Note: This is another use case for how tags can help organize and locate related items across EPIM’s modules. Check a previous post for another example: Tips: How to Make EPIM an Essential Recipe Book.
Paulette will retire in six months and is learning that she has a lot to coordinate.
She lives and works in the U.S., and her company has provided a retirement planning package. It includes guidelines for working with her Human Resources Department, enrolling in health care, and reviewing her retirement income. There are suggested tasks, a schedule, and contacts for government agencies and employee services.
A long-time user of EPIM Pro, Paulette is familiar with its features. Still, she is concerned that preparing for retirement will require more organization than she has used so far in EPIM. She surmises that categories and tags may help and has researched online for tips.1
She discovered that most of the advice applies to websites, and she will have to adapt the concepts to EPIM.
For example, website bloggers emphasize that the purpose of categories and tags is to improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
"I'm not so interested in finding content," Paulette said. "I need to find items that are related but scattered throughout EPIM. I want SIO (Search Item Optimization)."
She also noticed the frequent mention of hierarchy in categories. This doesn't apply to EPIM, where an item can be assigned only to one category. But Tasks, Contacts, and Passwords do support hierarchy through groups, while IMAP mail accounts support folders and subfolders.
Apart from the differences, Paulette compiled some common best practices.
- Think of categories like the chapters in a book; a chapter groups broadly similar information.
- Compare tags to the index at the back of the book. Just as an index can reference a subject on multiple pages, tags denote items across categories and EPIM modules.
- Avoid similar names and be specific. Decide on “TV Shows” or “TV Series,” "beach" or "beaches." Don't use both.
- Tags can proliferate. Reduce the number by assigning meaningful names for specific types of content. For example, a category for recipes could have tags for the courses: entree, appetizer, dessert; for the meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner; and for preparation: grill, broil, stir-fry, etc.
- Limit tags to 3-10 per item.
With these guidelines in mind, Paulette reviewed what she would need to organize. There would be
- Correspondence with her employer, with government agencies such as Social Security and Medicare, and with investment firms.
- Things to do with her health care and investments, and to conclude her employment.
- Notes to document conversations and activities.
Setting up the hierarchy
She began by creating the hierarchy:
- Retirement as a category;
- A Retirement group in Contacts and Passwords (Figure 1);
- A master task for Retirement with subtasks (Figure 2);
- A Retirement folder in her IMAP mail account. She then created subfolders for correspondence from each government agency and investment firm (Figure 3);
- A Retirement folder in Notes (Figure 4);
Figure 1. The hierarchy includes a group in Passwords for retirement. Items are tagged to allow cross-referencing with other modules.
Figure 2. A master task allows tracking things to do in a hierarchy of subtasks.
Figure 3. The hierarchy in Mail mirrors Passwords and Tasks, where subfolders allow grouping items under Retirement.
Figure 4. The hierarchy continues with a folder and subfolders in Notes.
Cross-referencing with tags
With the hierarchy in place, Paulette moved on to defining and applying tags for specific content: ToDo, Medicare, Social Security, RMD2, Taxes, and Pension.
Figure 5. Tags will help relate messages to other items throughout EPIM Pro.
Figure 6. Tagged appointments in the agenda view in Calendar can be easily filtered and sorted.
The ultimate test: finding what you need
Paulette began the project thinking she needed Search Item Optimization (SIO). She saw the benefits while doing an advanced search.
Figure 7. With careful tagging, related items across all modules can be found with Tools > Advanced Search. In this screenshot, the search brings up items related to Medicare in the Calendar, Tasks, and Passwords.
As Paulette experiments with this structure and gets closer to retirement, she expects that she will have to make adjustments. But for now, she has enough to begin organizing her new life ahead.
- Sites that were helpful include, Categories vs. Tags: What’s the difference?; Categories Vs Tags: Understanding The Differences And Best Practices; Categories vs Tags: Best Practices for Organizing Your Content in 2024.
- RMD: Required Minimum Withdrawal. Investors in tax-deferred accounts, such as 401(k) or individual IRA plans, must begin withdrawing money per the guidelines of the Internal Revenue Service.