In my last post, I included the outline for the series on Access VBA that I’m writing.  Of course, an outline is just that – a rough summary of what the finished project should look like.  It can’t be carved in stone.

So while I’m working on the chapters for decision loops, I realize that I don’t have anything in the series about using arrays to store information which is probably because I rarely use them myself.  I reviewed a couple of other books to get some ideas about what to include in the series but in the end we do look at things based on our own experience.  That’s one more chapter to add.  I’m getting there.   The hardest thing for me is coming up with the different examples to illustrate some of the ideas.

It’s ironic but after all these years I’m finally understanding the value of keeping To Do lists.  About every other year on average, I buy a yearly planner with the idea of being more organized and within a few weeks it ends up sitting on a shelf somewhere because I just can’t get into the habit of using it.  Meanwhile I’ve had all these ideas for projects I’d like to do that never went anywhere because I got distracted by something else and forgot about them.  Now I have a giant folder in Outlook that’s growing at least one new branch every week with various details of the stuff I’m working on.

I have one task list called “Archive” which has two subfolders under it; “Completed” and “Project Ideas”.  The Project Ideas list is a bit like my Amazon.com Wish List (BTW, Amazon, thank you so much for that feature.)  It’s all the projects that have sounded interesting over the months and that I’d like to try sometime but haven’t gotten around to yet.  It includes such things as ideas for new site articles, certifications that would be nice to have and software I’d like to evaluate.  Keeping them there keeps them from cluttering my Current Projects list and lets me actually get something done rather than drowning in all the possibilities.  Outlook also lets me prioritize items so that I can know what’s important and what’s just a cool idea.

Then I have my Project Task List and Project Journal where I keep notes on specific things I need to do and what I’ve done each day respectively.  It’s a new habit but I’m working on keeping it going.  There’s also the Resources section where I keep lists of websites and other items that I can use for different projects.

Now if I can just move a few more projects over to the Completed list.