Staying Organized in a Digital World
One of the advantages of hosting my weekly internet radio show is having guest experts on who share their knowledge and experience. This past week, my guest was Aaron Boerger, CEO of Defined Ventures, Inc. Aaron is an organizational specialist who helps others streamline their technology to stay productive.
Being a self-professed non-geek, I was especially interested in what Aaron had to say because many of the procedures and systems that come easily to others are very difficult for me. I just can’t wrap my brain around some of the steps one needs to take to have everything synched and operating like clockwork between my iPhone, iPad and Mac.
More importantly, about two months ago, my email box was a mess. Hundreds of messages – all read – but not categorized, deleted or filed properly. Taking an hour to set up my email to attain “Inbox Zero” with Aaron’s help, was the best thing I did for myself and my business in the last quarter of 2012.
It’s easy to let things slip, even when one has the best intentions. Sometimes life just gets in the way or we become so busy we forget to attend to the small details that can save us an inordinate amount of time.
Here are the highlights of my interview with Aaron.
1) Keep your apps to a minimum otherwise they are distracting and cause a decrease in productivity.
2) Implement Inbox Zero. That doesn’t mean every message is read and deleted, it means you have a system that prioritizes each email by category – i.e. do now, do later, waiting for a response, etc.
3) Utilize a password manager so you not only have easy access to your passwords, but you have a secure place in which to store them.
4) Consider using a digital filing cabinet to keep your to-do lists, notes to yourself and other written or video content in one place.
5) Read a great article or blog and want to save it to read at your leisure? Try an app like Get Pocket to organize them in a virtual file that you can access at a click of your mouse.
Trying to manage your social media marketing and content can be overwhelming. It is imperative to have some kind of organization for all the data that comes your way. Taking the time to implement a solid system for yourself that you will utilize and maintain is paramount to saving precious time during your work week to focus on your business.
You can listen to the entire broadcast of The Social Networking NewsHour right here. Leave a comment on iTunes if you are inspired!
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What systems do you use that help you to stay organized? Please share them!
Laurie Hurley is a social media consultant, mentor, speaker and hostess of The Social Networking NewsHour. You can hear her show live on Toginet radio every Wednesday at 2pm PST or download the podcasts!
8 Comments:
By Donald J. Decker 30 Jan 2013
Thank you for the tools you’ve mentioned and linked in your post. Do you feel that it is necessary to have “inbox zero” in your personal e-mail as well as your business account?
By Laurie Hurley 30 Jan 2013
Hi Donald – yes, I use Inbox Zero for everything. Keeps my life organized!
By Susan Berland 29 Jan 2013
At the end of the year I had over 500 items in my email Inbox. That was it! I went through every one of them and moved them to folders and I am determined to keep it empty. I’m not totally accomplishing it but I’m scheduling time in my calendar as often as I can to work on email and I routinely move things I can’t do now to folders so they don’t stay in my inbox. It really helps a lot. I still have some of those old ones in a folder that I have to deal with but at least they are not in my Inbox!
Susan Berland
By Laurie Hurley 30 Jan 2013
Good thinking, Susan. Move them to a folder, so it’s not quite so overwhelming. Much easier to manage a folder and check things off or delete them than staring at hundred of emails all in a list! Not a pretty sight!
By David Harris 28 Jan 2013
Thanks for showing us how it’s done, Laurie! Very professional.
By Laurie Hurley 30 Jan 2013
I do have an organizing gene in me, David. This has really streamlined my daily routine.
By Louise 28 Jan 2013
Oh, a PodCast! I love listening to them when they’re available and I shall aim to listen to this one later on Laurie, thank you!!
)
(I ran part of a CSC for a big company, Zero Inbox is rather ingrained in me I’m afraid
By Laurie Hurley 30 Jan 2013
That’s a good thing, Louise – that Inbox Zero is ingrained in you! Yes, do listen to the podcast. One of my best shows yet! Great info shared with my audience.