O for Organization

One quick innovation that’s really been helping me stay organized is using a dedicated browser for all of my project management, time tracking , calendar, and communication tools. I’ve been using Opera, since it’s not one I was already using in my day to day work.

The problem I found was that I’d often have 4 Firefox windows open with multiple tabs each, constantly signing in and out of different tools as well as different Google accounts to do client work. What switching to Opera has allowed me to do is to have all of these tools in one central place. I set it to save my tabs at the end of each session, so I simply click the big red O at the beginning of each morning and I have my custom, organized management dashboard all in one place and ready to go.

It’s really saved a lot of time that was wasted bringing up Basecamp multiple times a day and re-logging in, or trying to find the tab where I had it open. It also allows me to easily clean my computer workspace by closing all the programs I have running and only re-opening the ones I’m actively using (I’ve found having very few programs running and nothing on my desktop makes me feel good, the same way a clear desk does).

So there you have it. Try it out with web based programs you’re constantly signed into or use everyday – you’ll be surprised how clean and efficient this simple system is.

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