My Personal Assistant

          Happy Friday People.  For those who know me, know how organized and sometimes anal I can be (for those who don't, well now you know :D).  But there is a method to my madness and extreme organization and I would like to share with you, in hopes that maybe my tips and tricks will help you too get organized.

Tip 1: Get Your Finances in Order
          After all this is the foundation of your life and goals.  For me, all things financial can be found in my "Personal Assistant."  Essentially is is a excel spreadsheet containing my budget, my accounts, and any possible expense you can imagine.  This thing is accurate down to every penny that leaves and enters my pocket.  Explaining it can't full do it justice so here is a snapshot of the main component of it.

          If you want your own Personal Financial Assistant complete with instructions and tips, just click on the link and download the file.

Tip 2:  Find a way to keep track your life with a good calendar and task manager that works for you.
          I used to be a big fan of Outlook when my life ran off of emails in college.  It had my email, all my contacts, and I could put tasks I wanted to get done in it too.  Best thing of all was that it synced to my phone so no matter where I was I could always be up to date with what I needed to get done and where I needed to be going. 

          Now that I email isn't so much apart of my life anymore, Outlook isn't really that effective.  Right now my tool of choice for keeping track of my life is Google.  Now before you read any further Google is not paying me say any of this shit (though I wouldn't mind if they did).  But in all honesty, they don't have to because their services speak for themselves. 

          It's email, calendar, and task tracking sync to my phone and tablet but does way more too.  Google Maps lets me keep track of places I want to go or more important, for me being in a new place, helps me find and remember my favorite chains that are nearby.  But I must say my favorite thing about Google is Google Voice.  Since my stepmom kick me off the family plan after I graduated, I was forced to find my own plan.  However, I lucked out because my company gave me a cell phone.  Now I didn't want to change my number so I transferred my old number to Google and all my calls go to my free work phone.  So not only was I able to keep my number, but I don't have to pay for a plan.  Another cool thing about it, is because its a call forwarding service from Google every text and voicemail I receive is online, so say I forget my phone at home one day, I can still get all my messages (and send them) from online.  And not to mention my Blog is through them too :D.

Tip 3: Find a place to keep your thoughts, goals and everything in between
          While Google (or whatever you may use)is great for keeping your life scheduled and on time, I find it useless for all the other things that run through my mind that I would like to keep track of.  This is why I use Evernote.  The website takes the simple concept of a blank notebook(s) and makes it accessible anywhere there is Internet access (i.e. your phone, tablet, computer...anywhere!).  For the things I can't find space for in Google, like my grocery lists, food logs, goals, recipes, websites, and the random brainstorming fits I have I use Evernote. 

LESSON OF THE DAY

Get organized.  It will help you IMMENSELY.