Hi -

No, you didn't miss the February Tip; I did. Sorry. For the first time in years, I was just flat out too busy to get it put together. So to make up for it, this month I'm sending a"double issue."

Lots of exciting stuff's been happening, including a talk in early March to an overflowing room at the ASPPA 401(k) SUMMIT in San Diego. (Any speaker will tell you a full room raises the energy level and we had a lot of fun). The feedback was very positive and I hope to return again next year. Financial Planning magazine attended and wrote about part of my segment on knowledge journaling in their April issue ("5 Questions" - page 28), distributed earlier this week.

I realized it's been years since I've run a Tip on that journaling concept -- and the ASPPA experience coupled with an email I recently got from an advisor with $800 million under management who wrote to say that knowledge journaling "has had a greater impact on our business than anything else I have read on practice management in the last decade" convinced me the time was right to spotlight it once again.

So here's the story on how to create an incredibly powerful knowledge management system with software you're already using every day, something you can have up and running in five minutes.

If you want to see firsthand how you can gain greater control over your time, follow through, and results immediately, be sure to sign up for the live webinar I'll be doing in May. (There's more on it below.)

Do you ever find yourself wondering where the time in your day goes… and why you never seem to get as much done as you'd like?

For too many people, one explanation is looking for things they've created but can't find... and then recreating that "lost" material from scratch. Years ago I discovered a simple way to overcome that problem using a solution I've leveraged ever since; a three-step method of managing frequently used materials and content I draw from in conversations and correspondence.

I call it "knowledge journaling" and it's the perfect tool for organizing, indexing, and quickly accessing anything you want to refer to regularly. What makes it so powerful is its simplicity and its cost. All you need to get started is a few minutes with Microsoft Word.

Begin by creating a Word document called "My Journal.doc." In it, make a list of the information that's most important to you (Business Plan, Useful Web Sites, Elevator Speech, Best Practices, etc). Type each entry at the top of its own page. Those will be your chapter titles. Once you type in the section titles you want to use, insert or copy and paste the information related to that section underneath its title. (You can add complete files to your journal quickly using the Insert > File command and browsing to the appropriate file when the "Insert File" dialog box opens on your screen.)

Next assign those chapter titles a "Heading 1" style. The fastest way to do that is by putting your cursor on the line of each title and pressing the Alt + Ctrl (short for Control) + 1 keys simultaneously, which will change the contents of that title from "Normal text" to Word's "Heading1."

Finally, insert a table of contents. With your cursor at the top of the first page of the file select Insert from the main menu, then Reference, then Index and Tables (or just Insert then Index and Tables if you're using a version of Word older than 2002). When the small box appears on your screen, choose the "Table of Contents" tab then press Enter. Instantly, a list of your Heading 1 titles will appear, along with the page number each is on. Clicking on any one of the table's entries will take you right to the related content.

Updating your table of contents is just as easy. Enter your additional journal content (or delete what you no longer want), assign its title the Heading 1 style, and then place your cursor within the Table of Contents and press the F9 key. In the small box that appears on your screen select "Update Entire Table" and press Enter. Voila, your changes appear in the TOC.

Be aware that you can create sections and subsections of the chapters in your journal file by using Heading 2 (Alt + Ctrl + 2) and Heading 3 (Alt + Ctrl + 3). Those too will show up automatically in the Table of Contents.

Finally, to include PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets, PDF documents, or other files that can't or won't easily fit in your journal, use the Insert > Hyperlink command (Ctrl + K is the keyboard shortcut) to create a pointer to those files. Clicking on the hyperlink will open them automatically.

Please, please, please don't overlook this idea. It's one of the most powerful tools you have in managing valuable information and putting time back in your day. Try it yourself and see!

Journaling can be a fantastic breakthrough but frankly if you don't regularly use what you create it won't do you much good. More than a click or keystroke away and chances are you'll soon forget the file's even there.

Fortunately, Windows lets you create shortcuts to files and programs you want quick access to... regardless of where they're stored on your hard drive. You use those shortcuts every day, probably without realizing it. When you click on a program listed under "Programs" on the Start menu, you're using a shortcut to launch it. The same is true when you click a desktop icon to start an application or open a file.

To make your journal file instantly accessible, you need to do two things: create a shortcut and then assign a keystroke combination that activates that shortcut (if you work on a corporate PC, read this first).

Here's how to do that...

Using the Windows "My Computer" file manager window, open the folder where you saved your journal file. Right-click on the file's name. Click on "Send to" then "Desktop (create shortcut)". Find the shortcut icon on your Desktop and right-click on it, selecting "Properties". Click inside the "Shortcut key" field and then press Alt + Ctrl + Shift + J (for journal). Click on "OK" (or press the "Enter" on your keyboard) and you're done!

Now anytime you need access to your journal file, all you have to do is press Alt + Ctrl + Shift + J to launch or activate it.

Why do I recommend the Alt + Ctrl + Shift combination? Because that combination of keys isn't used anywhere in Windows or the Microsoft Office programs (like Alt + Ctrl + 1 or Ctrl + K mentioned above). Which means you won't mistakenly overwrite a program specific shortcut you might want to use later on.

Give shortcut keys a try. They'll save you tons of time. I use mine every day. Repeatedly. Once you get the hang of them you will too.


Note: If you have touble setting shortcuts up on a company-owned computer, ask your internal PC help desk if there are any restrictions on doing so. Firms that support large numbers of PC workstations often disable such features to maintain consistency across their user base.

Live Webinar: How to Put an Hour or More of Productive Time Back in Your Day

Quite simply, knowledge journaling can revolutionize how you manage your information, and your business. Imagine the sense of control and confidence you'd have in knowing exactly where everything you need to complete a sale, cultivate a prospect, or nurture a referral partner, is located. My latest webinar, How to Put an Hour or More of Productive Time Back in Your Day, is designed to show you exactly what you need to know to leverage this powerful tool in your daily routine.

You'll walk away from this 60-minute interactive session with concrete ideas you can implement immediately to save time and increase effectiveness. Even if you've heard me talk about journaling in person, you'll want to attend. I'll cover tips, tricks, and shortcuts for setting up and using a journal that I've never offered publicly before now.

And as a Tips subscriber, you automatically qualify for a special discount (25%) off the normal price. Just be sure to enter the coupon discount code KT0703 when prompted.

Click here to learn more about this exciting event and reserve your spot!

One-on-One and Team Coaching

Much of my coaching work centers on helping teams identify the key processes in their business and how to effectively streamline them through better delegation and automation. My clients share a common trait: they're all already successful to one degree or another... but they've plateaued and want to step up to their next level. If that describes you we should talk. I can help you implement solutions to a variety of challenges that routinely hold advisors back:

• Finding and fixing productivity leaks - minimizing the time you lose to email, you spend recreating information you already have, you forfeit locating what you need online, or burn delivering on follow-up commitments inefficiently are just a few examples
  
  
• Defining sales and service processes – from contact to contract to ongoing care and feeding of clients… understanding who does what when, and where technology fits (or could fit) into the picture
  
  
• Developing a marketing communication strategy and calendar – mapping out an annual plan for keeping in touch with and in front of clients, prospects, centers of influence, and the media
  
  
• Cultivating referrals from current clients – strategies and tactics for expanding your business with help from those who know it best
  
  
• Designing a step-by-step improvement plan for strengthening key aspects of your business - identifying opportunities and developing work flows in designated areas of the practice
  
  
• Team building and successful delegation – defining the vision, setting expectations, identifying desired results, managing the process, and the tools that make it easier

Please keep me in mind if you're involved in booking or recommending speakers for corporate sales or due diligence meetings, or national or chapter events for industry groups you're involved with. I deliver tangible, value-added content that participants can take back to the office and put to work immediately.

Here's a quick sampling of the presentations I can deliver.

Practical Strategies for Improving Productivity

It's no secret that excelling at time, information, and resource management is essential to becoming more productive. This presentation shows you how to develop and blend those three skills successfully to execute almost automatic business improvements. In it, you will learn how to: 1. permanently conquer information overload with a simple system for cataloging knowledge and content, 2. build a systematic, measurable, and repeatable roadmap to success, and, 3. put an hour of selling time back into every day by taming today's #1 productivity killer: email. All using technology you currently own.

Topics include:

• Understanding your productivity gap… and how to close it


• The 80/20 rule of information - how to keep what's critical at your fingertips


• A simple approach to creating your team's process playbook


• Developing a 30-day improvement game plan


• Eliminating email overload -- managing your message flow (optional)

Things You Should Know About

Got a tip you'd like to share? Or a topic you'd like to see covered in a future issue? Email me your ideas.

Until next time wishing you all the best,

Kip Gregory

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The Gregory Group:
Teaching Clients to Leverage Their Time, Talent, and Technology to Increase Productivity and Profit
202.364.6913

http://www.kipgregory.com

© 2007 Kip Gregory. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or republishing this content either electronically or in print without prior permission is prohibited.