Software for keeping thoughts organized in new job?

[MrVegas]

I am starting a new job next week, Director of Financial Reporting in a fairly big corporation. I got pretty sloppy in my old job and was losing things, forgetting things, etc.

Are there any software apps out there that spring to mind that would be good for organizing, keeping notes together, outlining, etc.?

 

[blackstone]

I am starting a new job next week, Director of Financial Reporting in a fairly big corporation. I got pretty sloppy in my old job and was losing things, forgetting things, etc.

Are there any software apps out there that spring to mind that would be good for organizing, keeping notes together, outlining, etc.?

I use Circus Ponies Notebook to track my to-do list and law school notes. It's a very nice piece of software -- uses a strong notebook/outline metaphor, runs very stable, and they've put a lot of thought into keeping the interface uncluttered.

If you want something similar but with a bit more 'feature-bloat' then Aquaminds NoteTaker is also good.

 

[notjustjay]

I like DevonThink.

For my job though as a software engineer, I keep a log book (as I believe all engineers are required to) and just make lots and lots of to-do lists. The right-side pages are for task lists, meeting notes and such, and the left-side pages are for rough sketches, architectural drawings, notes, calculations and such.

Sometimes simpler ends up being better, but obviously everyone Thinks Differently.

 

[jalagl]

I use... OmniOutliner came with my Powerbook, and works like a charm to help me keep track of things and ideas.

 

[iGary]

Secret to my success:

 

[Blue Velvet]

A4 Desk Diary — always at hand, user-friendly, never crashes, upgrades only once a year, portable, low power consumption, handy to rest cups of coffee on, free from printers that want our business...

 

[thedude110]

NovaMind is pretty good software for concept mapping/mind mapping/outlining. If nothing else, it will help you keep your writing and ideas organized.

 

[2nyRiggz]

the old fashion way is always the best way.


Bless

 

[After G]

VoodooPad Lite. It's like a non-Internet wiki.

It helps that I can expand on terms later as well, without the mess that is my own handwriting

 

[LeningradCowboy]

Sometimes simpler ends up being better, but obviously everyone Thinks Differently.

Good words

To the original poster: maybe you'll like this one: myNotes Just give it a try. It has a couple of nice features such as printable themes and Address Book integration.

 

[cubist]

I like using a PDA with Palm Desktop. I have hundreds of to-dos and memos. But you know, the most important part is capturing the information in the first place. Any method can work as long as you just remember to write everything down. TextEdit can be a fine organizer; a lot of folks like to use Excel. Don't trust your memory. Put it all down, and make sure it's backed up.

 

[Dane D.]

Sometimes the good old paper notebook

Sometimes the good old paper notebook does the job best. I find having everything on a computer sometimes in a pain so I bought a 5 subject spiral notebook and use that for thoughts and notes. Try it. Just keep it near you.

 

[kingcrowing]

Secret to my success:

snip

another vote for going old skool

 

[WinterMute]

I've been using Hog Bay Notebook, it's shareware off of versiontracker and is a simple nested folders type affair with plenty of room for notes etc in each file.

A4 desk diaries are fine if you are at a desk all day, but I'm mobile and can be working almost anywhere.

 

[MrVegas]

Thanks ...

Omni Outliner looks great, as do several of the other suggestions.

I'm wondering if anybody happens to know of any similar apps that work in Windows. It just occured to me that my new office prolly runs in a Windoze environment.

p.s.
they don't have software that enables Mac apps to run in windows do they?

 

[superbovine]

Omni Outliner looks great, as do several of the other suggestions.

I'm wondering if anybody happens to know of any similar apps that work in Windows. It just occured to me that my new office prolly runs in a Windoze environment.

p.s.
they don't have software that enables Mac apps to run in windows do they?

are you a pda and/or blackberry person, a travel with laptop person (perhaps with a pda), or a only desktop computer person?

 

[blaster_boy]

Here are my faves...

I've tried lots of stuff (excel, notebook, simple todolist) but for now I've gone back to 3 things :

- a bound A4 notebook where I write all my meetings in :
not just an agenda, but my own meeting notes and my action points; as well as my daily or weekly todo list (depends on the amount of things to do). I keep a post-it sticking out of my notebook to my current todolist and cross off regularly. I divide the todo page in two vertically, so each task also has a notes line where I can put comments or updates in. When I make a new todo list I first go over the old one and if not done completely, copy those tasks over. (After copying it over 5 times, you usually just do it to get rid of it !!)

- for big projects where I need to contact lots of different people on different times related to the project, I use dotproject :
it's a php-based multi-user websolution that you log in to and that you create projects in. This might not be what you are looking for, however, as you need quite a bit of technical knowhow to set up a webserver + install the software. But it allows me to log in from anywhere and just add stuff to it. Mind you, dotproject is in a bit of a funk for the moment, not much development is going on, but the software is stable enough.
There are also other solutions out there that just keep todo lists via the web.

- Outlook synced with my pda :
I sync my home pda with my work outlook mail. Keeps me uptodate on all my meetings wether private or work. But it doesn't give you the big overview of where you are in your work, I find.

In the end, it comes down to what a previous poster stated : you have to keep notes, and do it consistently. Find a way that suits you and stick to it.