Quick Tip: Get Organized with PlumLife | Episode |

February 7, 2012

Sally examines PlumLife, which helps busy people manage multiple, varying schedules in one easy-to-manage place.

In case you missed it during GET ORGANIZED month, I am re-running this piece on PLUMLIFE, because they have just re-leased a new widget that makes it easier than ever to get going on your PlumLife calendar system. And it's still FREE!

Don't we all want to live a PLUM LIFE, really? I mean, that is what this website is all about: a VERY good-looking life is essentially, a Plum Life: one in which you have all the time and energy to focus on the people and things that you care about most, and you don't waste your time on stupid people and things that don't. At least that is my vision.

My sister Regen created PlumLife when she couldn't find any calendar or program that would easily manage all of the schedules of kid carpool and husband travel and multiple contact names and addresses and divorced couples with different last names and household chores and WORK - real WORK that the leader of the household is supposed to effortlessly do without praise, pay, or complaint. Not even a program by corporations like Microsoft. Especially not by corporations like Microsoft! She is a DO-ER, my sister, and when she sees that there is something to be done, she does it.

Here are some additional TIPS FOR LIVING THE PLUM LIFE from Regen Fearon, Founder of Plumlife.com:

• Keep a separate calendar for birthdays and special occasions.  On the 30th of the previous month, use a site like Cocodot to schedule your birthday cards for the month.  A written, mailed card is the nicest but, if life gets in the way, at least your mother-in-law got something from you!

• Lean on your calendar. Because you can filter calendars on and off, you can keep TONS of data in your calendar that you may not have thought of as calendar appropriate.  Create a calendar for the routine house maintenance to remind yourself (or delegate to someone else) to: check the AC filters, change lightbulbs, change batteries in smoke detector and TV remotes, e.g.

• Use your calendar to track medical records.  When you book an appointment, put the reason and outcomes in the notes.  Schedule when prescriptions will run out so you can reorder before it is a panic situation, and you can remind yourself how often a child has had an ear ache or if that last appointment was your regular check up or something else.