There are many occasions where it’s helpful to make organized lists. Often these are things were do regularly, but not frequently. Annual events like Christmas or vacations fall into this category, as do special events like throwing a wedding or shower, or even a large dinner party.
Make sure that once you’ve gone through all the hard work of figuring and planning that you don’t have to do it all over again the next time. Make a master list of everything, including all the details and information you’ve come across in your research. Keep this in a safe place, filed and labeled clearly.
Some examples of master lists would be: people to give Christmas gifts, a packing list for vacation, things to do before taking a trip, packing for a move, yearly household organizing or vehicle maintenance.
One of the most useful master lists I’ve ever made I call “Settings on My Computer.”
Sadly, there have been a few times when the best option for solving my computer problems was to reinstall the operating system. Sounds daunting, I know, but it’s much less so with this list.
It contains:
- Every program that is installed, listed in the order that I’ve found they need to be installed
- Notes next to each program for how to solve problems or deal with quirks. For example, the first thing I need to install on my computer is the drivers and I have this note:
Drivers (from Dell Resource CD – make sure to get Sigmatel for the audio even though it’s not checked)
- What programs need drivers and where to find them
- Usernames and passwords for online access to my web server
- Serial numbers and passkeys for several programs
- The icons & folders that I like to keep on my desktop
As you can imagine, this makes the process a million times easier than if I had to dig up all this info all over again.
So the next time you find yourself working on a project and realize, “I know I’ve done this work before,” do yourself a favor, get organized and start making a list for next time. You’ll be glad you did!
Wishing you the best,
Sandy
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