How do you manage all the information in your life? For a busy person — and who isn’t these days? — it can be a challenge to find the right information management system. It may help to know that no system is perfect — each has its pros and cons — and you might end up using a combination of several tools to create a customized information management system that works best for you.
Professional organizer Julie Morgenstern advises choosing a single system — paper-based or electronic — for managing all your personal data (calendar, contacts, "to-do" list, notes, expenses, etc.) Time-tested paper-based systems include the venerable Filofax, FranklinCovey, Day-Timer, and my favorite (and best-looking, in my opinion) organizer pages, Day Runner. Desktop software applications include the robust ACT! contact management software, Microsoft OneNote and IBM Lotus Organizer. And, of course, there is a plethora of handheld devices and PDAs to choose from.
Because each medium has its own advantages, I use all of these in conjuction:
- Microsoft Outlook as my desktop PIM. I used to use Palm Desktop until the sheer volume of data I was managing unleashed some sort of glitch that crashed the application with increasing frequency. (Perhaps this bug has been fixed in subsequent versions.)
- A Palm PDA, with the data synched to Outlook, thanks to Chapura PocketMirror.
- A series of Excel spreadsheets to manage my business data, fitness record, reading list, wish list and generic weekly schedule.
- A good old-fashioned notebook and pen — although I haven’t graduated to the Hipster PDA yet.
While it may seem complicated to use all of these tools, all of my information is well organized, and if my desk isn’t already clear, it’s very easy to tidy up.
Other resources worth considering:
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Posted January 5, 2006 by Mariva in books, business, career, gadgets, innovations, resources
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What’s in your ideal Swiss Army knife? Along the lines of the ultimate house, I designed my own ultimate pocket tool. My Swiss Army knife would include the usual: |
- knife, of course
- nail clipper
- nail file
- scissors
- screwdriver (both flat and Phillips heads)
- can opener
- corkscrew
- toothpick
- tweezers
- magnifying glass
as well as some high-tech mini-gadgets:
- audio player (which doubles as USB storage)
- alarm clock/timer/stopwatch
- camera
- phone
- basic PDA with calendar, contacts and notes functions
- walkie-talkie
- wi-fi and Bluetooth connectivity
- transistor radio
- rechargeable battery
and other useful things:
- flashlight
- compact but strong detachable padlock
- measuring tape
- coin holder
- pen
- lip balm
- mirror
- pill case
- toothbrush
- sewing kit
Yeah, I realize this would probably make an awfully large tool, perhaps too big to fit into one’s pocket — but it’s a fun fantasy. In the meantime, however, we can content ourselves with the Victorinox Swiss Army knife with SwissMemory 1GB USB drive.
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Posted December 27, 2005 by Mariva in gadgets, gifts, innovations
Does it fly? Can it cry? Can you eat it? Is it blue? Can you throw it? The Mind-Reading Electronic Question Game is a cool-looking device that can guess an object that you’re thinking of (although I can’t imagine that it could come up with obscure band names and scientific terms). Good for long trips, waiting rooms, bored kids and party ice-breakers.
Or you could just play 20 Questions online for free.
Posted December 19, 2005 by Mariva in entertaining, entertainment, fun, gadgets, games, gifts, home, innovations, social, travel
Kikkerland offers a variety of cute-but-sleek accessories for home and office: the Fly Wall Clock, which features a picture of a fly on a screen door imprinted onto a fly swatter; an assortment of mechanical wind-up creatures; games, including decks of semi-translucent cards; and a Foldable Bottle Holder Rack, useful for wine aficionados.
You can find my favorite Kikkerland products — the Silver Ocean Globe and the Business Card Size Tool Set — at Ship the Web.
Posted December 7, 2005 by Mariva in decor, fun, gadgets, games, gifts
Scott Adams, creator of the newspaper cartoon Dilbert, designed the ultimate virtual house: an energy-efficient, environmentally friendly structure that features a "quiet room" (a soundproof room that doubles as a "scream room"), two dishwashers* (one for dirty dishes, the other for clean ones), a home theater and a mow-free artificial turf lawn.
What’s in your ultimate house? In mine:
Posted December 1, 2005 by Mariva in decor, fun, gadgets, innovations, resources
Reuters released a story titled “Electronic paper moves from sci-fi to marketplace.” The first paragraph references Neal Stephenson’s sci-fi novel The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer, because the plot features an electronic book that utilizes nanotechnological paper. Several companies are currently developing electronic paper, the first stage of this amazing technology.
Posted November 8, 2005 by Mariva in books, gadgets, innovations, news
It’s hard to imagine anyone burning $39.99 on something this useless, but I suppose the same could be said for a fattening restaurant meal. Apparently it’s not a gag.
But is this thing for real? I don’t remember "the Book of Jobs" in the Bible:
“But now bring me a man who plays music. And when the man played music, the groove came upon them.”
– 2 Jobs 3:15
Posted October 26, 2005 by Mariva in fun, gadgets, music
