It’s been said that the average smartphone contains more computing power than what was available to the Apollo moon-landing mission. You’re undoubtedly carrying a potent little gadget in your pocket or purse. If it could ostensibly put people on the moon, surely it can make your household run like clockwork, no? If you’re like most people, you still need help in three key areas: managing your schedules, your paperwork, and your digital files. Here’s how to use your phone and other devices to develop smart solutions that are suited to the interconnected way in which we live.

TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR TIME Generally speaking, tackling your schedule is the highest priority because “if you can manage your time, you can manage everything else,” says Helene Segura, a time management consultant with LivingOrder San Antonio. Segura recommends wading in with a small calendar project: Make sure you have everything for tomorrow—just tomorrow—written (or typed) on your calendar. Ask yourself:• Do you know all locations

and times for meetings and events?

• Do you have all supporting materials?

• Have you set digital reminders for all events?

If you’re missing info for an item, track it down today. After you tame tomorrow, do the same thing for two days from now, then for the whole week. “Eventually you’ll stop feeling like you’re dog-paddling,” Segura says. “You can begin feeling like you’re in control of one aspect of your life.”

take charge of your tech

With so much information coming your way from so many sources, how do you organize it all—and

keep it that way? Read on for expert advice on managing calendars, ending paper pileups, and safely

sharing files on every device your family owns.WRITER Sarah Wolf PHOTOGRAPHER Jacob Fox

DON’T QUIT AFTER TWO DAYS OF TRYING

A NEW CALENDAR APP. COMMIT TO TRYING IT FOR

TWO WEEKS, AND THEN DECIDE IF YOU LIKE THE

NEW METHOD.

WHETHER YOU USE A PAPER CALENDAR OR A DIGITAL ONE

DOESN’T REALLY MATTER—BOTH HAVE ADVANTAGES.

USE THE ONE YOU’LL STICK WITH.

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PREVENT PAPER PILEUPS After you take command of your schedule, dive into your pile of papers (you know the ones creeping over your desk or kitchen counter). Because most people are still “hybrids”—that is, you manage both paper and digital files—establish receptacles for both types of documents. “You must process every bit of information that came in today,” Segura recommends, both paper-based and electronic. Sort items into these piles: • Things to put on your

calendar—because the document requires action on your part.

• Items to scan—and eventually store digitally in the cloud.

• Items to file—in a file cabinet or fire-safe box, or on a storage device like an external hard drive.

• Stuff to shred—if it contains identifying information.

• Stuff to recycle—junk or papers you no longer need.

After you categorize and deal with each new document from today, move on to the papers that came in yesterday, then last week, and on and on until you catch up. “Carve out time every day of the week to deal with the stuff that’s left behind,” Segura recommends. “You can make progress little by little—and with your system in place, you’ll be able to deal with the newest (and most important) matters on an ongoing basis.”

TEST-DRIVING AN APP An app is helpful only if it suits your style. Before you download some hot new app, run through these steps.

Figure out what you want. What task have you not been able to do successfully? What are you hoping to achieve with the new app? If you can’t answer these questions (or the app isn’t suited for solving your problems), you don’t need it.

Research your options. Identify up to three options and then read two or three reviews on each from reliable sources, such as PCWorld, CNET, and Mashable. Remember that every app will have ravers and haters. Do the dislikes even apply to you? Identify your first and second choices.

Try one. Download only your first choice—not your top two at the same time. Use the app for two weeks. If you love it (85 percent happy), don’t bother downloading the other. If you don’t love it, download the second for a two-week tryout.

MANAGE ELECTRONIC FILES For digital documents, as well as those paper files you choose to scan, consider storage in the cloud for access from all your devices. That may sound mysterious, but don’t be intimidated: Uploading files to the cloud merely means paying for electronic storage on a server somewhere else. (It’s a lot like renting a storage unit for off-season clothes and Christmas decorations.) Sort files in the cloud by category. Segura slots them into personal and business, and then again into these groups: proof of ID, proof of ownership of major purchases, proof of insurance coverage, medical history, daily documents (such as business templates, recipes, or schedules), photos, and memories. See “Essential Apps for Everyday Organization,” below, for Segura’s suggestions of her favorite storage apps.

After your files are transferred to the cloud, move them off your devices to free memory and to prevent loss if the blue screen of death overtakes a gadget. It’s also unnecessary to keep paper duplicates of everything. After you scan and upload something, shred or recycle the hard copy. (You should always keep legal documents with original signatures.) Something else to remember about digital files: As new technology is ushered in, you’ll want to transfer whatever you’ve stored on older tech (CDs and DVDs) to new types (flash drives or the cloud) before it’s too expensive (or too late). The formats of your files (whether PDFs, Word docs, or whatever) also matter: Consider how hard it is, for instance, to watch a movie on Betamax or LaserDisc these days. Plan to revisit your digital documents every couple of years to ensure you can access them.

For wiping personal information off a device before disposing of or donating it:• KillDisk (killdisk.com; free) • Eraser (eraser.heidi.ie; free)

For managing a household’s worth of online passwords:• Roboform (roboform.com; free) • LastPass (lastpass.com, free; or get

the Premium version, which syncs across all devices, for $12 a year)

For sharing schedules and other relevant information with your family:• Gmail for e-mail,

Google Calendar for schedules, and Google Drive for documents (google.com; free)

For making deposits and transferring money: • Your bank’s app

(usually free)

For capturing thoughts or reminders on the go:• Voice Recorder

(tapmedia.co.uk; free)

For navigating city streets: • Google Maps

(itunes.com and play.google.com; free)

For setting a timer to do a task:• Stopwatch & Timer

(stopwatch-timer .en.softonic.com; free)

For listening to your favorite music or talk shows:• iHeart Radio (news

.iheart.com/apps; free)

For keeping up with companies and services you use regularly:• Apps for hotels, airlines,

shops (usually free)

For backing up a device’s digital files automatically:• Carbonite

(carbonite.com; $5/month or $59.99/year)

• Mozy (mozy.com; MozyHome starts at $5.99/month)

• Crashplan (code42.com; $5/month each user)

For storing files in the cloud while keeping a physical copy available on your devices, even without an Internet connection: • DropBox (free) and DropBox Pro

($9.99/month or $99/year; dropbox.com)• Evernote (free) and Evernote Premium

($49.99/year; evernote.com)

For scanning paper documents:• CamScanner (camscanner.com; free; or the

Premium version offers 10 GB of cloud space for $49.99/year)

ESSENTIAL APPS FOR EVERYDAY ORGANIZATIONHelene Segura, of LivingOrder San Antonio, can’t live without these apps.

DELETE OR UNINSTALL APPS YOU NO LONGER USE. THE

ICONS JUST CLUTTER YOUR PHONE OR TABLET.

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