Wunderlist

So what is all the fuss about? I read about Wunderlist in Writing Magazine recently and I had to check it out. It’s one of several Time/Project Management programmes that were reviewed and one of the main appeals of this programme was that is was FREE.

It takes a few minutes to download and the Tutorial Screen is the start point for the user. It gives simple instructions to get the user underway – and I did it relatively quickly. Clicking on ‘Add List’ at bottom right gives the user a space in the menu above to type in a Task; i.e. Short Stories.

Wunderlist graphic 2 — Task List Screen – the breakdown.

We’ll suggest here that the user has produced a general Menu of Tasks. The next stage is to select a particular Task and compile a breakdown. When the Task is selected (in this case Short Stories), it produces a screen with the Task name shown at the top – below is a place to to type in the breakdown (where there is a clock and ‘add your text here’). The user types in the first part or breakdown of the Task and then presses the Return key. Another line opens to produce the next entry and so on.

On each part of the Task if the cursor is hovered over the right hand end of the line it brings into view a ‘clock’ a ‘list’ and an ‘x’.

Clicking on the clock produces a calendar so that the user can select a target date for completion if desired. Once chosen it is shown as the date in figures to act as a reminder.

Clicking on the ‘list’ takes the user to another screen where much more detail can be listed. As seen below. When detail has been made for a particular task the ‘list’ symbol remains opposite the task to remind you there is more written.

Clicking on the ‘x’ not surprisingly gives the option to delete the task. Enough said there I think.

Wunderlist graphic 3 — Getting into the detail of the individual parts of the Task

Clicking on an individual part of a Task (or in this case the title of the particular Short Story), produces another screen. Here the user can list as much detail as required. In my Short Stories listings, not surprisingly I’m using this for each synopsis.

I will be using Wunderlist from now on to replace my previous method which was the useful, but restrictive ‘post-it notes’ of Windows 7′. The post-it notes idea was good as a memory-jogger but detail still had to be written elsewhere. With Wunderlist everything is in one place, located, edited or worked on one step at a time.

I’m using the system mainly for my writing but also for my other Tasks. Once it’s been played around with for a short while it really is easy to use and adapt. There are options to register online and synchronise the list to an application you may have, like iPad, Android device etc. Personally I have no intention of putting the synchronisation into practise because I’ll be content to use it as a standalone.

Well, what is in a name? If you profess to be something then I would say quite a lot is in a name. The Username of my blog for example is ‘Tom Benson – Writer’, which is self-explanatory, but to get to my blog, until yesterday my URL was, http://tomfoollery.wordpress.com which hints at somebody who isn’t to be taken seriously.

My graphic reflects my new domain name, http://tom-benson-writer.com and I intend to step further away from playing at being a writer to using it as a part-time occupation, supported in part financially by my part-time retail work. Writers, like artists must have some form of financial support in the background so that life doesn’t become a ‘hand to mouth’ existence. How good it feels to be both a writer and an artist … but even the combination isn’t sufficient to set me free of a regular job … yet!

When I decided to start my blog it was an experiment, a bit like joining Twitter and LinkedIn – both of which I’ve now left. I chose the ‘Tomfoollery’ epithet when I started writing poetry at the end of 2007 and then I used it wherever I went on the ‘www’. My writing, like my poetry was to be a pastime so the humorous pen-name continued. My blog has become not so much a diary of events as a reminder to me that if I set my mind to something and work at it, I have a reasonable chance of success. This means that in conjunction with the increased seriousness, Tomfoollery has had his day, except perhaps when writing poetry.

I have my Creative Writing correspondence course (with the Writer’s Bureau) to tackle, but lack of time for me as it is with so many is the standard excuse. As my fresh plan starts to take shape I hope to ease the burden regarding time and then it will be down to good old fashioned personal effort if I’m to move on with my writing. In an ideal world, I would win a competition and find my latest attempt at a novel has appeal to a top publisher, but I’m not living a fantasy.

Even as I write this post my mind is buzzing with plans and good intentions. I must alter my modus operandi regarding my scribbles so that apart from short stories and pet projects (my two novels), I must write reader’s letters and articles. There will be more to do as I make progress but those things will help get me underway.

I like to think I’m a storyteller/writer but before I can make any substantial claim in that area I now feel I must work at becoming a Freelance Writer. I have the support structure in place and with personal application I should be capable of it.

Where am I now in the grand scheme of things? I’m waiting for confirmation of an amendment to my ‘day job’. Whilst waiting, I’m getting into the right mindset by clearing the decks of all but my most important projects. Magazines to be filed away, a new organisational tool, Wunderlist downloaded to my system, (which I’ll write about later), finances assessed and a structured system of studying and working is to be sketched out today.