when you don't have to worry about remembering, or worse forgetting, everything. Having this information close at hand will also make it easier to do follow up calls, or communication, and stay in front of the client as much as needed.

can current processes be changed to be more efficient in less time with less resources? I couldn't really come up with much for this one. I am at a loss. Most of what I do now has already been dialed down pretty tight, as I am always trying to get more done with less. I have spent the last 8 years "bootstrapping" businesses and have found ways to cut out waste where I can. If I figure out any more ways to simplify, I will definitely share them.

Tasks:

Cut wasted time by developing habits based on my "Not To Do List" for 2010 - in progress
Develop a writing system for real estate appraisal reports that eliminates anything that can be outsourced, template driven, or automated - to do
Setup electronic filing system for documents, receipts, and contact information - complete
Setup ACT! database and keep it updated with current client and potential client info - in progress

I am going to carve out some time over the next few days to touch on some of the other items in my brainstorming session. If you have any ideas on streamlining, or automating small business processes, I would love to hear them.

I Met A Celebrity Today . . .

2009-12-10T12:59:00.000-07:00

Why I Love My Life

2009-12-09T16:28:00.001-07:00

This is an extremely belated Thanksgiving post, sappy, but sometimes you just have to do it. This is what I am most grateful for right now: I earn a decent living, have no debt other than real estate, have a wonderful wife and two great kids whose favorite thing is to spend time with me, and I am a 32 year old that gets to wear this to the office on a Wednesday . . .

2010 "Not To Do" List (part 2 of 2)

2009-12-08T14:34:00.001-07:00

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

Here is what I ended up with for a final list.

Do not answer calls from unrecognized numbers
Do not check email / Twitter / Facebook constantly throughout the day, batch and check at set times
Do not interrupt
Do not finish projects / meals / movies that are not worthwhile
Do not try to "be motivated", develop habits instead

See my previous post for my analysis of the first two items, both of which were inspired by a Timothy Ferris article.

3. Do not interrupt. This one is more of a personal one than a productivity improvement. My wife will tell you that I have a really bad tendency to interrupt someone when they are speaking to me. It's rude and completely unacceptable, but I promise I do not do it with malicious intent. Sometimes my mouth just goes before my brain has finished the thought, and I get excited to contribute. It's not because I am bored or do not value what you say, but I know it comes across as extremely arrogant and I need to stop doing this immediately. If I interrupt you when we are speaking, you have my full permission to call me out on it.

4. Do not finish projects / meals / movies that are not worthwhile. There have only been a couple of times that I have actually walked out of a movie for being bad, and I have seen some horrible movies. I can only wonder how many hours I have spent watching completely worthless films only because I had paid for admission, or felt an investment of time in getting halfway through it. Similar to this, how many calories have I stuffed down my mouth just because I wanted to finish whatever I had ordered at the restaurant, even when it was not good? Of course "projects / meals / movies" just means anything I am doing at any given moment in time. I need to practice the art of the non-finish. If something is not going well, and the chances of it getting better are none, then just quit. I can spend that free time doing something better; starting new projects, enjoying better entertainment, or not sitting their with belly rot from overeating a poorly prepared meal. There is no shame in "quitting" something that was not worth starting in the first place.

5. Do not try to "be motivated", develop habits instead. David Allensaid, and I paraphrase, "true motivation only occurs when the word 'motivation' doesn't occur to you". The point being that getting "motivated" doesn't do anything for you in the long term. If you don't believe that, ask your friends how their 2009 New Year's Resolutions are going, me included. The only true change in behavior will be for me to develop the habits I need in order to be more productive and accomplish my goals.

Now I just need to decide on what those goals are . . .

Working on my "Not To Do" list for 2010

2009-12-04T14:20:00.000-07:00

"It is vain to do with more what can be done with less." William of Ockham

Last night I started working on my "Not To Do" list for 2010. This is the list of things that I need to stop doing right away, so I can better spend that time taking over the world. My time is so crucial to me that I cannot add more over the next year unless I can get rid of some less important things, or do the important things more productively and streamlined. The two most important "not to do"s came to me right away:

Do not answer calls from unrecognized numbers
Do not check email / Twitter / Facebook / etc throughout the day, batch and check at set times

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized numbers. This is a huge one for me, because it serves two purposes. Keep my contact list (which is a disorganized mess right now) better updated so I know who is trying to reach me, and not get stuck in meaningless phone calls. You know, the ones for issues that could have been handled with a quick email or voicemail (or even better yet text message). I don't know why but it seems, in my circle anyway, that the text message has not crossed the gap from personal only to business communication. I get calls all the time from clients and vendors for "status updates" or other information. It would be so much more productive to have them text me, so I can gather the information and then text them back. This would be much better than having to sit on the phone with them while I try to track down whatever they need, or worse, play phone tag with them when I try to call them back. The same type of information is gathered from friends through a quick "what's going on tonight?" text. Simple and very effective. Not answering calls from unrecognized numbers also gets me out of every sales call that comes in and let's me screen calls if I know I am not at a place where I can help the person at that moment anyway.

2. Do not check email / Twitter / Facebook / etc throughout the day, batch and check at set times. The problem for me is the discipline to check and stop. I get caught in the never ending "link cycle" following the first message to another article, to a Google search about something in that article, and on and on. If these were all batched together and given a specific scheduled time during the day (once early and once later) I think it would be less of a time sink and more productive, only reading articles I am actually interested in and interacting with people instead of just "browsing". I could also prioritize any action items that came through email and set them in the schedule for a later time. It also take a ton of time to stop what i am working on, check email, read the ones that look important, solve whatever issue it brings up, then ramp back up into the project I was working on in the first place. The ramping down and back up is what kills me every time.

3. I am still working on the list and think that there are 1 or 2 more I need to add. After I get my "Not To Do" list down I want to analyze how much time I think it will save, and then plan specific goals and tasks to fill that space. These will be also worked in to any major goals or projects for next year.

My Personal Planning System

2009-12-01T14:05:00.009-07:00

After years of messing around with Outlook, Franklin-Covey Planners, pocket pc's, the hipster pda, etc I have finally established a planning/calendar system that I am completely happy with. One of the best parts is, other than the iPod Touch (which I bought for other purposes originally anyway), it's probably the cheapest system I have used that has been effective. It's small, compact, and can fit in my pocket (though a little bulky). It involves the use of online tools that sync directly to an iPod Touch that I carry around with me. This is coupled with a pocket notebook for quick notes and information gathering, as well as brainstorming sessions, etc.

Here is the recipe:

For To-Do Lists and Calendar information:

Google Calendar [free]
Toodledo (tasks & to-do list management) with the Google Calendar add-in [free for basic account]
Google Docs [free]

syncs to:

iPod Touch 64GB [$399.00]
Pocket Informant App on the iPod for calendar and tasks & to-do lists [$12.99]
Awesome Note App on the iPod for notes & archived information (syncs to Google Docs) [I got it for $1.99 on Black Friday weekend, but I think it is $3.99 typically]

Moleskine Pocket (for quick notes and lists that I can enter online at a later time, and for brainstorming / thoughts / ideas) [$12.00]
Pilot G-2 pens (the best I have found for price/performance) [cheap, price depends on where you buy them]

Calendar:

Google Calendar is simply the best calendar program I have used. It's free, simple to setup, syncs with Facebook, Outlook, Blackberry, iPhone, iCal . . . well you get the point. One of my favorite features is the calendar sharing (my wife and I have a "family calendar" where she adds all of the events I need to know about and I can keep it separate from work stuff).

Back when I used Outlook for my calendar, nothing was worse than needing access and not being at my desk. I can get to my Google Calendar from any computer and I can set my appointments in my iPod in Pocket Informant (which syncs to the Google Calendar) if I am away from my desk. I have found Pocket Informant to be much more powerful than Apple's native Calendar and Tasks apps and have completely replaced them.

To-Do Lists:

Toodledo.com is an online task management system. It has an add-in for Google Calendar so you can manage and add tasks from within Google Calendar itself. After setting up my initial Toodledo account I don't think I have even logged into the site more than a couple times. I do everything through Google Calendar and Pocket Informant (which syncs to Toodledo as well).

Notes:

My favorite note taking system is the Moleskine Pocket (soft cover with squares is my flavor of choice) and a Pilot G-2 pen. I use it for brainstorming, capturing any ideas I have, and any quick information I need to write down. It is much faster than any digital note capturing utility I have found, and speed is important as if I don't write it down immediately I will forget it. I then enter anything that needs to be added to my To-Do lists or my calendar the next time I am sitting down at the computer or have a free minute with the iPod. For notes that I need to keep long term and always have access to I use Google Docs synced to the Awesome Note app on my iPod. An example would be furnace filter sizes for my duplex or the Parental Control Code for the cable at my in-laws condo. Information I need to be able to access at all times is added into these notes, because I try to carry my iPod with me everywhere.

Nothing is ever perfect and I am always looking for ways to fine tune the system I am currently using, but so far I have not found any real failings (other than the lack of a camera on the iPod Touch which would be great when I needed quick snapshots of something to add to my notes, but this hasn't yet come up as a necessity for me). If you have any suggestions on how to make this more streamlined, let me know.

"But Cory, why not an iPhone over an iPod Touch?". Well, that's for another post entirely.

In today's economy . . .

2009-11-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Here is how to save money in these trying economic times:

Step 1. Break into 7-11

Step 2. Steal drink display to use as planter

done