I've always struggled with completing goals on time, but with finally living on my own and needing to make money to eat, getting all of my shit done in the correct order has become a necessity. While I'm mostly curious about apps and programs that can make my life easier, I'm sure other people would like to hear any strategies, rules, etc. that make organization easier.
Right now I use a few programs to keep on top of everything:
Thunderbird: I've been using this for 3 years. Organizes all of my email accounts into a desktop program, and it also has a decent calendar and task system. However, I want to upgrade this if a better alternative exists.
Evernote: I'm sure everyone has heard of or even uses Evernote. My main use for this is saving website pages that I consider a step below "bookmarking," such as restaurants I want to try. Also, it's great for taking screenshots on your phone and adding comments. It has a task management system as well, and tons of other features like doodling and voice notes. There's a premium version now, but I really consider the app to use a freemium model. You get all of the main features for free, but paying let's you save notes without an internet connection. I don't think it's that expensive, at any rate.
Excel/Libre Office Spreadsheet: OK, this is embarrassing to admit, but I don't use a legitimate accounting software yet. This is where I keep track of my jobs and expenses. While I'd like to move my business to a professional program, I like keeping track of my personal expenses here.
Focus Writer/Many similar programs: it's a bare-bones writing program that hides the tool bars unless you really need them. It's simple and distraction free.
Scrivener: I actually haven't used this yet because it's only in beta on Linux, but I plan on buying it as soon as I get a new laptop. It's designed to streamline the process of writing long documents, specifically novels, by making all of your writing easily accessible. It's hard to explain how it works, so if you're interested, check out their website for more info.
They also sell a product called Scapple, which is like a free-form text editor/cork board program that lets you form webs between interconnected ideas. It's really cool and ALMOST what I'm looking for in terms of a to-do "list." Ideally I'd like something with the ease of use of pen and paper with color-coding abilities to denote priority, and recurring events like a task manager. I haven't used OneNote in a long time, does it provide similar features, or is it more like Evernote?
PerfectIt: Again, I don't have this one because I use LibreOffice instead of Word, but I'm thinking of buying Word just to use it. It's like a much smarter, more personal spelling and grammar checker.
I tend to brainstorm more with pen and paper than on my computer because it feels more natural, and I find that my ideas usually follow a cluster or web pattern, which is why I'm looking for an app like Scapple. For example, say for this week you decide there are three categories of shit you have to do, and we'll use Work. For work you have to write two articles for your blog, and you want to edit them twice each before posting them. So you'd have this central bubble that says work, and two arms reaching out to individual bubbles that say Blog Post, which then lead into bubbles saying Edit, and then Edit 2. You want to have the posts written by Tuesday, reviewed on Thursday, and edited again on Saturday. You would be able to mark different colors for how high priority or close to a deadline each one is -- possibly both -- using yellow, orange, and red to mark importance, green to mark a task that's currently being worked on, and blue to mark finished projects. Now, this can all be done with a whiteboard or pen and paper, but it would be nice to set recurring "bubbles" to pop up every week with reminders. If I just described a well-known program that everyone knows about, please let me know. I woke up in the middle of the night and sketched out my basic wishlist in my notebook last night.![[Image: angel.gif]](https://rooshvforum.network/images/smilies/angel.gif)
Right now I use a few programs to keep on top of everything:
Thunderbird: I've been using this for 3 years. Organizes all of my email accounts into a desktop program, and it also has a decent calendar and task system. However, I want to upgrade this if a better alternative exists.
Evernote: I'm sure everyone has heard of or even uses Evernote. My main use for this is saving website pages that I consider a step below "bookmarking," such as restaurants I want to try. Also, it's great for taking screenshots on your phone and adding comments. It has a task management system as well, and tons of other features like doodling and voice notes. There's a premium version now, but I really consider the app to use a freemium model. You get all of the main features for free, but paying let's you save notes without an internet connection. I don't think it's that expensive, at any rate.
Excel/Libre Office Spreadsheet: OK, this is embarrassing to admit, but I don't use a legitimate accounting software yet. This is where I keep track of my jobs and expenses. While I'd like to move my business to a professional program, I like keeping track of my personal expenses here.
Focus Writer/Many similar programs: it's a bare-bones writing program that hides the tool bars unless you really need them. It's simple and distraction free.
Scrivener: I actually haven't used this yet because it's only in beta on Linux, but I plan on buying it as soon as I get a new laptop. It's designed to streamline the process of writing long documents, specifically novels, by making all of your writing easily accessible. It's hard to explain how it works, so if you're interested, check out their website for more info.
They also sell a product called Scapple, which is like a free-form text editor/cork board program that lets you form webs between interconnected ideas. It's really cool and ALMOST what I'm looking for in terms of a to-do "list." Ideally I'd like something with the ease of use of pen and paper with color-coding abilities to denote priority, and recurring events like a task manager. I haven't used OneNote in a long time, does it provide similar features, or is it more like Evernote?
PerfectIt: Again, I don't have this one because I use LibreOffice instead of Word, but I'm thinking of buying Word just to use it. It's like a much smarter, more personal spelling and grammar checker.
I tend to brainstorm more with pen and paper than on my computer because it feels more natural, and I find that my ideas usually follow a cluster or web pattern, which is why I'm looking for an app like Scapple. For example, say for this week you decide there are three categories of shit you have to do, and we'll use Work. For work you have to write two articles for your blog, and you want to edit them twice each before posting them. So you'd have this central bubble that says work, and two arms reaching out to individual bubbles that say Blog Post, which then lead into bubbles saying Edit, and then Edit 2. You want to have the posts written by Tuesday, reviewed on Thursday, and edited again on Saturday. You would be able to mark different colors for how high priority or close to a deadline each one is -- possibly both -- using yellow, orange, and red to mark importance, green to mark a task that's currently being worked on, and blue to mark finished projects. Now, this can all be done with a whiteboard or pen and paper, but it would be nice to set recurring "bubbles" to pop up every week with reminders. If I just described a well-known program that everyone knows about, please let me know. I woke up in the middle of the night and sketched out my basic wishlist in my notebook last night.
Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language. And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.