With all the new websites and gadgets out there to help keep people organized, here are a few of my favorites to help you manage your time and combine your calendars:

1. Use a calendar/contact management system like Outlook that has a:
   • Calendar
   • To Do list
   • Contact list
     You can print these and carry them with you if you’re a “paper person” or sync with your PDA or phone if you’re a technorati.
2. Try an Admin Assistant and Family Calendaring site like:
   • www.jott.com : Assistant plan – $3.95/mo to convert voicemail to text; has iPhone & Outlook apps
   • www.rememberthemilk.com – free but more complex to use
   • www.cozi.com – my personal favorite. It has a grocery list feature, printable coupons, syncs with Outlook & iPhone, has reminders; cost is free. Use the color coding it provides to clearly label appointments for work, family, doctor’s visits, vacations & reminders.
   • www.famundo.com
3. Meal planning, Grocery shopping lists, Coupons
   • Lowes Foods to go: www.lowestogo.com – purchase groceries online and someone at the store shops for you and you pick up in designated zone. Can repeat common shopping items.
   • Meal planning sites with grocery lists:
     • The USDA has a wonderful resource with shopping & food safety tips, planned meals, and shopping lists.
     • www.bigoven.com – $29.95/mo for recipe software or searchable database, calculate nutritional values, has calendar for meal planning
     • www.mealsmatter.org – cost is free
     • www.sparkpeople.com – great for dieting & fitness meal planning!
   • Coupon sites
     • www.coupons.com
     • www.couponsuzy.com
     • www.couponcabin.com
     • www.couponmom.com
     • www.retailmenot.com
     • www.smartsource.com
     • www.dealcatcher.com
     • www.redplum.com
     • www.fabuloussavings.com
4. Mail management
   Stop junk mail with one of these free or almost free websites:
   • www.proquo.com
   • www.dmachoice.org/consumerassistance.php
   • www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t
5. Password management
   • Use an electronic password organizer that you can print and carry in your binder, or sync to your PDA or phone. The Little Virgo Electronic Password Organizer is $14.95 and my website gives tips on creating secure passwords: http://www.littlevirgo.com/clutter-control/password-organizers/
   • Internet Password Organizer is a paper notebook and costs $19.95 http://www.internetpasswordorganizer.com/Where%20To%20Buy.html
6. Sending Cards & Packages:
   • www.sendoutcards.com – for the price of a stamp, you can import your contact list from Outlook, schedule cards, pick card templates and write messages (even in your own handwriting!) and they will be mailed for you. Saves money by not having to purchase stationary or cards anymore!
   • If you send a lot of packages, save yourself a trip to the post office by scheduling a free pickup online:
     • www.ups.com
     • www.usps.com – can schedule up to 3 months out
7. Track family medical records
   • www.healthvault.com – cost is free and you can track the whole family in one account
   • www.google.com/health – track one user per email address

With a little set up and some patience to get caught up if your backlogged, keeping your emails organized and your inbox clean can be easy with these tips:

• Block off time for checking email. Checking emails as they come in can become compulsive and can chew up productive time, so block off 20-30 minutes at the beginning, middle, and end of each day to manage your emails.
• Create folders. Create folders based on topic or client so incoming emails have a place to be filed. Two main categories are “Administrative” (for personal items, corporate communications, vendors, and financial info) and “Clients” with subfolders by client name. Create additional subfolders if needed.
• Process immediately. During your blocked off email time, keep your inbox clean by processing an email as soon as you read it instead of letting it sit in your inbox to “do something about” later. Immediately:
  1. Delete unusable emails
  2. File informational emails
  3. Color code actionable emails
• Your inbox is your to-do list. Use your inbox like a to-do list and only keep open actionable items there. When an action is complete, file the email in the appropriate folder.
• Prioritize by color. Use flags or create rules to color code and prioritize incoming emails.
  1. Red for urgent or “must be done today”
  2. Green for “need to follow up”
  3. Black for normal priority action items
• Forward with “Task” in the subject. If an email subject doesn’t clearly identify or remind you what your action item is, forward the email to yourself and change the Subject like to TASK: (enter to-do item here) so you can quickly scan your inbox and not have to re-read an email to know why you saved it.
• Drag & Drop. If using Outlook, you can drag and drop an email onto a task list or calendar icon to quickly create a task list or meeting.
• Preview your emails. Use a preview pane or reading pane so emails are viewable without having to double-click on them.
• Hide unused icons. Shrink or hide any unused email functions so the icons don’t clutter up your screen.
• Sort by date. Sort emails by date so the newest incoming items are at the top and you can quickly see how many you need to process.

Remember, when you’re starting out and have a thousand emails in your inbox, be patient. It will take a little time at first to get caught up on existing emails while new ones are still coming in, but it will happen. And from then on, your inbox will stay clean and your task list will be manageable!

How do you keep track of your passwords? All in your head? Written on scraps of paper? How often do you lose them? Ever had one stolen?

I can’t even tell you how many clients homes I’ve done where important passwords are written on a paper scrap and taped on the computer. I try not to panic when I see this, but it’s SO DANGEROUS. With my background in eCommerce, I’ve seen my fair share of identity theft victims, and I can’t help but think how easily some of them could’ve prevented it.

So how many passwords do you have? If you’re like most people, it’s between 4 & 40. 4 is manageable, but tack on just a few more and suddenly people’s brains explode. Personally, I have 64 passwords at the moment and my memory’s not what it used to be, so I need a little help keeping track. Especially for the sites I only go to a couple times a year. So what do I use?

I use my electronic password organizer. It works like an address book so it's alphabetical (Visa password goes under "V", eBay goes under "E", etc.). I can paste in the site URLs for the login pages which saves me time, and I keep my usernames, passwords, notes like answers to my secret questions, etc. You can also follow the instructions to password protect the file so if anyone sneaks onto your computer, they can't just open it.

For those of you who are "paper people", this password book by Innovention Lab is terrific and is less than $20.

Tips for Creating Secure Passwords

• Use 8 characters or more; 14 is ideal.
• Combine both upper and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols such as a period, @, #, and $
• Pick letters from a phrase that’s meaningful to you to create a “pass phrase.” (“Do you know the way to San Jose?” could be D!Y!KtwTSJ?)
• Select a unique password and not one that you are using for some other purpose, such as your PIN at the bank or your password to another system.
• Change your passwords every 72 days or less.
• Avoid sequences or repeated characters like “12345678,” “222222,” “abcdefg.”
• Avoid sending your password over email.
• Test the strength of your passwords with a password strength checker.

According to this BBC article, more than 70% of people would reveal their computer password in exchange for a bar of chocolate. Read that again. A BAR OF CHOCOLATE. So if you’re part of that 70%, what do you do when you get ripped off?

1. Place a fraud alert on your credit reports, and review your credit reports.
2. Close the accounts that have been tampered with and dispute any transactions, and open new accounts.
3. File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.
4. File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place.

For more in depth info, click here. If only the thieves would put their creative skills to use for good and not evil…….