Thanks for the great responses! Sorry I couldn't respond sooner. I'm already getting hammered since I don't leave my current job until mid-May and I've been shadowing at the new job five nights a week. Ugh. Seventeen hour work days are exhausting. lol. Luckily, I won't be putting in that many hours once I let my current job go.
I don't know if this is in your budget, but I work out of my car and would be lost with my Ipad, all of what you want can be done from that.
Prior my ipad, I had a large file briefcase thing that sat in between my front seats in my minivan with all my ongoing files, office supplies and stuff. i had a smaller briefcase, purse thing that I kept my clients personal files, I had a dayplanner with my work calendar, and kids calendar, also noted milage and client time in the dayplanner (self employed) Any client riem receipts were dropped directly into the client files. I reconciled my dayplanner with the house calendar once a week and everyone KNOWS if it is not on the calendar, it does NOT happen.
Did I mention I love my Ipad?
Thanks for the recommendation.
I was thinking about an ipad or phone option, but wasn't sure what all was available. If you don't mind a secondary question, would my information/files be available on the ipad when no internet access is available? The home I will be working in does not have internet access. For clarity, we have wifi at home, so I can download there. But, once I'm out and about, can I access all my information without wifi?
I spent 8 yrs as an itenerant teacher working out of my car.
I would suggest something on wheels if you are going to be taking all your stuff in/ out of the car several times each day. Depending on your budget, you can get just a large plastic box that has builtin wheels and expanding handle. I think I got mine at office depot. Mine held up for several years of rough use. I have also used a small suitcase on wheels. I actually had to have multiple different containers depending on each student/ family's needs.
If you are leaving the stuff in the car there are lots of cool seat organizers that attach via the seatbelt that you can purchase, but I never wanted to spend the money. Sometimes the Container store has some. I used to see some really nice ones in my DHs police supply catalogues.
As far personal organization, I agree the something electronic would be best/ easiest. Otherwise, You could use a large binder/ day timer portfolio that you could customize sections for your needs.
Thank you. I wondered how convenient a rolling option would be. Sounds like it could work. I also was leaning toward electronic organization because of privacy issues. I don't see how I can "lock up" the information in a paper binder. But, I assume, I can somehow password protect information in a phone or tablet or ipad.
Ipad/tablet seems like the best option for keeping daily life organized.
A good laptop for school/work. IBM's have a good battery life. And look for a portable printer, there's inkjet and thermal printers.
Ohh and you might want to look into a wi-fi hotspot for connecting all your devices. We got one at
Best Buy and received a $100 off any wi-fi device, laptop or tablet. Got it from sprint, $35 for 3 gigs a month. I know Clear offers an unlimited for $45. The box is about $50.
We have a laptop I can use. It would save cash, but the ipad is sooo much smaller, and a phone sounds nicer because both the information and the contact numbers/ability to make a call will all be in one place. I'll check into the hotspot option. Internet access outside the home is a rare commodity around here. So, if I'm going to need it to access the information, I may not have any other option.
if you have a smart phone (iphone or android). Sign up for google calendar.
You can access it from your phone (I use the calendars app on my iphone and ipad) and any computer.
I have mine set to email my daily agenda to me every morning. It usually goes out around 5am. One morning, I checked my email first to be reminded of a doctor's appointment that day. I hadn't checked the calendar the day before or that morning yet.
A cool thing about google calendar is you can also set it up to manage multiple people. I have my wife's appointments in one color (she can access our calendar from her own google account to add in her appointments), stuff for the kids in another color and then my appointments in another color.
as far as contacts, they are all in my iphone. and they get backed up to the cloud so anytime I get a new iphone, the contacts are automatically uploaded without getting lost.
Ooh, Google Calendar sounds perfect. I'll have to check that out. I'm all about color coding, lol. It's how I manage everything at home right now. My calendar is highlighted for each family member so I can see at a glance who has activities each day.
Doctor appointments have their own color so they jump out at me with a quick glance.
Can you set any sort of audible reminder/alert?? The grandmothers have been handling a lot of appts for the kids so that my hubby and I don't have to take time off work. I generally call into the office to make a payment in the hour before the appointment. But, I could see myself forgetting to do that when I'm on the go. Could I set it to alert me??
Iphone or iPad...as an attorney, they are my lifeline. I've tried paper planners, etc...and nothing every really worked well. If word processing is involved...ipad would be easier to use. It is really all I use when traveling out of the office anymore for depositions, court appearances, etc. With a blue-tooth keyboard (mine is a part of the belkin case for the iPad), it is a close as you can get to a laptop computer in my opinion.
Whatever your specific needs are...there is likely an app available.
Thank you. I've seen the keyboard cases and wondered if they work well. Do you like it better than a laptop??
We use Franklin Covey Plan Plus and Go to My PC. We do all appt's, schedules, contacts, more or less all planning on it (multiple peoples schedules). It syncs with Outlook so everything is right there. The we use GotomyPC for PO's, payroll, filing of all taxes, paying bills and all finances remotely when neccessary.
We do all this on a laptop, a desktop, a tablet, or a smartphone. Whatever is most convenient. They all work.
We do carry a mini scanner with a sim chip for copies and a mini printer if we are at a hotel. We also tether our phone to our laptops/tablets when internet isn't available so home/office is only one click away. Tether.com. One time fee of $29 and you never pay again for internet access if you have unlimited data on your phone.
I don't know if this is what you were asking but I hope it helps.
I carry all this in one average rolling laptop bag that fits under an airline seat. It has room for 2 changes of clothes but you could use that space for an insulated lunchbag.
I didn't realize you could do that. Sounds like a great option.
I've never heard of GotomyPC or so I'll have to look into that.
Thanks for the tip on the rolling laptop bags. That might be perfect. I was considering the larger laptop bags that look like a big purse. But it's going to be heavy so a rolling option would be nice.
Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. This is exactly what I was looking for. I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that doesn't work well or won't work when I need it.
