Organize Me
Does anyone have any good recommendations for keeping track of notes and/or task management? Basically, my problem is this: I take a lot of notes during the day, usually when I’m reading slush, because a thought will pop into my head and I jot it down so I don’t forget. Sometimes this is something I need to remember to do later, sometimes it’s just some idea to follow up on. But the thing is, I end up with all these pages of notes on my desk when I get home, and I want to get rid of them, but I don’t always have time to cross off every item on a list. And as a result, I end up with more paper on my desk than necessary, which leads me to sometimes forget to actually take care of items on my list that were more important.
So, what to do? Transcribe the list onto the computer when I get home? Using what? I’ve tried doing that with Outlook’s "tasks" feature, but it doesn’t work — I end up just ignoring everything that’s in there. Similarly, I’ve tried using the Google Notebook feature, which doesn’t seem to work for me either, despite the fact that I can keep it open in a tab at all times.
Mallory
5:58 pm Feb-27-2008One way is to set up 31 files in your file cabinet – one for each day – at the end of your day you must file each paper based on what day you need to make a decision on that information.
For really critical stuff (like wedding invitations) you use your physical date planner and put the RSVP date in plus the wedding date plus PF which directs you back to your daily file to that date to see the actual invite. This is particularly good for tracking daily activities.
You select what you know is a thin day to put all your REVIEW THIS MONTH bits – these are story ideas, recipes, cool website tips – you know, the important but cumulative crap and once a month you DEAL with it so that you have no paper.
Grant Stone
7:30 pm Feb-27-2008I use Google notebook, but augment it by implementing the “getting things done” methodology. There’s a good article about doing that at:
http://lifehacker.com/software/geek-to-live/getting-things-done-with-google-notebook-256844.php
S. Hamm
10:30 pm Feb-27-2008There’s a freeform database program called AskSam that could be exactly what you need for your story notes. Congressional investigators used an early version to cross-reference all the testimony in the Iran-Contra case. For the last couple of decades, I’ve been using it for the rather more momentous task of maintaining my movie database.
Chris Willrich
8:51 am Feb-28-2008I keep an eternal email thread going, with my to-do list on it. The current time frame, like THURSDAY, is written all-caps in the subject line. The next day, I might rename it FRIDAY-WEEKEND. The theory is, I will check my email a few times a day, so I can’t ignore my to-do list. Notes that aren’t to-dos go in a file labeled “Idea Box” in the upper left of my computer’s desktop.
I also carry around a yellow legal pad for making paper notes on. Ideally, all the important to-dos and notes go on one page, the top page of the pad.
I still forget all kinds of stuff, but it’s better since I started doing these things.