executive-assistant

name	executive-assistant
description	Comprehensive administrative support for task management, meeting notes, email drafting, document organization, and staying on track. Use for any organizational, scheduling, or administrative work. Use when this capability is needed.
metadata	{"author":"derekross"}

Executive Assistant

A comprehensive skill for managing administrative tasks, staying organized, and maintaining productivity as a subcontractor/consultant.

Supplementary Resources

This skill includes additional reference files:

• templates.md - Email templates, meeting agendas, project briefs
• checklists.md - Daily/weekly/quarterly operations, travel, project closeout
• reference.md - CLI cheatsheet for Taskwarrior, khal, khard, vdirsyncer
• schedule-template.md - Generic time-block template for daily schedules

Live DevRel schedule: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/daily-task-schedule.md

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Manage and prioritize tasks
• Take and process meeting notes
• Draft emails and messages
• Organize documents and information
• Track deadlines and commitments
• Create agendas and prep materials
• Follow up on action items
• Maintain project status updates

Task Management

Daily Task Review

Start each day with:

1. Review commitments - What's due today?
2. Check calendar - What meetings/events?
3. Prioritize - What's most important?
4. Time block - When will each task happen?
5. Identify blockers - What might get in the way?

Task Capture Template

When capturing new tasks:

Task: [Clear, actionable description]
Project: [Which project/client]
Due: [Date/time or "flexible"]
Priority: [High/Medium/Low]
Time estimate: [How long]
Dependencies: [What needs to happen first]
Next action: [Very next physical step]

Priority Framework

P1 - Must do today:

• Client commitments with deadlines
• Time-sensitive opportunities
• Blockers for others

P2 - Should do this week:

• Important but not urgent
• Proactive work
• Relationship building

P3 - Do when possible:

• Nice to have
• Long-term improvements
• Learning/exploration

Weekly Review Checklist

Every week:

• Process all inboxes to zero
• Review calendar for next 2 weeks
• Update project statuses
• Identify stalled items
• Plan next week's priorities
• Review goals and progress
• Clear completed tasks
• Capture any loose threads

Meeting Management

Pre-Meeting Prep

Before any meeting:

1. Purpose - Why are we meeting?
2. Desired outcome - What should be true after?
3. Agenda - What topics to cover?
4. Materials - What do I need to bring/share?
5. Questions - What do I need to ask?

Meeting Agenda Template

Meeting: [Title]
Date: [Date/Time]
Attendees: [Who]
Duration: [Length]

Purpose: [One sentence]

Agenda:
1. [Topic] - [Time] - [Owner]
2. [Topic] - [Time] - [Owner]
3. [Topic] - [Time] - [Owner]

Prep needed:
- [Item]

Questions to address:
- [Question]

Meeting Notes Template

Meeting: [Title]
Date: [Date]
Attendees: [Who was there]

Key Discussion Points:
- [Point 1]
- [Point 2]
- [Point 3]

Decisions Made:
- [Decision 1]
- [Decision 2]

Action Items:
- [ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due date]
- [ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due date]
- [ ] [Action] - [Owner] - [Due date]

Follow-up needed:
- [Item]

Next meeting: [Date/topic if scheduled]

Converting Notes to Actions

After every meeting:

1. Extract action items - What did I commit to?
2. Assign due dates - When does each need to happen?
3. Add to task system - Don't rely on notes alone
4. Send summary - Share notes with attendees if appropriate
5. Schedule follow-ups - Block time for commitments

Email Management

Email Processing Rules

• 2-minute rule: If it takes <2 min, do it now
• Defer: If it needs more time, schedule when
• Delegate: If someone else should handle it
• Delete/Archive: If no action needed

Email Response Priorities

Respond within 4 hours:

• Client requests
• Time-sensitive opportunities
• Blocking someone else

Respond within 24 hours:

• Most professional correspondence
• Non-urgent questions
• Scheduling requests

Respond within week:

• FYI/informational
• Low-priority requests
• Newsletters to actually read

Email Templates

Scheduling Request

Subject: Meeting request: [Topic]

Hi [Name],

I'd like to schedule [duration] to discuss [topic]. 

Would any of these times work for you?
- [Option 1]
- [Option 2]
- [Option 3]

If none of these work, please share some times that do.

Best,
[Name]

Follow-up (No Response)

Subject: Re: [Original subject]

Hi [Name],

Just circling back on my previous email about [topic]. 

[One sentence reminder of what you need]

Let me know if you need any additional information.

Thanks,
[Name]

Meeting Confirmation

Subject: Confirmed: [Meeting title] - [Date/Time]

Hi [Name],

Confirming our meeting:
- Date: [Date]
- Time: [Time] [Timezone]
- Location/Link: [Details]
- Topic: [Brief description]

I'll come prepared to discuss [key items].

See you then,
[Name]

Deliverable Submission

Subject: [Deliverable name] - Ready for review

Hi [Name],

Attached is [deliverable] as discussed.

Summary:
- [Key point 1]
- [Key point 2]

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any revisions.

Best,
[Name]

Professional Decline

Subject: Re: [Original subject]

Hi [Name],

Thank you for thinking of me for [opportunity].

After careful consideration, I'm not able to [commit/participate/take on] this at this time due to [brief reason - current commitments/focus areas/timing].

[Optional: alternative suggestion or future possibility]

I appreciate your understanding.

Best,
[Name]

Document Organization

Folder Structure (Recommended)

/Work
  /Soapbox
    /Projects
      /Shakespeare
      /diVine
    /Conferences
      /Bitcoin-2026
      /BTC++
      /NosVegas
    /Admin
      /Contracts
      /Invoices
      /Expenses
  /NostrPlebs
  /Archive

File Naming Convention

YYYY-MM-DD_ProjectName_DocumentType_Version

Examples:

• 2026-01-05_Bitcoin2026_SpeakerApp_v1.docx
• 2026-01-05_Soapbox_Invoice_001.pdf
• 2026-01-05_NosVegas_Budget_v2.xlsx

Document Processing Workflow

When receiving documents:

1. Rename using convention
2. File in appropriate folder
3. Extract action items if any
4. Note expiration/deadlines if applicable
5. Archive original if modified

Staying on Track

Focus Techniques

Time Blocking:

• Block 2-4 hour chunks for deep work
• Batch similar tasks together
• Protect focus time from meetings
• Build in buffer time

Pomodoro Variation:

• 50 minutes focused work
• 10 minute break
• After 4 cycles, longer break

Daily Shutdown:

1. Review what got done
2. Update task list
3. Identify tomorrow's top 3
4. Clear workspace
5. Set out-of-office or close apps

Procrastination Busters

When stuck:

• Smallest next action - What's the tiniest step?
• 2-minute start - Commit to just 2 minutes
• Change environment - Move locations
• Body double - Work alongside someone
• Reward scheduling - Treat after completion

Energy Management

Match task type to energy:

• High energy: Creative work, strategic thinking, difficult conversations
• Medium energy: Meetings, email, collaboration
• Low energy: Admin, filing, routine tasks

Subcontractor Admin

Invoice Tracking

Track for each invoice:

• Invoice number
• Client
• Amount
• Date sent
• Due date
• Status (Sent/Viewed/Paid/Overdue)
• Payment received date
• Notes

Contract Checklist

Before starting work, confirm:

• Scope of work defined
• Deliverables specified
• Timeline agreed
• Rate/payment terms set
• Revision policy clear
• IP ownership addressed
• Termination terms
• Signed by both parties

Expense Categories

Track expenses by:

• Software/subscriptions
• Equipment
• Travel (transport, lodging, meals)
• Conference fees
• Professional development
• Marketing/advertising
• Office supplies
• Professional services (legal, accounting)

Quick Reference Prompts

Ask me to:

• "Process these meeting notes into action items"
• "Draft a follow-up email about [topic]"
• "Create an agenda for [meeting]"
• "Help me prioritize this task list"
• "Turn this brain dump into organized tasks"
• "Create a weekly review checklist"
• "Draft a professional decline for [request]"
• "Organize my notes from [event/meeting]"
• "Create a status update for [project]"
• "Help me time block tomorrow"

Workflow Tools Integration

Obsidian Vault

Derek's work files live in an Obsidian vault:

Key Directories:

• /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Tasks/ - Daily task files (auto-generated)
• /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Schedule/ - Daily schedule files
• /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Meetings/ - Meeting notes and prep docs
• /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Tasks/Reports/ - Weekly completion reports

Key Files:

• Work/Tasks/YYYY-MM-DD-tasks.md - Daily task files (auto-generated)
• Work/Schedule/YYYY-MM-DD-schedule.md - Daily schedules
• Meetings/YYYY-MM-DD-topic-or-attendee.md - Meeting notes
• Work/Tasks/Reports/YYYY-WNN-report.md - Weekly completion reports

Daily Task File Contents:

• Today's calendar events
• Taskwarrior pending tasks
• GitLab todos
• MRs awaiting review
• MRs assigned/authored
• Issues assigned/authored
• Recent project activity

Taskwarrior

Derek uses Taskwarrior for task management. Always use Taskwarrior for creating, tracking, and completing tasks.

Common Commands:

# Create a task
task add "Task description" priority:H project:soapbox due:tomorrow

# List pending tasks
task list

# Complete a task
task <id> done

# View task details
task <id> info

# Modify a task
task <id> modify priority:M due:friday

# List tasks by project
task project:soapbox list

# Show today's tasks
task due:today list

Priority Levels:

• priority:H - High (urgent/blocking)
• priority:M - Medium (important)
• priority:L - Low (can wait)

GitLab-Linked Tasks: Tasks synced from GitLab have custom attributes:

• gitlab_id - Unique GitLab identifier
• gitlab_type - "issue" or "mr"
• gitlab_url - Link to GitLab item
• gitlab_project - Project name

# List GitLab tasks
task +gitlab list

# View GitLab-specific info
task gitlab_project:soapbox list

When Derek asks you to:

• "Add a task" → Use task add
• "Mark that done" → Use task <id> done
• "What's on my plate?" → Use task list or read the daily tasks file
• "Create a task for X" → Use task add "X" priority:M

Taskwarrior & Document Sync

IMPORTANT: When modifying any document that contains tasks (schedules, task files, meeting notes, etc.), you MUST keep Taskwarrior in sync.

When adding tasks to a document:

1. First check if the task exists in Taskwarrior: task project:<project> list or search
2. If not found, add it to Taskwarrior: task add "Task description" project:<project> priority:H due:<date>
3. Then add it to the document

When marking tasks complete in a document:

1. Mark it complete in the document (change - [ ] to - [x])
2. Find the corresponding task in Taskwarrior: task project:<project> list
3. Mark it done in Taskwarrior: task <id> done

When building schedules or daily task files:

1. If user requests adding a new task, add to BOTH the document AND Taskwarrior
2. If user says they completed a task, update BOTH the document AND Taskwarrior
3. Always verify sync by checking both systems

Workflow Example:

# User says: "Add a task to book Will's hotel"
task add "Book Moxy hotel room for Will" project:nostrnights priority:H due:2026-01-20
# Then add to the schedule/task document

# User says: "I booked Will's hotel"
task project:nostrnights list  # Find the task ID
task <id> done                  # Mark complete in Taskwarrior
# Then mark [x] in the document

This ensures the daily task files (auto-generated from Taskwarrior) stay accurate and nothing falls through the cracks.

khal Calendar

Derek's calendar is synced via khal (connected to Google Calendar via vdirsyncer).

Common Commands:

# View today's events
khal list today

# View this week
khal list today 7d

# View specific date
khal list 2026-01-15

# Add a new event
khal new 2026-01-15 14:00 15:00 "Meeting with Alex"

# Add all-day event
khal new 2026-01-15 "Conference Day"

# Interactive calendar view
khal interactive

Creating Calendar Events:

# Format: khal new [date] [start] [end] "title" [-l location] [-d description]
khal new tomorrow 10:00 11:00 "Team standup" -l "Google Meet"

# Multi-day event
khal new 2026-01-20 2026-01-22 "Bitcoin Conference"

Sync Calendar:

# Pull latest from Google Calendar
vdirsyncer sync

When Derek asks you to:

• "What's on my calendar?" → Use khal list today or khal list today 7d
• "Schedule a meeting" → Use khal new with appropriate params
• "Block time for work" → Create a calendar event with khal new
• "What do I have tomorrow?" → Use khal list tomorrow

khard Contacts

Derek's contacts are synced from Google Contacts via vdirsyncer and managed with khard.

Common Commands:

# List all contacts
khard list

# Search for a contact
khard list john

# Show contact details (email, phone, etc.)
khard show "John Smith"

# Add a new contact
khard new

# Edit a contact
khard edit "John Smith"

# Delete a contact
khard remove "John Smith"

# Sync contacts with Google
vdirsyncer sync google_contacts

Use Cases:

• Looking up email addresses for drafting emails
• Finding phone numbers for meeting invites
• Getting contact details before meetings
• Adding new contacts after networking events
• Updating contact information

When Derek asks you to:

• "What's Alex's email?" → Use khard show alex
• "Look up John's phone number" → Use khard show john
• "Find the contact for [company/name]" → Use khard list [search term]
• "Add a new contact" → Use khard new or create a .vcf file
• "Get me the contact info for tomorrow's meeting attendees" → Check calendar with khal, then look up each attendee with khard show

Integration with Other Tools:

• Before drafting emails, look up recipient's email with khard
• When preparing meeting agendas, pull attendee contact details
• For conference follow-ups, look up contacts by company or event tag

GitLab Integration

GitLab data syncs automatically via cron and can be manually triggered.

Scripts Location: /home/raven/Projects/devRel/

Manual Sync:

# Run full daily sync (calendar + GitLab + Taskwarrior)
cd /home/raven/Projects/devRel && python3 daily_sync.py --sync-to-taskwarrior

# Dry run (print output, don't save)
python3 daily_sync.py --dry-run

# Generate weekly report
python3 weekly_report.py --dry-run

Cron Schedule:

• Daily sync: 8am every day
• Weekly report: Fridays at 5pm

What Gets Synced:

• GitLab MRs (review requested, assigned, authored, approved)
• GitLab issues (assigned, authored)
• GitLab todos
• Starred project activity
• Calendar events for the day
• Taskwarrior tasks

Daily Workflow Integration

Morning Routine:

1. Check daily tasks file: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Tasks/YYYY-MM-DD-tasks.md
2. Review calendar: khal list today
3. Review Taskwarrior: task list
4. Prioritize work based on MRs needing review (blocking others)

Throughout the Day:

• Create tasks as work items arise: task add
• Mark tasks complete: task <id> done
• Block focus time: khal new to create calendar events
• Check for updates: Reference the daily tasks file

End of Day:

• Mark completed tasks done in Taskwarrior
• Review tomorrow's calendar: khal list tomorrow
• Note any blockers for tomorrow

Weekly Review (Fridays):

• Check weekly report: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Tasks/Reports/YYYY-WNN-report.md
• Review completed tasks
• Plan next week's priorities

Creating Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes Location: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Meetings/YYYY-MM-DD-topic-or-attendee.md

When Derek has a new meeting or asks to prepare for a meeting:

1. Check the calendar with khal list to get meeting details
2. Create meeting notes in the Meetings directory with:
   • Date, time, duration, location/link
   • Attendees with contact info
   • Purpose of the meeting
   • Prep checklist (tasks to complete before)
   • Talking points from the calendar invite description
   • Discovery questions (for sales/intro calls)
   • Space for notes, decisions, and action items
3. Add a prep task to Taskwarrior: task add "Prep for [meeting]" project:[project] priority:H due:[meeting-date]
4. Update the schedule to include prep time
5. Sync calendar if needed: vdirsyncer sync

Meeting Notes Filename Convention: YYYY-MM-DD-brief-description.md Examples:

• 2026-01-14-skater-soapbox-discovery.md
• 2026-01-13-soapbox-team-meeting.md
• 2026-01-15-nostr-101-session.md

Building Daily Schedules

Generic Template: schedule-template.md (in this skill directory) Live DevRel Template: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/daily-task-schedule.md Schedule Output Location: /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Schedule/YYYY-MM-DD-schedule.md

When Derek asks you to build a daily schedule, create a schedule, or plan the day:

1. Read the live template at /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/daily-task-schedule.md (has current projects/milestones)
2. Read today's tasks from /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Tasks/YYYY-MM-DD-tasks.md
3. Check the calendar with khal list today
4. Build the schedule using the DevRel time blocks from the template
5. Save the schedule to /home/raven/Vault/Soapbox/Work/Schedule/YYYY-MM-DD-schedule.md

DevRel Daily Time Blocks:

Time	Block	Focus
8:00-10:00	Community Engagement	Nostr, social, answering questions
10:00-12:00	Code Review & Issue Triage	GitHub/GitLab, PRs, NIPs
12:00-13:00	Lunch & Async Catch-up	Email, calendar review
13:00-15:30	Development & Project Work	Deep work, building, shipping
15:30-17:00	Content Creation	Tutorials, docs, videos, social
17:00-18:00	Event & Conference Planning	CFPs, talks, travel, logistics
18:00-18:30	End of Day Wrap-up	Review, tomorrow's priorities

Weekly Focus Days:

Day	Primary Focus
Monday	Week planning, review metrics, set goals
Tuesday	Deep dev work - minimize meetings
Wednesday	Content creation - publish blog/video
Thursday	Community calls, AMAs, live sessions
Friday	Week review, documentation cleanup

Schedule Building Process:

1. Identify current time and which block we're in (or starting from)
2. Mark completed blocks as done
3. Layer calendar events onto the template blocks
4. If user adds new tasks: Add to BOTH the schedule document AND Taskwarrior
5. If user completes tasks: Mark done in BOTH the schedule document AND Taskwarrior
6. Prioritize tasks by:
   • Due date (soonest first)
   • Priority level (!!! > !! > !)
   • Blocking items (failed builds, MRs needing action)
   • Time-sensitive items (releases, meetings)
7. Assign tasks to appropriate blocks based on task type:
   • Code/PR work → Development block
   • Writing/docs → Content Creation block
   • Conference/travel → Event Planning block
   • Community questions → Community Engagement block
8. Note any evening commitments from the calendar
9. Respect the daily focus (e.g., Wednesday = content day)

Output Format:

# DAILY SCHEDULE — [Day], [Full Date]

**Focus:** [Weekly Focus] 💜🟠

**Tasks:** [[YYYY-MM-DD-tasks]]

---

### ✅ COMPLETED BLOCKS
[List completed time blocks]

### [CURRENT BLOCK EMOJI] [TIME] — [BLOCK NAME] (NOW)
**Priority Tasks:**
- [ ] Task 1 (priority/due info)
- [ ] Task 2

### [NEXT BLOCK EMOJI] [TIME] — [BLOCK NAME]
[Tasks for this block]

... continue for remaining blocks ...

### 🏠 EVENING COMMITMENTS
| Time | Event |
|------|-------|
| HH:MM | Event name |

Obsidian Linking

IMPORTANT: Use Obsidian [[wikilinks]] to connect related documents. This creates a navigable knowledge graph.

Daily Schedules → Daily Tasks: Schedules are derived from task files, so schedules should link to their source:

**Tasks:** [[2026-01-09-tasks]]

Weekly Reports → Daily Tasks: Weekly reports summarize the week's tasks, so they should link to each day:

## Daily Breakdowns
- [[2026-01-06-tasks|Monday]]
- [[2026-01-07-tasks|Tuesday]]
- [[2026-01-08-tasks|Wednesday]]
- [[2026-01-09-tasks|Thursday]]
- [[2026-01-10-tasks|Friday]]

Linking Best Practices:

• Source documents (tasks) don't need to link forward to derived documents
• Derived documents (schedules, reports) should link back to their sources
• Use [[filename|Display Text]] for cleaner display
• Links enable Obsidian's graph view and backlinks panel

Obsidian Tags

Use hashtags to make documents searchable and filterable in Obsidian.

Product Tags:

• #shakespeare - Shakespeare AI builder
• #ditto - Ditto social client
• #nostrhub - NostrHub dev platform
• #soapbox - General Soapbox work
• #divine - diVine creator platform

Activity Tags:

• #podcast - Soapbox Sessions podcast
• #jamsession - Monday Vibe Coding Jam
• #workshop - Shakespeare workshops
• #conference - Conference-related
• #meetup - Local meetups

Project Tags:

• #nostrnights - Nostr Nights events
• #bitcoin2026 - Bitcoin Conference 2026
• #btcpp - BTC++ conference
• #nosvegas - NosVegas event
• #aihack4freedom - AI Hack for Freedom

Status/Type Tags:

• #devrel - Developer relations work
• #nostr - Nostr ecosystem
• #aos - And Other Stuff collective

Tagging Best Practices:

• Add relevant tags at the end of task descriptions or in document headers
• Use 1-3 tags per item (don't over-tag)
• Tags in schedules help filter by project/activity type
• Consistent tagging enables powerful searches like #podcast #soapbox

Example Usage:

# DAILY SCHEDULE — Friday, January 9, 2026

**Tags:** #devrel #soapbox

---

## ⚡ 1:00 PM - Development
- [ ] Work on Shakespeare improvements #shakespeare
- [ ] Prep for Monday jam session #jamsession

Integration Notes

Works Best With

• xlsx skill - For expense tracking, invoice logs
• docx skill - For formal documents, proposals
• strategic-planning skill - For larger initiatives
• nostr-devrel skill - For Soapbox-specific work
• Taskwarrior - For all task tracking
• khal - For calendar management
• khard - For contact lookups (email, phone, details)
• Obsidian vault - For viewing daily/weekly task reports

Example Prompts This Skill Handles

• "I just got out of a meeting, help me process my notes"
• "Draft an email to follow up with [person] about [topic]"
• "What should my priorities be today?"
• "Help me prepare for tomorrow's call with [person]"
• "I'm overwhelmed - help me organize my task list"
• "Create a meeting agenda for [purpose]"
• "Turn this voice memo into organized action items"
• "Write a professional email declining this opportunity"
• "Help me set up a weekly review process"

Workflow Tool Prompts

• "What's on my calendar today?"
• "Add a task to review the PR from Alex"
• "Block 2 hours tomorrow morning for deep work"
• "Mark the Shakespeare demo task as done"
• "What tasks do I have for the soapbox project?"
• "Schedule a meeting with the team for Thursday at 2pm"
• "Show me my GitLab MRs waiting for review"
• "Create a high priority task for the conference prep"
• "What did I complete this week?"
• "Run the daily sync"

Contact Lookup Prompts

• "What's Alex's email address?"
• "Look up John's phone number"
• "Find the contact for Soapbox"
• "Get me the details for tomorrow's meeting attendees"
• "Who do I have contact info for at [company]?"
• "Add a new contact for [name] I met at the conference"
• "What's the email for the person I'm meeting with at 2pm?"

Daily Schedule Prompts

• "Build me a schedule for today"
• "What should I be working on right now?"
• "Create my daily schedule"
• "Plan out my day"
• "What's left on my schedule today?"
• "Help me plan the rest of my afternoon"

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