The Five Minute Favor – My View on Blogging, Comments, and Email
I’m honestly surprised this is the third most popular choice from my recent poll (votes have come to a crawl, so I closed the voting). Have you ever read a book and thought the author of the book was talking right to you or reading your mind? That happened recently when I was reading Adam Grant’s book Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success (Amazon).
In the book, on page 54, a sub-header called “The Five-Minute Favor” was introduced. This section of the book is about Adam Rifkin, who “in 2011, had more LinkedIn connections to the 640 powerful people on Fortune’s list than any human being on the planet.” Adam is known as a giver and “his giving is governed by a simple rule: the five-minute favor. ‘You should be willing to do something that will take you five minutes or less for anybody.'”
Needless to say, I completely agree with Adam’s outlook on life. Doing small favors for friends, family members, coworkers, and complete strangers will make the world a better place. I don’t expect anything in return, just pay it forward to the next person you see that needs a little bit of help. This same principle is apparent in my blogging and commenting. Every day, I receive several comments on this blog. Some comments come from “experienced” users while others come from “less experienced” users. I treat all comments the same. I will always give you the best answer possible, regardless if your question were asked several times before. It takes just as much time to say “read the comments above” as it does to give a short 1-2 sentence answer. The same goes for other travel blogs I read. If I see a question asked that can be easily answered in 1-2 sentences, I will spend a few minutes providing an answer. I’m not the answer police out to answer every question ever asked, but I do my best to answer their question or provide some additional info to their comment. If you have time to read a blog post and read the comments, then you have time to interact and answer a few questions as well.
Lastly, in addition to answering comments, I also receive many emails on a daily basis. I have formed good friendships with some of my readers even though I have never met them or seen what they look like. I do my best to answer every email that is sent my way. Some emails are short and sweet and can be easily answered. Other emails are lengthy, several paragraphs in length with many questions included. If it takes me more than 5 minutes to read your email, it will probably take me at least 5 minutes to research your question, take some screenshots, and send you a detailed email response. I wish I could do all that on my iPhone, but it would be very difficult. I would much rather answer several short emails right away on my iPhone than wait until I get home and research your question. The point I am trying to make is: if you want a quick answer to a question, please send me a short email. If you have a more detailed question that requires research, you might have to wait a day or two for a response. Either way, I promise to email you back.
I’m not sure if this post was worthy of sharing, I probably should have spent my time working on a different blog post, but hopefully some of you enjoyed this post. If you like non-fiction books about human psychology and how we think, I recommend checking out Adam Grant’s book. Have a great weekend everyone!
I have the same thing that I do at work. If I can solve your problem in a few minutes, I will do it.
It feels good to take care of a bunch of small things, I feel very productive.
This post was definitely worth sharing. I like your attitude and I love your blog. You give great advice and I enjoy reading your articles.
Thank you Joan, glad to hear you enjoy reading my posts. I like to mix it up with some cash back deals, some trip reports, and then bring it back home with some touchy/feely stuff from the heart <3
Said it before and will say it again. TWG — best travel blog ever.
Thanks Alex, I do my best to retain my title :)
You have helped me immensely and answered 2 of my emails personally. Thanks much, it is indeed appreciated. I’m passing this along to several people. Thanks, Grant!
Thank you Kay, keep the questions coming. Have a great weekend :)
Since you read all comments, my question is why haven’t you read my book?
I didn’t know you had a book, congrats on being published. Can you send me a link to your book? I have always wanted to write a book (funny children’s book), maybe someday…
http://www.amazon.com/Everyones-Advice-Wrong-Including-Mine/dp/1497557925/
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it to write a favorable review!
Thank you Alex!
About the Author:
Alexander Bachuwa’s parents emigrated from Iraq to the United States in 1982, the year he was born. As a child, he dreamt of becoming a professional basketball player—a goal he gave up for his parents’ assertion that the real ticket to success in life is higher education. Unconvinced, he still graduated from the University of Michigan with a BA in economics. Underpaid, he attended law school at Arizona State University. Unemployed, he later added an MBA to the list of letters behind his name.
Today, he is Alexander Bachuwa, JD, MBA, entrepreneur (a work in progress), world explorer, author…and, by default, blogger. His book serves, among other things, as an autobiography. So if you want to know more, read it.
And this is yet another reason why I love your blog. Approaching both the complex and most mundane questions with humility is refreshing. Keep up the great work.
Thank you for reading. Have a great weekend ProjectX!
It’s absolutely true; you answer promptly and accurately. Thank you!
You’re welcome AJ, glad I could help!
Enjoy the blog and your dedication to your readers. Thanks!
Thank you Michael, have a great weekend.