Review of Online Reminder Tools

I never go anywhere without taking a notebook and pen with me!  I don't know about you but I find I get ideas for article titles, new products and blog posts at the oddest times, and like to quickly scribble them down, before I forget.  While you can 'make do' with any notebook, the Moleskine range come with a history of being used by creative greats, which makes them a bit special.

As I often spend several hours a day on the internet, I've also been using some online tools to take notes and as a back-up in case of any memory lapses!

Here are a few of the free online tools I've been trying out recently:

Read it Later - When I come across a website that looks interesting, but I don't have the time to explore it there and then, I click on the 'Read Later' button in my browser bar and the page is stored in a list for when it's more convenient.  Even though I've been using this for over a year I still haven't explored all the features yet, what I like most is the simplicity of 'one click and it's saved'.

Remember the Milk - I've only used this a couple of times but it's great if you want to make sure you don't forget an important task.  I had been using the tasks function on Google Calendar but the reminder consisted of a pop-up that was easy to miss if I was away from my computer.  With Remember the Milk, I can add tasks into the little gadget that sits on my Calendar screen, Gmail screen or even from my BlackBerry.  On the day of the task I get an email reminder in the morning, and then a nice loud alarm on my phone at the exact time I set it up for.

Evernote* - I'm finding this useful for collecting different bits & pieces and putting them all in one place on the internet.  Within my account I can set up folders for different activities or projects.  When I come across an interesting web site or blog, I can store the URL or capture the whole screen to revisit later.  The photos I take on my BlackBerry can be emailed into my Evernote account too.

When I was at a seminar recently, lots of ideas were exchanged and then written down onto sticky notes, these were then transferred to a display board at the end of the session so we could take photos of them with our mobile phone cameras.  I also like to mindmap ideas onto a whiteboard and then capture the image before wiping the board clean for the next idea.   I can even log into Evernote and type a text note reminder (useful for collecting blog post ideas online).

*While you can set up a completely free account with Evernote, there's also a Premium option at $5/month if your storage needs are high (over 40MB a month).  I've only managed to use 1% of my allowance so far, so the allowance is generous on the free version.

With so many of these gadgets and tools to choose from, it's important to find which ones suit your individual needs and the way you work.  Otherwise the very tools that are meant to make life easier can become a time-consuming chore!

Do you use any online reminder tools - please share in the comments below.  If you found this review post helpful - a retweet is always appreciated :)

Comments

[LouiseBJ]

Hi Graham, thanks for commenting here - I'm pleased you enjoyed the post. iCyte sounds good - a possible replacement or addition to my Delicious bookmarks? It's always interesting to hear how other people use these online tools and so become more productive ourselves.

Right, I'm off to explore iCyte.com - good luck with with the redecorating Graham ;)

[Grahamjones]

Excellent analysis. I use Evernote to store long documents - I do have the upgrade which is vital if you use it to store files. So, for instance, every PDF with useful info - including scanned in magazine pages etc - are on my Evernote account which I can access from my phone, another PC etc.

For websites I use http://www.iCyte.com - a great (and free) system for storing every web page you might want to recall. Very useful for dynamic pages because if you store them as a bookmark they are not there any more. With iCyte you always get the original page you wanted.

But, like you I also have a notebook...and pages from that get scanned in and stored in Evernote.

Then for tasks, I use RememberTheMilk, which integrates into my Outlook using the RSS feed.

I like your idea of a whiteboard and then getting an image of it....now, all I have to do is move some furniture, remove a load of pics, probably need to move that radiator as well, then obviously redecorate and then I can fix the whiteboard to the wall. Gosh, this getting organised stuff doesn't half make life complicated....!