Description:
If you're already familiar with the ubiquitous Franklin Covey method of life management, then the concepts behind Franklin Planner Software will seem pretty basic. But if you're new to Franklin Covey's often cultish time management system, this PIM has some surprises for you. Franklin Planner Software includes standard PIM features, such as a task list, appointment schedule, and contact manager, and also includes its unique Values, Roles, Mission Statement, and Goals modules. Franklin Planner Software professes that to manage your time you must first learn to manage your life. Given this basic concept, the program urges you to first discover what matters most to you, then plan and act on the established concepts. The program consists of wizards that walk you through the creation of values, goals, roles, and finally, your personal mission statement. One of the most useful elements of this program is the Long Range Goal planner, which will allow you to assign actual dates to tasks you need to complete for your objective. These tasks and reminders will appear in your calendar on the assigned date. While these tools might be appealing to some, others may find it hokey. Luckily, you can easily skip these features and go straight to the meat of the program, the PIM itself. Inputting tasks into the Daily Task List is simple, and you can also link tasks from your Master Task List to a daily calendar. The task list uses Franklin Covey's A1, A2, B1, B2 prioritization method that becomes slightly cumbersome after extended use. Another great feature is the ability to print out your appointment schedule, daily notes, and task list to either plain paper or onto paper that will fit into Franklin Covey's paper planners. Printing is less than intuitive. It took us several tries to get the tasks to actually print on the form--you must first select Options in printing and select the items you want to print before they'll appear. Some other notable features include the ability to hot-sync information from your PIM to any of the Palm Connected organizers (in fact, Franklin Covey actually sells its own version of each Palm bundled with Franklin Planner Software). The utility also includes some limited multiple user capabilities--families, for example, can all access their own personal version of the software from the same single program; however, you must enter information separately into a shared file for it to become available to all users. If you're in the market for a new PIM and want something that will help you discover basic personal concepts, check out Franklin Planner Software. But if you're really just in need of a simply task list, contact manager, and appointment schedule, you might be better off with a less expensive PIM. --Ara Jane Olufson
| 
