How I’m becoming paperless

The past couple of years I have tried and failed and tried and failed to become paperless at home and in the office.  I think I’ve posted a few times about my attempts and then eventually I give up because it becomes difficult to maintain.  I will admit that it is not the easiest thing to do and I find myself many times a day reaching for a pen and paper to jot down a quick note only to remember that I don’t keep pens or paper on my desk.  I do that on purpose because I know that if I keep either of those on my desk I will fail in my attempt again.

I’m still not 100% paper free around the house but I will say that most of the time I am conscious of when I do reach out for something paper because I still have not found a better method and when I’m just being lazy and don’t want to be bothered.  I think the trick is to make being paperless as easy or easier than not being paperless.

It’s been a month and so far so good.  How did I do it this time?  Why is it that so many other times I failed and this time it seems to have stuck?

Remove Temptation

Like I said above, I removed all the temptation from my desk.  I removed all little post it notes and little pads of paper from my reach in my home office.  I no longer have that post it sitting right to the side where I can just jot down a phone number, or a quick note to remember to do something later.  I have to say that doing that was 99% of the battle.  Not having it around me forced me to be creative and instill a habit I needed to have to find a solution digitally instead of physically 🙂

Find the Apps that Work for you

Reminders on my phone:  When I just need to take a quick note I usually speak it into my phone to remind me later of what I needed to do.  I do this when there is really no other way capture that thought or idea.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been outside with the dogs and I remember something I have to do.  I quickly pick up my phone and tell Siri to remind me to … blah, blah.  Whatever it may be.

Notion for all other stuff:  for office and life related things I no longer have a notebook where I keep notes and a planner when I keep my personal life organized.  I keep everything in one place.  I have on life and one body and things make more sense together in one place.  The things are together but I can filter by areas of my life:  Work, personal, health, family, etc.  It’s working for me and it’s keeping me on track.  Notion was a great find for me.  It allows me to organize my life the way I am able to make sense of my life and I’m not stuck to a pre-selected process created by someone who does not think like I do.  I create my own way of staying organized.  For me this was half the battle…. staying organized and on task.  The last few times I tried going paperless I gave up because I would get frustrated because I could not find things when I needed them.  Notion has a search option where I can search for things if I can’t remember what notebook or folder I’ve put them.  However, I will have to say that because I created the system to work with my brain I, very rarely, use the search feature and am able to find things when I need them just by going directly to the location that makes sense for me.  what’s best?  Notion has an app on my phone, my iPad and my computer.  I am connected to my to do list all the time.

I’m planning on doing a video or a blog post about notion in the future.  I’m still learning all the ins and outs of it and I’m sure I’m not using it to it’s fullest capacity yet.

Scanning and filing away:  I have to admit that this is very slow going.  I have so many papers stored in my office that I feel like this is going to take a while and if I’m going to be completely honest this is the area where I’m most afraid of getting frustrated with.  I have started scanning somethings and keeping them in folders in my computer.  There are things I will have to keep in paper form and those will be stored in the safe.  Things like my mortgage papers, mine and my husband’s licenses, you know the normal government stuff that will need to be available in paper form when the government needs them.  The rest of the stuff is ready to be scanned and filed away.  I’ve created folders on my computer where I’ll put things in and will be able to get to them wherever I am…..I am looking forward to that day.

The grocery list:  We have been using our reminders app on the phone where we add items we need when we remember or think about them.  We share that particular reminder folder with each other and it’s always available.  So no more of him calling me on his way home from work to ask what it is that I need, if anything.  All he has to do is go on the app and it’s right there for him.  Once the item is purchased we check it off on the app and the item goes away.  So no more of the two of us are out buying duplicate things or not having what we needed because we forgot the list at home.  Now if I could find a good coupon app and incentivize him to use it….. that would be amazing 🙂

So what is it like to be more paperless?

I don’t know about you guys but both my husband and I are very paper heavy.  Not to mention that we’re old and we are always taking notes on little pieces of paper and leaving those around only to see them a week later and not remember what that note was about.

No more being somewhere and remembering something but not having a pen and paper on hand and telling myself that I will remember it later when I get back in the house where I can write it down…. I never remembered!!!!!!

Less clutter is also good.  I no longer have a million little notes all over my desk where I wrote down that password, or someone’s number to remind myself I needed to call.  My desk is a lot cleaner and my brain is at peace because I know that a computer will remind me to make that call and will have the phone number right there in front of me when the time comes to make the call.

So far this paperless thing is working for me.  This has been the longest stretch of me not needing a pen and paper everywhere I go.  I just need my phone and I’m free roam and stay on track and organized.

Have you tried to go paperless?  How did it work?  any tips for me?

Four Tips for Managing a Remote Team

Photo from ReadersDigest No copyright infringement intended. 

Working remotely is becoming increasingly popular.  Why shouldn’t it?  Remote work benefits both the company and the employee.  The employee is able to work in a much less rigid environment and not waste time commuting back and forth allowing, or aiding, in a better work/life balance (note that I’m not a fan of that saying and I don’t believe it can ever be achieved).  It benefits the employer because it is extremely less expensive than having to pay the overhead of having employees in an office which is becoming less and less economical.

However, working from home has some drawbacks.  Such as not having the face-to-face time with the higher ups which for some may mean less chance of promotions.  The thing I found the hardest was not having the daily conversations which allow me to get to know my team on a more deep level and therefore allows me to be a better manager.  Not everyone is the same and the more you know each member of your team as an individual the better you are at foreseeing “problems” before they arise.  Even though these are some very important examples, there are things we can do to minimize them. Here are four tips I use to make sure things run smoothly.

Clear Org Charts

Make sure everyone knows who management is.  Especially new employees.  Make sure they know to whom they report and to whom they should go for answers.  I’m not a believer “in the boss is not to be bothered” or even that unless you’re at a certain level you should not be talking to anyone above you.  However, but there are some people that are not as deep in the trenches of the day to day minutia and most likely will not know the answer to the smaller questions.  A clear org chart will give the new employee a connection and a roadmap of where to go as well as a better idea of where they stand and the possibilities of where they might go.

I am a strong proponent of including a little information about what the person does so as to give the employee a better idea of who will be able to answer a specific question.  For example, I would not go to a technology person to ask about legal research and probably not a project manager, although some have been paralegals or have been around the block so much that they can probably do legal research or at least be able to answer where to find the information.

Communication – Clear and Transparent

Giving clear instructions and information is always important.  Possibly in the top three of importance.  But never more important than when the team is remote.  Make sure every member of the team understands the “ask” of the project and what their particular job is within the project.  The way I manage this is to, after meeting with the team and giving them a brief background of the project (why we’re doing it and who needs it) I follow it up with an email confirming the steps we all need to take.  I invite the team to ask questions at all steps of the project.  I let everyone know that my in-office messenger is always available to them for a quick question and, because I’m only human, I let everyone know that I don’t always have the answers but most likely I know where to find the answers or at least find someone who knows the answers.

As for transparency?  Set up check-in points with the full team and perhaps individually.  This will depend on the project.  It is important to give honest feedback and if something isn’t working it is important to share that information with the team.  Who knows, they may have a solution and a fix for the problem.  Be honest and up front if a mistake is made and clearly state it.  Ask for feedback and move on.

Two Way Feedback

It is important to provide your team members with immediate feedback.  It should never be a surprise when you are sitting at the end of the year review or at a mid-year review that there was something you did when you were in charge of project A or B.  That is not the time to come up with what could have been done better.  I am a firm believer in always giving feedback.  Good or bad.  This goes both ways.  I very ofter ask my team members to provide me with feedback.  This helps me make sure we are all on the same page and if I need to make changes to the way I manage.

The Right Technology

What can I say about this?  It shouldn’t even be said but there are many occasions when a team member is not able to do their job because some part of the technology is not working.  Make sure every team members is aware of the type of access they need, they know where to go get it and if they don’t have it or need special access you immediately approve all the requests.  I usually try to set up a few minutes during our first launch meeting to make sure everyone on the team is set up appropriately and if not I ask them the make the requests at that time.  This way we are all on the same page and I am able to approve all requests at the same time.

Can you think of any other important aspects of managing a remote team?

 

 

 

RedactIt Software

Last month I received an email from, Jessica, a representative of Burk & Company LLC, asking me if I would do a review of a software application called RedactIt.  At the time I was getting ready to go on vacation so I asked that she contact me after vacation and I would look into it.  As promised, Jessica emailed me when I got back and we scheduled a meeting with a representative of RedactIt.  The meeting took place over another application called GoToMeeting, and because I work a full-time job and cannot be available during the day while I’m at work (I don’t think the boss would appreciate it) we scheduled it for Good Friday.  I know, I know, not very christian of me.  But one’s gotta do what one’s gotta do.

I want to thank all that were present at the meeting for taking the time on a holiday weekend to walk me through the application, which I have to say; looks amazing.

For about one hour I was able to see and experience a small sample of what the software is capable of and came away not regretting my decision to agree to do the review.  So why have I not done a review yet?  I still have not had the time to download the application onto my computer.  I am hoping to do that this weekend and then test it for 15 days.  Jessica did mention that if I needed more time I could just call and they would allow me more time on my trial period.  I intend on taking full advantage of the application and provide you with a thorough review of it. Just give me a few weeks.

My initial thoughts?  Well, during the meeting I was advised that the software is not Mac compatible and although I can download Parallels on my Mac, I do not want to go that route.  In this house we are Mac people and the only PC I currently own is a notepad that I absolutely hate.  I stressed that this is a very important upgrade for me and if it is important to me, some of my readers may feel the same way.  Despite this Mac compatibility problem my first impression of the application is good and I am looking forward to testing it on my own.

Have you gone green?

These days you cannot open a newspaper or a magazine or even turn on the television without being told that you should go green.  I have to admit that I’m not there yet.  There are some things that I just need to have in my “hot little hands.”  There are a couple of things that I am, however, trying to do:  I am trying to read more on my iPhone (it’s not as small as you might think, it’s actually pretty easy to read); I have subscribed to paperless billing whenever it is available; I pay most of my bills on line, except for one which really annoys me because I don’t like writing checks; I never get a receipt at the MAC when I get cash, choosing instead to just enter the amount withdrawn on my electronic ledger on my iPhone.  So you see?  I am trying to do my part.

The two areas at which I am not so good are my research and the files in the my office that contain warranties and instructions on the various household appliances and electronics.  I have not figured out what to do about those things.

When I research I feel like I need to highlight and write notes on the margin.  I need to see it and touch it in order for it to feel real.  For some reason I get a sense of accomplishment when looking at the piles of paper that lay on top of my desk, sometimes so massive that I can barely see the desk.  Sometimes, I am embarassed to admit, they are so huge that I feel overwheled and wind up being less productive.  So, if I’m having so much trouble with going green why am I writing this post?  The answer is simple, I want to be rehabilitated.  I want to join the 21st century and be up with the times, I don’t want to have to purchase or change toners anymore, they are expensive and messy to deal with.  I want to ensure that my files are going to available when I need them and not mistakenly destroyed or misplaced.

Jim Calloway wrote a great article on July 28, 2010.  Why you need to switch to digital client files now. Although Mr. Calloway is writing about “client files” his points can be made about anything else.  After reading his article I am vowing to finally get rid of the paper files and transfer things to my computer files.  However, I need help.  Do you have any ideas on how I can ease myself into this?