I’m Getting Organized….Again

Organization is a strange part of my life. I am excessively organized when it comes to my schedule. I live by a calendar and clock, and I literally function better when I have a plan. However, when it comes to storage, filing, and similar areas, I am a horrible organizer. I have tried in the past, but always fall off the wagon.

I really think one reason is that I have never tried a “complete” organization of my stuff. I’ll work on one area, but another will pile up. Then, when I work on that area, the first area goes back to unorganized.

So, over the past few weeks (and, especially, days), I have been trying to get more organized in an all-inclusive way. I still have a few steps to go, since I can’t spend all my time doing this, but the change has been noticeable and good. I thought you might find it helpful to see what I’ve done and still have left to do.

Here are the three areas: Online, Office, and Outstanding (still to go). These will overlap a bit, but I think you’ll find these divisions to be helpful.

Online

I am finally doing better with online resources that are available. Some I have been using for some time, but not as fully as I should have. Here are the steps I’ve made thus far online.

1. Email. I am not checking my email as often, and I am beginning to learn more about how Gmail functions. (More about  that in the “outstanding” section). Right now, my steps in email have been to (1) delete many old emails that I didn’t need anymore, (2) forward a few with good information to Evernote, and (3) educate myself on how better to use this email. [NOTE: I am speaking on “Staying On Top of Email” at Polishing the Pulpit in August, so I thought this would be a good exercise no matter what!]

2. Google bookmarks. What do you do with those sites that you “might” use sometime, but you don’t want to try to remember them, and you also don’t want to use up space in your bookmarks for a site you rarely use. I opened a Google bookmark account (free, of course). Within that, I have certain folders for those sites. I then placed a clipper on my browser so I can save sites there more easily. Want to know more? Click here. So far, I use this for Bible study sites that I don’t use regularly, as well as sites for hotels and other random, various things that I will only use every so often.

3. Google Calendar/GooCal. I have used Google’s calendar for a long time, and one reason I like it so much is that it syncs with my iPhone. Now, I have found an app on my iPhone that I like even more. It’s called GooCal. I have 5 calendars on Google (Lebanon Road, family, speaking engagements, podcasts, and blog stuff). Each one is a different color, and GooCal even syncs the color of the calendars, so with a glance, I can know what I’m doing and what area of life it’s in. And I put tons of stuff on my calendar, and ask it to send me an email to remind me of the event. (Both Google Calendar and GooCal are free.)

4. Evernote. You knew this was coming if you know me at all! I have a premium Evernote account (cost: $45 per year), and I store all sorts of things there. I use the premium account because it stores my Word and PowerPoint documents. I even have it set up where it saves those files each time I hit “save,” so they are constantly backed up. I also save web clips, lists (tons of lists), pdfs, and other materials there. And, it’s about to be more (more on that in the “outstanding”).

5. Picasa. I am terrible about keeping up with pictures. Even though I don’t have a lot of pictures, I’m still terrible about keeping up with them. So, I started a Picasa account through Google (cost? Free, of course). I still have a long way to go here, but I’ve started saving pictures here and putting them in folders, so that they are more organized.

But, what if the Internet dies, or these companies go out of business? Keep reading.

Office

1. Clean up! I did a major clean up of my desk a few days ago. Most of the papers were thrown away, but there are still things to go. The first step, though, was just to clean up, especially papers.

2. Set up “stations.” That’s a terrible way to describe it, but I have set up certain areas on my desk for ongoing projects. I stack up books and materials that are being used for (1) my Sunday morning sermon series, (2) my Sunday morning class, and (3) my Wednesday night class.

3. Get ready to go on a file folder raid. I have kept several pages of material, but have yet to file them. However, I put them out of sight to encourage me to keep my desk and counter area cleaner than normal.

4. Use paper. I tried to decide which type of notebook I really use for certain things, and I threw the rest away. I have a small notebook that I keep in my computer bag, and a larger legal pad that I take to meetings. I also have done better about keeping pens in places where I can actually find them.

5. Backup hard drive. I have an external hard drive to which I back up my laptop about every month. I have now added that task to my calendar. That way, if the Internet ever dies completely, or companies like Evernote or Google go out of business, I will still have most of my stuff saved. I might lose a few files, but most of us could lose a few files and still be fine.

Outstanding

Here are the steps I have yet to take, that I think will take this organizational move to the next level.

1. Tags and folders on email. Using Gmail, you can place emails into folders (work, children, etc.), and can tag them to find them more easily. I have not started this yet, because I want to think through how many files I really need.

2. Reorganize Evernote #1. I am going to think through exactly how many folders and tags I need in Evernote to make it more of an online filing cabinet. Here is the blog post I’m using as my guide.

3. Reorganize Evernote #2. With nearly countless resources online, many of the files I have in my filing cabinet are obsolete. So, I am about to undertake a major move: I am going to scan in many of the resources to Evernote, and empty out many of my files. I’m not quite going paperless, but I’m going to go with far less paper. With Evernote’s ability to search text within pdf’s, and with the ability to add things to the file (like when an illustration is used), I think this is going to work better.

4. Reorganize Evernote #3: Add meeting notes to Evernote, too. After I take notes in a meeting, I am going to place them into Evernote, so they are searchable.

5. Avoid Google Docs, unless….. I like Google Docs, but have yet to adopt it as my word processor. The reason is simple: outlining on Google docs is terrible. If they ever make outlining as simple as it is in Word, I will probably change, so that my documents are in “the cloud,” too. I will keep using PowerPoint, though, because I know how to use it, and I like the way it lets me do what I like to do.

6. Start the same process at home! One of my goals is to have more organization among things like our financial documents, and to do better with our family pictures and other documents, too.

7. Spend some time thinking about organization. Not just the “nuts and bolts,” but just what needs to be done. My plan is to take 30 minutes per week–early in the week–just to think through where I am and what needs to be done.

8. Get 2 items for my desk. There are a few pieces of paper that I need nearby, so I am planning on getting a standing file holder for my desk to hold about 3-4 files that I like to have nearby at all times. (I can’t put things in desk drawers. I literally forget about them. I’ve been that way for years.) Also, I want a wooden inbox. Yes, that’s old-school, but I am terrible about just setting things down in random places. I think these two items will help me keep the few pieces of paper I need to have at hand taken care of, instead of having multiple piles all over the place.

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There is where I am, and where I hope to be going.

What tips and resources do you have that have helped you?