email is not dead

Technology is not one-size-fits-all. It is important to find what works for your organisation. This is especially true of communication technology where the choice has mushroomed over the last decade.

Is sending an e-mail more efficient than making a phone call?

If you just need to pass along information or ask a quick question and don’t need to discuss the topic, e-mail may be the most efficient way of doing so. E-mail also has the added benefit of leaving an 'audit trail', a record of correspondence.

If you find that you often need to call someone back to confirm information you previously discussed, or are often in situations where you cannot take notes, using e-mail would enable you to have all that information available in one place for quick reference. And now that we have email available on our smartphones, it is a much more flexible form of communication.

Hyperactive!

So the hype over the iPad is dying (or at least slowing). What does the iPad mean for productivity? Almost nothing. Eveything that can be done on an iPad can be done on a Netbook. Sure, the iPad looks great .. and 'instant on' is a real convenience ... but it won't improve your business!

So, as ever, sort out reality from hype .. and test out the words of others. People get paid lots of money to make new products sound really good. Of course, sometimes they are ... but more often than not the hype fails to stand up to your testing.

The second lesson is, of course, that your hype - when you talk about your own new product or service - should not overdo the hyperbole. Reasoned information is more effective in the longer-term.

Don't read the paper

Documents on your desk that have not been used for a month can be considered clutter. Clear them off the desk and recycle them – they are clearly not needed.

If concerned they might come in useful eventually, use document conversion technology to convert paper piles to digital files.

Stored electronically, the miscellaneous reports, presentations and memos that often clutter a desk, are easier to file, quicker to locate, take up less space and less time is needed when searching for them.

Plan It - and Do It!

Occasionally leaving something undone works ... circumstances overtake you and the original task is overtaken.

Much more often, however, leaving a task undone simply piles on more pressure ... so make sure you have a system of task planning and reminders.

This may not be a formal system - it might be a set of post-its pinned to your PC though I would recommend one of the many systems that link to your smartphone so you get reminders wherever you are ... I use ToodleDo but there are plenty around ... for free.

"If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it." Olin Miller