5 Sticky Note Substitutes to Organize Data

So, I see that you decorate your office with a bit of sticky note art? (I was going to draw eyes, a nose and a mouth on my image and label it “Old Christine” but refrained). I’ve also seen in the past a certain relative who used the “write it on your hand” method. In various offices that I frequent, I’m always pleased to see passwords to the computer and accounting software stuck to the back of the monitor so I don’t have to ask what the login/password combination is. NOT!!!!!! Don’t get me. sticky notes are pretty, they are easy to find if you are at your desk, and they seem to be available whenever you need them (again, if you are at your desk). I’d like to propose a few substitute methods for those of you who are NOT always at your desk, for those of you who share a desk with someone like me and a method to shield others from your sensitive data. Depending on the function of the data, there are apps to address each sticky note.

Passwords:

There are a host of software applications that not only store your password, but offer up strong suggestions for encrypting your data. They are also available via mobile apps. Now, for those of you who use your planners, moleskins, sticky notes and the like for password storage, listen up: CAN YOU SAY HACKING? Here are a few suggestions for password storage. Each are highly recommended:

• Lastpass
• 1password
• Zoho Vault
• Dashlane
• KeePass

Reminders:

Sticky notes are a great way to remind you to call someone, write out your list of to-dos and prioritize your day. Efficient? Not really. Automatic reminders? Heck no. In the world of touching something once, assigning it to the proper team member or putting it on your own calendar, there are a host of Reminder tricks. Here are some:

• Immediately put a task on a calendar and set a reminder with Google notifications (I would be lost without it). Or use Outlook to assign a task.
• Wunderlist does a great job of reminding me of tasks and to-dos that I have set for myself
• Evernote, which is my core information center and also has the ability to set reminders
• Smartsheet is great for setting up projects and setting reminders of tasks
• Insightly is my project management program. Tasks can be assigned with built-in email reminders

Appointments:

Do you write down messages on a sticky note to set up a customer appointment? That method is long gone. Hook up a program that allows your customers to choose their appointment time based on openings in your calendar. If you want to link it to your Google, Outlook or ICal, you have that option. Here are a few to investigate:

• TimeTrade
• Schedule Once
• Acuity
• Calendly

Business documents banking and credit card information:

Whatever you do, make sure you DON’T write financial information on sticky notes. I have seen customers with credit card information on pieces of paper in their offices or in notebooks. Find an encrypted methodology for storing this information. E-File and SmartVault have storage vaults. For easy to use technology, again, LastPass works with encrypting credit card information. More on LastPass: Keep Those Hard to Remember Card Numbers Available and Secure.

Everything else:

What do I use to track every single word spoken in a meeting, templates, lists, and a brain dump when I’m on a plane and have multiple ideas swimming around in my head? Well, to be honest, since the early 90’s, I was a notebook freak. I went from steno notebooks to moleskins to whatever journals were being handed out at conferences. Then, I found Evernote. It not only lets me organize the data that I’ve dumped into a notebook, but it lets me share and collaborate with others. I can invite participants to share in my “notebooks” and we can even have a workchat about topics and to-dos. I’ve invited accountants to client notebooks and co-directors to personal notebook for my Christ Church Detroit Reading Camp. What I love about it is how I can organize an event with dates, reminders, contact information, to do lists, and once established, the information can be copied and pasted to a new notebook. You can assign tags for different notes to create an efficient way of searching for information and you can search the web and save website information to Evernote. You are also given an Evernote email to send information to an Evernote notebook.

So, with all of that information, keep me posted on your progress, questions or comments on how YOU gave up sticky notes!