Using the status field

Use the “Status” and “Priority” settings to tell you where you will do the task.

To scroll through the selections, use the “Space” key

Sorting your tasks

Click on “Options” and choose “Due Date” as the way you want to sort your tasks.

Hide Completed Items

Click the track wheel and select “Hide Completed.” This will keep all of your completed tasks from continuing to show in your task list.

The search function of the Tasks

I have found the task list to be the weakest element of the BlackBerry. With a little thought, however, I have been able to make it work quite well for me. The strength I do find in the task list is its easy search capabilities.

When you go to Tasks and simply start keying in a word, you are automatically searching. With each keystroke, your list grows shorter. Finding any task on the list in a few seconds is a breeze.

Set the calendar view to "monthly"

After quite a bit of experimentation, I am sold on the "monthly" view. The main reason is that I can see the "big" picture. Even though a cannot see the text of any appointment, I can get a idea of how free or packed any day or week is with a single look at the monthly calendar.

Any day which has an "all-day appointment" is going to appear in bold. A series of dots just to the left of the calendar day lets me know if I have appointments and whether any particular appointment is near the beginning, middle, or end of the day.

When I am looking at the monthly calendar, I am exactly one click away from looking at today's daily view. By default, the cursor is going to be resting on today's square of the monthly calendar. By pressing the return key, I am now looking at today's "day view."

Navigating while looking at the monthly calendar is a breeze. If I roll the track wheel back and forth, I move through the month a day at a time. Here is the neat part--If I hold the "alt" key (lower left corner) and roll the track wheel, I go forward or back a week at a time. This trick makes it easy to move from month to month.

You can make the monthly calendar the default view. While you are looking at the calendar, click the trackwheel and choose "Options." For "Initial View," choose "Month."