digest
Short Summary
Main recommendation: Build a "today's focus" view in Apple Reminders using three smart lists, "Today's must do's," "Today's should do's," and "Today's could do's," grouped in a folder so only the day's priorities show at once. The presenter says this year's Apple Calendar and Reminders updates are minor, so the setup relies on existing Reminders features rather than new ones. He keeps his task manager and calendar separate, but explains how time blocking can also be used with the integration.
Key Points
- Apple Calendar and Reminders integration displays tasks differently from events, which helps for time blocking, but you can only move one-off tasks into time blocks; recurring tasks stay fixed at the top.
- Reminders offers task tags but no labels, so the time block integration is the only built-in way to visually categorise work by block.
- Smart lists let you define each list by rules, such as due date and priority, so tasks sort themselves into the right list.
- The presenter keeps Reminders and his calendar separate, viewing them side by side on a large monitor to match appointments with the number of tasks he can realistically do.
- Overdue tasks don't appear in the smart lists by default, but a "include past due" option can add them; the presenter says he doesn't need this himself since he reschedules during daily planning so he never has overdue tasks.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions:
- Create three smart lists: go to File > New List and choose the option to make it a smart list.
- "Today's must do's": set colour red, pick an icon, set the rule "Date is Today" and "Priority is High." Limit these to no more than two or three tasks, as they are non-negotiable.
- "Today's should do's": use the same setup with "Priority is Medium." These are tasks you'll do your best to complete.
- "Today's could do's": use this list for context-based tasks that require a specific place, person, or tool, such as picking up medication on the way somewhere or buying a hammer or nails when you're already near a hardware store.
- Put the three smart lists into a single folder called "Today's focus" so they appear together.
- During daily planning, set each task's priority (low, medium, high, or none) and due date to today, and it will fall into the matching list automatically.
- To include overdue tasks, edit a smart list's information and tick "include past due."
- Folder view: clicking the "Today's focus" folder shows the three lists together, and the sidebar can be hidden to leave just the day's list on screen.
- Setup for a sales report example: open the task's information, set priority to medium, and set the date to today.
- The presenter says he doesn't use overdue tasks himself, because he reschedules during daily planning.
Bottom Line
The Today's focus setup works with features already in Reminders, giving a short, prioritised daily list without requiring new Apple updates.
