Monique Powell, Gleaner Online Writer

This week we take a look at two simple Internet-based tools designed to help you save time and stay organised.

REMEMBER THE MILK

Remember the Milk (RTM) at www.rmilk.com is an online task manager that can help to organise your time and daily activities

It is a far cry from the garden-variety to-do lists you are likely to find in Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.

The fact that it is 100 per cent web based means you are neither bound to one computer, nor relegated to performing the time-wasting exercise of setting up multiple instances of the same lists on each computer you use.

RTM goes wherever you go, as long as there is an Internet connection.

The service also provides users with a fully functional mobile version which works well on just about any Internet-enabled cellphone, which makes it easy to stay organised even while you are on the go.

Getting started is simply a matter of taking a minute or two to sign up, and because the application's interface is so intuitive and easy to use, there are no new tricks to learn.

You can start reorganising your life almost immediately.

RTM has a wide range of useful features. At the very basic level it allows you to create and maintain multiple task lists, assign varying levels of priority to each task, and quickly and easily set due dates using 'natural language' - for example, 'next Tuesday' or 'every second Saturday'.

The two most noteworthy features, however, are its reminder system and its intelligent use of 'smart tags'. RTM will remind you of each task as often as you want. It can send reminders to your cellphone, your email inbox or via instant messaging, a very handy function for the absent-minded.

RTM allows you to spend less time fumbling through scattered paper-based to-do lists and more time actually getting things done.

Remember, all of this is completely free.

IGOOGLE

The iGoogle site, www.igoogle.com, is a personalised start page which acts as a roaming desktop of sorts.

Though not quite what you'd usually find on a list of productivity applications, use of these personalised start pages will undoubtedly result in a noticeable reduction in the amount of time spent browsing and page switching.

Google's trademark simplicity and ease of use is stamped clearly on this web application.

Simply configure your iGoogle, to be the start page for any number of computers you use. It will automatically give instant access to all your frequently accessed websites and tools each time you log onto the Internet.

Let's say you religiously visit a few specific websites each morning, for example, the website of your local newspaper, an international news portal, your email inbox, and that discussion forum you've started lurking around.

Instead of visiting these websites one after another, you would simply add a feed for each of these sites to your iGoogle desktop. A snapshot of the content on all these websites would then show up on a single page each time you load your browser.

This is sure to shave a few minutes off your morning routine. Take some time to play around with the various 'gadgets' listed on the iGoogle website and you will most certainly discover even more ways this simple web-based application can help you save time and increase your productivity.

monique.powell@gleanerjm.com