Where Do You Set Your Reminders (TO-DO List) ? What App/Platform Do You Use for That?

Austin 316 on 19/05/2015 - 12:20

What is your preferred method for setting reminders of your TO-DO list? I am very much dependent on my phone when it comes to basic tasks like paying bills, enquiring about something at some place, birthdays/anniversaries, etc. Basically, whenever something comes to my mind, I save it in my phone (with an appropriate action date) on the spot as I tend to forget it after a week.

The problem is my phone stopped working over the weekend and I have lost all of my reminders now :( I know I should have a backup of it, but its not going to help now that I have lost all the data from my phone. I can sync the reminders to my gmail (I had an android phone), but I have lots of junk emails and other data which I don't want to see on the phone, so I don't sync it.

For something very important, I use outlook reminders at work. I was curious in knowing what are the better ways of keeping a track of your to-do list. Please share your experiences so that I don't run into a situation like this again where I loose all my important reminders.

Thanks for your answers in advance.

Education & Work

Comments

  • retiredfeline on 19/05/2015 - 12:30
    +2

    A cloud based calendar, e.g. Google, Yahoo, etc.

  • sempro on 19/05/2015 - 12:47
    +2

    the old fashion way…. post-it notes

    Just stock up on when they are on OzBargain.

  • pyramid on 19/05/2015 - 12:48
    +2

    Google notes.

  • aj3000 on 19/05/2015 - 12:48
    +10

    Google Calendar & Google Keep

    • Austin 316 on 19/05/2015 - 14:02

      Do you access that from your phone? Do you take regular back-ups of it? Can you just sync your reminders without syncing emails and contacts?

      • retiredfeline on 19/05/2015 - 14:15

        Sure you can just sync the calendar, not the email. As for backups, if you are worried about that, you can download any data that's in your Google account from Google Takeout. There are presumably automated ways to download too.

      • aj3000 on 19/05/2015 - 14:36
        +2

        I can access it from Phone or laptop. There is no manual "sync" required since it is all automatically synced to the cloud. Have not taken any backups. Not too stressed about it. But if you are, there are ways to export your Google cloud data using Google Takeout.

        Google Keep also has a Chrome web app which can can be accessed via the Quick Launch bar of your laptop. It also support location and time based reminders. For example, "Remind me to buy Milk when I'm at Coles".

  • CloudJumper on 19/05/2015 - 13:04
    +1

    Have tried apps / outlook tasks / etc but to be honest I prefer old school method… come into work each day and write up to do list… its very satisfying to put a cross through something that's done and throw away the page at end of day once its complete.

  • strikerzebra on 19/05/2015 - 13:05

    Iphone app - Alarmed - Reminders & Timers and it's free.

    You can set reminders to pop up every minute, hour, have recurring ones, it has the lot.

  • pjetson on 19/05/2015 - 14:30

    Google Calendar for appointments and significant dates, Business Calendar to display the Google Calendar data on my home screen, and Any.do for tasks that need to be done.

  • scotty on 19/05/2015 - 15:00
    +1

    "Okay Google. Remind me to buy more Eneloop next Tuesday"

    Google Now Reminders get saved to the cloud and can be accessed via phone or Chrome browser.

    • retiredfeline on 19/05/2015 - 15:08
      +1

      Shouldn't that be "Okay Google. Remind me to check OzBargain for Eneloop deals next Tuesday"? lol

      • scotty on 20/05/2015 - 09:22
        +7

        Checking OzBargain — do you even need reminder for that?!! It's already in muscle memory.

        • fredblogs on 20/05/2015 - 18:07
          +4

          switch to browser, alt-D, o, enter

        • kolorijo on 21/05/2015 - 08:36
          +1

          I am checking OZB 20-30 times a day…

  • Juvi on 19/05/2015 - 15:19

    Google Calendar is great for putting reminders for bills due with a notification to be sent a couple of days before so you can put in the payment. As I get a bill on my email I add the reminder to the calendar.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&h…

    Evernote is always one of the first things I download onto any phone I'm using. Can make easy lists tickboxes, and general notes - can use it in many different ways, and again syncs between devices - for example - wife might see a recipe she likes on the laptop copies and paste the ingredients onto Evernote with tickboxes. It comes up on my phone as I'm coming home from work and I can stop in on shops by the ingredients, get home, she uses the app on the tablet/ipad to read the recipe and put the meal together..
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&h…

    Gtasks - is another great to do list, which syncs with your gmail and android.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dayup.gtas…

    If you're getting buried in junk mail and having trouble organising your emails - inbox by gmail may be worth having a look at. Takes a little getting used to and setting up, but once done is definitely worth it.
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.and…

    Good luck.

  • oringal on 19/05/2015 - 15:23
    +2

    Wunderlist and Any.do are some of the popular favorites that i know of.

    • rbrb on 20/05/2015 - 13:52
      +1

      Wunderlist is great. I use it daily. They have apps for all platforms and the interface is very nice. Best of all it is free.

  • FirstNameLastName on 19/05/2015 - 19:49

    android jorte app.. really good and can customize it.
    however i need a second app called calendar event reminder (or something) that makes the phone sound an alarm when jorte triggers a scheduled reminder. This way it will actually wake me up, if it's an early morning thing.

  • bobwokeup on 19/05/2015 - 21:24
    +1

    I use Evernote which synced with iPhone, Mac and even the work PC. It's good for scanning documents, create lists with tags per note, quickly copy web pages, add reminders. So many features I'm still finish and that's using the free version.

  • PVA on 19/05/2015 - 21:38

    google keep is great and can sync.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/05/2015 - 22:35
    +1

    Wunderlist for my todo list.

    nudgemail for my reminders - www.nudgemail.com

  • zerocritical on 20/05/2015 - 07:33

    I use Todoist. Pretty neat and syncs everywhere. Has outlook, chrome add ons, phone apps, etc. So basically you can add / view the tasks from anywhere.

    https://en.todoist.com

    • misu p on 21/05/2015 - 14:00

      I can recommend todoist too, everybody that I have shown it to started using it and it is still using it. What I really like about it is inserting dates for the reminders (you can do a shitload of combinations).

  • ammipod on 20/05/2015 - 07:58
    +2

    Wunderlist for to do list and reminders, google calendar for appointments

  • Ozsheila on 20/05/2015 - 08:23

    alarmed app for reminders - v easy and quick to use
    wunderlist - for lists; mainly shopping at different stores eg aldi, Costco, Asian supermarket, etc
    birthday app for birthdays and anniversaries (use the reminder function for a week before date as well as on day)

    all on my iphone 6+

  • jubz on 20/05/2015 - 09:38
    +1

    Wunderlist for Todo list
    Reminder- Google calender on Samsung phone app/Web. In google calender for reminder you can send SMS so it will automatically send you SMS free of charge and you won't forget.

    • tyler.durden on 21/05/2015 - 10:37
      -1

      if you have google calendar setup in your phone, you don't need sms

      it would popup in notification

  • Bystander on 20/05/2015 - 10:03
    +2

    Parts of my system have been mentioned above so excuse the repetition. Like many people here I’ve used Wunderlist, Any.Do, and GTasks and they’re all good. But in the end, like many others, I find using Google Calendar, Google Keep, and Gmail works best for me. I have different calendars for work and personal. Calendar events are set by default to send an email.

    My inbox gets a lot of to do and reminder messages and it could get overwhelming but I found a script that I added to my Google Drive
    and it makes my inbox just so much easier to deal with. The script on the link creates 7 days worth of snooze folders. I work on a 14 day cycle so I replaced the two instances of 7 with 14. If I want to snooze something for more than 2 weeks or less than a day I use Inbox. I tried using Inbox as my primary email client when it first came out but returned to the Gmail app. The only function I use Inbox for is it's inbuilt snooze function which isn't available on the Gmail app.

    As well as snoozing when I'm using a desktop or laptop I use keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately keyboard shortcuts aren't fully implemented on Inbox yet.

    Using these together or on their own is simple. I like to only see the emails that I'm going to deal with today, anything else is just clutter and the target is always an empty or nearly empty inbox by the end of the day. So first thing in the morning I have a look at my inbox decide what I'm going to do today and decide what I'm going to do another day. Using keyboard shortcuts and snooze together makes the whole process super easy and fast. J and K move up and down the list, X selects items. Select as many as you want tap V for move, and then the number of days later you would like the email to return. It's a similar process on the phone.

    If I want to make a quick reminder I usually email myself. And if I’m driving or too busy to type I use netmemo. The free version of netmemo allows recordings up to a minute and there’s actually quite a lot you can say in 60 seconds. Most of my messages are less than 10 seconds. Open the app and it starts recording automatically, tap to stop recording and then tap to send. So it only takes 3 taps and the message is saved and queued up for the next time I connect to the net when it will be sent to my inbox. The mp3 recordings play natively in Gmail.

    Google Keep is good for keeping lists and location based reminders.

    All of the above happens in the cloud, so it doesn't need to be backed up, and everything is synced to all devices.

    With regard to your comment about Gmail you say you have lots of junk email and data you don’t want to see on your phone. It’s relatively easy to set up filters or make use of customised tabs.

    Overall I still sometimes long for the deep satisfaction that comes from manually running a line through a completed task on a sheet of paper but I do find that this system is for me the most reliable and efficient.

  • anniecreebes on 20/05/2015 - 10:09

    Like lots of others I use gmail and google calendar on my PC and ipad and phone. They call sync so wherever you are you should be able to see a reminder pop up. You can set these days, hours or minutes before your appointment.

  • alexlim2000 on 21/05/2015 - 08:18

    I use trello both as GTD and to manage a small team across the globe. It is flexible, and intuitive enough to use (as easy as stick it notes).

    https://trello.com/

  • verio on 21/05/2015 - 08:29

    iOS app SmallTask, pretty damn simple and fast.

  • timohill on 21/05/2015 - 09:46

    Outlook Calendar (iPhone sync), to a small extent FaceBook Events, Notes (iPhone app), Reminders (iPhone app), Shop-Shop (iPhone app)

  • jee on 21/05/2015 - 11:16

    I was a big fan of Astrid until yahoo bought it and killed the app. i hate you yahoo

    Ever since, using Wunderlist which is nearly good. I keep the grocery list here and perform complete after shopping and perform un complete to revisit the list. My regular groceries are the same and saves me a lot of time. Also the list is shared with wife so whenveer she gets time and do the shopping, i get notified.

    For birthdays, rent, utlities, i registered in rememberthemilk website. Their app is ridiculously costly.. I get reminder emails whenever it is due.. works good for me.

    For work, yes.. write down in a physical notepad, new fresh page everyday..

  • MementoMori on 21/05/2015 - 11:42

    Evernote + the secret weapon

  • [Deactivated] on 21/05/2015 - 12:04

    Todoist

  • jar-unit on 21/05/2015 - 15:26

    OneNote, anyone else using this?

    • jubz on 21/05/2015 - 16:05

      I use OneNote every day, it really a great tool for note taking. However you can't set auto reminders in One Note.

  • BargainBob999 on 21/05/2015 - 15:45

    I tried almost all the good apps on mobile but for me it never worked. Use sticky notes where you can see them. I have a big white board in my apartment which I walk past to go to the kitchen. I have all the to do list and shopping list there. I on top of things now.

  • Osprey06 on 21/05/2015 - 16:21

    Largely been said before, but…

    Birthdays/significant dates/anniversaries are stored in Contacts - can record dates other than birthdays, like anniversaries etc.. Tell whatever calendar app you use to sync/display Contact anniversaries (and Facebook birthdays if you care to) and sync to your Google account and it doesn't matter if your phone dies.

    Google Keep is what I use for reminders and lists. Can use time based or location based reminders (e.g. arrive home and trigger reminder 'go and find [whatever]'). Again, sync to your Google account and it doesn't matter if your phone dies.

    I was hoping that Google Inbox would be an easier/better way of linking Gmail, lists, reminders etc. (basically Gmail and Keep merged together), but it's a PITA to use as an e-mail app and doesn't have enough functionality to replace Keep IMO.

  • welcomeUniverseWorld on 07/01/2019 - 12:47

    I have tried a lot of apps. I liked Notebook ; however, it is only iOS based and my current workplace uses windows. So, I have been searching. And, today I have started to use the apple reminder one. Seems nice. I only use the todo for my personal todo. I guess iPhone reminder will suffice.

    For calendar I use ios calendar and for work purpose use the outlook one that gets sync to my phone.

  • bobwokeup on 08/01/2019 - 12:34
    +1

    I use Wunderlist for all my reminders. I love it as you can have different lists (I have 9), you can attach files, recurring reminders, sub tasks, notes, etc. However I was upset to learn that Microsoft has done it again (Sunrise calendar on iOS) and bought it out to replace it with their To-Do which is average and they are closing down Wunderlist soon.

    Any suggestions on an app that is as good as Wunderlist?

    I used to use Todoist so might have to try that again if all else fails…

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