Setting up Apple Reminders - guide

tomotvos said:
Nice! Although I cannot get it to go to a specific list. It seems to open Reminders at wherever I left off.
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Use the app "Remind Me Faster", it's really fast, you can capture with just the lockscreen icon, you can even include it in the control panel. Really useful if you are using Apple Reminders. You can capture directly to a specific list if you want to, but all the captures should go to the Inbox
 
Thanks for sharing! It’s an interesting setup that seems well thought out. Kudos!

I have a question on your Inbox/Next Action idea. You filter the Inbox to include entries in the Next Action-list:
tmlr said:

Now to Inbox​

  1. Create new smart list, call it "Inbox"
  2. In the rules choose "Include reminders matching all" of the following filters
  3. Add filter "Tags", type "Untagged Reminders Only"
  4. Add filter "Lists", type "Include Selected List", value - "Next Actions"
  5. Click "Ok" to create the list.
  6. Now, do a right click, or "option click" in Mac terminology on the "Inbox" list
  7. Click "Pin List"
  8. List will be pinned in the area above all the lists. Drag and drop it in the top left corner so you know where it is.
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That means, whenever you capture in the smart list “Inbox”, the item will also display on the Next Action-list. Or the other way around, if you capture in the Next Action-list, which I guess you do using Siri or such, since you make that list the default, the item will appear in the Inbox. That’s all fine.

However, if you enter a next action directly within a context or a project, it won’t appear on the Next Action-list. I do that frequently when reviewing projects or such. I guess most of us do.

So my question is, what’s the point of the Next Action-list, if not every next action will show there? Is the point solely to have a way of captured stuff without a tag showing up in the Inbox, or am I missing something?
 
snfuod said:
So my question is, what’s the point of the Next Action-list, if not every next action will show there? Is the point solely to have a way of captured stuff without a tag showing up in the Inbox, or am I missing something?
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I guess one perk could be that Next Actions not linked to a specific project shows up there. Being a list for single actions I think I would call it something else than "Next Actions" though, I think that's what misled me in the first place.

Realizing that benefit, the setup makes more sense to me.
 
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tmlr said:
I have purchased "Setting up iPhone" and "Setting up iPad" guides and I found them lacking. I then purchased "Setting up OmniFocus" and after reading it I had an epiphany so I set up my Apple Reminders and I'm sharing it here in case someone finds it helpful.

Some assumptions that I'm making:
  • I read somewhere that managing everything using list apps is wrong. Areas of Focus should be in a separate tool, like a mind map or some kind of text document.
  • I assume that we all agree with it, even though "everything in lists" might work for someone.
Ok, here we go.
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Thx tmlr! I love this setup. If you ever get another epiphany.., please let us know:)
 
@snfuod
A bit of correction.

> However, if you enter a next action directly within a context
In this case, the action _will_ be in Next Actions list. Context lists are "smart lists" - they filter by tag.

> or a project

In this case the action will _not_ appear in Next Actions list, _unless it is also tagged_.


> Being a list for single actions I think I would call it something else than "Next Actions" though, I think that's what misled me in the first place.

I actually think that's what GTD is calling for - just a flat list of single actions which are called "Next Actions". My understanding is that this list is populated during review using list of projects and contexts and inbox as triggers. I was trying to emulate exactly that with additional feature of being able to slightly pre-plan projects.

You real "Next Actions" in this setup will be shown when you click on "@ctx" group in Reminders - it'll show all the tagged actions grouped by context.

It is kinda like you have multiple inboxes - a global one and per-project inbox. Act of tagging with a context during review makes is "next action"-able =).
 
I’ve tried your setup since I first replied in this thread and I think it’s a very good setup. It’s fast, easy and simple and it takes advantage of the functionality in Apple reminders. Kudos @tmlr!
 
RS356 said:
Very handy, thanks for sharing.

When I used Apple Reminders, I archived my completed reminders/actions with an Apple Shortcut that would create all-day events on my calendar from the completed items. Each item was logged on the date it was completed. The format I used was:

[x] Name of action (project name)

In this setup, each project was a list, and contexts were specified using tags. I found it great because once a project was completed, I could simply run the shortcut and then delete the list from reminders. My log of actions (and their associated projects) was easily accessible in my calendar, which was great for tracking progress during weekly reviews and billing clients.
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@RS356 I would like to see your Shortcut too. Cleans up the Reminders database and documents project completion and details in the right place: the calendar.
 
tmlr said:
I have purchased "Setting up iPhone" and "Setting up iPad" guides and I found them lacking. I then purchased "Setting up OmniFocus" and after reading it I had an epiphany so I set up my Apple Reminders and I'm sharing it here in case someone finds it helpful.

Some assumptions that I'm making:
  • I read somewhere that managing everything using list apps is wrong. Areas of Focus should be in a separate tool, like a mind map or some kind of text document.
  • I assume that we all agree with it, even though "everything in lists" might work for someone.
Ok, here we go.

First, some basic rules:​

  • Tags are Contexts and Contexts are Tags.
  • Everything scheduled goes into one global list.
  • Sometime/Someday is a collection of lists, not one list.
  • Groups will present all of the items from all included lists grouped by those lists. You want to use it.

Basic lists.​

  1. Create a list, call it "Next Actions"
  2. Create a list, call it "Waiting For"
  3. Create a list, call it "Tickler".
  4. Go into settings and set "Next Actions" as your default list.
That is all regular global lists you'll need.

Projects Lists​

  1. Create list for each project (a project is anything that has more than 1 action). With this setup you can even add sequential actions in a form of pre-planning (GTD recommends to store those separately)
  2. Drag and drop one project list onto another to form a group.
  3. Call that group "projects"
  4. Drag and drop rest of project lists into that group. Or create new projects right in the group.

Now to Errands, I call them "places":​

  1. Create a list designating a location. Example, in my setup, I've got a list called "Bunnings". In fact, every "place" list is prefixed with this emoji.
  2. Create another list designating a location.
  3. Drag and drop them onto each other to create a group.
  4. Call the group " places".

Now to Contexts. We will be creating smart lists here.​

  1. Create a new list. During creation in "List type" specify "Smart List". Call it "@home".
  2. In the rules choose "Include reminders matching all" of the following filters
  3. Add filter "Tags", type "All selected" and type tag "#home" in the values
  4. Add filter "Date", type "No date".
  5. Save.
  6. Create another smart list for another context just like we did.
  7. Drag and drop one context list on top of another context list to make a group
  8. Call the group "@ctx" or "@contexts"

Now to Inbox​

  1. Create new smart list, call it "Inbox"
  2. In the rules choose "Include reminders matching all" of the following filters
  3. Add filter "Tags", type "Untagged Reminders Only"
  4. Add filter "Lists", type "Include Selected List", value - "Next Actions"
  5. Click "Ok" to create the list.
  6. Now, do a right click, or "option click" in Mac terminology on the "Inbox" list
  7. Click "Pin List"
  8. List will be pinned in the area above all the lists. Drag and drop it in the top left corner so you know where it is.

Sometime/Someday​

  1. Create regular lists just like for Projects and Places
  2. Group them into a group by drag-n-dropping them onto each other.

How it works​

Capture:
  • Click onto "Inbox" and add reminders.
  • They will go into "Next Actions"
  • And they will be untagged.
  • Because they are untagged they show up in your Inbox.
Project Planning:
  • Simply add stuff into appropriate project list.
  • Keep them untagged if they are not ready to show up in contexts.
Review
  • Go to Inbox and assign appropriate context tags to tasks
  • They will go away from Inbox and will show up in the appropriate context list.
  • If you don't have a smart list for this context tag yet, add a new smart list as per "Contexts" section.
  • Same works for actions in projects and someday/maybe
Areas of Focus
  • Sometimes we do want to group projects by Areas of Focus
  • Simple create more project groups and name them appropriately.
  • Review is the same, just yet another group of lists.
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Thank you for coming up with a robust methodology structure for Apple reminders. I do have one concern that needs clarification.

When you’re creating your context lists, why is there a filter of ‘no date’ ? If I have a task that I’m doing in my home office and I want to assign a future date to it, wouldn’t it disappear from my Home Office context Smart list?

I want to be able to refer to the smart list with context Home Office, and show all tasks to be done in my home office, whether or not they have a future date assigned to them. Please advise.
 
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