Put it in writing January 20, 2009
Posted by Jason McDonald in : College Related , 1 comment so far
Like father, like daughter. I recently got a call from a student asking if we were meeting at 4 or 4:30. Good for her, calling to clarify instead of showing up late. Considering she’s paying me nearly $2/minute, it was a call well worth it. However, I do have one complaint — this type of call happens too often!
The first time she called she couldn’t remember which day of the week we were meeting. I figured hey, it happens to everyone. After the second time, I had her write our appointment times down. Well, here we are many moons later and I just realized why she had to call! I set this appointment via her dad and HE couldn’t remember what time we agreed to meet. He didn’t write it down!
Put it in writing. This gem was introduced to me by my aunt when my wife and I were planning our wedding. My aunt warned us how contractors will say one thing then do another. You need to get everything in writing, she told us, even if it’s uncomfortable to end our phone conversation with “would you mind shooting me a fax with those details?”
Real money. Sure enough, one of the musicians tried to charge us for more than we agreed to pay. She told us she played longer than planned. The fact was, we agreed on a time and rate (and got it in writing), then she went over, even though we asked her specifically to play for a certain time. That was her mistake, so we payed what we agreed to ahead of time.
Getting in the habit of writing information down serves several purposes:
- It frees your mind for more important things
- When you show up at 4:30 and your tutor claims you should have been there at 4, you’ve got proof you’re right!
- It can put money in your pocket!
- If you get something wrong on a test in school, you’ll get partial credit for what you’ve written and nothing for what you thought!
- Although there’s no partial credit on the SAT, by writing stuff down you’ll get more problems correct. If you’re not convinced, be sure to read my post on thinking with your pencil.
The real world. So whether you’re confirming appointment times or negotiating with a teacher for extra credit, be sure to get it in writing. Remember, you don’t have to be as blunt as saying, “will you put that in writing?” as that can offend people. Instead, try something discrete like, “I’ll send you an email to make sure I got the details right.” Or better yet, don’t say anything and just do it!
Whether you’re taking a test in school or a standardized test like the SAT, get in the habit of putting your thoughts on paper. If you start this habit now, I can assure you it will do far more than get you into a better college. You’ll have better chances of succeeding there as well as in the real world.