This week's App Smart column talked about apps that help you organize and remember important tasks. Smartphones are great for storing to-do lists and reminding you of the items on them, a big help  if, like me, this is something you're not very good at naturally.
Here are some additional apps and systems on smartphones you can use.
One I use is Apple's voice-recognition assistant Siri. It's easy to ask Siri to, for example, remind you to book a table for dinner on Thursday. It's even smart enough to remind you to buy milk when you arrive at the supermarket - as you drive up to the store, your iPhone will chime to remind you. All the reminders are listed in the Reminders app on the phone, and though it's not as sophisticated as dedicated to-do list apps, it's powerful enough for a short list of daily tasks.
You can even set Siri up so it activates automatically when you put the phone to your ear - perfect if you suddenly remember an important to-do item that needs a reminder.
Gtasks, free on Android, is a front end for Google's own Tasks app. It may appeal to you if you're a fan of Google's Web apps for home or business use. It is similar to many other to-do apps on smartphones, but it has the obvious benefit of  hooking directly into your Google account so you can the see your data on your PC.
And if you're a fan of doing things the old-school way, you can always fire up a note-making app on your iPhone or Android device and type in a to-do list. Once you've done each task, you can delete it or mark it with a star or in some other fashion. These apps aren't going to sound an alarm to remind you of an item, or keep track of time for you, but you may find that their more labor-intensive nature helps ingrain the list in your memory.
