Calendars and reminders that actually work

Your brain is good at thinking but bad at remembering dates. A calendar with well-timed reminders remembers for you, so deadlines and renewals stop sneaking up.

One calendar for everything

• Use one digital calendar for everything that has a date or time: classes, shifts, deadlines, appointments, bill dates, renewals and family calls.
• If you have several calendars (personal, university, work), show them all in one app so you see clashes. Colour-code them, for example blue for study, green for work, orange for admin.
• Southampton's time-management guide suggests switching on automatic calendar notifications so you are reminded about upcoming deadlines.
• Add events the moment you hear about them, for example while still in the lecture or straight after reading an email.

Setting reminders at the right time

• In Google Calendar you can open an event, choose Edit, and under Notifications pick a notification or an email and how far in advance it arrives. You can add more than one.
• You can also set default notifications for a whole calendar in its settings, so every new event gets a reminder automatically.
• Match the reminder to the job. A meeting needs a reminder 15 to 30 minutes before. An essay needs reminders weeks before, because the work has to start early.
• Use two reminders for important items: one when you need to start (for example 2 weeks before a deadline) and one shortly before it is due.
• If notifications do not appear, Google suggests checking that notifications are switched on for that event or calendar and allowed in your browser settings. On a phone, also check that the calendar app is allowed to send notifications.

Deadlines: plan backwards

• Southampton's guide suggests you 'pretend your deadline is earlier than it really is' and plan backwards with buffer time.
• Worked example: an essay is due on 20 November. Put a fake deadline of 17 November in your calendar, a 'final draft' event on 14 November, a 'first draft' on 7 November and 'research done' on 31 October.
• Add the real deadline as well, with the exact submission time. Check the exact closing time too: some online submissions close at a set hour, not midnight.
• Break big tasks into steps on your to-do list (lesson la-03) and give each step its own calendar slot.

Recurring dates: renewals and bills

• Create repeating events for anything that comes back: rent, phone bill, subscriptions and insurance.
• For renewals, set the reminder long before the expiry date. For example, u.ae says an Emirates ID can be renewed as early as six months before it expires, so a reminder six months ahead gives you the whole window.
• For free trials, put a reminder in your calendar on the day you sign up. Apple advises cancelling a trial at least 24 hours before it ends if you do not want it to renew.
• Write useful details in the event notes: the website to use, the reference number and what documents you will need.