WEBVTT - Second Cup: Write your own operating manual

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is to write your own operating manual. Letting people

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<v Speaker 1>know about how you work can make you more productive

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<v Speaker 1>and hopefully limit the chances for misunderstandings. Today's tip, like

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<v Speaker 1>some others this week, comes from Amantha Imber's new book

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<v Speaker 1>time Wise. In this book, Amantha shares tips from lots

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<v Speaker 1>of successful people on how they work and make time

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<v Speaker 1>feel more fun. One of the tips is called why

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<v Speaker 1>you need a one page operating Manual. Amantha interviewed Darren

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<v Speaker 1>Murph of git Lab. Murph noted that he had created

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<v Speaker 1>his own one page document, which is, as Murph puts, that,

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<v Speaker 1>an operating manual of how you can quickly get up

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<v Speaker 1>to speed about working with me. It explains how I

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<v Speaker 1>like to be communicated with, what I hope to learn

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<v Speaker 1>in working with you, and what you need to know

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<v Speaker 1>about me, things like personality type, my working style, and

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<v Speaker 1>when I generally prefer to work. Amantha notes that reading

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<v Speaker 1>this manual only takes a couple of minutes, but you'll

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<v Speaker 1>learn more in those few minutes than it would normally

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<v Speaker 1>take in the two weeks or longer that it takes

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<v Speaker 1>to understand a coworker that you are meeting for the

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<v Speaker 1>first time. I think this is a wise idea. It's

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<v Speaker 1>just efficient. Now. I know that it might seem a

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<v Speaker 1>little presumptuous to create such a manual. I mean, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>the idea comes across like those artist contracts where they

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<v Speaker 1>specify the kinds of candy in the green room. I mean, really,

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<v Speaker 1>I know I am a generally agreeable person, and I

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<v Speaker 1>am happy to work with agreeable people, and I hope

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<v Speaker 1>that as fellow human beings, we can figure each other out. However,

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<v Speaker 1>if you start to think this through, you can realize

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<v Speaker 1>that there is a ton of knowledge that you learn

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<v Speaker 1>in time, but that it would be better to know

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<v Speaker 1>at the beginning. For instance, maybe you like to work

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<v Speaker 1>at ten pm. You certainly don't expect anyone else to

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<v Speaker 1>work at ten pm, so people shouldn't think anything about

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<v Speaker 1>your late hours, or they shouldn't wait up for your emails.

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<v Speaker 1>That's good to know. Or maybe you don't eat meat.

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<v Speaker 1>Most agreeable coworkers would like to know that before they

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<v Speaker 1>propose a team kickoff dinner at a steak restaurant. Since

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<v Speaker 1>I work for myself. I have all sorts of other

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<v Speaker 1>quirks that I am sure drive people crazy for the

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<v Speaker 1>first week or two until they figure them out. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't use an electronic calendar. I love my paper calendar,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm probably not changing now. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>an electronic calendar in but if you are waiting for

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<v Speaker 1>an acceptance to actually put it on your calendar, you

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<v Speaker 1>might need to wait for a while, since it's not

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<v Speaker 1>a standard part of my workflow. In any case, you

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<v Speaker 1>might think this through and write something down. If you

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<v Speaker 1>are the sort of person that lots of people seek

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<v Speaker 1>out to work with, it might be helpful to post

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<v Speaker 1>this somewhere publicly, like your website or your LinkedIn profile.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have a more standard job where you just

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<v Speaker 1>work with new coworkers from time to time, propose that

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<v Speaker 1>everyone creates such a document before your first team meeting

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<v Speaker 1>so you can all read up on each other. Who knows,

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<v Speaker 1>you might find out that you and one of your

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<v Speaker 1>colleagues are equally in love with the Oxford Comma. Now

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<v Speaker 1>you can bond over that, and if nothing else, creating

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<v Speaker 1>this document will boost your own self knowledge. Sometimes we

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<v Speaker 1>just work in certain ways because we always have. We

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<v Speaker 1>don't think about it committing these approaches to paper. Lets

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<v Speaker 1>us think about them and think about why we do them.

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<v Speaker 1>Knowing yourself is just always a good thing. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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<v Speaker 1>hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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<v Speaker 1>or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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<v Speaker 1>and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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<v Speaker 1>number four then Breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

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<v Speaker 1>an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks so much. Should I look forward to staying in touch.

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<v Speaker 1>Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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