Thing 5: Notetaking

I was sure that Remember the Milk would be just the thing for me. I make lists for everything and carry them around, hand them out to others, circle urgent tasks, check off completed ones, and usually have four or five going at once. I also misplace them and lose them.

I downloaded the app on my iPhone, iPad, and iPad mini, added tasks and even a grocery list. So easy!

Then I went to the web site to see why the iPhone showed a syncing bar that wasn't moving. The free version only syncs once in 24 hours and on the forum there seemed to be quite a few problems with syncing. I decided to wait until tomorrow to see if this will really happen, because if it doesn't, the app won't help me much. It will be like any of my misplaced or lost lists.

Then I learned about Smart Lists, which have to be created on the web version of the program. Before making Smart Lists out of the long weekly or daily list of tasks, you will want to assign labels, priorities, tags and other types of definition to each task.

So on my Personal list, I assigned tags for house, project, call, etc. On my Work list, I used the titles of the different activities I am involved in. In the advanced search, I chose the list and tag, then saved the list created by the search. Hopefully these will show up in the apps on my devices tomorrow. 

Simple became a lot more complicated, but may be worth it in the long run. Or not.

If I was still in the library, this would be more valuable to keep track of multiple projects and collaborations with staff members, plus staff development, and community activities. If you are a list maker, beware. This could become a compulsion. Making lists and more deliciously, checking things off.