Stop Creating Useless To-Dos: 5 Rules How to Clear Your Mind With Apple Reminders
Make It Smart. Make It Clear. Make It Done.
Most to-do lists are like mental garbage dumps.
They’re just a bunch of random words thrown together without context or meaning. Instead of helping, they clutter your mind, pile on guilt, and get in the way of getting things done.
I made that mistake myself for years.
These days though, I take more time to create my reminders carefully. And it’s made a huge difference. It instantly clears my mind, makes it easier to tackle my tasks — and I’m getting more done than ever before.
In this article, I’ll share 5 simple rules, that will help you turn your to-dos into a tool that clears your head and helps you follow through.
Of course, you can apply these rules to any task manager you like, but I stick with the one that’s already free on my iPhone: Apple Reminders.
1. Context Is Clarity
This is the key to avoiding instant frustration when tackling your to-dos.
Always phrase your reminders actively, and be as specific as you can. Why? Because the moment that reminder pops up, your brain should instantly know what to do — no second-guessing, no mental gymnastics, and no excuses to get distracted by something else.
For example:
Instead of writing “Car tires”, turn it into a full, clear action:
“Book tire change at Clark Auto Service for next Tuesday”
The closer your reminder is to a full, actionable sentence, the easier and faster it’ll be to deal with later. And trust me — I get it. It’s a hassle at first (even after writing thousands of reminders, I still don’t feel like doing it).
But the time you spend now pays off tenfold later.
🔥Hot Tip: Make use of the notes field in Apple Reminders to pack in even more context. For this example, you might add the garage’s phone number and your preferred appointment time:
2. Break Down What’s Blocking You
This is one of the timeless principles of time management, and for good reason.
Whenever you can, split bigger tasks into smaller, actionable steps. It makes getting started so much easier and gives you clarity even while you’re writing your to-do list.
Here’s a real-life example from my routine:
For months, I kept putting off building a new cover for my pool equipment.
“Build cover for pool equipment”, was my original reminder.
Seems harmless enough — but it’s far too vague and overwhelming. No surprise I never got around to it. It wasn’t until I broke it down into small, doable steps that I managed to break through my mental block:
Measure the height for the cover
Cut the boards to size
Buy brackets, plugs, and screws at the hardware store
Attach the cover
Cut out an opening for the cables
Whether it’s personal or professional, breaking tasks into bite-sized pieces is the secret to sticking with it and getting things done.
🔥Hot Tip: Apple Reminders makes this super easy. You can indent sub-tasks underneath a main task. Just press and hold a reminder, then choose “Indent Reminder” from the menu. Or simply swipe from left to right.
3. No Date, No Done
Ever had this happen? You see a task sitting in your inbox and think — yeah, I’ll get to that… someday.
Bad idea!
If I don’t set an exact time for my to-dos, I become the least productive person on the planet. It’s only when I assign a fixed date and time that I actually follow through.
Reserve the table for the wedding anniversary dinner?
That only gets done when I schedule a reminder for Wednesday at 7:00 PM. It’s ridiculous that my brain works like this. But thankfully, Apple Reminders makes it super easy to set a date and time. I just tap the little ⓘ-icon next to my reminder and pick when I want it to pop up.
And if I miss the planned time?
Sure, it’s not ideal, but the red text in Apple Reminders bugs me so relentlessly that I eventually give in and check it off.
A task with a scheduled time is way more likely to get done than one without.
🔥Hot Tip: Want to reply to an important email as soon as you get home, but not sure when exactly that’ll be?
Use a location-based reminder instead.
Tap the ⓘ-icon again, pick your home address as the trigger, and your reminder will pop up automatically when you walk through the door.
4. Use Emojis 👷🏼
This might sound silly at first, but there’s some science behind it.
Our brains are better at storing and recalling information when it’s linked to images. And yes, that even includes emojis! Adding the right emojis to your reminders makes it easier to recognize what they’re about and helps you mentally connect the dots faster.
It’s also smart to assign specific emojis to recurring categories — with a quick glance, you’ll know what type of task it is:
Phone calls 📞
Emails 📬
Workouts 🏋️
And if it doesn’t boost your productivity?
Well, at the very least it’ll make you smile when you see it. Even that dreaded meeting with your boss 🧌 feels a little less awful with a fitting emoji.
Whether you love them or hate them, emojis belong in every good task title. 😎
5. Links and Attachments — The Key to Your Productivity
Let’s wrap this up with one golden rule: Attach as much useful information as you can directly to your reminders.
Especially when dealing with more complicated tasks, every little shortcut makes a huge difference:
Link emails you need to reply to straight into your reminders. On a Mac, the easiest way is by dragging and dropping. On iPhone or iPad, it might take a couple of tries, but trust me — it’s worth it.
Connect your reminders with Apple Notes. It’s perfect for meeting notes, checklists, or email drafts. If you want to see how to link these two apps like a pro, I’ve broken it down for you in this article.
Add screenshots or images to your reminders. You also have to tap the little ⓘ-symbol and scroll down to the end.
Bottom line: make things as easy as possible for yourself — link whatever you can. That way, everything you need is right there when you’re ready to dive in.
Final Thoughts: Take Your Time
Good reminders are like little helpers that save you time and stress down the line.
The trick is to slow down for a few extra seconds when you’re setting them up. Take 10 minutes with your morning coffee, review your to-dos, tidy them up, maybe add a note or an emoji.
That’s all it takes.
Yeah, it can feel like a hassle sometimes.
But trust me, your future self will be grateful when those tasks practically handle themselves.
Give it a shot.
Georg Plankl