There are many goal-setting and planning programs available, and I've tested five of them in this article. At the end, I will summarize how to decide which program will be the best for you.

Projects
As the name implies, Projects is project management software. What are goals, though, but projects? Projects is clear and intuitive, and freeware to boot, so it's a great place to start. Projects is Free Software provided under the terms of GNU General Public License (GPL).

Figure A shows the project entry screen. As you can see, it's plain, but still effective. You enter the start date, and either the end date or the number of days for the project. Set a state for the project (for example, whether the project is active or not) and assign it to a category. The ToDo tab allows you to enter the steps to reach your goal. The entry dialog is very similar to the standard Palm ToDo entry form, which makes it easy to use.

FIGURE A

Projects has clear and well-designed screens. Click picture for a larger image.

There is also an overview screen, which shows you all the projects you have. You can also see all ToDo items on this screen if you choose.

Projects doesn't give any guidance on how best to break down your goals, nor does it have any focus on roles and values. It's not meant to, though. This is a program for the pure management of projects, and it fulfils this particular role very nicely. And you can't beat the price! We give Projects a 3 out of 5.

OUR RATING: 3 of 5

FIGURE B

Goal For It's goal creation screen is full without being cluttered. Click picture for a larger image.

All of the information about your goal is entered through this screen. List the reasons why you want to reach the goal, the steps to complete, and encouraging quotes to keep you motivated. You can also set reminders with alarms which bring you into Goal For It.