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How I Will Master the Art of Working Remotely

Like I said before, I will begin working remotely for my startup company on December 28th. While I’m excited for the opportunity, and looking forward to developing the skills necessary to stay on task through numerous distractions, I’m sure there will be a learning curve.

Gina Trapani, former editor of Lifehacker, wrote Master the Art of Working Remotely for Harvard Business Review’s Work Smarter blog. Never mind that Harvard Business Review trusted Trapani to write about such a topic, but Lifehacker is the internet’s best source for tips and tricks to work more efficiently. I’m taking her tips pretty much as gospel.

1.”Sharpen your email skills”
Well, ok. No problems here. I keep my inbox at 15 messages or less, check and empty my Spam folder constantly and keep all my messages sorted into Labels associated with my work. Trapani says to give messages from your supervisor the highest priority and to avoid unnecessary back-and-forth, as well. We use the collaborative project management Basecamp for work, which also cuts down on unnecessary emailing and provides ample opportunity for status updates.

2. “Be “present” via instant messenger”
Again, not a challenge whatsoever. I work 10 feet from coworkers whom I have constant IM conversations with all day. Our office has employees in other cities, as well—making IM crucial for getting business done.

3. “Collaborate online with the tools that best fit your client and project.”
Yay, Basecamp again! We also use Google docs, Box and various other tools. Thank goodness that most software has been moved online and is encouraged to be used for collaborative uses. If only InDesign and Photoshop would follow suit.

4.”Set up regular voice or video chat check-ins”
This is going to be a priority for me—I’m going to ask my boss for a Skype conference call every two weeks, just to make sure that I am staying on task and keeping his priorities at the forefront. He is the owner of the company, after all. Roles in the company are constantly changing, so this will allow me to keep in contact with whomever is part of my workgroup at the time.

That said, I feel that the real difficulty will be staying on task, for 8 hours a day, while at home. I’m going to have to develop some serious concentration and motivation!

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By Erin
December 17, 2009

1 comment

Working Remotely

So those big changes I alluded to in my last post? They’re in the works right now. I’ll be working remotely for my startup, from the Oregon coast. No more long distance marriage!

Because I’m a bit nervous about the challenges of working remotely, I’m going to explore best practices on this blog and use one of my coworkers (who also works remotely) as a mentor.

Anyway, my new life starts December 28th. I cant wait!

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By Erin
December 12, 2009

2 comments

Radio Silence

No, I haven’t grown tired of updating my blog. There are just a lot of changes happening right now, and I can’t spare the brain space to keep with it. Updates should start again in about a month, until then - carry on!

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By Erin
November 17, 2009

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I’m Done Devaluing My Free Time

While I work 40 (and sometimes more) hours a week at Startup company, I still freelance a bit on the side. I’ve got one really great client who gives me interesting, challenging work—surprise! it’s a startup—and who pays well. I’ve let the rest of my lower-paying clients go, with promises that I will contact them in the future if I have free time and need to take on some work.

Lori’s post Too Busy? Charge More on Words on the Page struck home for me. Too often I’d run home from work, instead of going to the gym or getting groceries or any of those day-to-day chores that needed to get done, and work steadily on a project that paid me peanuts.

I could have raised my rates for these peanuts projects, but instead I chose to assign more value to a less tangible thing—my free time. I dropped the Peanuts Projects, and have been enjoying 5 or 6 free nights a week. Right now, I have the luxury to be able to do that.

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By Erin
October 31, 2009

1 comment

What I Learned from “What Would Google Do?”

In my quest to understand how Internet-based companies function and how I can use my strengths and talents to help a company like this grow, I read “What Would Google Do?” by Jeff Jarvis, who also writes Buzzmachine. Since 85% of my job is bowing to Google and making it happy, it’s important for me to understand how Google thinks and acts in everyday business.

It took me over a month to read, (business books really aren’t my favorite) but I came away with better understanding of how my boss makes decisions and what’s important about doing business in a Web 2.0 world.

1. Data is king - As a writer, I relied mostly on hunches and “hey wouldn’t THIS be cool?” and what we’d like to see written. If you work for a newspaper or a magazine, you’d get a little more direction, but not that much. In Google’s word, data is king and you NEVER come to a meeting without data to back you up and you NEVER, EVER say “I have a hunch that this would work…”

At times, I find this approach incredibly freeing. Other times, stifling.

2. Being free is the new business model - Hulu announced recently that it will start charging for content. Bummer. Hulu should look closely at what Google has done. We don’t pay for any Google services: Gmail, Calendar, Search, Documents, Reader, etc. Does Hulu really think people will stick around and pay a subscription fee? Everything I watch on Hulu can be watched on regular TV or I can get through Netflix. I’m not going to go so far as to say that this decision will make Hulu go out of business, but I don’t think it’s the right move.

Well, you might be asking, how is a company supposed to make money then, if you give away everything for free? Google makes money hand over fist with its network of ads. Find a new, different ways to generate revenue.

3. We can all learn something from Google - business AND personal - Thanks to the Internet, the power to control your image is in your hands. But your image can be in anyone’s hands. I’m not big on branding myself but I am big on image control. What gets presented is only the best of the best, just like Google.

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By Erin
October 25, 2009

1 comment

A Week Free of the Internet

I spend a lot of time online. Consider today: I work 8 hours, 95% of the time on the Internet. I came home from work, and watched the Office and 30 Rock on Hulu. Then, after dinner I jumped online again to do some blog research, update my web portfolio and type this entry. Ten to 11 hours a day on the Internet? Doesn’t that seem extreme?

Two weeks ago, I decided yes, it was and declared the week The Week of No Frivolous Internet. Unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid it 100% as I had to work. But, other than work email, work admin systems and PM systems and infrequent research, I wasn’t allowed the Internet - no Facebook, no blogs, no CNN. What did I learn?

1. I didn’t miss the Internet all that much - Other than that dead area between 4-5 pm at work, I really didn’t find myself wishing for a distraction or having anxiety because I didn’t know what my Facebook friends were up to. The Internet functions as a massive timewaster for me, not a much needed source of information.

2. I still lost pockets of time in TV and in books - I guess I’ll always look to ways of escaping reality.

3. I got massive amounts of work done - Along with that, I really applied some critical thinking to problems I was facing at work. I’m not sure I solved them, or if I even came up with viable answers, but the act of really pondering the issues feels like an achievement.

After one week, I’ve decided to cut back on the amount of time I spend on the Internet at work, and to not really worry about the time I spend on it at home. I already feel more positive about my work performance.

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By Erin
October 20, 2009

1 comment

Five Reasons Why I Don’t Set Career Goals

I’m on a self-imposed Internet hiatus this week, mainly because I found myself blowing large amounts of my free time just screwing around online. I’ll share my grand thoughts about this little experiment next week, but in the meantime, here is a post I worked out on paper. How old fashioned!

To dovetail on my thoughts about Not Seeing Myself in Five Years, I also do not set career goals. Sure, there are places where I’d like to be and things I would like to do, but I keep my thoughts on this hazy, unformed and most likely jotted down in my little journal.

1. Goals are limited and give me narrow focus - After I left Carnegie Mellon, I was sure I wanted to be a science writer. After all, I have the experience, the smarts and the curiosity needed to be the next Richard Preston. Well, not quite. I may have all those qualities, but the fact remains that I struggle to grasp all but the simplest of scientific concepts. I realized this pretty quickly, but if I had stayed the course because my goal was to be a science writer, I may not be working for Startup today.

2. I prefer to concentrate on what I don’t want - You know what I don’t want? I don’t want to be an HR receptionist ever again. I also am very ok with never again writing about protective coatings. Being a machinist or an accountant doesn’t appeal to me either. Everything else? Bring it on. I’ll try it.

3. I’m scared I would miss out on an opportunity while focused on a goal - My husband actually proves this point. His goal was to go to school to be a Physician’s Assistant, when he was offered his job at a small coastal hospital. The position didn’t align with his goal, but he took it anyway. Now he’s much happier, less stressed and STILL furthering his education.

4. I’m afraid of failure - Who isn’t? A trendy business soundbite lately is to embrace and learn from failure. You know who are the people that can embrace and learn from failure? Rich men. Sure, I’ll learn from failure but I might end up sleeping out of my car. I do hope, in the future, to be less fearful of failure and more outgoing and confident in my ideas.

5. There is no 5 - My goal when setting out to write this post was to come up with five reasons I didn’t set career goals, but I could only come up with four. Rather than see these ideas languish, I say screw the five and went with four. You can’t be paralyzed by your goals.

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By Erin
October 6, 2009

2 comments

Why I Have Trouble Developing My Personal Brand

Because I feel that making a massive effort to brand yourself is phony.

Sure, it makes you stand out in people’s minds, especially those with the power to hire you.

But it takes away so much. Like you as a complex, nuanced person. Corbett Barr, writing for Free Pursuits, argues that effective personal branding teaches us that “success doesn’t come from personal development or hard work or intelligence. Instead, personal branding proponents claim that success comes from self-packaging.”

Squick. I am not a product to be consumed, and you shouldn’t be either.

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By Erin
September 30, 2009

1 comment

Startup Benefit #2 - Seeing My Work Pay Off

When I was the Webmaster and Pub Coordinator for the Department of Biological Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, it was difficult to see how my job affected the overall strength of the department. Quality graduate student applications and admissions went way up during my tenure, but I know that very little if any of that jump could be the result of my efforts. Keeping the website fresh and free of typos was important, but my efforts paled in comparison to new funding by the NIH and NSA and to the research performed by faculty and students.

The above paragraph sounds kind of whiny, but, for me, it’s hard to stay motivated when you can’t see the significance of your work. And, it’s easy to forget past accomplishments—I mean, are they even accomplishments if they didn’t affect business?

At Startup Co, almost every little thing I do affects how the company performs and how many customers we get. And yeah, because my job involves SEO, I guess my efforts are more transparent. It’s very satisfying to optimize a page, check back after 3 months and see that traffic to that page has jumped 15 percent. It’s even more satisfying to find an unfilled search niche, something you didn’t know customers wanted or needed, and fill this niche.

Seeing your work pay off is a luxury few non-entrepreneurial types ever achieve. Too often their work as a cog in the large machine that is their industry or company blinds then to how satisfying work can be.

Startup Benefit #1 - I Dress Ridiculously

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By Erin
September 20, 2009

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I Don’t See Myself in Five Years

I squealed with glee when I saw Adam McFarland’s post on Brazen Careerist, Worst Question Ever: Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years. I hate this question. Most people I know loathe it as well, but dutifully answer it when it comes up in interviews or in performance reviews with the boss.

Where was I five years ago today? I was working as a security administrator for a Department of Defense contractor. I was about to get married. We were pretty broke. I had a fresh, spiffy graduate degree and no idea what to do with it. I has vague visions of becoming a writer for nonprofits, whatever that is. There is no way I could have predicted or even guessed that I would have three successful years as a Webmaster and writer for a university science department, a move to Oregon, a stint as a writer for an annuity company and my present position as an editor and SEO …person…at a small startup.

Look, I understand why people ask this question. Your answer shows confidence, foresight and ambition (or lack thereof). And maybe I shouldn’t take it so seriously and just rattle off some pie in the sky answer that shows off my ability to make stuff up.

But, seriously, it bothers me to consider my life in five years. Adam mentions “try to control the uncontrollable” and he’s right. When you try and predict your life in five years, you’re trying to shove your messy, sloppy, rough-around-the-edges self in a tiny, neat, square box. I’m not trying to fit myself in that little box anytime soon.

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By Erin
September 17, 2009

2 comments