I’m guessing that you work in a world where much of the information you create, collaborate on and consume is digital, so do I. And that’s the problem!
I’m also guessing that you work with real people and your business might even be shifting physical product. And, out there, with them, we use pen and paper – see the problem?
We often have to convert our meeting notes, our agreed next-actions, our scribbled thoughts and illuminating diagrams into a digital format so we can collaborate, prioritise and add value to them when we get back to our desks.
In my book, that’s always been duplicated effort – and by definition that is not exactly productive working. So, here’s how I have squared the circle…
Why my Montblanc pen has been replaced by my Echo Smartpen for business writing
I loved writing my meeting notes into my beautifully crafted, Italian leather bound journal with my masterful Montblanc Meisterstuck – I just got fed up with turning the pages back at the desk and rewriting it all into Outlook emails and Tasks, into my CRM system and into Microsoft Word and other digital collateral. So……
I reflected on an earlier conversation with my friend Rob May over at Ramsac and bought myself an Echo Smartpen – that was almost 3 months ago and now I’m nailing my colours to the mast because it works well and meets my ‘Rules for Tools’ criteria:
- It is simple and natural to use
- It integrates seamlessly with my other productivity tools
- It makes me more productive
So, there you have it,
Richard ‘Mr Productivity’ Maybury recommends the Echo Smartpen
Use the non-affiliate links ( I dislike them as much as you do!) to find out more:
Discover more about the Echo from the official (Non-affiliate) Livescribe Echo site http://www.livescribe.com/en-uk/smartpen/echo/
I bought mine in a great package that beat the Amazon deal from (Non-affiliate) Micro-Anvika Make sure you grab a pen refill pack along with your order.
One important point to add at this stage, you will want to grab the ‘Myscript for Livescribe’ package to turn your handwritten notes into editable text through the magic of OCR for US$30
I have already been asked for some leverage tips on how I use my Echo Smartpen in my business, so stand by for that. Meanwhile if you have any comments or questions just drop them in the comments section below or call me on 01428 607763 for a brief chat.
Till next time … onwards and upwards!
Hi David, yes, my Livescribe Echo is still working perfectly. I use it every day for all my business meeting notes. My notes record live in 2 places, on my hard drive and in the cloud. In fact, I have never had a day’s trouble with it. A rarity in the technology world!
Because I am not an Apple guy, I do not use the Livescribe 3 but friends and colleagues do.
I have an old Pulse that I wanted to revive, but the screen has gone dark, although after a charge it can communicate with the desktop and show previous notes. As your comments seem to have been made in 2012, is your Livescribe in November 2014 still working well? I would probably need to buy a new one due to the screen not working.
Many people have asked Richard about his own Echo Smartpen set up and he asked me to outline it here.
He suggests buying a complete set up in one go and checking prices for total purchase rather than just the headline price for the the pen. From time to time resellers do make package offers – you could be lucky but don’t bother hanging around for them.
Here is what Richard suggests you price up and buy:
Echo Smartpen 2GB (unless the 4GB one is discounted well – which it is these days)
1 pack of 4 notebooks – he uses A5 size because he uses the Exec Folio
1 pack of 5 replacement ink cartridges which you can get for as low as £5
1 Livescribe Exec Folio cover – because it looks good!
With that lot you are good to go.