I also like a smart phone or PDA for lists and calendars. To get a handle on planning anxiety, though, you may want to write out three separate paper lists for where you want to be in one year, two years, five years. Then see what has to happen in the nearer term for the five-year plan to happen. You're already doing that, in terms of looking up courses and prerequisites. Once you see what you need, and the deadlines, you can move ahead. Sometimes colleges will let you sweet-talk them into taking your app for a summer course even though the official deadline has passed; depends on whether they've filled the course. Are there other programs that don't have exactly those prerequisites, or aren't as full?
And I like Infi's suggestion for day to day - small bites. Once you have an overview you can set priorities and accomplish one thing at a time. Cross that off and go on to the next.
You can do this.
