Dreaming
Editor's Note: In "Regain Control of Your Dream by Using OneNote." OneNote founder Rob Smith discusses why he's so passionate about the program. Rob will be presenting two presentations the "Scaling New Heights" conference focused on “Using OneNote to Maximize Personal Productivity and Task Management” (Wednesday, June 7, 1:30 p.m.), and “Implementing OneNote in Your Firm,” (June 7, 4:10 p.m.).
“The ‘Living Your Dream’ series focuses on improving your productivity to regain control of your dream. I have tried many ideas to become more productive, and OneNote by far has made the most impact.
Information overload and the inability to manage this information has been a big time waster over the years. I can't tell you how many times I learned something, saved it somewhere and couldn't find it again.
OneNote has allowed me to store, and quickly find, the mountainous amount of daily required knowledge I need to run my life. It doesn't matter if it relates to work or home. I can find it in OneNote.
OneNote is a Microsoft program that is part of the Office suite. The best way to describe it is to think of a virtual three-ring binder. If you can print it, save it to a file or take a picture of it, it can go into your three-ring binder.
Once you have it stored, you can access it from any shared computer or device. It can be used either on or offline.
OneNote also has allowed me to "duplicate" myself. When I first started, all my knowledge was in my head, and I would relay this information to a client or co-worker one by one. I grew tired of saying the same thing over and over, and evolved to creating Word documents that captured this knowledge.
However, I then struggled with the storage and distribution of this information. It was a bunch of individual pieces of information scattered throughout my server.
Once I started using OneNote, I started putting all my knowledge into one place. I can tell you where it is not sitting now:
- in a Word Document
- an email
- a scrap of paper taped to my wall
- in my head
- sitting in a random hanging folder
At first, I built this book of knowledge for myself. Yet after a while, I realized the questions my clients and co-workers were asking were contained in my OneNote. Instead of answering their questions one by one, I started directing them to OneNote.
There was resistance at first, but as soon as they realized they didn't have to wait for me to get back to them, they realized that asking OneNote was far easier. Once they started learning from OneNote, they started contributing to it.
I knew it had reached a tipping point when I was able to use something that someone had created. I also started using OneNote to help organize my home life. I consolidated my children's hectic schedules, planned vacations, saved receipts, clipped recipes, and much more.
OneNote wasn't just making my work life more organized, it was making my home life less harried. But just because everything was stored in one place, doesn't mean you can find it.
The search capabilities in OneNote are amazing. I once found a customer check from three years earlier by the company name on the scanned check. It will find words from screen shots. You also can filter your search by date, author or OneNote location.
If the information is in OneNote, you''ll be able to find it. The ability to transfer this knowledge is also a strength. Like many of you, I give all my clients information about saving money when purchasing checks. I simply search "purchase checks" and a page with screen shots of pricing information and check selection appears.
It also has a printout and embedded PDF of the order form. I simply email this page (along with the PDF attachment) and I have spent less than eight seconds from idea to delivered email.
After a while, after having witnessed numerous cases of time savings and locating "lost" information miracles, I started talking about it to clients. I realized they had the same problems with information I was having. I have since built an entire business around consulting OneNote implementation to my clients. This has given me a very unique toolset.
I'm able to up-sell services to my existing clients. I also have found I now can get my foot in the door with new clients. They already may have an accountant, but no one has an information organization expert.
It doesn't matter the size of the company, from a one-person startup to a Fortune 500 company, everyone needs help organizing information. So, if you're having issues dealing with information storage and retention, attend one of my OneNote classes. We will be giving real world examples on how to implement it in your home and work life.
You can find more details about each of the sessions in a downloadable document located here: Download Course Descriptions.
Reminder: As your ever-faithful Sherpas, we stand ready to guide and encourage you along your chosen path. If you would like to consult with us about your path, please email me at coliver@woodard.com or Liz at ecolley@woodard.com.
Be sure to tell us your goals and what you hope to learn so we can recommend appropriate paths for your upcoming learning experience at the 2017 Scaling New Heights® conference.
Rob Smith is the owner of OneNoteForAll.com. After seeing the transformative power of using OneNote at his prior CPA firm and clients' businesses, he formed OneNoteForAll.com to provide a platform to help teach other professionals the power of OneNote. Prior, he was a partner at the accounting firm of Gordon, Stockman & Waugh in Peoria, Ill. He has taught at numerous industry conventions, state CPA conventions, SCORE, and Small Business Development Center seminars. He has taught a college level QuickBooks class at Illinois Central College. He also earned the Elijah Watt Sells Award with High Distinction upon passing the CPA examination.