Detailed Notes Can Save Your Sanity

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When I was working in the advertising world as a production assistant, I was advised to always carry a notebook and pen with me. Taking detailed job notes or writing down questions from others on the account team ensured that those tasks would get completed and that I would have a complete understanding of the job before leaving their offices.

This turned out to be the best advice I ever received from my boss.

Now that I’m working in the online world the same advice holds true. No, I’m not physically walking from office to office but I’m still working with many teammates, all of whom have different types of jobs, different deadlines, and different requirements.

And I learned the hard way last night that I still need to write down detailed notes in order to work most efficiently.

Taking the extra minute to carefully label your audio files can be a life saver. Include detailed information about the music/artist, interview guest, client name, air date, etc. Anything and everything about your audio file should be listed, either on the label or in a separate note that you can easily find at a later date.

Same is true for your written documents, especially if you have multiple drafts of the same project. Label each draft carefully with different version numbers so you always know which is the most up to date.

Remember that your time is valuable. Don’t waste it searching endlessly for a lost file.