Sometimes I miss not seeing what I would call the stereotypical 80's businessman; I was a little too young to take note at the time but when I look back I always envisage a man with a long black ponytail, dressed in an expensive suit and carrying a briefcase. This briefcase would surely contain a Filofax, the size of which would be directly correlated to how important you wanted to be considered by those around you.In the 00's we appear to have lost the Filofax only to have it replaced by something equally pretentious; the PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). When I first went in to business I bought myself one of these but put it back in the box almost completely unused when I realised that I spent more of my time working on prioritised lists of things I needed to do than on the actual tasks in hand.Even to this day my heart always sinks if I have lunch with someone and the time comes to make a note. Rather than just jotting it down or making a mental note they rummage through their bag, retrieve a PDA, turn it on, open notepad, write 'Phone Chris tomorrow', save the note, set an alarm, turn the machine off, put it back in its leather sleeve then place it carefully back in the bag. Don't get me wrong, I can see how such a device can come in useful for those that do need to store a large amount of contact and schedule information however I do draw a line when an individual appears to become completely dependent on a machine to organise them.For those aforementioned users who do happen to have a large amount of data and activity that needs organising in their life there is another option which doesn't rely on an expensive device that has to be carried everywhere and can be easily lost or stolen. Since most people have access to a computer at any time, irrespective of time or location this information can be kept using software as opposed to hardware.EssentialPIM is a free download available in both desktop and portable versions, both of which can be downloaded by way of a tiny 2.8MB file from www.essentialpim.com. It has all the standard features that we have come to expect from such software including appointments, tasks, to-do lists, notes, and contacts. Whilst, it can be argued that most Smartphone's have a similar set of features unless you have one I am sure you will find this a worthy download.For you own use I found it best to download the portable version chuck it on a USB Flash Drive which I immediately attached to my key ring minimising the possibility of leaving the house without it, or indeed losing it (much more likely for me). To access the data just insert the USB drive in to any PC/laptop and all your information will be easily available with none of your data being saved on to the computer itself to cut out any security worries. However it may be best to set up a password from within the application as if you were to lose your keys you obviously would want to avoid the finder knowing which locks they belong to.Whilst I have to admit that EssentialPIM isn't for everybody, for those that constantly skip from office to office or have by other means regular access to a computer then it could certainly prove a worthwhile download.
