There are thousands of applications in the market focused on organization making it hard to figure out what tools you should actually use. Being someone that is extremely interested with software, I’ve researched and tried quite a few of these apps. Below are my personal favorites.
Outlook 2010 – I really like the ability to create folders and rules in outlook, but that is a standard feature with just about any email client. Where Outlook really stands out is it’s contextual search, I can search by sender, keyword, if there are attachments, who the email went to, among other types of search. I keep my inbox at zero, depend heavily on my folders and search to find old emails I need, and use my task system to flag larger mail I need to respond too that I have moved out of my inbox.
Tasks
Tracks - I’ve tried a number of task tracking software, I’ve even tried creating my own task tracking software in OneNote and Evernote. Unfortunately every system/app I tried fell over and I stopped using it. That is when I found Tracks. Tracks is an open source software (free) that is built to work with the GTD system for organization. Whether you are a follower of GTD or not, the software is simple, well written, and has the core things that you need to stay on top of your tasks. Other software tends to have so many features that the core purpose of the software gets lost. For go the features and use this software, it works. I signed up for a free account at My.GTDify.com. I also downloaded the Android app called Shuffle and have it syncing with my online account. You can even have it sync with your Google calendar.
Calendar
Google Calendar – I personally use Outlook 2010 but that is because we use Exchange at work and there are so many features we have built around Microsoft technologies that it would be a pain changing. If you don’t have a similar restriction, I highly recommend you use Google Calendar. This is a simple app that integrates into so many different applications. There are also great sharing features that allow friends and family to book events on your schedule. It is also web based, so anywhere you have a smart phone or a web connection, you can see what you have going on.
Notes
Evernote – Evernote is a free software that works on all the major operating systems, all the major smart phone operating systems, it has a web interface, and it has a great entry level free account that meets most peoples needs. The software is a note taking software with a very flexible way to organize and tag your information so it can be found in the future. You should keep some sort of digital note system for future reference. This is a great tool
Onenote – If this was free it would be the holy grail. It is not, which only makes it close. The free form ability to take notes, record voice/meetings, draw, add rich media, and organize as you see fit makes this about as close to a physical notebook as possible. The search capabilities are awesome. I highly recommend using this software if you can stomach the price, or if you have it freely available.
Habit Creation
Habit Streak - You may be wondering why I have habit creation as a recommended organization software. This is because very few people are intrinsically organized. My wife would be quick to tell you, I am not an organized person, but I am working hard on it. To truly become organized you can’t just decide to do it one day and dive in, that is a recipe for failure. A much better approach is to identify small activities that if done on a regular basis would increase your organization. By focusing on making these activities into habits, organization will become second nature to you. To help you develop those habits I recommend a mobile phone application called Habit Streak. I always have my phone with me which makes this type of software a perfect candidate for the phone. You are able to set specific goals and keep track each day if you accomplished the goal. After a while, your focus changes from doing the activity each day to keeping your streak alive. After 30 days or so of keeping a streak alive the activity changes into a habit and you are ready to focus on the next habit to create. In a few months you’ve created enough habits to make a dramatic change in your daily life. I pulled this idea from Zen Habits and believe it is a great approach to making changes. A couple of months may sound daunting, it really is not, just look at all the quick fixes you’ve tried in the past, how many of those worked and how much time did you waste on them.
