One of the great things about writing for a productivity blog is sharing fun tips and tricks for making life simpler and more productive. Today, I am happy to be sharing with you a new tool I've been testing for the past two weeks. This particular product, the Jot It by Cocoa, is stylish, eco-friendly, and strangely fun to use.
I'll admit I was skeptical when I was originally asked to review the product. What's wrong with paper and pen, PDAs, online systems and the myriad other ways in which we keep track of our lives and the things we need to get done? Turns out, nothing is wrong with those things but the Jot It is just one more option for working smarter, not longer.
My Jot It has been sitting adjacent to my computer for the last ten days and has become a regular part of my GTD system. Here's a blueprint of the product: your Jot It is a desktop write board which comes bundled with all you need to make it a great productivity tool. Included with the board are an Expo ultra fine tip marker with eraser, three pre-printed interchangeable templates and two blank customizable templates. The templates are inserted below the writing surface of the desktop, which includes a handy tray for keeping track of the dry erase marker.
The Jot It has taken the place of the spiral notebook I was using on my desk to track "next action" items and phone calls to be returned. There's something awesome about watching "to do" items disappear before your very eyes as you erase them with the Expo marker. I feel good about killing fewer trees and have noticed a marked decline in my paper recycling bin since I started using the Jot It. It really is the perfect capture tool for getting those fleeting ideas and thoughts captured and transfered to a more permanent project management system.
On the downside, the Jot It is not very portable, so I'm not proposing it as a "be all and end all" GTD solution. It's great for any desk or kitchen counter top, where capturing and taming information happens in a hectic environment. Unlike "yellow stickies" which are easily misplaced or tossed, your Jot It stays put, safely keeping you on track and helping you get things done.
