Jason Womack

The race(s) last weekend in Ojai, CA

Well, if you read this over the weekend, you saw my quick post about the 10K race on Saturday. The story gets better!

I arrived early enough to sign up, and then go ride the 10K course on my bike. I like to do that whenever I can, so that as I'm running there is a bit of familiarity built about the course.

I returned to the start location to learn that the 5K race would start at 8am, and the 10K at 8:45am...

You've already voted (I hope), but I need a few more!

Well, I'm blogging with a favor/for a favor...

...I have a favor to ask!

I am focused on getting more than 500 votes for the "How do you (generally) start your workday?" poll. Could I ask if you're reading this to copy this URL, and send it to just one person with the following line:

http://jasonwomack.typepad.com/working_outwhile_youre_ou/2007/04/how_do_you_star.html
Hi, would you mind voting? It's an interesting poll, and Jason's looking for at least 500 votes. Thanks!

Here's the current tally:

What did you complete today?

Well, I want to say THANK YOU to a friend/colleague/client of mine who sent me a GREAT e-mail message (see below).

But first, a bit of background...

I'm a completion junkie. I admit it! At the end of a day, I LOVE to see what's done. I'll look over my calender, review my files as I put them away, even scan my "sent items" in my inbox...not to remind me of anything to do, but just to see what was finished that day.

Last week, I was talking with J. and she said that on her business trip she was a little frustrated because she still had so much to do, I shared with her one of my tricks: The white board pen, on the bathroom mirror...

An Ojai 10K (Ojai, California)

Yeahooo... we're on the map!

All week, I'd planned to drive up to UC Santa Barbara for a race in a 10K run. Well, yesterday while sitting outside our local coffee shop, I noticed a sign for the Ojai Run For Your Life event...ahhh, a local race!

So, from 8-8:40ish, I'll be running around the valley! I know there is at least one hill...we'll run about 1 mile (of the 6.2) up Foothill Road. I'm going go out and bike the course before I run it this morning, so I'm not sure of the route yet. I have a feeling it's something like:

What's important to YOUR work?

Link: Most Workers Still Seeking Dream Job - Money.

Salary was one of the least important factors in determining a dream job. Money ranked third (12 percent) compared to having fun at work (39 percent) which topped the list, followed by making a difference in society (17 percent). Rounding out the bottom three attributes were traveling and seeing the world (5 percent) and being creative within a position (5 percent).

I'm working with some organizations attempting to do more...with less. Their milestones include broad, sweeping outcomes like "improve team morale" and "increase individual effectiveness."

You made a list for THAT?

How early is too early to be accountable to your own self?

This is a question I asked myself after having dinner with friends. One of their children had made a "checklist" for ... well, you can see a picture of it here:

Went on my first ride P.C. today (that's "Post Crash")

Well, it's official: I can ride a bike again!

Ahhh, it wasn't that serious...I mean, it does sound worse than it was. On April 7th, three days before my birthday, I crashed midway through a bike race in Santa Barbara.

For the first 12 laps I was holding my place near the front...for two entire laps I was second behind the leader! Well, at about the 20th minute (the race was a 40-minute event), I approached a corner in the gap. There was a breakaway group of 6 in front of me, and the rest of the field of 90 behind. There, in the middle, I approached a corner a little too fast...and a little too wide.

The "Road-Warrior" lifestyle

Well, I shared some ideas with a writer (Roger Yu) for the USAToday newspaper, and...here they are!

How do you start your day?

How do you (generally) begin your day at work?
	Review the calendar
	Process the E-mail inbox
	Listen to my voice mail
	Write a prioritized to-do list
	Other (?) - add a comment below
Jason Womack

How did you do that so fast?

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All right, here's one of those "little, teeny-tiny" things that goes a LONG way in my own efficiency. When I'm on my PC, I use an amazing application called ActiveWords. I've programed a series of keystrokes to "mean different things."

Do you have a response to a frequently asked question? If so, program "faq1" to expand into a multi-paragraph (or, in some cases for my own work, multi-page) document.

Do you "always" go to the start menu THEN to programs THEN to... you get the picture. If you need to launch a program, just program ActiveWords to launch it with a 2 or 3 letter keyword!

So, if I get an e-mail from someone asking, "How did you learn to present from the stage?" I simply click REPLY in my e-mail system, go to the BODY of the message, and type in my "keyword." When I type in "learnpresent," it expands into a 20-paragraph answer!