Data Entry: Do It Once, Do It Right. But Most of All: Do it Now.

If you put things back after you use them, you never have to do any tidying.

If you take the care to build something properly, you won't have call-backs and upset customers. We all know that. But while many trades have the motto, do it right, do it once. It doesn't always apply to record-keeping.

Better Than Your Brain

When the phone rings and you're out in the field you may have to jot something down on some paper, but as soon as you can, get it in to SimPRO. Your brain is not the right place for critical business information. Once it's in the cloud, you'll never lose it. You'll never forget what they said and go and quote on the wrong thing. And you give others the ability to help carry the load because the data is now permanent, organised, and publicly accessible.

Cognitive Load

The less you download in to a system, the more you carry in your head. The more there is in your head, the higher the cognitive load. It doesn't matter how smart or hardworking you are, that takes energy to maintain. Energy that will exhaust you, and could be better spent on doing your job. Remembering things that should be in a computer is not your job.

Schedule Everything

The concept of immediate data entry applies to scheduling as well. Schedule as much as you can as soon as you can. Scheduling is an orderly plan for the future, a roadmap which provides a clear guide for the next week, month or year. This reduces the anxiety which comes from having no plan, but it also stretches those tasks into the future, giving you a sense of space and freedom from overwork. Without a time allocated to a task, everything is due now.

Being able to tell customers, "We are booked until the 16th," removes the burden and anxiety of having to make scheduling decisions on the fly and helps prevent being over-committed or double-booked. It has the added benefit of providing the customer clear expectations and a consistent experience.

Quiet Heroism

Being organised pays off in the form of invisible saved work. It's not glamorous, but instead of being a hero rushing in to save the day, pulling all-nighters and working yourself to death, you're avoiding all that by simply being organised. Instead of putting out fires you're keeping the matches out of reach of children.

The habit of immediately externalising important information into a reliable and publicly accessible source is a large part of good admin, as well as mental well-being. Get it out of your head and feel the load lighten.