It seems like I completely forgot to post something Monday. Technically speaking, it means I already broke my New Year's resolution. If only I had set a daily reminder to post something each day...
We now have several ways in today's phones to set up recurring reminders. Many phones come with built-in software to do recurring alarms and task lists. On the iPhone and using a free iCloud account those tasks will even synchronize across the various Apple products, their web site, and Outlook in Windows. Yet those various interfaces tend to be clumsy enough to enter a new "to do" item, enough to not want to bother. With Siri on the iPhone 4S it's easier, but then you need to buy an iPhone 4S. And what if you don't want to use a cellphone, or if you have one but is a dumb, basic cell phone?
For me, I've been using the service aptly called "Remember The Milk", at
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/ . The user interface may seem messy at first, filled with features and gizmos, but at its basis using a simple one line of text you can enter a new task with a due date or time, location, tags, recurrence, priority and duration. For example, the following sets a new task for tomorrow at 10AM with priority 3 (low) with for the list "fun": "Play game !3 ^tomorrow 10am #fun". Using that syntax, tasks can be entered through their web site, their mobile web site, by email, by instant message and using their apps for iPhone, Android and so on. For reminders of tasks due for a day or a specific time, they can be sent by email, SMS, instant message or through their apps.
And this is why after all those years I still use Remember The Milk: wherever I am, I can easily add tasks and get reminders in any form I want. If entering new tasks was not easy or flexible enough I'd be too lazy or distracted to do so, but with RTM a simple email or using their iPhone app with a quick line of text is sufficient. Also, in years of use, the RTM service missed sending me reminders only once.
The RTM service is free, but synchronization and "push notification" through their cellphone apps require a $25 yearly fee. It's well worth it if you use an iPhone or Android.