Keeping your schedule straight with a little help from your tech

By Rick Castellini Special to PRIME As we move into the cooler weather, our schedules start filling up with holiday plans, school functions, increased volunteer or job responsibilities and hopefully, some fall traveling as well. I'm tired even thinking about all of it, but thankfully, we now have the Internet to help us keep these events in order. Maybe more importantly, the tools I will tell you about in this article will also help you keep your family and friends up-to-date on your plans. Keeping track of those chores Let's start with honey-do or to-do lists. You could use the tried and true scratch pad and pencil method, but why not put that multi-hundred dollar box you own (I mean your PC or laptop) and your Internet connection to work helping you keep track of and accomplish these tasks. I agree, for simple run to the store for an item or two the paper and pencil method works just fine. But if you are planning the neighborhood fall picnic or the family's holiday get together, the tasks can stack up quickly. Keeping track of everything on sticky notes and scraps of paper can get you into trouble quickly. But the Internet can solve that dilemma. One of the easiest and most flexible online task schedulers is called "Remember the Milk" at www.rememberthemilk.com. "Remember the Milk" has an intuitive online interface and can be accessed from any computer and even from your cell phone. Plus, this service is free, as are some other good online task managers such as the ones at Yahoo, www.ToDoList.com and www.tadlist.com. To-do and calendar combos For some folks, organizing their days with to-do lists is more than enough, but if you like to combine to-do lists with a well-documented and meticulous calendar, the Internet can deliver in spades. The search engines Yahoo and Google offer calendars that are easy to use and again, are accessible from any computer or cell phone. If the big names don't impress you, you can give some of the other free online calendars a spin. One I suggest you check out is called Back Pack at www.backpackit.com. The Palm Treo Even though I recently gave up my Palm Treo smartphone for the new iPhone, I know that a Palm handheld computer can give a whole new sense of organization to almost any computer user. Palm handhelds have been around for years now, but still offer a simple, elegant way for a person to become better organized. And you can pick one up fairly reasonably these days as well. Why wait until January to get your life organized? These tools and many more are available to you today. And with the busy fall season right around the corner, this is the best time to get started. After you try any of these suggestions, or if you already have a method of staying organized that works for you, drop by my web site and leave a comment about what you are doing and how well you like it. Colorado native Rick Castellini is an author, computer consultant, and host of a nationally syndicated computer radio show. Visit his Web site at www.HelpMeRick.com for new tips every week and to sign up for his free weekly email newsletter.