Information Management: An Important Part of Being Organized

Do you work with or know somebody that can accomplish a lot in a short amount of time? Maybe it seems like they glide through the day knocking out tasks and projects with little effort.

Meanwhile, are you a flurry of unorganized actions that lead to frustration and take much longer to accomplish a single task? The difference boils down to one word: organization!

3 Types of Organizational Skills

I have broken down the word organization into three categories: Contact Management, Time Management, and my newest category—Information Management. I have written, spoken, taught and preached contact management going back to my beginnings long before I was introduced to Palm Pilots and other digital means to become more organized with vital information about people.

Many of us started our time management on a planner or appointment book and slowly—and, in some cases, painfully—moved to a digital means of scheduling our time. I have written, spoken, taught and preached time management for many years to help all of us become more organized.

Information Management

I'm putting my newest category, information management, alongside contact management and time management as far as importance when attempting to become more effective with organizational skills. Recently, I was hired to build and design a one-hour webinar broadcast nationally to fulfill continuing education requirements for a host of different industries. Real estate was not included due to each state having its own guidelines and difficulty working on a state-by-state basis.

While doing my research and building the presentation, I realized most people do not have a system of information management. Yes, you can add notes to calendar events and contacts, but they end up somewhere you can't remember where you documented the information.

This lead me to the title of my new presentation, "Digital Note-Taking Tips and Techniques," a one-hour live session or webinar that takes a deep dive into Apple's Notes and Google Keep. For once, somebody is advocating a program or app that is FREE—and no need to upgrade when you fall in love with the features! Unlike CRMs, which can cost you up to $75 a month per user, Notes and Google Keep are free. There are also programs and app for time management which have a monthly charge—but again, Notes and Google Keep are free!

I plan on sharing some of the tips and tricks I have learned putting my new program together. If interested in a live presentation or a webinar covering the subject in detail along with handouts, please let me know!

Dick Betts is a national speaker, trainer and consultant. Learn more at www.DickBetts.com