How to make sure you don't forget to reply to a text, email or call

After being interviewed for the Admin Hacks Life Hacks Podcast late last year, where we talked about all sorts of tips for using your technology to help with 'life admin', I have been working with several new clients who listened to that Podcast, and who are now keen to put into practice the tips that were shared.

One of the big issue these clients face (which I know is a common for most of us) is how to manage all those 'to dos'. An example of simple 'to do's' can be remembering to return calls and texts (or emails), which can get forgotten during the daily juggle of family, work and home.

Clients will often ask me 'how do you manage these things'. My answer is Siri and Reminders, and I have a few special tricks that I use - tricks that most people are not aware of, but that can make a huge difference to your productivity and sanity.

I have previously talked about how Siri and Reminders are essential for managing my own 'to dos'.

We actually covered the topic of Siri in our Video of the Day on Monday Feb 21st. Here's the link to catch up on that one, for those of you with Online or Premium membership of the iTandCoffee Club.

​(Learn more about the Club and join here. Or upgrade your existing membership here.)

We also recently featured a handy hint about the Reminders app - here is that article/handy hint.  

Something that is not covered in the above-mentioned video and handy hint is a special tip that relates to setting Reminders for things that you need to come back to or reply to - for example messages, emails, calls, Notes, web pages, News articles and even Photos.

​As an example, if I receive a Message that I need to remember to come back to, I ask Siri to remind me about that specific message (adding a time date for the Reminder). The Reminder that Siri creates will then include a link back to that message and conversation.

Same applies to emails I receive in Mail. I can ask Siri to reminder about the specific Mail message, so that a link back to that mail message is provided in the Reminder.

If I see a web page in Safari that I want to be Reminded to come back to at a later time, I can ask Siri to remind me about that specific page - which will result in a link being added to the Reminder, to jump straight to the page when the Reminder pops up.

The image next shows examples of 'links' that are included in Reminders. A little App icon appears on the right of the Reminder, to indicate that there is something linked. 

If I tap on that small icon, I am taken directly to the 'thing' that I asked to be reminded about - the Mail item, the Message, the Note, the News storey, the Safari web page or the Photo.

A great example of where I can use this is to set a Reminder about a Note that I have created that contains my shopping list, as ask Siri to Remind me about the Note (and be able to bring it up easily) when I get to the local supermarket.

For those of you who are iTandCoffee Club members and are interested in learning more about this feature and how to use it, we have a short handy hint video in the Members area. Use the button below to access it.

Siri Reminders with Links