Alex Bolton, J.D. ’16, (former) GPSS President
Department/program: Law
Neighborhood: Ballard and Orting
Area of study, as you would tell your advisor: Law
Area of study, as you would tell you family: Law, with an interest in state government and higher education
Alex Bolton, J.D. ’16, bleeds purple and gold. He earned his B.A., a M.P.A. and his J.D. from the University of Washington, and was named to the Husky 100 in 2016. Keeping with his service to the UW, he was President of the Graduate & Professional Student Senate from 2015-2016. He has worked as a legal intern for the Washington State Senate Committee Services and as a Law Clerk for the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.
Work
Give us a one-word description of how you work:
Strategically.
How do you manage your to-dos?
Prioritize, delegate, write lists and use email as a de facto list.
What are your essential apps, software or tools?
Email, calendar, Twitter
Where do you most often work?
I do my GPSS work at the office, and my school work at the library.
How do you manage your time?
Prioritize and review my calendar each morning.
What is your best time-saving shortcut?
Being in the office and available — I think it helps avoid emails and additional meetings.
What are some of your productivity strategies you’ve honed over your years in school?
Learning how to prioritize, and often realizing that not everything is going to get done. Properly valuing sleep has helped as well to make sure that I am more productive while awake. I have flirted with the minimal sleep boundary a little too much this year.
Life
What mundane thing are you really exceptional at?
Listening.
What are you currently reading? For pleasure, if possible.
Astoria by John Jacob Astor and Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Thomas Jefferson
What’s the last thing that made you laugh?
How do you recharge?
Sleep, spending time with my girlfriend and her two daughters, traveling, hiking, Husky sports.
What’s your sleep routine like?
This year, not enough during the week. I try to get no less than six hours a night. Before this year, I shot for eight hours, and usually got seven hours.
Inspiration
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Nobody’s going to die if you don’t do it perfect.
Who’s your support system?
My girlfriend, best friends from undergrad and friends I have made through GPSS. Coach Petersen.
What do you wish you had started doing sooner in grad school?
Prioritizing working out (I still haven’t).
Stopped doing sooner?
I weaned off of coffee somehow and switched to tea during law school. I wish I would have done that sooner.
How UW Works was inspired by LifeHacker’s How I Work.
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