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...

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
S-M Office Solutions

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

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
www.cmbvirtualassistants.com

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

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