A few weeks have passed and Evernote and I have had our ups and downs.  When I first started using Evernote I knew there would be a struggle of whether or not I could give up paper, today I can tell you I still haven't decided.  What I am using now I consider a happy medium, although I have been writing down much less.  

Throughout the last month of using Evernote I have learned a few things.

I still need to right down my thoughts and use paper in meetings.  
There are many times when I am in a meeting or waiting at the doctor's office, where I have a need to write on paper.  Putting thoughts on paper is a great way to process some of my audacious ideas and work processes. There will never be an alternative for paper in these circumstances.  

It takes a little bit for Evernote to become habit.  
When I first began using the tool, I would often forget I had the option when I was about to write a to-do or a note not to forget. Now I open Evernote every time I turn on my computer and am using it quite regularly.  Apparently the rule of using 16 days (could be more, could be less) in order to get in a habit works. 

Using a software like Evernote is great for never losing notes.  
I already use one notebook for everything [link to past blog if there is one], but having a computer version I can get from any computer, online, or on my iPod is great for bringing notes to meetings, remembering random passwords, and keeping track of ongoing lists.

Keeping track of my tasks is helping with my productivity.  
Thanks to a great comment on my last post, I have begun using Text Expander to keep track of the amount of time each task takes me. When I first started keeping track of all my work activity, I thought it might make my day go slower.  In fact, the opposite happened.  Keeping track of what I'm up to has helped me stay on task and realize regular times through out the day I need to work on certain tasks.  

Overall, Evernote has helped me with being more productive throughout the day, cleaning my email, keeping lists for projects on my to-do lists, tracking agenda items for future board meetings, and maintaining a list of some of my audacious ideas. 

I would recommend to anyone to start using it, who is looking for a more productive way to keep track of every day tasks and work items.

 

Over the past few months 10 nonprofit millennial bloggers have been blogging on different themes.  Now it's official, we have a website!  

The Nonprofit Millennial Blogger Alliance is an alliance of just what the name says, nonprofit millennial bloggers, looking to spike conversations about the nonprofit sector and the millennials working within it.

The Alliance includes:

Colleen Dilen - www.colleendilen.com,
James Elbaor - jameselbaor.wordpress.com,
Kevin Gilnack - kgilnack.wordpress.com,
Trina Isakson - www.trinaisakson.com,
Allison Jones - www.allisonj.org,
Elisa M. Ortiz - elisamortiz.wordpress.com,
Ben Sheldon - www.island94.org,
Rosetta Thurman - www.rosettathurman.org,
Tracy Webb - www.blackgivesback.com, and
Myself.

Check out all our posts and more information about the Nonprofit Millennial Blogger Alliance at www.nonprofitmillennials.org.

from http://www.flickr.com/photos/flydime/3680511919

There have been many articles recently focused on Millennials growth into the professional sector.  Just out of college it's easy to have a skewed sense of what the work force is really like, and many Millennials have been touted as idealists and ungrateful for their careers.

This is tough.  I've even found myself talking about students or interns saying "we all have to do it" or "we all have to pay our dues".  In a stressful work environment it's easy to fall into this mantra. Give interns, students, young employees the easy tasks, right?  

This, however, is not going to help to shape the future of the sector as we would like it to be.  A sector where every individual is contributing to diverse conversations and innovation is thought of as the norm.  Everyone, no matter their age, is capable of contributing to conversations, and taking risks can pay off in the end (even if we learn from a mistake). 

Instead of giving your students/interns the easy tasks, like handling social media just because their "young and know more about technology", try providing them opportunities for growth.  Growth can take time, but will be worth it.  

Just recently I began to work with one of our students on writing some of our marketing and communications pieces.  I gave her one article to work on, we walked through do's and don'ts, and she learned from her mistakes.  Now she is writing much more.  There is still room for growth and confidence building for her to make her own decisions on things, but we will get there if I continue to provide her opportunities for growth. 

My own challenge to myself is to continue to check the things I say against my own values, and to not allow myself to fall into what is easy.  If I don't, before I know it, I'll be quoting, "we've always done it this way."  I don't even want to think about that.

 

GOOD Magazine does an amazing job of presenting infographics of the world's biggest issues, pop culture, and other discussions in the news. 

Now that you have deleted and archived all your old emails, the next step to reclaiming your email is to set up a sorting system. 

If you use GMail sorting might not be an issue.  The search function is now comprehensive enough that finding old emails is rather simple.  I use GMail too, but I still set up some basic folders for easy sorting.

The one rule I like to follow for sorting is ...

Keep it broad!

Don't narrow down your folders too much.  Most email clients have some type of search function that will help you find what you need in broader folders.  If you narrow them down too much, you might lose where you put an email.  It's kind of like putting the most important paper on your desk in a place you won't forget about it, going to look for it two months later and never finding it.  If you had a bucket labeled important papers, work, or Project 1 instead of sorting them by name, date, or piece of a project you might have been able to find it.

Make a list of all the projects, people, and organizations you recieve emails from or for on a regular basis.  Group everyone/thing on list into larger groups and go from there. 

Look for step 3 on color-coding and action-labeling soon.

I'm a Millennial and I

• Like talking on the phone and think that sometimes making a call is easier then email.
• Use full sentences and grammar when texting and participating in social media.

It's true!

Know a young, innovative and vibrant leader from within the nonprofit sector? The Young Nonprofit Professionals Network of Greater Grand Rapids (YNPN.GR) is pleased to announce the 2010 YNPN.GR Leadership Awards Call for Nominations.

Please take a few minutes to nominate a young nonprofit professional who has made outstanding contribution to the greater Grand Rapids nonprofit community through exemplary leadership at his or her organization or through involvement in the nonprofit community. Nominations are due on September 2nd, 2010 by 5pm.

Awards will recognize eight local nonprofit professionals for their contributions within the field. Categories include: Exemplary Executive,
Grantmaking Guru, DoGooder Award, Edison Award, Advocate, Good to Great, Resource (Organization Nominee) Young Nonprofit Professional of the Year.

Know an Exemplary Executive AND a Do Gooder? Nominate as many qualified individuals as you would like! To nominate a young leader visit
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nomination-ynpn-2010

Awards will be presented at the Young Nonprofit Processionals Network of Grand Rapids Leadership Awards on October 28, 2010 at the Grand Rapids Art Museum and we would be delighted if you would attend. To order tickets visit http://leadershipawards2010.eventbrite.com/.

Thanks for your involvement and support of YNPN in 2010. For more information visit our website: www.ynpn.org/ggr 

Just a few restrictions:

• Individuals must reside and/or work in one of the following eight counties Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, or Ottawa.
• Nominees cannot be a current member of the YNPN.GR Executive Board.
• There are no set age restrictions for this award; however nominations for young professionals up to age 40 are strongly encouraged.

Take a look at your email ... How many unread emails do you have?  How many emails are in your inbox?  Do you still have emails from 8 months ago left unsorted?  Do you have trouble responding in time for timely requests?  If you have answered yes to any of these questions you may be seriously in need of reclaiming your email. 

A little over a year ago I began understanding the importance of strict rules for my own email.  Many of us have rules for answering phone calls within 24 hours or answering only emails from certain individuals first, but I know many people who don't have a good list of rules for answering emails and keeping their inboxes clean.

Emails can easily bog us down and reduce our productivity, and the only way to keep up with overwhelming email is to create these strict rules for ourselves.  In order to set these rules you first need to reclaim your email.

This series will include tips for reclaiming your email just spending 15 minutes a day.  The steps are intended to be concurrent, but you might already be a step ahead, so use them as you wish.  Each step will also include a rule to set for yourself going forward.  Use these rules to stay on top of your email.

If you have great ideas for how you have already reclaimed your email, please share those too.

Step 1: Delete and Archive
There are many items in our email we will never read or refer to again.  Most of them are emails from months ago that are just no longer relevant.  For some reason we feel like these need to stay in our inbox, but deleting and archiving these things will make life much easier. 

First, archive anything that is over six months old.  Sort by date, highlight everything you have in there and archive it.  If you don't have an automatic archive option in your email, create a folder that indicates the dates of the email.  For example, create a folder "January 2009 - January 2010".  Move all of your emails to this folder.  You may find soon enough that you never visit this folder, but if it makes it easier for you not to delete these emails go ahead and put them in the folder.

Don't worry about labeling these emails or putting them in specific folders. If you haven't done it yet, you will never use these labels or folders anyways.  If you have a search function on your email (you've probably been using it for your inbox) you can find emails in this folder or in your archive if you need them.

To keep up with this archive trend, if you don't typically archive (get the emails out of your inbox) too often, set up an automatic rule to do this. Many email programs have automatic email archiving you can utilize.  Set up the automatic archive to archive everything over two months old.  As we move through this process, however, you may have no more need for this.  Your inbox should be close to empty.

Second, go through your left over emails and delete any mass sent emails you haven't read that are over a month old.  You are not going to read those newsletters, event alerts, or organizational updates anyways. If they've been sitting in your email box for more than a month, you are most likely never going to read them.  Time just gets away from us if we don't go back to look at truly unimportant emails.  If there is something important you have read in a newsletter you haven't deleted yet, take note of it or put it in a folder related to the idea or resource in the email.

Cleaning out your email with these archive and delete rules will help you in your sorting in the next few steps.

Quick tip: One of the biggest realizations I've had to come to in email management, is the fact that I will never read old emails, especially those that are vital to my work I haven't had the chance to read in six months.

Look for step two, setting up a sorting system, soon.

For those of you who know me well you know I never go any where with out my little notebook of notes and to-dos.  This has been my go-to for a while.  Keeping all my notes for everything in one spot.  Lately though I have been putting a lot of notes in Google Docs.  Some of which I use to collaborate with others, some I don't. I also use Delicious bookmarks very often and my email to keep track of things.  There is even a list in my email called "Next Agenda" for all the meetings I am always planning.  Seems like something online my work for this even better.