Restarting the Big Three

I finally have some things to throw into the Big Three, which has been left vacant for too long.

1. Product Research - I have an idea. On the technical side, it's pretty much "a small matter of programming", which is to say that it might take some time, but nothing that too involved in any specific step. The trick is that you have to get buy-in from a bunch of people, and you have to know the size of the market, etc. I don't know how to do this. I'm much more excited about the R&D than the marketing, which means it is the marketing I need to force myself into.
   
   And, yes, there's the knowledge I have to develop to be a member of the R&D team.
   
2. Old Business - With TEDx, we've broken it up into "Old and Busted" and "New Hotness", a la Men In Black II. I'm on the Old and Busted team and there's a little bit of administrivia that needs to be done with it. Soon, it'll all be done and I'll be able to dive into the New Hotness.
   
   Plus, I've agreed to make an HTML5 frontend to someone's backend, and agreed to help someone with parts of another web tool. I need to spend time with those.
   
3. Me - I did an act that might be mistakable for crunches this morning. I made an argument this weekend that my window for exercise is after I wake up but before I go to work, and I have to start using that window. I will start slow, like I did with Couch to 5K, but I will start.

So, that's my top three points of focus. What's yours?

Big Three for Sept 10-15

• TEDx - I have an idea for replacing the scroller images (which make Purdue look like a concentration camp) with images (and links to the associated videos) from last year's event. Also, seeing if we can do PHP on the server.
• FFH, or Just For Me - develop a small web app using something like Google Places and the HTML5 Location API to tell me what restaurants are close. 
• Self - When I found that my tendons are weird, leading to flat feet and bunions and foot pain, I stopped running (except for a 5K, which I mostly walked). I half-heartedly decided that I would do five push-ups and five sit-ups every day. The push-ups stopped after the first day -- low upper-body strength meets 240+ weight -- and after doing MWF last week, I could feel the muscles aching for days after. So, I think I'll go with MWF. Which means I have to remember to do some sit-ups when I get home today. 

Additional to-do: Remember to get this done on Friday. I was in a weird mood for no good reason that day.

Big Three for September 3-7

Here we are, at it again. I'm writing down my Big Three tasks for the coming week. I think I'll admit the progress on the previous Big Three.

• Main Work: This one is actually pretty good. I've had some feature requests and I'll get some more, but I have it in good condition. 
• TEDx Web Development: Institutionally, we're starting to get together, which is good for the team. We're starting to recruit people to take on pieces. This is good. And I have tried to put a basic hello_world.cgi onto the Dev server, and it failed. This is ... well, at least I know. There's a code review process, so I have to start looking into the "who do I ask to get this going" problem to try to get server-side code on this project.
• Food For The Heart: The group has made progress. There is a meeting with a possible funding source. There was a great meeting a week ago where our "Angels" told us what they need from us before they'll cut checks. In terms of institutional setup, I'm happy. But in terms of programmer work, we're not at a point where I can start doing anything.

So, that's my progress. So, what's my next set of goals?

• Main Work: I had been planning on taking a PC and turning it into my Linux desktop, then taking my old Linux desktop and turning it into a Git server. On Thursday, I finally hit the point where I had time, and I made a bootable thumbdrive and everything. And today I find that something on my desktop is kicking out spam. So, this is the justification I needed to move forward. And, I need to look up firewalls and cfengine.
• TEDx Web Development: There will of course be the process of finding the team. My #1 goal, though, is to think through the desired look and functionality.
• Food For The Heart: I need to keep part of the business-building process, because that's the part I most need to learn. But, so I can keep my interest up, I'll probably try to make a location-based app of some sort, just to jump-start my skills on the subject.

Big Three for August 27-31

1. TEDx Web Development: I do web for TEDxPurdueU and so far, that has meant maintenance work. I need to get in front of it, come up with an alternate look, and go from there, so we can toss the old and embrace the new. So, specifically, I want to have a front page that demonstrates my desired look. Plus, clear out backlog, and know to what extent we can run dynamic pages on the server.
2. Food For The Heart: This is the "Do that work" mentioned in the previous. I have taken the visual plan from whiteboard to static HTML prototype. I need to look up and use an icon set, sprite or font, set it up for Bootstrap, and add some features.
3. Main Work: I am convinced that my API design is stupid and needs redesign. I have moved the application code for APR into libraries, so I can change config in the main page and easily move between test and production. I need to move all the output from several pages to one, where the caller object says "operator_list" to the API core to get data rather than looking to ajax_operator_list.cgi

If you see me, feel free to ask me how I'm doing on my Big Three.

My Big Three for August 20-25

Matt Hunckler of VergeIndy sent out a challenge:

What’s big for you this week?

One of my closest friends asks me that question each Monday. The first time she posed the question, it caught me off guard. I can still remember my response.

“Um, my to-do list.”

It took about 2 seconds to identify that my snarky response was a lame attempt dodge the question. I hadn’t defined what was truly BIG for me that week. And I didn’t yet understand how powerful this simple question could be.

My friend and I worked together to identify the 3 biggest things for that week and I wrote them on a post-it. It took less than five minute, but it created a clarity that propelled me through the rest of my workweek. And the best part was that, at the end of the week, the list was complete—a welcomed supplement to the ever-growing list of things that need to get done.

I want to pay it forward. So, here’s the question for you:

What are your 3 Big goals for your business this week?

Write your Big 3 down on a post-it. Tell a friend, a mentor, a random person at a coffee shop—anyone. Heck, if you can’t find someone, email me.

Go ahead and reply with your Big 3 directly to this email. I can’t promise that I can reply to all of them, but I will certainly read each and every one. If there’s some way that I can help, I will.

Sharing this stuff can be scary. Trust me, I get it.

He went on to go through is goals. They are good goals. But I'm about my goals. Which are:

1. Get My Work Status Worked Out: there's a thing I want to get into, startup-wise, but it is essentially working for the U, and I can't work twice for the U. Or something. Need to talk to some people who know, and to HR, about this.
2. Do That Work: This involves a location-connected app, and I want to turn the whiteboard work into something we can put in a proposal.
3. Get APR Stuff Done: This is my non-moonlighting project, for the people who currently pay me. I have it feature-complete, but now they want new features. I want to knock 'em out quickly.

I like this idea, and I will try to keep doing this. I might put outlining Monday's Big Three as Friday's last task. And, as I've stated mine, I should turn it around.

What Are Your Three Big Goals?