As secretaries day came last week I noticed something really significant. All the secretaries and office personnel were gone. The district had arranged a one day seminar in Riverside and they all had taken advantage of it. This was an amazing change and many administrators were at a loss without their administrative help. I overheard many conversations such as- “It will have to wait until tomorrow, ____ is gone and I don’t know what’s on the schedule.”
What do you do in a situation like this? Your schedule is turned upside down and normal channels of communication don’t work. Imagine if the power was turned off for hours on end. Your computer is down, your PDA discharged, and all of your common organization tools are inoperative.
What do you do?
The simple answer is the “Five Minute Organizer.” A simple tool for organizing your thoughts, goals and even your life. This simple little device requires no batteries, is totally customizable, and fits neatly in your pocket or purse. You can create one in five minutes and be on your way to organizing your day. With some simple options your desk will be transformed into an organization station. You’ll be able to see your appointments, daily goals and your next actions in one place.
The great thing is this little powerhouse is available as a free download from this blog. You’ll need a couple of items to complete the kit but you probably have them available in your office. Here are the supplies needed:
- Avery Style Laser Business Cards (10 on a page)
- Mini Binder Clips
Optional Supplies
- Sharpie Markers
- Ink Pen
- Clothes Pin
- Unsharpened Pencil
- Cellophane Tape
Instructions:
- Download the Five Minute Organizer Template Version 2
- Open the template in Microsoft Word
- Fill in the blanks as needed or print as is
- Break the cards apart
To Make a Walleteer (smaller version of the Hipster PDA)
- Fill out the cards as needed
- Sort the cards with most important on top
- Put them in a stack and attach a mini clip at one end
- You now have a convenient Walleteer pocket data assistant
- Stores easily in pocket or purse
To Make an Organization Station
- Fill out the cards as needed
- Pick a Goal, Next Action, & Appointment Card
- Clip the Pencil to the Clothespin to make a tower
- Clip the Three cards to the pencil
- Enjoy Instant Visual Feedback of your goals, projects, & appointments
To Make a Quick Note
- Fill out the appropriate Card
- Apply tape to the back of the card
- Attach card to monitor or other line of sight location
Use your imagination and have fun with this little project. The pictures above will give you an idea of the versatility. You can modify the template in MS Word to meet your individual needs. If Avery business cards are not available or if you are using European A4 paper sizes, you can cut and paste the text from this template to one that works with your brand of cards. These cards work well with David Allen’s, “Getting Things Done” productivity system and our 5 Year Personal Development Plan
We have some more success kits coming later this week including…
The Five Minute Mission Statement
The Five Minute Flowchart NEW!
Instant Garage Sale
Five Minute Motivators NEW!
Five Minute Outliner NEW!
Stay Tuned…
66 Responses to 'Five Minute Organizer'
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NICE! Very cool. Uncrashable, impervious to magnets! I personally would shell out the $$ to get a business card holder like this though -
http://www.giftsforprofessionals.com/92545335-2103.html
ok, here’s a couple other thoughts. How about a template aimed at a longer term organizer (or in IT terms, a month end hardcopy backup of your life).
Also seems like this could be done relating to a wieght loss program (excercise log, nutrition info, ingestion log, etc.)
I just wish adsense had put a link up for those Avery Style Laser Business Cards
The same thing happened here. No Admins no where.
Wow, this is quite a nifty idea! Thanks for creating it! You are full of these tips John. Outstanding!
And looks like our friend f or Tramadol got your blog too. Dang spammers!
[...] Auf “Success Begins Today” gibt es einen interessanten Artikel inklusive (englischsprachigem) Download zu einem “5-Minuten-Planer”. Es macht auf den ersten Blick einen sehr guten Eindruck. Ich werde das System später noch testen
[Link] [...]
I tried to download but just get symbols when I open in Microsoft word. what am I doing wrong?
Thanks everyone for your feedback. I have uploaded a new zipfile with two versions of the Walleteer. One is for Word2003 and the other should work in any previous version back to Word97. I’ve also modified the template so it works better for filling in the fields from Word. The original link will now download the new version that contains both files. Let me know how it works for you.
John
Great idea!
This is the perfect size and format for capturing and carrying information.
The cards are easy to customize and pleasant to use.
(The only thing I haven’t figured out is how to make a pencil stand up in a clothespin.)
Thanks,
Alan
I couldn’t find one single reference to DIY Planner (http://www.diyplanner.com) and the Hipster PDA in particular – some mistake, surely?
Thanks for the reply Alan. To make the tower just put the end of the pencil in the jaws of the clothespin and attach the clips up the side. Large plastic ones work the best.
Have Fun,
John
Thanks for the reply Tim. I’ve used a Hipster PDA in the past and have referenced it many times on this site. I have a link to 43folders.com and visit Merlin’s site from time to time. Great stuff.
This is a somewhat different idea with pre-printed smaller business card sheets that you can use many ways. You can use it with a clip like the Hipster or use a card wallet or stack them vertically in a desk viewer. Sometimes I even print up the sheets, 3 hole punch them, and carry them around in a notebook.
I haven’t visited Diyplanner.com but I imagine there might be many similar ideas out on the net. Thanks for including the links. I didn’t mean to leave anyone out but I just recently discovered some great uses for these little cards and I thought I would share the ideas with my readers.
John
John-
I really like the size/format of your Walleteer. It’s got enough to write on, but easy to carry. Super stuff, for sure. (I’ve made a smaller,Fobster, at DIYPlanner.)
That being said, your organizing station is brilliant! There are so many ways one could go with that…and keeping it low tech, superb!
John
still only getting version one on downloading?? can you tell me how to get version 2–love your idea! Judy
John Norris, thanks for the reply. I love the idea of the Fobster and thanks for the link to DIYPlanner. That is an amazing low tech resource for the high tech world.
The thing I like about the size of the Walleteer is it is small enough for front pockets when I’m out walking. Some of my running shorts only have small pockets which precludes a larger format card. This works well with my MBA on the Run, program. A small plastic card holder and a micro pen work better than the mini clip when I need to take a pen along.
A slight modification to the fobster would be the fortuner, where you keep all of your fortune cookie fortunes in one convenient place.
Great stuff!
John
If you want a planner made from one sheet of paper folded origami-style, there’s the Pocket Mod. This makes a tiny book with pages formatted for lists, calendars, graph paper; whatever you want. I found this link on the DIY Planner site.
Although you can’t separate the pages to tape them up, I like that they stick together and don’t get loose. It’s also easier to make at the spur of the moment since you don’t need special paper or clips. You could probably even do without the scissors if you tear carefully. I also think it’s just plain cute!
Hi Claire,
Thanks for the link to the Pocket Mod. This is a pretty cool little device that you can make from one sheet of paper. You can actually put some of your Five Minute Organizer cards in it. Meld the two together and you have the ultimate little organizer with the flexibility of cards and the stability of paper. The Five Minute Motivator cards would actually be a great fit here. Cool!
BTW… Your Productivity Goal blog is great!
John
[...] Tired of running around let a chicken with it’s head cut off? maybe a little Five Minute Organizer would help [...]
[...] I’ve become obsessed with organization at work. With a million things to do each day and only eight hours to complete said million things, I’ve needed to become almost obsessively organized. Since I’m moving to a new office space next week, I’ve been collecting ways I can “start over” and become even more efficiently organized. Thus the five minute organizer system, which I’m going to try out. [...]
Why not just use lined 3 x 5 cards to organize and motivate your life.
lovely, is it US paper size and US Avery template?
does not fit at all on European prints
by the way, printing this page f***s up the browser (Firefox)
Thanks for the reply Jim. I like 3 x 5 cards and they work well for many things. The problem is printing them. Most printers have trouble with their small size and Avery and other card manufacturers don’t offer a common 8.5 x 11 inch index card multi-sheet. They do offer a post card size template but that will not fit very well in most pockets. I do agree that index cards and a Sharpie are great tools. 43folders.com and diyplanner.com have many examples.
Soobrosa, thanks for the comment. The template is for 8.5 x 11 inch Avery 10 card business cards. In most cases it won’t work on other brands of cards or European paper sizes. I’m sure you could find a template for your particular brand of business cards and create something similar or cut and paste from this template to the other one.
John
Great Idea for business card size! — One request though. Would it be possible to port this design over to Open Office 2.0? Then it could be really free since there is no charge for the office suite. I have Word 2000 and the 2003 template worked fine in it but neither template worked in OO2.0. I’m sure it would be a simple thing for you to make available.
Great idea!
Ahh.. the power of the paper and pen! Very cool!
[...] Success Begins Today [...]
[...] Sul sito Success Begin Today trovate la serie “Five Minutes”, ovvero dei tutorial per realizzare i propri Flowchart cartacei, oppure il proprio Organizer di carta. A corredo anche dei file pdf o word da stampare e ritagliare. [...]
Instead of the clothespin/pencil solution, you can also use Post-It Display Strips
[...] Five Minute Organizer | Success Begins Today (tags: planner productivity organization tools lifehacks paper organizer) [...]
[...] Five Minute Organizer | Success Begins Today (tags: planner productivity organization tools lifehacks paper organizer) [...]
[...] I have the walleteercombo1 download — i don’t need business size cards to intermingle with all the 3×5s, i dont think. I was probably inspired to get the walleteer because of the Goal Setting Tool kit. I think the right thing to do is translate the tools in the goal setting toolkit to something that can be implemented as one of those little booklets, so easily made on a Mac with pagepacker.app. [...]
[...] Five Minute Organizer | Success Begins Today Here’s something to check out… tell me if it looks familiar. (tags: hipsterPDA Productivity GTD Hacks) [...]
12.habits need a username and password to Download the Five Minute Organizer Template Version 2
If I coach a goal setting course may I use these tools? Is there a copyright or patent I need to worry about? I think they are great!
[...] What do you do when the lights go out? Or if you are a high-powered executive and your assistant is out of the office unexpectedly? Success Begins Today has a really good answer: All the secretaries and office personnel were gone. The district had arranged a one day seminar in Riverside and they all had taken advantage of it. This was an amazing change and many administrators were at a loss without their administrative help. I overheard many conversations such as- �It will have to wait until tomorrow, ____ is gone and I don�t know what�s on the schedule.�What do you do in a situation like this? Your schedule is turned upside down and normal channels of communication don�t work. Imagine if the power was turned off for hours on end. Your computer is down, your PDA discharged, and all of your common organization tools are inoperative. [...]
[...] Five Minute Organizer [...]
[...] 5 Minute Organizer [...]
This is the perfect size and format for capturing and carrying information.
[...] Pros: Simplicity. For me, nothing beats paper when I want to clear my mind. Cons: Unorganized. When you have a whole stack of loose slips of paper, it’s hard to search and process. Implementation #2: “Five Minute Organizer” [...]
Thanx a lot! This is very useful.
Why not just use lined 3 x 5 cards to organize and motivate your life.
domeny, regular 3×5 cards would work but you can’t run them through your printer for customized little forms. If the business cards are too small, you can get larger “postcard” sized versions that will also work in a printer.
I definitely am going to try this Walleteer thing out.
It’s actually amazing how many high profile execs and CEO’s rely a little too much (I think) on their secretary – the point like here, as you say, when the secretary is away they can’t even organise their own lives!
My mom has a friend who was quite a high-profile women in a certain industry (a CEO of sorts) and eventually she quit to do her own thing. You would not believe that a CEO of a company could not do some simple things – because everything used to really go to the secretary. Her admin skills were actually really bad. I couldn’t believe it, myself.
Tshirts, thanks for the reply. You make a great point. I think that behind almost any great leader you’ll find a very organized secretary or office administrator. I know where I work we could not function very long without our department facilitator.
John
I love it but I want a clutter-free work space. Do you have any similar tool which I don’t need to download and print and can become my online organizer?
[...] Five Minute DIY organizational Tool. Build a Walleteer! [...]
My wife and I did something similar about 3 years ago and it drastically increased our rate of achieving our goals.
[...] Five Minute Organizer – A very simple planning template using plain old paper and pen. The Word template can be printed out into index cards which can be carried around in your wallet. Comes with templates for managing projects, appointment, contacts, brainstorming ideas and today’s goals. [...]
Thanks for help, Keep up the good work.
Interesting article!
Thanks
[...] it out, break all the cards apart and clip them together with a mini clip. Take this Flowchart Walleter to your next business meeting and wow your co-workers. People will be amazed at your creativity and [...]
[...] cards are easy to carry around in your Walleteer for quick access at your next meeting. Have fun and go with the [...]
I usually just make some quick notes in Google Docs and get on with the day.
[...] The simple answer is the “Five Minute Organizer.” A simple tool for organizing your thoughts, goals and even your life. This simple little device requires no batteries, is totally customizable, and fits neatly in your pocket or purse.4 [...]
[...] mix van de Hipster PDA (zie boven) en diverse projectmanagement-instrumenten. Ze noemen het zelf de Walleteer, vanwege het visitekaartje-formaat, wat zo in je portemonnee past. Op elk vrij moment kun je even [...]
I use the index cards (4×6 or 5×8) as documents (portait) and as checklist .. if anyone can tell me if I can get a file holder for index card but verically exp; 8×5 .. so far I haven’t used the color (less costly)
[...] 5 Minute Organizer [...]
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Wow!!! That is a unique way of getting organized. This is just in time because I have been searching high and low for a personal secretary to help me sort out things, to remind of urgent things to do, and all; yet I can’t find the right person for me. So I resorted to doing things on my own. Although I can manage everything, I am not Super Woman. I need help. I will see what this cute organizer can do to my life.
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[...] 5 Minute Organizer [...]
[...] Pros: Simplicity. For me, nothing beats paper when I want to clear my mind. Cons: Unorganized. When you have a whole stack of loose slips of paper, it’s hard to search and process. Implementation #2: “Five Minute Organizer” [...]
[...] Five Minute Organizer [...]
[...] templates are designed in a number of different ways. You can check them out for yourself by visiting John’s blog. There’s a variety to pick and choose what you want, and then print them out easily on [...]
[...] know where you are you can’t make adjustments to get back on track. I have put together two walleteer sheets that may help you on your fitness quest. The first is called the five minute diet planner or [...]
[...] for all 48 minutes. These cards fit easily in pocket or purse and are a great addition to our Walleteer organizer. Download a set today and make sure your new goals are written down and put where you can see [...]
I had also modified the template so it works better for filling in the fields from Word. The original link will now download the new version that contains both files
[...] for all 48 minutes. These cards fit easily in pocket or purse and are a great addition to our Walleteer organizer. Download a set today and make sure your new goals are written down and put where you can see [...]