To-Do Lists Organize Digital Lives & Businesses

The lists of Anna Talerico's life used to be bound up in a three-ring binder. Client projects, daily to-dos for the office, even her two children's extracurricular activities and "honey-dos" were jotted on more than 30 pages in a notebook that never left her side.

Then earlier this year, Talerico subscribed to Basecamp, an online list and project management service. Now, Talerico posts her lists to the password-protected services, and her 14 employees do the same. Her employees can see and manage client lists and project lists. Several, like Talerico, input their personal to-dos to be visible only to them, though they appear on computer screens next to company activities. The goal: maximize efficiency, limit scheduling conflicts.

"The lists in my notebook were part of a system, but it was unmanageable," said Talerico, executive vice president of ion interactive Inc., a Boca Raton strategic Web development firm.

Online services now allow list-making that can be shared by teams in an office or working from a Web-enabled computer anywhere in the world. Desktop software and handheld devices like the Blackberry or Palm also offer task lists; often the two can be synchronized.

Services like Basecamp offer features ideal for businesses that serve clients. Milestones, deadlines, project descriptions and other information can be typed in and uploaded to the service. A message board allows for idea collaboration. Clients and projects can be grouped in categories and sublists.

The slimmed-down free version called Ta-Da List just offers lists, again password-protected and accessible from any computer on the Web. Because the software is Web-based, ion employees, contractors and clients throughout the country can log on to enter or cross off list items, or view a project's status.

For tracking items in a calendar format, the company uses Apple's iCal system, because many workers use Macintosh computers. The entries and milestones from the to-do list are entered into iCal and published to the Web, and viewable from any Web-enabled computer, Talerico said.

What they like about Basecamp, she said, is how it's simple and unburdened by more features than necessary. In fact, that was the design when creator 37 Signals LLC launched the product last year, said owner Jason Fried. Think of it as a simple Windows "Notepad" application, only for project management.

"Our product is simpler and does less," he joked. "It's not about being minimalist. It's just that people don't need some fully featured service. They just want to make and share some lists."

Truth be told, Anna Talerico remains a fan of paper. Each Monday, she prints out some 15 pages of the upcoming week's list from Basecamp to carry with her when not at a computer. She'll add new items in pen, and enter them on her list when she returns to the office.

"I still have that feeling of paper. I can jot or check off do-tos," she said. "But at least all my lists are in one place, instead of 10 scraps of paper."

Learn more at Basecamp (www.basecamphq.com) and Ta-Da (www.37signals.com), UseTask (www.usetasks.com), @Task (www.attask.com), Project Insight (www.projectinsight.com), Microsoft Outlook or Project (www.microsoft.com), www.airset.com, Sage Software's Act! and task list (www.act.com).

Jeff Zbar, the ChiefHomeOfficer.com, is a speaker, writer and expert on alternative officing. He is the author of Teleworking & Telecommuting: Strategies for Remote Workers and Their Managers (Made E-Z Products, 2002); Safe@Home: Seven Keys to Home Office Security (FirstPublish 2001) and Your Profitable Home Business (on CD-ROM from Made E-Z Products). Visit his Web site to subscribe to Home Office Success Stories, his free electronic magazine on home business and teleworking.