How I Use Apple Reminders to Organize My Life & Business 📱✨

✨ I'VE TRIED IT ALL ✨

I have probably downloaded, paid for, and tried to use almost every project management software out there. Every 6 months or so I’ve been the kinda girl who buys a new planner just SURE that this is the time it will actually help keep me organized.

And honestly I do have a preference for pen to paper. But I didn’t always have my planner on me when I would need to add something to my calendar or to do list, and that’s when a lot of things would fall through the cracks.

I’ve been using Google Calendar to manage my schedule for 6 years, basically since I started my business. And now I can’t even IMAGINE only using a planner or a calendar hanging on the wall to remember my appointments.

✨ THE ONLY THING THAT HAS WORKED ✨

But Apple Reminders has been the ONLY to do list/project management system/planner that I have used consistently for more than a couple of weeks. Considering it is a free app (with iOs products) I think it is SO underrated!!!

I’ve been using Apple Reminders consistently since October 2024 as my to do list/planner, which as of writing means 8 months!!! This is crazy long for me. (And I haven’t even bought a new planner since - yay me!)

✨ HOW I USE APPLE REMINDERS ✨

I get a lot of questions about how I use Apple Reminders, so I wanted to lay it all out here.

1. Birthdays 🎂

The first thing I started using my Apple Reminders for was birthday reminders. I created a new LIST and called it “birthdays”. Then I made a list of everyone who’s birthday I wanted to make sure I remembered and added their birthday as a recurring yearly reminder!! So on their birthday, every single year, I get a reminder on my phone and Macbook that it’s their birthday.

I used to be the worst at wishing people happy birthday and now I never miss the ones who are input correctly in my Reminders App. (Next goal is to keep adding more people I care about! Right now it’s mostly just family)

2. Recurring to do’s ✔️

The next thing I started using Apple Reminders for was my recurring tasks. I love being my own boss and running my own business, but something I have frequently said is, “I just wish someone would tell me exactly what to do each day.” So I used my Apple Reminders to do that!

Some examples:

Monday-Thursday I have recurring reminders to…

• Respond to 1:1 client messages in Voxer
• Respond to client messages in Kajabi
• Clear out email inbox
• etc

I also set up weekly reminders for things like:

• check if I have any library books I need to renew or return
• send weekly update emails for all clients on Tuesdays
• Follow up with current leads
• etc

This has give me so much brain space back because I’m not juggling my to-do list in my head anymore and I'm not trying to remember everything I need to remember. It simply exists for me in my Apple Reminders. I sit down to work each day and I know that the MUST DO tasks are going to be in my TODAY list in Apple Reminders for me.

3. Other to-do’s 🩵

If I tell a client on a Zoom call that I’ll message her a link to something, I immediately write “send X the link to Y” and add it to my TODAY list in my Apple Reminders. It’s been super helpful to have an app I can quickly open on my computer or phone (it syncs with both) where I can drop a to do list item so I don’t forget. Now I don’t have random sticky notes/notes app notes that I’ll forget to check and way less things fall through the cracks now.

It’s also a great place for me to add things that I know I need to work on but I don’t necessarily have the capacity to work on right this second such as:

• Find swim lessons for my daughter
• Order more protein shakes
• Create new freebie for ads management
• Send follow up email to Suzy and see if she wants to renew her contract
• Cancel or keep aquarium pass
• etc

All of this lives in my Apple Reminders and I make sure I set a due date for each (which is super simple to do) so that way I know it will show up for me in my TODAY list when it’s time to work on it.

4. Content Ideas 💡

I recently started keeping track of content ideas I have with an Apple Reminders list. This actually feels more organized for me than using my Apple Notes app. Plus then when I use the idea I can just hit “done” and it goes into my COMPLETED list.

I started by just having one list for this called “content ideas” but now I have a few separate ones including:

• Blog Post Ideas
• Ebook Money
• Ads Management & DWY Ads

This helps if I know I’m promoting something specific like my Ebook Money guide, I can go into that specific list and find an idea meant for that topic. Or if I'm at the library to write blog posts I can pull up my Blog Post list and pick one and go!

🎉 BONUS TIP! If you see a post on Instagram, Threads, TikTok, etc that gives you an idea for your own content... you can usually hit the “Share” button (usually looks like a paper airplane) and then send it to your Apple Reminders. That way you have the direct link to the post and you can add any additional notes or ideas.

5. Someday list 💭

Another new-ish addition over the last couple of months has been my SOMEDAY list. This is the list where all my multi-passionate ideas get to live for now. If I have an idea that I feel like is a great idea but I know I don’t have the capacity for it right now, I’ll just add it to the SOMEDAY list. It feels good to know the idea has been added somewhere and I can let it go for now.

There’s so many ways I could streamline my Apple Reminders and make it even better… but I think the reason I’ve stuck with it is I kept it really simple while knowing I can improve it little by little. 

🩵 One last important thing to note: As long as a task has a specific due date, it will show up on the TODAY list on the day it’s set for. So even though I have separate lists for some things, I almost always work out of my TODAY list because that prioritizes for me what needs to be done today.

Other ways I might use it in the future:

• More lists to keep work tasks separate (Maybe giving each client their own list or filing all ads work under one list, and all ebook sales work under a different one)
• Books/TBR
• Things I want to buy
• Grocery lists
• Recurring Packing lists (save as template so I can reuse this over and over each time I travel)
• Client onboarding (save as a template to use when onboarding new clients instead of paying for Dubsado for this LOL)
• Database for fun ideas and things I want to do with my daughter

I’m happy to answer any other questions you have for me about Apple Reminders so drop them in the comments below if you’ve got any for me! 👇🏼

Some links you might love:

✍️ Grab my guide for how to make money writing & selling ebooks!

💸 See my list of money mindset books I love (affiliate link)

🍄 Try Kajabi for 30 days for free! (affiliate link)