Thing # 16 Get Organized With Web 2.0 Tools

I have always been very organized, and I believe this has helped me both personally and academically.  My hub of organization is the journal/planner that is always with me.  In this I keep track of assignment due dates, test dates, events, appointments etc.  I use this to visualize my upcoming weeks and what they involve.  I am also huge on to do lists, sticky notes, etc.  Hence, my organizational strategy is a hodgepodge of planner/notes/tags/lists/etc.  This works for me because I am very tactile.  Using online tools is another route.  Everything that I do using a bound planner/post-its/endless sheets of paper can also be done on my computer.  Examples are personalized home pages, virtual calenders, and to do lists.   

To try these tools out, I first created a personalized home page using iGoogle:

My page includes local weather, a to do list, a link to my Google Reader, an NPR news feed, and other fun gadgets like Art of the Day, Artist of the Day, How to of the Day, Recipe of the Day, etc.  This is a great home site that offers quick and easy access to the things that I check regularly on the internet.  It is now my homepage and the starting point to my web sessions.  

I also created an online calender.  I chose Google Calender because it was free and I already had a Google account. This was simple and had a clean easy to read layout.  It could be viewed by the day, week, or month.  This calender could also be shared with other users, a useful tool if you require your schedule to be synced with someone else's.  While this is a great tool, I will always prefer my moleskin planner.  

Next I made a virtual to do list on Remember the Milk:

Also easy to use, this would be a good tool for those who wish to go paperless and keep everything digital.  For some, this is a good tool because it can be accessed anywhere (with internet).  For me, I prefer keeping tactile lists.  These are more convenient to me because I do not have to get on the computer to view/update them.  I prefer the action of physically crossing something off my list.  

While all of these tools are useful, just how useful they can be to you depends on your preference.  iGoogle works for me because it is something I would be accessing anyway (your homepage is the first thing you see when you log onto the internet).  Online calenders and to do lists are less helpful to me because I prefer to keep them on paper.  As a teacher, I might be more prone to use a digital calender if I need to sync my calender to someone else's.  However, I do not see myself ever really using digital to do lists.