Organizing Ourselves and Our Work

It is not the new year, just a new Monday and I feel tiny bit flustered trying to get a thousand things done before a day of meetings. Most of us have at one time or another thought " I really need to get organized" so to help we buy an organizer or file folders or iPads or document scanners or something to help us. Sometimes they work, sometimes they dont. I believe the really important thing is to have the information you need available when you need it.  If you have a tablet and pen and you get through your life organzied, dont change!  If you have tried ten different things and nothing works for you, keep looking but be sure to acutally set aside some time in your schedule every day to get organized. Sometimes the problem isn't the tool, it's the task.

​After trying different ways to track and organize  things I have come to the truth that a some point my information will be paper, then digital, then paper again. I get an agenda (paper) take notes on that paper , review and amend the meeting notes (digitally) then will likely print off the amended the notes for the next meeting (paper) and I have learned to be ok with it. That does not mean my organization issues have disappeared but it has helped me understand my workflow better and look for tools that aid in how I work rather seeking tools of change. Here are few things I have found that have helped me and few recommended by PCMag.COM. Happy organizing!

The paper:

The Classic http://youtu.be/bkQyZdy60sI

The Printable CEO   http://davidseah.com/productivity-tools/ they can either be printed free of charge or you can actually order tablets of them. ( I use the Emergent Task Planner . )

The Goal Setting Toolkit  http://personalsuccesstoday.com/goal-setting-toolkit/ This is a set of wallet sized paper goal setting cards for you to carry to wherever you go.  The main motive is to keep your goals in sight. Download the templates and try out all 9 different cards.

The digital: 

Spend some time with the tools you may alreay have. If you run a Microsoft office, you can use Tasks in your Outlook. I put my a word document on my desktop that says 'THINGS TO DO" and try to add to it and cross out things I finished. Some people send themselves reminder emails, working with documents in Dropbox and use Stickys on their computer. I often add things to my calendar at the end of the day of things I did to help me keep track of my time.

If you are a Google kind of workplace ,Google Tasks may suit your needs. mail.google.com/mail/help/tasks/  It integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar and you can set the task list to be part of the left-hand navigation. You can also access and edit Google Tasks on your smartphone. Each task can be assigned a due date; or in Google Calendar you can create a task by clicking a blank spot in the calendar's month view and changing it from Event to Task. You can then modify the date in Google Tasks or drag it into your calendar to change it. Checking a box marks it complete. In Gmail you can also convert an email to a task by using the More menu. With any task putting the date at the beginning establishes that as the due date (which then appears on Google Calendar). You can even create multiple lists and nest subtasks within other tasks. It's sometimes a pain to access just Google Tasks in a browser though, because it's not obvious that you can get a full page task-list view here.

Other options:

Remember The Milk  www.rememberthemilk.com
Web | Mobile
Remember The Milk (RTM) has free apps for Android, iPhone, iPad, and BlackBerry that sync with your account, with many options for integrating RTM with services like Siri on iOS, Twitter, Google Calendar, and Gmail. What does RTM provide for free? You can organize your list by due date, postpone items for later, create recurring items, share tasks with or assign tasks to individuals or groups in your RTM contacts list, assign tasks by location, set priority level for each task, and view the list in a number of ways, such as tabs for the high-priority items. The Pro account ($25 per year) offers priority tech support, extra features on the mobile apps, and the ability to sync with Microsoft Outlook on Windows XP and up.

 Toodledo
www.toodledo.com
Web | Mobile
Toodledo gives Remember The Milk a run for its money with features out the wazoo. The main interface is Web-based and accessible anywhere. iOS users can download the app for $1.99 while Android and BlackBerry users can access the site's mobile interface online for free (as can iOS users of course).   Where Toodledo differs is that it has project-manager functions in addition to basic task lists; specifically in how it tracks the time it takes to do something. The organization of tasks/projects can take multiple forms (tagging, folders, subtasks of primary tasks), and there's a high level of collaboration with other individuals or groups built in. The most important items appear in the "hotlist" so you can laser focus on what's got to be done right away. If you're not equipped with a smartphone, Toodledo print-outs can fold into small booklets. 

Wunderlist   www.wunderlist.com
Windows | Mac | Web | Mobile
All of the devices and programs that Wunderlist supports are synced, so you always have access to your tasks on any desktop or smartphone (it has free apps for iOS and Android), or in the browser (there are extensions for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox to add tasks as you surf). You get all the usual things for free like reminders, recurring items, and subtasks, along with some simple collaboration tools.  The Pro version of Wunderlist is $4.99 per month and adds a lot of group functions, such as the ability to assign tasks to others and share whole lists of tasks, as well as full security for your data.

hiTask  www.hitask.com Web | Mobile
hiTask is a knockout of a task manager, akin to Wunderlist in its looks. The free version skips the task/project sharing aspect of the business account, but includes starred tasks to track your important stuff, drag-and-drop even in the Web interface, and a calendar to see when things are due. Free apps are available for iOS, Android, and coming soon for Windows Phone.

iProcrastinate  www.craigotis.com  Mac | Mobile

You might guess from the name that this particular product is for the Apple lovers. It's designed to track tasks on either Mac or iOS and syncs between apps on both. You can star the important tasks, set priorities as needed, and even break a task down step by step.

Minimalist for Windows 8 Only in Windows App Store  Windows

Yes, this to-do list is for Windows 8 users only. Dedicated users who want a to-do that's touch-screen friendly and don't need to worry about syncing data anywhere else will find this is a great-looking, easy-to-use option.

Producteev  www.producteev.com  Windows | Mac | Web | Mobile

Producteev is a perfect two-person task managing ecosystem in its free incarnation. The mobile version for iOS and Android naturally synchronizes all to-dos with the desktop and Web versions. You can even import tasks instantly from email, IM, Twitter, and other services.

Todoist  www.todoist.com Windows | Mac | Web | Mobile

Todoist uses HTML5 in its Web interface to make the app as desktop-like as possible, and even works offline. Its ultra-simple, highly-appealing interface is easy to master and syncs instantly across all platforms, even with the unobtrusive Windows and Mac versions. Todoist also integrates with email clients Thunderbird and Outlook. The free version includes unlimited tasks, subtasks, and projects.

Teamwork Project Manager  http://www.teamworkpm.net/ is an easy-to-use online teamwork & project management software application that helps managers, staff and clients work together more productively online. Free trial then $12 a month for a personal account. The free plan gives you up to 2 projects and 10MB storage space.