Simple Organization Techniques

Staying organized is a constant struggle for most people these days whom don’t possess a photographic memory. Being in sales, having several clients and even more projects to manage, I often asked myself and searched the web tirelessly for the best techniques.

Guess what I found? You guessed right! Hundreds of different recommendations, from apps and technology, to notebooks, post it notes and even tying a string on your finger. I even read suggestions from all sorts of from successful billionaires to famous scholars long before computers were around. I have myself tried numerous apps, several programs, various styles of to do lists and on and on and on…

That is why I wanted to share my recommendations; and just because they work for me doesn't mean there isn't something better out there. There always is!

1. Make a To-Do list daily

• Best Method: Get a small daily planner and leave it on your desk. Make your TO DO list the night before or in the morning of the current day Including Weekends.
• I like the planners that have 3 or 4 days per page so you can see your to do list from the previous day (this is if you didn't get to it, move it to next day). If you cant fit them on one page you have too many and need to be more specific. I really like this one as its inexpensive and does the trick. https://www.amazon.com/Blue-Sky-Monthly-Twin-Wire-Enterprise/dp/B0741X9J8P/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_229_bs_t_1/144-4322646-9237830?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=RQG7EPSKVYJGZV8D6W4A
• Get in a habit of making this your sole to do list and working in it every day. You will love to see at the end of the year how much you accomplished!

2. Have A Digital Calendar

• This is important not to confuse with a planner. The Planner is for to do list and the Calendar is to have all of your meetings, conference calls, weddings, Days off, Birthdays etc. You can put some in both places but I like to keep meetings digital as they send reminders
• Set the reminder time to 1 hour before the event. Also set the reminder for 15 minutes before the event so you don’t forget.
• Outlook, Apple, and Gmail calendar applications are my favorite but use whatever you are most comfortable with or which is compatible with your email account.

3. Get a Notebook with Dividers

• Yes, your heard me correct. Back in school we have big 3 ring binders with a section for each course and guess what. It works! Having several clients, I have experimented with having everything in one notebook and titling the pages per meeting vs having one notebook per client. Neither worked and ill explain why.
• One notebook for all my notes was compact and convenient, but it made it very hard to find old notes when i needed them on a spontaneous call or meeting. I found myself always flipping through pages and at times not finding what i needed. This didnt work for me.
• Having one notebook per client is great but what if you have 20 clients. Its a lot to handle and even more to travel with if you are going to see multiple clients in one trip. NOTE: If you have 5 clients this is not a bad practice.
• Digital notes? This can work but who wants to take digital notes in a meeting. This to me always seemed rude and although we always had to log our meeting notes into a CRM system, I didn't find this as easily accessible as my notebook. Also lets be honest, how often are you logging those in and are they as thorough as your in person notes. I think not..
• The solution for me is a little unique notebook called a disc notebook. Like the 3 ring binders we all used in school, this notebook allows you to remove pages and put them back into a new place in the notebook. Also, these are not as bulky and you can fit about 5 dividers into one. I always used two of them with 5 dividers each and organized them by geography. This way if i was going to all my clients in one area i could grab that notebook and know i wasn't missing anything. You can even get bigger discs as your notes grow or simply file the old notes elsewhere.
• Here is a link to the notebook I would recommend and also a link to the dividers. https://www.amazon.com/Staples-Customizable-Durable-Notebook-System/dp/B00J5UUIVW/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1517289298&sr=1-1&keywords=staples+arc+notebook
• https://www.amazon.com/Staples-Notebook-Dividers-Letter-sized-Assorted/dp/B00K6P3C22/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1517289346&sr=1-1&keywords=staples+arc+notebook+dividers

4) Siri, Alexa, and other Smart Phone Reminders on the Go

• This is helpful when you are driving and there are a million ideas going though your head. THIS DOES NOT REPLACE THE PLANNER. This is merely just a backup plan for anything you keep forgetting.
• EX: If I keep forgetting to get my oil changed. I will tell my phone to remind me every day at noon to get my oil changed until I actually do it.
• The reason this works is that it is annoying to see it come up everyday and eventually you will just go do it. You dont have to tell it to remind you every day but that is just an example. Sometimes with location based reminder you can ask it something like this; ex: “remind me to grab my gym bag before i leave for work at 8am”

5) POST IT NOTES

• Last but not least are the trusty yellow sticky notes.
• I like to use these to write an important phone number on or anything i really need to see in front of my face while i am working. I usually stick these on my computer monitor or laptop screen so I have to look at it all the time.
• Don’t overdo it or you will subconsciously learn to ignore them. These are very helpful for quick notes, reference numbers, important websites etc.
• NOTE: you can also use the digital sticky notes app on Windows that sticks them on your desktop background.

Good luck and Happy Organizing!