Organize Your Life with Index Cards

At least for me, viewing each task on its own screen, or even its own page, can keep me from being able to see the big picture, and it can keep me from realizing ways I can integrate one task into another, or how to formulate a plan of attack for a particular problem.

For many of us, pen and paper are our preferred tools to capture our thoughts, set goals, and remember things. If that describes you, you'll probably love this index card organizing system. Best Goal Tracking Tool: Pen and Paper Best Goal Tracking Tool: Pen and Paper Best Goal Tracking Tool: Pen and Paper Last week we asked you to share your favorite tool for tracking goals.

This is how a mother of 15 organizes the many facets of her life using a system which includes index cards, a DIY planner, and sticky notes. It is much like the idea of the Hipster PDA and the SHE system for homemaking. Some helpful links: http://largefamilymothering.com/2015/03/01/organize-your-life-with-index-cards http://housekeeping.about.com/od/popularorganizingmethods/p/she.htm http://www.ehow.com/how_5721511_print-index-cards.html

After the response to this recent LifeHacker piece, I thought I would explain the system I use to take notes, research books and keep track of anecdotes, stories and info I come across in my work. This isn't the perfect system. It might not work for you.

Many months ago, I mentioned that I was revamping my cleaning system, and several readers have asked me about it recently. I had several reasons for doing this: 1) I wanted a reminder system for tasks that need to be done on a quarterly, semi-annual, and annual basis, because I noticed that these things were often going undone simply because we never set aside a particular time to do them.

While many of us are almost completely digital, and do just about everything on the web, there's a growing movement to go back to analog. Paper is retro, it's portable, it's quick and dirty, and even aesthetically appealing. And of paper systems, along with my Moleskine notebook, index cards are my favorite.

S.H.E.'s Organized! Created by a S.H.E. for a S.H.E., S.H.E.s Organized! is home on the Web for fans of Pam Young and Peggy Jones' Sidetracked Home Executives™ household management system. As outlined in the book Sidetracked Home Executives™: From Pigpen to Paradise, S.H.E.s organize their homes and tackle housecleaning with a simple--but powerful--tickler file.

Ah, the lowly index card. So basic, so common, so cheap - so useful. Index cards are one of the most versatile parts of the productive person's toolkit - small enough to travel anywhere, cheap enough to keep hundreds or even thousands on hand at all times, and basic enough that one never hesitates to mark up, scribble on, cut up, or otherwise torture them.