The most elegant tools are often the simplest. Here are some of my current favorites for getting organized. If your lifestyle requires you to juggle lots of tasks and ideas, I encourage you to check these out.
* The workflow chart from David Allen’s Getting Things Done. GTD is a system — a discipline, really — of managing your time more effectively. Allen has made a living out of selling all sorts of GTD-related seminars, conferences, books and tools, and there is a cult following as well. I mention this so that you know to ignore all that fancy stuff; the most useful bit, which I wholeheartedly recommend, is the workflow chart.
* PocketMod is a very easy-to-use tool that helps you create a small customized paper notepad. Yes, you read correctly: paper! Newfangled tech has a long way to go before it replaces paper.

* TiddlyWiki is a brilliantly simple note-taking / list-making app. I’ve played with it only a few hours, and already I’m very impressed. TiddlyWiki is easy to use, totally customizable, and portable. It supports search, tags, and text formatting. Notes (called “Tiddly’s”) can link to other notes in a web-like way. Plus it’s open-source, free, and secure, by virtue of running on your own PC. I’m now giving it a trial as my own personal notebook. (Vying to replace Notepad! This is a big deal, folks.) You can see a screenshot below of my own TiddlyWiki. I’ve customized the menu on the left — each item listed there is a note I created earlier –and I have the “Quotations” and “Research” notes open for viewing/editing in the middle of the page. Just hover over an item and click to edit. Wunderbar.