Tools to which I owe my sanity

My day job has undergone some significant changes, changes which have kicked into overdrive in the last two weeks. The biggest challenge is staying on top of all of the numerous little tasks that I'm juggling.

There are a few web-tools that we've written about before that deserve another nod for the role they're playing in helping me keep my head above water.

1. Remember the Milk: I've loved this tool from the get-go, but lately it's importance is elevated to somewhere near life support.

RTM is a to-do list program, but with all the bells and whistles you could hope for in a to-do list. Offline access via Google Gears, playing nicely with Blackberry, iPhone, Twitter, and others, and email access to add tasks, make this pretty handy. In addition to keeping current tasks in front of me, I'm also appreciating the ability to set a to-do for a few months from now and then forget it.

Sure, the usefullness of a to-do list program is not exclusive to RTM, but the accessibility (and paperlessness - have I mentioned that I hate paper?) continues to make this a favorite.

2. Google Calendar/iGoogle: A calendar is obviously critical. My calendar of choice is still Google Calendar. I keep my events in separate categories (separate "Calendars" in GCal) so I have some color-coding. This grouping also lets me publish select aspects of my calendar publically (embedded on a website), or share directly with colleagues and family.

I lump iGoogle in here because I can display my calendar, email, to-do list, and a few other goodies into a single dash board.

3. Defensive scheduling: My third tool is not a tool at all, but for that single reason needs the reminder. I'm guarding my weekends ferociously.

In the day-to-day busyness, my family is not getting the time it deserves. As a result, I'm guarding weekends, especially Saturdays. If you're busy - and if you're in ministry then you probably are - you owe it to your family and self to guard some time, defend it at all costs.. Take a Sabbath. If the weekend is the pennacle of your work week, guard some other time.

Image citation: blhphotography, “you are way too close” blhphotographys’s Photostream. 29 May 2007. 7 Sep 2008 .