“How I Work” is one of my favorite recurring features in Inc Magazine as well as via Lifehacker’s This Is How I Work Series, and recently several sales experts (including Anthony Iannarino, Dave Brock and Trish Bertuzzi) participated as well.
Periodically moving forward we will feature a new B2B sales, marketing or business leader here answering what have become the standard “How I Work” questions. You can catch up on everyone we’ve featured thus far in the “How I Work” series here.
This week I’m excited to feature Allen Gannett, CEO of TrackMaven, a fast-growing start-up in Washington DC that’s revolutionizing how companies conduct real-time competitive intelligence to inform their sales, marketing and product direction (disclosure: I’m on TrackMaven’s board of advisors). Spend five minutes with Allen and you realize he’s wicked smart, cares deeply about his company and employees, and is working on at least six things in his brain at once. He also really, really likes pumpkin pie.
Allen, suffice it to say, gets stuff done. Here, in his own words, is how he works.
Location: Washington, D.C.
Current computers: 11-inch MacBook Air
Current mobile devices: 5th Generation iPhone
What apps/software/tools can’t you live without? Gmail and Google Apps. I spend around 70% of my desk time in Google-land. We also use a sales BI tool called InsightSquared that makes it very easy to understand what is happening within our inside sales force.
What’s your workspace like? Messy. I use this standing desk. I don’t have lots of space to make a mess, but I’ve figured out how to throw papers all over it anyways.
What’s your best time-saving shortcut or lifehack? I don’t fold my socks.
Whateveryday thing are you better at than anybody else? Troubleshooting the WiFi
What’s your favorite to-do list manager? Email. I try and move through tasks quickly, so keeping to-do items as unread emails mean that they are part of my “Inbox Zero” pipedream.
What do you listen to while at work? Terrible pop music. Spotify has this wonderful private listening mode. Lucky for me….
What are you currently reading?The Last Magazine by Michael Hastings and Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmul
What’s your sleep routine like? I sleep about 6-7 hours each night, usually going to bed around midnight and waking up around 7. Saturdays I sleep in. I found if I sleep 8 hours each night, I end up with some mild insomnia, so I compensate by sleeping less and caffeinating.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received? Care less about the short-term.
Fill in the Blank: I’d love to see BLANK answer these questions: Joe Chernov
