As seen in the Dayton Daily News on June 21, 2014.
Many of you attend meetings, whether for work or your personal lives. You often leave feeling overwhelmed with all the notes and paperwork from these meetings.
As the speaker gives ideas or explains their expectations, you take notes on a single pad of a paper. You write down everything, line by line. Later, you shuffle through all your notes looking for what you need to do.
When I attend meetings, I use several pieces of paper, so I can quickly separate the notes based on what actions need to be done.
I’ll use the National Speakers Association meeting I attend as an example. I go to these meetings to perfect my skills as a professional speaker, gather marketing ideas and network with other speakers.
Each person is given an agenda, various informational flyers and notes from the presenters with their tips for success.
The first thing I do is start a trash pile, since I am usually not interested in all of the items passed out.
Next, I only write down ideas I know I will use after the meeting is over. I watch others frantically trying to write every word that is said during the meeting. I find when I try to capture everything, the important items no longer standout.
When I organize offices for others, I often find these lengthy notes in piles on the desk, because they are too overwhelming. These notes would be more meaningful if they just wrote down a few very important items instead of every idea shared.
As I take notes one question comes to mind, “Will I be the one who carries out this task?” If so, I put it on my to-do list. If not, I start a list for someone else.
Sometimes, I hear an idea that my assistant, Amy, would be better at carrying out, so I start an Amy list.
I often hear marketing tips that would work for my business, so those ideas go on lists for my marketing team.
If something is being covered during the meeting that doesn’t pertain to me, my mind sometimes wanders. I might think of a tip I want to share with my newsletter readers or an idea for this organizing column. I write these items down, because I might not remember them later. I title sheets of paper, “Ideas for Newsletter” or “DDN Article Ideas.”
Once the meeting is over, I have several sheets of paper with various notes, the handouts, plus trash. Before I leave the meeting room, my trash pile goes in the recycle bin.
When I go back to my office, I have everything in order. I give Amy her list and put my to-do list on my desk, while the marketing, newsletter and newspaper ideas go in their designated folders.
The agenda and any notes pertaining to the association go in my NSA speaker folder.
I now have a list for what I need to do and ideas tucked away for future use.
Meetings are a part of our lives. Make the most of them by separating trash, ideas, reference notes and to-do items during the meeting, so you will be much more productive once the meeting is over.