For someone who is always extolling the virtues of Web 2.0 technologies, I can be surprisingly low-tech. I've made half-hearted attempts to get better at using Google calendar, but honestly, I've had a hard time weaning myself from my paper calendar and to-do lists. My work schedule is getting impossible though, as I attempt to juggle way too many disparate projects, so yesterday I decided I needed to get a little more serious about practicing what I preach.

Google Calendar
I started with transferring all of my appointments to Google calendar. In the comments section, I added phone numbers for calls I need to make. I was also able to add a couple of appointments directly through my Gmail inbox by clicking on the "Add to Gcal" link at the bottom of emails that confirmed appointments. Duh--why have I thought it was easier to write it on a paper calendar?

Remember the Milk
As I added my appointments though, I thought to myself that I REALLY needed to include my daily to-do lists, so I did a quick search on "Google Calendar" and "to do lists," which led me to this lovely Lifehacker post on Remember the Milk, a nice little "To Do" list application that I'd signed up for awhile ago, but fallen out of the habit of using. With a click of a button, I was able to integrate Remember the Milk into my Google calender. Now I can create prioritized To-do lists directly through Gcal, which I THINK (hope?) will help keep me organized.

So let's see how long this lasts--any bets on whether or not I return to my paper and pen within a week?  Typically I start out strong with these sorts of efforts, but old habits are hard to break, and I'll find myself backsliding, even as I know that this method actually makes my life easier if I can just keep up with it.

Perhaps there's a lesson here for me in understanding why other people don't quickly adopt blogging and other tools. Maybe it's a matter of establishing new habits and having to push through old ways of thinking. Sometimes it's easier to stick with what I know works a little, than to go through the pain of getting to something better.