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How not to forget things
Write-ups on reminders, Android notifications, planning and habits. With numbers, setting names and links to the research.
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Four articles that leave you with something to do today.
- 1if your phone stays silentAndroid notifications not showing up? Here is what kills them
- 2if your to-do list stopped workingWhy a to-do list stops working after two weeks
- 3if dates slip your mindHow to stop forgetting birthdays: a four-step system
- 4if a habit will not stickThe 21-day habit is a retelling, not a finding
How to set a reminder on iPhone: time, repeat and location
Set a reminder on iPhone with Siri or in the Reminders app: time, repeat, early reminder, urgent reminders that sound through silent mode, location. From Apple Support.
- A reminder with a due date but no time shows up at 9:00 AM. You can change that hour in Settings → Apps → Reminders.
- An urgent reminder (iOS 26.2 and later) sets an alarm that goes off even when the iPhone is silenced or a Focus is on.
- A location reminder needs Location Services and Precise Location turned on for the Reminders app, or it will not fire.
How to set a reminder on Android without installing anything
Five ways to set a reminder on an Android phone: Google Tasks, Calendar, Keep, voice with Assistant or Gemini, and Samsung’s Reminder app. Based on Google and Samsung help.
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iPhone notifications not working: 7 settings to check
Seven places where iPhone notifications get lost: the app’s permission, a Focus, Scheduled Summary, silent mode, Apple Watch, Low Power Mode. Paths from Apple Support.
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Do Not Disturb on Android: exceptions and calls that get through
Why notifications break through Do Not Disturb on Xiaomi and POCO, how to let certain callers ring and keep your alarm. From Google, Samsung, Xiaomi and Huawei help.
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Tecno and Infinix app freezer: what it does and how to undo it
What Freezer does on HiOS and XOS, how to unfreeze an app, why background settings stop working after an update, and what to check when downloads stall with the screen off.
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Android not receiving texts or SMS arrive silently: what to check
Texts missing entirely or arriving without a sound: signal, block list, spam folder, storage, default SMS app, Huawei and Honor per-SIM notification settings, Do Not Disturb.
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Samsung sleeping and deep sleeping apps: why notifications stop
What sleeping and deep sleeping apps mean in One UI, how many days before Samsung puts an app to sleep, where the lists live and how to wake an app for good.
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Gmail and Yandex Mail notifications not working on Android
Why Gmail notifications are not working: it only notifies for Primary and stays silent without sync. Yandex Mail sets them per folder. From Google’s and Yandex’s help.
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Why your alarm did not go off on Android: eight reasons
An Android alarm goes off in Do Not Disturb only if alarms are allowed, and on silent only with vibration on. Six more causes, from Google and Samsung help.
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WhatsApp notifications not working on Android: what to check
Why WhatsApp notifications stop on Android: the permission, background data, battery limits, Do Not Disturb, muted and archived chats. From WhatsApp’s own help.
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Telegram notifications not working on Android: fixes
Why Telegram notifications are not working on Android: a muted chat, a second account, low priority, background limits, the phone’s skin. With Telegram’s own labels.
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The 21-day habit is a retelling, not a finding
Where the number 21 came from, what Lally's 2010 study found about 66 days, and why one missed day does not break habit formation even though it breaks your streak counter.
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Android notification channels: why apps cannot get louder
How notification channels work, why an app can never raise its own importance after install, and why reminders deserve more than one channel.
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Android notifications not showing up? Here is what kills them
Xiaomi, Samsung and Huawei put apps to sleep by their own rules. Where the autostart and battery settings live, and a test that shows whether a change worked.
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The Eisenhower matrix falls apart at twenty tasks
Where the urgent-important grid came from, why every task on a real list slides into the same box, and the one question that works better than sorting into four cells.
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A gift list for the whole year, not the night before
Gifts pick themselves in March, not in December. What to write down, where to keep it, and why a note about someone's shoe size beats every list of gift ideas online.
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The chores you always remember too late
Filters, boiler service, insurance renewals, smoke alarm batteries, passport validity. Everything with a yearly rhythm, set up once so you stop carrying it.
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A packing checklist you never rewrite
One list instead of twenty, sections instead of a wall of text, and adding to it the day you unpack. Why packing belongs two days out, not the night before.
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Recurring reminders, and why the 31st breaks half of them
Why every-two-weeks and every-Tuesday behave differently, what an app must do on the 31st in February, and why a missed repeat must not pile up.
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The two-minute rule: what it is and how it works (there are two)
What the two-minute rule is and how it works: David Allen's version is about small tasks, James Clear's is about habits. They point in opposite directions.
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Why a to-do list stops working after two weeks
An unfinished task really does occupy your head, but a list alone does not free it. Three reasons lists turn into storage, and what to do about each one.
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Offline-first: why an app must work without the internet
What offline-first means in practice, how a local write differs from a cache, how sync conflicts are resolved, and why the interface should never wait for the network.
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How to stop forgetting birthdays: a four-step system
Why birthdays slip past even organised people, and how to set reminders so you have time not only to send a greeting but to prepare a present.
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Why Android delays reminders and how to get exact timing back
Why notifications on Android arrive minutes late, what changed in Android 12, and which permissions an app needs so a reminder lands to the second.
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