Outlook 2007 rocks. I use Google Apps and Outlook.

In Google Apps, you do have an option to send you sms reminders, check that out.

Just wanted to say “way to go everyone!” who switched over to Thunderbird. I switched a few months ago, and have never been happier. (I was a Eudora user for years, but T-bird takes the cake)

And hmmm, I’m going to have to look into this Calendar plugin/integration thingy.

Thank you to everyone who gave such great advice on this one.

So to get e-mail reminders I put the really impt things into my website, JibberJobber.com, and say when I want a reminder (the day of, 2 days before, etc.). It also sends me birthday reminders each month AND two days before the person’s bday.

I use the calendar function of Outlook mostly, sometimes Google (when collaborating), but since I ALWAYS login to my e-mail I am sure to hit those can’t miss appointments … especially the ones that are far out there (like next quarter or next year).

There you go, a personal plug, but I’m the biggest fan and user, and just sharing what works for me

Jason Alba
CEO – JibberJobber.com
:: self-serve career management ::
… and e-mail reminders :p

A desktop calendar/alarm program called Active Desktop Calendar is a vital tool for me. After trying many things this one really works for me. I need something that is ‘in my face’ – I can neglect to read Google Calendar reminder emails. I set alarms in ACD which pop up a reminder screen at the chosen time. These can be set to repeat hourly, daily, weekly etc and there is a snooze function.

It also allows me to write reminder notes that reside in a sidebar on the left of my desktop . I have a tendency not to read those but my partner only uses this feature and does not need the alarms.

I take copious notes and having multiple clients, websites and blogs I need a good way of organizing these. Microsoft One Note (comes packaged with MS Office) is wonderful for this. It is quick to open, saves automatically and is very configurable – Main folders – pages within folders, groups of pages within folders etc… You can quickly set up these categories on the fly. I have a main folder for each client and one for each blog and website with sub-pages and folders under these.

I use Thunderbird and its filters to automatically place incoming mail into appropriate inbox folders. That way I can immediately see if there is mail in, for example, my 00Important or 00Family Folder. Reading material that is not so urgent goes to other folders further down the list. I find that my inbox itself is then mainly just junk or spam mail and I can quickly scan through it and discard most.

At home and home office I use Google Calendar. All of my reminders are set to send me a text message to my smartphone (another boring classic) a Treo.

I also use Google Docs & Spreadsheets a lot. My computer is getting along in age so I am moving everything there so that I know all my docs are safe.

For about 30 years I’ve carried round a black book (I even get them from the same supplier) and used them the same way. You know what? It works for me.

Which is exactly the point. What are you comfortable with and what works for you? I don’t want to change the way I plan and schedule to fit in with a program; I like what I’m doing.

I did, for a short time, try out a Filofax though…

I appreciate the security of touching the darn thing. Plus I am a visual person and seeing my month in advance or week in advance is huge for me. I use the regular old thin but mighty big box teachers calenders. Pencil is a must because I make mistakes and crossing out ink gets sloppy way fast. Permanant things get highlighted in.

I know this might sound crude but you know that saying …” why does the dog lick his butt ?? Because he can!! ” I personally say he might be able to but he doesn’t he should. The world moves so way faster than it did when I was just starting my business from home. We are so hyper connected, hyper productive and maybe trying to be hyper organized.

I say slow down and pause a moment or two.

and then check the calendar whichever one is best for you

Mother Earth

Thus far it’s going well – as I set it up, it imported every single email, folder and contact from Outlook – I was really (happily!) surprised about that. It runs nearly the same as Outlook, so there isn’t a huge learning curve.

There’s a few preferences I still need to figure out how to adjust – but here’s the best part of all – it moves at lightning speed! My Outlook would hang for sometimes a full 60-90 seconds when I would preview a message or click a link, and that is completely eliminated!

Usually if I re-start or go to Task Manager and end the Windword app (that I don’t have open) and then relaunch Outlook it works again. Right now I have too much on my plate to take on the learning curve of a new app!

I sync data to my Palm Treo 700wx.

I was having a problem with reminders too, do you use a PDA? Do you have 2 more profiles? That can cause some issues as well.