It’s even easier to get organized

New York —- Need help getting organized in 2009?

There are plenty of new tools to help, says Standolyn Robertson, president of the National Association of Professional Organizers, which sponsors Get Organized Month every January.

Some suggestions from the experts on how to keep track of everything from schedules to finances:

Schedules

There are lots of products to help with organizing schedules, from Web calendars to Go Mom planners. Most professional organizers recommend an erasable wall planner and assigning a color to each family member.

Make sure the board is in a place where everyone can see it, says Alicia Rockmore, CEO of Buttoned Up Inc. in Los Angeles. Children over the age of 8 should write in their own schedules, so the board should not be too high, she said.

For coordinating with people who don’t all live in the same house, such as divorced parents, use a service like Google Calendar, says Karin Stewart, president of Daily Mastery in Hoboken, N.J.

Heather Cabot, 38, Web Life Editor for Yahoo recommends www.cozi.com, a Web service that helps families manage schedules, shopping, to-do lists and chores.

Diet and exercise

Counting calories, carbs and fat grams can be annoying.

But several Web sites and gadgets promise to make the process less tedious, such as the online calorie counter www.myfooddiary.com or the Cal-Carb Clicker, a small device that tracks calories, carbs, fat grams or whatever you are counting.

“The USDA has a database and virtually all of the calorie counters use that as the base,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, chief science officer for Weight Watchers. “Then often, they’ll add to it.”

For people on the go, Sensei for Weight Loss (www.sensei.com) transforms a cellphone into a virtual dietitian, sending personalized menus and shopping lists. And Weight Watchers Online subscribers and eTools members can search and calculate point values on their BlackBerry, iPhone or Windows Mobile 6 device.

For exercise, many calorie counting sites include an exercise diary. If you want to log more details, such as reps, weight, distance and even heart rate, check out www.gyminee.com.

Finances

There’s no need to spend any money to track finances, says Jean Chatzky, author of the upcoming “The Difference: How Anyone Can Prosper in Even the Toughest Times” (Crown Business, $24.95).

“You can do it with pencil and paper, simply making notes of everything you spend on a daily basis and then putting those expenditures into categories once a week,” she says.

Some traditionalists recommend the envelope system, says Amber Kostelny-Cussen, president of Amber’s Organizing in Chicago. Set a cash budget, put the cash in an accordion plastic envelope dividing it into categories. When the cash is gone, you’re done spending in that category, she says.

If you want to use software, Kostelny-Cussen recommends Quicken. You can also create a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, she says.

Reminders

If you keep forgetting to pack your son’s lunch or take your medicine, there are plenty of things you can do besides sticking Post-it-notes everywhere.

Stacy DeBroff, 47, founder of momcentral.com, suggests peel and stick chalkboard panels (www.amazon.com). Andrea Cousens, 38, a mom of four in Naperville, Ill., sets Outlook reminders. Stewart’s Outlook calendar and cellphone are synchronized, so she gets reminders even when she’s on the go.

Several Web sites and gadgets also make it easy to remember things. From www.ohdontforget.com, you can receive free text message reminders to cellphones instantly or at a date and time specified.

A key-chain digital memo recorder records voice messages up to 20 seconds long. And the e-pill Cadex Medication Reminder Watch (www.epill.com) has 12 alarms, including reminder text messages up to 36 characters. The alarm beeps every three minutes for up to four hours until the person presses a button to turn it off. Use the watch for other reminders as well.