You might or might not be like me. I absorb massive amounts of information every day. I collect links to useful web sites, add data to my calendar, write notes to myself on stickies (both physical and virtual desktop sticky notes), file electronic receipts, and then I have my work documents, processes, newsletters, marketing notes! What I lack is a way to keep up with myself.
Have you ever wished you could instantly create a chart or graph of your ideas, tasks for the day, or errands that need to be run? I have often wished I could view my life through pie charts simply to see the breakdown of my life’s tasks and goals on paper. There is something about removing yourself from your head to get an instant perspective on how you actually spend your time versus what you need to spend your time on.
The thing I struggle with the most is electronic organization and I know I am not alone. No, I am not organized in the physical world either, and I have often wondered if I were how my digital suffering might be eliminated.
There are many different web based applications to help me. There are apps for task management, collaboration and project tracking, bill payment, asset management, personal files, etc. The list goes on and on. The problem with these programs is that they are not linked together. I need one giant application to perform an adequate brain dump!
Dumping information is the easy part. What about organizing it and linking it all together? For instance, I have an extensive database on marketing techniques. I have sub categorized these by application: Search Engine, Networking, Article Writing, Collateral. I have broken down each category into a sub topic such as Search Engine: Optimization, Search Engine: Advertising, Search Engine: Statistics, Search Engine: Vertical Search Engines. Underneath each sub category I have notes, documents, web links, and other materials. This is great but I can not get a cross section of the categories outside of this hierarchical view.
In a perfect world, I would be able to see and access some of the information in my database when I am in a different category, say Client Projects. How wonderful it would be if I could access all the relevant search engine notes and articles when I am working on a relevant task for my client. Of course I can go into my database and pull up the files as needed, but what I really want is for those items to “appear” when I am putting together a proposal or tracking my time in other programs.
Is there a way to create a personal database of information and link it every other program in my life? Software applications function as autonomous people who are highly selective on who they want to talk to and how they go about carrying on a conversation. I wish there was a way to snap my fingers and change their social skills so that it is much easier to relate our brain’s knowledgebase to the task at hand.
Tags: collaborative software, electronic organization, knowledgebase, task management
Augmented Reality (AR) technology merges virtual content with the physical world. Mobile devices can combine knowledge of where you are, what you are doing, and what information you need to augment the physical world around you with content for planning, education, and productivity.
There needs to be an easy way to capture what is said, transcribe it into words, and mind map it automatically. This might seem a little far fetched, but there are many time-saving benefits. This could be possible through a linked system using Requal > Evernote > Curio applications. Evernote has an API that syncs with Curio, and Requal can sync with Evernote. However, more research will be required to see if Curio could map something on-the-fly. Curio – Mind Mapping, Brainstorming, and Project Management Software
