Digital Organization

A couple of days ago I blogged about my weekly planning system. I really love paper, and I like that I can see it without logging in to anything. My biggest gripe about it, though, is that you can’t delete it and start over if it gets messy. You have to re-write it. At least I do. No amount of pencil-erasing would get it for me. Once the list gets messy, I completely re-make it so my brain stays clear of distractions. On a day with lots of unexpected tasks, I’ll easily end up with three brand new to-do lists before my head hits the pillow.

Backpack

So it makes sense that I, being so digital and all, would want to organize my life online. And I do, to some extent. My most used digital tool for organization is Backpack, published by 37signals. (I’ve blogged about this before, and I’d like to just be linking to my first post about it, but that is one that is stuck in that nice little zipped up file on my desktop from my WordPress blog.) BackPack is an online service that provides a central place to create and store to-do lists, files (my favorite), notes, pictures, you name it. You can create several pages, depending on which plan you subscribe to, and you can even share any of your pages with specific people.

Pages

I create pages based on special projects, web clients, or events that need to be organized. On client pages, I can share the page with the client, and we can share files back and forth that we are working on for the project. My dad and I frequently meet each other at my Backpack page to exchange files quickly instead of emailing them. And I love being able to sit down at the laptop away from home without worrying which file for the project is where. It’s like having a thumb drive, without the thumb drive. File storage is one of my favorite things about Backpack.

Writeboards

Another useful tool on Backpack is the writeboard. A writeboard is a collaborative tool that multiple people can use to post their ideas on the same topic. It looks sort of like a whiteboard, which one of my friends actually calls it all the time, and when several users work on a writeboard, it tracks changes that were made by each user. My local Southern Living at Home team uses a writeboard to keep up with our party schedules. We each update the writeboard when we schedule a party, documenting the date, consultant, hostess and her circle of friends or workplace. That way we know if one of us has a party with a teacher at one school in a particular week, we should try not to schedule a party with another teacher at that same school during the same week. The writeboard is a great way for us to all have successful businesses without feeling like we’re in each other’s way.

Simplicity

Backpack has been an essential part of my journey toward simplifying my life. Keeping all of my to-do lists in once place has eliminated the need for sticky notes all over my desk and kitchen. The software is extremely easy to use, even for the computer novice. I whole-heartedly recommend that you try Backpack for your own organization. Be sure to enter my referrer code: BPSMZSM. Once you do, let me know what you like best about it.

A Week in Advance

People often ask me how I do everything I do. Usually, I answer with something silly, like, “I don’t sleep much,” “I never watch TV,” or “My house doesn’t stay very clean.” But really, I get plenty of sleep, and while I don’t watch much TV at all, my house is relatively clean and neat most of the time. While I was talking with a friend this week, I realized how indeed I do fit everything in.

Planning

Planning. A week in advance. I have my clipboard I made with bright red and creamy white patterned Stampin’ Up papers stuck to my refrigerator door. On the clipboard is a stack of papers that I created with lined sections for each day of the week. On Sunday evening, I make a list of everything I want to accomplish in a week. Everything from housecleaning chores to errands to web work to Southern Living at Home calls to music class planning to waxing my eyebrows–everything makes it on the list.

Thinking

Then I logically think through each day of the week and decide where each task will fit in the best. For each day, I write each task in the order I will attempt to accomplish it. I consider such things as how long the task will take, whether or not I can do it with kids around, and whether there is a specific place in the schedule it can slide without affecting the rest of the schedule. I waste very little time.

Multi-tasking

Most days I have a task or two, like menu- and grocery-list-making, that I keep handy for when I’m waiting in the pick-up line at school or in a drive-through line. Some days you might even find me studying my Spanish verbs at a time like that. All of my little chores I squeeze into tight little time spaces so that no time goes unused. For instance, I usually clean my bathroom counter, mirror and toilet once or twice a week while the kids play in the tub after I bathe them.

Monthly Planning

When it comes to work tasks, like SLAH parties and web or writing clients, I actually plan the work out a month in advance. I grab my little party calendar and evaluate each week, setting reasonable goals for each job and jotting down one or two specific tasks to work on each day to accomplish the big goal(s) for that job during that month. Right now, I already have my work planned through the end of November, and while I haven’t planned out December yet, I already know which project I plan to work on.

Flexibility

Of course, life seldom goes how I actually plan it, and a billion extra tasks get added in each day on the spur of the moment. But if I don’t have a plan for how to attack life head-on, I could never run two businesses and a household, teach a music class, and still enjoy my time with my husband and children. The plan works, most of the time, and I LOVE crossing things off that list as I do them. By the end of the week, though, I have to transfer my to-do list to my little spiral notebook that goes everywhere, because the list gets too messy for me to think straight anymore.

Digital Tools

While I love my paper system and couldn’t live without it, I also use some digital tools alongside it to help me manage all the details. I’ll write about those later this week. In the meanwhile, I’ve got some planning to do!