REMINDERS

I have been having another computer (sort of) problem and it gave me the idea for this column - reminders.

Among the problems I have is that I lose track of time and/or forget I have to do something.  I have found that reminders work great to deal with this.  It can also remind one to do something that one does not really want to do and tries to ignore.

I use my cell phone and my computer for reminders.  My husband had the wonderfulness known as a Palm Pilot.  Perhaps you remember them.  He could enter information into a calendar, a to do list, an address book, or a memo list in his Pilot and sync it with the calendar from Palm (or some other ones also if he preferred) and the same information was on the Pilot and on his computer.  I had liked the idea of a calendar on my computer, but since I don’t keep it on all the time it was inconvenient to use as I had to turn the computer on, so I did not keep my calendar on my computer.  He lent me his Pilot to see if it made if it made using a computer calendar convenient for me.  I used to be on the road locally and I was using a calendar book, which I could carry in my brief case, to keep track of my appointments.  I also recorded what I did in it - for work especially.  The Pilot was to replace it.  If I liked it we would buy me one also.

Well, I did like it.  Instead of buying one, however, he told me to keep his.  At work his secretary kept track of his appointments and at home I did, so he had found he had not needed it while I was using it.   We found a nice program to use with it (instead of the one which came with it) and I was happy.  It would go to work with me in my brief case.  If I was going someplace that I might need to make an appointment or otherwise see if I would be free on a certain date, I would bring it with me in my tee shirt pocket.  Then horrors, of horrors, Windows updated to Windows XP.  The calendar program I was using only worked through Windows Millennium.  I switched computers with husband when I needed a new one as his ran on same and that gave me some more years, but then I had to give in and upgrade to XP.  Luckily I had received for one of my laptops a program I had never used - Lotus Organizer.  I tried that and it was even better than what I had before and worked with the Pilot.  Problem solved.
                   
When we had to update our cell phones we got Palm Centros.  They also synced with the Organizer program, were smaller than the Pilot, and since I did not have to carry a separate cell phone - it fit in my pocket!  This worked terrifically for me until husband decided to get one of the “new” Android phones and I had to get a new cell phone when we split our plans.  He did some research and found out that the Blackberry Centro - new at that time - could be made to work with the Organizer with old Blackberry software.  I was back in business.  Next problem was the upgrade to Windows 7 - but husband managed to get the Organizer work with it also.  The Blackberry won’t work with the Organizer to do list, but since most of my to dos are in the house, I use the Centro for same, using it as a PDA and for its games.  I keep both the phones synced to the Organizer program and if I have to dos outside the house I put them in the calendar section so they sync to the Blackberry calendar.

So, what does this boring recitals of cell phones, Windows versions, and computer calendars have to do with real organizing?   I use the setup to remind me of what I have to do from day to day. How?
First, there is the obvious. I put any appointments I make into the calendar section.  Doctor appointment?  It’s in there and I can set a reminder to remind me in advance - weeks, days, hours, minutes before - of the appointment.  A regular monthly club meeting - I put them all in at once using the repeat feature.  Holidays?  I have the ones which occur on the same date every year (Christmas, New Year’s Day, etc.) set up to repeat annually, automatically.  Holidays which are on a certain day (3rd Monday of February for example) I also set up to repeat annually, also automatically.  The reason I love the Organizer (unfortunately no longer available as it is a “dead” program - but there are alternatives) is the variety of ways it allows the appointments (and to dos) to be entered and repeated.  (I could even repeat something every 13 days, for example, or every 3rd Tuesday, or every 5 months, or every 3rd year.)  Holidays that vary around (such as Easter) I will go in and set by hand for 5 years and then do so again towards the end of the 5 years.  Birthdays, anniversaries can be set in to repeat year to year.  Children’s dance classes, little league, religious classes, etc. can be in the calendar to remind you.

If we are going on a trip I enter the hotels, or more recently the campgrounds, into the calendar section.  For example I enter “John Hancock hotel, 4 nights, reservation number 345678A, $95 a night” on each night that we will be staying at the hotel.  Now, this tells me where we and when we will be sleeping, but can be confusing as we don’t always sleep where we are going and it is off from the days as it shows the nights at the hotel.  So I also enter, separately what we plan to do, in a general sense.  For the above it was a complete trip, for example, the first day would say “drive to Boston” - this would match the first night at the hotel as we would be staying there after driving to Boston.  The next 3 days would say “Boston” as that is where we plan to go, Boston and the surrounding area - these days match the remaining 3 nights of our stay.  Now the last day - which does not list a hotel for the night - we are still in Boston, but will be driving home and there is no hotel for the night and I will enter “drive home from Boston”.  So now I have a record of where we are staying and when - and all the reservation details, as well as what we plan to do each day.  If I want to keep a record of what we did each day, I make a to do (or memo, this is called different things by different programs) and list what I want a record of having done.


Second, I use the to dos (memos) to keep track of what has to be done.  Huh?  Well, every day at 6:45 pm a reminder rings in my PDA to remind me to stop doing what I am doing (I am generally on the computer or otherwise working in our office), backup the computer data, sync the phones and the computer, as it will soon be time to make dinner. I have a weekly reminder to write my entry for this blog on Tuesday nights and another - also weekly - to remind me to post it on Wednesday night.  And, yes, just like the clock we all set in the morning, it is not uncommon for me to reset the alarm on the to do to finish what I am doing at the computer or to write the blog on Wednesday if I can’t do it on Tuesday. 

A reminder can be set for any reason - husband does not like cold ketchup; on Thursday afternoons I have a reminder to take out chopped turkey to defrost and the ketchup to warm up.  I have reminders to do the laundry on Wednesday and Thursday nights, I have reminders to check my email once a day (I do not check it again unless I did not receive  an email I expected to receive or I sent one out and expect a reply.  My email does not come in automatically when it arrives.  This lets me not get stuck constantly dealing with email.)  I have reminders to change the towels in the house (twice a week in the bathrooms, three times a week in the kitchen) and to change the bedding once a week. Being a crazy accountant, I have things I do at the end of the month to sort of close out one month and start another - reminder for each. 

I also have standard times to set reminders on an ongoing basis.  I put in a reminder to make telephone calls at 1:30 pm. I put in a reminder for things to do in the late evening after dinner at 11 pm (we stay up late) and so on. 

I enjoy doing embroidery, but never seemed to get a chance to stitch on whatever (and there are always several) piece I am working on.  I have a Thursday night “to do” which sets aside the time for me to stitch then. 

Now, things which I will do while at the computer and while looking at the Organizer calendar, I do not necessarily set up with an alarm to remind me.  When I go to our office (also known as the second bedroom, lest you envision a huge business office) I turn on my computer, sync the 2 phones with Organizer (one at a time, first the Curve and then the Centro) and open Organizer.   I will first make any adjustments needed due to the syncing - I check off finished to dos for example.  I then look at the page, the same as one would look at any paper appointment book, and I see what I have to do and any appointments.  (Important appointments, such as doctors, will have an alarm a few days before, reset as we go closer to the appointment.)  I then know what needs to be done - starting with checking my email.  When I am finished at the end of the session, I back up my data, then the calendar data, and then sync again - again first the Curve and then the Centro.  As soon as I leave my computer and make any changes they no longer agree among the three - Curve, Centro, and computer, which is why I sync them when I start so they will all have any changes made and then again when I leave - so they will all be the same going forward until a change is made.

Third, I also use the address books in the three and sync them together so they all have the same information in them.  (My current problem is that the Centro has stopped syncing the address book.  Based on syncing it with my laptop - something normally only done when on a trip - I find that it is a software problem in my desktop computer and I will need to delete and reinstall the syncing software.)  Names, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.  There is also a section to list other information - great for remembering the doctor’s nurse’s name when one goes in or the name of a business associates wife - and if it is in your cell phone - you know you will always have it with you.  A campground we go to frequently has notes on which spaces we like and which we do not.

Lastly, all 3 have a memo section.  What is this?  Just for notes you need to make and have.  A shopping list.  The sizes that one needs for Christmas shopping.  Which sewing machine one has.  Which books on certain subject one has (stops one from buying a duplicate). Notes made while someplace on how to do something. I have a memo with a listing by state and main road of where there are places we have found to eat while in transit - due to the RV needing a bit more space in a parking lot I also note if there is a problem (“small parking lot”). I list the exit from the road.  Much cheaper (if one is not on a toll road) than eating at truck stops along the way.  So basically, a memo section can hold anything - no alarms though.            

Okay you are thinking, but unlike this crazy person who uses old stuff, I have an android or an Iphone and the software she mentioned no longer exists - what do I do?  Well, first every cell phone has an address book of some type, so that is easy to use.  I asked my husband and he told me that there is a calender in android phones and in Iphones (and I think I had one in my old flip phone) so that is available for you to use.  If there is no software for a calender or to dos or memos - there are apps.  I understand that Google has a calender and one can set it up to sync with an android or Iphone and then the info will be on your computer and on your phone.  Even better than just a sound alarm - you can have Siri or Cortana remind you of your appointments and things to do.  Even setting an alarm clock can help remind you to do something.       

Now, I know I get carried away with my reminders - but your cell phone can be a very useful tool to help you stay on track with what you have to or want to get done.  Want to sort stuff in the back room where it all just seems to have piled up?  Set a reminder to go in there and work for 10 minutes a day - or once a week - or in between - or less often. If you have to return books to the library and you know you will forget in the morning - stick them in a bag and hang it on the door you will leave by - or the closet door (clothing or coat) - or on the kitchen table.  All sorts of reminders work and really help. 

How do you remind yourself what to do and when to do it