By Charles Carter
With all of the features Microsoft has packed into the new Pocket PCs, it's easy to forget why they were created (and why you probably bought one) to begin with. Let's face it, it's so easy to get caught up in playing music, movies, games, and a whole host of other fun applications, that the basic reason we have these devices often ends up taking a secondary role.
An organizer at heart
Since the reason for this article is the basics, let's start at the beginning. When Microsoft decided to create the operating system that became Pocket PC, they did it for a reason. The idea was to get a piece of the personal organizer market that was being dominated by paper systems like Day-Timer and the only real electronic player at the time, the Palm Connected Organizer. Since the Palm device was created to make life run a little smoother for those who were willing to make the jump from a paper organizer to an electronic one, it makes sense that the Pocket PC would have the same goal. So at the heart of your Pocket PC is a very simple concept, called a planner.
The problem with paper
Now that we've gotten the obvious out of the way, let's take a look at some of the not so obvious aspects of planners. Paper systems still make up the majority of planners used, but they have a couple of problems. The most notable of these is that they are fairly bulky and finding information you've entered into them can be difficult at best. The other problem is that most people don't use them properly. I've even heard of people who go so far as to enter "Wake up" as a daily task. Call me strange, but I've found that I can handle the basic functions of life without writing them down.
Getting back to our problems though, the Pocket PC takes care of the first two nicely. It's both compact and easy to navigate, so all your important information is readily available. The third problem is a little more interesting. If your organizational skills are lacking, then a Pocket PC will offer you little more than a highly efficient and very expensive method of being disorganized. The temptation then, is to take advantage of all the other features available and turn your device into a glorified Game Boy. After all, you've got quite a bit of money tied up now, so you might as well use it, right? If this sounds like you, don't despair. With a little bit of effort, you can turn your new device into a very effective tool, which can actually improve your life.
Organizational pointers
While a complete organizational solution goes way beyond the scope of this article, I can offer a few pointers. First of all, always have your Pocket PC with you. It won't do you any good at home when you're away, and with the recording feature, you can even make notes to yourself while driving a car. Just don't forget to check your notes and tasks frequently, so that you don't miss anything.
