Voice Memo for OS X: Remind your future self of urgent tasks

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Surely most Mac users have some kind of reminder apps installed. Apple's default app isn't a bad option either. But do these programs really help you? How often do you click the Snooze button on notification? If it's as often as I do, then it's time to think about changing the program so as not to postpone things on the back burner. With the goal of finding the exact application that could prompt action on notification, I began to consider options. And, it seems, he found one. Voice Memo is a non-standard implementation of reminders using voice.

Yes, you understood that right from the name: Voice Memo is a small application with which you can add voice memos. And no, the program does not translate sound into text, it serves as a recorder.

Most likely, now another question arises: “Why do I need a recorder with reminders?”. The application cannot boast of any powerful or interesting functionality - this is a fact, but what is the point?

And the bottom line is, in fact, simple: motivation. Often, by entering certain things into reminders, over time we reduce their importance. And the more time has passed from the entry of the reminder, the more insignificant it seems to us. In this case, Voice Memo will help us realize how important the to-do list was, and will not allow us to postpone the next task “for later”.

There is no magic. In many ways, everything still depends on yourself, and how exactly you set yourself a reminder. Let me give you a simple example.

In two months, I will have a large meeting for which I need to prepare various materials. Collecting such material and preparing it will take me about a week, which means it is better to set a reminder a little ahead of time - a month and a half before the event. If I added a simple text and read the note after six weeks, I would most likely start putting it off for a couple of days, and then deciding that I would have time to prepare everything and in a shorter period of time, I would turn it off altogether. It's another matter when I add a voice recording about what task I need to solve, and at the same time remind myself in the future that it cannot be postponed, since there is very little material on the topic and its search can take a very long time.

Do you see what I'm getting at? A notification a la “Meeting Materials” two weeks before the deadline is not as motivating as a window that suddenly appeared in which your own voice sounds: “Dima, start collecting materials now. They are few! If you postpone it, you will not make it on time. And don't put off this reminder!”. And the more convincing you are when recording, the more effect you will achieve later. The main thing is to remind yourself of the risks of non-fulfillment of certain obligations.

As for the disadvantages of the application, it is, as always, the price. 169 rubles for such a simple (and, admittedly, not effective for everyone) application is too much. However, I would still suggest adding Voice Memo to your shopping list and waiting for the price to drop.

What kind of reminder do you use? Do they help? Let us know in the comments!