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Mandarin - good idea on the smart phone. I think i will try that , i need to leap into tech world from the paper notebooks and carrying a camera to all the bid jobs. Thanks, Doug
Great suggestions. I like 'em. Looks like I have some new things to think about. Things get crazy around here sometimes and I can get a little behind.
I make list always the night before, but as soon as I get into the office, it all goes sideways.
James
I merged paper and tech. I have a dated book that I use that for a to-do list. Appointments and contacts on blackberry. The most important is that your to-do's are always out in the same place. I read a pretty good book about this, titled "Don't check your e-mail in the morning". It is more geared toward employees but had some good stuff.
4:02 PM
February 1, 2006
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Another solution, more on the high tech side, is a laptop/ pda combo. I leave a laptop in my truck and have a plam treo 700 phone. They both can talk and share with each other. Every night, I make my call lists, to do lists, and appointments on the laptop then send it to my phone. Now, all day, I have my daily agenda on my hip with it backed up on my laptop. In addition, email can be sent/ received to the phone, eliminating end of the day email overload. It also has a camera and video camera. This is great on estimates when you need pictures for your bid. The pics can either be emailed to someone or uploaded to your computer for editing or including in your proposal. Lastly, the treo can be set up with outlook. Now, all of your info from outlook, contacts, email addresses, emails, etc. are on your phone.
James, Do you use Outlook? If so...
What I do is at the end of the day is take all notes and numbers I have written down on loose paper and notebooks. I use the Notes option in Outlook and just type in all the info I have scatter over my desk. Then i just trash all the loose paper and start fresh the next day. I found this to keep me well organized and my desk much cleaner!
That is something I do right now. I guess, more around the office. When the phone calls come in and your writing the info down and then another phone call comes in and then another. You know how it can get.
10:14 AM
Yes, James, I used to have exactly the same problem finding the notepad that I had with me for that meeting.
My solution is low tech, but it really works. You know how they say everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten . . .
So, now I fixed the problem by using one spiral bound notebook for every meeting. I take notes in the same notebook and I can always find it. I can also look back at the notes from previous meetings about the same topic, and that really impresses people when I can recall what was discussed last time. I write down the date of the meeting and who was in attendance at the top of the page.
I even found some really fancy/leather covered spiral notebooks (for about $5 each) in Office Depot. They look like a leather portfolio and are great to carry around. When I fill it up, I simply get another notebook and start anew.
Try it, you'll like it.
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