This weekend I had an extremely productive meeting with my web developer Meitar Moscovitz. We discussed the interconnected nature of the internet, and the importance of properly linking sources. He essentially helped me lay the foundation for the next phase of Shir Consulting: a strong web presence.

Since I am already spending most of my time developing my business, why not simply document everything I am learning and share it publicly? This not only creates a log of what I have learned for future reference, but it also serves to build an interconnected web which will inevitably help people find my site. My goal is to help them gain value either in the form of free information, or in my paid consulting services.

This concept of No Extra Time (N.E.T.), courtesy of Tony Robbins, was particularly appealing to me. Instead of learning in isolation, I am simply incorporating the activities that I am already engaging in into a process that benefits others.

Interestingly enough, this also goes back to a lesson I first learned from inventor and infomercial extraordinaire Ron Popeil. You may remember him from his Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ product which he sold on late night television. His infamous line to just “Set it and forget it” inspired my Excel Tutorial: How to “Set It and Forget It.” If you ever find yourself doing something more than once manually, you are doing it wrong.

Mr. Popeil correctly identified the appeal of a product that completely eliminated the need to spend any extra time setting up and later monitoring the progress of a particular task. In technological terms, instead of using the human brain to complete repetitive tasks, simply set up the computer to do it for you, and then forget about it. When you fully understand this concept you will never have to worry about the same type of task ever again.

The beauty of this concept is that it is cumulative. Learning one lesson can often times be applied to multiple situations. Notice the progression of the difficulty of tasks in my Excel video. First I describe how to copy and paste 1 cell, then one line, then an entire block of cells. Once you have mastered this concept, you will never have to manually copy and paste cells one at a time ever again. Furthermore, since that skill is so fundamental, the benefit of efficiently completing the task gets compounded every single time you use it. The savings of time (and therefore money) grows exponentially.

I hope you found this post useful, and I welcome your feedback. In the meantime, I look forward to our continued learning and development.