Chris Barnett | GD252 Blog

Organized Chaos

// April 16th, 2009 // Organization, Rants, Tutorials

With so much going on lately between school, work, life and the internet things can get kind of overwhelming. I am talking about TONS of information, digital files, websites and meetings all needing to be organized, and easy to find. I have had dreams of a day when I will have time to organize my already cluttered harddrives and bookmarks, manage a to-do list, and never miss an appointment. After looking around the web for time management applications and techniques for organizing and backing up digital files I have now decided I only need three essential things.

The first is OmniFocus made by a Seattle based company The Omni Group. It is a task management application that can be used on the Mac and syncs with the iPhone effortlessly. Easy of use is not even a question with OmniFocus with the ability to add, organize, and complete tasks from anywhere. OmniFocus plays nicely with native Mac apps like Mail and iCal and is becoming my go to app for staying on top of things. Check out an online screencast covering the basics of OmniFocus.

Second on my list of things to get me on track is Carbon Copy Cloner. It is offered as a FREE download from Bombich Software. (Yes, that’s what it’s called) When it comes to backing up data, it might be the most important part of my workflow. Carbon Copy Cloner allows for schdeuled backups and synchronization of hard drives. For a free service, this application has a lot of great features that I definitely recomend trying out.

The last thing that I plan on using to keep everything under control I discovered today when I stumbled upon the Color Charge Blog. Specifically, this article on Tips For Organizing Your Files With Colors. The concept is simple and the article describes techniques for using features on your Mac (Leopard) to help organize files and make your life easier. I definitely could have used this when I first started school. Guess it is better late than never!