Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Adding birthday reminders with Address Book
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 by Emily Boyd
Always forgetting to mail out those birthday cards? RTM user odelaney has come up with a cool way to hook up RTM with your Mac Address Book:
I wanted to setup a way of getting automatic tasks sent to RTM when someone's birthday was coming up. I know I could just add repeating tasks for birthday reminders, but I wanted a bit more control over it, so it could be automated from my address book. i.e. if I added a contact to my mac address book then their birthday would automatically get sent to RTM as a reminder.
So, I wrote a little AppleScript to do this.
It will automatically send a task email to your RTM inbox a week in advance of someone's birthday, with details of the day & date of their birthday, the age they will be, and their postal address as a note in the task! Then I have all the info I need in RTM to send them a card!
For full details on this tip, check out the forum topic. odelaney is our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week. :)
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum and add a new thread and let us know how you use RTM. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Webware 100 Winner (again!)
Wednesday, May 20, 2009 by Emily Boyd
We were thrilled to learn that RTM is a Webware 100 Awards winner in the Productivity category, for the second year in a row. Thanks to everyone who voted us! :)
It’s a big honour to be included; after receiving more than 6,000 nominations, the editors selected 300 finalists. The top 100 Web 2.0 products in 10 different categories were then selected by a public vote.
You can check out the full list of winners here.
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Remember to pamper yourself
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 by Emily Boyd
Who said tasks can't be fun? RTM user burdejanie posted this fantastic tip on the Tips & Tricks forum:
One element that I've been using that others might be interested in adding is adding "pamper me" updates. I've created a list of things I'd like to do more of in my life – smell the flowers, give myself a pedicure, get an ice cream cone, etc. Then I've set various recurring due dates – monthly, every 3 months, etc. Even though I know the list is there, they pop up on my to do list and it's a pleasant surprise and a nice reminder to take care of myself amidst all of the daily tasks.
Take some time today to take care of you!
For inspiration, check out the forum topic that burdejanie started, where other users have been sharing their own "pamper me" tasks. Thanks for sharing this idea, burdejanie! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week. :)
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum and add a new thread and let us know how you use RTM. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Task status at a glance with Ambient Devices
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 by Emily Boyd
This week's tip has made me jealous; it has to be one of the coolest ways to view your task status. RTM user aroussos explains the awesome hack he posted this week on the Tips & Tricks forum:
In my continuing quest to have the best task/life integration, I took a big step and ordered an Ambient Devices weather beacon in the hopes that I could link its color status to the current status of my task list. I'm happy to report that after a couple hours of code hacking, I am now able to glance at the color of my weather beacon and ascertain the the urgency and content of my task list.
How neat is that? aroussos has documented how he did this over on the forum, so if you're interested in having your own beacon that glows to indicate your RTM task status, check out his posts. Thanks for sharing this cool hack, aroussos (you're the Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week :)
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum and add a new thread and let us know how you use RTM. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Tips & Tricks Tuesday: Staying in touch
Tuesday, May 5, 2009 by Emily Boyd
It's not often that a tip posted on the Tips & Tricks forum makes me laugh, but this one did (only because I'm slightly embarrassed to confess that I'm a follower of this tip!).
Like many people, RTM user doster likes to stay in contact with old friends and colleagues, but observes "sometimes those contacts slip through your fingers (or phone) and suddenly a year has passed in which you haven't talked to your best friend from high school".
doster's solution? Create a task with the friend's name, e.g., "Stay in touch with Bob T. Monkey", and set it to repeat "after 3 months". As doster suggests, when you receive the reminder from RTM, you can call Bob, write an email or postcard, or invite him out for a beer. After completing the task, you'll be reminded to catch up again with Bob again in another 3 months.
This tip is easy way to make sure that you don't lose touch with people who are important to you; check out the full tip in this forum topic. Thanks for sharing this, doster! You're our Tips & Tricks Tuesday winner this week. :)
Do you have a suggestion for our weekly Tips & Tricks post? Got an interesting set-up or idea? Head over to the Tips & Tricks forum and add a new thread and let us know how you use RTM. Each week we’ll give away a 1 year Pro account to the user whose idea inspires the Tips & Tricks Tuesday blog post for that week.
Join the RTM team: Technical Support Engineer
Monday, May 4, 2009 by Omar Kilani
Are you a great troubleshooter and on the lookout for a challenging technical support role, but also love to tinker with code on the side?
If you're a technically-minded people person, and want to help over 1.5 million people use RTM and all its services, then this position might just be for you. Our mission is to make the world more organized and productive; if you’d like to join us in this quest, head on over to the jobs page and get in touch!
Update: This position has now been filled. Thanks to everyone who applied!