If you have any specific suggestions for resources related to keeping, managing, and using To Do lists, several people have also asked me for ideas in this area. Since this is one I struggle with, I haven’t been much help. Anything you can pass along would be great!

Anyway, here are some tips and resources (not in any particular order): 

1. Everyone must use some type of to-do list, either paper or electronic.
2. It needs to be updated daily rather than some GIANT to-do list which overwhelms us and makes it impossible to focus on what needs to be done now.
3. Paper: Either have a daily to-do list in your planner (like the Franklin planner, Day-Timer, Day-Runner or other type or carry around a notebook that is designated as your ‘list of things to do.’ Personally, I use the to-do list in my Franklin planner. I can have it available anytime, anywhere (on a plane, in bright sunlight, etc.) so it works for me.
4. Electronic: Oh, my…lots of options

• Apparently Gmail now offers a to-do list. I haven’t used it but notice it’s now there.
• Outlook offers a to-do list (as do most of the other standard email programs)
• http://www.tadalist.com/ which seems pretty nifty and now that I have an iPhone, I’m sort of tempted to give this a try.
• Gina Trapani’s website, www.LifeHacker.com has a bunch of articles that are useful, too.

People need to have a to-do list that they compile each day, based on what else is going on. And, they need to refer to it constantly to make sure they are staying on track rather than veering off into the urgent but not important activities. It’s part of why I like the paper because it’s staring at me all day. Although, with digital, you can set alarms, too.

And if people also want to know about a ‘not-to-do list,’ then they can click to get info on the not-to-do list.  

Hope these ideas help some…Feel free to send them along…

My computer recently crashed.  I had backed-up most of my writing files prior to the computer crashing.  However, I have no way of currently backing up my hard drive.  I know someone who is recommending Carbonite.  This is an on-line service that continually backs up all of the information on your computer.  It costs $50/year.  What other options do we have for backing up all of our files and do you feel that $50/year is a good price for the on-line service?  One huge advantage I see is that you would not have to remember and actually take the time to back up your information. 

Posted by Billy Simms | 3/27/08

Answer:

Ugh…that is one of the worst feelings.  Just the other day I heard a guy say, “There are only two kinds of people:  the kinds who’ve had their hard disk crash and those who will.”

Carbonite is one of the ones I’ve heard a lot about, although I haven’t used it.  It has a great reputation from what I understand.

Here are some other options:

1. There are other companies who do the same thing as Carbonite…so the online back-up options are worth pursuing.  Just make sure to thoroughly check out any company you go with.
2. Have an external hard drive that you manuall back up to several times a day or AT LEAST once a week.  For extra security, have more than one and exchange them each week, taking the newest backup to another location–even a different room in your house–so that you always have a backup. 
3. Use an automatic back-up system.  I use Norton Ghost 9.0 and it’s set to back up my system completely once a week and every four hours the rest of the time.  It backs up not just the files but is actually making an “image.”  Given the boatloads of software and settings that I have on my computer, this is a major timesaver.  For example, when I bought my new computer (about 15 months ago, my computer guy could take the image from my old computer and move it to my new computer so that my new computer had lots of my old settings on it and I didn’t have to reconfigure everything. 
4. Send key documents to yourself in a gmail.  Gmail gives GBs of space and so sometimes, I just send myself huge documents–and it’s only as a back up. 
5. Use a service like YouSendIt.com and you can send up to 2 GB to yourself or anyone else.  I don’t use it for back up but rather to send gigantic files that won’t attach to normal email, but you could also use it to send a back up of your files (at least in theory that would work). 

So, just a few suggestions.  At the very least, everyone should have an external back up that they USE at least once/week.

Thanks and good luck on this…I hope you geti your computer back soon