Yesterday I was at Office Depot looking at the clearance items. I saw a daily planner for teachers. I don't know what made me look at it, I am not a teacher (not anymore! I homeschooled one year and that was a horrible experience with my child). Anyway, it is laid out in such a way that I thought it could be useful for planning different projects. I have a hard time keeping up with web site stuff, marketing etc...
I know its a little lame but thought that I would pass the idea on.
Have a good one!
diana

Hi Diana,
I'd be interested to hear more about how it was laid out - right now I keep everythinng in an online calendar but am always open to suggestions.

One thing I had thought about getting was one of those really BIG paper calendars, I mean BIG BIG... with the huge squares for each day of the month and tons of space to write items in. Or a whiteboard calendar - but the only problem with that is I'd have only the one month in front of me...

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I have a Mac and I use iCal for everything. I have my computer set up to turn itself on every morning a half an hour before I'm officially open for business, and I have iCal set to open upon startup. This way I get a look at my daily agenda first thing. I then hand write a checklist for the day's activities to follow. Writing it out by hand helps me follow through. I also add everything into my Blackberry so I have it when I'm mobile. I always look at the planners and calendars when I'm in the store, but I really have no use for them anymore. I admit...I'm a nerd.

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Winston Stewart
PennWin Administrative Services

I don't use the paper planners...the only thing I write on is my dry erase board. But other then that...my outlook is my BFF!!! I have started using Heap to help with my scheduling of my newsletter and help me keep track of my direct mailing leads and so forth.

Even when I go out to my volunteer job in the mornings....I have to take my laptop or my palm...I freak out if I dont have my "toys" near me...

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Rebecca Thompson
CLR Virtual Connection * fanTABulous fan pages

I also have trouble keeping up with projects. Now that I have started taking a legal transcription course (in addition to starting by VA business and working a f/t job) this may be something I need to look into.

Thanks for the tip.

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Marsha Willis
Alternate Office Solution

Good question....My blackberry is my friend; however, I am looking for something online that I can use to keep track of my "to do list". Overall, my blackberry keeps track of everything.

Pamela

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Pamela
CMB Business Solutions www.cmbbusiness.com

Originally Posted by Tess

Hi Diana, I'd be interested to hear more about how it was laid out - right now I keep everythinng in an online calendar but am always open to suggestions. One thing I had thought about getting was one of those really BIG paper calendars, I mean BIG BIG... with the huge squares for each day of the month and tons of space to write items in. Or a whiteboard calendar - but the only problem with that is I'd have only the one month in front of me...

Tess, I like to back up everything and cross reference when I can. So this is how I plan my work and personal appmts, tasks, etc.

Online - I use Officezilla (free)
Offline - I have a whiteboard (not too big) from Staples for the current month. (that goes on the fridge)

Then under that I also have the next month (free calendars I get online).

I write in all my appmts & tasks on the white board and when I need to plan for the next month I already have the paper calendar right there.

When the current month is over I erase the current month from the white board and write in the appmts for the new month.

Now some people may think this is just a little bit too much but I like working with the white board, the blocks are bigger but mostly I like the "erasability" factor, which is a life saver

I also save the paper calendars for a while in case I want to look back and check a prior date for something. If you want to see holidays, you can always print up a free calendar that has that included. I guess it all depends on how much free space you have on your fridge. Does Nou draw yet?
HTH

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JoCarole
http://www.shoreofficeservices.com

I use Outlook for everything. Between the calendar and the tasks list, I have everything I need.

I keep all tasks (including little things like give the dogs their meds) in Outlook with reminders. That way, I can keep snoozing it until it's actually done, so I don't forget. With bigger projects, I use the task function with reminders, and keep notes in the task window about progress and what I need to do next for it.

I found that with paper, I tend to lose things (or just forget to look in it). Since I'm always on the computer, using Outlook's task function gives me the reminders I need to get things done.

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

Originally Posted by RebeccaT

I don't use the paper planners...the only thing I write on is my dry erase board. But other then that...my outlook is my BFF!!! I have started using Heap to help with my scheduling of my newsletter and help me keep track of my direct mailing leads and so forth. Even when I go out to my volunteer job in the mornings....I have to take my laptop or my palm...I freak out if I dont have my "toys" near me...

Rebecca, I was going to start with my OL calendar also, but everytime I open
OL up on my Vista machine, it crashes Does this ever happen to you?

I would like an online program that would automatically send me reminders and that I could export into e-mails if I needed to. Outlook does that I believe...

Heap I never heard of before. Is this freeware or paid version? Thanks

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JoCarole
http://www.shoreofficeservices.com

Jo-Carole, have you done a detect and repair on your Outlook install?

I know how to do it on XP, but don't have Vista installed. Are you using office 2007 or 2003?

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Jodith Allen
Administrative Arts

I tend to use my iPhone for everything. The calendar is not the best and I am debating a few diff applications for that purpose (schedule/planner stuff). I tend to find that I loose or forget my paper planners. But with my iPhone I know that I never go anywhere without it. And I always have my phone available and near my calendar.

What a fantastic idea, I must go out and get one today.

Thanks from Australia

I have a Palm Treo and I'm pretty good about putting my appointments in my Palm calendar. I'm not so diligent at listing my tasks on my Task list on it. Probably because I falsely believe I can keep all organized in my head..lol. These are some great ideas. My phone is usually never more than 3 feet away so I think what will work best for me is to write it all down on paper first (appts also!) and then enter it into the Palm Desktop and hotsync it to my Treo. I also have Outlook. I think there is a way to get that updated as well with my Treo, but I haven't taken the time to figure it out yet.

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Monica West|www.prismvirtual.com
Prism Virtual Business Services

All great ideas. I use Outlook for most things, but I also love my Blackberry as I always keep it on hand and find it fabulous!

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Claire Baber ~ Horizon Virtual Assistance

Hi everyone:

If you ever need an online "to do" list, I love rememberthemilk.com. It can send task reminders to your e-mail or to your cell (as a text message). You can also add tasks "on the run" by sending an e-mail to an address the program provides. The site allows you to add tags to each task. For example, the tag could be the name of the client. If you click on the name of a tag, the site brings up all the results for that tag and you can save those results. If you assign tasks to that tag in the future, the saved report automatically updates. You then have a list of all tasks for a given client. There is the ability to set a due date. And, the site allows you to back up the data.

Jolene

Jolene