Why reminders fail - and how to set ones that actually work

Setting a reminder feels like solving the problem. Then it goes off at 9:00, in the middle of a meeting, saying “invoice”, and you dismiss it without thinking. By lunch it is forgotten again.

Psychologists call remembering to do something in the future prospective memory, and it is notoriously unreliable. Reminders are supposed to help, but a badly set reminder is just a well-timed interruption. Here are the common ways they fail, and fixes.

Failure 1: wrong time

A reminder at a moment when you cannot act gets dismissed. “Call the dentist” at 8:00 before they open, or during a meeting, is wasted.

Fix: set reminders for when you can act, not when you thought of it. “Call the dentist 9:15” not “9:00”. If you do not know when you will be free, choose a natural break, such as just after a regular meeting.

Failure 2: vague wording

“Invoice” is not a task. Which invoice? To whom? What exactly?

Fix: write the reminder as an action with an object: “Send Acme the September invoice”. Future you, distracted, needs to know what to do without thinking.

Failure 3: too many reminders

When everything pings, nothing stands out. Notifications become noise and you start dismissing them on reflex.

Fix: use reminders only for things that must happen at a particular time. Everything else belongs on a list you review daily. The Today screen idea is built on that split: reminders for time-specific things, a review for the rest.

Failure 4: snoozing forever

Snooze is useful once. Snoozed five times, a reminder is telling you something: the task is unclear, too big, or not actually important.

Fix: after the second snooze, change the task. Break it down, delegate it, reschedule it to a specific day, or delete it.

Failure 5: reminders that never arrive

The PC was asleep. Focus mode blocked the notification. The app was not running. The phone was on silent.

Fix: check your notification settings and Focus/Do Not Disturb rules once. Make sure the app that holds your reminders starts with Windows. And choose a tool that catches up: Jot checks for due reminders as soon as it starts, so one that fell due while the PC was off appears on next launch instead of being skipped. See a reminder scheduler in thirty lines.

Failure 6: one-place reminders for two-place tasks

A reminder on your PC is useless for a task you need to do at the shop. A phone reminder is clumsy for a task at your desk.

Fix: put the reminder where you will be. Jot’s reminders are Windows notifications on your PC; for errands, a phone reminder is better. See reminders that reach your phone.

Implementation intentions

Research on “if-then” planning, associated with psychologist Peter Gollwitzer, has found that specifying when and where you will act increases follow-through. A good reminder is a small implementation intention: at this time, in this place, do this specific thing. The Wikipedia overview of prospective memory is a readable introduction with links to the research.

A checklist for every reminder

• Action verb and object.
• A time you can act, not just a time you thought of it.
• On the device you will be at.
• Only if it must happen at that time.

Jot is on the Microsoft Store. Type the reminder the way you would say it, and the date is read out of the line.

Jot is a quick-capture app for Windows: one hotkey, one line, back to what you were doing. What it is, or what is still unproven.