John Sidgmore (right) is the CEO of UUNet, an internet service provider throughout North America. He has chosen to respond to our survey. Below are the questions we asked him, and the answers he gave us.

How RU Organized?
A Quick Survey

1. Which of the following items do you use to keep organized? (Please put an X in front of all that apply.)

- Daily Planner
- Written Monthly Calendar
X Personal Secretary
-Voice Recorder
X Palm-type computer
- Internet Planner
X Internet Calendar
X To-Do Lists

I use Microsoft Outlook on both my desktop and Palm V computers. Schedule changes can be made, either by my secretary or me...and updates are made to either the paom computer or the desktop...they are automatically synched and this can even be done remotely when I travel.
My secretary answers my phone and negotiates dates for speaking engagements, etc. We keep in touch continuoulsy via both email and voicemail.

2. How does a computer help you in your work? (Please answer in all areas with an emphasis on helping you be organized.)

Computers are invaluable in my work. While orginally used primarily as computational devices, today computers are all about communication. I use the computer to prepare presentations and to actually project the images during speeches. I give a lot of talks in various places so being able to change and customize the presentation materials-in real-time. It makes a world of difference when I am travelling. Laptop computers make this possible...in the old days we used 35 mm slikdes which made it impractical to change the speech very often.
As far as organization, I use the computers-not only to keep my schedule-but also to keep me on target with to-do lists, alerts, etc. Email is a big part of my life and this allows me to keep track of projects around the world without going through formal reviews or even phone calls. I can review projects anytime night or day...and a hidden benefit is that you can learn through email to communicate clearly and succinctly. Writtten memos tend to be more foraml and people try and write impressive narrative instead of quickly getting to the point.

3. What advice would you give others to help them be organized?

Make email and voice mail a regular part of your life. Get a palmtop computer and never give up the regular havit of to-do lists. I can't remember half of what I'm supposed to do in a day.

4. Where do you think you acquired your organizational style? (Put an X in the front of all that apply.)

At school from teachers
At home from your parents
At school from other students
At home from brothers or sisters
From an outside friend
From a professional organizer
X By trial and error on your own

5. At what age do you think you started learning your organizational style? (Select only one answer and put an X in front of it please.)

-Before third grade
-From third grade to fifth grade (Elementary School)
-From sixth grade to eighth grade (Middle School)
-From ninth grade to twelfth grade (High School)
X In college
-At your first job experience
-At you present job

6. What tasks in your occupation take the most organization? Please explain.

Travel is the most taxing. In order to succeed regularly on business trips without completely dropping your normal responsibilities requires you to be organized. Plan schedules, customer events, speaking engagements can get complex. Resolving all of the conflicts requires organization and I need all the help I can get. (Computers, palmtops, to-do lists, secretary)