I think I have finally found a system that works for me. It keeps me informed and organized and it doesn’t require very much effort on my part. So lets take a look at my system.

My Base of operation

Gmail. Gmail is by far the best online email client available. I use Gmail everyday and so I’ve got a few extras for it. I use Google Apps, which allows me to get Gmail for my domain. This of course looks much more professional using projectdesigns.org rather then gmail.com. However I also have a regular gmail account. This is used for all of my personal emails (facebook notifications, friends, family etc.) I have that email tied in with my professional one. So all of my email comes into one place. Then I use a filter to filter my personal email to skip the inbox and go right into a personal label.

So all of my email both work and professional is coming into one place, which is great. However I needed a way to schedule things. I tried Google Calendar, but I found that the things I need to do and remember don’t really fit on a calendar. I know I have to code this page, but I don’t know what day I’m going to do it, I just know it needs to be done. So I turned to a todo list application. I tried several, and was never happy with any of them. I don’t like having to check my email and then go to another site, to manage my todos. So I found Remember the Milk, and todo list application like all the others…BUT…it has a Firefox extension for Gmail. Which gives a todo list powered by RTM right there in Gmail. Which is perfect, just what I wanted all my email and todos in one location. I check my email all the time, it is a habbit that I already have. So sticking with using a todo list is not a problem. Plus I can assign emails to my todo list, which is great because often times clients will email me about something I have to change. So I can just make that email a todo right there on my list.

I really like this system it really works for me. I think the key to its success is having everything in one location.