Tools Of The Trade

I have a love-hate relationship with technology. At my core, I'm a traditionalist. I still subscribe to the newspaper. Not the digital newspaper I can check on my phone, but the one printed on paper and delivered to my driveway before the crack of dawn. I buy books printed on paper, and more than that, I buy them from a brick and mortar store. CD's are a thing of the past for most people. I, on the other hand, prefer afternoons spent browsing the local music store's shelves and purchasing a tangible product complete with album art to giving iTunes the same amount of money for something I can't hold in my hand.

Should I mention my car is a 90's model and I actually keep a stock of cassettes in my glovebox to play in the tape deck occasionally? Or, my my collection of vinyl albums? What about the typewriters I pull out at times to type up a letter to my dad that I then put in an envelope and mail via the US Post Office?

Knowing all this about me, it could be suspected that I am a rejector of anything new. And, at one time, this may have been true. But when I have days like yesterday, working from the front seat of a pickup truck at a client's job site, I'm eternally thankful of the amazing technology we have at our finger tips.

Yesterday, I had a client who requested my presence in a series of meetings over the course of the day. Meanwhile I also had content deadlines to meet for another client. I got it done. From the truck, from the Cuban sandwich place we stopped at for lunch, and from the lobby of a luxury resort complex. Using my iPhone as a hotspot and my notebook for times in between laptop accessible locations, I made it happen.

I'm still true to my traditional side. While I tote my laptop with me everywhere, and I'm almost always found with my iPhone in front of my face, I have a traditional calendar in which I actually pencil appointments, and I take all project notes by hand. I've tried countless notes and task list organizer apps, and I've found them lacking when compared to my handy dandy Levenger notebook I carry with me always.

I use the tools that work best for me and my style of freelancing (which sometimes involves working on the run). This blend of analog and digital is what it takes to make my workday work for me. Use the tools that make sense for you, not tools you think you should use because your boss tells you to, or it's what your friends use, or you just bought that fancy laptop so you feel you need to keep everything on there. No, use what works for you.