Wise Startup Blog

I thought it would be insightful for me to share some of my experience from my job at Grooveshark, and a good howto.

We are a young web2-0 startup, about 1.5 years old, and are about to move to the next level as we look for Series A funding.

Everyday at work, we’re faced with a myriad of problems, and it’s really easy to get bogged down and never break through the clutter of the “immediate” pile.

Luckily, your extremely organized narrator has developed a system or method you might say, to help him stay on task and stay productive.

Never lose sight of the endgame

My job is to shore up business partnerships; Partnerships that will help make Grooveshark better.

Now, this is really vague, and a lot of my ability to do my job hinges on the power of our product, Grooveshark.

Sometimes I have to focus on improving user retention, sometimes I have to write documents to help users and labels understand the system, and sometimes I have to setup calls so that we can develop new partnerships with complementary companies.

Set an agenda or goal for yourself at the beginning of the day/each activity

I’m not going to tell you to write out a huge list of what you plan to accomplish, and every nitpicky detail for the entire day, but rather leave it up to you.

I have a tendency to set an small agenda for myself no matter what I do.

If I’m going to the gym, I say I’ll do 30 minutes of cardio, workout for 45 minutes, take a shower, shave, and leave.

I get to work, and say I want to call 5 record labels. Normally I end up finding a killer new idea while I’m researching these 5 record labels and find a better work-flow and end up getting more done.

I don’t lose sight of my original agenda, however, otherwise that would defeat the whole purpose.

Stay organized throughout the day

It’s really easy to start to let your desk pile up with work, but you need to fight that urge and take care of things as they come in.

Don’t put a paper away until it’s been completed. So if you get a document you have to review, don’t get 1/2 done with it, then abandon it, and leave it to sit on your desk for tomorrow.

If you touch it, you must finish it – maybe we can make a song out of this …

You’ll find it’s much more fulfilling to have been able to clear things out as you go through them and also find yourself much LESS stressed.

Do you have any tips to stay organized?

Blogged with Flock