How do you stay organized?

[rogercbryan]

How do you stay organized?

Lately as I take on more and more and bigger projects I’m beginning to feel the strain of staying organized. This doesn’t mean keeping meetings and such as I do fine with that. I also have no problem meeting deadlines for proposals. Here is where I’m having problems:

Computer Files: I have a PC at work, another one at home and a laptop for traveling. I do most of my primary business work and work, most of my web based business from home, and most of my travel work is loaded on a memory stick not saved to my laptop. The problem I’m running into is that I have 160GB hard drive at home where I store all my site files. I have a network drive at work where I store year’s worth of business files.

I never know when I’ll have time to work on what nor do I know when I’m going to get an email that I need to respond to and what information I’ll need access to in order to respond to it.

Is there a (reliable) service where I can store all my information at once place? I’ve tried goto my PC and I hated it (to slow). I’ve also tried shared network drives on my corporate servers (I don’t want to keep my personal business on a server with my primary business)

Any ideas?

Accounting: I use QB for my primary business and I have zero problems. I use a separate version on QB for my personal (secondary businesses) and have little problems. I use Quicken for my personal finances yet I do not keep up with it. I have to keep my primary and secondary businesses separate for legal reasons. The problem is I’m eight months into a huge project and I’ve mixed personal expenses with secondary business expenses. I have a mess on my hands. The reality is that my personal expenses and secondary business expenses are one in the same (for the most part).

Do any of you use software that can easily track multiple bank and credit card accounts and then allow you to separate those expenses into different categories (business / personal)? I’m sick of falling behind and using hand written or excel reports. This also plays into recording income properly. My CPA was not happy with all the envelopes or receipts he got this year.

Any ideas?

Help me get organized!!!! ahhhhhhhhh

[RLorenzen]

I had the same problem once, so I definitely know where you're coming from. You accumulate so many files for so many different projects it seems almost impossible to keep track of them all and it feels like all different projects are flying all over the place and you just want one central, organized solution.

I recommend those portable flash drives. What's great about them is I can buy separate drivers for all different projects and tasks. I can use these drivers on any computer and they fit in a pocket or briefcase, so I can take them anywhere. Just stick labels on each driver so you know which drivers go to which projects, etc. and it makes everything a lot easier to find and transfer between computers.

Of course, you can also keep backups directly on your computers, but the flash is a great solution to having all of your files no matter where you are or what computer you're on.

[DU3LZ]

I have three computers at my house. A Gaming PC, Work Laptop, and a Design PC. I have OCD, so I have all my files neatly in detailed folders. I bought a 500GB Western Digital My Book External Hard Drive ($99.99) and I have loved every second of it.

I can create slots on the Hard Drive for certain folders. I have a folder that equally spreads the memory for each computer I use. The drive is no bigger than the palm of your hand and is very mobile...

If you are looking to organize your computer files, I wouls start with that, as the space on it never seems to dimish. I have had it for 2 years and I still have 428GB left on the drive.

[rogercbryan]

I had the same problem once, so I definitely know where you're coming from. You accumulate so many files for so many different projects it seems almost impossible to keep track of them all and it feels like all different projects are flying all over the place and you just want one central, organized solution.

I recommend those portable flash drives. What's great about them is I can buy separate drivers for all different projects and tasks. I can use these drivers on any computer and they fit in a pocket or briefcase, so I can take them anywhere. Just stick labels on each driver so you know which drivers go to which projects, etc. and it makes everything a lot easier to find and transfer between computers.

Not a bad idea.... I would still like to see if there is something more internet based so I don't have to worry about loosing my case of memory drives.. or being at work when my drives are at home. Have you ever used an online storage service? I know storage is so cheap these days...

[RLorenzen]

Not a bad idea.... I would still like to see if there is something more internet based so I don't have to worry about loosing my case of memory drives.. or being at work when my drives are at home. Have you ever used an online storage service? I know storage is so cheap these days...

I've never looked into it, but if you find a good service, let me know....I would be interested in trying that out too. Like you said, after a while the flash drives start to accumulate and then it may not be so efficient anymore....

I'm going to do some poking around google to look for online storage sites.

[ucavik]

I have three computers at my house. A Gaming PC, Work Laptop, and a Design PC. I have OCD, so I have all my files neatly in detailed folders. I bought a 500GB Western Digital My Book External Hard Drive ($99.99) and I have loved every second of it.

I can create slots on the Hard Drive for certain folders. I have a folder that equally spreads the memory for each computer I use. The drive is no bigger than the palm of your hand and is very mobile...

If you are looking to organize your computer files, I wouls start with that, as the space on it never seems to dimish. I have had it for 2 years and I still have 428GB left on the drive.

I have a single PC and since i have bought this new Verbatim Media Station with 500GB Hard Drive, it has been really easy for me use and organise my stuff, i take daily backup on my external harddisk and i am really relieved that i can take it to my home with me

[MortenK]

We use Syncplicity for that exact problem. It's an excellent solution, which backs up and synchronizes the contents of any folder or drive you specify. You can then add multiple computers, which stay fully in sync with the specified folder / drive. You then always have access to updated files on all of your machines, as well as through a web browser, or mobile phone.

I highly recommend syncplicity, though there is plenty of alternatives. Take a look at:

Five Best File Syncing Tools - Feature - Lifehacker

As for accounting, theres a lot of online solutions (not sure its exactly what you are after though):

Online accounting software. Free demo, free support. (we use this one)
Simple Online Time Tracking, Timesheet and Reporting Software: Harvest (used previously, very simple, mainly for invoicing)

[TalioGladius]

I use dropbox to sync onenote, quicken, and quickbooks files across multiple machines. It's even cross platform and works on linux, which is a big one for me...

www dot getdropbox dot com


*silly post requirement for links*

[Encrypted]

I believe there is actually software out now where you could access your home PC from another PC or notebook, etc. I'll try to find the software and post a link.

Edit: I don't believe this was the one I had originally found, but it's always an option. gotomypc.com

[e-roc]

Mozy i believe is one of the more popular online backups. They are advertising on talk radio pretty heavily, including the Jim Rome and Dan Patrick sports talk shows. You can use either of their names for discounts.

I havent used it before, because i do stuff via VPN, and have regular nightly backups scheduled. As long as you create that VPN tunnel to your home network, you can access any of that stuff elsewhere. But, as far as in the house, everything is set up on a shared network between office/laptop/media server/PS3/and DVR Receiver. Works great if you know what you are doing with networking and stuff. I prefer XP Pro with a domain setup.

One free solution out there that i do like in regard to your mail management is cutepdf,com. its a free PDF creator that i use to scan and save everything to PDF as i absolutley hate mail and paper bills. The PDF then allows you to access any documents you would normally have filed at a home location.