Mike Arnesen

Another work week in the bag. I feel like I did fairly well. I’m proud of the effort I made to keep UpBuild healthy from a financial standpoint. I’m feeling okay about how well I was able to support my team, but I felt like I could have done more; done better. I don’t know if that feeling ever really goes away.

I got to take a half-day away from my desk on Wednesday to go to the park with my wife and take photos. Portland was well-hydrated from the recent rains and the 80-degree-plus temperatures that day reminded us of landing in Brazil, stepping off the plane, and getting hit full in the face with that wet hot humid breeze that makes it feel like you’re in a steamed-up shower. It was a great afternoon.

Overall, I feel like I was able to stay focused on the things that matter in my life. That’s the real thing I’m aiming for these days. Once the weekend is through, I’ll draw another X here.

Each Monday, I record the passing of the previous week on this calendar and begin the new one.

Something about that ritual — not to mention seeing this on the back of my office door as I leave at the end of each day — has me trying harder; being more present. I’m asking myself what I really care about. What’s most important? Not so much “what do I want to get done” but “what am I working toward”?

I’m 40% of the way through the 90 rows on this thing. I’m not yet halfway through but that sure does look like a lot of time.

So many weeks marked off.

Looking at life from this high level makes me feel like maybe I could have used some of the time more efficiently, but by and large, I can feel good about what I’ve done; about how I’ve used this time. But it sure does make me want to use the weeks to come that much more effectively.

Every wide-open box that I haven’t checked off is an opportunity. Each one seems like a challenge.

My big hope at this point is that I never become jaded to the life calendar. I hope I’m still watching it and participating in this ritual when I’m long-retired. Maybe I’ll gather my family around on the day of my 90th birthday and put a neat X on the first row that’s officially “off the map”.

Maybe Tim Urban will be selling Life Calendar extensions by then.

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Don’t judge an applicant by their headshot.

Drag this to your bookmarks bar to remove applicant avatars from Workable.
No Avatars on Workable

The most important components of UpBuild’s experience are the relationships we foster between team members and with clients, the quality of our work, and the results we’re able to help our clients achieve. Just as there’s nothing to support the belief that someone with an incredible headshot can do all that, there’s no reason to believe that someone lacking one can’t.

Workable, while super useful for us, brings in headshots…sometimes. Sometimes there’s just a grey placeholder. Sometimes, I’m not sure where the headshot even comes from. I’m wary of how “seeing” a given person might subconsciously influence my feelings on a candidate. Something as simple as color in an image, photo resolution, or the lack of one entirely could skew things unfairly. Who knows!? I don’t. That’s why it concerns me.

[Read more…] about Removing Applicant Avatars from Workable

When I started working out of a home office and recruiting a remote team, I never imagined that I’d film myself as much as I do. Not that these are public but I’ve done about 20 videos in 2018 to either teach clients things, explain company policy to team members (current and future), and as part of UpBuild’s discovery (AKA, sales) process. 

I just finished filming a video for a potential client who I feel great about. It was fun. 

[Read more…] about Look, Mom. I’m on Video.

There’s a not-insignificant pile of trash in my driveway. It’s been there for a good few weeks and recently I’ve added a lot to it. 

The cycle of acquisition, usage, and eventual discarding is depressing. And mildly concerning. But what are you going to do?

My wife and I are remodeling, you see. Two bathrooms and a laundry room. I could get into it but let’s just say it’s a whole thing. A project like that brings trash. Notably, the busted up cabinetry, fixtures, drywall, etc. that were part of the rooms before.

Demo. 

We’ve also been remodeling my mother-in-law’s house. She has renters these days. Well, by “these days” I mean “as of two weeks ago”. That house, I tell you, needed work. A good deal of work before it was anything resembling move in ready. Guess what that took.

Demo.

Y’eesh. I don’t do this because I like doing it. It just…sort of happens. Either way, the trash pile grows. 

[Read more…] about Tommorow is Trash Day

Or, Tracking a Page View & an Event Hit on Every Page Load

A page loads in the woods but no one’s around to hear it. Did it record a page view?

Yes. Yes, it did. 

A page view hit is sent to Google Analytics. ~ Hark! ~ Someone has begun their website journey. 

And then ~ quick as a bolt of lightning striking in a thunderstorm ~ an event hit is sent to GA, close on the view’s heels.

[Read more…] about The View; The Event

When in doubt, double down on your values. Bet on the future.

Today might be an unmitigated disaster (my day wasn’t that bad. It was fine; thanks for asking) but all one can do is turn toward tomorrow and invest in that. Focus on what will put things on a better trajectory for tomorrow.

It’s easy to be stressed out about HOW IS THIS GOING TO GET SOLVED and even easier to spend time asking, “Why is this happening to me?!”.

[Read more…] about When In Doubt