20 Ideas For Lists You Can Create In the Reminders App

The Reminders app can be used for so much more than just quick to-do lists. Here are 20 ideas for different checklists that most people can use. You can also use the Notes app instead of Reminders.


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Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Here are different ways that you can use the Reminders app on your Mac.
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So it's pretty straight forward to use the Reminders app to create Reminders' Lists. When you have something you need to do later you just add it to the list and then later you can review that list to get a reminder. But there are so many different types of lists that you can create. Here are some ideas that I put together and hopefully you can use some of these or maybe they'll spark an idea of your own.
First let's start off with the basic Task List. This is also known as a To Do List. It's probably what most people use Reminders for. When you think of something you need to get done but you can't do it right now you instead add it to a list like this. Then you can check them off as you complete them. They're not necessarily due today or at any given time. They're just something you need to do in the future. So you can set these to remind you on a certain day and at a certain time, or a location. You can set a priority for these. So you can sort them by priority. You can add notes here and a link here as well. When you're viewing them you can always sort them by the due date that you've set, the creation date, the priority, or sort them alphabetically. But you can use reminders for so much more than this standard kind of list.
Here's another kind. This is called a Project List. So this is a To Do List but for a specific project. For instance, my example here is for me to release a new version of an app I'm working on. Then when I have a list like this I can work towards my goal of releasing that new version of the app. So I've listed everything here that I need to do to get to the release. I can go through these one-by-one to complete my project. You can use this for any kind of personal or work project. You can have many of these here. You can even list the entire project in the Task List and then check that one off when you're completed with the entire list and then delete or reuse the list later on.
You can also have a Daily Task List. This is a list that you need to use over and over again every single day. Maybe you don't need to do all of the items but you need to review everything here on a daily basis and make sure you've done each of these things. Now when you're using a list like this it's going to be important to be able to reuse it. Notice as I Complete Items they'll clear off of the list. So how do I get them back. Well, first thing I want to do is change my View to Show Completed. Shift Command H will toggle this. Now I see the completed items here. So at the end of the day I may end up with all of the items completed. Then I could easily uncheck them either one at a time or I can click one, Shift Click to select a range, and then I could go to Edit and then mark as Completed, Shift Command C or that changes to mark as Incomplete. So I could select them all again. An easy way to do that is Command A. Then Shift Command C will mark them all as incomplete. Then if I change Sort By to Creation Date then they'll stay in this order.
Another type of list is a Process list. So this is something you may need to repeat often when you're doing a certain process like, for instance in this example, might be opening up a retail store. You need to go through and do each of these things before the store is opened and you're ready for business. So you can go through and check each one off or maybe for something like this you just do them in order and you don't need to check them all off individually. But you do want to repeat them everyday just like a Daily List. A Process List is not something you may need to do every single day or you may need to do it several times a day.
You also can Share lists. If you go here and click on this little button there you can share a list with somebody else. So if this is the kind of process where you or somebody else could be doing it then you could share it with them and you both have this Process List if either one updates it with a new thing or changes the description of one then both of you see that change.
Another common type of checklist is a Training List. So this is when you need to teach somebody to do something. It could be in a work type of situation or at home. For instance here's a list for training a new pet sitter that might come into your house to look after your pets while you're away. You may want to make sure you tell them to do all of these things for each visit.
Now let's go in a completely different direction and look at a Wish List. An obviously type of wish list may be for items that you want or things you want to ask for as holiday or birthday presents. Or it could be something like restaurants that you want to visit like this list. So you can make yourself a Wish List of restaurants you want to visit, food you want to try, things like that. Now you could move towards your goal for trying various things. Related to this is a To Watch or To Read List. So when somebody recommends something to me I could simply add it to this list and the next time I'm looking for something to watch or to read I can refer to it.
Another type of list is a Troubleshooting List. This could refer to a piece of equipment in your house or at work or situation that sometimes arises and you want to make sure you go through the proper steps in checking everything when this problem comes up. This is another good list to share with anybody else that may need it. Related to this is a Safety Checklist. So this isn't when there is a problem but maybe something to review every time you're about to do something. Like work with a piece of equipment. You may want to have a safety checklist and review it before you start using that piece of equipment. Now you may want to have a Maintenance Checklist for home or work for things that you regularly need to review. Maybe it's a monthly or quarterly or annual checklist and you can go through each of these items and make sure you don't forget to check anyone of these things.
Now here's something that maybe you've already you do use Reminders for. That is a Shopping List. So you go ahead and add items to a shopping list and then you can check them off as you find them in the store. This is when it's really handy to have the iCloud syncing so you can add these items on your Mac or your iPad but then use your iPhone when you're at the store to actually check off the items. Then, of course, you can use Shift Command H to reveal all of the checked items. Maybe when you're done shopping you want to uncheck a few of them to get them all setup so your next week's shopping list is started already.
Here's one I personally like. It's a Packing Checklist. So before going on a trip there are a lot of things that you commonly take. So have a list all ready to go and you can check the individual items on the list, reset the list for the next trip. Even if some of these items aren't things you need on every single trip I found it useful to put them there. If it's something you know you don't need on that trip check it off right away and don't worry about it. Then make sure you go through the entire list before you leave the house.
Speaking on leaving the house I also find it useful to have a checklist to complete before I leave on a trip. Things to check in the house to make sure everything is secure and setup for either the house sitter that's going to be there or for being vacant for a few days.
Now not all lists have to be something that you go through and complete each individual item. For instance you can have a cleaning checklist and this can be something that simple reminds you of all the things in the house that you may need to clean. It doesn't mean you have to go through them all in one single go. You can just review them every once in awhile and think, well it's been awhile since I've done this one or that one and then maybe if you decide to do a complete cleaning in a day or a weekend you can go through the list and check them all off and then reset the list after.
Now one type of list that a lot of people have is for big picture goals. Things that you want to accomplish. So you can add to this list and then review them every once in awhile and ask yourself what have you done to move forward in accomplishing this particular goal. These could be big things. These could be little things. They could be career and work related or just personal. This is also where the Reminders' ability to have subitems comes in handy. So you can have a goal like this and add some items underneath it. Then you can select those and add them as subitems underneath one here. You could Hide or Expand underneath one of these. You see you get this handy little number here.
Here's another type of list. Something with information that you want to review. For instance, if you want to learn the Eight Logical Fallacies so you can get better at debating somebody then you may want to have a list like this so you can review them in your head. Maybe have links to wikipedia pages or other sources for each one so that you can go through and on a regular basis and review them. Your Info Review List may be on a completely different topic. Maybe related to industry or skill or just something you think would be fun to learn or memorize.
Now in Reminders not only can you share a list with somebody but you can actually assign tasks to people. So here I am using my Project List for releasing a new version of an app and I have all these different things. This is a Shared List with two people in the list here so maybe it's a two person team and with each one you can go in and assign to somebody. So you can see even here it includes the little icon there for each person. Now this is kind of related to the Packing List idea. An Equipment List is a little different because the idea is to list all the equipment that has to do with a certain type of thing. Like, for instance, you might want to list all of your camping equipment. Then when you're ready to go camping you may want to go through the list and think about, well am I bringing this on this particular trip. So this could also be something to do with tools and doing projects around the house.You may have a list of all the different tools and think well I'm going to go up into the attic and do some work, here's a list of all my tools. Let me check each one that I think I'll need and then grab all of those tools and bring them with me.
Here's another variation of a shopping list. Instead of having specific things you may want to have just general ideas. For instance if you like antiquing you may want to remind yourself of all the different things that you want to look for when you look around at different antique shops. It's a reminder when you start your shopping day to look for these individual items. Now here's another type of daily list. You may want to have a daily medicine list. If there are several pills you need to take throughout the day and then you can go through the day checking each one off as you take it and reset it the next morning. You could also include foods and nutritional things on here as well. Having a list like this could help you build good habits. You could even put exercises and other things on the type of list like this.
Here's an extra one that's really just for fun. If you like to travel a lot you may want to create a Seek and Find or Scavenger List. This could include some things that you could look for any place you go. For instance, you could look for a unique local food in every place that you visit and make that something you want to check off on your list with each trip. This is also great if you go to museums and you've got kids with you. You could bring a list of things that are specific to that museum or things in general like a painting that's more than 300 years old, a statue that includes some sort of fictional creature, and maybe some type of art that has no color in it. It's only black and white. Have a check list like that and it turns the day into kind of a scavenger hunt as you go around the museum.
Now one thing to consider is that Reminders isn't always the best app for every type of list. In the Notes App you can also create lists. So you can take a list like this and turn it into a checklist like that. You can check individual items. There's a preference here for automatically sort checked items. You can have that On or Off depending upon what you want. Notes is really good for being able to check items and then have them remain there in the list which sometimes is preferable to how Reminders does it. Under Format you have Mark as Checked which will check everything that's selected. When they're all selected you can mark as Unchecked, the same keyboard shortcut for each one, Shift Command U. So don't feel that you need to use Reminders for these lists. You may find that Notes better suits your needs for some types of checklists and Reminders for others.
I hope you found this useful and I hope my ideas maybe inspire some of your own ideas for ways to use Lists in Reminders and Notes. If you have any great ideas you want to share be sure to leave them in the comments below. Related Subjects: Notes (15 videos), Reminders (11 videos)
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