How do you guys manage your workload or classes?

[Rman]

I'm really into productivity, lifehacks, and GTD.  I wanted to know how you guys organize your workload?  Maybe spark a discussion on improving productivity practices. 

@Work
Hi-Fi
Work PC, Windows XP SP2
Email: Outlook 2007;
Calendar: Outlook 2007
Browsers: IE7 for development site access and qa; Firefox for web browsing
Project Management: Salesforce.com
Contact Managemant: Salesforce.com

I also use Photoshop for some touching up screen captures and image editing at work.

Lo-Fi
Post its for PM and daily reminders
Notebooks for more extensive project management and meeting notes.

Systems:
I use a version of GTD for basic Project management and tasks
I also use a simple daily to-do list--which I rewrite every day for focus.

What are your work tools and practices?

I edited the subject so those attending school, college, grad school could also share their insights as well.

[The Fake Shemp]

I use teenagers and delegate all my work to them, then I play Rock Band all day until I go home.

[Mupepe]

Emails and Calendar: Outlook 2007
General Tasks: I have a system set up in an excel file where I've created open/pending/closed tasks for myself so that I never get behind and I never drop the ball.  If I know I need to do something, it'll go in open (the ball is in my court).  If I have already done my part and I'm waiting on someone else, it goes in pending (the ball is in their court).  If a task has been completed, it goes in closed tasks. 

I also use this spreadsheet to update other spreadsheets regarding different aspects of my job so that I can send it to my Managers so they can keep tabs on me.

I use Microsoft Project 2007 to handle any big projects.

[bagofeyes]

The only stuff I use at work is word and excel. And I write notes on the back of my hand.

[AdmiralViscen]

The fuck is life hacks

I keep a list of big things to do on a piece of looseleaf and I do my day to day stuff in an open IM window (i have tabbed browsing)

[T234]

Work: Firefox for web browsing, Keyboard and Mouse for forum trolling.

School: Keyboarding Pro for typing class, Visual Studio 2005 for Visual Basic, cisco.netacad.net for CCNA, vi on a remote server using putty for Perl class. The four most different environments I have ever had to work with over the course of a semester.

[Rman]

The fuck is life hacks

I keep a list of big things to do on a piece of looseleaf and I do my day to day stuff in an open IM window (i have tabbed browsing)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_hack

[Eric P]

i hate my job so i don't

i just put everything off until someone asks me about it then i bang it out in 15 minutes and go back to my day

[Rman]

You're able to get away with that?

[Eric P]

hell yeah

i'm fucking awesome at it.

i've been asking for more work and more interesting work for about a year now and if they don't see fit to give it to me while not complaining about my current work rate...

*shrug*

[Rman]

So that's why your post rate is so high. 
Jeez, you're over 1000 post already.

[T234]

At work, I do nothing but forum posting.

[Eric P]

indeed.

but i also have trouble paying attention and staying focused.  if it's an emergency or whatever, i can knock it out, but if it's something where i do one portion then wait and have to come back to it i rarely come back to it on my own unless i'm reminded somehow

i'm certain with the right tools to remind me, i could be great at this job, but honestly, i just don't really care.  it's monkey rote work that is designed for entry level people, something i am not, but because of the way the company is structured and run, headcount in this department is critical.  so while i'd have been promoted or moved or given more challenging work, here i am, just bitterly sucking up air.

i'm planning on moving this summer so i don't really have the motivation to job hunt at this point if i'm going to have to job hunt in nyc.

[Rman]

You're in IT, right?

[Eric P]

You're in IT, right?

yes.

[Rman]

That's a pretty hit or miss field from what my friends have told me.  Some love it and others can't stand it.  It also depends for which company your work for as well.  In some corporate cultures IT is underfunded and taken for granted in others IT is can be really bloated.

[Van Cruncheon]

outlook's calendar, excel, PERL, and a metric asstonne of notifications on my windows mobile phone

[Rman]

Tons of people use excel for to-do lists and project management. 

[T234]

outlook's calendar, excel, PERL, and a metric asstonne of notifications on my windows mobile phone

I bet you use it a hell of alot better than I do. My most complicated code so far:
#!usr/local/bin/perl
#Real Name
#pgm2.pl
#CIT-145 J0E1
#2/12/08
#*Hopefully* this program will make various calculations involving two numbers put in by the user. It is the first program I have ever written, psuedocode included, that I have written by myself with no help or guidance from any outside source standing over my shoulder.

#What in the world is this "sweb%" business? I'm sorta confused.
print "Enter a number: ";
$val1 = <STDIN>;
print "Enter another number: ";
$val2 = <STDIN>;
print "The two inputted values were $val1 and $val2";
$valsum = $val1 + $val2;
print "The sum of $val1 and $val2 is $valsum";
 

[Robo]

The workflow here is pretty good and I have physical representations of the work that needs to be done.  Otherwise, I just flag some shit in Outlook and take care of it when I'm sick of having free time.

[Mupepe]

Ya know, I always wonder if everyone has as much free time as I do at work.  I see my bosses and stuff and they always act so busy, but I wonder if they're surfing the net and fucking around as much as I am.

[hyp]

man, i'm straight up lo-fi at work.  post its forever!

as far as calendaring, i just put everything on my iphone w/ reminders.  i find that if i keep everything pretty minimal and centralized, tasks and appointments don't get lost in the shuffle.  when i used to be a huge multitasker, i'd end up with multiple sources and a huge daily clusterfuck. 

[Mupepe]

the only thing I put on post-its is stuff that I don't want any evidence of actually existing.  Such as...

"fuck fat chicks" or something

[demi]

by not going to school and working from home

[CajoleJuice]

I don't. I didn't even have many notes from my classes last semester. I'm about 5x more likely to write potential shit up for my blog.

[hyp]

by not going to school and working from home

hey demi, you guys hiring?  i want to work from home.  :'(

[demi]

maybe, meet up with me and robby next week and you can take our sexy interview

[Mupepe]

demi, hire me.  i'll work hard and i'll suck you off.  i'll even get fat for you

[CajoleJuice]

demi, hire me.  i'll work hard and i'll suck you off.  i'll even get fat for you

get fat?

 

 

[Mupepe]

where's Veronica?  Ohh yeah

[demi]

where's Veronica?  Ohh yeah

off putting on her makeup to cover up her penis

[Mupepe]

sick burn, demi


now hire me so I can cover your penis

[hyp]

maybe, meet up with me and robby next week and you can take our sexy interview

omg demi is coming to the bay.  i know of a few clubs in san francisco you might like. 

[drew]

Sleeping with someone who's in your classes works like a charm, you'll never sleep through the alarm clock because she'll come and wake you up.  I'm not big on these so called life hacks,  most are pretty corny and/or incredibly nerdy.  My experience is limited to browsing Lifehacker.com, which I imagine would be pretty wykd if I was a quiet indian girl in med school or a bald guy with thick black glasses in design school who carves and paints model cities in his spare time.

[Oblivion]

maybe, meet up with me and robby next week and you can take our sexy interview

Nooooooo, you promised me, demi!

[demi]

maybe, meet up with me and robby next week and you can take our sexy interview

omg demi is coming to the bay.  i know of a few clubs in san francisco you might like. 

i'll be free Monday and Tuesday, show me around town

[CurseoftheGods]

Coffee. Lots of it.

[hyp]

Ya know, I always wonder if everyone has as much free time as I do at work.  I see my bosses and stuff and they always act so busy, but I wonder if they're surfing the net and fucking around as much as I am.

i feel you.  i don't think i've ever used the entire 8+ hours i'm at work doing work -- in any job i've had.  working at home should be an option for everyone.

[Rman]

80+ hour weeks.   

The joys of being a professional game designer.  Do you hire as well, Cohen?  What do you tell those aspiring designers when they ask about work life balance?

[demi]

Ya know, I always wonder if everyone has as much free time as I do at work.  I see my bosses and stuff and they always act so busy, but I wonder if they're surfing the net and fucking around as much as I am.

i feel you.  i don't think i've ever used the entire 8+ hours i'm at work doing work -- in any job i've had.  working at home should be an option for everyone.

it's boring, but rubbing one out during work hours is the best thing ever

[Rman]

How do you fit everything in?  I'm thinking of changing careers in the next couple years and my weeks will look similar to yours.

[hyp]

it's boring, but rubbing one out during work hours is the best thing ever

  that's pretty awesome.

[Mupepe]

i've done it before.

[brawndolicious]

I'm still looking for a new job so I just have school.  For chem, my teacher made us buy a lecture book instead of a textbook so I never have to take any notes whatsoever.  For art hist, the teacher just preaches and I can absorb everything if I stay awake enough but he literally give every individual test answer the day before the test.  Math, we turn in homework in chunks and he doesn't grade it so once a test comes around, I have to spend a night to learn what exactly we were supposed to do.  Just a little harder than chem then.

I've got it easy, except for labs.  I spent two hours today measuring water and beakers.  Maybe I can get some asshurt from org. chem but it's boring as helllllllll right now.

and I'm poor.

[Cormacaroni]

internal app for outage tracking and assignment
MS project for long term project/capacityplanning
Excel for short term outage frequency and staff capacity
Ms word for fix logs, Sharepoint repository for all fix logs/docs

Right now, it's like juggling cats.... and those cats are on fire... and I'm having to jump rope -and- recite the National Anthem.... backwards... in Latin.

...but it's all worth it to hear the Sonybots squeal, right?