Over the course of a year, the digital junk in your computer can build up to one massive mess. Files get scattered everywhere except where you want them to be, email piles up, photo files become unruly, and downloaded PDFs and programs you thought you couldn't live without (but actually never looked at) take up hard drive space. It's time for a bit of end-of-year cleanup. Here are a few suggested tasks to take on. The time required will depend on how organized you've been all year— about an hour if you're neater than Monk, and much of the day if you're like, well, me...

Scraps of paper...stickies...Daytimers...PDAs...multiple calendars...browser bookmarks... all these and more are the common ways we try to keep track of the vast amount of information that comes at us each day. Some systems work better than others at reducing clutter (e.g. PDAs or iPhone) but those have their downsides too (e.g. dead batteries, forgetting to sync with your computer).

Now, I am not an expert on information management by a long-shot, but I do have several digital tools that help me to stay organized and to file away information in such a way that I can usually find it again. Among my favorites is a little application called Evernote...

Although your church members may claim they receive too many emails, it's very likely that many of them would indeed read a daily email during two key periods of the year: Advent and Lent. This is the perfect time to begin planning such an email (Lent's not far away, and Advent is obviously fresh in your mind.) Here's what I've learned from doing this myself...

Iowa (the state where Sally and I live) is a wonderful place, with a strong commitment to education. Many churches here, though, are not large enough to have their own staff person in charge of education ministries. Further, networking in person is often difficult because of the distances people have to travel and because many education staff are part-time (or is that part-pay?) employees. For these and other reasons, I started a listserv that anyone interested in Christian education in Iowa can join. Over the nearly 8 years of its existence, we've grown to about 125 members who can share ideas and pose questions all via email. Our list is among the largest Christian education-specific listservs in the country. ...

In an article I've posted previously, I suggested a few suggestions of how to use digital music with youth. But a few lesser-known iTunes features are more appropriate for adults...and they don't cost a thing!

 Most of us have had the experience of receiving a sending a document that couldn't be opened. It can be a frustrating and time-consuming experience (and it's not just a Mac vs. PC issue, by any means.)

If you share files regularly with committee members, teachers, youth leaders, church staff, or others, there is another great alternative...