One of the most fundamental tasks of any admin person, whether they are an EA, PA, or VA is keeping a task list. How we choose to keep this list is a matter of personal preference. If you’re like me, you prefer pad and pen. This is fine for when you’re sitting at your desk and you can glance at your list, cross out what you’ve accomplished, and add to it quickly and easily during the day. But what if you’re on the run all the time, and not often at your desk? Well, there are an absurd amount of apps out there that will help you manage your life digitally. There is one though that I rely on all the time, and it’s my Google calendar.

When I am going through my emails, I decide one of two things. Is it a job I can do today or is it a job for another day and time? If I need to deal with it straight away, the email is actioned and filed, that’s a no-brainer, but if I need to be reminded to follow up, this is how I do it when it comes to using my digital wait reply system.

I create a diary entry right from the email.

Gmail instructions for creating a diary reminder from your inbox.

  1. Open your EMAIL account
  2. Open an EMAIL you want to set a reminder for
  3. Click the MORE tab under your Gmail search bar
  4. Select CREATE EVENT and a diary entry will open up
  5. Set the DATE and TIME you want to receive your reminder
  6. Remove any guests that the entry has added, usually the sender
  7. Add any ATTACHMENTS relevant to the reminder
  8. Set NOTIFICATIONS
  9. Click SAVE

If I know I am going to be out and about on the day I need to be reminded. I set an SMS reminder as well as an email reminder.

Notice that the content that was in your email is now also in the body of the reminder so you can file your email and when the reminder appears you have all you need right there. You don’t need to search for the original email.

I’d love to know how you manage your reminders. Please leave a comment below.