For the last few weeks I have had some problems synchronising my Treo with my laptop, so I have not had all my telephone numbers with me, nor have I had my appointments from my computer up-to-date and with me at all times.

Here are some of the silly, expensive, time-consuming and embarrassing things I’ve done to cope while out and about:

• Called directory assistance multiple times to get numbers I need
• Called our office manager multiple times to get numbers I need
• Successfully logged into our online contact database through the web browser in my Treo (after a few tries and wracking my brain to remember the password), only to be told the page was too big to be displayed. Called my husband, asked him to log into the database to get the numbers I need (our office was closed).
• Told people our appointments were tentative until I could get back to my computer, then had to remember to email and confirm
• Called people to double-check the time and place of our meeting

This is crazy…and I’m supposed to know better! How many minutes of my own time have I wasted? How many minutes of other people’s time have I wasted? How many times did I skip making a call to move something forward because it was just too much trouble to get the number? How many first impressions have I squandered?

I can’t afford to lose this much time or that many opportunities…so I’d had enough and decided to fix the problem.

Total # of minutes it actually took to permanently fix the problems with synchronising: 46

It really goes without saying that I wish I’d done this sooner.

Now it’s your turn…

What persistent, time-consuming problem could you solve (or get solved by someone else if you don’t have the time/tech skills, etc.) in less than 46 minutes that will improve your ability to function more effectively on a day-to-day basis? What can you sort out that will ultimately save you time, save money or improve your ability to make money?

I urge you to go for it – do it TODAY. Set a timer to see just how few minutes it actually takes. Then enjoy the rewards of this effort!

Filed under: Address Booking, Protecting Your Stuff, Sharing Information | No Comments »

Many thanks to all of you who have sent kind wishes my way and prayers
upward on my behalf. The recovery from my carpal tunnel release surgery has
been frustratingly slow…but steady. Without being able to use my hands much
for the past 3 months,  I have had a lot of time to think and rearrange my
life so it beats to a slower rhythm. I had almost forgotten how to turn on the
television, but worry not – we have now gotten caught up on both seasons of Heroes
and are following American Idol faithfully!

Besides indulging in silly TV shows, we have been getting ourselves
ultra-organised at home, particularly in the area of "Address Booking," a term coined by one of our WorkFlow program
participants last month. I love this phrase, which describes
how and where to store all the contact details of our family, friends and work
relationships. Like many people, we had partial data in a few different places
and are usually too busy in December to sort everything out in time for a
Christmas letter! We decided it was time to solve this problem once and for
all.

As a household that sports both PCs and Macs, we chose to go with good ‘ol Plaxo because it is web-based and allows us to
synchronise family contact data with the Mac address book as well as Outlook on
my (annoying but unavoidable) PC. We can all access or update the information
from anywhere, anytime. We can also share our family calendar through Plaxo.
Set-up is quick and easy…and it’s free!

If your Address Booking could be better organised, why not set
aside a couple of hours to sort it out? You’ll be SO glad you did – as will
your family and friends who would love to hear from you. I sure hope ours still
remember who we are…!

Filed under: Sharing Information | 1 Comment »