A binder or notebook to keep it all together.
If your projects are small, you might be able to make due with a small datebook. Larger ones contain at least a few lines per day to keep notes. However, you might not be able to keep many to do items in such a book.
Setting Up a PDA for Use with The Cycle
If you use a PDA, you have many choices. PDAs usually come with software that lets you keep an appointment calendar, to do lists, and notes. However, there is a wealth of aftermarket add-on packages that can greatly enhance the experience.
DateBook (DB) V (http://www.pimlicosoftware.com) won my favor early on because it makes implementing the 'to do list per day' concept very easy. I like to think of it as finishing what Palm set out to do. A Palm-based PDA without DateBook V is a toy. DB V makes to do entry very fast through the use of templates, uses color effectively to highlight what's important, and can give advanced warning of an event. This last feature is particularly useful to me. Before DB V, I had to enter a reminder for someone's birthday and plug in an additional reminder a week early so that I had time to buy a gift. With DB V, I can simply request advance warning of an anniversary or birthday. DB V is only available for PalmOS. One of the nice things about DB is that it maintains its data in the normal PalmOS data structures, so all your items sync just as you would hope they do.
Life Balance (LB) (http://www.llamagraphics.com) is not just great software, it's a great philosophy. LB has all the important features of The Cycle (to do lists, calendars, and so on), but it adds the important concept of being aware that your life needs balance. Maybe you've decided you want to split your time between three projects plus home life. If you've been ignoring one of those categories, to do items from that area will start appearing higher in your priority list. Eventually your life is back in balance. It's a great concept and many people swear by this software. It's available for Mac OS X and Windows, and it syncs to a PalmOS version.
Once, while I was teaching my Time Management for System Administrators seminar, someone said that when he's done with one task, he wishes someone else would pick the next task for him. He said he spends too much time worrying about what to do next. That's when someone else chimed in about Life Balance. You program it with how you want your life balanced, and it sees to it that you meet those goals.
Another nice thing about Life Balance is that rather than putting each to do item in a category such as Work or Home, you mark each item with the location(s) in which you are able to do that task. So, the next time you are at the grocery store (or your boss's office), you click on that place, and Life Balance shows a list of things that need to be done there. Very convenient!
What do I use? I've tried a variety of platforms. However, I must admit that I always returned to the first platform I learned: a leather-bound binder with preprinted paper filler for each day of the year. I think that if the first platform I used had been a peanut butter and banana sandwich, I would always return to it, because once I develop a habit, I tend to stick with it.
In all other aspects of my life, I'm fairly high-tech and upgrade to new systems regularly. I switch computers and operating systems constantly. I used email long before it was a household word, I set up one of the largest WiFi networks before it was called WiFi, and I bought a Tivo before most of my friends knew it existed. However, for my time management, I like paper. I like to write in large letters, scribble, draw arrows and circles. When someone starts rattling off information to me, I like to be able to start writing it down immediately, not wait for a microprocessor to get out of sleep mode. I used the same large-size (8.5' ? 11') leather-bound binder from 1991 until 2004, and then switched to a smaller (5.5' ? 8.5') one (but still leather!) in January of 2005.
I'm just a creature of habit.
The point is that what you use is what works for you. Try them all (especially the software—they usually have a free trial download). Borrow a few PDAs from friends and coworkers, even if it is just for a few minutes during lunch. Spend time in a stationery store getting a feel for various date books and planner systems.
Take Responsibility When Vendors Don't Follow Through
Follow-through doesn't just mean tracking issues. Follow-through is about results. A coworker of mine couldn't understand why his boss was unhappy with his performance when a project was delayed because a vendor hadn't returned a call placed two weeks earlier. It wasn't his fault that the vendor hadn't called back, right?
That's not how the world works. You can't assume that a vendor will call back. You have to take responsibility for a project's timely completion. Here are some tips:
Call the vendor once a day until you connect. Call every day. Don't wait for them to take the initiative.
