That's why I have a whiteboard. It's CONVENIENT! The very thing people look for (and rarely find) in electronics is the very thing the whiteboard has delivered all along.

The whiteboard is truly a useful tool. It really can't be beat as far as organization is concerned. It's always in front of you (except, of course, when it's not). You can color code your entries, as shown in Figure C. For example, you can use red to indicate "urgent". I don't recall those electronic thingies having color. Or you can just use color to break up your to-do's into different categories.

FIGURE C

My whiteboard isn't limited to just 15 categories. I can have as many as I want, as well as unlimited font sizes. Click picture for a larger image.

You can change your system at any time. Sometimes I'll draw boxes for each category of thing I have to do and the steps I need to follow to accomplish it. If I decide that I don't like that system, all I have to do is erase it and create a completely new system instead. And with a whiteboard, there's no wondering what folder or window you put something in. It's all right in front of you.

Of course, there are other benefits. Has a whiteboard ever run out of memory? Of course not! You just write smaller if it gets full. If you change your mind, you just erase it. No need to tap at things with a little stylus -- no windows, or options or choices to clutter your mind. Just erase it.

There's also the idiot factor, meaning that, personally, if it's smaller than a monitor, I'll lose it. I can't remember the last time I lost my whiteboard, yet it's still portable. Who says small is better? And then there are batteries. Did you ever hear of a whiteboard needing batteries? Those little computers do. Yep, and that takes skill. In fact, I know someone whose device loses its memory every time he changes the batteries. Why won't he just use his whiteboard? Pride? Is he too cool?

A whiteboard thinks of your comfort, propping you up when you need a break. And a whiteboard's feelings don't get hurt. My friend Heather McDaniel, PalmPower's news editor, just loves her Palm device. Yet even though she favors another organizer, the whiteboard shown in Figure D is willing to lend a hand.

FIGURE D

A whiteboard thinks of your comfort, propping you up when you need a break. Click picture for a larger image.

Speaking of too cool -- what could possibly be cooler than a whiteboard? It's so dramatic! When you walk into a meeting with whiteboard in tow, you not only enter -- you make an ENTRANCE, like I do in Figure E. There's something about the white surface and bright colors that says "look at me, I have something important to say!!!". And if you don't, you can at least become really popular (or really fired, depending on where you work) by bringing it in blank and suggesting a rousing game of hangman.

FIGURE E

You won't fade into the back of meetings when you make an entrance with your whiteboard. Click picture for a larger image.

A whiteboard can also be the perfect therapist. In a foul mood you can write all the nasty things you want about your boss on your whiteboard and no one will be the wiser. (not that I would even think about doing that, but I'm sure someone's boss is less perfect than mine is). In fact, you can draw pictures to go with them in all sorts of pretty colors (black and red are great for the guillotine fantasy). Vent, get it out, erase it. A whiteboard can keep a secret.