Google Calendar

I have always used a planner that I could stick in my purse or a wall calendar...or both...to keep track of life and everything I have got going on.  Without some sort of calendar or planner I would be a mess and forget everything.  Even with I forget sometimes...

At work (the library) everyone uses Google calendar and we have different calendars linking together.  It makes it easier to keep track of what is going on in the library and who is available and when.  If we have library events it is a quick way to check and see when and where. 

Once our email service switched from Outlook to Gmail, I went ahead and started using the Google Calendar. Plus I didn't get my paper calendar for Christmas  :( 

I am really loving it.  It is so easy to add things to it whether they are events or tasks.  You can color code to make certain things categorized similarly or stick out if need be. It really helps me organize my time better.  Plus I can add a lot more tasks in the Google calendar than I usually could my wall calendar or daily planner.  It blocks out my time and gives me a great visual for my availability.  I even can get reminder notices about events!  The only down side to this is I have to have my email open, though at work I usually keep it open all the time. 

It is really easy to share calendars too!  You just type in an email address for the person you want to share it with and BAM!  You even have options on what the other person can see and if they can edit your calendar.  I like the busy or available option - then I still have a bit of privacy, because I don't want everyone to know everything I do.  I also like that I can invite people just to events I add in my calendar.  When I do that they get a notification in an email and can choose to accept and if they do and they also have a Google account it will be added to their Google Calendar as well.  If an event is cancelled it will notify the invited guests also. 

There really are some cool features to this calendar.  I use one calendar for work, school, and personal use and it is easy to organize and work with.  This calendar is my life and I really have grown to appreciate it.  Plus I can pull it up anywhere I have Internet access which makes it nice if I am not at my desk.

So this is my new favorite technology tool. Out of all the different Web tools I have tried this one I use everyday and really has made a positive impact on my life. 

iGoogle

     I was playing around with some of the other web tools and thought I would see what iGoogle was.  A homepage you can customize, brilliant!  I played around with it for more hours than I care to admit.  I added stuff, deleted stuff, moved it all around.  It's fun and I like being able to adjust things to where they suite me best.  I also like have several of the features I added all in one spot, very convenient.  I added a date and time gadget at the center top.  I have my email, my Google Calendar, a to do list; all my organizational necessities.  I of course had to have a weather gadget, very essential for me.  I threw Google maps up there and the NY Times news.  Of course everyone has to have a few fun feartures right?  I added GRE word of the day - adding to my vocabulary seems necessary, as well as a recipe of the day because I love food and cooking.  Who says you can't have buisness and pleasure all in one spot? 

    This is a feature that will save me time because it has many features all in one place where before I was going to several locations to look at each thing.  Plus it's still the google page and I can get to the other tools like Google Reader which I try to look at daily.  It seems like a productive tool and if you are pinched for time but like a one stop place for news, weather, email, and a look at your to-do's for the day this seems like a great tool!  I made it my homepage so it is the first thing I see when I get online.  Plus if I get bored I can always switch things up!  This is something any professional could use to stay organized and save time and be efficient in my opinion.