I have a system for keeping track of to-do's, active projects, projects I may want to start someday, etc. It's all managed on my computer, but I've always carried around a notebook that I can use for jotting something down quickly when it comes to mind.

I've never been completely happy with this for a couple of reasons. First, sometimes I either forget my notebook or I don't have an effective way of carrying it. And second, there are times that even a pen and paper aren't convenient enough, like when I'm driving down the freeway and an idea comes to mind.

I've tried other alternatives such as a handheld voice recorder and a cellphone with voice recording. The problem with those is that I often don't get the notes into my main tracking system, so they get forgotten anyway.

I've been using a website called Jott recently that has really made this simple.

Jott is basically a messaging system that will convert voice recordings into text and then email that text to you (or someone else if you want).

It has a toll-free number for the U.S. but it's only recently that they've added a local number that I could use with no long distance charges in Canada.

Now I can just call Jott and leave myself a reminder voice message, which is then converted into text and sent to me via email. The voice recognition has been excellent for me so far. I don't think I've had a single instance of their system not converting my messages properly.

The cool thing is that Jott recognizes the caller ID for your cell phone, so you don't have to enter any kind of passcode or anything. I just programmed it into my cell phone, and when I want to leave myself a reminder, I use the voice dialing on my cell phone to call Jott hands-free.

When I get back to my computer, there's an email with my reminder that I can easily add into my system for tracking all this stuff.

If you don't have an effective way to get new ideas written down (even if it's on cyber-paper) chances are you're forgetting things. And if you're not yet, wait until you get a little older