Today is Wednesday, so this post is on outstanding performance.
Outstanding performers make good use of their time and they are well organized. Today, I’d like to share an organizing tip. I’ve been using this idea since June of last year, and I have become much more organized and productive as a result.
Ready? Drum roll please….Use a notebook to keep a record of your daily activities in one place.
Too simple, you say. Not really. I used to carry around a couple yellow pads with me and use them to take notes in all of my meetings. Sometimes I put these notes in a folder pertaining to the meeting, sometimes I didn’t. I usually make a “to do” list at the end of every day and review it at the beginning of the next. The trouble was that these to do lists ended up in my briefcase, and I often didn’t refer to them during the day. I was also a great one for writing short notes to myself to myself to remind me of things I didn’t want to forget. By the end of a typical day, my shirt pocket might have five or six of these notes in it. Often, I acted on these reminders, just as often, I lost or misplaced them. Six months later I would find notes I had made to myself. By then, the time for the idea had come and gone, and these misplaced notes were of little value to me.
In June, I bought my first marble covered notebook since I was in grade school. Everyday, I enter my to do list. I also use it to take notes at meetings. When I complete something, I put a big X through it. Since I’ve been using this notebook, I have not lost one piece of information. The notebook is a running log of my business life. It’s something I’ve seen others do for years, but never tried myself.
Now that I’ve adopted this notebook system for managing my time and life, I’ll never go back to scraps of paper in my shirt pocket. Try using a notebook to manage your time and commitments. I’m confident that it will help you become more organized. And being organized is a great starting point for becoming an outstanding performer.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more common sense. Check out my other blog: www.CommonSenseGuy.com for common sense advice on leading people and running a small business.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
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