September 2017 Summaries

Simple Green Smoothies, a company founded by Jen Hansard after the birth of her second child, uses an eCommerce platform WooCommerce to manage its online store, and connects it with its email system Autopilot using app automation tool Zapier. This integration allows Dan Mottayaw, Community Experience Manager at Simple Green Smoothies, to automate the delivery of digital goods and unique emails based on products purchased through WooCommerce, enabling him to connect with customers more efficiently and build a thriving community. The company tests and refines its workflows continuously, using this experience to help others improve their workflow and productivity.

{{` Job hunting can be a challenging process, especially when starting from scratch or recently graduating. However, by applying basic project management tactics, one can make a significant difference in finding their dream job. The author of the article, who was once in a similar situation, discovered that tracking metrics and tailoring resumes to specific job types greatly improved their chances of landing an interview. By using a spreadsheet to track applications, following up on rejections, and evaluating successes and failures, one can refine their strategy and increase their chances of success. The key is to identify what works for each column in the spreadsheet and make adjustments accordingly. With the right tools and mindset, job hunting can be made more efficient and effective.

The author reflects on how they adopted the habit of working long hours without taking breaks, influenced by the culture of startups and freelancers who prioritize productivity over self-care. However, research suggests that this approach is unsustainable and can lead to mental fatigue, decreased focus, and reduced creativity. To counteract this, scientists recommend taking regular breaks every 52 minutes, engaging in activities that distract from work during breaks, spending time outdoors or near nature, fueling the mind with protein-rich snacks, exercising eyes by following the 20-20-20 rule, incorporating physical activity like walking or exercise, and simply allowing the mind to wander through daydreaming. By incorporating these strategies into their daily routine, individuals can boost productivity, creativity, and overall well-being.

Find and Replace is a powerful tool that can quickly update outdated terms and phrases in documents, allowing users to streamline their workflow and reduce errors. Many desktop apps, including text editors, word processors, and mobile apps, include a built-in Find and Replace feature, which can be used to search for specific words or patterns in text. The tool can also be used to replace text with new content, remove unwanted characters, or format text according to specific rules. Additionally, Zapier offers a Formatter step that allows users to automatically find and replace text across multiple apps and documents, making it an essential tool for automating tasks and streamlining workflows.

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform with over 460 million users worldwide, offering advanced search capabilities that can be used to find connections, job opportunities, and industry insights. Basic search allows users to find people or companies by keyword, while filters such as "People," "Jobs," "Posts," "Companies," "Groups," and "Schools" enable more specific searches. Advanced Search uses search operators and boolean commands to perform complex searches, including quotes, AND, OR, NOT, and parentheses. Saved searches can be set up to receive notifications when new results are added, allowing users to stay on top of industry trends and job postings. LinkedIn Premium accounts offer additional features such as years of experience, function, seniority level, interested in, company size, and when joined filters, making it easier for salespeople and recruiters to find leads and build relationships. By mastering LinkedIn's search capabilities, users can connect with any industry and create lasting relationships.

Reboot is a coaching service that focuses on helping leaders develop through self-reflection and examining the existential challenges created by work, aiming to create better companies. Reboot guides clients, including CEOs and managers, in various programs to answer the question "What kind of company would you want to work for?" Companies like Etsy, Twilio, and Help Scout have used Reboot's services. To manage their emails efficiently, Reboot uses Zapier, an automation tool that allows them to automate follow-up emails and scheduling, giving them more time to focus on clients and other important tasks.

Resilience is crucial for success in both personal and professional life. It's not about being emotionally tough or unaffected, but rather about learning to adapt quickly to adversity and use challenges as opportunities for growth. To build resilience, one can practice self-reflection, develop cognitive flexibility, create social connections, take back control, help others, become a better problem solver, and engage in activities that promote mental well-being such as exercise, journaling, or meditation. By incorporating these strategies into daily life, individuals can improve their ability to cope with stress and adversity, leading to increased productivity, happiness, and overall success.

Cloud IDEs offer a flexible and streamlined approach for developers to manage their environments without altering local settings, providing benefits such as trying new languages without local installation, ensuring consistent setups across teams, and running unknown code safely. The article explores several cloud IDEs including Cloud9, CodeAnywhere, and Codenvy, each with its own strengths: Cloud9 is user-friendly but requires credit card details for setup, CodeAnywhere offers a customizable workspace suitable for mobile use, and Codenvy provides a self-hosted option with an open-source approach. These platforms enable developers to perform tasks like running Node, installing modules, and using the Zapier Platform CLI from a browser-based environment, facilitating seamless project management and collaboration. Additional mentions of IDEs like Koding and Codiad highlight alternative options that focus on consistent environments and self-hosting capabilities.

You can easily visualize your tasks and notes using a Kanban board in popular apps like Gmail, Evernote, Google Chrome, Outlook, and WordPress. For Gmail, you can use add-ons like Sortd, Drag, or Yanado to create a customizable Kanban view. Evernote users can use Kanbanote, which pulls in their notes as cards from specific notebooks. Browser tabs can be organized using Toby, while Microsoft Outlook has an open-source plugin called Outlook Taskboard that allows users to manage tasks on a Kanban board. Lastly, WordPress plugins like Kanban for WordPress and KanbanPro offer a similar experience. The Kanban method helps you visualize your work and progress from start to finish, making it easier to stay organized and focused.

Using regular expressions (regex) can help you extract specific data from large blocks of text, such as email addresses, phone numbers, and website links. Regex allows you to tell computers what type of text you're looking for using its own syntax. By using regex scripts or tools, you can automate the process of extracting data from your texts and copy the results into a new list. Popular apps like Sublime Text, Notepad++, BBEdit, and Google Sheets have built-in regex tools that make it easy to extract data with regex. Additionally, there are many online simple web apps that can extract text for you, such as ConvertCSV.com, which can extract email addresses, links, phone numbers, and convert spreadsheet files to different formats. With the help of regex scripts or tools, you can easily automate the process of extracting data from your texts and use it directly in other apps.

Blue is the Land`, a company that sells neighborhood maps, uses Google Sheets as a database to track sales across multiple channels, including Shopify, Etsy, and Fancy. To consolidate this information, the founder, Derek Howles, built a Zap in Zapier, an app automation tool, that connects ShipStation, an eCommerce order management platform, to his Google Sheets database. This Zap automatically populates the spreadsheet with transaction data from every channel, allowing for easy recordkeeping and analysis. Additionally, Blue is the Land uses another Zap to build email lists in MailChimp from customer data in ShipStation, using Filter by Zapier to target specific customers based on certain criteria. With Zapier, Derek was able to automate tasks, save time and money, and focus on his creative passion for geography and design.

Making decisions can be a mentally exhausting and draining experience, depleting our mental energy and self-control. Research suggests that the act of decision making itself exhausts our subsequent self-control. To make better decisions, consider starting your day by making important choices, using a decision matrix to visualize possible outcomes, soliciting feedback with caution, being aware of cognitive biases, trusting your heart if your head knows what to do, interviewing your future self, putting options on a par, and embracing uncertainty. By applying these strategies, you can reduce the pressure surrounding decisions and make choices that align with your values and goals.

Jiamini is a non-profit organization that fights poverty by providing education, installing water pumps and solar panels, building latrines, and other essential services to at-risk children in Tanzania. The organization was founded after four friends met students on the verge of expulsion due to unpaid school fees. Jiamini's co-founder Brad Bennett built workflows using Zapier to automate data transfer between WooCommerce, PayPal, Salesforce, and MailChimp, enabling the organization to efficiently manage donor information and stay informed about its impact. These automation tools have enabled Jiamini to scale its operations while maintaining a small charity setup, allowing it to make a significant difference in the lives of students in Tanzania.

Amy Ingram, an artificial intelligence created by x.ai, helps manage schedules for clients, colleagues, and anyone else being scheduled with by sending emails back and forth to confirm times and locations. With the integration of Typeform, Amy's workflow is streamlined, allowing users to filter results automatically, send follow-up emails without manual filtering, and even automate notifications in Slack. Additionally, Zapier is used to connect x.ai's scheduling service with other tools, such as Gmail, to further automate tasks, reducing manual work for the team and increasing productivity.

When a company like Hydro Empire, which has a strong focus on customer education and community building, wanted to streamline their online business operations, they turned to app automation tool Zapier to automate certain tasks. With Zapier, Hydro Empire was able to combat credit card fraud by setting up notifications that alert the team about suspicious charges, allowing them to take swift action. Additionally, Zapier helped automate printing processes, such as shipping labels and purchase order confirmations, which reduced manual work and increased efficiency. By integrating with other tools like Slack, Hydro Empire was also able to keep their team informed of new sales and orders, enabling them to interact more effectively with customers. Overall, Zapier played a crucial role in helping Hydro Empire automate their workflows and focus on what matters most - customer success.