So my brother Levi was asked to do this and he emailed me saying, “I’d like to, but how would I even share it? I’m like a grandpa when it comes to online platforms.” I told him I’d share it on my blog because it’s interesting and entertaining to me and, I suspect, my readers, half of which are our mother.
Levi is the hardest working person I’ve ever met, and also (paradoxically) one of the most laid back in some weird way. I’ll let him take it from here.
———————————————–
(This is Levi)
My former employee James “J-Train” Walpole recently answered the Life Hacker “How I Work” challenge. Now I’ve been called to give an account of how I get things done. Here goes:
———————————————–
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
Current Gig(s): Founder of Ceterus
Current Mobile Device: iPhone 6
Current Computer: Surface Pro
One Word That Best Describes Your Work: Passion (I love what I do)
WHAT APPS/SOFTWARE CAN’T YOU LIVE WITHOUT?
For work: Google Apps, Asana, Zoho CRM.
For clients: QuickBooks Online, Bill.com, ZenPayroll (now Gusto).
For me: Fanduel, Yahoo Fantasy Football, Voxer
WHAT’S YOUR WORKSPACE LIKE?
We have an open office environment, where I often work while walking around outside taking phone calls (I have been told I am too loud to stay inside). The environment is 100% flexible, in that staff can work from the office, their home, or anywhere they can be valuable. For me, this is almost always the office itself.
WHAT’S YOUR BEST TIME-SAVING TRICK?
Inbox management. There is no one way (although mine is pretty awesome and simple), but owning your inbox leads to major time saved.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE TO-DO LIST MANAGER?
Gmail inbox/labels.
BESIDES YOUR PHONE AND COMPUTER, WHAT GADGET CAN’T YOU DO WITHOUT?
My iPhone wallet case. I hate “things”, and until the phone itself replaces my Amex and drivers license, having these affixed to my phone is ideal.
WHAT EVERYDAY THING ARE YOU BETTER AT THAN ANYONE ELSE?
No one empowers entrepreneurs with innovative financial reporting and on-time bookkeeping better than I do with my team at Ceterus. Note to the reader: asking an accountant this questions will lead to a very lame and boring answer, see mine above. Sorry.
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
I’m currently reading Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, and Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson, and I am always re-reading Zero to One by Peter Thiel.
WHAT DO YOU LISTEN TO WHILE YOU WORK?
One of the first tasks for my newer employees is to setup a station for me on Pandora. This ranges from hip-hop, to folk and as long as it is loud it works for me.
ARE YOU MORE OF AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT?
I enjoy people, but am an introvert at the core.
WHAT’S YOUR SLEEP ROUTINE LIKE?
I get up at 4:48 on weekdays. I try to sleep 5-8 hours per night, but do not have a set bed time. I wake with an iPhone alarm in the adjacent room. I am currently working to never use snooze (results are mixed to-date).
FILL IN THE BLANK: I’D LOVE TO SEE _____ ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS
Isaac Morehouse, as he is so kind to post this for me (a social media neophyte).
[It just so happens, I beat him to it and answered yesterday.]
WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
My longtime youth basketball coach, friend and father figure once told me “I only remember the shots that go in”. As a confidence-lacking young athlete who was more focused on not messing up than on being great, this advise was instrumental in my hoops game at the time and in all life decisions since. Play to make the shot, don’t play to not miss.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO ADD?
No.