In the May/June 1994 issue we published a piece on using Stephen Coveys First Things First methodology with the Palmtop. We received more response from that article than anything published thus far. Readers must have identified with my attempt to use the Palmtop's Database application to organize a life full of responsibilities, challenges and information while keeping in mind deeper values. (By the time you read this you should be able to find the article on our new www.PalmtopPaper.com Web site).
Managing time and information is the theme of this issue. The article by consultant Joy Soto Kocar describes her well-developed system of time management. She describes how she uses the Palmtops Database application to integrate her life goals with her day-to-day ToDo's. Then traveling engineer/ salesperson Jorgen Wallgren describes how he uses his main computer (the Palmtop) to stay organized. Read how, while on the road, he tracks his voluminous correspondence and uses various DOS software packages including one with a mouse.
Chiropractor Ralph Alvy does not find the built-in Phone Book, Appointment Book, and NoteTaker applications flexible enough. In his quest for a speedier, more integrated method of taking control of his time and information he uses a new Palmtop shareware program, Flexpad. Carl Merkle, in his 1-2-3 column, describes how he expands the Palmtops information processing capacity using @BASE, a Lotus add-in that's easy for 1-2-3 users to learn. It gives Palmtop users relational database capabilities and lets users access data stored in standard database formats.
As we've seen in the last several issues devoted to Wireless communications and to the Internet, the Palmtop is not just an isolated personal organizing device any more. People use the Palmtop as a communicator to get their e-mail and to connect to large databases to access information. In this issue you'll find a review of Andreas Garzotto's new Palmtop Web Browser, WWW/LX from D&A Software. WWW/LX is small, modular, and written for the HP Palmtop. Ed Keefe then writes about two of WWW/LX's updated freeware components, which will be on the upcoming issue of The HP Palmtop Paper 1996/97 Subscriber PowerDisk. The first component, the newly updated Hypertext Viewer (HV) 2.0, lets Palmtop users read downloaded and saved Internet World Wide Web documents on the HP Palmtop. The second, PalEdit (PE), is a Memo-like editor, but with quite a bit more functionality than Memo.
I am often asked if I still use the Covey method described in my original article. The answer is, sort of. I cut down on the number of fields in the Covey database. In truth, I find that properly planning for the week and updating ToDo's each day requires a discipline similar to proper dieting and exercise. Some weeks I'm better at it than others. Hopefully, the articles will inspire you as they did me to better use the Palmtops time and information management capabilities. The quality of our lives depends on how we use our time and process information.