# Working With Me > A guide to what it's like working with me. Things I need, things I love, where I find energy, what I struggle with. Source: https://curiouslychase.com/posts/user-guide/ Most of what I want people to know can be found in my personal [Philosophies](https://curiouslychase.com/posts/philosophies/). # When you can find me at work... _Times are in Mountain Time_ - Ideal day **starts at 9AM and ends at 5PM on a weekday** so I can have some intentional quality time with my family before (6AM-9AM) and after (5PM-8:30PM) work. - I carve out 30 minutes at the beginning and end of each day to make sure I set myself up for success. Usually that means I'm offline during those periods creating/refining my daily plan or documenting the day. # If you need something from me... Always ask! I may so no or not right now because I have to keep other commitments I've made, but it's better to ask and know if I can help than to assume I can't or won't. *Reaching out*... - **Slack is the _best_ way** to successfully get a response from me. I try to be prompt in responding to people in Slack as long as it's during my normal day. - **Email is the worst** **way** to get in touch with me. - **Text for emergencies** if you absolutely need me. I'd appreciate if texting is only used as a last ditch for something that we've both agreed is absolutely critical. # The best way to give me feedback... - **as soon as you see a red flag, let me know.** I don't want any potential frustrations to fester and boil up into something worse later. - **I prefer getting/giving feedback face-to-face** (in a Zoom meeting) but if it's "minor" feedback I'm happy to discuss it over Slack. - **sharing examples of how/what I could do better/different** goes a long way in helping me be successful in being a better team mate. # Things I need... - **clearly defined vision.** If you want to unleash me on a project, give me the vision. - **autonomy to make decisions.** - **my work purpose aligns with my life purpose.** # I love... - **my family.** They will always be a driving force behind how I make decisions about my career, never the other way around. - **interacting and collaborating with others.** # I find energy in... - **building things for people who build things.** - **teaching others skills** that will enable them to be more effective. - **finding and reducing toil** helping define and optimize work streams & processes. - **automating the drudgery!** - **trying out new things.** # I struggle with... - **selling products that I don't believe in.** I feel uncomfortable pitching a product the team is building that's not ready or something that feels gimmicky rather than purposeful. - **unnecessary chaos.** I embrace intentional chaos that helps to build resiliency. I do not like chaos that's created "organically" because there was no effort in creating order. - **silos.** It's important for me that people are able to work with the least amount of friction. # What I expect of my teammates... - **Be human.** We're in this experience together and I know my expectations are just that: expectations. I'm human. You're human. Let's be humans, acknowledge we're humans and act accordingly. - **Be honest.** I want to know the reality of a situation, not what someone thinks I might want to hear to not be upset. - **Be kind.** This is caring about people enough to have hard conversations (rather than skirting around them) but tempering those conversations with love and grace. - **See the best in me.** It's easy for me to feel an overwhelming fear that I'm not good enough for the work I'm doing, but I'm a hard worker who will strive to give it my all. # What my team mates can expect from me... - All of the points listed in the **What I expect of my team mates...** section. - I will always **investigate before I initiate** on projects, tasks or conversations. I want to make sure I understand something before starting work on it so that I can make awesome things. # Why does he... - **Why does he use a ✅(or a 👀) on so many of my Slack messages?** I like to make sure I mark things I've seen and [ know I've either done some action on _or_ marked as seen so that the sender knows that I've seen it](https://curiouslychase.com/posts/slack-messages-as-todos/). I find a lot of times that I ask "has `` seen/read this yet?" I imagine if I think that, others probably think the same for me, so I want to give clarity that I've seen something or it's been resolved/completed if it's a task.