Getting Organized

A few years ago, I read a book that was really a wakeup for me. It was Ordering Your Private World by Gordon MacDonald. I have always kept a pretty intense schedule, so this book made me realize the importance of staying organized. It made me think about how my “dis-organization” and mismanagement of time was hurting my relationship with Christ. Staying organized should definitely be considered a Spiritual Discipline, once you consider the impact it can have on your Christian walk.

So, here I am at a new stage in my life, and I’m trying to establish some organization in my life before things just totally get out of control. This is one place that technology can definitely help. I have been using Microsoft Outlook for the last several years to keep up with my calendar, but the problem has always been finding out that information when I’m not at the same computer, plus it’s slow and a huge memory hog. I typically am around several different computers throughout the day, so I decided to try out Google Calendar. So far, here’s what I like

  • I can view my schedule from any computer
  • I can allow other people to add meetings/events/reminders for me
  • I can have email reminders or text message reminders sent to my cell phone (THIS IS SWEEEET!)
  • I can search through public calendars to add events
  • I can share my calendar with others who need to know my schedule.
  • There is a cool little Google Notifier for Mac that works with the calendar and stays in the menu bar
  • It integrates with my gmail account so I can add meetings straight from received emails
  • You can add events/meetings by sending a text message from your cell

Overall, this is another cool service from Google, that I will be relying heavily on in the future. Jennifer has started using it as well for family stuff, so I can easily hide/show all the kids sport’s practices and games and appointments.

The missing piece of the puzzle is still a Google note taking/to-do list online app. Right now I’m using Microsoft Onenote, which is another cool application that is highly customizable. But I would definititely give Google a chance if they came up with something comparable. Staying organized is not a choice, it’s a necessity.

Mike

I am a former design engineer who now pastors Cornerstone Community Church in Galax, Virginia. I'm passionate about following Jesus and I love technology. I've been married to Jennifer for 28 years, and we have three adult children.

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