To keep the program simple, we’ve removed hourly and daily reminders – you can use recurrence for the same purpose. Your existing reminders will be automatically converted to recurrence (if possible).

More detailed information about the new features follows.

Hourly task recurrence

Hourly task recurrence allows you to make a task recur every X hours, or X minutes. You can specify if you want it to recur only when the program is running, and the time from which it recurs. The time can be absolute (Eg. 4:00 PM), or relative (“From now on, and then from the next program start”).

Hourly recurrence completely replaces the hourly reminder feature. Hourly recurrence has far greater flexibility.

Email reminders and email recurrence notification

If you have Professional edition, you can now receive reminders and recurrence notifications via email. All emails are sent directly from the program, so the email reminders work only when the program is running and you have correctly set the outgoing mail server (SMTP).

In case of email reminders, normal reminder window will be still displayed.

Emails are sent only if you check “Send me also email reminders” in the Reminder tab of the Edit Task window, or “+ Email me” in the action configuration of recurrence (in the Recurrence tab). You have to do this for each task individually.

Reminders before due date and start date

Before version 7.20, you could set any custom reminder, sure. But there were also due date and start date reminders. However, you could only set reminders on due date or start date. Some of you have requested the ability to set reminders before due date, so we’ve added it! But not only that, you can now have both reminder on due date and at the same time a reminder before the due date. (Same goes for start date).

You can now easily set reminders like “3 days before due date”.

Ability to edit snoozed reminders

This feature is long over-due. When you snooze a reminder, it will show up in the Edit Task window when you later edit the task. You can then edit the reminder or disable it just like a common simple reminder.

New Task ID column + ability to find tasks by ID

Some of you have requested a “Task ID” column that displays a unique number identifier of the task. We’ve added this column. You can display it using Manage – Columns…. All task IDs remain constant for your tasks.

You can also easily find tasks by ID. Open the Find Tasks window (eg. using Edit – Find Tasks), and enter ID=number, or ID:number (or just ID number) as the search term.

Smarter task recurrence

This is basically a fail-safe for “duplicate” recurrence that is supposed to happen multiple times at once. It makes sure you are not flooded with recurred tasks when you haven’t been using the program for a while.

For example, if you were on holiday and haven’t started Swift To-Do List for 2 weeks, you will not find 14 new copies of each of your daily recurring tasks in your to-do list. Instead, Swift To-Do List will ask you for each task if you really want it to recur 14 times, or just once (or not at all). Just like this:

What’s next?

We will now focus on automatic online synchronization between computers. It will take us some time, but it is absolutely the most important update. This will also allow us to introduce mobile and web access to your tasks soon, and much more.

Related Posts:

• Preview task recurrence, recur tasks after completion, and more in Swift To-Do List 7.33
• How to attach emails from Outlook to tasks (Video)
• Swift To-Do List 7.10 released: Embedded file attachments, attach emails to tasks, and more
• Swift To-Do List 8 launched!
• Coming Soon: New Swift To-Do List 8 with subtasks!
• Overcome procrastination with new Swift To-Do List

What’s new in 7.20: Email reminders, hourly recurrence, Task ID column and more! is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

How to change the default reminder time

This is how you can change the default reminder time in the Add/Edit task window:

1. First, click Add Task or edit a task that has no reminder set
2. Go to the Reminder tab
3. Use the Quick Preset button for either reminder time or date
4. And that’s it! This will not only change the time for the reminder of the current task, but also the default reminder time for all new tasks and for all tasks that have no reminder set yet.

More about default reminder time

The main purpose of the Quick Preset button is to allow you to rapidly set time and date, but it also has this additional hidden functionality in the Reminder tab.

Because there are over 40 different presets (For example: In 10 minutes, At 14:00, Tomorrow, The Day After Tomorrow, In 30 Days, The 1st Of Next Month, etc), you will be able to set the default reminder time that is just right for you.

If you set the reminder time manually, it will not change the default reminder time. You have to use the Quick Preset button.

Related Posts:

• What’s new in 7.20: Email reminders, hourly recurrence, Task ID column and more!
• Complete notes shortcuts (hotkeys) overview
• How to prevent repetitive strain injury with reminders
• Seriously, Stop Sabotaging Your 2023 Goals
• Strike-through style for done tasks added
• Swift To-Do List 10 with scheduling calendar released!

How to change the default reminder time is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog

However, prevention of these issues (called RSI) is fairly simple – take short breaks every 30-60 minutes, and a longer break every few hours. Walk around, stretch, do some jumping jacks or ride a horse (if you live on a farm :-)). You should also look into a distance (eg. from a window) to help your eyes.

The problem is to remember to take these breaks

That’s the real issue here! It is nearly impossible to remember on your own to take these breaks. In fact, sitting at your computer can put you in a light state of trance. You need reminders to prevent RSI.

There are some specialized RSI prevention software products designed to prevent RSI. They periodically remind you to get up and move around a bit, but I consider these solutions to be an overkill.

How to prevent RSI with reminders – the simple solution

Our to-do list program supports recurring reminders. The reminders can repeat in longer (e.g. daily/weekly) or shorter periods (e.g. every 30 minutes) – you can set any interval you want.

If you create a task and set it to “recur hourly” with a reminder, Swift To-Do List will periodically remind you of this task in the specified time intervals. One of the benefits of this method is that when you restart your computer or the program, the timer will also reset, and you will be reminded after your set time interval passes after the new start.

Simply create a new task, call it something like “Take a short break“, go to the Recurrence tab, select the “Recur hourly” frequency and the “Just remind me” action. And that’s it!

I also have one great tip for you:

Place ideas what you might do on your short break into task notes. The reminder window will then always display these notes to inspire you!

Some ideas to get you started:

• Drink some water
• Stretch or do a few yoga poses
• Eat a piece of fruit
• Do a few push-ups or sit-ups
• Look out from a window
• Jump – hey, it’s fun! Just don’t jump out of that window!
• Take your favorite neuro-stimulant formula (eg. tea or coffee)
• Self-massage
• Juggle anything (eg. wireless devices)
• Take a few really deep breaths
• Close your eyes and softly massage them
• Do a short meditation. Say something positive to yourself.

This is how the reminder window can look like:

Yoga is really great if you are alone or don’t mind others. Just search YouTube for “yoga poses for beginners” or something similar to get quick inspiration and instructions. These will really stretch you out!

Related Posts:

• How to change the default reminder time
• Seriously, Stop Sabotaging Your 2023 Goals
• How to Overcome Resistance to Work – 4 Techniques
• 10 best tricks of fooling myself to work
• What’s new in 7.20: Email reminders, hourly recurrence, Task ID column and more!

How to prevent repetitive strain injury with reminders is a post from: Swift To-Do List Blog