Hints on Storing Information

Guy Friday is a free-form organizer, which means you don’t have to fill out little forms for each of your information subjects.

But you should consider how Guy Friday works when you organize your information.

Generally, I’ve found it easier to keep a separate nugget for each person I know. Each nugget has simple cross-reference data. For example, a typical nugget in my “Life” file might read:

Lauren Anne
Stanford University
(415) 555-1234
fax (415) 555-1555

(C++ programmer, telecomm expert)

546 Maypole Dr.
Palo Alto, CA 45909

Notice that I cross-referenced my friend Lauren with flags that will allow me to call up her nugget whenever I need to search for a telecomm expert or a C++ programmer.

Another nugget might look like this:

Charles Jones
(painter)
555-1200

Notice that I can call up Mr. Jone’s card simply my typing “painter” in the search window.

To Do Lists

Guy Friday doesn’t have specific To Do List features, per se; I eliminated them in an early development version of the program. Instead, I manage my own personal To Do list by using Guy Friday in the following fashion.

I create a separate nugget for every item in my To Do list. Then I flag the nugget by typing “TO DO” at the top. For example, I might have a nugget that looks like this:

TO DO

Call painter - get quotes for painting front of house
(see if aluminum siding is a good idea)

And I might have another nugget like this:

TO DO

Buy more deodorant (is that why people are looking at me funny?)

Whenever I need to examine my To Do list, I simply type ⌘G and then “TO DO”. My list is called up instantly.

I can re-arrange my priorities by using the Bring To Top (⌘T) and Send to Bottom (⌘B) commands. I can flip through off-screen items using ⌘-UP ARROW and ⌘-DOWN ARROW.