Personal BatchBook Usage Tips: Completed To-Dos, Notes to Self, and SuperTagged Birthdays
- Posted March 26th, 2008
- Filed under: Using BatchBook
It has been quite some time since I wrote for the “Using BatchBook” category, and I wanted to share some of my personal BatchBook usage tips.
To-Dos: Complete vs. Delete
You may have noticed that we have a “Done” checkbox as well as a “Delete” button with every task on your To-Do List. Why?
We used to have tasks disappear immediately when you hit the “Done” checkbox. There was a very “instant gratification” feel to it. But at the end of the day, I found myself thinking, “Hey wait—what did I actually get done today?”
Now during the day, I check items as done—and they are not removed from the list. At the start of the next day, I delete all the finished tasks and start the same process over again.
Notes to Self
Often during the day, you just need to write something down. Of course, being a web kid, I don’t grab a pen. I have to do it digitally. What I found myself doing was opening up a text editor, typing my note, saving it some random place, and then forgetting about it. I figured there had to be a better way. I’m already using BatchBook pretty much all day every day, so why not just do it there? Enter Communications.
From my own contact detail, I choose the “log new communication” button and record a comm as if I was having a chat with someone else—though it is really a chat with myself (no, that’s not weird). Then I save my communication with a “note-to-self” tag. This way I can pull them all up at once. You can delete your notes-to-self as you’re finished with them, or you can keep an archive of all the times you felt the need to talk to yourself. Your shrink will appreciate the digital paper trail.
And of course: SuperTags
The #1 way to customize BatchBook for your own data needs and workflow preferences is SuperTags. Not only can you tag your contacts however you’d like to organize them, but you can also add extra fields every time that tag is used.
Michelle already wrote about how she and I used SuperTags to track information about people we met this year at South By Southwest. We were able to track where we met each person, whether we needed to follow up, and what the action item was. Additionally, we could have tracked anything else our hearts desired—you can create text fields, multiple choice options, and more.
Another example of SuperTagging use is how I track birthdays in my personal account. Chances are, if I actually know someone’s birthday, they are a family member. So, I have a “family” tag that I turned into a SuperTag. I added a “Birthday” date field to it so now I can track birthdays for all family members, view and edit all birthdays in the same place, and generate a report of just family members’ birthdays.
We’ve heard from a few users about unique ways they are using SuperTags. One online publisher is using SuperTags to track information about advertisers and contributing writers. A recent email from a customer told us how he is using SuperTags to track feedback from courses he teaches. Many people have noticed SuperTags are a great way to track lead generation—by only keeping tabs on the information you need.
Do you have any BatchBook and SuperTagging tips you’d like to share?
