Staying Organized!

An important part of being a mystery shopper is staying organized. I work for four different companies and there is a lot of paperwork. Some shops are only three or four pages in length. Other shops can be up to 28 pages! I usually print the shops right after I sign up for them and put them in chronological order by date and have a file for each company. Sometimes I cannot print right away. I am waiting to print 25 gas shops right now because they are not available. They start next weekend and go for about five weeks and I really want to get them printed! I don't like to plan for my weekend and then realize I have to print a shop!

I have also learned to have at least one printer cartridge, both black and color, handy at all times. In fact, I need to stock up on ink again! I have learned to print double sided to save on paper! I also keep track of my mileage and the cost of my supplies for my income taxes!

I downloaded a calendar program onto my laptop so I can also keep track of my shops. I check each night to see what is coming up! I also color code each assignment by company. I then know where to look for the paperwork. I didn't start off this organized, but have learned some trick from a friend who also does mystery shopping! We are good about keeping each other updated on when new shops appear on one of the company's websites. I picked up ten new shops last night!!!

I only have six shops tomorrow! It will be an easy day and I should finish early. I like the challenge of planning my day and doing the shops I want to do. Sometimes they can be quite interesting and you can meet some pretty interesting people!