Leaving reminders in the right places

I realized this past week that one thing that has helped my organization and output while lowering stress is effectively leaving reminders in the right places.

With many things on my plate and those continually increasing over time, I have actually been less stressed because I rarely have to think about my responsibilities or to-do list when I’m not doing the work itself.

Like many people, when I realize I have to do something, I write it down in a place I know that I will be coming back to.

What has been extremely helpful recently has been leaving reminders for myself in the right place.

Inbox

My inbox has been one key source of reminders.

I use Mixmax and it gives me the ability to archive an email until a later date. This allows me to set reminders on emails I send in the case that someone doesn’t respond. It also helps me follow up with people after a given amount of time.

This way, I don’t have to somehow remember in a week’s time to do something because today’s Noah is setting up future Noah for that.

Documents

On any working document that I have, even if I have barely gotten started, I will often add notes or reminders that I know will be useful when I’m doing the work.

For a school essay, for example, instead of making a random note about a topic I want to make sure I mention, I’ll just start the essay Google Doc with the singular note I wanted.

Then, when I go to write my essay, that reminder/piece of information is already there and I don’t have to worry about remembering to include it.

My room

When there are physical things (like paying a bill) that I know I have to take care of, then I will purposefully leave it somewhere in my room or apartment that I know I will stumble across in the time that I need to deal with it.

Small detail for sure

but has been very helpful, especially with the increasing number of little details I have had to be responsible for recently.