Last month I was energized by Location Independent Living’s tried and true list of portable office necessities. Armed with that and lists of webware, I felt ready to wean myself from traditional software and create an entirely mobile workspace.

And then I really looked at my office.

Books and reference manuals and journals and manila folders and morgue bins and binders and notepads and legal pads and photos and art and pottery—and dozens of Post-Its stuck to my desktop, monitor, and each other.

Crap!

(Emphatically and literally)

In my zeal to go NoWare, I forgot that an office is more than a computer and a coordinated desk set. My office (and maybe yours, too) includes a gazillion pieces of valued information that live on paper.

If I was on the move, I couldn’t carry 99% of it. I could easily leave my knickknacks, art, and morgues behind. Same with the journals and references, because their information can surely be found online. Aside from notepads (which I would take), there’s only one thing left to manage—that slew of yellow sticky notes.

I love Post-Its. Those quick jots on tiny pages are a trail of the day’s events, reminding me of small, critical things like blog post ideas and returning DVD rentals. Fortunately, Web 2.0 came through with fun and easy tools to replace them. Here’s how and where my mini-mountain of scribble scraps is going digital:

Reminders: I Want Sandy

Sandy is my gyrrrrl (as the kids say)! This automated entity is the queen of efficiency as she:

• accepts my messages from Gmail, Twitter, and Jott
• confirms each message with an immediate reply
• reschedules, updates, cancels, and recaps reminders on request
• sends timely reminders by email, tweet, and text
• works all day, every day—for free

There are tons of cool things about this service, but I love that I can manage my schedule from anywhere with email, tweets, and (thanks to Jott) voice, all from venues I’m already monitoring. Aside from fact checks for this post, I haven’t visited IWantSandy.com since I signed up over the weekend.

The service is gratis and, as far as I can tell, ad-free. They will surely need to charge for it sometime and, since Sandy has become indispensable in less than a week, I’ll be happy to pay.

Ideas and to-do lists: Stikkit

Before creating IWantSandy, the clever folks at Values of n developed Stikkit, a digital sticky note on steroids. While Sandy collects top-of-mind tidbits that need reminding, Stikkit is my place for items lacking deadlines.

What interests me most is how Stikkit casually accomplishes complex things, such as:

• creating a checkoff-able item if a dash precedes a line of text
• extracting names, phone numbers, and email addresses to build an address book
• extracting URLS to build a list of bookmarks
• maintaining a calendar from items with dates
• accepting tags to relate stikkits, peeps (contacts), and all else

The best thing is Stikkit, like Sandy, understands common language like “lunch tomorrow” and “call next Wednesday”. It’s tough to explain, but fun to watch. Check out the video tutorials to see Stikkit in use.

Unfortuately, Stikkit’s kinship with Sandy doesn’t make them close. Specifically, they don’t talk to each other. There’s no integration between the applications, though I read in the forums they can be kept in sync with CC’ed emails. I also read that big sister Stikkit isn’t getting any more parental support (i.e., is no longer in development).

Still, I like having a place online for my bits and pieces, and Stikkit feels a bit more feature-rich than other online options, like Ta-Da.

Update: Forgot to add that Stikkit is also free!

If wishes were fishes

After an hour or two of typing, half of my desk notes are gone. Equally important is that I haven’t created more! I record reminders with Sandy throughout the day, mostly with TwitterFox, and always have a Stikkit.com window open. I’m very excited (and relieved) by what I’ve accomplished so far.

Still, I wish Stikkit or Sandy would automatically sync with either Outlook or Google Calendar. This is important for me because Outlook bridges Google Calendar and my Windows Mobile phone, which do not effectively communicate with each other. While Google Calendar’s SMS/text reminders maul my phone plan limits, and their emails get lost in my Inbox flurry, reminders for Outlook appointments are a free and well-integrated phone feature.

Each service has unique benefits and features (Google Calendar automatically extracts events from email, Jott talks to Sandy, etc.) and it would be great if they could keep themselves in accord. Both Stikkit and Sandy offer downloadable files that Outlook can import, but that’s a manual process I’m happy to avoid.

Et tu? Do you use Jott, Stikkit, or I Want Sandy for your business operations? How do you like (or dislike) them? Lemme know down below!

I’m determined to abandon software by running my business with online tools and Web 2.0 applications, and it didn’t take long to find I’m not the only one experimenting with working 100% from the Web.

In no particular order, here are the top posts and articles I’ve found on the topic (so far):

Online Tools for Working Abroad
Danny hit the beach last month and is working 100% Web (including phone and mail). His goal is to move freely from beach to beach, access everything from Internet cafes, and have insurance in case his laptop disappears. This list includes detailed explanations and screenshots for each Web application.

Tools For The Mobile Office
This is a relatively short list of online business tools, but it’s worth listing because Brick compares his favorites to what Danny (above) and Computerworld’s Mike Elgan are using. They are unanimous on some (photo storage and snail mail) and totally disagree on others (data storage, meetings, personal finance, and to do lists). Food for thought…

More Tools For A LIP (Location Independent Professional) Business
Lea offers a concise list of the web applications she uses for business operations while she and her husband travel around the world. As you read, be sure to note which Web apps she’s phasing out and why.

Online Business Toolbox: 230+ Tools for Running a Business Online
Whoa! Cameron compiled an alarmingly comprehensive list of web applications suitable for running a small to medium-sized business. Everything from Accounting to Virtual Office is listed here, including “industry-specific” options for real estate and retail management. FYI: I counted 237

The Freelancer’s Toolset: 100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need
Yoav collected a hecto-list of web applications that has few in common with Cameron’s 230+ (above). He appear to have a looser definition of “web application”—Web services like Moo are included—but it’s still a wide and wonderful list of what the Web offers to microbusinesses like ours. Be sure to read all the way to the end, commenters contributed some useful links.

And an extra that’s only a little off topic:

Putting Together A Portable Office That You Can Take With You Anywhere You Go
Another from Lea—this is her tried and true list of bits and pieces you’ll need for a fully-functioning on-the-go office, whether you’re using software or web applications.