CrumpetPhone Reminders That Actually Work: A Practical Setup
Reminders fail in two ways: they don't arrive, or they arrive and get swiped away. Here's how to set up phone reminders you'll actually act on, including for things you really can't miss.
1. Remind yourself at the right moment
A reminder at the start time is often too late to get ready. For anything with prep (leaving the house, a call, a meeting), set a reminder before it starts as well: 10 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour, depending on what you need to do first.
2. Let important reminders repeat
One notification is easy to dismiss and forget. For tasks that matter, use a reminder that nudges again every few minutes until you mark it done, and stops as soon as you do.
3. Make reminders actionable
The best reminder lets you respond right from the notification: mark it done, snooze it for 10 minutes or an hour, or stop nagging for today. Fewer steps means fewer forgotten tasks.
4. Keep essentials coming through
Quiet hours, Focus modes and rest days are great for calm, but some things should always get through. Mark those as essentials, and on iPhone choose a Time Sensitive alert so they can break through most Focus modes.
5. Don't let reminders become noise
If everything nags, nothing stands out. Use repeating reminders for a few important things, single reminders for the rest, and no reminder at all for flexible "anytime" tasks.
6. Check your phone's settings once
- Notifications on: Settings → Notifications → your planner app → Allow Notifications.
- Focus modes: Settings → Focus → choose a Focus → Apps, and allow your planner if you want its reminders through.
- Open the app now and then: iPhone apps can only line up a limited number of reminders at once, and opening the app lets it refill them.
How Crumpet helps
Crumpet lets you pick per task: remind once, keep nudging every 5 to 60 minutes, or stay quiet. Notifications have Done and Snooze buttons, quiet hour pauses everything for an hour, and Always remind me keeps essentials like medication coming through on rest days and in quiet hours, as long as notifications are on. As with any app, don't rely on it as your only reminder for anything important to your health or safety.
Crumpet is a cozy day planner for iPhone, made for ADHD brains.
More guides
- How to Plan Your Day with ADHD: 7 Simple Tips
- Visual Timers for ADHD: Why Seeing Time Helps
- Gamified To-Do Lists: How to Make Them Motivating, Not Stressful
These are general tips, not medical advice. For ADHD support, talk to a health professional.