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Digital tickler file?
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Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Aug 6, 2009 at 06:14 PM
Greetings.
In pondering why I am currently dissatisfied with my current data collection methods (mostly Evernote) I’ve realized my issue is that I’m looking for more of an electronic tickler file.
Essentially, I’m looking for something that can remind me to look at certain data I’ve collected at a later.
For example, I’m a freelance journalist and one magazine I write for sends me their editorial calendar as a spreadsheet which lists upcoming theme issues and the deadline to submit story proposals. I’d like something that I can easily put the spreadsheet in and quickly set an alarm to remind me at a certain data that I need to come up with a brilliant idea before the deadline.
Zoot seems best suited for the task, but I can’t seem to get the spreadsheet into it without mangling it. Evernote keeps it looking correct if I copy and paste (though I can’t just drag and drop, seems storing spreadsheets requires a premium account even though older versions had this capability…and I’m just not read to commit to the software as a service model yet) but it doesn’t have any kind of alarm feature.
So, is there anything like this?
Posted by Ken
Aug 6, 2009 at 06:18 PM
Bob,
Can’t you just take the dates from the spreadsheet and enter them into a calendar program with alarms? Given your brief description, I am not certain of the value of having the spreadsheet itself (since I do not know it contents) attached to the alram or alarms.
—Ken
Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Aug 6, 2009 at 06:24 PM
Along with dates, it lists the topics in a separate cell and a longer description in another.
Ken wrote:
>Bob,
>
>Can’t you just take the dates from the spreadsheet and enter them into a
>calendar program with alarms? Given your brief description, I am not certain of the
>value of having the spreadsheet itself (since I do not know it contents) attached to
>the alram or alarms.
>
>—Ken
Posted by Ken
Aug 6, 2009 at 07:00 PM
Bob,
You might want to look at Smartsheet. They used to have a free version, but I think that is no longer offered. I believe that you can attach reminders to specific lines in a spreadsheet. Take a look and see if it will work. I liked the program a lot. Its just that their new pricing model is too expensive for me.
—Ken
Posted by JohnK
Aug 6, 2009 at 07:01 PM
Bob,
Maybe I don’t understand your needs, but why do you need to save the spreadsheet’s contents into another program? Presuming they email it to you, I’d just save a copy into a folder.
After that I think you just need a decent alarm program (I use Kirby Alarm Pro - http://www.kirbyfooty.com/product-kirbyalarm.php).
At the set time, the alarm can: launch a file (e.g. your spreadsheet), run a program (with parameters), open a web page, display a message etc etc. Kirby has countless options, and I’m sure there are many similar programs.