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Hack Your Life Project | Take a break

by Fabrice Calando on February 13, 2012

The weekends and evenings challenge was about shutting down my mobile phone and taking control of my digital communications. Mobile phones get you addicted to “more”:

More emails
More Facebook messages
More Tweets
Just more…

You unlock your phone to see if your friend’s sent you an email, you start reading a couple other messages, you tap a link to a blog post, share it on Twitter and start conversing with others there. See how a 5 minute task just took 30? Yes, computers offer the same challenge, but phones are that much more addictive.

Although I did miss a few important calls/messages because of the challenge, I found the whole process quite liberating. It was hard at times, but I found more time for what’s important. And as a business person, what really stood out is just how much the world has changed. Consumers really have all the information in the world at the tip of their hands and businesses are barely playing catch-up.

Martin Gauthier has been participating in the #HYLP, but he’s been trying to keep the challenges alive even after the week is over. Like him, this is a challenge I’ll take on regularly. Not every week, but regularly.

How did you find this challenge?

#HYLP Challenge #7: Take a break

Still along the lines of disconnecting and taking a step back, this week I’ll set time aside for myself. In early January, I shut down the electronics an hour before going to bed, last week I locked up my mobile phone on evenings and weekends. This week I’ll set aside some time each day just to think and reflect.

Why?

The goal here is to spend time with my thoughts. No electronics, no people, no books, no magazines; just me. As I mentioned back in early January, I watched an interview with Tom Ford. Everyday he makes some time for himself to think. He thinks about what he has to do, priorities, new ideas and concepts and sometimes…he just thinks of nothing. Challenge #2 was taking a step closer to this, this challenge IS this.

And one of the best parts is, like the happyness challenge, it’s easy to incorporate in your daily life, long after the week will be over. You see, you don’t need to spend a lot of time each day: take the time when you have it. 15 minutes here or an hour there. As long as you’re completely alone with your thoughts.

This week I’ll be taking a break from everything, but I’ll be gaining a world of insight.

Past challenges

If you’re new here, on the first week of January I started the Hack Your Life Project. Each week I challenge myself to explore the details of the programmable system that is my life and stretch its capabilities, as opposed to most of us, who only prefer to learn the minimum necessary. I no longer want to breeze through my life, but take control of it. These are the past challenges:

In case you were wondering, there’s not picture with this post because I use my phone to take them. No phone, no picture.

Tagged as: #hylp, alone, blog post, challenge, computers, control, digital communications, electronics, email, excess, Facebook, hack your life project, happyness challenge, insight, liberating, Life, martin gauthier, mobile phones, more, programmable system, shut down, spend time, take a break, think of nothing, thoughts, time to reflect, tom ford, Twitter, weekends and evenings

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Hack Your Life Project | Weekends and evenings

by Fabrice Calando on February 6, 2012

As the week winds down, I find myself having learnt quite a bit. I’ve learnt how to organize my “to do” lists — important stuff gets done now and the rest gets scheduled out in order of priority. Here’s what you want to remember:

Specify the exact time when you’ll do the task. You know you’ll be at work from 9 to 5, you should know when you’ll do the rest.
Don’t let the “to do” get in the way of the important stuff. “To do” lists tend to be filled with mundane or long-lasting tasks. By scheduling when you’ll do them, you actually free-up time for the good stuff like writing, selling, marketing, growing, testing, trying, etc.

Keep up the good work!

#HYLP Challenge #6: Turn off your mobile phone

The second challenge of the #HYLP was about turning off the electronics an hour before going to bed. The goal was to take notice of just how much electronics are part of our lives as well as find more time. Tuning out helps to focus and rethink. This week, I’ll be shutting my mobile phones in at home in the evening and all weekend.

Why?

To put it simply, I’m always using my phone. Challenge #2 was really about taking notice, this challenge is about taking control. Mobiles make access to everything way too easy. Sure you can access Facebook, Twitter and email on your computer, but somehow all the notices that pop-up on your phone and the general easiness of a mobile make them way more addictive. In other words, computer offer more control and allow for better work.

I’ll be cutting down on the use of my mobile so that I can focus a little more on the important things like writing, reading, studying and spending time with my girlfriend.

I’m not trying to get you fired. If you want in on the challenge, but you need your mobile in the evenings or weekends for work, try having time outs once in a while.

This week, I’ll be shutting down the mobile to gain more control.

Past challenges

Tagged as: #hylp, challenge, computer, control, do, electronics, email, excess clothing, Facebook, hack your life project, hacking, important, Mobile, phone, stranger, time, Twitter

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Using Facebook to find a job

by Fabrice Calando on February 1, 2012

Personally, LinkedIn is still my preferred site to assist with a job search. But denying the impact Facebook and its more than 800 million members can have is ignoring a powerful job finding tool. In many ways, Facebook was the site that helped me land my first advertising job. Facebook is a great way to stay in touch with friends and acquaintances…and that might just be its greatest asset. Here are a few things that have helped me and a couple more tips.

Clean up your profile. The first step is really to clean up your profile. I’m not saying you should sanitize it. Quite the opposite actually, be who you want to be. I remember when I first starting looking for work and read a piece of advice somewhere online (I think it was on Monster or Workopolis, not sure) and it read something like if you’re the type of person who has pink hair, keeping that hair will reduce your chances of finding a job. Of course if you find a job that frowns on having funky hair, you probably won’t be happy there. The same goes for Facebook, if you want party pictures, then go for it, just know that it will limit some opportunities. The question is, do you want them?
Add information. Make sure you fill in your information section — especially the career section. Much like LinkedIn, tell us what the company is and what you do there. Don’t be afraid to add details.
Friend colleagues and bosses. When I say that Facebook’s greatest asset is staying in touch with Friends and acquaintances. The great thing is you can stay in touch with the people you got along with the best or that you have a tie with. It’s not professional; it’s about sharing baby pictures, travels, TV shows and outings. Your basically keeping in touch with weak interpersonal ties and it’s said that most jobs are found through weak ties. Don’t think about future potential — yesterday’s accounting intern is tomorrow’s Finance Director. Even if they’re not in your field, they might be at a company you would like to work at. One prerequisite: Be great at something. No one want to recommend someone who’s average.
Share. Don’t have an empty profile. Share pictures, quotes, videos, others’ stuff — have fun (see point 1 for a similar “warning”)
Go on the offensive. I’ve never really done this, but more and more companies have Pages dedicated to working there. Like the Page and interact with moderators to see what’s available and ask for any advice.
Applications. Consider signing-up to apps like Branch-Out. I’ve never gotten any results from them, but why not put all chances on your side?
Be creative. I’ve talked about it before. We all remember the story of Alec Brownstein who found a job using Google AdWords. Try playing around with Facebook Ads. They have a few different options…have some fun!

Ultimately, I think patience is really going to be your biggest strength. You’ll definitely want to think about this before you need a job.

What about you? Any luck with finding a job using Facebook?

(Photo credit: photologue_np)

Tagged as: acquaintences, alec brownstein, applications, boss, bosses, clean-up, Colleagues, creative, Facebook, facebook ads, Finding a job, Friends, information, interpersonal ties, job search, jobs, LinkedIn, mashable, offensive, pages, photologue_np, profile, share, weak ties

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A gift for the holidays

December 22, 2011

Originally, I had set out to write something with a holiday undertone. A little bit like last year. I still do encourage you to give someone a gift. As Seth Godin puts it, something where the giver must make a sacrifice, create an uneven exchange, bring himself closer to the recipient, create change and do [...]

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Decisions and priorities

December 22, 2011

I met up with a friend a few days ago and our conversation really made me think of decisions and priorities. Some of my decisions in the past few years have made that I don’t see my friends as much as I used to. When you’re a kid, most decisions are made for you. Then, [...]

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Holiday networking tips

December 14, 2011

It’s not because the business world tends to slow down during the holidays (in the Western world anyway) that it’s a bad time to network. Whether you’re looking to find a new job, new clients or raise your profile, the holidays are actually the perfect time to do that. The main reason? Most people tend [...]

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You are a racer

December 12, 2011

It’s hard to focus on your own race. And the internet has made that even harder. The opportunity to compare yourself to others are all over the place — your Friend’s vacation, your Connection’s new job, your Follower’s new baby… In Run your own race, I looked at why most of us have a hard time [...]

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Waiting for an email…

December 2, 2011

Have you ever heard the expression “a watched kettle never boils”? This past week I waited for two and a half days for a really important email. It seemed like forever. How many times does that happen? Waiting around for a colleague to respond, following up with a supplier because we’re still waiting for an [...]

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At which point is it too much?

November 18, 2011

If you work at a company, chances are you’ve already heard something along the lines of “what are we doing with [...]” If you’re in HR it might be “What are we doing on BranchOut or on Monster?”. If you’re in marketing it’s probably something like “What are we doing on Facebook and Twitter?” Your [...]

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Raise your hand

October 26, 2011

A while back Chris Brogan wrote a post – Make the Ask. I remember it marking me because at the time I was considering freelancing. That post is about asking for the sale. As an entrepreneur, freelancer, sales or business development person, asking for the sale is really what your job is. Like me, Chris [...]

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