This book discusses how to use various ways to get organized and retrieve information in this complicated world by taking into account our brain's inherent limitations and working around them. He discusses various organization systems to help you choose the best system for you.
His Principles of organization are: Organize your life to minimize brain strain, Get stuff out of your head as fast as possible, multitasking makes you less efficient & use stories to remember, Only keep in your head what truly needs to be there, Break big chunks into small ones: Stuff you can ignore & stuff you might later need. Then decide how to store stuff you might need and link it to a goal or context. Reread meeting notes then reorder related information together. Dedicate time each week to reviewing key information. He recommends using your email to store all your electronic info in one place.
Electronic tools now let allow you to search for information making organization easier.
Some ways to get the most relevant search results are: be as descriptive as possible, use quotation marks around a phrase, search for adjectives, get specific with numeric ranges by using ellipsis between numbers (100...300), Look for particular file type ("phrase"filetype:xls), phonebook:number or name, anywhere NY, can type tracking numbers into google without going to carrier's website.
How to learn new things: use stories, repetition, prioritize and identify your limits
How to choose the best organization tool for the job? Objectively assess current tools and methods and how you use them. ID where & how your systems let you down then figure out a way to work around the breaking points. Let your goals guide you.
Use labels & filters to handle incoming mail. You can use a + sign to ID and filter messages from stores and organize info you may or may not want to read. (yourname+store@gmail.com), Star mail that you need to follow up on. Email documents to yourself to record where you stored the original.
Color code calendars Red for work, blue for fun. Can share specific calendars with people.
He uses Xmarks a free add-on utility for Mozilla Firefox to store bookmarks online. He also adds tags/ keywords to his bookmarks.
isbn: 978-0-385-52817-7
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