Not a reminder app

Simple chores, not simple memory

I often (always) forget when I did a simple chore and when I should do it next time. Like me, many people struggle with such things: visiting a gynaecologist for a yearly check-up, adding salt to the dishwasher, having contact lenses replaced, or grooming a dog so he doesn’t look like an old carpet.

I thought, there can be an ideal tool for this special type of task that:

• Doesn’t have strong deadlines.
• Nothing bad will happen if you are a bit late.
• Should be done once in a while.

My principles of a not-a-reminder-app would be the following:

• Focus on regularity, not deadlines.
• No anxiety, no penalties.
• No red “Overdue” tags.

The point isn’t to show the exact number of days since I last did something. It’s to answer a simple question: “Should I do it now, or can it wait until Saturday?”

How this can work

Say I open a new pack of contact lenses, which I should wear for 1–1.5 months. I create a task: Change contact lenses, set the interval to 1.5 months, mark it as Done today and save it.

Next time I wonder, When should I change them again? I just open the app. It tells me:

• All good
• Coming up (a week before, for example)
• Time to do (once the due date arrives)

If I see Time to do – I head to the bathroom and take the fresh pack.

After the task is overdue, timestamps can be based on weeks and months:

• It's been a week.
• It's been 3 weeks.
• It's been a month.
• It's been 2 months.