Exclusive Interview with the Queen of Web 2.0 Gina Trapani - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Exclusive Interview with the Queen of Web 2.0 Gina Trapani - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I interviewed Gina Trapani, who was featured in issue 3 of Personal Branding Magazine.   She is always a delight to speak with and is as resourceful as they get. Gina Trapani is a tech writer and web developer based in San Diego, California by way of Brooklyn, New York. She is the lead editor of Lifehacker.com, a daily weblog on software and personal productivity, and the author of Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better (March 2008). As a Sun-certified Java programmer, Gina builds Firefox extensions and web sites. Her writing has appeared in Popular Science, Wired, Womens Health, PC World and Macworld magazines. The Wall Street Journal Online profiled her and her work has also been mentioned in Time Magazine, Newsweek, The New York Times, Wired and PC Magazine. She is #7 on the top 25 Web Celebrities list by Forbes. 1. Does everyone need to upgrade their life? Well, you know what they say: if it aint broke, dont fix it. But, if you feel like there just arent enough hours in the day, or youre weary of being snowed under by email, tasks, appointments, a blinking voicemail box, and buzzing gadgets, then an upgrade may be in order. Ive found that most power usersfolks who are super comfortable with technology and who have it deeply embedded into their dayâ€"do tend to suffer from a sense of overload and overwhelm. My book is primarily for them. 2. How does your new book help people manage their personal brand, across email and other common tasks? Being on top of your game is the best kind of branding you can do, because honestly? Most people are not. Most people let email slip through the cracks, or say theyll get back in a week and dont, or drop the ball on that task you talked about doing in that meeting two months ago. When you follow up, when youre responsive, when youre on time (even early!) delivering on your deadlineseven when you pre-empt being late with a Hey, I said Id get this to you today but I turned out to be busier than I expected. Hows Tuesday instead?your co-workers and colleagues and clients will be impressed and only want to work with you more. Youll become known as responsiveand therefore responsibleand dependable and effective and indispensable. 3. Do you feel everyone needs to know the basic survival routines on the web now? Do you feel your book is a requirement for the digital age? Everyones level of engagement on the web is different, so the skills each person absolutely needs differs, too. In terms of survival, there is a low level of literacy absolutely required just to stay safe from identity thieves and malicious software online. From there it becomes a matter of managing the rate of information that flows into your day. Id say my book is required reading for anyone who wants to fast-track past the part where they have to figure out the best ways to get common computer and online tasks done, and just benefit from the knowledge of folks who have been immersed in digital culture and communications for years now. Through Lifehacker.com, Ive had access to a huge community of very knowledgeable people, and the book came out of my conversations with them on-site. 4. What are the 3 most significant tips you share in your book? The first must-have hack in the book addresses how to deal with the constant flow of email into your inbox every day. For any office worker (or freelancer, for that matter), sane email management is the most important skill you can have when its a primary way you communicate. Second is the chapter on tricking yourself into getting the tasks on your to-do list done. Its so easy to sabotage ourselves into procrastination and dreadeven around the work we enjoy!that if were mindful about how we break down and assign ourselves little stepping stone tasks, were much more likely to make our goal. Third, the chapter on firewalling your attention is important for the Crackberry addicts out there who have trouble with long-term focus and distractions. Its only until you can truly pay full attention to something that you can be fully present, and fully effective. It was difficult to pick just three, because like I said, what will make your life better depends on what your day looks like and what kind of problems you run up against. These three are my three pain points most of the time. 5. If every employee in a company read your book, what tips would help them become more productive, as well as better organized? Well, if I did my job as an author well, everyone would get at least a little something that made them more efficient and productive during the day from the book. There are over 100 tips in the table of contents (you can see them here: http://lifehackerbook.com/), but the biggest, overarching idea I hope to get across in the book is this: If you take a little time to think about what you spend time doing all day at work, you can adjust that time or reduce it with shortcuts to make it representative of what you want to actually accomplish. If we all put our attention, time, and energy towards the right workinstead of spinning our wheels and deleting spam from our inbox on our Blackberry while were at the park with our kidswell all be happier and more accomplished.