Why Not Have a Better Year?
It’s Never Too Late
There is one habit guaranteed to help you with your work. If you aren’t doing this, please give it a try. It’s easy, and it works.
I always have a simple pad and a few mechanical pencils handy. Pencils are great because they don’t smear and they always work. It’s frustrating to grab a pen to write down a phone number only to have it skip or fail halfway through. Use a pencil. I buy basic mechanical pencils by the box. They are cheap but don’t feel cheap. I always have a couple with me—in meetings, people often want to borrow them.
If you get a good notebook (sketchpads are the best), writing and sketching is a pleasure. The paper is designed to take a pencil. It feels good. Mistake? Easy, erase.
Keep a pad and a few pencils at your desk, in your car, and by your bedside. Take a set into your next meeting. Never be without.
Once a week, I rip out and discard notes I no longer need. Sometimes I cross off the items done and leave the remaining. It is amazing how much I get done. Clients and friends constantly compliment my recall. Calling a client? I look at the notes on her case before making the call. Working on a web project? I write down that RGB value after checking it in PhotoShop. Spot a mistake? Make a note to fix that after my meeting.
This sounds like a simple thing. It is. But it’s VERY effective. Below this post, you can see the pencils and pads I use. The pads are somewhat expensive but these are very good quality. They lay flat and don’t take up much desk space. (There is a cheaper version available at Wally World. The paper isn’t as heavy and the pads are about half of this price.)
Chris Reich, TeachU
Pencils I use:
Here are the Pads:
It’s never too late to adopt a practice that will help your work. Never