Get Organized: Keep All Your Information in One Place
September 19th, 2007 (6:00am) Leo Babauta 15 Comments
Those of us who use the web all day long, every day, probably have signed up for at least a couple dozen different information services, all with different login information, all storing different information for us.
We might have a to-do manager, a contact manager, a bookmarking service, a project management service, a wiki, multiple email accounts, lists, multiple online documents, or one of the many other services available for managing our information.
Trouble is, that can make things a bit disorganized. Our information is spread through various sites and services, some of which we use infrequently. We might not remember where everything is, and even if we do, it takes a minute or so to locate it, login, and access the information.
You can simplify this and keep yourself organized in one simple step: keep all your information in one place.
It doesn’t matter where that place is, as long as it works well for you and you use it regularly. But just this single act will keep all your information at your fingertips, and keep you organized in a way you may never have been before.
So how do you do it? Here are some suggestions:
1. Pick a location. There are many places you could use for your info. Google Docs, a wiki that you can keep on your own server or on a flash drive, Backpack, a plain old paper notebook, a binder, any list service, an email account, a secure web site, Evernote, Google Notebook, a text file. Actually, any place you can store info works … just choose one that works well for you. I recommend something searchable, and if you use multiple computers, something online.
2. Migrate your info. This is the hardest part, but you don’t have to do it all at once. Just find all your other info and start exporting and importing or copying and pasting. To-do lists, shopping lists, project management, notes, your wedding plans, travel info, contacts, checklists, goals, reference info, invoice tracking, logs, a journal, your budget, savings info, even web bookmarks. Having one place for all this info will make it so much easier to find and update. Note: if the service isn’t secure, you probably don’t want to keep financial or password info here. But many services are secure.
3. Keep it open all the time. If your info is digital, either on your computer or online, you can have it open in a window or tab all day long as you work. If it’s on paper, keep it open and by your side. You want it to be super accessible, so there are no barriers to using it, and you’ll use it often.
4. Create a shortcut to it. Notwithstanding the above advice, if for some reason the document or service is closed, you want to be able to open it and access it quickly. So set up a hotkey for it. AutoHotKeys works well for this, but there are other similar apps.
5. Make it a habit. You might forget to use your One Place For All Info in the beginning, but it’s important that you get into the habit of opening it, updating it, and using it to find the info you need. That means you need to focus on using it regularly for at least a week, but once you do that, and don’t let yourself slip up, it gets ingrained.
6. Update before you shut down. Related to the above item, before you quit for the day, make it a habit to review your One Place For All Info, updating as needed. This will ensure that you’re always up to date, and the system doesn’t start to fall apart.
7. Back up. If you keep all your info in one place, you would be crushed if you lost it. So it’s even more critical to back this info up often, to ensure that it’s safe. I recommend once a day (when you shut down for the day), but you might have a different preference.
15 Comments Post your own comment
Aaron B. Hockley says: September 19th, 2007 7:27am
Good tips. One thing that’s important (and is somewhat covered by the “back it up” tip) is to choose a format that is durable… don’t lock your data into some proprietary system. If you keep it online, make sure it can be exported to text.
Frank says: September 19th, 2007 7:30am
I use http://www.codeproject.com/tools/ToDoList2.asp as todolist and iMacros http://www.iopus.com/imacros/firefox/ as free Roboform replacement to keep my 100’s of logins in one (secure) place.
Elliott Pesut says: September 19th, 2007 7:32am
Great post. I find that picking the location is the hardest for me, as I have many. I use Google Docs for writing/drafting emails, Backpack for collecting information and Basecamp for managing projects (both personal and work related).
I think the most useful point for me is the “update it before you shut down”. It seems like that will help me discipline myself and develop more of a routine. I can’t tell you how relevant this post is to my daily life.
It would be interesting for WWD to do a series of interviews with web workers about their collection and processing systems - kind of like Focus Minded’s Freelancer Friday. Asking questions like - What’s your typical day like? When you find topic that is interesting how do you process it? How do you store your information? What one service do you use? Etc. Just a thought. Hope everyone has a great day! :)
Drainedge Link Tank » Blog Archive » Links From Around the Web says: September 19th, 2007 10:17am
[...] Get Organized: Keep All Your Information in One Place - Web Worker Daily [...]
Gerard Sorme says: September 19th, 2007 12:00pm
I use GS Notes. I’ve tried Evernote, TexNotes and every other kind of program like this and I settled on the ever-present (for me) GS Notes:
http://www.tgslabs.com/en/gsnotes/
My Gadgetless Life: Leo Interviewed on Bloggers Cribs | zen habits says: September 20th, 2007 11:53am
[...] Get Organized: Keep All Your Info in One Place [...]
Kiwinewt.Geek » Blog Archive » New Thing #66: Centralisation says: September 21st, 2007 3:04am
[...] Then I saw this: Get Organized: Keep All Your Information in One Place [...]
Maureen says: September 21st, 2007 12:23pm
I agree with Frank; ToDoList rocks. It’s highly configurable with very fast search.
Nora says: September 24th, 2007 5:50am
What a great article!
It’s so true, the web activity can be a mess, especially the social activity.
8hands is the best aggregator to organize the social networks.
Key to Organization: The Habit of Now « Web Worker Daily says: September 28th, 2007 6:07am
[...] Keep your information in one place. This is related to #2 above, but if your information is in multiple places, you’ll waste time looking for it. Try to keep everything centralized, to save time and searching. [...]
Daniel says: October 21st, 2007 8:19am
I’m using the exact One Place you’re mentioning here from the beginning of 2007. This place for me is Microsoft OneNote 2007, and it has replaced about 5 other applications for me. It works great with Outlook 2007 and I’m very happy with my setup.
I reccomend everyone to test it.
Kolz Blog » Blog Archive » Key to Organization: The Habit of Now says: November 1st, 2007 3:22pm
[...] Keep your information in one place. This is related to #2 above, but if your information is in multiple places, you’ll waste time looking for it. Try to keep everything centralized, to save time and searching. But even with those three factors, if you don’t develop the Habit of Now, things will fall apart. Instead of stacking a bunch of papers to put away where they belong later, do it now. If you don’t have a place for something, such as a folder, make one now instead of later. The Habit of Now, of course, isn’t always that easy to develop. We tend to procrastinate. However, it’s just like any other habit: if you focus on it for long enough, it will soon become automatic and easy. Here’s how to do it: 1. Write it down. Print out a big sign that says, “DO IT NOW”. Also list the actions you must do right away: filing, creating a place for something, putting things where they belong, the top item on your task list. 2. Log it. You don’t need to create a detailed log for each time you follow the Habit of Now … but it would be very useful to do a running tally. Just have a small piece of paper on your desk, and when you Do It Now, put a tally. You can also do a tally of the times you forget to Do It Now or procrastinate on it. The tally simply makes you aware of the activity, and reinforces the habit, and it really works. 3. Report your progress. Tell others about your habits — your spouse, your co-workers, friends. And tell them to ask you about it every day. Or put it on your blog, and let your readers hold you accountable. If you know someone else is watching, you’ll do your best. 4. Focus on this habit, and nothing else. Don’t try to change multiple habits at once. It’s very difficult, and if you diffuse your focus, you’ll be less likely to be successful. Try to focus on this habit for 3o days. 5. No exceptions. Don’t tell yourself, “Just this once won’t hurt.” That’s like a smoker who’s trying to quit saying, “Just one puff won’t hurt.” Well, that one puff will lead to two, which eventually leads to failure. Same thing with the Habit of Now: if you allow yourself to put it off even once, it will lead to the Habit of Whenever. 6. Make folders quickly. Always have a good supply of manila folders and labels, so you can make a new file folder in a jiffy. If it takes more than a few seconds to make a folder, you’ll resist doing it. When you have a documents that should be filed but doesn’t have a folder it should go in, you need to make a new folder and file it immediately. 7. File it now. Don’t let things pile up. Don’t have a “to be filed” folder. Just file it, right away. Same thing with anything else: put it away, now. Share This [...]
Web Worker Daily » Archive Open Thread: Do You Wiki? « says: February 24th, 2008 7:18am
[...] Get Organized: Keep All Your Information in One Place [...]
WebWorkerDaily » Archive 6 Lessons I Wish I Knew When I Started Online Freelancing « says: August 4th, 2008 9:00am
[...] last year, and my invoices, contracts, and other important documents were either nonexistent or scattered all over my hard drive. This led to missed deadlines, long turnover times, and, eventually, annoyed clients. Even if [...]
Jake’s Life » SMS Site published; One more on the horizon says: August 5th, 2008 3:20pm
[...] Web Worker Daily — Get Organized: Keep All Your Work in One Place [...]