Being Organized

[Hellbent]

What do you use to be organized? I think the iPhone has some apps but I haven't had any success in learning how to use any that I find work well. What do you use to be organized; such as keeping track of appointments and things.

[Fuzzball]

Something like an "app" shouldn't be needed imo- unless it's for a special circumstance then it's just stuck on your phone which is a distraction in itself.

Try getting an actual paper diary and think about what you need to do, are there set times you fancy doing a task? Are you likely to allocate time to one and keep it like that?

http://www.lifehacker.co.uk/tag/brain-hacks/
Lots of good guides here on how to deal with several things in life~!

[AndrewB]

I prefer Google Sheets to keep stats on women so I can figure out which ones to spend the most time on.

[Kontra Kommando]

I have a desk calender that I use to designate due dates.

[Azuruish]

It's completely unreal for me. Don't know why but i can't be organized.
Everything happening by random: Do i will work in Blender3d or just continue to build TAS demo in PRBoom?
Will ya watch some videos or just took a pillow and with listening sadcore music to cry because of loneliness?
Everything depends from mood and random and i have no idea how possible to organize this... THat... mmmm... What is it...

[HorrorMovieRei]

Organized? HA! Right now I can't even tell my desktop apart from my trash bin

[Tosi]

I just memorize everything I need to do. Once in a while I will write something down but I don't usually use it. The act of writing it down is enough for me not to forget it.

[BaronOfStuff]

Bahaha, organised!

Image blurred to fuck due to irrational paranoia.

[40oz]

I have a Nokia lumia and whenever I make an appointment on the calendar, the description and time of the event will appear on my phones title screen one day in advance, so ill see it everytime I need to check my phone. It does a great job at drilling it in your head that way. If you have multiple appointments a day, I would set alarms, like one an hour in advance to remind you to get ready for it, and one 15 minutes in advance to tell you its time to go.

As tosi said, writing things down will help you remember it. Somehow taking the time to write something will do a great job of retaining info

[Annunakitty]

I use Google Calendar for keeping track of appointments and whatnot. I can get notifications on my phone and Windows' calendar can sync with it too. Few excuses for missing things, so long as I actually add the thing to my calendar.

I also use habitica for managing my day-to-day organization and building better habits. It's a game-ified productivity and organization app; get experience and gold for completing tasks, etc. It's cute and superfluous but it HAS helped me focus on some of the trivial tasks I need to take care of every day. I recommend it.

[schwerpunk]

lists, man.

I am naturally disorganized. Writing lists and using them to plan my days helps me function.

[Graf Zahl]

A good old paper calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen cannot be beaten by all that newfangled technology that's permeating every aspect of life...

[Annunakitty]

Graf Zahl said:

A good old paper calendar hanging on the wall in the kitchen cannot be beaten by all that newfangled technology that's permeating every aspect of life...

I only buy those so I can look at a new cute kitten each month.

[Soundblock]

Over the fridage door, I annually slap a self-made calendar (large piece of paper + two marking pens - red days numbered in red). Then mark important dates & times there & move a fridge magnet over the current date. For daily reminders, my phone buzzes to alert me 15 minutes ahead of time.

[fraggle]

schwerpunk said:

I am naturally disorganized. Writing lists and using them to plan my days helps me function.

I've started doing this recently too. It's still a fairly disorganized system but I've found it's really helped keep my work focused.

I have a large (~A4 sized) notepad; each week I start a new page. I divide the page in two columns and write a list of goals I want to achieve by the end of that week. Then each morning I write a new list of things I want to achieve that day in order to work towards achieving the things in the weekly list. As I complete each task I cross them out. Ideally by the end of the day I should have crossed off each task set for that day, or have some justifiable excuse for why I didn't achieve it (maybe I was blocked waiting on a response from someone else, for example).

I deliberately do it on paper. I think it helps to subconsciously physically commit to doing something in a way that writing it on a computer doesn't. Think about the phrase "set in stone" for an analogy. Once it's written down it can't be erased. I photograph the list with my smartphone after writing it each morning, so that I have a portable copy I can refer to if I'm away from my desk. Physically crossing out the items when they're completed also provides a positive feedback mechanism as it's really satisfying to knock items off the list.

[Hellbent]

Thanks guys! I'll definitely try some of these suggestions and let you all know how it goes. One thing I'm considering is maybe a white erase board that has permanent calendar markings on it. But you have to write in the days every month. Graf Zahl is prolly right; a good ol' fashioned paper calendar might be best.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Having something where you can check off tasks is a big help, because then you get that little perk/feedback that you finished something. That's why lists can be such a big help.

I personally use two separate whiteboards for most things. One is just a plain whiteboard I use for daily stuff. That one hangs on my refrigerator. The other is a reusable calendar I keep track of bigger things, weekly tasks, and holidays. Appointments go into my phone's calendar (synced to my server), and then onto my whiteboard calendar the month they happen.

For keeping groceries organized, I use OI Shopping List for Android.

Bullet Journal seems like it might be useful if you need something fancy. I'm not dedicated enough to do it, though. http://bulletjournal.com/

[termrork]

I do not have any lists or a calender... but I have to admit I forget a lot of things, but since my people got used to it, it is not a big problem anymore. I know it sounds selfish, but all organisation stuff I tried did not work at all. Another thing related to this: if you forget things like shutting the windows before you go out or look if the stove is shut down you can print out A3 or A4 sheets with "stove?" or "windows?" and stick them on your front door. May look weird, but works like a charm.

[Yuki Senmatsu]

If I have too much crap on my Desktop, I make a folder called Stuff in my C: Drive

As for DOOM mapping and editing, I have a folder on my Desktop called Editing that has other various folders for patches, sprites, sounds, etc.

[MFG38]

I have an almanac and a wall calendar, essentially two different objects to keep track of two different sides of my life: the university-goer life and the gamer/music enthusiast life.

[Soundblock]

Only problem with a standard calendar is that I forget to turn the page - then I look up and its two months ago. And they're usually harder to write on, being largely laminated paper.

Also, a to-do list in a text file, for long-term goals (containing lists of books, games & films to get, etc.).

[schwerpunk]

Whatever method you choose, the biggest factor in determining your success is whether you'll use it or not. So whatever resonates best with you, then start building the habit of using it daily.

For instance, I don't make any decisions any more before checking my agenda. Everything of note that I'm doing goes in there, from down-time playing Fallout 4, to fixing a bug on an open source project.

[Jon]

A small paper week-to-view diary with the week on the left, and notepad pages on the right ( a moleskine brand one fwiw). I've never found a digital solution that worked for me.

I keep a TODO on a note page and mark that with a little label poking out of the page on the right a few mm like a bookmark so I can find the todo page quickly. If I have more items todo than fit on one page, I have more than one page bookmarked. But, if I have an old todo page with like 90%+ of stuff on it ticked off, I re-asses the things left, and if they're still worth doing I rewrite them on a newer todo page and disregard the old one.

For all note pages ,I mark the top-right corner with a slash of my pen to indicate "this page done, nothing to worry about here", so you can quickly scan through and see what pages are still "hot".

I keep a seperate page for loans/stuff borrowed from other people; one or two for finances (moneys owed etc.) but I try to avoid owing any money. I have a single page summarizing annual committments (car tax, insurance renewals, mot etc. which are quick to copy into the next year's diary when needed.

TODO items I go to the trouble of drawing a small square on the left that I can tick off which is satisfying. (a strike-through means something different: task abandoned/not necessary anymore)

Try to carry it with you at all times.