Monday, July 8, 2019

The Productivity Tools You Never Knew You Always Had

Pen* and paper.

They're inexpensive and easy to obtain. Batteries are not required and disposal is mostly environmentally friendly. There are no storage limitations (other than the availability of shelf space or an empty drawer) and while there are no passwords required they remain free from security risk so long as you're in physical control of the notebook.

My first boss taught me the value of using a notebook and I still keep one on my desk at all times. When I remodeled our first house, I kept track of things in a spiral notebook - everything from contractor bids to receipts which was extraordinarily useful after the hot water heater burst, requiring us to do the work all over again.

When I was a stay-at-home parent, I carried a notebook with everything in it from the kids' soccer schedules to health insurance numbers for the entire family. When they got bus cards, I kept track of their login information to reload bus fare. It was an invaluable, mobile, and easy-to-use tool that helped me keep track of a very busy family.

Sometime during the 90's, I went electronic and started carrying what was called a PDA (personal digital assistant). Mine was the Cassiopeia made by Casio. It came with a writing stylus and could do some pretty cool things. Beyond keeping appointments, it could translate my notes from script to text which was a neat trick. The kids could draw pictures which served to amuse. I used the spreadsheet function to keep track of golf scores and handicaps for the entire family which kept us all competitive.

Then, came smartphones. Now, you can pretty much keep track of everything on your phone. You would think pen and paper would be obsolete but I say no!

Have you ever picked up your phone and then forgotten why you picked it up? Most likely, you got distracted with a notification or message. Pen and paper have no such distractions. Plus, pen and paper don't seem as invasive in social situations. For example, let's say someone mentions something you want to remember for later and you take out your phone. Rude! However, if you take out pen and paper, you appear interested, smart, perhaps taller and even better looking. Plus, it takes less time in, my opinion, to jot down a reminder to circle back to later.

I admit that I don't carry a notebook anymore but I'm a huge fan and keep one at my desk. When I need to make a quick list of tasks that I want to tackle, I can jot them down. It relieves by brain space from having to keep it all in my head which reduces stress for me. Sometimes, I'll attack the list by doing the most important thing first. Other times, I'll do whatever seems easiest just so I can cross it off my list. Still other times, I just set the list aside. If it sits there long enough, I find most of the stuff wasn't all that important in the first place.

A notebook is also a great place to make notes of important conversations and recalling information is easy. Even minor details can be recorded facilitating a timeline, if needed. (I remember I called my credit card company about that issue on the 21st and spoke with ....) Or a follow up. (I'm calling about the the refund that you said should arrive in two weeks.) Or where you left off. (I left off with "Smith" in the client review last week when I got interrupted with another project.)

Need to be more productive? Write it down. On paper.

Okay, put a reminder in your smartphone first.



* Pencil, if you prefer.

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