Poll on organisational tools

I like things on paper but I often lose the notebook it is in and I have too many notebooks to always find them, so it is best on my phone

I make shopping lists on paper, but they're just an aide memoire, the rest of it I keep in my head which is very frustrating for others but works for me.

It can't take this poll, sorry, it doesn't allow for more than one "most frequent". I use.....

whiteboard

(whiteboard) flip cards

paper, notes book, graph paper, little squares, post-its... 

apps: stickies app (legacy Mohave), calendar, email, text.

.....pretty much equally so I couldn't just say one. (except for the bottom 3).

I couldn't even order them in a priority list. the all work in tandem.

Maybe I can do that then. Now that I think about it, I have a waterproof liquid eyeliner pen that I used to write notes on my arm with from time to time, because it's meant to be safe on skin, but I just didn't know if it's "weird" to do that. I guess if it's not very weird, I can try to do that and see how that goes. 

"I also find that things on my phone are 'not real'" yeah, that's a good way to put it. Anything I store digitally always gets forgotten about. I even forget to reply to instant messages from people most of the time, which is why I rarely use things like that. 

I do write things on the back of my hand if I don't have something to immediately write it down. Also specific tasks like talking to someone while at the department, otherwise I leave the department without doing it. People don't usually find it too weird.

I also find that things on my phone are 'not real' so it doesn't work for me pretty much at all. 

At my old apartment, I bought a roll of whiteboard sticker, which you just roll and stick the sheet of whiteboard onto a wall, and that was useful for things like groceries and other things to keep track of. 

I've also bought the magnetic drawing boards that kids usually have, to write notes on. They're also waterproof, so if one is hanging in the shower, it's easy to write a few notes that come to mind. It's hard to find waterproof paper, and that's more of a specialty item.

I also have a battery-operated writing pad, that is similar to the magnetic drawing board, but it's easier to make out the words that I'm writing. 

I have a wall that has important things just taped up there, so that I don't lose them on my desk and in my clutter, which I always seem to have a bad habit of creating, because I always have several personal projects going on at once. 

My kitchen used to have a magnetic notepad stuck on the fridge door, for groceries, but the notepad had fallen off, and I haven't been upkeeping the groceries very well since that has happened.

I have a small paper notebook and pen in my pocket to jot down a few things from time to time. There are a few naysayers that dislike seeing me write down notes though, usually the condescending type, but I don't care, I write the notes anyways.

I've tried using apps and digital folders, but it has never worked for me very well, because it just ends up a mess, and I always change my mind about how I want things organized, and forgot how I organized them before. Everything in digital folders just looks too similar to each other. It's just never worked in the long run. I can remember notebooks I've written in years ago, but I always forgot what I have on my computer. 

I also wish that I had notes on my wrist so that I could study things if I have a brief moment or two to do so, but it'll look too weird, and I've never managed to make that happen. 

Word documents can have their place. I usually use my computers 'post it note' app to make to do lists for specific projects, and then integrate it into my other tools later.

But I can totally see how it would get overwhelming. Hopefully it's better than having nothing

Unfortunately, as far as my brain is concerned, "If it's not written down, it doesn't happen" so it's a necessity. 

Yeah answers that are outside my options were very much expected, it is why I added the other option. I also use multiple options for different categories.

It sounds like you've got a good set of systems.

Lists on my computer, just in a word processor file. I sometimes use a paper list, but I have the annoying tendency to lose them. I don't always remember to check or update the list either. I nearly clicked 'organisation? what's that?' as I am a long way from being organised.

I have one file where I write the date and try to keep it updated for what I did and what I have to do. Then another file where I write lists and notes and drafts of emails, I sometimes delete things from there when they are done but more often leave them. It annoys me when my list is too long to see on one page of the laptop screen, or to fit on one bit of paper, so I also sometimes have a master list of categories and sub-lists to break things down into steps. But the problem with breaking things down into small manageable steps is that there are fifty trillion things on the list and i get just as overwhelmed as when there are only a few things but they are too big...

I find this really interesting and I love the idea behind this poll. However, I can't isolate any single one of them that I could say I use the most frequently or find the most effective. The question has thrown my mind into a panic! 

On that basis, I've answered "Other" 

For example, I feel that I rely equally on:

• Apps combined with a paper checklist for taking and recording my various medications throughout the day (both tools being equally important).
• Paper notebooks (different ones for different subject areas) for preparing for (eg scripting) and recording all important conversations, whether by phone or in person.
• Apps (more than one) for managing my diary and important, scheduled, "to-do" activities.
• Paper lists for helping me to remember, plan and check off my current tasks.

I did have a large whiteboard, but the idea of using it exceeded my ability to use it reliably  I also didn't like having all of my to-do items on show to anyone who might see it. I took it to the recycling centre in the end!