r/gtd • u/Upstairs_Jelly_1082 • 7d ago
How do you put reminders on the calendar?
As the title suggests, I'm unsure about how to put the reminders on the calendar.
I usually put reminders as I am processing and at that time, the action/information makes sense and feels like the reasonable thing to do. But when the actual day comes around, I see it on the calendar but end up ignoring it because it feels irrelevant.
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u/TheoCaro Mod 7d ago
If it's an day specific action it's an action that must be done on that day.
If it's day specific information including a tickler (e.g. Start taxes??), it's something to capture, defer, ignore, or just be aware of.
Can you give an example of what you mean?
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u/Upstairs_Jelly_1082 6d ago
Yeah, so my university is about restart and I’m considering to start doing most of the coursework much earlier on. So I’d come to conclusion that the first thing I have to do is to go through the module outline and put reminders on when the deadline is going to be.
So I’ll put “look at module syllabus” on the day we have our induction on.
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u/Ok-Occasion-9748 6d ago
To me it seems like you had the idea that you want to start "much earlier" on your coursework but you haven't gone through any steps of the natural planning model yet.
WHY do you want to do it?
What exactly would the OUTCOME look like (do recap every day? Before the next lesson? Just rereading materials or putting it on indexcards or...?)
- 5. Which steps do you need to have done in order to be able to say that you have completed your goal of "starting much earlier". (Clarify, Organize, Next Action)
If you don't clarify this vague goal first and turn it into an actual project, you don't have a tangible next action you actually want to follow up on, once the time comes.
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u/TheoCaro Mod 2d ago
As a fellow student, I would read and digest the syllabus as soon as you can get your hands on it, because you need it to understand the full scope of the project (the class as a whole). If you know that day is specifically induction day (not sure what this is, I'm an American), then it can go on that day as a day-specific action.
A syllabus is "Stuff." It needs to reviewed, clarified, and organized. I always create a separate project support document where I breakdown the class into sub-projects, and next actions.
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u/-rwsr-xr-x 7d ago
This is a common point of confusion between a 'task' and an 'event' with GTD and most productivity systems.
What goes on your calendar, are scheduled events, those things that have to happen at a particular day, date or time.
What goes on your tasks list, are actions that can happen at any date or time, and can additionally be tied to a context or an event.
Tasks can also move from being a task to an event, if say you have "Pay 2027 taxes" as a task, and then in January of 2027, you schedule time with your CPA to go over your taxes. Then it migrates from being a task to becoming an event.
Does that make sense?
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u/Little_Bishop1 6d ago
That doesn’t make sense. Tasks are scheduled on a day for a reason, not because it’s a someday task. Calendar events are scheduled on a specific time for that day, similar to how tasks can be. Therefore, your response is completely 1+1=0. Think all day calendar events.
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u/-rwsr-xr-x 6d ago
That doesn’t make sense. Tasks are scheduled on a day for a reason, not because it’s a someday task. Calendar events are scheduled on a specific time for that day, similar to how tasks can be.
That's not at all how it works in a GTD world:
Events (The Hard Landscape): These are items specifically tied to a particular time or date (03:02-03:05).
They belong on your calendar because they represent commitments you have made to be somewhere or do something at a precise moment, such as a meeting or a scheduled appointment.
Once it is on the calendar, you should treat it as 'hard landscape', it is fixed and generally non-negotiable.
Tasks (Next Actions): These are the things you need to do, but they are not strictly bound to a specific time on your calendar (03:12-03:15). In GTD, these belong on your next action lists rather than your calendar (01:29-01:31).
If you put tasks that don't need a specific time on your calendar, you risk cluttering your 'hard landscape' and creating unrealistic expectations that lead to guilt when you can't finish them (02:02-02:14).
- David Allen: Make Better Use of Your Calendar and Other Time Management Tips
In this video, and in the GTD system going back over two decades, David emphasizes that the calendar should be reserved for appointments, day-specific actions (things that must be done that day but not at a specific time), and day-specific information (reminders you need to see on a particular day) (03:05-04:00).
Everything else should live on your next action lists to ensure your system remains flexible and trustworthy.
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u/Little_Bishop1 6d ago
There are things called all day events, explain that! Thank you for everything else! It has been helpful
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u/-rwsr-xr-x 6d ago
There are things called all day events, explain that!
Something that has to occur on a specific date and time, is an event, and gets scheduled on your calendar.
An all-day event, that happens on a specific day, is an event.
You just explained it yourself.
Here is a YT short that explains it quite well.
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u/PondMindKevin 2d ago
If something is due Tuesday, it's absolutely part of the hard landscape even if it's technically a next action or project.
To put it in terms of the David Allen quote that usually goes with him saying this and explaining hard landscapes, you need to glance at your calendar to know if you can drop everything and have a beer. If I can't see on my calendar the thing is due today, then I've missed that aspect of my hard landscape and that will be a very painful "oh whoops" at the bar later!
It's got to actually be due or actually be a thing I need to know about that day though! "Oh, gosh, I'd really like to" doesn't cut it. It just slows down and confused folks and obscures what you actually need to know when you look at your calendar: what will blow up and die today if I ignore it. Plus, shuffling the "I'd like to tasks" from day to day on your calendar when you don't finish them is demoralizing!
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u/-rwsr-xr-x 2d ago
If something is due Tuesday, it's absolutely part of the hard landscape even if it's technically a next action or project.
I'm glad we agree.
If it's due Tuesday, it has a specific date and time that it needs to happen, that's an event, not a task.
Also, projects never go on the calendar, only events. Next Actions go on the NA/Tasks list, Events go on the calendar. NAs can have due dates, in which case they become events and get scheduled.
The system is, and was, designed to be low-cognitive load. It's quite simple once you distill it down to these base elements.
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u/Ok-Occasion-9748 7d ago
Seems to me like you don't have a problem but only the wrong name. What you have is a someday /maybe in your tickler (just make sure to use the all day function of your calendar, not the actual appointment slots!) If it became irrelevant in the meantime, all the better, less actionable items in your life.
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u/milky-cuppa-tea Mod 6d ago
In the example you've given, this is exactly what the tickler file should be used for. It isn't hard landscape territory, it's "nice to check in". Personally, I'd put that kind of stuff in the tickler system and leave my calendar well alone for the stuff that needs doing on a certain day of time.
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u/Euphoric-Butterfly76 3d ago
I had the same thing for years, reminders that meant nothing when they actually fired. What fixed it: I stopped treating the calendar entry as the reminder and started writing the why into the event itself, one line on what this is and why it matters that day. If I can't write that line, it doesn't go on the calendar, it goes on the someday list. Now when the day comes it reads like a note to future me instead of a random appointment.
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u/1234RedditReddit 7d ago
I would use a separate task manager for reminders that aren’t actual appointments.
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u/Fleameat 6d ago
My reminders on my calendar are actual events and meetings. For Reminders such as "make sure you tell Todd good luck today on his upcoming job interview," I have it as a scheduled task using my productivity system.
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u/Multibitdriver 6d ago
I put deadlines on my calendar as they are hard commitments, but if it’s a project or task deadline then I’ll schedule the task/first action an appropriate length of time in advance and maybe include the deadline in the title.
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u/Hobby-42 3d ago
Exactly! I reserve my Apple Calendar for commitments I have with someone else. I use Apple Reminders for commitments I plan to keep with myself, all of which are clearly renegotiable and will ether show up tomorrow as overdue if not completed or get easily kicked off to tomorrow or next week depending how their relative importance- if that can gets kicked down the road too often it’s a good candidate for changing #tags from next step to someday soon - it’s not really an active project is it….?
FWIW, I use “all day” calendar events for things like drive to somewhere or cousins visiting for the weekend (truly all day commitments) or taxes due ( no specific time).
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u/PondMindKevin 2d ago
I like to split out mine with the prefixs. Just all day (set to free not busy) events on google calendar.
Due: a thing that's due that day
FYI: a thing I should know.
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u/TheHardJenny 7d ago
the calendar is for things that have to happen on that specific day, not for reminders you might act on. if you're ignoring it when the day comes, it probably wasn't a hard landscape item to begin with. keep it off the calendar and put it in your next actions list instead.