Ask HN: I need a reminder-brain – how do you do it?

2 points by MollyRealized 24 days ago | 2 comments

I recently read a blog post where someone calendered a reminder for five years into the future, then actually followed up on it.

I'm wondering how you guys do it - what your reminder 'systems' are. I have not really been able to find something that's been very ubiquitious and able to capture my thoughts -- I have ADHD and really need kind of a "braindump -> successfully reminds me later" system.

Thank you in advance for the time you take in describing your systems - it would be deeply appreciated.

k310 24 days ago |

Mostly Moleskine.

Computers have changed dramatically in my 11 or so years here, but files always get transferred on external drives. As I go through things looking to downsize from stuff I never used and never will, the notes remain, along with substantial context.

Just about everything remains undone from 10 or 11 years ago.

And almost everything "high urgency" lost its urgency.

I have gone through a raft of outliners and mindmaps. They seemed so confining.

File-based wikis [0] might have worked. MoinMoin, PmWiki, DokuWiki, TiddlyWiki ...

When I got mobile-centric for a while the wiki situation was bleak. Only Quine and Trunk Notes still run, but their lives have always been in critical condition.

I was an early Moodle adopter, and Moodle can to all kinds of things. I used to install it on laptops and office servers just to hold project docs.

In this age of "everything changes daily" the ability to export and import everything is a life-saver.

I'll review those 10 year old notes after I finish going through old zip drives, S-100 cards and so on.

[0] https://medevel.com/18-os-flat-file-wikis/

l31nruqwa 24 days ago |

For really long-term stuff (like 5 years), I just schedule an email to myself—it’s surprisingly reliable and future-proof.

For anything up to ~1 year, I mostly rely on Siri to set reminders. It’s quick, hands-free, and works well if you’re consistent about using it. It sends a notification on my iPhone at the exact date and time, kind of fire and forget.

Not a perfect “brain dump” system, but this combo has been pretty low-friction and dependable for me.