Five Tips on How Writers Can Organize Their Constant Stream of Information

Our cupboards are all stocked and ready for another snow storm starting today and going through tomorrow - 6-10 inches this time. On to our blog for today:



Many writers are possibility thinkers -- imagining all the different topics about which they could write. As they read news articles, books, blogs, or magazines, ideas spring to their minds as to how they might turn this information into a blog, an essay, an article, a book.

If this describes you, you may be overwhelmed with the stream of information you want to keep handy for such possibilities. Do you cut out articles, save magazines, have post-a-notes marking your books, or have other similar resource-keeping habits?

What to do with this plethora of information?

1. Determine broad categories that describe your writing interests: travel, fiction, self-help, your areas of expertise, etc.

2. Designate different areas of your file cabinet, book shelf, or computer for these categories. Information you use most often should be closest to you when you are sitting at your desk -- within arm's reach, if possible. Data you use less often should be farther away from you.

3. Set aside time each day or each week to file your new information.

- When you find a magazine article you want to keep, don't keep the whole magazine. Cut out the article and file it or put it in a page protector in a notebook designated for that topic. When you save an entire magazine, it takes up room and it takes up time having to turn to or find the article again.

- If new information you want to keep is readily available online (newspaper or magazine articles, for example), copy and paste them onto a blank document and save them onto your computer to reduce the paper accumulation. Create folders on your computer that correlate to the broad categories you chose in #1.

- If you gain information through emails, you can file emails directly onto your email account. One of the options when you read an email is to move that email into a folder. If you click "move," you will have the option to create a new folder. Click "new folder" and choose a title relating to that subject. Any email you receive that relates to that subject can now be saved under that folder title.

On my computer, when I click "new folder" there is a window that opens near the tool bar that asks if I want to temporarily allow that window to open. When I click that I do, I go back to the new folder and click it and another window pops up for me to name the title of that folder.

- If you are backlogged with information already, set aside 15 minutes a day to organize your existing information and file new information. Suffering through 15 minutes of filing is definitely doable! If after 15 minutes, you're still energized, do another 15 minutes. Or if you are really motivated to get this task done, set aside 15 minutes three times a day. If 15 minutes is all you can bear, congratulate yourself, stop, and do it again tomorrow.

4. As you are reorganizing your files, delete or toss any that no longer interest you.

5. As you sort and file, make a one-page list of your broad categories, the subcategories under each one, and where you can find them. If you keep this list on your computer, you can change or add topics without it becoming messy.

By taking the time to organize your information, you will be able to find what you need when you have an urge to write!

More on organizing incoming information:
A very simple filing system for email and paper
Managing Paper
Creating an Incoming Paper Hub

Writers: Five Simple Ways to Manage and Organize Your Writing Time

We had an interesting weekend - had a visit from a potential foster daughter and a visit from Mother Nature. Fifteen inches of snow! Both were delightful.

Today and tomorrow I'm writing about how writers can organize themselves. If you're not a writer, pass it along to someone you know who is. On to today's blog:



Writing is creative -- a right brain activity. Organization and management are left brain activities. Is it any wonder that writers may feel bipolar -- knowing they should be somewhat organized, yet needing to listen to their creative bent? How do you accomplish your goals while following your inspirational urges?

I think the answer is to have a loose organizational structure that provides you with some guidance, all the while paying attention to what is motivating you at the moment. You don't want to ignore times when you are energized to work on a particular project.

Here are some tips to help you structure your time and still retain your creativity:

1. Know your passions and gifts. Where do you shine? About which topics do you love to write? What style of writing is your favorite? What type of publication do you prefer?

2. Based on your passions and gifts, determine your priorities. In which areas will you concentrate? Where do you want to spend the majority of your time? If you have several areas of interest, prioritize them in terms of preferred topics, preferred writing style(s), on which you want to spend more time, etc.

3. List those projects on which you are currently working or on which you want to work. How do they match up with your passions, gifts, and priorities? For example, if you are working on something that doesn't fit with your passions, gifts, and priorities, why are you doing it? Is it something you are contracted to do or can you decide to forgo this project? Prioritize your current projects in light of your priorities.

4. Create some tangible goals. How many hours will you spend daily on each project? Do you have a goal of a certain number of words each day on each project? How many articles/books, pages, do you want to write in a certain length of time? Is there research you need to do? Do you have deadlines? Do you need to set some deadlines?

5. Create a daily routine: what you will do first, second, third, etc. and how much time you will spend on each.

Remember, if you are hitting a mental block on one priority, take a break and do something totally different to refresh your mind, whether it is another priority or something unrelated to writing.

If you are eager to work on a particular project, listen to your urges. Determine whether working on this project will derail your priorities. If possible, act on your creative juices -- your writing will flow if you are burning to work on the project. By acknowledging your creative motivation and knocking out this project, you will be energized to return to your higher priorities.


More on time management:
How to Buy Some Extra Time
6 Ways to Reduce Stress by Getting Organized
Organizing Your To-Do List

Tools to Track Your Computer Time

Need to track your billable hours or want to be more accountable for how you spend your computer time? Alina Dizik reviews software options in her article "Services to Help Us Stop Dawdling Online," which appeared in the Wall Street Journal on 1/28/2010, p. D2:

"Even after spending hours behind a computer screen, we're often surprised by how little we get done during a workday.

Indeed, frittering time away is epidemic in the office: A 2007 survey of 2,000 workers from Salary.com Inc., a Web site that provides compensation data, found that Americans waste about 20% of their time at work; with 34.7% of those surveyed saying surfing the Internet is the biggest distraction.

An emerging crop of software now aims to make individuals more conscious of how they spend their screen time. Previously meant for free-lancers looking to keep track of billable hours, software developers are realizing that time-management applications are useful for anyone who wants to track which Web sites they visit and how much of their day is spent on certain work tasks or computer applications.

Some services record and categorize users' computer activities—often allowing workers to classify chunks of time as either productive or unproductive. Other services operate by having users set goals for how much they'll get done in a set period of time.

While it is easy to see how hours spent on YouTube or Facebook can crush your productivity, time-management experts say one of the biggest culprits is the constant transitioning from one computer-based task to another.

"Multi-tasking is a complete myth," says Peter Bregman, a time-management expert and chief executive of Bregman Partners Inc., a management-consulting company. "We lose time in the switch from one task to another," since it takes time for the brain to adjust to each project.

Tony Wright co-founder of Seattle-based RescueTime Inc., a time-tracking software company, agrees. In an October data audit, Mr. Wright found that RescueTime users switch to an instant message window 71 times per day, which means every 5.2 minutes or 11.5 times per hour. Users to the site visit an average of 57 Web sites or applications per day, he says.

To track our productivity, we tested four online services for a week each: RescueTime, Slife, Klok and ManicTime. Each site provided an eye-opening look at our workday without too much of a hassle. We also found that just knowing our activities were being watched made us a bit less likely to dawdle on non-work-related sites. But the services themselves required some upkeep—which, ironically, took time away from our work.

After signing up for a free two-week trial of RescueTime Pro (usually $5.30 per month), the software downloaded quickly and showed up on our task bar. The site recorded our activities accurately, assigned them to categories and put them into graphs. Some of the findings were surprising: When looking at the day's graph on a random Friday, for example, we realized we spent about 10 minutes of every hour reading the news.

But we thought some of the category titles—such as "Business"—were a bit vague. "We're still chipping away to distill this stuff into something actionable," says RescueTime's Mr. Wright. We liked the feature that let us designate individual sites and applications as productive or unproductive. Additionally, each time our computer was idle and we returned to our desk we were prompted to say whether our task away from the computer was work related, like a phone call, or something that shouldn't be recorded, like a trip to the fridge for a snack.

Klok doesn't automatically track what you do on the computer (so no Internet connection is required). Instead, it asks users to set tasks for themselves throughout the day to help manage projects. Then users note when they start and stop each project, making it easy to compare your goals to reality. One morning, for example, we saw that a writing assignment took 3½-hours instead of the two we thought it should. We also realized we did far fewer tasks than anticipated each day.

Overall, the service helped us get more tasks done because setting goals required us to think through how we would build our days' work. Tasks can be broken up into subcategories, making larger projects seem more manageable. But it was a bit of a pain to remember to notify the service every time we stopped and started a task. And even when we did make sure to mark our stop time, the service sometimes didn't register it, making our data inaccurate. Rob McKeown, co-founder of Mcgraphix Inc., which developed Klok, says this issue will be resolved in the next version.

Next up was Slife. The service costs $5 per month, but a 30-day trial is free. To sign up for the trial, however, we had to provide a credit-card number. (A redesign will soon enable users to log on without one, says Edison Thomaz founder of Atlanta-based Slife Labs LLC.) After a quick download, we could see an icon on our task bar. Clicking on the icon took us to various time-management graphs, which were easy to read. The software lets users customize their own categories, such as news or research. You can also add labels to specify your activity even further, such as detailing what kind of research is being done.

During one particularly unproductive day, the service showed us that we spent 22 minutes on Twitter, 40 minutes on Facebook and almost three hours on email. There was also a "private" mode that turned the tracking function off, allowing us to browse frivolous stuff guilt-free.

One big headache was that we were often randomly bounced off the Slife service, causing it to miss some of our activities and requiring us to repeatedly log in. (Mr. Thomaz says Slife is working on fixing the problem.)

ManicTime, a desktop program that only runs on Windows systems, was next. Our computer usage was tracked with line and bar graphs; we could color code activities and tags to better understand how we spent our time. That made it clear that email was our biggest time waster. (Though the service doesn't distinguish between work and non-work related emails.)

One nice feature: The service spit out a summary showing what percentage of our total time was spent with each application (like a Microsoft Word document) or Web site. The graphs also showed when our computer was idle, which helped us see how many little breaks we tend to take throughout the day.

All in all, the services really helped us get a handle on how we spend our work time. And having a written account of where our minutes went pushed us to modify our work habits—and get more done. The guilt element was motivating, too: Just knowing that the length of our Facebook session was going to be recorded made us think twice about lingering.

SERVICE/WEBSITE	PRICE AND SYSTEM	FEATURES	COMMENT
Slife www.slifelabs.com	$5 per month; Mac, Windows, Internet needed.	Web site tracking; categorizes activities; allows additional notes; displays activities with graphs.	Need credit card for sign-up; "private" mode for non-work-related use helped us more accurately measure work time.
RescueTime Pro www.rescuetime.com	$5.30 per month; Mac, Windows, Internet not always needed.	Allows productivity alerts; tracks time away from computer; tracks applications and sites with graphs.	Simple task bar made it easy to frequently monitor our productivity.
ManicTime manictime.com	Free download; Windows only; Internet not needed.	Graphs are color-coded by activity; tagging system to designate productivity; tracks time away from computer.	Clean interface made it easy to see our daily workload; tagging system was a bit complicated.
Klok klok.mcgraphix.com	Free download; Windows, Mac, Internet not needed	Can drag tasks onto calendar; tasks have subcategories so can be easily broken down into manageable pieces; doesn't track the Web sites you've visited.	Simple organization; It was tough to notify the service that we had stopped a task."

More on time management:
Trivial and Strategic Interruptions
Increasing Your Effectiveness at Work
Three Steps to Time Management at the Office

Decluttering Newspapers and Magazines

Are you being inundated with printed material? Here are a few hints to keep it under control:

When you find an article you want to save, cut or rip it out of the newspaper or magazine you're reading. I read my magazines while waiting - the doctor's office, picking up the girls from school, etc. If I find something I want to keep, I just rip out the page. I also circle what I'm interested in, so I don't have to reread the page and I can easily identify where I want to keep it.

If it's a recipe, I put it with other recipes I want to try. If you like to collect decorating ideas, for example, it can be put in a page protector in a binder with other decorating ideas. Or dropped into a hanging file.

The end result? A few pages kept and stored, and the rest of the magazine recycled and out of my house! I traumatized one of my foster daughters one day as I was doing this. She thought I was ripping up the doctor's office's magazines. LOL

If you find yourself not able to read the materials you're receiving, start observing which ones you read and which ones are neglected. Unsubscribe or let your subscription lapse on those you're not reading.

Another idea is to give yourself a day to read your newspaper, and then dispose of it whether you have read it or not. Give yourself a month to read your monthly magazine, and then dispose of it whether you have read it or not. In other words, read your newspaper or magazine before the next one comes.

I love reading the newspaper, but found that I was recycling newspapers regularly without reading them. As much as I hated it, I couldn't really see paying for a newspaper when I didn't have the time to read it. I could usually find the same news online. And it reduced the clutter in my house!

If you do take a newspaper, have an established place where you place old newspapers, ready to recycle. We would place them in a paper grocery bag inside a closet. That way, they were out of the way, and ready to be set out for recycling since the paper bag was also recyclable.

How do you manage your inflow of printed materials?


More on magazines and newspapers:
5-Minute Stress Relievers - Organizing and Cleaning
Get Organized Month 2009 - Decluttering Magazines
Spring Cleaning Using Household Items - Salt, Newspaper, Coffee Filters, and Olive Oil
Tips from a Master Gardener - Watering, Mulch

Tools to Inventory Your Books

Want to inventory your library, but don't know where to start? The following networks provide the means to inventory your books, show them off, and discuss them with others who love to read:

- Good Reads
- Shelfari
- Library Thing


More on books:
Decluttering Your Books with BookMooch
A Last-Minute Clutterless Gift Idea - BookSwim
Losing those library books?

A Personalized Grocery List - Good Time Management

Do you have your own personalized grocery list? It saves time, headaches, and wasted trips!

I created my own grocery list several years ago. Now, when I plan my menus, I take out one of my printed grocery lists and start to work! At the top of my list I have seven boxes, one for each day of the week, where I write the menu for each day.

Below the menus, I have four columns of grocery items, in the order in which my grocery store is laid out. I've listed those items with which I cook. I also have a few blank lines so I can write in items I don't often use.

I have a red chalk board in the my kitchen upon which I write items I'm running out of as I'm cooking. You could, however, just stick your grocery list on your fridge, and check off the items you need.

An advantage of having your own personalized grocery list is that, as you skim your list, you are reminded of the staples you like to have on hand before you run out. You don't even have to write a list! If you really want to look like a dork, stick that baby on a clipboard - it's much easier to handle (speaking from a dork's experience!).

Oh, and print your lists on recycled paper that has been used on one side. If you really want to be thrifty, print it using draft mode to save ink.

Happy grocery shopping!


More on grocery shopping:
Six Ways to Save Money on Food by Planning Ahead
10 Ways to Streamline Your Shopping Time
Increasing Efficiency

Forget-Me-Not Lists

Do you find yourself forgetting things as you leave home?

Create a forget-me-not list or two. Make them according to the bag you're taking. Make them according to the place you're going.

For example, make a list for your briefcase, purse, diaper bag, work out bag, the car, etc. Or make a list for business trips, regular meetings, grocery shopping, church, day care, etc.

Tuck your list inside the corresponding bag so you can take a quick look before you walk out the door. Or stick your list(s) on your fridge, by your keys, by the door, or another logical place.

What a time saver, to get to where you need to be with everything you need! And how frustrating when you forget something important!

For an even calmer exit, check your lists the night before and replenish and organize as necessary.


More on lists:
Increasing Efficiency
10 Ways to Double Your Time
Lists for Repeated Activities

Piggy-Back Dinners

Piggy-backing is the concept of saving time by recycling ingredients and recipes from one night to another. Last week I cooked the following meals, using many of the same ingredients for different meals.

Day #1 - Fondue

We set up two fondue pots to accommodate the five of us. We cooked with teriyaki marinade. You could also use Italian dressing or plain oil, but we prefer teriyaki sauce - great on meat as well as veggies. We used: boneless chicken, steak, mushrooms, green beans, broccoli, grape tomatoes, onion wedges, cauliflower, green and red peppers. The onions take a while to cook, so we would just drop the onion wedges in and let them cook on the bottom. Here’s my favorite teriyaki recipe (I used the quadrupled amount for two fondue pots):

Teriyaki Marinade

3/4 c. oil (3.c.) 1 T. garlic powder (1/4 c.)
1/4 c. soy sauce (1 c.) 1 1/2 t. ground ginger (1/8 c.)
1/4 c. honey (1 c.) 2 T. chopped onion (1/2 c.)
2 T. vinegar (1/2 c.)

Combine ingredients.

Serve with rice, potatoes, or couscous.


Day #2 - Stir fry

Use leftover teriyaki sauce and ingredients from fondue to make stir fry. Add items to the skillet first that need to cook longer. Gradually add the rest of the ingredients according to cook time. Serve with rice (make enough for Day #4, too).


Day #3 - Chili

Chili (my recipe)

3-4 lb. ground chuck, turkey or chicken 1 t. crushed red pepper flakes
1 onion, chopped 1 t. ground cumin
1-2 t. minced garlic (from jar) 1 t. salt or to taste
1-2 c. green pepper, chopped 1 t. sugar
1 large can tomato juice 2 t. chili powder
6 T. flour 2 c. cooked kidney beans, drained

Cook meat, onion and green in non-stick pan until meat is brown. Drain fat and rinse
in hot water to remove additional fat. Mix flour, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, sugar and chili powder. Add flour mixture and garlic to meat mixture and stir thoroughly. Add tomato juice and bring to boil. Simmer for a couple of hours. Add beans. Serves 6-8.

Serve with crackers and a veggie tray and/or a fruit tray.

Save some chili for Day #5


Day #4 - Javanese dinner

Make curried chicken below. Serve on rice and serve with the following condiments: coconut, grated cheese, raisins, pineapple, grape tomatoes, sliced red and green peppers, sliced bananas, raw chopped broccoli, grated or slivered carrots, sliced grapes, and mandarin oranges. Great for picky eaters - they can add the toppings they like. If there are those in your family who don’t care for curry, serve some of the chicken in partially diluted cream of chicken soup.

1 T. butter
1/2 c. onion, minced
1 1/2 t. salt, divided
1/4 t. pepper
1 t. minced garlic
2 t. curry powder
1/2 t. leaf thyme, crumbled
1 1/2 lb. cooked chicken

Melt butter in large skillet; add onion. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add salt, pepper, garlic, curry powder and thyme and cook 1 minute. Add chicken and simmer until flavors blend. (Add water if necessary.)


Day #5 - Potato Bar

Bake potatoes at 500 degrees for an hour or in a microwave.

Serve with:
Reserved microwaved chili
Chopped broccoli (steamed or microwaved until just tender)
Grated cheese
Bacon
Cubed ham
Sour cream
Salsa
Green onions or chives

Serve with a fruit salad, using leftover fruit from the Javanese meal.


Day #6 - Spaghetti Pie

One day earlier in the month I had a lot of spaghetti sauce and noodles left over, so I made it into a spaghetti pie: combine an egg or two, Parmesan cheese and spaghetti noodles. Dump into a deep dish pie plate and press with a spoon, forming a crust. Pour spaghetti sauce into the middle. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake, covered with foil, at 350 degrees for half an hour. I had frozen the spaghetti pie. When I used it the other day, I put it in the oven while partially frozen - I covered it with foil and just cooked it a little longer.

I served it with an Italian salad: broccoli, cucumbers and tomatoes chopped and tossed with Italian dressing. You can also toss the same ingredients with Ranch dressing for another option. We also had garlic bread make out of extra hoagie rolls I had frozen after a previous meal.

Do you have piggy-backing ideas? Please share!


More on dinner:
Hassle Free Dinners (52 weeks of piggy-back menus, instructions and grocery lists)
Dinner in 10 - Herbed Tilapia
Dinner in 15 - Citrus Salmon

Beyond CliffsNotes - More Help for College Students

Online College once again provides a wonderful resource for college students: “Beyond CliffsNotes: 100 Free & Useful Tools for When Time’s Running Out”. If you are a college student or know one, please pass this info along! And I quote:

"If you’re a consummate procrastinator–despite your best efforts to be otherwise–then you’ve undoubtedly waited until the last minute to start that research paper or read that book more than once. Here you’ll find a collection of resources that can help you cram for tests, understand the main ideas of a work of literature, do your math homework and a whole lot more so your procrastination won’t send your college career down the tubes.

Study Guides

These study guides can help you understand literary metaphors, summarize readings and give you the tools necessary to muddle through the densest of texts.

1. SparkNotes: Whether you’re reading Shakespeare or something a little more modern, you’ll find helpful study guides and notes on this site.
2. PinkMonkey: Here you’ll find over 460 study guides you can use for free to better understand just about any work of classic literature.
3. BookRags: This site is home to study guides and summaries aplenty, as well as information for research topics.
4. Bibliomania: Search through study guides on this site by title or author.
5. Study Guides and Strategies: Try out this site for some ideas on how to study better as well as some more specifically designed study guides for reading and math.
6. CollegeCram: This site is a great place to find social learning resources from study guides to shared notes.
7. Bartleby.com: Lose your book? On this site you’ll find a collection of many works of literature as well as helpful study resources as well.
8. Free Book Notes: This site is essentially a free online version of CliffsNotes.
9. Shmoop: There are loads of literature guides available on this site as well as other teaching materials you can use for learning.
10. LitSum: If you didn’t bother to do your reading, you can find basic summaries of well-known books on this site.
11. GradeSaver: On this site you’ll find a great number of study guides as well as example essays and other learning tools.

Study Tools

Use these study tools to quiz yourself, solve math problems and cram at the last minute.

12. QuickMath: Use this site to get answers to math problems quickly and easily over the Internet.
13. Cramster.com: Join study groups, get answers to your questions and find help with textbooks on this study site.
14. TutorLinker: If you are struggling to work on your own, use this site to find a tutor to help.
15. FlashcardExchange: Create, study, print and share flashcards of all kinds on this site.
16. PocketMod: Make your class notes small so you can take them with you and study them anywhere you go.
17. StudyStack: On this site you can use flashcards made by others or create your own to use.
18. Quizlet: This tool can help you study more effectively for just about any subject out there.
19. Flashcard Machine: Use this tool to build helpful flashcards so you can study better.
20. StudyRails: Try out a free trials of this tool designed to help keep you organized, help you study and eliminate those pesky distractions available when you do work online.
21. Mathway: Use this tool to get easy answers to your math homework or to double check your work.

Sharing Notes

On these sites you’ll be able to share your notes and get notes from others from classes you might have missed.

22. Notely: On Notely you can store and share your notes as well as keep track of your assignments and schedule.
23. MyNoteit: Use this tool to take, store and share your notes in an online format.
24. NoteCentric: Get notes from others and share your own on this site.
25. Stu.dicio.us: This site acts as a social note-taking forum so you don’t have to work alone.
26. NoteMesh: Fill in any gaps there may be in your notes with help from this site and your classmates.
27. ShareNotes: With this site you can look through class notes for free and also make a profit selling your own notes.
28. GradeGuru: Share and search for notes from your courses on this site.
29. StudyBlue: This tool makes it simple to keep track of your notes and connect with others who have taken or are taking your courses.
30. ShareCourseware.org: Find free lecture notes on this site.
31. FruitNotes: This site acts as an online notebook, making it simple to share work with friends, make voice recordings and even add photos.
32. Helipad: Sick of searching through your notes for important facts? This tool makes it easy to store and search through all your notes.

Reference

If you need to look up any kind of basic information from word translations to a more intelligent sounding word, these tools will help.

33. Dictionary.com: Look up just about any word you could need the definition for on this site.
34. Wikipedia: While it won’t hold up as a citation on a research paper, it can give you a great starting point for your real research.
35. RhymeZone: Writing a poem or a song? This site will help you come up with great rhymes when you’re at a loss.
36. ArtLex: Look up art terms you don’t understand in this free online dictionary.
37. Webopedia: Don’t understand all those techie terms? This dictionary is here to help.
38. Dictionary of Algorithms: On this site you’ll find a collection of algorithms and other data structures.
39. Biographical Dictionary: Check out this resource for information on the lives of tens of thousands of people.
40. Roget’s Thesaurus: Make your writing sound fancier by finding synonyms in this free thesaurus.
41. BabelFish: Translate basic phrases and webpages from another language into your own with this tool.
42. WordReference: Look up words in English, Spanish, French, Italian and more on this site.
43. Visual Dictionary: If you’re more of a visually oriented person, this dictionary can help you understand a myriad of concepts.

Research

Augment and speed up your research with these helpful tools.

44. Ottobib: Simply enter in the reference information into this tool and you’ll get an instantly rendered citation in MLA, APA, and Chicago style.
45. Zotero: This Firefox extension can help you organize and track your research from beginning to end.
46. WizFolio: Manage your references and cite them when you’re done with this tool.
47. EasyBib: Use this tool to ensure that you’re citing your sources correctly when you turn in your paper.
48. Bibme: Add your reference material to this site and it will generate a bibliography for you.
49. CiteULike: This tool allows you to search for and manage a wealth of scholarly resources.
50. Delicious: Bookmark sites that look promising for research on this site.
51. Backpack: While designed with business in mind, this tool can be an excellent way to manage your research projects as well.
52. WorldCat: Find just about any book you could need using this site that searches the world’s libraries, letting you know where you can find it nearest to you.
53. Google Scholar: Use this search engine to scan through loads of helpful scholarly articles.
54. High Beam Research: Search through thousands of reputable sources for research materials using this site.
55. Diana Hacker: This site will help you to double check your citations to make sure they’re done correctly.
56. GoogleBooks: You can often find some extremely useful books you can look through for free on this site.

Writing

Improve your writing and get a little help in the process from these tools.

57. Viper Plagiarism Checker: Ensure that your work is free from any plagiarism by using this tool. With its help, you can make sure you’ve cited any resources.
58. Etherpad: Those who have to rush to turn in a group project can use this tool to work together at once online.
59. GoogleDocs: Take your writing with you whether you are at home or at the library with this online word processor.
60. Eduify: This site knows that writing isn’t always easy and offers tutorials, writing samples, help with citations and even stores your writing online.
61. Elements of Style: Check through this classic book to make sure you’re sticking to correct grammar and style.
62. Ultimate Style: Here is a more updated version of the Elements of Style you can look to for help.
63. Technical Writing: Those who work with more technical subjects should consult this guide.
64. WordCounter: This tool will tell you what words you’ve used most frequently in your text so you can make sure you’re not repeating the same things over and over.
65. Verbix: Use this tool to conjugate any English verb correctly.
66. Advanced Text Analyzer: Create a profile on this site and you’ll be able to use the text tools to analyze your work, determining a wealth of information that can help you improve your writing.
67. yWriter: Try out this word processor that’s designed just for writing stories and novels.
68. Scholar’s Aid Lite: The free version of this tool will give you a place to write your paper, organize your notes, cite sources and more.

Presentation

Use these tools to put together a last minute presentation.

69. Sliderocket: This online tool uses drag and drop functionality to make it simple to create great presentations.
70. Slideshare: Whether you’re working together or by yourself this tool will make creating presentations a cinch.
71. ZohoShow: Use this open source tool to build presentations, if you don’t have another program to do so.
72. Prezi: Create great presentations on the web using this impressive tool.
73. Jing: Use the free version of this tool to easy snap pictures of your screen and create great presentations.
74. 280Slides: Try out this presentation tool to make sure you’re prepared for your class.

Productivity

Remind yourself of your important tasks with these tools.

75. Ta-Da Lists: Create an easy-to-use to-do list using this free tool, a big help in keeping your work on track.
76. Toodledoo: Organize your tasks and improve your productivity using this tool.
77. 30 Boxes: This online calendar can help make sure you don’t forget upcoming due dates.
78. Stickies: As you’re doing your research, use these stickies to make notes to yourself for later.
79. Remember the Milk: Whether you want to track your social schedule or make sure you get all of your homework done, this tool can help.
80. HassleMe: This tool will incessantly remind you of tasks you need to get done so you have no excuses about forgetting.
81. Bla-Bla List: You can use this list-making tool to create your own to-dos or create a set for your group.
82. Diigo: This tool will help you organize all of your important research and keep everything easy to find.
83. WebNotes: Manage and make notations on your research using this time-saving tool.
84. A.nnotate: Try out this tool to make searching for and storing information on the Internet easy and more productive.

Brainstorming and Organizing

Pull your ideas together and get your information organized using these tools.

85. Thinkature: This site allows users to create mindmaps of their ideas and easily share them with others.
86. FreeMind: Check out this free mind mapping software to better organize your ideas.
87. Bubble.us: Keep all of your material and ideas for projects in order with this tool.
88. WiseMapping: This open source tool makes it simple to lay out outlines and organize information for a paper.
89. Mapul: This tool takes a different approach to mind mapping, creating outlines that are much more organic in nature.
90. View Your Mind: Insert pictures, links and other information into your mindmap using this tool.
91. Gliffy: If a flow chart is more akin to what you need, then try out this free tool.
92. Mindomo: With this tool you’ll be able to organize, get productive, define goals and track what you need to get done.
93. Manage My Ideas: Try out this demo to get a leg up in organizing any project you’re working on.
94. DeepaMehta: Keep all of the information and ideas you’ve complied for your paper organized using this software.
95. The Brain: Pick your own brain using this mind mapping software that’s incredibly fully-featured.

Miscellaneous

From writing help to printable graph paper, these tools offer a range of assistance in finishing homework and projects.

96. ProBoards: Use these forums to post your homework and project questions.
97. Spreeder: Learn how to speed read using this site.
98. Printable Paper: Need specialized graph or printed paper but don’t have any lying around? It’s no problem with this site.
99. PDF Creator: This tool will help you to turn any kind of document into a PDF.
100. Box.net: Need to store some data online? This tool will make it easy to store and access the important things you need."

Aren't the folks at Online College amazing?

More help for college students:
100 Free and Essential Web Tools for the College Bound
More Resources for Present and Future College Students
Three Steps to Time Management for the College Student

Organizing Digital Photos

I'm not the picture-taker in the family, so I can't say that I'm very organized in this area. But here's a great suggestion from Real Simple Magazine:

"Color-code your collection by storing discs in vibrant cases (slim jewel cases, $11.50 for 25, staples.com)―blue for parties, green for trips, and so on. Use empty cases positioned vertically and marked by the year as dividers; they’ll extend about a half inch above the others."

How do you store your photos?

More on photos:
Springpads
100 Free and Essential Web Tools for the College Bound

Declutter Sentimental Clothing - Turn Them into a Quilt

Having trouble getting rid of your child's baby clothes? Your teen's athletic team t-shirts? T-shirts that represent your interests, causes, college, favorite teams? Or need a memorable graduation or birthday gift?

Declutter your house and create memories at the same time by turning those old clothing items into a blanket! You could try doing it yourself, but it looks pretty complicated to me! Here are a few places who will do it for you:

Willow Creek Baby
Cozy Tee
Quilting Beez
Do Over Ts


More on recycling:
Getting Organized for School - Organizing Your Child's Artwork and School Papers
Wait - Don't Throw That Away!
Get Organized Month - Declutter Your Linen Closet

Swap Parties - Decluttering, Saving Money

Have you heard of swap parties? It's where you and a group of friends get together and swap some unwanted items. It reminds me of a dirty Santa or white elephant gift exchange, only with nice items to exchange.

What a fun excuse to get together with people you like! A nice way to brighten up the winter months, don't you think? The key is to get rid of something you're not using and come home with something you'll use!

Here are some tips to make it fun:

- Invite 10-15 fun-loving friends, who will help make the evening enjoyable and laughter-filled. More than 10-15, and the exchange becomes cumbersome.

-Ask your friends to bring 3-4 nice items they no longer want. They can't buy them - that defeats the purpose! Suggest things like books, CDs, DVDs, household items, etc.

- The items should be unwrapped so your guests can examine them. You may want to add a few extra gifts to make sure there are enough interesting selections.

- Make it a pot luck or provide a simple meal or dessert.

- Number slips of paper - the same number as the number of your guests. Each guest draws a slip of paper.

- #1 chooses a gift, with number #2 following and so on. A higher number can steal a gift that someone has already chosen or select a new gift. Determine a limit on how many times a gift may be stolen before it is safe. For example, if a gift can be stolen three times, the person who steals it the third time gets to keep it - no one can steal it again.

- If you have a large number of items and enough interest, do another round.

- Send unclaimed gifts home with your guests, or have a box on hand where they can place unwanted items. Place the box in your car, so you'll be sure to get the clutter out of your house!

What a fun way to declutter your house and have fun at the same time!


More on decluttering:
Three Steps to Decluttering
Your Priorities, Passions, and Gifts Create Context for Your Clutter
Decluttering Plastics - Which Ones are Safe?