How do you keep track of....

[Mike(VA)]

....everyday things that happen on the job, or need to happen? Small things, not project schedule things. You are on a job and see something that needs to be done, but later. You remember you need to call about something tomorrow morning. You are talking to a sub and promise to get back to him with an answer.

How do you keep track of the little, every day things that can become big things if not dealt with timely? Paper notebook, whiteboard, laptop, hand held pda, plain old memory? Each has there pros and cons, but I need someway to note down this stuff even if I have to consolidate later. Something easy to carry around since notes could be made at the site, in the truck, even trying to get to sleep.

Add to that several projects going at one time. Is it hopeless?

[OGStilts]

I recently started using rememberthemilk.com for my to do list. I like it because it doesn't matter if I add tasks on my phone or on my computer they are constantly syncing up. If you are talking about having project managers or superintendents relaying what goes on at the jobs on a daily basis to you back in the office, I recommend you check out ChrisW's thread about daily job reports.

[Allrounder]

scraps of sheetrock, scraps of lumber, whatever is handy. The problem is that it's easy to lose these or throw them away.

I downloaded an app called AK Notepad for my droid and I've been trying to use that instead. Its a handy free app that's easy to use.

[Blue]

scraps of sheetrock, scraps of lumber, whatever is handy. The problem is that it's easy to lose these or throw them away.

I downloaded an app called AK Notepad for my droid and I've been trying to use that instead. Its a handy free app that's easy to use.
Yep walking around with a laptop and fax machine is just not logical for me. Neither fit well in my pouch. Plus I don't ever want to be that guy on the site that is tapping his phone constantly.

Daytimer combined with sticky notes will never be topped IMHO.

[y.painting]

You MUST have a system. For years, I was in the scrap-sheets category, but it is just unsustainable when your list of to-dos is large and diverse.

I am a cult follower of GTD (Getting Things Done) (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280).

The main point of the entire gtd system is that "you will be more productive if you take the set of things you need to do out of your head and put them down on paper (or some other written form). After that’s done, you can then focus on the tasks at hand and not worry about forgetting stuff, enabling you to focus better, get individual tasks done faster, and then move right on to another task without skipping a beat. It seems incredibly simple, but I can attest to the fact that this core idea works like a charm."

Throughout the day, I record all to-do's in a tiny pocket book. One to-do item per page. I have tried electronic means before and it simply fails for me.

I have an "Inbox" at the home office. Literally, a paper tray where I throw all of these notes in. All mail, invoices, receipts, everything goes in here.

I then go through each item that makes it into the inbox at the end of every day and ask myself the following:

Is this item actionable? (ie is it something to be worked on/done?)

-> If NO, then there are a few choices

Trash it
Put it in Someday/Maybe file (tickler file, hold for review)
File it for future Reference (retrievable when required)


-> If YES, then there are a few choices:

Do it now (ie something that needs to be done right away like calling my insurance agent or something)
Delegate it (waiting for someone else to do it)
Defer it (put it on my calendar with a firm date attached when it has to be done)


I have struggled for years to get better organized...I had too much stuff floating in my head, stuff to be done now, stuff to be done later. All of this was a major distraction to getting anything done.

I swear, this Getting Things Done system has changed my life for the better! It's nothing revolutionary, but it forced me to stay better organized and to have everything dumped (both physically and mentally) in a central place (the inbox) so that I don't have to worry/think about it during the day. If you're disciplined about doing "end-of'day" reviews of the inbox and then "end-of-week" reviews of your tickler files/project folders/etc, you'll be much better organized and have a lot more free time! I'm not endorsing anything, but anyone who manages multiple projects and struggles to juggles a lot of stuff in their life, I highly recommend reading this book and following the authors advice.

http://www.kelvingoh.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/my-current-workflow-system1.jpg

[RCP]

Great post Y! For school, because I have 3 separate job descriptions, this works great for me. I am constantly getting stopped in the hall or classroom and asked for something, the staff and students all wait for me to write in my little notebook that is always in my pocket. I get handed sticky notes as well, they go in "the book". It works great because I can often combine tasks from multiple requests.
As far as the construction site, Rob uses the voice memo on his phone, every night he plays them back for me and I can take actions.

[orson]

For awhile I was using a free service whereby you can call and leave a voice message and it generates an email to you with the text of your call.

Unfortunately the free service stopped being free, but I think it was effective enough to be worth paying for if the cost is low.

[Mike(VA)]

The little book in the back pocket reminded me of the little green 'memorandum' books we had in the Navy. I used to use them religiously but they fell out of favor when I left the service and couldn't get them any more. I do have a few I scammed from a friend so if I can just remember where I put them. Maybe I need to write a note somewhere to look for them. :idea:

[RCP]

I like something like this, the ones with the spiral wire are a little too bulky and tend to catch on your pocket. I have a case that I just put refills in.
http://s2.thisnext.com/media/largest_dimension/138632AF.jpg

[Eieio]

I use Google calendar and The feature in Elms to plan and remind me of everything..

I am planning on buying one of the new 7" tablets after the prices drop a bit.

I write down damn near everything in Google calendar.. If I get a bigger device that is a bit more mobile, I think I would include more detail.

As much as I like the ability to do it on the phone, it is not a complete replacement for a net book or laptop.

Even though I must say the speech to text function on Android phone makes taking notes, a bit more pleasurable but I enjoy typing while I think.

[Bodger]

I still have phone numbers written in Sharpie on the inside of my truck bed from 2006. :grin:

[Len]

You MUST have a system. For years, I was in the scrap-sheets category, but it is just unsustainable when your list of to-dos is large and diverse.

I am a cult follower of GTD (Getting Things Done) (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Productivity/dp/0142000280).

The main point of the entire gtd system is that "you will be more productive if you take the set of things you need to do out of your head and put them down on paper (or some other written form). After that’s done, you can then focus on the tasks at hand and not worry about forgetting stuff, enabling you to focus better, get individual tasks done faster, and then move right on to another task without skipping a beat. It seems incredibly simple, but I can attest to the fact that this core idea works like a charm."

Throughout the day, I record all to-do's in a tiny pocket book. One to-do item per page. I have tried electronic means before and it simply fails for me.

I have an "Inbox" at the home office. Literally, a paper tray where I throw all of these notes in. All mail, invoices, receipts, everything goes in here.

I then go through each item that makes it into the inbox at the end of every day and ask myself the following:

Is this item actionable? (ie is it something to be worked on/done?)

-> If NO, then there are a few choices

Trash it
Put it in Someday/Maybe file (tickler file, hold for review)
File it for future Reference (retrievable when required)


-> If YES, then there are a few choices:

Do it now (ie something that needs to be done right away like calling my insurance agent or something)
Delegate it (waiting for someone else to do it)
Defer it (put it on my calendar with a firm date attached when it has to be done)


I have struggled for years to get better organized...I had too much stuff floating in my head, stuff to be done now, stuff to be done later. All of this was a major distraction to getting anything done.

I swear, this Getting Things Done system has changed my life for the better! It's nothing revolutionary, but it forced me to stay better organized and to have everything dumped (both physically and mentally) in a central place (the inbox) so that I don't have to worry/think about it during the day. If you're disciplined about doing "end-of'day" reviews of the inbox and then "end-of-week" reviews of your tickler files/project folders/etc, you'll be much better organized and have a lot more free time! I'm not endorsing anything, but anyone who manages multiple projects and struggles to juggles a lot of stuff in their life, I highly recommend reading this book and following the authors advice.


Great post!
This is one thing I need to get mastered also.

This is a good system. Where I think most people fail is the putting it somewhere. The key is to make your initial notes on whatever is comfortable for you. Some like paper notes, some like voice notes, some like digital. Whatever you prefer doesn't really matter. It matters that you WILL use it.

I love technology and have tried many digital products. But I still prefer my notebook.

Here are a couple of digital solutions I like.

Jott - http://jott.com/
I love this for when I'm out and get a call asking me for something. I just call Jott (my account) and tell it what to do, add to my calendar, send an email or add to my todo list (supports remember the milk) etc. It transcribes my voice (by human so it's very accurate) into what I requested.

Evernote - http://www.evernote.com/
You can keep notes of everything from every where. A slight learning curve, but with tags, categories, timeline and the ability to add huge variety of media you can keep track of a lot of information.

Basecamp - http://basecamphq.com/ (http://basecamphq.com/?referrer=LEONARDTUMA)
Basecamp is more focused on giving each project it's space to manage tasks and files.

[y.painting]

Where I think most people fail is the putting it somewhere. The key is to make your initial notes on whatever is comfortable for you. Some like paper notes, some like voice notes, some like digital. Whatever you prefer doesn't really matter. It matters that you WILL use it.

Couldn't agree more. Just follow the main principle of "record it somewhere where it will be easily retrievable for you"....just get it out of your head, whether it's electronic or hand written.

The key with this system though, and this will make or break whether folks are successful with it, is doing end-of-day(week/month) reviews of the recorded stuff. It's too easy to fall into the trap of feeling that you've accomplished something after recording it. You have to be disciplined in going over each item.

My principle is that I only handle each item that's in my "inbox" once. This is crucial! I literally force myself to decide on the spot what's going to happen with each thing in my "inbox" at the end of everyday and I only make that decision once. Either I will not do anything with item X (in which case, I either toss it or file it in the filing cabinet) or I will do something with X (in which case, I either do it right then and there or assign someone else to do it or I put it in a to-do pile with a firm "due by" date attached to it and recorded on my google calendar).

For example, I just went over an appointment card I got from the Dr's office on Friday. Is it actionable? -> yes. Can I do it now? -> yes. I recorded the date of my future appointment in my google calendar and tossed the card.

I also just had a few personal cc statements in there. Actionable? -> yes. Do it now? -> yes. Go over the charges quickly to make sure everything looks ok. File the statements using my filing system. They're retrievable later.

I read a book review earlier this week. The book looked interesting, but I don't have the time to read it now. I wrote the name of the book on a note. That note was in my inbox today. Actionable? -> yes. Do it now? -> no. Defer? -> yes. I added the name of the book to my ever growing "To Read" list and filed it in a place where I can retrieve it later.

Etc for the rest of the stuff.