I’ve recently purchased a new program for my Treo 650 that seemed, at first, to be quite expensive for the application. But, I wanted to play around with the wiki-type links as a way to organize all my notes and my projects and even my writing. The one I chose is called Note Studio and after just a few days of use, I must admit, it’s AWESOME [more]I was at a loss at first. I installed it on my Treo and on my desktop. And I stared at it. There was some way to link pages, but it seemed too simple for me to have it right. And I’d read reviews about how others had used this TYPE of program on their desktop, and it seemed to be “much ado about nothing” to me.

So I played with it and poked around a bit. I did some cutting and pasting from other files. I then got the bright idea to set up a “control panel” type of index page for all my current projects. All active clients, all “to do” lists, all outstanding issues, everything.

Then, as I worked, it branched off into other things, all linked like a webpage for easy navigation. It started to get cooler.

As I worked, more and more ways to make it work occurred to me. Now, I consider this little thing, less than a week old, as my GOTO location for all notes and information.

Do I want to know what I need to do next on a client’s project? I go to my main page, click on “Wicked Work” then select the client from active clients, then I go to the “Angela’s To Do” list under that client and I have a way to check my current progress and what still needs to be done. I also cross link all the “Angela’s To Do” lists under one “Angela’s Client To Do Lists” header, so I can get to ALL the things I have to do in a shorter click sequence.

What’s more, is that I have a list of “to do” items for each of my clients and for each of my subcontractors under every project page. In a matter of seconds I can tell what needs to be done by ANYONE and can set up tickles to remind me to harass folks in a timely fashion when the project isn’t moving along at the desired pace. It also makes it easy to “cut and paste” the to do lists into an email when checking in.

I can tell what I’ve done and what still needs to be done, and if I need to expand on any ‘to do’ item, I simply link that item to a new page in my Notes Studio.

I must say, the more I use it, the more ways I find to expand my use of it.

Great little program for free-form thinkers and brainstorming types. I love it. I love it. I love it.

And the coolest part is having it with me everywhere! My treo has Notes Studio as a shortcut on my Hi-launcher and in my primary user page.

If you opt for this super-program, don’t expect miracles. It won’t do the work for you. You will have to THINK about setting it up based on your own way of thinking and organizing work. Put in the time. Take your time, and you will design the best little tool you have ever owned to get your work done faster and easier without ever asking yourself… WHERE did I put the notes on this segment of the XYZ project??

The search function is amazingly fast and accurate. So try it. I think you will be happy you did. At $50 its rather expensive for a palm application, but with the palm and PC interfaces, it’s worth every penny. (Also: The new version is coming out soon, and they promise lifetime updates for existing registered users.)

For more info, visit the manufacturer and register to view the user forums at www.dogmelon.com.au — Strange name, great product.