Comments on: The Box: A Simple Way to Stay Organized and Productive

By: Prathip

Prathip — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:12:02 +0000

Link –> http://planner.zoho.com/

By: Prathip

Prathip — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:11:08 +0000

Try a shot at “planner.zoho.com”
You can even use your yahoo or google account to use it.

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:00:50 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation, James. I’ll have to check it out.

By: James

James — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:22:33 +0000

I really like the idea of the BOX. I’ve been trying to keep better organized with only marginal success. I’ll definitely give this a shot.

One thing I wanted to suggest especially since you are using gCal is the product, reQall. (No, I don’t work for them). With reQall I can add tasks via voice/text/etc from my iPhone and they will sync with gCal. So if I’m on the road or away from a computer I can get a reminder of what’s going on and check things off as I go. It’s helpful for those quick items or ideas that are easily forgotten.

Too many features to list, you may want to check it out for yourself.

Great article, thanks for posting, Amber.

By: Britta Omar

Britta Omar — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:34:55 +0000

Hi,
Just a quick question as it sounds like you are like me, a freelancer:
have you heard of an online service called http://www.virtualvocations.com. It sounds like a great place to find work/project if you work from home, but are they legit?
If you know, could you email me?

Thanks,

Britta

By: The Zaq Stavano Blog » Blog Archive » links for 2009-10-23

The Zaq Stavano Blog » Blog Archive » links for 2009-10-23 — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:01:48 +0000

[...] The Box: A Simple Way to Stay Organized and Productive (tags: self resource) [...]

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:00:17 +0000

Nice Idea, even though, work-related things can be socialized with the rest of the company

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:58:17 +0000

I use evernote to capture info, when I’m out of the pc I use the evernote app for blackberry; in order to put everything just in one box.

For Purging and Organizing, I use Gmail tasks and Gcalendar. Again, I am able to check those things right from my BBerry.

But, as you say, pen and paper is always necesary.

Greetings from Ecuador.

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:19:33 +0000

I agree, Amber. It’s hard to concentrate and be productive when things feel upside down. Usually, it’s worth it for me to stop what I’m doing, organize things, and then get back to work.

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:12:47 +0000

Thanks for the added tips, Jan. Mind mapping is a great tool for organizing information, and like you said, it’s good to have several options for different circumstances.

By: Amber Weinberg

Amber Weinberg — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:01:50 +0000

A lot of freelancers I know have no organization skills what-so-ever. I tend to go a little OCD on itmyself (I just spent half the morning rearranging the whole office) but I can’t ever seem to concentrate when my office and files are a mess.

By: Jan Richards

Jan Richards — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:53:08 +0000

Thanks for this excellent post.

I smiled when I saw Twyla Tharp’s name in your tweet about the post. I knew what book you were referring to – and it’s one I love.

Thanks for sharing your system of organizing and moving ideas forward to action and results.

Among the tools I use are NovaMind for mindmapping and capturing the initial ideas as I brainstorm about a project or article. I use OmniFocus for capturing and refining the “to do” list of tasks for specific projects, when I have worked those details out. And sometimes when I write or plan, I find that I need the linear structure of an outlining program, rather than a mindmap. For that I use OmniOutliner. I have project planning software, among other tools, but find I do not go to them as often as I use a combination of these three programs.

I’ll try some of the ideas you provide here, as well.

Thanks!

By: Amber Riviere

Amber Riviere — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:11:48 +0000

Thanks, Jake. My calendar setup was inspired by Darren at Problogger. He uses a similar setup, and I liked the idea of color coding so that, at a glance, I could tell what type of activities were on my schedule.

For me, personal items are pink (helps me see if I’m balancing somewhat), calls and work-related appointments are in orange (tells me those are hard set), admin stuff is in blue (potential delegation stuff down the line), and then I have a color for each income “bucket” (writing, game work, web work).

This setup is working very well for me. If someone asks me to do something, without really thinking, I can see how a day or time is lining up.

Keeping the calendar open at all times has been key. It’s getting to where I want to know what’s in there over my email inbox, which is great.

Glad it helps!

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:43:11 +0000

I really liked the calendar setup you have. I use Google calendar but have only been using it for appointments and not my tasks. I’m going to start putting my tasks into my calendar as well and keeping it open like you suggest. I think that will help me stay on task each week and prevent the oh so common forgotten project. Nice article.