2019 reflection question

Posted by thouqht
Jan 3, 2020 at 12:48 AM

My business blew up (in a good way) and my first child was born - I realized I had no time to mess around crimping.

What did I do? I went all in on a single platform for myself and my team. In this case, office 365 was the best fit due to a balance of power, cross platform availability, multi-user support, and integration between programs.

In many ways, doing this was a way to delegate my software decisions (to Microsoft) instead of having to constantly question what to use and look for improvements/upgrades.

So instead of trying to build an ever upgrading tapestry of “perfect” tools (i.e. CRIMPing), I decided to take flexible tools and MAKE them work so I could DO MORE work.

Between OneNote and Excel (mostly just OneNote), I can basically do anything. Yes, specific tasks are not as easy as some more specialized tools, but it doesn’t matter because of how much time is saved because the programs simply work and I’m no longer fiddling.

Funnily enough, in forcing myself to use these more “basic” tools - I’ve ended up massively refining and improving my personal information management systems & structures. Tools matter, but the systems you use matter more.

A good paper-only system will lead to much greater productivity than a weak system built on the hottest tech.

I’ve even come to embrace the slower pace of certain actions as a way to move and think more deliberately.

Anyway, that’s what I’ve learned in 2019!