Use The Right Tools
Ever tried to open a door with a hammer? Did you notice the difference in comparison to using the door’s key? Getting and using the right tools can make that much of a difference on how your business runs, and how much you have to work to make it run.
Getting the right tools doesn’t necessarily mean buying expensive software, fancy computers, or complex apps. It just means using what’s right for the job. More often than not, what’s right is fairly simple. It gets complicated (and time consuming) when you’re using the wrong tool for the job.
If you have any examples of great or horrible job-tools combination, I’d love to hear them!
1. Using Excel as a CRM (customer relationship management)
2. Using a laptop with a small screen resolution when designing a website that should be optimized for the most widely used screen resolutions
3. Not knowing you need a good project management tool and using paper, documents, and stickies to manage your to-do lists, tasks, and ongoing projects instead of using a good web app!
4. Using your phone or email to manage your contacts (instead of using an integrated web app)
5. Using Windows default programs to backup your files by copying them regularly onto an external drive (instead of using a lightweight and efficient backup tool)
And the list goes on… Oh well, I’ve learned a few things the hard way!