Revolutionize Your Workflow: AI Tools for Easy Information Capture & Sharing
Welcome! You’ve tuned into another episode of Elevated, the podcast helping you build a better Kitchen & Bath Design business through innovation and modernization. I’m your host, Brandy Lawson, and in this episode we’re talking all things information capture and exchange—how to reduce friction when gathering data from various sources and formats using AI.
Ever find yourself struggling to keep up with the whirlwind of thoughts, ideas, and notes that hit you throughout your workday? Keeping everything organized and accessible while making it feel easy is absolutely a challenge. Thankfully, AI is transforming how we capture, store, and share information, making it easier than ever to manage.
Now, I could just list a bunch of ways you can capture, re-use and share information, but our brains are wired for stories, so instead let’s discuss a few different scenarios where AI can step in to smooth out the information process & flow:
Taking notes at a conference
Imagine you’re at a conference, soaking up invaluable insights from industry leaders. Traditionally, you’d jot down notes in your notebook, only to later face the tedious task of transposing them into your digital system. Ha! Who are we kidding. Those notes got chucked in your bag and are at the bottom of the pile on your desk. Maybe you’ll see them again next year when you break out the notebook again.
Lucky for us, your notes can be revived without additional effort. Using apps like Noteshelf 3 on your iPad, you can handwrite your notes digitally. Once you’re done, simply export your notes as text into a summary document. This seamlessly sharable doc makes it easy to distribute insights to your team, keeping everyone in the loop without losing the power of personalization handwritten notes offer.
The reason that notebooks haven’t gone the way of the dinosaurs yet is because handwritten notes help the brain process and retain information. Now, we can combine that organic processing with the accessibility and utility of digital systems.
You forgot everything
We’ve all been there—arriving at a project site to measure, only to discover you’ve forgotten everything but your trusty measuring tape. You scribble the numbers on a scrap piece of paper, praying it stays in your pocket long enough to get back to the office. With AI, you can salvage this situation with ease. Snap a quick photo of your handwritten measurements once you’re back at your phone. From here, send it to your team, who can extract the vital information from the image and enter it directly into your project drawings—quick and effective.
Taking communication off the page
Post-client meetings, translating spoken thoughts into written words can feel like a chore. Instead of struggling to jot down notes, record a voice memo during your drive back or in a quiet moment afterward. These memos allow you to capture your thinking authentically. Services like Otter.ai can transcribe these memos, enabling you to copy and paste the transcript into the project file or send it directly to your team.
I’ve personally found typing during client meetings to be a barrier to connection. Having a computer in front of me and tapping on the keyboard detracts from my full presence to the conversation. My solution? I’ve transitioned to using Noteshelf 3 on my iPad. Handwriting notes during meetings keeps the interaction human, while the ability to easily export and search these notes digitally streamlines my workflow, allowing me to maintain efficiency without sacrificing rapport.
And when it comes to creating this very podcast— most episodes get started with the walking, talking, and recording method with Otter.ai. It lets me move and think freely, capturing every thought which I later refine into final episode scripts.
So why do these new methods matter? First, handwriting and verbal expression truly align with the way we process and retain information. It is a core part of our humanness and how we connect. Now, thanks to AI, we can make this data searchable and transferable, integrating it into our organized systems with ease. By capturing the nuances of our thoughts or literal handwritten words, AI ensures no valuable insight goes unrecorded or inaccessible.
AI has opened up countless possibilities for reducing friction in how we capture and share information. Information in every form—handwriting, photos, voice memos—can now flow seamlessly into different formats, ready for action. Take a moment this week to explore where these AI-driven techniques could make a difference in your business operations. Maybe it’s mastering your client follow-ups or streamlining those essential project updates. The opportunity for transformation is as vast as your imagination.
In our next episode we are wrapping up this season with a story about KBIS, and how we use all things AI to maximize the impact & enjoyment of the industry’s largest gathering.
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