AntSaint

Build a Better To-do List (hint: do it now)

I wound up trying this today. There were a few tasks, none of them necessarily time-consuming, that I'd simply not been doing. I would note that they still needed to be done, and then skip right along to something else. You know how somethings would take less energy to just knock out and have done, instead of constantly going, "yup, that still needs doing"? These were all like that. So I finally did them. And yes, it was good.

Link: The Renegade Writer Blog � Blog Archive � Build a Better To-do List.

Rather than list tasks that you know you’ll get done today because you have the flames of hell toasting your buttocks or just adding stuff like “do laundry,” “buy new file folders,” and “organize paperclips,” write down the three tasks you’ve been putting off. Go on, try it. The tasks can be anything, personal or business-related, as long as they’re creating even the vaguest sense of dread in your stomach

Legal & Blogs, Search Spiders, Redesign and Email - Markeing Profs Round-up

Here are some thought-provoking articles from this week's Marketing Profs newsletter:

• Corporate Blogging: Getting Past 'No' If You're Not the CEO – "how does, say, a midlevel corporate marketer or product manager set out to create an "official" blog with the blessing and sanction of Legal?"
• Redesigning Web Sites to Put Customers in Charge of Their Experience – "The role of Web sites in both consumer and business-to-business markets is changing and evolving, enabling customers to engage brands increasingly on their own terms"
• All Search Engines Love Spiders: How Meta Commands Can Help You Love Them Too – "Here are some of the more popular [individual meta commands] and reasons you might want to use them (or not)"
• What Not to Do for Email Marketing Done Right – "Email marketers must keep in mind that consumers who decide to opt in to the brand's email channel is likely a fan of that brand. Do not lose those consumers by making the following mistakes"

Projects and blogs - Focusing by diversifying

It's been an interesting past few months behind the scenes at Antsaint. In addition to launching my new Ural blog, Ride Three, there are some other projects going on. I'm working on my own profile/resume site, for one. Jodie and I are also working on a project together. They're in early stages and not ready for primetime, but it's exciting to be diversifying.

And that's what I'm noticing. Working on some new projects, trying out some new ideas, planning and discussing and coding, has been working wonders for other things I want to work on overall, and for this site. I wouldn't have thought that tacking on some new projects would be such a help in focusing, but it is.

I've no idea yet where things are going on each of the sites, but that's part of the fun of the ride, really.

The hardest part is keeping a good balance. Ride Three has definitely been taking more time lately (that and there's a server issue we've been working on), but I've been all right with that. Antsaint always had a pretty healthy amount of posts, and a few weeks where things are slim is all right. As time goes on, though, I can see focus for Antsaint content improving, and hopefully there'll be some more details and visible changes on that soon.