Name it for the other person

When creating a calendar invite or sending a document, I try to name them with the other person in mind. For example, next week I have an item that someone added to my calendar called “Lunch with Mickey”, which is not particularly helpful at a glance.

I’ve seen the same with resumes that come in for job openings. When it’s called “resume-for-greenmellen.pdf”, that’s not super useful when I have a pile of resumes in a folder.

When I’m the one sending the calendar invite or the document, I try to name things to make it useful for both parties.

• For calendar invites, I’ll put something like “Mickey <> John : Lunch”, so it’s helpful title on both calendars.
• When sending documents, I try to use things like “GreenMellen-proposal-for-Acme.pdf” to again make it helpful for both of us.

In a way, this is kind of like the idea of “strategic luxury” that I mentioned a few days ago, always trying to make things just a little bit better as I go along. It’s not a big deal either way, but little things certainly can add up.

Originally published at https://www.mickmel.com on January 26, 2024.