This is a nice little article worth reading, even if you consider yourself pretty organized. I found a few things missing from my organizational scheme.
12 Hours to Better Time Management – Stepcase Lifehack
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A personal addendum:
I use OmniFocus in combination with iCal, which together handle most of my reminder and to-do stuff extremely well (and happen to sync with iPod touch). Things is another highly acclaimed app, which is cheaper than OmniFocus. (All these are Mac apps; sorry, Windows users.)
I also use OmniOutliner Pro, for to-do lists that don’t need to pop up on my schedule. But if you’re on a budget, you can get by with any old text editor; just type out your list and print.
Besides the items mentioned in the article, I’ve found it useful to add these things to my computer calendar and/or to-do lists:
- Household cleaning tasks for each Friday
- Cleaning personal inboxes, outboxes, email regularly
- Monthly bank reconciliations, updating financial software
- Monthly computer maintenance tasks (checking that backups are running, doing routine diagnostics, checking for software updates [I use AppFresh], cleaning desktop and network folders, emptying the trash, syncing contact phone numbers to cell phone, backups to DVD, etc.)
- Updating desk calendar with important dates (birthdays, events)
- Yearly tasks: cleaning out filing cabinet, tossing old bills and statements, updating medical records, donating unused clothing/items, cleaning out expired or soon-to-expire food and medical items, cycling devices that need to be periodically discharged and recharged
- GTD-related tasks, weekly as needed
I don’t block out my time, as the article suggests. I haven’t it found it useful or necessary. But if you are really stuck with more stuff on your plate than you can seem to manage, blocking out time can really help.
For password management, I use 1Password, which is really great. It’s a 5-star app.