Crystal Dreisbach, Sparkleizer and home organization expert at Sparkleize the Way You Live, on why she loves Backpack:
Among the many reasons I use Backpack to organize my whole life is the remarkable ability it gives you to store files and share important information with other people.
Here are just a few examples of my everyday Backpack magic:
Meal planning. My husband and I are trying to eat dinner at home more frequently (to save money and eat healthier!) Of course, grocery shopping and meal planning take effort and organization. That is where collaborating on our meal planning page (in Writeboard!) on Backpack comes in handy.
How it works: I might volunteer to cook Monday and Saturday evenings of the upcoming week. So I log in to Backpack from home on Sunday and note on the Writeboard what I plan to cook for those evenings. I also list what ingredients we’ll need to buy at the Farmer’s Market or grocery store. I can even include a link to the recipe, if applicable. He can do the same for his cooking days. We can also make note of who will go to the grocery store, and whose turn it is to clean up the kitchen each night.
The end result is a comprehensive meal plan for the whole week, including menu and shopping reminder list, which we can either print out or access from work, home or on an iPhone! (Check out the screenshot, attached.)
Storing my important documents for safe-keeping. A fire might be able to burn down your house or filing cabinet, but it can’t destroy the whole Internet! With Backpack, the filing possibilities are endless. Simply scan and upload documents to the site as files. As an example, I store my a copies of important documents on Backpack in case (heaven forbid!) I lose them.
Sharing travel information with my family members (they get worried about me). I create a whole page for them called, for example: “Crystal’s trip to Nigeria”. I attach the flight itinerary and include the addresses and phone numbers of the hotels where I’ll be staying. I also include time zone information in case they want to call me. While overseas, I can access the page and update it if necessary – and even include a note about how I’m doing. My mom finds real comfort in the practical travel pages I make for her!
Managing doctor and dentist contact information, as well as listing locations of all my family members’ medical records. This one really comes in handy. Whenever I need to make appointment, call for results or transfer records, I have all the information at my fingertips. I can also share the page with my husband so he can view and access the info too.
Christmas gift and card list. Using the “Notes” function, I create a list of all the people I need to buy gifts for, as well as any gift ideas or notes to myself. (Example: “Anna likes comfy slippers; wears size 8 shoe”) A second list includes all the people I want to send cards to. I can keep these lists from year to year so I can continue to update and refine them.
Home repairs and maintenance. Thanks to my home repairs and maintenance page, I am never at a loss as to which task to focus on next. One list on my home maintenance page features all of the eventual repair tasks the home inspector recommended, in order of priority. I then keep track of all the work we do to our house (chimney sweeping, gutter cleaning, shutter painting, etc.), including the date it was completed. I record valuable tidbits of information I learn from the repair people. For example, the HVACman told me that we’ll need to consider replacing our heating and cooling unit in one year. Thus, I noted in Backpack I should start investigating a replacement in August 2009.
Daily task lists. As an organizer, I truly appreciate Backpack’s simple and very useful list feature. I create separate lists for each day, all of which reside on one Backpack page entitled “Crystal’s To Do List”. When I get something done, I check it off. When I can’t finish the day’s tasks, I simply drag them to the following day.
In closing, I’d like to highlight the biggest reasons I love Backpack:
1. You can access Backpack pages from anywhere – at home, work or while traveling.
2. It has a great interface with the iPhone.
3. I LOVE ticking off those little check boxes in Backpack’s list function!
4. It’s like magic! My respite of order in a chaotic world.
Do you use a 37signals product in an interesting or noteworthy way? Let us know.
