How do you stay organized?

[Chelsea Adams]

Hi friends! I recently published a quick interview I did with Alexa Goldman, court reporter behind The Stylish Stenographer, on my blog. She also creates planners specifically geared toward court reporters, so it was a really cool experience to chat with her about that!

On that note, I'm curious about your time-saving and organization strategies. Personally, I write EVERYTHING down and am already shopping around for my 2018 planner (because I'm crazy). So, how do you keep everything organized and manage your time?

[Stephanie Barringer]

I just saw this when you posted about what to read.  This sounds really interesting.  I would love to see what her planner has to help court reporters!!!  That is an awesome idea.  I use DepoBooks.  That is the most important thing that I use every day.  I don't know what I did without them!

[Chelsea Adams]

That's awesome! It's so cool that there are planners and stuff out these specifically for you guys. Probably makes things a lot easier. :) I'm actually pumped -- I'm getting a standard (non-CR) planner from Alexa herself! Can't wait to see her product in person.

[Monnie Neely]

I actually bought myself a planner (for the first time ever!) a few weeks ago to help keep track as I've gotten busier with proofreading. I've not utilized it much yet, but I'm looking forward to figuring out how to make it work for me. Up until now, I've just relied on making notes for myself on my cell phone and emailing myself reminders, which is not the most efficient thing when you're trying to juggle two full-time jobs.

Great interview, btw! :)

[Chelsea Adams]

Thank you! Despite preferring phones/computers for just about everything else, I cannot keep a calendar or planner electronically. I don't know why! I write client due dates in two places in a physical planner and have a dry erase calendar in my kitchen. I'm a planner freak and watch "plan with me" videos on YouTube for hours at a time. It's a problem! lol

[Lindsay Pinkham]

I freelance for many many different agencies, and to keep track of everybody, I have two contacts in my Gmail on my phone and computer for each agency: Smith Agency Calendar and Smith Agency Production.  Under Calendar I just have the phone number, email for the calendar person, and her name.  Under Production I have the street address (for sending exhs), production dept email, other staff names and emails I might need, and under Notes in the contact I have rates, how they like their timestamps shown, etc.  Used to keep all these notes printed out and filed, but now they're sitting in front of me on my computer in Google Contacts.

And I have a category in my emails for Agencies-Rates, and I archive there every email I get promising a certain rate (and I do make them email me, not just verbally promise over the phone) so I can reference it later (or print it out and take it to Small Claims Court if necessary).

[Stephanie Barringer]

This sounds like a great plan.

[Lindsay Pinkham]

I also made a group out of all my calendar email addresses, so if I have an unexpectedly short am job and want to pick up something in the pm, I just send a bcc out to the group.

[Chelsea Adams]

This is great! I'm one of those people who does everything on the phone, but I can't keep up with an electronic calendar. I have to write it down! :)

[Lindsay Pinkham]

I tried Google Calendar on my phone, but takes too long - the print is too small and my fingers are too fat!  So I went back to using my little red Daily Reminder books, which are a tiny version of what agencies used to use long ago pre-computer!

[Natalie Osenbaugh]

I'm like you, I need to write things down manually. I've used a planner and a desk calendar before, and I've actually found the desk calendar a great option! It's large and gives me the view of the entire month at the same time instead of only seeing a week at a time. I like being able to get the big picture of my life all on one large page!

[Chelsea Adams]

Oh that's a good idea! I use a whiteboard to keep track of my due dates for the week in addition to my planner.

[Monnie Neely]

Ah, I love that idea! I've had a desk calendar for years at my office day job, but I've really only used it for quick note taking while on the phone. I'm not sure why it's never occurred to me to use it for an actual planner, but now I'm thinking I'll get one for my home office and use it for my proofreading jobs.