How to not forget what's important

Many times we need to schedule a reminder about something we need to revisit. This may be something you need to defer until a later date or perhaps some documents you need to be done and sent out next Friday. DEVONthink provides two simple ways to set such a reminder.

Annotations & Reminders

The Annotations & Reminders inspector found under the Tools menu allows you to set an reminder for an item in your database. It offers the flexibility to set a single reminder or one that repeats on an interval, e.g., every other Tuesday. The date set in the reminder is the Date Due metadata on that file, a value that can be used as a sortable column in the item list as well as a criterion in searches, smart groups, and smart rules.

With a reminder you can also set an alarm, with the common methods of notification, like bouncing the dock icon or displaying a notification. Additionally, for those inclined toward automation, reminders support running an AppleScript script when the alarm triggers providing more complex actions. There is more discussion about this in the Automation > Reminder Scripts section of the help and manual.

The Reminders Scripts

In DEVONthink’s script menu you’ll find a Reminders group of scripts that create reminders in a few popular apps, e.g., Apple Calendar. Just select an item in a database, then choose the appropriate script in the Script > Reminders menu. You will be prompted to choose the list and a relative or custom date, and a to-do item should be created in that app.

For those who find Apple’s Reminders application enough for them, there’s a script for that application too. Using this simple app provides a nice little bonus: deferring the reminder. When the reminder appears as a notification, click and hold the Later button to defer the reminder for awhile.

With these two options, DEVONthink can hopefully help keep you on top of and on time with your data!