Tasks without a deadline

How they differ from habits

A habit lives in a weekly rhythm: on certain days or so many times a week. Tasks without a deadline live in months and years. Two facts matter for them: when it was last done and when it is due again. Such a task cannot be missed; it is only ever “not yet” or “time again”.

How the app remembers “last time”

You check off a task when it is done. The app remembers the date and works out when it is due again: after a set number of days, once a month or once a year.

When adding a task, you can say when it was last done: “A month ago”, “Six months ago”, “A year ago” or “Not sure”. That way the app does not remind you too early.

When the time comes, the task appears in the “Don’t forget” section on the “Today” screen with the note “time again · last done …”. “Later” postpones it. Such tasks have no other reminders, streaks or counters of gaps, and nothing is reset.

Ready-made sets

In the Library, on the “Don’t forget” tab, the templates are grouped into four sets. The interval of each template can be changed.

Home. Check the first-aid kit, and the batteries and torch, every six months; smoke alarms and fire extinguisher once a year; back up data once a month; plus change the filter cartridge, clean the cooker hood filter and defrost the freezer. The template for supplies in case of a power cut links to the page on stockpiling by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK).

Health on schedule. Book a dental check-up, book the Check-up 35, have an eye test, look through the vaccination record. The app only reminds you about the appointment and links to the official page: gesund.bund.de on dental services and on the Check-up, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) on the vaccination schedule.

Important documents. Review the Patientenverfügung (advance directive) and the Vorsorgevollmacht (lasting power of attorney), update the Notfallmappe (emergency folder), check the expiry of passport and ID card. Checking off only stores the date of the last review. What these documents are and how they are structured is explained by the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV); a BBK page covers keeping copies of documents safe.

Staying in touch. Call Grandma or Grandpa every week, write to a friend every two weeks, visit family once a month, meet an old friend every two months.

All links lead to official pages of German authorities and are in German: the templates are written for everyday life in Germany.

Why no advice

The “Don’t forget” templates contain no recommendations about what to do or how. There is the task, the interval and, where it fits, a link to an official page of an authority. The decision about the matter itself stays with you; the app remembers the date.