Follow The Wire is one year old. today!

On February 1, 2012 we posted our first article and have been updating you with the latest in technology, entertainment, safe surfing tips and updates on Armstrong’s new products and services ever since.

In addition, we have had various month long topics and themes to keep you informed, special guest authors and our popular Wednesday “Demand It!” feature – sharing the latest On Demand movies that are available for you and your family to enjoy.

Now that we are a year old, what do you want to see from Follow The Wire in our second year?

As we wrap up our series on trying to become ‘paperless’ (again, you will most likely never be truly paperless) we get to one piece of paper that was the hardest for me to part with; a checkbook. While a lot of people will admit they write very few checks, most still keep a check book of some sort.

Organizing your day to day personal finances is a tricky thing for some folks. I used to keep every receipt I had from using my debit card. Writing down the information in my handy check registry every other day or so. It was a convenient and most up-to-the-minute way of keeping track of my spending. However, it required me to keep my checkbook handy to have an current understanding of what I was spending, what I had to spend, etc.

I finally decided that if I was keeping everything else on my phone or computer, why not my checkbook. My normal go to tools like Evernote didn’t quite fit the task this time. I searched the app stores and blog suggestions and found Checkbook HD from ibearsoft. I started with the free version, but quickly paid the small fee for the full version. I have a great app that is always updated, always with me and gives me plenty of budgeting and record keeping tools. I track expenses by category, payee, date, etc. I can plan ahead and even import and export data (which I haven’t even done to be honest.)

Check out Checkbook HD or another solution that fits your personal situation. Again, as with any of this paperless lifestyle, it has to work for you. Good luck on staying paper-free.

As we continue to try to reduce the amount of paper we have to deal with on a daily basis, think about the places where most of the paper make their way into your house. Other than through work and kids, most everything else comes via the mailbox. As we have discussed a few times, Evernote can help you deal with organizing that paper before it makes its way to the trash. What about the paper that you don’t want at all? [Read more...]

Does anyone actually try to make new year’s resolutions anymore? The joke about never sticking to your resolution may have just became actuality. Why even bother, right? Well, I have a simple resolution that will help in your quest to be better organized this year. Check out Digitwirl.com.

Digitwirl is a great source for learning the newest and most useful tools for staying organized and productive. Their site even says “Learn how to use killer tech tools that will keep you organized and simplify your life.” That is exactly what we are trying to do here. Simplify your life.

Sign up for the newsletter, or check out their Facebook, Twitter or YouTube sites. There is always something that they can help you better understand. Carly takes you through a “twirl” and explains it in plain English and shows you how it will impact your daily life. Give it a “spin.”

As we discussed previously, there are some great online tools like Evernote, Dropbox, (or Google Drive, Box, etc.) that can help you organize and backup your digital life. To make an immediate impact on your life, try to focus on the paper, documents you are dealing with right now. Unless you have this paperless routine down perfectly, you don’t want to worry about old files just yet.

I recommend starting with Evernote to get your bills, contracts, teachers’ letters, pay stubs, etc. out of the “inbox” and in the shredder. Evernote themselves have put together some helpful hints for starting the New Year organized.

We will talk further about other ways to help you get organized for the new year. We will talk about some other helpful tools and sites that can inspire you. But for now, I just wanted to encourage you to get started with Evernote.

Note: Feel free to use other storage solutions. I recommend for Evernote because of its amazing search and tagging functionality that makes finding what you want so easy.

So, it starts with the holiday decorations. You pack up the boxes and put them back in storage for another 11 months. Now you realize things are a little unorganized. What do you do? You need to start with a plan. You need to act on that plan.

Hold up! To be clear, we are going to discuss how to organize certain parts of your life; including your digital life, home-office clutter and even your entertainment. We can’t do it all; we aren’t miracle workers.

Throughout this month we will discuss some great ways to start organizing yourself and even tempting you to try to live a “paperless” life.  (You are never truly paperless, but you can reduce the paper clutter.) First, you have to be open to getting organized. It takes a little bit more time to get started, but is worth it when it comes to the end product. The first tip I have for anyone is to look into some free online tools like Evernote and Dropbox.

Evernote is the centerpiece of my paperless life. This is more than just an app for your phone or program for your computer, it is an extension of your memory. For me, Evernote is an extension of myself. (It has replaced most manual record keeping, replaced my wallet and replaced a filing cabinet.) Let me challenge you to try Evernote first.

See what you can do with it. Then we will learn how to maximize it’s abilities.