Organizing Your Life
As featured at TheFamilyCorner.com
Recently, a Family Corner reader, Brenda Armstrong, wrote "I am looking for a web site or computer software that can manage my entire life … [including] kids, school, job, house, birthdays, etc." After doing a little digging, (and surfing, and downloading, and sampling) I've found four different ways to manage busy households. The request was for a web site (found it!) or computer software (got it!), but I also added a personal planner and an organization web site.
The web site I found is called Visto and their motto is "It's your life on the web." Visto is a free, on-line, organizational tool. By signing up, you have access to e-mail, a calendar, a "to do" list, an address book and more. You even get space to store files and photos - up to 15Mb! You can access your Visto account from any web browser, plus you can share your files, photos and calendar with friends or colleagues. It's password protected, so you have complete control over what you choose to share. The calendar and "to do" list are automatically updated.
Visto seems like an ideal tool for today's busy families. Mom can schedule an appointment from home. Dad can check it from the office and know what the family plans are. Teens can check the family calendar from friends' homes or the library. Visto also works well with businesses and organizations. The web site shows how a runners' club uses the calendar to keep members informed of upcoming races and meetings.
The software I found is called HOMEwise by Down to Earth Software. This program is available for download on the Internet. The program that you download is not a fully functioning program but it gives you enough info to sample it. I was thoroughly impressed with this program. When it boasted having over 150 features, I thought "Wow! Is that possible?" Then I checked it out. Yes! It IS possible!
When you set up HOMEwise on your computer, you have the option of using a password for the whole program and for individual users as well. This is a nice feature so that your aspiring computer hacker can't change everything to show that his chores are done and his sister's aren't! The main screen, or Control Center, lists 12 areas of your home, including the basement, computer room, bedrooms, and outside the house. It also lists 12 general areas of your home, like "message center," "family calendar" and "family phone book." By entering one of the main rooms, you get more choices of things to do.
For instance, clicking on the bedroom button offers you a choice of whose bedroom to enter. There are separate listings for adult bedrooms (things like "banking," "wardrobe planner," "journal" and "packing checklists") and child bedrooms (things like "school projects," "video games," "piggy bank" and "chores").
Each room in the house has listings that are specific to that room. For instance, the study has a listing for "important documents," the living room has a listing for "artwork," the kitchen has a "meal planner," the garage has a "vehicle maintenance log," and all rooms have a "things to do" list. Most of these listings are for inventory, to help you organize your material things. Other listings, like "message center," "family phone book" and "family calendar" are helpful in organizing your busy schedule. This is a very thorough software program with nice graphics. And, at $19.95, it's reasonably priced.
The Crazy Lady Planner is a notebook-style planner. This allows you to take your schedule with you to the doctor's office, your in-laws' home, and anyplace else where you won't have a computer handy. The Crazy Lady Planner is set up like many of the personal planners you've seen advertised, except that it's more specifically geared toward those of us who admit that we must be crazy to do all the things we do! It's compatible with most 3, 6 and 7-ring planner binders and it comes in two sizes (4 ½" x 6 ¾" pages, or 5 ½" x 8 ½" pages).
Besides the usual daily events and journal pages, the planner is broken down into eight sections. The Schedule/Calendar section holds the assorted calendar types (weekly, monthly and yearly) and planning pages for various schedules. The Directories section contains address book pages. The Goals/Personal section offers a place to jot down great ideas, short and long term goals and an exercise log. The Family section covers family info, school info/schedules and a chore chart. The Household section covers home décor/dimensions, garden planning and dinner planning.
The Social section has a place for Christmas card lists. The Financial section holds the monthly spending record. The Business/Professional/School/Church section offers a place to list small business functions, lesson plans, mail order records and long distance telephone calls. Each of these eight sections has at least four types of pages to assist you in keeping track of your life. Each yearly filler comes with at least one copy of each type of specialty page, and you can buy what you need on a refill basis. Check the web site for prices.
The last tool I'd like to tell you about is an e-zine. It's called The Organized Home. This site offers a newsletter, message boards, and book reviews, as well as articles on menus, cleaning, sewing and cooking. You'll find lots of great ideas and tips on organization at this site! It was through this page that I found a link to free printable planner pages from Digital-Women.com! They list 17 different pages, making it ideal for people who prefer to create their own planners.
I still have a few organization tips up my sleeve as well! Be sure to check back here each month (sometimes more often) to see what they are. And keep those letters and questions coming!
about the author
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
is a Christian/Wife/Mother/Writer who homeschools her four children in Wisconsin. She has been married to Jef for 10 years and their children range in age from 8 months to 8 years old. She is active in her local homeschooling support group, (as the Resource Librarian for the past two years and a House Group Leader for one year) is the moderator for two homeschooling e-mail lists, and has a web page that offers support for families using The Weaver Curriculum. Her goal as a writer is to be an encouragement to other mothers.
Dear Reader: You can help us make this website even better! We'd love to hear your comments about this article! Scroll down to sound off! All of our articles and ideas have come from our imagination and from reader submissions. Please use this form to contact us if you have articles, crafts, activities, games, recipes, songs or poems that you would like to add to this website. Make sure to stop by our mom friendly forums too! Webmasters and Authors: We will gladly include a link back to your site or book in exchange for sharing your content. Just contact us!
Make Sure to Visit These Related Links and Articles
Quote this article on your site
To create link towards this article on your website,
copy and paste the text below in your page.Preview :
Organizing Your LifeMonday, 12 January 2009 Organizing Your Life As featured at TheFamilyCorner.com Recently, a Family Corner reader, Brenda Armstrong, wrote "I am looking for a...
|
Life 
