The Resurgence of the Index Card
I’m as guilty as the next person of an over-reliance on technology and constantly entertain the thought that if I cut back on my usage of my laptop (ha!), I would somehow find myself more productive. Trying to find that killer app for each software category, and then _learning_ each new piece of software seems to be a never-ending cycle that keeps any actual work from getting done, while keeping me “busy”.
With the resurgence of the index card, via the Hipster PDA among other ideas, I’ve thought of going that way, especially since I’m not a fan of iCal and gave up my Palm when the screen shattered. Of course, that’s another system I’d have to learn, and so then I’m right back at square one. I love the speed of the system, but carry a tiny voice recorder as a last-resort for those situations I can’t pull out the canson or the powerbook.
Stephen Labuda has an interesting system for dealing with his sales/networking efforts, and while reading the post I was getting sucked into the low-tech mindset again, until the end of the article, when he details the “upgrades” he’s considering for additional functionality; adding support for birthday reminders, specific dates not within the current month, etc.
Immediately, I remembered why I know I’ll never follow through with the low-tech system, as enticing as it sounds. Applications like SugarCRM create the exponential functionality (birthday reminders, projected income from leads, intertwined relationship management) that makes the low-tech solution antiquated. A well thought out interface & workflow would make the high-tech solution that much easier to implement. If you know of an app that combines the ease-of-use and project management of Basecamp with robust CRM, do tell!
Of course, you don’t get a hipster label with a proper CRM solution, but I’m not sure fashion/lifestyle labels should be my focus in planning my workflow . . .
Thanks for mentioning the article. When I left my palm pilot behind, I did so because I felt like technology was slowing me down and I really just needed a system to help me stay in touch with prospects and networking contacts. I still use my PC to manage my contact list and rely on the index cards only for daily time management. Birthday reminders, etc, are not a problem for me because I use Plaxo which sends me birthday reminders by email (to my blackberry). Upgrades are intended to add that one little feature that the basic system does not include, but it is really the simplicity of the basic system that makes it work so well.
SugarCRM is great, but hard to fit in your pocket. It is also kind of hard to make notes into the system while you are in your car between appointments.
Thanks again for the feedback and the thoughtful comments on the post.
Stephen, I totally agree with you about the Palm slowing you down – I kept trying to utilize it to its fullest, but it mostly got in the way. I’ve found that a Moleskine works well for on-the-go notes – they have their own cult too (moleskinerie, ninth wave designs, 43Folders) – because I get really distracted when trying to keep written items in separate places, i.e. “Wait, no! I can’t write that in THIS notebook, it needs to be in that one!” – more of a distraction than a help for me. Thanks for your thoughts as well – you’re my first commenter!