April 12, 2011

Two Techie Takeaways

Whew!  I am back from a whirlwind week on the West Coast at the National Association of Professional Organizers’ National Conference.  And what a week it was!  Aside from the information-packed seminars, the other highlight was toying around with the endless organizing gadgets in the expo.  I was like a kid in a candy store.  So, this week I thought I’d share my two favorite organizing products from the conference expo. 

1.  Evernote – They call it your “external brain,” which is just what you need when your actual brain is overloaded.  Evernote is a simple downloadable tool to capture anything you might ever want to take note of. Get it? It’s free or $5 a month for a premium subscription with unlimited storage.  You can write text notes, clip web content, snap photos, save files, create to-do lists, and record voice notes in one place and access it from another.  You can access the “notes” from any device – your computer, mobile device, and the web.  And to access the notes from your computer or mobile device, you don’t need an Internet connection.
  • Coolest Feature(s) – Oh, I couldn’t pick just one.  The Web Clipper preserves the source URL in your note, so you’ll always have it.  The search function is so powerful that it even searches handwritten text.  Awesome.
  • Why Use It to Organize? – No more worrying about where to look for your lists, notes, documents, audio files, or photos because they’re all in one place and easily tagged or saved in different notebooks based on topic.
  • Bright Idea – As you’re shopping online throughout the year, take a web clip of that perfect gift and save it in your Christmas Gifts 2011 file.  Come November, you’ll have all your gift ideas in one place – just click and order.


2.  GRID-IT! from Cocoon Innovations – As they say at Cocoon, “Living in today’s digital world, means not only remembering your wallet and keys, but also your chargers, ear buds, cell phone, and USB drive.”  So true, it can be overwhelming just thinking about it. The GRID-IT! is an organization panel that comes in various sizes and designs and keeps items in place with elastic bands made to hold personal objects.  Plus NAPO attendees voted it the Organizers’ Choice Award for Best Technology Product.  If we don’t know a good organizing product, who does?
Four separate GRID-IT! panels

  • Coolest Feature – The back of the GRID-IT! doubles as a mouse pad.
  • Why Use It to Organize? – With endless ways to configure items on the grid, this product is versatile as needs change.
  • Bright Idea – Use the three-ring binder organizer GRID-IT! to keep your favorite student’s supplies in one place along with homework and other important documents. 

Disclosure: Urban Simplicity was not compensated for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own.