How Did She Use Her Traffic Time Smartly

I am traveling back to home. I have been in the cab from last 1 hour and it is showing 50 more minutes to reach. You would have guessed by now that I am in Bangalore and I am writing this one while commuting to my place. Ideally, it should take an hour, but let’s see how much time will it take today.

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Image Credits : Unsplash.com

Time-stamp : 8.42 PM, 3rd Feb 2017

In fact, I am not going back to my place, I am going to see my friend who has got her leg fractured yesterday. I was supposed to reach her place by 8.30 PM but isn’t it amazing that I am following typical Indian style of being late?

Anyway, after much hustle ( The Uber driver is not knowing the directions, his phone battery has died, my google map is not working and my phone battery is about to die), I have put on my laptop to charge my handset so that I should be able to contact my friend for the directions.

Well before all this, I was at an interview today for Marketing Lead profile at a very early stage funded startup with 5 people in the team in the place. I am writing this now to pen down my learning till it’s in my thoughts. I have been working from last 3 years and one major learning, which I have gained is

“Every interaction matters”

Be it the interaction with your Uber or OlaCabs driver, be it the interaction with Flipkart delivery guy, be it with an Investor to whom I keep asking for Dressprise or be it an interview where you get to meet bunch of smart people on the other side of the table, proving their point and asking you to prove your point as well.

But why does each interaction matters? Because these connections create the connecting dots for your future. These little talks converge to big learning. So right now I am feeling to share my today’s learning with you:

1. Time is the ultimate money.

I have spent around 3 hours of time in the cab for the meeting, and 600 INR of money. Skype would have saved the time and money both. Edit: After reaching home, it was already 5 hours in total and 1200 INR.

2.You need not let others validate you beyond a particular threshold.

The way we grow, the time we take to climb the professional ladder, the challenges we face, the connections we make can’t be validated in a single day.

3. Don’t opt-in a job for the money (especially in a startup).

Always look for the culture fit and see if the role, the responsibilities, and the team would help you in learning more.

4. Focus on building relationships.

You never know you might meet the same person again in your next job, or he/she might be of any help to you in near future. At the end, relationships will help you in shaping your future ahead.

5. If the objective of the meeting doesn’t give you instant results, don’t be disheartened.

You will always have the learning with you that you could use it for yourself or you might share with others

6. Ask questions.

Be inquisitive. Ask WHY, WHAT, WHO, WHOSE, WHOM and HOW. After all, you’re living with your senses and your brain and you have got a memory disk to register information. Although, I believe in living minimalistic and storing very less information (thanks to my bad memory :D) but you always have the control to erase the info, which you might not find important. Few of the questions, which I asked today :

Why do you think you need a marketing lead at this stage?

What challenges have you faced earlier while marketing your product?

Who all will be in the marketing team or would it be a one man show?

Whose idea was this?

Whom do you consider as your priority customer segment considering you are into B2B2C?

How do you see your idea better than your competitor?

7. Don’t hurry up in important decisions of your life

Never hurry up in choosing the job, choosing the life partner, choosing the home, choosing the next phase. Timing plays a key role. If you’re struggling now doesn’t mean you’re failing.

8. Never settle for less.

Dream BIG (always). Because if you don’t you will set a very low bar for yourself. You never know your potential unless and until you keep raising your bar. Create the path to reach that dream and work hard enough. Settling down is easy than struggling for your dream. And the best things take much longer time to happen.

9. Make your traffic time productive (last but not the least of the learning)

It sucks! Really sucks! So either you can use your time scribbling down your thoughts or you can finish up a call meeting or you can dial in your old friends or relatives with whom you have not talked before or you can listen to a podcast. But make sure, you choose to be productive because you’re paying for your time.

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I’m about to reach the place. Thanks to my laptop that my phone is charged. I will edit it tomorrow and will share with you all. Why? Because I can’t help the Bangalore traffic, but I can definitely help 1 or 2 people with my learning and stories :)

Stay tuned till I again get stuck in the traffic and share my thoughts in The Little Diary #2.

Time- stamp : 10 PM, 3rd Feb 2017