Julie Bestry | | “Love is not written on
paper, for paper can be erased. Nor is it etched on stone, for stone can be
broken. But it is inscribed on a heart and there it shall remain
forever.”
Paper is not love, folks, and the things written on paper (with the exception
of declarations
of love) are not deserving of so much of our space, time and effort
that we inconvenience ourselves, our loved ones or our productivity.
I understand why my residential clients sometimes get hung up on paper,
but I have to say, the most fascinating and perplexing things come
about when I force (and yes, sometimes I need to be extremely forceful)
business clients to face their loose papers. With many
people, I think it's not the paper itself, but the powerful sense of potential
the piece of paper reflects in the eye of the beholder.
I've seen professionals hold onto business cards for prospects whom
they've never revisited--five, even ten years after the first (and
sometimes, only) contact. To them, as long as they have the
business card, there's a potential that the prospect will someday
become a million-dollar client. And yet, the object of their
dreams is like the little red-haired girl who is the object of Charlie
Brown's affections, but to whom he never actually speaks. The
prospect's name never gets into the system, no more than a passing
thought is given scheduling a follow-up activity, and more often that
not, the loose scraps of names and phone numbers aren't organized in
any system more complex that sedimentary-rock layers.
There's a better way.
I have a wonderful client who has incorporated many organizing systems
and skills into his repertoire, and his life is far improved from the
clutter-laden stress cubicle I first encountered. However,
he's had one habit of which we could not break him: writing
everything on scraps of paper.
Mr. Wonderful Client operates two businesses: a brick-and-mortar retail
operation with multiple locations and a multi-level marketing company
for which he has literally thousands of contacts. He's
also actively involved in his children's lives and is a
devoted husband, son, brother and friend, a volunteer for his alma
mater and his house of worship, and a man with many disparate
interests. Even if you didn't know this about him before you
saw his office, a cursory look at the mountains of loose scraps of
Post-It® notes, scribbled envelopes, doodled napkins and notes on the
peripheries of unrelated faxes and letters would clue you in to all the
activities and thoughts pressing upon him.
We tried multiple "cures" to rid him of his excess scraps.
Let me share some of the advice and options I'd offered him:
- Carry one
notepad everywhere (attached to a clipboard if necessary),
if you prefer the hard-copy approach.
Too often, I'll make Mr. Wonderful fork over whatever lump of papers
are in his pocket. While he knows he's not supposed to write
on napkins, corners of golf scorecards or the backs of deposit slips,
there are days where he'll mournfully pass a rubber-banded ball of
thrice-folded and mushed scraps. I hold out one offending
item at a time (as the lumps usually contain a stew-like mixture of
receipts, ATM slips, business cards, phone numbers (with no associated
names) and confirmation codes) and ask "OK, and what's the purpose of
this?", and we work our way through the pile, making sure everything
eventually gets handled properly. A day late and a dollar
short, he agrees, but when I ask why he wrote a prospect's name and
phone number on a take-out menu, he cringes and admits he didn't have
his notebook. And where are you supposed to have your
notebook?" I ask, waiting for him to repeat one of my rules, like a
catechism of organization. "Everywhere except the bathroom,"
he sighs. That's right. Carry your notepad
everywhere, like your Universal
Hall Pass!
- Put every new
topic, notes on conversations or transcribed message on a new page,
with a datestamp (and timestamp, if helpful). Follow up each issue on
that particular page until you can tear it off and either file it as
archival, use it as a task reminder in a tickler file or throw it away.
Very often, this client has previously written ten names on a piece of
paper, with the intention of following up with each about one issue of
interest to all of them. I pointed out that by trying to use
the one piece of paper for all people, he's eliminated his ability to
follow up and refer to notes on all conversations with any given person
on the list. I used the example of a doctor's notes.
We've all been to our doctor, and if we take an interest,
we'll see that the nurse has written our BP and other vitals either
just after the final notes from our previous visit (months or years
earlier), or on a fresh page in our patient folders, with that page
atop the next most recent (as medical records are usually in reverse
chronological order).
With this device, you take your notes with a special pen and paper, and
your handwriting is stored for later uploading into the computer for
use in a word processing document, spreadsheet, contact management
program or presentation software. Basically, your handwriting
magically becomes typed text! This option is great for the
person who can be convinced to carry that Universal Hall Pass
absolutely everywhere (except, the rest room); it ensures the
information is captured, but makes it far less likely that the user
will let the oh-so-easily accessed and organized information fall into disuse.
- Use uniform
alternatives to a notepad. If you can't write on
an actual notepad (say, if you're in restaurants, the restroom or on
the golf course) or you know yourself well enough that you believe you
just won't do it, you can still save yourself--if you're willing to
embrace technology:
1) Call
the "office" version of yourself and leave voicemail
messages regarding tasks and phone numbers. Once back at the
office, instead of transcribing messages onto scraps, immediately program
phone numbers into a PDA or your computer's contact management software
to bypass paper altogether. Once you've done
this, the urgency of handling the information is reduced. You can then
use your calendar, To Do list or tickler file to schedule your
follow-up.
2) Use Jott
to skip over the intersection of inspiration and perspiration.
In other words, if you've got no problem grabbing someone's
digits and then either writing the info down or calling your voicemail,
but you can never be bothered to take it a step further to actually
enter the information in your contact management system, Jott saves the
day. You can check
my blog post from a few weeks ago for how it functions in
depth, but basically, you call
Jott and leave a message which will then be
transcribed and emailed to you. For free.
Then, when you return to the office, you won't even have to
type the information, as you'll be able to just copy & paste
from email to permanently record the information.
3) Use
your digital device to text the office version of yourself
to a)record the person's information and b)plan a follow-up.
4)
Use the "message" button on a cell phone to record quick
reminders for yourself. Then, set a daily alarm right on the
cell phone to remind you to listen to your messages and copy the
information to where it belongs.
5) Learn
how to use your fancy-schmancy cell phone if you've got
one that actually has a built in database. Don't just learn
how to enter data, but get some in-person lessons on how to sync with
your computer to back-up the data, and make sure the computer's contact
system also will back up to your phone/PDA (without creating duplicates
or wiping out important information).
Mr. Wonderful Client became adept at catching himself from writing
tasks on scraps of paper and he eventually succeeded at using his
tickler file to keep all his action-oriented papers flowing smoothly.
He even got better about transferring contacts. But
the snowy flutter of phone numbers and small details (price quotes,
confirmation numbers, etc.) scribbled on miniscule pieces of paper
continued unabated until one magical day. As we worked our
way through a small pile, it struck me that perhaps his own devotion to
his wife, family and gentlemanly upbringing could work in our
favor. I wasn't sure how he'd take it, but I said I thought I
had a solution to the loose paper issue.
I shouted "NO MORE
FLOOZIES!"
He titled his head in confusion.
"Stick with me, here. Y'know how a good man, such as
yourself, may sometimes feel passionate and want a kiss?"
This giant of a man blushed and nodded. "But you love your
wife and are magnificently devoted. No matter how much you
want a kiss, you're not going to grab any loose woman who saunters
by. You're going to wait until you can take your wife in your
arms. Those loose women are floozies, and they're bad for
you…LOOSE PAPERS are FLOOZIES, and your notepad and message system is
like your wife. You must stay faithful!"
My client's wife (that would be Mrs. Gorgeous Model-Client) was nearby
and suggested that she could be supportive by threatening to give him a
(playful) slap every time she saw him "cheat" with the floozies.
Silly? Absolutely. A perfect solution?
Absolutely not. But the key
to all organizing systems is that they must be customized to the user.
No matter how well a gadget works, if you don't internalize
the notion of WHY your ill-advised behaviors are actually hurting your
productivity, progress will be difficult.
What works for Mr. Wonderful Client may not work for you, and vice
versa, so you should be willing to experiment, and in doing so,
personalize your approach. Don't worry if the organizing
system in a best-selling book or taught by a famous professional
organizer isn't perfect for you—allow yourself to be creative and
develop a narrative or mythology that works for your mindset.
If loose papers are the bane of your existence, consider invoking the
support of others and your own conscience: steer clear of floozies!
--
Julie Bestry, Certified Professional Organizer®
Best Results Organizing
"Don't apologize. Organize!"
organize@juliebestry.com
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