HUMAN RELATIONS

Put Low Priority Requests in Your PhoneBook "Promises" List

by Rich Hall

"If you hear of anything, would you let me know?" It's a common experience to hear a request like this, then to have the very item the person was looking for show up on your desk a week or two later. The problem is that, by the time the item shows up, often you can't remember who asked you for it in the first place.

Examples of "Promises" might include:

  1. 1. One of your clients is looking for an inexpensive way to get to England. You say you will let him/her know if you hear of anything in the future.

  2. 2. A friend asks if you know of an art studio for rent in the area.

  3. 3. Someone asks you if you could volunteer time at the local high school. You will get back to them when you have the time.
For most of us, examples like these come up frequently. A "Promises" entry in your PhoneBook can keep these things on the back burner and still give you a chance to help others when the right time comes.

ON THE PALMTOP You can enter low priority requests such as the one above, in a PhoneBook entry titled "Promises" that stays at the top of your PhoneBook items list. This way the information is not lost to a Database file that you never open, but is still out of the way until you need it.

To set up your Promises entry, in PhoneBook press (F2) (Add). Type "0-Promises" in the Name field of the Phone Item screen, press (F3) (Note), and enter any low priority requests you want to remember. Then press (F10) (OK) (F10) (Done). Putting the "0-" in front of the title sorts it to the top of your PhoneBook list. Every time you end up at the top of your Phone Items list, you will be non-intrusively reminded of your Promises list, and can check it if you feel so inclined.

PhoneBook Items screen showing "0-Promises" entry at top of list.

Other uses of this technique Any non-pressing items you want kept in your awareness can go into this type of PhoneBook entry. Entries could include videos you want to see at some point in the future, or a list of your life goals.