Huh? Did I just move backwards in terms of technology, or is there a counter-intuitive reason that actually makes this a practical way of moving forwards?With the wonderfully advanced smart phone it consumed more time in configuring, and having a large feature set meant it wasn’t specifically designed to be the best at any of those features. It could do them, but when an emergency arose and it needed to do them quickly and perfectly it often disappointed.

High technology doesn’t always equate with being highly useful.

After some research I set upon acquiring an old 8300 series Blackberry. The keyboard and usability of the device is fantastic, even better than the later models. For example, putting on number lock by pressing the shift and alt key together is almost impossible to do when typing with one hand on the newer models. It focusses on the core activities of being a phone with good personal digital assistant (PDA) support.

It is to a to-do list what a grid is to design.

Highly integrated with the Blackberry device, ToDoMatrix from REXwireless offers increased productivity from a David Allen GTD and Covey based application.
It works on the premise that your input recording device should always be at hand no matter where you are. If using your PC, you may not always have it booted up at the time you need to record an input item. Utilising the mobility of the phone, combined with its flexibility and additional feature set of calendar/ email it allows for greatly enhanced work-flows. It is to a to-do list what a grid is to design.

For example it is possible to assign tasks to delegates and email the task to them, or inject into the to-do list for calendar an email for timely action in the future.

The first of these is MyLifeOrganized (MLO) task management software. OK great, but what does it do?

It enables synchronization of task management between windows devices, including windows mobile.

Recent work has joined the Research In Motion (RIM) company’s Blackberry, and Apple’s iphone devices to the platforms of use, making it easier to manage tasks on the move with a wide range of devices.
The software allows practically infinite depth for subtasks. Something many competitor applications seem to lack.
Being very flexible, it can convert between several task management software formats.

The to-do list allows the specification of contexts, and filtering to display the to-dos according to their context, such as listing to-dos according to your current location.
It also can output a pocket mod to Microsoft Word document.  This has been found to be very useful for checking off the list of Life hacks posted.

All in all a very useful software programme, and highly recommended for outlining plans.

What if you could carry such a value adding employee in your pocket? What if they are always available to assist you as and when you need them?

Consider the product as your life, and the employee as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). The electronic device helps you to get more out of life by efficiently managing your resources, especially time, for you.

Some essential criteria I look for in my PDA employee:

Ease of input.

It is of no use having a system that takes a long time to record simple information. In a busy environment your natural tendency is to drop it and use something quicker. I prefer a PDA with a physical keypad for this reason. No waiting, as on touch screen devices. Plus it’s much easier to enter information on bumpy bus journey, for example.

Ability to reorder inputs

On first entry the information is usually a draft. The system must allow for easy reordering as your plans take more structure. All systems allow reordering, though some more easily than others. So the chosen PDA would have simple context sensitive menus, possibly with shortcuts.
Ability to edit inputs

Again, all systems allow the editing of input as the information is further refined, but there are differences between how easy it is to do this. The ability to use shortcuts can make the difference between a simple quick edit, or no edit made as the large required effort is not worth it.

Calendar management

How easy is it to manage your schedule? Can you view your schedule in monthly, weekly, summary formats? How quick and intuitive is it to use? My selected PDA must answer positively to each of these questions in its interview.
Task management

Again managing tasks is a major functional requirement of the chosen PDA. Sometimes specialist software may be added on to the PDAs natural abilities to cope better with task management.

Be pocket sized

If the PDA doesn’t fit in a pocket or handbag easily it’s unlikely you’ll have it to hand when you need it most. Small and compact are the key elements here. An additional element is having a good battery life. A small and compact PDA with a flat battery is just a paperweight.

After having tried a few PDAs, the system I’ve evolved to using at the time of writing this is an old Blackberry. I may say more of this at a later date.