Checking off a few things on your to-do list is a pretty good feeling. You accomplished something. While it could be something as simple as picking up bread and milk, it could also have been that daunting task that has haunted you for months or years. With today’s busy schedules, most people need calendars or to-do lists, or some combination of both, to keep them on task.

As an all-digital kind of guy, I of course keep all my calendar and to-do information on my phone and computer. Using Evernote, my email and online calendars, I have most information I need at my fingertips. After that, I just need something to remind me to do certain tasks. While not every task is important enough to become a calendar item, many are things that require some sort of alert. Apple’s Reminders app for iOS was a great solution, allowing you to remind based on time or location. However, I recently began using Any.Do which works across multiple platforms.

Allowing me to also remind based on time and location, Any.Do also reminds me to organize my tasks in the morning and has alerts and snoozing built it. I have found myself making more “tasks” with Any.Do and completing them on time. While some new apps, like Carrot, give you incentives for completing tasks (as well as, inversely shaming you for not completing them), you have to find the system that is right for you.

I have a co-worker who has a primitive multi-level post-it note system that she (and only she) understands. Others use a mixed system with both digital and pen/paper elements. What system do you use?

Ah yes, the dreaded tax day is here. As the saying goes “Nothing is certain but death and taxes”… now you can add “freebies” to that. It has become a new tradition that businesses who ‘sympathize’ with the tax payer offer some freebies on tax day. This can obviously vary depending on your area, but according to an article in the Sacramento Bee, there are plenty of businesses to check out today. [Read more...]