What’s Stayed the Same

Getting Things Done – This organizational method is still deep down in how I get things done.  Though, I do believe it’s time for a refresher.  Now that, I’ve read that book three or four times now, I can honestly say that it enriches my organizational ability and effectiveness every time I re-read it.

PureBase – This is my method of keeping personal files on my computer.  The idea is one of a pure database (thus PureBase) that keeps information as much as possible in a native format and preserves as much info as possible and prevents getting tangled in a program that might not be supported in the future.  The files are in universal formats as much as possible.  Over time, this method of organization has increased for some things and dropped off for others.  I used to keep mht or pdf files of web content in there that I thought I would like to remember later.  That has ceased, as I never searched back through it to find anything and it was only available on my desktop.  The remaining utility mostly lies in archives of my business files, dev folders for various projects, archives for past files from high school and college.  PureImages has sprouted off from this which I’ll cover in the what’s new section.

Inbox Zero – This method of dealing with incoming communications is alive and well and has morphed into what I call my Communication Dashboard.  More on that later.

Mission Statements – I still have my mission statements, though I will use this opportunity to retouch them.  I’ll post them up once they are revised.

LifeCal – My family’s calendar is alive and thriving.  We are all on the same page, and I relish the ability to see at a glance what we are handling in the upcoming week.  My work appointments are there, our family gatherings with extended family and friends are there, birthdays, and all types of appointments and commitments.  It’s one of the tabs that auto-loads when I start up Chrome.

Reader – Since I created this mind map, my use of Google Reader ceased and then flourished again recently.  It stopped because it started to be a true burden on me to keep up with the onslaught of material delivered to me each day.  I then cut it off cold-turkey and I’m glad I did.  It freed me from the anxiety of the large number of unread items and the thought that I needed to be caught up with what really turned out to be frivolous.  After a restful respite from Reader, I’ve started up again but this time I’m much more judicious in what I subscribe to and much more likely to skip over most of what I’m presented.  It’s now returning to my system as a leaner and more trustworthy use of my time.

Moleskine – These lovely little notebooks are still a staple when I need to take notes in the “old-world” where having notes into my phone or my netbook isn’t acceptable.  I do enjoy putting them on the shelf after they are full, but normally anything of more-than-transient value is recopied into something more accessible.

Action Pad – This is my version of the hipster pda.  It’s essential and great.  I really need a way to archive them though.  More thought is necessary on that front.

What’s New

PureImages and Picasa – Sprouting off of the PureBase idea is the PureImages directory.  I have folders of Art, Avatars, Family Art, Family Photos, Favorites, Graphics, Photography, Scanned, Video, and Working.  The vast majority of my images get put into Family Photos into a folder for the year.  No other sorting or tagging takes place in the file structure.  I then use Picasa to review them in a grid view and can pretty quickly come to a picture I’m looking for.  If it’s a photo I’m especially proud of, it will get copied to the Favorite folder as well for a easy view of all of my best shots.

Communication Dashboard – My communication dashboard is a customized interface with gmail that shows me my inbox, starred messages, text messages, voice messages, social messages, and drafts.  The text and voice messages are enabled by Google Voice.  In addition, there are quite a few labels and filters set up for bank activity, email graphics, lifetrack data, school lists, and others.  It wouldn’t be possible without the multiple in-box feature from gmail labs.  It’s the most central place where I get things done.

M-Store – Closely tied to the communication dashboard is a new concept: M-Store.  This is a system of labels and filters to store information.  More to come on this front.

Toodledo – This is the place where my tasks get recorded.  It utilizes contexts that I created based on the Getting Things Done method and it’s a tab that auto-loads for me.  I also use the iPhone app to quickly enter tasks that come to mind.

Google Sites – I’m been fighting this, but there is just no simpler way to dev something collaboratively than creating a Google Site for it.

Writings – I’m using Chronicles at www.cobbenterprises.com for more personal writing and DigitalGlory.com for writings that anybody can take in.

What’s Gone

Forces of Focus, Starry Board, and Gactions never really caught on so they are off the list.

What’s Lacking

Structured Data – I need a good place to store structured data in the cloud to build out databases on the fly.

Bookmarks – I’m not sure if M-Store is the place for this or not.  I’m still searching for this.  Amazingly, I’ve yet to find a solution in a chrome extension that isn’t horrible in the sorting or tagging or organizing of bookmarks.

Action Pad Storage – Like I mentioned earlier, I still need a good action pad storage mechanism.

New Organizational Structure for 2011

The good things about Evernote are clear.  First, it’s an app that’s stored online and syncs up everywhere I am via a desktop app, a web app, and an iPhone app.  Next, it’s a thriving service with lots of paying customers so it should be around for quite a while.  This also contributes to their ability to update their site / software on a regular basis ensuring continuing levels of improved features.

However, I have several big issues that prevented me from getting in the Evernote camp.

• There is no flat file method to export data en masse.  There is an Evernote export file but I would have preferred a zipped archive with universal formatted files embedded in it.
• No ability to auto-rotate pictures from the iPhone.  This is a dumb one.  If I take a snapshot with my iPhone camera sideways, Evernote won’t recognize it and turn it around.
• The bookmark storage mechanism isn’t great.  I was hopeful this would serve that need.
• Thumbnail views are really suited for clipped items, but seeing a bunch of thumbnails for text isn’t really what I need.

Lifehacker calls solutions like Evernote and Springpad “Everything Buckets” and that term scares me.  How does one organize an Everything Bucket – indeed it’s very name implies that you cant.  It is depending on a text search to keep organized and considering how often pictures would be in the archive, I think it would be a mess of folders and a lot of time tagging in order to really have it be a trusted system where I could feel good that I knew where things were.

For now, I’m going to use M-Store and clip things via cut and paste and send them to an internal email address that I can search in my gmail account.  I’m going to do the same thing for log data.  I’m hopeful in the future Evernote could take over these tasks but I don’t think it’s quite there yet.