Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope you're having a great week so far. Today, I wanted to share with you a little bit about how I organize my life... schedules, to do lists, blog calendar, idea lists, etc. I've always been the hopeless notebook type. I love buying new calendars and notebooks, but I'm h.o.r.r.i.b.l.e. at at keeping it up. Absolutely horrible. I can't tell you how many half-used calendars and little schedule notebooks I've thrown away. I start off great and then just give up. Anyone else like that? Erin Condren still tempts me though.
Here's my new bff...
Here's my new bff...
Recently, I forced myself to get into the habit of using iCloud to do everything. Let me tell ya... I'm in love. It was a little tough at first to get into the routine, but I'm golden now. I have been able to get (and STAY) organized over the past two months. It's so nice.
No, you don't need a Mac. Just an Apple id. The purpose of iCloud is to sync all of your Apple devices (iPhone, Mac, iPad, etc.) and allow content to be accessed from any device. So, all my stuff is on my computer, iPad, and phone. However, you don't have to have any of these devices to take advantage. All you need is an iTunes account.... which you probably do. (If not, google it. It's easy to do.)
Once you have an Apple id, go to icloud.com and log in. You'll see this screen:
No, you don't need a Mac. Just an Apple id. The purpose of iCloud is to sync all of your Apple devices (iPhone, Mac, iPad, etc.) and allow content to be accessed from any device. So, all my stuff is on my computer, iPad, and phone. However, you don't have to have any of these devices to take advantage. All you need is an iTunes account.... which you probably do. (If not, google it. It's easy to do.)
Once you have an Apple id, go to icloud.com and log in. You'll see this screen:
You've got a lot of great tools to keep you organized!
| You can sync all of your various email accounts. I've got four... yowza. So with one click, I can access any messages! Yay!!! |
| ContactsFamily, friends, colleagues, and blogging buddies... all in one place! I can even sync up their birthdays to the calendar. I like that I don't have to mess with one of those little tabbed notebooks. :) |
| CalendarThis is my FAVORITE part. The Calendar. I have so many different calendars that I need to keep track of... school, grad school, blogging, birthdays, personal stuff, etc. Apple's calendar allows you to have lots of different calendars, view days/weeks/months at a time, color code events, set them to repeat, and lots of other fun features... including attaching documents to dates (like a class agenda). It's kept my butt nice and organized recently. |
| NotesWishlists, ideas, clipart requests, project ideas.... all in one place. I can have as many different notes as I want! When I'm done, I just erase a line or completely delete the note. Coolest part? I can email it to myself or a friend! |
| RemindersThis little beauty allows you to make little checklists, to do lists, or set reminders that can sync to your calendar. Need to remember to order flowers before Grandma's birthday? Voila. Never disappoint grandma again... like I did. |
| Find My iPhone/iPadLeave your iPad laying on a chair in the Chicago airport? No? That's just me? Thanks to this little app, you have a little more hope of finding your device. You can make it beep (so you can find it under the couch), locate it on a map, or wipe the data in case it gets jacked. |
| iWorkI don't use this one because I don't have a Mac, but this allows you to use Pages (Word), Keynote (PPT), and Numbers (Excel) on your devices... and syncs your work. Kind of like the Dropbox concept. |
I LOVE having everything in one place and the fact that it updates on each device. No more notebooks, stupid notes everywhere, or feeling so disorganized.
I just wanted to share a little techy organization tip with ya! I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you're inspired to try it out. I definitely haven't found anything that I like using more than this. It's simple, everything's in one place, and it works.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
I just wanted to share a little techy organization tip with ya! I hope you enjoyed! Let me know if you're inspired to try it out. I definitely haven't found anything that I like using more than this. It's simple, everything's in one place, and it works.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
