From the monthly archives:

January 2010

The Danger of Perpetual Availability and The Value of Being Unavailable

by Marissa on 22 January 2010

in Business & Teamwork

Far and away, the biggest mistake I made starting out in business was making myself too available and responding to email way too often. I wanted to seem competent and trustworthy, and the easiest way I knew to do that was to be perpetually available. I tried to be unavailable as little as possible (bordering [...]

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The truth about emergencies (it’s probably not one)

by Marissa on 20 January 2010

in Communicating

On Monday, I announced my new email policy of checking email once a day.
The first protest that policy is likely to garner is the panic-response: “But what if there’s an emergency?!”
I’m not worried about that. (And you shouldn’t be either.) Here’s why.
“Emergencies” are rare. Very rare.
People label as an emergency anything from not wanting to [...]

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Two reasons email has become ineffective (And how checking it once a day addresses them)

by Marissa on 18 January 2010

in Communicating

Email, for many of us, has reached a point where it feels burdensome and out of control on more days than not. Some folks are ditching email entirely–an impulse I can’t claim is unfamiliar, though I’m not prepared to go to that extreme for business reasons.
I’m not alone. Leo declared independence from email. Gwen is [...]

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Ask Marissa: How to send an email broadcast to an Autoresponder list in 1ShoppingCart

by Marissa on 13 January 2010

in Ask Marissa

You got questions? I got answers.*
*and when I don’t have the answers, I either figure ‘em out or point you in the direction of someone else who might.
A note about multiple lists (or segmented lists) and 1ShoppingCart
One of the best features of 1ShoppingCart (aff. link) is its capacity for lots of separate lists. It handles [...]

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Monday Mashup #7: Six Fares

by Marissa on 11 January 2010

in Monday Mashups

The Monday Mashup is an experiment, designed to get my creative juices flowing. I get a random word and a random number, and I write a list based on that mashup.
This week’s mashup: Six Fares
This photo is here not because it relates to fares but because I think it’s lovely.
1. Farmgirl Fare
A fun side-effect of [...]

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Showing up and letting go (plus eight others): My 10 Personal Commandments

by Marissa on 5 January 2010

in Explorations

I’ve been reading (and enjoying) Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project blog for a few years… which means I’ve been thinking about crafting my own set of personal commandments for a few years as well. Over the past week, while I’ve been unplugged (mostly) and in a ponder-ful state (mostly), I created my list.
Each previous time I’ve [...]

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