There are times when my to-do list and calendar and inbox are all so cluttered and jam-packed that glancing at them for 10 seconds makes my head hurt. It’s in moments like this where paper suddenly becomes useful.
In today’s episode I rant a bit about why I hate paper but I end up giving paper mad props for being useful for at least one thing.
You can read my original blog post on why paper is a waste of space, yet an extremely useful productivity tool here.
LEADERSHIP QUOTE
“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte
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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
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JEREMY: Welcome to The Leader Assistant Podcast number six.
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<v SPEAKER_2>The Leader Assistant Podcast exists to encourage and challenge assistants to become irreplaceable, game-changing leader assistants.
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<v SPEAKER_2>And here’s your host, my dad.
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JEREMY: Hey everyone, welcome to episode six of The Leader Assistant Podcast.
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JEREMY: Today, in episode six, I’m going to talk about paper.
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JEREMY: Oh, I love paper.
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JEREMY: I’m going to talk about why paper is a waste of space, but also a very helpful productivity tool.
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JEREMY: This story or rant, if you will, is about why I hate paper and why I believe it’s a waste of space.
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JEREMY: Hate may be too strong of a word, but probably not that strong.
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JEREMY: I really do hate dealing with paper, printing out, faxing, scanning, signing, mailing.
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JEREMY: It’s 2019.
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JEREMY: When I’m recording this podcast, why do we have to deal with so much paper?
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JEREMY: Technology and computers and iPhones and Android devices are so advanced that there’s no reason we should be shuffling paper to and from.
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JEREMY: Yet some industries, I’ll say government, financial services, medical, insist that we print out a document, we sign it, we scan it, we email it.
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JEREMY: But then we have to mail it or sometimes we physically have to take the paper into a person at an office.
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JEREMY: And I just don’t get why they can’t accept a digital signature.
00:01:48.300 –> 00:01:50.600
JEREMY: Why can’t I renew my driver’s license online?
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JEREMY: Do they, does the DMV hate trees?
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JEREMY: It’s like certain industries really want to punish the world for moving on without them.
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JEREMY: And I imagine, sometimes I imagine their employees thinking, if I have to sort a bunch of paper in a filing cabinet in a musty basement, then I’m going to make sure our customers have to print a document, buy an envelope, buy a stamp, mail it back to us.
00:02:15.320 –> 00:02:21.180
JEREMY: Or better yet, I’ll make them come to this musty basement so they can experience the smells first hand.
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JEREMY: Yes, I’m speaking from personal experience, in case you couldn’t tell.
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JEREMY: One of the most frustrating things in office life, speaking of paper, is dealing with printers.
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JEREMY: I personally believe that printers have a special place in hell.
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JEREMY: They run out of ink, they jam, they don’t connect to Wi-Fi, they print blank pages, they leave streaks across your documents.
00:02:45.340 –> 00:02:48.960
JEREMY: But worst of all, they require you to buy paper and use paper.
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JEREMY: Again, with all the advances in technology we’ve had over the last 15 to 20 years, you’d think we could design it, that someone could design a printer that actually works.
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JEREMY: At least 78, 79, 80 percent of the time would be nice.
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JEREMY: But no, instead, having to print something is the last thing any of us want to do, because we know the printer is probably not going to work.
00:03:14.260 –> 00:03:17.660
JEREMY: But that’s my side note about how I hate printers.
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JEREMY: Back to paper.
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JEREMY: As you can see, I hate working with paper.
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JEREMY: I think for me personally, typing is so much quicker than handwriting.
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JEREMY: Digital files are so much easier to edit, share, and store.
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JEREMY: I never have to see them on my desk or keep them together with sharp metal objects.
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JEREMY: I use my phone or computer to take notes.
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JEREMY: I sign documents with my computer.
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JEREMY: I store files digitally with tools like Dropbox, Google Drive, and flash drives.
00:03:50.580 –> 00:03:56.160
JEREMY: But come to think of it, flash drives are most often used to take files I have to print to Kinko’s.
00:03:57.300 –> 00:04:03.480
JEREMY: But anyway, the point is I save a ton of time not dealing with paper, so I use digital files.
00:04:04.980 –> 00:04:09.820
JEREMY: Speaking of digital files, one of my favorite digital tools is a Google Sheet.
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JEREMY: That’s a two-column Google Sheet that I use for my meeting agendas and to-do lists.
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JEREMY: You can check out that template.
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JEREMY: I’ll talk more about this template in a different episode, but you can check it out if you want to try it out and download it at goburrows.com forward slash agenda.
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JEREMY: You can download that for free.
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JEREMY: But again, I hate paper, but I do want to talk a little bit about why paper is amazing and can be helpful.
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JEREMY: So even though as much as I talked about how much I hate paper, I still use it.
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JEREMY: I know I’m a hypocrite, but it’s true.
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JEREMY: I use it not often, but I do use it.
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JEREMY: So when and why do I use paper?
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JEREMY: I’m glad you asked.
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JEREMY: There are times when my to-do lists in calendar and inbox are so cluttered and jam packed that opening up my email for even 10 seconds might make my head hurt.
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JEREMY: So during moments like this, I’ll grab one small piece of paper or post-it note and I’ll set it next to my computer and I’ll jot down a bullet list of what I need to get done that day.
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JEREMY: In other words, I use paper when I’m overwhelmed.
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JEREMY: I use paper when I’m stuck.
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JEREMY: I use paper to help me get back to being productive.
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JEREMY: So yes, paper and printers are terrible, but don’t burn all your paper just yet.
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JEREMY: Paper can be very valuable when you have digital overload and need to just write down a couple of things and take care of business.
00:05:47.820 –> 00:06:12.060
JEREMY: Another side note I will say about paper is when somebody comes up to my desk and I’m in the middle of some big project or working on some document on my computer, I like to have a Post-It note pad, just a very small one, available so that I can grab that and write down what they’re asking me to help with so that I don’t have to finagle with my windows on my three monitors.
00:06:12.920 –> 00:06:22.380
JEREMY: So it’s another productive way to use paper is to just have it available in case you need to write down something really quick and address it later.
00:06:22.620 –> 00:06:30.400
JEREMY: So anyway, again, if you’re tired of paper, you want to use an easy digital tool to keep track of your to-do list.
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JEREMY: You can grab my Agenda to-do list template at goburrows.com forward slash agenda.
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JEREMY: So thanks again for listening to the podcast.
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JEREMY: Thanks for listening to my rant on paper.
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JEREMY: Again, I think it’s a waste of space, but I also think it’s a very useful in today’s digital age.
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JEREMY: That to every once in a while, we just need to take a deep breath, grab a piece of paper, and simplify our work lives.
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JEREMY: So we’ll talk to you next time.
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<v SPEAKER_2>The leadership quote today is from Napoleon Bonaparte.
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<v SPEAKER_2>A leader is a dealer in hope.
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<v SPEAKER_2>Check out this episode’s show notes at leaderassistant.com forward slash six.
