You're busy. Your time is precious. Luckily, you've got a Mac. Follow us through a typical day and discover 10 ways that your Mac can save you time and trouble - and provide you with some entertainment, as well.

8:30 a.m. - Precommute Prep Time

Map out your day. Juggling balls, herding cats - whatever you call it, we're all a little too busy. Stikkit isn't like those "other” daily organizers that just add another plate (or cat) to your day. It's a Web 2.0 program that runs in Safari or Firefox and works like sticky notes, providing just the basics: what you need to do, by when, and with whom.

> Stikkit freeware

Create sticky notes that help you stick to your program.

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9:00 a.m. - Leaving Home (Bye-bye...)

Have your Mac answer the phone while you're out. PhoneValet 5 is a USB-powered answering machine that announces calls, lets you access your messages remotely, and even works with networked PCs. PhoneValet Podcast, which costs an additional $49.95, is one of the best ways to record a call for a podcast interview because the sound quality is better (by far) than what you'd get recording to tape, and you can easily post the AIFF files - or one of five other supported formats - to your website.

Yes, we admit that PhoneValet is a bit pricey for an answering machine, but for some reason we feel better buying this cool gadget than paying the phone company 20 bucks a month in perpetuity for voicemail service.

> PhoneValet 5 - $169.95 (plus $49.95 for PhoneValet Podcast)

Have your Mac screen calls for you.

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