News

We all need IT goals in 2015

By Bill Moss, Published: January 3, 2015

Each late December, when the New Year is approaching, I instinctively think about goals for the coming year. Of course, that leads me to think about the resolutions I made for the current year and whether or not I accomplished them.

Many of my goals are technology oriented. You may have some technology goals yourself. I often hear clients say that they want to learn how to use their iPhone or iPad better, or learn how to use cloud storage.

I must confess that I had mixed results with my resolutions for 2014. These were my successful intentions for this past year:

1. Get my husband's and my computers set up to automatically back up in the cloud. Unlike an external hard drive, it's the easiest and most cost effective way to protect your digital files from a disaster like fire. After extensively researching our options, I chose a service called Crashplan. Now, all of our files, folders and photos are constantly backed up on Crashplan's remote computers somewhere.
2. Learn something new on my iPhone, iPad or computer. This was easy because it has become a daily habit of mine. I am constantly looking for time saving apps or tips to make my life easier. And keeping up with all the changes those updates bring is mandatory for me.
3. Create some online classes. I really loved creating video courses on "How to Create an iPhoto Slideshow" and "How to Use Your iPhone for Free (or nearly Free) in Europe." Self-paced, online learning is a great way to learn a new skill, idea, hobby, etc.

My difficult and uncompleted goals for 2014 were:

1. Clean out and organize my digital closet (aka computer). Get files organized into folders, clean out the Downloads folder and delete old files. This is about as much fun as cleaning out the basement or garage! I started my digital de-cluttering, but it's just so hard to finish it!
2. Clean out my overwhelming Inbox. Delete, delete, delete old emails and organize the others into email folders. This might even be worse than organizing the files on my computer, but I've come up with a trick that might help me for 2015. I am going to have the computer automatically file emails from past years into folders labeled "Inbox 2014," "Inbox 2013,", "Inbox 2012," etc. It will make the current Inbox look manageable and make it more rewarding as I tackle and clean out each old Inbox. It's all a mind game!
3. Organize my digital photos and video clips. I use an awesome program on my Mac called iPhoto (there are similar programs for PC's). It can categorize pictures by date, location, event and who's in the photo.

Which leads to my 2015 New Year's resolutions. Yes, I will continue to work on my digital housekeeping and I intend to create some more online classes. The topics I'm considering will help you learn how to use iTunes, how to organize and store iPhone/iPad photos and how to use the upcoming new Photos program for Apple computers.

What about you? I encourage you to come up with some technology goals of your own.
The important thing is to keep learning, or at least striving to learn.

If you're interested in my detailed instructions about my new Inbox cleaning technique, please visit www.liberateyourtime/lightning.

Lynn Huffman, the Lightning's technology columnist, can be reached through her website.