Advanced Topics in Reminders and To Do Lists
When my friend Emily solicited LIFE HACKS from her followers on Twitter, I tried to think of something that I get a lot of value of that but that isn’t widely known.
Apple’s Reminders app is that for me.
I admit it’s a little funny to call using a tool for its intended purpose a life hack (it’s not exactly using a clothes hanger to cinch curtains in a hotel room) but I had a couple folks requesting to hear more of how I use it so I figured I’d write up my approach and some of the advanced techniques.
But before I do, I just want to flag that this approach to organizing your life is not for everyone. I’m the kind of person that builds spreadsheets for baking bread, and I know that’s not exactly how everyone would approach bread, so your personal appetite for these tips and tricks may really vary.
This approach is merely something I’ve honed over a decade of using this incredible piece of software. It’s also software that is made native for iOS. My guess is there’s equivalent Android software available, but some of these more advanced techniques may not be as available.
The productivity / life hack / TODO list world is full of people and software telling you some system is going to change your life, and the truth is, a lot of it just boils down to personality and will power and the actual tool doesn’t matter that much. Even so, there are some neat features of Apple’s Reminders that can make your life a lot easier.
My “Recurring” List
By now you’ve probably gotten used to recurring calendar events – e.g. that Tuesday Product Meeting that is set to repeat until the heat death of the universe.
But did you know the Reminders app offers the same kind of advanced repeating functionality for an individual task?
You might be saying “Oh, well I just put reminders for certain things I need to do in my calendar.”
Your calendar is the wrong tool for the job for a number of reasons, the main being that it is very easy to overlook an event or dismiss a reminder in your calendar without thinking about it, never to see it again.
Using the Reminders app ensures the task remains visible until you clear it.
Here’s a subset of my recurring reminders (taxes, exercise, taking out the garbage) — they are basically permanent but repeat on different schedules:
Don’t forget to leave copious notes for myself for the most infrequent tasks. Stuff like URLs, account numbers, whatever you need to remember at the time when you need to execute it. A year is a long time to go between remembering the specific details for something.
Organizing your all your recurring events into one place is also helpful — it means they don’t clutter up your main To Do list.
My “The Future” List
Sometimes you want to remember something but not until next year.
These are not the kinds of things recur, but just reminders that you don’t want to forget that are in the very distant future. Again, you might be using your calendar for this kind of thing (“Drop a line to Eric in March about hanging out again”, etc.) but Reminders is really the right tool.
Keeping these tasks in “The Future” list is really just a way of not letting them clutter up your immediate To Do list or anywhere else.
Location Aware
This is where your cellphone can work magic.
Has anyone ever recommended a hole-in-the-wall dumpling place in a city you’ve always wanted to visit? What are the chances you’ll remember when you eventually make it to the city?
Reminders allows you to create a reminder that will trigger based on your location any where in the world. The trick is to make the radius of the geotagged reminder very large, so it’ll go off if you’re anywhere near that place. Tap and drag the solid blue circle out to increase the radius.
I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been pleasantly reminded by my past self to do something in a new place. This kind of reminder is also particularly good for the “Let me know if you’re ever in Miami” friends you happen to make— sometimes texting an acquaintance when you visit their city can change your life.
I put these reminders in my “The Future” list.
One note: the user experience for finding and setting a reminder’s location can be kind of janky. It’s improved a bit in iOS 14, but dragging the radius and saving the location can be fussy. (Apple, if you read this, please make this feature better. Thanks.)
Shared Lists a.k.a. Embarrassingly parallel shopping
Ever end up at a grocery store with someone else and realize it’s probably best to delegate half the list to the other person? Divide and conquer, right?
Sharing a list in Reminders is the way to do this.
It sounds simple, but when you’re both checking off items in real time you’ll be surprised how much faster things go – no more “Did you remember to get the Edamame?” inquisitions at checkout. Embarrassingly parallel shopping gets even more fun with large groups planning complicated trips to different stores.
I know I tend to buy the same stuff over and over again despite always trying new recipes, so the next trick is a really useful for taking some of the mental load off of restocking your pantry.
Here’s how it works: before you head out the door to a store, use the “Show Completed” list to uncheck your regular groceries before you go shopping. Then check them off once you pick up the item in the store.
I find it’s really nice to have a historical list of older things I’ve shopped for to jog my memory in case I want to revisit something I’ve enjoyed in the past.
Backlogs
This one is super straight forward: similar to the location specific reminders, I like to use a specific list for film, TV, game, food, etc. recommendations.
Mix and match these lists with location specific reminders (e.g. a reminder to check out a new gallery to visit the next time your phone realizes you’re in New York) and then you’re really cooking with gas.
Every so often I’ll spend some time converting these into Wish Lists / to Watch lists on iTunes (or whatever service) so that I have a pre-stocked easy to use list to browse when I want to watch something new.
Pre-departure Checklist
This is where the “Show Completed” trick really shines: I’ve found having a list of tasks I always do before I leave on a trip is a way to really cut down on those “Oh no! I forgot to …” moments in the cab ride to the airport.
Just uncheck each one you do as you’re preparing to leave and you’ll have a neat organized list of stuff that can really save you some mental fatigue while packing. Some of this stuff is really obvious, but sometimes it’s the obvious stuff that you need reminding of the most. Checklists save lives, after all.
Birthdays
A couple of years ago I quit Facebook. One of its last remaining utilities was helping me remember friend’s birthdays and I meant to transition everyone to a Reminders list, but only got a handful done. Even so, it’s been nice to have a short list of birthdays to check out every time I worry I forgot someone’s birthday.
Fin
That’s about it! If you have any fun tips and tricks with reminders, let me know here or on Twitter.
And to everyone at Apple who works on this wonderful piece of software: thank you. It’s the kind of thankless but essential software that makes the world a better place.
