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The specific situation I'm thinking of is reminding myself to cancel a credit card account 11 months from now to avoid having to pay the annual fees, however, given that it's almost a year away, I think I am likely to forget.

Is there an effective way for me to set reminders in the distant future?

MrPhooky
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Zaenille
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2 Answers2

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Something tells me you have already forgotten this one so here are some tips to help you not forget again:

  • Set an alarm on your watch/phone for the last month
  • Additionally set multiple alarms on your computer for the last month
  • Use one or two online calendars/reminders to notify you by email in the last month
  • Tell a friend to remind you of it in the last month
  • If you have some seasonal stuff you are not going to look at before the last month, attach a note to some of it. i.e. put a note on the Christmas decorations
  • Buy yourself a calendar and make big mark in it (and if you can't buy the 2016 calendar now, buy a 2015 calendar and make a reminder to buy a new one and to mark it) Place the calendar somewhere you'll keep looking at it

If you implement some of or all of these, you should have a lot of different independent triggers where some of them, at least, should be able to warn you ahead of the deadline!

The main point I'm trying to make is not to put all your eggs (or alarms so to speak) in the same basket. Using multiple triggers increases the possibility for you to be properly warned.

MrPhooky
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holroy
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    Every calendar has a space at the end,usually on the last page or the bottom of the date page - that's where you write it, and transfer the info into your new calendar. I know its old fashioned, writing with a pen on a paper calendar/diary - but it works. – Bamboo Mar 28 '15 at 15:25
  • That's not really a solution... – Stefano Giacone Aug 03 '16 at 10:29
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I thought of something that would be very useful for my specific case.

Reminders should be somewhere you're already checking everyday out of habit. For some, this would be their physical calendar at home, for others (like me), their email accounts.

So I checked for tools that can send delayed emails and I found Boomerang for Gmail.

With this, I could send myself emails dated whenever I want to receive them, so I'll be able to give myself reminders via delayed emails.

@holroy's answer is spot-on, and I believe redundancy is key.

I just thought this would help other people as well.

I am not affiliated with Boomerang in any way.

MrPhooky
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Zaenille
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  • To have the reminder in your face every day, would make you ignore it, and that is why online reminders can be helpful since they can delay the notifications – holroy Mar 30 '15 at 08:33