Review: Agendus
Posted on January 25, 2006 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Review,Software
Summary
Agendus, by Iambic, is a date book/to do/memo/phone book that enhances the built-in Palm applications.
Overview
Manufacturer: Iambic
Platform: Windows and Palm
Current Version: Palm: 10.04; Windows: 3.32
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Sits on top of Palm native applications, so can be “used” with other applications that do the same
- Allows me to link contacts with appointments and to-dos
- Uses the linking to provide a history of things for a particular contacts
- Has customizable icons can be mapped to each entry and can be sorted on
- Has more views of all the data than the standard applications provide
- Fetches a weather forecast on sync
- Has a good desktop component
Cons
- Has become very large over the past few years
- Has lots of features that I don’t use
- Requires extra files on the Palm, and an extra conduit for syncing
- Many of the “extra” features of Agendus have become part of the standard Palm applications
Why Did I Buy This?
When I first got into PDAs, I was using the Daytimer software to manage my stuff. When Daytimer decided to no longer support their product (bad decision, in my opinion), I found that the standard Palm apps couldn’t do all of what I needed: namely linking appointments and people, and recurring to-dos. I bought Agendus when it was Action Names, so I’ve been a user for a long time. I also loved the icons, because they give me a visual indicator of appointments, and allow another level of sorting within categories.
How I Use This ?
Agendus is my workhorse. My calendar is in here, which contains my hard landscape items. (Note: I only use the calendar for timed/dated appointments and for all-day events; I use dated entries on my to-do list for next actions that need to be done on a certain day). My next action lists reside in the to-do section and I use the categories as my contexts. I use the memos for on-the-go reference material. I link contacts to to-dos and appointments and use the notes section for my agenda notes. I use the icons per category on appointments to let me know if something applies to me, or someone else in my family. I use the icons in the to-dos and memos to help me sort and to provide visual clues for contexts.
The key to successful implementation of Flylady is to establish habits. So when I am working on a new habit (and I only do one at a time), I put this as a recurring to-do, and check it off every day as I complete it. I also keep reference materials for the system in here – emergency contact information, lists of instructions for the babysitter and cat sitter, and most recently, the information I would need for evacuation.
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