Is it Time for a PDA?

There once was a time when I laughed at those who used those little handheld computerized personal organizers. I mean, how hectic can life get that you need everything computerized? What happened to the good old paper and pencil? Nope, they weren't for me. I had this nack of filing everything into my brain. I never forgot an appointment, task, phone number or to do. Then I became a mom.

My amazing power of remembering almost made it through the first pregnancy. I wasn't nearly as sharp as I was BB (before baby), but I was functioning well enough. Then the second one came around and I started my own home business at the same time. I quickly lost track of which end was up.

So when Christmas came around last year and the in-laws were asking me for the hundredth time what I would like, I gingerly asked for a handheld computer. And, remembering that one of my cousin-in-laws works for Handspring in a pretty important position, I requested the maker's more basic blue Visor Neo. A whole new world opened up for me.

I never realized how many to do's, appointments, phone numbers and tasks I was missing until I entered them all into my sparkling blue PDA (that's Personal Digital Assistant, in case you're wondering). Nearly six months after digging into my Handspring, I am just as much in love -- and in awe -- with it as I was the first day it arrived. How, exactly, has my PDA helped me get organized? Let me explain:

PDAs come with an address book, to do program, memo program and a date book preinstalled (most also come with many, many more programs, but I will not get into those in this article). So you already have a great deal of organizing power right out of the box.

The Address Book
Of course, I entered all of the addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, websites and other relevant information that I had on all of my contacts into my PDA. In my case, my address book program allows me to customize fields so, if I wanted to, I could add birthdates, anniversaries and other notes to each entry. But what's also really cool is I can assign each contact to a category, such as Friends, Family, Business, etc. This has helped me find a group of contacts quickly and easily (there's also a Find feature that will search your contacts based on the letter you enter). And as a small business owner who is always being handed business cards, my PDA has reduced the amount of stray cards floating around my purse because I have all of them entered into my PDA.

The To Do Program
My to do program allows me to do more than just enter my tasks in a list format. I can also assign I priority to each (1 to 5, with 1 being the most important and listed first), and can also set up categories just like I did in my address book. So I can have to do lists for the house (all that housework that never seems to get done), the kids (all of the errands I need to run for them), family (who's birthday is it this month and how many cards do I need to get at the stationery store?) and business (updating web sites, designing newsletters and brochures, invoicing companies, etc). I can also attach a note to each item with detailed information (i.e. "Buy husband a Father's Day gift" can have a note attached like "He mentioned he wanted the Star Wars trilogy on DVD. He also wants some new shirts to umpire in.").

The Memo Program
I have had the most fun finding new ways to use the memo program on my PDA. At face value, the memo program is there for you to jot down notes and more detailed information. I can also categorize all of my memos just like I can in the to do and address book programs. Here's where the category feature, in my opinion, is most powerful. I have created some categories and used the memo program to do some very powerful things that have made my world a much happier place. One category I set up is called Directions, and I have placed all of the driving directions I need in there. So, when I am going somewhere I've never been before, I download the directions to my PDA and save it to my Directions category and I not only have them for the one instance I need them, but in case I go again in the future and forgot how to get there. In my Personal category, I've set up specific instructions on how to pay my mortgage bill by phone (did I mention I just started my home business? Yep, cash flow is tight, and the mortgage gets paid at the very last minute before it's late!). I know the number to dial, the selection to make, how much to pay and how to have it taken out of my checking account. And, in my Articles category, I have saved a few articles I found that I thought useful to me, so I can always refer back to them.

The Datebook Program
Often the most-used program on a PDA, the datebook program helps you keep track of your appointments. You can view the datebook on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly format. You can also set up to do items in the datebook. Appointments can also have notes attached to them (I use this feature a lot for specific information about the appointment), and you can set up items to be recurring (I have set one up to remind me to do a breast self exam every month). Because my brain is so scattered with tasks and appointments, I faithfully check this program every night before I go to bed to see what is on tomorrow's plate. I also use this program to schedule in my Jazzercise, so I know I am getting my workouts in.

One More Thing
After reading about all of the information I have entered into my PDA, you may be asking yourself how hard is it to get the information in there in the first place, right? Several ways, really. My PDA includes a little digital "keyboard" that I can bring up on the screen at tap the letters with my stylus, or I can use the Graffiti technology to write letters on a specific area of the screen. Graffiti takes a bit of practice (my x's and y's are always getting confused), but is a quick way to enter text. More often than not, though, I am at my computer when I want to add a to do item, appointment, etc. So I use the PC software that came with my PDA, in my case Palm Desktop. Everything I enter into the Palm Desktop program is downloaded to my PDA when I perform a sync (this is done by placing my PDA on a little cradle that it came with and pressing a little button on it. The PDA and my computer then "talk" to each other and everything on the PDA is backed up on my PC, and all new information that the Palm Desktop program has is downloaded to the PDA).

Your Experience May Vary
All PDAs come with an operating software (just like your computer most likely uses Windows or the MacIntosh OS). In the PDA world, your choices are the Palm OS (used by Palm, Handspring and Sony PDAs) or the Windows OS for handhelds (used by Hewlett Packard and Compaq). Currently, about 70 percent of PDA users out there, including myself, are using the Palm OS. Regardless of which PDA you choose and which OS is installed on it, the above basic features should be there.

After nearly six months of use, has my PDA transformed me into a highly-organized person? Well, not exactly. There was the time a few months ago that I realized in the middle of my Jazzercise class that I was supposed to be at a Chamber of Commerce membership meeting.

But at least I remembered my Jazzercise class!