Can a $2 tool help make you a millionaire?

[Vigilante]

One of the smartest guys I know is the owner of a distribution company in Los Angeles, California.

20 years ago, he gave me a $2 discipline I still use daily. The discipline survives technology changes, strategy changes, and location changes. It survives business wins, and epic losses. It is a crutch, but a self created crutch.

The discipline? A legal pad.

He keeps one. He lives in the 2 block radius of Beverly Hills that every Californian is aware of, but most can't afford.

There are two critical tasks for the legal pad.

Task #1

• When he meets with someone, he has his legal pad handy.
• He takes notes
• When I was in pre-law, they taught me to take notes with a legal pad. Split the page by drawing a line down the first 1/3 of the page. Use the right 2/3 of the page to take notes (on whom ever is speaking) and use the left 1/3 column you made to write your questions so you can address them when the speaker is finished speaking.
• Even if you don't want the notes for later (you might...) the discipline of taking notes helps you concentrate on the speaker, and/or helps you appear to the speaker as if you are concentrating on the speaker

Task #2

• Every day, he uses a fresh sheet of paper as the "to do" list for that day
• We all have many things thrown at us throughout the day... put them on the "to do" list
• Put your milestone goals on the list
• Put your "shit I have to do today" things on the list
• Cross things off the list that you get done
• Carry over things to the next day's clean sheet that have to stay on the list

By the way, if someone comes in for an interview, or for a business meeting, and they don't have something to write with and something to write on, he assumes (maybe correctly) that they are not organized. This quick value judgment may or may not be fair, but perception is reality when he is the deciding factor in his sandbox.

After reading James Altucher's book Choose Yourself and his AMA thread on the forum, you probably have more need for a legal pad than just the above two things.

This strategy works for a multimillionaire who runs a hugely successful enterprise. It has kept me organized for the past many years. It might work for you.

 

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[biophase]

For all of you that takes notes on:
notepad
wunderlist
evernote
notes
etc...

Here is why I think using an actual legal pad is better. First, the legal pad, if done right sits on your desk and the tasks are staring at you all day. The goal is to cross out everything on the page and throw that page away at the end of the day.

If you don't finish a task, you are forced to rewrite it onto another page. This gets old if you write the same task 3-4x in a row.

You can physically tear off a sheet and crumple it and toss it into a garbage can.

I've tried the notepad, wunderlist, evernote, etc... The problem with these is that they are so evolved that you end up with tons of to do lists. You really only need 1 to do list. You don't need a bunch that are segmented by folders, task type, etc. Many times I miss things I have to do because I didn't see it on the list.

Unless you have it on your desktop and not minimized, you don't see your tasks.
Once your list starts getting old, you gloss over a task because you see it over and over again. You just begin to ignore it. This is where rewriting it daily helps.
The act of deleting a task does not feel as good as crossing it out.
The act of tossing away a page of completed to do's feels real good.

The biggest con is that if you forget your pad, it's not on the web for you to retrieve when you are out.

 

[Vigilante]

One quick point of clarification on the legal pad list.

As I was jotting some notes today on this, I realized I forgot to mention :

Don't write down anything on the legal pad you could immediately take care of.

For example, don't write down on the To Do list :

"Email @MJ DeMarco and tell him how his book changed your life"

Just do it. If it is something you could knock out effortlessly and immediately, don't write it down. Just do it.

"Call Mom Wednesday and wish her Happy Birthday" is OK (although I would put that in Google Calendar and not on my legal pad.)

However, if it is a phone call, email, or calendar reminder you could do immediately, take caution to do the things you can do now, and only record the objectives that can't be remedied in the same amount of time it might take you to write them down.

Don't let the legal pad become a source of procrastination. Force it to be the opposite.

 

[G-Man]

I told the story to a new employee as I gave her a legal pad. She looked at it like it was a foreign object. Millennial.

Several times I sent her back to her office to get it before she came to a meeting.

She lasted less than 30 days before I fired her. One of the main reasons she got fired was she couldn't keep herself organized.

Ironically, I just realized as I was writing this that I used a legal pad to create a checklist of the reasons I was firing her for her termination meeting.

I had to come to Jesus with my boss some time ago about my lack of organization.

Basically went like this:

Boss: You're very talented, but you're disorganized. No amount of talent matters if you don't even know what you're supposed to be doing. What have you done to get more organized?
Me: I've been working on it, I use evernote and trello, blah blah blah
Boss: I use a notebook and I tear the page out every day and rewrite the stuff for the next day on the page. Do that.
Me: I think I could mange more using apps on my phone blah blah blah
Boss: Who's more organized, you or me?
Me: You.
Boss: Who's more effective, you or me?
Me: You
Boss: So just do what I do, idiot.

Bastard was right. A 99 cent notebook from Wal-Mart and I'm more organized than I've ever been in my life. Also, kept me from getting fired.

 

[Andy Black]

I love my moleskine(s). I have a larger one that sits on my desk when I work from home, and a smaller one that I carry around when I'm on client sites. It sits nice and neat in my suit jacket. I also treat myself to a reasonably nice pen.

It's wierd. Just paying €15 for a pen and €15 for a notebook makes me feel like a million dollars. I also know exactly where they are, and don't have loads of cheap notebooks and pens lying around anymore... where I've only used the first page.

I type way quicker than I write, but your best work is NOT done at a computer. The computer is for executing, not for thinking. Justin Jackson wrote about it here.

Case in point... I meant to type up an outline for a course for AdWords newbies. After 2 months of not typing it up, I went to a cafe with my mini moleskin and had it written in 20 mins:

 

[liquidglass]

Speed + to Vigilante for this thread, thanks for such great points.

It reminds me of something I was reading about a facebook conference in silicone valley. Zuckerburg was speaking of course and the reporter noted that the ONLY two people in the room that were taking notes were also the only two people in the room worth more than Zuckerburg.

I am completely with Vigilante, always have something to write with and write on, always.

I keep two legal pads in my bag every day, one for notes when talking and listening the other for getting things done

I do take notes on my ipad at group meetings with my employees when I'm not speaking. I can always point out which ones are doing well or will do well by who takes notes.

I also have notebooks literally everywhere. I have a small 3x2 notepad in my cars center console, a notebook by my favorite reading chair, one in my nightstand, and I carry my favorite notebook and pen wherever I go. Even if it's just out to dinner or shopping with the wife. You never know when a good idea will hit you like a semi. Funny enough my carry around notebook has on it's title page "My Million Dollar Notebook" I put everything down I think of at any time of day, if I'm driving I use the voice recorder on my phone and make a quick note that I listen to and jot down later.

If you want to be a Millionaire or a Billionaire then take notes! (then act on them!)

 

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[Vigilante]

 

[Vigilante]

I told the story to a new employee as I gave her a legal pad. She looked at it like it was a foreign object. Millennial.

Several times I sent her back to her office to get it before she came to a meeting.

She lasted less than 30 days before I fired her. One of the main reasons she got fired was she couldn't keep herself organized.

Ironically, I just realized as I was writing this that I used a legal pad to create a checklist of the reasons I was firing her for her termination meeting.

 

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[MidwestLandlord]

Both the threads right now talking about legal pads and whatnot really reinforces the "KISS" principal.

People like to get fancy with their onenotes, "common places", day planners, schedules, time tracking apps, etc, etc, etc, etc.

But how much actually gets done?

During the height of my action-faking pursuit of organizational nonsense, I actually bought books on how to be organized. (in my defense, it felt productive lol)

"Buy multiple colors of highlighters and prioritize by color!"
"Make mind maps to discover what is important to you!"
"Make action plans for each topic!"
"Now that you read our book, buy our app that allows you to have 183 different tabs for individual projects so that you never miss an important task!"
"How to create a task funnel!"

Action. Faking. Bullshit.

1) write it down
2) get it done
3) cross it off

Simple.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Wunderlist is way better!

It's good however the old fashioned way is just as good, and perhaps better. Studies show that actual writing (vs typing) is better for memory and retention.

Writing stlmulates a bunch of cells at the base of the brain called the reticular activating system (RAS).

http://lifehacker.com/5738093/why-you-learn-more-effectively-by-writing-than-typing

 

[tormat]

I know for some, just the act of writing done notes help you to remeber them later (even if you don't use the notes or read them ever again).

I am not a big note taker myself, but this sounds like a decent thing to try. I use a white board for my task lists and such, but paper will be something iof a renewal

 

[jon.a]

Does a legal pad really cost $2 now days? I'm out of touch.

 

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[Aututto]

I was gifted a quality hard bound leather notepad holder. It's great; holds two pens, few business cards, and a slip on one side for other things.

Sorry but my arguments for notepads still being the best are these:

1. When do we learn the most? In elementary school. Now answer this, did you learn your primary language through writing or typing?

2. I can write all over a notepad. Make indentions, bullets, symbols, pictures (I guess if necessary) and so on. All much faster than I can do on some tablet or phone.

3. You won't have to worry about your notepad having a dead battery

 

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[yahdmon]

It is a fact, the orgainzed person gets more done and is more effective than the unorganized.
It is not something that happens overnight. It takes time to develop, as do all things of worth I imagine.

Thanks

 

[1PercentStreet]

View attachment 5526

Writing outside the lines, you rebel you, I love it.


I carry a legal pad everywhere I go, I was told before that to just use Word but I just love the feeling of writing down. I feel more involved and it helps me focus.

 

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[LightHouse]

Funny I have and use wunderlist, but i actually write all notes and to-dos on a yellow legal pad, which is on a clipboard on my desk.

Every morning i look at the written notes and put the todos in wunderlist. This way the to-do's are re-written and clear, and i can move through them in digital form.

All the notes from the notepad typically end up in digital form or shredded. They first though get written down, which is much more intuitive. If it's info I need to keep, it either goes in contacts, or evernote. The Legal pad is always the point of entry and being on a clipboard and yellow, its always the most noticeable thing on my desk and its mobile.

 

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[JEdwards]

I like paper. I like looking at figures on paper. I like looking at ideas on paper. It makes sense to me it works.

I use one of those 70 page notebook deals.

 

[Capital]

who cares just take notes

 

[CommonCents]

I use notepads as well to write down ideas, take notes, tasks as well but then put them into online calendar and task tabs. The unscheduled tasks always roll over and are up to date so I don't have to rewrite them. Digi calendars can be synced to be wherever you are at the moment, mobile, home, office.

I'm sure tablets with good digital pens and handwriting recognition will be pretty handy in the near future to simplify the process. I have a samsung note2 with a built in digital pen that does quite well for writing/scheduling now.

Without simple lists I get unorganized and unproductive in a hurry, and waste my little brain power just remembering what the EFF I'm supposed to be doing.


Edit: I also send emails to myself with various notes to be calendared or logged later, easy to copy/paste. As well as using Box or google docs, its easy to copy anything over to those and have a nice running time/date stamped conversation with yourself logging your notes To make it easier you could just scan or take a picture of your physical note page too w/out having to type them in.

If it isn't really a simple process for me I won't do it.

 

[mentalic]

I have been using a small notebook (instead of a legal pad) since day one. Very productive. I cannot think how someone could do without it. The whole point today is the amount of information you can process. And since you can put that kind of information on a piece of paper, you can take a lot of stuff out of your brain, and get back to them WHEN you need to. It is very important not to having to think 'I have to do this and that, what was I thinking yesterday etc...'. Just put everything in a piece of paper, and get back to that when you have to.

When executing a task, the feeling of crossing it out is very good Also, it feels very good when you brainstorm ideas (I keep the back pages of my notebook for that).

For all those freelancer professionals etc, your clients will love you when you keep notes about what they say. Professionals love other professionals that keep notes. They probably will trust you a little more. Also, by writing stuff on paper, you are constantly validating what the other person is telling you, and everything becomes more clear.

A small note about iPhone apps, etc. They are great, if you want to keep 1-2 tasks/day. However, if you write 10+tasks a day, with some description about each one, I don't know if that is productive. Also, a notebook/legal pad gives you the flexibility to organize stuff the way you exactly like it.

 

[LifeTransformer]

I use mini-habits rather than a notebook. But might add the notebook in for more specific tasks.

I agree with you @MidwestLandlord, all these tracking and "productivity" apps are nothing but navel gazing/time-sucking devices.

One of the strangest things I've implemented lately that is slightly O/T, is carrying around a piece of card with 1 large goal written on it. I can't remember where I picked that tip up from, but damn does it work! It sounds dumb, so dumb I didn't bother doing it when I first read about it. Now I wish I'd done it sooner.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Anyone else feeling bad about throwing away their paper when it´s done? I always feel like doing so eliminates a part of me.

I like saving the lists and throwing them in a 3-ring binder so I can review later.

Although I don't use a Yellow Note Pad for "to dos", I use the FL Daily. ((100 Days) The Millionaire TO DO List)

My yellow note pads are more for brainstorming concept ideas (for writing).

Every time I try to swap my To-Do list to something digital, it never works. Within weeks (sometimes days) I'm back to the old pen and paper method.

 

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[Dezzamondo]

A hard cover notebook holds all of my TODOs... keeps the pages clean and faster to reference too.

As always V, great post!

 

[PopEmersen]

By the way, if someone comes in for an interview, or for a business meeting, and they don't have something to write with and something to write on, he assumes (maybe correctly) that they are not organized. This quick value judgment may or may not be fair, but perception is reality when he is the deciding factor in his sandbox.

Was taught this lesson last week. I never bring anything to write with or on to any interviews, I usually remember what's said at the interview. Last week I had 2 interviews for a position and since I did not bring anything to either of the interviews, they went with someone else. I learned something that day.

What's funny is, whenever I go see a property for my RE business, I NEVER forget my yellow legal pad. Guess I need it for corp america too.

 

[SBS.95]

Wunderlist is wayyyyy better!

For to-do lists, I agree that Wunderlist is much better. It's free, simple, transfers your day-to-day tasks, and syncs between your phone and PC. But I would argue that the bread and butter of this advice is the "Task #1".

Writing notes in a legal pad helps you think more about what it is you are trying to jot down, at least for me anyway. Plus you can take the legal pad anywhere and write things down. I can't take my computer with me, and I sure as hell can write a lot faster than I can use a phone keyboard.

This is truly great advice, as simple as it may seem.

 

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[tamo42]

It's good however the old fashioned way is just as good, and perhaps better. Studies show that actual writing (vs typing) is better for memory and retention.



http://lifehacker.com/5738093/why-you-learn-more-effectively-by-writing-than-typing

It actually goes beyond that. Writing stimulates all three of the common learning modalities of visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), and haptic (doing). So you will learn the information no matter what your learning style is.

/teacher

Fun story about learning styles: I once had a girl raise her SAT scores by over 250 points in a week by teaching her to subvocalize the question in her head in her mental voice.

 

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[DaRK9]

I have an iPad case with a paper notebook on the other side. It works very well for presentations and any type of meeting.

 

[Andy Black]

EDIT: I am finding that a good way to capture knowledge and ideas is to post into a forum, and keep a master page that organises them.

 

[Vigilante]

Does a legal pad really cost $2 now days? I'm out of touch.

If you are an Amazon Prime member, you can get free shipping and $1 per pad...

Amazon.com: TOPS The Legal Pads, Legal Rule, 8.5 x 11.75 Inches, White, Perforated, 50 Sheets/Pad, 12 Pads/Pack (7533): Office Products

 

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[AndrewNC]

My legal pad is free!

It's called Notepad, and it's on my iPhone

-Grace

Going back to what Vigilante said about perception. If I were in a meeting and someone used their phone for that, I would automatically assume that they were texting/browsing their email. But for general ideas that I need to remember... I do the same thing