.KEYWORD parent
.FLYINGHEAD PALM LIVING
.TITLE Palm power for parents
.OTHER
.SUMMARY As a wife, a mother, and a working woman, Denise Watkins has found her Palm device to be an invaluable tool in organizing the various aspects of her life. If you are a parent or a caregiver to a child or an elderly person while simultaneously trying to hold down a full-time job, Denise will show you how a Palm device can make your life a little easier, too.
.AUTHOR Denise Watkins
One of the things Palm, Inc. could do a little better is to show the masses why they need a Palm device and how it has the potential to make their lives easier. The ads I’ve seen, featuring the Date Book entries of the lawyer, the detective, and the naked dancer, don’t strike a chord in me. Actually, that’s not quite true, I despise the naked dancer.
Where are the ads that speak to someone like me? I play three roles, a wife, a mother, and a librarian. Anyone who juggles multiple roles knows how easy it can be to forget an appointment or an important task. That’s where Palm organizers save the day. Use your imagination, folks, and visualize a Palm unit with a little red superhero cape. That’s how my Palm device fits into my life.
What I’m going to share with you in this article is how my Palm device helps me to keep the aspects of my life straight and organized. If you are a parent or a caregiver to a child or an elderly person while simultaneously trying to hold down a full-time job, a Palm device can no doubt make your life a little easier, too.
.H1 At home with your Palm device
I’ve heard far too many people say their lives aren’t high-powered or complicated enough for them to need a Palm device. If you use any type of planner you’re a candidate for a Palm organizer. I’ve heard my daughter say that in the event of a fire in our house, the most important thing to save is Mom’s Palm unit. This is true. It’s second only to the family itself.
I could reconstruct our entire household from the information in my Palm device. Having said that, the most import advice I give any Palm device user is to HotSync and HotSync regularly.
To demonstrate how I use my Palm device to run and manage my home, let’s start by looking at the four basic Palm applications, Date Book, Address Book, To Do List, and Memo Pad.
.H1 Date Book
In every household, there is one person who functions as the director of operations. In my house, that would be me. I maintain the schedules for my husband and my family and expect them to inform me of their activities so that our family functions smoothly. While many folks find the basic Palm Date Book application suits them, I prefer the enhancements offered by DateBk4 and its predecessor DateBk3. I use DateBk4 to keep track of our schedules. For a comprehensive review of DateBk4, see Jeff Carlson’s article, "DateBk4 improves on a powerhouse" in the March 2000 issue of PalmPower at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200003/datebk4001.html.
Since, I’m a Palm IIIc user, the ability to display entries in different colors and fonts is a godsend. I use different color and font combinations to differentiate appointments for work, personal activities, my husband’s schedule, my daughter’s schedule, and events such as birthdays and anniversaries. You can see an example of what I mean in Figure A.
.FIG A On my Palm IIIc, I use different colors and fonts to organize my Date Book.
Date Book also provides a Week view, as you can see in Figure B.
.FIG B In the Week view, colors are again used to display my schedule on my Palm IIIc.
.H2 Family schedule items
Prior to being a Palm IIIc user, I created a shortcut: (fs). The designation (fs) in front of a Date Book entry indicated this was a family schedule item.
What items are family schedule items? There’s the school year calendar for one, including school holidays, grading periods, conferences, PTA meetings, standardized test dates, early dismissals, and the due dates of any school projects requiring my involvement.
Another family schedule item might be a doctor appointment for my children. I can book an appointment for them based on the availability of either my husband or myself. We can coordinate our schedules with a minimum of conflict using WeSync. For more information on WeSync, read Kevin Quin’s article in the January 2000 issue of PalmPower magazine at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200001/pda001.html.
.H2 Hallmark events
Other uses for the Date Book are what I call the Hallmark events; in other words, occasions that require cards. When I input an event such as a birthday or anniversary, I set a reminder for at least five days in advance. That gives me time to buy a card and get it in the mail. (Yes, I know I can use eGreeting sites on the Web to send a virtual card, but there are occasions when actual hardcopy signs of affection are still a nice touch.)
.H1 Address Book
Remember that paper planner, with numbers crossed out when the phone number changed or someone moved? That’s just tacky! And remember how after you ran out of room under certain alphabet letters there was nowhere for the overflow to go except under the letters X or Z? How much room did you have for a home and work telephone number, cell phone numbers, fax numbers, home and work addresses, multiple email addresses, etc.?
Your Palm Address Book allows you to capture all that information plus organize it into categories. Included in the Address Book are customizable fields and the ability to add a personal note about the individual.
I have a category called Restaurants with all my favorite take-out places (hey, I’m sure even B. Smith and Martha Stewart, the divas of gracious living, order the occasional takeout meal). There’s a category called Medical with all the family’s medical providers. There’s a category for retail stores and a category called Work with all the numbers of my coworkers and business contacts. Under the Business category, I list the utility companies’ phone numbers and our account numbers, and I have categories for our auto insurance carrier, service people, etc.
Under the Quicklist category, I have an entry for each household member. These entries are marked private and hidden as they contain their social security and medical insurance numbers. I also created a category called Kids. In this category, I listed the school phone numbers and the numbers and addresses of the kids’ classmates. And you know those numbers that you used to pencil in your paper date book as they were only needed for a short period of time? I created a category called Temporary. You can have up to 15 categories in Address Book, so customize to your heart’s content.
.H1 ToDo List
Here are another 15 categories to customize as you see fit. You can also prioritize your ToDo List items from one to five. If you need to prioritize more than five, try ToDo Plus. A peek inside my To Do List application would show you categories such as Today, Tomorrow, Soon, Personal, Weekend, and Arlene (my boss). I also have a category for each area of my work responsibilities.
.H1 Memo Pad
Okay one more time, (you can sing it to the tune of 100 bottles of bear on the wall), you have 15 categories to customize. I have a category for entertainment. In it are memos entitled Videos to Rent and Movies to See. Other categories are Books, with memos for Non Fiction Books and Fiction; URLS to Try; and Humor, in which I copy and paste into the Palm desktop some of the humorous emails I receive.
I am a board member on a couple of organizations, so I have a category for each of them. Under Personal, I have a Gift memo for each family member. In it, I list possible gift items for birthdays or Christmas. I have a memo called Gifts for Everyone Else with suggestions. It also reminds me as to whether I’ve purchased the gift already, and if so, where I’ve put it. I Christmas shop year round, so it really helps me keep track of what I’ve purchased for whom.
I also have a health memo for each child, listing any medications they are taking, the results from their last physicals, and their immunization dates. Again, the fact that you can search for text really pays off. Those miscellaneous snippets of information that you know you’re going to want or need again can be stored in Memo Pad and be easily retrieved.
.H1 Beyond the basics
Think of the basic applications as network TV and the tons of available freeware and shareware as cable or satellite TV. They’re not exactly necessary but darn nice to have.
Thus far it seems, Palm has enjoyed amicable relations with the masses of developers for the Palm OS, so you’re in no danger of waking up one morning and finding that your applications have been replaced by CSPAN, a la the recent Time Warner and Disney situation. In Figure C, you can see some of the other applications that I use to keep my life in order.
.FIG C Here are some of the other applications that help keep my life organized.
In addition to the basic applications, I have over 70 programs and hacks loaded onto my Palm device. Don’t panic, I’m limiting myself to discussing my top 10. Here they are:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Album To Go came with my Palm IIIc. I no longer carry print photos of my family. I simply load them onto my Palm device.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET AvantGo is an application that lets you view certain Web material on your Palm organizer. If you own a Palm device and aren’t using AvantGo, you’re missing out on a fabulous application. Sometimes, the only time I get to read the newspapers and find out what’s going on in the world is when I look at AvantGo on my Palm unit. You can customize your information sources from hundreds of available channels, and it’s free.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET BackupBuddy allows you to restore all the data on your Palm device in the event of a catastrophe (hard reset, death or dismemberment of a device, etc.) or a joyous event (upgrading to a new model).
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET CryptInfo is a nice little application that keeps track of all those thousands of passwords that seem to rule our lives. You can categorize them for easier access.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET HandyShopper is a nice freeware application that allows you to create a shopping list.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET DateMate allows you to keep track of birthdays, anniversaries, etc. and plugs those entries into your Date Book.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET WorldMate has three features. You can set five clocks to various world times and change them as needed, and it has a currency converter and a clothing size chart that lists US, UK, and European clothing sizes.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET IOUMate is a cute little application that tracks whom you owe and who owes you.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET GlucoPilot is great for me. I’m a diabetic and this nifty piece of software makes it a breeze to keep track of my blood sugar. If you’re a diabetic or the parent of a diabetic, this is an absolute necessity!
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Peanut Reader from Peanut Press is great if you don’t want to carry a book or magazine but want to keep reading material on hand. The folks at Peanut Press are sure to have something for your taste in fiction or non-fiction.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_KEEP
.H1 Conclusion
Hopefully I’ve shared some compelling reasons as to why Palm devices are useful tools for everyone, especially parents and caregivers. And maybe this article has given people who are not Palm device users a better understanding as to why we rhapsodize over our little organizers.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on DateBk4, visit http://www.gorilla-haven.org/pimlico.
Visit a PalmPower article about DateBK4 at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200003/datebk4001.html.
For more information on WeSync, visit http://www.wesync.com.
Visit a PalmPower article about WeSync at http://www.palmpower.com/issues/issue200001/pda001.html.
For information on ToDo Plus, visit http://www.handshigh.com/html/todoplus.html.
For more information on Album To Go, visit http://www.clubphoto.com.
For more information on AvantGo, visit http://avantgo.com/frontdoor.
For more information on BackupBuddy, visit http://www.backupbuddy.com.
For more information on CryptInfo, visit http://www.normsoft.com/cryptinfo.
For more information on HandyShopper, visit http://www.zdnet.com.au//swlib/Home_Hobby/Other_Home_Hobby/000SNF.html.
For more information on DateMate, visit http://www.mobimate.com/datemate/index.html.
For more information on WorldMate, visit http://www.mobimate.com/worldmate.
For more information on IOUMate, visit http://www.mobimate.com/ioumate.
For more information on GlucoPilot, visit http://www.dietlog.com/softcare/glucopilot.html.
For more information on Peanut Press, visit http://www.peanutpress.com/home.cgi/057136-87547-83104.
.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO Denise Watkins can be reached at watkinsjenkins@msn.com and reports that despite being in a Palm device household, she still can’t tempt her 14 year old over to the Palm side.
.DISCUSS http://powerboards.zatz.com/cgi-bin/webx?13@@.ee6e32a
.END_KEEP
