Organization

I'm trying not to be a pack rat. The key to overcoming that is organization. So I've listed the ways I keep my various lists and stuff organized in hopes that you may try out some of these ideas to see if they work for you too. My favorite thing about technology is how I can become a digital packrat. You'd totally notice someone with boxes of papers and stuff. But CDs (and now DVDs) make loads of papers unneccesary. Storage mediums keep getting cheaper and smaller in size (yet bigger storage space), which is good news. Table of contents:

Receipts - I keep all my receipts in a Quart size Ziploc bag one for each month. I also have a bigger folder to stick them when I'm in a hurry or something.
-I burn or shred my bank receipts because those things are already available on my bank statements.
-I keep these records of my purchases so I can see where my money went and maybe this information will be interesting to someone someday, or me when I'm older and trying to write my memoirs or something. I think you only need to keep receipts for like 3 years or something. Receipt ink fades fast though, so I'm going to try to scan these things every month or two.

Live Journal - Back-ups, images, [By month]
e-mail - Old Stuff (when I used to turn it all to text files) Now I download my emails (via yahoopops) and I keep everything in an inbox, or outbox file on Netscape's Messanger. I back up these files every month or so.

Pictures - I keep every picture my camera takes, and I put it into folders by month. There is a seperate folder by year for those silly 'movies' my camera takes (I barely use that feature). If I modify a picture I keep the updated image (cropped or eye-fixed) into an 'album' folder.

School - I keep documents (doc files of my papers), scanned papers turned in, scanned sylibi and any other class related info into folders divided by class name.

Clie Back-ups - I back up my Clie files onto the memory stick. It also does so onto my computer when I Hotsync it. Sometimes I'll save the various back-up versions into folders by date.

File Folders - I keep a 'real' file folder system for papers. It has the following categories: Classes (divided into whatever classes I'm taking that quarter), Acting Tips, Bookpals, Dreams (I usually write down weird/amazing dreams on random pieces of paper), Bank statments/receipts, swiing Kids, Collective Improv, Misc.

Index Cards - Yeah, I know they are low-tech, but these things are easier to update and stuff. I haven't really found the perfect digital database program yet, so this is the most flexible option. I do keep digital back-ups of these cards, usually as some text file or webpage or something.

- Improv Games: I organize these by name, placing alternate names elsewhere (See 'so and so'; like in encyclopedias), I list the rules, Number of people needed, ways to modify them, ID Number (ffor use when typing it up, so I don't have to just stick with Alphabetizing if I want to only play a game for 3 people or something for example. I'll use M123 or something since 'I' looks like a 1 or something) - Improv Suggestions: Character, Lines or anything else that is supposed to be random - Swing Moves: Name, Hints/How To, Video source, Date

OTR - DVDs with shows
- Text file on files that didn't make it when copying back and forth, or ones that were lost or missing from the collection source.

Journaling - I have old noteboooks of handwritten entries, but I love the flexibility of Live Journal. I can add entries, back date and incorporate images and links. The tags feature is great for organizing too!

To Do lists, calendars - I totally used to use this wier paper system, but I prefer the handheld way of doing things. Palm's calendar program does practically everything I need. The to do list is kind of flexible. I can sort my to do lists into different catergories. Using the due date can be not very helpful sometimes. I've begun to sort my items to do that day into a 'Today' catergory. It messes up my to do archiving but I don't think I care anymore. It used to be nice to look at my 3x5 cards and full page to do lists that I used to hang on my wall, but digital ones are SO much more efficient. I don't have to sit and re-write my to do's every day. Of course, the constant sorting and labeling can be just as bad, so I've tried to make it simple. Everyone should get a handheld organizer. You can get a really nice one on e-bay or something. /// Update 8/27 - Now with my macbook, I use Checkoff for my master to-do list. Then I have my iCal to do list that syncs with my phone, gone are the days of endless editing.

Webpages - I've tried to create a standard template, but some of my pages go astray from it. I know It would save more time to create style sheets instead of copying that standard over and over again. I do this though because plain html pages are usually more versitile and easier to look at. This is the same reason I stopped using frames too. That type of stuff can be a bummer to keep track of.

iTunes - I keep only a few genres. Then I used beatunes to automatically detect bpm. I also used a couple programs and images.google.com to fill in the artwork for my music. My star rating system goes like this: 1, Hate it; 2, keep it around in case I like it someday; 3; Okay..but not a favorite; 4, Like it; 5, Really like it. // I also got rid of my mp3 cd player and no longer have an ipod.. so now I have to use regular cds. I try to make a weird mix so it will be interesting.

MP3 Collectiton - I haven't bothered renaming most of my files yet. I try to keep the original files though. If you find something in OGG format or RAM, I'll sometimes convert it, but then it sometimes sounds worse. I found out that when you do that it is called 'transgression' (or something like that)

CDs - See My CD page

Last Updated: August 27, 2006
Created: June 14, 2004

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