On another note, when speaking of mobile synchronization.
If you happen to own a Nokia you could try out their web-based platform for synchronizing at Ovi.com
You can synchronize your Contacts,Tasks,Notes,Calendar and even your pictures if you want to. This has helped me a lot in becoming more organized and I find it really helpful to always have my calendar and tasks where ever I go even if my cell isn’t with me.

Now without further rambling (It’s getting late, I apologize) I’ll just say thank you for a great blog and keep it up!

dcpatton, completely agree about limiting our inputs–it’s tougher to keep real people at bay than it is electronics, but you’re right it’s just as important.

Dan, it’s a fine line to draw between when to use the calendar and when to use the task list. I do the same thing as you (plotting out personal tasks in my calendar when they’re time-intensive), especially as it gets closer to the day when I’ll be addressing those tasks. The challenge is that a lot of folks who are new to this tend to overuse the calendar and, worse yet, when a calendar task hasn’t been completed it’s no longer visible the next day…whereas tasks can just become overdue and thus more noticeable. Anyhow, it’s just food for thought and something to carefully consider.

Chris, I wish I had some magical tool to offer you…but you might want to try either Google Calendar + Remember the Milk or Microsoft Exchange–both of those will have good mobile phone integration. I use the latter and it works well for me.

Bobby, definitely hear you–it’s tough when the line is blurred between practical and wasteful, especially when the practical can send one on so many tangents.

Neil, it has been a long time. Thanks so much for stopping by and I’m glad this helped. We do need to get on each other’s calendars. I’ll create a task to call you ;-).

Long time no talk – glad things are going well. I have just done something I’ve never done before with the thousands of blog posts I’ve read. I just printed this out and I’m sticking it next to my monitor. It’s not that there’s anything earth shattering in it, it’s just that it is so simple and really what I’ve been doing but not consciously. I think it (along with the comment from Dan M.) will really help me get organized.

Let’s get together soon. Cheers,

Neil

I need to do more tracking (#1) and notification (#2) but I haven’t found the ultimate tool to do those in that works well for a mobile work/life style, not unlike a virtual assistant to remind me of things.

Very nice summary of a solid system to manage all of one’s commitments. I use the calendar and task list slightly differently, however.

I put 1-3 minute tasks (emails, phone calls, etc.) in a task list: they don’t consume huge chunks of time, and it doesn’t matter when they get done during the day.

But if a task is going to take a significant amount of time (30 minutes or more, say), I put that on the calendar, EVEN IF there’s no specific time at which it has to be done. I do this because it’s important to see how much time I can afford to spend on it.

The calendar shows me my total resource of time available. In order to determine whether or not I can actually spend time on something, I have to see what other commitments I have. It’s a similar process to spending money: first I have to deduct out money for rent, food, savings, other necessities BEFORE I can decide whether I can afford a new Macbook Air.

Learning how to close that invisible door (or physically closing a real door if you can) can be an important part of processing the input from visitors. Perhaps you make yourself available to meet in person at only certain times.

You’ve probably already written about this. If so a pointer might help people.