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I use Life Balance for my todo list. It runs on both Windows and Palm OS for me and there is also a Mac version. I like it because it has a hierarchical structure so I can manage both single tasks as well as projects. Each task also has a place associated with it. This allows one to see all tasks that are relevant at home, at work, when running errands, etc. You can also set priorities at any level in the hierarchy to change the ordering of the tasks so it can help you determine what to do next.

I read in some forums about the software Life Balance, which sounds like you're describing. You tell it what percentage of time you want to spend on certain things, and it will schedule it for you.

I've never used this, nor know much about it. I've been following the forums on the book Getting Things Done, and some people have liked it.

After years of PDAs, I still like the simplicity of a pen on pencil. Flexable, too!

You might be interested in Llamagraphics' LifeBalance method, then. It think it lets you do hierarchical tasks with changing priority levels. Haven't tried it (as mentioned, I maintain a much simpler organizer), but it sounds like the way you work.

Several others have recommended Life Balance, and that is my choice too. LB follows a philosophy of assigning priorities to different parts of your life in order to bring things into balance. So, for example, if you feel that work is taking too much time out of your life you lower the priority for work all work tasks are accoringly moved to a lower place on the list according to home life and any other categories.

LB is hierarchical, so you can schedule tasks so that they don't show up until subtasks are complete.

While I mentioned the LB philosophy of balance, I have started using David Allens Getting Things Done approach. Life Balance works with it quite well and actually helps to keep me doing it.

I have both Palm and PC versions of Life Balance. the two synchronize so I can use either one. When I bought the Palm version it was the most expensive piece of Palm software I had bought. I begrudged them the money, but I'm hooked on the program. I have since bought the desktop version, which is easier to use when I'm at my PC.

Life Balance uses a structured outline with relative weighting to generate a dynamic ToDo list on the fly, with remarkable accuracy and helpfulness. It is available for PalmOS, MacOS and Windows.

Weighting is based on (roughly) how much you've already accomplished in the top-level category, how important the task is relative to its project, and where you are at the moment.

Each item is assigned an importance level, which is relative only the task above it. This means a task that is critical to the success of a minor project does not show up on the top of your to do list. That part is a big seller for me, as Life Balance does away with needing to rank all your tasks on a simple 1-5 (for example) scale.

The top levels of your outline are assigned relative priorities to one another, which means that when a category hasn't had tasks in its section finished, the importance of all its tasks rise slightly, as the days go by. This is a manifestation of the idea of Balance.

Life Balance has its own sort of organizational philosophy, but works extremely well with Allen's Getting Things Done approach, as well as Covey's First Things First. In fact, it allows you to meld the two quite well.

I am both horribly disorganized and very cheap, and have tried many different ToDo lists and organizers. The combination of Life Balance on my Palm Pilot and desktop was so clearly worth it to me that I only hesitated briefly before deciding to shell out the money for it.

Others have said--and I agree--that Life Balance should be evaluated for at least a few weeks in order for you to really see its value, since it uses your accomplishments as part of its prioritizing algorithm.

No, I don't work for the company, but after using this program for the past few months I definitely have a better grasp on my ToDos. Actually getting them done is another story--Life Balance doesn't force you to finish the things at the top of your list... But I do agree that what appears at the top indeed belongs there!

As an interesting footnote, Life Balance was originally developed for the Apple Newton, so its been around for a while.

Try LifeBalance, its a pretty good to-do list tool, it has outlining capability and automatically manages the task list for you. Its available at www.llamagraphics.com

Check out Life Balance. It is the first to-do manager that I've been able to stick with, and use successfully.

Life Balance is a neat piece of software for Palm handhelds. It is billed as "the to do list for real life". For every item, there is a simple slider that lets you set its relative importance. Life Balance helps you see what is most important, and what is most possible at any given time. Those who have used it seem to really like it. It's more than just a planner - it intends to help you improve your quality of life.
More detailed info is available, and it uses Apache software.

Life Balance is a neat piece of software for Palm handhelds. It is billed as "the to do list for real life". For every item, there is a simple slider that lets you set its relative importance. Life Balance helps you see what is most important, and what is most possible at any given time. Those who have used it seem to really like it. It's more than just a planner - it intends to help you improve your quality of life.
More detailed info is available, and it uses Apache software.

If you're serious about to-dos, take a look at Life Balance. It will not only maintain your to-do list, but help you prioritize it and show you (in pie charts) how you've been spending your time.

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--Stuart