Binder

Unclutter your computer with a Personal Information Manager

Last week, I offered a few suggestions for uncluttering your computer’s file system and organizing the files that you need to keep using simple folder structures. While that setup works for many types of data, you’re still limited in the way that you can search and use the information you gather. If you write, manage creative projects, or spend time gathering and using research, chances are that such limitations have led you to cobble together your own hybrid system of notebooks, computer files, and physical files.

Enter the personal information manager. A personal information manager takes all of the assorted clippings, bookmarks, images and other files, and stores them in one convenient place. Think of it like a binder without the messy hole punchings. There are several very good PIM tools available that will help you stay organized, but they all have a few simple concepts in common.

One Place

You can’t use information if you don’t remember where you put it. A PIM allows you to gather all of your information in one location. When you need to save a clipping from a website, an image, a PDF, or most other information, you save it into your PIM. Many of the available tools make it incredibly easy to save information with just a few clicks. The important thing is that if you go to save or retrieve information, you’re able to go to one place and be reasonably certain that’s where it is or needs to go.

Convenient Data Input

A data storage system is worthless if it’s too inconvenient to use for storing data. The idea is to save your clippings, images and other files as you encounter them, whether you’re surfing the web, reading e-mail or creating the data yourself. A good personal information manager makes this a snap. Several of the more popular PIMs include “dropboxes” that sit on your desk top waiting for you to drag content into them, add options to dropdown menus, and take advantage of keystrokes. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

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