How do you keep yourself organized?

[aloc1234]

I've always thought about how people do that. Where do you keep your notes, information and interesting things you end up discovering in the magical webz?

I keep most of the things in a bunch of txts, which means I end up opening 10~12 txts every day to check/write random things. I feel very disorganized in this environment, and would like a better alternative, even though I don't know any.

I also don't like Evernote myself, but that's just me.

[ibjsb4]

Zotero (http://www.zotero.org/)

[Paqman]

I use Remember the Milk. It supports just about every type of device and other service under the sun, so it's easy to keep everything synced across different OSes, on the move, etc. I mostly use it on my phone tbh, a to-do list is no good if it's not always in your pocket IMO.

[ugm6hr]

I am just happy being somewhat disorganised...

But I use Notes on my Android phone (open source basic notes app), and intermittently share them to Evernote (which is too slow for regular use on my phone - but otherwise quite good for my needs, and allows sharing between users).

I also use Pocket for saving web pages / news articles directly from my RSS feed reader on my phone.

Both Evernote and Pocket sync with web clients.

For specific projects, I use tiddlywiki from my browser, which has the benefit of wiki links between notes and search function.

[S Hartwell]

Years ago? I never was :P

These days I simply use my Smartphone and Evernote ;)

[mamamia88]

Dropbox is good for storing txt files and such. Also apps on android that sync notes online somewhere are great. For stuff not as important I use the xfce notes app

[Erik1984]

I stopped trying ;)

[PhilGil]

Calendar: Google Calendar
Tasks: Astrid (http://astrid.com/) (trying it out after using Toodledo for some time)
Notes: Zim (personal wiki) (http://zim-wiki.org/)

Google calendar integrates seamlessly with the Gnome desktop and my Android smart phone. Astrid has slick clients for the web and Android (with real-time sync).

I keep my Zim notes in Dropbox, so they they are available on my home desktop, work desktop and laptop. Zim doesn't have an Android client, but the wiki pages are text files so I can use the Dropbox app to access them from my phone.

[monkeybrain2012]

I am unorganised, but I know where my stuffs are and I have good memory (not being boastful but I never need notes to remind me of things and if I work out something I would remember it so I only scribbles on books' margin or loose paper, once I go through the process I can throw away the paper or erase the margin because it is now in my ram) Creative people are not organised. :)

[llanitedave]

I don't bother.

The great thing about forgetting everything is that I'm always having a new experience.


No matter how often I've had it before!

[zombifier25]

Go to sleep and pray I'll remember it the next morning.

[Autofac]

This isn't totally in the spirit of the question, but despite not being a luddite I have never been able, nor have I had the desire, to organize things on digital devices.

I use my computer(s) for all kinds of things but I detest calendar, to-dos and all other manner of things on digital devices. I am strictly pen-and-paper in that respect. But I am also a 'my phone is primarily a phone that sends texts' sort of guy, and not one who cares for all apps, or other bells and whistles.

That said, I work in a bookstore and someone ordered in Evernote Moleskines. I was curious and checked Evernote out, installed it and such. I found that while I would hate it as a note taking gizmo, I actually really like the web integration. I sort of use it in lieu of bookmarks which I always find that I never organize and end up forgetting. I just snip what I want from the page and archive it in evernote, for printing or reading later.

[Erik1984]

I don't bother.

The great thing about forgetting everything is that I'm always having a new experience.


No matter how often I've had it before!

I should store that quote... somewhere :p

[black veils]

for general to-do's, i use paper pad, or notes app on my phone (not to synchronise), and calendar app on phone.

things that i find while web browsing i either keep in my organised bookmarks, which i backup every day, or i save to files (synchronised to dropbox).

[JDShu]

https://workflowy.com/ is a great interface for note taking and keeping track of goals.

https://habitrpg.com/ is nice for motivating yourself to do things regularly.

EDIT: Oh yeah, a paper pad is great for figuring out what you need to do right NOW.

[tgalati4]

http://www.43folders.com/

Don't blame me if you find yourself stuck in the rabbit hole.

[BrokenKingpin]

Calendar: Google Calendar
Tasks: Astrid (http://astrid.com/) (trying it out after using Toodledo for some time)
Notes: Zim (personal wiki) (http://zim-wiki.org/)

Google calendar integrates seamlessly with the Gnome desktop and my Android smart phone. Astrid has slick clients for the web and Android (with real-time sync).

I keep my Zim notes in Dropbox, so they they are available on my home desktop, work desktop and laptop. Zim doesn't have an Android client, but the wiki pages are text files so I can use the Dropbox app to access them from my phone.
++ Zim notes. I also keep it in my dropbox so I have access to it on all my PCs, and always synced.

It is a great applications as you can store your notes in a hierarchy, so it makes it easy to organize notes. This application has made thins so much easier to manage.

[monkeybrain2012]

In general hate all those "notes". I find it more difficult to keep track of to do lists and manage them than to actually keep track of what I have to do. All these never ever notes give me anxiety attacks. I am not a secretary, why do I want to run my life like one?

[aloc1234]

++ Zim notes. I also keep it in my dropbox so I have access to it on all my PCs, and always synced.

It is a great applications as you can store your notes in a hierarchy, so it makes it easy to organize notes. This application has made thins so much easier to manage.

Of all those options presented so far (thanks everyone) the most appealing to me was indeed Zim notes, since I would be able to sync it with dropbox and because it's text only.

I have never wrote a wiki-styled page in my life (I've been reading how zim notes works), is it very hard to get started on the basics?

[PhilGil]

Of all those options presented so far (thanks everyone) the most appealing to me was indeed Zim notes, since I would be able to sync it with dropbox and because it's text only.

I have never wrote a wiki-styled page in my life (I've been reading how zim notes works), is it very hard to get started on the basics?

I didn't find it hard to learn, but I don't use the wiki features to a great extent.

One of the nice things about Zim is its flexibility. I structure my pages hierarchically, but I use the Index Panel for creating, deleting, organizing and navigating notes.

[BrokenKingpin]

I also did not find Zim hard to use. It is basically just working with a normal text editor, only it allows you to organize notes. It comes with a sample notebook that explains a few things, and shoes how you can organize things. Pretty easy. Install it and give it a go, it is in the repos.

[tgalati4]

I've used zim for several years. For organizing, keep the "Rule of 12" in mind. Never create more than 12 categories. Whether it be email folders, web bookmarks, file folders, project folders, zim links.

By keeping the "Rule of 12" it forces you to create categories if you don't have them, or file new notes into existing categories. The number 12 comes from the ability to quickly scan 12 icons in your file folders. When the list gets longer, it's harder to navigate. Give it a try. It requires discipline on the front end, but you will be able to find stuff quickly later. It also gives you a sense of calm, knowing that you have a system that works consistently.

If you have a desktop with a 100 icons scattered on it, try reducing to 12. If you have 1000 emails in your inbox, try putting them into 12 folders. If you have 40 folders in your "~/Projects" directory, try combining into 12. If you have 1,000 music tracks in your "~/Music" folder, try grouping into 12 folders. After a while the "Rule of 12" becomes automatic.

[BrokenKingpin]

I've used zim for several years. For organizing, keep the "Rule of 12" in mind. Never create more than 12 categories. Whether it be email folders, web bookmarks, file folders, project folders, zim links.

I completely agree with the "Rule of 12", not not when it comes to things like music and movies... at least for me. For the most part I just want to find and artist or movie alphabetically, not by category.

[cap10Ibraim]

I stopped trying ;)
+1 , Although I remember that I was enjoying the first days ;)

[patrycjam]

+1 , Although I remember that I was enjoying the first days ;)



me too.. (http://gamblingxpert.com/apex-gra.html). ;/

[JayKay3OOO]

For files on the computer I start tidy with a clear folder structure and then keep to it.

For files I don't use hardly ever like old school stuff they sit in iso files on the computer never to ever be looked at again.

For day to day I have a notebook that I write important things on using a pen and then pull out the page when I've completed the important thing. I know friends who have whiteboards where they scribble things on and some that put sticky notes on everything. Everything else sits in my head, but I do sometimes used the phones calendar for future events that I'm likely to forget.

If it's websites then I bookmark it under an organised structure and delete bookmarks when they become irrelevant, syched on chromium.

If an e-mail is really important it gets saved and stored on the computer till it becomes irrelevant.

It sounds boring, but it's really useful when you want to actually find anything. I've been in the mess situation and spent weekends tidying up so I find it better to start organised so that way you can spend time doing other things like wasting time writing about how you keep organised, but I broke my neck so that's my excuse. Toodle pip. Willow Wand, Willow Wand.