Best practices to get reminders?

Best practices to get reminders?

[Nikolaus Rath]

Hello,

I'm just starting to use org-mode. The first thing I'd like to use it
for is to keep track of stuff that I need to do. Writing things up and
calling up the agenda is easy enough, and I really like how-much
functionality is available in what's essentially a plain text document.

However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect to be
editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not yet), so how can
I make sure that I don't miss an important deadline? It seems to me that
it doesn't help much if instead of worrying to forget a deadline I now
have to worry about forgetting to check my org-mode agenda...

How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and working on
their org files daily so that this becomes a non-issue?


Best,
-Nikolaus
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Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo]

Nikolaus Rath writes:

> However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect to 
> be editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not yet), 
> so how can I make sure that I don't miss an important deadline? 
> It seems to me that it doesn't help much if instead of worrying 
> to forget a deadline I now have to worry about forgetting to 
> check my org-mode agenda... 
> 
> How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and 
> working on their org files daily so that this becomes a 
> non-issue?

You can put this after your org-agenda-files configuration in your 
.emacs:

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
  (appt-activate 1)
  (org-agenda-to-appt)
#+END_SRC

Then you will be reminded of things in your org files, before the 
appointment time (I think 12 min is the default).

You could also add this, so that the appointments refresh and new 
get added every time that you call the agenda:

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
  (add-hook 'org-agenda-finalize-hook (lambda () 
  (org-agenda-to-appt t)))
#+END_SRC

Best,
-- 
Jorge.

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Apr 06 2015, jorge.alfaro-murillo@yale.edu (Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo) wrote:
> Nikolaus Rath writes:
>
>> However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect to 
>> be editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not yet), 
>> so how can I make sure that I don't miss an important deadline? 
>> It seems to me that it doesn't help much if instead of worrying 
>> to forget a deadline I now have to worry about forgetting to 
>> check my org-mode agenda... 
>> 
>> How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and 
>> working on their org files daily so that this becomes a 
>> non-issue?
>
> You can put this after your org-agenda-files configuration in your 
> .emacs:
>
> #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
>   (appt-activate 1)
>   (org-agenda-to-appt)
> #+END_SRC
> Then you will be reminded of things in your org files, before the 
> appointment time (I think 12 min is the default).

Hmm. I tried it with this test-event:

* TODO Test task
  SCHEDULED: <2015-04-07 Tue>

But running (org-agenda-to-appt) just gives "No event to add".

Is this because there is no time specified? I'm not really concerned
with appointments that have a time span, but with projects that have
specific due dates...


Best,
-Nikolaus

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Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Jorge A. Alfaro-Murillo]

Nikolaus Rath writes:

> On Apr 06 2015, jorge.alfaro-murillo@yale.edu (Jorge A. 
> Alfaro-Murillo) wrote: 
>> Nikolaus Rath writes: 
>> 
>>> However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect 
>>> to  be editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not 
>>> yet),  so how can I make sure that I don't miss an important 
>>> deadline?  It seems to me that it doesn't help much if instead 
>>> of worrying  to forget a deadline I now have to worry about 
>>> forgetting to  check my org-mode agenda...    How do other 
>>> people handle this? Is everyone else opening and  working on 
>>> their org files daily so that this becomes a  non-issue? 
>> 
>> You can put this after your org-agenda-files configuration in 
>> your  .emacs: 
>> 
>> #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp 
>>   (appt-activate 1) (org-agenda-to-appt) 
>> #+END_SRC Then you will be reminded of things in your org 
>> files, before the  appointment time (I think 12 min is the 
>> default). 
> 
> Hmm. I tried it with this test-event: 
> 
> * TODO Test task 
>   SCHEDULED: <2015-04-07 Tue> 
> 
> But running (org-agenda-to-appt) just gives "No event to add". 
> 
> Is this because there is no time specified?

Yes.

> I'm not really concerned with appointments that have a time 
> span, but with projects that have specific due dates...

Well that is what the org agenda is for.

If you just can't remember to check the agenda every so often you 
could do something like (not tested):

#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
  (run-at-time t 120 'org-agenda-list)
#+END_SRC
 
To run the agenda every two hours automatically.

Best,

-- 
Jorge.

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Carlos Sosa]

Nikolaus Rath <Nikolaus@rath.org> writes:

> How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and working on
> their org files daily so that this becomes a non-issue?

  Have you tried (org-agenda-to-appt) and (appt-activate t)?
  If you do end up using those functions, and you're using Emacs 24.x,
  checkout desktop notifications:
  https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Desktop-Notifications.html

  - Carlos

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Nikolaus Rath]

On Apr 06 2015, Carlos Sosa <gnusosa@gnusosa.net> wrote:
> Nikolaus Rath <Nikolaus@rath.org> writes:
>
>> How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and working on
>> their org files daily so that this becomes a non-issue?
>
>   Have you tried (org-agenda-to-appt) and (appt-activate t)?
>   If you do end up using those functions, and you're using Emacs 24.x,
>   checkout desktop notifications:
>   https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Desktop-Notifications.html

I am using Emacs 24, but I'm still not sure how how you are using
this. For example, if you'd like to get some reminder if a project is
due in 3 days, how exactly do you set things up?

Do you show the notification just once (but what if I'm not at the
screen what that happens)? Or do you show it periodically until I've
somehow told Emacs that I've seen it?

Thanks,
-Nikolaus
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Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Nikolaus Rath <Nikolaus@rath.org> writes:

> Hello,
>
> I'm just starting to use org-mode. The first thing I'd like to use it
> for is to keep track of stuff that I need to do. Writing things up and
> calling up the agenda is easy enough, and I really like how-much
> functionality is available in what's essentially a plain text document.
>
> However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect to be
> editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not yet), so how can
> I make sure that I don't miss an important deadline? It seems to me that
> it doesn't help much if instead of worrying to forget a deadline I now
> have to worry about forgetting to check my org-mode agenda...
>
> How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and working on
> their org files daily so that this becomes a non-issue?

At this point I have so much of my life (personal and professional) in
Org files that yes, checking the Agenda isn't an issue anymore. It's the
first thing I do in the morning, and the last thing I do before knocking
off at the end of the day.

If you're someone who restarts Emacs each morning, you could put a call
to `org-agenda' in your init file. The others have mentioned
`org-agenda-to-appt', but I find that if you're really using Org to
manage your time (checking where you are in the midst of longer
projects, clocking, surveying the week ahead, etc) then you'll want to
be looking at the Agenda every day.


Eric

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Marcin Borkowski]

On 2015-04-07, at 06:09, Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> wrote:

> At this point I have so much of my life (personal and professional) in
> Org files that yes, checking the Agenda isn't an issue anymore. It's the
> first thing I do in the morning, and the last thing I do before knocking
> off at the end of the day.

I second that, with the exception that I use something else this way (I
cannot tell what on this list;-)), and one of the reminders in
that-other-thing is "check the agenda for today before 12:00 am" (and
I usually do it much earlier).  As soon as I find some time to integrate
this-other-thing with Org-mode, I might as well go the
check-the-agenda-every-hour route.

> If you're someone who restarts Emacs each morning, you could put a call
> to `org-agenda' in your init file. The others have mentioned
> `org-agenda-to-appt', but I find that if you're really using Org to
> manage your time (checking where you are in the midst of longer
> projects, clocking, surveying the week ahead, etc) then you'll want to
> be looking at the Agenda every day.

I used to do that, too, but (1) sometimes I started Emacs when
e.g. making a presentation and having my laptop attached to an overhead
projector and (2) some time ago I almost stopped "restarting Emacs",
I just have it open all the time (well, I /did/ restart it sometimes,
say, once a week or two).

> Eric

Hth,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Adam Mickiewicz University

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Marcin Borkowski <mbork@wmi.amu.edu.pl> writes:

> On 2015-04-07, at 06:09, Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> wrote:
>
>> At this point I have so much of my life (personal and professional) in
>> Org files that yes, checking the Agenda isn't an issue anymore. It's the
>> first thing I do in the morning, and the last thing I do before knocking
>> off at the end of the day.
>
> I second that, with the exception that I use something else this way (I
> cannot tell what on this list;-)), and one of the reminders in
> that-other-thing is "check the agenda for today before 12:00 am" (and
> I usually do it much earlier).  As soon as I find some time to integrate
> this-other-thing with Org-mode, I might as well go the
> check-the-agenda-every-hour route.

Don't be ashamed, I'm sure we all use some software we're not proud
of :)

Something I've been considering, as part of a general attempt to get
away from my computer a little bit more, is to print out an agenda each
evening detailing the things I need to do the next day. So the last
thing in the evening is taking stock of where I am, going through my Org
files and figuring out what needs to be done, then scheduling things for
the next day, then actually printing out the Agenda for the next
morning. Sure, most of the stuff I need to do needs to be done on the
computer, but if I can schedule even just one non-computer task for the
first thing, and delay "assuming the position" in front of my keyboard
just a bit, I think that's a win.

>> If you're someone who restarts Emacs each morning, you could put a call
>> to `org-agenda' in your init file. The others have mentioned
>> `org-agenda-to-appt', but I find that if you're really using Org to
>> manage your time (checking where you are in the midst of longer
>> projects, clocking, surveying the week ahead, etc) then you'll want to
>> be looking at the Agenda every day.
>
> I used to do that, too, but (1) sometimes I started Emacs when
> e.g. making a presentation and having my laptop attached to an overhead
> projector and (2) some time ago I almost stopped "restarting Emacs",
> I just have it open all the time (well, I /did/ restart it sometimes,
> say, once a week or two).

Sure, I suspected when I wrote that that very few people actually reboot
or restart Emacs every day...

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Marcin Borkowski]

On 2015-04-08, at 11:55, Eric Abrahamsen <eric@ericabrahamsen.net> wrote:

> Don't be ashamed, I'm sure we all use some software we're not proud
> of :)

It's not that I'm ashamed, it's that apparently it is forbidden to talk
about certain categories of software on this list, at least if you don't
talk about them in a derogatory manner.

> Something I've been considering, as part of a general attempt to get
> away from my computer a little bit more, is to print out an agenda each
> evening detailing the things I need to do the next day. So the last
> thing in the evening is taking stock of where I am, going through my Org
> files and figuring out what needs to be done, then scheduling things for
> the next day, then actually printing out the Agenda for the next
> morning. Sure, most of the stuff I need to do needs to be done on the
> computer, but if I can schedule even just one non-computer task for the
> first thing, and delay "assuming the position" in front of my keyboard
> just a bit, I think that's a win.

+1.  I do something similar (although I just write things down using
a pen and a piece of paper), though for a bit different reasons.

> Sure, I suspected when I wrote that that very few people actually reboot
> or restart Emacs every day...

;-)

Best,

-- 
Marcin Borkowski
http://octd.wmi.amu.edu.pl/en/Marcin_Borkowski
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
Adam Mickiewicz University

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Manish]

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On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 1:11 PM, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
>
> On 2015-04-08, at 11:55, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>
> > Don't be ashamed, I'm sure we all use some software we're not proud
> > of :)
>
> It's not that I'm ashamed, it's that apparently it is forbidden to
> talk about certain categories of software on this list, at least if
> you don't talk about them in a derogatory manner.

I assume you meant non-free software. I am not sure what gave you that
impression but I haven't noticed such a bias so far. :) We have
discussed Emacs and Org integration with Outlook, Growl, Google Calendar,
Windows and iOS among others over past several years.

Cheers!

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Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Eric Abrahamsen]

Manish <mailtomanish.sharma@gmail.com> writes:

> On Wed, Apr 8, 2015 at 1:11 PM, Marcin Borkowski wrote:
>>
>> On 2015-04-08, at 11:55, Eric Abrahamsen wrote:
>>
>> > Don't be ashamed, I'm sure we all use some software we're not
> proud
>> > of :)
>>
>> It's not that I'm ashamed, it's that apparently it is forbidden to
>> talk about certain categories of software on this list, at least if
>> you don't talk about them in a derogatory manner.
>
> I assume you meant non-free software. I am not sure what gave you that
> impression but I haven't noticed such a bias so far. :) We have
> discussed Emacs and Org integration with Outlook, Growl, Google
> Calendar, Windows and iOS among others over past several years.

There was definitely some shouting on this list not too long ago!

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Melleus]

If you have an android phone, then you can use mobile-org for that. You
would have all your org information available even on the road.

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Giuseppe Lipari]

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I use mobile org, and I synchronize it with google agenda.
It works fine because I can look at my phone for appointments when I am not
in front on my PC.
Once the appointment is in google agenda, I can set reminders, but I could
not find out how to do that directly from org-mode in emacs.
Any suggestion for this last one thing is welcome.

Giuseppe

2015-04-07 16:19 GMT+02:00 Melleus <melleus@openmailbox.org>:

> If you have an android phone, then you can use mobile-org for that. You
> would have all your org information available even on the road.
>
>
>


-- 
Giuseppe Lipari
LIFL
Université de Lille 1
blogs: http://scacciamennule.blogspot.com  (Italian)
<http://scacciamennule.blogspot.com>
          http://okpanico,wordpress.com          (Italian)
          http://algoland.wordpress.com           (English)

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Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Melleus]

Then I do not quite understand you, sorry for noise.

I have my phone with me even when I'm working on my PC and reminders
only from the phone are enough for me. And more likely I get the phone
with me rather then a PC, when going out for a coffee.

Re: Best practices to get reminders?

[Leo Ufimtsev]

I haven't read all of the replies, but I use todochiku (cross platform) with some configs:


** Notification snystem
*** About
Get libnotify notifcations for  Org-dates. 
I.e anthying that is scheduled/has deadline or 
just has a <date time> stamp like: <2011-03-13 Fri 10:10>
Will generate a popup.

I have it set to not-time out. The reason is sometimes I go to get tea
and want to see the notifcation when I get back.

It works with repeating dates like < 2011-03-13 Fri 20:00 .+1d>
Note, while it works with org-habit, it doesn't work with
org-habit ranges in the repeat intervals, like: <2011-03-13 Fri 21:00 +1d/5d>
For such situations, add an extra time stamp with repeater.

*Required Packages:* 
 - appt [build-in]
 - todochiku     (I should remove this guy, generates an annoying popup).
*** Code
#+begin_src emacs-lisp
  ; Configure package requirements:
  (require 'appt)
  (require 'todochiku)

  ; Configure what goes into appt:
  (setq org-agenda-include-diary t)

  ;interval is bigger than warning time so that notification appears only once.
  (setq appt-display-interval 3)  
  (setq appt-message-warning-time 1)

  ; (setq appt-display-duration 100000000)  ;Seconds. ; NOTE: this doesn't override todochiku
  (setq todochiku-timeout 36000) ;in seconds. ~10 hours or till clicked-away.

  ; Refresh function.
  ; (called also by hooks below)
  ; This includes only entries on a given day. It doesn't schedule days in advance.
  (defun my/refresh-org-agenda-appts ()
    "Clear previous appt list and update it with new entries. Note this is per-day/on-the-day"
    (interactive)
    (setq appt-time-msg-list nil)
    (org-agenda-to-appt) 
  )

  ;---- Refresh appoinments Under various situations.
  ; This is needed for proper scheduling.
  ; To check if your appointments were re-scheduled properly, 
  ; check the "appt-time-msg-list" variable.

  ; run when starting Emacs 
  (my/refresh-org-agenda-appts)

  ;  everyday at 12:05am
  (run-at-time "12:05am" (* 24 3600) 'my/refresh-org-agenda-appts)

  ; Upon reloading of agenda with 'r'
  (defadvice  org-agenda-redo (after org-agenda-redo-add-appts)
    "Pressing `r' on the agenda will also add appointments."
     (my/refresh-org-agenda-appts)
  )
  (ad-activate 'org-agenda-redo) ;activate the advice. 

  ; Upon loading of agenda initially
  (add-hook 'org-finalize-agenda-hook 'my/refresh-org-agenda-appts)
#+end_src

Leo Ufimtsev | Intern Software Engineer @ Eclipse Team


----- Original Message -----
From: "Nikolaus Rath" <Nikolaus@rath.org>
To: emacs-orgmode@gnu.org
Sent: Monday, April 6, 2015 10:52:43 PM
Subject: [O] Best practices to get reminders?

Hello,

I'm just starting to use org-mode. The first thing I'd like to use it
for is to keep track of stuff that I need to do. Writing things up and
calling up the agenda is easy enough, and I really like how-much
functionality is available in what's essentially a plain text document.

However, there's one thing where I feel lost. I don't expect to be
editing my orgmode files on a daily basis (at least not yet), so how can
I make sure that I don't miss an important deadline? It seems to me that
it doesn't help much if instead of worrying to forget a deadline I now
have to worry about forgetting to check my org-mode agenda...

How do other people handle this? Is everyone else opening and working on
their org files daily so that this becomes a non-issue?


Best,
-Nikolaus
-- 
GPG encrypted emails preferred. Key id: 0xD113FCAC3C4E599F
Fingerprint: ED31 791B 2C5C 1613 AF38 8B8A D113 FCAC 3C4E 599F

             »Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a Banana.«