How do you structure your week to still get admin work done while being on the road?
Staying organized
I always plan my whole week in advance to make sure that I have enough time to take care of all admin tasks and schedule all the meetings I need to do that week. When I’m on the road, I always save certain times of the day to do admin stuff after meetings. I travel with my laptop and make 2 regular stops each day to work on things. Normally I do it at 12pm (during lunch) and at 5 pm.
My advice is to have fixed hours to focus on admin work several times a week so it doesn’t all accumulate for Friday. Leaving it for the last minute can really make you feel anxious and stressed. Good planning is key for every aspect of the job and if you’re on top if it, set reminders in your calendar and make sure you schedule your time well with meetings, driving and admin work, it makes your life so much easier.
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What apps do you use to stay on top of things with customers? Anything besides Badger?
Google Calendar is my best friend when it comes to getting reminders of the appointments and admin tasks that I’ve planned for each day. I have it syncronized with my Badger and my CRM so there are very few things that I need to enter manually.
As a CRM app I use Agile, which is very useful for keeping track of all of my accounts and scheduling meetings. And Google Docs for note taking. I know it’s not an app, but it’s been a great place to jot things down.
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Spot Hero is also a super helpful app for finding/reserving parking spots quickly. I can recommend it to anyone who is driving within cities for appointments. You can reserve a spot ahead of time so you don’t have to drive around forever and risk being late for a meeting. I have lots of customers in San Francisco and this is definitely a life saver 
I found this app called Expensify that my whole team uses now to take pictures of our receipts and turn them in immediately. It has some pre-approved transaction requirements so if my receipt is something small like Starbucks, then it will automatically get approved and I will receive my money back in a day or so. It has made things much easier and I don’t have to collect all the crumpled receipts in my wallet anymore.
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I use Wunderlist personally for my grocery lists but also for team meetings. It is really helpful because everyone can be added to a list, add and edit list points, and check off the things that have already been discussed.
I upload all my docs in the cloud via Dropbox and make sure nothing gets lost. Otherwise, I’m a big fan of Calm and Headspace which help me stay focused and reduce stress and anxiety especially throughout crazy busy days.
I do the most important tasks for the day (whatever they might be) in the first two hours after getting up because that is my peak time when I am most focused and most productive. I usually do all my admin work (unless it’s urgent) in the evenings from my hotel.
After each meeting, I plan some time to write down my notes and make sure I don’t forget anything important. The more important the customer, the more time I allocate for it. I leave all administrative work for later in the day after all my meetings because they usually don’t require as much concentration and brain power.
I’m thinking of following this 30/60/90 day plan to try to be more productive and increase my sales. Have you ever tried something like this before?
Hi lisamh, being able to juggle admin work with a busy road schedule during the week can be a tough task, but structuring your week effectively is a great way to set yourself up for success. In my experience, you have to know yourself and your work tendencies to plan best. For example, I know I’m the most productive with admin work early in the morning, so I always try to set aside some time every morning for it when I structure my week. In addition, be sure to set aside time for admin work each day if you can, no matter what time it’s at. This will prevent work from building up throughout the week, and realizing on Friday that you still have a lot of work to finish up can be stressful. Once you’ve determined your schedule, I’ve found it is beneficial to put it in a calendar that you can easily access on-the-go. If you’re wondering about specific tools that can do this, there are some good suggestions here on this thread such as Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook.
Piggybacking on what Andy said, GCalendar and MOutlook are great for me. I schedule everything I do (meetings, lunch breaks, phone calls, etc.) on my calendar. Color-coding is key (calls for me are yellow, meetings are blue, lunch is green). I actually have a fixed schedule to catch up with admin work while I’m on the road. I prefer to label that as “busy” on my calendar so no one schedules any last-minute meetings at that time. It’s my moment to reorganize myself and do what some salespeople push till the end of the week. It also helps to have my own hotspot when I need it. Not all public wifi spots are great! I hope that helps! I’m getting better at consistently following a set schedule, and it’s helped me a lot